March 2026 NEWS

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, faced fellow senators on Wednesday at a heated confirmation hearing. The meeting was confrontational right from the start and ended on a similar note. Mullin has been tapped to take over DHS at a crucial time. The U.S. is locked in a war with Iran and the Trump administration faces a backlash for its aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 13, leading to major delays at airports, and the two parties haven’t reached a deal. 

As the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran continues to upend energy markets and supply chains worldwide, the Trump administration says it will temporarily waive maritime shipping requirements under a more than century-old law known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act requires that goods hauled between U.S. ports be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels. Passed in 1920, this law aims to protect the American shipping sector — but it's also faced criticism over the years for slowing the delivery of goods, including critical aid during time of crisis.

The stalemate in Washington, DC over funding the Department of Homeland Security has led to hours long airport security lines and frustrated travelers, but now passengers could see some airports closed altogether, the Transportation Security Administration is warning. “It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,” TSA’s acting deputy administrator, Adam Stahl, said Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe dodged questions about President Trump’s planning for the war with Iran and to what extent the president was briefed on the possible scenarios in the lead-up to the airstrikes against Tehran. Lawmakers attempted to utilize the rare hearing to extract answers from senior Trump officials on the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. 

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton is the predicted winner of the Democratic primary for US Senate, edging out her opponents after a late surge of support in a highly competitive, expensive race. Stratton was leading her main opponent, congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, with roughly 90% of the vote tallied on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. "We did it," Stratton said of her surprise win. "Tonight we showed what's possible when you listen to the people and give the people what they want."

A missile attack struck a makeshift beauty parlor in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least three Palestinians and injuring several others, according to Palestinian officials and local residents. The Israeli military said the attack, in the town of Beit Awwa, was caused by an Iranian missile. Palestinian officials blamed an errant Israeli aerial defense interceptor. It was the first fatal attack on Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began last month. The parlor, a converted caravan, was full of women preparing to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the town’s mayor.

Labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta said Wednesday that she was sexually abused by farmworker leader César Chávez decades ago, becoming the most high-profile figure to accuse him of misconduct. The latest: The allegation comes as the United Farm Workers union grapples with reports that their former leader abused girls and young women, prompting the cancellation of tributes and celebrations in his honor. Huerta worked alongside Chávez for decades, helping found the UFW with him and fellow activist Gilbert Padilla.

Less than a week after missing their first full paycheck, 10% of the 50,000-strong TSA workforce did not show up for work on Tuesday, ABC News reported. TSA data showed roughly one third of officers called out Tuesday at New York’s John F. Kennedy, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Houston’s Hobby and New Orleans—an enormous jump from the 2% of absences on a typical day. 

We have to start with definitions. What does “winning” mean in war? It’s a little like pro wrestling. In wrestling, you can either have a “clean” win—meaning that both the face and the heel’s storylines recognize the outcome. Or you can have a “dirty” win—in which the match is ended by cheating, or interference, or some other chicanery. With a dirty finish, both wrestlers make plausible claims of victory and it furthers each of their storylines. Wars can have clean finishes, but they’re rare. One of the reasons the two world wars are satisfying object lessons is that they had acknowledged winners and losers. Many wars don’t. Korea; America in Vietnam; Iran–Iraq; Iraq 2; America in Afghanistan. So let’s think about what “victory” would mean for each party in the current war.

Federal judges in one of the Trumpiest states in the country have suddenly become a firewall against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. District court judges in West Virginia describe rampant lawlessness by masked ICE agents, defiance of court orders and a wanton infliction of fear and intimidation by the federal government after the Trump administration deployed a targeted immigration enforcement operation in the state last month.

Iran is vowing vengeance against the U.S. and Israel and signaling to the world that its government is not about to collapse, despite airstrikes Saturday that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a cadre of other senior Iranian leaders. Into Sunday, Iranian forces launched missiles and drones at targets throughout the Middle East, including against U.S. bases in the region and Israel. Some of those targets were apprehended by British fighter jets, U.K. Defense Minister John Healey said Sunday. Kuwait’s military also said it intercepted many of the Iranian missiles fired at its airspace on Sunday.

Chief Pamela Smith said she will step down from her position leading D.C. police at the end of the month, telling reporters Monday, “It’s time.”  Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the move Monday morning, nearly two weeks after saying she herself would not seek a fourth term. 

Mexican authorities on Sunday said at least five people died and three more were injured after a car exploded near a police station in the restive western state of Michoacan. The explosion took place shortly before noon local time on Saturday in front of the police headquarters in the coastal city of Coahuayana, according to Mexico's Attorney General's Office, which has taken over investigation of the case.

Name a better flavor duo than chocolate and peanut butter. I’ll wait. The two are divine in ice cream, creamy spreads, layered desserts, chewy cookies, you name it. So earlier this month when Oreo and Reese’s announced they were collaborating on an Oreo x Reese’s cookie and a Reese’s x Oreo cup, I RACED (aka swiftly emailed the brands) to snag some more details. I was lucky enough to try some ahead of their official launch (work perks!), and I’m happy to report that this collaboration is everything I dreamed of and more.

President Donald J. Trump's administration is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to secure a durable peace based on credible security guarantees, beginning with a strong Ukraine and Europe, said Daniel L. Zimmerman, assistant secretary of war for international security affairs, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing today.

Six people, including a 5-year-old girl, were injured in a Baltimore shooting on Aug. 9. Baltimore police said they responded to the scene of the shooting at 8:46 p.m. Shots rang out at Spaulding and Queensbury Avenues, an intersection in northwestern Baltimore, police said in a statement on X. They called the incident a mass shooting.

Cambodia’s prime minister said on Thursday he has nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, lauding his “extraordinary statesmanship” in halting a border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. 

 QUITO, Ecuador — He says he was 18 years old when he first joined a gang in Ecuador a decade ago. Now a senior commander with a wife and kids, the man almost casually acknowledges he’s contributing to the deadly drug trade plaguing the country.