Lead A large observational study published on 18 March 2026 in BMJ Medicine by Washington University School of Medicine reports that interruptions in GLP‑1 therapy are linked to higher rates of heart attack, stroke and all‑cause death among adults with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers tracked electronic health records for more than 333,000 people with diabetes … Read more
Lead: The White House on March 18 issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act to ease domestic shipping of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and coal as the war with Iran has driven U.S. energy prices higher. The move, announced by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, is intended to speed deliveries to U.S. ports … Read more
The attack on Iran’s Pars gas field on March 18, 2026, sparked a sharp rise in global energy prices and heightened financial market volatility. Brent crude climbed roughly 5%, pushing prices above $108–$110 a barrel, while U.S. gasoline averages rose toward $3.86 per gallon. U.S. equity benchmarks fell, with the Dow and S&P 500 sliding … Read more
On March 18, 2026, Tehran announced strikes on the South Pars gas field and multiple oil facilities across the Gulf, including damage reported near a major LNG site in Qatar. The report, first filed at 11:43 AM UTC and updated at 7:53 PM UTC, coincided with sharp moves in energy markets: Brent crude rose 3.8% … Read more
On March 18, 2026, the Federal Open Market Committee issued a statement announcing it would keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.5 to 3.75 percent. The Committee said economic activity had been expanding at a solid pace while job gains remained low and the unemployment rate was largely unchanged. Officials described … Read more
Lead On 18 March 2026 Israeli forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon and met intense resistance from Hezbollah fighters in at least three strategic sectors, according to local residents and a Lebanese security source. Clashes have been concentrated around the hilltop city of Khiam and border villages such as Aita al-Chaab and Kafr Shouba, as … Read more
Lead: The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday issued a broad license allowing U.S. companies to transact with Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA, marking a major shift from years of strict sanctions as the Trump administration seeks to augment global oil supplies amid the ongoing war with Iran. The authorization permits PDVSA to sell oil directly to … Read more
Apple has issued the first iOS 26.4 release-candidate (RC) to testers and published detailed notes outlining 13 changes headed to iPhone. The RC suggests a public rollout as soon as next week, while developers continue beta work toward iOS 26.5 — expected to introduce the first Gemini-powered Siri and expanded Apple Intelligence features. Apple’s notes … Read more
Lead: The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement in the early hours of Wednesday in New York, ending an intense eight-day negotiating stretch. The agreement would raise the league salary cap to $7 million from $1.5 million, lift average player pay to about $600,000, and set minimum … Read more
Lead On a sweltering Friday in February, a select group of about 215 fans gathered at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood to see Miley Cyrus revive the character that launched her career. The event—filmed for an hourlong Hannah Montana 20th-anniversary special that premieres on Disney+ on March 24—mixed faithful performances of the original songs with … Read more
Lead Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl warned on March 18, 2026, that a rising rate of sick calls among Transportation Security Administration officers could force temporary airport closures across the United States. The surge followed a missed paycheck caused by a month-long partial federal shutdown, leaving roughly 50,000 officers working without pay and hundreds … Read more
Lead: The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at its March meeting, with the decision due at 2 p.m. ET on March 18, 2026. The announcement arrives amid a weak February jobs report that showed a net loss of 92,000 positions and a sudden spike in oil prices … Read more
Lead On 18 March 2026 children at the Joséphine Baker primary school in eastern Dijon discovered a remarkably well-preserved human skeleton seated upright at the bottom of a circular pit. Archaeologists from France’s Inrap say the body is one of several recently exposed in central Dijon that were intentionally buried in a seated position facing … Read more
Lead: On March 18, 2026, the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified: Iran reported strikes on the South Pars offshore gas field while Israel said an airstrike killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib. The attacks came after days of targeted strikes that have removed multiple senior Iranian officials and widened fighting into Lebanon, where Israeli … Read more
At Nvidia’s annual developer conference this week, CEO Jensen Huang pushed back on criticism of DLSS 5, the company’s latest upscaling tech that it describes as “neural rendering.” Huang told reporters that complaints the feature strips creative control are misplaced, and said developers retain hands-on control to tune outputs to their artistic intent. The new … Read more
