Lead: GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin faced his confirmation hearing on March 18, 2026, before the Senate Homeland Security Committee as lawmakers debated whether he is fit to run the Department of Homeland Security. The session opened with sharp criticism from Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who accused Mullin of prior conduct unbecoming of a Cabinet-level official. … Read more
Lead: In the predawn hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, tied up the on-duty guards and walked away with 13 works of art, including paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer. The theft—still the largest art heist in U.S. history and commonly valued at … Read more
Lead In the third week of Operation Epic Fury (March 2026), inexpensive Iranian drones have been striking U.S. facilities and Gulf states while U.S. missile defenses attempt to intercept them. Journalists on the ground in Erbil and regional reports describe repeated drone overflights and frequent intercepts that often destroy drones before they reach intended targets. … Read more
Lead Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton was declared the projected winner of the Democratic primary for the US Senate on Tuesday night after a late surge in support, with roughly 90% of votes tallied, according to the Associated Press. The victory positions her to replace Senator Dick Durbin, 81, who is retiring after five terms. … Read more
Israeli officials said on Wednesday that an overnight strike killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, marking what Israel described as the third top Iranian death in two days, while Iran launched missile and drone strikes across the Gulf and at Israel. Iran retaliatory strikes used some of its newest multiple-warhead missiles, which Israeli authorities and … Read more
In the days leading up to ABC’s March 22 debut of The Bachelorette season 22, a mugshot of Taylor Frankie Paul circulated widely after being published by an entertainment outlet. The photograph traces back to an alleged February 2023 arrest tied to a domestic-violence accusation by her former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Paul and her representatives … Read more
Lead: Early on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in New York, the WNBA and the WNBA Players’ Association announced they have reached an agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Negotiators said the framework was settled after more than 100 hours of in-person talks over eight days, with a formal term sheet to … Read more
Lead: On March 18, 2026, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, announced that Israeli forces had killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, a claim Tehran had not confirmed as of publication. The announcement came a day after Israeli strikes that Tehran confirmed had killed Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani on March 17. Katz said the government … Read more
Lead: The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement early on March 18, 2026, in New York, concluding marathon talks at The Langham hotel. The accord comes 51 days before the league’s 30th season tipoff and follows more than 100 hours of in-person bargaining. … Read more
U.S. equity futures rose modestly early Wednesday as oil prices slipped and investors awaited a Federal Reserve policy announcement later in the day. Attention will pivot to after‑hours corporate news: memory maker Micron Technology (MU) is scheduled to report earnings after the close. Nvidia (NVDA) ticked higher after CEO Jensen Huang said the company is … Read more
Lead: Cinnabon has ended promotional partnerships with The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives after recent allegations involving reality star Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-partner, Dakota Mortensen, triggered a company review. The announcement came as local authorities in Draper, Utah, opened an inquiry into an incident between Paul and Mortensen. Production on … Read more
U.S. stock futures climbed on Wednesday as traders sized up the Federal Reserve’s policy decision due later in the day, while oil prices eased and global markets reacted to regional tensions. Dow futures rose about 240 points, or 0.5%, with S&P 500 futures up roughly 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 0.7%. West Texas Intermediate … Read more
Lead: On March 17, 2026, after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump indicating he might ‘do something with Cuba’ soon, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned any external aggression would face ‘impregnable resistance.’ The comments arrive amid acute energy shortages, island-wide blackouts and rising U.S. pressure that has included threats tied to oil shipments. Cuban officials … Read more
Lead President Donald Trump has been publicly weighing a high-risk ground operation to seize or destroy near-bomb‑grade nuclear material reportedly stored beneath a mountain in central Iran, officials and analysts say. The deliberations intensified in mid‑March 2026 after renewed U.S. warnings that Tehran was nearing a nuclear weapon capability. The potential mission, discussed in private … Read more
Lead: Astronomers report a newly characterized exoplanet, L 98-59 d, 35 light-years away, that combines a global molten mantle with a sulfur-rich atmosphere. Published in Nature Astronomy, the study—led by researchers at the University of Oxford—finds the roughly 1.6-times-Earth-sized world hosts a persistent magma ocean that stores large sulfur inventories. Observations from the James Webb … Read more
