The cost is mounting for stranded travelers in the Middle East: ‘That’s a lot of money we were not intending to spend’ – Business Insider

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Lead: Tens of thousands of travelers were stranded in the United Arab Emirates after strikes on Iran disrupted regional air traffic beginning late February. Many passengers saw hotel stays and other living costs climb into the thousands while they waited for flights home. The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said on March 1 the … Read more

Lady Gaga Says She’ll Marry Michael Polansky ‘Soon’

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Lead On March 7, 2026, during Bruno Mars’ “Romantic Radio” livestream with iHeartRadio, Lady Gaga announced that she and her fiancé, Michael Polansky, are planning to get married “soon.” The brief prerecorded message came as the couple continue to travel together; Bruno Mars responded by dedicating a track to the pair. The remark reaffirmed earlier … Read more

Ukraine’s counter-drone expertise may prove a Middle East lifeline

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Lead Days into the 2026 Iran–Israel conflict, Ukrainian counter-drone know‑how is emerging as a sought‑after commodity. In March 2026, officials in Kyiv told partners across the Gulf they can share tactics and systems used to defeat massed Shahed one‑way attack drones. U.S. officials have privately described Iran’s Shahed barrages as a major operational challenge, and … Read more

Shrinking weapon stockpiles and regime-change uncertainty: doubts shadow US-Israel war on Iran

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A week-long bombing campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran in early March 2026 has produced heavy damage, high civilian casualties and growing questions inside Washington about the campaign’s strategic logic and logistics. Classified U.S. intelligence reviews completed in mid-February indicate a sustained air campaign is unlikely to dislodge Iran’s clerical and military … Read more

Anchorage Gears Up as Iditarod’s 54th Run Opens with Ceremonial Start

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The ceremonial start of the Iditarod’s 54th running filled downtown Anchorage with barking teams and cheering crowds on Saturday, a day before the official 1,000-mile competitive race begins. Organizers staged 11 miles (18 kilometers) of trails through the city for fans to greet mushers and dogs before the timed start on Sunday on a frozen … Read more

Gulf shutdowns widen Iran war energy shock

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Lead This week the Gulf energy system began to fracture as Qatar cut most LNG output and Iraq and Kuwait ordered shutdowns at major oilfields, constraining exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The closures are driven not solely by direct attacks but by an effective chokepoint blockade, which is leaving producers with few routes to … Read more

Iran’s president apologizes for strikes on neighbors even as missiles and drones target their cities – AP News

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On March 7, 2026, in Dubai, Iran’s interim president, Masoud Pezeshkian, issued an apology for attacks on “neighboring countries” even as missiles and drones were reported heading for Gulf Arab cities. The message came one week into a conflict set off by the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has … Read more

The ‘perfect metaphor’ for Trump’s ‘increasingly dire’ blunders – Alternet

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Lead President Donald Trump’s proposed expansion of a White House ballroom has stalled amid intense public backlash and regulatory delay. A final vote by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) was postponed to 2 April after officials received more than 32,000 responses, the bulk opposing the plan. Critics compared the design to a “brothel” or … Read more

Boston Symphony Board Ends Andris Nelsons’s Music Directorship

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Lead: On Friday, March 6, 2026, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced that its board would not continue Andris Nelsons’s tenure as music director, a decision that will take effect at the close of the 2027 Tanglewood season in summer 2027. The move, described by the orchestra’s leadership as a disagreement over the institution’s future direction, … Read more

‘Operation Epstein Distraction’: Trump’s bloody Iran ‘hype videos’ seem to target niche audience

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Lead: Over the first week of strikes on Iran, the White House and allied Trump administration accounts circulated short, fast-cut video edits that mix actual strike footage with clips from films and video games. The packages — set to pulsating rap and EDM tracks and trimmed to under a minute in many cases — appear … Read more