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U.S. equity indices opened lower on Friday, March 20, 2026, as investors prepared for a major options expirations session and weighed escalating Middle East tensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 86 points (about 0.2%), the S&P 500 fell roughly 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped about 0.5%. Oil prices remained elevated—Brent near $108.16 a … Read more

The NCAA tournaments resume Friday after a first day defined by upsets, tight finishes and a handful of marquee tests for top seeds. On the men’s side mid-majors carried momentum into the Round of 64 while several power-conference favorites were pushed harder than expected. The women’s tournament also begins, with top squads such as Texas, … Read more

Lead As the conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran entered its third week around the Persian new year (Nowruz), energy markets reacted sharply: Brent crude climbed to about $110 a barrel while key Gulf shipping lanes remained effectively closed. Israeli forces carried out strikes east of Tehran, and Iran responded with missile and … Read more

March 20, 2026 — Iran carried out strikes that damaged a major Kuwaiti oil refinery and set off explosions over Tehran on Friday, officials and media said, in a dramatic escalation nearly three weeks after the conflict began on Feb. 28. The attacks came as Iranians observed Nowruz and regional air defenses intercepted incoming fire … Read more

Lead: On March 19, 2026 (updated March 20), global bullion traded near $4,660 an ounce as investors pushed gold toward its steepest weekly decline in six years. The selloff—exceeding a 7% drop for the week—followed a spike in crude, natural gas and fuel prices tied to the war in the Middle East. Rising energy costs … Read more

Jill Duggar Dillard issued her first public response after her brother Joseph Duggar was arrested on Mar. 18, 2026, on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior involving a minor. The arrest followed a report to investigators and a forensic interview in which a now-14-year-old victim said misconduct occurred when she was 9 during a family … Read more

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged three men tied to server maker Supermicro with conspiring to divert advanced Nvidia AI chips into China in violation of U.S. export controls. The indictment alleges the defendants moved roughly $2.5 billion in servers through a Southeast Asia intermediary and that $510 million worth of those servers containing banned B200 … Read more

March 20, 2026 — Travelers encountered unusually long and erratic security lines on Friday as many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees worked without pay amid a partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse. Major hubs including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental reported waits ranging from two hours to more than three hours, … Read more

Lead: Health chiefs in Kent are responding to an outbreak of meningitis that has reached 29 confirmed cases as students line up for vaccination. The family of sixth-form pupil Juliette — who died after falling ill following a school day — issued a public statement on the morning of the response, published at 08:30 GMT. … Read more

March 19, 2026 22:24 UTC — Updated March 20, 2026 11:29 UTC Markets in Asia were poised to open steadier after U.S. equities pared earlier declines following a renewed bout of risk-off trading sparked by turmoil in the Middle East. S&P 500 futures were down about 0.4% as the benchmark moved toward a fourth consecutive … Read more

Lead: Since the war that began on Feb. 28, 2026, Yousef Pezeshkian — a 44-year-old physics Ph.D., college professor and adviser to President Masoud Pezeshkian — has posted a daily Telegram diary mixing personal detail and political observation. His entries, read by reporters including Farnaz Fassihi, describe a leadership under pressure as multiple senior figures … Read more

Lead The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament opened with 64 teams vying for a single national title, and the first weekend delivered both routine wins and shocking upsets. The field features heavy representation from the SEC (10 teams), the Big Ten (9) and the Big 12 (8); Duke entered as the No. 1 overall seed … Read more

Lead Iran is reportedly building a vetting and registration system for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz as it shifts from indiscriminate closure threats to a more selective, controlled approach. Lloyd’s List and other maritime sources say Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is designing a pre-approval process tied to a newly emerged ‘‘safe corridor.’’ … Read more

Lead: NASA has begun rolling its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule back out to launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, ahead of a planned crewed lunar flyby with an earliest window on 1 April 2026. Engineers started the move at 8pm local time and expect the transfer to … Read more

On 20 March 2026, Israel carried out airstrikes on Tehran while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly suggested a need for a “ground component” in operations against Iran. At the same time, multiple reports — not yet independently verified — say the US is weighing occupying or blockading Kharg Island to reopen the strait of Hormuz. … Read more