“Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US National Intelligence, said that the United States intelligence community had assessed that Iran was not rebuilding its nuclear enrichment capabilities following US and Israeli attacks last year. The revelation on Wednesday appeared to undercut one of President Donald Trump’s key justifications for joining Israel in launching the latest war against Iran. Trump and his top officials have repeatedly cited Iran’s nuclear ambitions as one of the main reasons for abandoning ongoing diplomatic talks in favour of military action.” (03/18/26)
“The Trump administration said Thursday that it has launched investigations into 13 states that require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion. The probes are the latest in a long-running dispute between the political parties on how to interpret a provision, known as the Weldon Amendment, that’s included in federal spending laws each year. It bars states from discriminating against health entities that don’t provide, cover or refer for abortion. When Democrat Joe Biden was president, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ civil rights office said the provision didn’t pertain to employers or other health care sponsors. The Trump administration said this year that it does. The administration says that potentially puts states with abortion coverage requirements in violation of the law, because they may not allow employers or other health care issuers to opt out. It said it was sending out letters to gather more information from those states.” (03/19/26)
“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 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.” (03/18/26)
“President Trump said Wednesday that Israel will not conduct further attacks on Iran’s main natural gas facility. Trump’s comments that seem to be an effort to de-escalate the situation came hours after he green-lit the Israeli strike on the facility that marked a significant escalation in the war. The Israeli Air Force struck a natural gas processing facility in southwestern Iran on Wednesday. … Several hours later, the Iranian military conducted two missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City and hit natural gas facilities, QatarEnergy said in a statement.” (03/19/26)
“The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, marking the central bank’s second consecutive pause in 2026. In its policy statement, the Fed said U.S. economic uncertainty remains elevated, adding that the impact of the Iran war also remains unclear. The Fed maintained the federal funds rate — what banks charge each other for short-term loans — in its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The decision to keep rates steady was widely expected by investors.” (03/18/26)
“Ukraine’s military struck two Russian plants producing and repairing military transport and cargo planes in the Ulyanovsk and Novgorod regions, the Ukrainian general staff said on Wednesday. It said in a statement that the attack on the Aviastar plant, part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, in the city of Ulyanovsk, was carried out on 16 March. The plant produces Ilyushin-76MD-90A military transport planes, Ilyushin-78M-90A refueling planes, and provides maintenance for ‘Ruslan’ cargo planes, and is located about 800km (about 500 miles) from the Ukrainian border. … The attack on the 123rd aircraft maintenance plant in the city of Staraya Russia in the Novgorod region took place one day later, the general staff said.” (03/19/26)
“The FBI is investigating [sic] Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned earlier this week over opposition to the U.S. ongoing war with Iran, over allegedly leaking classified information, The Hill’s sister network confirmed on Wednesday. The agency’s [PR witch hunt] was [supposedly] underway before Kent, a top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, announced his resignation from the post on Tuesday, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S. and urging President Trump to change course regarding the Middle East conflict, a source told NewsNation. The FBI declined to comment when reached by The Hill.” ()3/18/26)
“The latest heavy fighting between warring parties along Sudan ’s border with Chad has killed 17 people and many wounded, a medical group said. The attacks on Monday in Tina left 66 people in serious condition, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, said in a post on X late Tuesday. The army said in an update that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, had expanded its attacks on military areas in Tina, but that troops were able to repel them and forced them to withdraw.” (03/18/26)
“Cryptocurrency payments and gift card platform Bitrefill has blamed the North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus for a cyberattack on March 1, 2026, that compromised parts of its infrastructure and cryptocurrency wallets. The attackers gained access to production keys, transferred funds from hot wallets, and exposed 18,500 purchase records containing emails, payment addresses, and IP addresses. Approximately 1,000 records included encrypted usernames. Affected users were notified. Operations have resumed, with the company announcing to cover losses from operational capital. The incident underscores the importance of vigilance regarding crypto and on-chain security.” (03/18/26)
“The Pentagon is making plans to have AI companies train versions of their models specifically for military use on classified information, according to the MIT Technology Review. If true, it wouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing as the US is aiming to become an ‘AI-first’ warfighting force, based on the statement released by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this year. The department is already using AI models in the military: For instance, the US reportedly used Anthropic’s Claude to help with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and with its attack on Iran, even after President Trump ordered federal agencies to ban its technology. But models trained on actual classified data could give more accurate and detailed responses, say, for situations similar to what happened in the past that aren’t public information.” (03/18/26)
