March 17, 2026
U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | U.S. VOTING AND CITIZENSHIP | U.S. IMMIGRATION | U.S. VACCINATIONS | U.S. TRAVEL | KENNEDY CENTER | U.S. AND CHINA | AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN | CUBA | NIGERIA | HAITI | ECUADOR | CHILE | ASIAN ENERGY | BASEBALL | TODAY IN HISTORY
U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 18.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today that top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij militia, were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. [more]
- U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday criticized allies which he said have refused his request to provide military assistance in re-opening the Strait of Hormuz. Reports note that Germany, Italy, Australia, Spain, France, and Japan are among the countries believed to have said they will not support the effort with warships. [more]
- In an interview today, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for the U.S. and Israel to end the war with Iran, said that Europe may still participate in efforts to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, likely through diplomatic efforts, and noted that the E.U. is consulting with Gulf-region countries on potential ways to bring the Middle East war to an end. [more]
- As U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran continue, Iran has targeted facilities in numerous Gulf nations today, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. [more]
- In a new analysis published today, the World Food Programme suggests that up to 45 million additional people could be pushed into acute hunger this year if the Middle East war continues through June due to delays in humanitarian aid shipments and increased food, oil, and shipping costs. [more]
- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said today that Beijing is offering emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq due to issues arising from the ongoing Middle East war. Details on the amount or nature of the assistance were not announced. [more]
U.S. VOTING AND CITIZENSHIP | The U.S. Senate is expected to begin consideration as early as today on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act that would, among other things, require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and mandate presentation of approved identification when actually voting. President Donald Trump has said the measure would "guarantee the midterms" for the Republican Party in the upcoming November elections, while opponents of the bill say it would infringe on the constitutional right of states to set their own election procedures and disenfranchise millions of American voters who don’t have birth certificates or other proof-of-citizenship documents readily available. [more]
U.S. IMMIGRATION | The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear arguments next month on the Trump administration's efforts to end temporary protected legal immigration status for some 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,000 people from Syria. Reports note that the Court, in a previous ruling, allowed the administration to end TPS for a total of 600,000 people from Venezuela while related lawsuits play out. [more]
U.S. VACCINATIONS | Boston-based U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy said yesterday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in remaking the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and temporarily blocked federal health officials from reducing the number of vaccines recommended for every child. Department of Health and Human Services officials say they intend to appeal the ruling. [more]
U.S. TRAVEL | Amidst the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, just over 10% of Transportation Security Administration airport security officers did not show up for work on Sunday, according to DHS officials. Reports note that TSA officers are among those expected to work without pay during the shutdown, which has now entered its second month. [more]
KENNEDY CENTER | At a meeting hosted by President Donald Trump yesterday, the board of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC, voted to shut down venue operations for two years while its buildings, which Trump has called "dilapidated," undergo renovations. [more]
U.S. AND CHINA | Following trade talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Paris yesterday, Chinese international trade representative Li Chenggang said China is concerned that tariff-related U.S. investigations into manufacturing in foreign countries could "interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-U.S. economic and trade relations." Bessent characterized the talks as "constructive" and as showing "the stability in the relationship" between the U.S. and China. [more]
AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN | Afghan officials say at least 400 people were killed overnight in a Pakistani airstrike on a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul. Pakistani officials have denied the Afghan reports, calling them propaganda, and said their airstrikes in the region have only targeted military facilities. [more]
CUBA | In the third such incident in the past four months, Cuban government officials yesterday reported a nearly nationwide disruption of the country's electrical system. State-owned media reported that, as of last night, power had been restored to about 5% of Havana's residents and to several hospitals across the Caribbean island nation. [more]
NIGERIA | Emergency officials say at least 23 people were killed, and more than 100 others were injured, last night in three suspected suicide bombing attacks in the city of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but reports note that the Islamic State-backed Boko Haram militant group has been responsible for similar incidents in the region previously. [more]
HAITI | U.N. human rights official William O’Neill said yesterday that "the next few months are going to be crucial" for Haiti as a 5,500-member U.N.-backed force begins to deploy to the Caribbean island nation as part of efforts to tackle pervasive gang violence. [more]
ECUADOR | Amidst ongoing large-scale anti-cartel operations, officials in Ecuador say 75,000 soldiers and police officers have been deployed to four provinces – Guayas, El Oro, Los Rios, and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas – where a nightly curfew has been in place since Saturday. [more]
CHILE | Newly installed Chilean President José Antonio Kast yesterday announced the start of construction of a border barrier along his country's northern frontier as part of efforts to reduce illegal immigration and drug trafficking. [more]
ASIAN ENERGY | Amidst potential oil and energy shortages associated with the ongoing Middle East war, various policies aimed at conserving fuel have been introduced in a number of Asian nations, including: Sir Lanka has declared every Wednesday a holiday for public institutions, Myanmar is allowing private vehicle operation only on alternates days depending on their license plate numbers, Bangladesh has introduced planned power blackouts, and Vietnam has urged citizens to restrict unnecessary personal vehicle use. [more]
BASEBALL | Venezuela beat Italy, 4-2, last night to advance to tonight's final of the World Baseball Classic tournament, in which they will face the United States. [more]
TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1992, nearly 69 percent of white South African voters backed President F.W. de Klerk's reforms—which included the repeal of racially discriminatory laws—and effectively endorsed the dismantling of apartheid. [more history]