March 13, 2026

U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 14.

• Reports say at least one person was killed, and several others were injured, today when a large explosion occurred in Tehran's Ferdowsi Square where thousands of people were taking part in pro-Palestinian Quds Day demonstrations. [more]
• In a written statement that Iranian media attributed to the country's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said yesterday that Iran will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz to put pressure on the U.S. and Israel to end the war and will target coalition assets in the region while fighting continues. Reports note that Khamenei has not been seen in public since being appointed after his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the opening day of the Middle East war. [more]
• Four of six crew members aboard a U.S. military KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq yesterday have been found dead, according to U.S. Central Command. Military officials say the crash was not the result of hostile or friendly fire and that the incident remains under investigation. Reports cite leaders of a pro-Iran Iraqi militia as saying the plane was targeted with a missile – a contention that has not been confirmed. [more]
• At least one French soldier was killed, and four others were wounded, yesterday in a drone attack on a Kurdish military base in Iraq's Irbil region. [more]
• In the third such incident since the Middle East war began, NATO air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran over Turkey today. [more]
• The U.S. has announced plans to ease restrictions on the sale of sanctioned Russian oil currently stranded at sea as part of efforts to stabilize oil supplies amidst the ongoing war. The U.K., which has accused Russia and Iran of conspiring to "hijack the global economy," says it will not join the U.S. in easing sanctions on Russian oil, and the European Union has criticized the U.S. move as potentially affecting E.U. security amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. [more]
• U.N Secretary-General António Guterres is in Beirut, Lebanon, today in what he says is an act of solidarity with the Lebanese people who he claims have been dragged into the ongoing Middle East war. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,476 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine is awaiting word from the United States on a drone production agreement proposed by Kyiv last year that would see increased cooperative production of various types of drones and air defenses that operate as a single system to protect against swarms of Iranian-designed Shahed drones and missiles used by both Russia and Iran. [more]

U.S. TERROR ACTS | Two violent acts in the U.S. yesterday are being investigated as possible acts of terrorism potentially linked to the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran war:

• One person was killed, and two others were wounded, yesterday when a man identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone and U.S. military veteran, opened fire in an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Reports note that Jalloh, who was killed by ROTC students present during the attack, was convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide aid to the Islamic State militant group. [more]
• Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, drove a vehicle containing explosives into the Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan's Detroit-region West Bloomfield Township yesterday. Reports note that the explosives in Ghazali's vehicle did not detonate, that Ghazali was fatally shot by security officers at the synagogue, and that none of the synagogue’s staff, teachers, or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured in the attack. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In a downward revision of its economic growth estimate for the fourth quarter of 2025, the Commerce Department said today that the U.S. gross domestic product in the October-to-December period expanded at an annualized rate of 0.7% – down sharply from the 1.4% rate initially reported, and a much slower pace than the 4.4% in the third quarter. [full report] [more]

U.S. TARIFFS | As part of Trump administration efforts to impose new import tariffs after the president's earlier attempt was blocked by the Supreme Court, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced investigations into sixteen countries this week under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows a president to impose tariffs and other sanctions on countries engaged in "unjustifiable," "unreasonable" or "discriminatory" trade practices. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The Trump administration sued California pollution regulators yesterday, seeking to block long-standing state vehicle emission standards that are more strict than the federal government's standards. [more]

U.S. HOUSING BILL | The Senate voted 89-10 yesterday to approve a broad housing reform bill that would, among other things, give local governments more power on housing issues, allow expanded bank investment in affordable housing, lift some limits on public housing financing, and place new limitations on the purchase of single-family homes by institutional investors. The bill will now be considered by the House, which passed a similar, though different, measure earlier this year. [more]

U.S. WAR POWERS | Amidst reports of increased Trump administration focus on Cuba, Senate Democrats introduced a war powers resolution yesterday that would require congressional approval for any U.S. military attack on the Caribbean island nation. [more]

AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN | In the third week of active conflict between the two countries, both Afghanistan and Pakistan claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other. Afghanistan’s Taliban government said early today that at least six civilians were killed, and more than a dozen were injured, in overnight Pakistani airstrikes on the Afghan capital Kabul and in the southern and eastern provinces of Kandahar and Nangarhar. [more]

ISRAEL AND GAZA | The United States said in a filing to the International Court of Justice yesterday that South Africa's accusation that Israel was engaged in genocide against the Palestinian people through its military actions in Gaza is part of a "broader campaign” against Israel and the Jewish people “to justify or encourage terrorism against them.” [more]

CANADA | Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday announced a $24 billion ($32 billion Canadian) funding plan to strengthen and expand military forward operating locations and other infrastructure in northern Canada as part of efforts to increase Arctic region security. [more]

HAITI | Reports say a record 280 political parties have registered for Haiti's first general election in 10 years, though officials at the country's Provisional Electoral Council say not all parties will be allowed to participate. [more]

SPACE | Following necessary repairs, NASA says it has cleared its Space Launch System rocket for an April launch of the Artemis II mission to fly around the moon in preparation for later lunar orbiting and moon landing missions. [more]

BASKETBALL | Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points in last night's 104-102 win over the Boston Celtics, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive games with 20 points or more. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1925, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the Butler Act, which prohibited public schools from teaching the theory of evolution. The bill was challenged in court later that year in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, and Tennessee ultimately repealed the law in 1967. [more history]