Two Indian-flagged tankers together carrying over 92,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas have arrived at ports in Gujarat state after safely passing through the Strait of Hormuz. New Delhi has been negotiating with Iran, but the government denies discussing the possible release of Iranian tankers it seized in February as part of the bargain. Meanwhile, global crude prices jumped again amid new Iranian attacks on the UAE.
02 U.S. Politics
Labor group cancels Cesar Chavez events over ‘profoundly shocking’ new allegations– www.theblaze.com
Cesar Chavez has been lauded by Mexican-Americans as an iconic labor leader who fought for farmworkers’ rights in the 1960s, but his legacy may be marred by growing allegations of “profoundly shocking” behavior.
Several celebrations of Cesar Chavez Day, which is observed March 31, have been canceled across the country by the United Farm Workers, an organization Chavez co-founded.
‘These allegations have been profoundly shocking. We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it.’
The union said in a letter Tuesday that the claims against Chavez were “incompatible” with the organization’s values.
Nearly three weeks into a war against a crazed theocracy, the political and media focus has been, like a complaining child in the back seat of a car on a long trip, “When will it be over?”
This ridiculous impatience is a product of a Democrat opposition to Operation Epic Fury that will exploit every misstep, whether occurring out of strategy, operations, rhetoric, or unintended consequences. It is akin to getting a work assignment that the employer and employee both know will only reasonably produce results after weeks of long hours, at minimum, but nonetheless getting harangued by the boss every day: “You’re not done yet!?”
Now, the boss may be just an intolerable micro-manager, or he may be trying to get you to quit out of frustration. But it’s fairly certain, given the Democrat decades-long foreign policy record, that productive oversight of the conflict is not their goal.
Between the now ascendant neo-Marxist left and the “river-to-the-sea” crowd, the Democrat war objectives are clear: sabotage.
Ali Larijani was the head of Iran’s Security Council and a key voice in the ear of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Gholamreza Soleimani was the head of the Basij militia. Both were pillars of Iran’s security apparatus. If they have indeed been taken out, the question is who replaces them, and will they take Iran down an even more hardline path?
The death of Iran‘s key figure Ali Larijani raises more questions than answers.
First, Israel says it has killed him in an air strike, but Tehran has yet to confirm or deny.
While Israel and the United States rejoice and call on the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow what is left of their Islamic leadership, the reality on the ground is less certain. The systematic killing of the leaders of Iran since February 28 has created a vacuum in Tehran.
The fear among analysts is that the space will be filled by regime insiders who will be hardened and more radical.
Larijani was the lead negotiator at the now aborted talks to find a peaceful way forward.
A group of House Republicans aims to use environmental restrictions to curb the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, which anti-abortion advocates say contaminates the water supply with human remains from at-home abortions.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced a new bill Wednesday with nine GOP cosponsors that would do away with telehealth access to abortion medications and require in-person screening before a doctor could dispense the pills.
The bill would also require patients undergoing a medication abortion at home to use a catch-kit to collect the fetal remains and other pregnancy tissue, including the placenta and blood clots, to be disposed of as medical waste by the prescribing medical team.
Miller’s bill, the “Clean Water for All Life Act,” is being championed by the anti-abortion advocacy group Students for Life of America, which has advanced the argument that the proliferation of medication abortion in recent years has tainted the drinking water supply with human fetal remains and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
The results are in.
On Tuesday night, Illinois voters headed to the polls for the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The race was between farmer and two-time Republican Gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, and real estate developer and owner Rick Heidner
The race was not close at all, and Bailey came out on top.
Newsweek reported more on the results and gave insight if Repiblicans have a chance to flip the Governor’s seat:
Darren Bailey won the Illinois Republican primary on Tuesday and will now face Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in the November election. Polling on the race is pretty threadbare at the moment, but prediction markets aren’t hopeful Republicans can win.
The Republican primary left the party at a crossroads, with voters deciding between putting state Senator Darren Bailey up against Pritzker despite his huge loss in 2022 or putting up a lesser-known candidate. Pritzker has easily won both of his elections. But gubernatorial control in Illinois jostles back and forth between political parties, making it a long shot for Republicans, though not out of the realm of possibility.
On Tuesday, Bailey won the GOP primary with 48.8 percent of the vote when the race was called. He beat out Ted Dabrowski, James Mendrick and Rick Heidner. All four campaigned on affordability, crime and dissatisfaction with Pritzker’s leadership, but they differed sharply in background, tone and strategy as they tried to emerge from a low‑budget, relatively quiet primary.
There’s only been one general election poll for Illinois governor, which was conducted months ago, in November. Performed by Victory Research, a majority of those polled said they’d vote for Pritzker in a head-to-head matchup against the individual candidates. Over 54 percent said they would vote for Pritzker in a matchup with Bailey.
Given the timing of that poll, it’s not a great indicator of how people plan to vote moving forward. But prediction markets are also putting the race in Democrats’ favor.
FBI Opens Office in Ecuador as U.S. Strengthens Security Relations The Presidential Prayer Team
from news.google.com
Federal Judge Shreds Trump’s Tina Peters Retaliation Campaign Colorado Pols
from news.google.com
High-profile attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have epitomized Iran’s hit-and-run response to superior American and Israeli firepower, but analysts warn that Tehran’s asymmetric strategy isn’t limited to guns, bombs or the physical geography of the battlefield.
from www.washingtontimes.com
The concept of freedom of the press isn’t ruined by criticism of the press. But when liberal TV hosts roll out their lectures, they sound a little like the president they routinely attack. Any criticism of their work must be Fake News.
MS NOW host Ana Cabrera expressed indignation on March 16 after FCC chairman Brendan Carr tweeted that broadcast stations should watch what they’re airing on the war in Iran: “Freedom of the press has been such a huge, huge underpinning of the democracy in this country, right? In order to hold people in power accountable to be that government watchdog.” But Carr is “squashing” press freedom with a simple tweet.
NPR media reporter David Folkenflik lamented Carr wanted to “get in the weeds of what’s said,” but allowed that “you can argue there are good principles involved about wanting to make sure certain kinds of coverage is fair to all sides” – yet the government shouldn’t interfere.
MS NOW host Ana Cabrera freaked out at Brendan Carr tweets, arguing press freedom is a huge underpinning of democracy. He’s quashing it! NPR’s David Folkenflik says Carr’s FCC wants to “get in the weeds of what’s said.” Yes! Much of what they say would fit the weeds metaphor. pic.twitter.com/7GATuVWf8X
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) March 17, 2026
How the Supreme Court’s Tariff Ruling Could Save the Civil Service Washington Monthly
from news.google.com
One of the most poorly kept political secrets in modern times is that Democrats just love themselves some unfettered illegal immigration.
Sure, they’ll never outright admit to it — that would be tantamount to political suicide — but actions speak louder than words, and when it comes to illegal immigration, Democrats have practically been screaming at the top of their lungs of late.
The million (billion? trillion?) dollar question, then, is why?
Look, anyone with a room-temperature IQ can tell you that Democrats are trying to “import voters.”
The common criticism is that Dems, alongside all of their unpopular ideas, can’t win over the average American on policy. Instead of changing those unpopular policies, however, Democrats seem far more intent on simply bringing in more agreeable voters.
But it’s not quite so surface-level, as Border Czar Tom Homan so eloquently — and worryingly — pointed out during a Fox News appearance on Tuesday.
WATCH: Tom Homan says Dems and Biden “sold this country out for future political power” by importing millions of illegals to swell blue states.
As blue state populations increased, Dems would get more House seats and electoral votes.
Pittsburgh police officers did not intervene as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents struggled to detain a suspect near a police station, and claims circulated that officers were told to stand down.
Pittsburgh Police Chief Jason Lando said he is not aware of any order directing officers not to act and has launched an administrative review into the incident.
“To that end, I was recently made aware of an incident that occurred in front of the Zone 3 police station where ICE agents were struggling to take someone into custody,” Lando said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh reported that the incident unfolded as ICE agents attempted to detain a suspect near the Zone 3 station, when the individual began fighting and kicking ICE agents.
Dr Dorsey pointed out that there may also be a hardening of the lines on both sides of the war following the security chief’s death.
“You could see Israel, the United States, seeing this as a major body blow that sets the stage for trying to finish Iran off,” he said.
Already, Iran has retaliated for the assassination of its security chief, targeting Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads, which are difficult to intercept.
Larijani’s death is also likely to lend more power to the more radical leaders and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said Dr Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar.
“As an insider with deep connections within the Islamic Republic’s deep state and with impeccable revolutionary credentials, he would have been indispensable to any decision to end the current war,” Dr Kamrava told CNA.
“His death is likely to strengthen the hands of President Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Araghchi on the one hand, and the more radical, less compromising commanders of the Revolutionary Guards on the other.”
Senate Republicans have issued a brutal response to Democrats who have refused to vote in favor of the common-sense election integrity measures laid out in the SAVE America Act.
.@SenJohnBarrasso: “You need to present a photo I.D. to buy a beer, to board a plane, and to do so many other things that are part of American life—why not to vote?… The SAVE America Act is the best way to secure and safely provide elections that represent the viewpoints of the… pic.twitter.com/37zyS8rUar
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2026
.@LeaderJohnThune on the SAVE America Act: “Pretty much everything you do in your daily life involves showing an I.D., whether it’s opening a bank account, getting a hotel room, picking up prescription drugs… These are things that are just basic, fundamental aspects of our… pic.twitter.com/ayetSntNrB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2026
SENATOR CRUZ: “You need a photo ID to enroll in college. You need a photo ID to open a bank account. You need a photo ID to check into a hotel.”
“And I got to admit, this is my personal favorite: You need a photo ID — actually, two photo IDs — to shovel snow in New York City.” pic.twitter.com/mdcUCuJdyn
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 17, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) just stormed the Senate floor with COMMON SENSE amendments to the SAVE America Act
The amended bill will:
1. Require voter ID
2. Require citizenship
3. No rigged mail-in voting
4. No men in women’s spots
5. No transgender mutilation of kids… pic.twitter.com/dLjxNLZqsU— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 17, 2026
OPINION
Homosexuals and gender-confused individuals should embrace “queer joy” as a way to withstand attacks from “white Christian nationalists,” according to a University of Kansas law professor.
“I contend that queer joy as resistance is just one strategy for resistance, one that ought to be pursued alongside other tactics of resistance,” Professor Kyle Velte argues in a paper published on SSRN.
Velte lists a number of supposed infringements on the “rights” of LGBT people.
Among these are Supreme Court rulings that found artists, such as bakers and website designers, cannot be forced by the state to use their skills to promote so-called same-sex “marriage.” The law professor also criticized the 2021 case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia which affirmed social service providers cannot be forced to place kids in same-sex households.
“The impact of these decision[s] means that some vendors and faith-based social service agencies may refuse to serve LGBTQ people,” Velte wrote.
During Tuesday morning’s cable news morning shows on MS NOW and CNN, blame was placed on Republicans for the lasting DHS shutdown caused by Democrat protests of immigration enforcement and ICE funding. The hosts of CNN This Morning, CNN News Central, and, of course, MS NOW’s Morning Joe ignored the Democrats’ impact on the shutdown, a growing media trend.
In a tease for the News Central segment, CNN This Morning host Audie Cornish teed up the story as a Republican attack on Democrats:
Okay, you guys, we want to talk a little bit more about the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security enters another week and as we mentioned earlier, very long lines at the airport as a result. So, Republicans want voters to blame Democrats. We’re going to talk about how this is going to play out.
In a tease for CNN News Central, CNN This Morning host Audie Cornish minimized the Democrats impact on the DHS shutdown and impacts to the TSA.
Instead, she stated “Republicans want voters to blame Democrats” for the shutdown. pic.twitter.com/UWdcdOu6s9
— Nick (@nspin310) March 17, 2026
Iraq says targeting US Embassy in Baghdad is ‘terrorist assault’ on country’s sovereignty Anadolu Ajansı
from news.google.com
A quick look at state legislative sessions across the country shows it’s clearly that time of year again for gun control advocates. Like the critters in a game of Whack-A-Mole, proposals to further restrict the right to keep and bear arms are popping up for consideration in state after state, needing to be (metaphorically) bopped back down by defenders of the Second Amendment.
As I recently explained to Minnesota state legislators, gun control advocates’ preferred policies do little more than scapegoat peaceable and lawful gun owners while completely missing the point — most violent crimes are committed by a small subset of repeat offenders who are already prohibited from owning any guns, at all. Those criminals aren’t likely to comply with new laws making it doubly illegal for them to possess a certain type of firearm. Even then, it wouldn’t matter because criminals could just as easily use “featureless” versions of the same guns (which, again, they still can’t lawfully possess) to carry out their crimes.
At the same time, gun control advocates often downplay (or even outright ignore) the fact that law-abiding Americans routinely rely on their right to keep and bear arms to defend themselves and others from actual violent criminals who ignore gun control restrictions. A 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that almost every study on the issue has found that between 500,000 and several million defensive gun uses occur every year in the United States. An extensive 2021 national survey conducted by a Georgetown professor further substantiated this reality, concluding that Americans used their firearms defensively an average of 1.2 million times a year.
Fox News Digital revealed other Republicans former special counsel Jack Smith targeted during his investigation into President Donald Trump.
We already know that Smith tracked and targeted over 400 Republicans, including senators.
The new emails exposed a spiderweb containing members of the House and Senate who had contact with the main people in Smith’s investigation, such as Trump, Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani:
New names within the emails obtained by Fox News Digital include Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I’d like to seek [the Public Integrity Section’s] concurrence to get phone tolls for several MOCs who had contact with pertinent parties in our investigation,” wrote DOJ lawyer Timothy Duree. “I’ll keep the timeframe tight—probably October 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021.”
Duree produced 16 names and said he wanted to discuss whether to “subpoena these all at once.” The list included Reps. Babin and Biggs and now former Reps. Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Zeldin and Jody Hice. The list also included Gohmert’s chief of staff Connie Hair, and seven senators whose names were previously revealed through public disclosures, such as Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Chile National Prosecutor Ángel Valencia on Monday requested U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to interrogate Nicolás Maduro about the assassination of exiled Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda.
Valencia traveled to Washington and had a work meeting with Bondi, seeking to strengthen security cooperation between Chile and the United States as well as cooperation in the fight against organized crime. The Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office detailed that the first topic addressed by Valencia and Bondi was the prosecution of money laundering and the protection of the two countries’ financial systems.
The second subject, Valencia said, was to continue strengthening Chile’s cooperation with the United States regarding the pursuit of Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the “Aragua Pirates,” a TdA faction operating in Chile, as well as prosecution of crimes committed by “associated gangs in our country, such as the murder of Lieutenant Ronald Ojeda.”
President Donald Trump’s new nominee for secretary of homeland security, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., prepares to appear before the Senate, Democrats continue to keep the Department of Homeland Security shut down.
“It’s extremely disappointing that Democrats are once again putting petty politics over the safety and security of our nation,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal.
Pfluger, a House Homeland Security Committee member who chairs the subcommittee on cybersecurity, spoke to The Daily Signal before Mullin’s Wednesday appearance on Capitol Hill.
Mullin will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning. The Oklahoma senator is Trump’s choice to replace former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
As a kid from Westville, it has been the greatest honor and privilege to serve the people of Oklahoma for the past thirteen years in both the House and Senate.
I am grateful to President Trump for nominating me to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I look forward to…
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) March 5, 2026
The House oversight commitee subpoenaed attorney general Pam Bondi on Tuesday, requesting her to appear for a deposition on the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, and compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act – the legislation which resulted in the justice department releasing millions of pages of documents related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s cases.
In a letter, chair James Comer requested Bondi’s appearance before the committee on 14 April.
Earlier this month, five oversight Republicans voted with Democrats and approved a motion to subpoena Bondi.
Separately, Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, will provide a private briefing for committee members on Wednesday.
I recently reported that there was a sudden lull in Chinese jet incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, which had a variety of possible explanations.
Whatever inspired the brief break has ended, and the Chinese have returned with quite the display.
The ministry detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island on Saturday, with 16 of them entering its northern, central and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone. Seven naval ships were spotted around the island, it reported.
The increased number of aircraft came after the ministry reported a fall that left analysts scratching their heads about what China’s military may be up to.
Taiwan didn’t report any Chinese military planes that went beyond the median line and entered the zone for a week from Feb. 27 to March 5. After two were detected on March 6, the next four days had none. Such flights resumed in small numbers between Wednesday and Friday.
🚨🇨🇳🇹🇼 FLASH | La Chine a encerclé Taïwan avec 26 avions de combat et 7 navires de guerre. pic.twitter.com/i57dhsTvoN
— Novia News (@NoviaNewsGroup) March 16, 2026
Bank of America has tentatively settled a lawsuit claiming it ignored suspicious financial transactions involving Jeffrey Epstein while he was sexually abusing hundreds of girls and women.
The proposed settlement was revealed in filings in Manhattan federal court on Monday, the same day that billionaire financier Leon Black was originally scheduled to be deposed in the case. Terms were not disclosed. The bank declined to comment through a spokesperson.
Though not a defendant, Black was recently described as a “critical witness” in the case by Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Epstein victims.
During a hearing last week, a lawyer for Black persuaded Judge Jed S. Rakoff to postpone Black’s deposition for 10 days on the grounds that the parties were close to settling. The lawyer, Michael Carlinsky, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
As Trump ramps up pressure on Cuba, China has ‘very limited options’ South China Morning Post
from news.google.com
Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that the country would escalate its war against Iran, and its parallel assault on the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, clearly signaling an escalation of the conflict in the heart of the Middle East.
“The intensity of attacks in Iran is increasing. We are in the midst of achieving a decisive outcome,” Katz said in his video message, shared on social media.
“Israel’s policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity, and all are targeted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the IDF to neutralize any senior Iranian official for whom an intelligence and operational opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval. We will continue to intercept and hunt them all,” he said.
“Significant surprises are also expected throughout today across all arenas, which will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Trump was informed most ‘allies’ won’t help with Hormoz. Says US doesn’t need help anyway investingLive
from news.google.com