National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Emergency playbook for worldwide crises quietly released: ‘Get ready for lockdown 2.0’ | 24 March 2026 | The quiet release of an emergency energy playbook has sparked global concern, with some warning to “get ready for lockdown 2.0” if fuel shortages worsen. The guidance comes from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which last week released its report “Sheltering From Oil Shocks” outlining 10 steps countries could take if supplies tighten. The report was issued in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East… Among the recommendations are expanding remote work where possible, reducing highway speed limits and cutting back on air travel to limit strain on global supplies. The IEA also suggests shifting travel from private cars to public transportation and restricting vehicle access in major cities on alternating days based on license plates… Beyond road transport, the report warns that aviation, household energy use and industry must also adapt if shortages worsen.

Pentagon expected ​to send thousands of soldiers from U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to Middle East | 24 March 2026 | The Pentagon is expected ​to send thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two ‌people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, adding to a massive U.S. military buildup even as President Donald Trump talks about a possible deal with Tehran to end the war. Reuters first reported on March 18 that Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of additional U.S. troops, a move that would expand options ​to include deployment of forces inside Iranian territory. The soldiers ​are stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One of the sources said the Pentagon was set to send between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers.

Trump ‘seeking one-month ceasefire in Iran’ as U.S. submits 15-point peace plan | 24 March 2026 | President Donald Trump is seeking a one-month ceasefire with Iran and has submitted a 15-point peace plan as Washington hunts for a swift offramp from the war. Middle East envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are working on a framework involving “the declaration of a monthlong ceasefire period, during which the sides would negotiate,” sources told Israel’s Channel 12. The 15-point plan, modeled on Trump’s Gaza deal, was confirmed by two officials briefed on the talks, the New York Times reported. It includes Iran dismantling all of its nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, as well as opening the Strait of Hormuz, and abandoning its ties to proxy terror groups across the Middle East. The proposal outlines reciprocal benefits for Iran, including assistance with advancing its civilian nuclear program, as well as lifting all sanctions imposed by the international community.

America’s $100 million F-35 fighter jet is hit by Iranian fire and forced into heart-stopping emergency landing –This marks the first time an American F-35 has been successfully struck by enemy fire in combat | 19 March 2026 | Iran’s military claimed a symbolic victory on Thursday as it aired footage purporting to show a U.S. F-35 stealth fighter being struck by anti-aircraft artillery. A black and white video shows what appears to be a U.S. jet being hit by a missile before the footage abruptly ends. It would mark the first time an American F-35 has been successfully struck by enemy fire in combat. U.S. Central Command confirmed that the fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing after sources said it was shot by Iran. “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Captain Tim Hawkins said.

Pentagon asks White House for $200Billion as Trump considers deployment of thousands of troops for next phase in war with Iran | 18 March 2026 | The Pentagon has requested 200billion for the war in Iran as President Trump considers deploying thousands of more troops to the region. The development signaled a potential new phase in the conflict as the U.S. works to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing bombings. The funding request comes after a study concluded that the U.S. has spent around 3.7 billion, or 891.4 million a day, on wartime efforts in the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury, rising to 11 billion in the first week alone. The Trump administration is considering sending thousands of troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, a U.S. official ​and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options as he weighs expanding US operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.

Israel to occupy southern Lebanon – Defense Minister | 24 March 2026 | The Israeli military will occupy parts of southern Lebanon to deal with the presence of Hezbollah militants in the area, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said. The effort would involve the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and destruction of civilian infrastructure, he added. Israel started a military campaign against Hezbollah in early March after the Lebanese-based militants launched waves of strikes on the Jewish state. The strikes were a retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran launched on February 28. According to Katz, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani” — a river 30 to 40 kilometers north of Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.

‘Like in Gaza’: Defense Minister Says Israel Will Flatten Homes in Lebanese Border Villages | 22 March 2026 | Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that, under orders from him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the IDF will accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in frontline villages along the border, “in line with the model we applied in Gaza’s Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” which have been largely flattened. He added that the IDF would destroy all bridges south of the Litani River “used for Hezbollah terrorist activity.” Katz said the IDF is continuing its ground offensive in Lebanon “with full force” and will continue to facilitate the evacuation of residents of southern Lebanon north of the Litani River. Meanwhile, the IDF said it “has begun a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah in south Lebanon.

Trump approved Iran operation after Netanyahu argued for joint killing of Khamenei | 23 March 2026 | Less than 48 hours before the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone to President Donald Trump about the reasons for launching the kind of complex, far-off war the American leader once had campaigned against. Both Trump and Netanyahu knew from intelligence briefings earlier in the week that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his key lieutenants would soon meet at his compound in Tehran, ​making them vulnerable to a “decapitation strike” — an attack against a country’s top leaders often used by Israelis but traditionally less so by the United States. But new intelligence suggested that the meeting had been moved forward to Saturday morning from Saturday night, according to three people briefed on the call. The call has not been previously reported.

Europe tells Trump Iran is ‘not our war’ | 18 March 2026 | When President Donald Trump asked countries to join a global effort against Iran and deploy ships to prise open the Strait ​of Hormuz, whose near closure has held the global economy in a vice, he was rebuffed by some of America’s closest allies. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told German lawmakers on Wednesday he agreed Iran must not be allowed ‌to pose a threat to its neighbours but expressed doubts about the rationale behind the U.S.-Israeli war. “…Therefore, we have declared that as long as the war continues, we will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, for example, by military means.” Merz’s Defence ⁠Minister Boris Pistorius was just as direct as his boss on Monday: “This is not our war, we have not started it.” Echoing Germany’s stance, French President Emmanuel Macron also said “We are not party to the conflict.”

Suspicious package at U.S. Air Force base overseeing Iran operations had ‘possible energetic materials’ | 19 March 2026 | A suspicious package found outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida contained “possible energetic materials,” the FBI has announced. Energetic materials are substances that store large amounts of chemical energy and release it rapidly when triggered by heat, shock or friction, often resulting in explosions, propulsion or combustion. Authorities were alerted to the package on Monday after it was discovered near a secured entry point at the base, prompting an immediate response from bomb disposal teams and federal investigators. Officials have not yet confirmed whether the package was intended as a functional explosive device or if it posed an immediate danger. MacDill Air Force Base is home to U.S. Central Command and US Special Operations Command, making it one of the most strategically significant military installations in the country.

MacDill Air Force Base locked down for three hours Wednesday after second security incident in recent days | 18 March 2026 | MacDill Air Force Base was locked down for about three hours Wednesday after a second security incident at the Florida home of U.S. Central Command in recent days, installation officials said. Base officials lifted the shelter-in-place order about 2 p.m., local time after a threat to MacDill had been “cleared,” according to a social media post. MacDill, outside Tampa, Fla., houses CENTCOM, which is overseeing combat operations against Iran in the Middle East. It is also home to U.S. Special Operations Command and the Air Force’s 6th Air Refueling Wing. The threat Wednesday came just two days after a suspicious package was found at MacDill’s visitor center, which led to the closure of the center and the base’s Dale Mabry gate for about six hours on Monday.

FBI Investigating Joe Kent Over Alleged Leak of Classified Information | 18 March 2026 | Former director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Joe Kent is reportedly being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for “allegedly leaking classified information.” Shelby Talcott, a White House Correspondent for Semafor, reported that according to “three sources,” Kent, who resigned from his position on Tuesday, is being investigated by the FBI. The alleged investigation “pre-dates his departure.” In another post, Talcott said, “a fourth source” also confirmed this. In a post on X on Tuesday, Kent shared that he had “decided to resign” from his position, explaining that he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.”

Shocking study of over a million kids finds myocarditis only in the vaccinated | 19 March 2026 | Biden administration officials and so-called experts characterized COVID-19 vaccines as “safe and effective” during the pandemic. Although the Trump administration has alternatively acknowledged the risks and fallout associated with the vaccines, a coalition of medical organizations is fighting to legally force the government to keep recommending the COVID jabs to healthy kids and pregnant women. That legal effort appears especially questionable given the finding in a recent study. The peer-reviewed study — conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford, the University of Bristol, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and published in January in the scientific journal Epidemiology — looked at the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in healthy children ages 5-15 following the rollout that began in late 2021. Researchers noted that “myocarditis and pericarditis were documented only in the vaccinated groups, with rates of 27 and 10 cases/million after the first and second doses, respectively.”

Bags of shredded documents at NY jail after Epstein’s death, officer tells FBI | 21 March 2026 | Less than a week after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead inside his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, something was afoot inside an office where the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ After Action Team had set up a probe into what had happened to their most high-profile inmate. The FBI was told that there were people shredding documents. Bags of them. An inmate at the jail was ordered to take the bags of shredded material to MCC’s rear gate and throw them in a dumpster on Thursday, Aug. 15, and again on Friday, Aug. 16, days after Epstein’s Aug. 10 death, records show. The sheer volume of material seemed unusual, the inmate noted. “They are shredding everything,” the inmate told one of the guards, adding that he was asked to give the officials, whom he did not recognize, a hand with the shredding… Federal prosecutors had also found something else amiss: “We learned today that all institutional count slips for dates prior to August 10, 2019, which we requested on August 12, 2019, are apparently ‘missing.'”

Valero oil refinery explodes into flames, triggering massive boom as smoke billows through Texas air with residents ordered to shelter-in-place | 23 March 2026 | A massive oil refinery in Texas burst into flames, sending smoke billowing through the air Monday night. Emergency crews rushed to the scene of the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, after multiple people in the neighborhood reported hearing a loud boom that rattled their homes, according to KPLC. Black smoke was seen billowing up into the sky from the refinery, which processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel at a rate of 435,000 barrels each day. Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said the explosion was likely caused by an industrial heater, KDFM reports. The explosion has prompted officials to issue a shelter-in-place order for the west part of the city, but no injuries have been reported.

Two pilots dead after plane and ground vehicle collide at New York’s LaGuardia Airport | 23 March 2026 | Two pilots have died after an Air Canada plane carrying dozens of people collided with a firefighting vehicle responding to a separate incident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Forty-one people were taken to hospital, Port Authority chief Kathryn Garcia said. Thirty-two of them were later discharged but others had serious injuries. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described it as a “tragic collision”, saying the National Transportation Safety Board was investigating Sunday’s incident. The airport was closed overnight and in the morning, reopening at 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

DHS shutdown tied for second-longest ever as Dems again block funding amid airport chaos, terrorism concerns | 20 March 2026 | Long airport lines and rising concerns about threats at home weren’t enough to stop Senate Democrats from blocking Homeland Security funding again Friday. It’s the fifth time Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans have tried to reopen the agency. The latest failed attempt comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown hit its 35th day, tying it for the second-longest shutdown in history. As airport lines stretch for blocks and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents go without pay, and concerns about further attacks in the U.S. increase after two shootings last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus aren’t budging.

California sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots amid clash with state officials over vote count | 22 March 2026 | A Republican California sheriff who is running for governor has seized more than 650,000 ballots to investigate an alleged excess of votes. Sheriff Chad Bianco, who oversees Riverside County just east of Los Angeles, began his investigation over the weekend, with his office describing “alleged irregularities” in the county’s elections. The move stemmed from the findings of a third-party, citizens’ election watchdog group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team. The organization claimed to have found an excess of around 46,000 votes in the November special election for Proposition 50, which was a redistricting effort intended to favor Democrats in the midterm elections and was voted into law.

Connecticut Dems demand IDs to recycle cans but reject GOP efforts to verify citizenship at polls | 21 March 2026 | Connecticut Democrats recently rushed through an emergency anti-fraud law requiring bottle redemption centers to collect a copy of a person’s driver’s license when they cash in more than 1,000 cans or bottles in a day — a document demand that Republicans say undercuts the party’s attacks on voter-ID rules. Earlier this month, an emergency certification bill, SB 299, was introduced by top Democratic leaders in the state’s legislature. It was later passed in both chambers in late February and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on March 3. It requires people wishing to recycle cans for m-ney to present a copy of their driver’s license, put in place because the state has had issues with non-residents crossing its border to take advantage of its higher return rate of 10 cents a can instead of five cents. Meanwhile, the state still does not require its residents to present a driver’s license or some other form of formal identification when voting.

Almost 200 House Dems vote against deporting people who commit welfare fraud | 18 March 2026 | The House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation Wednesday to crack down on illegal immigrant welfare fraud, despite fierce objections from most Democrats. Lawmakers voted 231-186 to approve the Deporting Fraudsters Act with 186 Democrats opposing the measure. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Taylor, R-Ohio, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to explicitly define fraud as a deportable offense. Republicans said the legislation is necessary to ensure that noncitizens who steal taxpayer dollars are no longer eligible for immigration relief services or legal protections. The bill is likely dead on arrival in the Senate given widespread opposition from Democrats.

Venezuelan illegal accused of killing Loyola student was caught and released under Biden, DHS says | 22 March 2026 | The illegal immigrant accused of killing Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman entered the U.S. during the Biden administration before being apprehended and released into the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Sunday. DHS also confirmed that Jose Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national, had been previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago, marking a prior criminal incident before the alleged murder. He is being quarantined for a potentially contagious condition — possibly tuberculosis — according to Chicago Police Department sources. Investigators have since recovered a firearm believed to be connected to the killing, sources said, and are awaiting the results of a gunshot residue test. DHS said in a statement Sunday that Medina-Medina was first apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and released into the country during the Biden administration.