The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Friday, March 20th 2026
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
President Donald Trump has slammed his war partner Israel for an attack on a vital energy facility in Iran, claiming he had no prior knowledge of the strike. On Wednesday, an Iranian facility linked to South Pars, the largest natural gas field in the world, was bombed. The gas field is Iran's largest domestic energy source and is shared with Qatar. Trump claimed differently in a furious Truth Social post on ...
Source: thedailybeast.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
By Mortgage rates in the United States climbed for the third week in a row, further squeezing housing affordability as the war in the Middle East drives up costs. The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate rose to 6.22%, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday, up from 6.11% a week earlier. The last time mortgage rates were this high was the second week of December. Mortgage rates dipped below 6% in ...
Source: miamiherald.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
(R-Okla.) response to a question regarding previous statements he made about Renee Good on Wednesday is alarming experts in American studies and civil rights. Mullin, President Donald Trump's pick to take over the Department of Homeland Security, was pressed by lawmakers for publicly smearing Good and Alex Pretti — two Minneapolis residents who were fatally shot by federal immigration agents — in the ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Help Net Security newsletters : Daily and weekly news, cybersecurity jobs, open source projects, breaking news – subscribe here! Entro Security has launched its Agentic Governance & Administration (AGA), a new pillar of the Entro platform designed to help security and identity teams govern AI agents and AI access across enterprise systems. Applied to the new realities of AI-driven access, AGA brings ...
Source: helpnetsecurity.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
The Trump administration temporarily suspended the Jones Act on March 18, 2026, as part of its efforts to bring down soaring U.S. gasoline prices . But what does this more-than-century-old law, which originally was designed to support the shipping industry, have to do with the price of gas? As the director of the Center for Energy Innovation at UMass Lowell, I've learned that the impact of the Jones Act ripples ...
Source: theconversation.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
UK central bank warns that CPI inflation will be higher in the near term as a result of the 'new shock to the economy' from Middle East crisis From Although the Bank of England has left rates on hold today, mortgage rates have been rising since the Iranian war began. Here's why: City traders are betting that the Bank of England will raise UK interest rates at least twice this year, to combat the inflationary hit ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Bachelorette's new season pulled after Taylor Frankie Paul abuse allegations The new season of dating show The Bachelorette has been cancelled following domestic violence allegations against this season's star, ABC has said. The network said it "made the decision to not move forward with the new season" after footage of Taylor Frankie Paul emerged on Thursday appearing to show her in an altercation with her ...
Source: bbc.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Chavez's family said in a statement that they are devastated by the allegations Removed from bookmarks Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband marched and fasted alongside César Chavez. They helped him open a radio station in Phoenix and plastered their Mexican restaurant with photos and a mural of the ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Securing the AI Frontier: A Practical Framework for Assessing AI Coding Assistant Vulnerabilities Additional resources Avoiding AI Pitfalls in 2026: Lessons Learned from Top 2025 Incidents Explore the patterns that emerged in major AI incidents from 2025 and what needs to change in 2026 so organizations can bolster the trustworthiness of their AI implementations. Build AI skills at any level. Access articles, ...
Source: isaca.org
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Kent, the former counterterrorism director who resigned this week over concerns about the Iran war, said Wednesday that he and other senior officials with doubts about the airstrikes "were not allowed" to share them with President Donald Trump. Speaking on Tucker Carlson's show, Kent said the president relied on a small circle of advisers in making his decision to strike Iran. Kent ...
Source: apnews.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
An undated photo of Jeffrey Epstein released by the Justice Department. (DOJ) An unredacted email appears to reveal testimony that contradicts President Donald Trump's longstanding narrative about Jeffrey Epstein's relationship to Mar-a-Lago. The 2009 correspondence from Epstein's attorney Jack Goldberger was substantially redacted in the Justice Department's initial Epstein files release. Representative Dan ...
Source: rawstory.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Podcasts Trump Is Kicking the Economy While It's Down How the war with Iran could lead to a recession Amr Alfiky / Reuters Save Listen − 1.0x + Seek 0:00 27:06 Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts For the past year or so, economists have remained, if not optimistic about the economy, not alarmed either. Then recently came what economists call a series of "revisions" to ...
Source: theatlantic.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Meta's biggest swing at creating a social network for VR looked like it was dying a quick death in June. Horizon Worlds , a platform that Meta said would be deemphasized for VR in favor of mobile earlier this year, was going to disappear from VR on June 15. And then, yesterday, Meta changed its mind. Sort of. The original news, which broke Tuesday, was a shock to people like me who thought Meta would at ...
Source: cnet.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
We've all had the unsettling experience of seeing an ad online that reveals just how much advertisers know about our lives. You're right to be disturbed. Those very same online ad systems have been used by the government to warrantlessly track peoples' locations, new reporting has confirmed. For years, the internet advertising industry has been sucking up our data, including our location data, to serve us " more ...
Source: techdirt.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
UPDATE: This article includes additional details regarding the proposed rules. Processing Content WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a suite of proposed rules Thursday that would cumulatively reduce the amount of capital banks will have to retain by billions of dollars. The agencies, led by the Federal Reserve, published three ...
Source: americanbanker.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
March 19 (UPI) -- The number of cases of meningitis in Kent has risen to 27, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency reported. There are 15 confirmed cases, and 12 suspected cases , meaning health professionals suspect the illness based on symptoms. Two people have died since the outbreak began: One high school student and a college student at the University of Kent. "What is particularly remarkable about this ...
Source: upi.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
The world's happiest countries tend to be Nordic and healthy and to have a higher degree of freedom and less inequality. Yet young people in certain regions may be experiencing a decline in well-being. That's the big takeaway of the 2026 World Happiness Report , an annual barometer of global well-being from the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup and other organizations. Finland is the world's happiest ...
Source: scientificamerican.com
Joseph Duggar of '19 Kids and Counting,' charged with child sex abuse, awaits extradition to Florida
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Another member of the Duggar family, famous for the TLC series "19 Kids and Counting," faces allegations of child sex abuse. Joseph Duggar, the 31-year-old son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and the younger brother of convicted sex offender Josh Duggar , was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Arkansas by local law enforcement on suspicion of molesting a minor in Florida, the Bay County Sheriff's Office announced in a ...
Source: latimes.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
This is Executive Dysfunction , a newsletter that highlights one under-the-radar story about how Trump is changing the law—or how the law is pushing back—and keeps you posted on the latest from Slate's Jurisprudence team. to receive it in your inbox each week. For well over a year, Donald Trump has made it very clear he has beef with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. From calling him a " numbskull " ...
Source: slate.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON — A group of federal judges Thursday added to the chorus of concerns raised about the rise in violent threats against members of the judiciary at a time when President Donald Trump has ramped up his criticism of the courts. hosted by a legal group called "Speak Up for Justice" that was formed to defend the judiciary and the rule of law. "I don't think being a federal judge is a job for the ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Spanish authorities have found the body of James "Jimmy" Gracey, a college student from Elmhurst who was reported missing from Barcelona earlier this week. The body of Gracey, 20, was found Thursday evening in the water off a Barcelona beach, near where he was last seen outside the Shoko nightclub with friends early Tuesday morning. He never returned to the room he was renting with friends. Police recovered his ...
Source: chicago.suntimes.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Uber has teamed with carmaker Rivian to boost both companies' autonomous vehicle efforts. The two companies expect to deploy 10,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis in the first phase of that effort, Rivian said in its announcement Thursday (March 19). The initial deployments are set to begin in Miami and San Francisco in 2028 and expand to 25 cities by 2031. As part of the arrangement, Uber will invest up to $1.25 ...
Source: pymnts.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A second Republican leader in the Wisconsin Legislature announced on Thursday he will not seek reelection this fall, another sign of the in politics in the key battleground state as Democrats get increasingly optimistic about gaining a majority. The two highest-ranking Republicans in the Legislature are retiring, along with the Democratic governor, soon after in favor of Democrats, who ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Corey Lewandowski -- (Photo by Lucas Jackson / Reuters | Credit: REUTERS) Corey Lewandowski allegedly demanded kickbacks from companies looking to do business with the Department of Homeland Security. The close ally of President Donald Trump served as de facto chief of staff to recently ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and industry sources told NBC News that Lewandowski positioned himself to skim off a cut from ...
Source: rawstory.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
reached a surprisingly peaceful resolution Wednesday afternoon: Compass, the country's largest real estate brokerage, dropped its lawsuit against Zillow, marking the end of a The legal volleys kicked off last summer, when Zillow started banning some for-sale listings from its well-trafficked website. A growing number of real estate agents, the search site said, were Compass quickly sued Zillow in federal court over ...
Source: insider.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
When Jaynie Parrish, the executive director and founder of Arizona Native Vote, saw the details of the Republican elections bill President Donald Trump has called his "number one priority," her first thought was: "Here we go again." Parrish, who is Navajo, has seen firsthand how Native voters living on tribal lands already face significant challenges to voting access. She views this legislation, which would add ...
Source: newrepublic.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As Colin Dorgan stood before a deafening crowd exploding in pride for his high school hockey team's championship win, secured by a goal in an exhausting yet exhilarating quadruple overtime, three seats were noticeably empty in the Rhode Island arena. The high school senior's mother, brother and grandfather should have been there to celebrate one of the most exciting moments in his hockey ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Top Gun star Val Kilmer, who was one of the best-paid actors in the 1990s, will play a priest in the forthcoming movie As Deep As The Grave, alongside a Harry Potter actor. Val Kilmer is to posthumously appear in an action-adventure film, a year after his death from pneumonia. The company behind the movie, First Line Films, say it is the first-ever performance enabled by generative artificial intelligence . ...
Source: news.sky.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Dino Geromella / iStock Share Nearly 156,000 more Americans may have died of COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic than officially reported, with disparities by race, education, and other factors, a machine-learning estimates. For the study, published yesterday in , a team led by a Stanford University investigator used machine learning (artificial intelligence) trained on US death certificates to ...
Source: cidrap.umn.edu
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Dozens said they weren't given chance to arrange care for their kids after being deported at short notice, study shows The Trump administration is deporting a significant number of parents without asking them if they have children or allowing them to decide whether to bring their children with them, in apparent violation of its own policies, a major report has found. In interviews with dozens of parents deported to ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Apple has released a Background Security Update that addresses a newly uncovered flaw tracked as CVE-2026-20643 , the effects of which span its smartphone, tablet, desktop and notebook product ecosystems. CVE-2026-20643, credited to security researcher Thomas Espach, affects the WebKit browser engine, specifically its Navigation application programming interface (API). According to Apple, the CVE-2026-20643 ...
Source: computerweekly.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Cory Booker of New Jersey have brought forward new tax plans that would cut income taxes for lower- and middle-income taxpayers and raise them for the highest-income taxpayers and corporations, prompting some to suggest that the Democratic Party is imitating key Republican talking points. Democrats' long-held ideology usually deters it from implementing measures ...
Source: bradenton.com
Thursday, Mar 19th, 2026 -
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By GEOFF MULVIHILL and ALI SWENSON 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 ...
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Wednesday, Mar 18th, 2026 -
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe dodged questions about President Trump's planning for the war with Iran and to what extent the president was briefed on the possible scenarios in the lead-up to the airstrikes against Tehran. Lawmakers attempted to utilize the rare hearing to extract answers from senior Trump officials on the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. ...
Source: wfla.com
Wednesday, Mar 18th, 2026 -
Lawmakers leave closed-door meeting after AG refuses to commit to honoring subpoena to testify under oath Democrats on the House oversight committee walked out of a closed-door briefing from attorney general Pam Bondi about the Jeffrey Epstein files on Wednesday, leaving what California congressman Robert Garcia called "an outrageous fake hearing" after Bondi refused to commit to honoring a subpoena to testify ...
Source: theguardian.com
Wednesday, Mar 18th, 2026 -
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA will have its first million dollar players after the league and its players' union reached a deal in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning. Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be done in the next day or two. It will then need to be ratified ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Mar 18th, 2026 -
Arizona's filing of criminal charges against Kalshi could mark a new strategy in states' legal battles with prediction markets, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (March 18). Daniel Wallach , founder of Wallach Legal , told Bloomberg that Arizona's strategy could enable the state to shut down Kalshi's operations rather than imposing fines. "It may reflect a fine-tuning of states' strategies on how to attack prediction ...
Source: pymnts.com