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Southeast Asia turns to nuclear as Iran war disrupts energy supplies

FILE -Construction workers walk to a data center building under construction in Sedenak Tech Park in Johor state of Malaysia, Sept. 27, 2024.

Analysts say the Iran war energy crisis is also adding momentum to nuclear interest and action in the region.

(Image credit: Vincent Thian/AP)

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Iran rejects U.S. peace plan. And, jury finds Meta, Google to blame in addiction trial

First aid responders are seen at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Roummane on March 26, 2026.

Iran rejects a U.S. proposal to end the war and counters with a different peace plan. And, a jury finds Meta and Google negligent in a trial over social media's harms.

(Image credit: Abbas Fakih)

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Israel and Iran ramp up attacks as Trump insists Tehran wants a deal

People look at a destroyed apartment after a hit of a ballistic missile fired from Iran, left 2 injured on March 25, 2026 in Bnei Brak, Israel.

The war in the Middle East ramped up on Thursday as Israel launched a wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure, and Iran fired rounds of missiles at central Israel.

(Image credit: Amir Levy)

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Trump's attacks on offshore wind could hurt infrastructure spending across the economy

Wind turbines off the coast of Rhode Island. Supporters say offshore wind projects are a valuable resource for meeting rising power demand and ensuring electric reliability.

President Trump has tried to kill offshore wind's future in the U.S. But industry analysts say the attacks could hurt business confidence across the U.S. economy.

(Image credit: DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

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It's Equal Pay Day. Women have lost ground for the second year in a row

Women working full-time, year round, earn an average of 81 cents for every dollar men working full-time, year round make.

The annual observance marks how far into the new year women must work to make what men earned in the previous year. This year, it's March 26, a day later than it was in 2025.

(Image credit: simplehappyart)

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Decades ago, a Maryland sailor burned his winter socks. Now it's a spring tradition

After reciting his "Ode to the Equinox," Annapolis poet laureate Jefferson Holland, right, holds his burning sock high as the crowd cheers to kick off the sock-burning tradition at the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park on Saturday.

In Annapolis, Md., people gather each year to usher in the warmer weather by burning their socks. The springtime tradition is the unofficial start of the Chesapeake Bay sailing season.

(Image credit: Tyrone Turner)

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A $50 billion fund to help rural hospitals could actually lead to closures and cuts

Big Sandy , in north-central Montana and home to nearly 800 people, is an isolated farming and ranching community about 80 miles from the nearest major town. <!-- raw HTML omitted -->

States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund established by Congress to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.

(Image credit: Aaron Bolton)

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Hoping to unseat Collins, Maine Democrats battle it out in an expensive US Senate primary

Combat veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner in Sullivan, Maine in 2025; Maine Gov. Janet Mills in National Harbor, Md. in 2023. Both Platner and Mills are Democrats vying to defeat Sen. Susan Collins, who is running for a sixth consecutive term in Maine.

As June's primary election nears, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and combat veteran Graham Platner are effectively engaged in a proxy battle between factions in their own party.

(Image credit: Robert F. Bukaty/AP; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Morning news brief

Iran rejects U.S. peace proposal and lays out its own conditions, the Army's 82nd Airborne Division readies to deploy to Iran, jury finds Meta and Google liable in social media addiction trial.

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Melania Trump shares the spotlight with a robot at an education and technology event

First lady Melania Trump arrives, accompanied by a robot, to attend the "Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit," with other first spouses, at the White House, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Washington.

The robot accompanied the first lady to the White House East Room for the final day of a summit she had convened with counterparts from around the world through her Fostering the Future Together global initiative.

(Image credit: Jacquelyn Martin)

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UN calls for reparations to remedy the 'historical wrongs' of trafficking enslaved Africans

FILE - The United Nations logo is seen inside the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans "the gravest crime against humanity" and calling for reparations.

(Image credit: Pamela Smith)

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War with Iran disrupts fertilizer exports as U.S. farmers prepare for planting season

Matt Ubel, standing on his farm near Wheaton, Kansas, motions to the fertilizer spreader he

Gulf states are major fertilizer producers, and the war with Iran has triggered a 25% price hike just as struggling U.S. farmers are planting corn.

(Image credit: Frank Morris)

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OpenAI's Sora app may be going away, but its legacy will be the spread of AI video slop

Barely six months after its launch, OpenAI is ending an app that could generate AI video at the click of a button.

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Doctors worry about FDA scrutiny of RSV shots to protect babies

An electron microscope image provided by the National Institutes of Health shows human respiratory syncytial virus virions, colorized blue, and antibodies against an RSV protein, colorized yellow.

The antibody shots are about 80% effective at preventing babies from ending up in intensive care because of RSV. The drugmakers behind them maintain they're safe.

(Image credit: AP)

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Travelers are facing the longest TSA wait times in history

People wait in long TSA security lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in the Queens borough of New York, Monday, March 23, 2026.

Wait times are exceeding four hours at some major airports, leading TSA officers to call out at rates of 40 to 50%, according to TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.

(Image credit: Ryan Murphy)

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Greetings from Turkey's border with Iran, where Iranians let loose on the dance floor

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Iranians escaping hardship and war are shaking it off to Persian, Arabic and Turkish tunes in this disco in eastern Turkey.

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Jury holds Meta and Google liable for role in young woman's mental health issues

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, leaves the Los Angeles Superior Court after testifying in the social media trial tasked to determine whether social media giants deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to children, in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026.

The verdict marks the end ofthe first-ever jury trialover whether tech giants should be held accountable for social media addiction. It may influence the outcome of 2,000 other pending lawsuits.

(Image credit: Apu Gomes)

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For the first time in more than 1,400 years, Church of England gets a woman leader

Sarah Mullally waves as she leaves after the Enthronement Ceremony installing her as archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury, England on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. She is the first woman ever to lead the Church of England.

A new archbishop of Canterbury has been installed in a historic ceremony. Sarah Mullally is the 106th person to hold the job, and the first woman.

(Image credit: Alastair Grant)

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Savannah Guthrie's first interview since mother Nancy vanished: 'I imagine her terror'

Yellow flowers and handwritten notes calling for the return of Nancy Guthrie sit outside the house of the 84-year-old mother of <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Today<!-- raw HTML omitted --> show co-host Savannah Guthrie, in Tucson, Ariz. Savannah Guthrie is speaking about her mother in an emotional two-part interview.

Nearly two months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared, her daughter Savannah discusses the toll on her family in an emotional interview with her Today show colleague Hoda Kotb.

(Image credit: Rebecca Noble)

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At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment

Bryan Stevenson stands beside jars that hold dirt collected from sites where Black people were lynched. He is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the author of <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption<!-- raw HTML omitted -->.

"There is an America that is more free — where there's more equality, where there is more justice, where there is less bigotry — and I think it's waiting for us," says lawyer Bryan Stevenson.

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A leadership vacuum adds to strains on the CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is struggling with a leadership vacuum.

Low morale, staff turnover andbudget issues have sapped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The administration is expected to soon name a new director, who will have their hands full.

(Image credit: Jessica McGowan)

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DHS funding deal on shaky ground as Trump and Democrats both decline to embrace it

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters after a weekly policy luncheon at the Capitol.

After weeks of start and stop negotiations between Congressional Democrats and the White House, there's an emerging proposal to fund the majority of DHS and tackle ICE enforcement funding separately.

(Image credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT)

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A 92-year-old judge will take on the Maduro case. What do we know about him?

A courtroom sketch shows U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein at the Manhattan federal court hearing over Donald Trump

Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro heads to court again this week. The judge overseeing this case is longtime federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein. At 92 years old, Hellerstein is older than the average age of a federal judge by more than 20 years.

(Image credit: Jane Rosenberg)

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Yep, a mom's COVID shot during pregnancy protects her baby, a large study finds

Babies under 6 months of age are not able to be vaccinated for COVID, but if their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy, newborns get some immunity, a large new study shows. The benefits wear off, though, at about 5 months of age.

A 3-year study published in Pediatrics examined newborns in Norway. It found a clear benefit for the baby when mom gets a COVID vaccination during pregnancy.

(Image credit: Didier Pallages)

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Thousands of U.S. troops deploy to Middle East. And, the latest on DHS funding talks

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news briefing after a weekly Senate Democratic Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 24 in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. is sending thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne to the Middle East. And, congressional Republicans present Democrats with a new deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

(Image credit: Alex Wong)

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Pentagon orders troops from 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to Middle East

The Lebanese flag is waved amid the rubble of a Lebanese Civil Defence post destroyed in an IDF airstrike in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, on March 24, 2026.

Nearly a month into the war with Iran, the Trump administration is keeping its options open: it says it is pursuing diplomatic solutions with Iran, while ordering thousands of paratroopers to deploy in the Middle East.

(Image credit: Fabio Bucciarelli/Middle East Images)

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They gave her business a lifeline, then froze all her money

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A murky corner of the financial world is now the fastest-growing source of funding for small businesses. One state, Connecticut, had given these lenders unusual power. That may be about to change.

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A shelter village provides a bridge to permanent housing

Tiny, colorful cabins make up Home Sweet Home Ministries

Shelter villages offer temporary and private places for the unhoused to sleep and store belongings. One of the newest, The Bridge, opened recently in central Illinois.

(Image credit: Emily Bollinger)

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How Trump's Iran war objectives have shifted over time

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.

Here is a reminder of some of what he has said - and where the US is now.

(Image credit: JIM WATSON)

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Are you sure you know what 'gaslighting' is?

The 1944 film <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Gaslight<!-- raw HTML omitted --> starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer dramatizes the concept of gaslighting.

Therapists say we're overusing the word. Here's what it actually means — and what the Ingrid Bergman film that helped birth the word can teach us about it.

(Image credit: Herbert Dorfman)

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