5 things to know for March 26: Signal chat fallout, Gaza protests, Election order, Florida jobs, Alaska plane crash
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More than 10,000 firefighters, police and civil servants have been deployed to battle dozens of wildfires raging in South Korea. Fueled by dry air and strong winds, the blazes have killed at least 24 people, burned nearly 43,000 acres and destroyed a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Top national security officials faced questions from outraged Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday about a group chat on the messaging app Signal that revealed plans for a military strike in Yemen to a journalist. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe repeatedly denied that the chat contained classified information and then appeared to shift responsibility to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for determining such classification. Yet it was Hegseth’s texts that reportedly provided “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing.” Current and former defense officials said that such discussions would always be classified due to the potential risk to US service members. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in northern Gaza on Tuesday to denounce Hamas and call for an end to the war with Israel. It appeared to be the largest protest against the militant group since its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The demonstrations took place just two days after the death toll from the conflict hit 50,000 in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza killed eight more people, including five children, the Palestine Red Crescent said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that directs the Election Assistance Commission to demand proof of citizenship for voter registration — and withhold funding from states that don’t enforce the requirement for voters who register with the federal form. Republicans have long sought these changes to election practices, but critics say demanding proof of citizenship could disenfranchise poor and older voters and suppress votes. The order also instructed the Department of Homeland Security to give Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to state voter rolls so its team can search the data for foreign nationals. Florida’s efforts to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants have presented a problem for businesses: not enough workers willing to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs. To fix the problem, the state’s legislature has advanced a bill that would loosen child labor laws. If passed, businesses would be able to hire children as young as 14 years old to work overnight shifts, even on school days. The bill would also eliminate working time restrictions on 14 and 15 year olds if they are home-schooled and end guaranteed meal breaks for 16 and 17 year olds.
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In recent weeks, some of America’s most powerful law firms have faced a defining choice: do a deal with the White House, or prepare to fight severe restrictions President Donald Trump has placed on firms and lawyers he opposes politically.
A close call between a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a US Air Force T-38 jet, often used by the military for training, sounded alarms in the cockpit of the passenger plane Friday.
Campaign spending has smashed records in Wisconsin’s high-stakes Supreme Court race, as megadonors from both parties are directing millions to the closely watched election that’s set to decide ideological control of the battleground state’s high court. And tech billionaire Elon Musk is flexing his growing political influence after his key supporting role in President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The powerful voice of Tejano music superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez is still an indelible staple in Latino households and parties nearly 30 years after her death.
The Trump administration’s major military mission at the southern border focused on reducing immigration and drug flows has already cost taxpayers more than $300 million, according to sources briefed on data from the Defense Department comptroller — even as the administration has vowed to slash the size of government and cut 8 percent from the department’s budget.
As President Donald Trump’s advisers this week took on the unenviable task of informing him a journalist he loathes was inadvertently added to a group chat discussing secret attack plans, one key detail required some further explanation.
The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and three other people were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a Black Mass in the rotunda.
Construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta is designed to support sustained operations and US military personnel, according to a high-level Ecuadorian official: “The expectation is that these will be eventually occupied by US troops.
A PhD student was snatched by masked officers in broad daylight. Then she was flown 1,500 miles away
Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk was walking alone Tuesday night to meet friends at a dinner where they would break their 13-hour fast when six plainclothes officers suddenly encircled her on the street near her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, surveillance video shows.
A federal judge late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block, one of two firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish.
President Donald Trump says he pardoned Trevor Milton, the CEO of now-defunct hydrogen and electric truck firm Nikola, in part because he believed Milton was persecuted for supporting Trump’s political ambitions.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the most senior liberal on the Supreme Court, advocated for a “fearlessly independent” judiciary during remarks Friday, telling an audience in Washington that she is worried about “standards that are being changed.”
A Connecticut woman accused of imprisoning her stepson for nearly two decades and subjecting him to starvation and relentless abuse has plead not guilty to charges including assault, kidnapping and cruelty.