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IRAN UPDATES

US Deploying Thousands More—Marines And 3 Warships—in Iran War Ramp Up: The U.S. is deploying over 2,000 Marines, based on various reports—aboard three warships to the Middle East, according to multiple outlets citing U.S. officials, raising the potential for boots on the ground, and indicating the war in Iran may continue into April. FORBES

Trump Knew the Risk of Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He Still Went to War.: The president told his White House team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait, the world's most vital shipping lane. WSJ (PAYWALL)

Trump Calls on Other Countries to Send Assistance for Strait of Hormuz, Says US Will Be Bombing Shoreline: As the Trump administration continues to face an escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, President Donald Trump is turning to other countries for assistance. ABC

Iran Appears to Have Conducted a Significant Cyberattack Against a US Company, a First Since the War Started: An Iran-linked hacker group has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on a medical tech company in what appears to be the first significant instance of Iran’s hacking an American company since the start of the war between the countries. NBC

Tehran Threatens Middle East’s Busiest Port as Iran War Enters Its Third Week: Iran openly threatened a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets for the first time Saturday, warning people to immediately evacuate the busiest port in the Middle East and two others in the United Arab Emirates as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran entered its third week. A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in the UAE, further increasing global anxiety about oil supplies. AP

Five Air Force Refueling Planes Hit in Iranian Strike on Saudi Arabia: An Iranian missile strike targeting a US-operated airbase in Saudi Arabia damaged five American aerial refueling aircraft. The aircraft were reportedly hit while stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base. UNITED24 MEDIA

US Temporarily Lifts Sanctions on Russian Oil Amid Iran War, Prices Spike: The U.S. is temporarily removing sanctions on Russian oil currently stranded at sea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced late Thursday — the latest move by the Trump administration attempting to ease soaring energy prices amid the war with Iran. THE HILL

The US Built a Blueprint to Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It.: The civilian protection mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority. PRO PUBLICA

US Dismissed Ukraine Deal for Anti-Iran Drone Tech Last Year: Nearly seven months ago, Ukrainian officials tried to sell the U.S. their battle-proven technology for downing Iranian-made attack drones. They even made a PowerPoint presentation — obtained exclusively by Axios — showing how it could protect American forces and their allies in a Middle East war. The Trump administration dismissed the Ukrainians, only to reverse course last week because of more-than-expected drone strikes from Iran. AXIOS (PAYWALL)

NATIONAL

Fourth-Quarter GDP Revised Down to Just 0.7% Growth; January Core Inflation Was 3.1%: Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025, while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported. CNBC

‘This Cannot Be Sustainable’: The US Borrowed $50 Billion a Week for The Past Five Months, the CBO Says: The U.S. Treasury’s borrowing showed no signs of slowing as the U.S. headed deeper into fiscal year 2026, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reporting that another $1 trillion was added to the federal deficit in the first five months of the year. FORTUNE

Key Details of 13-Year-Old Trump Accuser’s Accounts Are Verified: A woman who says Donald Trump abused her when she was 13 years old in 1984 shared information about her life that turned out to be true. While her story about Trump is still unproven, The Post and Courier, a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, was able to corroborate details of her life provided in recent releases from the federal government’s Jeffrey Epstein archives. The woman was interviewed four times by the FBI in 2019, detailing abuse she faced at the hands of Trump and Epstein. TNR

DESI NEWS

‘Reliance Leadership’ Helped India Get 30-Day Russian Oil ‘Waiver’ from US: Concerns raised by the opposition and strategic experts – in the wake of the US telling India where it can and can’t buy oil from – about the effectiveness and independence of the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy will likely be amplified by Bloomberg’s report that it was “intensive engagement by the Reliance leadership which helped secure the 30-day Russian oil purchase waiver” from US sanctions for India “and made progress on deals involving Venezuelan interests.” THE WIRE

A US Citizen Was Detained for 40 Hours After Returning From a Work Trip. Her Family Says It Was Racial Profiling.: Late Thursday night at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, six tech workers returning from a work trip abroad stepped off their flight expecting the familiar ritual of customs lines, passport stamps, and the relief of being home. Instead, they were taken into custody. Among them was Sundas Naqvi, a 28-year-old American citizen born in the United States. Her friend and family call her “Sunny.” NICK VALENCIA NEWS

IMMIGRATION

New Research Finds Reducing Immigration Does Not Help US Workers: A working paper by Prof. Jonathan Gruber and his colleagues has found “that admitting more immigrants would help save the lives of Americans, particularly seniors,” reports Stuart Anderson for Forbes. (PAYWALL)

Court Records Reveal Gutting of DHS Oversight: The Trump administration has so radically transformed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) independent watchdog teams that thousands of cases related to conditions in immigration detention, deaths in custody and officers’ use of force are not being investigated, THE GUARDIAN

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY?

Trump White House Blocks Terror Warning to Local Law Enforcement: While the president was on Truth Social threatening Iran with annihilation, his White House was quietly doing something that should alarm every mayor, police chief, and sheriff in America: blocking the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center from warning local law enforcement that his war has raised the terror threat on American soil. ASHLAND CHRONICLE

Whistleblower Claims Ex-DOGE Member Says He Took Social Security Data to New Job: An internal government watchdog and members of Congress are separately investigating new allegations that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer potentially misused sensitive Social Security data. NPR

Credit Bureaus Are Leaving More Mistakes on Frustrated Consumers’ Reports Under Trump’s CFPB: TransUnion and Experian, two of the three major credit bureaus, have started dismissing a larger share of consumer complaints without help since the Trump administration began dismantling the CFPB. PRO PUBLICA

Accessing Social Security Disability Benefits Became Harder in 2025, Researchers Find: Changes like the push to online servicing and the introduction of AI on SSA phone lines made it difficult for certain recipients to access the agency. NEXTGOV

A Third of Americans Have Cut Spending or Borrowed Money for Health Care: A new survey finds many people are skipping meals or driving less, making sacrifices to pay for the rising cost of medical care. NYT

Amid Crowded Skies, FAA Kills Rule Aimed at Regulating Space Junk: The agency once said that pieces of space debris “pose a significant risk,” but the Trump administration has backed off a rule that would have required companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to remove rocket parts from orbit within 25 years of launch. PRO PUBLICA

CORRUPTION ALERT

Pentagon Recruits Wall Street Investors with Promises of Access and Profit: A headhunting presentation aimed at recruiting Wall Street investment bankers to the Pentagon dangled access to government officials and foreign royal families that could be used to raise capital. NATIONAL TODAY

Jared Kushner Solicits Funds for His Firm While Working as Mideast Envoy: Mr. Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, has spoken with potential investors in recent weeks about raising $5 billion or more for Affinity Partners, his investment firm. NYT (PAYWALL)

Trump Fundraising Email Uses Photo from Soldiers’ Dignified Transfer and Promises ‘Private National Security Briefings’: A fundraising email from President Donald Trump’s political action committee has a provocative pitch: using an image from Saturday’s dignified transfer honoring six fallen US soldiers, it promises access to the president’s “private national security briefings.” CNN

GOOD NEWS

Judge Rejects Subpoenas, Blasts DOJ Investigation Targeting Fed Chair: President Donald Trump’s push for a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell hit the skids Friday when a federal judge rejected prosecutors’ subpoenas to the Fed. DEMOCRACY DOCKET

Democrats Deliver ‘Stunning’ Flip in New Hampshire Special Election, Latest in Series of 28 Upsets: A Democrat won a special election for a state house seat in New Hampshire on Tuesday, flipping a Republican district that Donald Trump carried and marking the latest in a string of 28 Democratic upsets that could usher in a blue wave in the midterms. THE GUARDIAN

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