Early Edition: March 6, 2026

A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

IRAN WAR 

The Israeli military launched a new wave of strikes in densely populated areas of southern Beirut early this morning. The strikes targeted 10 high-rise buildings allegedly used by Hezbollah, as well as several command centers, the military said. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also launched a wave of drones and missiles at targets in Tel Aviv today. Overnight, Tehran was hit by heavy strikes. A medical clinic, a gas station, and two residential buildings were destroyed, according to Iranian state television. The Kuwaiti army said this morning that its air defenses were responding to missiles and drones that breached Kuwait’s airspace. It did not say where the strikes came from. The New York Times reports; CNN reports.

Israeli airstrikes have killed 123 people and wounded 683 others in recent attacks in Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said yesterday. UNHCR said yesterday that more than 84,000 people have moved to collective shelters, citing Lebanese authorities. Dayana Iwaza, Euan Ward, Hwaida Saad, and Ephrat Livni report for the New York Times.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday said that an estimated 100,000 people have left Iran in recent days. Ghebreyesus also said that WHO has verified 13 attacks on health infrastructure in Iran and that it was checking reports that four healthcare workers were killed. Emma Farge and Christy Santhosh report for Reuters.

Russia is providing Iran with targeting intelligence to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East, according to three sources. “It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one of the sources said. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow has called for an end to the war, which it labeled an “unprovoked act of armed aggression.” Two sources said that China does not appear to be aiding Iran’s defense. Noah Robertson, Ellen Nakashima, and Warren P. Strobel report for the Washington Post.

China is in talks with Iran to allow crude oil and Qatari liquefied natural gas vessels safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, three sources said. Crude tanker transits through the strait fell to four vessels on March 1, versus an average of 24 per day since January, Vortexa vessel-tracking data showed. Around 300 oil tankers remain inside the Strait. Jonathan Saul and Marwa Rashad report for Reuters.

The Kremlin said today that the war in Iran has fuelled demand for Russian energy products. The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea, following months of U.S. pressure on New Delhi not to buy Russian oil. Anna Chernova and Christian Edwards report for CNN.

U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for a strike on an Iranian girls’ school on Saturday, which killed at least 175 people, but have not yet reached a final conclusion or finished their investigation, two U.S. officials told Reuters yesterday. Reuters was unable to determine more details about the investigation. Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali report.

The Israeli army is entering a second phase of the war that will see its fighter jets attacking ballistic missile sites buried deep underground, two sources said. One source said that Israel aimed to neutralise Iran’s ability to launch aerial attacks at Israel by the end of the war. Alexander Cornwell and Rami Ayyub report for Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates is weighing freezing billions of dollars of Iranian assets held in the Gulf state, according to several sources. Emirati officials have privately warned Iran of the possible action, the sources added. Officials said that prime targets would be accounts affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Emirati officials are also considering direct maritime action, such as seizing Iranian ships, two sources said. Summer Said, Georgi Kantchev, and Joe Wallace report for the Wall Street Journal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday that Israel took the decision to kill Khamenei in November and was planning to carry out the operation around six months later. Katz said the plan was shared with Washington and brought forward in January after the protests in Iran broke out. Reuters reports.

IRAN WAR – POLITICAL RESPONSE 

The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, which began on Saturday, were clearly in breach of international law, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said yesterday. Crosetto said Italy was being forced to respond to a conflict that the United States and Israel had initiated without warning their allies and partners. “Today, the chaos we see around us in the Middle East is a direct consequence of the erosion of international law,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said separately yesterday. Reuters reports; Reuters reports.

When asked how much influence he expects to have over Iran’s future leadership, Trump told POLITICO, “I’m going to have a big impact, or they’re not going to have any settlement, because we’re not going to have to go do this again.” Trump told Axios that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader, “like with Delcy in Venezuela.” Trump reiterated this position in a call with Reuters and said the next leader is unlikely to be the son of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump also said it would be “wonderful” if Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq were to cross the border to launch attacks in Iran. Dasha Burns reports; Barak Ravid and Zachary Basu report; Steve Holland reports.

Trump told Axios yesterday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog must pardon Netanyahu “today.” “Every day I talk to Bibi about the war. I want him to focus on the war and not on the fucking court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran,” Trump said, adding that Herzog allegedly promised him five times over the past year that he would grant the pardon. A senior Israeli official pushed back on Trump’s account, saying Herzog never promised a pardon. Barak Ravid reports.

The House of Representatives yesterday voted 219-212 to block consideration of a resolution that would end offensive military operations in Iran that had not been approved by Congress. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines. Four Democrats voted to oppose the motion, while two Republicans voted in support. “The Constitution is clear: Our Constitution provides Congress initiatory powers of war.” Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) said. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has urged advisers to urgently propose ways to lower gasoline prices after the U.S.-Israeli joint operation in Iran pushed oil and fuel costs higher. A source said that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum “are getting screamed at to find some good news.” The source added, “folks are scrambling for announcements and messaging to counter the narrative” of rising prices. Ben Lefebvre reports for POLITICO.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Ukraine and Russia exchanged 200 prisoners of war each yesterday, according to officials on both sides. They are expected to exchange a further 300 people each today. Reuters reports.

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS 

The week-long conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan has displaced an estimated 115,000 people in Afghanistan and 3,000 people in Pakistan, according to UNHCR. Troops from both nations exchanged fire at dozens of points along their border today. The U.N. ​mission in Afghanistan has said 56 civilians have been killed in the country and 128 wounded since fighting began. The Taliban government has said 110 civilians have been killed. Pakistan has rejected both sets of figures, saying it targets only militants and support infrastructure. Mohammad Yunus Yawar reports for Reuters.

TECH DEVELOPMENTS 

The Commerce Department has written draft regulations that would require foreign buyers to obtain licenses from the U.S. government to buy AI chips. The proposed rule would require companies to seek permission for virtually all exports of AI accelerators from companies like Nvidia and AMD. A White House official said that the draft “does not reflect what President Trump has said on export controls nor does it reflect the direction of the Trump administration on encouraging export of the American AI stack.” Mackenzie Hawkins reports for Bloomberg; Maria Curi reports for Axios.

U.N. Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the U.N. Security Council yesterday that demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, could triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040. In 2023, trade in raw and semi-processed materials reached about $2.5 trillion, which represents more than 10% of global trade. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS

The United States and Venezuela announced yesterday that they “have agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations.” Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.

“We have learned after decades of effort that there is not a criminal justice solution to the cartel problem,” White House Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller told Latin American defense leaders gathered at U.S. Southern Command headquarters yesterday. “The reason why this is a conference with military leadership and not a conference of lawyers is because these organizations can only be defeated with military power.” Phil Stewart, Ryan Patrick Jones, and Doina Chiacu report for Reuters.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

Recordings from more than a hundred 911 calls obtained by AP News reveal frequent emergencies at Camp East Montana, a massive immigration detention center in Texas, including suicide attempts, assaults, seizures, and untreated medical issues among detainees. The detainees describe unsanitary quarters where diseases spread easily. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) said the center is closed to visitors until at least March 19 because of a measles outbreak. Morgan Lee, Ryan J. Foley, and Michael Biesecker report.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Lindsey Halligan, former interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is facing an investigation by the Florida Bar for her role in pursuing criminal charges against former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Post. On Wednesday, the Justice Department proposed a change to federal regulations that it said would allow federal officials to intervene in state bar disciplinary proceedings targeting DOJ attorneys. Jeremy Roebuck and Katie Mettler report.

The DOJ yesterday released three 2019 FBI interviews with a woman who alleged Trump sexually assaulted her when she was a young teenager after she was introduced to him by Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement posted online on Thursday, the DOJ acknowledged that besides those FBI memos, it had also identified about a dozen other documents that were “incorrectly coded as duplicative” in the Epstein files. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times; Erica Orden reports for POLITICO.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Trump yesterday fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and announced plans to replace her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). Trump made the announcement on social media, along with a new role for Noem inside the administration: special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, which he said would be a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said yesterday that he would push for a perjury investigation into Noem just hours after she was fired. Under oath during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Noem said that Corey Lewandowski, one of her top advisers, did not approve contracts for DHS. Blumenthal said the Democrats have evidence that Noem was lying. Michael Bender, Michael Gold, Hamed Aleaziz, and Maggie Haberman report for the New York Times; Carl Hulse and Michael Gold report for the New York Times.

The Defense Department has formally labeled Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, the Pentagon said in a statement yesterday. “From the very beginning, this has been about one fundamental principle: the military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes,” the Pentagon said in the statement. “The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk.” This decision comes amid the U.S. military’s use of Anthropic’s Claude to rapidly analyze intelligence, identify and prioritize targets, and support large-scale airstrikes in Iran, two sources said. Brendan Bordelon reports for POLITICO; Tara Copp, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Ian Duncan report for the Washington Post.

The National Capital Planning Commission yesterday delayed a vote on Trump’s White House ballroom project until next month, citing “significant public input,” including tens of thousands of comments. Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond report for the Washington Post.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

A coalition of 24 Democratic-led state attorneys general and governors yesterday filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. Court of International Trade to block the implementation of Trump’s new global 10 percent tariff. Doug Palmer reports for POLITICO.

The Public Integrity Project yesterday filed a lawsuit against Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of ignoring legislation designed to stop the spread of Chinese propaganda when they approved the sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets to investors. Carrie Johnson reports for NPR.