March 16, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1995, Mississippi ratified the Thirteenth Amendment—which abolished slavery—130 years after it was added to the US Constitution. Mississippi’s ratification was not made official until 2013, when the state notified the US Archivist.
QotD: "We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment," Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Monday.
ISRAEL/IRAN/US/MIL – Israel says it has plans for at least three weeks of war as airstrikes pound Iran.
Israel said on Monday it has detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as its military pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is now entering its third week, with no clear end in sight, shutting down the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, pushing up oil prices and raising fears of a renewed spike in global inflation.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called for a coalition of nations to help reopen the vital shipping route and warned that the NATO alliance faces a "very bad" future if its members fail to come to Washington's aid.
His call drew a wary response from allies, who voiced support for diplomatic efforts to reopen the route but signalled caution about the possibility of military action.
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters there are detailed operational plans for the war with Iran for the next three weeks, along with additional plans extending further ahead.
The military has framed its aims as limited to weakening Iran's capacity to threaten Israel by striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and the security apparatus.
"We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment," Shoshani said.
The military has said it still has thousands of targets to hit inside Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran has not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the U.S., according to Iran's semi-official Student News Network.
MORE/LEBANON – Israel steps up campaign in Lebanon, as Iran keeps stranglehold on shipping.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-iraq-us-trump-march-16-2026-5f56cff945472db519d91dd5036ead9d
Two Indian-flagged ships and a Pakistani-flagged one crossed the strait this weekend, according to authorities and a marine-tracking website.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said of the strait, “From our perspective it is open” — just not for the United States, Israel and its allies. On social media, Araghchi also rejected as “delusional” claims that Iran was looking for a negotiated end to the war. He said it was seeking neither “truce nor talks.”
The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighborhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon. To date, more than 800,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to authorities and news reports. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two of them were paramedics responding to an earlier strike.
At least 850 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes so far.
PERSIAN GULF/OIL – Oil industry warns Trump administration that fuel crunch will likely worsen.
American oil executives delivered a bleak message to Trump officials in recent days: The energy crisis the Iran war has unleashed is likely to get worse.
In a series of White House meetings Wednesday and recent conversations with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips warned that the disruption to energy flows out of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway would continue to create volatility in global energy markets, according to people familiar with the matter.
In response to questions from the officials, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said that oil prices could rise past current elevated levels if speculators unexpectedly bid up prices and that markets could see a supply crunch of refined products. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance also conveyed their concerns about the scale of the disruption, these people said.
President Trump didn’t attend the Wednesday meetings. U.S. oil prices have climbed from $87 a barrel that day to $99 a barrel Friday.
The White House has implemented or is considering several measures it hopes will lower oil prices—including further easing sanctions on Russian oil, a massive release of emergency energy reserves and possibly waiving a statute that limits crude flows between U.S. ports. Administration officials have also told oil chief executives that they are hoping to increase the flow of oil between Venezuela and the U.S., a White House official said.
UKRAINE/MIDDLE EAST/DRONE/TECH – Zelensky says Ukraine wants money, technology in return for Middle East drone help.
Ukraine wants money and technology in return for helping Middle Eastern nations that have sought its expertise as they defend against Iranian kamikaze drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, after Kyiv sent specialists to the region.
Zelenskiy told reporters that three teams were sent to the Middle East to conduct expert assessments and demonstrate how drone defences should operate. Earlier this week he said teams were sent to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as a U.S. military base in Jordan.
"This is not about being involved in operations. We are not at war with Iran," Zelenskiy said.
He said that more fundamental, long-term drone deals could be negotiated with Gulf countries and what Ukraine will get in return for the assistance still needed to be discussed.
"For us today, both the technology and the funding are important," Zelenskiy said.
Gulf states have expended large quantities of air-defence missiles to counter Iran’s Shahed drones. Kyiv downs Russian drones every night using an array of weaponry including cheaper, smaller drones or jamming equipment.
RUSSIA/MIL/TECH – Russia strikes Kyiv in rare daytime drone attack, debris crashes on main square.
Russia launched a rare daylight attack on Kyiv on Monday using drones that appeared upgraded, Ukrainian officials said, with multiple explosions ripping through the city and drone debris crashing onto the capital's main square.
Ukrainian air defence units downed 194 out of 211 Russian drones, the air force said, adding that the morning attack was unusual in its timing and involved different types of drones targeting the central Kyiv region.
Drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital usually happen at night since drones are less easily detected in the dark.
"Around 30 drones of various types were targeting the Kyiv region," Yuri Ihnat, air force spokesperson, told Ukrainian TV.
"The not-so-good news is that these drones have communication channels – mesh networks and other channels – which the enemy can use to control them. The better news is that almost all of them were shot down."
Russia has in the past often used pre-programmed drones that cannot be piloted once in flight for long-range attacks.
Experts were working at the sites to identify types of drones used, Ihnat said.
KAZAKHSTAN/POL/GOV – Kazakh voters back constitutional overhaul, exit polls show.
https://www.dw.com/en/kazakhstan-votes-to-approve-constiutional-reform-tokayev/a-76372891
Voters in Kazakhstan approved a new constitution in a referendum on Sunday, exit polls showed, in a move critics say could strengthen presidential powers and potentially allow President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to remain in power beyond 2029.
Two exit polls indicated that about 87% of voters backed the new constitution, with turnout at around 73%, according to the election commission.
Experts say the changes could allow Tokayev to reset presidential term limits or install a successor through the vice presidency.
Currently, the president is limited to a single seven-year term, a rule introduced in 2022.
Speaking after voting in the capital Astana, Tokayev said the next presidential election would take place in 2029 when his term ends and insisted that there are "absolutely no grounds for worry that this [the new constitution] will have a negative impact on society."
Former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled from 1991 to 2019, said he supported the new constitution.
Political analyst Viktor Kovtunovsky told AFP news agency the measures amounted to a "dismantling of liberal concessions" Tokayev had been forced to make in recent years.
Already, several critics of the reforms have been detained and questions by the police, while journalists have been fined for publishing independent opinions on the polls.
Kovtunovsky also foresees the president's move as an attempt to "prepare the throne for his successor."
Human Rights Watch warned the changes threaten civil liberties.
US/CHINA/TRADE – Any Trump-Xi rescheduling would be over logistics, Bessent says.
It remains to be seen if U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping takes place as scheduled later this month, but any changes would be due to logistics amid the Iranwar, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday.
Bessent's remarks come after Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday he may postpone a meeting with Xi if China does not help to unblock the Strait. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Trump is due to travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies.
Trump's last trip to China, in 2017, was the most recent by a U.S. president. Trump's visit will be the leaders' first in-person talks since an in South Korea, where they agreed on a trade truce.
CUBA/PROTESTS/ENERGY CRISIS – Cubans intensify protests after sundown, protected by the night and blackouts.
When the sun sets, a growing number of Cubans are banging pots in protest against an authoritarian regime they blame for dire living conditions. In one town, residents sacked the headquarters of the ruling Communist Party, making a bonfire with the office furniture on Saturday.
“Libertad, libertad,” shouted hundreds of demonstrators as they faced off against police outside the precinct in Morón, a city of about 70,000 near Cuba’s northeastern coast. Protesters then marched to the offices of the ruling Communist Party, according to the Cuban government and videos posted on social media.
Residents threw rocks at the building and tried to set it ablaze. Others climbed on the building’s second story and threw papers and furniture into the street, which they then set on fire. At the time of the protest, Morón hadn’t had any electricity for 30 hours.
Across the island, pot-banging is becoming louder as Cuba plunges into darkness almost every night, protecting the identity of protesters in a country where the totalitarian government keeps an eye on everyone and a tight lid on dissent.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that he understood residents’ frustration over the deterioration in living conditions, but warned that there will be no impunity for violent protests.
SERBIA/CHINA/NATO – NATO partner Serbia admits buying Chinese missiles after photo leaked.
Serbia recently purchased Chinese CM-400AKG air-to-surface ballistic missiles for its air force, becoming the weapon’s first European operator, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Thursday.
Serbia is striving to balance its partnership with NATO and aspirations to join the European Union with its centuries-old religious, ethnic and political alliance with Russia and strategic ties with China, a major investor.
“We have a significant number of those missiles, and we will have even more,” Vucic said in a live broadcast by Serbia’s state RTS TV, days after the first images of the missiles mounted on a Serbian plane leaked online.
Vucic said the Serbian air force had adapted its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to carry the CM-400AKG.
Croatia — a member of the E.U. and NATO, and Serbia’s foe during the wars of the 1990s — has criticized the missile purchase as a threat to regional stability, an attempt to alter the military balance and a sign of a growing arms race in the Balkans.
FRANCE/POL/ELECTIONS – Marseille’s tight mayoral race is a bellwether for France’s future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/world/europe/france-marseille-mayor-election-far-right.html
Franck Allisio and Benoît Payan do not agree on much. But they do share an instinct that the neck-and-neck election campaign they are running to be the mayor of Marseille could reverberate far beyond this ancient, polyglot Mediterranean port.
Since France’s democracy was restored after World War II, the far right has never governed Marseille, the country’s second-largest city, let alone the republic. On Sunday, Mr. Allisio, the candidate of the far-right National Rally party, won enough votes to advance to a runoff on March 22 against Mr. Payan, the left-wing leader who has been mayor since 2020.
That runoff will be a bellwether — both for municipal elections across France, in which the far right is expected to make landmark gains, and for next year’s race to elect a new president, which polls suggest that a far-right candidate could win for the first time.
“It will be a signal for the presidential election, and it will perhaps give courage and the desire to the French people to do the same thing as the Marseillais,” Mr. Allisio said before the vote in his campaign office, an empty apartment. He sat in front of a life-size poster of Marine Le Pen, a far-right fixture whose legal woes have so far stymied her presidential candidacy, and Jordan Bardella, her protégé, who is likely to run in her place.
Mr. Payan, working out of a crowded, chaotic campaign headquarters near the city’s old port, said he felt profound pressure not to lose the race. “We are in an election where Marseille has a rendezvous with its history,” he said.