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https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-talks-with-cuba-ongoing-action-possible-after-iran-2026-03-16/

March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States could soon reach a deal with Cuba or take other action, signaling that developments in the long-strained relationship may come quickly.

"Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One. "We're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba."

The comments come as tensions between Washington and Havana remain elevated following years of sanctions, diplomatic friction and disputes over migration and security, with regional allies and investors watching closely for signs of a policy shift.

Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on Friday that the country opened talks with the United States as the island faces one of its most severe economic crises in decades.

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The war in Iran has sparked a global energy crisis that has rocked markets and sent oil prices surging to their highest level in four years. The chances of a quick resolution appear to be deteriorating as the conflict escalates, as do hopes that the U.S. economy might escape unscathed. The swings have already caused gasoline prices for U.S. drivers to rise.

Oxford Economics uses a standard rule of thumb to estimate the economic impact of pricier oil: Every time oil gets $10 more expensive for a sustained period—determined to be around two months—it amounts to a 0.1% decline in GDP due to higher inflation and slower growth. If oil price remain high the economy will surely enter a recession.

“There are mild contractions in the Eurozone, the UK, and Japan, while the U.S. nears a temporary standstill and layoffs push up the unemployment rate, leaving it close to a recession,” the report’s authors wrote.

Under this worst-case scenario, U.S. inflation would likely peak at around 5% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 2.4% currently, according to Oxford Economics’ modeling. This would be the highest inflation since March 2023. Stagflation is a considerable possibility in the near future.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/16/us-economy-at-a-standstill-if-oil-prices-stay-high-iran-conflict-oxford-economics/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-arrests-suspect-el-mencho-deadly-capture/

Mexican authorities have detained Jose N, nicknamed "El Pepe," who was responsible for transporting Oseguera's romantic partner to a luxurious cabin in the Tapalpa municipality, the defense ministry said in a statement.

"El Pepe" was considered one of the main logistics operators of CJNG and was apprehended in the Tlajomulco municipality in Jalisco.

"Drugs, weapons, and a vehicle were seized from the detainee," the defense ministry added.

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https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-war-kent-resignation-e2e17a76d79617a68370f076c0291208

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his concerns about the justification for military strikes in Iran and saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war.

“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in a statement posted on social media, making claims President Donald Trump has denied.

Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote. As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.

His resignation reflects unease within Trump’s base about the war and shows that questions about the justification for the use of force in Iran extend to at least one senior member of Trump’s Republican administration.

The change in personnel at one of the nation’s top counterterrorism offices comes amid heightened concerns about terrorism in the homeland following attacks within the past week at a Michigan synagogue and a Virginia university.

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https://www.ft.com/content/1ca6d121-760b-4ec5-b6ad-514fdaa94873 (Article locked behind paywall)

Donald Trump has warned that Nato faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the Strait of Hormuz, sending a blunt message to European nations to join his war effort in Iran.
The US president told the FT in an interview on Sunday that he could also delay his summit with China’s President Xi Jinping later this month as he presses Beijing to help unblock the crucial waterway.
“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said, arguing that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Gulf, unlike the US.
“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato,” he added.
Trump’s comments, made in an eight-minute phone call with the FT, came a day after he appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK to join a “team effort” to open up the chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Iran in effect shut the strait after the US and Israel launched their war more than two weeks ago, sparking fears of a new oil price shock for the global economy. US efforts to open the waterway have largely failed. International oil prices hit $106 a barrel on Sunday evening, up about 45 per cent since the start of the war.
Despite his warning, Trump was pessimistic that US allies would heed his pleas for help.
“We have a thing called Nato,” said Trump, who has often criticised the alliance. “We’ve been very sweet. We didn’t have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us...But we helped them. Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us. And I’m not sure that they’d be there.”

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Americans willing to do the job for the same amount of money not found for comments

https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-admin-quietly-brings-back-migrant-workers-fix-farm-labour-shortage-it-created-3799331

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>thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fxil2QY0wE

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/hormuz-shut-bab-el-mandeb-next-houthi-warnings-put-another-chokepoint-at-risk/ar-AA1YF9Ep

As Saudi Arabia diverts oil exports through the Red Sea following Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels are warning they could target another critical maritime chokepoint - the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The threat raises the prospect that the conflict in West Asia could disrupt two of the world's most important oil transit routes, tightening global energy markets already rattled by the halt of tanker traffic through Hormuz.

Iran democracy activist Mehdi Yahyanejad wrote on Saturday that the conflict could expand to the Red Sea shipping corridor. "Now that Saudi Arabia has started the alternative oil delivery through the Red Sea, the Houthis are entering the war to block that route through the Shia-strait #2, Bab-el Mandeb."

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and ultimately the Indian Ocean. It is the world's fourth-largest shipping chokepoint and a key gateway for vessels accessing the Suez Canal.

Days after the Iran war began, the leader of Yemen's Houthi movement warned the group was prepared to escalate militarily if needed.

"Regarding military escalation and action, our fingers are on the trigger, ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it," Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said in a televised speech quoted by AFP.

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Greg Bovino, the U.S. Border Patrol commander who became the face of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign before he was reassigned from his leadership role amid controversial immigration raids throughout the country, will retire.

Bovino was removed from his role as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commander at large in January amid the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis during immigration enforcement operations.

He announced his retirement in an interview with Breitbart.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/greg-bovino-face-trumps-mass-deportation-campaign-retire-controversial-minneapolis-raids

https://www.newsweek.com/david-sacks-trump-administration-israel-nuclear-escalation-iran-war-11678063

>David Sacks, President Donald Trump’s czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, warned of Israel contemplating using a nuclear weapon in the Iran War.

>During an appearance on the podcast All In, Sacks spoke about the “risks” of an “escalatory approach” in the conflict. “Israel could get seriously destroyed,” he said, before adding, “And then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon.”

>Newsweek has contacted the White House, the Pentagon and the office of the Israeli prime minister outside of normal business hours for comment via email.

Why It Matters

>Conflict has spread across the Middle East and is continuing to intensify, after the U.S and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran, and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


>The fallout has been immediate and far-reaching, from civilian and military casualties to travellers being stranded and oil prices skyrocketing.


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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/15/stockpile-medicine-avoid-shortage-iran-war-pharmacists/

Pharmacists have urged Wes Streeting to stockpile medicines that may run out because of Iran’s blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

Patients across Britain could soon be affected by “worsening medicine shortages”, according to the Independent Pharmacies Association, which represents 5000 pharmacies across England and Wales.

In a letter to the Health Secretary, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, the organisation’s chief executive, said disruption to international trade could make an already difficult situation “far worse” for community pharmacies under strain from the fragile global supply chain.

Dr Hannbeck said: “Many common drugs, including aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen and a range of antibiotics, rely on petroleum-based ingredients as well as other raw materials sourced from the Middle East and beyond.

“Any disruption to these supplies increases production costs and slows manufacturing, which quickly translates into lower availability on pharmacy shelves.”

This could have an impact on “essential treatments that millions rely on daily”, she added, including common blood pressure medicines such as propranolol, and cholesterol treatments to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Our men are better than Canada at hockey
Our women are better than Canada at hockey
Our retards are better than Canada at hockey

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-canada-para-ice-hockey-paralympics-final/

Three weeks after the United States beat Canada in the Olympic ice hockey finals, the Americans overcame their neighbors again to win Paralympic gold and complete the three-peat at Milan Cortina.

Jack Wallace scored a hat trick to help the U.S. beat Canada 6-2 in Sunday's Para ice hockey final and become the first nation to sweep the hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics.

>The remark came while defending U.S. strikes in a Jake Paul interview.

https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-iran-gays-jake-paul?1

>President Donald Trump used a YouTube interview with influencer and boxer Jake Paul to invoke a familiar anti-LGBTQ+ trope while defending the United States’ escalating military campaign against Iran, even as his administration has attempted to deport a gay Iranian couple back to the country.

>Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

>The nearly half-hour conversation, posted Friday, drifted between boxing, social media, war, immigration, and politics. But one moment in particular stood out.

>While discussing the widening regional conflict involving Israel, U.S. forces, and Iran, Paul said he was surprised that some activists in the United States criticized Trump’s military actions while also expressing support for women’s rights. “I was a bit shocked that so many activists in America didn’t like it,” Paul said. “Meanwhile, they were like, ‘Oh, well, we support women. We want women to have all these rights.’ Meanwhile, you’re liberating the women of Iran.”

>Trump responded by invoking LGBTQ+ people in Iran. “We support gays, but they throw gays off the buildings,” Trump said.

>The line has become a familiar refrain in conservative political rhetoric. It invokes the real and brutal persecution of LGBTQ+ people in countries such as Iran, where same-sex relationships are criminalized and can carry punishments including imprisonment, flogging, and death, as a way to defend hawkish foreign policy.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/14/iran-war-iea-oil-stockpile-spr-strait-hormuz.html

The oil market sent a clear signal this week that a massive release of stockpiled crude by the U.S. and its allies is nowhere near enough to address the unprecedented supply disruption triggered by the Iran war.

More than 30 nations in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia agreed to flood the market with 400 million barrels of oil in an effort to keep a lid on rising energy prices. The U.S. is leading the effort with a release of 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve or 43% of the IEA total.

It is the largest release of stockpiled oil in the 50-year history of the International Energy Agency, an organization tasked with maintaining the energy security of its members during global crises.

But the oil bazooka is not inspiring confidence in the market. Crude prices have surged more than 17% since the IEA announced the emergency stockpile release on Wednesday. Brent oil prices, the international benchmark, closed above $100 on Friday for the second session in a row.

>A week after uninterrupted nightly blackouts, Cubans in Morón, a city in central Cuba, took to the streets banging pots and pans Friday night chanting “Down with communism”.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article315052027.html

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Brendan Carr posts that he may cancel spectrum permits of ‘mainstream news’ outlets for ‘misleading’ coverage
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/14/fcc-broadcast-permits-iran-war-news