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伊朗决定促进人道主义货船安全通行霍尔木兹海峡

2026年3月28日 07:32 / 联合早报

伊朗常驻联合国日内瓦代表巴赫雷尼3月27日说，应联合国请求，伊朗决定促进并进一步加快人道主义货船在霍尔木兹海峡的安全通行。 （法新社）

伊朗决定促进人道主义货船安全通行霍尔木兹海峡。

新华社报道，伊朗常驻联合国日内瓦办事处代表巴赫雷尼星期五（3月27日）在社交媒体上宣布，应联合国请求，伊朗决定促进并进一步加快人道主义货船在霍尔木兹海峡的安全通行。

巴赫雷尼说，这一措施体现伊朗持续致力于支持人道主义努力，并确保基本援助不延误地送达有需要者的承诺。实施的操作安排将适时与联合国确定。伊朗坚定致力于确保、维护并保障霍尔木兹海峡对所有非敌对国家的安全与稳定。

10 Americans injured in Iranian attack on Saudi airbase

2026-03-27T18:46:00-0400 / CBS News

Ten U.S. service members were injured in an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to multiple U.S. officials.

The attack consisted of Iranian missiles and drones, sources told CBS News.

Two of the Americans were very seriously injured, sources said. Eight were seriously injured, which is a different category of injury under the military’s classification system.

More than 300 American service members have been wounded in action as part of the U.S.’s war with Iran, most of whom have returned to duty, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson said Friday. Some 13 service members have been killed.

This is a breaking story; it will be updated.

Trump has ordered TSA workers be paid, regardless of what Congress does. Here’s what we know

Updated Mar 27, 2026, 5:44 PM ET | CNN Politics

By

[Tami Luhby]

,

[Kaitlan Collins]

Updated 2 hr ago

Updated Mar 27, 2026, 5:44 PM ET

PUBLISHED Mar 27, 2026, 4:02 PM ET

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U.S. President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2026.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

With Congress’ debate over Department of Homeland Security funding now likely to extend for at least several more days, President Donald Trump on Friday issued a promised executive action that Transportation Security Administration employees be paid immediately.

“I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law,” the president wrote.

How that would work, exactly, is largely unclear. But TSA workers could start seeing their paychecks as soon as Monday, according to DHS.

Some context: Roughly 61,000 TSA employees are missing their second [full paycheck] after funding for DHS, TSA’s parent agency, [lapsed] on February 14. The impasse has led to thousands of officers calling out and more than 500 quitting, resulting in [massive security screening delays] at airports nationwide in recent weeks.

As talks to end the partial government shutdown [broke down] on Capitol Hill Thursday evening, Trump [posted] on Truth Social that he was “going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation.”

Hours later, the Senate moved to fund most of the [department], including TSA, though not immigration enforcement and border patrol. But House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday derided that measure as “a joke” and said he would put forth his own short-term spending bill that would fully fund the agency for eight weeks. Johnson noted Trump’s move would pay the TSA, and he asserted he had the president’s support.

Here’s what we currently know:

Where is the money coming from?

Two people familiar with the plans said DHS planned to use funding from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, Trump’s [sweeping domestic policy agenda package] that he signed last summer. The executive action didn’t specify that, instead more broadly calling for the use of money with “a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations.”

The “big, beautiful bill” provided DHS with $10 billion that can be used to support the agency’s mission to safeguard US borders, Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, told CNN. He suspects the administration will tap into this pot of money to fund TSA employees’ pay — even though TSA is not mentioned anywhere in the legislation.

Notably, the bill gives the DHS secretary the power to deem what activities support safeguarding the border, said Rachel Snyderman, managing director of the economic program at the Bipartisan Policy Center. The provision doesn’t specify that the funds should be used by a particular division within DHS.

DHS is using other money from the package to pay certain employees during the shutdown. The package provided DHS with a $165 billion infusion, funneling $75 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $64 billion to Customs and Border Protection.

[Related article Community members react to federal immigration agents conducting enforcement tasks in Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 5, 2026. Seth Herald/Reuters A partial government shutdown has hit the Department of Homeland Security. Here’s what that means 7 min read]

Paychecks for sworn law enforcement officers in ICE, CBP and the US Secret Service, as well as for US Coast Guard military personnel, are currently being funded by the bill, according to a senior administration official. Other positions that work on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and border security priorities, such as technology specialists and attorneys, are also being paid during the shutdown through the legislation, the official said.

Does Trump have the authority to do this?

In the executive action, Trump said any moves should follow the federal law that says, “Appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided by law.”

Still, Kogan said he didn’t think the maneuver was legal. But “that’s not going to stop them,” he added.

He pointed out that the administration used Pentagon research and development funds to [pay the military] during the fall shutdown.

Why did Trump wait so long?

That’s the key question.

“My question is: If he can do it, why didn’t he do it before?” Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that focuses on improving the federal government, told CNN. “This has been a problem for over a month now.”

The situation at certain airports, particularly in [Atlanta] and [Houston], has become increasingly dire in recent weeks. Travelers have been forced to wait for hours to go through TSA security checkpoints, with the lines stretching outside the terminals.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered [ICE agents] be deployed at 14 major airports to assist TSA agents.

A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent works alongside a TSA officer in the TSA security area at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, on March 23, 2026.

Adam Gray/Reuters

When will TSA employees be paid?

According to DHS, TSA staffers could see money hit their bank accounts as soon as Monday. The agency sent messages to TSA officers on Friday informing them they should “expect most of their backpay in their direct deposit starting on Monday, March 30.” CNN has viewed the message.

The agency also said that “all employees must return to work on their next scheduled workday,” starting on Saturday.

In the last shutdown, it took 14 to 30 days — and, in some cases, even longer — for workers to receive all of their back pay, TSA union leaders have said.

The current shutdown has placed a huge [financial burden] on many TSA employees, leaving them struggling to pay for food, housing, gas, child care and other essentials.

Workers have missed more than $1 billion in pay because of the shutdown, acting TSA administration Ha Nguyen McNeill testified at a House hearing on Wednesday.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 47,000 TSA officers, said he is “grateful that action was taken” to pay employees.

But, he noted, there are thousands of other DHS employees, including at the US Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, who are still going without pay.

“These workers and their families cannot wait,” Kelley said in a statement Thursday night. “All DHS workers must be paid immediately.”

Also, TSA staffing levels at airports likely won’t return to full strength until workers receive their back pay, union leaders told reporters.

What’s happening on Capitol Hill?

The Senate passed a bill in a rare overnight session early Friday morning that would fund most of DHS, but not ICE and only part of CBP. The measure did not include the [immigration enforcement reforms] that Senate Democrats have been demanding in the wake of the shooting deaths of two US citizens during [an immigration surge in Minneapolis] earlier this year.

But House GOP leaders rebuffed that legislation and opted instead to press for fully funding DHS on a short-term basis, setting up a battle with the Senate.

The House version is [dead on arrival] in that chamber, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Lawmakers are racing against the clock since Congress has an upcoming two-week Easter and Passover recess scheduled.

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美媒：伊朗再袭沙特基地 10名美军受伤多架加油机受损

2026年3月28日 07:44 / 联合早报

这张摄于2月21日的卫星图像显示沙特苏丹王子空军基地。 （路透社档案照片）

《华尔街日报》星期五（3月27日）报道，美国和沙特阿拉伯知情官员披露，伊朗当天攻击驻美军的沙特苏丹王子空军基地，导致10名美军人员受伤，多架美军空中加油机受损。

报道说，至少一枚导弹和数架无人机袭击沙特苏丹王子空军基地。基地内一栋建筑被击中，受伤美军人员当时正在这栋建筑内，其中两人伤势严重。

《华尔街日报》13日以美国知情官员为消息源报道，伊朗对苏丹王子空军基地发动导弹攻击，击中五架停在地面上的美军加油机。美国总统特朗普14日在社交媒体发文，承认美军加油机遇袭，但强调没有加油机被摧毁，只有一架受损。

新华社报道，据美国媒体27日报道，自美国和以色列2月28日对伊朗发起大规模军事行动以来，美军已有至少13人死亡，303人受伤。目前仍有10人处于重伤状态。

U.S. Tomahawks are being used in Iran war faster than stockpile is being refilled

March 27, 2026 / 7:38 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The U.S. has so far used hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles against Iran, according to two sources familiar with the matter, several times more than the number procured for the military each year.

One of the sources said over 850 have been used so far in the conflict, a figure that is roughly nine times the number of Tomahawks the Pentagon buys on average each year. This number was first reported by the Washington Post.

The maximum rate of production is estimated to be 2,330 per year: Three contracts from Raytheon each have a capacity of 600 and a BAE has a contract to produce up to 530 missiles per year, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which cites Pentagon budget documents.

However, the actual procurement rate for the U.S. military is about 90 per year, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Navy requested only 57 missiles for fiscal year 2026, according to Defense Department budget documents.

In total, it’s estimated the Pentagon has about 3,100 or so Tomahawk missiles in its inventory, according to Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center.

“It’s been recognized that we don’t have enough long-range strike capability, so we’ve been trying to build up these stockpiles, but we keep depleting them,” Grieco told CBS News.

Raytheon, or RTX, recently announced a framework agreement with the Defense Department to scale up to 1,000 missiles for the U.S. per year over several years.

What is a Tomahawk missile and what U.S. military services use them?

A Tomahawk cruise missile, launched from Navy destroyers and submarines, can travel more than 1,000 miles and strike with remarkable precision, even against targets protected by sophisticated air defenses. Developed during the Cold War and continually upgraded since, it has become one of the Pentagon’s most dependable long-range weapons.

The missile is operated primarily by the U.S. Navy, but in recent years has also been adopted by the Marine Corps and the Army, reflecting a broader shift toward long-range precision weapons across the services. Allied militaries, including Britain’s Royal Navy, also field the system. No evidence has come to light that would suggest that Iran uses or has obtained Tomahawk missiles for use.

According to Pentagon data, the Tomahawk has been flight-tested more than 550 times and used operationally in over 2,300 strikes, according to Raytheon, the defense manufacturer. In conflicts from Iraq to Syria and recently in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, Tomahawks are often used as the weapon of first resort when American commanders seek to hit distant or heavily defended targets without risking pilots.

How much do Tomahawks cost?

Costs can vary depending on what version of the Tomahawk the U.S. is purchasing but the missile costs around $2.2 million and a launcher is more than $6 million for ground-based versions. Tomahawks launched by the U.S. Navy from destroyers or submarines are capable of striking moving ships and can come in at more than $4 million.

Tomahawks are just one of the advanced munitions the U.S. has been using.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing earlier this week that U.S. Forces have fired “thousands of Tomahawks, Precision Strike Missiles, and other long-range offensive weapons into Iran, while also using Patriot, THAAD, and Standard Missile interceptors at an alarming rate.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is ramping up the defense industrial base in an effort to produce critical munitions faster.

“We’re reviving our defense industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth said at a news conference last week, adding that new deals would cut “long lead times on exquisite munitions.”

“We’re going to be refilled faster than anyone imagined,” Hegseth said.

How many Tomahawks has the U.S. used since the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025?

While there’s no official cumulative total publicly available, the American military has used close to 1,000 Tomahawk missiles and perhaps even more between strikes on Iran, operations in Yemen and the Red Sea, Nigeria and other conflicts since June 2025, according to multiple news estimates and weapons experts.

File: The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) fires a Tomahawk land-attack missile at sea on March 1, 2026. U.S. Navy / Getty Images

How fast can the U.S. produce Tomahawks missiles currently?

Production of the Tomahawk cruise missile has struggled to keep pace with its growing use. In recent years,industry has produced only a dozen to a few hundred missiles annually for the U.S. under standard procurement cycles, according to Defense Department budget documents, a rate far below what could be expended in even a short, high-intensity conflict. Officials and defense analysts have long said that the constraint is not simply funding, but structural limits in a defense industrial base designed for predictable demand rather than rapid wartime expansion.

How many Tomahawks would the U.S. like to produce in the future?

Recent Defense Department notices show there’s been an active effort to expand Tomahawk capacity. RTX announced last month annual Tomahawk production would increase to more than 1,000 per year under new agreements.

But those efforts appear to run over multiple years and is not an immediate wartime snapback.

Separately, a September 2025 Pentagon contract notice says Raytheon received funding for engineering to enhance the production capacity of the Tomahawk All Up Round missile system, with work to be completed in March 2028.

Iran backlash forces Gulf allies toward Washington as regional tensions rise

Trump said Gulf states were ‘shocked’ by Iranian attacks on their territory

By Morgan Phillips
Fox News

Published March 27, 2026 12:44pm EDT

[Saudi Arabia] and other Gulf allies are showing signs of a quiet but consequential shift in their posture toward Iran, as escalating attacks across the region are testing years of careful balancing between Washington and Tehran.

For much of the past decade, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sought to avoid direct confrontation with Iran, maintaining diplomatic and economic ties even while relying on U.S. military backing. But that middle ground is increasingly under strain.

That strategy was designed to keep Gulf states out of direct confrontation. But officials and analysts say Iran’s expanding attacks are narrowing the space for neutrality, pushing some Gulf states closer to Washington.

One of the clearest signs of that shift is a reported move by Saudi Arabia to grant U.S. forces access to King Fahd Air Base in Taif, a western facility not used for American combat operations since the Gulf War era.

[HEGSETH BLASTS BRITS, SAYS IRAN’S CHAOTIC RETALIATION HAS DRIVEN ITS OWN ALLIES ‘INTO THE AMERICAN ORBIT’]

The shift is also visible across the region. The UAE has severed diplomatic ties with Tehran, shut down Iranian-linked institutions and launched a crackdown on networks tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after a wave of attacks.

Bahrain, meanwhile, led efforts at the United Nations to pass a Security Council resolution condemning Iranian strikes on Gulf states, while multiple countries — including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait — have issued coordinated statements denouncing Iran’s actions and asserting their right to self-defense.

These Gulf states are in line with the U.S. view that Iran’s missile development, uranium enrichment programs and support for regional militant groups need to be “addressed and curtailed” but remain opposed to strikes on critical infrastructure inside Iran, a Gulf official told Fox News Digital.

Qatar has also taken concrete steps in response to Iranian attacks, expelling Iranian military and security attachés and ordering them to leave the country after strikes on critical energy infrastructure. However, Qatar has stopped short of severing full diplomatic ties, maintaining its role as a mediator even as tensions rise.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies are showing signs of a quiet but consequential shift in their posture toward Iran.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Qatari prime minister was in Washington for talks focused on defense cooperation and protecting critical energy infrastructure Thursday, an official briefed on the visit told Fox News.

King Fahd Air Base’s location, deep inside Saudi territory and farther from Iran’s missile and drone reach, would offer strategic depth the U.S. has not relied on in decades. U.S. military posture in the region has long centered on more exposed bases along the Persian Gulf, including hubs in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Sources familiar with the matter cited in Wall Street Journal reporting said Saudi Arabia agreed to let American forces use the base. The Pentagon and the Saudi embassy declined to comment on the base.

Combat aircraft routinely operate “dark” with transponders off in potential combat zones, so they would not appear on civilian flight radar. Saudi Arabia’s tightly controlled media environment also means there are few, if any, independent local reports of U.S. aircraft activity at King Fahd Air Base.

“Our primary concern today is to defend ourselves from the daily attacks on our people and our civilian infrastructure,” the Saudi government said in a statement on its posture toward Iran. “Iran has chosen dangerous brinkmanship over serious diplomatic solutions. This harms every stakeholder involved but none more than Iran itself.”

The reported basing shift is one of several signs that Gulf states are recalibrating their position as Iranian attacks escalate across the region.

While Gulf leaders are still stopping short of joining combat operations and continue to pursue diplomatic off-ramps, their actions — from expanding cooperation with U.S. forces to issuing more direct and coordinated condemnations of Iran — suggest growing frustrations with Iranian attacks on their territory.

President Donald Trump speaks with the media before boarding Air Force One Monday, March 23, 2026, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla.(Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

President Donald Trump said Thursday that countries across the region — including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman— were “shocked” as Iranian attacks expanded beyond traditional flashpoints.

“They start shooting in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman,” he said at a Cabinet meeting. “They start shooting at them. And they were — they were. Everybody was shocked, including us. You know why? Because they’re sick. And they had a plan to take over the Middle East.”

Since late February, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones across the Gulf, targeting countries from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Qatar and Kuwait. After the launch of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, Iran warned it would retaliate against U.S. forces and their regional partners, a threat it quickly carried out with strikes on bases and infrastructure across the region.

Years of diplomatic outreach and de-escalation efforts in Gulf capitals failed to shield them from Iranian retaliation.

Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in 2023 to restore diplomatic ties while the United Arab Emirates maintained economic channels that allowed limited commercial activity to continue.

At the same time, the steps Gulf countries have taken remain measured.

The United States already operates from bases in Saudi Arabia, including Prince Sultan Air Base, which has served as a hub for U.S. air operations and force protection in the region. But those sites sit closer to the Gulf and are more exposed to Iranian missile and drone threats, while more interior locations like Taif provide greater depth and longer warning times against potential strikes.

“They have to be very careful even now,” former Israeli Defense Forces officer and national security analyst Ehud Eilam told Fox News Digital. “They know that they would have to live with Iran after the war.”

“They can’t really strike back hard,” said James Robbins, Institute of World Politics dean and former special assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. “They’re small countries, and they’re hard to defend.”

Robbins added that Gulf states face a long-term dilemma, warning that even a weakened Iran would likely regroup and pose a continued threat.

“Iran will come back,” he said. “They will rebuild … and they will be out for revenge.”

Still, analysts say, Gulf states could expand cooperation with the U.S. if they wanted to.

“They could increase the cooperation with the U.S. and Israel as far as air defense, intelligence, cyber and so on,” Eilam said.

They could also join in on a mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil typically passes. Shipping operations through the strait have ground to a standstill due to Iranian threats to vessels that attempt to pass.

“Their best mission would be securing the Strait of Hormuz, those types of missions, with whatever sea forces they have, [Coast Guard-]type forces and their air forces,” he said.

Even as tensions rise, Gulf leaders have continued to pursue diplomatic off-ramps.

Saudi Arabia recently hosted regional talks aimed at exploring a potential ceasefire, underscoring that Gulf states are still seeking to contain the conflict even as they bolster their security posture.

For now, Gulf states appear to be navigating a narrowing path, moving closer to Washington as Iranian attacks mount, while stopping short of full military alignment in a conflict that could shape the region long after the fighting ends.

Schumer claims victory as Democrats walk away with no ICE changes

By Alex Miller
Fox News

Published March 27, 2026 1:21pm EDT

The Senate passes a bill to fund DHS without ICE reforms after days of airport chaos. Fox News’ Chad Pergram reports on what’s next.

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Congressional Democrats consider the Senate-passed plan to end the Homeland Security shutdown a victory, but they’re walking away empty-handed with none of their sought-after reforms to immigration enforcement.

Pushing for sweeping changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of a pair of fatal shootings in Minnesota is why Democrats blocked more than a half-dozen attempts to prevent or end the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history.

But the window of opportunity to secure any reforms slammed shut just after 2 a.m. Friday.

[DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., returns to the U.S. Capitol Building on March 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I mean, I think that ship has sailed, and they kind of kissed that opportunity goodbye by failing to provide funding for those agencies,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

At the onset of the shutdown in early February, Schumer and Democrats presented 10 categories of reforms they wanted to be implemented for ICE and immigration enforcement in order to earn their votes to fund DHS.

The proposals were in response to the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good and were designed to drastically rein in the power of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.

[HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that Republicans had made what was likely their “final” offer to Democrats to reopen DHS.(Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Among them were requiring judicial warrants for agents, forcing agents to unmask, requiring agents to display identification, ending roving patrols, preventing agents from operating in certain areas like schools and hospitals, requiring body-worn cameras, increasing oversight of detention centers tied to funding, and several more.

The warrant requirements and unmasking were hard red lines for Republicans and the White House, but throughout negotiations, the GOP made concessions on several others, including limiting immigration enforcement at sensitive locations, allowing congressional oversight of DHS detention facilities, and enforcing the use of visible identification for DHS agents.

Democrats walked away with none of those offers that were on the table, aside from $20 million to purchase body-worn cameras, which was already in the original Homeland Security funding bill.

[SCHUMER, DEMS BLOCK DHS FUNDING AGAIN, TRUMP INTERVENES TO PAY TSA AGENTS]

Pushing for sweeping changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of a pair of fatal shootings in Minnesota is why Democrats blocked more than a half-dozen attempts to prevent or end the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history.(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

“The Dems wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms,” Thune said.

Still, Schumer and congressional Democrats scored a political victory of sorts, with the legislation carving out funding for ICE and the border protection arm of CBP.

Republicans, however, front-loaded immigration enforcement funding last year with $75 billion over the next several years and plan a similar move using the same budget reconciliation process to extend funding for up to a decade.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP]

And with a rebellion against the legislation fomenting among House Republicans — who are widely unhappy with immigration enforcement not being funded right away — all parties could be taken back to square one.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” Schumer said after the Senate advanced the bill. “This is what we asked for, and I’m very proud of my caucus. My caucus held the line.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Arctic sea ice hits lowest winter level on record as warming Earth shatters records across the planet

March 27, 2026 / 2:36 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to basically tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents.

Arctic sea ice levels, especially in the summer, are crucial to Earth’s climate because without the ice reflecting sunlight, more heat energy goes into the oceans. Ice of all kinds around the poles acts as Earth’s refrigerator. The lack of sea ice in the Arctic creates new shipping routes and, in doing so, causes geopolitical disruptions, making once-ignored places such as Greenland more desirable.

The melting sea ice “continues a downward trend scientists have observed over the last several decades,” NASA said in a statement.

The shrinking Arctic sea ice was announced Thursday as temperatures broke March heat records across the United States, all over Mexico, in Australia, across Northern Africa and through parts of Northern Europe. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks extreme temperatures, called the extreme March temperatures “by far the most extreme heat event in world climatic history” and said on social media that the next few days would be “much worse.”

Sixteen U.S. states broke March temperature records in the past week or so, said weather historian Christ Burt. Twenty-seven locations had temperatures in the past week high enough to tie or surpass the hottest April day on record, including St. Louis, meteorologists said.

Mexico has had thousands of records shattered, some of them warmer than the hottest May temperatures, but that’s nothing compared with what’s happening in Asia, where “dozens of thousands of monthly records” were smashed by 30 to 35 degrees (17 to 19 degrees Celsius) margins, Herrera said.

Yet at the same time earlier this week, Antarctica set a record for the coldest March day anywhere on Earth at minus 105.5 degrees (minus 76.4 degrees Celsius), according to Herrera and Burt.

Steady decline of sea ice

Each year, Arctic sea ice grows over the cold winter and shrinks in the heat of the summer. This year, the growth was so small that its peak, before starting to shrink, measured 5.52 million square miles (14.29 million square kilometers). That’s slightly smaller than last year’s 5.53 million square miles (14.31 million square kilometers), but the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which does the measuring, considers those two figures so close that it’s a tie.

“This record low maximum gives a head start to the spring and summer melt season,” NSIDC senior research scientist Walt Meier said in a statement.

Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) had a similar analysis in a recent conversation with AFP, saying it may trigger a “potentially faster and more extensive summer melt.”

This year’s sea ice area was about 525,000 square miles (1.36 million square kilometers) lower than the 1981 to 2010 winter average peak. That’s about twice the size of Texas.

“As temperatures have warmed and are continuing to warm, especially in the polar region, there is less opportunity to grow ice and it’s gonna tend to, on average, be less,” Meier said. “It’s not like we are seeing a regime shift or anything. It’s more of a steady decline in the winter and at the maximum.”

Wildlife, such as polar bears, penguins and seals, also depend on sea ice. Researchers analyzing satellite images recently found emperor penguins being forced into tighter, overcrowded groups as sea ice beneath them rapidly disappeared during molting season—a period when they shed feathers and are not waterproof. Scientists say only meaningful climate cooling can give the species a real chance at survival.

Summer sea ice is key

The summer melt season – which precedes a September measurement known as the Arctic sea ice minimum – is “really the critical time,” Meier said. One reason is that when there’s less white ice reflecting the strong summer sun, the oceans can absorb more heat. And when that happens, the Arctic warms closer to temperatures further south and atmospheric pressure changes. A leading theory – that is still controversial – says those Arctic changes then alter the movement and shape of the jet stream, which moves weather west to east and contributes to extreme weather bursts, he said.

Melting sea ice does not contribute to sea level rise.

The winter sea ice growth season is also more variable with weather changes, so just because the Arctic hits a record small amount in March, it doesn’t mean that the summer will be record low, Meier said.

“The winter maximum is certainly interesting,” Meier said. “It is, I’d say, a climate change global warming signal.”

On the other end of the planet, Antarctic sea ice is heavily affected by local weather and ocean factors. In February, Antarctica hit its annual low point and while it was smaller than the 30-year average, it was nowhere near the record low levels of the past three years, Meier said.

contributed to this report.

US eyes seizing Iran’s oil lifeline — but it may not cripple Tehran

Published March 27, 2026 3:48pm EDT | Fox News

U.S. officials and analysts are weighing whether seizing [Iran’s main oil export hub] could deal a crippling financial blow — but experts warn the high-risk move may not shut off Tehran’s revenue as quickly or completely as expected.

Analysts say U.S. planners face a high-stakes decision: whether seizing Kharg Island would actually disrupt Iran’s oil revenue or leave key export flows intact while exposing American forces to sustained attack. Options under discussion range from interdicting tankers at sea to striking export infrastructure from the air, approaches some argue could pressure Tehran’s finances without putting troops on the ground.

“There’s a big debate going on right now,” R.P. Newman, Marine veteran and counterterrorism analyst, told Fox News Digital.

Kharg Island handles the vast majority of Iran’s crude oil exports, making it one of the most strategically significant energy nodes in the region and a central pressure point for any effort to economically squeeze Tehran.

[US TROOPS BRACE FOR ‘HIT-AND-RUN’ GUERILLA ATTACKS AS 82ND AIRBORNE DEPLOYS TO IRAN, MILITARY ANALYST WARNS]

“We certainly have the ability, military wise, to take it,” said R.P. Newman, a Marine veteran and counter-terrorism analyst.

Some analysts argue that taking Kharg could deliver an immediate economic shock, cutting off the regime’s primary source of oil revenue and potentially giving Washington leverage in broader negotiations.

But such an operation would not be simple.

“It would take thousands to do that,” he said.

U.S. forces already have struck the island hitting more than 90 Iranian military targets, including missile and naval mine facilities, earlier in March while deliberately avoiding oil infrastructure, leaving export operations largely intact.

Retired Adm. Kevin Donegan, former commander of the [U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet], said the same objective could be achieved without putting U.S. forces on the island.

U.S. officials and analysts are weighing whether seizing Iran’s main oil export hub could deal a crippling financial blow — but experts warn the high-risk move may not shut off Tehran’s revenue as quickly or completely as expected.(Elif Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“You could achieve that desired outcome just by constraining the flow that comes out of Kharg after it gets outside the Gulf,” Donegan said.

“You could stop every ship that comes out,” he added.

Robbins said the U.S. could also disable Kharg’s export capability with air power rather than seizing it outright.

An influx of thousands of troops from Marine expeditionary units and the Army’s 82nd airborne division has raised speculation that a ground operation could be on the way.

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday U.S. operations could wrap in “weeks, not months” and without ground troops.

“We are ahead of schedule on most of (the objectives), and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without any,” Rubio told reporters during a trip to Paris for a meeting of G-7 foreign ministers.

Even if U.S. forces were able to seize the island, some analysts warn the economic impact would not be immediate.

“The desired full economic effect of taking Kharg Island is going to be a delayed effect if you don’t also seize underway tankers,” said Gregory Brew,analyst at the Eurasia Group, said.

Any operation targeting Kharg would strike at one of Iran’s most critical economic assets.

“Sales of petroleum products have generally covered between 30 and 40% of the official state budget,” Brew said. “There’s no question the state budget will take a significant hit.”

But a loss of oil revenue would not necessarily cripple the regime’s core power structure.

“The IRGC has what is in effect a shadow budget,” Brew said. “If anything, its relative position may improve.”

That means that while the government’s official budget would shrink, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)could retain a larger share of the country’s remaining resources through its independent revenue streams.

Export oil pipelines are seen at an oil facility on Kharg Island, on the shore of the Gulf.(Str/AFP Via Getty Images)

Even if Kharg were taken offline, Iran would retain other ways to keep exports flowing.

“Iran does have four other export facilities,” Brew said.

Its terminal at Jask, Iran, located outside the Strait of Hormuz, “can handle around one-fifth of the volume of oil that can be exported from Kharg.”

“Stopping completely would require interdicting that traffic as well,” Brew added.

That means any effort to fully choke off Iran’s oil exports would likely extend beyond Kharg, requiring action against multiple export routes and facilities.

[US MOVES AIRBORNE TROOPS, MARINES AS IRAN REJECTS CEASEFIRE, RAISING GROUND WAR POTENTIAL]

Sustaining the island would prove difficult as well, putting U.S. forces on a sea-locked target within range of[Iranian drones], rockets and missiles from the mainland.

“Any deployment to the island will be vulnerable to Iranian counterattack,” Brew said.

11 days in, here’s where U.S. operations in Iran stand.(Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

“They would be a very small force, very exposed,” said James Robbins, dean of the Institute of World Politics and a former adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Beyond the initial assault, sustaining forces on the island would present additional challenges.

“Once the guys are on the ground, then you have to support them and that would be extremely hard,” Robbins said.

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Some analysts also question what a successful seizure would ultimately achieve.

“To what end would be the question,” Robbins said. “I don’t see an endgame to that, to seizing Kharg.”

President [Donald Trump] has publicly announced a reprieve on strikes on energy infrastructure until April 6, citing “progress” in negotiations with Iran.

But Iranian officials have accused the president of “psychological warfare” and expressed skepticism.

Iran already has begun preparing for a potential Kharg invasion, moving additional forces, bolstering air defenses and laying mines and other traps around the island, including along potential landing areas, sources familiar with the intelligence [told CNN.]

The Pentagon and the Iranian mission to the United Nations could not immediately be reached for comment.

Utah mom responds after another parent allegedly kidnapped her child over bullying allegations

March 27, 2026 / 1:43 PM EDT / CBS News

A Utah mom is opening up after another parent is accused of kidnapping her son, who she says bullied her child.

Amberlee Collazo told CBS News in an exclusive interview that her son, Kristopher, is “going to have trust issues with people for so long” after the incident, which occurred in September 2025.

Court documents allege Shannon Tufuga stopped Collazo’s son while he was on his bike, forced him into her car and threatened to have her husband beat him up.

The 11-year-old said he was going to apologize to Tufuga when she stopped him.

“I was gonna say, sorry that … I got in your way. But when I was about to say that, she was like, ‘No, F you, get in my car, I’m taking you.’”

Prosecutors allege Tufuga drove Kristopher to her home and forced him to apologize to her child, whom she claimed he bullied.

Collazo said the situation stems from an earlier encounter Tufuga’s child had with Kristopher.

“He says, ‘Mom, I called her … a rude name and I didn’t mean to, but I didn’t know what else to do. She won’t leave me alone,’” Collazo said her son told her.

Kristopher said he now suffers from anxiety and emotional distress following the incident.

Tufuga faces felony charges of child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse. According to the Provo City School District, a neighboring city is investigating the case to avoid a conflict of interest.

In a statement, Tufuga’s defense team said the allegations are “not accurate” and added, “It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in a position where we must defend the safety of our children.”

Her defense team blamed the incident on “an erosion of traditional family values.”

Collazo thinks the situation was avoidable, saying, “A simple conversation could have fixed this problem.”