US embassy hit in Baghdad; Trump officials push for Cuba shakeup
Israel says it has killed two top Iranian leaders as new attacks hit U.S. targets. The conflict expands with drones targeting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Plus, a new report says the Trump administration is pushing Cuba to remove its president during ongoing talks.
And a judge blocks RFK Jr.’s overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations, halting the changes and freezing the advisory panel’s actions.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
Israel says two of Iran’s top security officials killed
Israel says it has killed two top iranian security officials.
Israel’s defense minister announced Tuesday morning that the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, was killed in a strike overnight.
The Israeli military also says Gholamreza Soleimani was killed in a strike on Monday.
They say he led the revolutionary guard’s all-volunteer basij force for years, a group used to crack down on protests, and played a key role in recent unrest.
COMMANDER OF THE BASIJ UNIT ELIMINATED
Yesterday, the IDF targeted & eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past 6 years.
Under Soleimani, the Basij unit led the main repression operations in Iran, employing severe violence,… pic.twitter.com/aJ0dNtCFz0
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 17, 2026
Meanwhile, a U.S. embassy and American allies are facing new attacks.
Eyewitness video appears to show air defense systems intercepting drones targeting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
It’s not clear if there was any damage or injuries.
A witness told Reuters that at least three drones were heading toward the compound. Two were shot down, and a third was struck inside, sending smoke into the air.
The United Arab Emirates temporarily shut down its airspace early Tuesday.
Its military says it was responding to missile and drone threats from Iran.
President Donald Trump says he is delaying a planned trip to China as the war continues.
He told reporters Monday he asked to push the trip back by “a month or so.”
China’s foreign minister says the U.S. clarified the delay is not tied to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Trump said he wanted clarity on whether China would help secure the shipping route.
The president is also facing pushback after claiming a former president told him he wished he had bombed iran.
“I’ve spoken to a certain president, who I like, actually, a past president, former president, and he said, I wish I did it. I wish did it, but they didn’t do it, I’m doing it. Yeah.”
When asked which president, Trump said he can’t say.
“I don’t want to embarrass him,” the president said. “It would be very bad for his career, even though he’s got no career.”
Aides for all four living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, deny that claim.
US demands leadership change in Cuba: NYT
The Trump administration is quietly pressing for a leadership shake-up in Cuba.
The New York Times reports U.S. officials have told Cuban negotiators that President Miguel Díaz-Canel needs to step aside if the two countries are to reach a broader agreement.
According to people familiar with the talks, Washington is not trying to dismantle Cuba’s communist system, but wants Díaz-Canel removed as the public face of the government while negotiations move forward.
U.S. officials believe replacing him could open the door to economic changes and potential deals with American businesses.
Díaz-Canel has led Cuba since 2018.
He was the first president since the 1959 revolution whose last name was not Castro.
Remember Fidel and Raul? The Castro family still holds major influence behind the scenes.
The talks are happening while Cuba’s economic and energy crisis continues to deepen.
Officials say the country’s entire electrical grid failed Monday, plunging the island’s roughly 11 million residents into darkness.
It’s the third nationwide blackout in just four months.
Crews have restored limited power in parts of Havana and a handful of hospitals, but large areas of the island remain without reliable electricity.
Fuel shortages are also worsening the crisis.
Long lines have formed outside gas stations, and tankers carrying fuel have been stuck at ports while the country scrambles to secure energy supplies.
Díaz-Canel says Cuba has gone three months without oil shipments and blames the shortages on U.S. sanctions and an energy blockade.
Trump has suggested the United States could take a much bigger role in the island’s future, saying this week he believes he could have the “honor of taking Cuba.”
Judge halts Kennedy vaccine overhaul, freezing changes to childhood immunization schedule
A federal judge has blocked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweeping changes to the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule. It’s a significant setback for one of the administration’s most controversial health policy moves.
The ruling sides largely with major medical groups that argued the administration improperly changed vaccine recommendations and reshaped the federal advisory panel that helps guide them.
In his opinion, the judge sharply criticized the administration for bypassing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent vaccine advisory committee, calling it “a technical, procedural failure itself and a strong indication of something more fundamentally problematic: an abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee.”
Kennedy removed all 17 members of that committee last year and replaced them with new appointees — several of whom have been critical of vaccines.
Under Kennedy, federal health officials revised the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of diseases routinely recommended for vaccination.
The judge also put some of Kennedy’s reworked advisory panel’s actions on hold. The panel had been scheduled to meet again this week in Atlanta.
The Trump administration is already signaling it plans to fight the decision.
In a statement to Straight Arrow News, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said the administration “looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the trump administration from governing.”
Utah mom who wrote book on grief found guilty of murdering husband
A jury in Utah has convicted a Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death of murder.
The panel found Kouri Richins guilty on multiple counts, including aggravated murder and fraud tied to insurance payouts after the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins.
Prosecutors say she slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a cocktail she gave him.
They say she was millions of dollars in debt, and she believed she would inherit his estate, valued at more than $4 million.
Eric Richins’ family says the verdict brings them long-awaited justice.
“Four years ago, our family lost the brightest light,” Eric’s sister Amy Richins said. “Eric is deeply loved and missed every single day. We are grateful to everyone who has worked tirelessly to bring justice for Rric. Our focus is now on honoring Eric’s life and supporting his boys as we all continue to heal.”
Sentencing is set for May 13, on what would have been Eric Richins’ 44th birthday.
The aggravated murder conviction alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Suspect asks judge to toss DC bomb case citing Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons
The man accused of planting pipe bombs on Capitol Hill in 2021 is now asking a judge to throw out the case, arguing he’s covered by Trump’s blanket Jan. 6 pardons.
Defense attorneys for Brian Cole Jr. say the case is tied to the events of Jan. 6, even though investigators believe he planted the bombs the night before.
Searchers found the devices and safely detonated them on Jan. 6 outside the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Investigators say the bombs did not go off, but were capable of exploding.
Cole’s attorneys argue his actions were part of the same political dispute surrounding the 2020 election and the certification of the vote. They say the language of Trump’s pardon is broad enough to include him.
A White House official rejects that argument, telling Politico the bombs were placed Jan. 5, and the pardon applies to events at or near the Capitol that next day.
The FBI arrested Cole this past December, and he has pleaded not guilty to charges including transporting explosives and attempted use of explosives.
Scientists discover new sulfur-filled alien planet
Could there be another planet? Astronomers say yes.
It’s an exoplanet that sits just outside our solar system, and they’re calling it L 98-59 D. It’s located about 35 light-years from Earth.
NASA’s James Webb space telescope helped spot it, and researchers say it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.
The planet appears to be covered in oceans of molten rock, with an atmosphere rich in sulfur gases.
Scientists say that combination would likely make it smell like rotten eggs, and makes it highly unlikely to support life.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Researchers say the planet is larger than Earth in both size and mass, and offers new insight into how extreme worlds form beyond our solar system.
More from Straight Arrow News:
Why 200,000 immigrant truckers are losing their licenses
About 200,000 immigrant truck drivers — virtually all of them in the U.S. legally — will begin losing their commercial driver’s licenses under a Trump administration rule taking effect Monday.
The rule, which will bar many noncitizens from getting new commercial licenses or renewing existing ones, creates challenges for the trucking industry, already struggling with high fuel costs and high driver turnover, according to The Washington Post. Existing licenses will continue to be valid until they expire. Read the full story now>
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
