Al Jazeera
Top Democratic senators in the United States have called for an investigation into the strike against a girls’ school in southern Iran, saying that the Pentagon must “provide clear answers” about the incident that killed at least 170 people.
Six lawmakers said in a joint statement late on Sunday that they are “horrified” by the bombing of the elementary school in Minab during the opening US-Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28.
“The killing of school children is appalling and unacceptable under any circumstance,” said the senators who serve as the top Democrats on national security panels.
The push comes as new footage of the attack suggested that the site of the school was likely hit by a Tomahawk missile – a weapon used by the US that Israel and Iran do not possess.
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Wired
Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean is among the AI researchers and engineers rushing to Anthropic's defense.
MORE THAN 30 employees from OpenAI and Google, including Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, filed an amicus brief on Monday in support of Anthropic in its legal fight against the US government.
“If allowed to proceed, this effort to punish one of the leading US AI companies will undoubtedly have consequences for the United States’ industrial and scientific competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence and beyond,” the employees wrote.
The brief was filed just hours after Anthropic sued the Department of Defenseand other federal agencies over the Pentagon’s decision to designate the company a “supply-chain risk.” The sanction, which severely limits Anthropic’s ability to work with military contractors, went into effect after Anthropic’s negotiations with the Pentagon fell apart. The AI startup is seeking a temporary restraining order to continue its work with military partners as the lawsuit progresses. This brief specifically supports this motion.
Wired
The MAHA movement is recasting the term—developed in the 1980s to help protect patients against paternalistic medicine—in service of its own agenda.
IN THE YEAR that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been in office, his agency has made unprecedented changes to the childhood immunization schedule, removing universal recommendations for a half-dozen vaccines in favor of “shared clinical decisionmaking.”
The term has become something of a mantra for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, who is also temporarily leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said he believes “very fundamentally in shared decisionmaking.” And in her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate health committee in February, US surgeon general nominee Casey Means invoked shared clinical decisionmaking when senators pressed her about her views on vaccines.
NPR
The U.S. military identified a soldier who died from his injuries sustained in Saudi Arabia, as fighting in the Middle East continued on Monday, Day 10 of the war with Iran.
Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, a 26-year-old from Kentucky, was the seventh U.S. service member to be killed since the start of the war, according to the Pentagon.
Iran launched fresh attacks on Israel and several Gulf states and beyond. Turkey, which borders Iran, said NATO defenses intercepted a missile headed its way for the second time of the conflict.
Hours earlier, Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader. The 56-year-old is the son of the previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by airstrikes at the start of the war. He has close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, signaling a continuation of his father's rule and hard-line stance.
NPR
Some 100 feet below the ocean's surface, Stephen Hawking peeked through the circular porthole of a submarine and saw the brilliant blue tropical water.
It was March 2006, and the famous astrophysicist, accompanied by one of his ever-present nurses, sat strapped in his wheelchair, enjoying the view of coral reefs and colorful fish off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It was his first undersea experience, and he had Jeffrey Epstein to thank for it.
The submarine ride capped a nearly weeklong gathering funded by Epstein. It brought together around 20 of the world's top physicists, including three Nobel laureates and three more who would later receive the prestigious prize.
Al Jazeera
Nearly 62 million people living in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been caught in the crossfire of the latest US-Israel war on Iran.
Known for their economic opportunities, these countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), collectively host nearly 35 million foreign workers from around the world, predominantly from South Asia.
With the exception of Saudi Arabia and Oman, foreign workers make up the bulk of the populations of people living in the remaining four GCC countries.
The map below illustrates the national and non-national populations in each of the GCC countries.
Deutsche Welle
In the state election in Baden-Württemberg, the far-right AfD almost doubled its result to just under 19%. However, given the numerous crises within the party, the celebrations remain subdued.
"We are the winners of the evening," said Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) in virtually every interview he gave on election night. Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD's top candidate in Baden-Württemberg, struck the same note: "I am very, very satisfied!"
With 18.8% of the vote, the AfD achieved its best election result to date in a western German state. That success is remarkable, even though the party often gains almost twice that vote share in eastern Germany. Unlike the east, Baden-Württemberg is an extremely economically strong region with many high-paying jobs.
The party, which is classified by the German domestic intelligence service as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, was clearly able to score points with its anti-immigrant sentiment and its promises of mass deportations. And in the car-making state of Baden-Württemberg, it accused the other parties of "treason" for allegedly focusing on alternative motors in their transport policy. The AfD, on the other hand, is determined to champion the gasoline engine and likes to fuel doubts about the veracity of man-made climate change.
The Guardian
Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, offering assistance to the other players and saying “help is here”.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed the humanitarian offer on Tuesday morning, hours after the US president, Donald Trump, posted about their plight on social media. Burke said the visas had been granted at about 1.30am on Tuesday morning, around the time of Trump’s social media posts, which first criticised, then praised, Australia.
The players have been granted temporary humanitarian visas by the Australian government, which gives them a pathway to permanent residency. It is not known whether more players, beyond the initial five, will request help from the government.
The Guardian
US president claimed he wanted to eradicate cartels and made comments about Mexico’s president that were deemed sexist in summit speech
Claudia Sheinbaum has responded to Donald Trump’s description of Mexicoas the “epicenter of violence,” by calling on the US government to step up efforts to combat gun trafficking.
“There is something that the US can help us a lot with: stop the trafficking of illegal weapons from the US to Mexico,” the president of Mexico said. “If they stopped the entry of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico, then these groups wouldn’t have access to this type of high-powered weaponry to carry out their criminal activities.”
Sheinbaum noted that 75% of guns used by cartels come from the United States. Mexico has repeatedly
called on the US government to halt arms trafficking and in 2021 sued several American gunmakers, accusing them of “negligent marketing, distribution and sales”, though the suit was tossed out by the US supreme court last year.
Reuters
NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Three wealthy brothers, including two of New York's top real estate brokers, were found guilty on Monday at a closely watched
sex trafficking trial over allegations they lured women and girls to exclusive parties where they drugged and raped them.
Oren Alexander, 38, Tal Alexander, 39, and Alon Alexander, 38, had each pleaded not guilty to all charges they respectively faced in an
indictment alleging trafficking and other criminal conduct related to seven victims.
A federal jury in Manhattan convicted the three brothers after deliberations began on Thursday following a months-long trial.
"This verdict cannot undo the effects of heinous abuse the Alexanders' many victims endured, but it does send a message: New Yorkers want to bring an end to sex trafficking in all our communities," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
Attorneys who represented the Alexander brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters
WASHINGTON/HOUSTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Rising absences by airport screeners caused a second straight day of longer-than-normal security lines, sparking worries from airlines as the busy spring break travel period ramps up.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on February 13 after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats. That halted operational funding for several government agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, resulting in about 50,000 TSA airport security screeners working without pay.
Houston Hobby Airport on Monday again reported lines averaging 3 hours at 2 p.m. EDT at standard checkpoints. Longer than normal lines were reported over the last two days at a number of U.S. airports as officials urged passengers to get to the airport three to four hours before their flights board.
Kyiv Independent
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on March 9, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. During the call, Putin reportedly presented proposals aimed at resolving the war in Iran.
Ushakov said Putin "expressed several thoughts aimed at a quick political and diplomatic end to the Iranian conflict," including contacts with leaders of Gulf states, Iran's president, and other international officials.
The two leaders also discussed Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin said Kyiv should move toward a negotiated settlement, claiming Russian forces were "advancing quite successfully."
Contrary to the Kremlin's claims, Russia has not made significant advances on the battlefield despite suffering heavy losses. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi recently said that Ukrainian forces captured more territory in February than Russian forces did during the same period.
Kyiv Independent
Russian hackers launched a global cyber campaign targeting WhatsApp and Signal accounts, Dutch intelligence agencies said March 9.
"Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants," the Netherlands' General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) said in a statement.
Dutch intelligence agencies said the campaign targeted government employees and may also be aimed at other persons of interest to the Russian government, including journalists.
The attackers reportedly used phishing tactics to persuade users in chats to disclose security verification codes and passcodes, allowing them to access personal accounts and group chats.
"The Russian hackers have likely gained access to sensitive information," AIVD and the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in a joint statement.
x
There’s never enough money for schools or healthcare or veterans.
But there’s always enough money to bomb people on the other side of the world.
We can support the democracy movement in Iran without bombing innocent schoolchildren and sending our American troops off to die.
[image or embed]
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:16 PM
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, FarWestGirl, eeff, annetteboardman, Besame, and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to), Rise above the swamp, DoomandGloom, Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man (RIP), wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
S.O.S. … I NEED A SUBSTITUTE FOR NEXT MONDAY’S OND. MONDAY 3/16
