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Crossplay, the first two-player word game from New York Times Games. Download it for free today. From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, March 30th.
Here's what we're covering.
The war in Iran is now in its fifth week in counting,
“and this morning we're looking at how the conflict is expanding,”
the wave of US troops that were just deployed, and how gas prices may be about to hit a new high. To start, another front in the war has opened as the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia in Yemen, open fire on Israel this weekend, and vowed to carry out more attacks going forward.
At the same time, Israel and the US continued to pound Tehran with air strikes. One resident there told the Times that they felt "hours and hours of explosions." Iran also stepped up its retaliation, launching a wave of drones and missiles at a military base in Saudi Arabia, injuring 12 American soldiers.
It was one of the most serious breaches of US air defenses since the war started. "Are you considering still putting food on the ground, and would you do that without going in contact?" "I just have lots of alternatives. We have tremendous numbers of ships over there."
Also, as of this weekend, President Trump has new options if he decides to turn up the pressure on Iran. According to two US military officials, several hundred special ops forces, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, have now arrived in the Middle East, joining thousands of recently deployed Marines and Army Paratroopers.
And on the energy front,
“"I think it was, I think, anniversary's back,”
20 boats are a big boat so well." Trump said that Iran is going to let some oil tankers pass through the straight-of-war moves. He framed it as a sign that talks with Iran to end the war were underway and going well. It wasn't immediately clear who the ships belonged to, or where they would be headed. Still, any oil or gas getting through would be a major development.
Since Iranian forces all but cut off the crucial waterway, global energy prices have soared.
The cost of oil has climbed over 50% compared to before the war. And in the US, gas prices are approaching an average of $4 a gallon. Now, more on an energy crisis in a different part of the world. For months, the US has had an effective oil blockade on Cuba, as the Trump administration tries to force political and economic changes in the communist-ruled country.
It has cut the island off from fuel, upending everyday life there. I can tell you that the situation on the ground is quite dire. Jack Nick is covers Cuba for the times, and he says some of the most severe consequences so far have been to the country's health care system. The hospitals are canceling surgeries because many doctors in nurses can't commute to work. Many clinics are struggling to administer treatments like chemotherapy because of the power outages.
Violence is a part pharmacies are largely empty. They've halted medicine production because many of the factories run on diesel. All of this together has really resulted in a significant worsening of health care in Cuba, which once was a triumph for the nation. And six separate doctors, we spoke to said that those rapidly deteriorating conditions were already causing deaths that would otherwise be preventable. This weekend, the times learned that the US Coast Guard will allow one tanker full of oil to reach Cuba.
Buying the nation at least a few weeks before its reserves totally run out, according to analysts. The ship, which is owned by the Russian government, was already very close to the island as of last night. It's unclear why the White House is letting it through, though the decision avoids a potentially thorny confrontation with Russia in the waters just off the coast of Florida. [Music] In Washington, to catch you up quickly on the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, it is still shut down with no new funding.
This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill. And I'm going to just hours after Senate Republicans struck a deal with Democrats to fund everything at DHS, accept ice and border patrol.
House Republicans, angrily rejected that, that highlighted a major rift withi...
The stalemate has resulted in the exact situation many lawmakers have been trying to avoid.
“Congress is now scheduled to be off for Easter break. That means the partial shutdown will likely last until mid-April at least.”
The most visible consequence of the funding lapse, though, may get some relief as soon as today. TSA agents are set to get paychecks after President Trump ordered DHS to find the funds to do it. Before this, hundreds of TSA officers had quit, and absence rates spiked, causing hours long security lines and people missing their flights. And in the chaos, the White House deployed ice agents to airports. Over the weekend, the administration said those deployments would continue for now.
“Also this weekend, protesters against the Trump administration gathered around the country for no kings rallies.”
There are a lot of people here.
The organizers said 8 million people took part, one of the largest protests in recent history.
The time has not independently confirmed the numbers spread over thousands of protest sites. We show up and Minnesota, we show the country that that is what we do. One of the largest gatherings took place outside the Minnesota State Capitol, or people turned out in part to protest the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretty by federal agents and Minneapolis this year.
“Opposition to ice and the administration's immigration crackdown remained a key part of the rallying cry at the protests.”
But there were also chance of end this war, at least in some places, the war in Iran seemed to be motivating many younger people to turn out. A 22-year-old organizer at a rally near the University of Iowa said the crowd there was a lot younger than at previous no kings demonstrations, which she attributed in part to anger over the new conflict in the Middle East. The White House itself has mocked the nationwide protests, and administration spokeswoman said earlier that quote, "The only people who care about these Trump derangement therapy sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them."
And finally, every year at a mass the night before Easter, the Roman Catholic Church welcomes new converts.
This weekend, in the U.S., there will be a surprising number of them. The archdiocese of Detroit will have almost 1,500, most in two decades. The same trend is happening in Los Angeles and Phoenix, as well as smaller rural places like Gallup, New Mexico and Alentown, Pennsylvania. One cardinal told the times that when a bunch of bishops got together at a conference recently, they were all asking each other, "What's your number? What's your number?" For quite a while, the broader Christian population in the U.S. had been declining, but a survey from Pew showed last year that it stabilized.
As for why Catholicism in particular is calling to people, there are a lot of theories. Some converts told the times they were feeling disconnected or lonely, and they thought the church could help. Others said they were drawn in by Catholic podcast stars on social media. And then there's the fact that the new Pope is American. Still, what exactly is behind the surge has stumped even church leadership. Cardinal Robert Mackelroy of Washington said, "Of course, we think the Holy Spirit is, but we are kind of stymied."
Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow. [BLANK_AUDIO]
