MARCH 18, 2026
Timeline of Iran’s top leaders.
In April 2003, when US forces toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square, the Iraqi military vanished almost overnight. Saddam’s regime was a classic "top-down" pyramid, once the apex was removed, the base had no instructions and no authority to act. The regime collapsed.
In 2026, the world is witnessing the opposite.
Despite...
MARCH 18, 2026
Price of gold.
Gold prices have remained unexpectedly steady amid the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran, defying expectations for a sharp surge. As of March 17, 2026, spot gold hovered around $4,996 per ounce, with US April gold futures barely up at $5,005.20. Traditionally, gold is considered a safe-haven asset, spiking during geopolitical crises, yet the current war...
MARCH 18, 2026
Tulsi Gabbard, US Intelligence Chief.
US Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard, presenting the intelligence community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, said that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan are the most significant nuclear threats to the United States.
While testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, Gabbard said, "The intelligence community assesses that Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and...
MARCH 18, 2026
Indian Economy.
New Delhi: India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, according to the India Progress Report 2025-26 released by the NXT Foundation. The report highlights a nominal GDP of $4.8 trillion and an impressive growth rate of 8.2%, positioning India as the fastest-growing economy on the planet.
Analysts predict that the country is on track to...
MARCH 17, 2026
Economist Mohamed El-Erian. - Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Mohamed El-Erian said the Iran war has led him to raise his odds of a recession to 35%.
The famed economist sees a risk that oil prices trigger an inflationary spiral that will hurt demand.
He also sees a higher risk of an "accident" in markets that could harm the...
MARCH 17, 2026
Victor Davis Hanson weighs in on how the war with Iran is going after two weeks for "The Daily Signal."
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: We're just completing the second week of the so-called Iran war - this effort of the United States to bomb the theocracy into submission so they will cancel their missile and nuclear programs and to...
MARCH 17, 2027
A military police force member of Royal Netherlands Marechaussee stands guard near a Jewish school in Amsterdam on March 16, 2026.
The U.S. Mission to the Netherlands has issued a renewed security reminder to American citizens following a series of targeted explosive incidents in the region and in several other major European cities.
The advisory echoes the U.S. State Department’s...
MARCH 17, 2026
Joe Kent, Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center. - Photo: House Homeland 12/11/25/Tom William
President Trump's director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, announced his immediate resignation Tuesday, citing the decision to begin a war against Iran when "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation."
Kent, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate last...
MARCH 17, 2026
Stock image of the Earth rotating
Days are getting longer as a result of climate change, as warmer temperatures lead to a slowong pf Earth’s rotation at a rate scientists say has not been seen for at least 3.6 million years.
New research shows that rising sea levels caused by melting ice sheets are redistributing mass across the planet, reducing how...
MARCH 17, 2026
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in Beirut in August last year. (Bilal Hussein / AP file)
Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official and one of the regime's most powerful figures, was killed in overnight strikes, Israel said Tuesday.
Tehran has not confirmed or denied the death of Larijani, 67, and it was not immediately...
