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Today is Monday, March 9th. We have updates for you about the war in Iran, including Iran's new supreme leader, and what it signals to the US Why the US Was reportedly upset with Israel for the first time since their joint attacks began and the significant impact now on gas prices as oil hits over $100 a barrel. Plus why more Americans are now missing their flights, what happened at Rihanna's home that led to an arrest, and which movie marked a studio's turnaround at the weekend box office. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. Iran has a new supreme leader now steering his country through one of its biggest crises in modern history, the war with the US And Israel. As we've been reporting, the last supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the highest authority in the country for more than three decades until he was killed in an airstrike during the opening blow of the war. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was just appointed yesterday. He's known for being another hardliner with close ties to Iran's military. So this election is widely seen as a sign that Iran has no plans to surrender. Before the announcement, President Trump called the younger Khamenei an unacceptable choice and Israel threatened to kill whoever succeeded the last ayatollah. Of course, the new leader is coming into power just as the US And Israel have expanded their attacks over the weekend. Israeli strikes on Iran's oil storage facilities lit up the sky over Iran's capital of Tehran with huge plumes of orange flames and later thick black smoke. People in the area have captured videos of oil tainted rainfall staining everything around them. Iran's Red Crescent Society warned people that the rainfall could be highly dangerous and acidic and could cause chemical burns and serious lung damage. Now, some reports cite sources who say the US Was not happy with these strikes and that they went far beyond what was expected when Israeli leaders notified their American counterparts. The US Is apparently concerned about Israeli strikes on infrastructure serving ordinary Iranians since they could drive up oil prices and convince Iranian civilians to support the regime. But Israel defends the strikes, saying the fuel depots were being used by the Iranian military for things like aircraft and are therefore legitimate targets under the laws of war. Other civilian infrastructure has also come under attack, though, like water desalination plants in the region. Exactly who is responsible for those strikes is still unclear. Meanwhile, Iran has launched attacks all across the region in retaliation, several Gulf states have continued to report they've either been hit by or intercepted Iran's missile launches. Yesterday, the US Ordered diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia because of safety risks days after the embassy in the Saudi capital was damaged in a drone attack. This is the first formal mandatory order for a US Embassy in the region since the conflict began, though the US has also sent non essential staff home from embassies in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. And the US Military reported a seventh American service member who died from injuries sustained during a counterattack a week ago. Iran's UN ambassador says this war has also killed more than 1,300 Iranian civilians and injured thousands more. The death toll is expected to keep rising. President Trump says he'll decide together with Israel when this war will end. A protest and counter protest in Manhattan got violent over the weekend and authorities say a homemade bomb was thrown at Gracie Mansion, which is the New York City mayor's official residence. The police commissioner says the device could have killed someone, but thankfully there were no explosions or injuries reported. Two people were arrested. It all started when far right influencer Jake Lang came up with the plan for a protest to, quote, stop the Islamic takeover of New York City. As New York City is now being run by its first Muslim mayor, Zoran Mamdani, Lang showed up to the mansion with a group of protesters. Mamdani and his wife were not home at the time, but a group of counter protesters soon followed. Fistfights broke out and one of the protesters sprayed mace at counter protesters. Then it was at least one person from the counter protester side who threw two objects, prompting everyone to run for cover and at least one of the objects was ignited. Now the FBI is investigating alongside the nypd. Severe storms brought tornadoes to parts of the central US and sadly, at least eight people died. Even more were hurt. Several buildings, including homes, schools and churches were destroyed or damaged. In all, this storm spanned 1,500 miles from Texas to the northeast, but some of the worst damage was seen in Oklahoma and Michigan. Both states governors declared states of emergency to free up support and resources. Officials are still assessing the damage to figure out exactly how to rebuild and recover. Travelers at a few different airports encountered chaos over the weekend. First, there was a terrifying ordeal aboard a Southwest flight that was traveling from Tennessee and was bound for Florida. It was suddenly diverted to Atlanta and about an hour after it landed, authorities swarmed the jet and ordered everyone to put their heads down, hands up. Then officers can be heard yelling at a passenger to stand up before dragging him away. After that the rest of the travelers had to get off the plane while their bags were checked. Authorities didn't explain what triggered that response, but now the FBI says no charges will be filed. Separately, parts of the Kansas City International Airport were evacuated over the weekend over a potential threat, but the FBI says that threat was also not credible and things went back to normal within a few hours. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, thousands of passengers have been waiting up to three hours in security lines, often missing their flights. In New Orleans, videos even show lines of passengers stretching all the way out into the parking garage. But this isn't because of any specific threats. TSA says the long lines have to do with the partial government shutdown. TSA agents aren't getting paid on time because of it, and now many of them are missing shifts. Just as spring break travel starts to ramp up, the next vote to potentially reopen the Homeland Security Department that includes TSA is expected to happen as soon as today. We have much more news for you still ahead, but first, let's take a quick break. The newsworthy is brought to you by Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, artisanal pastries and fresh pastas. And get this, all items conveniently bake in 25 minutes or less with no thawing or planning ahead required. So it's very convenient. And I've literally loved, not just liked, but loved every single thing that we've tried from Wild Grain. You've probably heard me talk about their sourdough bread that will take soup night up about 10 notches. But have I told you yet about their giant chocolate chunk cookies for dessert? 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Next time we travel, I want to be prepared by learning the language and being able to connect more with the locals and the culture and just feel more confident getting around. So if you're ready to start learning a new language this spring, visit rosettastone.comnewsworthy today to explore Rosetta Stone and choose the language that's right for you. Go to rosettastone.com newsworthy and begin your language learning journey. Now back to the news. Many people who entered the US Capitol can now see a visual reminder of the riot that happened there five years ago. A plaque that honors the heroism of police officers during the January 6th attack was finally installed after years of delay. It lists several police departments and federal agencies that responded to the riot. Next to it is a QR code that leads to a file with the names of specific officers who were there. Congress actually passed a law back in 2022 that said the plaque would have to be installed within the year. It finally went up at 4am on Saturday. There were no formal remarks, but a spokesperson for the architect of the Capitol says a ceremony is probably coming soon. President Trump now says he won't sign any bills into law until Congress passes what's known as the Save America Act. That's the bill that would require all Americans to show proof of citizenship and photo ID before they vote. It passed the House already, but it still faces an uphill battle in the Senate. The measure needs 60 votes in that chamber, meaning it needs Democratic support. That seems unlikely. Dems say the bill would just make it harder for Americans to vote, and nonprofit analyses have shown non citizen voting is rare, but Trump insists it's only about making sure all votes cast are legitimate. So what happens if the president makes good on his threat and stops signing bills that do pass well after 10 days on his desk? Bills will become law anyway, so long as Congress is still in session. But if Congress adjourns while the bill is still awaiting the president's signature, the unsigned bill dies. The Trump administration came out with a national cyber strategy. Basically, it promises to decrease regulation and increase the use of artificial intelligence to boost America's cyber defenses. President Trump also called on private companies to take a more active role in cybersecurity, among other things, and Trump signed an executive order to go along with the strategy. It frames the cybercrime groups like romance scam farms and ransomware gangs as transnational criminal organizations. It tells the attorney general to make cyber fraud prosecutions a priority. And it tells the State Department to put pressure on foreign governments to address the gangs within their borders. The order also says administration officials will have to come up with an action plan to identify the criminal organizations that prey on Americans and to offer solutions to stop it. Cybersecurity has been questioned under the Trump administration, though, partly because the person nominated to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency still has not been confirmed by the Senate. There have also been budget and staffing cuts to the agency, and the Trump administration has pushed state and local governments to take on more of the cyber defense responsibilities. To that end, this new executive order also calls on the Homeland Security Department to provide training, technical assistance, and more to those state and local governments. But with this new strategy, the White House also makes the point that cybersecurity is still a federal priority, too. A woman was arrested over the weekend for shooting into the home where pop star Rihanna lives with her partner, hip hop star A$AP Rocky. Police say the woman fired multiple rounds from an AR15 style rifle she was shooting from her car that was across the street, but at least one round was actually able to hit the wall of the house. Bullet holes were also seen in the gate and an RV parked outside. Reports say Rihanna was home at the time. It's not clear if A$AP Rocky or their three young children were also there, but no one was reported hurt. It looks like Pixar could be making a comeback. Its new movie, Hoppers, opened to an estimated $88 million worldwide over the weekend. That was the biggest debut for an original animated movie since 2017. Hoppers reportedly represents the first step in Pixar's effort to create more broadly appealing movies. The studio's chief creative officer recently told the Wall Street Journal that Pixar's movies over the past several years haven't been major hits, in part because they were based too closely on the real lives of the directors like Luca Elemental and Turning Red. But apparently this movie about a girl who hops her consciousness into a beaver is more enticing to moviegoers. By the way, the other major release over the weekend was the Bride, which is a new adaptation of the Bride of Frankenstein story. It was widely considered a bomb, though, bringing in less than $14 million worldwide. Well, that's it for the Maine news. So now it's time for Money Monday when we talk about one interesting money related news story. And today we're talking about the Iran war's economic consequences that seem to be growing by the day. For starters, there's oil prices that crossed into triple digits yesterday for the first time since 2022. Specifically, US oil prices surged to nearly $120 a barrel overnight ahead of the start of the week's trading. Gas prices already jumped 14% last week and are expected to go higher. And the rising energy costs could also have more of a ripple effect since they impact everything from jet fuel to diesel trucks and tractors. Meanwhile, the conflict is impacting container ships that are trapped near the conflict zone. Several international airports have also closed, including the world's busiest in Dubai. And that's interrupted global air freight, with shipments of consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals and precious metals all sitting idle. So far, these issues are hitting Europe and Asia much harder and faster than they are here in the US Americans are still expected to feel a financial jolt, but President Trump says it will be short term and well worth the cost for national security. To be continued. Thank you so much for joining us today and for supporting our show. We'll be back with even more news tomorrow. For now, have a great day.
