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'Most Intense Day' of War, Long TSA Lines & Kids' Reading Scores - Wednesday, March 11, 2026
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Today is Wednesday, March 11th. We'll tell you about what the Pentagon called the most intense day of the war with Iran and the new threat Iranian leaders are making toward President Trump. Also, where the latest round of severe storms caused damage in the US and new advice for anyone headed to the airport anytime soon. Plus, why young kids might be struggling with reading how a growing number of Americans are embracing a new kind of work schedule and which celebrities are on the Forbes billionaires list for the first time. 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. The US Military said yesterday was going to bring the most intense wave of attacks against Iran since the start of the war. And with that, Iran took some hard hits. Iranians have described bombs seeming to come from every direction without letup. The American military also said it attacked 16 Iranian ships that were laying mines near the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key gateway for global oil shipping. Remember yesterday we told you President Trump threatened to hit Iran even harder if it tried to cut off the flow of oil through the strait. Well, one Iranian leader responded to Trump's threat with his own, saying, take care of yourself so that you are not eliminated. Meanwhile, there's a lot more getting in the way of the flow of oil even beyond the Strait of Hormuz. For example, Israel's strikes on oil depots in Iran over the weekend and Iran's strikes against other countries in the region. The head of Saudi Arabia's state owned oil company called the war the biggest crisis the region's oil and gas industry has faced. Abu Dhabi's government released a statement yesterday saying a drone had set fire to the facilities of its national oil company. And in Qatar, government officials warn continued attacks on energy facilities could have grave consequences for the international economy. Natural gas plants in Qatar have already cut back their production. And Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lowered their collective output by as much as 6.7 million barrels a day. So in an effort to address higher fuel prices, the International Energy Agency proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history. Also, the Trump administration started to loosen restrictions on oil exports from Russia that were supposed to help force an end to the war in Ukraine. But officials say that will only be temporary while war is still raging in Iran. Even before yesterday, the Trump administration said the US had struck more than 5,000 targets in 10 days. Seven American service members have died in this war and Yesterday, The Pentagon confirmed 140 have been hurt, eight of them severely. Casualties are much higher on the Iranian side. And American officials say the Iranian government has been weakened considerably. While Iran promises to keep fighting, Israel has continued its strikes against Iranian backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. And now officials and aid groups are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis there. The Lebanese government says nearly 600 people have been killed and the UN says nearly 700,000 people have been driven from their homes in Lebanon so far. Meanwhile, many American citizens still say they're stranded across the Middle east due to the flight cancellations and airspace closures. But the US government says more than 43,000American citizens have been able to leave the region since the start of the war. And the State Department has chartered more than two dozen flights, which it will continue to do. It has now authorized up to $40 million in emergency funds to be used for evacuations. I spoke with an American who was stranded in the Middle east about his experience as part of our special EDITION Saturday episode. Coming up this weekend, authorities are now trying to find the people who shot at the U.S. consulate in Toronto, Canada. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the building was damaged. Canadian officials have since called it an act of violence and intimidation that won't go unpunished. And they're now searching for two suspected gunmen. Authorities are also trying to figure out exactly what motivated the shooting and whether it could be connected to recent protests at the consulate over the war in Iran. In the meantime, police say security would be stepped up at both American and Israeli consulates in Canada. In a rare move, Alabama's governor commuted the death sentence of a man just two days before he was set to be executed. 75 year old Charles Burton was convicted of murder despite never killing anyone. More than three decades ago, he was one of six men involved in the robbery of an autozone store that ended when a customer was murdered. Burton didn't pull the trigger. He didn't tell the triggerman to do so. And he had actually already left the store by the time the shooting happened. But in Alabama and many other states, people who participate in any felony that ends in someone's death can still be convicted of murder. And that's what happened here. And because their trials were separate, Burton ended up getting the death penalty while the actual killer was sentenced to life in prison. Well, even the victim's daughter called that outcome unjust and asked the governor to spare his life. She did just that this week, changing his sentence to also be life in prison without the possibility of parole. Alabama's attorney General was disappointed by the decision, saying the governor should have respected the punishment imposed by a jury and upheld by multiple judges. But the governor's commutation takes effect immediately. Severe storms wreaked havoc on the central US Last night and into this morning with tornadoes, flash flooding, damaging winds and huge hail. As we publish, severe thunderstorm or tornado watches and warnings span from Texas to Michigan. So far, the most damage has been reported in Indiana and Illinois, where many homes and other buildings have been destroyed. Tornadoes have also been confirmed in Oklahoma and Texas, and there have been reports of hail the size of grapefruits. Today. Flash flooding could continue to be a concern, especially in parts of Texas and Illinois, while the whole line of storms is actually moving east today, the Tennessee and Ohio valleys are in the path of a big storm system, and while it doesn't look like the storms will be quite as strong, severe weather could still bring a threat of damaging winds and a possible tornado to Cities including Washington, D.C. then the storm should move out of the U.S. by tomorrow. American airports are now telling travelers to arrive to their flights three to four hours early. It comes as TSA workers are dealing with partial paychecks and soon to be empty paychecks because of the shutdown at the Homeland Security Department. They won't get paid until after the shutdown is over, and as of this morning, it's not clear when that might be. So travelers at several airports, including major hubs, have been waiting in short staffed security lines for many hours, and the longer the shutdown lasts, the longer those lines are expected to be. For now, TSA Precheck is still operational and it's typically much quicker than the general security lines. But officials also say pre check lanes could be closed on a case by case basis depending on staffing. And it's worth noting the staff that typically manages the TSA website and app have been furloughed, so the wait time information that's typically on them is not up to date. Quite a few people are expected to be impacted by this problem, and US airlines expect 171 million passengers to fly over the spring break period that started a few days ago. More news is still coming up, but first, this episode of the Newsworthy is brought to you by Wild Grain, the first baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, artisanal pastries and fresh pastas. 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For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free Croissants for Life when you go to wildgrain.comnewworthy to start your subscription today. That's $30 off your first box and free Croissants for Life when YOU visit wildgrain.comnewworthy or you can use the promo code Newsworthy at checkout. Now back to the news. Young children who weren't yet school age during the pandemic are still struggling to keep up, even though they didn't deal with the same classroom disruptions as older kids. A nonprofit education research group released a report this week looking at students in grades kindergarten through second who were babies or in daycare during the COVID related shutdowns. It compared reading scores from last year to the spring of 2017 and found they're still lower than they used to be, similar to the results that have already been well documented in older kids. So the researchers behind the report say this suggests there's something bigger impacting the education system that extends beyond a disruption in learning. Some point to emerging data showing fewer parents are reading to their children at home, and some teachers have blamed the influence of technology on children's lives. Others suspect it has something to do with how the pandemic might have impacted these kids even when they were just babies. Like maybe they missed out on activities that typically help with early language development. Whatever it is, the researchers are recommending educators look into this issue and come up with plans to help. It was just a few months ago that federal officials were talking up a synthetic form of vitamin B9, saying it could be used to treat autism symptoms. But this week, the FDA dialed back those expectations. The agency approved the drug named Leucrovorin to treat a rare brain disorder that resembles autism but not actually autism, saying it's focused only on uses backed by more robust evidence. Still, some Americans are trying to use Leucrovorin off label to treat autism. A recent study found outpatient prescriptions rose by 71% after President Trump and top health officials announced it could be useful. Autism now impacts roughly 1 in 318 year olds in the US the condition the drug was actually approved for is estimated to affect less than one in a million people. The company behind some of the world's most popular social media platforms has now purchased a network just for AI bots. Meta has acquired Moltbook as well as its creators. Moltbook is the social media site where millions of AI agents interact with each other autonomously and and humans just watch, Meta says the agents not only socialize, but share content and coordinate complex tasks. Some people in the tech industry see it as a big leap forward, since it demonstrates what can happen when AI agents interact like humans. But others say the site is full of AI sloth and security risks. Either way, this is just the latest in a series of AI related acquisitions for Meta, and the company plans to release new AI models over the coming months. There are Now More Billionaires than ever before Forbes just put out its yearly list of the world's wealthiest people, and this year it includes 3,428 billionaires. Together, they're worth a record $20.1 trillion. The US has the most billionaires, including people from the worlds of technology, finance, retail and Entertainment. Nearly 400 people are on the list for the first time, for example Dr. Dre and Beyonce. Other celebrities on the 2026 list include Beyonce's husband, Jay Z, Steven Spielberg, Tyler Perry, Taylor Swift, LeBron James, Kim, Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, and more. Granted, none of them have a net worth anywhere close to what the top tech leaders are making. The top person on the list is Tesla, SpaceX, and Xai CEO Elon Musk with $839 billion. And that's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Work Wednesday when we break down one interesting career or work related news story every Wednesday. But first, a message from our sponsor. There's something about spring that gives me more energy. Maybe it's the additional daylight or the blooming flowers, but it's that time where I start to really feel motivated to do a bit more for myself. And this year, learning a language is on my list for several reasons. First, it's just an interesting hobby. Plus my son seems really interested in learning some Spanish, so it's something we can learn more of together. And it's good for my brain health and for future travel. So I'll be turning to Rosetta Stone. With 30 years of experience, millions of users and 25 languages to choose from, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese and more, Rosetta Stone is the go to tool for real language growth. They use an intuitive method that helps to immerse you in your new language naturally, helping you think and communicate with confidence. Plus it allows you to learn anytime, anywhere in a way that will fit into your busy lifestyle with on the go learning. Ready to start learning a new language this spring? Visit rosettastone.com newsworthy 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. Okay, now back to work Wednesday. Today, we're talking about a new workplace trend that's become more mainstream in 2026 and is only gaining momentum. It's called micro shifting. It offers a version of the workday that's broken into multiple short, flexible bursts of focused effort, often around 45 to 90 minutes in between, workers can include stretches of personal time, family duties, side hustles or rest. Advocates say it helps workers get around scheduling issues in their personal lives and that it can be especially helpful for parents and other caregivers. Employees can also plan their work to align with their natural peaks of concentration and energy, rather than forcing productivity through an afternoon slump. But critics warn people who want to try micro shifting it could at least feel like you're always at work, since you might end up logging on at dawn and not logging off until late in the evening. So what do the bosses say? Well, many managers who have let their employees do it say they haven't seen a dip in performance as long as staff can still be available for important meetings or in person commitments. But some large employers are still skeptical and and are instead pushing for a return to office where they believe there will be more coordination and accountability. Either way, it could be gaining traction. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great day.