The News You Need on Wednesday, March 18th, 2026.
The news you need today from Scott Horton and Charles Kaiser.
Iran war may push 45 million people into acute hunger by June, WFP says
Reuters
Scott: Tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the Iran war continues through to June, according to analysis from the World Food Programme released on Tuesday. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began on Feb 26 have choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises. An extra 45 million are projected to be pushed into acute hunger because of rises in food, oil and shipping costs, pushing the global tally above its current record level of 319 million, Dep Exec Dir of the World Food Programme Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva.
60 Minutes on Russsian microwaves: Old News or Scoop?
60 Minutes
Charles: 60 Minutes did a huge two part piece on a decades old mystery of Americans abroad suffering mysterious debilitating attacks, in Havana, Vienna, Moscow and elsewhere. Scott Pelley presented the story as if were solving an ancient mystery for the first time about how these attacks happened and who was responsible for them. But the New York Times actually reported eight years ago that microwaves were the likely culprit. And in a hearing last spring the House Committee on Homeland Security pointed clearly at Russia as the likely source of the attacks. The one thing that was really new in 60’s story: the U.S. government had managed to purchase one of the microwave weapons on the black market. “If you can buy this from a gangster it means the Russians have lost control of the stealth weapon which can be used by anyone anywhere.”
The Police That Know Everything About You
Scott: Peter Thiel’s Palantir is converting ICE into the secret police of the future. When the masked ICE officers appeared in Minneapolis late last year and attacked migrants, activists, and other citizens like an occupying force, it wasn’t just an assault on a city. It was also a test of a software-driven surveillance and arrest system and an unbridled, algorithmic police force against people. Trump, in league with the tech oligarchs, had flipped the switch. Now the rule was: whatever is technically possible will be done—without scruple.
Does Trump Want a Big Domestic Terrorist Attack?
The Guardian
Charles: If you believe as I do that there is literally nothing that Trump won’t do to hold on to power, it is perfectly plausible that he is encouraging a terrorist attack in America, to give him an excuse to impose martial law and cancel the next election. He’s already dramatically increased the odds for that by gutting the FBI’s counterintelligence unit. Since Iran has long been suspected of having sleeper cells in America, a big motivation for the new war could be to activate one of those cells. “Of course there’s going to be retaliation,” one expert told The Guardian. “It may be that this is what Trump’s interested in.”
Iran War: Why Friedrich Merz is Risking Upsetting Donald Trump
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Scott: Friedrich Merz wants to be amenable to Trump and is prepared to do a lot to accommodate even unreasonable requests, but sacrificing German soldiers and sailors in an unprovoked war of choice against a nation that presents no threat to NATO is a step too far.
Flashback to 1968
Charles: Fifty-eight years ago this week Bobby Kennedy announced he was running for President against Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy had refused to enter the race, until Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy had proven Johnson’s vulnerability by nearly beating him in the New Hampshire primary. Bobby and his brother Jack were both 42 years old when they first ran for president.
Serbia, the main hub for Russian destabilization operations in Europe
Le Monde
Scott: Three Serbian nationals were found guilty of depositing pig heads in front of nine mosques in the Paris region in September 2025, and were convicted at the end of December by the high court in Smederevo, a small town about 50 km east of Belgrade, for espionage and racial discrimination. Meanwhile, further contributing to the effectiveness of the Russian operation, Jared Kushner’s father, US ambassador in Paris, attributes these incidents to radical Islamists.
Or Maybe this is the Biggest Danger
Judge Ejects Federal Prosecutor From Court and Orders Bosses to Testify
New York Times
Scott: The lawlessness of Pam Bondi’s DOJ gets a judicial check up. In a wild NJ hearing, a judge fiercely questioned a prosecutor about whether Alina Habba still had some operating role in the US attorney’s office, ejected the office’s head of appeals from court and ordered its 3 leaders to testify. “You have lost the confidence and the trust of this court. You have lost the confidence and the trust of the New Jersey legal community, and you are losing the trust and confidence of the public.”
Your Moment of Serenity
Gustav Klimt: On Lake Attersee
‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog
Martin Gelin for The Guardian
Scott: The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University reaches the alarming conclusion in its annual report, that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a faster rate than Hungary and Turkey. “Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country,” says Staffan Lindberg, founder of the institute.
 | A guest post by
|