The director of the National Counterterrorism Center has announced his resignation, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.Joe Kent said on social media that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”Kent is a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists. Kent was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.Video above: Strait of Hormuz: President Trump’s demands and how U.S. allies are reacting
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center has announced his resignation, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Joe Kent said on social media that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Kent is a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists. Kent was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
Video above: Strait of Hormuz: President Trump’s demands and how U.S. allies are reacting
Hyundai is stopping sales of certain SUVs and planning a recall after the tragic death of a little girl.
When you load up your kids in the SUV for a drive somewhere, the last thing on your mind is your 2-year-old getting killed by the SUV’s seats — but that is allegedly exactly what happened.
The victim was a 2-year-old girl from Ohio who died on March 7, when she was allegedly pinned in between the power folding seats in her parents’ Hyundai.
On certain Hyundai Palisades, the power folding seats may fail to detect contact with occupants or objects, Hyundai warns the public.
Which Hyundai Palisade Sales Are Being Stopped?
According to Fox Business, Hyundai has placed sales of the 2026 Palisade Limited and 2026 Palisade Calligraphy trims on hold while the company works with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a planned recall.
In a recent press release Hyundai said about 68,500 vehicles could be affected. They also released an official statement regarding the incident that happened on March 7.
“Hyundai is aware of a tragic incident involving a Palisade. While Hyundai does not yet have the full details and the incident is still under investigation, a young child lost her life. Hyundai extends its deepest sympathies to her family.”
With the tragic accident that took place 10 days ago, Hyundai realizes that just halting the sales of the specific Palisade won’t be enough, so they released a statement for all current owners as well.
“When using the second-row one‑touch tilt‑and‑slide feature to access the third row, customers should avoid pressing the seatback button during entry or exit.”
Still, if you feel uneasy about the whole situation and you own one of the affected models, Hyundai is considering offering rentals for owners to drive until they can offer a further solution.
The automotive giant is also working on an over-the-air interim software update to address the problem.
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Miranda Lambert’s childhood home is for sale, and it’s spectacular!
Opening Day is quickly approaching, and if you haven’t yet held your league’s draft, the clock is ticking. Fear not, though, as the ESPN fantasy baseball crew is ready to show you the results of its final mock draft of the season, using ESPN standard head-to-head points league scoring and roster settings.
Default rosters include 16 starters: seven pitchers of any kind along with a C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, three outfielders and a utility player (can be any position, and is also the only slot to allow a DH-only player). There are also three bench spots.
Hitters score one point for every base reached via hits (total bases), as well as each walk, run, RBI and stolen base, and lose one point when they strike out. Pitchers earn a point for every out they record (three per inning) and an extra point for a strikeout, as well as two points for a win or a hold. Saves are worth five points each. Pitchers lose two points per run allowed, one point per baserunner (hit or walk) and two points for a loss.
This draft was held on Monday and included fantasy writers Eric Karabell, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Todd Zola and Derek Carty, fantasy editors Pierre Becquey, Sachin Chandan, Joe Kaiser and AJ Mass, MLB editor Dan Mullen and fantasy product manager Shaun McPartlin.
If you’d like to conduct your own mock drafts, check out the Mock Draft Lobby, select one of several league types and sizes available, and you’ll be mock drafting in minutes. Ready for the real thing? Create or join a fantasy baseball league for free.
Things we learned from this mock
While you’re probably going to have to draft Bobby Witt Jr. in Round 1 if you want him, the next tier of five shortstops are likely to all be snatched up between Rounds 3-4. Expect a run followed by a lengthy wait for those who miss out.
Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal were first rounders here, but if you miss out on one of these aces, don’t feel that you have to grab your first starting pitcher as soon as possible. Zola took his first SP (Jesus Luzardo) in Round 5 and Cockcroft waited until Round 7 to grab George Kirby (projected to be SP17) to anchor his staff.
You can wait on catcher. Yes, Cal Raleigh is likely to be taken off the board relatively quickly, but if you’re not locked into any particular favorite, there’s no crime in being patient. Only four backstops were off the board at the end of Round 10 and only six by the time Round 17 got underway.
Know your league’s tendencies. In our mock, there was no need to rush to grab rookies. Once we were down to our final bench spots, that’s when prospects like JJ Wetherholt, Konnor Griffin, Samuel Basallo and Kevin McGonigle finally got the call. However, if you know that your fellow managers are itching to grab one of these “shiny new toys,” you may want to pounce a bit earlier.
Team rosters are presented in first-round pick order. Primary position is used. If a player qualifies at more than one position, all positions, they are included in parentheses. Pick is displayed as [Round.Pick].
The summit was meant to focus on trade, as both Trump and Xi seek to extend a delicate tariff truce between the world’s two biggest economies. But China showed little immediate sign that it was bothered by the likely delay, which analysts told NBC News may actually prove beneficial to efforts to further stabilize relations.
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, in October.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images file
Trump said Monday that his China trip planned for later this month could be postponed because of the war, telling reporters in Washington, “I think it’s important that I be here.” But his administration has not confirmed that the trip is delayed or shared more specific dates for when it would be rescheduled.
Beijing did little to clarify the situation Tuesday, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying it had “no further information at this time.”
“China and the United States are maintaining communication regarding the timing of President Trump’s visit to China and other related issues,” spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing, repeating a line from the day before.
The White House had said Trump would be traveling from March 31 to April 2. China had not yet confirmed the dates.
A cargo ship sailing into Qingdao Port in Shandong province, China, on March 3.Costfoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images
With global shipping and energy prices upended by Iran’s effective shutdown of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, Trump has been trying to enlist naval support from countries that import oil and gas through the waterway. On Sunday, he told The Financial Times that he would “like to know” whether China was going to help and suggested that he might delay the trip.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to clarify that postponing the trip “would have nothing to do with the Chinese making a commitment to the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump later said there were “no tricks to it” and that he looked forward to the trip.
China also says the visit has nothing to do with the strait and has been outwardly unruffled by the uncertainty around Trump’s plans.
Far from being upset by a possible delay, China “might actually be a little relieved,” said Dominic Chiu, a senior analyst for U.S.-China relations at Eurasia Group.
“From what I understand, preparations for the Trump state visit have been going pretty poorly,” he told NBC News in an interview.
A woman being helped from the scene of a strike on a residential building in Tehran on Monday.Getty Images
Even before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began Feb. 28, there was reportedly “a lack of coordination on the side of the White House to come up with concrete deliverables, to gather a potential business delegation to accompany Trump to China,” Chiu said.
If the summit is delayed, “that gives both sides a bit more time to talk,” he said.
Other analysts agreed.
“Right now the Iran war is clearly the Trump administration’s top foreign policy priority, so I doubt Beijing will interpret an American delay as an intentional negotiation tactic,” said Austin Strange, an associate professor of politics at the University of Hong Kong.
“In principle China would still like a more stable and positive relationship with the U.S. and should be willing to reschedule a Trump visit to China, particularly compared to the much less realistic request for Beijing to contribute to escorts of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” Strange said in emailed comments.
Though the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks appeared to go well, it ended Monday in Paris without any public announcements. Expectations for the Trump-Xi summit, which comes after years of turbulence in U.S.-China relations, have generally been low.
“I think a grand bargain is increasingly unlikely,” Chiu said.
Instead, he said, the U.S. and China will focus on the “lowest-hanging fruits” they can offer each other, such as Chinese pledges to buy more U.S. agricultural and energy products, or to further crack down on the international flow of fentanyl ingredients.
With many of Trump’s global tariffs recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, Beijing also sees the summit as an opportunity to negotiate lower rates, Chiu said.
Though Beijing has publicly criticized new Section 301 trade investigations the Trump administration has opened against China and other countries as it tries to replace those tariffs, it appears to consider them a “manageable irritant,” he said.
Tankers sitting anchored in Muscat, Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz on March 7.Benoit Tessier / Reuters
And while China is concerned about the supply of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, “I don’t think they are exactly wringing their hands over it,” Chiu said.
Though Trump said Monday that China — the world’s largest energy importer — gets over 90% of its oil through the strait, experts put the figure closer to half. China is also a major producer of oil and gas in its own right and has been building up its strategic oil reserves.
Some of its oil is also still getting through the strait, said Tim Huxley, director of Mandarin Shipping in Hong Kong. But even if its energy supply is relatively secure, China would still prefer an end to the blockade.
“China has got enough for the next few months,” Huxley said. “But the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is.”
Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Beijing, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
Tuesday’s Top Stories Tuesday’s Five Facts [1] Albuquerque City Council votes down proposed gross receipts tax increase – Councilor Brook Bassan and Councilor Joaquín Baca proposed a 0.4875% sales tax increase, which they say equals less than half a penny for every dollar spent and would generate approximately $140 million over the course of a […]
The UMBC Retrievers battle the Howard Bison in a 2026 First Four matchup on Tuesday night. The winner will be the 16th seed and will face the top-seeded Michigan Wolverines on Thursday in the first round. UMBC won the American East title over the University of Vermont by a score of 74-59, while Howard won the MEAC tournament 70-63 over the North Carolina Central Eagles. The Retrievers (24 – 8), who finished in first place in the American East, have won twelve straight games. The Bison (23-10), who finished in first place in the MEAC, have won eight straight games.
Tipoff from UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio, is set for 6:40 p.m. ET. Howards has the all-time series lead, 5-2. The Retrievers and Bison met last season, with the Retrievers winning 95-77. UMBC is a 1.5-point favorite in the latest UMBC vs Howard odds from DraftKings Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 140.5. Before making any Howard vs. UMBC picks, check out the men’s college basketball predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It entered the tournament on a sizzling 11-1 run on its top-rated over/under college basketball picks dating back to last season, and is on a 28-22 run on top-rated CBB side picks. Anyone following its advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen strong returns.
After 10,000 simulations of UMBC vs. Howard, SportsLine’s model is going Over on the total (140.5 points). The Over hit in the last meeting between the teams. UMBC is 6-0 against the spread in its last six games and 10-0 straight up in its last 10 games.
The model projects the Retrievers to have four players score 10.3 points or more, including Jah’Likai King, who is projected to score 14.3 points. The Bison are projected to have four players score 10.3 points or more, led by Bryce Harris, who is projected to score 19.3 points. The model is projecting 151 combined points as the Over clears in over 80% of simulations.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Tuesday that the commander of Iran’s feared Basij paramilitary force was among the senior leaders killed in overnight strikes in Tehran, and the Israeli defense minister Israel Katz later confirmed that Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was also “eliminated.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to continue pursuing the leadership of the terror and oppression regime in Iran,” Katz said in a statement, adding that Israel would update President Trump on the killing of the two senior Iranian figures “when morning breaks in Washington.”
“The Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, targeted and eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past six years,” the IDF said in an earlier statement, accusing the Basij, under Soleimani’s command, of leading “the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators” to quash anti-government protests that swept across Iran in January.
The IDF called Soleimani’s assassination “an additional significant blow to the regime’s security command-and-control structures” and it vowed to “continue to operate with determination against commanders of the Iranian terror regime.”
Until Monday, Larijani was among the most senior leaders of the regime still alive in Iran. He had been a defiant voice since the war began and he warned only a week ago, in a message aimed at Mr. Trump, that the Iranian people “do not fear your empty threats; even those greater than you have failed to erase them… so beware lest you be the ones who disappear.”
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו מורה לחסל את בכירי המשטר האיראני.
Netanyahu’s office, meanwhile, posted a photo on social media of the Israeli leader on the phone, with a message saying only: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials.”
With record-high temperatures forecast for New Mexico this week, Lincoln National Forest on Monday increased its fire danger rating from “moderate” to “high” for all three of its ranger districts. The color-coded rating system for “high,” or red, means:– Dry grasses, leaves, and small branches can catch fire easily;– Most sparks or heat sources can start a fire; — Unattended campfires or brush fires are likely to escape;– Fires spread quickly, especially on slopes or in areas of dry vegetation; — Small fires can become dangerous if not put out right away. There are no restrictions on campfires in Lincoln National Forest, but it’s important that visitors are aware of the risks and take proper precautions. They should never leave a campfire unattended, drown the fire with plenty of water, stir the ashes, and add more water until everything is cold to the touch, and avoid burning on windy days.More information is available online at fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln?utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_medium=email
OTERO COUNTY, N.M. —
With record-high temperatures forecast for New Mexico this week, Lincoln National Forest on Monday increased its fire danger rating from “moderate” to “high” for all three of its ranger districts.
The color-coded rating system for “high,” or red, means:
— Dry grasses, leaves, and small branches can catch fire easily;
— Most sparks or heat sources can start a fire;
— Unattended campfires or brush fires are likely to escape;
— Fires spread quickly, especially on slopes or in areas of dry vegetation;
— Small fires can become dangerous if not put out right away.
There are no restrictions on campfires in Lincoln National Forest, but it’s important that visitors are aware of the risks and take proper precautions. They should never leave a campfire unattended, drown the fire with plenty of water, stir the ashes, and add more water until everything is cold to the touch, and avoid burning on windy days.
