Tuesday, March 10, 2026
The US airports where you should brace for long security lines as unpaid TSA agents stop showing up for work
By Lina Batarags and Taylor Rains
Mar 10, 2026, 9:45 AM ET
As TSA agents are expected to miss their first full paycheck on Saturday because of the partial shutdown, which started in February, some are not coming in to work.
On Sunday and Monday, the staffing shortages resulted in long lines in some airports. The disruption, which appears to have lessened in some airports as of Tuesday morning, comes as air travel hits the busy spring break period.
In X posts on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, described the situation as "spring break under siege" and shared photos of throngs of people waiting in an airport.
For now, the chaos appears largely localized to a handful of airports — but travelers should expect lines across the US to worsen the longer the security officers work without pay.
Airline passengers waited in long lines to get through security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on Sunday, March 8, 2026. The line stretched from the security checkpoint into the lower level baggage claim area and to the parking garage.Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Mar 10, 2026, 9:45 AM ET
- Some US airports are warning travelers about long TSA lines.
- The delays come as TSA agents, facing a missed paycheck amid the partial government shutdown, are not coming to work.
- Houston Hobby, San Juan, and New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport all warned of delays.
As TSA agents are expected to miss their first full paycheck on Saturday because of the partial shutdown, which started in February, some are not coming in to work.
On Sunday and Monday, the staffing shortages resulted in long lines in some airports. The disruption, which appears to have lessened in some airports as of Tuesday morning, comes as air travel hits the busy spring break period.
In X posts on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, described the situation as "spring break under siege" and shared photos of throngs of people waiting in an airport.
For now, the chaos appears largely localized to a handful of airports — but travelers should expect lines across the US to worsen the longer the security officers work without pay.
Monday, March 09, 2026
Pope declines invite to America’s 250th despite Vance's 'in-person' invite
Pope Leo XIV looks on as he leaves at the end of the weekly general audience, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
February 20, 2026 | 06:59PM ET
Pope Leo XIV has officially dissed Catholic JD Vance’s formal invitation to the upcoming July 4th 250th festivities in the United States. Instead, the Pope, formerly of Chicago, will be celebrating that day “on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa — a migrant gateway in the Mediterranean,” reports Christopher Hale, who chronicles the Vatican’s doings with his “Letters from Leo” reports.
“… [B]ack in May 2025, JD Vance personally invited Pope Leo to take part in the anniversary celebrations. Many assumed Trump and Vance would welcome the first American pope with open arms during this historic jubilee. But Pope Leo never accepted the offer,” reports Hale, adding that the rejection came days after the Vatican also rejected an invitation to President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”
Worse, the Vatican quietly confirmed the pope has no plans to visit the United States at all in 2026.
“Instead, on the very day of America’s 250th, [the pope] will kneel on a rocky outcrop closer to Tunisia than to Washington, bearing witness to those dying in desperate search of freedom,” said Hale. “The contrast could not be sharper. President Trump envisions F-35 flyovers and fireworks in the capital’s sky; Pope Leo will stand under the same sun on Lampedusa, greeting strangers at the door.”
Pope Leo XIV has officially dissed Catholic JD Vance’s formal invitation to the upcoming July 4th 250th festivities in the United States. Instead, the Pope, formerly of Chicago, will be celebrating that day “on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa — a migrant gateway in the Mediterranean,” reports Christopher Hale, who chronicles the Vatican’s doings with his “Letters from Leo” reports.
“… [B]ack in May 2025, JD Vance personally invited Pope Leo to take part in the anniversary celebrations. Many assumed Trump and Vance would welcome the first American pope with open arms during this historic jubilee. But Pope Leo never accepted the offer,” reports Hale, adding that the rejection came days after the Vatican also rejected an invitation to President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”
Worse, the Vatican quietly confirmed the pope has no plans to visit the United States at all in 2026.
“Instead, on the very day of America’s 250th, [the pope] will kneel on a rocky outcrop closer to Tunisia than to Washington, bearing witness to those dying in desperate search of freedom,” said Hale. “The contrast could not be sharper. President Trump envisions F-35 flyovers and fireworks in the capital’s sky; Pope Leo will stand under the same sun on Lampedusa, greeting strangers at the door.”
Zohran Mamdani’s 'white supremacist' protest post draws MAGA backlash
Story by Kate Plummer •
The Context
Images taken at the scenes outside Gracie Mansion and posted to social media showed smoke and an apparent improvised explosive device lying in the street.
The event was organized by Jake Lang, a conservative influencer who was pardoned for charges tied to the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Mamdani Says He Will ‘Not’ Ban Snowball Fights After Police Incident
Mayor, are you willing to revise your statement regarding the
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has triggered a backlash from people associated with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement after calling out a “white supremacist” following a protest outside his residence on Saturday.
Mayor, are you willing to revise your statement regarding the
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has triggered a backlash from people associated with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement after calling out a “white supremacist” following a protest outside his residence on Saturday.
The Context
Images taken at the scenes outside Gracie Mansion and posted to social media showed smoke and an apparent improvised explosive device lying in the street.
The event was organized by Jake Lang, a conservative influencer who was pardoned for charges tied to the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Zohran Mamdani is seen in New York on December 1, 2025.
New York City Comptroller Mark D. Levine, citing information from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, told Newsweek that the two individuals arrested for deploying the ignitable devices were part of a counter-protest, not Lang’s group.
Two Pennsylvanians, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, were arrested, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a media conference on Saturday.
The men had not been charged by early morning Monday, according to CBS News. Newsweek contacted NYPD via email on for the latest on Monday morning.
Mamdani wrote on X about 1 p.m. ET on Sunday that “white supremacist Jake Lang” had organized the protest and said it was “rooted in bigotry and racism.” Mamdani then called out “the attempt to use an explosive device” as “criminal” and “reprehensible” but did not reference police reports that the devices were linked to counter protestors, nor did he name the individuals arrested in connection with the matter. The post has since been viewed more than 17 million times on X.
Newsweek reached out to Mamdani’s office outside of normal office hours on Monday.
New York City Comptroller Mark D. Levine, citing information from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, told Newsweek that the two individuals arrested for deploying the ignitable devices were part of a counter-protest, not Lang’s group.
Two Pennsylvanians, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, were arrested, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a media conference on Saturday.
The men had not been charged by early morning Monday, according to CBS News. Newsweek contacted NYPD via email on for the latest on Monday morning.
Mamdani wrote on X about 1 p.m. ET on Sunday that “white supremacist Jake Lang” had organized the protest and said it was “rooted in bigotry and racism.” Mamdani then called out “the attempt to use an explosive device” as “criminal” and “reprehensible” but did not reference police reports that the devices were linked to counter protestors, nor did he name the individuals arrested in connection with the matter. The post has since been viewed more than 17 million times on X.
Newsweek reached out to Mamdani’s office outside of normal office hours on Monday.
Sunday, March 08, 2026
Military leaders pushing 'Armageddon views' on troops as Iran war begins: complaint
Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Andrew Harnik/REUTERS
Travis Gettys
March 03, 2026
A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers Monday that the Iran war was part of God's plan to usher in the End Times and bring about Jesus Christ's second coming, according to a complaint filed with a religious freedom watchdog.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has fielded more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the U.S. military between the war's start on Saturday morning and Monday night, reported journalist Jonathan Larson on his Substack page, and the group told him the complaints came from more than 40 different units stationed in at least 30 military installations.
"These calls have one damn thing in freaking common; our MRFF clients [service members who seek MRFF aid] report the unrestricted euphoria of their commanders and command chains as to how this new 'biblically-sanctioned' war is clearly the undeniable sign of the expeditious approach of the fundamentalist Christian 'End Times' as vividly described in the New Testament Book of Revelation," said MRFF President and Founder Mikey Weinstein, a veteran of the Air Force and the Reagan White House.
Catholic congressional Dems rebuke Mike Johnson’s biblical defense of ICE
by Jack Jenkins - Religion News Service
February 13, 2026
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, surrenders her electronic devices as she arrives for a closed Defense Subcommittee markup hearing on the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill for the Pentagon, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Some 40-plus Catholic Democrats in Congress have issued what amounts to a theological rebuke of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s scriptural defense for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, outlining a series of religious principles as a deadline looms for lawmakers to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The group’s Friday (Feb. 13) statement, led by Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and shared first with Religion News Service, lists a series of ideals drawn from Catholic social teaching that the lawmakers say they consider when approaching immigration issues.
“First, we affirm that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families,” the statement reads. “Sacred Scripture consistently reminds us of our obligation toward the vulnerable and displaced. Jesus himself identifies with the migrant when he says, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’”
The statement refers to Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, “Dilexi Te,” noting that the pontiff argues the Catholic Church “knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”
The statement also says a nation has the right to “regulate its borders and to control immigration,” but doing so “is never a license for cruelty, indifference, or dehumanization.” It adds: “Border enforcement must be governed by justice and mercy.”
The lawmakers then pivot to a critique of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, saying federal agents working for the agencies have “too often … failed this moral standard.” DHS agents, the lawmakers say, have “separated families, removed law abiding individuals from our communities, and tragically, contributed to the deaths of detained migrants and citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Some 40-plus Catholic Democrats in Congress have issued what amounts to a theological rebuke of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s scriptural defense for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, outlining a series of religious principles as a deadline looms for lawmakers to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The group’s Friday (Feb. 13) statement, led by Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and shared first with Religion News Service, lists a series of ideals drawn from Catholic social teaching that the lawmakers say they consider when approaching immigration issues.
“First, we affirm that people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families,” the statement reads. “Sacred Scripture consistently reminds us of our obligation toward the vulnerable and displaced. Jesus himself identifies with the migrant when he says, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’”
The statement refers to Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, “Dilexi Te,” noting that the pontiff argues the Catholic Church “knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”
The statement also says a nation has the right to “regulate its borders and to control immigration,” but doing so “is never a license for cruelty, indifference, or dehumanization.” It adds: “Border enforcement must be governed by justice and mercy.”
The lawmakers then pivot to a critique of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, saying federal agents working for the agencies have “too often … failed this moral standard.” DHS agents, the lawmakers say, have “separated families, removed law abiding individuals from our communities, and tragically, contributed to the deaths of detained migrants and citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”
The statement adds: “As leaders in Congress negotiate reforms to ICE and CBP, we must bear the Church’s teachings in mind to ensure we are supporting our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Pope Leo picks new Vatican ambassador to US as Trump tensions mount over policies
The pope and the president have been at odds over immigration and US military actions
By Brie Stimson Fox News
Published March 7, 2026 4:58pm EST
People Leo XIV on Saturday announced the appointment of the Vatican’s new ambassador, Apostolic Nuncio, to the U.S. to help manage strained relations with the Trump administration.
Italian Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, 68, a veteran Vatican diplomat who is currently ambassador to the United Nations, previously served as ambassador to the Philippines and Lebanon.
Caccia is replacing 80-year-old Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who is retiring.
"I receive this mission with both joy and a sense of trepidation," Caccia said after the appointment, according to the Vatican News. He added that his mission was "at the service of communion and peace," remembering that 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
The pope and President Donald Trump have been at odds over key issues for the White House, including immigration and the war in Iran.
Pierre's ambassadorship was also at times at odds with the more conservative U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops while representing Pope Francis’ more progressive priorities.
"Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic and responsible dialogue," the American-born pope said Sunday after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, according to the outlet Chicago Catholic.
"Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss."
In early January, Leo also delivered a major policy speech, mostly in English, after the U.S. military action in Venezuela.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia has been appointed by the pope as the new Vatican ambassador to the U.S. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
NC woman accused of mowing down cop freed on low bail, sparking police fury: ‘Enough is enough’
By Anna Young
Published March 7, 2026, 7:15 p.m. ET
A North Carolina woman accused of plowing her car into a cop in a brazen, caught-on-camera attack was freed on bond just hours after her arrest – a “very frustrating” move that has police fuming.
Tanaezah Michelle Austin, 25, posted a $3,000 bond and was back on the streets hours after she was jailed for slamming her black Kia Optima into a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer as cops tried to break up a “street takeover” in Charlotte on March 1, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News.
Police said the officer was standing in front of the car ordering Austin to stop when she allegedly hit the gas and sped off amid mayhem unfolding in a Harris Teeter parking lot around 3:25 a.m.
Tanaezah Michelle Austin, 25, posted a $3,000 bond and was back on the streets hours after she was jailed for felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official. Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office
Saturday, March 07, 2026
Iran Is Collapsing, but Islamism Is Spreading
March 3, 2026
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Free Press
Three events, three continents, one week. A parliamentary by-election in Greater Manchester, England; a thunderous war and the death of a tyrant in Iran; and a terrorist attack in Austin, Texas. They seem unrelated. They are not. Together, they tell you where political Islam has got to—and more urgently, where its most committed adherents are heading next.
On February 26, the UK’s Green Party won a parliamentary seat in Gorton and Denton that the Labour Party had held for decades. The Green candidate, Hannah Spencer, secured nearly 15,000 votes. Matt Goodwin, the candidate for the conservative populist Reform party, came in second with about 10,500, while the Labour candidate slipped to third. The obvious question is how a party associated with bike lanes, green energy, and rewilding managed to seize a Labour stronghold in Greater Manchester.
The answer has nothing to do with climate policy.
The Greens ran two entirely separate campaigns. To progressive voters, they offered the standard mix of green and anti-austerity policies. To Muslim voters, who make up 30 percent of the Gorton and Denton electorate, they offered something else. Leaflets in Urdu, Bengali, and Arabic told readers that Labour must be punished for its complicity in the Israeli war in Gaza. The translated material framed the vote as a community act—a way for Muslims to speak with one voice. Spencer appeared in a keffiyeh outside a mosque. Green Party leadership gave interviews to 5Pillars, an Islamist-leaning outlet that has been involved in the circulation of antisemitic and homophobic content. The Green Party pulled LGBT-friendly content from its Muslim-facing literature in the campaign.
Observers of the election found that about 12 percent of ballots were cast by people engaged in “family voting,” with multiple adults present in the same booth. Britain banned the practice in 2023, but its frequency in Groton and Denton may reflect a deep-set patriarchal tendency among local Muslims.
After the victory, Green deputy leader Mothin Ali attended a London rally backing Iran’s regime—the same regime whose rhetoric targets Britain and whose operatives have been linked to terrorist plots on UK soil.
Read here
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Free Press
Three events, three continents, one week. A parliamentary by-election in Greater Manchester, England; a thunderous war and the death of a tyrant in Iran; and a terrorist attack in Austin, Texas. They seem unrelated. They are not. Together, they tell you where political Islam has got to—and more urgently, where its most committed adherents are heading next.
On February 26, the UK’s Green Party won a parliamentary seat in Gorton and Denton that the Labour Party had held for decades. The Green candidate, Hannah Spencer, secured nearly 15,000 votes. Matt Goodwin, the candidate for the conservative populist Reform party, came in second with about 10,500, while the Labour candidate slipped to third. The obvious question is how a party associated with bike lanes, green energy, and rewilding managed to seize a Labour stronghold in Greater Manchester.
The answer has nothing to do with climate policy.
The Greens ran two entirely separate campaigns. To progressive voters, they offered the standard mix of green and anti-austerity policies. To Muslim voters, who make up 30 percent of the Gorton and Denton electorate, they offered something else. Leaflets in Urdu, Bengali, and Arabic told readers that Labour must be punished for its complicity in the Israeli war in Gaza. The translated material framed the vote as a community act—a way for Muslims to speak with one voice. Spencer appeared in a keffiyeh outside a mosque. Green Party leadership gave interviews to 5Pillars, an Islamist-leaning outlet that has been involved in the circulation of antisemitic and homophobic content. The Green Party pulled LGBT-friendly content from its Muslim-facing literature in the campaign.
Observers of the election found that about 12 percent of ballots were cast by people engaged in “family voting,” with multiple adults present in the same booth. Britain banned the practice in 2023, but its frequency in Groton and Denton may reflect a deep-set patriarchal tendency among local Muslims.
After the victory, Green deputy leader Mothin Ali attended a London rally backing Iran’s regime—the same regime whose rhetoric targets Britain and whose operatives have been linked to terrorist plots on UK soil.
Read here
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