Top 5 US news stories
March 25 2026
Oil Prices Plunge as Diplomats Scramble To Broker U.S.-Iran Talks
82nd Airborne Troops Deploy to Middle East as Ground Buildup Accelerates
Staffing Gaps and Missing Transponder Fueled LaGuardia Runway Collision
Young College Graduates Face Worst Job Market Since the Pandemic
AI Industry Floods Midterm Races With $265 Million War Chest
Oil Prices Plunge as Diplomats Scramble To Broker U.S.-Iran Talks
Brent crude fell 4.7% to below $100 a barrel on Tuesday even as the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed, signaling that markets may be pricing in the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough. Mediators from Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan are pushing for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials by Thursday, though the two sides remain far apart on core demands. The U.S. sent Iran a 15-point plan through intermediaries calling on Tehran to dismantle its main nuclear sites, end enrichment on Iranian soil, suspend ballistic-missile work, curb proxy support and fully reopen the strait in exchange for sanctions relief and civilian nuclear assistance. Iran's military spokesman dismissed the proposal, saying the U.S. was negotiating with itself to escape a strategic defeat, while Tehran's harder-line leadership is now demanding reparations for weeks of strikes. The competing signals suggest multiple factions may now be vying to shape Iran's response, though it remains to be seen whether any diplomatic track can escape the military's hardline grip. Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been lobbying President Trump in a series of calls to continue the military campaign, calling it a historic opportunity to remake the Middle East. The UAE has echoed that position, and Gulf Arab leaders are growing alarmed by Trump's eagerness to reach a deal before Iran is sufficiently weakened.
Bloomberg / WSJ / NYT
82nd Airborne Troops Deploy to Middle East as Ground Buildup Accelerates
The Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to begin moving to the Middle East, giving President Trump additional military options even as he weighs diplomacy with Iran. The troops are drawn from the division's Immediate Response Force, a 3,000-strong brigade capable of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours, and include division commander Maj. Gen. Brandon R. Tegtmeier, his staff and two battalions of roughly 800 soldiers each. More could follow in the coming days. Separately, some 4,500 Marines are already en route to the region. Taken together, the U.S. has now dispatched nearly 7,000 additional ground troops to the war zone since the conflict began, marking a significant escalation in military posture.
NYT
Staffing Gaps and Missing Transponder Fueled LaGuardia Runway Collision
The NTSB's preliminary investigation into the runway collision at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night that killed both pilots of the Air Canada jet points to an overlapping series of failures rooted in staffing and technology shortfalls. The fire truck that struck an Air Canada jet did not carry a transponder, unlike similar vehicles at airports across the country, which left early-warning systems unable to track its position. Investigators have not confirmed whether the truck's drivers heard controller commands to stop, which came roughly nine seconds before impact. Only two controllers were on duty at the time, handling roles that during busier hours would have been split among more staff — a practice NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said is common on night shifts nationwide but has been flagged as a safety concern repeatedly. Controller workload consolidation was also cited in the January 2025 midair collision near Reagan National Airport in Washington. In the past five years, the FAA has recorded 26 runway incidents of the most serious type, where a collision was narrowly avoided, along with another 52 incidents with significant collision potential.
NYT / WSJ
Young College Graduates Face Worst Job Market Since the Pandemic
The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 22 to 27 climbed to 5.6% at the end of last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, up sharply over three years and exceeding the overall national rate of 4.2% at the time. More than 40% of employed young degree holders were working in jobs that do not typically require a college education, the highest share since 2020. University career offices report shrinking employer turnout at spring hiring fairs and reduced recruiting numbers across industries. The weakening labor market is colliding with fears that artificial intelligence is displacing the entry-level white-collar positions graduates have long targeted. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted the technology could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, and a November report from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab found substantial employment declines for early-career workers in AI-vulnerable fields such as software development.
NYT
AI Industry Floods Midterm Races With $265 Million War Chest
AI companies have pledged roughly $265 million for super PACs and similar political groups ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, borrowing from the playbook of the cryptocurrency industry's Fairshake PAC, which spent nearly $200 million in 2024 to boost allies and punish opponents. The first major test case is a Manhattan congressional primary, where a big AI-backed PAC is spending millions to oppose Alex Bores, a 35-year-old computer scientist and New York state assemblyman who has championed AI safety regulation. Bores had been considered a long shot in a crowded June Democratic primary that includes anti-Trump lawyer George Conway and Jack Schlossberg, grandson of John F. Kennedy, but the super PAC spending has elevated his profile. The campaign is being framed as a warning shot: lawmakers who pursue safety standards opposed by industry giants such as OpenAI will face well-funded opposition regardless of how obscure their races may be. Crypto's 2024 investment paid off handsomely, with Trump rolling back regulatory actions and Congress passing an industry-friendly law last year.
WSJ
March 25 1957: Europe’s Common Market founded in major step toward economic unity
Europe’s Common Market, created in 1957 by six Western European states to remove internal trade barriers and coordinate key economic policies, gradually deepened and expanded into today’s European Union, with a single market, shared institutions and, for many members, a common currency. On a purchasing-power-parity (PPP) basis, the EU’s economic output is still somewhat smaller than that of the United States and China, but all three remain broadly comparable in overall scale, making them peer continental markets that dominate global economic weight.
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