Trump Weighs Military Operation to Extract Iran's Uranium

Oil Prices Climb as Houthis Enter Iran War and Shipping Chokepoints Face New Threats

Startups Race to Build Cheap Missiles as Drone Wars Drain Costly Interceptors

Next Wave of Weight-Loss Drugs Set to Reshape Obesity Treatment

UConn Stuns Duke on Buzzer-Beater to Reach Final Four

Trump Weighs Military Operation to Extract Iran's Uranium

President Trump is considering a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to U.S. officials, a complex and risky mission that would likely require American forces to operate inside the country for days or longer. Trump has not made a final decision, with officials saying he is weighing the danger to U.S. troops, but he remains generally open to the idea because it could help accomplish his central goal of preventing Iran from ever building a nuclear weapon. The president has also pushed his advisers to press Iran to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war. Trump has told political allies that the Iranians cannot keep the material, and he has discussed seizing it by force if Tehran refuses to give it up at the negotiating table.

Wall Street Journal

Oil Prices Climb as Houthis Enter Iran War and Shipping Chokepoints Face New Threats

Oil prices extended their climb Monday as signs mounted that the war in Iran could last longer than previously anticipated, raising fresh concerns about the economic fallout. Hopes for cease-fire talks have faded in recent days with more U.S. troops arriving in the Middle East and Yemen's Houthi militants entering the conflict. On Saturday, the Houthis launched their first attack against Israel since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran a month ago, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israeli military sites. Israel's military said it intercepted a missile coming from Yemen, and no casualties were reported. The intervention amounted to a widening of the conflict and raised the potential for further disruption to global trade and markets. Last March, Trump launched a multi-week bombing campaign against the Houthis after they targeted maritime traffic and American troops in the Red Sea, an operation that ended in an Oman-brokered ceasefire in May 2025.

Iran has also threatened to control or close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passageway near Yemen that controls sea traffic toward the Suez Canal. About 12% of global seaborne oil passes through the strait, making it the world's fourth-largest shipping chokepoint, and Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has already triggered a sharp increase in energy costs worldwide. Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency has reported that the Houthis may join Tehran's fight against the U.S. and help give Iran control of the Bab al-Mandeb. Together, these developments have driven oil prices sharply higher, with Brent crude futures advancing to $108 a barrel and contracts for May delivery jumping to about $116, not far from their intraday high of $119.50 since the start of the conflict. The expanding geography of the war and the growing threat to two critical waterways have intensified fears that the economic consequences of the Iran conflict are far from contained.

Washington Post / Wall Street Journal

Startups Race to Build Cheap Missiles as Drone Wars Drain Costly Interceptors

The U.S. military is shooting down cheap Iranian drones with missiles that can cost upward of a million dollars, and a wave of startups and defense contractors are racing to close that gap. Jason Cornelius, a former NASA engineer, quit his job last year to co-found Perseus Defense in Texas, where his company is developing an interceptor missile he says will cost $10,000. Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have exposed how limited supplies of sophisticated missiles, including multimillion-dollar Patriot interceptors, are sometimes used to defend against mass-produced drones costing just a few thousand dollars. Startups are now tweaking designs, using off-the-shelf parts and switching to automated manufacturing to bring prices down to tens of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has developed its own counter-drone systems in response to Russia's extensive use of Iranian Shahed drone technology and is now sharing that expertise with countries in the Middle East, a shift that Zelenskyy said has reshaped the geopolitical landscape.

Wall Street Journal / Zelenskyy

Next Wave of Weight-Loss Drugs Set to Reshape Obesity Treatment

The obesity drug market, long defined by two weekly injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, is entering a period of rapid expansion. Eli Lilly's daily pill could receive approval as early as April, and Novo Nordisk has a high-dose version of Wegovy expected later this year, with at least six more treatments from Pfizer, Amgen, Roche, Viking and others in development with projected approvals stretching from 2027 through 2029. The incoming wave includes both pills and shots with dosing schedules ranging from daily to monthly, giving patients and doctors far more options than the once-weekly injections that currently dominate the market. Industry analysts expect many of the drugs to be used in combination, much like treatments for high blood pressure or diabetes, and the expanded competition could help ease the supply shortages and high out-of-pocket costs that have limited access to the current generation of medications.

Wall Street Journal

UConn Stuns Duke on Buzzer-Beater to Reach Final Four

UConn freshman Braylon Mullins launched a 35-foot shot with 0.4 seconds remaining Sunday night in Capital One Arena and buried it, sending the Huskies to the Final Four in Indianapolis and ending one of the most improbable comebacks in NCAA Tournament history. Duke had led by 19 points in the first half and 15 at halftime, and UConn missed 17 of its first 18 three-pointers before catching fire down the stretch, making four of its last five from beyond the arc. The game-winner came off a reckless Duke turnover that gave the Huskies one final chance against a juggernaut that had seemed certain to advance. Mullins, an Indiana native who will now play in the Final Four near his hometown, delivered what Bob Hurley Sr., the legendary high school coach and father of UConn's Dan Hurley, called "singularly the most incredible moment I've had following college basketball."

NYT

OH MY GOODNESS 😱

UCONN LEADSSSS UNBELIEVABLE #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IPX2JWiw0b

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026

March 30 1855: Violence disrupts first Kansas election

In territorial Kansas’ first election, some 5,000 so-called “Border Ruffians” invade the territory from western Missouri and force the election of a pro-slavery legislature. Although the number of votes cast exceeded the number of eligible voters in the territory, Kansas Governor Andrew Reeder reluctantly approved the election to prevent further bloodshed.

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Sources

1. Wall Street Journal
2. Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Wall Street Journal
3. Wall Street Journal / Zelenskyy
4. Wall Street Journal
5. New York Times