The program was conceived to help pay private school tuition, but, unlike many similar state programs, it can be used for public school expenses. But if they say no, their states will lose out on a new bottomless bucket of federal cash that could help public school students, too. Traditional Democratic allies — teachers unions and most public school advocates — are pushing hard against the new federal program. A coalition of Illinois public school advocates is running a “no on vouchers” campaign. Other public school advocates argue that the potential benefits are outweighed by the risk of moving closer to privatized education.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGMarch 4 (Reuters) - The impact of the Iran conflict on energy markets will be temporary and a “small price” to pay for U.S. military goals, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Wednesday. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital Middle East oil and gas flows and sending energy prices higher. Oil prices rose on Thursday in Asia amid growing concern over the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Advertisement“This will definitely be temporary,” Wright told the “Ingraham Angle” program on Fox News. “We have the world just massively well-supplied, abundant oil around the world, and American production at record highs.

Twenty-nine months later, the Middle East is almost unrecognizable. The gulf states, including the signers of Trump’s Abraham Accords, are shaken and skeptical of American guarantees. European colonialists put their pencils to a map after World War I to divide up deserts, wadis and mountains, dismantle the crumbling Ottoman Empire and create the modern Middle East. And both are being watched by the gulf states, battered and newly vulnerable, as well as by every capital from Cairo to Pakistan’s Islamabad. The old Middle East had a logic, however brutal: Iran as a disrupter, America as a guarantor, Israel as a contained power, the gulf states as financiers of stability.

It’s just a few more days until the free agency market opens up in full. One name that now seems certain to be fielding phone calls is Seattle Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed. Eligible for an extension to prevent full open-market bidding, Adam Schefter is reporting that the two sides are not in danger of securing a deal before Monday. At least, depending on your opinion of Shaheed, “close” would be nicer to hear than “to not be close.”With seven attention-grabbing players eyeing free agency, the reports of nearly all the top names are that the Seahawks are certainly going to be outbid. This same vibe as Shaheed has been reported of both Kenneth Walker and Boye Mafe as well.

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the trailblazing reporter who, in 1961, became the first Black woman hired as a reporter at The Washington Post , just donated $10,000 to a GoFundMe organized for recently laid-off Post Guild members, saying the newsroom cuts “made me very sad, even upset.” The donation came after mass layoffs at the paper. TheGrio reported that the GoFundMe has since raised more than $500,000 for affected staffers. Despite her impressive history-making career in journalism, Gilliam faced many obstacles as she attempted to do her job and do it well. For now, the GoFundMe and community support are offering short-term relief while industry observers continue to press for long-term solutions to preserve newsroom capacity and representation. With the death of DEI, any advances that Gilliam helped make are being dismantled not only in journalism but at large.

The Seattle Seahawks have some important decisions to make at the cornerback position regarding free agents Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams look to be getting major cornerback help themselves. As Schefter notes, McDuffie would be a trade-and-extend move for the Rams. Of course, the Rams are familiar with major cornerback trades, as evidenced by their previous deals for Marcus Peters (also of the Chiefs!) After winning the Super Bowl as a rookie, McDuffie followed that up with an All-Pro selection as a slot corner in 2023, followed by a second-team All-Pro selection in 2024 as an outside corner.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGWASHINGTON ― Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) abruptly dropped his bid for reelection on Wednesday, becoming one of nearly a dozen senators heading for the exits this year. The announcement from Daines comes as a huge surprise in D.C. and in Montana. Earlier in the day, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar launched an independent campaign to oust Daines in the Senate. Bodnar blasted Daines’ “disgusting” last-minute switch with Alme on Wednesday, vowing to fight for “every single Montanan who is sick of this broken political system.”Advertisement

Maggie Gyllenhaal on Directing Her Husband in Sex ScenesMaggie Gyllenhaal directed the 2021 film “The Lost Daughter,” in which a character played by her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, has a steamy love affair. She talked about what it was like to film those scenes during her conversation with “The Interview” co-host Lulu Garcia-Navarro. March 4, 2026

I know it has only been a couple of games where we have truly seen Rasheer Fleming flash glimpses of what he could become, although I am fully here for it. What I see in Rasheer Fleming are shades of a young Kawhi Leonard. Then there is Rasheer Fleming. I am buying Rasheer Fleming rookie cards like a man who has lost control of his own wallet. “What if it does last?” What if that is the road Rasheer Fleming is about to walk down?

I don’t see how Live Nation wins this, how Ticketmaster is not separated from the concert promotion division. Now there was no jury involved in the government’s approval of the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. How exactly is Live Nation going to explain this away? Of course Live Nation doesn’t believe that. But right now, after today’s testimony, I’d say Live Nation is f*cked.

President Donald Trump, right, talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. via Associated PressFriedrich Merz has claimed he privately defended Keir Starmer after Donald Trump attacked the UK prime minister in a joint press conference. The US president said Starmer was “no Winston Churchill” in a scathing takedown while sat next to the German chancellor in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Merz quickly came under fire for not defending his allies in the face of Trump’s criticisms and sitting in silence. AdvertisementHe supposedly told the president that he considers the criticism of Starmer “to be unjustified”.

In a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, executives from seven major tech companies signed a pledge with President Trump to supply their own power for artificial intelligence data centers. Leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI agreed to the “ratepayer protection pledge” Trump first announced during last week’s State of the Union address. The president said the plan will help shield residents from higher electricity costs in areas where AI data centers are being built. Advertisement“Under this new agreement, Big Tech companies are committing to fully cover the cost of increased electricity production required for AI data centers,” the president said Wednesday. Many tech firms are already moving in this direction, with Google, Meta, Amazon and others increasingly securing dedicated power for their AI data centers.

TLDRThe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has directed staff to expedite delayed payments owed by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to homeless service providers. LAHSA, which has faced criticism for mismanagement, is currently in the process of transitioning its funding to a new county department. The delay in payments, amounting to $53.4 million, has been attributed to staff resignations, low morale, and outdated internal policies. The county has approved funding for a financial review of LAHSA, and Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has been vocal about the need for improved payment processes.

AdvertisementJoe Scarborough and Texas State Rep. James Talarico. GettyLast month, Talarico and Colbert said the Federal Communications Commission “colluded” with CBS executives to keep an interview he did on the “Late Show” off the air. This is not the first time Colbert has clashed with his network’s overlords and the President Donald Trump-appointed FCC Chair Brendan Carr. I’m trying to help them out a little bit here, just to make it a fair fight in the fall,” Scarborough said Wednesday of Talarico winning Texas’ Democratic Senate primary. In the end, voters have the final say,” Scarborough said.

After launching its economic reforms in the late 1970s, China experienced nearly three decades of mostly double-digit growth, overtaking Japan in 2010 to become the world’s second-largest economy. The 2026 target is the lowest since Beijing began announcing such figures in the early 1990s. Still, China’s broader growth trajectory has flattened, weighed down by a prolonged property crisis, declined investment, tepid consumption and deflation. Guards march outside the Great Hall of People prior to the National People's Congress in Beijing, China, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. Beyond upgrading transitional industries, Beijing reaffirmed pledges to cultivate emerging and future sectors, including semiconductors, aerospace, biotechnology, quantum technology and embodied AI.