5 Big News Stories Overnight - Thursday, March 19, 2026

U.S.: Gross National Debt Reaches $39 Trillion

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

Surpassing $39 trillion in gross debt is an embarrassing milestone that both parties have helped build over decades, and neither seems particularly interested in addressing it before we hit $40 trillion.

No matter what metric one chooses to examine our fiscal trajectory, we are clearly headed in the wrong direction. Gross debt is now $39 trillion; debt held by the public recently surpassed $31 trillion for the first time; deficits are approaching $2 trillion; and deficits as a share of the economy are twice as large as the 3% goal many economists and bipartisan policymakers believe we ought to be targeting.

Markets are paying close attention to our fiscal situation, and every time we hit a new milestone, we risk spooking them. 

Choosing to abandon our fiscal responsibilities like this does not exist in a vacuum; in fact, it wreaks havoc on our economy and everyday life. Higher debt exacerbates inflationary pressures, squeezes out investment in our economy, allows interest costs to dominate our defense spending, leaves us vulnerable to emergencies and geopolitical turmoil, and could even provoke a fiscal crisis.

Middle East: Iran threatens Gulf energy facilities after Israeli attack on its largest gasfield

The Guardian reports:

Iran has threatened to attack energy infrastructure across the Gulf region in retaliation for Israeli strikes on its largest gasfield, the first targeted attacks on its fossil fuel production since the war began.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened counterstrikes on several energy facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar “in the coming hours” after state media reports that missiles had targeted its gas facilities at the giant South Pars field, the largest gas reserves in the world.

The strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield, which it shares with Qatar, were widely reported in Israeli media to have been carried out by Israel with the consent of the US.

Israel: Beating and Sexual Assault of Shepherd

The New York Times reports:

Israeli settlers beat a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, stripped him naked, tied his arms and legs and then zip-tied his penis, he, his family members and another witness said on Wednesday.

“I thought I was going to die,” the man, Suhaib Abualkebash, a 29-year-old shepherd, told The New York Times. “I thought this was the end.”

Several family members and an American woman corroborated details of Mr. Abualkebash’s account, saying they witnessed the sexual assault on Friday by several men among a group of more than 20 settlers who marauded though a Bedouin encampment. The relatives and the American said they had been beaten, too, adding that the assailants had kicked and slapped children during the attack. Family members also shared copies of reports they had filed to the Israeli police.

Philadelphia: Landlords Sue the City Council

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

In an exceedingly rare move, Philadelphia landlords filed a lawsuit Wednesday against City Council to delay a vote on legislation meant to protect renters.

Council was scheduled to vote Thursday morning on two bills introduced by Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke that are meant to help Philadelphia renters living in unsafe or unhealthy homes. But the landlords and City Council reached a settlement agreement Wednesday afternoon that will postpone the vote to a date to be determined.

One bill would protect tenants who complain about housing conditions from retaliation by rental property owners and affirm tenants’ rights to safe and sanitary homes. The other seeks to hold landlords accountable for repairs and would authorize the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections to create a program to proactively inspect rental units.

Israel: Foreign worker in central Israel, 3 Palestinian women in West Bank killed by Iranian missiles

Times of Israel reports:

Medics and doctors are still assessing victims early Thursday morning as the Palestinian Red Crescent adjusts their toll to at least three killed and at least 13 injured. It earlier reported four deaths.

Those injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, Dura and Hebron.

The group calls the count preliminary and says the deaths resulted from a direct strike and “falling missile fragments.”