A partial shutdown of U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding has left about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers working without pay for more than five weeks, straining airport operations across the country. Absentee rates nationally have hovered around 10% but have spiked much higher at major hubs — Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans reported call‑out rates in the 30–40% range on some days — and at least 366–376 officers have resigned since mid‑February, DHS and unions say. Security wait times have stretched to two to three hours at peak periods (Reuters, Business Insider, local reporting), prompting airports to run food drives, provide meal vouchers, free parking and other aid to struggling workers. Airlines, the U.S. Travel Association and airport officials have urged Congress to restore DHS funding; Senate negotiators say talks are narrowing but no deal is certain. Officials warn smaller airports could be forced to suspend operations if staffing shortfalls worsen, and airlines say cascading delays threaten the spring travel season and broader network reliability.

Cuba began restoring electricity on Sunday after its national power grid suffered a second collapse in less than a week, leaving millions without power and deepening an already severe energy crisis. The blackout occurred on Saturday evening, following an earlier nationwide failure on Monday and a separate major outage on March 4, making it the third major disruption this month. Officials said the system suffered a total disconnection after a generation unit failed at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camaguey province, triggering a cascade across the island’s fragile network. By Sunday afternoon, utility officials said nearly half of Havana had electricity again, along with hospitals and other priority facilities served by local “microsystems.” Recovery efforts were underway in other provinces as well, but authorities warned that restoration would be gradual and could be vulnerable to further setbacks. The crisis has been compounded by severe fuel shortages, with Cuba saying it has gone months without oil shipments from foreign suppliers. The government has blamed U.S. sanctions and the loss of Venezuelan supplies, while officials also cite the deteriorating state of aging infrastructure. The repeated blackouts have disrupted homes, businesses, water supply, telecoms and transportation, and have forced some flights to be suspended or reduced.

A wave of new data and product launches this month highlights how GLP-1 and related metabolic therapies are transforming healthcare, consumer behaviour and markets. Eli Lilly reported Phase 3 diabetes results for retatrutide — a triple-agonist — showing mean HbA1c drops of about 1.9 percentage points at higher doses and weight losses up to ~15% at 40 weeks. Structure Therapeutics’ oral GLP-1 candidate aleniglipron produced up to 15% mean weight loss in a Phase 2 obesity trial, underscoring the growing oral-GLP-1 pipeline alongside Novo Nordisk and Lilly oral programs. Large registry studies (Sweden, Lancet Psychiatry) linked semaglutide use to sharply lower rates of psychiatric hospital care, depression, anxiety and substance-use outcomes; liraglutide showed smaller but similar associations. Mechanistic and cohort studies indicate GLP-1 therapies preferentially reduce fat while preserving muscle, but observational data identify potential perinatal risks: a Danish study associated periconceptional GLP-1 exposure in women with pre-existing diabetes with higher preterm birth risk. Real-world analyses show many patients who stop GLP-1s later restart or switch; researchers are exploring the gut microbiome as a determinant of individual response. Regulators, clinicians and industry face competing priorities on safety, access, and market competition as oral and injectable options proliferate.

Major global carriers told investors this week that a surge in jet fuel linked to the war in Iran has pushed operating costs sharply higher but so far has not dented demand. At the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference (March 17-18, 2026) Delta, American and United said roughly $400 million of extra fuel expense hit each in the first quarter; jet fuel prices have climbed about 50–60% since the conflict began at the end of February. Strong bookings — Delta reported sales up about 25% year‑on‑year and multiple record sales days — have allowed U.S. airlines to raise first‑quarter revenue guidance (Delta to high single‑digits; American to more than 10%) and hold earnings forecasts. Carriers worldwide are raising fares, adding surcharges or trimming capacity; Scandinavia’s SAS announced at least 1,000 April cancellations after jet fuel doubled in ten days. Longer routings to avoid Middle East airspace and regional export curbs have tightened supplies and amplified price volatility, prompting carriers to consider further network and pricing adjustments into the busy summer season.

Actress Brenda Song said Alaska Airlines reassigned first‑class seats she had booked months earlier, leaving her separated from her young children on a recent family flight. Song posted the complaint to her Instagram Stories over the weekend of March 21–22, 2026, saying the airline "gave away" prebooked seats the morning of the flight and that she and fiancé Macaulay Culkin were split from their three‑ and four‑year‑old sons. Alaska Airlines issued an apology to media outlets on March 23, saying the experience was "unacceptable," that it had reached out to the family and would "make it right," and reiterating its commitment to family travellers. Coverage noted the carrier’s stated policy that children 13 and under should be seated next to an accompanying adult if booked on the same reservation. The post prompted a divided public reaction, with supporters decrying the separation and critics calling the complaint overblown. The episode has renewed attention to airline family‑seating practices and how last‑minute changes and overbooking affect passengers.