IMF Warns of Deep Global Downturn if War Is Prolonged The international lender sees a modest downgrade if the war ends soon, but much weaker growth and higher inflation in worse scenarios.

“These are times that we see very rarely,” IMF chief economist Gourinchas said. “You could have all of these things piling up in an environment in which growth was OK but not turbocharged to start with.”

www.wsj.com/economy/glob...

Los Angeles Scrambles to Avoid Historic Schools Strike Though agreements were reached with teacher and principal unions, negotiations with service workers inch to deadline.

LA Unified School District’s education spending rose to $29,292 per student in 2024-25 from $11,750 in 2014-15.

www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Iran War’s Economic Shock Wave Is Expected to Get Even Bigger The depth of the economic impact will depend on how long the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz continues. The bad news: Traffic in the waterway is unlikely to return to prewar levels soon.

President Trump’s naval blockade of Iran risks further upending a global economy already battered by weeks of war

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

America’s New Tax Mantra: ‘The IRS Isn’t Going to Catch Me’ The battered Internal Revenue Service shed thousands of enforcement employees—and more taxpayers appear eager to cheat.

Audits of people with at least $10 million in income dropped 9% last year, and they are on track to decline another 39% this year.

“They have defunded the police,” a tax lawyer Matthew Rappaport says. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Yes but my neighborhood has narrow streets and a lot of stop signs, so the robot either has to follow at a safe distance or deviate from its route.

Safety hack for biking in LA: Jump out in front of a Waymo, take up the whole lane, and make it shield you from the bloodthirsty humans.

This Prosecutor Was Floundering. Now He’s a Go-To Guy at Trump’s DOJ. After Pam Bondi’s ouster, the administration will likely lean even more heavily on lawyers such as Robert Keenan.

As a veteran assistant U.S. attorney, passed over for promotions repeatedly in his 24-year career, Keenan was still handling low-level cases typically reserved for first-year federal prosecutors. But his fortunes have flipped.

www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Starbucks Expands Tipping and Adds Bonuses to Boost Barista Pay Coffee giant seeks to reward baristas for service, sales goals in chain turnaround.

Starbucks will expand tipping for U.S. baristas but says it will not automatically extend these new benefits to ~600 stores that have voted to unionize. Starbucks Workers United has accused the company of slow-walking contract negotiations since 2021.

www.wsj.com/business/hos...

How a Tsunami Was Unleashed at 17,000 Feet, Shattering Lives Below As warmer temperatures melt polar ice, a parallel danger lurks in high mountain areas where melting glaciers have created thousands of new lakes.

Rising sea levels pose a threat to island nations and coastal communities. A parallel danger lurks in high mountain areas, where melting glaciers have created thousands of new lakes.

Between 1990 and 2018, the volume of the world’s glacial lakes expanded by nearly 50%.

www.wsj.com/world/asia/h...

See How Hollywood’s Job Market Is Collapsing Studios are making fewer movies and shows than they did just a few years ago. The ones they do make are increasingly being shot outside the U.S.

Hollywood studios are making significantly fewer movies and TV shows, resulting in a 30% drop in the industry’s employment from a late-2022 peak

www.wsj.com/business/med...

Democrats Say Rep. Eric Swalwell Personally Pitched His Political AI Startup to Lawmakers Getting a business pitch from Swalwell is "surprisingly universal," in some Democratic circles, one source told NOTUS.

“He is a public official who should not be in the business of promoting a private interest of his own or other private interests, regardless of pay,” said congressional ethics advocate Meredith McGehee, referring to Swalwell.

www.notus.org/democrats/de...

With Cuba Under Pressure, the Castro Dynasty Is Making a Comeback

The involvement of so many Castros in the regime’s survival strategy underscores one of the Cuban Revolution’s contradictions: While its Communist leaders sought to create an egalitarian society, many of them become members of an elite class.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/w...

"A very sobering assessment from the great Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman on the situation in Iran. Here's an extract to whet your appetite: "It is hard to convey the gloom that has overtaken Washington. All the structures that are vital to crisis management have either been attenuated or disbanded. There is hardly anyone left on the National Security Council staff. A friend described an empty State Department where you could hear your own foot steps. Marco Rubio is involved in the decision-making but he has neglected to acquire the professional staff assessments that should inform such decisions... The military part of the Pentagon still functions, but the civilian part has been purged. At its head is Pete Hegseth who puts effort into looking charismatic and brings the perspective of a disgruntled junior officer to everything he does, waging his own war on ‘woke’ which in its latest version involves striking out the names of two black men and two women for promotion to general. Some satisfaction is taken that figures such as Elbridge Colby, who were supposed to be providing the intellectual heft to security policy, are now stuck defending exactly the interventions they were pledged to avoid."

War, like government, is serious business for serious people.

As oil prices rise, airfares are surging and some airlines might not survive United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby said the hike in jet fuel prices triggered by the conflict in Iran could put some airlines out of business.

United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby said this week that his company could face an $11-billion loss if oil prices remain at their current levels. Meanwhile, United’s airfare could increase by 20%, he said.

www.latimes.com/business/sto...

The ‘crypto kids’ of Los Angeles: Easy money, risky lives and a violent fallout A recent Los Angeles trial revealed a subculture that revolves around newly created crypto wealth and young men who flaunt fortunes built through elaborate scams.

The ‘crypto kids’ of Los Angeles: Easy money, risky lives and a violent fallout

www.latimes.com/california/s...

At first major LA mayoral debate, some leading alternatives to Bass agree that LA needs fixing Incumbent Karen Bass declined the invitation. The debate, organized by the groups Streets for All and Housing Action Coalition, focused on housing and transportation

A Karen Bass spox said that the mayor “can’t participate in every debate invitation” but is “eager to discuss her record of changing L.A. and her vision for the future of Los Angeles."

The spox did not answer follow-up questions about the reason for Bass’ absence.

laist.com/transportati...

Trump’s Deportation Push Takes an Economic Toll on Mixed-Status Families The administration’s efforts affect many households that include U.S. citizens.

U.S. spouses and children are caught up in the effects of President Trump’s mass deportations, which are pushing some families into financial ruin

www.wsj.com/articles/tru...

Homeless and stateless: Deportees from U.S. are trapped in Mexico Deported not to their homelands but to unfamiliar cities deep inside Mexico, thousands of migrants are stranded in a dangerous, bureaucratic limbo with little support and no clear path forward.

Homeless and stateless: Deportees from U.S. are trapped in Mexico. “This feels like a nightmare, and I can’t wake up,” says one woman.

www.latimes.com/world-nation...

Trump Told Inner Circle Some Mass Deportation Policies Went Too Far The president is convinced that voters don’t like the term “mass deportation,” and has directed advisers to adopt a new approach on one of his central campaign promises.

Outside groups are urging ICE to carry out a minimum of 1m deportations in 2026, the goal Stephen Miller publicly set for 2025 but that the administration didn’t come close to achieving. On the campaign trail, Trump suggested he would deport as many as 20 million people.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Smith Center evolution discussions continue as 3 top contenders emerge | UNC-Chapel Hill Senior associate athletic director Rick Steinbacher shares key priorities for the arena, as well as the locations under consideration.

My alma mater #UNC has spent $1.3 million since ‘22 on “studies” about whether to build a new, $600-$800 million basketball arena that would seat 25% fewer fans than the perfectly functional Dean Smith Center. How about spending that money on professors and students?

www.unc.edu/posts/2026/0...

California’s proposed billionaire tax gains majority support in new poll, with a partisan split on voter ID A new poll shows California voters are sharply divided over two brewing ballot measures: a one-time tax on billionaires and new rules and procedures to verify voter citizenship.

Poll by UC-Berkeley and LA Times finds 52% of registered voters supported California’s proposed billionaire’s tax, while 33% opposed it and 15% were undecided.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Dolores Huerta, now 96, described being stunned by Mr. Chavez’s aggression and then numb to it. She framed her silence at the time not as an absence of pain, but as a kind of strategic necessity, particularly as a woman fighting for respect in the male-dominated world of 1960s union organizing.

Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years

Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...

She Hoped Ketamine Would Rewire Her Brain. She Didn’t Live to See It Work. The psychedelic-like anesthetic is at the heart of a booming online industry that promises relief from depression but has also led to harm.

Operating under scant regulation and disparate safety standards, more than 500 businesses offer ketamine nationwide, according to a 2024 report by the DEA, often for patients to take at home without medical supervision. “It’s the Wild West.”

www.wsj.com/health/welln...

To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers

To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/u...

An Exodus of Money Endangers Wall Street’s Private-Credit Craze Investors asked to cash out 14% of Cliffwater’s $33 billion fund while Morgan Stanley capped withdrawals.

The private-credit engine that powered massive growth on Wall Street is sputtering, with investors trying to pull money out of big funds

www.wsj.com/finance/inve...

LA Mayor Karen Bass enters her reelection campaign with 20% support, Emerson Poll finds.

US Rep. Eric Swalwell leads governor race at 17%.

emersoncollegepolling.com/california-2...

The Boom in Autism Therapy Is Medicaid’s Fastest-Growing Jackpot Some companies have found lucrative opportunities to capitalize on a growing need, extracting payments as high as $800 an hour.

$29 million to treat 84 kids: The boom in autism therapy is Medicaid’s fastest-growing jackpot. “I have basically built my entire business model off of Medicaid.”

www.wsj.com/health/healt...

The Long-Feared Persian Gulf Oil Squeeze Is Upon Us Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a virtual halt, unleashing the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s.

“We are looking at what is by far the biggest disruption in world history in terms of daily oil production,” said energy historian Daniel Yergin. “If it goes on for weeks, it will reverberate across the global economy.”

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Americans Are Now a Target in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown A WSJ investigation tracked the U.S. citizens caught in the crosshairs of an aggressive federal campaign to detain and demonize dissenters.

The Trump administration says American “terrorists” and “rioters” are assaulting immigration agents. A WSJ investigation found none have been convicted at trial.

www.wsj.com/us-news/immi...