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Pentagon officials ascend stairs on March 10, 2026, as they leave a classified briefing for members of the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tasked with overseeing defense left a classified briefing Tuesday incensed about President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as the United States and Israel continue their joint bombardment and families prepare to bury seven American service members killed in the conflict. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he left the briefing “more doubtful than ever that there is clarity on objectives or exit strategy.” “I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war,” Blumenthal said. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that since the beginning of the war in Iran, “ap...

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, stands on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 5, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Albritton Tuesday asked a Senate committee to delay consideration of a bill aimed at resolving a dispute over the state's Internet sales tax. . (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee delayed a vote on a bill on Tuesday that aimed at resolving a battle between cities and counties over the state’s Internet sales tax. SB 347 , sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, increases the frequency of population calculations used to determine how proceeds from the levy, known as the Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT), are distributed. “We got that bill drafted, it was dropped, (SB) 347, on Thursday afternoon, and then we started looking at the numbers,” Albritton said at the Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee meeting. “And this proves one thing; this matter is a lot more complicated than they thought it was.” While t...

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, speaks on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Jan. 27, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill sponsored by England aiming to make it more likely that crime victims will receive compensation. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee approved legislation last week aiming at making victims of crime more likely to receive restitution. HB 481 , sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, requires any money collected from people convicted of a crime to be first allocated toward restitution for victim compensation, before payments are distributed to fines, fees and court costs. “I filed it a few weeks ago,” England said in an interview last Wednesday. “I think the public would be shocked to find out that while the system is set up to do two things, punish people and compensate victims who are victims of crime, the last thing that gets paid after court cost...

Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, speaking to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 26, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. Chesteen sponsored SB 71, one of several "sound science" bills moving through state legislatures that make it harder for environmental agencies to approve new regulations. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News , a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here . A series of Republican state legislatures are advancing, or have already passed, laws severely limiting the ability of state agencies to set environmental regulations, despite warnings from the scientific community that such measures could increase risk of serious health problems, including cancers. Versions of a “Sound Science” bill, proffered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and supported by other business trade groups, have been signed into law in Alab...

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference in Doral, Florida, on March 9, 2026. Trump spoke about his administration's strikes on Iran. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)  President Donald Trump on Monday told House Republicans, who were gathered in Florida for a policy retreat, that he expects the war in Iran will wrap up “quickly,” though he didn’t give a specific date or detail exactly what he wants to do before ending the hostilities.  “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil,” he said. “And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion.” Trump added later in his speech that the U.S. military “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” During a press conference afterward, Trump said the U.S. military had struck 5,000 locations inside Iran but that he was holding off on bombing some of the country’s larger targets to see if its leaders would allow ships ...

An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes on March 3, 2026, in Tehran. The United States and Israel have continued the joint attack on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel, and targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Americans are paying more for gas Monday as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran chokes off a significant route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum products. Global prices for Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed over $100 a barrel. Prices were just above $70 a barrel in the days before the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise Feb. 28 attack on Iran, killing the regime’s top leader and other powerful government figures. The spike, which peaked at $119.50 per barrel early Monday, caused ricochets throughout markets, with major stock indexes falling worldwide. Oil prices have not reached costs above $100 p...