Iran's continued resistance sparks U.S. deploying 2,500 Marines on three amphibious warships joining a regional force posture that already exceeds 50,000 American troops

Mar

14

U.S. Deploys 2,500 Marines on Amphibious Warships to Reinforce Middle-East Deterrence Against Iran

The United States is reinforcing its military posture in the Middle East by deploying roughly 2,500 Marines aboard up to three amphibious warships moving from the Indo-Pacific toward the region, according to U.S. officials cited in reporting published March 13, 2026. 

The deployment introduces a mobile expeditionary capability that can rapidly conduct crisis response, deterrence patrols, or limited strike support. 

1. It comes as Washington assesses Iran’s continued resistance following nearly two weeks of aerial bombardment and long-range strike operations carried out by U.S. and Israeli forces. 
2. The Marines will join a regional force posture that already exceeds 50,000 American troops across multiple bases and naval positions in the theater. 

 Read more. 

Among the vessels associated with the deployment is the USS Tripoli, an America-class amphibious assault ship that functions as the aviation hub of the expeditionary group(Picture source: US DoD) 

Travel And Tour World

14 hours ago

US Navy Deploys Amphibious Ships and Marines to the Middle East

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About 2,500 U.S. Marines aboard as many as three warships are heading to the Middle East from the Indo-Pacific region, as Iran increases its attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials said.

2 hours ago

WLBT

US military sending roughly 2,500 Marines and an extra warship to Middle East, AP source says

7 hours ago

KSL.com

US orders 2,500 Marines and an amphibious assault ship to Mideast after almost 2 weeks of war

12 hours ago

The Times of India

Why the US is sending assault ship USS Tripoli, thousands of marines to the Middle East and what it means

14 hours ago

 

 

 

Mar

14

U.S. Targets Iranian Air Force Logistics and Intelligence Aircraft to Secure Air Superiority

U.S. forces operating under Operation Epic Fury are targeting critical elements of Iran’s military aviation infrastructure, focusing on logistics and surveillance aircraft rather than frontline fighters. Imagery and video released by U.S. Central Command on March 12, 2026, show precision strikes destroying several Il-76 strategic transport aircraft, P-3 Orion maritime patrol planes, and C-130 Hercules tactical airlifters parked at Iranian airbases. Defense analysts say these platforms form the backbone of Iran’s operational mobility and intelligence-gathering capabilities. By striking them on the ground, the campaign appears intended to limit Tehran’s ability to move military equipment, monitor maritime activity, and sustain operations across the Middle East. Read full Defense Aerospace News at this link …

Still image from a video released by U.S. Central Command on March 12, 2026, showing a precision strike targeting an Iranian Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft during operations aimed at degrading Iran’s military aviation capabilities. (Picture source: U.S. CENTCOM)

 

Mar

13

U.S. Army tests new PrSM Increment 2 ballistic missile from HIMARS to target moving ships at 350 km

Lockheed Martin conducted the first flight test of the Precision Strike Missile Increment 2 from an M142 HIMARS launcher on March 12, 2026. The ballistic missile, developed for the U.S. Army, flew about 350 km and tested systems designed to track moving land and maritime targets. The PrSM Increment 2 introduces a multi-mode seeker enabling engagement of moving targets rather than fixed coordinates. Read full defense news at this link...

The Increment 2 allows the PrSM missile to engage moving land vehicles as well as maritime targets such as warships, transforming the weapon into a land-based anti-ship ballistic missile. (Picture source: Lockheed Martin) 

 

CARTOON CAROUSEL

CARTOON CAROUSEL 

 

 

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics

By POLITICO Staff 

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.

By POLITICO STAFF

03/13/2026 05:00 AM EDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

$30-Trillion U.S. Bond Market ---- Steepest Two-Week climb in almost a year

The 10-year Treasury yield was headed for its biggest two-week rise since last April.  

Photo: MarketWatch photo illustration/iStockphoto

MarketWatch

8 minutes ago

Investors are shunning U.S. debt as a haven play during the Iran conflict

The extent of the 10-year yield’s rise since late February ‘runs against conventional wisdom,’ one strategist says

By Vivien Lou Chen
Published: March 13, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. ET

 

 

The conflict with Iran is producing a somewhat counterintuitive reaction in the roughly $30 trillion U.S. bond market, by sending the benchmark 10-year yield toward its steepest two-week climb in almost a year.

 

  

MarketScreener

9 hours ago

European Midday Briefing : Investors Brace for Extended Conflict

 

News Release: BEA News: Personal Income and Outlays, January 2026

 

BEA News: Personal Income and Outlays, January 2026 The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today: Personal income increased $113.8 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in January, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $219.9 billion (0.9 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $81.1 billion (0.4 percent).  Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $85.8 billion in January.  Personal saving was $1.05 trillion in January, and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.5 percent. The full text of the release can be found at www.bea.gov/news/2026/personal-income-and-outlays-january-2026.

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT

News Release

Friday, March 13, 2026
BEA 26-16

Personal Income and Outlays, January 2026

Personal income increased $113.8 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in January, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $219.9 billion (0.9 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $81.1 billion (0.4 percent).

This report for January 2026, originally scheduled for February 26, 2026, was rescheduled due to the October–November 2025 government shutdown.

Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $85.8 billion in January. Personal saving was $1.05 trillion in January, and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of DPI—was 4.5 percent.

The increase in current-dollar personal income in January primarily reflected increases in compensation, personal dividend income, and personal current transfer receipts.

The $81.1 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in January reflected an increase of $105.7 billion in spending on services that was partly offset by a decrease of $24.6 billion in spending on goods.

Real PCE increased $17.0 billion (0.1 percent at a monthly rate) in January.

From the preceding month, the PCE price index for January increased 0.3 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.4 percent.

From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for January increased 2.8 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 3.1 percent from one year ago.

Personal Income and Related Measures [Percent change From preceding month]
	December	January
Current-dollar personal income	0.3	0.4
Current-dollar DPI	0.3	0.9
Real DPI	0.0	0.7
Current-dollar PCE	0.4	0.4
Real PCE	0.1	0.1
PCE price index	0.4	0.3
PCE price index, excluding food and energy	0.4	0.4

 

For definitions, statistical conventions, information on updates to personal income and outlays (PIO), links to related tables, and more, visit Additional Information

Improvements to the PIO News Release

BEA’s ongoing modernization and streamlining of news release packages includes improvements with today's PIO news release. The news release text has been modified to include links to BEA’s online Interactive Data Tables. News release tables in PDF and Excel format will no longer be provided beginning with the February 2026 estimate on April 9, 2026. This change will reduce duplication, increase efficiency, and point users directly to the most complete data.

Next release: April 9, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
Personal Income and Outlays, February 2026

---

Technical Notes

Changes in personal income and outlays for January

The January increase in personal income primarily reflected increases in compensation, personal dividend income, and personal current transfer receipts.

• Compensation increased $83.7 billion, primarily reflecting an increase of $71.2 billion in wages and salaries, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) data.
  • Private wages and salaries increased $67.5 billion, reflecting increases of $48.3 billion in services‑producing industries and $19.2 billion in goods-producing industries.
  • Government wages and salaries increased $3.7 billion.
• Personal dividend income increased $44.6 billion, reflecting information from company financial statements.
• Personal current transfer receipts increased $18.0 billion, mainly reflecting an increase of $49.2 billion in social security benefits that was partly offset by a decrease of $16.7 billion in other government social benefits. The increase in social security benefits reflected a January cost-of-living adjustment based on data from the Social Security Administration. The decrease in other government social benefits reflected a decrease in estimated Affordable Care Act enrollments.

Revisions to personal income

Estimates have been updated for July through December. The estimates for July through September for compensation, personal taxes, and contributions for government social insurance reflect the incorporation of third-quarter wage and salary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. The estimates for October through December reflect updated BLS CES data.

Related Data Tables

For the statistics highlighted in this release, as well as historical time series for these estimates, see the following data tables in BEA’s Interactive Data Application.

Table 2.6. Personal Income and Its Disposition 
Table 2.8.1. Percent Change From Preceding Period in Real PCE by Major Type of Product 
Table 2.8.5. PCE by Major Type of Product 
Table 2.8.6. Real PCE by Major Type of Product 
Table 2.8.7. Percent Change From Preceding Period in Prices for PCE by Major Type of Product 
Table 2.8.11. Real PCE by Major Type of Product: Percent Change From Month One Year Ago

Note. With the next release of PIO, today’s data will be superseded, and the links above will reflect the latest data. The original data featured in this release can then be accessed in BEA’s Data Archive.

News unfolding in real time

34 min ago

Trump says Putin ‘might’ be helping Iran

By SEUNG MIN KIM

U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin might be helping Iran.

His comments come after U.S. intelligence indicated Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region.

Trump spoke with Putin earlier this week.

“I think he might be helping them a little bit, yeah, I guess,” 

--- Trump said in an interview with Fox News that will air in full later Friday. 

“And he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?”

• Host Brian Kilmeade noted the U.S. is aiding Ukraine.

 

 

“Yeah, we’re helping them also,”  

---Trump continued. 

 

“And so he says that, and China would say the same thing, you know. 

It’s like, hey, they do it and we do it in all fairness.”

YouTube

Times Of India · 42 minutes ago

Iran Helps Putin Secure Big Win With Hormuz Blockade; Trump On Knees As U.S. Lifts Russian Oil Curbs

STUCK IN THE MALDIVES ----- British Holiday Makers stranded by Iran War

British holidaymakers have told the BBC they are stranded abroad after their flights were cancelled when the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out.
Airspace remains severely restricted following missile strikes across the Middle East meaning commercial flights through major hub airports have been grounded.
Some British travellers are trapped in far-flung locations facing bills for accommodation, food and essentials which may not be covered by their travel insurance.

'I missed my chemo and have a £12,000 hotel bill': British holidaymakers stranded by Iran war

10 hours ago 

 

Andrea Pendrey has missed her chemotherapy treatment 

while she is stuck in the Maldives 

 
. . ."Even though this place is paradise, 

we've been crying and feel really upset," 

---she says.

 

 

 

 

 

Andrea Pendrey

Keep it spinning. . .