Iran War Update, Injectable Livers, & Blood Moon Photos

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Adam Rogers
March 05, 2026

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A US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday night. Sri Lankan authorities recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 of the 180 people aboard. The conflict has now killed more than 1,045 people in Iran, 50 in Lebanon, 11 in Israel, and 6 US troops.
Kurdish armed groups launched a military offensive against Iranian forces, with thousands of fighters from the Kurdistan Free Life Party deploying into the Zagros Mountains. Iranian forces evacuated the border city of Mariwan and established defensive positions nearby. The Trump administration is in active discussions with Kurdish leaders in Iraq and northwestern Iran about arming opposition groups to help topple the Iranian regime, according to NBC News — though no weapons have been shipped and no plan has been finalized.
Iran is scrambling to replace Khamenei as the war spreads regionally — Iran struck Bahrain, Kuwait, and Israel, while Turkey's NATO defenses intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile. Israel threatened to eliminate whoever Iran selects as its next supreme leader.

The House voted 357-65 yesterday to kill a resolution by Rep. Nancy Mace that would have directed the Ethics Committee to publicly release all reports on sexual misconduct and harassment by members of Congress. The bipartisan vote came after the Ethics Committee urged members to vote it down, arguing public disclosure could retraumatize victims and deter witnesses from cooperating.
That same day, the Ethics Committee opened a formal investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who allegedly had an affair with aide Regina Santos-Aviles before she died by suicide. House rules explicitly prohibit relationships between lawmakers and their own staff. Gonzales denied the affair but has not addressed the allegations directly.
Mace, a sexual assault survivor who helped force the release of the Epstein files, said the resolution was a direct response to the Gonzales allegations. The investigation could end if he loses his May runoff or resigns before the report is complete.

MIT researchers have developed injectable “mini livers” designed to help patients with liver failure who cannot receive transplants. More than 10,000 Americans are currently waiting for donor livers, while many others are too ill to undergo transplant surgery.
The therapy combines liver cells with hydrogel microspheres that can be injected through a syringe and then solidify inside the body, forming small functional tissue clusters. In mouse experiments, the grafts survived at least eight weeks and produced key liver enzymes and proteins after integrating with nearby blood vessels.
Researchers say the technology could act as a “satellite liver,” boosting function while a patient awaits a transplant or even serving as a longer-term treatment. Future work will focus on testing the approach in larger animals and developing ways to prevent immune rejection.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico beat Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in a Democratic Senate primary, setting up a fall race against either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton, who head to a May runoff. (More) | Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw lost his Republican primary to Steve Toth, becoming the first incumbent House member ousted in the 2026 midterms. (More)

A warm surge hitting the Midwest and Northeast this week will push temperatures 15-25 degrees above normal — the highest since October in some areas. (More)

United Airlines quietly updated its rules to permanently ban passengers who play audio or video without headphones, putting the offense in the same category as smoking or wearing obscene clothing. (More)

Ecuador imposed an 11pm-5am curfew across four provinces starting March 15, as President Noboa escalated his military campaign against drug trafficking and gang violence. (More)

Paraguay and Argentina tightened security at their shared border with Brazil, citing fears that the Middle East conflict could fuel extremist activity in the historically troubled Triple Frontier region. (More)

Cuba charged six people with terrorism after its coast guard killed four others aboard a US-flagged speedboat carrying 13,000 rounds of ammo and more than a dozen rifles. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Wednesday (S&P +0.78%, Nasdaq +1.29%, Dow +0.49%) as oil prices pulled back, and strong economic data eased fears of a slowing economy. (More)

Trump's 10% global tariff jumps to 15% this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, adding he expects rates to return to their old levels by August. (More)

Coinbase jumped 12% Wednesday after Trump publicly backed the crypto industry's fight with banks over stablecoins, while bitcoin and ether each climbed around 5-6%. (More)

Lou Holtz, who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and became one of college football's most celebrated coaches, died Wednesday in Orlando at 89. (More)

The Patriots cut Stefon Diggs, 32, who caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards last season, after his cap hit was set to jump from $10.5 million to $26.5 million next week. (More)

Four siblings who knew Michael Jackson as children filed a lawsuit alleging he drugged and sexually assaulted them for over a decade, starting when they were as young as seven. (More)

Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo on Wednesday, nearly halving the cost of its cheapest laptop and taking direct aim at Chromebooks and budget Windows machines. (More)

Paleontologists revealed Tanyka amnicola, a 275-million-year-old water-dwelling creature that had a twisted jaw and teeth that pointed sideways instead of up. (More)

Astronomers discovered the most compact quadruple star system ever found — three stars hotter than our Sun packed tighter than Mercury's orbit, circled by a fourth Sun-like star. (More)

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