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Proton VPN moves from 174th to 19th place as NordVPN goes from 189th to 13th, as porn websites in Australia start requiring age verification for users

Virtual private network apps have skyrocketed up the app charts in Australia after a number of adult sites began blocking Australian users in compliance with new online safety codes in effect from Monday.

VPN Super Unlimited Proxy moved from 40th in free iPhone apps in Australia on 2 March to 7th place as of Sunday, according to the most recent data from Sensor Tower. Proton VPN moved from 174th to 19th, and NordVPN went from 189th to 13th.

VPN apps allow a user’s location to appear as somewhere other than where they reside, meaning users trying to access adult sites could use the apps to appear as being outside Australia, to gain access to the sites.

On Friday, Guardian Australia reported Aylo-owned sites including RedTube, YouPorn, and Tube8 all had notices on their sites when visited from an Australian IP address, stating they are “not currently accepting new account registrations in your region”.

Lake, whom Trump appointed without Senate confirmation to run Voice of America parent agency, cut over 1,000 jobs

A federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully led the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for several months last year and voided mass layoffs and other actions taken during that period to dismantle the agency.

The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency that oversees the Voice of America (VOA), the US’s largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provides grants to Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other news agencies.

The Trump administration moved to defund the agency in early 2025 and appointed Lake to oversee the agency, but did not receive Senate confirmation for her role. Despite efforts to defund the agency, Congress appropriated half a billion dollars more than Lake requested in funding for the agency in 2026.

Medical data from 100m people shows risk 122% higher for amphetamine users, 96% higher for cocaine and 37% higher for cannabis

Recreational drugs can more than double the risk of stroke, with some of the most concerning impacts seen among younger people, a major review suggests.

Scientists analysed medical data from more than 100 million people and found that the risk of stroke was 122% higher for amphetamine users and 96% higher for cocaine users compared with those who did not take the drugs.

Cannabis users were also at greater risk, suffering 37% more strokes than non-users, the review found, though researchers saw no evidence that opioids, a highly addictive painkiller, added to a person’s risk of stroke.

Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day; it also could harm your health.

Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack — which means daylight saving time can usher in sleep trouble for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.

The United States began a large military exercise with South Korea involving thousands of troops Monday while also waging an escalating war in the Middle East.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has said about 18,000 Korean troops will take part in Freedom Shield, which runs through March 19. U.S. Forces Korea hasn’t confirmed the number of American troops participating in the training in South Korea.

The allies’ combined exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran.

Travel at major U.S. airports turned into a nightmare Sunday, with up to three-hour security wait times and a shortage of TSA workers at the start of spring break travel amid the partial government shutdown.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Bis said travelers are facing missed flights and massive delays. She blamed the chaos on congressional Democrats' refusal to fund DHS, which led to the partial shutdown.

Crude oil prices surged above $100 per barrel on Sunday, after major Middle East producers cut output because the critical Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the Iran war.

West Texas Intermediate jumped 17%, or $15.32, to $106.22 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent advanced 15%, or $14.28, to $106.92. U.S. crude oil surged about 35% last week in its biggest gain in futures trading history dating back to 1983. The last time oil prices topped $100 per barrel was after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Shortly after oil blasted past $100 at the open of trading Sunday evening, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that a gain in “short term oil prices” was a “very small price to pay” for destroying Iran’s nuclear threat.

Donald Trump said Thursday that Mojtaba was "unacceptable," and Israel has vowed to target any declared successor to Khamenei.

A statement from the Assembly of Experts — the panel of Shiite clerics responsible under Iranian law for choosing the country’s top leader — said Mojtaba Khamenei had been selected as the third leader of the Islamic Republic, according to reports from IRIB state TV and the Fars, Tasnim and ISNA news agencies.

President Donald Trump told Axios last week the choice would be "unacceptable" and suggested he wanted to hand-pick a new supreme leader, a process usually overseen by Iran's clerics.

“They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment," he said. "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday would not commit to blocking any additional funding for the war in Iran, saying the president has so far failed to justify the war but “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

The New York Democrat was asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether House Democrats would move to block a funding request if the White House were to ask for more money for the military.

Jeffries said the administration has so far “failed to make its case ... for this war of choice in the Middle East,” and unless President Donald Trump provides a “compelling rationale,” he’s “going to have a difficult case to make on Capitol Hill.”

Congress last year approved a $900 billion defense spending bill as part of routine annual budget appropriations, and the president signed the bill into law in December. But since the U.S. began its military operation in Iran, lawmakers have been considering the need to pass additional defense spending to bolster the U.S. military.

The current Pentagon press corps is made up of mostly conservative outlets that agreed to the policy

A policy limiting journalists' access to the Pentagon is depriving Americans of vital information about U.S. military operations while the country is at war, a New York Times attorney argued Friday while urging a judge to block the new rules.

“It's more important than ever for the public to know as much as they can,” Times attorney Theodore Boutrous told U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman.

Friedman didn't immediately rule on whether to order the Pentagon to reinstate press credentials for reporters who walked out of the building last October rather than agree to the new rules.

But the judge's remarks during the first hearing for the newspaper's lawsuit against the Defense Department suggested he was skeptical of key arguments in the government's defense of the policy.

Pressed about whether Iran is receiving Russian support, Abbas Araghchi told NBC News' "Meet the Press" that "they are helping us in many different directions."

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that his country needs “to continue fighting for the sake of our people.”

The U.S. and Israel “are killing our people, they are killing girl students, you know, they are attacking hospitals,” he told moderator Kristen Welker.

He said Israel and the U.S. had already shattered the ceasefire reached to end last year’s 12-day war, adding, “And now you want to ask for a ceasefire again? This doesn’t work like this.”

On Friday, four sources told NBC News that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran on the location of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including intelligence that could help Iran locate American warships.

Arizona’s Democratic Governor has turned down proposals for a new state license plate featuring Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, saying it would not “bring people together.”

“Charlie Kirk's assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence. In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box,” Governor Katie Hobbs said in a statement Friday. “No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm's way and damages our sacred democratic institutions.

“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard by inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”

Right-wing commentator Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at an event on the Utah Valley University campus, in Utah on September 10. He lived in Arizona with his children and wife, Erika Kirk.