Happy Monday! Nestlé confirmed that a shipment consisting of 413,793 KitKat bars—roughly twelve tons—disappeared while traveling from Italy to Poland.
Neither the truck nor its cargo have been recovered. KitKat issued a statement saying, “While we acknowledge the criminals’ exceptional palate, the fact remains that cargo theft is an increasing challenge for businesses of every size.” The thieves are believed to be taking a break, meanwhile.
Also, to all those following the Dispawtch Bracket, the second voting round is now open! Send in your selections for the next round before April 1 at 4 p.m. ET.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
American Troops Arrive in the Middle East
U.S. Central Command announced on Saturday that over 3,500 American sailors and Marines aboard the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship have reached the Middle East. The following day, two U.S. military officials told the New York Times that several hundred U.S. Special Operations forces, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, had also been deployed to the region, bringing the total number of U.S. personnel stationed there to more than 50,000. The officials added that these special forces have not yet been assigned a particular mission. Officials told the Washington Post that the Defense Department has been preparing for a potential ground operation in Iran for weeks, involving both infantry and Special Operations units.
- President Donald Trump, in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, stated that his “preference” regarding Iran would be to seize its oil resources.
- Trump also floated the idea of taking Iran’s Kharg Island, a critical trading hub through which much of the country’s exported oil passes.
- On Friday, an Iranian drone and missile strike against Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia injured 15 American service members, five of them severely.
Trump Signs Order to Pay TSA Employees
Trump issued a presidential memorandum on Friday directing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to be paid during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. Specifically, Trump instructed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought to locate and transfer funds “with a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” in order to compensate TSA workers. An OMB spokeswoman noted that the money would come from funds Congress appropriated in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. In the memo, Trump argued that the DHS shutdown has pushed the air travel system to its “breaking point,” calling it an “unprecedented emergency.” Mullin said on Friday that TSA employees could receive paychecks as early as today. White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that, even once TSA workers are paid, some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will continue to operate at airports, with the exact number depending on “how many TSA agents return to work.” He also told CBS News’ Face the Nation that ICE officers will remain at airports “until the airports feel like they’re 100 percent.” DHS has reported nearly 500 TSA employees having quit so far.
- While the Senate approved a bill to fund DHS agencies excluding those used for immigration enforcement operations, the House of Representatives’ Republican Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the current version of the legislation as a “joke.”
- Johnson advocated alternative plans to provide temporary funding for all DHS agencies for eight weeks, asserting that Trump supports such an approach.
- The DHS funding lapse, which began on February 14, represents the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.
Ukraine Secures Gulf State Defense Deals
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced defense agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, each slated to run for a decade and, in aggregate, to be worth “billions.” The exact terms remain undisclosed, but they are expected to involve Ukraine sharing its expertise in missile interception and countering unmanned aerial systems, in exchange for “future contracts, technological collaboration, and investment.” Kyiv previously outlined plans in February to establish 10 weapons export centers across Europe by the end of 2026, with drone production already underway in the U.K. and Germany. Ukraine is widely regarded for its proficiency in countering Iranian Shahed drones, thousands of which Russia has employed against Ukrainian cities since 2022.
- Zelensky tweeted on Saturday that he had received briefings indicating that Russian satellites had photographed U.S. military interests in the Middle East, implying that Moscow was acting “in Iran’s interests.”
- Ukrainian officials stated on Sunday that a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, near the front lines, killed three people, including a 13-year-old boy, and wounded thirteen others.
Trump Allows Oil Tanker to Reach Cuba
On Sunday, Trump indicated that he would permit a Russian oil tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, to arrive in Cuba later in the week, despite the U.S. embargo on the island. The New York Times had reported the move earlier that day, citing a U.S. official. Trump told reporters that he has “no problem” with the vessel delivering oil to Cuba, stating, “We don’t mind letting someone receive a shipment because they need… they have to endure.” Cuba has suffered three nationwide power blackouts in the past month, including two within a single week. The ship carries 730,000 barrels of crude oil, which could yield roughly 180,000 barrels of diesel—enough to power Cuba’s entire grid for about ten days.
- The vessel departed from Primorsk, a northwest Russian port, on March 8, and was initially escorted by a Russian naval ship that turned back before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
Patel’s Emails Hacked
Handala, a hacking collective tied to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, gained access to the personal email account of FBI Director Kash Patel and subsequently published a series of his private photos and documents online, including more than 300 emails, on Friday. Reuters first reported the breach on Friday. FBI spokesman Ben Williamson confirmed the breach later that day, stressing that “no government information” was connected to Patel’s personal account and that the agency has taken steps to “mitigate potential risks.” The New York Times reported that cybersecurity tools indicate Handala’s website was hosted on a Russian server. Williamson also stated that the State Department is offering a $10 million reward for information about Handala’s operators.
- The leaked emails span from February 2010 to February 2022, with the latest messaging occurring well before Patel became FBI director.
- Handala was also responsible for breaching and disrupting the networks of the medical technology company Stryker on March 11.
- On March 19, the Justice Department announced it had seized four internet domains used by Handala.
In 2006, tired of constantly clicking “next page” on early-2000s websites, software engineer Aza Raskin devised a new feature to address the issue, naming it “infinite scroll.” This invention enables users to swipe through the web without interruptions. What began as a convenience turned out to lie at the heart of two landmark lawsuits against social media platforms. “I was naive about how my intentions would be shaped by incentives,” commented Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology (who also testified in the New Mexico case) to TMD.
During a civil trial in New Mexico last week, a jury found that Meta violated state consumer-protection laws and misled New Mexicans about the potential harms of its social networks, imposing a $375 million penalty. In Los Angeles, a plaintiff known to the court as “K.G.M.” contended that Meta and Google (which owns YouTube) acted negligently in designing social platforms—featuring attention-grabbing mechanisms like infinite scroll, autoplayed suggested videos, and frequent push notifications—that damaged her mental health. Internal documents presented in the Los Angeles case showed Alphabet describing some products as “attention casinos” where “the house always wins,” and Meta expressing that to win big with teenagers, they must bring them in as preteens. The jury ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, imposing a combined $6 million fine on the companies. While this figure is modest for tech giants, the verdict could catalyze a wave of new lawsuits asserting similar harms.
The rulings—and the companies’ plans to appeal them, which are explored by Hannah Epstein in The Dispatch this morning—arrive as social media faces a growing tide of restrictive laws in the United States and beyond:
- The bipartisan “Kids Off Social Media Act” would prohibit children under 13 from having social media accounts and ban platforms from using algorithms to recommend content to users under 17.
- In the past two years, at least 20 states enacted new regulations concerning children and social media.
- In December 2025, Australia’s ban on social media for users under 16 took effect.
- Indonesia announced and Brazil enacted similar restrictions earlier this month. Austrian officials announced plans to limit social media to individuals aged 14 and older starting this Friday.
Having spent decades experimenting with increasingly accessible, pervasive social media, countries worldwide are moving toward a stricter regulatory framework. But is social media as harmful to young people as commonly believed? And will government intervention do more harm than good?
Today’s Must-Read
In Other News
Today in America
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotions of four Army officers to one-star general rank.
- The DOJ informed Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Janet Mills of Maine that it was probing “allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism and a pervasive climate of sexual intimidation” tied to their states’ policy of housing jailed transgender women (biological males who identify as women) in female prison facilities.
- The Idaho State Senate approved legislation to criminalize using a bathroom, changing room, or locker room designated for a gender different from birth sex, in both public and publicly accessible private properties. The Idaho State House of Representatives passed the bill on March 16.
- The Federal Aviation Administration is examining a near-miss incident in which a United Airlines flight nearly intersected with a California Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter midair as the commercial plane prepared to land at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
- Hundreds of thousands of Americans joined “No Kings” rallies nationwide on Saturday. Organizers had projected as many as 9 million participants before the weekend.
- Victims of Jeffrey Epstein filed a class-action suit against the Trump administration and Google over alleged improper disclosure of personal information following the release of millions of case-related files by the Justice Department.
Around the World
- Officials in Afghanistan reported that Pakistani mortar and heavy weapon fire struck civilian homes and rural areas near Asadabad, killing one person and injuring at least 16 others.
- UK counterterrorism authorities joined British police in examining an incident in which a Derby driver severely injured seven people by striking them with his vehicle. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
- French authorities detained a man after he allegedly placed a homemade explosive device outside a Bank of America branch in Paris, which did not detonate. Two more suspects connected to the plot have since been detained.
- Greek officials announced that 22 migrants died after spending six days at sea in a rubber boat without food or water. An EU border vessel rescued 26 others from the vessel off Crete’s coast.
- Italian police disclosed that four masked thieves stole three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse—worth a combined €9 million ($10.3 million)—from a museum near Parma in a coordinated nighttime raid lasting under three minutes.
- Kenyan authorities raised the death toll from the floods that began on March 6 to 108.
On the Money
- Egypt reached an accord with Libya to import 1.2 million barrels of oil per month as a substitute for oil access via the currently closed Strait of Hormuz.
- A federal district judge temporarily blocked Nexstar Media Group’s proposed merger with Tegna, which the broadcasting company sought to acquire, pending resolution of an antitrust suit filed by DirecTV.
- Sony announced price hikes for its PlayStation 5 consoles, increasing the standard disc-model price from $549.99 to $649.99.
- Project Hail Mary topped U.S. box office charts for the second weekend in a row, pulling in $54.5 million. The Disney-Pixar animated feature Hoppers finished second with $12.2 million.
Worth Your Time
- “The Decadelong Feud Shaping the Future of AI” (Wall Street Journal)
- The Economist examines Ukrainian drone commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi’s approach to fighting Russia’s forces. (The Economist)
- The HTML Review released its fifth issue.
- John Koblin analyzes the rapidly declining popularity and audience for reality television. (New York Times)
- Thomas Chatterton Williams discusses what we stand to gain from looking inward. (The Atlantic)
Presented Without Comment
People: J.D. Vance Says He Believes UFOs Are ‘Demons,’ Not Aliens, as He Admits to Obsessing Over Them
Also Presented Without Comment
IndiaToday: IndiGo Flyer ‘Possessed by Ghost’ Tries To Open Emergency Door Mid-Air, Arrested
Also Also Presented Without Comment
The Guardian: Chesney the Kangaroo Found Three Days After Hopping Away From Farm
