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By Amy Langfield

March 08, 2026

By Amy Langfield

March 08, 2026

 
 

Good morning and welcome to the Sunday edition of Morning Wire, where we give you the weekend rundown to get ready for the week ahead. Today, survivors of clergy abuse speak about the struggle to be believed after a new report by Rhode Island’s attorney general gives survivors a sense of vindication; as the citizen voting bill stalls in the US Senate, some states forge ahead; and ‘grandma hobbies’ are gaining popularity as a way to escape technology and reconnect with creativity.

But first, the latest updates on the war in the Middle East.

 

UP FIRST

AP Morning Wire

A thick plume of smoke rises Sunday from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike late Saturday in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Bahrain says Iran hit a desalination plant, stoking fears of attacks on civilian sites

Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant on Sunday, raising fears that civilian infrastructure may become fair game in the war, as Iran’s president vowed to expand the country’s attacks on American targets across the region in the face of intense U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
A late-night Israeli strike on an oil facility engulfed parts of Tehran in smoke on Sunday, while Israel renewed attacks in Lebanon. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • State actors are behind much of the visual misinformation about the Iran war
  • Oil built the Persian Gulf. Desalinated water keeps it alive. War could threaten both
  • Trump grieves with families during return of soldiers killed in war in the Middle East
  • Trump downplays importance of Russia reportedly sharing intel with Iran to help it hit US targets
  • The US attack on an Iranian warship did not violate international law, experts say
  • Man convicted in political assassination plot he tied to Iranian paramilitary
  • WATCH: Indian expat in UAE opens his farmhouse to hundreds of tourists stranded by flight disruption
 

TOP STORIES

Dr. Herbert "Hub" Brennan, a clergy abuse survivor, displays a 1995 newspaper showing a headline that reads "Diocese has no complaints about jailed priest" at his internal medicine office in East Greenwich, R.I., Thursday. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

For survivors, Rhode Island clergy abuse report brings vindication and renewed demands

A report released this week by the Rhode Island attorney general detailed decades of abuse inside the state’s Catholic Diocese of Providence, identifying 75 clergy members who sexually abused more than 300 children since 1950. The investigation drew on thousands of church records and years of interviews with victims and witnesses. Officials said the true number of victims is likely much higher. But survivors say the numbers capture only part of the story. Behind each case, they say, are childhood fragments that resurface years later — along with the long struggle to understand what happened. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • Pope names veteran Vatican diplomat as ambassador to the US to manage relations with Trump
  • Conservative Anglican leaders restructure the global religious body after 400 years
  • Starseeds, government plots and an alien mantis: Inside New Age spirituality’s new age

As citizen voting bill stalls in US Senate, some states forge ahead

While the U.S. Senate remains deadlocked over President Donald Trump’s call for strict citizenship voting requirements, Republicans in some states are pressing ahead with their own measures. Proof-of-citizenship legislation won final approval this past week in South Dakota and Utah, already has passed one chamber in Florida and received a committee hearing in Missouri. The federal Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE America Act, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. That could be satisfied with such things as a U.S. passport, citizen naturalization certificate or a combination of a birth certificate and government-issued photo identification. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
  • Federal judge rules Trump administration’s actions to dismantle Voice of America are illegal
  • Videos show US citizen’s shooting death in Texas last year by federal immigration agent
  • Portland residents near ICE building win court order limiting agents’ tear gas use
  • A $220 million ad blitz and a public split with Trump mark the end of Kristi Noem’s DHS tenure
  • Appeals court rules against Trump administration’s efforts to end protected status for Haitians
  • The US imposes visa restrictions on Rwandan officials after sanctions targeting the military
  • Trump administration’s embattled FDA vaccine chief is leaving for the second time
  • California US Rep. Darrell Issa to retire in move that raises stakes for GOP holding House control
  • Judge weighs New York Times bid to block policy limiting journalists’ access to Pentagon
  • Jan. 6 plaque honoring police officers is now displayed at the Capitol after a 3-year delay
 

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The Tulsa Tech Peoria Campus damaged by a Friday night storm is shown Saturday, in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons /Tulsa World via AP)

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