In the News is an event hosted at the Paul Meek Library every Wednesday at 4 p.m. The point of the event is to engage students in thought provoking discussion regarding current events, which can be local, regional or global.

“In the News” starts by presenting a globe with multiple pinpoints highlighting areas of hot-topic discussion. The host of the event is Johnnie LaDue, Ph.D., an assistant professor and information literacy librarian at the University of Tennessee at Martin. LaDue started with events from East to West on the screen and opened the forum to discussion with the participants.

The first place on the map this week was a conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan has escalated its conflict with Afghanistan this week by launching a major airstrike on a drug rehab center in Kabul. This reportedly killed dozens of people as clashes along the border between the two neighbors enters its third week. The airstrike left 143 dead and many more wounded. Pakistan denied claims that it struck the hospital and said its target was miles away from the rehabilitation center.

“I don’t know if there are any countries in the region that haven’t been hit with something,” said LaDue, referring to several ongoing conflicts in the West Asia region.

The next event discussed was how Iran hit a key oil port in the UAE and also struck a Dubai airport. Iran has also accused Israel of striking its facilities in the Pars gas field on Wednesday. Iran has threatened to attack other energy infrastructure in the region, specifically across the Gulf region in retaliation for Israeli strikes on its largest gas field.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has also been targeted as a result of Operation Epic Fury. A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy early Saturday, two Iraqi security officials told the Associated Press.

Also discussed was the resignation of President Trump’s director of the national Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent. He defended his position, citing, “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

Next, the globe went to Israel where more than 1,000 people have been killed and more than one million people displaced by Israeli air attacks and ground operations in southern Lebanon.

Then, the map briefly stopped in Africa where Burkina Faso has launched a Five-Year Plan. Earlier this week on March 9, Burkina Faso launched its 64 billion dollar National Development Plan (NDP) for 2026–2030. The plan is one of the largest economic programs ever proposed. About two-thirds of this money will be raised domestically from the revenues generated by state-owned enterprises and through citizen shareholding programs. The five-year plan also includes the goals of reducing the poverty rate from 42% to 35%, increasing life expectancy from 61 to 68 years, increasing electricity generation capacity from 685 MW to more than 2,500 MW and, most importantly, retaking control over the whole territory of the country​.

Next, the map changed to Cuba where power was restored after a 29-hour blackout due to the U.S. oil blockade. Cuba reconnected its power grid on March 17 and brought online its largest oil-fired power plant, putting an end to ‌a nationwide blackout. Cuba has also announced that it would begin talks with the United States amid the ongoing energy crisis.

In the U.S., another person has died after being held in custody by ICE. Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal died at 41 after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 13 from his home in Texas and passed away the following day.