DAILY NEWS Stream – March 17, 2026

Iran deploys explosive-laden drone boats disguised as wooden fishing skiffs in the Strait of Hormuz, with defense experts warning that remote-controlled and semi-autonomous swarms are striking tankers and complicating efforts to keep shipping lanes open (Fox News)

The US has temporarily eased sanctions on Russian oil already loaded on tankers to stabilize global markets amid supply disruptions, but crude prices remain above US$100 per barrel as the Iran crisis continues to disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz (PBS NewsHour)

The United Nations Security Council adopts a Gulf-backed resolution with 13 votes in favor and 135 co-sponsors condemning Iran’s attacks on Gulf countries and Jordan and demanding an immediate halt to hostilities, with China and Russia abstaining but allowing the measure to pass (Al Jazeera)

China resumes its first passenger train service to Pyongyang [North Korea] in six years as China and North Korea revive cross-border links, with the Beijing–Pyongyang route now operating four days a week and tickets limited to business visa holders (Channel NewsAsia)

A large clinical trial published in the journal Nature Medicine finds that older adults who take a daily multivitamin for two years show about a four-month slowdown in biological aging, based on DNA-methylation biomarkers, with the strongest effects in participants whose biological age is already higher than their chronological age (Fox News)

Salmonella in egg-salted cream cakes from a Rạch Giá bakery [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] poisons 97 people during International Women’s Day celebrations. Authorities fine the owner and shutter the shop following severe hygiene and sanitation violations (VnExpress)

A brain hemorrhage causes a condition called “pure alexia” in a 60-year-young Taiwanese (Formosan) patient, leaving him unable to read despite fluent speech. It is a rare stroke symptom that is often mistaken for mental health issues (VnExpress)

Pan American Health Organization Director Jarbas Barbosa urges nations of the Americas to strengthen leprosy elimination efforts. Facing 13% of global cases, he says the region must improve surveillance and combat stigma to integrate care into primary health systems (PAHO)

Melting of polar ice sheets and glaciers worldwide causes continental-ocean mass redistribution, slowing Earth’s rotation and lengthening days at an unprecedented rate. Scientists warn this change disrupts high-precision space navigation systems as climate change accelerates (Phys.org)

In eastern England, UK coastline towns, “managed retreat” is the government’s policy in response to rising seas accelerating coastal erosion. Funded by £15 million, the project prioritizes property buyouts and infrastructure relocation over building sea walls, leaving some residents anxious as their communities eventually must move inland to escape the encroaching waves (AFP)

Severe convective storm outbreaks from March 5–12, 2026, across the United States trigger billions of US dollars in insured losses. Tornadoes, giant hail, and extreme winds leave at least 10 dead (Artemis)

A Port Charlotte [US] man faces misdemeanor and felony animal-people cruelty charges after an 11-year-old dog-individual named Neffy dies from heat stroke after being left tethered outside without water or shelter (MySunCoast)

Researchers confirm an extremely rare albino blue whale-individual appearing in Loreto Bay National Park [Mexico] (Soha)

River otter-individuals are flourishing across the Great Lakes region [US] as decades of reintroduction efforts and major water-quality improvements allow the species to reclaim much of its historic range in the US and Ontario [Canada] (Good News Network)

Advocacy group Sweltering Cities reports that rising cooling costs are leaving Australians increasingly unwell, with its 2026 Summer Survey showing widespread heat-related illness and severe cost-of-living pressures that limit people’s ability to stay safe during extreme heat (Mirage News)

The Council of Europe releases new guidelines to help lawyers frame environmental harm as human rights violations under the European Convention, outlining how cases can be brought before the European Court of Human Rights when domestic remedies fall short (Council of Europe)

Kompoocha Brewing [Temecula, California, US] serves organic vegan meals while funding local dog-person rescues. The kombucha [non-alcoholic fermented tea] brewery features rescue dog-people artwork on cans and pairs artisanal kombucha with seasonal vegan sandwiches and snacks (The Press-Enterprise)

Nutritionist Joshua Clamp confirms vegan protein builds muscle as effectively as whey when total intake is matched. Sources like soy and pea provide essential amino acids for significant strength gains (Men’s Fitness)

Singapore entrepreneur Cynthea Lam launches NOODS, a vegan and gluten-free instant noodle line. Inspired by her daughter’s allergy scare, the vegetable-based comfort food recreates umami flavors without artificial additives (8days)

A nine-month-old puppy named Asproulis survives nine days alone on a freezing 1,900-meter peak in northern Greece after following ski mountaineers into the mountains. Climbers eventually hear his faint barks, find him emaciated but alive, and guide him through a long, dangerous descent back to his village for a tearful reunion with his caregiver (EuroWeekly News)

A helicopter pilot and police officer rescue a dog-person from a vehicle trapped in floodwaters. After saving the passengers, the team returns to lift the animal friend to safety in Australia’s Northern Territory town of Katherine (Yahoo News)

Oklahoma [US] firefighters in the cities of Oklahoma City, Moore, and Norman receive specialized oxygen kits and trauma training to save their canine partners in the field. The donation from vet care provider VEG ER for Pets and oxygen therapy firm PawPrint Oxygen helps stabilize dog team members injured in dangerous search and rescue environments (KFOR)

Huế [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] residents surrender a rare yellow-headed tortoise-person and an Indian peafowl-individual to forest rangers. Both protected species undergo health checks as authorities promote wildlife conservation and raise public awareness to save endangered animals (Báo Dân Việt)

Wise quote of the day: “Beautiful people are not always good, but good people are always beautiful.” – The Venerated Enlightened Master Hazrat Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (vegetarian) (AZ Quotes)

In Part 1 of 2 of Kellan Fluckiger’s near-death experience, Canadian coach and former addict Kellan shares how he died from a severe infection, stood at the door to eternity, and was given a Divine framework for helping others overcome limiting beliefs. Kellan and his wife Joy had just returned from a 10-day Baltic Sea cruise when he became seriously ill with a high fever. For five days, he suffered at home, thinking it was the flu. When he finally went to a walk-in clinic, the nurse took one look at him and refused to admit him, insisting he go to the emergency room immediately. At the University of Alberta Medical Center, Kellan was rushed into a private room within 10 minutes. Doctors quickly surrounded him, delivering increasingly alarming news—pneumonia, along with another serious problem affecting both lungs, and the need for immediate hospitalization.

I realized I was really trembling. My body was crashing, and so I went into meditation. It’s a practice I’ve had all my life, and I could feel my body and spirit separating, which I’d never felt before. It felt like unzipping, it felt like. And so I picked up my phone, and my hands were trembling, and I sent Joy a text. It was only three lines. First line said ICU [intensive care unit], and the second line was isolation slash intubation, and the third line was I may be dying, because I could feel my body and spirit separating.

Joy was asleep and didn’t see the text. Around 2:30 or 3 am in the morning, she received a call from the hospital asking if she was coming. Kellan’s heart had stopped, and doctors rushed to resuscitate him. He would remain in a coma for 17 days.

I died. I came to in a gray room, and I was horizontal like I was on the stretcher. The room was gray, like photo card gray. I really couldn’t see the ceiling or the walls or anything. It was sort of an indeterminate size, but over my left shoulder over there, I could see a door. I wanted to be at the door for some reason. And so then I was standing at the door, and I was leaning on the door jamb on my right shoulder. And across on the other side of the door, on that shoulder, was someone leaning on that side. And I noticed the other side of the door was white. My side was gray, and it wasn’t streaming through or anything, just gray on this side and a very soft gray and white on that side.

Kellan stood at the threshold between life and death— a door separating gray from white, with a being on the other side. We stood there for a little while, and then he looked at me, and he said, “Do you want to come Home?” And so you know things in that state that you don’t know otherwise. So I knew who I was talking to and where I was standing and what the question meant, and all of that, all at once. And so we talked about it for a while.

Ten years earlier, in 2007, Kellan had received a Divine intervention that got him sober after years of drug addiction, depression, and ruined relationships despite high-performing jobs. He had left that industry and become a coach. Now, standing at the door, they discussed everything he had done and what remained to be accomplished. So, we talked about everything I’d done and what there was to do and what my wife and I had planned and all those things. And finally, after a while, I said, “Well, I’m not done yet.” OK. So that was the end of that conversation. The next day, and I’m quite sure that’s when they were able to restart my heart, the next day we’re standing back at the door again. I decided to stay. So then the question was, “OK, what are you going to do?” They began discussing Kellan’s coaching practice and his mission to add good to the world. What happened next overwhelmed him completely.

Kellan says the conversation at the doorway suddenly turned into something far more intense. I had a trip, a visual and physical trip through a lot longer than that scene that was like being fed with a fire hose, seeing things. Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of 2 of Kellan Fluckiger’s near-death experience. (NDE Diary)