Mar. 14, 2026, 12:25 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, two Iraqi security officials said.

Associated Press footage showed a column of smoke rising Saturday morning over the embassy compound.

The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”

Mar. 13, 2026, 9:12 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia, halted all flights on Friday evening for over an hour because of a strong chemical smell that was impeding air traffic controllers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The ground stop affected Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Richmond International Airport, FAA Secretary Sean Duffy announced on social media Friday. The declaration caused flight delays to soar to roughly two hours across some of the busiest airports in the country.

Flights began to leave the airports after 7 p.m. ET on Friday, but the ground stop — which prevents planes from landing at an airport — remained in place.

The smell was coming from Potomac TRACON, Duffy wrote, referring to a terminal radar approach control facility that manages air traffic for the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Richmond, Virginia, and the Richmond-Charlottesville areas, according to the FAA website.

A spokesperson for the federal agency didn’t respond to an emailed question clarifying how the smell was affecting traffic controllers on Friday evening.

Between 25% and one-third of all flights departing from the four airports affected were delayed after the ground stop.

Mar. 13, 2026, 7:17 PM EDT

Earlier this week, an Atlanta pastor of a mega church held a press conference—some might even call it a commercial for Target—announcing that the boycott against the retail giant had ended. But the National Target Boycott is a grassroots movement that the Rev. Jamal Bryant did not start and that he has no authority to end.

On Jan. 30, 2025, I and two other Minnesota organizers — Monique Cullars-Doty of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and Jaylani Hussein of CAIR Minnesota — stood outside Target’s corporate headquarters in Minneapolis to announce a nationwide boycott to begin on February 1, the first day of Black History Month.

During the first week of Donald Trump’s second term, his administration launched sweeping attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across government and corporate America. Our call to action followed a shocking decision by Target’s leadership days later to roll back key DEI commitments it had made.

For many of us in Minneapolis, the company’s swift capitulation to Trump was stunning.

Minneapolis is where police murdered George Floyd in 2020 and sparked a global reckoning on racial justice. In the months that followed, Target pledged $2.1 billion toward advancing racial equity:  $2 billion in spending with Black-owned businesses by 2025 and more than $100 million in investments and resources supporting Black communities and Black talent. Those commitments helped rebuild trust between the company and communities that had long supported it.

Then, almost overnight, Target reversed course. Why should we end the boycott now when Target hasn’t changed any of the policies that caused us to launch the boycott?

Before then, the company had already donated $1 million to the Trump–Vance inauguration committee. For many consumers, the message was unmistakable: when forced to choose between its public commitments to racial justice and bending to arpolitical pressure from the Trump administration, Target chose the latter.

Our concerns did not stop there. Late last year, as federal immigration enforcement operations intensified across Minnesota, immigration agents were seen staging activities in Target parking lots and entering stores during enforcement actions. Target’s leadership remained largely silent, reinforcing the perception that the company was willing to look the other way as federal agents targeted communities that make up a significant percentage of its workforce and customer base.

When NPR reported on anti-ICE protesters picketing a Target store in January, the company noted that the company’s incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke had signed onto an open letter with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the CEOs of 60 Minnesota businesses calling for “an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.” After videos of federal agents tackling and detaining two Target employees inside a local storethe company only said it “does not have cooperative agreements with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency.”

In a city where Nicole Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal immigration agents, that statement from Target does nothing.

What began outside Target’s headquarters quickly grew into a nationwide movement. Over the past year, organizers, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and everyday consumers have worked tirelessly to hold Target accountable. The boycott gained national attention, and it has certainly had an impact.

Target has faced months of declining store trafficdecreased sales and revenue, and significant drops in its stock price since our boycott began. Billions of dollars in market value have been wiped out. The company ultimately replaced its longtime CEO amid mounting pressure and weak financial performance, and the new CEO has acknowledged that the boycott has hurt Target’s sales.

Just as importantly, Target’s reputation as a socially conscious company—one it spent years cultivating—has taken a significant hit among the very communities that once trusted it most.

Yet, instead of addressing the root causes of the backlash, Target’s leadership has responded with a series of tone-deaf gestures. The company has focused on remodeling stores, introducing new brands, and urging its employees to smile in hopes of reversing declining sales.

But the problem facing Target is not cosmetic. It’s moral.

Shoppers who’ve stayed away for almost 13 months want the company to restore the diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments it abandoned and to honor the $2.1 billion racial equity pledge it made following George Floyd’s murder. Target’s outgoing CEO wrote in July that Target would fulfill its $2 billion commitment to Black businesses by the end of 2025.  But even Bryant said in August that he hadn’t seen evidence that was true. It’s March now, and we haven’t been shown any evidence either.

Until that happens, trust will remain broken.

Across the country, countless people have vowed they will never shop at Target again. That is not a decision people make lightly. Target has long been woven into the fabric of communities across America. But when a corporation abandons its commitments to equity at the very moment those values are under political attack, the people have every right to respond.

Target chose a side. So did we.

The power of this movement comes from the people who built it—especially Black consumers and women, who drive a significant share of household purchasing decisions in this country.

Gone are the days when corporations can cherry-pick a handful of leaders and tell the rest of us who speaks for our communities.

We the people decide.

The boycott will not end until the people who built it say it is over.

Until that day comes, consumers across this country will continue to do what we have done for more than a year: organize, speak out, and vote with our dollars.

Because in the end, corporations may have enormous power—but so do the people who sustain them.

The Target boycott isn’t over. In fact, it’s time to double down.

Nekima Levy Armstrong is an award-winning civil rights lawyer, scholar-activist, and past president of the Minneapolis NAACP.