US News, Summarized

• U.S. equities showed mixed performance in early trading on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, with technology stocks under pressure while energy and financial sectors gained ground. • The mixed market action reflects ongoing uncertainty around Federal Reserve rate policy and its impact on different economic sectors, with tech facing particular headwinds. • Technology stocks continued to face selling pressure as investors reassess valuations amid expectations for interest rate changes and macroeconomic conditions.

• Seagate Technology (STX.US) will go ex-dividend on March 25, 2026, with shareholders of record receiving a cash dividend of $0.74 per share payable on April 8, 2026. • The ex-dividend date marks the deadline for investors to hold shares to qualify for the upcoming dividend distribution, a common corporate action in the technology hardware sector. • Cash dividends provide shareholders periodic income distributions, though they may trigger tax consequences and can cause temporary share price adjustments equivalent to the dividend amount.

• Edmonton-born startup Smart Access raised $12 million in Series A funding from Bay Area investors Lobby Capital, Aspenwood Ventures, and Coelius Capital to expand its digital workforce management platform. • The company, co-founded by Tim Regnier and John White, helps large distribution operations optimize training, safety programs, and adherence to standard operating procedures across their workforce. • Smart Access, which relocated its operating base to San Francisco while maintaining Edmonton roots since its 2015 founding, plans to scale deployments across North America using the new capital.

• Baker Hughes announced a collaboration with Google Cloud on March 24, 2026, to develop AI-enabled power optimization and sustainability solutions for data centers. • The Houston-based initiative targets efficiency in high-demand AI computing environments using advanced cloud technology. • This partnership addresses growing energy challenges in U.S. data centers powering AI workloads.

• Broadcom announced supply chain bottlenecks across the tech sector, particularly at TSMC, due to skyrocketing demand for AI chips on March 24, 2026. • The constraints affect networking, custom silicon, and data-center hardware critical for AI infrastructure beyond major model developers. • This highlights the AI hardware race creating opportunities for startups to innovate in chip manufacturing tools amid industry-wide shortages.

• Samsung began rolling out Quick Share with AirDrop interoperability on Galaxy S26 devices and additional models on March 24, 2026, enhancing cross-platform sharing for U.S. users. • The update improves file transfer compatibility between Android and iOS ecosystems. • This move strengthens Samsung's position in the competitive U.S. smartphone market.

Tony Burke says decisions about permanent stays should be ‘deliberate decisions of the government, not a random consequence of who booked a holiday’Iranian tourists will be banned from entering Australia for the next six months after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, triggered tough new immigration laws over concerns visitors may not be able to return to Iran.The ban could apply to more than 7,000 Iranians with valid tourist visas – though some may still be given the chance to enter the country under special consideration. Continue reading...

Triple J signed off with the hip-hop anthem Express Yourself while other radio and TV networks filled the air with BBC broadcasts, re-runs and soothing musicSign up for Guardian Australia’s free weekly media newsletter hereBroadcasters had warned their audiences that the ABC would look “a bit different” on Wednesday – and as the clock struck 11am, they weren’t wrong.As more than 2,000 ABC staff walked off the job for the first time in two decades in protest of their working conditions, the public broadcaster’s news channel switched over to the BBC.Sign up to get Guardian Australia’s weekly media diary as a free newsletter Continue reading...

February annual rate in line with analysts’ expectations but outlook has shifted because of effects of conflictThe UK inflation rate was unchanged at 3% in February, before Donald Trump’s Iran war drove up global energy costs, threatening a renewed price jump.Official figures showed the consumer prices index (CPI) remained at 3%, in line with economists’ expectations but still well above the government’s 2% target. Continue reading...

Storm is not likely to make a direct hit on Perth, though the city may experience heavy rainfall on Friday and SaturdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTropical Cyclone Narelle was again intensifying into a severe storm off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast on Wednesday with communities in the state’s world heritage-listed Shark Bay preparing for a potential direct hit on Friday night.Narelle had made a rare trip for a cyclone system by forming in the Coral Sea off Queensland and maintaining structure all the way west to the Indian Ocean, where it was expected to build into a major category four system. Continue reading...

Constituents’ frustration with Richard Tice reflects growing problem for party and its leaders’ climate-sceptic stance“The worst part of it was the smell,” says Audrey Crook, 58. A full-time carer who lives with her 20-year-old son, Crook woke up at 11pm one night to find a foot of flood water on the ground floor of her home. “It was like black water. It had sewage and everything in it, it was absolutely disgusting.”Crook’s home – along with more than 30 others on Wyberton West Road and Park Road in Boston, Lincolnshire – was flooded in January last year when heavy rain swept across the region, raising river levels and exceeding flood defences. Continue reading...