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By Amy Langfield

March 05, 2026

By Amy Langfield

March 05, 2026

 
 

Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today, U.S. President Trump says he’s replacing Homeland Security Secretary Noem; the chaos sown by Iran’s attacks across the Persian Gulf is key to its strategy; and China has set an economic growth target at the slowest level since 1991.

 

UP FIRST

AP Morning Wire

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump says he’s replacing Homeland Security Secretary Noem with GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin

President Donald Trump says he’s replacing his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and will nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats. Trump says he'll make Noem a "Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere. Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Noem's departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits. Read more.

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TOP STORIES

Chaos sown by Iran’s attacks across the Persian Gulf is key to its strategy

For years, Iran’s theocratic government warned it would blanket the Middle East with missile and drone fire if it felt its existence was threatened. Now, it's doing just that. Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war Saturday, Iran has unleashed thousands of missiles and drones at Israel, American military bases and embassies, and energy facilities across the Gulf. Its basic strategy is to instill fear about the dangers of a widening war in hopes that allies of the U.S. and Israel will apply enough pressure to halt their campaign. There is a risk, though, that the barrage-thy-neighbors strategy could backfire. Read more. 

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Key takeaways from China’s new 5-year economic blueprint and growth target

China has set an economic growth target at the slowest since 1991, in what some economists interpreted as a reflection of pragmatism as a weak domestic economy bites. China’s ruling Communist Party on Thursday also released the full draft of its five-year plan for until 2030 outlining its economic and political policy priorities, which focused on technological advancements and self-reliance in areas like artificial intelligence, robotics and other advanced technologies as its rivalry with the U.S. heats up. Read more.

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