VOUX MAG

Taylor Frankie Paulhas returned to social media amid her season ofThe Bachelorettebeing canceled byABCfollowing domestic violence allegations.

Paul took to her Instagram stories onThursday, March 26 to thank her fans for their support following the season cancellation.

"Thank you to every check in, call, and prayer sent," she wrote. "Your unconditional kindness and check in can be someone's lifeline."

In the next story post she said, "Ending every night withgratitudeeven if it's just ONE glimmer."

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesstar was set to lead the upcoming season ofThe Bachelorette. However, ABC cancelled the season amid a video that resurfaced of Taylor physical assaulting her ex-boyfriendDakota Mortensen.

In a statement toUs Weekly,a spokesperson for Disney Entertainment Television said of the decision to cancel the season, "We have made the decision to not move forward with the new season ofThe Bacheloretteat this time. Our focus is on supporting the family."

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Representatives for Paul released their own statement to the outlet and said, Taylor is very grateful for ABC's support as she prioritizes her family's safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm."

Paul and Mortensen began dating in 2022 and share a son Ever who wasborn in March2024. Paul also has two children with her ex-husbandTate Paul:Indy, 8, andOcean, 5.

Mortensen has now filed a restraining order against Paul and is requesting sole custody of their son.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.

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This story was originally published byParadeon Mar 27, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

Kelly McKee Zajfen, a close friend of Meghan Markle, welcomed a baby boy

NEED TO KNOW

• The Alliance of Moms co-founder announced the news on Instagram

• In 2022, McKee Zajfen and her husband, Julian, lost their son, George, to COVID and viral meningitis
  

Kelly McKee Zajfenis celebrating the arrival of the newest member of her family.

TheAlliance of Momsco-founder, who is a close friend ofMeghan Markle, announced that she had welcomed a baby boy viaInstagramon Thursday, March 26. The baby's arrival came just one day after her own birthday on March 25.

"The best birthday gift ever. 🎉 Happiest birthday to you sweet Jack Oliver Zajfen," she wrote below the carousel of photos taken at the hospital.

"(Jack: In honor of my Gandpa. Oliver: in honor of our Georgie. Now they share the same middle name)," she continued, explaining her new baby's name.

"This family of 5 is madly in love. Full of all the emotions and taking it all in. Thank you all for being apart of this journey and loving our family. I have felt carried and loved so very much and that's what Community is all about. ❤️‍🩹," McKee Zajfen wrote, and joked, "Get ready for a lot of baby content 🙃💝"

The snaps included a photo of Georgie's twin sister, Lily, now 13, holding her little brother.

The comments section of her post was flooded with well-wishes, including congratulations from the Duchess of Sussex's friend and makeup artist, Daniel Martin, the Highbrow Hippie haircare brand and ateliercreditedfor Meghan and McKee Zajfen's tresses at a recent event, Amanda Kloots and more friends.

The news comes four years after McKee Zajfen and her husband, Julian,lost their son Georgeto COVID-19 and viral meningitis at age 9.

McKee Zajfenannounced her pregnancyin November 2025. In an Instagram post at the time, she wrote, "Sometimes… just sometimes… when you let light in through the broken pieces of your heart, love grows. 🌱 Baby boy coming this Spring. 💐"

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She added, "The path here wasn't easy, and yet love kept showing up in the smallest signs, the quietest moments, the light that refused to fade. This little soul is already so loved, a reminder that joy and grief can exist together… and that hope has a way of finding us again."

In April 2024, McKee Zajfen wrote apersonal essay for PEOPLE, opening up about George's death and sharing how friends like Meghan had helped her through it.

"Please allow others to show up for you in whatever way they can," she wrote. "I have learned to delegate my grief. I know certain people who can hold space and support in the heavier days. Or who I can share in the ridiculous moments that come."

"I have learned that not one single human can carry it all for us, so allowing others in is imperative," she continued. "Try not to expect people to understand it all. Even the people who share a similar loss. Not everyone will understand. That is the lonely part, I am afraid. So be brave in sharing."

McKee Zajfen and Meghan, 44, recently stepped out together to attendthe Alliance for Children's Rights 34th Annual Champions for Children eventin Beverly Hills, California, just last week on March 19.

There, Meghan presented her friend with the Francis M. Wheat Community Service Award, recognizing her commitment to the Los Angeles community as the co-founder of the Alliance of Moms and board member of the Alliance for Children's Rights.

McKee Zafjen and Meghan have been friends for almost 20 years. In 2024, Meghan andPrince Harryattendedthe George Zajfen Tennis Tournament in Los Angeles, an event that honored McKee Zafjen's late son and benefited the Alliance for Children's Rights. The couple also donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe set up in George's honor in the names of their two children,Prince ArchieandPrincess Lilibet.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

After the tennis tournament, McKee Zajfenposted a photo with Meghan and Harry on Instagramand praised them with a caption that said, "Harry and Meghan, you have been such a guiding light for our family, not just in the way you have shown up in friendship but how you have shown up through the incredible work The Archewell Foundation does every day. I'm in awe of your commitment to community and to friendship."

Read the original article onPeople

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thea Price anticipated changes under the second Trump administration, but she never expected her life to be thrown into such disarray.

Trump DOGE Aftershocks

Along with the 300 other employees of the United States Institute of Peace, Price was fired, rehired and then fired again as part of President Donald Trump's crusade to shrink the federal government,a chaotic effortthat cut tens of thousands of jobs and shrank or dismantled entire agencies.

One year later, many of those impacted are left wondering whether their pain was worth it.

"Nobody was prepared for the complete destruction," said Price, a former program operations manager. "And for what?"

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by then-Trump adviserElon Musk, instigated purges of federal agencies with the expressed mission of rooting outfraud, waste and abuse.

USIP, a congressionally funded independent nonprofit, became a symbol of the upheaval. DOGE staffers entered the USIP building early last year,setting off a battleover who controls the institute, which later saw Trumpplant his nameon its Washington headquarters.

The blow to its workers came on March 28, 2025, when they were fired, a decision a judge later reversed and then another one reinstated — whiplash that still weighs on the former staffers.

A year on, DOGE's toll on people's lives is clear —what was actually savedin the process of upending them is not.

Questions over how much DOGE has saved

Musk set a target of $2 trillion in savings. The DOGE website says it has saved about $215 billion through job cuts, contract and lease cancellations and asset sales, as well as grant rescissions.

More than 260,000 workers left federal service due to Trump administration initiatives in 2025, according to the Office of Management and Budget, including reductions in force, early retirement, deferred resignations and a hiring freeze.

"President Trump was given a clear mandate to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when asked how much was saved. "In just a year, he has made significant progress in making the federal government more efficient to better serve the American taxpayer."

Organizations that have examined elements of the DOGE operation, along with the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog of how taxpayer dollars are spent, have not been able to pinpoint how much was saved, or lost, by the reform efforts. Many challenge the Republican administration's numbers.

Dominik Lett, a budget analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said there were basic mistakes on the DOGE pages tracking savings, leading him to believe the numbers were too high. He said Cato and other organizations have shied away from trying to arrive at a number because of the complexity of the moves.

"Who is getting fired matters. How they're getting fired, will there be lawsuits?" was among the questions Lett has. Even terminating leases and contracts wasn't as simple as it sounds.

In the end, he said, "we don't know how much DOGE has saved."

Cuts were big, deep and random, expert says

In her analysis of media reports and public sources, Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, found that about 25,000 people who were fired were rehired because they were deemed to be essential.

"What DOGE did is it cut so big and so deep and so randomly that when the Cabinet secretaries came in, and Elon Musk was gone, they realized that they had to bring some of these people back," Kamarck said.

With that, Kamarck estimated the savings might hit between $100 billion and $200 billion, though final figures remain highly uncertain.

A GAO analysis found layoffs in the Education Department's civil rights division may have cost $38 million, with employees paid months after termination.

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The impacts of DOGE's work are the subject of ongoing litigation.More than a dozen lawsuitshave been filed against the Trump administration for DOGE's actions over the past year, which challenge everything from the cancellation of grants, mass firings and buyouts, to access to sensitive U.S. Treasury data and payment systems, to the closure of massive federally funded programs.

Musk, in an interview with conservative influencer Katie Miller, said last December that his efforts leading DOGEwere only "somewhat successful"and he would not do it again.

Whiplash at the US Institute of Peace

Created by Congress during the Reagan administration, USIP was meant to promote peace and prevent global conflict. At the time it was shuttered, the institute operated in more than two dozen conflict zones, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Employees watched as DOGE dismantled another organization, theU.S. Agency for International Development. Then, DOGE staffersshowed up multiple times at USIPand ultimately took over the headquarters. Most of the institute's board and the acting president were fired.

On the evening of March 28, 2025,termination notices began showing upin employees' personal emails. Within two hours, most of the 300-plus staffers were gone.

USIP leaders and employees sued, arguing it was independent of the executive branch. A federal judge ruled Trump had acted outside his authority, in a decision thatrestored controlof the institute and reinstated workers with backpay — though few returned as operations resumed gradually.

In June, anappeals court stayed that decision. And for the second time, the staff was fired.

The case is suspended now, awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision in another personnel-related case, which could expand the president's control over federal agencies that have long been considered independent of the executive branch.

Depending on that decision and what the appeals court does, the staff could be due back pay and benefits again, despite not having worked for months.

DOGE's aftershocks are still being felt

While the original iteration of DOGE has dissipated from the public view, its presence is still felt in parts of the government. High-ranking DOGE officials have been hired as permanent staffers in federal agencies, including at the Treasury Department.

For the people who worked at USIP, the past year has been a whirlwind.

Some have found jobs, but many have faced headwinds in a market flooded with skilled labor. Some meet regularly and update one another on job searches and the suspended court cases they still hope might revive their former employer.

Price came off maternity leave one day before she was fired. When she was fired for the second time, she and her husband, who had lost his job as a contractor at a museum when his project's funding was cut, lived on their reserves and applied for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which took months to be approved.

She was forced to use a food pantry when the government shutdown last yearstopped her SNAP payments. After filing dozens of job applications, her family left the capital region and moved to the Seattle area.

She now works for a nonprofit that focuses on affordable housing. It is meaningful, but she misses the institute, its mission and her team.

Liz Callihan, who worked in communications at USIP, has applied for 140 jobs since being fired. She often wonders why her former professional home, with a noble mission and a relatively small annual budget of $50 million, became a target of DOGE.

"I absolutely ask myself every day what all this was for," she said.

Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One month intotheir war with Iran, the United States and Israel find themselves confronting an opponent that fights more like an insurgency than a nation — using increasingly limited resources to inflictmaximum pain.

APTOPIX Emirates Iran US Israel

Despite being battered daily by airstrikes from two of the world's most sophisticated militaries, Iran has shown it can still torment its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel with missiles and drones andmaintain a strangleholdon the world's economy, primarily through threats.

Tehran's ability to control the flow of traffic — and therefore the flow of oil — through theStrait of Hormuzis its biggest strategic advantage. And, in fact, it's a tactic that Iran's very own proxies have adopted for years under decades of its tutelage as the leader of the self-described "Axis of Resistance."

Meanwhile, Iran's economy, long ago cut off from the global markets because of sanctions, is broadly insulated from thepain it is now inflicting on others.

The chokehold on the strait is causing oil prices to skyrocket, stock markets to plunge, and the cost of many basic goods to rise,putting pressureon U.S. President Donald Trump that could lead him to escalate the conflict further.

While Iran has found some success with cutting off the strait, it has its own problems lurking at home that the U.S. and Israel may be able to exploit the longer the war goes on. But its theocracy's path to victory through insurgent-like tactics remains fairly simple — just survive.

"The Islamic Republic understands that it cannot defeat the United States militarily," wrote Shukriya Bradost, a Mideast security analyst. "Instead, its objective is both simpler and more strategic: Survive the war long enough to claim victory."

The Strait of Hormuz is a key challenge for the US

The Strait of Hormuz, thenarrow mouth of the Persian Gulfthrough which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed, now finds itself largely devoid of traffic. The Islamic Republic allows through only the shipments it wants and ata price it dictates. Even with nearly all of its navy destroyed, Iran can hold the waterway hostage through an arsenal of missiles and drones built up over decades.

Countries in Asia, the primary customers for oil that passes through the strait, are feeling the pinch most acutely — but the market for oil is global, so drivers in Europe and the U.S. are also seeing price hikes. And since oil is so fundamental to the world economy — its cost is baked into the manufacture and transport of many goods — it'snot just gasoline prices that are rising.

That's bad news for Trump, who was already struggling to show Americans he couldbring down the cost of livingahead of midterm elections in November.

Ending the standoff is not easy. One way would be to negotiate a ceasefire — and Trump saystalks are progressing, something Iran denies.

If that fails, the U.S. and Israel would either have to decide they have achieved enough and walk away from the war — or dramatically escalate the conflict to force the strait open. Trump has already ordered thousandsmore paratroopers and Marinesinto the region. And he has set a new deadline — already delayed twice — of 8 p.m. Eastern time April 6 for Iran to reopen the strait. Otherwise, he's threatened to begin bombing power plants in Iran.

"Trump's preference remains 'escalate to de-escalate,'" the risk advisory Eurasia Group said in an analysis Thursday. "The U.S. is moving more ships and ground troops into the region and will be better prepared to escalate in mid-April."

But Iran has shown itself resilient to the battering it has received thus far.

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Iran maintains its ability to cause havoc despite being hit hard

Trump on Thursday night said about 9% of Iran's missile arsenal remains. There was no way to independently verify that figure — but even if accurate, Tehran still has ways to wreak havoc.

With its aircraft broadly destroyed and its air defenses at their weakest, Iran still maintains a vast network of air and sea bases, many built up decades ago.

It also has more recently built underground bases, which along with missile launchers disguised as commercial trucks, allow it to hide its launch sites until the last minute. Keeping mobile launchers on the move can protect them from airstrikes.

That strategy, known as "shoot and scoot," is a mainstay of many insurgent groups, including Yemen's Houthi rebels. The Iran-backed group itself successfully disrupted international shipping, in the Red Sea. Shiite militias in Iraq, also backed by Iran, used similar tactics against U.S. troops there. Both have survived if not thrived while being repeatedly targeted.

Iran's geography and terrain — a mountainous nation about the size of America's largest state, Alaska — also give it the space and features to hide like an insurgent force.

But problems still lurk under the surface for Iran as well.

Iran faces an angry population and leadership questions

Both American and the Israeli leaders have said they hope Iran's people, whochallenged the country's theocracyin nationwide protests in January, would take over their government.

There have been no signs of any such uprising — and, for now, many Iranians aresheltering from airstrikes.

Iran's public also remembers the government'sbloody crackdownearlier this year that saw thousands killed and tens of thousands detained. The Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, which was key to that crackdown,remains activedespite repeatedly being targeted in the war, with social media videos showing their armed fighters roaming streets, blaring propaganda from loudspeakers.

In a sign that Iran is feeling the pressure on its forces, Guard official Rahim Nade-Ali said it has begun to recruit children as young as 12 for the Basij. He described it as responding to public demand — but it is also a way to fill out its ranks as its checkpoints come under attack.

Questions also remain about Iran's leadership. Mojtaba Khamenei hasn't been seen publicly since becomingIran's new supreme leader, with U.S. officials saying he's been wounded in the war. The Guard and other military units appear to be operating without any central command. And any ceasefire deal that doesn't give the Guard and hard-liners what they want could fracture the country's political leadership.

But Trump's military pressure might not be having the desired effect.

"Washington seems to believe that an overwhelming display of military power will force the Iranians to the negotiating table," the New York-based Soufan Center said in an analysis Friday. "But ... the U.S. can't expect to gain in peace what it was not able to take in war."

EDITOR'S NOTE —Jon Gambrell, news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and the wider world since joining AP in 2006.

One reasonElliot Cadeauwas drawn toMichiganas a transfer last spring was the size of the Wolverines' starting front line, with 7-3 center Aday Mara flanked by 6-9 forwards Morez Johnson Jr. andYaxel Lendeborg.

Being surrounded by this length and athleticism has given the more diminutive former North Carolina point guard room to dip and duck his way through coach Dusty May's read-and-react system, where spacing and ball movement are mandatory and players are "encouraged to pass up good shots for great ones," according to the program's definition.

March Madness games today:Analyzing Friday's Sweet 16 matchups

"I would say that he does an amazing job dissecting the offense," said Michigan guard Nimari Burnett. "He makes it so much easier for us all around the court that played with him, just getting us easy shots. I'm just joyful to play with him every single game."

Along with Mara and Lendeborg — from UCLA and Alabama-Birmingham, respectively — Cadeau has helped transform the No. 1 Wolverines into one of the best teams in the nation and the favorite to advance out of the Midwest Region for the ninth Final Four appearance in program history.

"Elliott runs the show," Johnson said.

There have been a few hiccups along the way to Friday's matchup in Chicago against No. 4 Alabama, including a dud in Michigan's nonconference loss to Duke in February and a run of poor shooting performances late in Big Ten play.

But Cadeau has rebounded to play some of his best basketball in the past few weeks, including a stretch of 26 assists against just five turnovers in his past three games. That he's done so while dealing with medical issues has made Cadeau one of Michigan's unquestioned leaders both on the court and off.

"I think he's really relatable in terms of where he's from, what he's been through," guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said. "He's always a guy that you can rely on. I feel like most point guards have that trait, but really, he has been someone where if someone isn't going right, I'm able to lean on him."

Hearing, vision issues haven't stopped Elliot Cadeau

That Cadeau has remained unflappable amid his high-profile transfer from Chapel Hill and the stress of running the show for the Wolverines shouldn't come as a surprise.

As a child growing up in New Jersey, Cadeau was diagnosed as partially deaf in his right ear. He's had to manage asthma. As a freshman with the Tar Heels, he needed to have surgery to treat a progressive eye disorder calledkeratoconus, which thins the cornea and can often cause blurred vision and a sensitivity to bright lights and glare.

None of these conditions would seem to be conducive to playing point guard for a team with national championship goals, let alone playing basketball, period.

Yet these same issues have helped define Cadeau, shaping the way he approaches his role as the Wolverines' facilitator.

"It kind of just made me feel like I just can't make excuses," he said after Michigan's win against No. 9 Saint Louis in the second round.

"I have really close friends when I was growing up who are all at the highest level of the NBA, high-major basketball players, and I wanted to be just as good as them. I was trying to be better than them.

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"Even though they didn't have the same issues as me, I couldn't just make excuses about it and not be as good as them."

Handling this adversity helped Cadeau weather a tumultuous two-year run at North Carolina, where he often became the poster child for the Tar Heels' unrealized expectations after ranking near the bottom of the ACC in turnovers and fouls as a sophomore.

"That's just kind of a testament to who he is," said Gayle. "Because of everything that he's been through, he's able to kind of separate himself from everything that's going on and be able to give you advice."

And despite the challenges he's faced to reach Friday night, Cadeau insists he's never been slowed down by the conditions that could have easily derailed a promising career.

"There are no adjustments made," he said. "Me not being able to hear fully didn't really make any difference on the court, because you don't really need hearing unless you're listening to a play call or you're listening to your teammates. I feel like basketball-wise, it doesn't affect me."

Cadeau a 'savant' at the controls of Michigan's offense

Cadeau's game has blossomed as the showrunner for one of the top offenses in college basketball. The Wolverines enter the matchup against Alabama ranked ninth nationally in scoring, fourth in field-goal percentage and fifth in assists per game.

The junior is averaging a career-best 10.1 points per game with 57 makes from 3-point range, nearly doubling his total from his final season at North Carolina. Cadeau has 28 fewer turnovers in one fewer game compared to last year while posting 5.7 assists per game, good for fourth in the Big Ten.

Cadeau has been the perfect fit for a system that needs a happy-to-share distributor, especially as Michigan looks to quickly turn defensive stops into transition.

"He's a savant with what he's doing," May said. "He probably doesn't even realize a lot of the things he's doing because he's so intelligent. He's able to get us into close-out opportunities without really having to run any offense. His ability to read the floor, read the game, manipulate defenses, is incredibly impressive."

His arrival in Ann Arbor has sparked a clear increase in confidence. Cadeau has been much more willing to chase his own shot, especially given the attention paid to Michigan's imposing frontcourt. He made three from long range against Saint Louis, helping the Wolverines take control in the first half and cruise to the 95-72 win.

Adding another outside shooter to Burnett and fellow guard Trey McKenney has made the offense even more dangerous, teammates said.

"The difference between him and last year, he was more pass-first," Lendeborg said. "He's still pass-first now, but he's become way more of a scoring threat. You can't guard him anyway. So having to compete with him and trying to stop him when you think he's going to pass, it's good night pretty much honestly."

Said Gayle, "It wasn't the fact that he couldn't, he's just more confident in doing so. And he works really hard for it."

This same level of dedication — one needed to fight through his medical conditions and to become a more complete and well-rounded player on both ends — has built Cadeau into an elite college point guard, and in turn made the Wolverines into a team capable of winning the second national championship in program history.

"He's what we want in a point guard," May said. "He's a guy that makes everyone on the team better."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is Elliot Cadeau deaf? Michigan star overcame ailments to reach Elite 8

HONG KONG — He and his shipmates stay up on the deck at night, sometimes watching rockets fly over their heads.

What was supposed to be an uneventful first voyage transporting oil across the Persian Gulf has turned into a nightmare for a 28-year-old sailor from India, who has spent the past month stuck as his ship sits idled by theIran war.

"We don't sleep at night. We stay up on deck because you never know what might happen next," said the sailor, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from authorities and his employer.

The seafarer, who has been at sea since November, was speaking to NBC News from Iraqi waters minutes after an air attack Tuesday afternoon, which he says landed on Iran just a few miles away.

"The ship is still vibrating," he said in an interview in Hindi.

He and the three other crew members on the small oil vessel are among20,000 sailors strandedon hundreds of ships in the Persian Gulf, according to the U.N.'s maritime agency, after Iran effectively shut down theStrait of Hormuzin response to U.S.-Israeli strikes.

The blockade of the crucial shipping route, which hassent global energy prices soaring, has also trapped the largely invisible workforce that keeps the world's maritime trade afloat, prolonging their time away from their families and putting their lives at risk. At least seven seafarers have been killed and several others have been severely injured in what the U.N. says were Iranian attacks on commercial vessels.

"The world has relied on these people to keep trade moving under impossible conditions," said Angad Banga, chief executive of the Caravel Group, a Hong Kong-based shipping conglomerate. Caravel's subsidiary company, Fleet Management Limited, manages more than 600 ships, including some that are stuck in the Gulf.

It has already been a difficult few years for the world's nearly 2 million seafarers, who mostly come from thePhilippines,Indiaand other Asian nations. During the Covid pandemic, they were confined to their ships for long periods, unable to take breaks on shore because of border restrictions that many countries imposed.

Their work and mental health were further disrupted when Houthi rebels in Yemen beganattacking ships in the Red Sea, with at least nine sailors killed and 11 othersheld captive for five months.

"The moment the crises fade from the headlines, the world forgets they exist, and that cycle has to break," Banga added.

The International Maritime Organization, the U.N.'s maritime agency, hasconfirmed18 incidents of damage to commercial vessels from March 1 to 19 in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. In one instance March 11, there was an explosion on a Thai-flagged ship after it was hit by projectiles and 20 of its crew members had to be rescued, withthree still missingFriday as Iranian state media reported the ship had run aground off Iran's Qeshm Island. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said the ship had ignored "warnings."

Even if their vessels are not directly hit, the stranded seafarers can only watch in fear as Iran trades strikes with the U.S. and Israel.

In the incident Tuesday, the sailor said, he heard missile strikes for nearly half an hour and counted more than a dozen explosions.

"I was initially in the engine room so I didn't know what was going on," he said. "When I came up to the deck, I saw the rest of my crew watching the rockets fly by, which would be followed by explosions in the distance."

"I could see when they were hitting the ground, see smoke rise and feel the impact through the ship," he added.

The same day, Banga's firm showed NBC News just how bad the situation has become.

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Inside Fleet Management's headquarters in a Hong Kong office tower, in a room known as "the Bridge," hundreds of white dots appeared across eight screens that formed a giant maritime world map, each representing a vessel under the group's management.

The contrast is stark: While normally about 130 ships would pass through the Strait of Hormuz daily, some of them Fleet Management's, virtually none are able to get through now. Several ships awaiting passage were visible on the screen.

As the stranded seafarers struggle to keep their spirits up, Banga said his firm has been conducting regular check-ins with crew members, who try to maintain somewhat of a routine that includes leisure activities and maintenance work on their ships.

"They exercise, they watch movies, some play basketball on the deck, sit there," he said.

"When the routine breaks down is when people start to unravel," he added. "The sun goes down, and that's when the fear comes because most of the attacks happen in the dark."

On Tuesday, the vessel tracking website MarineTraffic said in apost on Xthat only nine ships had passed through the strait since the day before, with apparent Iranian support.

One of them was a Chinese-owned vessel that successfully transited the waterway Monday.

A video shot by one of the sailors onboard the ship, shared on Chinese social media platform Douyin and geolocated by NBC News, showed the tanker passing through a narrow section of the strait off the coast of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

The sailor panned the camera around the ship, showing small speedboats in the distance that were escorting his ship and at least three other tankers in an apparent convoy.

"We can see some large tankers. Not sure why they decided to anchor here," the sailor filming the video can be heard saying in Mandarin in another video, pointing to the Iranian coastline and some high-rise buildings visible in the distance.

"I can't shoot any videos outside anymore. It's dangerous. Let's hide in the cabin quickly," he says.

NBC News reached out to the vessel's manager for comment.

Iran said this week that "non-hostile vessels" would be allowed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with Iranian authorities.

"As we repeatedly emphasized, the Strait of Hormuz remains open, and maritime traffic has not been suspended," the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote in a letter to the U.N. seen by NBC News. "Navigation continues, subject to compliance with the necessary measures referenced above and the realities arising from the ongoing conflict."

The letter defines "non-hostile vessels" as those that "neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran." It did not say which countries qualify, though it said vessels "belonging to the aggressor parties," namely the U.S. and Israel, did not.

The sailor stuck in Iraqi waters is hoping his ship will be able to leave soon.

"My family is panicking," he said. "We've packed all our bags and are ready the moment someone calls us."

If you ask me what I plan to be doing this summer, outside of disassociating from our increasingly dystopian reality, I'll probably answer with some variation of what I'm cooking on the grill. I can already picture firing up theMasterbuiltusing all 1,150 square feet to make burgers, whole chickens,pizza, and maybe even dessert while simultaneously sipping on a paloma (or two) made withPoncho Fino's Mexican Candy-flavored tequila. Truly, nothing would bring me more joy, and odds are, with warmer weather finally upon us, you're getting prepared to hit the grill, too.

Whether you already have one or you're just starting to put together your outdoor cooking setup, you might find yourself browsing the grill section atHome Depot, grabbing all the tools you need to ensure your all-day brisket comes out a resoundingsuccess. Metal skewers for kebabs, tongs and sauce mops݀—you know, the works. But chief among all grilling necessities is the non-negotiable grill brush that helps keep your prizedKamado Joelooking just as good as new.

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Before you toss one into your cart, though, you might want to think twice. A recall of over 10 million grill brushes sold at Home Depot due to a significant health and safety risk was recently announced, and it's a much more common problem than you might think. Grills and grilling accessories maker Nexgrill issued a voluntary recall for six models of its wire grill brushes after theU.S. Consumer Safety Product Commissionreceived at least 68 reports of the wire bristles actually coming off and sticking to food or the grill.

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Nexgrill Issues Voluntary Recall of 10.2 Million Wire Grill Brushes

The recall affects 10.2 million grill brushes sold at Home Depot stores and on its website from 2015 through 2026. The six models included in the recall are:

• 19-inch Grill Brush, model number 530-0024

• Grill Cleaning Brush with Scraper, model number 530-0024G

• Long Handle Grill Brush, model number 530-0034

• Grill Brush and Scraper, model number 530-0039

• Grill Brush with Scrub Pad, model number 530-0041

• Wood Handle Grill Brush, model number 530-0042

If you happen to have one of these models, it's recommended that you stop using them immediately and contact Nexgrill for a full refund in the form of a gift card. You can complete your claimhere. The good news is that Nexgrill also sells safer, non-metal grill brushes that won't leave anything behind in your food or on your grill. Unfortunately, wire grill brushes, regardless of the brand, routinely have this issue, so it's best to avoid them and look for other options instead.

What to Clean Your Grill with Instead

You can rub a halved onion, lemon or potato on your grill before cooking to help loosen burnt-on residue; invest in aGrill Grate Brushfrom Grill Rescue; or simply make it a point to steam-clean your grill after each use to ensure there's minimal buildup next time. At least that way, there's one less step to do next time you're craving cedar-plankedsalmonwith a grilled peach pico de gallo. Just make sure to save us a plate.

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This story was originally published byParadeon Mar 27, 2026, where it first appeared in theFood & Drinksection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.