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Hello! I’m AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter. It’s Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Here’s your AllSides balanced briefing for today.

 

TOP STORIES FOR MARCH 22

See news from left-, center-, and right-rated sources with our Headline Roundups and Balanced Web Search results on these stories:

  • Former President Donald Trump's potential arrest is looming. On Tuesday, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said "we will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process."

  • The Federal Reserve will issue a decision on whether to raise interest rates again today at 2 p.m. ET. It's the Fed's first meeting since Silicon Valley Bank's failure and the ensuing banking fallout.

  • Classes for Los Angeles-area students are on hold as district teachers joined striking support staff on Tuesday. Striking faculty are asking for pay and benefit increases.

  • President Joe Biden declared a new national monument spanning over 500,000 acres in Nevada. The move earned praise from tribal nations, but criticism from the state's Republican governor.

  • Amazon will lay off another 9,000 employees as Big Tech companies continue to reduce their workforces. According to Crunchbase, over 100,000 U.S. tech workers have been laid off so far in 2023.

  • Biden signed a bill to declassify intel on COVID-19's origins. The legislation moved through Congress with strong bipartisan support.

 

THE IRAQ WAR AT 20

This week marks 20 years since the United States launched its second invasion of Iraq. Across the spectrum, voices expressed regret.

One analysis from BBC said "the years of chaos and brutality set off in 2003 turbo-charged murderous jihadist violence."

A former speechwriter for President George W. Bush said his administration "dangerously overestimated the prospects for foreign intervention to build a stable and decent replacement regime."

See more with our balanced Headline Roundup on this story.

 

TESTING YOUR PERCEPTION OF POLARIZATION

Do you have an accurate perception of the state of political polarization in the U.S.?

Take our quiz about the state of polarization to test how your views align with reality.

 

BY THE NUMBERS

  • The typical U.S. homebuyer made a down payment of $42,000 in January, the lowest number in almost two years. (Axios, Lean Left bias)
  • Seventy-one percent of voters oppose letting schools withhold information about a child’s gender identity from their parents. (Free Beacon, Right bias)

 

TODAY'S WEATHER

See today’s weather radar and temperature maps for your area from the NOAA.

 

GOOD NEWS

In 2009, a woman meant to text a Bible verse to her friend, but sent it to the wrong person. Fourteen years later, she and the recipient are married with six children.

 

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Henry A. Brechter is the Managing Editor of AllSides. He has a Center bias.