Apple users may have already noticed the first background security improvements on their iPhones, iPads, and Macs. According to the Apple Support website, the improvements, which run constantly on devices and not just during software updates, provide a “light security release” for Safari, system libraries, and the WebKit framework stack, including Apple’s Mail and App Store apps.

With the new rollout, here’s what we know about Apple’s background security improvements.

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What are Apple’s new background security improvements?

Background security improvements provide new security releases during software updates for compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

The first background security improvements were released on March 17 and affected Webkit, which includes Apple’s Safari, Mail, and App Store apps. According to the Apple Support website, this update targeted “cross-origin issues in the Navigation API.” An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules that allows different software to exchange data with each other.

Both masked and unmasked ICE officers wearing marked vests were seen at JFK International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and travelers continued to report long wait times at airport security.

In a social media post, President Donald Trump weighed in on mask-wearing by employees, saying he is a “huge supporter of masks at ICE,” but added, “But when it saved our country from the chaos at the airports caused by Democrats, I greatly appreciated the mask ban.”

ICE is being implemented at U.S. airports. Your Rights at TSA Security Screening

Which airports have ICE agents?

The New York Times and CNN reported that ICE officers were deployed to more than a dozen airports across the country.

The Georgia-based travel content creator was planning a trip to Orange County, California, where he was scheduled to attend the Overland Expo. But in the days leading up to her flight, a series of headlines, from geopolitical tensions to airport chaos, began to chip away at her confidence in the trip.

After reading a report that the FBI had warned California authorities about a possible attack by Iran on the West Coast, which the FBI said did not have enough verified information to support that claim, she decided not to go.

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The 42-year-old told USA TODAY: “It was so scary that I decided to put an end to it.”

Other events also strengthened her decision, including the diversion of her Southwest Airlines flight due to potential safety issues, long lines at the airport and rising airfares on her route.

Richardson, who typically travels five or six times a year with her husband, Duane, chose to stay home instead.

Her hesitation reflects a moment of widespread disruption across the travel industry, one not caused by a single crisis but the convergence of multiple crises.

A new kind of travel anxiety

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USA TODAY’s Eve Chen spoke with former CIA officials and security experts about the current situation in Mexico after the death of “El Mencho.”

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel demand collapsed under the weight of health concerns and government restrictions. In the spring of 2026, the pressure will be more dispersed but less influential.

Geopolitical tensions, including the Iran war, have renewed fears of terrorism and instability. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told CNBC that the United States operates in “an environment of heightened security threats due to the fact that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.”

For some travelers, these warnings hit close to home.

Kate Swarthout, 50, last week prepared for a long-planned trip to visit family in New Zealand. But her thinking about flying changed dramatically.

“And even though I’m still really nervous, more nervous about domestic flights than international flights, I felt like it was worth going and trying to put the fear aside,” the California resident said. “But with that said, I can tell you right now, it’s going to be a big mess on this plane.”

Swarthout has largely overcome her lifelong fear of flying.

“I was in my mid-20s on 9/11, and the visuals from that time are still very vivid,” she told USA TODAY.

While aviation experts continue to stress that the risks of air travel remain low and that the potential threat extends beyond airports and planes, the psychological impact is more difficult to quantify.

In preparation for the trip, Swarthout turned to coping strategies such as EFT tapping, meditation, and downloading “favorite comfort shows” and movies like “Ted Lasso,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Anyone But You.”

Still, the experience caused her to reconsider her future plans.

She said she typically flies at least once a month, but is “really having second thoughts about doing any domestic travel in the near future.”

Domestic Disruption: Shutdowns and Security Lines

TSA security screenings delayed at airports nationwide due to government shutdown

Travelers are facing significant TSA delays as the government shutdown leaves employees unpaid and airports nationwide strained.

Even travelers trying to overcome safety concerns are encountering practical hurdles closer to home.

The partial government shutdown has put a strain on the Transportation Security Administration, contributing to long security lines at airports across the country. Due to staffing shortages, some travelers are forced to wait significantly longer for flights, sometimes even taking several hours longer than usual.

For travelers like Richardson, that uncertainty is enough to completely derail plans.

“We usually have to start (our trips) in Atlanta, which is the busiest airport in the world,” she said. “And even though there’s a TSA pre-screening, even if I’m like, ‘OK, okay, no need to be scared,’ should I get to the airport eight hours before my flight? Like, do I need to stay the night before? What am I supposed to do here?”

The usual advice to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights is becoming less reliable as wait times and staffing levels fluctuate.

For frequent travelers who are used to traveling efficiently, the idea of ​​arriving at the airport half a day early may be hard to swallow.

Increasing costs add new layers

At the same time, economic pressures are driving up the cost of travel.

Rising gasoline prices are increasing the cost of jet fuel, a major expense for airlines. These increases are often passed on to consumers in the form of higher airfares, another factor Richardson cited as a reason for canceling trips.

Travel demand surged in the years immediately following pandemic restrictions, but price sensitivity appears to be returning as economic uncertainty increases.

What the data shows: demand slows, routes change

Early indicators suggest that these overlapping concerns are beginning to impact global travel patterns.

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, advance booking directional data shows a significant decline in transatlantic travel demand for summer 2026.

Bookings from Europe to the US decreased by 15.34% year over year, and bookings from the US to Europe decreased by 11.19% year over year. This data is based on reservations made through online travel agencies and global distribution systems between October 7, 2025 and March 14, 2025, comparing trips made in July 2026 and July 2025 to the same booking period one year earlier.

This decline was a slight decrease from the beginning of the year, when bookings between Europe and the US were down 14.22% and bookings between the US and Europe were down 7.27%.

This trend is consistent with anecdotal reports from travelers who are reconsidering or postponing their trips.

However, the impact is not uniform across all regions.

In the Middle East, where airspace disruption complicates flight paths, the data shows “some disruption” rather than a widespread decline.

For example, bookings from Australia to Europe that avoided connections through major Middle East hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain have soared, increasing by 48.6% since February 28, with year-on-year bookings increasing by 24%. This increase suggests that travelers are actively rerouting themselves to avoid certain areas.

World Cup travel shows resilience, but not immunity

Even major world events are not completely isolated from the current climate.

According to Cirium, travel bookings from Europe to North American FIFA World Cup host cities, including New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Miami, fell 6.7% year-on-year in June 2026.

Canada’s decline was smaller at 1.5%, with bookings to Mexico down 6.4%.

There is a decline in the US Canadian tourists as travel patterns change

City-level data shows sharp declines from certain European hubs. For example, bookings from Frankfurt to the US are down 35.74%, and bookings from Amsterdam are down 22.91%. This suggests that even high-profile events are battling the same headwinds that affect the industry as a whole.

On the U.S. side, demand for major European cities has also slowed, with bookings to Frankfurt down 26.8% and bookings to London down 11.31%.

For now, some U.S. travelers are taking a cautious stance.

Richardson and her husband plan to visit Glacier National Park again this summer, but are holding off on booking additional trips, at least until the government shutdown is lifted. For people like Swarthout, that means pushing through fears to stick to long-held plans.

Contributors: Zach Wichter, Eve Chen, Josh Rivera. america today

Every Wednesday at 4 a.m., Peggy Winkowski wakes up to make breakfast. She reminds her husband Bill that she is in bed and begins to get ready. “I never leave the bathroom without looking up,” she says. “I’m going to wear earrings. I’m going to go out like today. Every day is a party.”

Then she starts cooking. 8 to 10 pounds of bacon. 4 dozen eggs. A pile of pancakes, sometimes French toast casserole or monkey bread.

At 7:15 a horde of teenagers arrives. They step past the garden of memories in front of them, the sign above the door proclaiming her to be the mayor of the street, and the cheerful lemon tree wallpaper inside. High school students from all grades at Bishop du Bourg, a Catholic school in southwest St. Louis, are settling in with their plates full.

“The door is always open”: Grandma cooks meals with love

Peggy Winkowski, affectionately known as “Grandma Peggy,” channeled her grief into her weekly breakfast ritual at home.

Winkowski and the kids talk about chemistry tests, farewells, and who will be on the national team. Winkowski, 69, is not their parent. She doesn’t chastise them with questions or pressure them to try harder. she listens. And children listen to each other. Mobile phones rarely appear.

They finish their meal, scrub their plates, put them in the sink, and Grandma Peggy (everyone calls her Grandma Peggy) kicks them out of the house. she washes the dishes. They have a school. After a quick hug, they left.

She has served thousands of meals since Wednesday Breakfast Club started five years ago. It was the brainchild of her grandson, Sam. I went for dinner with some friends on a late Wednesday as usual, and the food was OK. “My grandmother is a better cook than this,” he said. Sam was kind and would sometimes play pranks on you, like turning your locker into yours. The next week, he and his crew went to his grandma’s house. food It was Better.

they continued.

The first year, it was like a grandma’s dream. Her beloved grandchildren and all of their friends gather around her table every week throughout first grade.

Sam was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver. he was 15 years old.

“My door is always open.”

You probably know that Grandma Peggy is a great cook. She taught herself by working at several restaurants and studying cookbooks. “My mother didn’t really like cooking, so I think I wanted to become a little bit better at cooking,” she says.

Another thing you should know is that she’s talkative. How are you today? “I’m still vertical, not horizontal.” Why does she put on full makeup at 4 a.m. before cooking? “When you dress and try to look a little better about yourself, you feel a little better.” These are sayings she learned from life, not from cross-stitching pillows. “You may have bad days, but you have to make the most of them.”

It’s almost unbelievable to hear the list of bad days she had. She divorced her first husband and was left to raise four children on her own. She juggled multiple jobs to make ends meet. “I had to wait in line at night to pay for braces and Catholic school,” she says proudly, with no regrets.

She has had more than 80 surgeries over the years, including two knee replacements, treatment for stage IV colon cancer, and a pacemaker. Her mother passed away during the pandemic. Mr. Winkowski moved her from the nursing home to his home and cared for her for four months so she wouldn’t be alone. Winkowski’s second husband, whom she married when her children were in high school, has Parkinson’s disease, dementia and congestive heart failure, and broke his hip in July. Nevertheless, “I’m still here,” she says cheerfully, then adds, “I guess I’m talking too much for God, and the devil probably doesn’t want me.”

Sam’s death was shocking. Long before The Breakfast Club, he would come over to her house after school and on weekends and spend a few hours with her. “Sammy was my friend,” she says. Before his sophomore year, he had gotten his driver’s license and checked the box to be an organ donor. “We were so proud of him,” she says.

Despite the grief, Winkowski did not complain. “The more sadness there is, the more love there is. Without love, there is no sadness,” she says. “So sadness is a good thing.” Winkowski believes her grandson knew his life was short. “He kept saying, Grandma, he wanted country music to be played at my funeral,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Sam, no one talks about that at 14!'”

Morgan Wallen made a recurring appearance during the lunch after the funeral.

After that, Winkowski wasn’t sure if her weekly breakfast routine would continue. “All the kids came up and said, ‘Grandma, what are we going to do? Not only are we going to miss Sam, we’re going to miss the Breakfast Club,'” she says. “I said I’d feed it when it came.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’ve proven it.”

Their morning gatherings became a means of healing. “She goes through all the grief and loss and still finds a way to get through it,” said Maia Dozier, Sam’s classmate who will graduate in 2025. “She shows us how friendship and the people around you can get you through difficult times.”

Her children helped her as much as she helped them recover from the loss of their friends. When lightning strikes a tree in front of the house, the children transform the property into Sam’s memory garden. Last January, Sam’s mother, Kimberly, became ill. “We thought Sam’s mother was sick and depressed because she lost her son,” Winkowski says.

It wasn’t depression. On January 9th, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Kimberly passed away on January 27th, leaving behind her mother, twin sister Kelly, and brothers Ricky and Stephen. “I feel like they are God’s children. I was raising them and God could take them back at any time,” she says. “He took two of my angels, so I must have done well.” (One of their dogs then died. “I could have written a country music song,” Winkowski jokes.)

The Breakfast Club kids drove her to the hospital to sit with her daughter and painted her house as part of their community service time. Sam is sure he’s watching. “I think Sam started the Breakfast Club so that when I lost him, I had 35 kids to call me Grandma Peggy,” she says. “I’m sure he’s looking up and saying, ‘Grandma, the eggs were a little too brown today. Be careful next week.'” He’s probably dancing on a cloud with his mother right now. ”

“I try to do a good job every day, and I’m going to try to do better tomorrow.”

Sam was supposed to graduate last May, and several of his classmates went on to higher education. Mr. Winkowski remembers them all. Their names are signed in lemons on the wallpaper in her kitchen – “My wall of fame!” she says. These days, eight to 12 kids come in each week, and she texts her the night before to let her know how many. (“I’m not as smart as my smartphone,” she says.) The community donates money for the food, but most weeks she pays for it herself. “I don’t really do anything during the week,” she says. “This is my fun. I give up all my fun to serve Wednesday’s breakfast.”

Alumni often reach out to Wynkowski to wish her a happy birthday or stop by when she’s home for the holidays. Recently, she had just finished making homemade cereal bars, but the cereal bars came in from boot camp and surprised her.

“Where’s the bacon, Grandma?” he asked.

She put on an apron and started cooking.

Wendy Nogle He is the executive editor of entertainment for USA Today. Follow her on Instagram @wendy_naugle.

The scorching heat wave that began last week and brought dangerous temperatures to parts of California, Arizona and other southwestern states is expected to spread eastward into the central United States in the coming days, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters warned that record temperatures will continue for the next few days.

The unprecedented early heatwave was the result of high pressure moving across the west, causing a “vast dome of unusually high temperatures”, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Based on preliminary data, the agency announced that more than 150 daily high temperature records have been set since March 17, and about 50 records for March have already been broken.

Temperatures are expected to be “above normal for this time of year” ranging from 25 to 35 degrees Celsius in most areas from the Southwest to the Great Plains, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures in some areas of the central plains are expected to be more than 40 degrees Celsius higher than normal over the weekend, and the minimum nighttime temperature is also expected to be “well above normal, with little relief in the heat.”

The incident occurred on Saturday, March 21, as approximately 150 people attended a wedding at the Chocorua Reserve in Tamworth, according to a joint news release from the Tamworth Fire and Rescue Department and the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office. The local fire brigade was called to the scene at around 4:33 p.m. local time after receiving reports that the floor had collapsed during the wedding ceremony.

“Callers reported that more than 100 people were on the floor when the building collapsed underground, with several trapped under beams and agricultural equipment,” authorities said in a news release.

Officials said six adults were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, but four have since been released. Several other guests were treated at the scene.

The latest addition to the grocer’s coveted tote bag line hits stores this week in all-new styles in lavender and pink.

“The next new bag will be a large canvas bag with lavender handles and a pink logo,” Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Nakia Rohde confirmed to USA TODAY on March 11. Although no release date was set at the time, the tote bags will be available at Trader Joe’s stores nationwide starting Monday, March 23, Rohde said.

“This is a limited time product and availability varies by store,” Rohde wrote in a March 20 email to USA TODAY. “If customers have any questions about product availability, our friendly staff members are stationed at each of our nearby stores and ready to help.”

Trader Joe’s bags have a history of garnering crowds and love from grocery store shoppers. The mini pastel canvas tote bag had people lining up at their local Trader Joe’s as if it were Black Friday 2024, and created the same effect when it was relaunched earlier this month.