International Energy Agency announces largest ever release of reserve oil amid Iran war
A general view of an oil storage depot March 10, 2026. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The International Energy Agency on Wednesday said it would release 400 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserve, marking the largest oil release in the group’s history as the global economy grapples with fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Oil prices soared after the outbreak of war as traders feared a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
Before the war, roughly 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait each day, but tanker traffic has now “all but stopped,” Faithe Birol, executive director of the IEA, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“The conflict in the Middle East is having significant impacts on global oil and gas markets with major implications for energy security, energy affordability and the global economy,” added Birol, whose organization counts 32 member nations, including the U.S. The release from the IEA’s oil reserve on Wednesday would make up for the lost oil flow for roughly 20 days. Taken together, IEA member countries retained about 1.2 billion barrels of reserve oil prior to the latest release, the group previously said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Mount St. Helens National Monument, Washington. (David Mcnew/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stargazers will soon have an opportunity to view six planets in alignment in the night sky, according to NASA.
Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter will take part in a rare planetary parade on Saturday, the space agency said.
Planets are always on the move, so the viewing window will be brief. The best time to see the planets align will be just after sunset.
For the best view, astronomy guides recommend looking toward the western horizon about 30 minutes after sunset. This will give viewers the highest probability of spotting at least three planets at the same time, since Saturn, Mercury and Venus set in the west right after the sun.
The six planets will appear low in the western sky, with Mercury and Venus appearing the lowest and sinking below the horizon shortly after sunset, according to astronomers. Mercury and Venus are usually tricky to spot but will be visible on Saturday.
Saturn and Neptune will appear just above Mercury and Venus, while Jupiter and Uranus will appear a bit higher in the western sky, to the left of the others.
Viewers will need optical assistance via telescope or binoculars to see Uranus and Neptune, but the remaining four planets will be visible to the naked eye, NASA said.
Planets can sometimes appear “bunched together in the sky” because they orbit the sun in the same plane, known as the ecliptic, according to NASA. The planets will form a clear line along the ecliptic plane.
On the same day last year — Feb. 28, 2025 — seven planets were in alignment: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mercury, Saturn and Venus.
NASA says these planetary alignments happen every few years. The last one was visible from Earth in August 2025.
This year’s parade of planets is one of the first notable astronomical events taking place in 2026, according to NASA.
A total lunar blood moon eclipse will be visible from North America on March 3, especially for viewers on the West Coast. This will be the first lunar eclipse visible in the Americas since 2025.
A rare blue moon — which signifies the rare occasion of having a second full moon in the same month — will take place on May 31.
From June 8 to 9, the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter, will be in conjunction, appearing “only a pinky finger apart,” according to NASA.
The Perseids meteor shower, considered the best meteor shower of the year due to its swift and bright meteors, will be best seen from Aug. 12 to 13, during a darker sky courtesy of the new moon.
And the Geminids, the most reliable meteor shower of the year, will take place from Dec. 13 to 14.
A Christmas Eve supermoon — when a full moon is closest to the Earth — rounds out the most spectacular astronomical events in 2026, according to NASA.
ABC News’ Briana Alvarado contributed to this report.
NYPD officers help rescue an injured bald eagle on the Hudson River in New York, Feb. 17, 2026. (NYPD)
(NEW YORK) — While surveying ice during a training exercise on the Hudson River on Tuesday, a New York City police officer with the department’s Harbor Unit spotted something unusual.
“Last week, when it was cold, a lot of stuff was getting stuck in the ice, whether it was a float, a buoy, but it looked different,” Officer Michael Russo told reporters on Wednesday. “I could see this white head from a distance. So I said, let’s get a little closer. I said, it looks like an eagle. And turns out it was an American bald eagle.”
Russo, a 16-year veteran of the NYPD’s Harbor Unit, said officers have rescued distressed boaters, sick cruise ship passengers and animals such as dogs while patrolling the city’s waterways. Though a bald eagle was a first.
The injured bird was screeching, wet and bloody, and as the boat approached, it didn’t leave the ice it was floating on, officers said.
Officers said they consulted with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to see if they should retrieve the bird, and once given the go-ahead, looked up how to safely do that.
“As we got closer, we put a plan together,” Russo said. “We used a catch noose to kind of subdue its wings from flapping and its claws.”
Another officer, Sgt. Michael Amello, then put a cloth over the bird’s head, to help keep it calm, and got it on board the boat.
“Once we did that, it really didn’t give us a hard time,” Russo said. “I think it kind of knew that we were trying to help it.”
The officers were worried about the bird’s large talons throughout the rescue.
“They don’t really train you for, you know, handling a bald eagle, but we made it work,” Amello told reporters. “It was impressive and kind of scary at the same time, being that close to a bald eagle. The talons were pretty long. But it came on, didn’t put up much of a fight. It was compliant.”
The officers kept the bird on board until they were able to meet with personnel from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
“It’s an impressive creature. Even in its state, we were kind of taken back by how big it is and just the way it is, and the beauty of it,” Det. Nicholas Martin with the NYPD Harbor Unit told reporters. “It was impressive, to say the least.”
The bald eagle has since been brought to a sanctuary in New Jersey and was reported to be in stable condition, officers said.
The Raptor Trust, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Millington, New Jersey, said Wednesday that the bird is in their care and is “currently in very serious condition.”
“We are doing our best to keep the bird stable, and should it improve, we will do further diagnostics, x-rays and blood work to help determine a course of action going forward,” the center said in a statement.
Mug shot of Jeffrey Epstein, 2019. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than six years after the infamous financier and sex offender’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, the investigation into potential wrongdoing at Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling hacienda in New Mexico is being reopened, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Justice Department.
In its heyday, Zorro Ranch played host to a who’s who of Epstein’s prominent guests. It also became the site where multiple girls alleged that they were sexually assaulted. Among them: Annie Farmer, who offered key testimony during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial that she had been sexually abused at 16 years old by Epstein and Maxwell at the ranch in the mid-1990s.
The property, locally dubbed the “Playboy Ranch,” will now get fresh scrutiny over the many allegations of illegal activity on its grounds.
“Upon reviewing information recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez has ordered that the criminal investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch be reopened,” Lauren Rodriguez, Chief of Staff for the New Mexico Department of Justice, said in a statement to ABC News.
While Epstein’s New York townhouse and his Caribbean island were raided as part of the case against Epstein, records now released by the DOJ indicate federal law enforcement never raided Zorro.
“We have not searched the New Mexico property,” said a Dec. 20, 2019, email from a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to a lawyer for Epstein’s estate.
New Mexico’s prior investigation was “closed in 2019 at the request of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” according to New Mexico DOJ’s Rodriguez. Lawmakers in New Mexico pushing for the renewed probe have also said there was no record of federal law enforcement searching Zorro.
But now, “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination,” Rodriguez said. “Special agents and prosecutors at the New Mexico Department of Justice will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners as well as the Epstein Truth Commission recently established by the New Mexico Legislature.”
“As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” Rodriguez added. “We are moving quickly and deliberately on this issue and will provide updates as appropriate.”
