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In Mississippi
Ole Miss to host 2026 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum
The University of Mississippi has announced that the school will host the 2026 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum on April 9-10. The forum brings together leaders from public and private institutions of higher education across Mississippi to share campus-based entrepreneurship efforts.
Ole Miss said the two-day forum will be at Insight Park, the university’s research and business park, with opening activities in the Johnson Commons ballroom.
The forum serves as a convention for higher education leaders engaged in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development.
For more information, contact J.R. Love at jrlove@olemiss.edu.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. ICE to help with airport security as DHS shutdown continues
The Hill reports that “President Trump on Sunday said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will help with airport security for ‘as long as it takes’ as passengers complain of longer wait times amid the partial government shutdown.”
“Earlier Sunday, White House border czar Tom Homan said ICE would assist at airports but would not be involved specifically in security screening,” The Hill reported. “The president told NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt that Democrats wanted to make a deal in regard to funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senate Democrats have so far rejected proposals to fund DHS that do not come with immigration enforcement changes.”
Senate Democrats have kept DHS shutdown since February 14.
2. President says “productive” talks being had between U.S., Iran
President Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial early Monday morning that the U.S. and Iran are engaged in “productive” talks to resolve the Iran operation now entering its fifth week. Writing in all caps, Trump wrote:
“I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.”
No detail was given on what the “complete and total resolution” entailed.
Sports
1. Big 3 get weekend series wins
No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 12 Southern Miss and Ole Miss each claimed conference series wins over the weekend.
- Mississippi State swept SEC opponent Vanderbilt in Starkville, to move their season record to 20-4. The Bulldogs host Southern Miss Tuesday at 6 p.m. on SECNetwork+. Mississippi State lost to the Golden Eagles earlier this month in Hattiesburg.
- Southern Miss bested Sun Belt foe Troy, taking 2 out of its 3 games in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles are now 19-5 on the season. Southern Miss travels to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Tuesday.
- Ole Miss took 2 out of 3 from Kentucky in the SEC matchup. The19-6 Rebels travel to Memphis for their Tuesday game.
2. Ole Miss women’s season comes to an end
The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team won their opening NCAA Tournament game against Gonzaga on Friday but fell just short to Minnesota on Sunday in game two, losing 65-63 and ending the Rebels’ season.
The season was the team’s 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
The Rebels are one of only four teams that have been in the SEC the last five years to accomplish that feat.
Markets & Business
1. Futures shoot up on Trump’s news of U.S., Iran talks
CNBC reported that stock futures “shot higher in a sudden move after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have held productive talks over the last two days and he was halting any strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.”
“Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 1,100 points, or 2.6%. S&P 500 futures rose 2.7%, and Nasdaq-100 futures added 2.7%,” CNBC reported. “Crude prices tanked after Trump’s post with West Texas Intermediate futures falling more than 9% to below $90 a barrel. International benchmark Brent fell more than 13% to below $97 a barrel.”
CNBC noted, “The Dow and Nasdaq fell around 2% each last week, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5% as the Iran conflict continued to drag down markets. For the Dow, it was the first four-week losing streak since 2023.”
2. Healthcare keeping U.S. economy afloat
Forget the AI hype and the data-center boom, the Wall Street Journal reports. “What’s keeping the jobs market afloat these days is Grandma and Grandpa.”
“The recent numbers tell a lopsided story. Over the past year, the U.S. has added 156,000 jobs—but healthcare alone was responsible for 375,000 new jobs. Strip out the medical sector, and the rest of the American economy is actually losing jobs,” WSJ reported. “That fragility was laid bare in February when a drop in healthcare hiring helped tip total employment into the red, shattering any illusion of broad-based growth. The dip was distorted by labor strikes, but it raises an important question: Can healthcare keep the economy healthy?”
“That question matters more than ever as tariffs, surging energy prices and the threat of artificial intelligence bear down on the broader economy. Healthcare is a bulwark against all three,” WSJ added.
Magnolia Tribune
