5 things to know for March 26: Signal chat fallout, Gaza protests, Election order, Florida jobs, Alaska plane crash

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More than 10,000 firefighters, police and civil servants have been deployed to battle dozens of wildfires raging in South Korea. Fueled by dry air and strong winds, the blazes have killed at least 24 people, burned nearly 43,000 acres and destroyed a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Top national security officials faced questions from outraged Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday about a group chat on the messaging app Signal that revealed plans for a military strike in Yemen to a journalist. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe repeatedly denied that the chat contained classified information and then appeared to shift responsibility to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for determining such classification. Yet it was Hegseth’s texts that reportedly provided “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing.” Current and former defense officials said that such discussions would always be classified due to the potential risk to US service members. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in northern Gaza on Tuesday to denounce Hamas and call for an end to the war with Israel. It appeared to be the largest protest against the militant group since its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The demonstrations took place just two days after the death toll from the conflict hit 50,000 in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza killed eight more people, including five children, the Palestine Red Crescent said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that directs the Election Assistance Commission to demand proof of citizenship for voter registration — and withhold funding from states that don’t enforce the requirement for voters who register with the federal form. Republicans have long sought these changes to election practices, but critics say demanding proof of citizenship could disenfranchise poor and older voters and suppress votes. The order also instructed the Department of Homeland Security to give Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to state voter rolls so its team can search the data for foreign nationals. Florida’s efforts to crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants have presented a problem for businesses: not enough workers willing to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs. To fix the problem, the state’s legislature has advanced a bill that would loosen child labor laws. If passed, businesses would be able to hire children as young as 14 years old to work overnight shifts, even on school days. The bill would also eliminate working time restrictions on 14 and 15 year olds if they are home-schooled and end guaranteed meal breaks for 16 and 17 year olds.