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Edit Reason: Added Russian Reaction to Trump's Plan to Take Cuba
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MIDDLE EAST WAR
Quote:Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Micheál Martin addressed how Europeans are perceiving the United States war on Iran as Operation Epic Fury enters its third week.
“From the Irish perspective, we prefer peaceful resolution of conflict, if that’s possible, and we ultimately believe in diplomacy and dialogue,” he said.
Martin joined “Special Report” on Monday ahead of his St. Patrick’s Day meeting with President Donald Trump, where he discussed international perceptions of the U.S.-Iran conflict and Ireland’s relationship with the United States.
The prime minister agreed with Trump’s position that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon but diverged from the U.S. on its tactics for achieving that objective.
“Everyone has acknowledged that you cannot have a rogue state like Iran getting control of nuclear weapons,” Martin asserted. “And it was a very, very repressive regime.”
Martin noted Ireland’s longstanding diplomatic approach, referencing the lessons the country learned from the 30-year conflict known as “The Troubles” between Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists.
“We had war ourselves on the island of Ireland,” he told Fox News. “It was a terrible 30-year conflict, and we learned a lot in terms of how to resolve conflict.”
The Taoiseach also pushed back on critics who say Ireland’s relationship with the United States has grown strained.
“We come with mutual respect. We don’t agree on everything, of course,” he said. “And I think that once we have that mutual respect and so forth, I think the relationship will continue to grow. I mean, there’s 35 million people in America who claim Irish-American descent.”
A peaceful resolution?
Like what exactly? Letting Iran bomb an embassy in their country? 
Quote:WASHINGTON — Could it have been the 45th?
President Trump’s Monday claim that he spoke with one of his predecessors who regretted not attacking Iran stoked continued intrigue on Tuesday after spokespeople for all living ex-presidents denied contact.
“Look, for 47 years, no president was willing to do what I’m doing, and they should have done it a long time ago,” Trump said during a Monday afternoon meeting of the Trump-Kennedy Center board.
“And yet every president knew. I’ve spoken to a certain president, who I like, actually, a past president, a former president. He said, ‘I wish I did it, I wish I did,’ but they didn’t do it. I’m doing it.”
Taken at face value, Trump’s statement left only four options: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Context clues hinted heavily that it was Clinton.
Reporters asked Trump for a name immediately, but Trump said: “I can’t tell you that. I don’t want to embarrass him. It would be very bad for his career, even though he’s got no career.”
Trump later said in the Oval Office that it wasn’t Bush.
Asked if it was Clinton, Trump said, “I don’t want to say. I don’t want to say.”
“It’s somebody that happens to like me. And I like that person, who’s a smart person. But that person said, ‘I wish I did it,’ OK, but I don’t want to get into who, OK. I don’t want to get them into trouble,” Trump said.
The president’s declaration that it was a “smart” person ruled out Biden — whom Trump has derided as mentally incompetent, including going so far as putting an image of an autopen in place of his face along the White House colonnade.
Trump’s remark that he likes the ex-president also is notable.
Trump has accused Obama of leading shadowy efforts to undermine his presidency, including the distracting first-term probe into whether he conspired with Russia in the 2016 election.
Trump accused Obama of “treason” and sedition last year, saying, “Obama led, was trying to lead a coup.” Trump accused Obama of leaking “classified information” last month — a crime — by saying aliens were real.
Clinton too has found himself Trump’s target, with the Republican inviting four women who had accused the Democrat of sexual misconduct to a 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton, where Trump declared: “There’s never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that’s been so abusive toward women.”
Trump more recently expressed fonder feelings for Bill Clinton, who was forced to sit for a congressional deposition after new revelations about his ties to the late sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Trump also was formerly friends.
Quote:President Trump put NATO allies on notice Tuesday after they shunned his request for assistance in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international shipping.
Trump, both publicly and on social media, lashed out at European allies – including France and the UK – for their refusal to help and implied their defiance would have broader repercussions for the entire alliance.
“It’s certainly something that we should think about,” he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would remove the United States from NATO. “I don’t need Congress for that decision, as you probably know, I can make that decision myself.”
The president has never been a fan of the Cold War era alliance, complaining, since his first term in office, that its members don’t pay an equitable share of dues and are too dependent on the U.S. for protection.
“I’m very disappointed in NATO, very disappointed,” he said. “We spend trillions of dollars on NATO. Think of it, trillions over the years, many trillions of dollars. It’s one of the reasons we have deficits.”
The US is the largest financial contributor to the alliance, estimated at approximately $980 billion in 2025, accounting for 65% of its defense budget.
While vocal in his response, it’s unclear if Trump will confront the allies in person. The White House wouldn’t say if he plans on attending the next NATO meeting, which is will be held in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7–8.
Trump has been burning up the phone lines trying to get European countries to commit military hardware to keep Hormuz open for transporting oil. Specifically he’s seeking minesweepers to search the narrow strait for bombs and destroyers to protect transport ships.
But the response he received was a resounding no. And he expressed his anger about it.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation,” the president wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
“We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” he said of the Atlantic alliance.
He then pivoted to a defiant stance, saying the United States doesn’t need any help.
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!,” he wrote. “Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
Quote:Even the dead aren’t immune to the oil shortage sparked by the Iran war.
Gas-based cremations are now being halted in parts of several predominantly Buddhist and Hindi countries because of worsening fuel shortages triggered by the ongoing conflict, according to reports.
The largest crematorium in India’s state of Maharashtra was forced to temporarily stop all gas-fired cremations because of the scarcity of fuel, India Now magazine reported.
Vaikunth Dham, located in the city of Pune, relies on three gas-fired furnaces to carry out its sacred funeral services.
The facility said it will rely on electric and wood-based cremations moving forward.
It currently only has enough liquefied petroleum gas to carry out two more cremations — a stark drop from the 20 it averages per day.
Meanwhile, a Buddhist temple in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province — Wat Saman Rattanaram — warned it may soon have to halt services, too, amid the scramble to obtain diesel needed to conduct the religious ceremonies.
“In more than 50 years, I’ve never seen anything like this,” the temple’s abbot, Phra Ratchwachiraprachanart, told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
“It’s not just us. Many temples are facing this same problem.”
The temple, which is located 50 miles east of Bangkok, only had about 53 gallons of fuel left as of Tuesday — enough for just two cremations.
The escalating Iran war has been pushing parts of the world into energy triage, with governments forced to decide where to cut demand or absorb higher costs as they prioritize dwindling supplies.
Asia is among the most hard hit given it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of which is shipped through the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz.
Even so many nations refused to send battleships and minesweepers to the Strait of Hormuz.
Quote:The US military dropped 5,000-pound bunker buster bombs on underground Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, according to authorities.
The massive attack announced by US Central Command came as the war with Iran had staunched the flow of shipping through the vital Persian Gulf waterway.
“Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” the regional command said on X around 7 p.m. EST.
“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” CENTCOM added.
A US official told CNN that the munitions were the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator, an explosive first released by US aircraft in 2021.
The massive bomb was developed to “overcome hardened, deeply buried target challenges and designed for both fighter and bomber aircraft,” according to a US Air Force press release from 2021.
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed by an Iranian blockade using mines, drones and ships, halting 27% of global maritime energy and causing oil prices to surge above $100 per barrel.
Trump, both publicly and on social media, has lashed out at European allies — including France and the UK — for their refusal to help reopen the crucial waterway.
The US will “continue to rapidly deplete Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a video statement on Monday.
“Our progress remains steady, and we remain vigilant against the enemy,” Cooper continued.
Quote:The US embassy in Baghdad came under assault from a barrage of rockets and drones early Tuesday in an attack described as one of the most intense on Iraq since the war broke out.
Two drones were shot down by the C-RAM defense system while a third hit a building within the embassy’s compound — sending fire and huge plumes of smoke rising, witnesses said.
Footage, seen by CNN, showed air defense systems intercepting what looks like a drone over Baghdad.
The drone was intercepted before an explosion erupted – located around 1,000 meters from the US embassy.
“There it is, there it is,” a voice is heard saying in the video as the drone was intercepted.
“It hit, it hit, it hit, it hit. What is that? A flying drone?”
A drone hit the Al Rasheed Hotel located in Baghdad’s Green Zone – a highly fortified area that is home to the embassy and other government buildings, Al Jazeera reported.
Foreign diplomats and oil company employees often visit the hotel.
Security forces were deployed and armored vehicles blocked access to the Green Zone following the strike.
Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, quickly condemned the attacks.
He vowed the authorities would “hunt down the perpetrators of these acts and bring them to justice immediately.”
“These criminal acts have serious repercussions for our country and undermine the government’s efforts toward reconstruction and prosperity,” his spokesperson said.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned Tuesday — wildly claiming in his resignation letter that President Trump was duped into launching the war against Iran by Israel and media figures.
Kent, an Army veteran and two-time Republican congressional candidate, posted his resignation letter on X, writing: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.”
“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote.
Kent, whose wife Shannon died in a Jan. 16, 2019, ISIS suicide bombing while stationed in Syria, was well-liked by Vice President JD Vance and was one of the most prominent members of the war-wary faction of Trump’s base.
Before entering the Trump administration, Kent built a national following through widely watched interviews with fellow anti-interventionists Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson — before serving as a key deputy to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, another long-time skeptic of Mideast wars.
Trump called Kent’s departure “a good thing.”
“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Carlson, a booster of Kent’s earlier congressional bids and his friend, praised Kent’s principles.
“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Carlson told the New York Times. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will now try to destroy him for that. He understands that and did it anyway.”
His resignation brought mixed reactions inside the White House. One source close to the Trump administration claimed “most people” were “saying good riddance.”
Quote:A former top White House official suggested Tuesday that Joe Kent – the intelligence official who resigned in protest of the Iran war – was already on the chopping block before he posted his resignation letter on social media.
“Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work,” President Trump’s former deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich wrote on X.
“He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States,” Budowich alleged.
“This isn’t some principled resignation — he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned,” the former White House official charged. “What a loser.”
Budowich did not specify what Kent allegedly was involved in leaking.
Kent, an Army veteran and two-time Republican congressional candidate, posted his resignation letter on X, writing: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.”
“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote.
Kent served as a key deputy to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who last year said she referred three individuals to the Justice Department for prosecution related to alleged leaks.
His wife Shannon died in a Jan. 16, 2019, ISIS suicide bombing while stationed in Syria.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance rebuffed a reporter’s question Monday about his views on President Trump’s foreign military interventions — saying the journalist was “trying to drive a wedge” between himself and Trump on the Iran war.
“You’re trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president,” Vance told RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann during an Oval Office event where the VP was put in charge of a new fraud task force.
“What the president said consistently, going back to 2015 — and I agreed with him — is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.”
When Wegmann pressed Vance on his prior positions, the VP, who reportedly voiced skepticism ahead of the Iran conflict, said his support for the ongoing war stems from his trust in Trump.
“Well, I think one big difference, Phil, is that we have a smart president, whereas in the past, we’ve had dumb presidents,” Vance said.
“And I trust President Trump can get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated, absolutely.”
Trump, who like Vance ran for office condemning his predecessors’ Mideast interventions, added, “I don’t want wars. I want wars less than almost anybody — peace through strength.”
“But you know what?” the president said. “I’ve watched Iran for a long time…. They’re violent, vicious people, the leadership.”
“Do you think they should have a nuclear weapon, which is massive power? I don’t even want to discuss how powerful, because it’s depressing,” Trump said.
Trump said that “naive people” weren’t concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, which is the most-stated reason for the airstrikes that began on Feb. 28.
“If you believe that Iran should have a nuclear weapon, there’s something wrong with you, because they would use it,” he went on. “The only question is, within one hour, if they get it, or one day?”
Quote:President Trump speculated at length Monday about the fate of Mojtaba Khamenei, pointing out that no one has seen him in public even as a new recording indicated the Iranian supreme leader initially survived the bombing that killed his father last month.
“A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg, one leg, and he’s been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he’s dead,” Trump told reporters in the White House East Room.
Mojtaba Khamenei made his first statement Thursday since being named to replace his late father four days earlier, on March 8 — but the message was read out by an anchor on Iranian state TV and there have been no confirmed sightings of the new supreme leader since his appointment.
“We haven’t seen” him “at all,” Trump pointed out Monday before admitting that US officials don’t know “if he’s dead or not. Nobody’s seen him, which is unusual.”
A new report, however, indicates the younger Khamenei survived the Israeli strike that killed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Mojtaba stepped outside the family compound to walk in the garden minutes before the blast.
The 56-year-old was in Tehran on the night of Feb. 28 when he stepped out “to do something,” The Telegraph reported.
While Mojtaba Khamenei was absent, Israel’s space-faring Blue Sparrow ballistic missiles hit the compound, killing Ali Khamenei along with and dozens of his senior officers and family members.
The Trump administration has not commented on the recording but has said repeatedly they believe the new leader is at least injured.
Khamenei “is wounded and likely disfigured,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed on Friday.
Iran has not given any details about Khamenei’s condition.
The audio reported by the Telegraph is from remarks delivered March 12 by Mazaher Hosseini, a top Iranian government official.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife and son were killed instantly in the Israeli strike and his brother-in-law was decapitated.
Much remains to be learned about the younger Khamenei, who is one of six children of the late ayatollah.
Quote:Israel has claimed to have killed Iran’s security chief responsible for suppressing protests in its latest airstrikes, as the regime launched a fresh crackdown on dissent in the Islamic Republic.
Israel’s military announced on Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that is responsible for suppressing protests in the country.
Soleimani, believed to be 61 or 62, was killed in an airstrike on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
It said he had acted as the Basij commander for six years, overseeing the Iranian regime’s suppression of dissent and mass arrests of protesters.
Iran has not confirmed the death of Soleimani, who would be one of the most senior Iranian officials to have been killed since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the early days of the war.
Security forces in Iran have arrested suspected collaborators with foreign governments, while threatening would-be protesters with death to try to quell an uprising.
Armed regime thugs on motorcycles have been spotted patrolling the streets in the capital Tehran, where residents rarely leave their homes at night for fear of attack, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The men, usually in plainclothes with their faces covered, have also set up security checkpoints across cities in Iran, routinely stopping and searching vehicles.
A shoot-to-kill order is in place, security officials have said in a chilling warning to would-be protesters via state television and text messages.
Regime opponents were warned they would face “a stronger blow than January 8,” in a text message sent to Iranian mobile-phone users by the Revolutionary Guard over the weekend.
That date was a reference to the recent mass killings of protesters in Iran, which cracked down on widespread unrest at the start of the year.
At least 500 people have been arrested in Iran since the start of the war on Feb. 28, accused of sharing information with international media or enemy forces, the commander of Iran’s police force, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said on Sunday.
According to sources like Al Jazeera, a very extremist Middle Eastern news outlet, both Soleimani are not related at all except for the fact that they did work for the IRGC.
Quote:Iranians are celebrating news that Tehran’s de facto leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday.
Parmida Hoseinpour, an Iranian influencer, was among the many cheering after the Israeli military said it killed Ali Larijani, 67, head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
Hoseinpour said she was glad to hear Larijani’s name among the dead in the wake of the slow trickle of deaths confirmed during Tehran’s brutal crackdown in January, which human rights groups estimate killed more than 7,000 people.
“For three months, the names of our ‘Javids’ (our fallen/eternal ones) kept coming out. Now your names are coming out. Burn,” Hoseinpour said on Instagram.
The streets of Tehran’s Chitgar neighborhood were filled with residents celebrating reports of Larijani’s death on Tuesday, according to the London-based Iran International outlet.
Video taken from the area captured the cheers from residents in a high-rise building, though the people were kept out of view over fears of retaliation from Tehran’s security forces, according to the outlet.
The celebrations come as anti-regime protests are expected to break out on Wednesday as part of the Chaharshanbe Suri fire festival, which is held before Persian New Year’s.
Larijani was largely seen as the de facto ruler of Iran following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the security chief tasked with advising the supreme leader on the nuclear talks with the US.
He was one of 10 Islamic Republic officials who had a $10 million bounty placed on their heads on Friday by the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.
Quote:Iran’s rulers have unleashed a brutal crackdown of arrests and death threats against would-be protestors in a desperate bid to curb an uprising, according to reports.
Despite the weakening of Iranian police, the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Basij militia by US and Israeli strikes — including Israel’s killing of the head of the Basij, Gholamreza Soleimani — security forces are still suppressing domestic dissent, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Armed plainclothes men with covered faces have been riding around on motorcycles, wielding their weapons to intimidate Iranians, and have set up a network of security checkpoints in Tehran to search cars, the outlet reported.
At least 500 people have been arrested since the start of the war and have been accused of sharing information with the media or enemy forces, the Commander of Iran’s police force, Ahmad-Reza Radan, announced on Sunday, per the outlet.
Several people were detained for simply taking photos and videos of airstrikes in the region. Police have also killed at least 11 people after they were accused of being monarchists — or supporters of the exiled son of Iran’s last shah.
Security officials have been threatening would-be protesters through terrifying television broadcasts and text messages, ordering that there is a shoot-to-kill order for any dissent, the outlet said.
One text message reviewed by the Journal and sent by the Revolutionary Guard over the weekend warned that rioters could face a “stronger blow than January 8,” in reference to mass killings of protesters in the Islamic state before the war broke out.
A continued near-total internet blackout has complicated communication and mobilization of protests. Many residents of Tehran are terrified to leave their homes due to the heavy security presence and possible persecution, the outlet reported.
In a video statement, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that targeted strikes on terror operatives have taken place to “enable the brave people of Iran” to celebrate the “Festival of Fire,” which is a celebration on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.
“I’m here with Israel’s Defense Minister, our Chief of Staff, the head of the Mossad, the Chief of Air Force, our senior commanders. In the past 24 hours, we knocked out two of the terrorist chieftains, the top terrorist chieftains of this tyranny,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday from the Air Force command center at the Kirya.
Quote:A fuel tank at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates was struck by an Iranian drone attack on Monday morning, temporarily halting flights as plumes of smoke poured from the site.
Dramatic video shows thick black smoke emanating from an enormous fire following the attack on a fuel tank at the Middle Eastern transit hub.
The airport, which is one of the busiest in the world, was forced to suspend flights briefly.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze, and there were no injuries reported as flights resumed a few hours later.
The attack is the third to hit Dubai’s airport since the start of the most recent conflict in the Middle East on Feb. 28, as Iran continues to strike civilian infrastructure in its Gulf neighbors and Israel.
A separate Iranian drone attack on Monday hit the Government Media Office in Umm Al Quwain, roughly 30 miles north of Dubai, triggering a fire.
The UAE Defense Ministry says it responded to six ballistic missiles and 21 drones on Monday.
Since the start of the conflict, seven people — including five civilians — have been killed in the UAE and 145 have been injured, according to official figures from the Defense Ministry.
Iran has sent 304 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,627 drones to the UAE since Feb. 28, the Defense Ministry said in an update Monday.
It comes as Israel said it would keep hitting Iran for “as long as needed,” as the conflict enters its 17th day.
Iran’s foreign minister said Monday that the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial chokepoint in the Persian Gulf, was “closed to our enemies” amid ongoing uncertainty over oil prices.
“After 15 days of war, they have resorted to others to ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz, turning to those they considered enemies until yesterday,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, referring to the US and Israel, as reported by Al Jazeera.
“They are asking other countries to come and help them so that the strait remains open. From our perspective, the strait is open, but it is closed to our enemies, closed to those who carried out this cowardly aggression against us and to their allies,” he said.
Araghchi previously boasted that Iran is receiving “military cooperation” from China and Russia.
Quote:The Israeli Air Force said Monday that it had destroyed a plane belonging to Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that the Jewish state claimed was used to convey messages and coordinate with the Islamic Republic’s terror proxies.
In a Hebrew-language statement on X, the IAF said the jet was destroyed in an attack on Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
“[T]he plane was used by Ali Khamenei, leader of the Iranian terror regime, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military, to advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights,” the military branch said.
“The destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime’s rehabilitation capability.
Thus, another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime.”
The phrase “Axis” refers to Iran’s Axis of Resistance, which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and several terror groups in Iraq.
The plane strike took place amid fevered speculation about the health status of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been severely wounded in the Feb. 28 Israeli strike that killed his father and other family members.
Monday’s attack was confirmed one day after a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN the military was planning for three more weeks of combat operations against Iran — with “deeper plans” for another three weeks beyond that, if deemed necessary.
“We have thousand of targets ahead,” Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said told the outlet. “We are ready, in coordination with our US allies, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now [ending at sundown April 9]. And we have deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that.”
The joint US-Israel campaign against Iran entered its third week on Saturday, and Defrin’s comment would extend the war beyond the initial estimation of “four weeks or so” put forward by President Trump March 1.
Israel, the IDF spokesperson insisted, is “not working according to a stopwatch, or a timetable, but rather to achieve our goals” — including “weaken the Iranian regime severely.”
As of Monday morning, the US military had flown more than 6,000 combat flights and destroyed more than 100 Iranian naval vessels.
In a major bombardment Friday night, America destroyed more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, including storage bunkers for mines and missiles used to block shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Quote:Israel’s military has launched a fresh wave of “limited and targeted” ground operations against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, officials reported Monday.
“This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area,” the Israel Defense Forces posted on X.
The operations are also designed to create an “additional layer” of security for residents in northern Israel, according to the IDF, which also said it was carrying out airstrikes in a bid to “remove threats” posed by Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israeli soldiers are in “new locations” they were not operating in Sunday, military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said, while the Jewish state’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the ground invasion would continue until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to those living in northern Israel.
Katz previously warned Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” and that Israeli forces would destroy infrastructure used by the terror group if it did not disarm.
Monday’s attack comes after Israeli troops killed Hezbollah officials in a raid on Saturday night, according to the Times of Israel.
Senior Israeli officials had alluded to the prospect of a ground invasion in Lebanon for several days – with the mission likened to operations against Hamas in Gaza.
“We are going to do what we did in Gaza,” one senior official told Axios in a report published Friday.
“The goal is to take over territory, push Hezbollah’s forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages.”
Quote:BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Two players from the Iranian women’s soccer team have joined a practice session with a professional club in Brisbane in their first publicly shared appearance since it emerged they had been granted asylum in Australia.
Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh were pictured smiling and wearing the club’s colors as they posed alongside a women’s elite squad in photos posted to Instagram by the Brisbane Roar on Monday.
The update came as the rest of Iran’s soccer delegation left Malaysia bound for Oman, apparently capping a tumultuous episode that saw Australia’s government offering most of the squad humanitarian visas after the team was knocked out of the Women’s Asian Cup.
Seven women initially accepted the asylum offer before five changed their minds and said they would return to Iran.
Brisbane Roar, which plays in Australia’s elite A-League Women’s domestic competition, posted a welcome to “Fatemeh and Atefeh” on Instagram, along with an emoji of a lioness, a nod to the name the Iranian players are known by.
“We remain committed to providing a supportive environment for them whilst they navigate the next stages,” Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta wrote.
Both women left comments on the post. “Thank you for everything,” Ramezanisadeh wrote.
The club declined further comment and referred all questions to Australia’s Department of Home Affairs. The Roar last week offered the women “a place to train, play and belong” in a statement on social media.
They have been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving assistance from the government, officials have said. They have not given interviews, but Pasandideh posted to Instagram Monday a photo of herself and FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis, overlaid with the words, “Everything will be fine.”
Teammates head home
Iran’s squad had arrived in Australia for the women’s continental championship shortly before the Iran war began on Feb. 28. They drew global attention after some players stayed silent during Iran’s national anthem before their first game.
The silence was cast as an act of resistance or protest by some commentators and a show of mourning by others. The players didn’t publicly disclose their views or explain their actions and sang the anthem before their next two matches.
When the team was knocked out of the tournament and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment, calls grew for Australia’s government to offer the women asylum. Iranian groups in Australia and the United States, including President Donald Trump, were among those who expressed fears for the women’s safety, with some citing remarks by Mohammad Reza Shahbazi, a hardline sports commentator in Iran, who on television referred to the women as “wartime traitors” because they didn’t sing the anthem.
...
It follows a chaotic asylum saga
Australian officials publicly divulged details of their asylum offers to the women before the Iranian delegation left Australia, which included private airport meetings with each woman without team minders present.
A total of six players and one team staffer at first accepted humanitarian visas and guarantees of permanent residence in Australia, while their teammates departed Sydney for Kuala Lumpur on March 10.
Over the next few days, however, five of those who accepted asylum offers changed their minds and flew to join their teammates in Malaysia.
No reasons have been given publicly for the reversals, though Australian news outlets reported that local Iranian groups had suggested the women had faced pressure from Tehran.
The remaining squad flew from Kuala Lumpur to Oman on Monday night. The Asian Football Confederation’s General Secretary Windsor John told The Associated Press the team’s departure was arranged by the Iranian embassy.
Asked if the Confederation was satisfied that the women would be safe in Iran, Windsor said his organization and FIFA would check on them regularly through the Iranian football federation “as they are our girls as well.”
USA
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Monday afternoon formally creating a benefits-fraud task force chaired by Vice President JD Vance as part of his state-focused “war on fraud.”
Vance joined Trump in the Oval Office for the event, the details of which were first reported ahead of time by The Post.
“It seems that it’s usually in blue states. If it’s in a red state, we’re going there too,” said Trump, focusing his ire on the social-services scandal in Minnesota.
Trump joked that Vance would fulfill his fraud-czar duties with greater zeal than former Vice President Kamala Harris embraced her role as President Biden’s border czar.
“This will not be like a Kamala where she was put in charge of the border and she never went there. JD, right, you promise?” the president said, with Vance agreeing.
A document describing the order said that, in addition to Minnesota, “there is strong reason to believe similar vulnerabilities exist in California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, where insufficient safeguards and weak oversight increase the risk of large-scale fraud.”
“We know California is many times worse, but Minnesota is terrible,” Trump said.
“They’re all terrible. Those cities are terrible. New York is terrible. What’s going on in Chicago, Illinois, with that slob of a governor, is terrible.”
Vance spoke about fraud in Minnesota, including phony autism care at facilities run by Somali-American immigrants.
“Unfortunately, that kind of fraud is one example of probably hundreds just within the state of Minneapolis, and then it’s repeated and replayed all over the United States of America,” Vance said.
The Trump administration estimates fraud in Minnesota alone at $19 billion, with dozens charged criminally. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz expressed regrets during a recent congressional hearing and noted that he has accepted responsibility by ending his re-election campaign.
“We started to figure out one big hole that existed is that the agencies of the government weren’t actually talking to each other,” Vance said.
“So Treasury would have evidence of financial fraud but wasn’t talking to the Department of Justice about it. Health and Human Services had evidence of Medicaid fraud but wasn’t talking to the Department of Treasury about it.”
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson will assist Vance as vice chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and White House aide Stephen Miller will serve as senior adviser. Cabinet members will participate as necessary.
The EO instructs the task force to develop a comprehensive national strategy against fraud impacting programs administered with state and local governments to provide housing, food, medical and financial assistance.
Quote:A Mauritanian illegal immigrant marked for deportation since 2002 has continued to live in the US and is a registered Democrat who voted in every election since 2008, authorities claim.
Mahady Sacko, 50, who goes by the nickname “Sacko Scorpion,” was busted last week in Philadelphia for allegedly falsely claiming citizenship to cast a 2024 ballot.
He was picked up in a joint operation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI who charge he “falsely represented that he was a US citizen in order to vote and register to vote” in the last preidential election, according to a press release.
Sacko denied the charges when called by The Post, claiming: “Everything is a lie! They are lying about me!” before hanging up. He has yet to enter a plea in his case.
As the issue of election security ramps up in Congress with the SAVE act, Sacko’s arrest was one of nearly a dozen uncovered by The Post of non-citizens allegedly voting in US elections, sometimes for decades, with many remaining listed as active voters on state rolls, even after their convictions.
“The reality is aliens are voting in American elections,” J. Christian Adams, president of Public Interest Legal Foundation, who has spent decades working on election integrity told The Post, noting no one is quite sure how widespread the problem is.
There were about 14 million people who are in the country legally but who are not citizens in 2023, according to the Pew Research center. While they may have work permits and visas, they can’t vote.
“It’s way worse than the left says, but it’s way better than some others say,” he added.
Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, stands out for disastrous alien voter registration, said Adams. The Keystone State has admitted a glitch in its “motor voter” program, which registers voters at the DMV, inadvertently has allowed approximately 100,000 non-citizens to register to vote, though some state officials dispute this number.
Another Pennsylvania voter, Indian citizen Kaushalkumar Patel, 47, of Allentown will stand trial this month for allegedly voting illegally in the 2020 election in Penn.
Quote:President Trump said he was “so thrilled” by Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr’s threat to revoke the licenses of broadcasters that peddle “hoaxes and distortions” related to the Iran war.
Trump ripped outlets that distribute AI-generated content created by the Tehran regime, which he labeled the “master of media manipulation and public relations.”
He said Iran uses artificial intelligence as a “disinformation weapon” to convey an impression of military might when it has sustained heavy losses.
“They showed phony ‘Kamikaze Boats,’ shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful and powerful, and vicious, but these Boats don’t exist,” he wrote on Truth Social Sunday..
“It’s all false information to show how ‘tough’ their already defeated Military is.”
Trump bashed outlets he described as the “radical leftwing press” that share such content.
“They have no credibility!” he said.
“I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”
Carr warned that outlets running what he described as “hoaxes and news distortions” must change course before their licenses are up for renewal.
Broadcasters have their licenses renewed every eight years.
“The law is clear,” Carr wrote on X Saturday. “Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.
“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves.
“It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
Carr warned broadcasters that licenses are not a “property right,” but FCC chiefs haven’t denied licenses since the 1980s.
“People have gotten used to the idea that, you know, licenses are some sort of property right, and there’s nothing you can do that can result in losing their license,” he told CBS News the same day.
“I try to sort of help reorient people that, no, there is a public interest, and broadcast is different.”
Carr’s warning came after Trump played down reports that five US Air Force tankers were severely damaged by Iranian strikes at a Saudi Arabia airport.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump revealed Monday that Rep. Neal Dunn’s (R-Fla.) life was in danger due to a heart ailment, but that he made a miraculous recovery after the president deployed doctors to save both his life and the already slim House Republican majority.
“He would be dead by June,” Trump said during an event in the White House East Room.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) seemed stunned by the president’s candor, remarking: “OK, that wasn’t public, but, yeah, OK, it was grim.”
The story emerged from a Trump-Kennedy Center meeting as the president praised Johnson for his prowess in navigating the tiny Republican majority, which currently stands at four seats.
“Death is very bad when you’re the speaker, and you have a majority of two or three. But we had it, and then we had another death,” Trump said.
“We had one man who was very ill. It looked like he wasn’t going to make it. I don’t know. I don’t I won’t mention his name.”
Johnson then identified the man as Dunn, 73, who represents part of the Florida panhandle, including Tallahassee.
“Congressman Neil Dunn of Florida had had some real health challenges, and it was very serious,” the House speaker said. “And I mentioned it to the president, and I said, ‘Congressman Dunn is a real champion and a patriot, because he’s still coming to work, and if others got this diagnosis, they would be apt to go home and retire.’”
“What was the diagnosis?” Trump asked.
Johnson replied, “I think it was a terminal diagnosis,” leading Trump to chime in with the “dead by June” comment.
After the speaker chided the president about the non-public information, Johnson said: “Long story short, the president called him to encourage him and thank him. And the president mentioned in the course of conversation, ‘You know, I ought to get my doctors involved.’ And they did, and within a number of hours, they took him to Walter Reed, emergency surgery.”
“[Johnson] called to say that he was terminal, really bad heart, there’s nothing they can do,” Trump continued the story. “I said, ‘That’s bad.’ Number one, it was bad because I liked him. Number two, it was bad because I needed his vote.
“And then I realized I have doctors in the White House, and White House doctors are incredible and they’ve helped me with other people. They’re helping me with people right now, people that are very sick — like, they’re miracle workers,” he said.
“And I said, ‘I have to call them.’ And I called the two doctors, they’re both great, and they immediately went over to see the congressman, and he was on the operating table like two hours later, and it was a long operation.”
Quote:Investigators searching for Nancy Guthrie are reportedly zeroing in on evidence from two specific dates in the days before she vanished – suggesting her kidnappers may have been casing out her Arizona home for weeks before the crime.
The FBI has been asking the 84-year-old’s Tucson neighbors for any home security footage that may have from Jan. 11 and Jan. 24, NewNation’s Brian Entin reported.
Agents were adamant about those dates as spoke with neighbors about the disappearance, and even watched over shoulders as the neighbors scanned through their archives for the footage, according to Entin.
Nancy vanished from her home on Feb. 1 – with investigators’ interest in Jan. 11 and 24 suggesting her captors may have been in the neighborhood at least twice before the kidnapping.
The news also suggests that the FBI is retracing the steps of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is accused of botching the investigation.
Nancy – mother of “TODAY” show host Savannah Guthrie — has been missing for six weeks, with next to no known breaks in the case so far or indication that police are any closer to finding her than they were the day she vanished.
The strongest lead came from Nancy’s own home NEST security footage, which captured a masked man carrying a pistol while trying to break into her house on the night she vanished.
But nobody has been identified as that suspect. Several people were detained, but each was cut loose after questioning.
And that footage had to be wrestled from the bowels of Google’s databases, because Nancy had not paid the subscription for her Nest camera system.
Other neighbors have also released their own home security footage, with clips from the night Nancy disappeared showing various cars prowling the dark neighborhood streets.
And other clips from the surrounding miles in the preceding days have captured various people apparently attempting to break into homes, though it remains unclear whether any of them have to do with Nancy’s case.
Nancy was last seen after having dinner with her daughter and son-in-law, who dropped her off at home and watched her safely enter the house.
But she failed to arrive at a friend’s house to watch their church’s livestream the next day, and police were quickly notified.
Signs of a struggle were found at her home, while drops of blood were found splattered across her front steps.
The suspect footage – and her pacemaker disconnecting from her phone, which was left behind – suggested Nancy was taken some time soon after 2 a.m.
Quote:A massive blaze broke out in a Manhattan skyscraper Tuesday morning — close to the start of New York City’s St Patrick’s Day Parade, authorities said.
First responders rushed to the building near East 43rd Street and Madison Ave. just before 10 a.m.
Huge plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing from the building’s rooftop as sirens billowed out, footage shared by the FDNY showed.
Other clips shared on social media captured flames spouting from the top of the high-rise.
The inferno was sparked by a fire in the building’s air conditioning unit, police said.
Fire crews were able to knock out the flames before 11 a.m., when the parade kicked off.
No injuries were reported, according to cops.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the building was occupied at the time, but reports suggested it was under construction.
The city’s official emergency notification system warned of traffic delays, road closures, and mass transit disruptions as a result of the inferno.
Other clips shared on social media captured flames spouting from the top of the high-rise.
The city’s official emergency notification system warned of traffic delays, road closures, and mass transit disruptions as a result of the inferno.
The flames were put out shortly before 11, when the parade was set to kick off.
Kentucky mom of 2 ID’d as woman crushed to death by St. Patrick’s Day Parade float in freak accident
Quote:A world traveler mom of two was revealed as the woman tragically killed during a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kentucky on Saturday after she was dragged underneath a float and crushed to death in front of dozens of celebrants.
Joan Pannuti Pottinger, 50, was walking alongside a float filled with hay bales that was hitched to a gray pickup truck at the Louisville, Kentucky St. Patrick’s Day parade when her foot somehow got caught on the vehicle.
She was yanked underneath the float moments later. Horrified volunteers and parade-goers rushed to her aid as the entire procession slowed to a standstill.
Pottinger was later pronounced dead at the University of Louisville Hospital.
In the immediate aftermath of the freak accident, some spectators didn’t even realize someone had been injured.
David Gnamba, a food vendor at the parade, told NBC affiliate WAVE 3 that he watched as emergency responders hauled Pottinger away on a stretcher. He didn’t think he’d witnessed “something very serious” and was floored when word started spreading that someone had died.
“It does break my heart because that’s a person that lost their life … this is not news that we want to hear — as human beings, as vendors, as people, as partygoers,” Gnamba told the outlet.
Stephanie Youstra, a volunteer mascot, told the outlet that she had just wrapped up her part of the route when the floats behind her stopped moving. Rumors about the incomprehensible accident eventually made its way up to the front of the parade.
“My heart just goes out to anyone who was in that float, and all the people in that float, and the family. I just can’t imagine what they are all feeling,” Youstra said.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:The British leader urged allies to stay focused on Ukraine as he met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London and announced a new defense partnership, including UK support for an AI center in Kyiv.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that international attention must stay on Ukraine despite the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran.
"There's obviously a conflict in Iran going on, in the Middle East, but we can't lose focus on what's going on in Ukraine and the need for our support," Starmer said as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his residence and office, 10 Downing Street, in London.
Zelenskyy briefed Starmer on the latest developments inRussia's war in Ukraine, energy security, and ongoing diplomatic efforts with the United States and Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also joined the meeting and had separate discussions with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy announces major boost in Ukraine's drone production
Addressing lawmakers at the British Parliament after his meeting with Starmer, Zelenskyy said Ukraine can produce about 2,000 interceptor drones a day and can provide half that number to allies.
He also said Kyiv has already deployed more than 200 Ukrainian air‑defense specialists to the Middle East.
"These are military experts, experts who know how to help, how to defend against Shahed drones. Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait," he said.
The Ukrainian leader added that Kyiv is developing underwater and ocean‑capable drones.
New UK-Ukraine defense partnership
Downing Street also announced plans for a new UK-Ukraine defense and industrial partnership focused on the joint production and supply of drones and other military technologies.
As part of the agreement, the UK will put 500,000 pounds (€579,000 or $667,500) toward a new "AI center of excellence" in Kyiv. The center will comprise experts working to determine how the technology can best be used for a "battlefield advantage," No. 10 said.
"By deepening our defense partnerships, we are strengthening Ukraine's ability to defend itself from Russia's brutal, ongoing attacks, while ensuring the UK and our allies are better prepared to meet the threats of the future," Starmer said.
Zelenskyy's stop in London precedes a visit to Spain as European allies continue to promise unwavering support for Ukraine.
Quote:Closed Live Blog
Three Ukrainian nationals are facing espionage charges in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, a fresh round of public transport strikes has paralyzed traffic.
What you need to know
- A trio of Ukrainians stand accused of using tracking devices to spy on how things get delivered from the EU to Ukraine at Moscow's behest
- Public transport workers are striking for better pay and working conditions
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz is hosting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Berlin
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Post on Monday that Ukraine is ready to help President Trump counter Iran’s growing drone threat — even as other US partners hesitate.
“We reacted immediately,” Zelensky said, referring to his country jumping into action to offer to assist America in its battle against Iran’s oppressive dictatorship.
“Whenever it is possible for us to help defending civilians or US nationals, without second thought we sent our teams,’’ he added, saying Kyiv is eager to prove it is a dependable ally to Washington.
Zelensky’s comments come as Trump has been urging US allies to help defend the Mideast region’s critical Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows.
On Sunday, Trump called on countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to send ships alongside US forces to keep the strait open after Iran threatened commercial shipping.
While those nations hesitate to respond to Trump’s call, Ukraine has already dispatched teams of military experts to the Middle East to help analyze and counter Iranian drone attacks threatening America’s troops and bases — the kind of assaults Kyiv has endured for years in its war with Russia, Zelensky said.
A White House official, asked for comment by The Post on Monday on Ukraine’s assistance, referred to Trump’s Friday comments to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade in which he said, “We don’t need [Ukraine’s] help in drone defense.
Quote:WASHINGTON — This was a trainwreck.
A US Army general tasked with coordinating military support for war-torn Ukraine lost track of classified maps while traveling by train across Europe in the spring of 2024, according to a scathing watchdog report released last week.
Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, who helmed the Germany-based Security Assistance Group-Ukraine between December 2022 and August 2024, entrusted the maps to his staff while returning to Germany from a visit to Ukraine.
On April 4, 2024, Aguto’s party left the maps on a train in Poland, sparking a brief panic. The documents were recovered the following day when the train returned to Kyiv.
“I used [sic] these maps quite frequently, regardless of where I’m at, to brief officials on the status of what’s going on in Ukraine, which is my job,” Aguto was quoted as telling the Department of War Office of the Inspector General in its 56-page report.
Investigators also found that the maps were improperly packaged in an unsecured cylindrical tube because “the maps were too big to wrap and the map tube was too small.”
Aguto also ran afoul of a July 2022 order issued by then-US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink that stated only diplomatic couriers could bring classified material into the country.
When interviewed, Brink confirmed to Pentagon investigators that Aguto had to “abide by our security rules, which includes a particular way of handling classified material.”
Another unidentified military official said that Aguto “should have had them courier[ed] in, either by one of our own couriers … through the appropriate process or have the embassy team do that.”
Aguto took responsibility for the misplaced maps, though he pointed out to investigators that his staff “generally don’t let me carry my bags, let alone a map case.”
The general was also reported for appearing intoxicated during a meeting with Brink and then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 14, 2024.
The night before, during a dinner with a Ukrainian military official, Aguto downed some chacha, a type of Eastern European brandy that contains at least 40% alcohol by volume.
“As a general rule,” Aguto told investigators, “you start off the dinner with an alcoholic beverage, and then you drink through the night, or through the meal.”
PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT
Quote:The Taliban government said at least 400 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug treatment facility in Kabul. Pakistan denied the accusation, saying its armed forces struck military installations.
Afghanistan accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike that killed at least 400 people at a drug treatment hospital in Kabul late Monday.
Afghan officials said the strike hit the 2,000-bed rehabilitation facility at around 9 p.m. local time (1630 GMT), causing extensive damage and leaving hundreds wounded, in a major escalation of the weekslong cross-border fighting between the neighbors.
The deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, Hamdullah Fitrat, posted on X that the airstrike on the hospital killed at least 400 people, with hundreds more injured.
"Rescue teams are currently at the scene working to control the fire and recover the remaining bodies of the victims," Fitrat said.
Pakistan denies targeting hospital in Kabul
Pakistan denied targeting civilian infrastructure, saying its armed forces carried out "precision airstrikes" that aimed at "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul and eastern Nangarhar province. That is according to Attaullah Tarar, the country's information minister.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, also rejected the allegation, saying no hospital had been targeted in Kabul.
Over the weekend too, both sides traded blame. Pakistan claimed to have struck a "technical support infrastructure" in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province, while Taliban authorities said the attack hit a drug treatment facility and a fuel depot belonging to a private airline.
Meanwhile, the AFP news agency reported that its journalists at the scene counted at least 30 bodies as the wounded were taken to hospitals.
LATIN AMERICA
Quote:Iran is pressing FIFA to move its men's soccer World Cup matches out of the US, escalating a dispute that has spilled from politics into sport.
Iran is pushing to move its 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup matches out of the US.
Iran's football chief, Mehdi Taj, said the country was in talks with world football's governing body to relocate its games to Mexico, citing security concerns after remarks by US President Donald Trump.
"When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America," Taj said in comments posted on the Iranian Embassy's X account.
Trump warns of safety risks for players
The push follows comments by Trump last week on his Truth Social platform. He said that while Iranian players would be allowed to compete, he added it would not be "appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
Iran's sports minister has also previously suggested Iran could boycott this year's tournament altogether amid ongoing joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Starting on June, the World Cup will be staged across the US, Mexico and Canada, with Iran currently scheduled to play across US stadiums.
Under current plans, Iran's base camp would be in Tucson, Arizona, with its opening match against New Zealand set for the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
FIFA relocation unlikely, New Zealand execs say
New Zealand Football chief Andrew Pragnell told local media Tuesday he doubted FIFA would change the fixtures, while national coach Darren Bazeley said preparations remained unchanged.
"Right now, we're preparing as if we're playing Iran," he said. "They qualified. We were drawn against them. And until we're told otherwise, that's the match."
FIFA has not publicly commented on Iran's request to relocate matches.
Iranian football under the spotlight
The uncertainty adds to headlines surrounding Iranian football in recent weeks. Previously, five of the seven women players granted asylum in Australia during the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup reportedly chose to return to Iran.
Quote:The Cuban government said it is probing a "complete disconnection" of the nation's electrical system. It comes as the Trump administration blocks Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba.
The Cuban government on Monday announced that the Latin American island nation was subject to a nationwide blackout.
The Cuban Ministry for Energy and Mines said that there has been a "total disconnection" from the electricity grid.
"The causes are being investigated and protocols for restoration are beginning to be activated," the ministry posted on X.
Why is Cuba suffering blackouts?
Cuba has been suffering long blackouts as US President Donald Trump's administration blocks Venezuelan oil shipments to the island. Venezuela had been Cuba's top supplier of oil.
The US operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January was a significant blow to the Cuban government. Since then, Trump has backed acting President Delcy Rodriguez and oil deliveries to Cuba have been halted.
In addition, Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba. Mexico and Russia are two of Cuba's other oil suppliers.
On Friday, Cuba witnessed a violent demonstration amid power cuts and high food prices, with protesters ransacking a building belonging to the ruling Communist Party.
Cuba's president: Island hasn't received oil shipments in over three months
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Friday that Cuba had not received oil shipments in three months, and that the country is reliant on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants. Diaz-Canel also said Cuba has held talks with the US regarding its energy and economic crisis.
Just days after the talks began, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga told NBC News on Monday that Cuba plans to allow Cubans living abroad to invest and own businesses in Cuba. This policy shift would include Cubans living in the United States.
Trump has previously suggested that regime change in Cuba could be next after the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
The US president told journalists on Air Force One on Sunday that Cuba "wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do."
Quote:President Trump said Monday that he expects to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba,” days after the island’s communist government acknowledged it was in talks with the US.
Trump refused to say whether potential US intervention in Cuba would be more like Venezuela or Iran – while asserting he can do “anything I want with” the island, during remarks at the White House.
“I think Cuba’s seeing the end,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?
“I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba … that’s a big honor.”
“Taking Cuba,” Trump elaborated. “I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.
“They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
After Trump floated a “friendly takeover” last week, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed Friday that his government is in talks with the US.
Díaz-Canel described the talks as being aimed at “finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations.”
Trump cut off discounted Venezuelan oil shipments to the island after his Jan. 3 raid on Caracas that toppled Havana’s socialist ally, Nicolás Maduro.
The president also threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba.
The moves have created fuel shortages on the island that have caused widespread electricity blackouts.
Protesters denouncing communism have also taken the streets of Havana in recent days.
Several Cuba experts and Cuban American lawmakers believe the island’s communist government has never been in a weaker state.
Quote:Russia on Tuesday responded to President Donald Trump’s remarks about “taking” Cuba amid growing tensions between Washington and Havana.
Newsweek reached out to the State Department for comment via its press contact form.
...
How Did Russia Respond?
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it would continue to support Cuba amid Trump’s threats of a takeover, Reuters reported.
“Russia reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the government and fraternal people of Cuba,” the ministry said. "We strongly condemn attempts of gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation, and the use of illegal unilateral restrictive measures."
It said that “Liberty Island” is now facing “unprecedented challenges" that have come about as a "direct result of the long-term trade, economic, financial and, more recently, the U.S. energy embargo against Cuba.”
Russia has been an ally to Cuba for decades, dating back to the time of the Soviet Union. They continue to share close security and economic ties. The government's political position is a concern for Russia as a weakened Cuba could have implications for Russia's global policy in the Americas. Russia, which is already facing U.S. sanctions amid its Ukraine invasion, has said it would send oil to Cuba.
A January 22 report from the Jamestown Foundation found that Cuba's troubles could be problematic for Russian interests on the global stage.
"The fall of Cuba would be perceived by the Global South as final proof of the inability of Russia, China, or anyone else to function as an alternative center of power. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, everyone will understand a simple thing: engaging with ‘multipolarity’ is risky because it cannot protect its allies from American pressure," the report from fellow Sergey Sukhankin reads.
Russia lost an ally in South America when the U.S. arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Is Cuba a Communist Country?
Cuba is a communist country. It is led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Under his leadership, the island country adopted a new constitution reaffirming socialism. It said the “socialist system that this Constitution supports is irrevocable.” It also reaffirmed the one‑party system while recognizing some private property rights.
The country has seen some private sector expansion. On Monday, NBC News reported that Cuban nationals living abroad will be able to invest in businesses on the island, citing Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga.
Quote:March 17 (Reuters) - The charred remains of 27 people were found in Colombia after bombings near the border with Ecuador, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday as his Ecuadorean counterpart, Daniel Noboa, said his country bombed drug traffickers in its own territory.
Petro said Colombian security forces were not responsible but gave no further information about the bodies.
"I didn't give that order," Petro said on X after suggesting on Monday night that Ecuador had bombed Colombian territory.
Earlier on Tuesday, Noboa posted on X: "President Petro, your declarations are false, we are acting in our territory, not yours."
Noboa said the bombed locations were hideouts for mostly Colombian narco-terrorism groups. "We will continue to clean up and rebuild Ecuador," he added.
The Ecuadorean government did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the remains.
Ecuador launched operations on Sunday night against criminal gangs in four provinces, as well as the border, but has not reported on operations at the border.
Ecuador has said its anti-drug trafficking operations are supported by allied countries, including the United States.
Petro later reposted an image from Colombian state-run RTVC television it said showed one of the bombs - a dark green cylinder lying in foliage.
The social media exchanges were the latest friction between Noboa and Petro, who have also battled over tariffs.
Noboa raised duties on Colombian goods to 50% last month, claiming his neighbor was not doing enough to fight drug trafficking, and Colombia said it was considering a reciprocal measure.
Quote:March 17 (Reuters) - El Salvador's Congress on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment to allow for life sentences for charges including murder, rape, and terrorism, as the government of President Nayib Bukele continues its crackdown on the country's criminal gangs.
While Salvadoran courts previously handed down sentences exceeding 100 years, the law capped actual time served at 60 years.
The reform passed with the support of 59 lawmakers, with one lawmaker voting against.
“We will see who supports this reform and who will dare to argue that the constitution should continue to prohibit murderers and rapists from remaining in prison,” Bukele wrote on social media before Congress passed the amendment.
The constitutional amendment comes a week after a group of international lawyers said that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed during the country's controversial state of exception, which the government of President Nayib Bukele imposed four years ago.
The state of exception has allowed security forces to detain more than 90,000 people. Approximately 500 of those detainees have died in state custody.
Quote:SANTIAGO, March 17 (Reuters) - Chile's new right-wing government has begun deploying heavy machinery to dig trenches along its northern border with Peru, moving to deliver on President Jose Antonio Kast's campaign pledge to crack down on illegal migration and increase military presence at the border.
Kast, who took office last week, had promised during the campaign to install physical barriers at key border crossing points to stem unauthorized entries. On Monday, he inspected the start of the construction near the Chacalluta border post, where he said the measures were aimed at restoring state control.
"We want to use backhoe (trucks) to build a sovereign Chile that has been violated by illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and organized crime," Kast while inspecting the start of the works.
The president climbed onto one of the excavators during the visit and greeted military personnel stationed in the area.
Kast has said he intends to lead an "emergency government" focused on stabilizing public finances and tackling drug trafficking. Since taking office, he has issued several decrees tightening security along Chile's northern frontier.
Irregular crossings had brought more than 180,000 people into Chile in recent years, Kast said, arguing the new barriers were necessary to halt the flow.
Chile is widely considered one of Latin America's safest countries, according to U.N. data, though a rise in organized crime in recent years led to a wave of insecurity and an increase in homicides.
Human rights advocates and migrant groups have raised concerns about the government's hardline immigration agenda could endanger migrants.
"Migration policies must consider not only security but also fundamental principles such as due process, family unity, the best interests of the child, and respect for international human rights treaties," said Osvaldo Llinás Quintero, director Chile's Observatory of Migration Governance and Human Rights in an Instagram post.
AFRICA
Quote:Etienne Davignon, the only surviving suspect, is ordered to stand trial over war crimes tied to Patrice Lumumba's killing six decades ago. The case represents a historic moment in confronting Belgium's colonial past.
A Brussels court on Tuesday ruled that Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat, must stand trial over war crimes linked to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Davignon, a former European commissioner, was among ten Belgians accused by Lumumba's family of complicity in his murder. The other nine suspects have since died, leaving Davignon as the only surviving accused.
If convicted, he would be the first Belgian official in more than six decades to be held accountable for Lumumba's death.
A 'historic' ruling, Lumumba's grandson says
"Belgium is finally confronting its history," said Mehdi Lumumba.
Prosecutors said Davignon played a role in Lumumba's unlawful detention, transfer, and denial of an impartial trial. They added that Davignon subjected Lumumba to "humiliating and degrading treatment."
The defendant's lawyers denied all the charges and argued that the events occurred too long ago to be prosecuted.
Belgium reckons with decades-old colonial crime
Lumumba was 35 when he was killed.
He rose to power when Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960, but months later he was ousted and assassinated by Belgian-backed secessionist forces in Katanga. After his death, his body was dissolved in acid and never recovered.
At the time of the assassination, Davignon was a young diplomat involved in Congolese independence talks. He later became vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s.
Lumumba's family lawyer described Davignon as "a link in the chain" of what he called a "disastrous state-sponsored criminal enterprise."
The Brussels court went beyond prosecutors' requests and widened the scope of the trial to include Lumumba's allies Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, who were killed alongside him.
"It's a gigantic victory," said the family's lawyer Christophe Marchand. "No one believed when we first brought the case in 2011 that Belgium would seriously investigate this. It's very hard for a country to judge its own colonial crimes."
Quote:MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, March 16 (Reuters) - Multiple blasts on Monday struck Maiduguri city, capital of Nigeria's insurgency-hit northeastern state of Borno, with several people feared killed, the state governor and residents said.
Videos circulating online showed emergency responders at a Maiduguri hospital attending to injured people, some with torn and bloodied clothes. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.
Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum in a statement said the explosions had claimed victims and injured others, without elaborating or saying who was responsible.
"The act is utterly condemnable, barbaric, and inhumane,” said Zulum.
The first blast went off at a post office in the city centre and was immediately followed by another at the popular Monday market nearby, two security sources and three Maiduguri residents told Reuters.
The sources and residents said two more blasts hit the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and another struck the eastern neighbourhood of Kaleri, all in the early evening of Monday.
RESIDENTS SEE BODIES AFTER BLAST
The residents said they had seen dead bodies following the blast at the market. The number of casualties, or what caused the blasts, was not immediately clear.
Borno state police spokesperson Nahum Daso Kenneth said security operatives and emergency responders were deployed following reports of the blasts.
"Residents are advised to remain calm and avoid the area while assessments continue," he said.
The Nigerian military, in a statement earlier, said security forces had repelled attacks on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected Islamist insurgents in the early hours of Monday.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have carried out several attacks against army bases across Borno this month, killing several troops and seizing weapons.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
