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US women's hockey players crack jokes about men's team on Saturday Night Live after Trump controversy

Source: {'href': 'https://www.foxnews.com', 'title': 'Fox News'} Published: 2026-03-01 15:33:36

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. U.S. bobsled star Kaillie Humphries explains why she spoke out about the backlash players received for visiting the White House on ‘Fox News @ Night.' Players from the men's and women's Olympic gold-medal winning hockey teams appeared together on "Saturday Night Live" amid recent political controversy. The men's and women's players had been publicly pitted against each other after President Donald Trump called the men's team following their gold medal win against Canada to invite them to the State of the Union, and joked that he would have to invite the women too or he'd be impeached. Women's players Hilary Knight and Megan Keller were joined by men's players Jack and Quinn Hughes on SNL, and made light of the recent controversy. "It was going to be just us, but we thought we'd invite the guys, too," Knight said. Knight followed by saying the women's team last won gold two Olympics ago, at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. "Heated Rivalry" actor Connor Storrie hosted the episode. During an interview on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" Friday, Hughes opened up about his respect for the women's team after McAfee appeared to reference the controversy by joking that Hughes and his teammates "hate" the women players. "We are hanging out with them so much, the women's team. Hughes then appeared to address the recent criticism of his team for its response to Trump's joke. "Like all these people talking, how many of them watched their gold medal game? Me and Quinn Hughes were at the game. We were at the game until, like, overtime ended on the glass, and we were jumping up and down so excited for these girls, so excited they won," Hughes said. "And how many of these people watched the gold medal game, watched their semifinals game? We're so happy that they won, and they brought a gold medal back and that, you know, I said it, the men's and women's team both brought gold medals back. "Me and her had a great moment in the cafeteria after her gold medal game. We played Slovakia the next night, and it was like a late game. They were just getting ready to go out again, and I just gave her a massive hug, and I said, 'I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud of you,'" Hughes said. "A couple nights later, saw her again in the [cafeteria], and we took a great picture and, uh, she just gave me a big hug and was so pumped for me as well." U.S. women's hockey captain Hilary Knight said on Wednesday's edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" that Trump's "distasteful joke" has "overshadow[ed]" the women's success. "I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and, unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats," Knight said. "We're just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men's and women's at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke." Hughes' mother Ellen, a former Team USA player and current player development staff member, said the players only cared about "bring[ing] so much unity to a group and to a country." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

Source: {'href': 'https://www.foxnews.com', 'title': 'Fox News'} Published: 2026-03-01 15:26:40

Rebuilding faces and identifying tattoos, AI joins the search for the missing in Mexico

Source: {'href': 'https://www.cnn.com', 'title': 'CNN'} Published: 2026-03-01 15:00:34

In a video generated through artificial intelligence technology, which digitally animated a still image and gave it a synthesized voice, the figure of Héctor Daniel Flores Hernández narrated the story of his disappearance — when he was 19 years old from his home in Guadalajara — and demanded that the authorities find him alive. Since then, his father has made the search for a way of life. “I couldn't finish watching it the first time,” Héctor Flores said in an interview when the video was first produced. The video was part of an initiative launched in 2023 by the collectives Luz de Esperanza and Alas de Libertad — groups of relatives of missing persons who organize to carry out searches, raise awareness of cases and demand justice — in the western state of Jalisco, to give a voice to the missing-persons notices about their relatives. Flores, a co-founder of Luz de Esperanza, said that the initiative continues and that “it is a perfect tool not only for the search but also to raise awareness and try to create empathy.” Disappearances are all too common in Mexico, a country that has recorded more than 132,000 missing people since the National Registry of Disappeared and Unlocated Persons of the Secretariat of the Interior began keeping track in 1964. Human Rights Watch reports that the government has not taken sufficient measures to prevent disappearances or punish those responsible. President Claudia Sheinbaum has acknowledged that most disappearances are linked to organized crime, and Amnesty International notes that the problem can be attributed to overall violence and insecurity. The video initiative, meanwhile, is part of a new generation of projects that have turned to AI or machine learning for help with the crisis. Universities, search collectives, other organizations and government authorities have developed and implemented AI to investigate missing persons, using techniques including database analysis, forensic identification or age-progression projections. The Public Policy Collaborative Solutions Laboratory (Lab-Co), a non-governmental organization based in Mexico, works on finding new solutions to problems of security, violence and access to justice in Latin America. The first is IdentIA, a tool that uses AI to identify and classify photographs of tattoos on unidentified bodies, explained Thomas Favennec, the executive director of Lab-Co. Users can search the files with text, using the words in a tattoo or a verbal description of one, or through image-based searches that compare photographs directly against a historical database of tattoos belonging to unidentified people. This system works using a vector search and does not require the internet; no sensitive content is uploaded to the internet, which ensures that no one's information is compromised,” Ángel Serrano, Lab-Co's data and technology coordinator, said. Serrano demonstrated how IdentIA conducts a tattoo search in a matter of seconds and enables cross-referencing with reports of missing persons. This system was incorporated this week into missing-persons database systems in the state of Jalisco and is in the process of being implemented in the forensic services of Quintana Roo and Zacatecas. Another of the lab's tools, Favennec said, is ContextIA, which makes it possible to process multiple unstructured documents from investigation files and extract clear data. ContextIA is capable of answering specific queries with direct quotes and page references; extracting particular data such as phone numbers, license plates and coordinates; and, as its name suggests, cross-referencing cases in the context of different databases. The third tool allows for the analysis of names in a structured and more powerful manner, allowing users to find matches in different databases where names may be written in different ways. “Families don't know this happens, and it is complicated because there is an issue with databases that do not intersect,” he said. “This prevents people from being forced to look at heartbreaking photographs, which obviously have psychosocial impacts on anyone who has to go through morgue catalogs,” she said. The Mexico City Prosecutor's Office has used the “inpainting” technique, which uses artificial intelligence to fill in, restore or remove selected parts of an image, allowing damaged areas to be added or repaired with realistic results. With this, authorities carry out reverse searches, issuing a bulletin to find the person's family. CNN contacted the capital's Prosecutor's Office for more details, but so far has not received a response. The Regresa Project, developed by researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), seeks to generate an image of how a child who disappeared years ago would look today, to help their families find them. Led by Ana Itzel Juárez Martín, PhD in anthropology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the initiative, which is still a pilot program, combines AI tools with knowledge and techniques from physical and social anthropology. The program's algorithm is designed to carry out age progression using photos of missing children to determine what they would look like at age 5, 15 or 30. It could also be used to show what a current adult looked like in childhood. A 2022 report from the Network for Children's Rights in Mexico points out that in the case of missing minors, recruitment networks may integrate them into organized crime or draw them into sexual exploitation and trafficking. “Although there are already some image banks for research use, there are none solely of the Mexican population,” she said. In a country where, according to the organization Causa en Común, 41 people disappear every day, it is important to have tools that assist and facilitate the search for missing persons throughout the country. “We are waiting to see how these artificial intelligence tools operate, to see if they work, the improvements that need to be made, and also to understand what the workflow is within the organizations that make up the National Search System,” said Horcasitas. Favennec pointed out that the implementation of AI in search and location processes has been well received by groups and authorities, but added that it is necessary to know that the technology “is not magic, it helps to process information faster and better…In a crisis where so many things are mixed in so many different ways, what is needed is collaboration.”

JONATHAN TURLEY: How Trump boxed Congress into fight or flight choice on Iran

Source: {'href': 'https://www.foxnews.com', 'title': 'Fox News'} Published: 2026-03-01 14:59:50

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Fox News' Madeleine Rivera reports the latest and Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., also weighs in on the operation during 'Fox News Live.' Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine promised to force a vote on a war powers resolution to bar further prosecution of the war against Iran. Republicans such as Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., have joined in the call to bar further hostilities. These members are certainly within their rights to call for such resolutions, and the Framers wanted such debates to occur in Congress. However, it is too late to make this cat walk backwards. Drafting a war powers resolution at this stage would be nearly impossible without putting U.S. personnel and allies at risk. Rep. Thomas Massie questions Attorney General Pam Bondi before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 11, 2026. However, under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11, only Congress may declare wars. The result has been over two centuries of conflicts between presidents and Congress. Past presidents, including Democrats such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have asserted the unilateral power to attack other nations when they believe that combat is warranted by national security. Overriding the veto of President Richard Nixon, Congress mandated that presidents must consult with them and cease all combat operations within 60 days if Congress has not approved the use of force. Sen. Tim Kaine speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 6, 2025. The 60-day period is likely ample for what President Donald Trump is planning for Iran since he has ruled out putting American boots on the ground in the conflict. That is why Kaine, Massie and others are moving to cut off authorization immediately. It has also declared that the key Strait of Hormuz is now closed – potentially choking off 20% of the world's oil reserves. So how are these members going to draft a War Powers Resolution? "The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations." Kaine and others insist that hostilities were not imminent when we attacked. Even if that were true, they are now. The War Powers Act specifically allows for the use of force in "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Getty Images) In these circumstances, it would be nearly impossible to limit the war powers of the president without putting American personnel or allies at risk. After decapitating the leadership in Iran, Iranian assets are clearly operating under prior orders in a decentralized structure. That means that the United States must neutralize any and all assets that they can find in preemptive attacks while trying to further degrade the command structure of the Iranian government. That would be absurd from an operational standpoint. That would be practically meaningless given the fact that hostilities will continue so long as the current Iranian government remains in power. Both the IRG and de facto Iranian leader Ali Larijani pledged that they are now unleashing every asset against the United States and its allies. Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attacked the capital city of Libya and that country's military assets without any imminent threat to the United States. Many of the current members were entirely silent. After calling for the rescission of the broadly interpreted 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Biden then claimed that same authority to launch his own attacks on Iraq and Yemen. The choice now for Democrats is either a senseless or suicidal resolution. It can either resolve to end hostilities as soon as practically possible (an objective already stated by the administration) or it can actually seek to limit the administration's options amid full-fledged war. Presidents are allowed to initiate hostilities, and Congress will not end them by limiting our options. Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal history to the Supreme Court. He has written over three dozen academic articles that have appeared in a variety of leading law journals. Professor Turley also served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, former cabinet members, judges, members of Congress, and a wide range of other clients. Professor Turley testified more than 50 times before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues, including the Senate confirmation hearings of cabinet members and jurists such as Justice Neil Gorsuch. He also appeared as an expert witness in both the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. at the University of Chicago and his J.D. In 2008, he was given an honorary Doctorate of Law from John Marshall Law School for his contributions to civil liberties and the public interest. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

Teeth, finger bones and blessings: Buddhist relics inspire belief

Source: {'href': 'https://apnews.com', 'title': 'AP News'} Published: 2026-03-01 14:50:00

The Wei Mountain Temple displays its “10,000 Buddha Relics” every Lunar New Year. Monks bless devotees with shariras – objects culled out from the cremated ashes of Buddhist masters and the Buddha himself – by holding them over people's heads. Buddhist practitioner and disciple of Master YongHua, Sarah Kim, shows the Fragrant Oil Shariras among other Buddhist relics displayed at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Buddhist resident monks perform a blessing to devotees and visitors at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Devotee Sandra Chen meditates at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. A Buddha's tooth relic is displayed at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Buddhist relics, including shariras and bones believed to be those of the Buddha, are displayed at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Buddhist resident monks perform a blessing to devotees and visitors at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Buddhist relics, including the Shakyamuni Buddha Finger Bone, left, are displayed at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. A Buddha statue is displayed outside at Wei Mountain Temple, in Rosemead, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. ROSEMEAD, Calif. (AP) — Katherine Nguyen stood with hands folded and head bowed at the altar of a Buddhist temple in Southern California. It also includes numerous shariras — colorful pearl- or crystal-like objects said to have been culled from the cremated ashes of Buddhist masters and the Buddha. Relics in Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity are venerated as links to the saints or Christ, while Buddhist relics are primarily seen as living, active sources of blessings imbued with supernatural qualities. It's believed they can appear on their own, grow or even multiply, which is how Buddhists often explain the mystery of why there are so many spread across the world. Relics of the Buddha or revered monks are typically enshrined in a stupa — a sacred, dome-shaped monument that Buddhists also use for meditation and pilgrimage. YongHua said that's because they have “grown” over the years. The tooth relic, he said, produces “baby shariras,” the multicolored crystals believed to have multiplied and filled several containers in their exhibit. Most Buddhist sects acknowledge the spiritual significance of relics even if some teachers have tried to shift the focus to Buddha's teachings that emphasize mindfulness and kindness. Relics can be found in every country where Buddhism has a deep history: India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. In temple and monastic settings, the authenticity of these items is rarely questioned; spiritual leaders avoid subjecting them to scientific tests over worries that it might strip them of what makes them extraordinary. Over the years, there have been many reports of fake tooth and bone relics as well as manufactured acrylic shariras flooding markets in Asia and online shopping platforms, often sold with falsified authenticity certificates. Singapore's Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum houses a tooth relic said to have been recovered from the Buddha's funeral pyre in a giant stupa fashioned from 705 pounds (320 kilograms) of gold. That relic came under scrutiny in 2007 after dental experts pointed out that the 3-inch (7.5 centimeter) tooth's characteristics were incompatible with the dimensions of a human tooth and most likely belonged to a cow or a buffalo. “I have seen them multiply with my own eyes,” he said. I've seen people get cured of various ailments just by being in their presence.” John Strong, professor emeritus of religion at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, wrote the book “Relics of the Buddha” in 2004. Theories abound about what generates these relics and why, Strong said, adding that they do serve the important purpose of connecting Buddhists to the Buddha, who is “essentially absent” because he became enlightened and liberated from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation. Geshe Tenzin Zopa, a Tibetan monk and educator, said relics are “the most precious, most sacred, most powerful holy objects in our understanding.” As a young monk in Nepal, he believes he saw his teacher, Geshe Lama Konchog — who was recognized as a realized yogi by the Dalai Lama — generate relics as his body was being cremated. Zopa said he observed pearl-like relics popping out of the crematorium “like popcorn.” He said senior monks advised that the structure be sealed and left undisturbed for three days. When they returned, disciples found hundreds of relics and to their shock, the guru's intact heart, tongue and eyes, Zopa said. “I'd never seen anything like that in my life. For students of yogis, looking for relics in cremains is not a morbid fascination, but an act of unshakeable faith and an expectation that their guru would leave behind a message — a physical sign of their spiritual realization, Zopa said. “One has to make very strong and extensive prayers and preserve pure morality for many lifetimes in order to create the causes that produce relics.” In Southern California, at the U.S. headquarters for the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order, the Venerable Hui Ze explained that their founder, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, taught his followers not to solely focus on relics. “Our venerable master emphasized Humanistic Buddhism — how we can bring Buddha's teachings into our daily lives with good thoughts, words and actions,” said Hui Ze. The order's headquarters in Taiwan houses a Buddha tooth relic gifted to Hsing Yun by a lama, Kunga Dorje Rinpoche, who carried the sacred object as he fled Tibet in 1968 and safeguarded it for three decades. “I had this really intimate experience and felt like I had connected with the Buddha who was here 2,600 years ago, and that connection is priceless,” he said. Hsing Yun had instructed disciples not to look for relics in his ashes. Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

In pictures: Middle East tensions escalate after US-Israel strikes on Iran

Source: {'href': 'https://www.cnn.com', 'title': 'CNN'} Published: 2026-03-01 13:21:00

American Culture Quiz: Test yourself on airport accolades and soda sensations

Source: {'href': 'https://www.foxnews.com', 'title': 'Fox News'} Published: 2026-03-01 12:00:37

Trump talks regime change in Iran after strikes, but history shows that could be very hard

Source: {'href': 'https://apnews.com', 'title': 'AP News'} Published: 2026-03-01 10:39:00

Sandinista soldiers walk amid the debris after shooting down a supply plane of the U.S.-backed rebels in Loma El Arenal, Nicaragua, on Jan. 24, 1988. South Vietnamese rebel troops take up positions in the yard of the presidential palace, residence of President Ngo Dinh Diem, in Saigon, Vietnam, Nov. 1, 1963. Barely an hour after the first U.S. and Israeli missiles struck Iran, President Donald Trump made clear he hoped for regime change. After all, with Iran's fundamentally unpopular government weakened by fierce airstrikes, some of its top leaders dead or missing and Washington signaling support, how hard could it be to overthrow a repressive regime? Washington has a long, complicated past when it comes to regime change. In 1953, the CIA helped engineer a coup that toppled Iran's democratically elected leader and gave near-absolute power to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. But as with the shah, who was overthrown in Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution after decades of increasingly unpopular rule, regime change rarely goes as planned. But often those intentions stumble into a political quagmire where democratic dreams turn into civil war, once-compliant dictators become embarrassments and American soldiers return home in body bags. That history has long been a Trump talking point. “We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change,” he said in 2016. The “interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand.” Now, after Saturday's actions, a key question emerges: Does today's U.S. government understand what it's getting into? Iran's economy is in shambles and dissent remains strong even after a brutal January crackdown on protests left thousands of people dead and tens of thousands under arrest. And early Sunday, Iranian state media confirmed Israel and the United States had killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The United States hasn't laid out a postwar vision and doesn't necessarily even want a complete overthrow of the Iranian leadership. As in Venezuela, it may already have potential allies in the government willing to step into a power vacuum. “But there's a lot that needs to happen between now and a possible scenario along these lines,” said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank that is deeply critical of the Iranian government. “There needs to be a sense that there is no salvation for the regime as such, and that they will need to work with the United States.” In a country where the core leaders are deeply united by ideology and religion, that may be extremely difficult. “The question to my mind right now is have we been able to penetrate the ranks of the regime that are not true believers that are more pragmatic,” Schanzer said. “Because I don't believe that the true believers will flip.” It's simply too early to know if — or how much — the political winds are shifting in Tehran. The leaders who come next could turn out to be equally repressive or seen domestically as an illegitimate U.S. stooge. “Air power can damage a leadership,” he said. “But it can't guarantee that you'll bring in something new.” In Latin America, Washington's history of intervention in goes back a long way — to when President James Monroe claimed the hemisphere as part of the U.S. sphere of influence more than 200 years ago. Very often, historians say, that intervention led to violence, bloodshed and mass human rights violations. Direct U.S. involvement has rarely “resulted in long-term democratic stability,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at the London think tank Chatham House. He points to Guatemala, where U.S. intervention in the 1950s led to a civil war that didn't end for 40 years and left more than 200,000 people dead. Since assuming office last year, Trump launched boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports and got involved in electoral politics in Honduras and Argentina. Then, on Jan. 3, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman leader Nicolás Maduro, flying him to the U.S. to face drug and weapons charges. Many observers thought the U.S. would back María Corina Machado, who has long been the face of political resistance in Venezuela. Instead, Washington effectively sidelined her and has repeatedly shown a willingness to work with President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro's second-in-command. “There are those who could claim that what we did in Venezuela is not regime change,” said Schanzer, at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Tim Sullivan has reported from more than 35 countries for The Associated Press since 1993.

Having blasted open a vacuum, there's no guarantee the US and Israel will like what comes next

Source: {'href': 'https://www.cnn.com', 'title': 'CNN'} Published: 2026-03-01 06:12:41

Undermining this moment of relief for many repressed Iranians is that killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a perilously simple fix to a very complex problem. Khamanei's rule was marked by mismanagement, and ultimately ended with one of the more brutal episodes of his trademark repression – the violence his regime meted out to keep power. His removal has sparked celebrations in Tehran, as well as 40 days' official mourning and huge pro-regime crowds – but also a struggle for what remains of the regime to work out what comes next. Israeli officials have hinted the strike was expedited to exploit a daylight window of opportunity when senior Iranian leaders met. And US President Donald Trump appears to have reached again for the Venezuela playbook, suggesting he had a successor in mind – as he did after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, anointing deputy leader Delcy Rodriguez as his preferred interlocutor. When asked late Saturday, Trump notably declined to say who he thought would play that role in this case. Soon, though, Tehran will have to announce a succession plan. For 47 years, a theocracy has turned into an autocracy and kleptocracy. A large proportion of the country's more than 90 million people rely on the regime for their livelihood, and a minority have blood on their hands from helping it repress dissent. When the Assad regime in nearby Syria collapsed in late 2024, its security forces had been hollowed out – and its economy ravaged – by years of civil conflict. Iran's security forces have just had a refresher course in the power of savagery, as they put down January's uprising. The US and Israel seem united in their assessment that removing the top layer of Iran's regime will leave them in a better place. As well as Khamenei, defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, head of the Iranian Security Council Ali Shamkhani, and commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Pakpour were all killed in a matter of hours. This is a security elite just recently reconstituted after the decimating of June's 12-day war. But history lacks good examples of air campaigns that have easily toppled regimes and led to replacements that the attackers preferred. They may be reluctant to be next in the US-Israeli crosshairs, but that fear has not led to a shortage of candidates in the past. But that risks projecting the weakness Tehran is so allergic to. There is no easy replacement government-in-opposition-on-a-box that Trump can promote. Reza Pahlavi, heir of the long-deposed shah, cannot swan into Tehran and pick up the reins without risking an angry IRGC trying to kill him. In many ways, missteps by Khamanei have made the US and Israel's job easier. His clear orders to retaliate so ferociously to these strikes – carried out, it seems, posthumously – have enraged most of the region, hitting neighbors who had urged the US to back away from strikes, now livid that their civilians have come under Iranian missile and drone attack. Iran seems to keep making itself weaker, but it does not stop. A momentous risk now is fracture; that no single faction wins out, and patchwork violence and celebration split Iran, leading to a collapse that destabilizes not only the nation, but the region. Trump's limited attention span and allergy to protracted military involvement simply reinforce this risk. He has also kept his goals slim and achievable. Trump never explicitly declared regime change was his goal – he simply encouraged it. But it has yet to address the glaring and perhaps insurmountable complexities of Iran that have kept it a thorn in the United States' side for half a century.

US women's basketball player in Israel shares panic in footage of Iranian counterattack on Jerusalem

Source: {'href': 'https://www.foxnews.com', 'title': 'Fox News'} Published: 2026-03-01 04:23:07

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports an 'incredibly powerful explosion' as Iran continues its ballistic fire against Israel, saying an Israeli official confirmed 40 top Iranian leaders were also killed. Former NCAA and Team USA women's basketball player Destiny Littleton shared footage Saturday of her experience fleeing Iranian counterstrikes in Israel. Her documentation concluded with a panicked scene of her and other civilians shouting in fear as drones flew overhead. Littleton, who won a national championship at South Carolina under coach Dawn Staley in 2022, and a gold medal for the U.S. in the 2017 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, currently plays for Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel's top division. She posted footage on her Instagram Saturday updating followers as she fled to a local bomb shelter when Iranian counterattacks began to strike Israel. After the U.S. and Israel carried out a round of military strikes on Iran, the country responded with ballistic missiles and drones targeting cities including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. Former South Carolina guard Destiny Littleton was in Israel when Iran launched a counterattack against the country, sending her scrambling for shelter. Littleton was nearly caught in the crossfire. Sirens could be heard in her video as she fled the shelter, and at one point she even aimed her camera at what appeared to be missiles flying through the air. "Trying to find the saferoom, but I can't find it," she said, in a panicked voice as she scrambled through an empty alleyway. "Jesus Christ, I don't think this is the right… I don't think this is the right way." As she walked down an outdoor stone staircase, bombs exploding in the distance could be heard in the background, as she yelled, "Oh s---!" Shortly after that, she posted a video announcing she had left the shelter and was going to a teammate's house after feeling "uncomfortable" in the shelter she had just found. Littleton eventually reached her teammate's high-rise apartment building, where she revealed she had heard several recent explosions. An explosion caused after Iran launched missiles into Israel following strikes on Tehran, in Tel Aviv, Saturday. Then, in her final video of the night, Littleton appeared frantic and sweaty, as she revealed explosions nearby. I'm pretty sure they're either missiles or drones! Either way, we've seen them blow up in the sky, multiple of them, very very close to us actually!" "I'm not really sure what it is… Jesus Christ." Littleton and those around her then became more frantic as another apparent drones appeared nearby. she shouted, before turning her camera around to show what appeared to be a drone flying nearby the building she was in. "I'm pretty sure that's not a star." Just then, five other drones came into frame, and an explosion was seen going off in the distance. "I think those are freaking drones bro!" The drone went on to land and exploded a far distance from her location, as seen in her footage. Littleton and the group were later seen in the footage leaving the apartment and heading to a bunker, as she appeared visibly rattled, sweaty and overwhelmed, massaging her head, sighing. Littleton has not posted a follow-up post at the time of publication. Staley said Saturday that the university is working to bring Littleton and two other players home amid the chaos, alongside WNBA veteran Tiffany Mitchell and former Phoenix Mercury forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan. "We are working on a plan to get home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap! The U.S. joined Israel in launching strikes against Iran on Saturday morning. In video remarks posted to Truth Social, President Donald Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished "major combat operations" in Iran. Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes targeting U.S. sites throughout the Middle East. Fox News reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel. Fox News Digital's Paulina Dedaj, Michael Sinkewicz and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by

‘Sweat equity': Wesley Hunt doesn't shy away from missed votes ahead of Texas Senate primary

Source: {'href': 'https://www.washingtonexaminer.com', 'title': 'Washington Examiner'} Published: 2026-03-01 04:00:13

SAN ANTONIO — Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) is everywhere in Texas and showing he's working, leaving his supporters unbothered by his lack of attendance in Washington. Hunt has missed 69 out of the 158 votes in Congress since launching his uphill campaign to unseat longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). “We don't have $100 million, sweat equity is what matters,” Hunt told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “Getting in the car and driving, driving hours and hours with a hard-working team that cares about the success of this campaign, cares about the future of Texas and the future of this country, that's how you make a big difference and so I think on Tuesday, people will be very surprised at how well we do.” Hunt spoke on his experience in the military, his faith, cracked jokes, and even addressed attack ads that have been plastered across Texas targeting him for missing votes in Washington. “Do you know how many votes JD Vance missed when he was running for vice president? “Do you know how many votes Tim Scott missed when he was running for president? When the Washington Examiner asked rallygoers how they would describe Hunt, two sentiments were repeatedly echoed: ”honest” and “patriotic.” “He doesn't give canned answers,” 51-year-old Stacey Pierce told the Washington Examiner. Hunt has increasingly been targeted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee after he jumped in the already competitive race between Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn's campaign even launched a website titled “Where's Wesley Hunt” earlier this year to mock the congressman's poor attendance in a Where's Waldo Style. “You're not always going to agree with everything each individual does, but we have a good feeling about him, and I just think he just comes across as a genuine individual. Hunt was born and raised in Houston, where he later attended the United States Military Academy at West Point before serving eight years in the Army as an Apache helicopter pilot. With three major candidates in the race, it is expected to go into a run-off with the top two candidates, where they will then face each other again at a May 26 runoff election.

Trump teases ‘good candidates' to lead Iran after Khamenei's death

Source: {'href': 'https://www.washingtonexaminer.com', 'title': 'Washington Examiner'} Published: 2026-03-01 03:44:34

US and Israel clash with Iran at emergency Security Council meeting. UN chief condemns attacks

Source: {'href': 'https://apnews.com', 'title': 'AP News'} Published: 2026-03-01 01:45:00

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that U.S. and Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei. Amir Saeid Iravani told the United Nations Security Council Saturday that hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded in the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. Follow live updates as the U.S. and Israel launch an attack on Iran. UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and Israel clashed with Iran at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday where the U.N. chief and many countries urged a halt to their attacks and a return to negotiations to prevent the conflict from spreading further into the region and beyond. Secretary-General António Guterres told the council that everything must be done to prevent an escalation. “The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.” He also condemned Iran's retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he told the council. “That principle is not a matter of politics. And to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions.” Ambassador Danny Danon defended the airstrikes as necessary to stop an existential threat. “We are stopping extremism before it becomes unstoppable,” he said. “We will ensure that no radical regime armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles can threaten our people or the entire world.” Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the U.N., told the council that the airstrikes have killed and injured hundreds of Iranian civilians, which he called a war crime and a crime against humanity. “The issue before the council is straightforward: whether any member state may, including a permanent member of this council, through the use of force, coercion or aggression, determine the political future or system of another state or impose control over its affairs,” Iravani said. During his speech, the Iranian diplomat did not mention or comment on President Donald Trump's statement that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes, although Iranian state media later confirmed his death. In a rare exchange, the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors traded warnings and direct rebuffs toward the end of the emergency session as military aggression between their countries risked spilling into a regional war. It will be better for yourself and the country you represent.” Waltz responded immediately, saying, “This representative sits here, in this body, representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people, and imprisoned many more, simply for wanting freedom from your entire tyranny.” “We demand that the United States and Israel immediately cease their aggressive actions,” Russian U.N. “We insist on the immediate resumption of political and diplomatic settlement efforts … based on international law, mutual respect and a balance of interests.” Ambassador Fu Cong said China was very concerned by “the sudden escalation of regional tensions” and supported Russia's call for a return to diplomatic negotiations. The permanent observer of the 22-nation Arab League, Maged Abdelaziz, suggested Israel was being hypocritical in justifying its military attack by saying it was intended to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain and France — both veto-wielding members of the council — along with Germany's chancellor called for a resumption of U.S.-Iranian talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The three countries, part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution.

Trump was once wary of ordering regime change in Iran. Here's what made him change his mind

Source: {'href': 'https://apnews.com', 'title': 'AP News'} Published: 2026-03-01 01:43:00

Follow live updates as the U.S. and Israel launch an attack on Iran. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — With Saturday's military operation against Iran, President Donald Trump demonstrated a dramatic evolution in risk tolerance, adjusting in just a matter of months how far he was willing to go in using American military might to confront Tehran's clerical rule. Guardrails were tossed aside, as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered up a battle plan that included targeted strikes on Iran's leadership, including the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei whose death Trump triumphantly announced in a social media post hours after launching the military operation. For Trump, it was a far cry from where he stood just eight months ago. At Israel's urging during its 12-day war with Iran last June, he agreed to deploy B-2 bombers to pummel three key Iranian nuclear sites — but drew a bright red line when Israelis presented his administration with a plan for killing Khamenei. The president peppered the supreme leader with thinly veiled threats back in June that he could have killed him if he wanted to. That caution was set aside on Saturday with Trump announcing Khamenei had been killed, while the Israeli military announced it had taken out Iran's defense minister and the commander of its Revolutionary Guard. Iranian state media early Sunday reported the 86-year-old Supreme Leader's death, without elaborating on a cause. Khamenei “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump said. Administration officials told reporters that they offered Iran many ways to have a peaceful nuclear program that could be used for civilian purposes, including an offer of free nuclear fuel in perpetuity. But the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was clear to them that Iran wanted enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. One of them said that Iran has met their offers with “games, tricks, stall tactics.” The order to launch strikes came just two days after Trump dispatched his special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for another round of talks with Iranian officials. Middle East and European allies were urging the U.S. administration to give negotiations more time as Trump signaled he was running out of patience. “And although the regime is weakened, a sense that this showdown is an all-or-nothing struggle for its very survival could lead it to respond with every tool still at its disposal.” Saturday's strikes came after a series of past provocative actions against Iran that resulted in limited blowback, which seemed to inform Trump's risk calculation, said Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations over two decades. Trump in 2018 pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Democratic President Barack Obama's administration. In 2020, Trump ordered a drone strike killing top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. And then Trump this past June ordered the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which he claimed had “obliterated” their program. “He did all of these things without cost or consequence to him,” said Miller, who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trump administration officials had publicly urged Tehran to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and end its backing of regional armed proxies. But administration officials said that Tehran would not engage on the missile and proxy concerns. Iran's rigidity, at a moment when its economy is in shambles weighed by decades of sanctions and its military battered by last year's war, astounded Trump. Even before the latest round of talks ended on Thursday, there were signs Trump was leaning toward military action. On Tuesday, Trump in his State of the Union speech claimed that Iran has been building ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. homeland — a justification that he repeated again on Saturday as he announced the bombardment of Iran was underway. Iran hasn't acknowledged it is building or seeking to build intercontinental ballistic missiles. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, however, said in an unclassified report last year that Iran could develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that Iran's refusal to speak to its ballistic missile program was a “big problem.” Rubio declined to address the DIA finding that Iran was still years away from developing a missile that could reach the United States. And Vice President JD Vance, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and has been skeptical of U.S. interventions, on Thursday told The Washington Post that Trump hadn't decided whether to strike Iran. “The idea that we're going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight — there is no chance that will happen,” Vance said. Trump's success with the U.S. military operation earlier his year to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him and his wife to New York City to face federal drug conspiracy charges also may have emboldened the president, said Jonathan Schanzer, a former Treasury Department official who is now executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. Trump had threatened military action last month, but held off, as Iran carried out a deadly crackdown on protests. As human rights groups reported that thousands were killed in the Iranian crackdown, Trump told protesters that help was on its way, but it did not immediately come and the protests petered out. It was leverage, Trump hoped, that would get Khamenei to blink.