Israeli forces mount renewed airstrikes across Iran’s capital, Tehran

Israel launches strikes on Tehran as regional conflict widens; U.S. says it sank Iranian warship near Sri Lanka Israel said it launched a wave of strikes on Tehran before dawn Friday, escalating a fast-spreading conflict that has rippled across the Middle East and beyond, disrupted vital energy routes and drawn in global powers. The Israel Defense Forces said it began a “large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran,” while also hitting targets in Lebanon and intercepting…

Oil prices hold steady as markets anticipate easing geopolitical tensions

Oil prices steady as U.S., Israeli strikes on Iran snarl Hormuz shipping and force Iraq output cuts Oil prices were steady after sharp swings Wednesday as U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran escalated the conflict and left shipping through the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut for a fifth day, disrupting vital Middle East oil and gas production and trade. Brent crude fell 0.3% to $81.13 a barrel around 4 p.m. GMT, while West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.4% to $74.30. Both benchmarks had closed Tuesday at recent highs—Brent…

Israel and Iran trade new strikes as Middle East war widens

Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon before dawn and said it intercepted a fresh barrage of Iranian missiles, as a widening war waged by the United States and Israel rippled across the Middle East with new disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz to Iraq and Turkey. Explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, hours after Israel warned residents to flee. The Israeli military said it was working to down missiles fired from Iran, despite recent U.S. claims that strikes had severely degraded Tehran’s…

Somalia’s Bay Villagers Displaced by Drought Fear a Future Without Education

‘No school, no food’: Drought pushes Bay region children out of class and into Baidoa’s camps BAIDOA, Somalia — At night in a camp on the edge of this bustling regional capital, Hassan Isaq Sabri counts his children as they file into borrowed huts to sleep. The adults bed down outside. By morning, he will borrow 20 liters of water from neighbors and begin the daylong search for a meal — and for a way to keep his four school-age children from slipping further behind. “My children had a good education before,” said Hassan, 55,…

Harvey Weinstein Rape Retrial Begins April 14, According to Publicist

Harvey Weinstein to be retried April 14 on rape charge after jury deadlock, publicist says Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein will face a retrial beginning April 14 on a third-degree rape charge involving Jessica Mann, his publicist said, reviving a count on which jurors previously deadlocked after a volatile partial retrial last year. The judge in that case declared a mistrial when the jury foreperson refused to return for further deliberations amid a feud inside the jury room, halting the proceedings before a verdict…

First U.S. troops killed in Iran conflict have been identified

U.S. names first troops killed in Iran conflict after Kuwait drone strike; death toll rises to six The U.S. military on Tuesday identified four of the six soldiers killed when an unmanned aircraft system evaded air defenses and struck a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on Sunday — the first American troop fatalities acknowledged since the United States launched a new war against Iran with Israel. U.S. Central Command initially reported three deaths in the attack. Officials said Monday the toll had risen to six after…

New research links coffee and tea to reduced dementia risk

Two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day may do more than sharpen your focus. A major long-term study involving more than 130,000 adults suggests that moderate daily coffee intake is linked to a lower risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline—with similar, if slightly smaller, benefits seen among people who drink tea. Decaffeinated coffee, however, did not show the same protective association. Drawing on the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and spanning up to 43 years of follow-up,…

Regular Coffee and Tea Consumption Tied to Lower Dementia Risk

Coffee, caffeine and your brain: Study links two to three cups a day to lower dementia risk Drinking two to three cups of strong coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline, according to a large U.S. study drawing on more than four decades of health data. Researchers from Harvard, MIT and Mass General Brigham analyzed records from 131,821 adults and found that people with the highest intake of caffeinated drinks had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who…

Somalia and U.S. meet in Mogadishu to expand trade, energy investment

Somalia, U.S. open high-level trade talks in Mogadishu, eye energy and critical minerals amid rising offshore interest Wednesday March 4, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia and the United States held high-level talks in the capital on Tuesday to expand bilateral trade and investment, with a sharp focus on energy and critical minerals, officials said. The meeting — formally convened inside Somalia for the first time — was cast by both sides as a marker of growing confidence in the country’s security and economic trajectory. The…

Police arrest Labour MP Joani Reid’s husband over suspected China espionage

UK arrests over suspected China spying as MP Joani Reid defends husband LONDON — Counterterrorism police have arrested three men on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service linked to China, as Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid defended her husband, one of those detained, and rejected any suggestion she had advocated for Beijing. The Metropolitan Police said men aged 39, 43 and 68 were arrested in London and Wales and remain in custody. Officers conducted searches at the arrest locations and at three additional…