MOGADISHU, Somalia — Jessica Buchanan remembers the voice before she saw the faces. After 93 days as a hostage in Somalia, wrapped in a blanket and bracing for the worst, she felt a stranger’s hands at her shoulders and heard a young American say her name: “Jessica, it’s okay. You are safe now.” The American aid worker’s account of abduction and rescue traces a grim arc through one of the world’s most dangerous kidnapping economies — from her capture on Oct. 25, 2011, near Galkacyo, to a pre-dawn U.S. Navy SEAL raid on Jan.…

Tehran, Iran — Iranian authorities warned of severe consequences if the United States launches strikes, unveiling a defiant billboard in central Tehran as security forces announced fresh arrests tied to deadly protests and a near-total internet blackout stretched into a third week. Tehran showcased a billboard depicting a wrecked U.S. aircraft carrier and the message, “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.” Iran vowed a “comprehensive and regret-inducing response” to any attack and warned of wider insecurity…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia is bracing for tighter finances after the United States reduced foreign aid, a move officials say is already disrupting assistance and development services across the country. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar Ali, known as Ali Balcad, said the government has “recognized this change and is trying to adapt,” framing the shift as part of a broader recalibration of U.S. foreign assistance rather than a Somalia-specific decision. He added that Washington still maintains strategic interests…

Minneapolis officials and residents demanded answers after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fatally shot Alex Pretti during a weekend protest, as videos verified by Reuters appeared to contradict the Trump administration’s self-defense account and a federal judge ordered evidence preserved. Pretti, 37, became the second U.S. citizen this month to be killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis amid a sweeping surge of thousands of armed, masked agents deployed by President Donald Trump. Minnesota Gov.…

Winter storm shuts airports, knocks out power as Arctic cold grips eastern U.S. A powerful winter storm swept from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, colliding with a deep Arctic blast that has locked in dangerous cold across much of the United States east of the Rockies. Winter storm warnings stretched across most of the eastern third of the country, covering about 118 million people, as the National Weather Service warned of widespread, prolonged travel disruptions and…

More than 4,000 U.S. flights were canceled and power outages stretched from Texas to Tennessee as a sprawling winter storm barreled across the eastern two-thirds of the country, threatening crippling ice, heavy snow and life-threatening cold through the weekend and into next week. Forecasters warned of snow, sleet and freezing rain across a vast area from the Southern Plains to New England, with the National Weather Service urging residents to “take this storm seriously” and prepare for an “astonishingly long swath” of snow…

MINNEAPOLIS — Federal immigration agents shot and killed a 37-year-old U.S. citizen during an immigration operation in Minneapolis, officials said, igniting protests and a political showdown as bystander video reviewed by Reuters appeared to contradict the government’s account. The Department of Homeland Security said a Border Patrol agent fired in self-defense after a man with a handgun resisted efforts to disarm him. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the man, identified by authorities and relatives as Alex…

U.S. immigration agents fatally shoot Minneapolis man, igniting protests and political clash MINNEAPOLIS — A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 37-year-old U.S. citizen during a federal immigration operation in Minneapolis on Saturday, officials said, sparking hours of street protests, emergency closures and a high-stakes confrontation between Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration over who controls the investigation. The Department of Homeland Security said an agent fired in self-defense after a man with a…

America’s Greenland Fixation Isn’t New. It’s the Old Story of Expansion—Updated for the Arctic Age The latest flirtation in Washington with the idea of buying or annexing Greenland has a familiar ring. It revives a distinctly American tradition: expanding borders to match ambition. In a political culture that once treated land as the engine of destiny and prestige, the world’s largest island is not just a curiosity—it’s a strategic prize in a warming Arctic and a symbol in a long-running story of U.S. power. That story mixes…

ABU DHABI — Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in the United Arab Emirates on Friday for a second day of talks on a plan backed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the almost four-year war, even as Russian strikes left thousands in Kyiv without heat amid sub-zero temperatures. The UAE Foreign Ministry said the meetings in Abu Dhabi were scheduled to last two days and were “part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.” The first known direct contact…