Iran would have no alternative but to acquire a nuclear weapon if attacked by the United States or its allies, an adviser to the country's supreme leader warned on Monday, following a threat by Donald Trump. The remarks by Ali Larijani to the state news broadcaster were among the clearest yet by a senior political figure indicating Tehran could pursue a bomb if threatened. "If you make a mistake on the nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move toward nuclear weapons because it must defend itself," Larijani told IRIB. "Iran does not want to take this path, but when you apply pressure, it finds a secondary justification and has no other choice. The people will push for it, arguing that it is necessary for the country’s security." Larijani has served as speaker of the parliament, national security chief, nuclear negotiator and head of the state broadcaster.  His standpoint openly represent Iran's ultimate decision-maker, Ali Khamenei. "We are not moving t...

PABRADE, LITHUANIA: Three American soldiers were declared dead on Monday after crews in Lithuania recovered the M88 Hercules tank recovery vehicle they were traveling in, which sank in a swamp last week. The bodies of the three soldiers were recovered after a massive six-day effort by U.S., Polish and Lithuanian armed forces and authorities to dig the M88 Hercules vehicle out of a peat bog at the expansive General Silvestras  Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė. The soldiers were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing early Tuesday, the Army said. The command in a statement said the identities of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division soldiers are being withheld pending family notifications. “We stand in grief with the families and loved ones of these extraordinary ‘Dogface Soldiers’ during this unimaginable time,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander. “But the search isn’t fin...

  Rapper Young Scooter has passed away on Friday night. The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said 39-year-old Kenneth Bailey was taken to the hospital and died after an incident in the 200 block of William Nye Drive SE in Atlanta. According to APD Lt. Andrew Smith, officers responded to a dispute with a weapon Friday. He said initial reports stated that shots were fired and that a female was dragged back inside the location.  "Once officers arrived they knocked on the door. A male opened the door and immediately shut the door on the officers," he said. APD then set up a perimeter at the scene, Smith added. "During the process of establishing the perimeter, two males fled out of the rear of the house," he said. "One male returned back into the house. The other male jumped two fences as he was fleeing. When officers located him on the other side of the fence, he appeared to have suffered an injury to his leg." Smith  said that police were not invo...

  The U.S. Justice Department has confiscated approximately $201,400 in cryptocurrency intended for Hamas, disrupting a terror financing operation. Investigators traced the funds to Hamas-controlled fundraising addresses, which have laundered over $1.5 million in virtual currency since October 2024. The action was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Sue J. Bai head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the Albuquerque Field Office.  As claimed in court documents, a group chat claiming association with Hamas on an encrypted communications platform provided Hamas supporters, worldwide, with a changing set of at least 17 cryptocurrency addresses. Supporters were encouraged to donate money to those addresses.  Those funds were sent into an operational wallet and laundered through a series of virtual currency exchanges and transactions by leveraging suspected financiers and over-the-...

  A tourist submarine, Sindbad, sank off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt, during a trip to the Red Sea, leaving at least six people feared dead. Among the victims were four Russian citizens, as confirmed by the Russian embassy in Cairo. The submarine was carrying 44 passengers when it went down on Thursday. Rescue teams have saved 29 people so far, while four remain in critical condition and nine others sustained injuries. The Red Sea Security Directorate reported that the incident occurred near the marina of a well-known hotel. Authorities have deployed 21 ambulances to transport the injured to hospitals. In a new update, the Red Sea area governor says six tourists are dead and 39 others have been rescued. There are no tourists missing, Amr Hanafy adds in an update on Facebook.  The authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, he says. Hanafy praises the rescue teams involved in the incident, and says they will continue to coordinate with the relevant embassies and p...

  White House   press secretary   Karoline Leavitt    on Wednesday has criticized  the media, Democrats, and likely some   Republicans   in the House and Senate for trying to “sow chaos” in the White House with their response to the   Signal   text chain debacle. Leavitt was asked by a reporter if she would definitively say that no one would be fired after a journalist was accidentally added to a Signal thread with top U.S. officials discussing military plans. Leavitt said, "What I can say definitively is what I just spoke to the president about, and he continues to have confidence in his  national security team ." Meanwhile, CNN's Collins attempted to ask the press secretary a follow-up question, but was quickly cut off by Leavitt, who called on another reporter in the room.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a comprehensive executive actions to overhaul elections in the U.S., including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day. The order says the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections” and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply. Trump has been constantly says elections are being rigged, even before the results are known, and has waged battles against certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden and falsely blamed it on widespread fraud. President Trump has focused particularly on mail voting, arguing without evidence that it’s insecure and invites fraud even as he has shifted his position on the issue given its popularity with voters, including R...

At least 12 people lost their lives and four others were injured on Sunday after a van plunged into a ravine and caught fire in northern Mexico, igniting a blaze in the surrounding forest. The accident occurred in Nuevo Leon, a northern state bordering the U.S., near Monterrey, the state capital. In a brief video message, Santiago’s mayor, David de la Peña, stated that the crash appeared to have been caused by a mechanical failure in the vehicle. The van, carrying approximately 16 people, fell nearly 120 meters (394 feet) into the ravine. At the time of the report, it was unclear whether the 16 people included the driver or where the passengers were from. Some victims died at the scene, while others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Images posted by authorities showed thick smoke rising from the dry forest, with a helicopter deployed to control the fast-spreading flames. This tragedy jacks up the number of deadly road accidents in Mexico. Earlier this month, 11 people lost ...

  Not less than 500,000 migrants who were given humanitarian parole permits to live and work in the U.S. legally will face potential deportation next month, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The order applies to about 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who came to the United States since October 2022 as part of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) program. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work. “These are the 530,000 illegal immigrants that Joe Biden flew to the United States on the taxpayers [sic] dime." They’re welcome to self-deport using the newly repurposed CBP Home App!” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X, responding to a CBS News report on the notice. CHNV allowed illegal immigrants to bypass the southern border on their way into the U.S. and receive two-year work permits that Biden allowed to expire in late 2024. An estimated 532,000 aliens entered the U.S. u...

An Israeli air strike in the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza has killed top Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official announced early on Sunday. In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of assassinating Bardaweel, whom it said was praying along with his wife, when an Israeli missile struck their tent shelter in Khan Younis. Israel's military resumed significant strikes on Gaza on Tuesday, blaming Hamas, abandoning a ceasefire agreement that began on 19 January and ended almost two months of calm. Palestinian medics said an Israeli plane bombed a house in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, wounding several people. An official in the Hamas-run health ministry said 32 Palestinians had been killed over the past 24 hours across various parts of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's primary goal is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity. He has said the aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up remaining hostages...

  George Foreman, an American professional boxer who tangled with Muhammad Ali in the epic “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship fight before embarking on a lifetime of reinventions as a minister, youth counselor, cookbook author and TV pitchman for his own line of big and tall menswear, has died. His family has published in an Instagram post on his account “With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025 surrounded by loved ones,” the post read. “A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand- and great-grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility and purpose,” his family wrote on Instagram. While Foreman was best known for his ability in the ring, he also was a successful entrepreneur.  George Edward Foreman was born in Marshall, Texas, but grew up in Houston's Fifth Ward, and was raised alongside his six siblings by a single mother. Forem...

  The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, has announced that corps members will receive an increased monthly allowance of N77,000 starting March 2025. Speaking in Abuja, Nafiu reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to corps members' welfare, assuring them of timely payments. He praised the NYSC’s role in promoting national unity and urged members to remain dedicated and disciplined. “With effect from March, you will receive Seventy-Seven Thousand Naira as your monthly allowance. The nation and the scheme appreciate your service,” he stated. Corps members expressed gratitude for the increment, commending the NYSC management for its efforts. He also praised the vision of the NYSC’s founding fathers, describing the scheme as an essential institution that fosters national unity by exposing graduates to diverse cultures across Nigeria.  He assured corps members that NYSC management would continue to teach va...

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), has secured nearly $1 billion in new equity funding from investors, maintaining a valuation close to its 2022 level when Musk took the company private. According to Bloomberg, the latest deal values X’s equity at approximately $32 billion. Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022 included at least $12.5 billion in debt, meaning the new funding keeps the company's enterprise value largely unchanged. Sources familiar with the matter confirmed Musk’s participation in the fundraising, with reports indicating that X may use part of the funds to reduce its outstanding debt. Investment firms such as Darsana Capital Partners, which had previously acquired some of X’s debt, and 1789 Capital, a backer of Musk’s ventures xAI and SpaceX, were among those involved in the funding round. This development comes just weeks after X suffered a major cyberattack that disrupted its services. Musk attributed the outages to a “massive cybe...

  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, citing a prolonged political crisis and security threats. In a national broadcast on March 18, 2025, Tinubu said governance in the state had collapsed following the demolition of the House of Assembly in December 2023 and the governor’s failure to restore legislative functions. The Supreme Court had also ruled that the state lacked a functioning government due to the ongoing crisis. He said: “I feel greatly disturbed by the political crisis in Rivers. The state has been at a standstill, and the people have been deprived of good governance. “Fourteen months after Governor Fubara demolished the House of Assembly, it remains unbuilt. Many Nigerians have intervened, just as I did. But their efforts have been to no avail. “No responsible President will stand by without taking action. To restore good governance and peace in this circumstance, it has become imperative to declare a state of emergency. “By th...

  The Trump administration has begun mass layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) and other US-funded media outlets, signaling plans to significantly downsize platforms long considered key to US global influence. On Sunday, contractors at VOA received emails notifying them of their termination by the end of March, instructing them to immediately cease work and refrain from accessing agency buildings or systems. These contractors, many of whom are non-US citizens, face job losses that could affect their visa status. Meanwhile, full-time VOA employees—who have greater legal protections—were placed on administrative leave and instructed not to work. VOA, established during World War II, broadcasts in 49 languages to audiences in countries with restricted media freedoms. However, Trump’s executive order signed on Friday targeted its parent organization, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), as part of broader federal spending cuts. The layoffs have left VOA in limbo, forcing some services ...