Israel attacks Iran's nuclear and missile sites, prompting Iranian drone-strike retaliation
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday in strikes that targeted the country's nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.
Simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program boiled over and Iran quickly retaliated, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of “severe punishment.”
Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides.
Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Two security officials said the country's Mossad spy agency was also able to position explosive drones inside Iran ahead of time and then activate them to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran.
They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran as well as strike systems on vehicles, which were activated as the attack began to hit Iranian air defenses.
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The Latest: Israel attacks Iran, killing at least 2 military officers
Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries.
It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran quickly retaliated, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of “severe punishment.”
The attack comes as tensions reached new heights over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over it not working with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones.
Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.
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As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to carry on with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown despite waves of unrest across the U.S.
Hours after her comment Thursday, a judge directed the president to return control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown, but an appeals court quickly put the brakes on that and temporarily blocked the order that was to go into effect on Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing on the matter for Tuesday.
The federal judge's temporary restraining order said the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded President Donald Trump's statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet.
Gov. Gavin Newsom who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the order before it was blocked saying “today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test" and had said he would be redeploying Guard soldiers to “what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president acted within his powers and that the federal judge's order “puts our brave federal officials in danger. The district court has no authority to usurp the President’s authority as Commander in Chief."
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Appeals court temporarily blocks judge's ruling to return control of National Guard to California
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday temporarily blocked a federal judge’s order that directed President Donald Trump to return control of National Guard troops to California after he deployed them there following protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids.
The court said it would hold a hearing on the matter on Tuesday. The ruling came only hours after a federal judge’s order was to take effect at noon Friday.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the earlier ruling.
“Today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test,” Newsom said in a news conference before the appeals court decision.
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Investigators search the Air India crash site for evidence and more victims
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Investigators searched the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger Friday, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on board and several people on the ground.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday.
DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search at the crash site. There was no information on whether the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered.
The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.
“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”
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Gov. Abbott deploys over 5,000 Texas National Guard troops ahead of planned 'No Kings' protests
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he has ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, to help local law enforcement manage protests against President Donald Trump and the ongoing federal immigration raids.
Abbott's announcement did not detail where the troops were sent, but some were seen at a protest Wednesday night in downtown San Antonio near the Alamo. That protest drew hundreds of demonstrators but did not erupt into violence.
More protests are planned on Saturday in San Antonio and across Texas in cities such as Houston, Austin and Dallas as part of the national “No Kings” movement.
Protests earlier this week in Austin and Dallas led to brief clashes with police who used chemical irritants to disperse the crowds. About a dozen were arrested.
“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration law,” Abbott said. “Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
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Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer complains about trial secrecy as a famous rapper's name goes unmentioned
NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs protested the rising tide of secrecy at the hip-hop icon’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday after Combs and the public were excluded from arguments over whether another famous rapper's name could be disclosed.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo complained to Judge Arun Subramanian after Combs was excluded from a meeting outside the courtroom between lawyers and the judge.
That meeting delayed the final day of weeklong testimony from a woman identified in court only by the pseudonym “Jane,” who dated Combs from 2001 until his September arrest.
When her emotional testimony ended, she hugged a prosecutor, Maureen Comey, in front of the jury, which would have drawn an outcry from the defense except she hugged defense attorney Teny Geragos too.
Her testimony likely helped both sides. She admitted still loving Combs, but she said she now resents that she felt forced to have sex with strangers to satisfy his sexual fantasies.
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At least 5 dead and 2 missing in San Antonio after heavy rains flood parts of Texas
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Heavy rains in San Antonio rapidly flooded roads, swept away submerged cars and sent some people scrambling up trees to escape fast-rising waters Thursday while firefighters made dozens of rescues across the nation’s seventh-largest city. At least five people died and two were still missing, authorities said.
The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where authorities found over a dozen vehicles in the water. More than a dozen smashed and overturned vehicles littered a creek after being tossed and carried by floodwaters.
Some of the people rescued in that area said they were swept off an interstate access road by “sudden fast rising water,” San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said in an email. He said floodwaters swept vehicles into a creek and carried them downstream.
Crews brought in search dogs Thursday afternoon to help find missing people, Arrington said.
By afternoon, crews could be seen pulling heavily damaged vehicles out of the creek.
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First millennial saint Carlo Acutis will be canonized Sept. 7, the pope says
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Friday set Sept. 7 as the rescheduled date to canonize the Catholic Church’s first millennial-era saint Carlo Acutis.
Leo made the announcement during a meeting of cardinals, known as a consistory, to set the dates for a handful of new saints.
Acutis’ canonization was originally scheduled for April 27, but was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
Acutis was 15 when he died in northern Italy in 2006, after a short bout with leukemia. He has become enormously popular especially among young Catholics who have been flocking to his tomb in Assisi.
While he enjoyed regular pastimes for his age — hiking, video games, and joking around with friends – he also taught catechism in a local parish and did outreach to the homeless. He used his computer skills to create an online exhibit about more than 100 eucharistic miracles recognized by the church over many centuries.
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Meta invests $14.3B in AI firm Scale and recruits its CEO for 'superintelligence' team
Meta is making a $14.3 billion investment in artificial intelligence company Scale and recruiting its CEO Alexandr Wang to join a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant.
The deal announced Thursday reflects a push by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to revive AI efforts at the parent company of Facebook and Instagram as it faces tough competition from rivals such as Google and OpenAI.
Meta announced what it called a “strategic partnership and investment” with Scale late Thursday. Scale said the $14.3 billion investment puts its market value at over $29 billion.
Scale said it will remain an independent company but the agreement will “substantially expand Scale and Meta’s commercial relationship.” Meta will hold a 49% stake in the startup.
Wang, though leaving for Meta with a small group of other Scale employees, will remain on Scale’s board of directors. Replacing him is a new interim Scale CEO Jason Droege, who was previously the company’s chief strategy officer and had past executive roles at Uber Eats and Axon.
The Associated Press
