As Mideast conflict widens, US says attacks on Iran will last weeks and intensify
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The war in the Middle East spiraled further as Israel and the U.S. pounded Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump said the campaign would likely take several weeks, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “hardest hits are yet to come.” Tehran and its allies hit back Monday against Israel, neighboring Gulf states and targets, including energy facilities in Qatar and the American embassy in Saudi Arabia. The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iran's supreme leader, and the lack of any apparent exit plan indicated the conflict would not end anytime soon. Israel launched retaliatory attacks in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at it, and an Israeli military official did not rule out another ground invasion.
Hegseth insists the Iran conflict is 'not endless' while warning more casualties are likely
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken to widening concerns the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran could spiral into a protracted regional conflict by declaring: “This is not Iraq. This is not endless.” Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine on Monday held the Trump administration’s first news briefing since Saturday’s strikes. Trump, Hegseth and Caine haven't suggested any exit plan or offered signs the conflict would end anytime soon. They've said more American casualties are likely following the deaths of six service members. Hegseth says the operation is meant to eliminate the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, destroy the country’s navy and ensure “no nukes.”
Bill Clinton tries to distance himself from Epstein in videos released from his testimony last week
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton sought to distance himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in last week's closed-door depositions with lawmakers. That's according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee. The recordings show how Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. In her deposition, Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein. The Clintons’ testimony came as lawmakers face demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls.
What to know about the deadly shooting at a Texas bar and the gunman
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman shot and killed two people and wounded 14 others outside a bar in a busy nightlife district near the University of Texas at Austin over the weekend before police fatally shot him. The FBI says it’s investigating the assault as a potential act of terrorism, coming after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The suspect was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah.” One student who had spent his evening at the bar said it was “full of college students” who were “enjoying their nights.”
Supreme Court blocks law against schools outing transgender students to their parents in California
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is clearing the way for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group. The Monday order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements. The lawsuit came to the court’s emergency docket after religious parents and educators challenged California policies aimed at preventing schools from outing children to their families. The parents say schools misled them and facilitated social transition despite their objections. The state said students have the right to privacy, especially if they fear rejection from their families.
In Their Words: How Trump's and his administration's statements on Iran evolved and conflicted
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his team have given shifting and sometimes conflicting reasons for striking Iran, even as they claim the mission a total success. After the first round of strikes on Iran in June 2025, the president and his top aides said U.S. bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. But, in the runup to this weekend's new round of attacks, Trump and leading administration officials warned again that Iran was close to a bomb. Trump has also changed his mind on regime change. After mocking it in the past, he's warmed to the idea.
FACT FOCUS: Misrepresented images spread after US and Israel strike Iran
As the U.S. and Israel continued to strike Iran on Monday following a major attack over the weekend that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, misrepresented images related to the war spread widely online. They presented years-old footage as current, falsely claimed that U.S. military vehicles had been destroyed and erroneously claimed to show casualties of the war.
Minnesota launches investigation that could bring charges against federal immigration officers
A Minnesota county attorney may pursue charges against federal officers for alleged misconduct during an immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area. The prosecutor says Monday her office is already investigating 17 incidents in the county, including a Jan. 21 case where Border Patrol official Greg Bovino threw a smoke canister at protesters, and a Jan. 7 arrest near a high school where officers used chemical irritants while students and staff were in the area. Her office may also sue the federal government for blocking requests for evidence in her investigations into the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Savannah Guthrie returns to her mother’s home in first sighting there since disappearance
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie and her sister returned to their mother’s home outside Tucson in their first sighting at the house since Nancy Guthrie went missing a month ago. The NBC anchor, her sister Annie Guthrie and brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni walked arm-in-arm down the driveway and laid yellow flowers in a makeshift tribute to the 84-year-old at the edge of the street. Nancy Guthrie’s children had previously appeared in videos in which they pleaded for their mother’s return. She was last seen at her home on Jan. 31. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.
US stocks erase sharp losses, while oil prices leap on worries about Iran war
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices leaped on worries that war with Iran could clog the flow of crude, while U.S. stocks swung from sharp losses to tiny gains. The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% Monday, and cruise lines and airlines led the way lower on worries about higher fuel bills. But U.S. stocks quickly erased those losses, in part because past military conflicts haven’t usually created sustained drops for the market. The index finished with a gain of less than 0.1%. The Dow dipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Oil and defense stocks rallied. Treasury yields rose with worries about inflation.
