Category: Middle East

US special forces carried out a daring rescue mission to bring back an airman stranded behind enemy lines after Iran shot down a $31 million fighter jet on Friday.
Donald Trump said on Sunday that dozens of military aircraft had raced to rescue the missing weapons-system officer of a two-seat F-15E after the pilot ejected and was rescued under fire.
The president said that the injured airman “was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour”.
open image in galleryA USAF F-15E Strike Eagle takes off for a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, March 9, 2026 (file) (via REUTERS)The rescue mission encountered fierce resistance from Iran, with the Iranian military claiming to have taken down several American warplanes.
Trump said no casualties were reported from the mission, which he described as the first time in US military history that two pilots h..

President Donald Trump began his Easter Sunday with another blustery warning to Iran and claimed that U.S. forces would begin a series of strikes against Iranian civilian infrastructure targets in two days.
The U.S. president wrote early Sunday morning on Truth Social that Tuesday would be “Power Plant Day” and “Bridge Day” for American forces selecting targets in the region, adding: “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
“Praise be to Allah,” Trump concluded his Easter Morning statement to Americans.
U.S. forces continue to conduct strikes within Iranian airspace as the president has vowed to unleash a more devastating salvo of attacks if the key waterway which serves as a crucial passage for a large fraction of the world’s oil traffic is not opened up by Iranian forces. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil prices to spike past $100 per barrel.
There’s little sign that Trump’s threats have been effective, however, and Iranian o..

The US military is engaged in a desperate search for a missing pilot after an American warplane was shot down by Iran, which has now offered a reward for the pilot's capture. The incident marks a significant escalation in the six-week-old conflict, with Tehran calling on its citizens to turn in the airman.
The aircraft, identified by Iran as a US F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two targeted on Friday. While one service member was rescued, at least one remains unaccounted for. This represents the first time the United States has lost an aircraft in Iranian territory during the ongoing hostilities, potentially signalling a new and dangerous phase in the campaign.
The conflict, initiated by the US and Israel on 28 February, has sent shockwaves across the Middle East and beyond. Thousands have been killed, global markets destabilised, crucial shipping lanes disrupted, and fuel prices have soared. With Iran continuing to retaliate against US and Israeli airstrikes, the violence shows no..

One crew member rescued after US F-15 shot down over Iran while search continues for other pilotThe US and Iran are in a race to find an American service member who went missing after Tehran struck down a F-15 fighter jet.
One of two crew members aboard the F-15 fighter jet has been rescued. Iran is reportedly offering locals around £50,000 to anyone who hands over the missing pilot alive.
An anchor on the Iranian state media channel said: “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize.”
Iran also reportedly hit an A-10 attack plane in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, which made it to Kuwaiti airspace, where the pilot ejected and the aircraft crashed, officials said.
Trump told The Independent he is not yet ready to say what the US will do if Iranian forces get to the downed airman first. “We hope that’s not going to happen,” the president said before ending the call shortly thereafter.
It comes as Iran targeted US..

Former Secretary for Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, has been hit with yet another scandal involving the management of her department following explosive details of her husband’s predilection for Barbie-like women and cross-dressing.
Noem, who was removed from her Cabinet position in early March, is now facing accusations that she awarded Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts worth millions to five companies all owned by a single GOP donor, according to NOTUS.
This investigation comes after photos emerged of her husband, Bryon Noem, wearing pink spandex with balloons on his chest to look like breasts and flirting with women online.
open image in galleryKristi Noem is facing an investigation into DHS contracts after being removed from her Cabinet position. (Getty Images)The Daily Mail reported that Bryon Noem had a “bimbofication” fetish earlier this week, as he is reported to have been seeking a woman with a “Barbie Doll”-like appearance online. He also reportedly sent $25,..

President Donald Trump reportedly told his outgoing attorney general Pam Bondi that he would be replacing her en route to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning, saying simply, “I think it’s time.”
The pair were riding in “The Beast,” the presidential limousine, to watch the nation’s highest court hear arguments on the question of birthright citizenship, when Trump made his feelings clear, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The duo then had to sit side-by-side at the hearing, until the president moved away, after which, the report states, she asked Trump to keep her in post until the summer. He refused.
open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday, making her the second Cabinet member to leave his administration this term (AP)The president duly announced Bondi’s departure on Truth Social Thursday, saying she would be relocating to a “much needed and important new job in the private sector” and praising her as “a Great American Patriot and a ..

President Donald Trump implored MAGA loyalists to boycott Bruce Springsteen, branding the veteran musician “a dried up prune” whose tickets are too pricey.
On Thursday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to pen a 117-word diatribe against the New Jersey-born rocker — whom he has exchanged barbs with for years.
“Bad, and very boring singer, Bruce Springsteen, who looks like a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon, has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the Republican president wrote.
“The guy is a total loser who spews hate against a President who won a Landslide Election,” he added. “MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.”
The long-running feud between the president and “The Boss” dates back to at least 2016.
President Donald Trump went on a rant against ‘dried up prune’ Bruce Springsteen, calling for MAGA to boycott his concerts (Getty)In September of that..

A Seattle homicide suspect who authorities say was mistakenly released from a California jail has been arrested after spending months on the run.
Isaiah Andrews, 20, is suspected of shooting and killing a man in the Northgate neighborhood on October 15, 2025, Seattle Police said. The victim, 20-year-old Theodore Wheeler IV, was found in the parking lot of a hotel just before 5 p.m. with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police and firefighters attempted life-saving measures, but the victim died at the scene. It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting.
Andrews was arrested three days later, about 800 miles away in Antioch, California. His arrest came after a vehicle chase involving several police agencies, authorities said.
He spent just three days in jail before staff “mistakenly released” him on October 21.
open image in galleryHomicide suspect Jamon Andrews, 20, was arrested after authorities mistakenly released him from jail last fall (Contra Costa County Sheriff's ..

'It's frankly ridiculous' Donald Trump says US is considering abolishing birthright citizenshipPresident Donald Trump is set to make an unprecedented visit to the Supreme Court today to hear oral arguments on his fight to end birthright citizenship.
No sitting president has attended Supreme Court arguments in the nation’s history.
Proceedings are set to begin at 10 a.m.
“I'm going,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this week. “I think so. I do believe. Because I've listened to this argument for so long.”
Trump had flirted with attending oral arguments in other cases, but opted against it. Now, his attendance has raised questions about the separation of powers with critics blasting the move.
When he returned to office, Trump signed an executive order to deny automatic citizenship to babies born in the U.S., unless they have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident. That order was almost instantly challenged by groups, who arg..

President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that he’d rejected a request for a ceasefire from Iran’s president as he threatened to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages” if Tehran does not allow ships to resume passing freely through the Strait of Hormuz.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said “Iran’s New Regime President” — who he described as “much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors” — had asked for a “ceasefire” from the U.S.
“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages,” he added.
The U.S. president is due to deliver a primetime address on the war Wednesday evening. His latest remarks come as the U.S. has failed to rally a force capable of re-opening and guaranteeing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a major waterway and energy traffic route off Iran’s coast that has become the focal point in the war Trump launched last month.
The identity ..