U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom President Donald J. Trump calls “secretary of war,” said Monday that Operation Epic Fury against Iran was “the most lethal, most complex, and most precise aerial operation in history,” though he declined to rule out the possibility of American ground forces becoming involved.

Iran has rejected negotiations with the United States as military escalation spread across the Middle East and into the eastern Mediterranean after the U.S. and Israel began striking the Islamic Republic early Saturday.

Three U.S. service members were killed and five seriously wounded in an Iranian counterattack as fighting between the United States and Iran intensified, officials confirmed Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East could postpone the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, as Moscow condemned recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on its ally Iran.

In a striking turn of events with profound geopolitical consequences, The UK Sunday Times reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated a willingness — at least in diplomatic talks — to accept U.S.-backed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a prospective post-war settlement. This development arrives at a moment of historic intensity, with the United States and Israel conducting major military operations against Iran’s regime in what U.S. leaders are calling a decisive strike against Tehran’s nuclear and missile threat.

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, describing the development as “justice” for Americans and others worldwide allegedly harmed by the Iranian regime.

A senior Israeli official said Saturday that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the opening strike of Operation Roaring Lion, potentially ending the 86-year-old cleric’s 36-year rule over the Islamic Republic.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that American forces have begun what he described as “major combat operations” against Iran, saying the objective is to eliminate what he called “imminent threats from the Iranian regime” and prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. He also urged Iranians to topple the country’s current leadership.

Communist-run Cuba was preparing for more uncertainty Saturday after U.S. President Donald J. Trump suggested he may annex the island, though he indicated it would be less bloody than during the removal of Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. President Donald Trump made clear Friday that while he is frustrated with Iran’s posture in nuclear negotiations, he is not rushing blindly into conflict — even as American military assets continue to mass across the Middle East.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday he had deployed troops to protect key energy facilities, accusing Ukraine and the European Union of endangering Hungary’s energy and economic security ahead of April elections.

The mayor of Medan, one of Indonesia’s largest cities and the capital of North Sumatra province, has restricted the sale of pork and other “non-halal” meat along roadsides and certain public areas, triggering alarm among minority Christians and other non-Muslim vendors.

Polish officials say they have uncovered Hamas-style underground tunnels along the Belarus border that were allegedly used to funnel migrants into the European Union as part of what they describe as a Russian-backed campaign to destabilize the West.

The third round of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran ended Thursday amid sharply conflicting assessments, as diplomatic maneuvering unfolded alongside one of the largest U.S. military buildups in the Middle East in years.

The 85th anniversary commemoration of a strike in Amsterdam against the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps was overshadowed Wednesday by pro-Palestine protests and a controversial speech.