US and Israel pound Iran as Trump signals willingness to talk to new leaders after Khamenei's death
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. and Israel pounded targets across Iran on Sunday, dropping massive bombs on its ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Blasts rattled windows across the country and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above Tehran. More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes, according to Iranian leaders.
As the bombardment went on, the conflict widened beyond the U.S., Israel and Iran. Iran-supported militant groups in Iraq and Lebanon claimed strikes on Israel and a U.S. base. Gulf states warned that they could retaliate against Iran after strikes that hit key sites and killed at least five civilians. And after Britain said it would let the U.S. use its bases as part of the war effort, Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the island.
Iran vowed revenge, firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a counteroffensive that killed three U.S. service members — the first known American casualties from the conflict. Israeli rescue services said strikes hit several locations, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11.
The attacks on Iran showed no signs of relenting as the U.S. and Israel took aim at warships and ballistic missile sites. It was a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and pledged to keep out of “forever wars."
US futures and Asian shares open lower, oil prices soar as US and Israeli attack Iran
BANGKOK (AP) — The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran rattled world markets on Monday, with U.S. futures initially falling more than 1% and oil prices soaring, though both moderated as trading picked up.
The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down about 0.8% by mid-morning in Bangkok.
Asian shares opened lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index initially fell more than 2%, but by midday Tokyo time it was down 1.5% at 57,981.54.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 1.6% to 26,215.91, and the Shanghai Composite index was flat at 4,163.01.
What to know about the latest US-Israeli attacks on Iran
The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggered retaliatory strikes on multiple countries in the region and has reverberated around the world.
Related violence has expanded to a growing number of places, with a rising death toll. Israeli strikes targeted Tehran. Iran fired drones and missiles at Israel and sites around the Gulf, prompting three close U.S. allies to say they are ready to defend their interests in the region. On Monday people fled southern Lebanon after Israel launched multiple strikes and Jerusalem warned villagers there to evacuate.
The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which started Saturday, stoked fears of a wider war and damage to the world economy. Global reaction ranged from jubilation to condemnation.
The strikes came two days after the latest U.S.-Iran talks, as Trump pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program. A senior White House official said Sunday that “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the U.S. and that President Donald Trump says he is “eventually” willing to talk. The official said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.
For now, though, Trump said in a video posted Sunday that the operation in Iran — “one of the most complex, most overwhelming military offensives the world has ever seen” — will continue until “all of our objectives” are achieved.
Some celebrate in Iran after supreme leader's death, but deep fear and uncertainty remain
CAIRO (AP) — Some of the jubilation was open and even raucous — people dancing in Iranian streets, honking car horns in celebration, screaming joyfully from windows and rooftops over the killing of the country's supreme leader. But as bombardment by the United States and Israel fell from the air for a second day Sunday, many expressed fear and uncertainty over what direction Iran will take.
The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who stood at the pinnacle of Iran’s Islamic Republic for nearly four decades, along with a number of top military leaders in the first day of the U.S.-Israeli campaign, stunned Iranians and stirred a mix of complex emotions in a divided nation.
“Inside, we are in party mode,” said one man in northern Tehran who expressed joy over Khamenei's death. He was reached via messaging apps. “But unless we are safe from them, people are not celebrating publicly because they are ruthless and even more vengeful.”
Authorities moved to show public support, rallying massive crowds in several cities to mourn a leader that state media declared a martyr. Video run on state media — verified by the AP — showed tens of thousands filling the sprawling main squares of the southern and central cities of Isfahan and Yazd, waving Iranian flags and chanting, “Death to America.”
Several of those who joined past anti-government protests, reached by The Associated Press on Sunday, said the state’s security grip remained too strong to go out for a new round of mass demonstrations, despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for Iranians to “seize their government.” With communications into Iran unstable, AP contacted eight Iranians, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
FBI probes Texas bar shooting that killed 2 and wounded 14 as possible terrorist act
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah” killed two people and wounded 14 early Sunday at a Texas bar, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The FBI is investigating the shooting, which erupted a day after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran, as a potential act of terrorism.
Police in Austin shot and killed the gunman, who used both a pistol and a rifle to carry out the attack, police said.
The shooting happened outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden just before 2 a.m. along Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs and only a few miles (kilometers) from the University of Texas at Austin.
Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old senior, had spent the evening there with friends and said the bar was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”
The suspect drove past the bar several times before stopping and shooting from the window of his SUV at people on a patio and in front of the bar, according to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.
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Trump's Medicaid work mandates are meant to save money. But first states will have to spend millions
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — To receive Medicaid health coverage, some adults will soon have to show they are working, volunteering or taking classes. But to gather that proof, many states first will have to spend millions of dollars improving their computer systems.
Across the nation, states face an immense task and high costs to prepare for the Jan. 1 kickoff of new Medicaid eligibility mandates affecting millions of lower-income adults in the government-funded health care program.
The first half of a $200 million federal allotment has already begun flowing to states to help implement the new requirements. But the tab for the needed technology improvements and additional staff is likely to exceed $1 billion, according to an Associated Press analysis of budget projections in more than 25 states. That extra cost will be borne by a mixture of federal and state tax dollars.
The task is not as simple as pushing through a software update on your smartphone or personal computer. That's because each state has its own system for managing Medicaid, often requiring experts to make customized changes.
“Our current eligibility systems are pretty old, and the ability to change them is very, very difficult,” said Toi Wilde, chief information officer for the Missouri Department of Social Services.
Trump expects his Fed pick and AI to deliver a replay of the '90s boom. Economists have doubts
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, his Treasury secretary and his choice to lead the Federal Reserve believe they can coax the U.S. economy into partying like it’s 1999.
They are putting their faith in artificial intelligence to duplicate what happened when another technology arrived in the 1990s: the internet. Back then, the American economy surged as businesses became more productive, unemployment tumbled and inflation remained in check.
Trump is confident that his nominee to become Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, can unleash an even greater economic bonanza by jettisoning what the president sees as the central bank’s hidebound reluctance to slash interest rates.
Many economists are skeptical.
The world looks a lot different today than it did when the Spice Girls ruled radio and “Titanic’’ dominated the box office. And the story the Trump team is telling — that a visionary Fed chair, Alan Greenspan, fueled the ‘90s boom by keeping interest rates low — is incomplete at best.
Gaza's ceasefire had some momentum. Now, some fear a new war will distract the world
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory's reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward.
Residents say they are scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, asserted in its announcement of the closings that the food supply inside the territory “is expected to suffice for an extended period.” It added that the rotation of humanitarian workers in and out of Gaza is postponed.
COGAT did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Palestinians told The Associated Press they were rushing to markets, haunted by memories of painful food scarcity last year under months of Israel's blockade. Part of Gaza, around Gaza City, was found to be in famine.
At least 22 people killed in Pakistan as protesters try to storm US Consulate
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi and in the country's north left at least 22 people dead and more than 120 others injured as demonstrators supportive of the Iranian government attempted to storm a U.S. Consulate on Sunday, authorities said.
In the north of the country, demonstrators attacked U.N. and government offices.
The violence came after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said that at least 50 people were also wounded in the clashes and some of them were in critical condition.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his “profound sorrow over the martyrdom" of Khamenei and conveyed his condolences to Iran, according to his office. He said: “Pakistan stands with the Iranian nation in this moment of grief and shares in their loss.”
Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at the city's main government hospital, confirmed six bodies and multiple injured people were brought to the facility. However, she said the death toll rose to 10 after four critically wounded people died.
'Sinners' takes top prize at the Actor Awards, setting up an Oscar showdown
After a near awards-season sweep by “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners” won best ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild’s 32nd Actor Awards on Sunday, shaking up the Oscar race and setting up a potential nail-biter finale in two weeks at the Academy Awards.
The guild’s awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, are one of the most closely watched Oscar precursors. Actors make up the largest slice of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their choices at the Actor Awards often align.
The victory for Ryan Coogler’s blues-soaked vampire saga showed that it has a strong chance to win at the Oscars, too, despite an almost unblemished run of awards for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.” It's won at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild Awards, the BAFTAs and the Directors Guild Awards.
But the win Sunday, in a Netflix-streamed ceremony at the Shine Auditorium in Los Angeles, flipped that awards-season script. Writer-director Ryan Coogler, whose “Black Panther” triumphed at the guild's awards in 2019, became the first filmmaker to steer two ensembles to the guild's top prize.
“From the bottom of our hearts, to the bottom of your hearts, thank you so much for everything,” said Delroy Lindo, who spoke on behalf of the film's cast.

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