- A juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species’ population declines. The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in […]
- TROY, Ala. (AP) — A series of police pursuits have led to at least eight deaths around the country in less than a week amid ongoing calls from some law enforcement experts to curb risky high speed car chases. In Texas, a man fleeing from police died Sunday. In Alabama, four people died when a […]
- NEW YORK (AP) — A $656 million judgment against Palestinian authorities has been reinstated by appeals judges, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Americans killed or wounded in attacks in Israel. The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes a decade after it first tossed out a verdict against […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400 million ballroom creates a security risk for President Donald Trump as it asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling. In a motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to […]
- April 5 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said his deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on critical infrastructure is Tuesday evening, according to an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. “If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants […]
- A mountain hideout and aircraft under fire: US carries out daring rescue of service member in Iran
on April 6, 2026 at 12:26 amThe United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him. The CIA looked to throw off Iran’s government before the crew member was found, launching a deception campaign to spread word inside the Islamic Republic that the U.S. had already located him. Even as President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials described an almost cinematic mission, rescuers faced major obstacles, including two Black Hawk helicopters coming under fire and problems with two transport planes that forced the U.S. military to blow them up. “This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” Trump wrote early Sunday on his Truth Social platform. “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!” In a pair of social media posts, Trump said the operation over the weekend required the U.S. to remain completely silent to avoid jeopardizing the effort, even as the president and top members of his administration continuously monitored the airman’s location. The White House and the Pentagon refused to publicly discuss details about the downed fighter jet for well over 24 hours after the initial crash, particularly about the first crew member rescued from the F-15E Strike Eagle — an effort that Trump later said took seven hours in broad daylight over Iran. The United States and Iran’s government then were both racing to find the second crew member, a weapons systems officer, whose location neither side knew. The CIA spread word in Iran that the U.S. had found him and were moving him by ground to get him out of the country, according to a senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public. The confusion allowed the CIA time to uncover the location of the service member, who was hiding in a mountain crevice, the official said. He had climbed 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) despite being injured, said Sen. Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican who told “Fox News Sunday” that he was briefed by a senior administration official involved in the operation. The intelligence agency sent the aviator’s coordinates to the Pentagon and the White House, where Trump ordered a rescue operation. Meanwhile, an anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television had been urging residents in the mountainous region of southwest Iran where the fighter jet went down to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did. Trump said the American aviator was being “hunted down” by enemies who were “getting closer and closer by the hour.” The United States was monitoring his location continuously, he said. At the right moment, Trump said, he directed the military to send dozens of heavily armed aircraft to rescue the crew member, who the president said is “seriously wounded” but will recover. Iranian state media reported that airstrikes in southwestern Iran on Saturday killed at least three people and wounded others, in the same area where the missing American crew member was believed to be. The American rescue mission ran into major challenges behind enemy lines. Iran’s joint military command claimed it struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters taking part in the operation. A person familiar with the situation said the two helicopters were able to navigate to safe airspace, although it’s unclear if they landed or if crew members were injured. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive information. Then, the U.S. military was forced to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue of the second service member due to a technical malfunction, according to a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission. The U.S. blew up two transport planes it was forced to leave behind because of the mishap, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission. Iran’s state television on Sunday aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of a U.S. aircraft shot down by Iranian forces, along with a photo of thick, black smoke rising. The broadcaster said Iran had shot down a transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation. Iran’s joint military command said the destroyed aircraft included two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters in the province of Isfahan, where the rescue took place. “The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said on social media. Trump, however, did not mention that a second military jet also went down the same day as the F-15E. Iranian state media said Friday that a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed after being struck by Iran’s defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, confirmed a second Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday. An additional U.S. pilot was rescued but details were not available given the security concerns, another person familiar with the situation said. Neither provided more information, including whether it was the A-10. ___ Kim and Lee reported from Washington, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump administration asks appeals court to pause order halting White House ballroom construction
on April 6, 2026 at 12:18 amWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400 million ballroom creates a security risk for President Donald Trump as it asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling. In a motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.” “Time is of the essence!” the lawyers write, citing materials that will be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility. The ballroom construction also includes bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility, according to the filing. The ballroom is part of President Donald Trump’s plans to quickly remake Washington. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington on Tuesday ordered the temporary pause of the construction project that has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House. He concluded that unless Congress approves the project, the preservationist group suing to stop it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.” The judge suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days acknowledging that the administration would appeal his decision. Leon’s ruling and the appeal come the same week a key agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region gave final approval to the project. In his ruling Leon, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush, suspended enforcement of his order recognizing that “halting an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues.” Leon also addressed national security in his ruling, saying that he reviewed information that the government privately submitted to him and concluded that halting construction wouldn’t jeopardize national security. He exempted any construction work that is necessary for the safety and security of the White House from the scope of the injunction. Trump lashed out at the ruling, but also noted that it would allow work on underground bunkers and other security measures around the White House grounds to continue — even though those will be paid for by taxpayers. Trump has pledged that he, along with private donors, will cover the costs for the ballroom construction. But the National Park Service argues in its motion that the president has “complete authority to renovate the White House” and the current state of the grounds, which is an open construction site, make it harder to protect the White House. “Canvas tents, which are necessary without a ballroom, are significantly more vulnerable to missiles, drones, and other threats than a hardened national security facility,” the motion says. The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to make a decision on its request by Friday. It also asked that the 14-day suspension of Leon’s order be extended by another two weeks so that the case can be taken to the Supreme Court. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- A gray whale that swam 20 miles up a Washington state river is found dead
on April 6, 2026 at 12:18 amA juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species’ population declines. The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in the Willapa River, which feeds into the ocean at Willapa Bay. A number of gray whales are currently in the bay on their 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) spring migration from birthing grounds in Baja California, Mexico, north to feeding grounds in Alaska. The larger issue that the population of gray whales in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean has faced since 2019 is reduced food availability in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska’s coast, John Calambokidis, a research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective, told The Associated Press on Sunday. “Gray whales are facing a major crisis and the heart of it does seem to be feeding on their prey in the Arctic,” he said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries agency declared an unusual mortality event for eastern gray whales — meaning those in the eastern Pacific — from late 2018 to late 2023. It involved 690 gray whale strandings during that time, stretching from Alaska to Mexico. NOAA Fisheries investigators concluded the preliminary cause was “localized ecosystem changes in the whales’ sub-Arctic and Arctic feeding areas that led to changes in food, malnutrition, decreased birth rates and increased mortality.” Officials believed the population was rebounding, but the most recent count from 2025 instead showed a continuing decline. The federal agency estimated there were about 13,000 gray whales, the lowest count since the 1970s. “A lot of these gray whales are looking very emaciated, very thin,” Calambokidis said. Their migration north is typically the most challenging period for gray whales, the longest they’ve gone without eating, forcing the animals to use up their nutritional reserves. “When that happens, you often see gray whales in a more desperate search for new areas to feed,” Calambokidis said. “That’s the most likely context for this whale.” Researchers will attempt to examine the whale, possibly as soon as Monday. It entered the north fork of the Willapa River on Wednesday, via a bay about 185 miles (298 kilometers) southwest of Seattle. Residents gathered on bridges along the river just to catch glimpses of the massive mammal and flooded social media with photos and video of it expelling air through its blowhole. While the gray whale appeared thin, it was behaving normally and didn’t appear to have any injuries, the nonprofit Cascadia Research Collective said in a Facebook post. The organization was giving the whale time and space to leave the river on its own, but when researchers attempted to find it Friday, the animal had traveled further upriver into waters that were unnavigable by boat, Calambokidis said. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Police car chases result in 8 deaths around US in less than a week
on April 5, 2026 at 10:18 pmTROY, Ala. (AP) — A series of police pursuits have led to at least eight deaths around the country in less than a week amid ongoing calls from some law enforcement experts to curb risky high speed car chases. In Texas, a man fleeing from police died Sunday. In Alabama, four people died when a car being pursued by a state trooper went off a road and hit a tree Friday. And in California, three people were killed in vehicle crashes during police pursuits in separate incidents last week. The deadly incidents are among the hundreds of fatalities that occur during police chases each year. In 2023, a report from the Police Executive Research Forum, a national think tank on policing standards, called for police to put the brakes on car chases unless a violent crime has been committed and the suspect poses an imminent threat. The report noted a spike in fatalities and an increase in pursuits by some departments, including in Houston and New York City. In the case in Alabama, a driver was trying to elude the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s highway patrol on a rural road in southeast Alabama’s Pike County when the crash occurred late Friday night, agency spokeswoman Amanda Wasden said in an email Sunday. No other vehicles were involved. The driver and two passengers, one of them a 17-year-old, were not wearing seat belts and were thrown from the sedan. A third passenger was not ejected, but all four were pronounced dead at the scene. Wasden said the crash was under investigation, and no additional information was available. Her email did not say what prompted the pursuit. In Fort Worth, Texas, police had been pursuing a car which had been driving without headlights on Interstate 35 when the car hit multiple other vehicles and eventually crashed, killing the driver, according to the Fort Worth Police Department. In southern California, the Pomona Police Department said in a statement that its officers were pursuing a fleeing domestic violence suspect Wednesday when his car hit another vehicle, killing the couple inside. The two were days away from the birth of their child, according to KCBS-TV. In another case, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said that deputies had attempted to stop a stolen U-Haul truck before it slammed into an SUV, killing the SUV’s driver and critically injuring her three passengers. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Appeals court reinstates $656M judgment against the PLO and Palestinian Authority
on April 5, 2026 at 8:18 pmNEW YORK (AP) — A $656 million judgment against Palestinian authorities has been reinstated by appeals judges, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Americans killed or wounded in attacks in Israel. The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes a decade after it first tossed out a verdict against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority on the grounds that U.S. courts couldn’t consider lawsuits against foreign groups over overseas attacks that were not aimed at the United States. But the appeals court reinstated the judgment in light of a Supreme Court ruling last June upholding a 2019 law enacted by Congress to allow the victims’ lawsuits to go forward against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. “We conclude that the original judgment for the plaintiffs should be reinstated. That conclusion is consistent with the plain import of the Supreme Court’s decision,” the judges said in a decision dated March 30. “Our client families are very relieved that the court has reinstated the judgment without requiring a new trial. They have been waiting for a very long time for justice to be done,” attorney Kent Yalowitz said in an email. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said she was pleased with the decision after 22 years of litigation. The victims had sued under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was signed into law in 1992 to open U.S. courts to victims of international terror attacks. The victims and their families assert that Palestinian agents either were involved in the attacks or incited them. The Palestinians have consistently argued that the cases shouldn’t be allowed in American courts. Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys for the defendants on Sunday. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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