Iran targeted US air defenses then hit aircraft and buildings on Mideast bases, AP analysis finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran's strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The AP independently verified damage to American targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed or have firsthand knowledge of what was hit. The AP found that, through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with U.S. equipment.
The AP found that Iran initially focused its attacks on aircraft hangars and systems that detect incoming strikes, clearing the way for further strikes on warehouses, troop housing and more.
The damage has significantly reshaped the American foothold in the Middle East, with two regional officials saying the U.S. has moved many of its assets out of the Persian Gulf. That includes aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment crucial to base operations, one of those officials said.
The impact of the damage raises questions about American defenses in the region as President Donald Trump considers new strikes after Tuesday's midterm elections and Tehran has vowed major retaliation. A return to hostilities threatens additional costly damage to bases, which would heighten uncertainty about whether the United States will choose to rebuild its bases and equipment in the region when the war ends.
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'Grasping at straws': Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter
Saying the president was “grasping at straws,” a federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law. The ruling said the lawsuit had attempted to “manufacture” flaws in the Journal’s investigative reporting.
When a case is thrown out “with prejudice,” it cannot be refiled again and the dismissal is permanent and incontrovertible.
The dismissal is a blow to Trump and his administration, which have both pursued adversarial relationships with news organizations during his second term. In addition to the Journal, he is embroiled in lawsuits involving the BBC, The Associated Press and — most recently — CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are suing him for restored access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September.
Trump has denounced media outlets that write things to which he objects and frequently calls them “fake news” and insults their journalists.
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FBI visits Dan J. Sullivan donor in candidate's hometown as Alaska Senate inquiry widens
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The FBI has begun reaching out to donors of Dan J. Sullivan asking about potential deception, as federal authorities ramped up their investigation of the U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska who shares a name with the Republican incumbent.
Agents have contacted donors in at least two remote communities in Alaska and a couple in Massachusetts . An Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, a small fishing community accessible only by air or water where the candidate lives. The agent left a business card for Charles Flint, who told The Associated Press he has known Dan J. Sullivan for years as a respected teacher and musician.
The FBI visits came after federal officials confirmed the existence of a criminal probe over the candidate. The U.S. Department of Justice also pushed Friday for a court order to isolate certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion.
Flint contributed $500 over the summer to what he considered a long-shot campaign, saying he knew Dan J. Sullivan would have expenses and respected him for “throwing his hat in the ring.” Flint said the FBI agent asked his son, who works at the dealership, whether Flint felt he had been “misled” about which candidate he was supporting.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been misled at all,” Flint, who has been out of town, told the AP in a telephone interview, adding he had no intention of calling the agent but would “let him waste his time trying to track me down.”
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FBI blames North Korea for stolen billions from Binance in biggest hack in history
New York (AP) — The theft of billions of dollars from Binance within a matter of minutes, the biggest crypto heist in history, was orchestrated by North Korean hackers, the FBI said Saturday.
The bureau said in a statement that this week's attack was tied to “malicious cyber activity” by an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same actors behind a $1.5 billion Bybit hack last year.
The FBI asked crypto exchanges, blockchain analytics companies and others to block transactions linked to various addresses to make sure the money is not laundered to cover up its origins.
It also said its probe found that TraderTraitor was converting stolen assets primarily into a cryptocurrency called ethereum. The FBI expects that TraderTraitor will now attempt to convert the assets using DeFi and “instant swap services.”
Asked by reporters as he appeared on Saturday night during a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, however, President Donald Trump suggested investigators weren't yet certain that North Korea was involved.
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Trump administration's social media posts ahead of elections criticized for being inflammatory
The Trump administration’s online accounts are circulating images of a pumpkin carved with a sombrero design and a fake Halloween-themed background around a Black man apparently accused of food assistance fraud, in social media posts slammed by critics as inflammatory rhetoric.
Only days before the midterm elections, the posts coincide with the government’s sweeping campaign to show its aggressive immigration enforcement, and highlight efforts to crack down on fraud to save taxpayers money when rising healthcare costs and other economic stressors have made affordability a top voter concern.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted Saturday on the social platform X a photo of the Black man standing in front of stacks of what appear to be U.S. currency with the headline, SNAP FRAUDSTER, an apparent reference to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
He is holding aloft what appears to be a bill set aflame.
“Some costumes come with a price tag. This one comes with a prison sentence,” it says to the backdrop of fake Spirit Halloween costume packaging.
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Iran's leader says response to attack would have no 'geographic limits,' and other Mideast news
Iran's supreme leader threatened an immediate response to a potential attack — one without “geographic limits” — as diplomatic efforts continue in an effort to avoid a return to all-out war.
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said a proposal has been reached that would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz in just two days. And Iran's security chief says the U.S. tone has “completely changed” in a good way.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said that “any kind and level of threat” from the U.S. or Israel should face an immediate response, one without geographic limits, the official IRNA news agency reported.
State media said that Khamenei, who hasn't been seen publicly since the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, made the comments while meeting with military chiefs. He also called for an updated list of potential U.S. and Israeli targets.
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Rubio says the US government did not facilitate Bolsonaro’s flight to the US
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Trump administration did not facilitate defeated presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s departure to the U.S. after he left Brazil following his election defeat to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday, a day after the State Department said that Bolsonaro and his family will be granted U.S. visas after his weekend loss in a hotly contested race that bucked a trend of conservative electoral results in Latin America.
“We didn’t facilitate anything,” Rubio told reporters in Atlanta, where top diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies were gathered.
“We had word that he had arrived in the United States. He had previously held a visa, and the president made a decision to allow him to enter the country,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was not “involved directly in any of the moves that were made.”
Rubio also said that he had seen Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, in Atlanta both on Friday and Saturday, and that he expected to see Brazilian officials again in France in November, when France is hosting a foreign ministers’ meeting.
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Mamdani says Trump agrees to grant visa to mother of Ghanian teen killed in Bronx shooting
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday in a social media post that after talking to President Donald Trump, he has agreed to grant a visa to the mother of a 15-year-old immigrant from Ghana who was shot to death earlier this week.
The White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press confirming the administration would be issuing the visa.
The teen, Javits Frimpong, was on his way to school in a Bronx neighborhood shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday when he was shot in the abdomen, New York City police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital later that day. No arrests have yet been made, and the killing remains under investigation.
“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away,” Mamdani wrote Saturday on X. “Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately.”
“All of New York City is mourning this tragedy,” he said.
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A third weekend of protests in France as youth-led rallies sweep Europe
PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of protesters inspired by frustrated high school students took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.
Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and Portugal.
France's protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, with whimsical Halloween costumes lightening the mood, but gatherings in Paris and other cities ended in clouds of tear gas and scattered fires set by small groups on the margins.
About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge to protect stores, government buildings and touristed areas in the city center.
France's government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France's worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are higher.
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Heavy rains expected to bring flooding risk to already saturated parts of the US Southwest
Heavy rains starting Saturday evening were expected to bring a threat of flash flooding to already saturated areas of the U.S. Southwest through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
As much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the region, where a number of weather systems have brought a deadly autumn of soaking rains. Several people were rescued from floodwaters Friday in Arizona and Nevada.
“It’s not going to take much rainfall to be impactful at all in some of these locations just because of how saturated they are,” said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
The National Weather Service has issued flood watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. Those watches include the Four Corners region, a sparsely populated area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet that has been hit especially hard by recent rains.
Santorelli said this weekend's rain was expected to bring both flash flooding and small-stream flooding.
