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Biden Voices Hope Iran Will Stand Down But is Uncertain

File Photo: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on reducing gun violence, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, July 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo)
File Photo: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on reducing gun violence, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, July 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Biden Voices Hope Iran Will Stand Down But is Uncertain

File Photo: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on reducing gun violence, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, July 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo)
File Photo: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on reducing gun violence, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, July 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo)

US President Joe Biden expressed hope Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge the assassination of Hamas’ leader in Tehran, as fears mounted that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.

Regional tensions have soared following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' top leader, on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing, and they, together with Hezbollah, have vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility, Reuters reported.

Asked by reporters whether Iran would stand down, Biden said on Saturday in response to a shouted question, "I hope so. I don't know."

Seeking to bolster defenses in the Middle East in response to threats from Israel’s foes, the Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.

Haniyeh's death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the Gaza war nears its 11th month, and it fuelled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.

Hamas said it had begun a "broad consultation process" to choose a new leader three days after the assassination of Haniyeh, who was the face of the group's international diplomacy.

The US and international partners including France, Britain, Italy and Egypt continued diplomatic contacts on Saturday seeking to prevent further regional escalation.

The US urged its citizens who wish to leave Lebanon to start making plans immediately, and the British government advised its nationals to “leave now.” Canada warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the regional armed conflict endangered security.

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World

Russia Says Ukraine Attack Damages Oil Pipeline

A satellite near-infrared image shows smoke rising from damaged oil storage tanks after a Ukrainian attack, in Primorsk, Russia March 29, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
A satellite near-infrared image shows smoke rising from damaged oil storage tanks after a Ukrainian attack, in Primorsk, Russia March 29, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
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Russia Says Ukraine Attack Damages Oil Pipeline

A satellite near-infrared image shows smoke rising from damaged oil storage tanks after a Ukrainian attack, in Primorsk, Russia March 29, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
A satellite near-infrared image shows smoke rising from damaged oil storage tanks after a Ukrainian attack, in Primorsk, Russia March 29, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)

Russian authorities said Sunday that a Ukrainian drone attack has damaged an oil pipeline near the Baltic port of Primorsk.

Russian air defenses shot down 19 drones in the Leningrad region and debris from one "damaged a section of the oil pipeline near the port of Primorsk, and the pipeline is being safely burned out," regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram. He said there were no casualties.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian infrastructure targets in recent months.

Primorsk, which is between the Finnish border and the key city of St Petersburg, was also attacked in March when an oil depot was set ablaze.

World

Spanish PM Under Fire as Ex-Top Aide Goes on Graft Trial

Former Spanish Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos leaves the Supreme Court following his appearance for alleged corruption in Madrid on October 15, 2025. (AFP)
Former Spanish Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos leaves the Supreme Court following his appearance for alleged corruption in Madrid on October 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Spanish PM Under Fire as Ex-Top Aide Goes on Graft Trial

Former Spanish Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos leaves the Supreme Court following his appearance for alleged corruption in Madrid on October 15, 2025. (AFP)
Former Spanish Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos leaves the Supreme Court following his appearance for alleged corruption in Madrid on October 15, 2025. (AFP)

A corruption trial of a former right-hand man to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez begins on Tuesday, a politically explosive case that has threatened to topple the Socialist-led minority government.

Jose Luis Abalos is a disgraced ex-Socialist heavyweight, a former transport minister who helped propel Sanchez to power in 2018. The case is one of several corruption affairs rattling the fragile coalition.

Abalos and his former adviser Koldo Garcia are suspected of having pocketed kickbacks for handing out public contracts worth millions of euros for sanitary equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court in Madrid will judge them for alleged bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, membership of a criminal organization and misuse of confidential information. The men deny the charges.

Prosecutors want Abalos to serve 24 years in jail. They portray him as the mastermind of a scheme of illicit enrichment. They have called for a 19-year term for Garcia, who they say was a key intermediary.

They argued in court that both men had abused their government positions and contacts to favor the interests of businessman Victor de Aldama, who has already admitted his role in the vast and complex affair.

Abalos has consistently protested that the investigation has been unfair.

"I feel like I am living in a fiction," he told the conservative daily El Mundo in November, shortly before his arrest. "I cannot believe the prosecutor's office is asking for 24 years in jail for me."

Garcia also protested in comments to an investigatory committee of the Navarre regional parliament.

"I am in jail without proof that I've committed any crime," he said, speaking by video link from his place of pre-trial detention.

More than 75 witnesses and about 20 experts are to testify during the proceedings, which are due to run through April.

- Succession of scandals -

The investigation also appears to have ensnared Abalos's successor in the powerful post of Socialist organization secretary, Santos Cerdan.

Caught up in another case of suspected corruption for public works contracts, he has been forced to step down from what is a key position in the party.

The fall from grace of Abalos and Cerdan -- two of Sanchez's closest allies -- has embarrassed a leader who took power promising to clean up Spanish politics.

He took over from the main conservative Popular Party (PP) after it had been engulfed in its own graft scandal.

Separate corruption investigations into Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez and his brother David, who faces trial later this year, have piled further pressure on the government, one of few leftist administrations in Europe.

Both the PP and far-right opposition party Vox have called for Sanchez's resignation and early elections. They argue that the scandals expose systemic Socialist corruption that reaches the premier himself.

Sanchez has always denied any illegal funding of the Socialists and rebuffed calls for polls before the next scheduled general election, due in 2027.

World

In High-Stakes Mission, US Special Forces Rescue Airman from Iran After F-15 Crash

A US Air Force Airman taxis an F-22 Raptor during Operation Epic Fury in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 15, 2026. (US Air Force/Handout via Reuters)
A US Air Force Airman taxis an F-22 Raptor during Operation Epic Fury in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 15, 2026. (US Air Force/Handout via Reuters)
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In High-Stakes Mission, US Special Forces Rescue Airman from Iran After F-15 Crash

A US Air Force Airman taxis an F-22 Raptor during Operation Epic Fury in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 15, 2026. (US Air Force/Handout via Reuters)
A US Air Force Airman taxis an F-22 Raptor during Operation Epic Fury in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 15, 2026. (US Air Force/Handout via Reuters)

US special operations forces have staged a daring rescue of an airman caught behind enemy lines after Iran shot down his F-15 fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a major crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs whether to escalate the five-week-old war on Iran.

"Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History," Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured, but "he will be just fine."

The airman, who Trump said held the rank of colonel, was the second of the two crew of an F-15 that Iran said on Friday had been ‌brought down by ‌its air defenses.

Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member ‌had ⁠been retrieved, triggering a ⁠high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.

Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.

Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure.

Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show has already struggled to win popular support.

Trump gave no details of the rescue but said it ⁠was the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been ‌rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.

US AIRCRAFT HIT

The rescue effort, ‌involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.

Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in ‌the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.

In a separate incident, a ‌pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.

Still, Trump was triumphant.

"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," he said in his statement.

US air crews are trained in what to do if ⁠they go down behind enemy ⁠lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE), but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.

The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, the US Central Command says.

No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.

While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, it is noteworthy that they have repeatedly been able to hit US aircraft, military experts say.

Reuters first reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran's missile arsenal.

The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.

The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.