U.S. special forces rescued the second crew member of the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran, three U.S. officials tell Axios.
The crew member, a weapons system officer, was wounded after ejecting from the aircraft on Friday but could still walk, and evaded capture in the mountains for more than a day, one of officials said.
The big picture: The shootdown was a nightmare scenario for the U.S. military, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also racing to locate the missing U.S. officer in southwest Iran. Both crew members were rescued in special forces operations inside Iran.
One official said Saturday's operation was conducted by a specialized commando unit with a high volume of air cover, that the U.S. forces unleashed a hail of heavy fire, and that all of the forces were now out of Iran.
Second crew member from F-15 downed in Iran rescued by U.S. forces
Israel plans 'Yellow Line' model in Lebanon by razing southern villages
The Israeli army is proposing to replicate its Gaza “Yellow Line” model in southern Lebanon by seizing territory and destroying entire villages.
In a briefing to Israeli media on Friday, military officials said disarming Hezbollah was not a realistic objective, and instead called for the creation of a “deep defensive line” inside Lebanese territory.
The plan would involve demolishing dozens of homes in frontline villages to establish a de facto demarcation line, similar to the one imposed in the Gaza Strip.
The “Yellow Line” in Gaza - a unilaterally drawn Israeli boundary - was initially intended as a temporary withdrawal line under a US-led ceasefire agreement signed in October. Later stages of the deal envisaged a full Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hamas.
Seven More Ukrainian Children Returned From Occupation With US Support
Ukraine has returned seven more children from temporarily occupied territories as part of the “Bring Kids Back UA” initiative, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on Saturday, April 4.
The group, consisting of childrAmong those returned is a 13-year-old boy from the Kherson region who had been placed in a rehabilitation center after losing both parents. Two brothers, aged 13 and 16, were also repatriated after resisting attempts by occupation officials to prevent them from reuniting with their sister in government-controlled territory. Another 14-year-old boy was reunited with his mother after a four-year separation.en aged 13 to 17, includes several orphans who had been held in Russian-controlled social centers or subjected to psychological pressure by occupation authorities. Lubinets expressed gratitude to US First Lady Melania Trump for her “humanitarian support” in facilitating the return.
Among those returned is a 13-year-old boy from the Kherson region who had been placed in a rehabilitation center after losing both parents. Two brothers, aged 13 and 16, were also repatriated after resisting attempts by occupation officials to prevent them from reuniting with their sister in government-controlled territory. Another 14-year-old boy was reunited with his mother after a four-year separation.
ICE detention deaths are on a record pace. One Texas facility bears the brunt
A long paved road, flanked by desert sand, leads to the big white tents usually housing some 3,000 immigrants, with beds for up to 2,000 more.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center is located on the grounds of the U.S. Army's Fort Bliss military base and is known as Camp East Montana.
Opened in August 2025, it's currently the largest immigrant detention center in the U.S. and one of the facilities with the most detainee deaths. Out of 25 people who died in ICE detention since October, three of them were at Camp East Montana.
Concerns are rising among immigration advocates, lawmakers and former detainees about the company that initially ran the detention center, Acquisition Logistics, which had never run a center before securing a $1.3 billion federal contract. Advocates and multiple members of Congress are calling for the facility to be shut down.
65, single, seeking a roommate: More seniors are being priced out of living alone
David West raised four kids in Los Angeles working as a Hollywood cinematographer — no mean feat in such a pricey city. But a few years ago, his life took a hard turn.
"Everything went south. Divorce. My brother died," he said. "My dog died." On top of that, a string of clients who'd hired him for decades also passed away.
Before long, he'd burned through cash and damaged his credit. He moved to Fresno, Calif., and now, at 72, West is in a situation he never imagined at this stage of life but one that more and more older people are facing: renting a room in the home of a complete stranger.
"I tried to move, like, an apartment's worth of stuff into a room," he said with a laugh at how impossible it seemed. "You know, how do you do that? I still haven't figured it out."
West looked into a housing subsidy, but his income is just over the limit, so he's grateful for the cost savings of a house share. His roommate, also an older man, covers Wi-Fi, utilities and cable. West volunteers his photography skills at the church where the man is involved and shares his Costco membership.
Former US air force master sergeant pleads guilty to defrauding military out of $37m
A former US air force master sergeant who nicknamed himself “Al Capone” has pleaded guilty to defrauding the military branch out of $37m by inflating the cost of IT contracts – and giving some of the extra money to an individual he called “Godfather”.
Alan Hayward James, from Texas, ran a nine-year scam, beginning in April 2016, which also saw him funnel excess funds to himself, his family and his co-conspirators.
James, 51, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to rig bids for the US Pacific air forces based in Hawaii. In a plea agreement, James admitted conspiring with multiple competitors to rig bids for IT contracts with the US defense department
He “knowingly conspired” with co-conspirators and companies in a manner which “falsely inflated” the value of contracts, the justice department said. James encouraged some companies to overbid and others to underbid for services. In one instance, he told a company to submit a bid for an IT contract that was “low and stupid”, which effectively led to a co-conspirator company winning the contract at an inflated rate.
US jobs market surpassed expectations in March but February losses were worse than first reported
The US labor market picked up in March as employers showed signs of resilience amid the US-Israel war in Iran.
After an extraordinary contraction in February, employers added 178,000 jobs last month, ahead of economists’ expectations of about 70,000.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In February, the economy lost 133,000 jobs, according to revised figures. Job figures for January were revised up, from 126,000 to 160,000. With revisions, total employment in January and February is 7,000 lower than previously reported. .
Previous data painted a mixed picture of the US labor market, which economists say has been in a static “low-fire, low-hire” state, where both layoffs and new hires are down.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that employers announced 217,362 job cuts in the first quarter of 2026 – the lowest total for that period since 2022. But hiring in February slowed to a six-year low, according to data released earlier this week, with dips seen in construction and leisure and hospitality.
US authorities arrest relatives of late Iranian military commander who were living in Los Angeles
US federal agents have arrested the niece and grandniece of the late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after the Trump administration’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio, revoked their lawful permanent resident status, officials said on Saturday.
“Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” or ICE, the state department said in a statement.
US authorities arrest relatives of State department said niece and grandniece of Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 US drone strike, celebrated attacks against US soldiers
In his own statement on social media, Rubio, the US secretary of state, confirmed that the mother-daughter pair are “pending removal” from the US, a development that came after the US and Israeli militaries began waging war on Iran in late February, in part citing an Iranian history of terrorism sponsorship.
Judge blocks Trump bid to require colleges to prove race not considered in admissions
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s effort to force public colleges and universities in 17 states to hand over detailed race-based admissions data.
U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor found that the Department of Education likely has the authority to “collect, analyze, and make use of the data,” but the process was performed in a “rushed and chaotic manner.”
“The manner in which [National Center for Education Statistics] handled that process simply cannot be squared with the requirements of the [Administrative Procedure Act] — and, indeed, epitomizes arbitrary and capricious agency action,” Saylor wrote.
He granted a preliminary injunction to the 17 Democratic-led states that challenged President Trump’s executive order from August, which directed the Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “expand the scope of required reporting to provide adequate transparency into admissions” within 120 days.
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