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House narrowly rejects Iran war powers resolution in early test of Trump’s strategy

WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.

It’s the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing wary Americans in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent, and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

While the tally in the House, 212-219, was expected to be tight, the outcome provided a clarifying snapshot of political support for, and opposition to, the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war. At the Capitol, the conflict has quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.

“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The House also approved a separate measure affirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Republicans largely back Trump, and most Democrats oppose the war

Trump’s Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, largely sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but the end of a government that has long menaced the West. The operation has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which some view as an opportunity for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president is using his own constitutional authority to defend the U.S. against the “imminent threat” the country posed.

Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said the war powers resolution was effectively asking “that the president do nothing.”

For Democrats, Trump’s attack on Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that is testing the balance of powers in the Constitution.

“The framers weren’t fooling around,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), arguing that the Constitution is clear that only Congress can decide matters of war. “It’s up to us.”

While views in Congress are largely falling along party lines, there are crossover coalitions. The war powers resolution, if signed into law, would have immediately halted Trump’s ability to conduct the war unless Congress approved the military action. The president would likely veto it.

Trump officials provide shifting rationale for war

After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait, and Trump has said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many lighting up phone lines at congressional offices as they sought help trying to flee the Middle East.

Trump said Thursday he must be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader. Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said this week that America has enough problems at home and is not about to be in the “nation-building business.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the war could extend eight weeks, twice as long as the president first estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending U.S. troops into what has largely been a bombing campaign by air. More than 1,230 people in Iran have died.

The administration said the goal is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles that it believes are shielding its nuclear program. It has also said Israel was ready to act, and American bases would face retaliation if the U.S. did not strike Iran first. On Wednesday, the U.S. said it torpedoed an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka.

“This administration can’t even give us a straight answer of as to why we launched this preemptive war,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican from Kentucky, an outlier in his party.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), who had teamed up to force the release the Jeffrey Epstein files, also pushed the war powers resolution to the floor, past objections from Johnson’s GOP leadership. Another Republican, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, a former Army Ranger, was also expected to back the war powers resolution.

Johnson has warned that it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s authority while the U.S. military is already in conflict.

“Congress must stand with the president to finally close, once and for all, this dark chapter of history,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas) said.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D., Ariz.) said that as the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their homeland, she celebrates Khamenei’s death. But she warned that a democratic transition for the people of Iran never seems to a priority for Trump and his officials who briefed lawmakers.

“War carries profound and deadly consequences for our troops, for the American people and for the entire world,” she said. “It’s the most serious decision that a nation can make and the American people deserve debate, transparency and accountability before that decision is made.”

Other Democrats have proposed an alternative resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days before he must seek congressional approval. It is not expected yet for a vote.

Senators sit in their desks for solemn vote

In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts during Trump’s second term. This one, however, was different.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment Wednesday, Democratic senators filled the chamber and sat at their desks as the voting got underway.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said before the vote that every senator will pick a side. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Sen. John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said “Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s national nuclear program.”

The legislation failed on a 47-53 tally mostly along party lines, with Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) in favor and Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) against it.

March 5, 2026
Penn tuition, fees, and room and board will exceed $94,000 for 2026-27

The full cost to attend the University of Pennsylvania next school year will exceed $94,000 under a resolution approved by the school’s budget and finance committee Thursday.

The 3.8% increase in overall costs for the 2026-27 academic year is slightly more than last year, when costs rose 3.7%, but slightly less than the year before that, which was a 3.9% increase. Overall, the tab will rise from $91,112 to $94,582 for 2026-27.

The costs include tuition of $65,670, fees of $8,308, room charge of $13,644, and $6,960 for meals.

Penn approves 3.7% hike in tuition, fees, and room and board, bringing cost to $91k

“People ask me when are we going to break through the $100,000 barrier,” Trevor Lewis, vice president of budget and management analysis, told board members. “Probably in FY28 or 29.”

Lewis said Penn also will increase its undergraduate financial-aid budget 3.8%, to $347 million. Penn guarantees full tuition scholarships for students from families with incomes of $200,000 or less with typical assets and covers full attendance costs for students from families earning $75,000 or less. Of the university’s approximate 10,000 students, 46% receive need-based aid.

Tuition for graduate and professional students will be set by the individual schools, the university said.

March 5, 2026
Trump allies expand role in planning America’s 250th anniversary

Two groups — one with the imprimatur of Congress, the other with President Donald Trump’s blessing — are jockeying to host celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary, sparking confusion, muddled messages, and new scrutiny from Democrats who ask why the Trump-aligned group is receiving federal money.

America250, led by a bipartisan board created by Congress a decade ago to mark the nation’s Semiquincentennial, has overseen events such as the Army’s 250th anniversary last year. It has also issued grants to state commissions and sponsored initiatives such as a float in this year’s Rose Parade.

Freedom 250, a public-private partnership launched by the White House in December, has emerged as the more publicized and prolific group, with a flurry of high-profile announcements, including some from the Oval Office.

“Freedom Trucks,” six customized semitrucks backed by $10 million in federal funds and with educational content crafted by conservative educators, have begun crisscrossing red states. A “Freedom Plane” took flight from Washington this week, beginning a National Archives-led nationwide tour in which the Boeing 737 will ferry an original engraving of the Declaration of Independence and other historic documents. The group is also planning a national prayer event on the National Mall, an IndyCar race around D.C., and a UFC fight hosted outside the White House on Trump’s birthday. The organization is led by Keith Krach, who served in the first Trump administration.

Both groups are drawing on private funds for their programming, with sponsors such as Exiger, Oracle, and Palantir contributing to both organizations. The groups are also set to share in $150 million appropriated by Congress last year and managed by the Interior Department.

The rapid rise of Freedom 250, with its Trump-tailored programming, has unnerved some liberals and watchdog organizations, who question whether it is wrongly tapping into funds intended for nationwide anniversary celebrations and promising access to the president at a price. Twelve Senate Democrats on Tuesday pressed the Interior Department to provide a “clear accounting” of money routed to Freedom 250, in a letter sent to the Trump administration and shared with the Washington Post.

“The Trump administration’s latest venture, Freedom 250, continues to raise serious and troubling questions about whether access to the president or official government events is for sale to the highest bidders,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who led the letter, said in a statement to the Post. “And if the administration is commingling taxpayer dollars with other funds in an unaccountable private entity run by the president’s allies, it is an open invitation for corruption. We need answers.”

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, also has called for congressional investigations, citing a recent New York Times report that donors to Freedom 250 were offered access to Trump if they gave $1 million or more.

Freedom 250 spokeswoman Rachel Reisner referred questions about its federal funding to the Interior Department. Trump “is deeply grateful for the support of his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can’t be bought,” she said in a statement.

She added that the organization has reached out to all 50 governors and partnered with a range of organizations, including PragerU and MyAmerica2026.

“As we approach this historic milestone in our nation’s founding, we will not be deterred by any partisan outrage or political theater,” Reisner said.

The Trump administration also has touted its approach, and Trump has repeatedly celebrated that he will be the president to oversee the nation’s 250th anniversary — an idea he embraced on the campaign trail.

Asked about its plans to distribute the $150 million provided by Congress and what share would go toward Freedom 250, the Interior Department declined to comment.

“The Department of the Interior looks forward to celebrating Freedom 250 and saluting 250 years of American greatness alongside President Donald J. Trump — the most iconic and accomplished President in the history of our great nation,” the department said in a statement.

America250 and Freedom 250 have publicly touted their shared commitment to the nation’s Semiquincentennial.

Rosie Rios, the Democrat leading America 250, has repeatedly praised her counterparts in interviews and statements, saying that Freedom 250 will focus on Washington-area events while her group tackles nationwide programming.

The bipartisan commission “has taken every possible step” to support the Trump administration’s activities, the group said in its report to Congress in January.

But the tensions between the organizations have grown, according to five people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Freedom 250 officials have bristled at the pace of America250’s work and output, and argued that the bipartisan group has been overly bureaucratic and politically correct. They also argue that America250 — which has received more than $100 million in federal funding since 2019 — has little to show for those contributions.

In comparison, one person familiar with the matter said, Freedom 250 drew on $3 million in federal funds last year to quickly produce a New Year’s Eve light display on the Washington Monument.

America250 said in a statement that it continues to actively collaborate with the White House task force, Freedom 250 and the full executive branch to plan the celebrations.

The group has been running a nationwide contest for students to submit perspectives on what America means to them and has been to eight states so far with a storytelling program on identity, service, community, and personal legacy.

Meanwhile, America250 officials and allies have questioned whether the Trump-backed group is too focused on activities that please the president and say the group threatens to siphon money that could be used for nationwide activities. America250 has received $25 million of the $150 million apportioned by Congress last year for anniversary activities, according to a person familiar with its finances.

The friction between the groups reached a breaking point in the planning for the Army’s 250th birthday last summer — a military parade in Washington that coincided with Trump’s birthday, said one person familiar with the plans. America250 wanted the celebration to focus on the military, not the president. Freedom 250 wanted Trump, as the commander in chief, to be front and center, the person said.

Some programming has shifted between the two groups. America250 originally applied for and received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the Freedom Trucks, mobile museums inspired by the American Freedom Train that crisscrossed the country from 1975-1976. The institute is a federal agency that provides financial support for museums and libraries. The $10 million grant was later voluntarily transferred to Freedom 250, according to an official of the agency.

“These mobile museums, which tell the incredible story of our nation’s founding, will be a cherished memory for an entire generation,” Keith Sonderling, a Trump appointee who leads the museum and library agency, said in a statement.

Marissa Streit, chief executive of PragerU, a conservative media organization, said her company volunteered to produce all video and educational content for the Freedom Trucks after White House officials came up with the vision and worked with Hillsdale College to develop the displays.

Streit insisted that despite the uniformly conservative credentials of the people involved, the exhibits showed a balanced view of history.

“I believe we need to teach and talk about both the negative things that have happened in our country as well as the positive,” she said.

The tensions are a departure from the approach taken during the bicentennial under President Gerald Ford, who sought to make sure the celebrations did not raise questions of impropriety in the wake of the Watergate scandal, said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.

“The one thing our taxpayer funds should not be used for is politicizing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country,” said Painter, co-author of The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability. “One of the things [the founders] were most afraid of is faction and political parties destroying our democracy. The celebrations here shouldn’t be owned by one political party or another.”

March 5, 2026
Swarthmore’s borough manager has been terminated after just six months on the job

Swarthmore Borough manager Sean Halbom has been terminated from the office after just six months, the latest in a string of short employment stints he has held in recent years.

The borough council voted unanimously on the termination Monday, though Council President Jill Bennett Gaieski declined to give a reason for the decision in a phone call with The Inquirer.

Halbom did not respond to phone or email messages left on Thursday.

Halbom was placed on an administrative leave of absence on Feb. 17, first reported by the Swarthmorean.

He began in the borough manager role in September after holding several roles in Montgomery County, including most recently in Upper Frederick Township, where he was township manager for less than a year, according to his LinkedIn profile. Halbom resigned from his position in Upper Frederick in June 2025.

Prior to the job in Upper Frederick, Halbom was an interim human resources director in Bucks County for two months and township manager for Worcester Township for a year and a half. Halbom’s employment in Worcester Township was terminated by its board of supervisors in April 2024.

He was also the director of veterans affairs for Montgomery County for six years, from 2012 to 2018, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Halbom succeeded William Webb, who left the Swarthmore manager role in September to become an assistant county administrator in Isle of Wight County, Va.

Halbom’s leave came around the same time as another personnel shake-up in the small borough. On Feb. 18, Scott Schumacher vacated his position as a longtime Swarthmore Public Library employee and children’s librarian.

Swarthmore Public Library board president Elizabeth Brown said Schumacher’s departure was unrelated to Halbom’s termination.

The Swarthmore council on Monday also named David Unkovic as interim borough manager. He “came highly recommended” by Upper Providence Township, where he previously served as interim township manager, Gaieski said.

Before retiring as a practicing lawyer, Unkovic spent a decade at McNees Wallace & Nurick, a Harrisburg-based law firm with multiple offices, including in Radnor. He also briefly served as the state receiver for the City of Harrisburg in 2012.

The Swarthmore council has already begun the search for a permanent borough manager, Gaieski said, and hopes one will be in place as early as June 1.

The search will take “until we find the right person,” Gaieski added. “We have a really good interim in place. We will do what we need to do to find the right person.”

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

March 5, 2026
Trump says he’s replacing Homeland Security Secretary Noem with GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

Trump, who said he would nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin in her place, made the announcement on social media after Noem faced a two-day grilling on Capitol Hill this week from GOP members as well as Democrats.

Noem’s departure marks a stunning turnaround for a close ally to the president who was tasked with steering his centerpiece policy of mass deportations. But she appeared to increasingly become a liability for Trump, with questions arising over her spending at her department and over her conduct in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Trump said Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!).” He said he was making her a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.

Noem, who appeared at a law enforcement event in Nashville, moments after Trump’s announcement, did not address her ouster there. She read from prepared remarks and was not asked by attendees about the development.

How a DHS shooting of a third U.S. citizen went unnoticed for months

Later, in a social media post, she thanked Trump for the new appointment and touted her accomplishments as secretary.

“We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again,” she wrote.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration will work with the GOP-led Senate to get Mullin, whom she called “extraordinarily qualified,” confirmed to lead DHS “as soon as possible.”

The administration’s immigration crackdown faced criticism, especially in Minnesota

Noem is the first cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Her tenure looked increasingly short-lived after hearings in Congress this week where she faced rare but blistering criticism from Republican lawmakers. One particular point of scrutiny was a $220 million ad campaign featuring Noem that encouraged people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.

Noem told lawmakers that Trump was aware of the campaign in advance, but Trump disputed that in an interview Thursday with Reuters, saying he did not sign off on the ad campaign.

Noem has faced waves of criticism as she’s overseen Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially since the shooting deaths of the two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement officers. In the immediate aftermath of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Noem portrayed both of them as aggressors, contradicting widely viewed videos and descriptions of their deaths from bystanders. She declined to apologize for her description over two days of congressional testimony.

The former South Dakota governor was also criticized over the way her department has spent billions of dollars allocated to it by Congress.

Her department, DHS, has been at the center of a funding battle in Congress over immigration enforcement tactics and has been shut down for 20 days, although many of the employees are continuing to work, often without pay.

Even before Noem’s appearance before key congressional committees this week, Republican lawmakers had been anticipating the secretary’s eventual ouster, particularly after her handling of the immigration enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis.

As they tried to end the ongoing Homeland Security shutdown, Senate Republicans had noted privately to Democratic senators that Noem was likely on her way out and that that should prompt Democrats to move forward with agreeing to fund the department again, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Democrats did not see that as an actual concession by Republicans, considering Noem was becoming a political liability for the GOP, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.

Aside from immigration, Noem also faced criticism — including from Republicans — over the pace of emergency funding approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the Trump administration’s response to disasters.

Critics welcomed Noem’s departure. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote “good riddance” on social media, a sentiment echoed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Some immigration activists questioned whether her departure would change the execution of an immigration agenda that they fundamentally disagree with.

“This is not accountability, just a reshuffling of the enablers of the agenda of President Trump,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, an advocacy group. She said Noem’s tenure was “marked by cruelty.”

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who was elevated under Noem’s watch to lead immigration crackdowns in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, was one of the few who applauded Noem’s tenure.

“She is the best Secretary I ever worked for, period. The others weren’t even close. Noem is the ultimate patriot,” Bovino told the Associated Press.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (center) arrives at Philadelphia International Airport to attend the NCAA Division 1 men’s wrestling championships at the Wells Fargo Center on March 22, 2025.

DHS leadership changes come at a pivotal time

Mullin would need to be confirmed by the Senate, but under a federal law governing executive branch vacancies, he would be allowed to serve as an acting Homeland Security secretary as long as his nomination is formally pending.

Voting in the Senate just after Trump’s announcement, Mullin said he has “no idea” how quickly his nomination will move.

“The president and I are good friends. So we look forward to working closer with the White House, and obviously I’m gonna be over there a lot more,” he said.

Mullin would take over the third-largest department in government that has responsibility for carrying out Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. And he would assume the role at a pivotal time for that agenda.

Immigration enforcement during the first year of Trump’s administration was largely defined by high-profile, made-for-social-media operations with flashy names, often led by Bovino, who reported directly to Noem. Noem herself often went out on those operations, riding along with officers when they went out to make arrests.

But those high-profile operations in places like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis often led to clashes with activists and protesters that were captured on video and drove opposition to the president’s immigration agenda.

That culminated with the shooting deaths in Minneapolis after which Trump shuffled leadership of the operation. The number of officers there was drawn down shortly after.

March 5, 2026
U.S. and Mideast countries seek Kyiv’s drone expertise as Russia-Ukraine talks put on ice

KYIV, Ukraine — The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelensky said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait about possible cooperation.

Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago, launching a swarm of more than 800 drones and decoys in its biggest nighttime barrage. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching the same type of drones at countries in the Middle East.

Ukrainian assistance in countering Iranian drones will be provided only if it does not weaken Ukraine’s own defenses, and if it adds leverage to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion, according to the Ukrainian leader.

“We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war” with Russia, Zelensky said. Later Thursday, Zelensky said he had received a U.S. request for support to defend against the drones in the Middle East and had given the order for equipment to be provided along with Ukrainian experts without providing further details.

“Ukraine helps partners who help our security and the protection of our people’s lives,” he added in a social media post.

Trump, in an interview Thursday with Reuters, said, “Certainly I’ll take, you know, any assistance from any country.”

Ukraine has battle-tested drone defenses

Ukraine has pioneered the development of cut-price drone killers that cost as little as $1,000, rewriting the air defense rule book and making other countries take notice.

European countries got a wake-up call last September on the changed nature of air defense when Poland scrambled multimillion-dollar military assets, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, in response to airspace violations by cheap drones.

Ukrainian manufacturers have developed low-cost interceptor drones specifically designed to hunt and destroy Shaheds, and its rapidly expanding drone industry is producing excess capacity.

Zelensky announced earlier this year that Ukraine would begin exporting the battle-tested systems.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said before chairing a meeting of EU and Gulf foreign ministers via video link Thursday that the talks would look at how Ukraine’s experience can help countries counter Iranian drones.

Middle East war delays Russia-Ukraine talks

The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention away from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, and forced the postponement of a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week, Zelensky said.

Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, while there is no sign that yearlong U.S.-led peace efforts will stop the fighting any time soon.

“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” Zelensky said. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done.”

Zelensky thanked the United States for the return from Russia on Thursday of 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia’s Defense Ministry also said it received the same number of prisoners from Ukraine and thanked the U.S. and United Arab Emirates for mediating.

Prisoner swaps have been one of the few tangible results of the talks. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian negotiator, said on social media that a total of 500 prisoners from each side would be exchanged between Thursday and Friday.

Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to drag out the negotiations so that he can press on with Russia’s invasion while escaping further U.S. sanctions.

He urged the U.S. administration to look at the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East as linked.

“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies that act in concert — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interconnected conflicts,” Merezhko told the Associated Press.

Ukraine’s army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along the roughly 750-mile front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Localized Ukrainian counterattacks liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, the Washington-based think tank said this week, estimating the recovered land at about 100 square miles since Jan. 1.

March 5, 2026
Immigrant living in Philadelphia illegally voted in 2024 federal election, authorities say

An undocumented West African immigrant who federal authorities say has been living in Philadelphia for more than two decades cast a ballot in the 2024 federal election — and may have voted in at least six other elections, federal authorities said.

Mahady Sacko was charged with fraudulent voting, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison.

Investigators said Sacko registered to vote in 2005, affirming on the registration form that he was a U.S. citizen. According to the affidavit, he went on to vote in five federal general elections and two primary elections over the next two decades.

Prosecutors charged him only with casting a ballot in the 2024 election.

Sacko had been ordered deported to Mauritania, in Northwest Africa, by an immigration judge in 2000, the affidavit said. But federal authorities never carried out the order because Sacko did not have a valid Mauritanian passport. Instead, immigration officials placed him under supervision, requiring him to regularly report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The charges against him come amid political attention on allegations that people who are not U.S. citizens are voting rampantly in American elections — a frequent talking point among conservative politicians and commentators. President Donald Trump has pushed federal officials to amp up efforts to prosecute undocumented immigrants who vote.

But election experts and government investigations have consistently found that such cases are rare. Studies examining tens of millions of ballots have identified only a handful of suspected instances of such voting — a fraction of a percent of votes cast, according to research by the Brennan Center for Justice.

Only U.S. citizens may vote in federal elections. Voters must attest to their citizenship when registering, and falsely claiming citizenship can lead to criminal prosecution and deportation.

Voting records show that Sacko registered as a Democrat, though the affidavit does not specify which candidates he supported in the elections in which investigators say he voted.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sacko had been released on bail after an initial appearance on Thursday. She did not provide the bail amount.

March 5, 2026
Woman hit in face by foul ball at Little League Classic field is suing MLB, Williamsport, and the Crosscutters

Every summer, Williamsport, Pa., becomes the epicenter of youth baseball as the Little League World Series hosts its annual tournament.

And since 2017, Major League Baseball has brought in two teams to play an August regular-season game at Historic Bowman Field, giving Little Leaguers a chance to take in major league action just five miles from the Little League complex.

But in addition to making memories for Little League ballplayers, the home of the Little League Classic has also been a hazard to fans, a new lawsuit says.

Deborah Barbella, of Livingston, N.J., attended Bowman Field for a Penn College of Technology baseball game on May 2. She sat behind the first base dugout when a foul ball hit her in her face, breaking her jaw, nose, and eye socket, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday in the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas.

The suit accuses MLB, the Williamsport Crosscutters, and the city of Williamsport of carelessness and recklessness leading to the injury.

MLB and the Crosscutters did not immediately return requests for comments regarding the lawsuit. Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The Crosscutters, one of six teams in the MLB Draft League, have used Bowman Field as their home stadium since 1994. The team was the class A short-season affiliate of the Phillies from 2007 until the MLB restructured its minor leagues in 2021.

However, the injury at the center of the suit did not take place during a Crosscutters game. Barbella was struck by a foul ball during the second game of a United East Conference playoff doubleheader between Cairn University and Penn College, which used Bowman Field as its home stadium until 2026.

Bowman Field, which opened in 1926, is owned by Williamsport and leased to MLB to host its Little League Classic games.

Barbella was struck because Bowman Field did not comply with a 2022 dictate that all minor league baseball stadiums install protective netting that extends from foul pole to foul pole by opening day 2025, the suit says.

The Seattle Mariners played the New York Mets in last year’s Little League Classic at Bowman Field.

The netting at Bowman should have been extended even before to comply with major league rules because it hosts games between MLB teams, the suit says, such as the Little League Classic.

But when Barbella attended a game at Bowman, the suit says, only those sitting behind home plate were covered by a netting canopy. The net in front of Barbella was lower and stopped at the end of the dugout.

“Our goal is to achieve justice for a woman whose life was permanently altered by an allegedly foreseeable and preventable incident, and to hold the League and the stadium accountable for their delay,” John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan law firm representing Barbella, said in a statement.

Williamsport officials discussed the netting problem in a Feb. 13, 2025, city council meeting, according to the complaint. Council approved a contract with a construction company for the netting that day, saying the project needed to be done “very quickly,” but the work never started. The city reopened its bid for netting installation in March 2025 but couldn’t find a company that would agree to take on the project with opening day as a deadline, the suit says.

The city decided to install a temporary netting system to allow more time for the permanent netting’s installation.

“Despite being aware that the netting at Bowman Field needed to be changed prior to opening day in 2025, the Defendants failed to make any changes to the netting system at Bowman Field,” the suit says.

With the exception of the 2020 season, the Little League Classic has brought a regular-season MLB game to Williamsport to open the final week of the Little League World Series since 2017. This year’s edition of the game will feature the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves on Sunday, Aug. 23.

The Phillies have played in two Little League Classic games. They lost, 8-2, to the Mets in the second annual Little League Classic in 2018 and lost, 4-3, to the Nationals in the game’s 2023 edition.

When the Phillies took the field for the Classic in 2018, it was the first time the team had played at Bowman Field since it suffered a 5-1 loss to the club’s class A-affiliate, the Williamsport Grays, in an exhibition game on July 31, 1962.

March 5, 2026
Iran’s regime maintains its grip, despite devastating losses

The U.S. and Israeli air campaign against Iran has decimated the highest ranks of political and military leadership, destroyed critical military command-and-control infrastructure and fighting capability, and damaged civilian buildings across the country.

In Tehran, the expanding conflict appears to be frustrating the succession process after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. Khamenei’s funeral was postponed after the group charged with choosing his successor was targeted by Israeli strikes. Following that attack, Iranian state media announced that voting for the next supreme leader would be conducted remotely.

But so far, some six days into a war that has now touched 12 countries across the Middle East, major military operations have not threatened the Iranian regime’s grip on power, according to European and Arab officials briefed on assessments of the regime’s standing since the conflict began.

Iran, the officials say, was prepared for this conflict. The command structures built to survive a decapitation strike appear to remain substantially intact, allowing Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israel, Qatar, and Bahrain to begin within hours of the initial attacks. And inside the country since the conflict started, Iranians have reported a heavier security presence in city streets, with Basij paramilitary forces patrolling on motorbikes.

“Iran’s senior leaders are dead; the so-called governing council that might have selected a successor, dead, missing or cowering in bunkers, too terrified to even occupy the same room,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a briefing Wednesday touting successes as he outlined how operations would expand.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the strikes killed “most of the people” the United States favored to replace the recently killed regime members.

But despite the intensity of the strikes and the broad nature of the destruction, so far there are no reports of significant defections within regime ranks or of popular uprisings, according to European and Arab assessments described to the Washington Post by officials from those countries. U.S. intelligence also saw no signs of uprisings or defections in the first days of the campaign, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition on anonymity to describe an ongoing operation.

“There’s not a single sign of anything in the system breaking or defecting. Nothing. Zero,” said a senior European official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe government briefings on the latest assessments of the strength of the Iranian regime. “The control is complete,” he said. The official said he was aware of reports of regime security forces failing to show up for duty, but believed that could be because of orders to no longer congregate in compounds and barracks, for fear of being targeted.

The officials said Iran’s military and political command has proved durable because of the “layered system” the regime built to withstand a crisis, decentralizing leadership by appointing multiple individuals to immediately replace any key figure who might be killed.

After Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in strikes Saturday, Majid Ebnelreza was appointed as the caretaker minister on Monday by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who himself was rumored to have been targeted in the attack’s initial waves. Since then, media reports have speculated that Ebnelreza was killed in subsequent attacks, but Iranian state media has not responded to the allegations.

In the lead-up to the conflict, a senior Arab official said, U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf thought that Iran would be more vulnerable to outside military pressure and that the potential killing of the supreme leader would be an early turning point, triggering a mass mobilization against the regime.

“We were looking for the demonstrations in the streets, but we were surprised by their unity,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal planning.

In January, as the regime buckled under massive anti-government protests across the country and responded with a brutal crackdown, many of Iran’s neighbors assessed a deep weakness within the political and security leadership structures.

But amid an unrelenting bombing campaign, the governance structure has largely stayed intact and continues to exert unilateral control, surprising seasoned Iran watchers in the region. The European and the Arab officials both cautioned that the Iranian regime remains opaque and regime collapse can be almost impossible to anticipate from the outside.

Information on the impact of the U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran is sporadic. The country is under a near-total internet blackout. But initial visual analysis by the Washington Post has revealed extensive damage to military targets, government buildings, and internal security structures. Israel has also recently claimed strikes targeting Iran’s clerical establishment.

In total, U.S. Central Command says, more than 2,000 targets were hit inside Iran in the space of over four days. The Israel Defense Forces said its planes have dropped more than 4,000 munitions on Iran since Saturday.

“Undoubtably, Iran has been considerably weakened,” said Gregory Brew, an Iran analyst with the Eurasia Group. Considering Iran’s military losses alone, the United States and Israel destroyed most of the country’s navy, a significant portion of its missile stockpile and its means of producing more missiles, he said.

“They’re blowing up a lot of buildings, but most of these buildings are probably empty. They’re annihilating the physical edifice of the Islamic republic,” Brew said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s police force and the Basij have continued to function, according to Iranians inside the country, said the European official. Brew said that’s because these forces don’t operate heavy weaponry and can quickly disperse from buildings easily targeted from the air and then reemerge once the fighting ceases.

After the 12-day war in June, Iran structured its armed forces in anticipation of further decapitation strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to reference the reorganization in an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday, in which he described Iranian military units as “isolated” and acting on “general instructions given to them in advance.”

It is unclear how long Iran will be able to hold out in the face of U.S. and Israeli attacks. Earlier this week, the tempo of Iranian retaliation dropped, suggesting that Iran is running low on munitions or is unable to access buried stockpiles. However, Thursday saw heavy bursts of Iranian retaliatory attacks against Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. As the conflict progresses and Iran’s armed forces are forced to adapt and draft new plans, the country’s leadership losses could become more serious.

But Iranian officials have signaled that they are prepared for a long fight against militarily superior adversaries. Tehran believes that the only way it can prevail is if it can outlast the United States and Israel, according to a second European official briefed on assessments of Iranian regime strength since the outset of the war.

“They understand that they will not be able to defeat the most powerful army in the world, but with asymmetric warfare they can try to inject as much damage as possible, to make the U.S. seek de-escalation,” he said. This is why Iran has prioritized retaliation against Persian Gulf nations and countries that could begin to pressure the United States to seek an off-ramp, the official said.

The official said Iran has wagered that its system and its people are more capable of enduring prolonged hardship than those of the Persian Gulf and the United States, but he cautioned that the longer the conflict lasts, the more deadly it is likely to become on all sides.

“This regime is built to last, and they aren’t going to go quietly,” he said.

March 5, 2026
Body found on Central Bucks West practice field, school officials say

A corpse was discovered on a Central Bucks West High School practice field on Wednesday night, school officials said.

Police discovered the body on Pettine Field, near the edge of the Doylestown school’s campus, the officials said.

Officials did not provide information about the identity, gender, or age of the deceased. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said the office had not been assigned to investigate the death as of Thursday afternoon, and that it did not appear to be the result of foul play.

The person who was found dead was homeless, the spokesperson said.

Interim Superintendent Charles Malone and principal Lyndell Davis said in a joint statement that there was no threat to the safety of students or staff.

The school campus is secure and police are investigating, their statement said.

March 5, 2026