U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to rule out talks with Iran absent its "unconditional surrender." Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut and Tehran as Iran launched more retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf countries on the seventh day of the war.
The strikes in Lebanon were the heaviest since a 2024 ceasefire ended the last war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, who fired rockets at Israel in the opening days of the war now underway. More than 95,000 people have fled Beirut's suburbs and southern Lebanon after sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings.
Israel's military said Friday it had launched "a broad-scale wave of strikes" on Tehran, Iran's capital, and that over the past week it has heavily bombed an extensive underground bunker that Iran's leaders had planned to use during the hostilities. Iran meanwhile launched missile and drone attacks at Israel, as well as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all countries that host U.S. forces.
—The Associated Press
Democrats in Congress are expressing fury over President Donald Trump appearing to acknowledge the possibility that retaliatory strikes could be directed at the U.S. on its own soil amid its conflict with Iran.
In a post on X, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., quoted Trump’s response of “I guess” when asked if Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home and went on to assert that it shows “We have totally unserious, completely incompetent people taking us into mindless deadly war.”
Trump made the comment in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday before noting that Americans are concerned about the possibility of being targeted “all the time” and adding that he constantly thinks about it and plans for it. The president also delivered a similar message to one he expressed at the start of the conflict regarding American deaths, acknowledging that “some people will die.”
—Spectrum News' Maddie Gannon
American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate blipped up to 4.4%.
Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February. Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.
The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.
—The Associated Press
From former presidents to an NBA Hall of Famer to prominent church pastors, stories of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'s influence on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines loomed large Friday at a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader.
Thousands of people gathered at a church on Chicago's South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson. Barack Obama said Jackson's presidential runs in the 1980s set the stage for other Black leaders, including his own successful 2009 presidency and re-election.
"The message he sent to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that maybe there wasn't any place or any room where we didn't belong," Obama said. "He paved the road for so many others to follow." Obama, joined by two other former Democratic presidents, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, at a celebration of life for Jackson, received the loudest round of applause as the three entered the chamber.
—The Associated Press
Betting has never been more popular in the U.S. Americans are able to wager on everything from card games and horse races to, increasingly, college and professional sports. In this increasingly crowded landscape, a new form of gambling is surging in popularity — prediction markets.
The markets are online platforms that allow betting on the outcomes of future events, such as elections, sporting events, even the federal government’s monthly economic reports. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket also allow gambling on life-or-death situations.
Polymarket saw a surge of traders placing bets in the hours before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. Over 150 accounts each placed thousands of dollars in bets, correctly predicting the timing of the attack. This caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who wrote in a social media post, “It’s insane this is legal. People around Trump are profiting off war and death. I’m introducing legislation ASAP to ban this.”
—Spectrum News' Ian Miller and Cassie Semyon
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• Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales ends reelection bid after admitting to affair with aide