Iran’s supreme leader killed in strikes, and 2 killed in Texas bar shooting: Weekend Rundown
Israel launched a new wave of strikes in Tehran on Sunday, a day after killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint strikes with the United States.
Iran continued to retaliate, hitting Israeli and American military assets in the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq that they could become “legitimate targets” if they allowed the United States and Israel to use their territory to attack Iran.
More than 200 people have died in Iran following US and Israeli strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Ten people have been killed in Israel, eight today in a single strike, as Iran and its enemies trade blows, plus two in the United Arab Emirates.
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Trump says ‘we expect casualties’ after strikes, draws mixed reactions from lawmakers
Hours after the US military announced that three US service members had been killed in military strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump told NBC News: “We expect casualties with something like this.”
The strikes attracted mixed reactions from lawmakers on both sides, with most Republicans praising the president’s decision to strike Iran and most Democrats criticizing Trump’s decision to strike without congressional authorization.
“It is in America’s interest to ensure that Iran can no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday morning on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, and Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who appeared separately later on the show, refuted Graham’s statement, with Kelly questioning the Trump administration’s goals in the military operation.
When Congress returns to Washington this week, lawmakers should vote on war powers resolution it would require the president to seek congressional approval to conduct more military operations in Iran.
Khamenei’s death sparked public mourning and quiet celebrations
For the first time in 37 years, the sun rose over a leaderless Tehran, in unusually silent streets as Iranians awoke to the news that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes.
Questions now hang over who will succeed the Middle East’s longest-serving head of stateand what’s next for a nation already battered by war abroad and dissent at home.
Opponents of the regime, who turned out in their thousands to protests that were brutally suppressed in January, have largely stayed off the streets. Although there were no mass celebrations, some still welcomed the American and Israeli strikes.
Suspect identified in Texas bar shooting that left 2 dead, 14 injured
The shooter who killed two people and 14 others injured after opening fire on patrons outside an Austin bar early Sunday had a history of mental illness, sources close to the investigation told NBC News.
Ndiaga Diagne, 53, was a naturalized U.S. Senegalese national living in Pflugerville, Texas, according to law enforcement.
At the time of the attack, he was wearing a sweatshirt that read “Property of Allah” and an Iranian flag-themed shirt underneath.
Officials said they were still working to determine a possible motive for the attack. Investigators are looking into whether it was an act of terrorism, four people briefed on the matter said.
Abroad, Epstein investigations are increasing. In America, not so much.
At least nine investigations started in eight countries and within the European Union’s anti-fraud unit following the US Justice Department’s release of millions of documents linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In the United States, not so much. After an “exhaustive review,” there was no evidence of an “incriminating ‘client list'” or evidence that could lead to additional charges against third parties, according to a Justice Department and FBI memo from last year.
Yet the release of more than 3.5 million documents has sparked a global reckoning, raising questions about why the Trump administration is not doing more.
Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, called on President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify about their relationship with Jeffery Epsteintelling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he was working with a Republican colleague to subpoena Lutnick.
Khanna, a member of the House Oversight Committee, referenced former President Bill Clinton’s testimony before the committee last week, saying Clinton “set a precedent” for high-profile figures to testify.
Politics in brief
- Right to bear arms: Gun rights advocates say Trump has did not keep his promise to support the Second Amendment by defending the restrictions in court.
- Winner, winning dinner price: China is benefit from the Supreme Court’s tariff rulingbecause its lower rate reduces the incentive for companies to move their production to other Asian countries.
The AI child exploitation crisis is here
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have made it easier than ever for bad actors to create child sexual abuse material, leaving prosecutors and lawmakers struggling to keep up.
Despite the efforts of tech companies, law enforcement and activists, offenders routinely exploit system flaws, open-source AI models and ready-made sexual exploitation platforms to generate images of identifiable, nonexistent children, according to experts and law enforcement officials who spoke with NBC News.
Between January and September 2025, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline — the official online sexual exploitation reporting line in the United States — received more than 1 million reports related to generative AI, according to Fallon McNulty, executive director of the center’s exploited children division.
“The nearly indistinguishable nature of the generated content makes efforts to identify victims extremely difficult,” McNulty said.
Measles outbreaks cost the United States millions of dollars. The real losses cannot be counted.
In early 2025, as measles began to spread across West Texas, Katherine Wells knew she needed money. Dealing with an outbreak requires expensive resources: vaccination clinics, additional staff and quarantine monitoring.
“We were really relying on staff not working on the hour, because I can work them 80 hours if I have to, which is horrible,” said Wells, who heads the Lubbock Public Health Department.
THE The financial toll of measles outbreaks will only increase. If measles vaccination rates continue to decline by just 1% per year over the next five years, the cost to the United States could reach $1.5 billion per year, according to a new report from the Yale School of Public Health.
Remarkable quote
Your phone is the silent witness to your life. He knows everything you do.
Heather Barnhart, a digital forensics expert who worked on the University of Idaho murders
As the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance continues with no suspects publicly identified and DNA evidence disputed, experts can turn to digital forensics. The tool involves analyzing data from digital devices, the internet and cloud services – from cell tower data to Wi-Fi logs – for clues.
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- Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2021 murder of his stepfather and the attempted murder of his stepmother.
