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Gas, oil prices surge as Iran targets facilities
IN THE NEWS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran intensified attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, raising the stakes in a war that sent shock waves through the global economy.
The strikes, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian gas field, sent fuel prices soaring and risked drawing Iran's Arab neighbors directly into the conflict. Iran's targeting of energy production further stressed global supplies already under pressure because of its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war Feb. 28, Iran's top leaders were killed in airstrikes and the country's military capabilities were severely degraded. Still, Iran remains capable of missile and drone attacks.
VACCINES: A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee.
INTEREST RATES: The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged at 3.6% Wednesday and Chair Jerome Powell highlighted the increasingly uncertain outlook for the U.S. economy.
VOTING BILL: Republicans launched an unprecedented effort Tuesday to hold the Senate floor and talk for days about a bill they know won't pass. President Donald Trump is pressuring Congress to pass the bill requiring stricter voter registration rules.
'SINNERS' CINEMATOGRAPHER MAKES HISTORY
From left, Ryan coogler, winner of the award for writing (original screenplay); Michael B. Jordan, winner of the best-actor Oscar, and autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to win the award for cinematography — all for their work on "Sinners" — celebrate in the press room last Sunday at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles. Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle after another" was crowned best picture at the 98th academy awards. Disney said Tuesday that 17.9 million people watched the ceremony, down 9% from last year.
BIG NUMBER
$39 trillion
The record amount of national debt the U.S. surpassed Wednesday. It highlights competing Trump administration priorities, from passing a massive tax cuts law to boosting spending on defense and immigration enforcement.
HE SAID …
"Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby." — Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announcing his resignation Tuesday.
THE WATER COOLER
CÉSAR CHAVEZ: Labor rights leader Dolores Huerta says she was sexually abused by César Chavez amid reported allegations of abuse by others during his tenure as president of the United Farm Workers union. On Wednesday, an investigation by the New York Times found that Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement.
MURDER VERDICT: A Utah woman was convicted Monday of aggravated murder after poisoning her husband and self-publishing a children's book about coping with grief. Prosecutors said Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into a cocktail that Eric Richins drank in March 2022 at their home.
LEN DEIGHTON (1929-2026): Prolific writer Len Deighton, 97, whose spy thrillers featured on bestseller lists for decades, died last Sunday, according to his literary agent, Tim Bates. No cause was given. His first novel, "The IPCRESS File," helped set the tone of 1960s thrillers and was made into a film starring Michael Caine; it helped launch both author and actor to stellar careers.
HAPPINESS: Finland is the happiest land, and heavy social media use contributes to a decline in well-being among young people, particularly worrying in teenage girls in English-speaking countries and Western Europe, according to the World Happiness Report 2026 published Thursday by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.
Afghanistan, Pakistan announce ceasefire
IN THE NEWS
KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistan and Afghanistan declared a temporary pause in escalating fighting Wednesday, two days after Kabul blamed Islamabad for a deadly airstrike in the Afghan capital that it said killed hundreds of people at a drug rehabilitation hospital.
Both said they suspended fighting before the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
The 2,000-bed Omid hospital was struck about 9 p.m. Monday. Afghan Taliban authorities said the attack killed 408 people and wounded 265, though the toll could not be independently verified.
CUBA: U.S. President Donald Trump pledged imminent action against Cuba's socialist government Tuesday as his moves against the island push the longtime U.S. opponent deeper into crisis. The administration sees the island nation as the next country where the U.S. can expand its influence.
HOMELAND SECURITY: Sen. Markwayne Mullin moved a step closer to becoming President Donald Trump's next homeland security secretary after a Senate committee Thursday narrowly advanced his nomination as the department remained shut down.
BONDI: Democratic lawmakers stormed out of Justice Department leaders' closeddoor briefing Wednesday on files linked to investigations of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying they will push to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions under oath next month.
— Associated Press
POPE-WORTHY WHEELS
Ford CEO, wife donate a vehicle customized in secret for Holy See
BREANA NOBLE The Detroit News
Pope Leo XIV
TIZIANA FABI, AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A custom-made Ford Explorer SuV for Pope Leo XIV was built in
Ford's assembly plant in the pope's native chicago.
FORD MOTOR CO. PHOTOS
Chicago skyline stitching on the center console
Above: detail of the Vatican on one of the engraved scuff
plates
Left: Ford Motor co. CEO Jim Farley and his wife, Lia, and his
family donated a custom-made Ford Explorer SuV to Pope Leo XIV.
AUTOS
Ford Motor Co.'s CEO and his wife donated to Pope Leo XIV a secretly built, customized 2026 Ford Explorer hybrid SUV built in the pope's native Chicago.
Jim and Lia Farley gifted the vehicle in the presence of the pontiff during a Feb. 28 ceremony, the first time a Ford CEO had an audience with the pope at the Vatican, Ford spokesperson Dan Barbossa said.
Employees at Chicago Assembly Plant knew the vehicle was made for a VIP, >but only recently learned who the recipient was because of confidentiality.
The CEO took a drive< with the pope and demonstrated some of the vehicle's advanced features, as well as some of the unique nods, including to the Vatican and his Chicago upbringing.
"He noticed and appreciated the personal touches — details like the Chicago skyline stitching and the Chicago flag seat tags," Farley said in a statement. "We even took a quick drive, and I can confirm the Holy Father enjoys driving a sporty ride. But more than anything, what stays with me is the feeling of gratitude and joy we experienced meeting him and sharing this small gesture — one that reflects the pride and care of the Ford team back home in Chicago."
Farley for years volunteered at Detroit's Pope Francis Center, including its St. Antoine Street center downtown that serves hot meals and the Bridge Housing Center in the Core City neighborhood near Interstate 96 and Warren Avenue that offers places to stay for men who are homeless and resources for transitioning to permanent housing.
Farley said he reached out to the Vatican several months ago about the gift, given the pope's connections to the city's South Side where Ford has operated for more than a century.
There was interest in a hybrid, but Ford for the 2025 model year stopped making a retail hybrid version of the Explorer. A hybrid Police Interceptor version remains in production; its powertrain was used in the SUV for the pope.
Pope Leo XIV received a black Platinum AWD model with a 3.3-liter V-6 hybrid powertrain and 10-speed hybrid transmission and EU-spec radio hardware. The vehicle also features engraved scuff plates with a Chicago-to-Vatican design.
The high-end Platinum Explorer starts at $50,965, but the customizations would add thousands of dollars more. Chicago employees also included with the vehicle a picture of employees at the plant, handwritten letters, a Chicago Assembly Plant recognition coin and a pizza box from Aurelio's Pizza, a favorite hometown restaurant of the pope.
There also were vanity plates that said "LEO XIV" and "DA POPE" — a reference to "Saturday Night Live's" Bill Swerski's Super Fans skit featuring fans of "da Bears," Chicago's NFL team. That skit featured Farley's cousin, the late comedian Chris Farley.
Ford employees in Chicago involved in the project said it was a career highlight and an honor.
"I graduated from Saint Rita in 1986, so knowing that the Pope who once taught me is now driving something I helped assemble — it's unbelievable," Adolphus Harper, pre-delivery specialist, said in a statement provided by the automaker. "I am proud to be part of this. To see someone connected to my own education become part of something so historic — it's amazing. "
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