Author: Reporter

Olin Pickens sat in his wheelchair facing a life-sized image of himself on a screen, asking it questions about being taken prisoner by German soldiers during World War II. After a pause, his video-recorded twin recalled being given “sauerkraut soup” by his captors before a grueling march. “That was a Tuesday morning, February the 16th,” Pickens’ onscreen likeness answered. “And so we started marching. We’d walk four hours, then we’d rest 10 minutes.” Pickens is among 18 veterans of the war and its support effort featured in an interactive exhibit that opened in March at the National WWII Museum....

The U.N. cultural agency has discovered five bombs hidden within the walls of the historic al-Nouri Mosque in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, a remnant of the Islamic State militant group’s rule over the area, UNESCO said in a statement on June 29. The mosque, famous for its 12th-century leaning minaret, was destroyed by IS in 2017 and has been a focal point of UNESCO’s restoration efforts since 2020. The U.N. agency said that five large-scale explosive devices, designed for significant destruction, were found inside the southern wall of the Prayer Hall on June 25. “These explosive...

U.S., European, and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats on June 29 of what Iran said would be an “obliterating” war over Hezbollah. Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah — which is far stronger...

After more than eight months of low-scale conflict, Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are threatening all-out war. The United States and the international community are lobbying for calm and hopeful for a diplomatic solution. They have not been successful so far and time for a political settlement could be expiring. Should war break out, Israel would face a much more formidable foe in Lebanon than it faced in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel recently that his group has new weapons and capabilities, and it has published surveillance drone footage taken deep...

Thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem on June 30, after protesting for several days against a Supreme Court order for them to begin enlisting for military service. The landmark June 25 decision, ordering the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men, could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel wages war in Gaza. Tens of thousands of men rallied in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood to protest the order. But after nightfall, the crowd made its way toward central Jerusalem and turned violent. The ultra-Orthodox see their full-time religious study...