Suspected U.S. airstrikes kill at least two people in Houthi rebels’ stronghold, drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan deemed ‘likely preventable’, Ukraine team heading to D.C. to discuss mineral resources deal.
1. Suspected U.S. airstrikes killed at least two people overnight in a stronghold of Yemen's Houthi rebels, the group said Sunday, while a bombing video posted by U.S. President Donald Trump suggested casualties in the overall campaign may be higher than the rebels acknowledge. The strikes in Saada killed two people and wounded nine others, with footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showing a strike collapsing what appeared to be a two-story building. The Iranian-backed Houthis aired no footage from inside the building, which they described as a solar power shop. The intense campaign of airstrikes in Yemen under Trump targeting the rebels over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters stemming from the Israel-Hamas war has killed at least 69 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis.
2. A drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan last year was most likely preventable, according to a military investigation that determined numerous failures — from complacency and indecisiveness to outright negligence — contributed to the worst assault on American troops since the fall of Afghanistan. The small outpost, known as Tower 22, is along Jordan’s border with Syria and Iraq, and largely had been spared from the assaults on American positions in those countries by Iranian proxies furious with the United States for its support of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. However, on the morning of Jan. 28, 2024, while most of the base’s 350 troops slept, there were indications an attack might be imminent, Army investigators learned. An intelligence report transmitted to Tower 22 approximately 90 minutes before the strike warned that militia groups had discussed openly on social media their intent to target U.S. forces in the area, prompting Tower 22’s second-in-command to tell the watch team to “stay vigilant.” But when their radar picked up an unknown object heading toward the base, no one assessed it as a threat — and, vitally, no one issued an order for everyone to take cover, the investigation found.
3. Ukraine will send a team to Washington next week to begin negotiations on a new draft of a deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told The Associated Press. “The new draft agreement from the U.S. shows that the intention to create a fund or jointly invest remains,” Svyrydenko said Saturday, during a trip to northern Ukraine. The delegation from Kyiv will include representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance. Ukraine holds significant deposits of more than 20 minerals deemed strategically critical by the U.S., including titanium, which is used to make aircraft wings, lithium, key to several battery technologies, and uranium, used in nuclear power.
4. Veterans Affairs officials next month will end a 10-month-old mortgage rescue program for veterans in danger of losing their homes. The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program was launched in late May 2024 to purchase defaulted VA loans from outside mortgage servicers. Officials would then modify the terms of the loans to allow financially strapped veterans to avoid eviction from and forfeiture of their homes. About 17,000 veterans received home loans with lower interest rates through the program, according to VA statistics. In a statement, department officials said the program will stop accepting new enrollees on May 1. “This change is necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.”
5. The Army is offering up to $5,000 in reward money for information leading to the return of an aviation helmet containing weapons tracking technology that disappeared during a recent exercise. The Apache helicopter flight helmet, belonging to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, was last seen in a hangar at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels between March 14 and March 16, an Army statement said Friday. The missing helmet was equipped with an Improved Magnetic Receiver Unit, which tracks a pilot’s or gunner’s head movements to control night vision and target acquisition systems aboard the helicopter. A transmitter mounted on the AH-54E helicopter generates a magnetic field within the cockpit. The classification of the helmet and receiver unit was unclear Monday. However, systems with comparable functions, such as targeting and weapons guidance, are typically considered sensitive technology.
- Legislative