4 dead after US refueling aircraft goes down in western Iraq
A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Four service members were killed when their refueling aircraft “went down” in friendly airspace in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.
“Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue,” CENTCOM said Friday.
The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET when two aircraft were involved in “an incident,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement Thursday, confirming that “one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.”
Gen. Dan Caine addressed the crashed refueling plane, saying the incident is being treated as an active rescue and recovery mission.
“The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission, and again, was not the result, as CENTCOM has said, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire,” Caine said Friday. “We’re still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation, as CENTCOM announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered, and the Air Force and US Central Command will provide updates as information becomes available.”
The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation and the identities of the service members who died in the incident are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified, officials said.
KC-135 aircraft are not equipped with parachutes and do not have ejection seats, which are primarily in fighter aircraft, officials have told ABC News.
Passengers and crew members of KC-135s instead are trained on how to exit the aircraft when it is on land or on water, officials said.
According to a 2008 Air Force profile of the tanker crews, the move to get rid of parachutes was made because the tankers “seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Police officials inspect the crime scene following an exchange of gunfire by the U.S. Secret Service and a gunman on the National Mall on May 4, 2026, in Washington, DC. Police say a gunman shot at a Secret Service agent and wounded a bystander before being shot by police. (Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secret Service officers exchanged gunfire with an armed man near the White House property in Washington, D.C., on Monday, authorities said.
The suspect and a juvenile bystander were struck during the exchange of gunfire, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Michael Marx, according to multiple law enforcement sources. He has a Texas driver’s license and no obvious connection to Washington, and authorities are working to learn why he was in the city, sources said Tuesday.
Authorities are executing search warrants on his phone, digital media and other locations to try and determine if he posed any threat to specific individuals or entities, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, sources said.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. Monday near the National Mall, outside the perimeter of the White House complex, according to U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn.
A plainclothes Secret Service officer observed a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm,” Quinn said during a press briefing.
Uniformed Secret Service police briefly followed the suspect and, upon making contact, he fled on foot and fired in the direction of the officers, Quinn said.
The officers returned fire, striking the suspect, Quinn said. The suspect was transported to a hospital, according to Quinn.
Marx was struck multiple times and remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, sources said.
At least one bystander, a male juvenile, is believed to have been shot by the suspect and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to Quinn. The victim is also being treated at a hospital, he said.
“Everything I’ve seen leads me to believe, and the investigators believe, he was struck by the suspect,” Quinn said.
Marx has not yet been charged.
The shooting comes over a week after an alleged assassination attempt on Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know, but we will find out,” Quinn said.
Not long before the shooting occurred, Vance’s motorcade passed through the area, Quinn said. The suspect did not approach the motorcade, according to Quinn.
The use-of-force investigation will be conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department, Quinn said.
The incident prompted a brief evacuation of the White House North Lawn.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr and Jack Date contributed to this report.
Glacier National Park, Montana. (Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont.) — A man who went missing while hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana has been found dead from a suspected bear attack, according to the National Park Service.
Search and rescue crews located the body of the missing hiker around noon Wednesday, approximately 50 feet off the Mt. Brown Trail in a densely wooded area, according to park officials.
“His injuries are consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter,” the National Park Service said in a press release Thursday.
The victim’s name and age have not been released. Park officials said they are withholding his identity until 72 hours after next-of-kin notification.
A 33-year-old hiker from Florida had been reported missing in Glacier National Park earlier this week, with rangers focusing the search effort in the Mt. Brown and Snyder areas, according to park officials. The man was last heard from Sunday night and was reported missing the following day, park officials said.
The investigation into the suspected bear attack remains ongoing. Sections of the trail where the incident occurred have been temporarily closed.
“Wildlife and law enforcement personnel are currently assessing the area for bear activity and any ongoing public safety concerns,” the National Park Service said.
The last bear attack in Glacier National Park was in August 2025, when a 34-year-old woman was injured by a brown-colored bear at Lake Janet.
The last fatal incident was nearly 30 years ago, when a man was killed by a grizzly bear in the Two Medicine Valley in 1998.
Earlier this week, two hikers were injured in a bear attack at Yellowstone National Park, near the Old Faithful area in Wyoming.
Park officials believe a female grizzly bear with two or three young cubs were involved in Monday’s encounter, the National Park Service said in an update Thursday. The injured male hikers, ages 15 and 28, were airlifted out of the park.
Temporary trail, backcountry campsite, and fishing closures remain in effect following the incident.
Sean “Diddy” Combs attends the 2022 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Nine months after a New York jury convicted Sean “Diddy” Combs of transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex parties, the hip-hop mogul is set to appear in a federal appeals court on Thursday to challenge his lengthy prison sentence.
Acquitted last year of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, Combs argues that the judge imposed an overly harsh sentence by considering the crimes for which the jury found him not guilty.
“He sits in prison today, serving a 50-month sentence, because the district judge acted as a thirteenth juror,” Combs’ lawyers wrote in their appeal.
A panel of judges on the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is set to hear the sentence challenge as well as Combs’ broader argument that he should not have been convicted because his sexual exploits are protected under the First Amendment.
His lawyers claim that Combs was merely “creating typical amateur pornography” by transporting escorts across state lines to engage in lengthy drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak offs.”
Lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, who initially asked for a 11-year sentence, argue the judge was correct in taking into account the violent way Combs treated his victims when handing down his sentence.
“According to Combs, the District Court should have closed its eyes to how he carried out his … offenses and abused his victims–violently beating them, threatening them, lying to them, and plying them with drugs,” prosecutors said in their appellate brief.
What was Combs found guilty of? After a two-month trial last summer, a jury reached a split verdict against Combs, acquitting him on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering while finding him guilty of two lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Though the jury determined that Combs did not coerce or exploit his victims — necessary elements to prove sex trafficking — they did conclude that he transported people across state lines for his “freak offs.”
Claiming legal victory, Combs’ lawyers unsuccessfully pushed for his release from prison, arguing he had already served enough time in prison while awaiting trial.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian rejected those arguments and handed down a 50-month sentence, saying Combs was able to get away with violent and abusive conduct for years.
“The court is not assured that if released these crimes would not be committed again,” said Subramanian, who added that a lengthy sentence was needed “to send a message to abusers and victims alike that exploitation and violence against women is met with real accountability.”
How much time does Combs have left in his sentence? After spending about 14 months in the federal jail in Brooklyn ahead of his trial and sentencing, Combs has been serving his sentence at the federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey. In addition to having those 14 months taken off his overall sentence, Combs is also likely eligible for a reduction in his sentence under the First Step Act and by participating in a drug rehabilitation program.
According to the federal Bureau of Prisons, Combs’ tentative release date is April 15, 2028.
What is Combs’ argument to reduce his sentence? Combs’ lawyers have argued his sentence is “unlawful, unconstitutional, and a perversion of justice” because it factored in conduct for which the jury acquitted Combs.
“The jury refused to authorize any punishment for coercive sex or conspiracy–because the evidence showed there was none,” his lawyers wrote in a reply brief. “The jury only authorized punishment for ‘prostitution.’ It never authorized a sentence four times the typical sentence for that crime.”
Prosecutors pushed back on those arguments, arguing that the federal sentencing guidelines allow the judge to consider relevant conduct, even if he was acquitted of those crimes.
“That is because ‘acquittal on criminal charges does not prove that the defendant is innocent; it merely proves the existence of a reasonable doubt as to his guilt,'” they argued.
How does the First Amendment apply to Combs’ conviction? Combs’ lawyers also asked the court to throw out the conviction altogether, arguing the prostitution at the center of his case was part of an effort to make “typical amateur pornography.”
“The encounters were highly choreographed performances involving costumes, lighting, and other staged effects. Later, Combs and his girlfriends often watched the films together. Such conduct is protected by the First Amendment,” his lawyers argued.
Prosecutors have told the court the transportation of sex across state lines “is not inherently expressive” conduct protected under the First Amendment.
“Combs’s intent to watch the sex sessions live cannot bring his interstate transportation of others to have sex for money within the First Amendment’s protection. Were it otherwise, any defendant who transported others to engage in prostitution could escape liability simply by watching or filming the sex,” prosecutors wrote in their brief.
