The Defense Department has identified Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., who succumbed to his injuries following a March 1 attack on his base in Saudi Arabia. DoD
(WASHINGTON) — The Defense Department on Monday identified another U.S. service member who died following the opening wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, marking the seventh U.S. service member to die in the war with Iran.
Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, died Sunday from injuries he sustained during a March 1 retaliation strike on U.S. troops at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia from Iran.
“He gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved,” Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, the top officer for Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. “That makes him nothing less than a hero, and he will always be remembered that way. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.”
Pennington enlisted in the Army in 2017 as a supply specialist and was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado. He is set to be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the Army announced.
Pennington was working at a strategic radar installation responsible for early warning against incoming missile threats, a critical node in the U.S. military’s missile-defense architecture, according to a source familiar with the situation.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer of the other six American service members killed in the war’s opening hours, after an Iranian drone struck in Kuwait. All six were killed in the same attack.
Even as the ceremony underscored the war’s early toll, the president and senior Pentagon officials have been preparing the public for the likelihood that more casualties are ahead.
“The president’s been right to say there will be casualties,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in an interview with the CBS News program “60 Minutes” on Sunday. “Things like this don’t happen without casualties. There will be more casualties.”
Hegseth cast the losses as a grim but familiar feature of war for a country that has spent more than two decades fighting in the Middle East.
“Especially our generation knows what it’s like to see Americans come home in caskets,” he said. “But that doesn’t weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish.”
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz contributed to this report.
The Anthropic logo displayed on the stage during the company’s Builder Summit in Bengaluru, India, on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Artificial-intelligence firm Anthropic sued the Trump administration on Monday over the Pentagon’s choice to designate it a “supply-chain risk,” legal filings show.
A spokesperson for Anthropic said the legal action “does not change our longstanding commitment to harnessing AI to protect our national security, but this is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers, and our partners.”
A Department of Defense spokesperson told ABC News: “As a matter of Department of War policy, we do not comment on litigation.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Miley Cyrus on volume two of reimagined ‘Sesame Street.’ (Zach Hyman/Sesame Workshop)
Miley Cyrus knows how to get to Sesame Street.
The singer is the special guest for volume two of the reimagined Sesame Street, which drops Monday on Netflix and PBS KIDS.
She appears in the “Elmo’s Toy Swap” episode as Elmo learns there’s “no wrong way to play.” In a clip posted to Instagram, we see Miley singing a song about imagination with Elmo and friends.
“We can be whatever we can dream/ When we imagine, anything can happen,” they sing as they imagine themselves in a submarine underwater.
The scene then cuts back to the toy swap, where Miley holds up a sparkly high heel. “Let’s imagine what we can do with this!” she says.
“We loved imagining with you, @mileycyrus!” the show wrote on its Instagram account. “Thanks for stopping by Sesame Street to sing and dance with us. We love you!”
Season 56 of Sesame Street is airing in three volumes. The first volume debuted last November.
Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey and Lana Condor as Lara Jean Song Covey in ‘XO, Kitty’ season 3. (Netflix)
The Song Covey sisters are back together in the official trailer for season 3 of XO, Kitty.
Netflix has released the official trailer for the third season of the coming-of-age romance series.
Season 3 marks the first time that Lana Condor, the star of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film trilogy, has reprised her beloved character of Lara Jean Song Covey after the 2021 movie To All the Boys: Always and Forever.
XO, Kitty is a spinoff series inspired by the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film trilogy, which itself is based on Jenny Han’s bestselling books. Season 3 will consist of eight 30-minute episodes.
Season 3 of XO, Kitty finds Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart) returning “for her final year at KISS with her perfect senior year mapped out.”
“And she’s going to define her relationship with Min Ho. For real this time,” the synopsis continues. “But when surprise revelations throw her plans, and relationships, off course, Kitty will have to learn to embrace the unexpected.”
Condor told Netflix in a press release that “it’s such a joy to be able to come back and see Anna. I think she did an amazing job creating the XO, Kitty world. It’s such a dream to be able to work with her again. I feel really excited and happy and honored I get to be back.”
The trailer finds Lara Jean arriving to Seoul, South Korea, after Kitty experiences some heartbreak.
“Whatever happens with Min Ho, we can’t just stop living our lives,” Lara Jean tells Kitty. “We have to follow our hearts and trust that it will lead us to our next great adventure.”
A man is arrested after throwing a hand-made smoke grenade at a protest near Gracie Mansion, on March 7, 2026, in New York. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Two improvised explosive devices brought to a counterprotest outside Gracie Mansion in New York City are being investigated as “an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” and the two suspects arrested in connection with the incident are facing federal terrorism charges, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday.
The devices contained the volatile substance TATP and were made to “injure, maim or worse,” Tisch said of Saturday’s incident.
“These were not hoax devices or smoke bombs. They were improvised explosive devices,” Tisch said during a news conference outside Gracie Mansion with New York City Mayor Zohran Mandami, the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Tisch said a third suspected IED was found in the car of the two suspects parked on the East Side of Manhattan, prompting an immediate evacuation of homes in the area. She said the device did not test positive for explosives.
All of the devices are being sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for additional testing, Tisch said.
Two Pennsylvania men who are in custody in connection with the devices will be charged with federal crimes, Tisch said. The complaint has not yet been unsealed.
The suspects were identified as Emir Balat of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and Ibrahim Kayumi of Newton, Pennsylvania, Tisch said.
“They’re suspected of coming here to commit an act of terrorism,” Mamdani said. “Anyone who comes to NYC to bring violence to our streets will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The explosives were deployed at an anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, that was organized by far-right, anti-immigrant provocateur Jack Lang, officials said. The event was called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City.”
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks tumbled in early trading on Monday as oil prices soared above $100 per barrel in response to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 720 points, or 1.5%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.2%.
Indexes fell worldwide on Monday as the spike in oil prices rippled through global markets. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index plunged 5.2%, while pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 1.7%.
Oil prices soared as traders feared a prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
U.S. crude oil prices topped $100 per barrel on Monday, marking a staggering 54% increase since late last month.
Oil prices climbed as high as nearly $120 per barrel overnight, but retreated after the Financial Times reported Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers would meet to discuss a possible coordinated release from their respective strategic petroleum reserves.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. soared to $3.47 on Monday from $2.99 a week earlier, AAA said.
In a social media post on Sunday night, President Donald Trump downplayed the rise in oil prices.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” Trump said.
Soon after the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, U.S.-Israeli forces killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. His son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen on Sunday to succeed him.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes Borg in ‘Sentimental Value.’ (Kasper Tuxen Andersen)
The 98th annual Oscars are less than a week away. Many of the stars of Sentimental Value are nominated at Sunday’s ceremony, including Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who plays Agnes Borg in Joachim Trier’s Norwegian film.
Lilleaas, who is nominated for best supporting actress, told ABC Audio “just being in a movie that so many people get to see and enjoy” is what is most special about recognition like this. So is connecting with people about the film during its press tour.
“I think that’s what I’m gonna be taking with me through life,” Lilleaas said. “Getting to meet people after they’ve seen it and hear their thoughts and hear how they’re reacting based on their own lives.”
She continued, “People share a lot of personal stuff, and I appreciate it, because when do you ever get to hear those stories and how similar we are across culture? It’s like, we all have family in one way or another and they seem to work in more or less the same way, despite where we live.”
ABC Audio spoke to Lilleaas before she was Oscar-nominated. She said she was centering the film’s impact and focusing less on what it means to get awarded for her work.
“These awards, it’s something that I’ve seen from afar and it’s never been part of how I work or how I live or what I think is ever attainable or is ever a focus even,” Lilleaas said. “So it’s kind of absurd and a little bit outside of the body. It’s something that’s just somebody’s talking about and that I’m trying not to think about so much.”
The Oscars will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.
: Funeral ceremony is held for people, who lost their lives following the attacks launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28, at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
The alert, reviewed by ABC News, cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.
The intercepted transmission was encoded and appeared to be destined for “clandestine recipients” who possess the encryption key, the kind of message intended to impart instructions to “covert operatives or sleeper assets” without the use of the internet or cellular networks.
It’s possible the transmissions could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country,” the alert said.
“While the exact contents of these transmissions cannot currently be determined, the sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness,” the alert said.
While the alert is careful to say there is “no operational threat tied to a specific location,” it does instruct law enforcement agencies to increase their monitoring of suspicious radio-frequency activity.
If the contents of the alert prove true, it would confirm the fears expressed by law enforcement officials after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran that sleeper cells deployed around the West could be used for retaliation.
Senator Andy Kim, during a news conference ahead of the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Senator Andy Kim, D-N.J., is aiming to tackle the nation’s literacy crisis with a new bill focused on increasing children’s access to books.
Kim will introduce his “Open Books, Open Doors Act” on Monday, urging the Department of Education to authorize $100 million in annual grants to states and local communities to combat illiteracy and what he calls the country’s “book deserts,” which is an area that doesn’t have reliable access to books.
“Reading is a powerful tool that every child in America should have,” Kim said in a statement to ABC News. “We know literacy and reading unlocks life-long success in school and out, but right now millions of kids across our country are living in book deserts.”
He told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he feels it’s his responsibility to pass legislation that helps more kids develop their reading skills.
“This is not meant to be a messaging bill,” Kim said, adding, “This is not just meant to put the idea on the table, like, I want to get this done.”
“I want us to be able to immediately be able to benefit the kids in this country as they grow up,” he said.
His legislation aims to ensure every child is positioned for long-term success in school and in life. Kim noted that illiteracy is dire, not only for children, but also for adults. When adults have difficulty reading, it hurts the economy and American families, he said.
If passed, Kim’s bill would use the federal education department grant program to support states’ efforts to combat reading rates while prioritizing the locations that struggle most with access to books and “high quality” reading materials.
Actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton, who for two decades helped young students get excited about literature as the host of PBS’ “Reading Rainbow,” endorsed Kim’s push to provide children with equitable access to books.
“We must ensure that books are easy to find and free to borrow in every neighborhood — because when a child can read, they possess the power to write their own future,” Burton told ABC News in a statement.
The reading crisis is widespread. Recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” found about a third of fourth graders are unable to read above the basic level. Access to books and a decrease in students who read for enjoyment are major factors contributing to the country’s sliding reading scores, according to the legislation and education experts.
Education Department skeptics and government officials, however, believe the agency has too much spending power already — without achievement results.
After a vocal minority of House Democrats and education advocates decried public school funding for lagging national test scores, Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that continuing to spend federal dollars on the literacy issue was the wrong solution.
“Instead of solutions to confront our nation’s literacy crisis, they [Congressional Democrats] defended the status quo,” McMahon wrote in a recent post on X.
“The solution: return education to the states and empower local leaders to focus on the basics,” she added.
The future of Kim’s legislation could ultimately rest with McMahon, who has been tasked with putting herself out of a job by shuttering the department. Kim, who sits on the Senate’s education committee, has been critical of McMahon since she was tapped to lead the agency.
Kim said he has “deep disagreements” with moves made under her leadership that he alleged harm kids and their opportunities in life.
The Department of Education has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
On the heels of Read Across America week, the bill supports science of reading programs — the phonics-based reading approach — and early screening and intervention for reading disabilities. The legislation also establishes a federal clearinghouse that would identify evidence-based “book access” strategies to help advance literacy in local communities.
More than 20 education organizations support Kim’s bill, from the American Library Association to Reach Out and Read, a nonprofit organization that encourages families to read aloud together and provides books to millions of households nationwide.
Reach Out and Read CEO Lynette Fraga told ABC News having early access to books at home not only fuels literacy outcomes but also helps students thrive in life.
“If we think about early childhood we think about return on investment,” Fraga said. “We know that if we invest in the earliest years through things like access, through things like meaningful programs and child centered practices and systems, the return on investment is huge.”
Kim suggested that books “open doors” for millions of children. His bill currently has no co-sponsors — and its fate is unclear at this time — but he’s optimistic about support for this issue across party lines.
“I hope that all of us can get on the same page about increasing literacy in America and can see the value of that,” Kim said. “We are stronger as a society if we have a more literate society. I think everyone can recognize that.”
Iranian national flag waved by a protester in front of a hospital damaged in a U.S.-Israeli strike, in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Shadati/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A newly surfaced video appears to show a U.S.-made missile hitting a building in Iran adjacent to a girls’ school where local officials say 168 people were killed, experts told ABC News.
The eyewitness video was first posted Sunday morning by the Iranian outlet Mehr News, and then shared online by Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, who now works as a researcher with the investigative group Bellingcat.
Ball said in a post on X that the video showed a U.S.-made Tomahawk missile.
ABC News geolocated the video adjacent to the site of the deadly Feb. 28 strike, in which several buildings connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were destroyed along with a nearby building housing a school for girls.
The missile seen impacting in the video is not hitting the girls’ school but another building in the IRGC complex. Experts told ABC News the missile has the characteristics of a Tomahawk, which is used by the United States and is not known to be fielded by Iran or Israel.
Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told ABC News that the size and shape of the missile resemble the Tomahawk.
“I do believe this points towards U.S. responsibility for the strike in the area,” he said.
N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, also said the munition seen in the video appeared to be a Tomahawk.
“That indicates it is a U.S. strike,” he said.
Jenzen-Jones earlier cautioned that attributing responsibility for the strike on the nearby school would be difficult without access to munition fragments. He said the new video was still not proof as to who was responsible for striking the school.
“We can only be definitive about the one in the video. Of course, it makes it more likely the surrounding targets were hit by the U.S., but it doesn’t give certainty,” he said.
ABC News has reached out to the Pentagon for a comment.
