Pope Leo’s brother’s home targeted with false bomb threat
Pope Leo XIV reading his speech as he lead a prayer vigil for peace at St.Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on April 11, 2026. (Photo by Isabella Bonotto/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW LENOX, Ill.) — One of Pope Leo’s brothers was the victim of a false bomb threat on Wednesday night, according to the New Lenox, Illinois, police department.
Officers received a call at 6:29 p.m. for a reported bomb threat at a private residence, officials said.
“Upon receiving the report, officers were immediately dispatched to the scene and established a secure perimeter to ensure the safety of nearby residents. Out of an abundance of caution, surrounding homes were notified, and asked to evacuate,” according to a statement from the police department. “Specialized units, including the Will County Sheriff’s Office bomb sniffing K9 were requested to assist in the investigation.”
There were no explosives, and no injuries, according to police.
“The incident remains under investigation as authorities work to determine the origin of the report. Making false reports of this nature is a serious offense and may result in criminal charges,” the statement says. “Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to contact the NLPD at 815-485-2500 or submit an anonymous tip through the Village of New Lenox website.”
U.S. Marines land at the objective point during a simulated bilateral small boat raid at Kin Blue Training Area, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 26, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps)
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon’s decision to send the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a 2,200-troop force, to the Middle East is fueling new speculation about whether the conflict with Iran couldinvolve U.S. ground troops, a step that would mark a dramatic escalation and potentially push the already unpopular war into a far more dangerous phase.
It could take up to two weeks, or the end of March, before the unit is in place and its presence unlikely to significantly shift the dynamics of the war on its own, experts say. A Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) can deliver an initial surge of troops quickly, but seizing and holding key terrain, or sustaining a prolonged fight, would almost certainly require a far larger ground force.
Experts say the MEU would likely be used to conduct raids across the Iranian shoreline to gain a foothold in areas across the crucial oil shipping waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, which has emerged as a contested point of the conflict.
A Quinnipiac University poll from earlier this month showed 74% of registered voters opposed sending U.S. ground troops into Iran while 20% supported it.
Asked Tuesday if he was afraid of the Iranian regime’s assertion that U.S. boots on the ground “will be another Vietnam,” President Donald Trump replied, “No, I’m not afraid. I’m really not afraid of anything.”
Sailing from the Pacific, it will likely take up to two weeks for Marines to be in place in the Middle East, and it is not yet clear what those troops would be used for. The unit operates as a self-contained, sea-based force — essentially a floating hub capable of launching troops, aircraft and equipment without relying on nearby bases or infrastructure.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz would unlock a waterway through which 20% of the globe’s oil supply transits each day. Its closure has seen gas prices soar and markets roiled. Trump has referenced shorelines from which the Iranians can attack vessels transiting the waterway.
“Now we are pounding that area, that coast, as you know, left side,” Trump said Monday. “We’re pounding it like really pounding it hard.”
According to Michael Eisenstadt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, the MEU could take part in land-based “raids” on targets along that coast.
“There’s a number of missions where you can conceivably see a MEU playing a role, either unilaterally or kind of in conjunction with maybe the deployment of larger Army units,” said Eisenstadt, who believes the deployment of the MEU was likely related to the strait.
Iranian fortifications along the coast that could “interfere with convoy operations,” Eisenstadt said, could be U.S. targets. Top military leaders have said they’ve explored the potential uses of convoys, or warship escorts, to facilitate the safe passage of commercial shipping through the strait.
Raiding parties could target missile storage bunkers that are hardened and difficult for U.S. warplanes to destroy from the air.
The idea would be to “clear out the shore and then use air power to prevent them from returning once you’ve cleared out those areas,” Eisenstadt said.
Such an operation would not by itself create conditions for smooth sailing in the strait, experts told ABC News.
“My concern is that it takes so little to disrupt the shipping industry, Eisenstadt said. “If there’s a small, you know, kind of a small residual [Iranian] capability, it could still potentially be very disruptive.”
The 2,200 Marines in the MEU would limit any operation longer than a raid, which have pre-planned withdrawals. To get on land, these types of Marine units primarily seize footholds by riding small watercraft onto beaches or by helicopter insertion.
“Normally in an amphibious assault, you have all sorts of Navy landing craft behind you to sustain the force ashore. There’s none of that. There’s none of that logistical tail that would allow them to remain ashore,” said retired Marine Col. Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor.
Leaving strategic waters in the Pacific
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is primarily based in Japan, where it routinely trains with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces on skills in high demand across the Pacific, including rapidly seizing small islands. Earlier this month, it took part in a major annual exercise that featured amphibious assault drills, marksmanship training and operations focused on capturing hostile terrain, according to the Defense Department.
Their removal from the region removes one of the primary ground combat elements in the Pacific, which could respond to a crisis with China or North Korea. Other significant combat elements in the region include the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, stationed to bolster South Korea’s frontline against Pyongyang, as well as the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska.
“That leaves a ground combat and amphibious capability gap in the region,” Carlton Haelig, an expert in military operations and fellow at the Center for New American Security, said.
The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Camp Pendleton, California, is preparing to deploy to the Pacific, according to Pentagon imagery.
A traffic tower is seen at Newark Liberty International Airport on May 14, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An Alaska Airlines 737 and a FedEx 777 cargo plane nearly collided as they attempted to land on intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to radar data from FlightRadar24.
The incident happened around 8:17 p.m. Tuesday as the Alaska flight arrived from Portland, Oregon, and the FedEx plane arrived from Memphis, Tennessee, according to the data.
Air traffic control told the Alaska plane to go around seconds before it touched down while the plane was just 150 feet in the air, according to air traffic control audio and FlightRadar24 data. Meanwhile, the FedEx plane continued its landing on the intersecting runway.
Preliminary data from Flightradar24 shows the Alaska plane cleared the FedEx plane by just 300 to 325 feet.
Alaska Airlines and FedEx did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
People protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement as they march toward the South Texas Family Residential Center, January 28, 2026 in Dilley, Texas. (Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)
(HOUSTON) — Law enforcement deployed tear gas during a clash with protesters outside a Texas detention facility on Wednesday, where a 5-year-old boy and his father are being held.
At least two protesters were detained, according to ABC News’ San Antonio affiliate KSAT.
Both U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were on the scene during the protest, according to KSAT.
Video of the encounter showed troopers pushing back protesters as tear gas was deployed.
Ahead of the protest, community organizers said in a press release they were gathering at the facility to hold “a vigil to amplify the voices and protests of children and families held in detention against their will.”
The facility in Dilley, Texas, is located about 85 miles southwest of San Antonio.
The protest took place on the same day that Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, met with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander, at the center.
Castro said he was able to meet with him and his father for 30 minutes in the facility’s courtroom.
The lawmaker told reporters that he was told by the father that the 5-year-old has “been depressed and has not been eating well” since being detained.
“His father said that Liam has been sleeping a lot, that he’s been asking about his family, his mom, and his classmates, and saying that he wants to go back to school.”
Castro added that there are other children at the detention center, including several under the age of five and a two-month-old baby.
The father and son were detained on Jan. 20 as part of the federal government’s ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Images from the young boy’s detainment garnered international attention when he was apprehended by immigration officials shortly after arriving home from preschool while his father was in their driveway, school officials said last week.
The Department of Homeland Security said at the time that “ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration.”
“As agents approached the driver, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot — abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.”
DHS’ account differed from what the family’s attorney and school officials said occurred.
“Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let them take care of the small child, but was refused,” officials from Conejo Ramos’ school said.
A federal judge in Texas on Monday temporarily blocked the removal of Alexander and Ramos, saying that the father and son cannot be removed from the district in Texas pending the habeas case challenging their detention.
At the time of their detention, they had a pending asylum case but no order of deportation directing that they be removed from the United States.
