SULUKI VALLEY, Lebanon (AP) — A convoy of armored vehicles carrying French peacekeepers barrels through southern Lebanon. Last year’s war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah left villages scarred and empty. Rubble lines the roads. Torn Lebanese flags and Hezbollah banners flutter from shattered buildings.
From a UNIFIL base above Kafr Kila, the town below looks like a wasteland of crumpled concrete. Across the valley, bulldozers churn dust as they build new positions on land held by Israeli forces despite the November ceasefire.
Click to Gallery
A French U.N. peacekeeper, foreground, watches an Israeli bulldozer building a sand barrier at one of five new Israeli army positions along the road between Houla and Kfar Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, following airstrikes and a ground offensive that destroyed nearby villages. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper rides on an armored vehicle during a patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in the village of Kfra Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper stands beside an armored vehicle at his base, waiting to move with his unit for a patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in Deir Kifa, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers use a Mistral air-defense system while inspecting their base in Deir Kifa, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Workers stand beside a bulldozer at one of five new Israeli army positions built inside Lebanese territory along the road between Houla and Kfar Kila following airstrikes and a ground offensive that destroyed nearby villages, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
U.N. vehicles drive through destruction near the Lebanese-Israeli border in the village of Kfra Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers inspect a destroyed Hezbollah position in the Saluki Valley, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper examines a destroyed position Hezbollah in the Saluki Valley, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper, foreground, checks ammunition boxes next to a destroyed Hezbollah rocket launcher in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers walk through bushes as they search for Hezbollah weapons in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper takes position as he enters a damaged room once used by Hezbollah fighters in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper walks past a destroyed Hezbollah artillery cannon in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper inspects a destroyed Hezbollah position in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)"
French U.N. peacekeepers patrol the Saluki Valley in south Lebanon as they search for Hezbollah weapons, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli bulldozers work at one of five new positions the Israeli army established inside Lebanese territory along a road between Houla and Kfar Kila, border villages destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive, in south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper stands on a hill overlooking Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive, in south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in Kfra Kila village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French peacekeepers trek up wooded slopes in the Saluki Valley, under the hum of an Israeli drone. Less than 200 meters in, they uncover remnants of a Hezbollah post: a cannon hidden among trees, an abandoned shack with blankets, playing cards, and books—frozen traces of fighters who once occupied the hillside.
Electrical wires snake toward destroyed rocket launchers. Empty rocket cartons and torn manuals litter the hillside.
“We find all kinds of weapons — rocket launchers, cannons, small arms, mines, IEDs, ammunition,” said Col. Arnaud de Coincy, commander of UNIFIL’s Force Commander’s Reserve, about 700 French and 200 Finnish troops.
Earlier this month, Lebanese soldiers were killed dismantling an arms depot. Their deaths underscore both dedication and the urgent need for support.
At a base in Deir Kifa, peacekeepers track Israeli overflights with a Mistral missile system. On this day alone, they counted more than 10 drones.
UNIFIL’s future depends on an upcoming Security Council vote. Critics call it costly and ineffective. Lebanon’s government says the force is vital.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A French U.N. peacekeeper, foreground, watches an Israeli bulldozer building a sand barrier at one of five new Israeli army positions along the road between Houla and Kfar Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, following airstrikes and a ground offensive that destroyed nearby villages. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper rides on an armored vehicle during a patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in the village of Kfra Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper stands beside an armored vehicle at his base, waiting to move with his unit for a patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in Deir Kifa, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers use a Mistral air-defense system while inspecting their base in Deir Kifa, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Workers stand beside a bulldozer at one of five new Israeli army positions built inside Lebanese territory along the road between Houla and Kfar Kila following airstrikes and a ground offensive that destroyed nearby villages, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
U.N. vehicles drive through destruction near the Lebanese-Israeli border in the village of Kfra Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers inspect a destroyed Hezbollah position in the Saluki Valley, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper examines a destroyed position Hezbollah in the Saluki Valley, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper, foreground, checks ammunition boxes next to a destroyed Hezbollah rocket launcher in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers walk through bushes as they search for Hezbollah weapons in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper takes position as he enters a damaged room once used by Hezbollah fighters in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper walks past a destroyed Hezbollah artillery cannon in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper inspects a destroyed Hezbollah position in the Saluki Valley, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)"
French U.N. peacekeepers patrol the Saluki Valley in south Lebanon as they search for Hezbollah weapons, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli bulldozers work at one of five new positions the Israeli army established inside Lebanese territory along a road between Houla and Kfar Kila, border villages destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive, in south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A French U.N. peacekeeper stands on a hill overlooking Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive, in south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
French U.N. peacekeepers patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in Kfra Kila village, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
Here's the latest:
“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you know the truth,” Trump told Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council.
Trump made the comment at a White House event on rural health, drawing laughter in the room. But it wasn’t clear the president himself was joking.
It comes as Trump is believed to be in final interviews with potential replacements for the Fed’s current chair, Jerome Powell, a frequently target of Trump’s public attacks.
“We don’t want to lose him Susie,” Trump said of Hassett to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who also at the health event. “We’ll see how it all works out.”
The White House is touting health care spending across small-town America intended to transform how care is delivered in places that have lost many hospitals and providers.
A look at some numbers:
That makes him the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country following the U.S. military strike which captured former leader Nicolás Maduro.
Thursday’s meeting, first reported by The New York Times, was confirmed Friday by a U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The official said the meeting in Caracas came at President Trump’s direction and was intended to demonstrate the U.S. desire for a better relationship with Venezuela. The official said Ratcliffe discussed potential economic collaboration with the U.S. and warned that Venezuela can never again allow the presence of American adversaries, including drug traffickers.
— David Klepper
As Attorney General Pam Bondi approaches her first year on the job, the firings of Justice Department attorneys have defined her turbulent tenure. The terminations and a larger voluntary exodus of lawyers have erased centuries of combined experience and left the department with fewer career employees to act as a bulwark for the rule of law at a time when President Trump, a Republican, is testing the limits of executive power by demanding prosecutions of his political enemies.
Interviews by The Associated Press of more than a half-dozen fired employees offer a snapshot of the toll throughout the department. The departures include lawyers who prosecuted violent attacks on police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, environmental, civil rights and ethics enforcers, counterterrorism prosecutors, immigration judges and attorneys who defend administration policies. They continued this week, when several prosecutors in Minnesota moved to resign amid turmoil over an investigation into the shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
▶ Read more about firings at the Justice Department
The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.
The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants.
The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday.
▶ Read more about the administration and AI-driven power shortages
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they’re no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.
Many Fed-watchers believe the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.
▶ Read more about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs after lawmakers let subsidies expire.
The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit. Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for the tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people.
Trump’s plan also focuses on lowering drug prices and requiring insurers to be more upfront with the public about costs, revenues, rejected claims and wait times for care.
Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive health care plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.
▶ Read more about Trump’s health care plan
Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
▶ Read more about Trump’s renaming efforts
Nearly a year into his second term, Trump’s work on the economy hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump’s first term and what they’ve gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.
Just 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.
At the same time, Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of the president’s leadership on immigration — even if some don’t like his tactics.
There is little sign overall, though, that the Republican base is abandoning Trump. The vast majority of Republicans, about 8 in 10, approve of his job performance, compared with 4 in 10 for adults overall.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
▶ Read more about Trump and Iran
— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Ben Finley
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to honor the 2025 Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
