MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — It's still winter in Minnesota, but for the people lined up Sunday in single-digit cold at the Moorhead Dairy Queen, spring is in the air.
The annual March 1 opening of the 77-year-old walk-up ice cream shop is a tradition, no matter the weather. Heavy snow, subzero cold — people will brave a blizzard for a Blizzard.
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Moorhead Dairy Queen owners Diane, left, and Troy DeLeon pose for a photo Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the walk-up window of their Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Jerry Protextor heads to his car with ice cream treats for his wife and him Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Jesse Engen eats a peanut buster parfait Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Hold for story - Customers wait their turn to place their order Sunday, March 1, 2026, during the annual opening day of the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Koral Salisbury, left, and Ally Hoekstra eat ice cream treats Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
“It just says that we're tough, and there are things that are really important to us,” said Jerry Protextor, a retired pastor standing in line for a butterscotch milkshake and a chocolate-mint Blizzard. “It's just a part of community.”
March is very much a winter month in the Upper Midwest, though the weather can vary wildly. The annual opening of the Dairy Queen “heritage store” brings the hope of spring and a familiar promise for people who need something to look forward to, especially with unrest in the world, owners Troy and Diane DeLeon said.
“It’s a sense of unity. It’s a tradition for many families,” Diane DeLeon said.
An average of 1,200 customers stop by on the opening day. Some show up early and wait in their cars. Being first in line brings yearlong bragging rights. The store typically closes in late October.
Julie Bergseid arrived before 7 a.m. to be first in line after two years in a row as second.
“Usually there's a little bit of a line after a bit, so you gotta get here before they start,” she said. “It's momentous that this is the start of spring, no matter what the temperature. This starts it, going to the DQ, getting your first ice cream of the season.”
Bundled up in snow pants, long underwear, wool socks and mittens, she planned to sit down at a patio table and enjoy her barbecue, a Peanut Buster Parfait and a Dilly frozen treat.
“It won't melt. That's the nice thing," Bergseid said.
Customers have their pick from an array of treats found almost nowhere else. Among the favorites is the Mr. Malty, a chocolate malt frozen on a stick; a Curly Shake, a shake on the bottom and a sundae on top; a Monkey Tail, a frozen banana dipped in chocolate on a stick; and a variety of discontinued Blizzard flavors.
“It's just that we have always had and made those special treats through the years. Even though they've been discontinued, we still have them because we have the ingredients and why not make it?" Troy DeLeon said. “If you still have the ingredients, ‘give the customer what they want’ is our feeling.”
The store is grandfathered to a point due to its age and focuses on customer service and having unique items, he said.
The butterscotch milkshake that Protextor sought for his wife can't be found at any other DQ in the area, he said.
“We have to go to the right Dairy Queen to do what she wants,” he said.
Customers in coats, hats and gloves stood back near the street as others took their turn to go up to the windows to place their orders. No apps or kiosks for ordering here; just a knack for customer service, the DeLeons said.
People brought dogs and small children and took photos under a towering Dilly bar — a beloved chocolate-coated ice cream treat created in the 1950s at the Moorhead DQ. It seemed a bit like a summer day. Almost.
“This is beautiful today. I mean, it’s a little chilly, but the sun's shining, it will get a little warmer,” Troy DeLeon said. “Typically it’s either snowing or probably closer to zero or below zero, so this is a beautiful day.”
Moorhead Dairy Queen owners Diane, left, and Troy DeLeon pose for a photo Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the walk-up window of their Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Jerry Protextor heads to his car with ice cream treats for his wife and him Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Jesse Engen eats a peanut buster parfait Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Hold for story - Customers wait their turn to place their order Sunday, March 1, 2026, during the annual opening day of the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
Koral Salisbury, left, and Ally Hoekstra eat ice cream treats Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Dairy Queen in Moorhead, Minn. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.
There were explosions in Tehran on Sunday night as Israel said it was taking its attacks to the “heart” of Iran’s capital.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at U.S. military installations around the Gulf, and also at the Saudi capital and the global business hub of Dubai. Earlier Sunday, Iran selected a 66-year-old cleric to join the three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected.
A senior White House official says that “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the United States. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said President Donald Trump says he is “eventually” willing to talk, but for now the military operation “continues unabated.”
Trump told The Atlantic in an interview on Sunday that he planned to speak with Iran’s new leadership. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said, declining to comment on the timing.
Here is the latest:
U.S. President Donald Trump said of U.S. service members killed that America will ’avenge their deaths.”
The president made the comments in a roughly six minute video he posted on social media Sunday afternoon. He called the three service members “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.”
The president went on and added: “Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
The State Department is allowing nonessential U.S. diplomats and families of all government personnel to leave Qatar as U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian retaliation continue.
In an updated travel advisory Sunday, the department said it had moved to reduce its diplomatic footprint in Doha “due to security concerns.”
It added that private American citizens should “reconsider travel to Qatar due to the threat of armed conflict.”
An Israeli military official says a variety of factors created near-perfect conditions for Israel and the U.S. to kill much of Iran’s leadership in the opening strike of the war.
The official says that months of planning and close coordination with the U.S., combined with real-time intelligence that the targets were gathered together, allowed the two allies to strike in the joint operation on Saturday morning.
The official says the airstrikes targeted three locations, all within 60 seconds of one another, killing Iran’s supreme leader and some 40 senior officials, including the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He said that striking in broad daylight added an additional element of surprise.
The official said Israel and the U.S. agreed that striking the leadership was the best way to open the operation. Otherwise, he said they would quickly disperse and go into hiding once the attacks began. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert operation.
“We had a great opportunity, great intel, great execution,” he said.
By Josef Federman
Israel’s top general praised his military’s early gains in fighting with Iran, while warning the public that “many more days of combat lie ahead.”
After a day marked by warning sirens, strikes and at least nine deaths from one Iranian attack, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir mourned fatalities in the town of Beit Shemesh and hailed “significant achievements” that he said Israel and the U.S. had made thus far. The two countries’ strikes on Iran took out high ranking security officials and Supreme Leader Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Patience and resilience are required now. We are operating in close cooperation with our ally. Coordination with the U.S. military is closer than ever,” Zamir, the army’s chief of the general staff, said.
France will send two warships to the Red Sea in coming days to join a European Union naval mission there amid security concerns over the war on Iran, an EU official said Sunday after emergency talks between the bloc’s foreign ministers.
“There’s been a steep increase in additional requests for protection” from civilian vessels in the area, the official said. “There are two additional ships which will now join the operations from France.”
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to provide details about the meeting held via video link, said that the ministers agreed that it was important to “protect our maritime economic interests.”
Traffic through the strategic maritime trade route the Strait of Hormuz is not closed but remains “a little bit arbitrary for the moment,” with some vessels getting through, the official said.
By Lorne Cook
U.S. President Donald Trump has discussed a timeline for the fighting in Iran during a phone interview with a British newspaper.
“We figured it will be four weeks or so,” Trump told the Daily Mail. “It’s always been about a four-week process, so, as strong as it is -- it’s a big country -- it’ll take four weeks, or less.”
The U.S. military said three service members have been killed, the first known American casualties from the conflict. Trump called those killed “great people.”
“You know, we expect that to happen, unfortunately,” Trump told the newspaper. “Could happen continuous — it could happen again.”
Loud booms and explosions rocked Jerusalem on Sunday night as another batch of Iranian missiles attempted landfall.
Shelters were full and some residents concurred that the booms were the loudest they’d heard since the start of the war.
It was not immediately clear whether the booms were the sounds of missiles landing or of interceptions.
The diplomat who mediated indirect nuclear talks held last week in Geneva between the U.S. and Iran has called for negotiations to resume, saying that the “door to diplomacy remains open."
Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said in a post on X that there had been a “genuine progress toward an unprecedented agreement” during the last round of talks.
“I still believe in the power of diplomacy to resolve this conflict,” he said. “The sooner talks are resumed the better it is for everyone.”
Oman’s Duqm Port earlier Sunday was struck by Iranian exploding drones, wounding one worker.
Britain, France and Germany — known as the E3 — said they are ready to work with the U.S. and partners to help stop Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a joint statement that they are “appalled” by Iran’s “reckless” strikes on their allies which are threatening their service members and citizens in the region.
“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source. We have agreed to work together with the U.S. and allies in the region on this matter,” the statement said. It did not provide further details.
The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national in a missile attack in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Mary Ann V. de Vera, 32, a caregiver from Basista, Pangasinan, had been working in Israel since 2019. Her identity was confirmed through biometric records at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where her husband also positively identified her remains.
Ambassador Aileen Mendiola conveyed condolences to the family and assured them of the Philippine government’s full assistance, the embassy said in a statement.
President Emmanuel Macron said the conflict has prompted France to reinforce its military posture and its defensive support for allies in the Middle East. He did not elaborate.
Noting that a drone hit a hangar Sunday at a French naval base, he said France needs to "be able to adapt our posture to the evolution of the last few hours." France has military bases in the Gulf.
Chairing an emergency defense meeting in Paris, Macron said top security officials would discuss the risks the conflict creates for France, and its economic consequences. Macron spoke with the leaders of several countries around the Mideast over the weekend.
On Monday, Macron heads to a nuclear submarine base where he is expected to update France’s nuclear weapons doctrine to take into account the evolving global security context.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to the leaders of Israel, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, without providing further details.
Trump has spoken to leaders throughout the region since the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told a briefing that 100 fighter jets simultaneously struck government targets in the Iranian capital on Sunday.
He said the targets included buildings belonging to Iran’s air force, its missile command and its internal security force, which violently quashed anti-government protests in January. “Our message to the Iranian regime is clear,” he said. “No one is immune.”
Defrin also said Israel has activated an additional 100,000 reservists to fortify Israel’s borders. He said there was a special focus on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which so far has stayed on the sidelines of the latest war.
“We are keeping a close eye on Hezbollah,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates has closed its embassy in Iran and announced the withdrawal of its diplomatic mission after strikes from the Islamic Republic hit the country.
The announcement from the Gulf country’s Foreign Ministry comes as Iranian retaliatory attacks targeting U.S. bases in the Mideast have hit Dubai airport and other civilian buildings, forced the closure of its airspace, and disrupted daily life.
“The Foreign Ministry as confirmed that this decision reflects its firm and unwavering position against any aggression that threatens its security and sovereignty,” the statement said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a message of condolence over the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in U.S.–Israeli airstrikes.
In a post on X, Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s commitment to peace and stability in the region, adding that Ankara would continue working toward a “return to diplomacy” to help end the conflict.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his administration extended its “deepest condolences” to Iran’s people and its government for what he called the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“This heinous act constitutes an unscrupulous violation of all norms of international law and human dignity,” he wrote in a post on X. “In Cuba, he will be remembered as an outstanding statesman and leader of his people who contributed to the development of friendly relations between Cuba and Iran.”
Iraqi security forces have fired tear gas at dozens of pro-Iran protesters trying to enter the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad where the U.S. Embassy is located.
Protesters in Iraq earlier marched to mourn Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who was killed Saturday in a series of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias have claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. bases in the country in solidarity with Tehran. The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is one of the largest globally.
Blasts rocked northern Tehran and rattled windows on Sunday night, according to a resident of the Tajrish district, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
The reports of explosions came as the Israeli Defense Forces announced that its Air Force was continuing strikes on targets in Tehran.
Mehdi Taj, the president of Iran’s soccer federation, cast doubt on the national team’s ability to play World Cup matches in the U.S. later this year.
Iran is scheduled to play two World Cup games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.
Taj told an Iranian sports television show he wasn’t sure how it would be possible following Saturday’s strikes.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3.
A senior White House official says that “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the United States.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said President Donald Trump says he is “eventually” willing to talk, but for now the military operation “continues unabated.”
The official did not say who the potential new Iranian leaders are or how they made their alleged willingness to talk known.
Trump told The Atlantic in an interview on Sunday that he planned to speak with Iran’s new leadership.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said, declining to comment on the timing.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that nine ships in the Iranian navy had been “destroyed” and sunk, “some of them relatively large and important.”
Trump said the rest of Iran’s fleet of military vessels “will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!"
The death toll in strike at an all girls school in southern Iran has risen to 165, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The local prosecutor of Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province was quoted Sunday as saying 96 other people were injured in the strike.
A local official said the casualties from the Saturday strike included students, parents and school staff.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.
Sen. Chris Murphy is predicting that the air campaign against Iran will backfire and result in an even more hardline government in Tehran.
“We’re not going to get a democracy. We’re going to get an even worse leadership,” Murphy told CBS’ “Face the Nation”. “It’s no secret that our allies in the region, with the exception of the right-wing government in Israel, they begged us not to take this action.”
The Connecticut Democrat and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said regime change in Iran would never succeed without troops on the ground — something that President Donald Trump has ruled out.
Barring that, Murphy said he expects the Iranian regime to hold on to power and reconstitute itself in a more hardline form.
B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs, the U.S. military said Sunday in a post on X.
Ballistic missiles have been one of the concerns President Donald Trump has raised in the lead up to the attacks on Iran. Trump has claimed that Iran has been building ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. homeland.
Iran hasn’t acknowledged it is building or seeking to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said in an unclassified report last year that Iran could develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.”
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he expects the massive airstrike campaign against Iran will continue for “probably a few weeks.”
The Arkansas Republican told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that President Donald Trump “has no plan for any kind of large-scale ground force in Iran.”
Cotton would not say how the U.S. and Israeli knew the location of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
“We have exquisite intelligence collection methods,” he said. “Israel and the United States once again proved that our nation have capabilities that no other nation on Earth has.”
Thousands of jubilant demonstrators marched through Paris on Sunday to celebrate the U.S. and Israeli strikes and express hope for regime change in Iran.
Waving Iranian, Israeli, American and French flags, the crowd chanted ″Freedom for Iran!″
Members of the large Iranian diaspora in France and their French supporters marched from Bastille Plaza, birthplace of the French Revolution, toward a statue of Joan of Arc. One group opened a bottle of Champagne, and the atmosphere was festive.
The night before, a crowd of Iranian demonstrators danced across from the Eiffel Tower.
Paris also saw a small counter-protest Sunday by left-wing groups denouncing ″American imperialism″ and warning of broader war.
Meanwhile, France is postponing an international conference meant to bolster Lebanon’s security because of the widening conflict in the Middle East.
″Conditions are not met″ to hold the conference as scheduled in Paris on March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Sunday. It said Macron spoke Sunday with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and they jointly decided to delay it until April.
The streets were almost empty in Iran’s capital Sunday. Merchants said shoppers were buying in bulk while supplies were arriving in Tehran at a trickle.
Ali, a 42-year-old produce vendor, said trucks of potatoes and tomatoes were arriving in fewer numbers because drivers were wary of driving into the capital while strikes were ongoing.
“People are buying as much as they can out of fear of the current mess,” said Ali, who only agreed to give his first name out of fear for his own security.
Some residents expressed fear of the strikes, but also of the future.
Reza Mehrabi, 67, said celebrations of the deaths of Iranian senior leaders seem premature. He recalled similar celebrations after the 1979 revolution when the Shah was deposed, and the Islamic Republic reign began.
“I saw some people were happy about the losses, but when I remember 1979 revolution and its aftermath, I need more consideration to understand if the nation and the country is on the right path.”
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, claims he is taking charge of the transition to a new government.
Speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” he said: “This is time now for a very strong, stable transition. I am leading this transition. I have the support of millions of Iranian people. I have the people inside the country that are joining … the military will side with us. We have a plan of action and a transition plan.”
He says that process would lead ultimately “to a democratic outcome so the Iranian people get to choose their future government and system.”
Asked how long his transitional leadership would be, he said that “to be realistic from the time that we start until the day we can have the final referendum, I anticipate a period that should be longer than a couple of years at the most. But what’s critical is the first 100 days.”
This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F/A-18E Super Hornet makes an arrested landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) after a mission in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)
A black plume of smoke rises from a warehouse at the industrial area of Sharjah City in the United Arab Emirates following reports of Iranian strikes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Smoke rises up after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises up after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People watches from a rooftop as a plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and Israel, and to show solidarity with Iran, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Government supporters mourn during a gathering after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown in the poster, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A group of men wave Iranian flags as they attend a demonstration in support of the government and against U.S. and Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An incoming projectile explodes over the water as Israel issues a nationwide alert following its strikes on Iran, in Haifa Bay, northern Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
Ruins remain in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi/ISNA)
