Benjamin Netanyahu: “Iran has proven again in the last 48 hours that it is the enemy of civilization and a danger to the free world: targeting children, families, and the elderly with terror missiles, threatening Jerusalem’s holy sites, launching long-range missiles, and trying to blackmail the world through the Strait of Hormuz. I ask the leaders of the free world: what are you waiting for? Israel is fighting not only for itself, but for all of you.”

Shinjirō Koizumi: “Look at this. The precision of the honor guard’s alignment is incredible. The fact that ministers from various countries praise them every time speaks to the exceptionally high quality of the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ honor guard. “As someone from Yokosuka, I felt a deep sense of emotion seeing this sight in Yokosuka. To everyone in the honor guard, thank you again today. You were wonderful today as well.”

Police in London are investigating a suspected antisemitic hate crime after vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service were set on fire early Monday morning. Officers were called to Golders Green, a London neighborhood with a large Jewish population, after receiving reports of a fire. Four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, a volunteer organization that provides emergency medical response, were damaged, according to the London fire brigade. Multiple cylinders on the vehicles exploded, causing windows to break in an adjacent block of flats, it said in a statement, adding that no injuries have been reported and the fire has been...

Tens of thousands of people protested in Prague on Saturday against the policies and plans of the new Czech government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The protesters from across the Czech Republic attended the peaceful demonstration at Letná park, the scene of huge gatherings in 1989 that greatly contributed to the fall of communism. They came to express their concerns that Babiš, a billionaire, and his coalition Cabinet, are a threat to democracy, steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and toward an autocratic path. People in the crowd, who organizers estimated at 200,000, were waving Czech national...

The U.S. economy was supposed to start the year with a bang, fueled by an unusually large jump in tax refunds from President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation. Yet spiking gas prices are on track to eat up those refunds, leaving most Americans with little extra to spend. “Next spring is projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time,” Trump said in a prime-time speech in December that was intended to address voters’ concerns about the economy and stubbornly high prices. But that was before the Iran war, which began Feb. 28. Oil and gas prices have...

Six people were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries after a floor collapsed at a wedding venue in Tamworth, New Hampshire, around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office said. The collapse happened while a wedding party of about 140 people were present, according to a joint release from the Tamworth Fire/Rescue Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The office confirmed there were no fatalities and said late Saturday that four of the people treated at the hospital had already been released. A phone call to the venue, the Preserve at Chocorua,...

Dozens of models with Down syndrome strutted down a catwalk at a fashion show in Romania’s capital for an evening celebrating style, “atypical beauty” and courage to mark World Down Syndrome Day. The SEEN Anonymous Seamstresses Gala in Bucharest brought together designers from across the country, who created garments “with great kindness, care and creativity” for young people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. Georgeta Bucur, the president of Down Plus Association Bucharest, which organized the event held on Wednesday at the Romexpo center, said 50 seamstresses each created a costume for a youngster they had never met. “The...

NHL reporter Jessi Pierce and her three children were killed Saturday in a weekend house fire in Minnesota, the league announced Sunday. Pierce, 37, covered the Minnesota Wild as the correspondent for NHL.com for the past decade. “The entire NHL.com team is devastated and heartbroken by the loss of Jessi and her children,” said Bill Price, vice president and editor-in-chief of NHL.com, in a statement. “Jessi’s love of her family and hockey was evident in the energy and passion she brought to her work for us. She was an absolute joy to talk to and work with. She will be...

Japan’s top government spokesperson said Monday that one of two Japanese nationals detained in Iran has safely returned home in good health. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara’s confirmation came one day after Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the person’s release. Motegi, speaking on a Fuji Television talk show Sunday, said the person had been detained since last year and was released on Wednesday. He said the person took a flight from Azerbaijan. Kihara, at a regular news conference Monday, confirmed that the former detainee returned to Japan on Sunday in good health. Kihara said another Japanese national who was arrested...

Cuba began restoring its energy system on Sunday, a day after a nationwide collapse of the entire grid left millions of people in the dark for the third time this month. Some 72,000 customers in the capital, among them five hospitals, had electricity again early Sunday, according to a report from the state-run Electric Union and the Ministry of Energy and Mines, but it’s only a fraction of Havana’s total population of approximately 2 million. In Havana and provinces such as western Matanzas and eastern Holguin, local power microsystems were set up to supply the most vital centers. Residents in...