The United States names four of the six service members who died in the drone strike on the second day of the conflict with Iran, as countries across the Middle East are hit in the attacks

The United States has released the names of four of the six service members who have died in the conflict with Iran. The Pentagon said they died in a drone strike in Kuwait.

All four Army Reserve soldiers died on Sunday, March 1 when a drone hit a command centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.

Israel and the US hit Iran in joint strikes on several key sites on Saturday, February 28. Iran has retaliated by striking sites across the Middle East.

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Iran has retaliated by striking key sites across the Middle East, closing major airports, damaging famous buildings and causing panic across the region.

The Associated Press reported that all were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, lowa.

Four of the six service members have been named as:

• Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida
• Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska
• Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota
• Spc. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa

A key part in Sunderland‘s impressive season has been Granit Xhaka.

The former Arsenal midfielder was one of a number of summer signings the Black Cats made, but has arguably been the most influential, with his experience and leadership key in many games.

Having recently returned from injury, Xhaka started on the bench against Leeds before being introduced just before the hour mark – and it was no coincidence Sunderland improved, having been second best until that point.

The 33-year-old provided a calming influence as his side ground out a first away success since October through Habib Diarra’s penalty, helping them navigate 12 tense minutes of injury-time too.

Xhaka told TNT Sports afterwards: “We spoke at the beginning of the season, our target was 40 points, we achieved 40 points and now we want more because the hunger is big.

“We need to stay humble. We know where we come from. Our target was 40 points. When you achieve the first one, you want more. The hunger is here. We are taking it game by game, let’s see where we get.”

As well as Xhaka, head coach Regis le Bris deserves huge credit.

The Frenchman has overseen some impressive results, the victory at Leeds included. He set them up to frustrate Leeds, but also make the most of the few attacking situations that came their way.

This was just the fifth Premier League game this season a team has won with just one shot on target, with Sunderland now accounting for two of those.

“We don’t know if it will be enough but it’s a good target,” Le Bris said on reaching 40 points.

“With nine more games to play we want to stay ambitious. The next target is 43, let’s be prepared for that. Let’s keep going.”

The site is also home to a Domino’s Pizza outlet and tanning salon

Plans to create a new sauna and wellness centre in the seaside town of Porthcawl have been handed in to Bridgend County Borough Council. If approved they could see the new centre created close to the entrance of the town in a mixed-use development off the Portway, Porthcawl.

The building is currently home to a Domino’s Pizza outlet and tanning salon as well as office spaces.

The proposal was submitted to the council in February 2026 for the site located close to the Hillsboro car park, and just a stone’s throw away from the town’s Sandy Bay Beach.

Developers say they are requesting a change of use to part of the ground floor from offices to a sauna and wellness centre, complete with a sauna, ice baths and shower facilities.

It is noted that while there will be “minor internal layout alterations” at the site, there will be no external alterations made to the property. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter.

It also added that while planning permission has been granted for the first floor to be converted into four residential apartments, this has not yet been implemented and is not currently intended to be implemented.

The plans for the new facility will now go before the council’s planning department for a decision in the coming months.

Its submission comes just weeks after a mobile sauna located on Rest Bay was forced to close temporarily after the council rejected a retrospective planning application for it to operate there.

The council refused the application on the grounds that it was “unacceptable in principle”.

Owners of the popular Hikitalo sauna said they were “heartbroken” and would look to appeal the local authority’s decision for the idyllic site overlooking the sea. You can read more about that here.

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The White House continued to offer a conflicting and rapidly evolving rationale for why Iran presented such an imminent threat to U.S. forces and their allies across the Middle East that President Donald Trump needed to use military force, as the joint U.S. and Israeli campaign concluded its fourth day on Tuesday.

A disjointed messaging effort appears to be hindering the administration’s ability to sell the war to the American people though, as polling indicates that a majority of Americans do not yet understand why the U.S. is at war with Iran now — or simply do not accept the White House’s reasoning.

On Tuesday, the president offered his longest remarks to date on the matter. At a bilateral meeting with Germany’s chancellor, he claimed without any proof that Iranian forces were preparing to attack U.S. forces before the U.S. or Israel launched any attacks at all.

“We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” said the president. “They were going to attack if we didn’t do it. They were going to attack first, I felt strongly about that.”

That explanation directly contradicted what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said to reporters a day earlier. Rubio, speaking ahead of a briefing with congressional leadership, said Monday that an imminent Israeli attack forced the U.S. to act in order to prevent retaliatory strikes against American forces.

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“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” said Rubio on Monday.

The administration’s explanations for why it launched such a massive military campaign have shifted rapidly since the first strikes took place Saturday morning. The reasons have ranged from a necessity to deal with a reconstructed Iranian nuclear weapons program to longer-held frustrations that Iran was building up its ballistic weapons stockpile and refusing to address it with negotiators. Then Rubio’s assertion on Monday that Israel planned to launch its own military action before the president made his decision was shot down by Trump a day later.

“Based on the way that the negotiations was going, I think that they were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand. But Israel was ready and we were ready.”

open image in gallery

Many retaliatory Iranian strikes have taken place in the days since, and six U.S. service members are confirmed dead as the conflict has exploded across the region. Numerous countries across the Gulf region have been targeted by Iranian strikes, including Qatar, Oman, the UAE and even Cyprus as U.S., Israeli and NATO targets have come under drone and missile attack.

Explosions rang out Tuesday in Tehran and in Lebanon, where Israel retaliated against Hezbollah. And the American embassy in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. consulate in the United Arab Emirates were attacked by Iranian drones. Meanwhile, Iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, though most of it has been intercepted. Still, 11 people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began, the Associated Press reported.

But four days in, the White House continues to provide a limited picture of the conflict’s possible resolution, similar to how the Trump administration offered a murky view of it’s plan for dealing with the remainder of Venezuela’s government in the wake of the raid to capture Nicolas Maduro. Trump has said that he is not ready to negotiate with Iran, in a post on Truth Social ,and on Tuesday told reporters that he has no idea who will take over the government after U.S. strikes killed the most likely candidates.

“Most of the people we had in mind [to lead Iran] are dead,” he said. “Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”

The president was frank about the lack of certainty surrounding Iran’s future leadership, admitting that the “worst case” scenario “is we do this and then somebody takes over who is as bad as the previous person.”

He added that “five years” from now, the U.S. could be looking back and realizing that his actions were a mistake.

“That could happen. We don’t want that to happen.”

His secretary of Defense was far more optimistic about the prospect for positive regime change on Monday, at an early-morning press conference at the Pentagon — his first in months.

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“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it,” he said.

If there’s one common thread linking the reasonings provided by various Trump administration figures, it’s the threat that Iran’s ballistic missile program presented and the idea that it would soon reach a “point of no return”, where efforts to dislodge it or Iran’s nuclear sites wouldn’t be feasible.

That explanation has been overshadowed by the drumbeat of war Trump himself has encouraged for months, and initial statements in the wake of the strikes from White House officials blaming the supposed imminent threat of an Iranian nuclear program which they angrily claimed in 2025 to have obliterated and set back by years.

Polling shows that Americans largely disapproved of the idea of going to war with Iran in the days leading up to the strikes, following Trump’s threats to do so in January over Tehran’s violent and sometimes deadly suppression of protesters around the country. Thousands are confirmed to have been killed after security forces and militias put down a round of demonstrations sparked by plunging currency values.

That same polling now shows that Americans are similarly unconvinced by the evolving rationalizations put forward by the administration over the course of Saturday to Tuesday.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll over the weekend found that only a quarter of Americans approved of the U.S. airstrike campaign while disapproval was much higher, at 43 percent. In that same poll, nearly one in four Republicans said that Trump was too hasty to use military force and deploy U.S. service members abroad.

Adding to the list of uncertain terms of Trump’s war with Iran, the White House and sympathetic members of Congress briefed by the administration on its plans have not completely ruled out American boots on the ground in Iran, only saying a “large-scale” force will not be deployed.

In fact, Trump told the New York Post this week, that he was not ruling out the possibility of sending in troops. “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump told the outlet. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ (or) ‘if they were necessary.’”

On Monday, CNN published a poll which found that 6 in 10 respondents believed the president lacked “a clear plan for handling the situation” while a slightly higher amount, 62 percent, said that he should get congressional approval before launching further strikes.

As Trump and his allies hurtle towards the midterms, the ability of the White House to get its story straight and bring the war to a close could be key to averting a devastating political division that puts him on the wrong side of independents and even members of his own base.

Study in the British Medical Journal looks at metabolic health of 23,000 participants and how our blood sugar is impacted by sleep

Scientists have analysed what is the optimum amount of sleep needed for good blood sugar control.

Previous studies have found that sleep duration is strongly linked with the risk of insulin resistance which is the precursor for type 2 diabetes. A study of 23,000 Americans looked at their sleep and estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR) to examine insulin resistance. This is calculated by examining a person’s blood sugar levels after fasting, their waist circumference and their blood pressure.

The optimal length of sleep was seven hours and 19 minutes for avoiding insulin resistance, they found. Any more or less had an impact on eGDR. It also suggested that catching up on sleep at the weekend may actually be detrimental to a person’s health.

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READ MORE: Employers urged to test staff for their SNORING as they could be seriously unsafeREAD MORE: Exactly why the way you sleep could increase risk of glaucoma and blindness

Professor Hui Shi, of Nantong University in China, said: “These correlational findings suggest that sleep patterns, particularly weekend recovery sleep, may be relevant for metabolic regulation in diabetes.”

According to the NHS, the average amount of sleep needed by adults is seven to nine hours each night, while children need around nine to thirteen hours. But the more sleep you get is not necessarily better for you.

Insulin resistance is the primary driver behind poor blood sugar control. When cells resist insulin, they fail to absorb glucose efficiently, causing sugar to build up in the bloodstream. This leads to higher blood sugar levels which can progress to prediabetes and then type 2 diabetes.

People involved in the new study reported an average of seven and a half hours of sleep in the week. Half said that they also had catch-up sleep at the weekend. For those sleeping less than the optimal amount during the week, one to two hours of weekend catch-up sleep was associated with higher eGDR.

And those sleeping more than the optimal weekday sleep, as well as more than two hours of weekend catch-up sleep, had a lower eGDR – indicating a greater risk of insulin resistance.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, concluded that weekend catch up sleep is “beneficial only in moderation and specifically for those with weekday sleep debt, whereas it may be detrimental for those who already sleep sufficiently”.

Researchers said there was a “bidirectional relationship” with sleep and metabolism. Prof Shi added: “This creates a potential vicious cycle wherein metabolic dysregulation disrupts normal sleep patterns, and the resultant abnormal sleep (including extended duration) further aggravates metabolic health.”

The British Heart Foundation recommends getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Getting too little sleep can be bad for us but getting too much can be a sign of poor health.

The NHS website says regular exercise and a good diet can also improve sleep. It states: “A good sleep routine should include having a set time to start winding down – and a way to relax is important too. Going to bed and getting up at fixed times is another good sleep habit. Ideally, a sleep routine should be the same every day, including weekends.”

The uplift comes amid renewed debate over youth employment and Labour’s pledge to scrap age bands in the wage system – a commitment Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted will be honoured.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: “There are more people in work than there were this time a year ago.

“But I do recognise that there are challenges, particularly around young people leaving school, college and university, the Covid generation of young people who did miss out on so much during those years.

“As a Government, we are determined to do everything we can to support them.”

Her comments come as figures from the Office for National Statistics show unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds rose to 16.1% in the three months to December at the highest level since early 2015.

What changes from April 2026?

• National Living Wage (21 and over)

  • Rising 4.1% from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour

  • Worth around £900 extra per year for a full-time worker

  • Expected to benefit approximately 2.4 million low-paid workers

• National Minimum Wage (18–20-year-olds)

  • Increasing 8.5% from £10 to £10.85 per hour

  • Equivalent to around £1,500 extra annually for a full-time worker

  • Narrows the gap with the adult rate as part of plans to phase out age bands

• National Minimum Wage (16–17-year-olds)

• Apprentice rate

  • Increasing 6% from £7.55 to £8 per hour

  • Applies to apprentices under 19, or those 19 and over in the first year of their apprenticeship

  • After turning 19 and completing year one, apprentices must receive the age-appropriate minimum wage

Workers are legally entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage depending on their age and stage of apprenticeship.

Business groups have warned the increases will add further pressure to struggling firms

Andy Slee, chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), said: “Cost of living pressures are very real for people and we all want to see living standards rise.

“However, the responsibility of delivering wage increases are most felt by small businesses including small independent breweries who are already facing significant pressures.

“Brewing is a skilled job and we want to encourage more young people to enter the sector, but continuing to close the aged based pay gap does not take account of the additional training and development that young people need.”

Tamsin Powell, consumer finance expert at Creditspring, added: “An increase to the minimum wage will be welcomed by many workers across the UK, particularly those on lower incomes.

“However, while pay rises sound positive on paper, they don’t always translate into real financial gains once inflation and benefit tapering are factored in.

“Some employers may also struggle to absorb higher wage costs, meaning we could see knock-on effects like reduced working hours or slower recruitment.

“For households already battling high living costs, this could mean that the benefits of a pay rise are quickly eroded.

“Boosting wages is a vital part of improving financial resilience, but it has to be paired with policies that ensure those gains aren’t lost to higher prices or reduced employment opportunities.”

How to check your pay to make sure you are being paid the correct wage

The government has a calculator here to help workers check their pay is correct.

Andrew Bartlett, chief executive of Advice Direct Scotland, urged young workers to check their entitlements.

“Every penny counts, and young Scots should check their payslips to make sure they’re getting the right National Minimum Wage,” he said.

“This is your hard-earned money, so don’t let employers allow it to slip through the cracks.

“If you’re under 23, it’s also worth checking if you have an unclaimed Child Trust Fund.

Recommended reading:

“These tax-free savings accounts could give you a financial boost as you step into adulthood.

“Too many young workers don’t realise they’re being underpaid, and it’s vital to know your rights.”

With wage floors rising across every age bracket, April 2026 marks one of the most significant annual increases in recent years – delivering a pay boost for millions, while reigniting debate over jobs, costs and Labour’s longer-term ambition to create a single adult minimum wage.

The Northern Echo understands that the roller is not from Lidl directly and that the company is still awaiting the planning decision on its proposals for a new store.

The ground rollers spotted on site (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

The derelict site, which formerly housed the Marton Hotel and Country Club, has stood empty for years. The hotel closed down in 2017 and a major fire destroyed the landmark building in June 2019.

Marton Country Club, Middlesbrough after the fire

Further progress is now being made in the endeavour to build a new Lidl in Marton.

It was reported in summer 2024 that Lidl would be launching a public consultation over proposals to build a store on the site.

There are currently two Lidl branches in Middlesbrough, on Newport Road and Cargo Fleet Lane.

The proposed new Lidl site in Marton, Middlesbrough (Image: LIDL)

The supermarket chain is also seeking permission to build a store on the site of the former Northern School of Art, on the corner of Green Lane and Roman Road in Linthorpe.

It is hoped that a decision on Lidl’s wider proposals for the Marton site will be made later this year, alongside an outcome on its Linthorpe ambitions.

Available for over a year

Today, President Trump has publicly criticised Keir Starmer saying “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with”.

The comments came during a press conference at the White House alongside the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. President Trump said he was “not happy with the UK” because of the initial refusal from London to let Washington use the British base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during its first strikes on Iran.

It comes as the UK government has announced it is sending “helicopters with counter drone capabilities” and a warship to the region, after attacks on it’s base in Cyprus. Financial markets have also reacted to the uncertainty with oil and gas prices rising, and share prices down.

Adam and Chris are joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama Film Maker and Dharshini David Deputy Economics Editor.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

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You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

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Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Shiler Mahmoudi and Kris Jalowiecki. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Jack Graysmark. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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US President Donald Trump has said he “does not care” if Iran take part in this summer’s 2026 World Cup.

Trump’s comments come amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which has responded by launching attacks on US-allied states in the Gulf in an escalating conflict.

The US is co-hosting the World Cup which takes place between 11 June and 19 July, along with Canada and Mexico.

“I really don’t care,” Trump told Politico, external about Iran playing in the tournament.

“I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”

BBC Sport has approached Fifa for comment.

Silent Witness star David Caves has hinted at the BBC crime drama’s future after the latest series concluded

Silent Witness star David Caves has dropped a hint about the future of the show as the current series concluded.

The 29th series of the BBC crime drama, which centres on a team of pathologists probing mysterious deaths, finished on Tuesday night (March 3) with a nail-biting episode where Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) found herself in peril after being drugged.

The programme has been a huge success with audiences and has been airing since 1996, so fans are hopeful for a 30th instalment, reports the Express.

As the final episode aired, David – who portrays Nikki’s spouse and colleague Jack Hodgson – gave a clue on X (formerly Twitter), posting: “Can’t believe that’s it for another series. To everyone who has watched and supported – thank you!”

“Here’s to the stories we’ve told – and to those still to come…” he added, tagging co-stars Emilia, Francesca Mills and Maggie Steed.

The latest series of the show kicked off in February and has featured several gripping tales including two-part finale Shame, which began on Monday (March 2).

It saw the team investigating what seemed to be the suicide of a British-Chinese pro-democracy activist, whose body was found floating in a lake.

However, as Nikki and Harriet Maven (Maggie Steed) delved deeper into the woman’s fate, evidence started to suggest something far more sinister had transpired and it became evident that things were not as they appeared.

There has already been a hint that Silent Witness is poised for a 30th series, after a photo emerged last month showing some cast and crew seemingly on location.

The image was posted on Instagram by Bodenham Arboretum in Worcestershire, accompanied by a caption which read: “For those of you who have visited Bodenham in the last two weeks you may have wondered what was going on… cryptic signage, trailers, security etc, occupying two of our car parks… well now all can be revealed..

“Bodenham had the privilege of being chosen as the BBC drama’s Silent Witness base camp whilst filming locally for the 30th series.”

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Silent Witness airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer