March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new formulation of Lantheus Holdings' prostate cancer imaging agent, aimed at improving scanning access through increased production capacity.
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(Reporting by Sahil Pandey, Puyaan Singh and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
A Customs and Border Protection official on Friday told a federal judge that the agency does not have the technology or manpower to immediately process $166 billion in tariff refunds, arguing the process would distract from its role addressing "imminent threats to national security."
In a sworn filing, the official said that CBP needs an additional 45 days to create a system to process refunds for the more than 53 million entries related to the unlawful tariffs.
"CBP has never been ordered to, nor has it attempted to, process a volume of refunds anywhere near the volume of total entries and Entry Summary lines on which IEEPA duties have been deposited," wrote Brandon Lord, the executive director of CBP's Trade Programs Directorate.
What's next for Trump's tariffs? Experts explain
The disclosure comes two days after a judge from the Court of International Trade initially ordered the Trump administration to remove the tariffs from its backlog of import paperwork. Even though the liquidation process -- when the agency finalizes a tariff payment after goods enter the country -- is largely automated and the Supreme Courtoverturned the tariffstwo weeks ago, Lord said that Customs and Border Protection "is not able to comply" with the court's order.
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"CBP is now facing an unprecedented volume of refunds. Its existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency's trade enforcement mission," Lord said.
According to Lord, the current system used to process tariffs cannot handle the volume of refund requests, and that doing so manually would take resources away from "responsibilities that serve to mitigate imminent threats to national security and economic security."
Supreme Court invalidates most of Trump's tariffs
Following a hearing on Friday related to the refund process, which was closed to the public, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade suspended his earlier order to immediately begin recalculating tariffs dues.
By lifting his initial order, the judge appears to be making room for the refund process to play out, though the exact timeline of refunds remains unclear.
During previous hearings, the judge had expressed skepticism that the refund process would be a "mess" or that the government lacked the resources to issue refunds.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) —Hungary's pro-Russian foreign minister Friday accused neighboringUkraineof seeking to interfere in upcoming Hungarian elections in whichPrime Minister Viktor Orbánfaces anunprecedented challenge.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made the accusation in a speech to several hundred protesters outside Ukraine's embassy in Budapest. The demonstration, organized by a shadowy pro-government organization with ties to Orbán's Fidesz party, came the same day that Hungarydetained seven Ukrainian state-owned bank employeesand seized two armored cars carrying some $80 million in cash. Kyiv decried the move as illegal hostage taking.
Speaking at the protest, Szijjártó made a slew of unsubstantiated allegations, including that Ukraine had been coordinating with the European Union and Orbán's opposition to block Russian oil shipments to Hungary across the Druzhba pipeline.
Demonstrators shouted angrily when Szijjártó accused Ukraine of seeking to influence Hungary's April elections in order to bring in a government that would make decisions more favorable to Kyiv.
"This is something that will not happen in Hungary. There will be no pro-Ukraine government, and Hungary will not have a pro-Ukraine prime minister," Szijjártó said.
"Ukraine is fighting for itself, not for us and not in place of us, so we owe absolutely nothing to Ukraine," he said.
The demonstration, in which other ruling party politicians also spoke, came against a backdrop of rising tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, who are embroiled in abitter feudover Hungary's access to Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.
Oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline's infrastructure, and that repairing it carried risks to technicians. It said that even if restored, it would remain vulnerable to further Russian attacks.
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Hungary's government has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude, and has vowed to take strong countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume.
Orbán, who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin while escalating anaggressive anti-Ukraine campaignahead of the election next month, has called Ukraine Hungary's "enemy," and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of seeking to provoke an energy crisis in order to sway the April 12 vote.
The Hungarian leader previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia andblocked a major, 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loanfor Kyiv in retaliation for the interruption in oil shipments. He's alsodeployed military forcesto key energy infrastructure sites across Hungary, accusing Ukraine of plotting disruptions.
Trailing in most polls behind a popular center-right challenger, the populist Orbán has staked the election on convincing voters that Ukraine poses an existential threat to Hungary's security.
In office since 2010, the EU's longest-serving leader has claimed that if he loses the election, the EU will force Hungary into bankruptcy by cutting Russian energy imports, and that Hungarian youth will be sent to their deaths on the front lines in Ukraine.
Szijjárto, the Hungarian foreign minister, traveled to Moscow on Wednesday for a cordialmeeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he sought guarantees from Russian authorities that Hungary would continue to have access to Russian oil and gas despite disruptions caused bythe war in the Middle Eastand interruptions to Druzhba flows.
On Friday, he said Ukraine had placed Hungary under an "oil blockade" meant to assist Orbán's challenger before the vote.
"They know precisely that if there is a crisis in Hungary's oil supply ... it is bad for the government," he said.
Add another piece of evidence to the theory that teams value 15-sack seasons.
The Houston Texans and defensive end Danielle Hunter have agreed on a one-year, $40.1 million contract extension,according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The deal reportedly contains a $30.7 million signing bonus and will keep Hunter in Houston through the 2027 season.
The 31-year-old Hunter was previously under contract for only 2026, with a $31.3 million cap number and a guaranteed $22.6 million salary. His new AAV will make him the fourth-highest paid pass rusher in the NFL, perOverTheCap, behind only Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and T.J. Watt.
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This new deal rewards Hunter for a career season in 2025, one that helped make Houston's defense one of the most terrifying units in the NFL.
Working opposite All-Pro pass-rusher Will Anderson, Hunter led the team in sacks with 15 and ranked second in nearly every other stat that involves bothering the quarterback. That effort earned him second-team All-Pro honors, while Anderson made the first team.
Houston led the NFL in total defense with 277 yards allowed per game and ranked second in points allowed at 17.4 per game. When you're seeing success like that, you do what you can to keep the band together.
Thunderstorms ripped across Oklahoma prairies Thursday night as severe weather was expected to intensify Friday and bring the threat of powerful tornadoes to multiple states in the nation's heartland.
Inan eerie scene captured on video, a first responder drove straight at a storm near the western Oklahoma town of Fairview, where flashes of lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm late Thursday, among the first outbreaks of severe weather on the verge of the spring storm season, was filmed by a camera mounted on the deputy's car.
Nearby, a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview were found dead in a vehicle near an intersection of a highway and a county road at about 10 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. The crash "appears to be tornado related," Sarah Stewart, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said in a statement.
"Severe weather struck Major County last night and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement Friday. "I am praying for the family as they grieve this tragic loss, as well as all those impacted by the storms."
The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, planned to send out a damage survey crew Friday to see whether Thursday night's storms were confirmed tornadoes, meteorologist Ryan Bunker said. "As of right now, we're still investigating that."
Storms could be even more intense Friday, as more than 7 million Americans are at the highest risk of severe weather in an area that includes the metropolitan areas of Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Omaha, Nebraska, according to the national Storm Prediction Center. Nearly 25 million people are at a slightly lesser risk in a zone that includes Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Severe, scattered thunderstorms are expected Friday afternoon and evening from areas of the Plains states to the Ozarks and Midwest, the National Weather Service said.
"The greatest potential for a few strong tornadoes and very large hail should exist across eastern portions of Oklahoma/Kansas/Nebraska into western Arkansas/Missouri and southern Iowa," it said.
The general setup for the strong storms is a clash between warm air streaming north from the Gulf Coast and cooler Canadian air behind cold fronts, according to meteorologists with the private forecasting service AccuWeather.
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"This is probably our first real event this season where people are really starting to pay attention getting into the spring storm season," said Melissa Mayes, deputy director of the Washington County Emergency Management Agency in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, north of Tulsa.
The spring storms in the forecast come near the start of what many calltornado season, which generally begins at different times in different parts of the U.S. Experts recommenda few simple safety stepsto take before tornadoes hit, including having a weather radio and a plan for where to take shelter.
Meanwhile, parts of the Northeast were under winter weather advisories as rain, snow and slush made for a messy morning commute from Pennsylvania to Maine on Friday. Several vehicle slide-offs were also reported on the Maine Turnpike as drivers contended with sleet and snow.
Some schools canceled or delayed classes in states including New Hampshire and Maine.
The weather began to ease at midmorning in some areas, but Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut remained under weather advisories. In Ohio, flood warnings were issued in the southern part of the state.
In parts of the southern U.S., the weather pattern is also expected to usher in extremely warm temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.
"Temperatures will be 20-30 degrees above average, with 80s reaching as far north as parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic," federal forecasters wrote in their long-range forecast discussion. "Daily records could become widespread."
McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire, and Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press Writer Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed.
(This March 5 story has been republished to fix an image caption, with no changes to text)
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
Reuters was unable to determine more details about the investigation, including what evidence contributed to the tentative assessment, what type of munition was used, who was responsible or why the U.S. might have struck the school.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday acknowledged the U.S. military was investigating the incident.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, did not rule out the possibility that new evidence could emerge that absolves the U.S. of responsibility and points to another responsible party in the incident.
Reuters could not determine how much longer the investigation would last or what evidence U.S. investigators are seeking before the assessment can be completed.
The girls' school in Minab, in southern Iran, was hit on Saturday during the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country. Iran's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. Reuters could not independently confirm the death toll.
According to archived copies of the school's official website, the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military force that reports to Iran's supreme leader.
The Pentagon referred questions from Reuters to the U.S. military's Central Command, whose spokesperson, Captain Timothy Hawkins, said: "It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation."
The White House did not directly comment on the investigation, but press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Reuters, "While the Department of War is currently investigating this matter, the Iranian regime targets civilians and children, not the United States of America."
Asked about the incident during a news briefing on Wednesday, Hegseth said: "We're investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But we're taking a look and investigating that."
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the United States would not deliberately target a school.
"The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them," Rubio said.
SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST STRIKES FROM AIR
Israeli and U.S. forces have until now divided their attacks in Iran both geographically and by target type, a senior Israeli official and a source with direct knowledge of the joint planning said. While Israel was striking missile launch sites in western Iran, the United States was attacking such targets, as well as naval ones, in the south.
Reuters shared satellite imagery and visuals of the aftermath of the Minab attack with N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, a munitions research consultancy.
"Taken together, the satellite imagery and available videos suggest the school and adjacent IRGC compound were hit by multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes with explosive munitions, most likely air-delivered types," Jenzen-Jones wrote in an email.
He cautioned that it is difficult to be definitive about the type of munitions used in the ongoing conflict and said that to determine responsibility investigators would generally attempt to review munition remnants.
The U.N. human rights office, without saying who it believed was responsible for the strike, called on Tuesday for an investigation.
"The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it," U.N. human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.
Images of the girls' funeral on Tuesday were shown on Iranian state television. Their small coffins were draped with Iranian flags and passed from a truck across a large crowd towards the grave site.
Deliberately attacking a school or hospital or any other civilian structure would likely be a war crime under international humanitarian law.
If a U.S. role were to be confirmed, the strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and James Pearson in London; Editing by Craig Timberg, Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins Evgeni Malkin was given a major penalty for slashing Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin early in the second period of a 5-1 loss Thursday night.
Malkin was ejected from the game with the major penalty, and both players were called for cross-checking at 38 seconds of the period.
Penguins coach Dan Muse didn't comment on Malkin's penalty after the game.
"He's obviously a catalyst for our team," said Bryan Rust, who scored Pittsburgh's only goal. "He drives a lot of play and creates a lot of offense. He's an unbelievable player, so it's unfortunate."
Josh Norris scored on the power play at 4:10 to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Alex Tuch added a short-handed goal at 6:18, and Owen Power made it 4-1 with 9:30 to go in the period.
The 39-year-old Malkin has been suspended twice in his NHL career, one game for high-sticking Philadelphia's Michael Raffl in February 2019, and four games in April 2022 for cross-checking Nashville's Mark Borowiecki.
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"Hopefully, he served his time (Thursday) and that's it," defenseman Erik Karlsson said. "He's a big part of this team. He's been playing great hockey and gives us a different dimension to our offensive game."
Malkin's 10-game home points streak ended Thursday. He has 13 goals and 47 points in 46 games.
Pittsburgh is already without captain Sidney Crosby for a minimum of four weeks because of a lower-body injury.
"I think we've shown throughout the year that we're a pretty deep team," Karlsson said. "We miss both of those guys, but it's nothing that we haven't done before."
AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
