‘Take the vaccine, please,’ Oz urges as measles spreads

WASHINGTON — A leading U.S. health official is urging people to get inoculated against the measles at a time of outbreaks across several states.

The appeal is from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator. And it comes as the United States is at risk of losing its measles elimination status and as Oz’s boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has raised suspicion about the safety and importance of vaccines.

Oz was interviewed Sunday on CNN, and he said, “Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem.”

ICE agents disguised

in hard hats reported

MINNEAPOLIS — Legal observers and officials say they have received a growing number of reports of federal agents impersonating construction workers, delivery drivers and in some cases anti-ICE activists in Minnesota.

Not all of those reports have been verified during the ongoing immigration crackdown.

But they have heightened fears in a state already on edge. They add to legal groups’ concerns about the Trump administration’s dramatic reshaping of immigration enforcement tactics nationwide.

Supporters of the immigration crackdown say the sprawling network of anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis has forced federal agents to adopt new methods of avoiding detection.

Nobel laureate Mohammadi

sentenced to 7 more years

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to over seven more years in prison.

Supporters say she began a hunger strike on Feb. 2. Her lawyer confirmed the sentence, which includes charges of “gathering and collusion” and propaganda.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasized the country’s strength in resisting pressure from great powers.

This comes after recent nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and nationwide protests. The U.S. has moved military assets to the Middle East to pressure Iran. Talks between Iran and the U.S. are ongoing, with uncertain future rounds.

Gaza’s Rafah crossing with

Egypt reopens after closure

CAIRO — The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt has reopened after a two-day closure. The crossing opened last week for the first time since 2024 as a key part of a U.S.-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israel did not immediately confirm the opening Sunday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 17 medical evacuees and 27 companions had begun the crossing into Egypt. The same number was expected to head into Gaza. Nearly 20,000 people in Gaza seek to leave for medical care.

Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, mostly about Iran.

Trump opposes lower prices

to buy new homes in US

WASHINGTON — The White House is trying to show it’s lowering the cost of living, but President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want to see the price of homes come down. He wants to keep values high.

That’s something in the interest of existing homeowners and they’re a key part of his political base.

And older voters tend to show up to vote more than do younger people, so Trump’s position on housing could be a factor in the November elections.

But Trump’s aversion to policies that would expand housing supply and lower prices risks alienating younger voters and could hurt the chances for his Republican Party to expand its voting base.

US gives Russia and Ukraine

June deadline for peace deal

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a peace deal. The U.S. proposed holding the next round of trilateral talks next week.

Previous talks in Abu Dhabi did not produce a breakthrough.

A Russian airstrike on a residential area in eastern Ukraine has killed one person and wounded two others.

The attack hit Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, causing a fire in a nine-story apartment block. Officials reported the incident on Sunday. Russia also targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Poltava region overnight.

Pro-democracy activist in

Hong Kong gets prison time

HONG KONG — Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent cases prosecuted under a China-imposed national security law.

Three government-vetted judges have spared the 78-year-old Lai the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The case has raised concerns about declining press freedom in Hong Kong. His sentencing could heighten Beijing’s diplomatic tensions with foreign governments.

The case accused Lai of conspiring with others to request foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China. Six former Apple Daily staffers and two activists also accused in the case entered guilty pleas that could reduce their sentences to be handed out today.

Conservative party in Japan

wins legislative supermajority

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s governing party secured a two-thirds supermajority in a parliamentary election Sunday.

Takaichi told public broadcaster NHK later that she is ready to pursue policies to make Japan strong and prosperous. TV networks cited preliminary results from Sunday’s vote in reporting that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won 352 seats in the 465-seat lower house.

The huge jump from the previous parliament could allow Takaichi to make progress on a right-wing conservative agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions grow with China and she tries to nurture ties with Washington.

The Associated Press