US service member missing after Iran shot down fighter jet rescued
Washington (AP): A US service member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
The crew member had been missing since Friday, when Iran downed a US F-15E Strike Eagle. A second crew member was rescued earlier.
Trump wrote that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that he took refuge “on the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
Trump added that the rescue involved “dozens of aircraft” and that US had been monitoring his location “24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.”
The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on February 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.
The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the conflict in late February.
Trump said last week that the US had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.”
Two days later, Iran shot down two US military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.
The other jet to go down was a US A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.
A frantic US search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E jet on Friday, focusing on a mountainous region in Iran's southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in the “enemy pilot.” Iran's joint military command on Saturday said that it also struck two US Black Hawk helicopters Friday, but The Associated Press couldn't independently verify that.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mamata urges electors to cast vote to take revenge for deletion of people's names from rolls
Samserganj (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged people to cast their votes to take revenge for the deletion of people's names from the electoral rolls.
The Trinamool Congress chief urged people whose names have been deleted from the voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to move appeals before the tribunal.
Addressing an election rally at Samserganj, which was the epicentre of violence during the protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Muslim-majority Murshidabad district in April 2025, she said, "Cast your votes to take revenge for deletion of people's names, and against the SIR so that the results reflect that."
Banerjee asked the TMC workers to remain vigilant till the counting date on May 4. Assembly polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29.
In an apparent reference to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee alleged that he was behind the deletion of voters' names in West Bengal during the SIR exercise.
"If you have the guts, fight directly," she said.
Asking all the TMC workers to remain vigilant during the election period, Banerjee said, "I hope none of our booth agents will sell themselves off to the BJP, in the interest of West Bengal."
Claiming that EVM machines will be made to malfunction at some places, the TMC chief instructed party workers not to allow EC officials to repair the machines and instead demand replacements.
Speaking at the rally in support of Mohammed Nur Alam in Samserganj and Mohammed Amirul Islam in Farakka, Banerjee accused the BJP of spreading canards against her that she did not do much for the interest of the Muslims, maintaining that she has fought hard against the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Murshidabad witnessed violence during the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to the death of some persons including a father-son duo who were hacked to death by a mob, with the BJP accusing the TMC of engineering violent agitations in various parts of the district.
Claiming that development work has stalled owing to the assembly polls, she said, "They (EC) have transferred nearly 500 officers, but this is only for a month; work will begin again after that."
The chief minister accused the EC of "deleting names of some, while intimidating some others", in the name of SIR of electoral rolls.
Banerjee asked why the assembly polls could not be conducted with the same electoral rolls used in the 2024 general elections.
"If the voter list contained names of infiltrators, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister also won with their votes earlier, so they should have resigned first," she said.
Claiming that she and her party will never allow the establishment of detention camps in the name of NRC, Banerjee said, "That is why you are being vengeful against me."
She sought to remind that the Election Commission's authority over the state's administration is till completion of the election process.
The chief minister asked why several senior officers of her government, who were earlier replaced from their positions by the EC, were being sent to the assembly poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
Banerjee alleged that officers who are relatives of BJP leaders have been deputed in West Bengal.
She claimed that during the TMC rule, youths from among the minority community and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes got better education opportunities and made it to the IAS, IPS and WBPS cadre and also became doctors and engineers.
"The society is advancing, but the jealous BJP people cannot stand this," the TMC chief said.
Banerjee assured people that women will receive lifelong financial benefits under Lakshmir Bhandar scheme if the TMC returns to power for a fourth consecutive term.
"We will find livelihood opportunities for those registered under Banglar Yuba Sathi," she said about the newly launched scheme to provide monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 each to the jobless youths in the state.
