Collins is scheduled to testify at a May 7 hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about the agency’s spending plan for fiscal 2026. He also will share his goals for the agency for the next four years and is expected to discuss the VA’s plans to lay off up to 83,000 employees by August.

The 27-year-old Navy SEAL died trying to save a fellow sailor during a dangerous nighttime mission off the Somali coast last year. An investigation released in October concluded that the deaths of both sailors were preventable. 

President Donald Trump’s administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government of Ahmad al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent who led the offensive that toppled Assad. The administration has also left Assad-era sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief.

While no country has recognized the Taliban’s government, which has been condemned internationally for repeated human rights violations, the Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Wednesday said Russia had agreed to accept an ambassador-level diplomat in Moscow.

The World Food Program said that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days. Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food.

President Donald Trump is calling for Ukraine and Russia to meet for “very high level talks,” saying they are “very close to a deal” after productive meetings on ending the bloody three-year war.

Negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program will return on Saturday to the secluded sultanate of Oman, where experts on both sides will start hammering out the technical details of a possible deal.

Dubbed ScreenX, the entertainment system displays movies, concerts, sports and short films on screens at the front, left, right — and now above — the audience in roughly 30 theaters across South Korea.

An airman assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing died early Friday, base officials said in a statement.

El Torito, a U.S. chain of Mexican restaurants, brings its hefty list of tasty options to central Tokyo. Its two locations are in Ikebukuro and Nishi-Kasai.