Middle East

Kansas Citians with ties to Iran say they haven’t been able to hear much from their families since the Trump administration launched a war in the country, as the Internet has been cut off. But they’re hopeful the war could result in democracy for the Iranian people after decades of authoritarian rule.

Democrats and a few Republicans are calling for curbing President Trump's unilateral use of military power in Iran, despite previous such efforts failing to advance.

Fighting intensified in the Middle East during the Olympic truce, in effect through March 15. Flights are being disrupted as athletes and families converge on Italy for the Winter Paralympics.

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday with multiple airstrikes, with an Israeli airstrike killing Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. President Trump has long called for regime change and decried the threat of Iran's nuclear capability.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli airstrikes with U.S. support on Saturday. "Operation Epic Fury" will be "massive and ongoing," President Trump said.

Mocha Point Coffee in Overland Park has its soft opening this week, with a formal opening soon to follow. The coffee house will stay open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

It has been over a week since Israel and Hamas came to a ceasefire agreement. How are leaders in the Jewish and Palestinian communities here in Kansas City reacting to this moment?

With the ceasefire in Gaza continuing to hold, humanitarian organizations are working to get aid to Palestinians. Kansas City-based Heart to Heart International hopes to provide help as soon as possible, after Israel's blockade prevented them from bringing supplies.

As part of the celebration of the Jewish New Year, Jews take part in a ritual aimed at casting off the previous year's sins. On Wednesday, an activist group that supports the liberation of Palestinians gathered to urge Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a United Methodist pastor, to support a bill that stops the sale of some arms to Israel.

Bob Suberi, a 77-year-old former restaurant owner from Affton, was detained while trying to bring aid to Gaza and break the Israeli navy’s blockade of the waters surrounding it.

Iran's most fortified nuclear facility is buried deep inside a mountain. Only the U.S. has the 30,000-pound bombs — "bunker busters" — capable of reaching it. And that option revolves around Missouri's Whiteman Air Force Base.

As Israel and Hamas enter into a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, members of Kansas City's Jewish and Palestinian communities reflect on what a chance for peace means after more than a year of bloodshed.