By MARC LEVY

Hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers scrambled to make new connections and get through to airlines on jammed phone lines Sunday after the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel shut down much of the Middle East to air travel.

Related Articles

Iran Fires Cheap Drones Into Arab Countries, Wreaking Havoc

Iran retaliates against Israel and U.S. allies

Today in History: March 1, Peace Corps established

What to know about Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

US and Israel clash with Iran at emergency Security Council meeting. UN chief condemns attacks

Tourists and business travelers crowded hotels and airports, with no word on when many airports would reopen or when flights to and through the Middle East would resume. Some governments advised their stranded citizens to shelter in place.

Shutdown airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha — including Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world — are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia. All three were directly hit by strikes.

Mohammad Abdul Mannan, in the crowd at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said he wasn’t concerned about the war, but that he needs to get his flight to the Middle East to make a living.

“We have set out to go for work, and we must go,” he said. “My only concern is how to go abroad and how to earn an income.”

Confusion reigned for many travelers as they tried to get answers on online portals or through busy phone lines.

In Dubai, stranded travelers could hear fighter jets overhead and an explosion when the Fairmont Palm Hotel was hit by a missile strike.

Many were unable to get updated flight information from tour operators or Dubai-based Emirates, which suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon.

Louise Herrle and her husband had their flight to Washington canceled on their way back to their Pittsburgh home after a tour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with no word when they could reschedule.

“We’re in the hotel room, we are not leaving it, so you’re not going to give it up until we know we have a flight out of here,” Herrle said. “I’m sure everyone else is in the same situation.”

Flights canceled, airports and airspaces still closed

Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said it is hard to calculate the number of travelers stranded worldwide.

However, it estimated that at least 90,000 people alone change flights daily in the airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi on just three airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

Airspace or airports in Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were closed, according to flight tracking sites and government agencies there.

More than 2,800 flights were canceled Sunday to and from airports across the Middle East, including those that remained open in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, according figures on flight tracking site FlightAware. International airports in London, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangkok, Istanbul, Sri Lanka and Paris each reported dozens of flights canceled, as well.

Cancellations will extend beyond Sunday, at least.

Emirates suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon. Air India suspended all flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar until Tuesday. Israeli airline EL AL said it was preparing to fly home Israelis stranded abroad once the airspace reopened and closed ticket sales for flights through March 21 to ensure stranded customers get priority.

Two airports in the United Arab Emirates reported strikes as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Saturday.

Officials at Dubai International Airport said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said one person was killed and seven others were injured in a drone strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.

Iran did not publicly claim responsibility.

Flight disruptions are likely to continue

Airlines urged passengers to check their flight status online before heading to the airport. Some airlines issued waivers to affected travelers that will allow them to rebook their flight plans without paying extra fees or higher fares. Others offered full refunds.

“For travelers, there’s no way to sugarcoat this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group. “You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end.”

Mike McCormick, who used to oversee air traffic control for the Federal Aviation Administration, said countries might reopen their airspace once American and Israeli officials tell airlines where military flights are operating and how capable Iran remains at firing missiles.

‘No one really knows what’s going on’

The reverberations echoed far outside the Middle East — for example, airport authorities in the resort island of Bali in Indonesia said more than 1,600 tourists were stranded at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sunday after five flights to the Middle East were canceled or postponed.

Airlines that are crossing the Middle East will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south over Saudi Arabia. That will cause delays and higher costs.

Kristy Ellmer, an American who had been on business meetings in Dubai, said she was staying in a hotel and keeping multiple flights booked in case airports reopen.

She said she was gaining confidence in the government’s ability to protect the city from missiles, but also keeping away from windows when she hears explosions.

“You hear a lot of explosions at times, there’s hundreds of them,” Ellmer said. “And so when we hear them we sort of just don’t stay near the windows just in case the glass was to break or there was some impact.”

___

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, Adam Schreck in Bangkok, Sam Metz in Ramallah, West Bank, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta contributed to this report.

By BEN FINLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the U.S. attacks on Iran, the military announced Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that President Donald Trump said could likely lead to more losses in the coming weeks.

Related Articles

Iran Fires Cheap Drones Into Arab Countries, Wreaking Havoc

Iran retaliates against Israel and U.S. allies

Today in History: March 1, Peace Corps established

What to know about Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

US and Israel clash with Iran at emergency Security Council meeting. UN chief condemns attacks

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred as the Islamic Republic retaliates over the joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel. The post said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.

“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday afternoon. “And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more, but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.”

In the roughly six-minute video, Trump called those killed “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.” He said the U.S. will avenge their deaths.

Trump earlier told the Daily Mail in a phone interview Sunday that the U.S. troops who were killed were “great people.”

“You know, we expect that to happen, unfortunately,” Trump told the newspaper. “Could happen continuous — it could happen again.”

He also told the Daily Mail that he believes the conflict could last for “four weeks or so.” He had previously warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.

This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows an F/A-18E Super Hornet preparing to launch from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)

“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future.”

Central Command, meanwhile, described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.

Following the U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders, Iran’s counterattacks have struck U.S. bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The U.S. military denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn’t even come close.”

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.

Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.

This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) firing a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.

The Ford was part of the U.S. raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven U.S. troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.

One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump’s State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.

Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.

The U.S. military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.

The Timberwolves pursuit of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference took another major step in the right direction Sunday in Denver.

Minnesota downed the Nuggets 117-108 for its third straight victory, and sixth in its last seven contests.

Naz Reid (11) of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to making a shot against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 117-108 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

As has been the case for all of those victories, the Nuggets were down two of their top six players in the nationally-televised matinee, as both Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson remained out with injuries.

That proved pivotal, specifically relating to the damage those absences do to Denver’s bench — which is where the Wolves won the game.

Minnesota got off to a sluggish start and trailed by nine after one. But the Nuggets opened the second frame without Nikola Jokic nor Jamal Murray. The Wolves responded by scoring the first nine points of the quarter, forcing Denver coach David Adelman to sub Murray back into the game.

But by then, momentum already belonged to Minnesota (38-23), who received a 15-point first half from Bones Hyland. The likes of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle rode the wave upon their re-entry, and the Wolves led by eight at the break.

Jonas Valančiūnas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown were Denver’s top three reserves on Sunday. Minnesota won their minutes by 15, 17 and 12 points, respectively.

On the flip side, Minnesota won Jaden McDaniels’ minutes by 20 points. He was excellent on both ends, limiting Murray’s effectiveness for the first three quarters while going 9 for 12 from the field for 20 points offensively.

Rudy Gobert had 15 rebounds and three steals while Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle combined for 13 assists.

Rudy Gobert (27) of the Minnesota Timberwolves runs down the ball as Julian Strawther (3) and Cameron Johnson (23) of the Denver Nuggets watch during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Jokic had 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as Denver won his 37 minutes by four points, but the Nuggets (37-24)  struggled to find any production outside of their top two players. Denver went 6 for 22 from 3-point range.

All eight of Minnesota’s players who saw time Sunday finished with at least seven points on a day where it shot 54% from the floor and 39% from deep.

Naz Reid was slightly inconsistent, but he had a couple buckets in transition in the fourth quarter to help maintain necessary cushion. Donte DiVincenzo was excellent, tallying 17 points on the strength of five triples to go with five dimes.

Denver shot 56% from the field in the fourth quarter Sunday, but turned the ball over seven times, including a Murray giveaway with the Wolves leading by seven in the final three minutes that effectively put the game on ice.

The Wolves turned 14 Nuggets turnovers into 22 points on the day. In total, Minnesota tallied a gaudy 30 fast-break points.

The win moves Minnesota a game clear of Denver in the West standings, critical given the Nuggets hold the season-long tiebreaker. The Wolves and Rockets are now tied for the No. 3 seed in the conference.

Minnesota next hosts Memphis on Tuesday. It’s possible expected signee Kyle Anderson will be available for that game. It’s worth noting ahead of his arrival that Terrence Shannon Jr. nor Jaylen Clark saw minutes off the bench Sunday.

Related Articles

Can Kyle Anderson be the antidote for what ails these Timberwolves?

Timberwolves grit out win at Clippers

Timberwolves edge Trail Blazers in Portland

Frederick: Is ‘Good’ the Timberwolves’ ceiling this season? They have two months to prove otherwise

Timberwolves hammered by visiting 76ers

Last month, Bill Guerin got to watch Wild star defenseman Quinn Hughes live out two of the general manager’s life-long dreams. First, Hughes won an Olympic gold medal in Italy. And a week later, Hughes was live from New York on a Saturday night.

“I told him that he crushed my dreams, because that’s always been, like, my show,” Guerin said on Sunday, looking back at Hughes’ cameo appearance, alongside his brother Jack and U.S. women’s team gold medalists Megan Keller and Hillary Knight, on the Saturday Night Live monologue.

When Guerin was a teenager in Massachusetts, he had an early morning paper route and was unable to stay up late for SNL, but would record it on a VHS tape, then watch the show over and over during the course of the week.

“I’d memorize all of the skits and things like that,” he said. “Eddie Murphy as Gumby and just classic stuff. So Quinn crushed my dreams, but I’m happy for him.”

Back in his full-time gig as the man other NHL general managers are calling in advance of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline, Guerin reflected back on the “torture” of overtime games versus Sweden and Canada, and the eventual thrill of the gold medal won by the American team that he assembled. He acknowledged there was controversy in some of the final players selections, but said the results in Italy speak for themselves.

“I like to feel that, you know, I was right,” he said. “I don’t look for that from anybody. Like, we won the gold medal. That’s enough.”

In the immediate aftermath of the finale versus Canada, the nation-wide celebration also touched off some controversy of its own. FBI director Kash Patel was recorded drinking and celebrating in the team locker room. They took a call from the President in which Donald Trump made a joke about the women’s team that was widely regarded as misogynist. Most of the men’s team went to the White House and attended the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, prompting calls from critics that they were being used as political pawns.

“I’m not surprised at anything nowadays. Like, you know, honestly, I don’t know. I’m not surprised but I’m also not letting it bother me,” Guerin said of the backlash.

“You know what? We just won a gold medal. Nothing’s gonna ruin this,” he added. “I don’t care what people say or what they think…That’s one hell of a team. Those kids are all great people, good family men, and nothing that anybody could ever say would make me change my mind.”

With the Wild charging toward the playoffs and expecting much more than the first round exits that fans have seen for a decade now, Guerin said he has some salary cap room to do things, and would like to, if the offer is right. Specifically, he talked of a continued need to improve in the faceoff circle, which would mean adding a center. On Sunday it was revealed that hard-nosed winger Marcus Foligno will miss time with a lower body injury. While neither Guerin nor coach John Hynes would offer an update on the severity of Foligno’s injury or the timetable for his return, the general manager said the injury could potentially add an additional wrinkle to the trade deadline talks.

“We’ll figure that out,” Guerin said. “I think he’s tough to replace. Guys like him are hard to find.”

But unlike previous years where the Wild were hampered by bought-out contracts eating up eight figures of salary cap space, Guerin has more ability to make moves in 2026. And with the sights set on a deep playoff run, he sounds more than willing to do so.

Related Articles

Utah’s pressure too much for Wild

SNL and Tonight Show appearances coming for Wild star Quinn Hughes

Wild focused more on playoffs than overtaking Colorado in Central

Wild return to action with statement win at Colorado

Amid controversy, Wild gold medalists express support for women’s team