WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced questions and protests Tuesday over the U. S. war with Iran, which he estimated has cost $37. 5 billion so far, as Republicans prepare a $95 billion GOP budget package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities. Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, during a fiery hearing at the Senate Appropriations Committee. Several times, protesters interrupted Hegseth's opening remarks, which came days in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced questions and protests Tuesday over the U. S. war with Iran, which he estimated has cost $37. 5 billion so far, as Republicans prepare a $95 billion GOP budget package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities. Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, during a fiery hearing at the Senate Appropriations Committee. Several times, protesters interrupted Hegseth's opening remarks, which came days in...

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R. I. (AP) — On a pristine Rhode Island beach teeming with noisy seabirds, a group of biologists armed with nets sneak up on a pair of American oystercatcher chicks. But just as they move in to capture them, one of the football-size birds, with bright-orange bills and long legs, scampers into a coastal salt pond. The other briefly takes to the air, sending the team running across the mile-and-a-half-long (2. 4-kilometer-long) beach in pursuit. “There is a problem. They can...