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The incident Sunday afternoon on the Interstate 495 Beltway was described as road rage and is not believed to be terrorism-related, officials said.

According to Virginia State Police, a trooper was called to the scene in Fairfax County around 1:17 p.m. for a reported road rage incident following a car crash.

"When the trooper arrived on scene, he was confronted by a male suspect carrying a knife," police said in a statement. "The trooper then shot the suspect in self-defense."

The suspect was transported to hospital and later succumbed to those injuries, the statement said.

The victim who died was a 39-year-old woman, according to police. A dog was also stabbed to death.

The condition of the other victims is unknown.

A preliminary investigation indicates the stabbings occurred following a crash on I-495 southbound, police said, adding the crash is under investigation.

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Several lanes of the interstate were closed for hours as authorities investigated, slowing traffic to a standstill.

One witness told CNN he was driving with his wife when traffic slowed significantly and he saw two cars "kind of banged up." He then spotted two people covered in blood and a man with a knife.

A woman appeared to be trying to stop the assailant, but the man kept swinging his knife, the witness said.

"I just kept driving with the traffic," he said. "It was really, it was really scary."

A second witness also described seeing a woman covered in blood trying to defend herself from a man.

Another witness, on his way home from a weekend with family, told CNN he saw a scuffle he now believes was a stabbing. He then saw a state trooper pull up and fire at least two to three shots at the man.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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Smoke rises after Israeli strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 2 (Reuters) - Hezbollah attacked Israel on Monday to avenge the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting Israeli strikes on Beirut and setting the group at odds with Lebanese leaders who want ‌the country kept out of a regional war.

Israeli strikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon killed 31 people, Lebanon's health ministry ‌reported. People fled the southern suburbs on foot and by car, clogging the roads. More than a dozen powerful explosions shook the capital starting around 2:40 a.m. (0040 GMT).

The violence widened the conflict ​that has spread through the Middle East since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East.

Israel held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation, after the group said it had fired rockets and drones to avenge "the pure blood" of Khamenei and in response to what it described as repeated Israeli attacks.

The Israeli military said no injuries or damage were reported in Israel.

Hezbollah's attack ‌was its first on Israel since a war in ⁠2024, while Israel's strikes on the southern suburbs were the heaviest since that conflict.

"Hezbollah opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation," Israeli Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

"We must prepare for ⁠many prolonged days of combat ahead," he said in a later statement, saying Israel had launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah.

LEBANESE STATE OFFICIALS CRITICISE ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attacks but also warned against Lebanon being used as a platform for wars "we have nothing to do with", saying it would "expose our nation once more ​to ​dangers".

"This is something the state will not allow to be repeated and will not accept," ​said Aoun, whose administration has adopted a policy aimed at Hezbollah's ‌disarmament since taking office with U.S. support a year ago.

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Lebanese state media reported that the public prosecutor had ordered security forces to immediately arrest those who fired the rockets at Israel, after a phone call from Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar.

Hezbollah's arms have long been a point of division in Lebanon - a country that was shattered by civil war from 1975-1990 - and demands for the group to disarm have intensified since the 2024 war with Israel.

The group emerged from that war greatly weakened, with its leader Hassan Nasrallah killed along with thousands of its fighters.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said launching rockets from Lebanon was irresponsible and jeopardized ‌Lebanon's security.

EVACUATION WARNINGS

The initial wave of strikes was followed by a warning from Israel ordering ​residents of dozens of villages in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate.

The Israeli military said ​it struck Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including senior Hezbollah members in the ​Beirut area.

Hezbollah said its attack had targeted an Israeli military missile defence facility south of the city of Haifa. The Israeli ‌military said several projectiles that crossed from Lebanon fell in ​open areas and one was intercepted by ​the Israeli air force.

Since a U.S.-backed ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in 2024, Israel has carried out regular strikes against what it has identified as Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, accusing the group of seeking to rearm.

This was Israel's first attack on the southern suburbs since it killed the group's ​military official Ali Tabtabai in November.

Lebanon's presidency said on ‌Saturday it had been told by the U.S. ambassador that Israel would not escalate against Lebanon as long as there are no hostile ​acts from the Lebanese side.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut, Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Yomna Ehab and Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Writing ​by Nayera Abdallah and Tom Perry; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Michael Perry)

Smoke rises after Israeli strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 2 (Reuters) - Hezbollah attacked Israel on Monday to avenge the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting Israeli strikes on Beirut and setting the group at odds with Lebanese leaders who want ‌the country kept out of a regional war.

Israeli strikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon killed 31 people, Lebanon's health ministry ‌reported. People fled the southern suburbs on foot and by car, clogging the roads. More than a dozen powerful explosions shook the capital starting around 2:40 a.m. (0040 GMT).

The violence widened the conflict ​that has spread through the Middle East since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East.

Israel held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation, after the group said it had fired rockets and drones to avenge "the pure blood" of Khamenei and in response to what it described as repeated Israeli attacks.

The Israeli military said no injuries or damage were reported in Israel.

Hezbollah's attack ‌was its first on Israel since a war in ⁠2024, while Israel's strikes on the southern suburbs were the heaviest since that conflict.

"Hezbollah opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation," Israeli Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

"We must prepare for ⁠many prolonged days of combat ahead," he said in a later statement, saying Israel had launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah.

LEBANESE STATE OFFICIALS CRITICISE ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attacks but also warned against Lebanon being used as a platform for wars "we have nothing to do with", saying it would "expose our nation once more ​to ​dangers".

"This is something the state will not allow to be repeated and will not accept," ​said Aoun, whose administration has adopted a policy aimed at Hezbollah's ‌disarmament since taking office with U.S. support a year ago.

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Lebanese state media reported that the public prosecutor had ordered security forces to immediately arrest those who fired the rockets at Israel, after a phone call from Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar.

Hezbollah's arms have long been a point of division in Lebanon - a country that was shattered by civil war from 1975-1990 - and demands for the group to disarm have intensified since the 2024 war with Israel.

The group emerged from that war greatly weakened, with its leader Hassan Nasrallah killed along with thousands of its fighters.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said launching rockets from Lebanon was irresponsible and jeopardized ‌Lebanon's security.

EVACUATION WARNINGS

The initial wave of strikes was followed by a warning from Israel ordering ​residents of dozens of villages in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate.

The Israeli military said ​it struck Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including senior Hezbollah members in the ​Beirut area.

Hezbollah said its attack had targeted an Israeli military missile defence facility south of the city of Haifa. The Israeli ‌military said several projectiles that crossed from Lebanon fell in ​open areas and one was intercepted by ​the Israeli air force.

Since a U.S.-backed ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in 2024, Israel has carried out regular strikes against what it has identified as Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, accusing the group of seeking to rearm.

This was Israel's first attack on the southern suburbs since it killed the group's ​military official Ali Tabtabai in November.

Lebanon's presidency said on ‌Saturday it had been told by the U.S. ambassador that Israel would not escalate against Lebanon as long as there are no hostile ​acts from the Lebanese side.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut, Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Yomna Ehab and Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Writing ​by Nayera Abdallah and Tom Perry; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Michael Perry)

Cars and Oxxo convenience stores burned across the region, including where her relatives live in Guadalajara. The unrest was in apparent retaliation for theFeb. 22 Mexican military operationin Jalisco, which officials said led to the capture and death of drug cartel bossNemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes.

Many Mexican Americans like Zarate, a 33-year-old therapist who lives in Oakland, California, sent flurries of WhatsApp messages and calls checking on family.

After Mexican officials announced a powerful Mexican cartel leader was killed during a military operation on Sunday, several regions of the country are grappling with ongoing security risks and unrest.
Police officers secure the area where vehicles were set on fire by organized crime members to block a road following a military operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Mexican Army personnel stand guard as passengers leave Guadalajara International Airport in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Photos show Mexico unrest after cartel leader 'El Mencho' killed

After Mexican officials announced apowerful Mexican cartel leaderwas killed during a military operation on Sunday, several regions of the country are grappling withongoing security risks and unrest.Police officers secure the area where vehicles were set on fire by organized crime members to block a road following a military operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.

They continuously try to work out how their families can remain safe in their cities, towns and villages amid the country's decades-long, bloodywar against organized crime, including the most recent takedown of another wanted drug trafficker.

Families in the United States are waiting to see how normalcy returns for relatives in Mexico, and what policies in both countries mean for families oneither side of the border.

"I feel like this simmering anxiety and tension these past few days," Zarate said.

Zarate and her husband had visited her family in Guadalajara the day before the Mexican military operation. It was her husband's first visit. Zarate had taken him to her grandparents' tombstones. Her aunt made them Zarate's grandmother's recipes, including the Guadalajara staple of carne en su jugo, a stew of beef, bacon cuts and beans in tomatillo sauce.

Back in Oakland, they awoke on Sunday, Feb. 22,to news outlets reporting cars aflame, burned buildings and shootouts. In newly formed WhatsApp group chats, Zarate scrambled to account for relatives who had sheltered indoors.

Effects of unrest visible in WhatsApp groups, calls

As she called and messaged families, Zarate realized relatives were much closer to violent clashes than she previously thought. "I think it was like just hearing the gunshots," she said.

Zarate said family members sent videos showing they were safe, including them driving past cars still on fire on the side of the road or inside watching television. Some made jokes about the situation. Relatives messaged that they were glad Zarate and her husband left before the unrest. Then, the chats became quiet as people hunkered down.

The operation and ensuing retaliation, while resulting in the deaths of 25 Mexican National Guard members and 34 suspected gang members, resulted in only one known civilian death, according toReuters. Jalisco issued acode redthat shuttered businesses and schools for days.

"We're seeing the impact it's having on the daily lives of Mexicans back home," said Hortencia Jiménez, a professor of sociology at Hartnell College, in Salinas, California. Jiménez, originally from Nayarit, a state bordering Jalisco, first learned of the news while at home grading schoolwork. She soon began messaging her family, who now live in Tlaquepaque, a city abutting Guadalajara.

Guadalajara, a sprawling metropolitan area of over 5 million people in Jalisco set tohost games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, has come to see familiar scenes of papers plastered on statues and kiosks for signs of "desaparecidos," people who have disappeared in the drug war.

While news outlets reported ontourists stranded in destinationssuch as Puerto Vallarta, a coastal city in Jalisco, chaos ensued in Guadalajara, Jalisco's largest city and a commercial hub for Mexico. The city halted as suspected cartel loyalists blocked roadways and burned pharmacies in several parts of the city.

Still, while violence occurs, the presence of organized crime is often not as visible in urban hubs where there is a larger mass of law enforcement compared to some rural parts of Mexico, where drug cartels can be present in daily life.

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Amid tourism worries, families worry about essentials

The Feb. 22 unrest, while limited in civilian deaths, exposed how widespread the cartels' reach is in several parts of Mexico during the drug war, which has beenfueled by American firearms and demand for narcotics, including fentanyl. Several states in Mexico saw blockades or looting, and people were hesitant to leave their homes.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardohas promised a return to normalcy in the aftermath. Business groups in Puerto Vallarta and other picturesque destinations have tried to ensure tourism returns at the height of tourist season.

Jiménez said families can experience "transnational family stress," trying to get ahold of family from abroad while also seeing graphic images in media or, worse, AI images that invoke a sense of panic or loss of control. AsReuters reported, images such as a plane on fire atGuadalajara's airportwent viral on social media, but turned out to be fake, in what appeared to be coordinated propaganda by organized crime.

At the same time, families from Mexico in the United States are experiencing heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Mexicans make up the largest immigrant group in the United States, and about 1 in 10 Americans have Mexican ancestry, according tocensus data.

On the other hand, Jiménez added, the question remains whether PresidentDonald Trump, who hasthreatened to launch military operationsagainst Mexican drug cartels, will escalate American interventions in the country.

"The anxiety is coming from both sides," Claude Castañeda, a 28-year-old freelance illustrator and library worker in San Diego, said. "Both, there's now stuff happening in Mexico. There's stuff happening in the U.S."

Castañeda's family frequently visits relatives in Tijuana, a massive Mexican city on the U.S. border that's experienced waves of violence over the decades. Their family frequently delivers groceries to an aunt, who struggles with mobility, in Tijuana. When cars began burning in her neighborhood on Feb. 22 − nearly 1,400 miles from Guadalajara − she urged Castañeda's relatives not to bring groceries for the next couple of days.

Castañeda worries about how the violence will be used to restrict the border.

"People were saying it's going to change their plans and stuff, like for their vacations," Castañeda said. "For us, it's more: Can we go see our family for essential stuff?"

Fake, misrepresented images feed panic

Oswaldo Zavala, a City University of New York professor of Latin American literature and culture and a journalist from the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, said information on the aftermath has been difficult to process, particularly withviral fake videos or footage without context. Mexicans have also seen increasingly militarized responses to drug trafficking, with policies pushed by the United States.

"Most people don't necessarily have a formed opinion on how to react to this," Zavala said. "Rather, what we have grown necessarily accustomed to is to see these expressions of violence as confusing moments derived from military actions in the country."

Some people on both sides of the border have tried to defuse tension about the unrest with dark humor. Social media users have posted memes about Mexicanbread vendorsnow armed with rocket launchers to sell food. Otherspoke fun at American touristsfearful of cartel violence.

Zarate, the therapist, said her family's WhatsApp groups have become more active. However, Zarate said, "I feel not just helpless with what was happening on Sunday with their safety. Now, I'm feeling helpless with supporting them."

Still, she and her husband have promised to return later in 2026 to see family.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Mexican Americans worry about families after Mexico's cartel violence

France Nuclear Weapons

France is the European Union'sonly nuclear powerand its deterrence doctrine relies on a strictly defensive strategy intended to safeguard the country's "vital interests." Macron has long maintained that those "vital interests" havea "European dimension."

While France is a member of NATO, it maintains full independence over its nuclear forces while contributing to the alliance's broader deterrence posture. Under the French Constitution, the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the sole to decide on the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Here is a look at France's nuclear capabilities, by the numbers:

1 warship

France'saircraft carrier Charles de Gaulleis the only surface warship in Europe capable of carrying nuclear weapons deployed by Rafale fighter jets using catapult-assisted takeoffs.

The navy's flagship has in recent weeks operated in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, making a stop in recent daysin the Swedish port of Malmo.

Because the carrier undergoes lengthy periodic overhauls, France does not have a permanent sea-based air nuclear capability.

Macron confirmed in December that the country will builda new nuclear-powered aircraft carrierto replace the Charles de Gaulle by 2038.

4 submarines

France has four nuclear-armedsubmarines: Le Triomphant, Le Téméraire, Le Vigilant and Le Terrible (The Triumphant, The Fearless, The Vigilant, and The Terrible).

They are based in Ile Longue on the Atlantic coast, one of the nation's most secretive military sites.

Each 138-meter (453-foot) submarine is operated by a crew of about 110 and can carry 16 M51 intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with multiple warheads.

Since 1972, at least one nuclear-armed submarine has been on patrol at all times, ensuring France's permanent capacity to carry out a strike.

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500 kilometers (310 miles)

The ASMPA air-launched cruise missile — short for enhanced medium-range air-to-surface missile — has an estimated range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles).

Launched by Rafale fighter jets, it is designed to serve as a final warning before any potential escalation to large-scale nuclear conflict.

The missiles are operated by the Strategic Air Forces, which was created in 1964 and is based at three sites across France. They can also be launched by jets operating from the Charles de Gaulle.

8,000 to 10,000 kilometers (5,000 to 6,200 miles)

The M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile has an estimated range of 8,000 to 10,000 kilometers (5,000 to 6,200 miles). The exact range has not been made public.

The upgraded M51 entered operational service in October and features improved accuracy and enhanced ability to penetrate missile defenses, according to the French Defense Ministry. Each missile carries multiple independently targetable nuclear warheads.

290 warheads

France has an estimated 290 nuclear warheads, according tolatest figuresreleased by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Over 80% of France's warheads are submarine-launched, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

That makes France the world's fourth-largest nuclear powerafter Russia(more than 4,300 warheads), the United States (about 3,700) and China (about 600). The United Kingdom — no longer an EU member but a NATO ally — is estimated to have about 225 warheads, according to SIPRI and FAS.

All five nations are nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

India, Pakistan and North Korea have acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely believed to have them but has never publicly confirmed it.

Exact stockpile numbers are closely guarded state secrets.

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But it has in recent years been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

UN nuclear watchdog said it wasunable to verifywhether Iran has suspended all uranium enrichment, in a report seen Friday by The Associated Press beforeU.S. and Israeli forces launched a major attack on Iran,

APTOPIX Israel US Iran

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.