Quote:A former top FBI official has raised doubts about whether Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mom, Nancy, is really still alive and being held by kidnappers.
“I’m very skeptical of this,” former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show” on Sunday.
“Is this really a kidnapping? Does somebody really have her, and is she really alive?” he said of the fiends claiming to have her.
The former FBI bigwig voiced his suspicions after Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings took to social media to plead with their mother’s apparent abductor to return her — as they agreed to pay up to the abductors demanding $6 million ransom.
“If this was a kidnapping, it would be a very simple matter to authenticate and provide proof of life,” Swecker said, noting that no evidence had been “credibly authenticated at this point.”
“You have to allow for the possibility that this was something more or something other than a kidnapping.”
Swecker also pointed to the ransom demands being reported, which skyrocketed from $1 million to a reported $6 million in a matter of days.
“Remember now, it was 1 million not too long ago. All of a sudden, it’s 6 million,” Swecker told the outlet.
“I really think there’s a third party here that’s just playing with them, opportunists who think they can exploit this situation.”
At least two purported ransom messages have surfaced since the “Today” show anchor’s ailing mom vanished from her Tucson home.
The first purported ransom note, which was sent to multiple media outlets a week ago, laid out two deadlines — one on Thursday, which passed, and a second on Monday, FBI officials said.
He's got a point here. Why paying them any amount of cash? Especially if you don't know if she's still alive. At this point, even the police could end up finding her body buried somewhere.
By the way, I thought the kidnappers had said they'd only send a single letter and that was it. Yet, they continue sending them to TMZ or her family. This doesn't let me think they'd ever keep their word about returning her alive if they ever comply with their demands.
Quote:TUCSON — An armed thug in a ski mask was seen tampering with Nancy Guthrie’s home security system on the morning she vanished, according to terrifying footage released by the FBI Tuesday — the first major break since the elderly grandmother vanished over a week ago.
The chilling black and white footage and stills were pulled from a Nest camera mounted by the front door of 84-year-old Nancy’s Tucson home — and showed the pistol-packing man staring straight into the lens while apparently breaking into the home.
He tried to cover the camera with a gloved fist, and then pulled a handful of flowers from Nancy’s garden in an attempt to blot out the lens.
The suspect seemed to have a flashlight in his mouth — and lumbered around Nancy’s patio in sneakers, a fleece and a backpack.
And all the while, a handgun was clearly seen holstered in the front of his pants.
The footage marks the first time law enforcement has released any clut about a possible suspect since the mother of “Today” show star Savannah Guthrie vanished 10 days ago.
The pics are also the first indication that police are zeroing in on any suspects at all after a grueling, fruitless investigation.
“Law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote while releasing the images on X.
The images were obtained Tuesday morning with the help of Arizona law enforcement, FBI specialists and “private sector partners,” Patel said.
Nancy had numerous Nest cameras around her property, but had not paid her subscription, so feeds from the night she disappeared were never saved to an account — prompting law enforcement to fear they might be lost forever.
But FBI and Google specialists were able to pull them from “residual data located in backend systems,” Patel explained — resulting in the startling first images released.
Quote:The maze of unlit streets and lack of traffic cameras in Nancy Guthrie’s remote Arizona neighborhood would have made it easier for her abductor to take her away in a car and avoid surveillance, a former FBI agent has claimed.
Authorities on Tuesday released footage showing a suspect approaching the door of the 84-year-old’s Tucson, Arizona, home, but no vehicle has yet been identified as belonging to the alleged kidnapper.
Nancy’s remote, pitch-black Catalina Foothills neighborhood is not doing investigators any favors, according to retired FBI agent James Gagliano, who said that it would have been easy for the suspect to navigate backstreets and avoid cameras.
“I want you to think about Manhattan. This is exactly the opposite to that. This is almost like a Jackson Pollock painting,” Gagliano told Fox & Friends on Wednesday. “The way that the routes go in and out, the ingress could have been one way, and the egress could have been a different way.”
“There are multiple exits here. Some of them are covered by those dome traffic lights that keep an eye on traffic, determine whether or not the signals are working on time, and keep in line the traffic patterns. Some of them aren’t,” he continued.
“So is it possible if the suspect left via vehicle, he would not have been picked up by a license plate reader or one of these cameras? The answer is yes.”
Gagliano said it is unlikely that Nancy’s kidnapper came and left on foot.
While the abductor making off with an elderly woman without a vehicle seems far-fetched, Gagliano pointed out that there are few fences between properties, which would make an escape via the secluded backyards possible.
“They don’t have fences out here; the properties butt up against each other, there’s no cyclone fencing or anything restricting access between the properties,” he said.
Gagliano was speaking after authorities detained an individual for questioning on Tuesday evening following a traffic stop in Rio Rico, Arizona, just south of Tucson.
The man, a FedEx delivery driver named Carlos Palazuelos, added that his house in Rio Rico was also searched as part of the investigation before he was released without charge.
As of Wednesday, no other individuals have been detained in connection with the disappearance of Nancy, who was last seen after being dropped off at her Catalina Foothills home on the evening of Jan. 31.
Savannah put out another message on social media Tuesday, saying she and her family still believe her mother is alive.
“We believe she is still out there. Bring her home,” she said.
Quote:A new letter in the bewildering Nancy Guthrie case has been sent to TMZ, reportedly including a demand for one bitcoin in exchange for information about the elderly woman’s kidnapper.
TMZ reported that the $67,000 payment would be in exchange for the “name of the individual involved.”
The letter, the third alleged note sent out since Nancy was last seen on Jan. 31, contained details of a working bitcoin address, TMZ host Harvey Levin said during Wednesday’s appearance on Fox News’ “America Newsroom.”
“If they want the name of the individual involved, then I want 1 Bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant,” the note stated, according to TMZ.
“They said they want one Bitcoin sent to a Bitcoin address that we have confirmed is active. It’s a real Bitcoin address, and as they put it, time is more than relevant,” Levin said. “So we have no idea whether this is real or not. But they are making a demand.”
The bitcoin address is different from the one featured in the original ransom note, which was sent to two Tucson-area TV news stations along with TMZ last week.
TMZ said they have forwarded the note to the FBI.
One bitcoin is currently worth around $67,000, more than the $50,000 reward being offered by law enforcement for information leading to the alleged kidnappers of NBC star Savannah Guthrie’s mom.
It comes after a flurry of updates on Tuesday saw the release of the first images and videos of the suspect in Nancy’s disappearance, retrieved from a Nest doorbell camera at her Tucson, Arizona, home.
Quote:TUCSON, Arizona — FBI agents have recovered a black glove from a roadside near Nancy Guthrie’s house — potentially a major clue in the search for the masked thug who is suspected of abducting the 84-year-old woman, The Post can reveal.
Detectives found the clothing item, which resembles the pair worn by the armed perpetrator caught on video, about one and a half miles from the home of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother.
Video and photos show at least one member of the FBI Evidence Response team pulling the glove from the low, desert shrubbery in Guthrie’s secluded desert suburb at the edge of Tucson.
Authorities have not identified any suspects behind the presumed kidnapping, in which Guthrie seems to have been forced from her home, leaving a trail of blood behind.
However, on Tuesday the FBI released footage of a man with black gloves, a ski mask, and a holstered gun destroying the security camera on her door.
The footage was the first major breakthrough authorities have revealed after the arduous, 10-day investigation.
The same day, authorities detained a person of interest for questioning near the Mexican border, however the person was released early this morning without charges.
The FBI discovered the glove as part of an “extensive search” of the neighborhood in which agents were out in force combing the roadsides.
“We appreciate the assistance and support we have received from the Tucson community,” the FBI said in a statement reminding the public of the $50,000 reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery.
Investigators would not comment when asked about potential piece of evidence.
The person of interest arrested Tuesday was Carlos Palazuelos, a delivery driver from the border town of Rio Rico who was slapped in cuffs after being pulled over south of Tucson.
Palazuelos, now free, insisted he had nothing to do with Guthrie’s abduction, hadn’t even heard of the woman, and demanded an apology from authorities, according to WDBJ.
Quote:NPR “Morning Edition” co-host Steve Inskeep said during an episode of the podcast on Wednesday that the suspect on video at Nancy Guthrie’s house was wearing clothing similar to that of a federal immigration agent.
The FBI released previously inaccessible doorbell camera images and videos on Tuesday.
The footage shows a masked individual wearing gloves and a backpack tampering with the front door camera at Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona, home around the time she vanished on Feb. 1.
“So, let me think about this: we have this man. He walks up to the porch, he’s armed, and his face is covered, a little like a federal immigration agent — although it’s more covered even than that,” Inskeep said while speaking to Mary O’Toole, a former FBI agent and profiler, about the footage.
“He’s wearing gloves, his head’s down, other times head up, something in the mouth, looks like a flashlight in the mouth, walks up to the security camera. That’s what I see.”
A man was detained in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance early Wednesday but was released later without charges.
Carlos Palazuelos told Fox News that he was the person detained for questioning during a traffic stop but said he had nothing to do with the case.
He said he makes deliveries in the Tucson area and that investigators asked him about his recent whereabouts.
He said authorities showed his in-laws a picture of someone wearing a mask and “they supposedly looked like my eyes.”
Inskeep asked O’Toole for her perspective on the video released by the FBI as well.
“I see things a little the same, but also from a different perspective,” she said.
“I look at, overall, the behavior that he demonstrates while he’s on the porch. He’s not racing around, he’s not jumping up and down, he’s not looking over his shoulder.”
“He actually seems to be casual,” O’Toole continued.
“He appears to be somewhat comfortable on a porch to a home where he does not belong. He seems to be used to almost having been there before. I see someone that’s walking around in very odd attire, at least from the waist up. He’s wrapped up very tight, almost squeezed into his outfit.”
O’Toole said that made her question why he chose to dress like that and speculated it could indicate he had done something similar before.
“I look at that behavior, and then based on working other kidnapping cases, especially ones where the offender kidnapped the person from their home, often times — not always, but often times — the kidnapper had been inside other people’s homes before doing whatever they do, just looking around or taking things, or they’ve actually been inside the victim’s home before or on the victim’s porch before. So that’s why they have a comfort level with being there; it’s not the first time,” she said.
O’Toole said the man in the video had heavy-duty gloves on, and the gloves went into the jacket.
She also said the man’s face was covered and he appeared “illuminated” in some way.
“So, why do you dress like that for an event you’ve never experienced before?” she said.
“Or the reverse is perhaps more likely: you have gone into an event like this before, so you know how to dress. And very likely, the reason for dressing like that is to minimize leaving behind any forensic evidence.”
The FBI announced Wednesday that numerous agents are conducting an “extensive search along multiple roadways in the Catalina Foothills area” of Tucson related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.
Quote:A Texas man will not face charges after gunning down his daughter after they got in a heated argument about President Trump.
Lucy Harrison, who was visiting from the UK, died of her wounds after the 23-year-old was shot in the chest Jan. 10, 2025 at her father’s home in Prosper, located around 35 miles north of Dallas.
Her dad, Kris Harrison, who moved to the US when his daughter was a child, admitted during an inquest that he was an alcoholic who had relapsed and drank three glasses of wine on the day of the shooting, BBC reported.
Lucy’s death was initially being investigated by local cops as a possible manslaughter case but no criminal charges were ultimately brought against the father after a Collin County grand jury decided against indicting him.
She was traveling to the US with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, who later told a court the dad and daughter had a “big argument” about Trump a few days before he was set to be inaugurated for his second term.
Kris and Lucy frequently butted heads about her father’s conservative leanings, particularly that he purchased a Glock 9mm handgun a few years earlier, Littler said.
The argument started when Lucy pressed her father about an unspecified hypothetical scenario regarding a woman who had been sexually assaulted.
“How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?” she asked her father.
According to Littler, Kris shot back that it wouldn’t upset him that much because he had two other daughters who were living with him.
It was not immediately clear how Trump factored into the back-and-forth, but his callous response made Lucy “quite upset” and she stormed upstairs.
I definitely think that jury was composed by a bunch of idiots. The suspect killed his own daughter, that's a crime, and in this case they call it manslaughter. It was not a mere accident, he intentionally shot her down. His alcoholism issue only makes it worse than that. Honestly, I suspect their true motivation was that it all happened because of Trump.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi ripped House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) as a “washed-up, loser lawyer” before clashing with lawmakers of both parties during a Wednesday hearing.
President Trump’s top law enforcement official testified before the panel following the release of millions of files related to the prosecution of deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein — with several victims in attendance.
Judiciary Democrats and one Republican accused Bondi of ignoring those victims and having her Department of Justice harmfully release documents identifying some of them — while redacting identities of members of Epstein’s rich and powerful circle.
“You’re not showing a lot of interest in the victims,” Raskin challenged her. “Whether it’s Epstein’s human trafficking ring or the homicidal government violence against citizens in Minneapolis, as attorney general you’re siding with the perpetrators and you’re ignoring the victims.”
In heated exchanges with Raskin, the AG accused Democrats of only caring about the issue because Trump is in the White House.
Raskin demanded in one of those back-and-forths that Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) restore time to retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), as Bondi ignored his question about possible indictments of Epstein co-conspirators.
“You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch — not on our time, no way,” Raskin said. “And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started.”
“You don’t tell me anything,” Bondi erupted, before mocking Raskin as a “washed-up, loser lawyer — not even a lawyer.”
Bondi then rounded on Nadler, telling him: “You said the president conspired, sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. Robert Mueller found no evidence, none, of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologized to President Trump?
“None of them asked [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland, over the last four years, one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump.”
Most Democrats’ questions — as well as those of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — focused on the so-called “Epstein files,” claiming that the DOJ was covering for those potentially implicated in crimes.
“You all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it,” she continued.
Quote:The cast of “Dawson’s Creek” reacted to James Van Der Beek’s death at 48 following a yearslong battle with colorectal cancer.
Van Der Beek portrayed the titular Dawson Leery for all six seasons of the iconic WB teen drama from 1998 to 2003.
Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson, both 47, starred as Dawson’s best friends, Joey Potter and Pacey Witter, respectively. Michelle Williams appeared in the series as Dawson’s next-door neighbor, Jen Lindley.
Mary-Margaret Humes, who played Van Der Beek’s mother on “Dawson’s Creek,” shared an Instagram tribute in honor of her late co-star on Wednesday.
“Rarely am I at a loss for words … today would be the exception. James, my gracious warrior, you fought a hard battle against all odds with such quiet strength and dignity,” she wrote alongside two photos of them together.
“I will always love and admire you for that. Our last conversations … merely a few days ago … are forever sitting softly in my heart for safe keeping. To our extended Dawson’s Creek family of friends, please be respectful of our silences at the moment as Beautiful Kimberly and family have asked for peaceful privacy for now.”
Kerr Smith, who portrayed Jack McPhee in Seasons 2 through 6, wrote on Instagram, “I’m so grateful for being able to call James a brother. I’ll miss him deeply. Rest easy.”
Busy Philipps, who joined “Dawson’s Creek” as Audrey Liddell at the beginning of Season 5 in 2001, also took to social media to remember her late co-star in the wake of his passing.
Besides “Dawson’s Creek,” the pair had reunited once more for the Season 2 premiere of “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23,” which aired in 2012.
“My heart is deeply hurting for all of us today … every person who knew James and loved him,” Philipps, 46, wrote on Instagram. “But I am profoundly heartbroken for his incredible wife Kimberly and their six magical children.”
“James Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed and I don’t know what else to say. I am just so so sad,” she wrote alongside three snaps of her and Van Der Beek. “He was my friend and I loved him and I’m so grateful for our friendship all these years.”
Van Der Beek’s wife of 15 years, Kimberly, announced the beloved actor’s death in a joint Instagram statement on Wednesday.
She wrote that Van Der Beek, with whom she has six children, “passed peacefully” on Wednesday morning and “met his final days with courage, faith and grace.”
Quote:The transgender high school dropout who gunned down his mother and stepbrother before killing six others at a British Columbia, Canada school was seen for the first time in resurfaced photos posted by his family – including one eerie snap showing the smiling teen holding a rifle.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old ex-student who went on a gun-wielding rampage at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, was spotted straight-faced in several pictures posted by his grandmother on Facebook for his 14th birthday.
“Happy 14th birthday to our grandson Jesse !! Love you always !! XOXO,” the post from August 2021 read.
Another chilling picture howed Van Rootselaar showing off a rifle and bearing a wide grin while sitting on the couch with another young child.
Van Rootselaar launched the horrifying attack at a private residence in the remote community before continuing the carnage at the high school, where authorities said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said Van Rootselaar was “born a biological male … who approximately six years ago began to transition to female, and identified as female.”
Van Rootselaar was known to authorities, as police had visited the family home several times over the years, over concerns about his mental health, according to McDonald.
Firearms had also been seized from the home, but the lawful owner — who McDonald did not name — successfully petitioned to have them returned.
A long gun and a modified handgun were recovered at the school, though it is unclear if those weapons were the ones that had previously been confiscated.
An initial alert issued about an active shooter at the school on Tuesday afternoon described the shooter as a “female in a dress.”
Quote:A 12-year-old girl has been identified as one of the six young victims killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting at a British Columbia secondary school.
Kylie May Smith was among those gunned down when transgender ex-student Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday afternoon, according to a GoFundMe created for her family.
“Yesterday our family received the gut-wrenching news that our beautiful Kylie May was confirmed to be one of the victims in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting,” her aunt, Shanon Dycke, wrote in a statement on the fundraising page.
“She was just 12 years old. We are completely devastated and have no words as we try to process the magnitude of the situation,” Dycke wrote.
Nine people in total were killed during the shooting, including Van Rootselar, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The shooter, who identified as a transgender woman and began transitioning from a male to female roughly six years ago, first gunned down his mother, 39-year-old Jennifer Strang, and stepbrother, 11, at a private residence.
Rootselaar then continued the rampage at the school, killing one teacher and five students, including three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13.
One victim was found in the stairwell, and the rest were believed to have been found dead in the school’s library, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Dycke described Smith as a “beautiful, kind, innocent soul” and urged people to donate funds to support her mother, Desirae, her brother, Ethan, and other family members, and to create a memorial for the slain tween.
“As word travels around the world, our family’s world has crumbled with the loss of my beautiful niece, Kylie May Smith. She was at Tumbler Ridge school yesterday, and didn’t make it out,” Dycke wrote in a separate post on Facebook.
Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, located in a remote part of northeastern British Columbia, enrolls students in grades 7 through 12.
The shooting ranks as one of the deadliest in Canada’s history.
Quote:Ukraine’s foreign minister said only President Trump has the power to get Kyiv and Moscow’s leaders together for a final peace talk to end the war — as Russia fired its latest mass drone strike on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Trump to accelerate the current peace efforts to end the war, as Ukraine worries America could become too preoccupied as its mid-term elections approach.
“Only Trump can stop the war,” Sybiha told Reuters, saying only a few key issues remained in the peace negotiations.
Among the issues at hand are Russia’s maximalist demands for Ukraine to completely cede its Donetsk fortress region and the Zaporizhzhia energy facility, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Sybiha described the conditions among “the most sensitive and most difficult” terms of the peace talks, which the foreign minister said had to be hammered out by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Putin, however, has repeatedly declined to meet with Zelensky, who revealed that Trump had given Ukraine and Russia until June to end the war — which is about to enter its fifth year.
In order to meet the deadline, Sybiha said the US and Ukraine must build on the latest peace talks in Abu Dhabi that resulted in prisoner of war exchanges resuming with Russia.
“My assessment is we have momentum, that’s true,” Sybiha said. “We need consolidation or mobilization of these peace efforts, and we’re ready to speed up.”
The optimistic outlook comes as Russia fired 101 drones into Ukraine overnight, with at least 32 of the explosive UAVs hitting across 13 locations, according to Kyiv’s air force.
The attack was part of Moscow’s continued campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid, with the strikes hitting an industrial facility in Poltava and Odessa, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Services.
Quote:In “Fortress Kharkiv,” on the front lines of Ukraine’s fight against Russia, much of public life has gone underground.
After four years of constant bombardment by Russia, the city has opened eight schools in subterranean subway stations.
Plays and other shows are also taking place underground — where residents can gather and have some semblance of normalcy without the fear of Moscow’s deadly drones and missiles.
“We are the only city in the world with so-called metro schools. Those are underground schools. We have modified seven underground metro stations to allow our kids to study beneath the ground,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov told The Post.
Each underground school accommodates 1,200 students.
The Post previously reported on how kids in the city have been forced to study online or in shelters underground.
Terekhov said he and every citizen of Kharkiv are yearning for peace — but he warned that it will require 100 years of security guarantees from the US and allies to keep the peace.
“Guarantees of security [are needed], not for 2027 or 2 years beyond, but for a century, at least,” Terekhov said.
“Real guarantees of security yield peace dividends,” he added, while praising the efforts of Presidents Trump and Zelensky to end the war.
Speaking from Ukraine’s second-largest city, just hours after an attack on a market, Terekhov expressed his gratitude for American support for his country, and described how Kharkivites have adapted to the reality of the war four years after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion began.
“Kharkiv is the fortress, and Kharkiv for those four years of the war has been the barometer of Ukrainian resilience,” Terekhov told The Post.
“We have been under perpetual shelling for the last four years and constant attacks. Just prior to our talk. One more drone, which is called in Russian, Molniya, which is translated into English as Lightning, has hit the markets,” he said.
Quote:Ukraine is opening up exports of its domestically produced arms to Europe, President Volodymyr Zelensky said — as Kyiv looks to capitalize on its wartime technology boom.
The arms race in Ukraine has created many weapons firms that are producing more arms than Kyiv can buy, leading Zelensky to announce Sunday that 10 “export centers” will open across Europe this year to raise much-needed funds for his country.
The Ukrainian president noted that Ukraine’s advanced drones, which have proven successful against Russia’s military, will also be up for sale as European nations begin to increase their defense spending.
“Today, Europe’s security is built on technology and drones,” Zelensky said, touting Kyiv’s advanced UAV development.
Ihor Fedirko, CEO of the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry, said international buyers have been clamoring for not just Kyiv’s drones, but also its anti-drone technology.
UAVs have proven to be the dominant force in combat in the Ukraine war, with both Moscow and Kyiv using the drones to conduct mass, long-distance attacks.
Many experts have warned that the war is a snapshot of what modern wars will look like, with many nations taking an interest in combat drones and drone jamming systems.
Fedirko said the strongest buzz has been around Ukraine’s seaborne drones, UAVs used to drop small bombs on targets, interceptor drones, and drones that use fiber-optic cables that allow them to fly without fear of jamming.
President Trump had expressed a great interest in Ukraine’s drones as part of last year’s drone “mega deal” negotiations, which would see the US buy up Kyiv’s UAVs in exchange for the sale of the American arms Ukraine desperately needs.
Even though Ukraine’s 2025 budget had allocated $18 billion for domestically produced drones, it is still not enough to buy up all the UAVs being produced in the country.
Some of Ukraine’s drone developers had previously expressed frustration with the rules restricting expenditures and putting a cap on profits, but opening up exports would allow the firms to expand and continue improving their arms.
Ukrainian drone production is set to start in Germany in mid-February, Zelensky said, with the UAVs already being built in the UK under a joint initiative.
Quote:A Russian drone strike destroyed a Ukrainian brick home overnight, killing a dad and his three small children — and leaving his pregnant wife with traumatic brain injury, officials said.
The blast from the Russian-made Shahed suicide drone killed 34-year-old Hryhorii Shykula, his 2-year-old twin boys and 1-year-old daughter in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region overnight, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
Shykula’s wife Olha, who is 35 weeks pregnant, was pulled out of the burning rubble by rescue workers, officials said.
She suffered serious injuries from the blast, including brain trauma, burns and hearing loss, the prosecutor’s office added.
“We lost what is most precious — our future,” Bohodukhiv mayor Volodymyr Bielyi wrote on Facebook.
“There are no words to console the family; there is no prayer that could heal the heart of a mother who has lost her children,” he added.
“We will endure. We will remember. We will never forgive this horror on our land.”
Bielyi said the wounded mother was treated at a local hospital, with the mayor announcing three days of mourning over the tragedy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the attack as yet further evidence that Moscow cannot be trusted to secure a peace deal while it blatantly attacks civilians.
Each such Russian strike undermines trust in everything being done through diplomacy to end this war, and again and again proves that only strong pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine are the real key to stopping the killings,” Zelensky said on social media.
Quote:The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has threatened to disqualify Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych for protesting against the Russian invasion of his homeland.
The skeleton athlete has refused to take off his “helmet of remembrance”, as he calls it, which depicts images of Ukrainian men and woman killed in the war, despite the committee’s public and private warnings that he is in violation of the written rules around political messaging.
The IOC took another step Wednesday, warning Heraskevych to surrender ahead of the first skeleton heats Thursday.
The 27-year-old, who was the Ukrainian flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, has not yet made a move to comply with the committee’s rules, and he used his helmet again during practice Tuesday night.
“We will contact the athlete today, we will reiterate the many, many opportunities that he has to express his grief,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams responded Wednesday. “As we discussed before, he can do so on social media, in the press conferences, in the mixed zone. So we will try to talk to him about that, try to convince him. We want him to compete. We really, really want him to have his moment. That’s very, very important. The athlete guidelines is online, they were agreed by 4,500 athletes and the input of many athlete commissions. This is what the athletes want. They want that specific moment on the field of play to be free from any distraction.
“He can, and we would encourage him, to express his grief. We feel his grief. We would expressly want him to do that but you know in the end let me be clear. It’s not the message, it’s the palace that counts.”
The rule in question is addressed in article 50.2 of the Olympic charter, which states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
When asked about the option of disqualification, Adams said he doesn’t believe that is “helpful” to look at hypotheticals because “we are actually trying to get to a place where we can get him to take part.”
In this case the IOC sounds very hypocritical to me. If they don't care about expressing the athlete's grief on social media and pressers, then why did they get fixated on his helmet? As long as it doesn't make a call to kill people or hate any people group, there's no reason to chase him down like they're doing it now.
Quote:Panama’s move to void two longstanding port concessions flanking the Panama Canal was a blow to Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison and a win for U.S. efforts to check Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Yet as CK Hutchison seeks to sell its majority shares in dozens of other port projects worldwide, China's COSCO—the world's fourth-largest shipping company—hopes to fill the void. If the state-owned shipping giant succeeds, security risks for the U.S. could climb at other ports in Latin American and the Caribbean, according to recent analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
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What To Know
The January 29 ruling by Panama's Supreme Court annulled the lease contracts for the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals held by CK Hutchison subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC) and lowered the risk potential of those two ports, but five others would pose greater concern if leased to COSCO and therefore be more exposed to direct Chinese government influence.
These include terminals run by other CK Hutchison subsidiaries at ports in Mexico, including Manzanillo on the Pacific coast—the country’s gateway to Asia—and Veracruz, a major Gulf-side port with strategic Atlantic access.
A fifth, the Freeport container terminal in the Bahamas, is a major transshipment hub just 65 miles from Florida.
"The [court] decision is perhaps most significant as a further application of the administration's 'Trump Corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine," Henry Ziemer, an associate fellow with CSIS's Americas Program, told Newsweek.
"However, there is a risk that a 'win' for the United States in Panama will obscure China's broader influence in Latin America's port ecosystem," Ziemer said.
CSIS has identified 37 port projects throughout Latin American and the Caribbean with links to Chinese companies, from Jamaica's Kingston port to the COSCO-developed megaport of Chancay in Peru. With China reportedly seeking to acquire at least some of the CK Hutchison-controlled ports, the Panama case “is more of an opening bid, not a decisive blow to China’s influence in Latin America,” Ziemer said.
The $22.8 billion deal CK Hutchison announced last year, would have seen its majority stakes in 41 projects sold to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock, was met with scathing criticism from Chinese state media, which likened it to handing a “knife to the opponent.” Without Beijing’s approval, the deal remains in limbo.
CK Hutchison has said it would pursue “extensive damages” through arbitration after the Panama ruling.
Quote:Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi has been beaten nearly to death while imprisoned in Iran, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Wednesday.
The committee said it had received “credible reports” of “life-threatening mistreatment” of Mohammadi, an activist arrested by Tehran in December, CNN reported.
Mohammadi has been allegedly beaten with wooden sticks and batons, dragged by her hair until sections of her scalp tore, and “repeatedly kicked in the genitals and pelvic region, leaving her unable to sit or move without severe pain,” the committee said.
The savage beatings occurred during her arrest in December after she attended a ceremony honoring Khosrow Alikordi, an Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate.
During the arrest, witnesses say they saw Iran’s security forces beat the activist as they loaded her onto a transport vehicle, where the violence allegedly continued.
Mohammadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, has spent much of the last two decades as an inmate in Iran’s infamous Evin prison.
While her original prison sentence was suspended last year to allow her to recover from a surgery following multiple heart attacks, she was sentenced on Saturday to another seven years in prison on allegations of “gathering and collusion” and spreading propaganda, according to her lawyer.
Mohammadi had begun a hunger strike in early February to protest her “unlawful detention, dire prison conditions, and the denial of contact with her family and lawyers,” according to her foundation.
Mohammadi had been allowed to go to the hospital last week, but she has since been transferred back to a detention center in Mashhad before her treatment was complete, her lawyer told CNN.
Like Tehran’s Evin prison, the detention centers in Mashhad have been at the center of allegations of human rights abuses, particularly against political prisoners and anti-regime activists.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Top Democratic lawmakers are digging their heels in opposition to a federal voter identification requirement, despite polling showing that close to three-quarters of their voters back it.
A colossal 83% of US adults support requiring some form of government-issued photo ID to vote, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans, a survey by Pew Research last year found.
Only 16% of American adults oppose it.
“It’s Jim Crow 2.0,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told MS NOW last week when presented with that polling data and asked about his opposition to the GOP’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
The SAVE Act, which has already cleared the House, would require voters nationwide to show proof of citizenship in order to cast their ballot. Democrats are leveraging the 60-vote filibuster to block it in the Senate.
“I called it Jim Crow 2.0, and the right wing went nuts all over the internet. That’s because they know it’s true. What they’re trying to do here is the same thing that was done in the South for decades to prevent people of color from voting,” Schumer added.
Schumer argued that the measure would potentially hamstring women who get married and change their last name, and individuals who have lost track of their birth certificates from voting.
The top Senate Democrat predicted the SAVE Act wouldn’t get any Democratic votes.
“It’s still going to be something that disenfranchises people that don’t have the proper real ID, driver’s license ID, that don’t have the ID necessary to vote even though they are citizens,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday when asked about the survey.
“This is another way to simply suppress the vote.”
Critically, it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Republican backers of the SAVE Act contend that requiring proof of citizenship will help enforce existing law.
Members of the right flank in the House pressed to tack the SAVE Act into the government funding bill last week as a means of attempting to jam the Senate with it. Ultimately, leadership declined to do that, eager to end the four-day government shutdown as soon as possible.
“I haven’t said that they’re wrong,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday about voter ID.
They should remember that voting for the next president of any country is a right RESERVED for citizens only. There's no valid reason to allow illegal immigrants to vote either in the US or UK or Costa Rica or even in Indonesia.
To better see how ignoring such a requirement like the voter's ID can be self-destructing for a country, let's imagine the following scenario. This would be an alternate world where the Nazi party still exists somewhere and has operatives planted in several key nations like France or even the US. If you don't ask people to show a valid ID before they cast their vote, how would you know beforehand that such person isn't one of those operatives? These agents wouldn't care about real democracy or the republic, they would only focus on giving the Nazi party a political foothold in that particular nation. Once they achieve that stage, things would get a lot easier for them than ever before.
Depending on the number of congresspeople and senators they get in both chambers, if that's how their legislative power is divided, they could even reform the nation's constitution to a point it would only resemble the Nazi laws that enslaved Germany between the end of WWI and WWII. This would allow them to simply torture and kill dissidents the same way the Ayatollah's Iran does now. How would that benefit your country at all?
Quote:In a major legal victory for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can terminate deportation protections for nearly 90,000 migrants from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua in the US.
The three-judge panel on the 9th US Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that a lower court erred in blocking the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from the three nations, overturning a December order from District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco.
“The government is likely to prevail in its argument that the Secretary’s decision-making process in terminating TPS for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal was not arbitrary and capricious,” the appellate court determined.
“Specifically, the government can likely show that the administrative record adequately supports the Secretary’s action, that the TPS statute does not require the Secretary to consider intervening country conditions arising after the events that led to the initial TPS designation, and that the Secretary’s decision not to consider intervening conditions does not amount to an unexplained change in policy,” the ruling continued.
Since the 1990s, the TPS program has granted humanitarian relief to migrants from disaster-plagued and war-ravaged regions.
The federal program allows migrants to enjoy temporary legal status in the US and obtain work permits.
Hondurans and Nicaraguans had been given the legal status to emigrate and get work permits as a federal response to humanitarian issues following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, when the storm hit both countries, killing almost 7,300 people.
Nepal joined the TPS program in June 2015 after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country.
Quote:Alleged members of “foreign terrorist cartel” Tren de Aragua may be brought back to the US after their deportations in 2025, and it could come at taxpayers’ expense.
US District Judge James Boasberg, who has repeatedly butted heads with the Trump administration, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to facilitate the return of 137 migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, CECOT, in 2025.
Boasberg stipulated in his ruling that the government pay for the migrants’ airfare back to the US, meaning taxpayers are likely footing the bill.
Boasberg argued that it’s “unclear why Plaintiffs should bear the financial cost of their return in such an instance,” noting that “this situation would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them.”
The ruling comes as part of a nearly year-long saga during which the federal judge attempted to halt the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act in March 2025.
The Supreme Court ultimately allowed the Trump administration to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations in April but ordered that detainees receive notice and an opportunity to challenge allegations.
Boasberg has since been wading through legal avenues with the men in El Salvador, issuing a ruling in December that the Trump administration denied them due process.
It is unclear how many of the men will actually take the offer and return to the US, with Boasberg noting that the noncitizens “would be detained upon arrival” back to the US.
Quote:A US Customs and Border Protection supervisor has been arrested and charged with harboring an illegal immigrant who authorities believe may be related to him and with whom he was allegedly in a “romantic relationship”.
Andres Wilkinson, 52, was released on a $75,000 bond Thursday after making his initial court appearance in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas earlier this week.
Wilkinson, who has served with CBP since 2001 and was promoted to a supervisory position in 2021, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
The veteran agent, tasked with overseeing the enforcement of customs and immigration laws, helped his paramour, Elva Edith Garcia-Vallejo, cross through Border Patrol checkpoints during the time they lived together, according to the criminal complaint.
Garcia-Vallejo overstayed a non-immigrant visa she obtained in 2023, according to the complaint, which notes Wilkinson “was aware of her unlawful status in the United States” yet maintained a romantic relationship with her and allowed her and her daughter to live in his Laredo, Texas home.
Law enforcement conducted surveillance at Wilkinson’s residence between June and November of last year and observed Garcia-Vallejo and her minor child living at the home, according to prosecutors.
Wilkinson is referred to as Garcia-Vallejo’s “boyfriend” in the complaint, however, the document notes that records reviewed by investigators determined that the illegal immigrant was the CBP supervisor’s niece. Her father is the agent’s brother, according to the complaint.
Investigators interviewed Garcia-Vallejo earlier this month and she revealed that she had been “living with her uncle” since August 2024.
Quote:An immigration judge has dismissed the deportation case against a landscaper who was arrested in Southern California last year, and the father of three U.S. Marines is now on a path toward legal permanent residency in the U.S.
The June detention of Narciso Barranco, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1990s but does not have legal status, caught widespread attention as the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump’s administration drew scrutiny and protests.
Witnesses uploaded videos of the arrest in Santa Ana, a city in Orange County. Federal agents struggled with Barranco and pinned him to the ground outside an IHOP restaurant where he had been clearing weeds.
Barranco was taken to a Los Angeles detention center and placed in deportation proceedings. In July, he was released on a $3,000 bond and ordered to wear an ankle monitor.
In a Jan. 28 order terminating the deportation case, Judge Kristin S. Piepmeier said that Barranco, 49, had provided evidence that he was the father of three U.S.-born sons in the military, making him eligible to seek lawful status.
“I feel happy,” Barranco said in a phone interview in Spanish. “Thank God I don’t have that weight on top of me.”
Barranco said he is still staying mostly at home and not taking any chances going out until his legal paperwork has been finalized.
The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that it would appeal the judge’s decision, which was first reported by the New York Times.
Barranco’s lawyer Lisa Ramirez said her client feels “extreme relief” now that immigration officers have removed his ankle monitor and discontinued his check-ins.
Well, he was an illegal apparently so the officers had to detain him anyway. The issue here is if it was convenient for the government, especially after they had learned about his children being US Marines. IMHO and assuming they served the country faithfully, I wouldn't mind him staying in the US as long as he doesn't commit any other crime.
Quote:The Department of Homeland (DHS) slammed a federal judge in Louisiana Wednesday for ordering the release of four illegal immigrants, including ones with attempted murder and child sex crime convictions, from an ICE detention facility.
The four men all have disturbing rap sheets and have been released from ICE’s “Louisiana Lockup” at Angola Prison in accordance with the judge’s order, according to DHS.
“Judge John deGravelles, appointed by Barack Obama, released FOUR violent criminals back onto American communities, and unfortunately, the ramifications will only be the continued rape, murder, assault, and robbery of more American victims,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
The released individuals are:
Ibrahim Ali Mohammed, an Ethiopian national who was issued a final order of removal in September of 2024 and has a previous conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor, according to DHS.
Luis Gaston-Sanchez, described by the DHS as an illegal immigrant from Cuba with convictions for homicide, assault, resisting an officer, concealing stolen property and two counts of robbery, who had been issued his final order of removal in September 2001.
Ricardo Blanco Chomat, also from Cuba, and previously convicted of homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a firearm, burglary, robbery, larceny, and selling cocaine, according to DHS. An immigration judge issued him a final order of removal in March 2002.
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Quote:The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested an illegal migrant who was charged with rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse in Oregon, after the migrant was released on bail by sanctuary policies.
Manuel Cruz-Ramirez, who still faces the slew of charges, was not referred to immigration officers upon his arrest and release due to Marion County’s sanctuary status.
The illegal immigrant from Mexico was apprehended only because he was using a fraudulent Mexican passport at the Portland International Airport.
TSA and CBP agents were flagged when his falsified name did not return full data, according to DHS.
“Manuel Cruz-Ramirez was arrested for rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse in Oregon,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “The state’s sanctuary politicians allowed this pedophile to be released from jail back into American communities.”
In non-sanctuary cities, Cruz-Ramirez would have referred to immigration officers, who would have apprehended him before he was released from detention.
“Americans can be proud of the swift actions of TSA and CBP for protecting them and our judicial system by preventing this monster from fleeing the country,” McLaughlin explained. “Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.
“Oregon’s sanctuary politicians must stop this reckless insanity of releasing child predators from jail back into our neighborhoods to prey on more innocent children,” she added.
DHS also told Fox News Digital that Cruz-Ramirez had been deported from the US in 2018, though he re-entered the country at an unknown location and time.
He is now in ICE custody and his removal order has been reinstated.
Portland has been one of several cities where agitators have mobilized to confront and protest federal law enforcement.
On Thursday, Fox News Digital reported that DHS launched an investigation into an Oregon resident who was arrested during a traffic stop with knives and materials to make Molotov cocktails.
Quote:EXCLUSIVE: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called out the "hypocrisy" of the Democratic Party advocating for states’ rights in Minnesota after he was widely lambasted, and even sued, for his efforts to enforce the border during the Biden administration.
Abbott remarked that "hypocrisy is the word choice that really applies to them, because, suddenly, these Minnesota states, they want to insist on states' rights," during an interview with Fox News Digital.
In 2021, Abbott launched "Operation Lone Star," which deployed state troopers and the Texas National Guard to the border and funded barrier construction to deter illegal crossings. He was sued by the administration that same year. Abbott said that Texas’ struggle with the Biden administration is fundamentally different from the controversy in Minnesota and other sanctuary states.
"Texas insisted on states’ rights, but actually, what we were doing in Texas during the Biden administration, we were very simply trying to enforce the federal immigration laws that Joe Biden was refusing to enforce," he explained. "What we see in Minnesota, however, is total chaos, total anarchy, because what they are doing is not trying to enforce the law; they're trying to interfere with the enforcement of the law."
"My job as governor was to make sure we used every tool to secure the border, and it worked," he explained. "Joe Biden required Texas to take matters into our own hands because of the lack of safety that he instilled in the country. Look at the millions of people who've crossed the border illegally. Look at the criminals, the rapists and murderers who came into Houston, Texas, that Joe Biden allowed in."
"We are a nation that was built upon the rule of law, and the rule of law has to be enforced. When it is enforced, it leads to safer communities," he added.
The result, according to Abbott, was an over 85% decrease in illegal immigration in the state and a simultaneous over 40 percent decrease in fentanyl deaths.
Now, Abbott is running for re-election on a platform that he says will double down on making Texas a top destination for people seeking not only economic opportunity, but also "the opportunity of freedom to live their own life."
One of the core issues Abbott is running on is a plan to slash property taxes in Texas during the next legislative session. Abbott has proposed a five-step overhaul of the Texas property tax system that includes limiting local government spending growth to population growth or inflation, requiring two-thirds voter approval for local property tax increases, allowing voters to trigger rollback elections with a 15% petition threshold, capping homestead appraisal growth at 3% and expanding that cap to all properties, requiring appraisals only once every five years, and pursuing a constitutional amendment to let voters eliminate school district property taxes for homeowners.
Quote:WASHINGTON — A Colorado law that allows illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition should be investigated for “discriminating against American-born students,” a civil rights watchdog charges.
The Equal Protection Project is calling on the Justice Department’s Division of Civil Rights to probe Colorado’s Advancing Students for a Stronger Tomorrow (ASSET) tuition program, arguing it is giving illegal aliens benefits that out-of-state Americans don’t get.
Existing federal law prohibits higher education institutions from giving benefits to illegal immigrants that are not afforded to American citizens.
“We have found a number of schools and indeed statewide systems that maintain scholarships that are available only to DACA and undocumented students, thereby discriminating against American-born students,” William Jacobson, Equal Protection Project president and founder, told The Post.
“These in-state tuition break laws are simply a variation on a theme which privileges people who are in the country illegally over US citizens. And so we think that’s an important issue.”
Under ASSET, prospective students without lawful immigration status can quality for in-state tuition and financial aid if they meet two requirements: they must have attended a Colorado high school for one year and they must have lived in the state for at least 12 consecutive months before applying for postsecondary school.
In-state tuition typically provides a considerable discount. For example, one undergraduate semester with 18 credits worth of classes at Colorado State University costs $6,762.13 for residents, compared to $18,277.41 for non-residents.
The Equal Protection Project team stumbled upon the ASSET program while investigating scholarships at Colorado’s Metropolitan State University that appeared exclusive to non-white students. Some of those programs were specific to ASSET students.
“Colorado’s ASSET law crosses that line by conferring in-state tuition and related taxpayer-funded postsecondary education benefits based on lenient Colorado residence criteria, while similarly situated U.S. out-of-state citizens remain ineligible,” the Equal Protection Project wrote in its Friday complaint.
Jacobson’s group highlighted examples of how the DOJ has filed lawsuits over similar laws in California and Virginia, while contending that Colorado’s ASSET program might even be worse, because it has looser requirements to accept illegal immigrants.
Quote:Parent Teacher Association officials in one of the wealthiest school districts in the country hosted a training session last month instructing families on how to respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.
The virtual PTA session in Montgomery County, Maryland, was held on Jan. 20 and was headed by Councilwoman Kristin Mink. The meeting was titled “ICE Response & Organizing Tools for PTAs, Parents & Guardians.”
According to the National Review, Mink has previously hosted multiple sessions on ways schools can equip themselves with “tools to slow ICE down and protect each other.” The training guided parents on how to escort students with illegal immigrant parents, and encouraged volunteers to monitor ICE activity during drop‑off and pickup, and introduced ways to support families affected by ICE arrests and deportations.
During the session, Mink reportedly presented comprehensive “rapid response” guidance she had created and shared publicly three days earlier.
In one slide, Mink outlined how “White allies” could assist and support the community, advising them not to use whistles to counter “ICE violence,” which has become a widespread form of community resistance. She argued that White individuals should avoid using a tool that, in her view, reinforces authority associated with Whiteness.
“Especially for White allies, whistles can represent a subconscious desire for authority, protection, or control in moments of crisis,” the slide said.
“But rapid response is not about assuming authority. . . . When we question decisions made by those impacted, we risk centering our own comfort instead of impacted people.”
She added that “What feels ‘activating’ or empowering to some can cause stress to others,” noting that “Black and Brown communities are already overexposed to chronic noise pollution due to racist zoning, redlining, and disinvestment.”
Quote:TUCSON, Ariz. — The FBI announced Thursday it is doubling its reward to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance after releasing new details about a potential suspect.
FBI Phoenix said new "identifying details" about Guthrie's potential abductor have been confirmed after a forensic analysis of the doorbell camera footage by the FBI’s Operational Technology Division.
The suspect is described as a man, roughly 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with an average build.
Officials also specified the brand of backpack the suspect was seen wearing in a video released Tuesday, confirming it was a black, 25-liter "Ozark Trail Hiker Pack" backpack.
The search for Guthrie has stretched into its 12th day as authorities scramble to locate the 84-year-old mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie.
A U.S. law enforcement source told Fox News Digital Thursday that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading the Nancy Guthrie case, is blocking the FBI from key evidence, Reuters first reported.
The source said the FBI asked Nanos for physical evidence in the case, including a glove and DNA from Guthrie's home, to be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, but Nanos has "insisted instead on using a private lab in Florida."
It is unclear why Nanos may have requested the use of a private lab.
Since Guthrie's disappearance Feb. 1, the FBI said it has collected over 13,000 tips from the public related to the case.
Every tip is reviewed for credibility, relevance and information that can be acted upon by law enforcement, officials said.
Threat Intake Examiners at the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) and FBI personnel are supporting a 24-hour command post in which dozens of agents and investigators are assigned leads and tips to action each shift.
Quote:TUCSON, Ariz. — A federal law enforcement source has confirmed to Fox News Digital that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is blocking the FBI from obtaining key evidence in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.
The evidence requested by the FBI includes a glove and DNA found inside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona, home, according to information first reported by Reuters.
Federal officials have asked Nanos for the items so they could be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. However, Nanos has insisted on sending the evidence for testing at a private lab in Florida, according to the source.
"It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute," the official told Reuters, citing unspecified "earlier setbacks" in the investigation.
The unnamed official also reportedly cited "earlier setbacks" in the investigation and criticized Nanos for not requesting FBI assistance in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance sooner.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office is the primary investigative agency in the search for Nancy Guthrie, with the FBI only permitted to take part if requested by local officials.
The official added that Pima County has spent roughly $200,000 on sending evidence to the private lab in Florida, with which the department contracts.
"It’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology. Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice," the official said, according to Reuters.
The revelation comes as signs of strife between the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Office are beginning to surface as the search for Nancy Guthrie closes in on the two-week mark.
Earlier this week, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance footage of a masked suspect approaching Nancy Guthrie’s front door in the moments before her disappearance.
Quote:The latest alleged ransom note sent to TMZ in connection to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance suggests several people were involved in her abduction – and that one of them has fled the US.
In an email sent to the outlet on Friday afternoon, the sender said law enforcement should “be prepared to go international” in order to locate the “main individual” behind the baffling Guthrie case, TMZ reported.
The author of the email — the third one sent to TMZ on the same day — claimed to know the identity of the 84-year-old woman’s abductor and said he knows her current condition.
The ransom price for information about the case was also upped, from the 1 bitcoin — worth about $68,000 — to the $100,000 FBI reward.
The person behind the ransom emails said they are contacting TMZ as an “intermediary” because he doesn’t trust law enforcement, telling authorities, “You don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you,” TMZ reported.
The latest ominous ransom letter comes as the frantic search for Guthrie, mom of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, and her captor entered its 13th day.
Authorities have not identified any suspects behind the kidnapping, in which the elderly grandmother seems to have been forced from her Arizona home, leaving a trail of blood behind.
She was last seen at her Tucson home on Jan. 31, when she was driven home by her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, after having dinner with him and her daughter, Annie.
Local authorities have been asking residents within a 2-mile radius of Nancy’s Tucson home to check for any suspicious footage throughout the entire month of January — and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
On Thursday, the FBI released a description of an armed person caught on Guthrie’s Nest camera luring at her front door.
The alleged abductor is described as a male, approximately 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an average build — and was seen wearing a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack in the original doorbell footage, according to the feds.
Quote:Three people were detained Friday night in connection to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie shortly after a SWAT team with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department swarmed a home near the 84-year-old’s Tucson property, according to reports.
Acting on a tip, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a home about 2 miles from the missing grandma’s house and took two men — along with one of their mothers — into custody, a local police source told Fox News Digital.
It’s unclear if anyone is a suspect.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Police officials announced on X late Friday night a statement would be “forthcoming,” but didn’t specify what the announcement would be about.
The SWAT operation came hours after investigators recovered DNA evidence from somebody not known to be “in close” contact with Guthrie from her property.
The unidentified DNA was sent to a laboratory for analysis.
Guthrie — mom of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie — was last seen on Jan. 31 at her Tucson home, in which the elderly grandmother seems to have been forced out, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Multiple ransom notes have surfaced since she vanished at the hands of her self-proclaimed kidnappers, but authorities still haven’t identified any suspects as the desperate search entered its 13th day.
A local delivery driver in the Tucson area was briefly detained earlier this week — but told cops he had never heard of the TV personality or her missing mom despite the intense spotlight on the case.
Quote:A New Jersey jury Friday convicted tech boss Paul Caneiro of slaughtering his business partner brother and the brother’s family in their posh Colts Neck mansion, which he then burned down.
Caneiro appeared stoic as the jury read out their verdict, finding him guilty of murder, arson, weapons possession charges and related crimes after a month-long trial featuring nearly 50 witnesses in Monmouth County.
The panelists reached the verdict after roughly five hours of deliberations that began Friday morning.
He faces a maximum of life in prison at his May 12 sentencing.
“The jury agreed, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Paul Caneiro was guilty of all charges,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said outside court after. “I know the impact that this has had, not only on the family, friends and the community at large in Monmouth County, but Keith, Jennifer, Jesse and Sophia have waited for over seven years for accountability to come forward.”
“The rule of law prevailed today,” the prosecutor said.
Caneiro, 59, is accused of shooting Keith Caneiro — with whom he shared two businesses — on Nov. 20, 2018, after the sibling confronted Paul hours earlier about allegedly stealing nearly $80,000 from him.
Paul allegedly cut the power to the tony house on a hill, shut off the generator and waited in the dark for Keith, 50, to come outside, before shooting him five times.
He went inside the home shooting and stabbing Keith’s wife, Jennifer, 45, and then stabbing his niece Sophia, 8, and his nephew Jesse, 11, prosecutors claimed.
Then Paul set a slow burning fire at the home before returning to his Ocean Township hosuse where he turned off the security cameras before setting a blaze there too to make it appear he was also a target, prosecutors claimed. Paul, his wife and two daughters all made it out unscathed.
Paul’s motive was to silence his brother before it was confirmed he pilfered the money from his brother’s trust, meant to fund Keith’s life insurance policy, prosecutors alleged.
Quote:After years of backing the legalization of marijuana in the U.S., The New York Times changed course in an editorial published Tuesday.
In the piece, entitled "It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem," the editorial board stated that the U.S. "has recently gone too far in accepting and even promoting its use."
This is a stark departure from the publication’s longtime support of making marijuana mainstream. In a 2014 editorial, the Times argued the federal ban on the drug should be repealed, and the decision should be left up to the individual states.
"Prohibition has proved to be a costly failure, with harsh consequences for millions of Americans," the 2014 piece stated. "The criminalization of marijuana has been a boon for illegal drug markets and has disproportionately burdened minority communities."
Now, however, the Times is acknowledging that many of its predictions were wrong — and that marijuana’s legalization has led to more problems than anticipated, chiefly that its use is far more widespread.
A 2024 survey from Carnegie Mellon found that approximately 18 million Americans used marijuana daily or near-daily — a "a deeply disturbing number," according to Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst.
By comparison, 14.7 million people are daily or near-daily drinkers.
Between 1992 and 2022, daily marijuana use became about 15 times more common, according to the survey, which relied on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Jonathan Caulkins, a cannabis policy researcher who led the study at Carnegie Mellon University, pointed to some trends that may have contributed to the increased use.
"Greater use of ‘new’ product forms — meaning vapes, dabs and edibles, versus joints and bongs — are fairly longstanding, and I would guess that more likely than not, they probably have continued," he told Fox News Digital.
Quote:“Violent crime dropped sharply across America’s biggest cities in 2025,” Axios reports — yet another resounding validation of President Donald J. Trump’s unwavering commitment to restoring law and order. After years of chaos, skyrocketing crime, and soft-on-crime policies under Biden plunged the nation’s biggest cities into anarchy and disorder, President Trump took office on a promise to restore public safety — and he has delivered in historic fashion.
The new data confirms steep declines across every major violent crime category in 2025 compared to the prior year: overall murders down 19%, robberies down 20%, and aggravated assaults down nearly 10%.
These gains build on earlier reports showing America’s cities are now safer than they’ve been in over a century under President Trump’s leadership. The murder rate in the nation’s biggest cities has fallen to its lowest level in at least 125 years — marking the largest single-year drop in recorded history. Beyond murders, the nation also saw dramatic reductions in rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, shooting deaths (fewest since 2015), on-duty law enforcement officer deaths (80-year low), traffic fatalities, and overdose deaths.
This is the direct result of President Trump’s aggressive, no-nonsense approach to public safety. By surging federal resources to Democrat-run cities that had devolved into war zones, removing savage criminal illegals from our streets, supporting police and prosecutors, and rejecting the Radical Left’s weakness, President Trump’s decisive actions have turned the tide, saved countless lives, and restored peace to communities long abandoned by Democrat politicians who prioritized criminals over citizens.
Under President Trump, America is safer, stronger, and winning again — and the era of Democrat-inspired lawlessness is over.
Quote:Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, responded to the ouster of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as the chair of logistics company DP World after naming the Emirati businessman as the individual Jeffrey Epstein had emailed about a "torture video.”
Newsweek has reached out to Massie’s office and DP World for comment via email.
...
What to Know
DP World, a logistics firm based in the United Arab Emirates, announced bin Sulayem’s resignation from the company “effective immediately” in a statement on Friday—marking the latest resignation or ouster of a prominent individual who was named in the files.
Massie responded to the news in post to social media platform X.
“DOJ redacted information necessary to identify who sent Epstein the ‘torture video email,’” he wrote. “@RepRoKhanna and I first discovered his name and released it Monday. Today he resigns.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has also been a leader on the Epstein files release, also responded in a post to X, writing, “@RepThomasMassie & I called on DOJ to stop protecting this man & underact his name. They relented. Then I took to the House floor to name names. Today, he resigns. We will not rest until there is elite accountability for the Epstein class.”
The emails were released by the DOJ in the Epstein files, but one sender's name was redacted. Lawmakers have been able to view the unredacted files.
Epstein sent an email on April 24, 2009, that read: "where are you? are you ok , I loved the torture video"
The recipient's email address and name were redacted. The nature of the mentioned video is unknown.
Massie shared a screenshot of the email to X on Monday, writing, “A Sultan seems to have sent this. DOJ should make this public.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded later that day and wrote on X: “You looked at the document. You know it’s an email address that was redacted. The law requires redactions for personally identifiable information, including if in an email address. And you know that the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files. See EFTA00666117. Be honest, and stop grandstanding.”
Quote:South Carolina State University (SCSU) said a campus shooting on Thursday left two dead and another wounded.
The Orangeburg campus went into lockdown at approximately 9:15 p.m. Thursday following a shooting report in an apartment at the Hugine Suites student residential complex, the university told Newsweek. The identities of the victims and the condition of the wounded person have not yet been revealed.
University officials lifted the campus lockdown at around 5 a.m. on Friday but all classes have been canceled for the day.
Newsweek contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, via email outside of normal working hours on Friday.
The Context
The shooting highlights ongoing concerns about gun violence and emergency preparedness at American colleges and universities. It comes after two shootings at the same Hugine Suites student residential complex last October.
SCSU is a historically Black college where over 3,200 students are enrolled, according to the college's website.
As with many shootings in the country, this one may also trigger more debate about gun control, with New Hampshire state Representative Sam Farrington, a Republican, and the New Hampshire Libertarian Party discussing the shooting within the context of South Carolina state law prohibiting the possession of firearms on college and university property without permission.
What To Know
State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are investigating the shooting while the university’s Department of Public Safety, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office are patrolling on and around the campus.
Counselors have also been made available to students, SCSU said.
Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who is running for governor of South Carolina, called for prayer for the students, staff and their families.
In South Carolina, state law generally prohibits people from bringing or possessing a firearm on the grounds of colleges, universities and other post-secondary schools unless they have express permission from the authorities in charge of the campus.
It comes after SCSU suffered two shootings on the same day last October, during homecoming weekend, when at least one person was killed and two more were injured.
In the first shooting, which took place at the Hugine Suites student residential complex, a female guest on campus was shot and pronounced dead after she was taken to the hospital, while a male guest was wounded and flown by helicopter to hospital in the second shooting, , a spokesperson for the university told Newsweek at the time.
Both occurred during the university’s annual Homecoming celebration, the university went into lockdown then too.
Quote:With the growing popularity of “golden” visas among wealthy Americans, one country is expanding the pathways for those interested in gaining citizenship in this fashion.
Greece has introduced the “Greek Startup ecosystem,” expanding citizenship opportunities beyond just an investment in real estate.
Those eligible can invest around $259,000 in select startups listed on the country’s National Startup Registry in sectors that include real estate, defense and finance, according to the official platform Elevate Greece (EG).
“A strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship drives the public and private sectors to join forces through Elevate Greece and reach out into global markets, promoting Greece as a major innovation hub in Southeast Europe,” the EG website says.
Americans have been increasingly seeking second citizenship residencies as an “insurance” against global uncertainty, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Canada-based Mohamed Bennis, senior vice president at Arton Capital, a global financial advisory and consultancy firm, told Fox News Digital “golden” visa programs have become “mainstream” today.
“We’re seeing a clear shift away from passive real estate toward more active investments that directly support the local economy, including startups, operating businesses and private equity, with more risk but also more potential reward,” said Bennis.
He added that countries need to innovate and adapt to new investor expectations.
“Greece is playing to win, using popular residency policy tools to pull in tech money, while other countries are still stuck in red tape,” said Bennis.
“This is a country saying, ‘If you invest and build, we’ll make it easy for you to stay.'”
Quote:Dubbed the "Hawaii of Europe," the island of Madeira — about 600 miles from mainland Portugal — is known for its volcanic cliffs, stunning waterfalls and picturesque hiking trails.
But anyone looking to explore the destination's famous walking paths will be slapped with new fees this year.
With locals fuming over what they call overcrowding and potential environmental damage, fees have now been imposed on non-residents who want to enjoy some of the most popular hiking trails.
The stunning archipelago has become a beloved cruise ship destination. The Port of Funchal reached 700,000 cruise passengers in 2025.
"This significant milestone highlights the growing interest of the cruise industry in the region," reported MedCruise, the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports.
All hikers now need to book a 30-minute time slot in advance through the SIMplifica platform.
Non-residents will need to pay about $5.30 for the use of standard trails — and those trails used via a registered tour operator will carry a reduced $3.60 fee, according to numerous travel sites, including the "Hiking Madeira" blog.
The PR 1, Madeira’s most famous day hiking trail, takes visitors between some of the highest mountains on the island. After renovations to it, access to its trail starting in April will cost about $12.50 for members of the public and $8.30 for those who use the guided tours, according to "Hiking Madeira."
"I definitely get where these destinations are coming from. When it gets overcrowded it drives up costs for locals, and it kind of makes life difficult," J.Q. Louise, a Boston-based travel influencer and writer, told Fox News Digital.
In 2023, Madeira welcomed 279 ship calls, with a record-breaking number of passengers.
Business was booming — yet the trails were harder to enjoy.
Archaeologists unearthed over 1,500 artifacts, including coins and brooches at sites dating to early 200s AD
Quote:Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of ancient Roman marching camps in Saxony-Anhalt — a first for one of Eastern Germany's larger states.
The discovery was announced by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt (LDA Saxony-Anhalt) in January.
The camps were found at a site between the northern Harz Mountains and the Elbe River.
Pictures from the site show aerials of the field — as well as a cross-section of sediment layers exposed during archaeological work.
Radiocarbon analysis determined that the camps were likely established in the early third century A.D.
Officials say the site "documents Roman advances in the third century A.D.," providing physical archaeological evidence that had previously been missing in the region.
"Until now, concrete evidence for these campaigns had been lacking in the territory of Saxony-Anhalt," LDA Saxony-Anhalt said in a translated press release.
"In particular, the highly standardized marching camps that the Roman military constructed daily after reaching a marching destination were expected."
Archaeologists used metal detectors to unearth over 1,500 artifacts, including nails, coins and fragments of fibulas, or brooches.
They also uncovered remnants of V-shaped defensive ditches, a hallmark of Roman military camps used to prevent enemy entry.
"These are the northeastern-most Roman camps in free Germania identified to date," the release said.
Quote:The Louvre museum’s Denon gallery, where its most valuable paintings are displayed, was hit by a water leak on Thursday evening, though the area of the famous Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was unaffected, a union representative told Reuters on Friday.
“Due to a technical failure on the upper floor during the night, the area is closed to the public and a scaffolding has been set up,” the representative said.
A spokesperson for the museum had no immediate comment on the incident.
The leak happened in the room 707, where paintings from 19th century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th century Italian artist Bernardino Luini are displayed.
No evaluation of possible damage was available as of Friday at noon, the union representative said.
The water leak is the second in less than three months in a museum that has gone through a spate of recent setbacks — including a spectacular jewel heist, strikes and a massive ticket fraud investigation — that have put its management under intense scrutiny.
Quote:U.S. relations with Europe and Canada are still "extremely strong," the deputy commander of NATO forces in Europe has said, despite questions over America's future footprint in Europe.
In an interview with Newsweek, Admiral Sir Keith Blount played down fears of fracture between America and its closest allies, describing U.S. pressure on the continent over military spending as "an absolute rallying cry."
"I have absolutely no doubt that transatlantic union is extremely strong," he said.
The outgoing Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) spoke to Newsweek ahead of this weekend's Munich Security Conference in Germany where the focus will be squarely on how the White House has hacked away at decades of close bonds with Europe, tearing apart the certainty states had in their relationship with Washington.
Vice President JD Vance used last year's Munich gathering to berate the continent's leaders, accusing European governments of suppressing free speech - an early indication of the disdain the administration would continue to harbor for Europe.
"You can't make an assumption that America's presence will last forever," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth separately warned a year ago.
President Donald Trump has long indicated he wants Europe to shoulder more responsibility for its own defense; and most European officials agree the continent has dropped the ball.
But the way American critiques were delivered packed a real punch, as did the administration's insistence it must control Greenland. Part of NATO member Denmark, the American desire to control Greenland — apparently at any cost — undermined the very basis of the alliance for some of its members and observers.
The U.S. is by far the most influential member of NATO, having long propped up Europe by providing most of the alliance's most expensive military capabilities, such as space-based assets and intelligence.
NATO's nuclear deterrent also hinges on the US's vast arsenal of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons.
Panicked by the U.S.'s warnings, and the reality of what an American focus on the Indo-Pacific could mean for a Europe still contending with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NATO members quickly pledged to increase their own military spending.
NATO collectively agreed last summer to spend 5 percent of each country's GDP on defense, a figure that was unfathomable at the start of 2025.
Quote:U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Europe of a "new era in geopolitics" ahead of the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
"The world is changing very fast right in front of us," Rubio told reporters as he boarded a flight to Germany on Thursday night. "We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it's going to require all of us to sort of reexamine what that looks like and what our role is going to be."
...
What To Know
While Rubio did issue his warning, he struck a softer tone than Vance last year, as he also added: "We’re very tightly linked together with Europe. Most people in this country can trace both, either their cultural or their personal heritage, back to Europe. So, we just have to talk about that."
Rubio is heading the U.S. delegation to Munich, where he will stay for two days, before heading to Slovakia and Hungary, according to The Associated Press.
He said on Thursday that he is expecting to be asked about Greenland.
Trump’s rhetoric about America taking Greenland from Denmark has only toughened, and last month he announced a 10 percent tariff on the nations that opposed his proposal.
Meanwhile, multiple European countries have united against Trump in the name of defending Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty, including the U.K, Germany and France.
This is one of the many things driving a wedge between America and Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron urged EU leaders to increase reforms to boost the bloc's competitiveness against China and the U.S. just a few days ago, arguing that Trump’s push to acquire Greenland should be a wake-up call for European leaders.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for the U.S. and Europe to "repair and revive trans-Atlantic trust together."
Opening the Munich Security Conference, he said that a "divide, a deep rift" has opened up across the Atlantic and urged leaders to work toward a "new trans-Atlantic partnership."
He said that Europe’s "excessive dependency" on the U.S. was its own fault but spoke against "writing off NATO."
"We will (leave the dependency behind) by building a strong, self-supporting European pillar in the alliance, in our own interest," he said.
Topics on the agenda will likely include America’s nuclear discussions with Iran, the war in Ukraine and China.
Quote:Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue, shortly before the start of his competition.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters. “No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up. “I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
“It’s literally about the rules and the regulations and that in this case… we have to be able to keep a safe environment for everyone and sadly, that just means no messaging is allowed.”
The IOC had offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
Ukraine’s Olympic Committee, which supported Heraskevych in the case, said it was not planning to boycott the Games over the disqualification.
NO BETRAYAL
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
“They were killed, but their voice is so loud that the IOC is afraid of them. I told Coventry that this decision plays along with Russia’s narrative.
“I sincerely believe that it is precisely because of their sacrifice that these Olympic Games can take place at all today.
Quote:Feb 13 — Three Ukrainian brothers, including an eight-year-old, were killed near the eastern front line and a Russian drone attack killed one person and injured six others at one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports near Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.
The mother and grandmother of the brothers — two of whom were 19 — were injured in the attack late on Thursday, the local prosecutors in the Donetsk region said on Friday.
The ports are Ukraine’s key maritime export arteries, crucial for its foreign trade and the survival of its wartime economy.
Moscow has stepped up its attacks on both them and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and Kyiv has targeted Russian oil facilities, as US-led efforts to end the war stall.
“Russia launched massive strikes on port and railway infrastructure,” Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram.
Infrastructure belonging to a business as well as fertilizer warehouses and vehicles, including freight wagons, were damaged, Kuleba said, adding that the attack sparked a fire.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority did not name the port, saying only that it was one of the three around Odesa and continued to operate despite damage to infrastructure.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 154 drones in total and one ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight.
Air defenses downed or neutralized 111 of the drones, it said.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said that energy, industrial, and residential infrastructure in the region was also targeted after reporting earlier that the attack caused “substantial” disruption to power, heat and water supplies.
Ukraine’s major private energy company DTEK said the damage to energy infrastructure in the city was “extremely serious” and the repairs will take a long time.
Quote:WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump’s office said Thursday that she played a role in the return of an unspecified number of Ukrainian and Russian children separated from their families during the four-year-old conflict.
Trump “successfully united Russian and Ukrainian children with their families today,” her office said.
“For the third time, the US First Lady has helped facilitate the return of children to their families after they were separated because of the regional conflict.”
The statement did not say how many children of each nationality were affected.
Ukraine’s government says as many as 20,000 children have been taken from homes, orphanages, and boarding schools to Russia since the February 2022 invasion by Moscow — of whom 1,984 have been returned.
The Kremlin claims the children were taken for humanitarian reasons during fighting in eastern Ukraine, though Kyiv says they were abducted to be raised as Russians.
“I appreciate that Russia and Ukraine are dedicated to bringing back the children who have been displaced because of the circumstances surrounding this conflict,” Melania Trump said Thursday.
“Although all parties are cooperating and our communications remain robust, I urge Russia and Ukraine to intensify their efforts to ensure the safe return of every child to their families and guardians.”
The first lady, who is currently promoting a self-titled documentary, announced in October that she established an “open channel” with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss child reunification, leading to the return of eight children and plans for another five.
Her office said in December she helped with seven additional cases.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump jabbed at Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday — blaming him for a lack of progress in peace talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year invasion.
“Zelensky is going to have to get moving,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for North Carolina.
“Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky is going to have to get moving. Otherwise, he’s going to miss a great opportunity.”
Zelensky, with whom Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship, insists that he cannot make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that changes Ukraine’s borders — Putin’s central demand — without a national referendum.
Responding to Trump at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Zelensky claimed the Ukrainian people were “90% against elections now” because they feel it would be too difficult for citizens living abroad and soldiers at the front to cast ballots.
“If President Trump will give me [an effort at] pushing Putin [for a] cease-fire for two, three months, we will do elections,” Zelensky told Politico reporter Dasha Burns.
Zelensky insisted that “Russia is not not winning” the war and called on Trump to consider the use of “total sanctions” by NATO allies against Moscow to bring the war to a favorable end.
“President Trump made, by the way, strong steps. We are thankful to him on Lukoil. He put sanctions on Lukoil, [but] he can put [sanctions] on all their energy, on nuclear energy,” Zelensky said.
He also said Trump should tell Russian elites with property and children based in the US to “f–k away to Russia. Go home … They have a lot of real estate. They have children, relatives everywhere.”
Quote:Ukraine has developed a silent, undetectable laser that can take out Russian drones as if “struck by invisible lightning” — and all at a fraction of the cost of similar high-tech weapons made in the US, according to a new report.
Kyiv’s Sunray laser, which has been in the works for two years, was able to take out a small drone hundreds of yards away in an instant during its first test run in front of journalists, The Atlantic reported after witnessing the prototype in person.
“Within seconds, the drone began to burn as if struck by invisible lightning, then fell to the ground in a fiery arc,” reporter Simon Shuster wrote of the spectacle.
The test was the first time Ukraine unveiled the Sunray weapon, which had previously been called “Trident,” with the laser system emitting neither noise nor visible light.
The laser cannon could easily be loaded into a pickup truck, with its aim sight appearing no different from that of a hobbyist’s telescope, according to the Atlantic.
Colonel Vadym Sukharevsky, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, had previously touted that the Sunray was capable of shooting down Russian aircraft flying as far as 1.2 miles in the sky.
While America’s own laser weapon, the Helios, cost the US Navy $150 million to develop, the creators of the Sunray claimed their system only cost a few million dollars.
Pavlo Yelizarov, the newly appointed commander of Kyiv’s air-defense forces, said the military is expected to buy the Sunray for only a few hundred thousand dollars, a testament to the personal stakes of Ukrainian arms companies in the fight against Russia’s invasion.
“Many American companies are driven by money. For them, it’s a job. They do it. They get paid,” Yelizarov told the Atlantic. “We have another component at play: the need to survive.”
Ukraine has been rapidly innovating new weapons and defense systems in the face of Russia’s constant bombardments, which sees Moscow fire hundreds of drones every day.
Quote:American-born Olympian Eileen Gu scored millions from China in 2025 – a staggering payout exposed in a public budget before officials quickly scrubbed her name from the record, according to a report.
The champion freestyle skier, who competes for China, cashed in on a jaw-dropping $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau last year – a hefty sum that was shared with fellow US-born Olympian figure skater Zhu Yi, according to the country’s budget, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Yi – who renounced her US citizenship – also performs under China’s flag.
The fiscal report shows that the star athletes were also slated to pocket a jaw-dropping $14 million, or nearly 100 million yuan, over the past three years from the sports bureau.
The latest chunk was tied to qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics, the outlet reported.
The eye-watering payday came to light after China’s budget, released in early 2025, accidentally named both Gu and Yi.
The faux pas resulted in officials erasing both names from the record, but not before the mega cash hauls ignited fury among China’s cash-strapped public, whose social media gripes also mysteriously vanished, according to the Journal.
It’s unclear just how much each athlete was paid from the pot of money, though the windfall only boosted Gu’s already massive bankroll.
The 22-year-old, who sparked controversy during the 2022 Winter Games over her decision to represent her mother’s native China, has made a whopping $23 million from off-field endorsements and netted an estimated $100,000 from competitions, Forbes reported.
The two-time gold and silver medalist earned about $40,000 for World Cup slopestyle and halfpipe triumphs in January 2025 and December 2025, respectively, according to the outlet.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:The FBI has collected DNA from a glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s house, which may have come from the armed suspect seen at the 84-year-old’s door the night she disappeared.
The bombshell revelation means that investigators could finally have DNA evidence from the primary suspect in the Feb. 1 abduction of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mom, law enforcement sources told The Post.
“The one with the DNA profile recovered is different and appears to match the gloves of the subject in the surveillance video,” an FBI spokesperson told Fox News, which first broke the story.
The glove — one of 16 found by detectives — appears to be the one that The Post observed FBI evidence specialists collecting from a roadside about two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson house.
Investigators told Fox it appears to match the black nitrile gloves pulled over another pair of gloves, which were worn by the masked fiend who was captured by Guthrie’s Nest door cam. Sources cautioned that the glove isn’t confirmed to be from the suspect — merely that it looks like it could be the one he was wearing.
The glove — one of 16 found by detectives — appears to be the one that The Post observed FBI evidence specialists collecting from a roadside about two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson house.
Investigators told Fox it appears to match the black nitrile gloves pulled over another pair of gloves, which were worn by the masked fiend who was captured by Guthrie’s Nest door cam. Sources cautioned that the glove isn’t confirmed to be from the suspect — merely that it looks like it could be the one he was wearing.
FBI evidence technicians are now working to double-check the DNA results before running them through the national database of crime suspects to see if there are any matches.
It usually takes around 24 hours from when the FBI receives DNA to put it into CODIS, the bureau’s national DNA database, an FBI spokesperson said.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said on Sunday that the DNA results are still pending at a private lab in Florida.
Detectives prioritized certain DNA submissions, Nanos told Fox News, although he didn’t elaborate on what those are or which results will come back first. The FBI has said it will continue to provide assistance on whatever timeline is provided to the bureau.
Quote:The sheriff leading the search for Nancy Guthrie has admitted it could take “years” to find her, as the hunt to find the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie enters its third week.
With no arrests made and no suspects identified despite a massive two-week search involving police, the FBI, and promises of support from President Trump, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confessed to finding the case “exhausting.”
“It’s exhausting, these ups and downs. But we will keep moving forward,” Sheriff Nanos told the New York Times on Friday.
“Maybe it’s an hour from now. Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy,” he added.
The sit-down was the sheriff’s first media appearance in several days, but he offered no new information about potential suspects.
Sheriff Nanos, who has been criticized for the investigation, did say that investigators had found DNA belonging to someone not in close contact with Nancy at her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood north of Tucson.
DNA tests are also being run in a lab on two gloves found about two miles from Nancy’s home, Nanos noted.
The Post exclusively reported about one of the gloves being recovered by FBI evidence specialists.
He said he had “no way” of knowing whether the gloves were the same ones worn by a masked man seen in footage recovered from her doorbell camera on the night she was abducted.
Some 400 people are now on the case, and investigators are still “looking hard,” Sheriff Nanos said, as he reiterated his certainty that they would find Nancy and her abductor.
On Friday night, investigators descended on two locations close to Nancy’s home, shutting down a residential street and swarming a gray Range Rover at a nearby Culver’s parking lot.
The vehicle was photographed heavily by investigators before being towed away.
Quote:A veteran Chicago-area gym teacher was pushed out of his job over a two-word social-media post in support of ICE and calls the experience “devastating and surreal.”
James Heidorn, a “beloved” longtime educator at Gary Elementary School in West Chicago, came under heavy fire by hysterical community activists and local lawmakers when he wrote “GO ICE” on Facebook last month in response to a news story about local cops pledging to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“This process has been professionally and personally devastating and surreal,” Heidorn told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
“I’ve spent 14 years building my career, pouring my heart into teaching kids, building relationships and being a positive role model,” he said.
“To see it all upended over two simple words, ‘Go ICE,’ where I expressed my personal support for law enforcement felt like a severe blow to my career.”
Heidorn’s “GO ICE” posting had sparked an outrage brushfire in his heavily Hispanic school district, culminating with the teacher being placed on leave and then dragged in to meet with HR on Jan. 22.
The phys ed instructor briefly quit before rescinding his resignation later that day and was going to return to school the following Monday as the investigation continued.
But the torch-and-pitchfork brigade already had already been whipped into a frenzy.
Illinois state Sen. Karina Villa, who in September was caught on video chasing ICE agents down the street, condemned the teacher’s “disturbing” Facebook post while claiming she stood in “unwavering solidarity” with families who were upset by it.
Before the investigation even ran its course, West Chicago Mayor Daniel Bovey posted a video of his own on Facebook denouncing Heidorn’s pro-ICE post as “hurtful” and “offensive” to many in the community.
“The issue is we have trusted adults who are the ones that care for those kids when they can’t be with their mom and their dad,” Bovey said. “So to have someone cavalierly rooting on — as if it’s a football game or something, yeah go — events which have traumatized these children… that is the issue,” he said.
Bovey even arranged for a “listening session” for members of the school community — complete with a Spanish translator — in which parents and locals raked Heidorn over the coals, calling his post “cruel” and claiming “kids do not feel safe” as a result.
“This started with a two-word comment on my personal Facebook page supporting law enforcement—nothing more,” Heidorn said. “It wasn’t directed at any student, family or school community.
“Second, I was placed on leave and faced intense pressure before any full investigation or fair process could play out, with this it led to my resignation.
The Trump administration announced Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis is coming to an end
Quote:The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is arguing that President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in his state is already producing incredible results.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Operation Metro Surge, the federal law enforcement action in Minneapolis, helped recover some 3,000 migrant children who were previously thought to be missing.
"Do you realize that Operation Metro Surge picked up 4,000 illegal alien criminals? Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers — 4,000!" Emmer said.
"And by the way, I was told that, coming down here from the [House floor], that they've also located 3,000 missing migrant children. I mean, that's just in the Minneapolis area. You gotta be kidding me."
Emmer, who has emerged as one of Trump's most outspoken congressional allies during his second White House term, is also an aggressive critic of his state's Democratic leadership.
He accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison of rooting against the success of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
"Their crazy sanctuary state and sanctuary city policies literally have allowed these criminals to roam our streets and put our law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizens' — good Minnesotans' — lives at risk," Emmer said.
Trump ordered a surge of federal law enforcement, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to the progressive-run city in a bid to find and arrest illegal immigrants that have been shielded by its sanctuary policies.
The administration announced on Thursday that it was ending the deployment.
The federal operation in Minneapolis has been controversial at times and led to fierce clashes between law enforcement and city residents. Criticism or praise have largely fallen along partisan lines.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for added scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were shot during anti-ICE demonstrations there. Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent after being accused of hitting him with her car while attempting to drive away, while Alex Pretti was fatally shot multiple times by Border Patrol weeks later.
Emmer blamed the chaos on a refusal by state and city Democrats to cooperate with federal authorities.
"I don't care if you think they were in the right place, the wrong place, it doesn't matter. A loss of a life is tragic, but it didn't have to be this way," he said. "Had there been cooperation, none of this would have happened. If they will cooperate, which it sounds like they are now going forward, things are going to settle down very fast."
Quote:A supervisor at the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in the Dominican Republic has been arrested as part of an investigation into abuse of a US visa program for confidential informants, a current and former US official briefed on the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The arrest comes as the Trump administration has abruptly shuttered the anti-narcotics office in the Caribbean nation over what it said was a “disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust.”
Melitón Cordero was taken into custody as part of an investigation led by US Department of Homeland Security, the two people said.
They spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
There were no additional details about the arrest and messages to Cordero’s cellphone were not immediately returned.
Neither DHS nor the DEA immediately responded to request for comment.
Earlier Thursday, US Ambassador Leah F. Campos said she has closed the DEA’s office until further notice without providing a reason.
“It is a disgusting and disgraceful violation of public trust to use one’s official capacity for personal gain,” she wrote on X. “I will not tolerate even the perception of corruption anywhere in the Embassy I lead.”
Dominican Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Álvarez said the closure had nothing to do with the Dominican government but was part of an internal US investigation.
Every year, the DEA, FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies sponsor the entry to the United States of hundreds of foreign nationals who might otherwise be considered inadmissible due to their association with criminal activity.
Over time, many of the individuals, who are expected to assist investigators, become eligible for permanent residency.
Quote:Israel has joined President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace, the group announced late Wednesday in a post from its official X account.
“The Board of Peace welcomes Israel as a founding member of our growing international organization,” the statement said, alongside an image featuring the Israeli and U.S. flags.
The announcement follows weeks of invitations sent to governments around the world as the Trump administration moves forward with what it has described as a new international framework tied initially to Gaza and later expanded into a broader global initiative.
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What To Know
Israel had been among dozens of countries reported to have received an invitation to join the Board of Peace earlier this year. Its acceptance now makes it one of the countries formally aligned with the initiative as it moves from announcement to implementation.
The Board of Peace is part of a wider structure unveiled by the White House. That architecture includes the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is intended to advance the next phase of the U.S. peace plan, as well as multiple executive boards focused on diplomacy, development and governance.
While dozens of countries were contacted, several governments have declined to join. France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden have all said they will not participate, citing concerns about the board’s scope and its relationship to the United Nations.
The Board of Peace was initially framed by the Trump administration as a mechanism to oversee the next phase of its Gaza peace plan, including post‑war governance and reconstruction in the territory. Critics have questioned the involvement of Israel, given that the country remains directly involved in the war in Gaza and would be participating in a body tied to managing its aftermath.
Quote:The U.S. will send a second major aircraft carrier to the Middle East, according to reports, in a move seen as President Trump exerting more pressure on Iran to reach a nuclear deal in coming weeks.
The New York Times first reported U.S. officials saying that the USS Gerald R. Ford would be deployed to the region from the Caribbean Sea as President Donald Trump weighs whether to take military action against Iran.
The Wall Street Journal, CBS News and The Associated Press were among outlets that reported on the expected deployment of the second carrier, citing unnamed officials.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment outside of office hours.
...
It comes only a couple of weeks after the deployment to the Middle East of aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, along with three guided-missile destroyers.
Trump described that deployment as an "armada" and there is a significant US military build-up in the Middle East now.
The Ford was deployed last June, initially to Europe but was then sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean as part of a military buildup around Venezuela that preceded the capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump had told Axios previously he was looking to send a second carrier strike group to the Middle East if negotiations with Tehran failed.
Trump had warned of American intervention in the Islamic Republic following its violent crackdown on protesters at the start of the year and has said he wants a deal, likely to curb Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
Trump warned on Thursday that failure by Iran to reach a deal with his administration would be "very traumatic." and that regarding the prospect of striking a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, he added, "it should happen quickly."
"They should have made a deal the first time, and they got Midnight Hammer instead," Trump said, referring to U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear program that he ordered in June 2025.
The previous day, Trump held White House talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who wants Washington to press Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and end its support for regional proxies.
Netanyahu said that he expressed skepticism about the nature of any agreement with Iran but "it must include the elements that are very important to…Israel" and not just Iran’s nuclear program but "also the ballistic missiles and the Iranian proxies in the region."
Although the protests in Iran have waned, anger in the country after the authorities’ crackdown on dissent may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin marking the traditional 40-day mourning for those killed.
Quote:President Donald Trump on Friday told reporters that regime change in Iran would be "the best thing that could happen," as he continues to build up the U.S. presence in the region as part of possible weeks-long operations against the Mideast nation.
Reuters, citing two U.S. officials, said that if Trump ordered an attack, it would lead to a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the two countries. However, the two nations continue to seek a diplomatic path.
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What To Know
Speaking with reporters during his visit to Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Friday, Trump addressed questions about the growing U.S. presence in the Middle East, particularly after the president said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is relocating from the Caribbean to join other warships and military assets in the Gulf region.
"Sometimes you have to have fear. That's the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of," Trump said.
The White House told Reuters that the president has put "all options on the table with regard to Iran," but that he "listens to a variety of perspectives on any given issue."
However, any final decision will be "what is best for our country and national security," the White House said.
Two aircraft carriers have remained in the region since last summer, when the U.S. carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordow complex south of Tehran.
Any conflict would risk regional destabilization, as any strike on Iran would almost certainly be met with retaliation, and Iran boasts a significant missile arsenal, according to the unnamed officials.
Iran could strike at military bases in countries across the region, with facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.
Quote:A stunning documentary is exposing Vladimir Putin’s deep-rooted indoctrination of Russian schoolchildren as the strongman’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its four-year anniversary.
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” follows kids in a Siberian town – secretly filmed by Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, 34, one of their now exiled teachers – as they are transformed into mini Russian fighters, marching through the hallways and pledging allegiance to the Kremlin.
“We filmed undercover in Pasha’s school for two and a half years, knowing that any misstep could result in Pasha losing his freedom,” filmmaker David Borenstein, who co-directed the documentary with Talankin, told The Post.
“His courage is at the heart of the story.”
Set in the industrial city of Karabash – notoriously known as one of the most polluted places on Earth –Talankin filmed inside the local high school where he worked as a videographer, following life after a Russia Education Ministry edict installed a new curriculum aimed at pushing loyalty to the Kremlin.
“I love my job,” he says in the documentary, “but I don’t want to be a pawn of the regime.”
After studying film in Russia’s regional capital of Chelyabinsk, Talankin returned home to work at Karabash School No. 1 where he previously graduated from.
Armed with just a camera, he outwardly complied with the propaganda push while discreetly documenting it.
While Putin continues to wage his war on Ukraine, the school is seen transforming into a pipeline to the bloody conflict. Students compete in grenade-throwing drills, attend weekly patriotic lectures and watch classmates receive conscription notices, according to the documentary.
Shortly after the end of the school year in 2024, Talankin made his daring escape, fleeing Moscow for Istanbul, where he met Borenstein for the first time.
“For anyone that watches this, the message that Putin is delivering to the children of Russia is clear: prepare for a future of warfare and empire,” Borenstein warned.
“This does not end with just Ukraine.”
In one chilling scene, Russian residents are filmed parading through the streets during Victory Day celebrations holding portraits of soldiers killed in World War II — and in Kyiv — blurring the line between past and present.
Quote:China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday pledged to thwart "anti-China forces" after the CIA released a dramatic Chinese-language video to solicit informants from the officer corps of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
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What To Know
"The Chinese side will take all necessary measures to firmly crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by external anti-China forces and to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a Friday's regular press briefing. "The attempts of anti-China forces will not succeed."
The video opens with a PLA officer entering a military facility for a high-level briefing. "This is the world I am familiar with. Defend the homeland, protect the people," the narrator says. "Yet, day after day, the truth becomes increasingly clear: what the leaders are really protecting is only their own self-interest.
"Anyone with leadership ability is inevitably envied and ruthlessly eliminated," he says—language apparently crafted to resonate with officers unsettled by recent disciplinary actions against senior figures, including Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia.
In the next scene, the officer watches a military parade at home with his wife while their daughter colors on the floor. "I can’t let these madmen shape the future world for my daughter," he says.
"History tells us that those who win without fighting are the greatest victors. But these people who have never seen war are eager to throw us onto the battlefield."
The video concludes with the officer parking his car and accessing the CIA website on a laptop. "For the future of our country and my family, I have some important information," he types.
Quote:When you play the game of Kims, you win or you die.
Kim Jong Un’s 13-year-old daughter could find herself in a dangerous succession battle with her own ruthless aunt after the North Korean dictator appointed his only known child as his heir according to a new report.
Kim Ju Ae has been picked to lead the nuclear-armed hermit nation when her father — who is just 42 but was previously morbidly obese — dies, according to South Korea’s spy agency.
South Korean spies believes the teen, who is already as tall as her diminutive dad, has started her training to lead the Kim dynasty.
When the time comes, however, the teen may face a direct challenge from her powerful aunt, Kim Yo Jong, according to Rah Jong Yil, the former South Korean ambassador to the UK and deputy director of Seoul’s intelligence service.
Yo Jong, 38, holds significant political and military support in North Korea, with the dictator’s sister widely seen as the second most powerful person in a country where its leaders think nothing about assassinating a rival, even if they’re family.
“It depends on the timing, but I believe if Kim Yo Jong believed that she had a chance of becoming the top leader then she would take it,” Raa told The Telegraph..
“For her, there are no reasons to refrain from putting into effect her own political project,” he added, noting that a power struggle “is probable.”
Pyongyang has seen this before when Kim took over his father’s position in 2011, with the then-young dictator mounting an attack on his uncle and mentor, Jang Song Thaek.
Kim had Jang arrested on charges of committing “anti-party, counter-revolutionary, factional acts,” with the uncle found guilty and executed by firing squad in 2013.
Kim’s half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, the one-time heir to North Korea, was also killed when a pair of women smeared the deadly VX nerve agent on his face at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2017.
The suspects were foreign nationals dumped into thinking they were carrying out a prank for a Japanese YouTube show. However, the assassination was carried out as four North Korean agents watched from the sidelines, The Guardian reported at the time.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said they are closely monitoring Ju Ae, noting that it would be significant if she accompanies her father during a Workers’ Party Congress scheduled for later this month.
First appearing in public at a long-range missile test in November 2022, Ju Ae has since accompanied her father to an increasing number of events, including weapons tests, military parades and factory openings, according to Seoul.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:The arrest of the ex-Prince Andrew on Thursday marks the first time a senior British royal has been taken into custody in 400 years — and the last time it ended in beheading.
King Charles I was forced from the throne and put on trial — then convicted in 1649 of waging a ruthless civil war against his own people.
Charles I was exposed as a “tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy,” a court ruled at the time. He was then publicly executed in London on Jan. 30, 1649 at age 48.
Andrew, 66, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested on his birthday by Thames Valley police and accused of sharing official secrets with longtime pal Jeffrey Epstein, is the little brother of King Charles III, who took the name when he took the throne in 2022.
Previously, Charles III and Andrew’s sister, Princess Anne became the first royal to be convicted of a criminal offense in modern history.
She was convicted under the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act in 2002 after her bull terrier bit two children in Windsor’s Great Park in April of that year and was fined $670 for the attack and ordered to pay $330 in compensation.
Quote:UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had warned Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that “nobody is above the law” just hours before the disgraced ex-royal was arrested Thursday.
Starmer gave the seemingly prescient warning in an interview with the BBC early Thursday when asked if the king’s brother should dish on what he knows about his late friend, notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“Anybody who has any information should testify,” said Starmer, whose own position as leader has been tested by the latest Epstein files.
“So whether it’s Andrew or anybody else, anybody who has got relevant information should come forward to whatever the relevant body is, in this particular case we’re talking about Epstein, but there are plenty of other cases.”
Starmer said “everyone is equal under the law” and “nobody is above the law.”
“That is the principle. It’s a long-standing principle, it’s a very important principle of our country, our society, and it applies, and it has to apply in this case, in the same way as it would apply in any other case,” he added.
Starmer said anyone who may have details about violence against women and girls has a “duty to come forward” – regardless of status.
Andrew was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office after it emerged he allegedly forwarded trade docs to his pedophile pal Epstein while serving as a UK trade envoy.
If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Andrew has always denied wrongdoing over his links to Epstein.
Quote:The former Prince Andrew is accused of betraying the UK by sharing confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein and his pals — and files that were recently released by the US Justice Department culminated in his arrest Thursday.
In one of the emails from October 2010, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded official reports to Epstein, sharing the details of his visits to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam with the disgraced financier.
On Christmas Eve 2010, he also messaged Epstein and sent him a confidential briefing about investment opportunities in Afghanistan, where the UK government was funding reconstruction in Helmand Province, the emails released by the DOJ show.
“Attached is a confidential brief produced by the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province for International Investment Opportunities,” the email reportedly from Andrew to Epstein reads.
“I am going to offer this elsewhere in my network (including Abu Dhabi) but would be very interested in your comments, views or ideas as to whom I could also usefully show this to attract some interest,” the email continues.
“I have sadly found out that Gates Foundation doesn’t do anything in Afghanistan,” he concluded, referencing the nonprofit set up by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has also come under renewed fire over his ties to Epstein.
At the time, Andrew was a trade envoy who had a duty to keep trade secrets confidential, according to government rules.
Andrew and Epstein also planned to launch a business together in China during his time as trade envoy — after Epstein had been convicted of child sex crimes, other emails appear to show.
Business discussions between the pair, conducted through a liaison called David Stern, appeared to continue for more than five years after Epstein’s release from prison.
Andrew previously claimed in an infamous BBC interview that he had cut off ties with Epstein in December 2010.
In July 2010, Stern sent an email to Epstein discussing setting up a private wealth management company with offices in London and Beijing.
“We very discreetly make PA [Prince Andrew] part of it and use his ‘aura and access,'” the email states.
Andrew also allegedly used his trade envoy position to send confidential information to his close friend Jonathan Rowland, former chief executive of Luxembourg’s Banque Havilland.
Quote:King Charles III promised “full and wholehearted support” to the investigation into his disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while stressing that “the law must take its course.”
The British monarch released a statement soon after the former Prince Andrew was taken into custody on Thursday — his 66th birthday — on suspicion of misconduct in public office and allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein.
“I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office,” King Charles said in a statement.
“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities,” the statement continued.
“In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” King Charles said, adding that “the law must take its course.”
Neither the King nor Buckingham Palace was informed in advance of Andrew’s arrest, according to BBC News.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have also expressed their support for the king’s statement, the outlet added.
Police carried out searches of Andrew’s home on the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, eastern England, on Wednesday morning.
Searches were then carried out at his former address at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, west of London.
Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to the late financier and pedophile Epstein.
This is the first time the shamed royal — who has faced numerous allegations over his links to Epstein — has been arrested.
Wednesday’s arrest is unrelated to Virginia Giuffre, the Epstein victim who alleged that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew — claims the former royal has strenuously denied.
The arrest relates to Andrew’s time as a British trade envoy and is believed to be tied to the Department of Justice’s release of 3 million documents as part of the Epstein Files.
Quote:The family of ex-Prince Andrew’s longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre had a scathing response to his arrest on Thursday: “He was never a prince.”
The family heralded the bust of King Charles III’s little brother — even though it was not related to the allegations that he had sex with Giuffre as 17-year-old sex trafficking victim.
“At last,” Guiffre’s two siblings said in a statement soon after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was hauled away by cops in the UK.
“Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.
“On behalf of our sister, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, we extend our gratitude to the UK’s Thames Valley Police for their investigation, and the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The statement concluded: “For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”
Giuffre, who died by suicide last April, had for years said that pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, made her have sex with Andrew at least three times, starting when she was 17.
The then-prince, who was 41 at the time of the alleged misconduct, vehemently denied her allegations, which ultimately led to him losing his royal titles and even his home.
Andrew eventually shelled out more than $12 million in Feb 2022 to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in New York by Giuffre, while still claiming it was not an admission of wrongdoing.
Andrew carried on a relationship for years after he claimed he cut off contact — and long after Epstein was copped to child sex trafficking in 2008.
The charges Andrew faces involve his alleged disclosure of government trade secrets to Epstein and his pals while he was an official envoy for the government.
Giuffre recounted being trafficked to Prince Andrew in detail in lawsuits, police reports and a memoir that was published after her death.
Before they had sex for the first time in 2001, he commented, “My daughters are just a little younger than you,” according to the book.
Princess Eugene would have been 10 at the time, and Princess Beatrice would have been 12.
Giuffre added that they went out to a club and that Andrew “was sort of a bumbling dancer, and I remember he sweated profusely.”
That particular allegation led to Prince Andrew famously and bizarrely claiming that he could not sweat because he had a medical condition as a result of his service in the Falklands War.
Quote:The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Thursday over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein is “a huge blow” to the royal family, according to experts — who say the British government must move fast to remove him from being in line for the throne.
“Removing Andrew from the line of succession needs to be speeded up,” said Robert Jobson, author of “The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival.”
This comes after Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office while he was a British trade envoy.
Andrew has denied all allegations against him.
King Charles III stripped his 66-year-old brother — formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York — of all royal titles last year amid revelations of his association with billionaire pedophile Epstein. But Andrew still remains eighth in line to the throne, currently behind Charles’s children and grandchildren.
“The easiest thing to do this would be for him [Andrew] to renounce” his position, said Jobson.
But Lady Colin Campbell, who has written numerous books about the royal family, does not expect that to happen because it could appear to be “an indication of guilt.”
If Andrew refuses, a change to the line of succession would need to be done as an act of parliament in each country where the king is the head of state, Jobson explained.
King Charles is the monarch for 15 countries known as the Commonwealth realms — including Canada, Australia and Jamaica, which has already been making moves to break free. Each of those countries would have to pass their own acts of parliament to remove Andrew from the line of succession, Jobson told The Post.
“He absolutely should [renounce] to spare his brother and give him a break. This is a huge blow to the royal family,” said Jobson, who nonetheless does not think it will end the monarchy.
And even if eighth in line is a long way from being king, it’s the symbolism that matters, experts told The Post.
Quote:Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor has been released under investigation after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, Thames Valley Police said, signaling that the inquiry will continue even as the former prince remains uncharged.
What to Know
"I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office," King Charles said. "What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.
Police arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of misconduct in public office; under British law, suspects cannot be named at this stage.
Mountbatten-Windsor was escorted from his Sandringham residence as officers searched properties in Berkshire and Norfolk.
The arrest follows weeks of renewed attention on Andrew’s past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied wrongdoing and previously settled a civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre without admitting liability.
Police are investigating whether Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential documents with Epstein while serving as a trade envoy in 2010.
The Giuffre family issued a statement saying the arrest shows “no one is above the law.”
Buckingham Palace was not informed ahead of time about the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor, according to a spokesperson for King Charles III.
The FBI declined to comment to Newsweek on the arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor.
Quote:The UK is blocking President Trump from using its military air bases for a possible attack on Iran — because the lefty government believes such strikes could violate international law and doesn’t want Britain implicated, according to a new report.
Trump has already hit back by slamming the UK prime minister’s plan to resolve a long-running dispute over a strategically crucial chain of islands in the Indian Ocean.
The White House is drawing up plans for a possible military strike on Iran that involves the use of the Royal Air Force base Fairford in England — which is a forward operating base for America’s heavy bombers, the Times reported.
Trump reportedly spoke with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the plans Tuesday night, and UK officials were worried that giving the US permission to use the RAF bases for a military attack could breach international law, according to the Times.
Trump made a direct reference to the UK base in Diego Garcia — part of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean nearly 6,000 miles from Britain — plus RAF Fairford.
He said the military facilities were necessary to attack Iran if the Islamic Republic fails to reach a nuclear deal with the US.
“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.
“An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries. We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them,” he added.
Britain’s reluctance is reportedly the driving force behind Trump’s sudden U-turn on a deal that would see the UK cede control over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The deal is an attempt to resolve long-running colonial tensions over its control of the islands — but it would allow the UK to keep control of Diego Garcia and its strategically important air base with a 99-year lease.
The US uses Diego Garcia as one of its most far-flung outposts for bombers and other aircraft operating in both the Middle East and Asia.
Trump previously hailed the complex deal as the “best” version for Starmer earlier this month, with the Department of State backing it on Tuesday.
But the president withdrew his support on Wednesday following his reported conversation with the British leader.
“Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but prime minister Starmer is losing control of this important island by claims of entities never known of before. In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature,” Trump wrote.
Quote:President Trump kicked off a campaign rally in Georgia with a fiery defense of his tariff policy, arguing he has the “right,” as president, to set them.
The Supreme Court could rule as soon as Friday on the legality of Trump’s tariff agenda.
“I have to wait for this decision. I’ve been waiting forever, forever, and the language is clear that I have the right to do it as President, I have the right to put tariffs on for national security,” Trump said.
He argued the tariffs against countries like China and Canada were targeting nations that have “ripped us off for years.”
Trump visited a steel factory in Georgia to defend his economic record ahead of the midterm election.
The administration is trying to tout all its done to keep the cost of living at affordable levels in order to keep Republican control of Congress.
Coosa Steel President Andrew Saville, whose company manufactures rack storage products, argued that the president’s tariffs have been a “game-changer” for his business.
“We saw the tire rack industry really dropping off around 2010 … the tire rack industry was going to China. There were no tariffs. They were bringing them in and they were decimating the tire rack business in America,” Saville explained, with Trump standing on stage nearby.
“Your first term, we saw some things come back,” the businessman continued.
“The second term, about July, quotes, the orders … I couldn’t keep up. They were coming nonstop.”
Last October, Saville’s company landed its biggest deal in the last 10 years, which he attributed to Trump’s tariffs.
“This is going to keep our racks department busy for two shifts a day, six days a week.”
“Mr. President, what you’ve done for these guys down front, what you’ve for our entire economy, what you’ve done for all of America couldn’t be done without your favorite word: tariffs,” the CEO said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has gone more than three months without issuing a decision on tariffs.
Trump’s frustration was evident.
“I have to be in the United States Supreme Court for many, many months waiting for a decision on tariffs,” he said. “Without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now.”
Trump further claimed “people that are China-oriented,” with business interests in the communist country, were responsible for the lawsuit attempting to strike down his tariff policy.
Later in his remarks, he lamented again about the delay.
Quote:TUCSON, Ariz. — The hunt for Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, Nancy, has been doomed by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos’ ego and his vendetta against the FBI, according to a rising chorus of critics.
The high-profile case has seen missteps like leaving Nancy Guthrie’s house unguarded in the hours after the crime, baffling press interviews and a protracted investigation that so far has yielded no clear suspects or strong leads after more than two weeks.
The FBI is desperate to take over the investigation, but cannot unless the Guthrie family specifically asks, multiple law enforcement sources told The Post.
“It is a common belief in this agency that this case has become an ego case for Sheriff Nanos,” said Sgt. Aaron Cross, president of the Pima County Deputies Organization.
Doomed from the start
From the moment the “Today” show co-host’s mom was reported missing from her million-dollar Tucson home, Nanos — the top cop in Arizona’s second-most populous county — took center stage hosting press briefings with a charming, down-to-earth demeanor.
Nanos has been the primary source of information in the case, granting multiple interviews to news outlets across the country, and continuing to hold court with rambling press briefings in the aftermath of Nancy’s Feb. 1 disappearance.
His decision to move away from general briefings to cozy chit-chats with individual journalists has led to conflicting reports, confusion and a general sense that the sheriff is more interested in “damage control” than in clarity, as one law enforcement source put it to The Post.
“The sheriff turned a serious investigation into a rolling spectacle, from questionable decisions to shifting narratives and a disastrous media cleanup tour that raised more questions than it answered,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Leadership in moments like this requires discipline, not damage control,” the source added.
Betsy Brantner Smith from the National Policing Association said Nanos’ failure to provide regular press briefings has added to the confusion.
“This is Public Information Officer 101. I used to teach these classes. As a law enforcement organization, you have to communicate with the media,” she said.
“You can’t just stop talking to them or piecemeal out information.”
Quote:The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie’s assumed abduction has more than doubled to $202,500 after a mystery donor matched the initial $100,000 as the desperate search continues for a 19th day Thursday.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday that the local attorney’s office tip line, 88-CRIME, received the six-figure donation — dramatically increasing the paltry $2,500 reward that was being offered by local officials, according to a press release obtained by the Independent.
The FBI, which is also assisting in the investigation, last week doubled its own separate reward to $100,000 “for information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance,” making for a total of $202,500.
The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona while she slept during the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
The Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that it had uncovered new “biological evidence” that does not belong to Guthrie during a search of the Catalina Foothills house, and DNA profiles are under lab analysis.
It’s not clear what the evidence is, when exactly it was discovered, or whether it has been shared with the FBI.
Despite thousands of tips from the public and video footage of a masked, armed suspect at her front door the night she disappeared, investigators have yet to identify any suspects three weeks into the frantic search for the missing woman.
Quote:A convicted felon has confirmed being briefly detained with his mother in a SWAT raid over Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance — while denying any connection to the suspected abduction.
Luke Daley, 37, and his 77-year-old mom were whisked away on Feb. 13 when FBI agents and a local SWAT team swarmed their home just two miles from where Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mom is believed to have been kidnapped from her bed in Tucson, Arizona.
Daley was subject to two warrants, one on his mother’s house and another on his Range Rover, according to his attorney, Chris Scileppi, who insisted the pair had “no link” to Guthrie’s disappearance.
“Mr. Daley and his mother were both detained by law enforcement while the search warrants were being executed. Neither Mr. Daley nor his mother were arrested in connection to this case or any other,” Scileppi told 12 News.
“Mr. Daley has no link whatsoever to Nancy Guthrie and has no information related to her kidnapping.
“Like the entire Tucson community, both Mr. Daley and his mother are hopeful that Nancy will be returned to her family unharmed,” the attorney added.
Daley was likely known to law enforcement in the area, having served 18 months in prison between 2019 and 2020 after he was convicted of solicitation of drugs, criminal damage and flight from law enforcement convictions, 12 News reported.
He was arrested again in 2022 and later convicted for selling drugs and sentenced to four years of probation.
Daley was also arrested again early last year in Marana, a city northwest of Tucson, for possession of fentanyl and a gun. The state moved to revoke his probation, but a judge allowed him to remain in public, according to the outlet.
Quote:President Trump slammed the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance Thursday, but told reporters it’s time to pay attention to“other subjects” after weeks of national fixation on the apparent kidnapping.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Feb. 1, when a masked man was filmed at her Tucson-area home’s front door.
Trump said he was perplexed by the fact that authorities told the media they were flying a Pima County Sheriff’s Department helicopter equipped with an FBI Bluetooth “sniffer” to detect Guthrie’s pacemaker.
“I didn’t like when they talked about going after the pacemaker before they even started going after it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Georgia.
“If in fact they could do it that way, the person would say, ‘Well, I’m not going to let that happen’… I can’t imagine why they would have done that, just in terms of strategy.”
Trump added: “We have to start reporting on other subjects also and see what happens. It’s a very sad situation.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has faced significant criticism as the trail goes cold, including for using a private lab in Florida to test a glove found near Guthrie’s home, rather than to a potentially faster FBI lab. The glove contained an unknown individual’s DNA.
“It is a common belief in this agency that this case has become an ego case for Sheriff Nanos,” said Sgt. Aaron Cross, president of the Pima County Deputies Organization, a labor union that represents employees of the sheriff’s office.
The FBI has assisted in the case but has not commandeered the investigation, which would require their assertion that a federal offense may have been committed.
It’s unclear whether local or federal law enforcement leaked the use of the Bluetooth “sniffer,” which was first reported Saturday by Fox News. An FBI official subsequently told NewsNation that “sophisticated FBI technology” was being used.
Trump told The Post Monday that he wants Guthrie’s captors to face the death penalty if she is not returned alive.
The legendary “E.T.” director and California resident has moved to Manhattan amid a billionaire exodus from the Golden State — as voters eye a controversial wealth tax.
But the move, first reported by the LA Times, allegedly had nothing to do with the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.
“Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” spokeswoman Terry Press said.
Press did not answer queries about Spielberg’s stance on the proposed tax, which would slap a one-time 5% tax on individual fortunes exceeding $1 billion.
The tax, if approved by voters in November, would apply retroactively to the beginning of this year.
Proponents argue it will raise tens of billions of dollars to go toward the state’s health care shortfalls, while opponents — including Gavin Newsom — argue it’ll force skinflint billionaires to leave the state.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin wants to kill the tax. He’s funding an effort to build more opponents by appealing to California’s voting masses, who so far overwhelmingly back the tax.
Brin’s group, Building a Better California, has raised $35 million in its effort to protect billionaires from the tax man.
At the same time, he, other billionaires and tech titans are preemptively moving out of California — and also spending top dollar in real estate to protect their bottom lines.
Brin is shopping for a Miami home, as is his fellow Google co-founder Larry Page.
Quote:Russia changed up its roster of representatives for the latest round of trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US in Geneva Tuesday — as fresh airstrikes by Moscow underscored the steep challenges facing negotiators.
While all parties deemed the first two rounds of discussion “constructive” — in large part because of the focus on military over political issues — Russia drafted in top Vladimir Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky as lead negotiator this time around, a move one US official complained was “not a step toward a solution.”
By contrast, both the American and Ukrainian delegations remained the same.
Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich of US European Command, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll represented the Trump administration, while former Kyiv defense minister and current secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov led the Ukrainians.
Umerov struck a cautious tone going into the negotiations, saying Kyiv was “working constructively, focused and without excessive expectations” to resolve disputes over territory, security guarantees and implementation mechanisms, and adding that discussions would include “humantiarian issues.”
“We have the frameworks approved by the President of Ukraine and a clear mandate,” he wrote in a post to X. “Our task is to maximally advance those solutions that can bring sustainable peace closer.”
The talks come days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s 2022 invasion and amid a push for a rapid settlement to overcome deeply entrenched positions — particularly Moscow’s demand that Ukraine surrender remaining territory in the eastern Donetsk region, which Kyiv has rejected.
Over the past two months, Russia has lost more troops than it has been able to replace, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio estimating Moscow’s losses at roughly 35,000 in December and 30,000 in January — more than the US lost during the entire Vietnam War.
Ukrainian losses estimated to be far fewer — with units across the battlefield reporting casualty ratios ranging from five to 20 Russians per Ukrainian.
Still, Moscow has shown no signs of giving up its fight — launching 29 missiles and 400 drones at targets across Ukraine just hours before negotiations began, damaging energy infrastructure and leaving tens of thousands without power and heat, officials said.
Quote:The latest round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia ended after only two hours without any sign of a breakthrough as President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of “dragging out” the US-led negotiations.
Zelensky described the ongoing talks at Geneva as “difficult,” with the Ukrainian president alleging that the negotiations concluded quickly on Tuesday because Moscow was eager to keep the fighting going as the war approached its fourth anniversary.
“We can state that Russia is trying to drag out negotiations that could already have reached the final stage,” he wrote on X.
Despite mounting pressure from President Trump to secure a deal, the talks ended without any resolution or set schedule for future negotiations.
“As of today, we cannot say that the outcome of the meetings in Geneva is sufficient,” Zelensky said, suggesting that future talks could take later this month.
The talks have remained stuck on Moscow’s demands for Ukraine to cede all control of the Donetsk fortress belt region, which has successfully fended off Russia’s invasion force for years.
Zelensky has said the Ukrainian people, who would have to vote on any major land concessions, would not allow him to give up such critical territory to Russia.
Both sides have also failed to agree upon the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is currently controlled by Russia.
Moscow has demanded full control of the plant, rejecting a Ukrainian proposition for Washington and Kyiv to take over operations.
Trump has said that it’s up to Ukraine to secure a deal quickly, drawing criticism from Zelensky who claimed it was “not fair” for the US to demand Kyiv to make absolute concessions while demanding little of Russia, which started the war.
“Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive … me, they will not forgive [the US],” Zelensky said if he were forced to give up Donetsk.
Quote:Volodymyr Zelensky declared Wednesday that he has “trust” in President Trump and his ability to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine, but at the same time doesn’t under the commander-in-chief’s “painful” relationship with Vladimir Putin.
“I trust him [Trump] … he really wants to end this war, and I trust that he really can end this war,” the Ukrainian president said during an interview with “Piers Morgan Uncensored” posted on YouTube.
“But I don’t know, to speak about his relationship with Putin,” Zelensky added.
The Ukrainian leader explained that he couldn’t “really estimate or understand” Trump’s relationship with the Russian strongman but that it’s not a “question of trust or not.”
“[T]hey have some relations, I’m sure and that’s why for me, sometimes it’s very, very painful that his attitude to Putin is sometimes, to put it, more good than Putin deserves,” Zelensky said.
Trump has engaged directly with Putin throughout his second term in an effort to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The pair have held several phone calls and met in Alaska last October for talks that failed to materialize in a peace deal.
Their engagement resulted in a one-week cease-fire earlier this year that Putin appeared to violate just days into the truce — with a barbaric attack against a Ukrainian energy plant amid bitter cold in the region.
However, Trump argued that Putin “kept his word” and did not violate the terms of the deal.
“People are tired, yes, people want to finish with this tragedy… to end this war, as quickly as possible of course, but in the right way not to loose dignity in any way,” Zelensky said of the mood in Ukraine as the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches.
Zelensky noted that the next round of trilateral negotiations will take place in Switzerland, the site of the previous round, which is important to him.
“If the war is in Europe … Europeans, they have to feel that this is aggression against us and Europe … this why peace negotiations have to be in Europe,” he said.
The sides are “closer” on what the terms would be for monitoring a potential cease-fire, but have differing views on whether Ukrainian territory in the eastern parts of the country should be divided up.
Quote:Iran carried out joint military drills with Russia on Thursday in an apparent show of force as the U.S. continues to flood the Middle East with advanced jets and warships, leaving the door open to direct attacks on Iran.
As part of the drills, Russian and Iranian sailors rehearsed rescue operations from a hijacked vessel in the waters off southern Iran and the Indian Ocean, state-linked media reported. Among the forces deployed by Iran were "missile-launching warships," at least one Iranian destroyer, helicopters and special operations teams.
Tehran and Moscow—along with Beijing—have carried out joint exercises off Iran's southern coast for several years, but this week's drills are also seen as a response to U.S. military pressure in the region, along with defiant statements from Iran.
Iran carried out separate exercises earlier this week, briefly closing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The waterway separating Iran and Oman is vital for global oil supplies.
The U.S. has said it wants to clinch a diplomatic agreement with Iran over the country's nuclear program but has repeatedly alluded to possible military action against Tehran after talks in Geneva this week failed to produce a deal.
But negotiators made some progress, U.S. and Iranian officials indicated, although President Donald Trump's administration said wide gulfs remain between the two delegations. Iran is expected to come back to U.S. teams with revised points in the coming weeks.
Trump has not yet made a decision on whether to use military force against Iran, several U.S. outlets reported on Thursday, but senior administration figures have pointed to the president's track record of using the armed forces when diplomatic efforts stall.
Although deploying more assets to the region isn't necessarily an omen of an attack, a vast military build-up in the Caribbean preceded the U.S. capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. It is easier to carry out sustained operations against a target when deployed closer to the area.
The U.S. also previously struck three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last summer.
The U.S. has deployed two of the world's largest aircraft carriers, as well as missile-carrying warships and dozens of sophisticated fighter jets, to the region, according to open-source intelligence, flight tracking data and analysts. The White House is thought to have amassed enough firepower in the Middle East to carry out a military operation as early as this weekend.
Satellite imagery suggests Iran has placed a concrete shield over part of a facility linked to its nuclear program near Tehran amid work on several nuclear sites, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, referencing U.S. forces deployed close to Iran, said even the world's "strongest military" could "be struck so hard that it cannot even get back on its feet."
Quote:LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) – British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday condemned as “totally unjustifiable” the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country.
“We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family,” Cooper said in a statement.
The Foremans were arrested on January 3 of last year while traveling through Iran on a global motorcycle journey. Iranian state media announced their detention the following month over espionage charges and they have now been held for more than 13 months.
TRIAL WITHOUT DEFENSE
Joe Bennett, Lindsay’s son, said in a separate statement the couple had appeared at a three-hour trial on October 27, in which they were not allowed to present a defense.
“We have seen no evidence to support the charge of espionage,” he said, adding that the family was deeply concerned about the couple’s welfare and the lack of transparency in the judicial process.
Bennett called on the British government to “act decisively and use every available avenue” to secure their release.
The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sentencing.
According to a family statement, the couple have been held for extended periods without being able to communicate. They have had limited or delayed access to legal representation, periods of solitary confinement and delays in receiving funds for basic necessities. They also reported disrupted or cancelled consular visits.
Cooper, whose office did not comment on the disruption, said they would continue to provide consular assistance.
Quote:The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency said the US must secure a nuclear deal with Iran as soon as possible, warning that the Islamic Republic’s enriched materials are still intact and in need of monitoring.
Despite America and Israel’s joint airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year, Tehran still has access to highly enriched uranium, warned Rafael Grossi, the director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
US intelligence has repeatedly cautioned that if Iran’s uranium, currently enriched at 60%, reaches the 90% weapons-grade threshold, it would only take a few weeks to use the materials to complete an atomic weapon.
Grossi, who attended the talks between Washington and Tehran in Geneva this week, urged America to close the deal and rein in Iran’s nuclear program before war can break out.
“The problem is, we don’t have much time,” he told the French outlet TF1.
“Most of the material that Iran had accumulated up until June of last year, despite the bombings and the attacks, is still there, in large quantities, where it was at the time of the strikes,” Grossi said.
“Some of it may be less accessible, but the material is still there. From a non-proliferation standpoint, the material remains,” he added.
“That is why there is so much interest — I would say urgency — in reaching an agreement that would prevent new military action in the region.”
The IAEA chief said that war cannot be allowed to break out, warning that the conflict would throw the Middle East into chaos and make it that much more difficult to monitor Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has said he would never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and has threatened a looming attack on Iran that could come within the next week if the Islamic Republic fails to make a deal.
“If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. But bad things will happen if it doesn’t,” Trump said Thursday. “Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You are going to be finding out over the next, probably, 10 days.”
The president’s threats come as the US continues to build up its military forces in the Middle East, with a second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, en route to the region.
Quote:SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Thursday leader Kim Jong Un held a ceremony to unveil the deployment of 50 new launch vehicles for nuclear-capable short-range missiles threatening rival South Korea as he flaunted his expanding military capabilities ahead of a major ruling party congress.
In a separate statement, Kim’s sister, who is a key foreign policy official, acknowledged a South Korean minister’s apology regarding alleged civilian drone incursions, but said the North is bolstering border security against the “enemy” South.
North Korea has suspended nearly all talks and cooperation with the South since 2019, when Kim’s nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Trump derailed over U.S.-led sanctions.
Relations worsened in recent years as Kim discarded the North’s long-standing goal of peaceful reunification and declared a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula, a stance he may further institutionalize in the Workers’ Party’s constitution during the upcoming congress.
State media photos showed rows of launcher trucks lined up near the April 25th House of Culture, the venue of party congresses in 2016 and 2021.
The Korean Central News Agency said the vehicles support the country’s 600-millimeter multiplier rocket launcher systems.
Experts say North Korea’s large artillery rockets blur the distinction between artillery systems and short-range ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery.
They are part of Kim’s growing collection of nuclear-capable short-range weapons that are designed to overwhelm missile defenses in South Korea.
Kim, in a speech, said the “wonderful” rocket launchers are equipped with artificial intelligence and advanced guiding technologies tailored to carry out a “strategic mission,” a term that implies nuclear purpose.
He said the upcoming congress will issue new plans to expand the capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, which already has various systems targeting U.S. allies in Asia and long-range missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
In her statement, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said she “highly assesses” an apology made by South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young over the alleged drone flights but reiterated that the North would respond with force if such flights recur.
She said the country’s military would strengthen surveillance across the border with the South.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:An Arizona couple allegedly found a pair of blood-stained gloves and a rock with a dried blood droplet in the desert a mile from Nancy Guthrie’s home — days after she was reported missing, according to a report.
The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, stumbled upon the suspicious black gloves on the ground 10 feet apart off Campbell Avenue in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson on Feb. 11, KVOA reported on Friday.
“Sure enough, it was a black glove in the desert. It appeared to have looked like it was ripped. It also appeared to look like it had blood on it. There was two different colors. The blood was more towards the wrist side of the glove and on the pointer finger, it looked like it was ripped,” they told the outlet.
The pair reported the sighting to authorities, concerned the items might be related to the investigation into the purported kidnapping of 84-year-old Guthrie, the mother of NBC “Today” host Savannah Guthrie.
Several gloves have been found in the area around the Tucson neighborhood by investigators, possibly matching the same ones worn by an armed individual spotted outside Guthrie’s home the morning she vanished on Jan 31.
“It didn’t just look like a regular glove. It looked like this was a glove used for something that could’ve possibly been what they were looking for,” the wife told the outlet.
The couple didn’t dare touch either glove, fearing they could contaminate any evidence, but snapped photos and looked over the worrisome scene.
A rock, the second glove was lying on, appeared to have at least one blood splatter.
“And also from the glove it looked like a blood drop on a rock underneath the glove was like dried blood or something. We didn’t move it or touch it. We immediately were like, we have to do something. So I was like I will call the sheriff department,” the husband said.
Investigators reported to the area where the couple was questioned and then allowed to leave.
Quote:A US Air Force pharmacist and his husband are accused of stealing over $3 million from the Department of War to fund their lavish lifestyle that included purchasing a BMW, a Porsche and a mansion in Arizona.
Staff Sgt. Richard Stefon Ramroop, 35, and Manuel George Madrid, 32, were hit with a 12-count indictment for their alleged scheme to steal from the government between January 2022 and December 2025, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Ramroop is suspected of using taxpayer funds to purchase thousands of medical devices through his position in the pharmacy at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
After securing the equipment, the couple resold the devices and kept the profits for themselves, costing the Department of War over $3 million, Arizona US Attorney Timothy Courchaine.
Bank accounts connected to Ramroop and Madrid received over $11 million in wire transfers, Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposits and other credits from companies for the devices.
The couple used the funds to purchase a million-dollar home in Tucson in February 2024, along with several luxury cars.
Ramroop and Madrid purchased their large estate in the Tucson Mountains Neighborhood in January 2024 for $1.1 million.
The 5,622 square-foot desert abode features four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms on 4.9 acres with a double stair grand entrance and five-car garage, according to an online listing.
Madrid was named the sole owner in May 2025 and sold the property for $1.1 million that same month.
The alleged fraudsters also bought a 2024 Porsche Cayenne Sport Utility Vehicle worth $141,443.34 and a new BMW i7 Sport Utility Vehicle for $195,397.59.
Other cars part of their vast collection included a 2025 Ford F-150 Raptor, 2025 Mini Cooper S Convertible, 2025 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2026 BMW X7 Alpina XB7, and a 2026 Cadillac Escalade Sport Platinum.
Officials seized the cars and other purchases through a search warrant on Jan. 15.
“The defendants allegedly stole millions in taxpayer dollars from the US Department of War to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, diverting critical resources away from their intended purpose,” Courchaine said. “Every dollar taken through fraud is a dollar denied to the mission it was meant to support.
Quote:The identities of three ski guides killed in the catastrophic Lake Tahoe-area avalanche were revealed by authorities during an emotional press conference Saturday.
Authorities somberly read the names of Michael Henry, 30, Andrew Alissandratos, 34, and Nicole Choo, 42 — all employees of Blackbird Mountain Guides — as the final unidentified victims of the tragic snow slide Tuesday at Castle Peak.
All of the victims, including six “supermoms” who were clients of Blackbird, were recovered from the mountain on Friday and Saturday.
The California Highway Patrol airlifted out five of the nine bodies on Friday, including a missing skier who was presumed dead.
The final victim was found near the others, but a search team initially failed to see the body due to blizzard-like conditions on the mountain.
The CHP retrieved an additional victim on Saturday before high winds forced the National Guard to fly in a BlackHawk helicopter to recover the final three.
“There are no words that truly capture the significance of this loss and our hearts mourn alongside the families of those affected by this catastrophic event,” said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon. “The weight of this event is felt across many families, friends, and colleagues, and we stand together with them during this difficult time.”
Authorities on Saturday described the deadly avalanche as roughly the size of a football field.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump launched a scathing attack on Supreme Court justices Friday after suffering a 6-3 defeat on the legality of his “reciprocal” and fentanyl tariffs.
“I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump said in the White House briefing room, after two justices he nominated — Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch — voted against his signature trade policies.
“They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.”
Trump said that the three Democrat-nominated justices — Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor — were automatically against his policies and are a “disgrace to our nation.”
Chief Justice John Roberts, a nominee of Republican President George W. Bush, wrote the majority opinion finding that Trump misused emergency powers to enact the tariffs.
The president said it’s possible that Roberts, Barrett and Gorsuch were “being politically correct, which has happened before, far too often with certain members of this court.”
“In fact,” Trump said, “they’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs and the radical-left Democrats.”
He said that for Barrett and Gorsuch, the ruling should be “an embarrassment to their families.”
The remaining three Republican-nominated justices — Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas — dissented and Trump singled out Kavanaugh for praise, gushing, “I’m so proud of him.”
The president went on to say that some of the opponents of his tariffs who argued before the court were “real slimeballs,” in possible reference to Neal Katyal, former President Barack Obama’s solicitor general, who argued against the tariffs on behalf of two educational toymakers.
“These people [opposed to tariffs] are obnoxious, ignorant and loud,” Trump said. “They’re very loud, and I think certain justices are afraid of that. They don’t want to do the right thing. They’re afraid of it.”
Quote:California officials blasted the Trump administration’s plans to launch a full-sale investigation into unemployment fraud as ”purely political” — and blamed lost money on the feds.
The US Department of Labor intends to send a “strike team” to dig into COVID-19 pandemic-era fraud involving California’s Employment Development Department, The Post exclusively reported Wednesday.
California is believed to have lost as much as tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment payouts.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the Biden administration “turned a blind eye” to stolen money and vowed to fully examine the scope of theft that occurred early in the pandemic.
“This ends now,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
EDD officials told The Post they have already taken numerous efforts to combat fraud, launching more than 2,300 investigations and securing 670 convictions with the help of Fraud Special Counsel McGregor Scott, a former US attorney.
“The Trump administration’s announcement today is purely political,” an EDD spokesperson told The Post by email.
“The fraud referenced is the result of a program poorly designed by the federal government, which created fraud at a nationwide scale.”
The Department of Labor did not respond to requests for comment on California’s stance on the pending probe.
EDD officials said the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and the National Governors Association both warned that unemployment benefits programs were “hurriedly deployed” with no anti-fraud guidance, collaboration or technical assistance from the federal government.
“This left states to fend for themselves against international criminal organizations,” a spokesperson said.
“The issues from the pandemic are long over as the nationwide fraud against the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program ended years ago. It occurred because the federal program lacked the safeguards of traditional state unemployment insurance.”
Quote:His tax promise aged about as well as Uncle Sam’s complexion.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign vow to only ever raise taxes on the city’s uber-wealthy came back to haunt him online Thursday — after he threatened New Yorkers with a nearly 10% hike in property taxes.
Hizzoner repeatedly made the vow on the campaign trail last year— including in viral social media videos — telling voters that he would only push Albany to raise taxes on people pulling in the most money each year in the Big Apple.
“This didn’t age good,” one commenter fumed in the comments section of a widely-shared “Subway Takes” video in which Mamdani made the promise in June.
“I don’t want to pay more taxes,” Kareem Rahma, the host of “Subway Takes,” an internet talk show, tells Mamdani in the footage.
“Do you make more than $1 million or more a year?” Mamdani jokes with the host as he shakes his head no.
“Then your taxes are not going up. The only taxes that we are proposing are on the 1% of New Yorkers who make $1 million or more a year,” he says in the video, which has raked in 1.1 million likes on Instagram.
But after Mamdani threatened New Yorkers this week with a 9.5% property tax hike, the video started making the rounds again.
“This did not age well … Property taxes going up for all. Good job NY,” one user said.
Another commenter posted a meme declaring, “This was all a dream.”
Quote:President Donald Trump ordered an all-of-government effort to protect the District of Columbia’s water supply and slammed Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as a sewage pipe interceptor rupture in Cabin John has released an estimated 240 million gallons into the Potomac River.
The break was first noticed on security cameras off the Clara Barton Parkway just north of the District line Jan. 19, and within several days, crews from DC Water were able to segregate much of the spill into the paralleling Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, according to local reports.
The pipe takes wastewater from several towns in the John F. Dulles International Airport area all the way to Washington, where it is processed farther downstream at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Anacostia, D.C.
"There is a massive ecological disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the gross mismanagement of local Democrat leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland," Trump said in a Truth Social post late Monday.
"This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a bridge. It is clear local authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity," Trump said, referring to the newly elongated timeline and reported projected multi-billion-dollar cost-projection overruns for the rebuilding of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on the Baltimore Beltway.
The catastrophe affects the region’s other Francis Scott Key Bridge in Georgetown, D.C., as Trump alluded to the explosion in E.coli counts downriver from the spill.
"I am directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City," Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. "While State and Local Authorities have failed to request needed Emergency Help, I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone."
Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa blasted Trump in response, saying he has his "facts wrong — again."
"Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak. For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act, shirking its responsibility and putting people's health at risk," Moussa said. "Notably, the president’s own EPA explicitly refused to participate in the major legislative hearing about the cleanup last Friday."
"Apparently the Trump administration hadn’t gotten the memo that they’re actually supposed to be in charge here," Moussa said.
Quote:Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., received criticism even from moderate and liberal commentators for her Munich Security Conference gaffes over the weekend.
While attending the conference on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez made several statements that went viral because of showing the House "Squad" member struggling to answer foreign policy questions or leveling controversial accusations against other nations.
One example was Ocasio-Cortez claiming that Venezuela was "below the equator" while criticizing the Trump administration for arresting the nation's dictator Nicolás Maduro.
"It is not a remark on who Maduro was as a leader. He canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader. That doesn’t mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator," Ocasio-Cortez said.
AOC's Venezuela comments were the latest in what more liberal critics claimed was an embarrassing outing for a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
"Venezuela is above the equator. Depending on your TL you got very different takes on AOC’s Germany talks but she had a number of clangers that I expect to see for three years in meme video comps," Semafor writer David Weigel wrote on X.
"Whoever convinced AOC that she had successfully completed her tutoring and was now ready to give book reports about foreign policy in public really should look for another line of work. Unless the goal was to sabotage her. In which case: kudos for a job well done," independent journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote.
Political analyst Mark Halperin spoke about Ocasio-Cortez's comments on the 2Way podcast Monday, calling them "one of the bigger mistakes" she's ever made.
"I think giving AOC a slot may go down in history as one of the bigger mistakes she's ever made if she wants to be president," Halperin said.
He added, "It takes a major screwup for the New York Times to put in their story about AOC that she had, I think they said it was a 'stumble' or something. It had to be a really bad stumble."
Quote:The Godfather and Apocalypse Now star Robert Duvall has been hailed as "a giant" and "one of the greatest actors we ever had" following his death at the age of 95.
Tributes have been paid by Hollywood figures including The Godfather co-star Al Pacino, who said his "phenomenal gift will always be remembered".
Adam Sandler posted photographs from their time shooting 2022 film Hustle, writing: "Funny as hell. Strong as hell. One of the greatest actors we ever had. Such a great man to talk to and laugh with."
Viola Davis recalled filming Widows with Duvall. "I was in awe," she said. "I've always been in awe of your towering portrayals of men who were both quiet and dominating in their humanness. You were a giant... an icon."
The Oscar winner added: "Greatness never dies. It stays... as a gift. Rest well, sir. Your name will be spoken... May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
The Godfather Part II star Robert De Niro said: "God bless Bobby. I hope I can live till I'm 95. May he rest in peace."
In his tribute, Pacino wrote: "He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him."
During his impressive six-decade career, Duvall was nominated for seven Oscars and played roles including the mafia consigliere in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and a forceful army officer in Coppola’s Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now.
He only had a few minutes of screen time but his famous line in the 1979 classic, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", became legendary.
Coppola called his loss "a blow".
"Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning," the director said in a statement on Instagram, referring to his production company.
His Apocalypse Now character was originally meant to be even more over the top but Duvall toned it down and the name was changed from Captain Carnage to Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore.
"I did my homework," Duvall told veteran talk show host Larry King in 2015. "I did my research.”
Quote:The British government is pushing legislation to permanently remove the former Prince Andrew from the line of succession.
The move will stop any chance the ex-royal, now simply known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, may one day become King of England.
Political leaders across Britain — from Labour to Conservative to Liberal Democrat — are lining up to deliver another blow in Andrew’s spectacular fall from grace, according to the BBC.
As of now, Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, remains eighth in line to the throne despite being stripped of his titles in October due to his ties to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, explosive connections that have become an escalating thorn in the royal family’s side and culminated in his Thursday arrest.
Defense Minister Luke Pollard told the BBC that taking Andrew out of the line of succession was the “right thing to do” and that the government had “absolutely” been working with Buckingham Palace to stop the former prince from “potentially being a heartbeat away from the throne.”
The move would require an act of Parliament. The case will then go to King Charles for his approval.
The last time someone was removed from the line of succession by an act of Parliament was in 1936, when King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. The body made sure neither he nor his descendants could ever undo the decision.
London police arrested Andrew on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in office following weeks of new revelations about his dealings with the convicted sex offender.
He was released from police custody 11 hours later — “under investigation,” as Thames Valley Police said later in a statement, meaning he has been neither charged nor exonerated.
King Charles III vowed his full support for police, stressing “the law must take its course.”
Quote:PARIS — French police searched the Arab World Institute in Paris on Monday as part of a probe into its former head, ex-culture minister Jack Lang, and his links to late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prosecutors said.
France’s National Financial Prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement that the Arab World Institute was among several locations being raided.
Prosecutors this month opened a preliminary investigation of Lang and his daughter Caroline on suspicion of tax fraud following the release of documents on Epstein in the US.
Lang, who was culture minister under late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, resigned this month from the Arab World Institute, which he had led since 2013.
He has said he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes despite corresponding with him between 2012 and 2019, 11 years after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Epstein died in prison by suicide in 2019.
The Institute, which is overseen by France’s foreign ministry, said it could not immediately comment on the police action.
Both Jack and Caroline Lang have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and receiving financial benefits from Epstein. Their lawyer Laurent Merlet told French broadcaster BFMTV this month that “there was no movement of funds.”
Fallout from the release of millions of new documents related to Epstein has rippled through Europe. On Saturday, Paris prosecutors set up a dedicated team to review the files, coordinating with the financial prosecutor and national police.
The office said it was analyzing several potential cases stemming from the Epstein files.
Quote:PARIS — French police investigating the beating of a far-right militant who died of brain injuries have arrested 11 people, prosecutors said Wednesday, in a case adding fuel to long-standing divides in French politics ahead of presidential elections in 2027.
Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old student described as a fervent nationalist, died in a hospital on Saturday.
He was beaten two days earlier by a group of people in the city of Lyon, in fighting that erupted between far-left and far-right supporters on the margins of a student meeting where a far-left lawmaker, Rima Hassan, was a keynote speaker.
An autopsy found that Deranque suffered a fractured skull and fatal brain injuries, according to Lyon’s prosecutor, Thierry Dran.
He launched the police investigation for homicide and other potential criminal charges.
Dran’s office said police detained a man and a woman on Wednesday morning, with nine other people taken into custody on Tuesday night.
Hassan, a French-Palestinian who was born in a Syrian refugee camp, is a European Parliament lawmaker for the far-left France Unbowed party. In a post on X after the attack on Deranque but before he died of his injuries, Hassan expressed “horror” over the violence and condemned it.
Deranque’s death triggered a storm of recriminations, mostly targeting France Unbowed.
Its opponents accuse it of fueling violence and tensions with its combative politics.
The party is led by veteran hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a former Trotskyist who stood for the presidency in 2012, 2017 and 2022 and failed to advance to the decisive run-off round.
He is preparing for another expected run next year, when President Emmanuel Macron’s second and last term ends.
Mélenchon insisted Tuesday that France Unbowed bore no blame for the tragedy in Lyon, saying: “We have absolutely nothing to do, either directly or indirectly, with the death of this young Deranque.”
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is having a bombed-out passenger train car roll into Kyiv Tuesday as a symbol of the war’s deadly toll — as he greets world leaders on the grim four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Five civilians were killed and 18 wounded in a Russian drone attack near Kharkiv last month that blew the roof of the same passenger train and set it ablaze — leaving it charred in pieces in what was called a blatant act of terrorism.
“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be considered in exactly the same way — purely as terrorism,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said after the Jan. 27 strike. “There is not and cannot be any military purpose in this.”
The train car is being held together by a metal wire.
Zelensky vowed this weekend that, despite the odds, Kyiv was “definitely” not losing the war, as his country launched devastating cruise missiles that struck one of Russia’s main weapons factories.
The attack on the Kremlin-owned Votkinsk machine building plant — a manufacturer of strongman Vladimir Putin‘s ballistic missiles that sits 860 miles deep inside Russia — marked the deepest Ukrainian strike into Russian territory using domestically made weapons.
Kyiv fired Flamingo missiles, which can reportedly travel nearly 1,900 miles — even further than the coveted US Tomahawk missiles Ukraine had desperately tried to purchase from the Trump administration.
Black smoke was seen rising from the plant, as Russian locals reportedly heard at least three blasts during the night into Saturday, and windows shattered in nearby buildings.
Zelensky, meanwhile, announced from Kyiv’s presidential palace that his forces had liberated more than 100 miles of Russian-occupied territory in a counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine.
“You can’t say that we’re losing the war,” Zelensky told the AFP in an exclusive interview Friday. “Honestly, we’re definitely not losing it, definitely.”
“The question is whether we will win,” he added. “That is the question — but it’s a very costly question.”
Trilateral talks between the warring sides and the US in Geneva earlier this week failed to make any progress.
Quote:Iran re-positioned strike drones and other military assets under the cover of joint drills with Russia in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, a defense expert claimed.
In what he described as a “calculated escalation” amid rising tensions with the U.S., Cameron Chell said Iran’s latest move also followed reports of sightings of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones with precision strike capabilities in the region.
“The Russian drills would cover for the Iranian forces to move their drones into strike position,” Chell, of defense firm Draganfly, told Fox News Digital.
“They’ve gone under the veil of doing the military exercises, which happened to be along the coastline, and this is an escalation.”
The combined exercises, reported by The Associated Press, also came as President Donald Trump pressed Iran further to make a deal to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions following indirect talks in Geneva.
“We’re going to make a deal, or we’re going to get a deal one way or the other,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, signaling determination to secure an agreement.
Meanwhile, on Feb. 18, U.S. Central Command posted photos showing F/A-18 Super Hornets landing on the decks of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.
Flight-tracking data in recent days also showed U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones operating near Iran’s coastline.
One Triton was observed Feb. 14 and another on Feb. 18, conducting high-altitude maritime intelligence missions over the Gulf.
“The U.S. deployed an MQ Triton drone, which is a surveillance drone, so it does not have strike capability, and it typically flies at around 50,000 feet,” Chell said.
He added the drones would likely launch from land bases in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar and provide real-time situational awareness to naval commanders.
“These drones can guide the U.S. on Iranian forces performing exercises with the Russians and where they might be moving equipment to,” Chell said before describing how they fly them “at an altitude so that the Iranians can see it so they become a deterrent.”
Chell also said an MQ-9 Reaper drone was deployed, which he said can fly between 25,000 and 40,000 feet.
“This has strike capability, but Iranians do not have great capability to take these down,” he added.
Quote:Hamas appears to be turning its back on the US-brokered peace plan for Gaza, saying it will only accept an international force in the Strip as long as it doesn’t interfere with the terror group’s “internal affairs.”
“Our position on international forces is clear: we want peacekeeping forces that monitor the ceasefire, ensure its implementation, and act as a buffer between the occupation army and our people in the Gaza Strip, without interfering in Gaza’s internal affairs,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP.
An International Stabilization Force is one of the key features of President Trump’s 20-point plan for the reconstruction of war-torn Gaza — geared toward removing Hamas from the governance of the region.
Both Israel and Hamas signed off on the cease-fire agreement, effectively ending the war in Gaza, in October 2025.
That plan called for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages and the gradual withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from areas it had seized inside Gaza.
The remains of the final captive, Sgt. Ran Gvili, were turned over to Israeli authorities in late January.
The deal also calls for Hamas to disarm, Gaza to be completely demilitarized, and the Strip ruled by a technocratic committee that ultimately reports to the Board of Peace, an international group chaired by President Trump.
Five countries are sending troops to Gaza as part of the ISF, including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania, while Egypt and Jordan have committed to training a Palestinian police force inside the strip, ISF Cmdr. Jasper Jeffers said.
The 20,000-troop force will initially be deployed to Rafah in Southern Gaza, and help train an expected 1,200 police officers. They will then deploy to the rest of the Strip “sector by sector,” Jeffers said.
But Hamas and Israel have continued to trade attacks along the Strip despite the tenuous cease-fire, with the terror group committing daily violations of the truce, the IDF has claimed.
“We see them test our troops. We see them carrying out attacks every week … [Hamas] injured and killed soldiers since the ceasefire began,” IDF Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told The Post.
Quote:Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight Hezbollah terrorists, including a top commander, and injured dozens more in Lebanon, while the terror group has reportedly been taken over by Tehran.
The Israel Defense Forces targeted three command centers in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley where the terror organization has a strong presence, according to the Times of Israel.
Hezbollah confirmed that at least eight of their members had been killed, including a senior field commander, while 50 more were injured Friday.
The attack comes as Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has apparently exerted control over the Iranian-backed terror proxy, as the Islamic Republic prepares for a possible war with the US and Israel, the Times of Israel reported Saturday, according to Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya.
The IRGC officers have been ordered to rebuild Hezbollah’s military capabilities and have been personally briefing the group’s terrorists across Lebanon, sources told the outlet.
Officials with Hezbollah slammed the Israeli attack on Friday as a “massacre.”
“What happened yesterday in the Beqaa is a new massacre and a new aggression, exceeding all the previous levels of aggression against Lebanon,” senior Hezbollah leader and Lebanese parliament member Mahmoud Qamati said during a speech broadcast Saturday.
Israel said the attack was in response to repeated violations of a cease-fire with the Hezbollah, Al Jazeera reported.
The Lebanese Army has been pushing since September to disarm Hezbollah — though the terror group rejected the government’s plan last week, according to Reuters.
The Jewish state has repeatedly said it will continue to prevent cross-border threats with military action, the outlet reported.
Quote:Beni Mellal – A British columnist has accused Western animal rights campaigners of imposing colonial double standards on Morocco over its alleged handling of stray dogs, as Morocco rolls out a $100 million national program built on sterilization, vaccination, and purpose-built shelters.
Writing in The Spectator on Wednesday, Ross Clark argued that the international outcry against Morocco “exposes a Western moral blindspot,” taking particular aim at what he called “mawkish sentimentality” driving campaigns that expect the rest of the world to mirror Western attitudes toward dogs.
“No civilized country would tolerate several million stray dogs on the streets,” Clark wrote, noting that stray dogs in Britain are routinely captured and, if unclaimed, euthanized – the very outcome “enlightened” Western campaigners condemn Morocco for pursuing.
The controversy escalated after Morocco secured co-hosting rights for the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, prompting the International Animal Coalition to launch a campaign against what it described as a mass cull.
Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall wrote to FIFA in January 2025 urging it to pressure Morocco, warning of a planned “massacre of three million stray dogs.” Actor Mark Ruffalo called the claimed killings “a moral failure,” declaring that “killing millions of dogs to prepare for a global sporting event is not progress.”
Clark was unsparing in his assessment of Ruffalo’s intervention. “This is a little odd,” he wrote, noting that the same actor “seems to have no problem with the culling of unwanted members of his own species” – a reference to Ruffalo’s vocal support for abortion rights.
“That just about sums up the deep moral confusion of western liberals,” Clark concluded. “A campaign to cull 3 million dogs? An outrage. But an estimated 73 million abortions of humans around the world each year? It doesn’t even register with their consciences.”
The reality on the ground defies Western sentiment
Morocco denied the accusations categorically. Mohamed Roudani, Head of the Department of Health Preservation and Green Spaces at the General Directorate of Territorial Communities, told reporters in February 2025 the claims were “completely unfounded,” stating flatly: “There is no campaign to eradicate stray dogs.”
A Reuters fact-check later debunked a viral photograph circulated as supposed evidence of killings in Morocco – the image, showing a man pointing a gun at a dog, was taken in Iraq in 2008, not Morocco.
Clark framed the campaign as symptomatic of two distinct Western tendencies. The first, he argued, was sentimental: “Just because westerners have adopted them as pets, and fawn over them, we expect the rest of the world to do the same and become morally outraged if they do not.”
The second was structural: a long-standing Western habit of expecting people in developing countries “to live in close proximity to all kinds of dangerous and poisonous species – while we live peacefully and securely in landscapes which have been largely tamed of dangerous wildlife since medieval times.”
He further argued that the campaign against Morocco “ought to attract the attention of the decolonialization brigade,” asking: “How dare western sentimentalists try to lecture a developing country on how to deal with feral animals, especially in a Muslim country which has a very different cultural connection with dogs.” That the same voices who champion decolonization remain silent on this, Clark suggested, reveals the selective nature of their principles.
The public health dimension underpins Morocco’s urgency. Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit disclosed that in 2024 alone, Morocco recorded over 100,000 cases of bites and scratches, 33 deaths from rabies, 432 cases of hydatid disease, and 64 cases of visceral leishmaniasis.
According to the Moroccan Society for the Protection of Animals and Nature, over two million stray dogs currently roam the country, served by only 14 animal shelters.
Since 2019, the Interior Ministry has operated a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Health, ONSSA, and the National Order of Veterinarians, centered on the Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release (TNVR) method.
Some MAD 260 million ($26 million) has been spent over five years on sterilization and shelter infrastructure. More than 20 centers have been planned, with facilities already operating or nearing completion in Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakech, Agadir, Oujda, and Rabat.
Quote:Feb 19 (Reuters) - Venezuela's ruling party-controlled legislature on Thursday approved a limited amnesty bill that human rights organizations say falls short of offering relief for hundreds of political prisoners in the country.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, has bowed to Trump administration demands on oil sales and released hundreds of people who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalization of relations between the countries.
The government has always denied holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes.
The law was approved after a second debate in the legislature, headed by Rodriguez's brother Jorge Rodriguez.
The approved law provides amnesty for involvement in political protests and "violent actions" which took place during a brief coup in 2002 and demonstrations or elections in certain months of 2004, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025. People convicted of "military rebellion" for involvement in events in 2019 are excluded.
The law does not detail the exact crimes which would be eligible for amnesty, though a previous draft laid out several - including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, rebellion and treason.
It also does not return assets of those detained, revoke public office bans given for political reasons or cancel sanctions against media outlets, as at least one previous draft would have.
Many members of the opposition and dissident former officials live in other countries to escape arrest warrants they say are politically motivated.
Though the law allows people abroad to appoint a lawyer to present an amnesty request on their behalf, they would have to appear in person in Venezuela to have it granted and the law will only cover "people who have ceased the execution of the actions which constitute crimes," a specification which may leave out many who have continued their activism from other countries. The law removes international arrest warrants for those granted amnesty.
Tribunals must decide on amnesty requests within 15 days, according to the law.
Delcy Rodriguez signed the amnesty law following its approval by the National Assembly, describing the law as the start of a process for offering and receiving forgiveness.
Quote:The brother of a Californian surfer slain in Costa Rica has warned the killing is “more nefarious” than a random break-in.
During an interview with The California Post on Monday morning, Peter Van Dyke revealed more details about his brother Kurt Van Dyke’s death in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
The body of Kurt Van Dyke, 66, was found under his bed at the property on Saturday, with multiple stab wounds and evidence of asphyxiation, authorities and local reports said.
His girlfriend, a 31-year-old identified only as Arroyo, was zip-tied and beaten before armed intruders made off with valuables, including their car.
She was not seriously injured during the break-in, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said in a statement.
Peter said he suspects there is more to the killing than first reported, adding he had spoken to his younger brother just a few days ago and said he was “in good spirits.”
While he knew of a girlfriend, he didn’t know much about her and warned there were people in the area “who did not like him.”
He told The Post on Monday: “There are people who like him and there are people who don’t. It was more nefarious.”
Kurt Van Dyke had several business partners in the region after moving to Costa Rica in the mid-1980s, according to his brother.
The two spoke weekly, and Peter revealed his brother had assured him recently “he had everything under control.”
Kurt Van Dyke, who owned a hotel in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, was found dead Saturday, with a sheet over his head and a knife next to him, local reports say.
His girlfriend was in the shower when two armed men suddenly stormed into the home, forcing the couple into a room at gunpoint, per reports.
Arroyo said the intruders zip-tied her hands and feet, assaulted her, and made off with several valuables — including the couple’s 2013 Hyundai Elantra — before fleeing.
Quote:Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings on February 19, 2026, called on the Panamanian government to open talks aimed at allowing its subsidiary to keep running two key ports at the ends of the Panama Canal. The request came from Alejandro Kouruklis, spokesperson for Panama Ports Company, the Hutchison unit that has operated the Balboa and Cristobal terminals since 1997. He made the appeal during an interview on Panamanian station Radio Red.
Panama’s Supreme Court struck down the company’s concession contract as unconstitutional, citing provisions that granted excessive privileges and tax breaks to the operator at the expense of the state.
The ruling has sparked a dispute over the future of the ports, which handle a significant share of container traffic through the canal. Panamanian authorities responded by designating APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Danish shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk, to manage the facilities temporarily until a new concession can be awarded.
This development underscores growing tensions in Latin America over foreign investment in critical infrastructure, particularly amid U.S. concerns about Chinese influence in strategic trade routes. The Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, carries about 5% of global maritime trade and roughly 40% of U.S. container shipments.
Kouruklis emphasized the company’s flexibility in negotiations. “We request that there be a roundtable discussion between CK Hutchison and representatives of the executive branch to seek a reasonable solution,” he said. He added that Hutchison is prepared to renegotiate “absolutely everything” in the invalidated agreement.
The spokesperson warned that abrupt changes could disrupt operations, potentially halting container movements and vessel services at Balboa on the Pacific side and Cristobal on the Atlantic. He argued that insurance coverage might not apply under such circumstances, leading to broader supply chain issues.
CK Hutchison has already taken legal steps to challenge the court’s decision. Earlier this month, the company initiated international arbitration proceedings against Panama, claiming the ruling violates investment protections. It strongly disputes the unconstitutionality finding and seeks extensive damages.
Earlier, CK Hutchison notified Maersk that any unauthorized takeover by APM Terminals would result in damages and trigger legal action against the Danish group. Maersk has stated it is not involved in the ongoing legal processes and would only step in to ensure continuity if directed by Panamanian authorities.
The original concession stemmed from Law 5 of January 16, 1997, which allowed Panama Ports Company to develop, build, operate, and manage the terminals. An automatic 25-year extension was approved in 2021, but Panama’s comptroller general challenged it after an audit revealed alleged irregularities, including unpaid fees and unauthorized sub-concessions.
The Supreme Court, after deliberation, invalidated the law, its amendments, and the extension. The decision is final and non-appealable, but it requires formal publication to take effect. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has assured that port operations will continue without interruption during the transition. The government has conducted site visits and demanded access to records as part of preparations.
The United States built the 50-mile canal and managed it until handing control to Panama on December 31, 1999, under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed Chinese entities control the waterway, threatening U.S. intervention to reclaim it. Panama has consistently rejected these assertions, affirming its sovereign authority.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:The crazed gunman who was shot dead after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago with a shotgun and a gas can has been identified as a North Carolina artist who was reported missing by his mom.
Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was killed by law enforcement in the early hours of Sunday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post.
He was reported missing by his family to authorities on Saturday.
Officials are still investigating whether he bought the gun en route to Florida.
Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time, he was at the White House. On Saturday night, he and first lady Melania hosted the Governors Dinner — which Democratic governors appear to have boycotted.
A box for the shotgun was discovered in Martin’s vehicle following the shooting, which took place at around 1:30 a.m., according to Secret Service spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.
According to his social media, his family was frantically looking for him after he disappeared on Saturday night.
Tucker Martin’s social media shows that he was obsessed with drawing scenes from the golf courses in the Sandhills region — which includes the famed Pinehurst.
His Instagram includes a series of bleak watercolors and black and white sketches, most appearing to show Quail Ridge Golf Course, roughly 15-20 miles north of his home in Cameron.
The posts are accompanied by sparse electronic music and have almost zero social media intraction.
Investigators haven’t said whether Martin was previously known to law enforcement.
Authorities have urged nearby residents in south Florida to check their security cameras for any footage that may show him.
He was shot after he failed to drop the shotgun and gas can when he entered the inner perimeter of President Trump’s Florida estate.
Martin reportedly drove into the gates of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was leaving.The president is yet to respond officially to Sunday’s incident, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the Secret Service’s quick thinking in a post on X.
“The United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home,” she wrote.
She also used the post to slam the “reckless” actions of the Democrats who triggered a partial government shutdown affecting the Homeland Security department since Feb. 14.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department,” Leavitt said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation, in a post on X.
It comes just five days after a Georgia man armed with a shotgun was arrested outside the US Capitol as he sprinted towards the west side of the building.
Quote:The unhinged ex-CUNY professor who savagely held a machete to the neck of a New York Post reporter now has a permanent, taxpayer-funded art installation in the Bronx.
The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs ignored Shellyne Rodriguez’s infamous past by green-lighting a $407,000 budget for her 23-foot-tall brick, steel and terracotta Marxist monstrosity called “Phoenix Ladder: Monument to the People of the Bronx.”
It was unveiled in November along Grand Concourse and Morris Avenue — a little more than two years after she copped a wrist-slap plea deal with Bronx prosecutors for her assault on veteran New York Post scribe Reuven Fenton.
The permanent work, commissioned by the city through the Percent for Art program, is sandwiched in a thicket of residential buildings and hailed as a testament to the borough’s resiliency after the arson spree during the tumultuous 1970s.
The monument– which already has cracks along its foundation — is adorned with images of the phoenix, a mythological symbol of rebirth; a series of piercing eyes; four clenched fists signifying black power/socialist solidarity, and the home borough letters “B” and “X.” On top of the structure is an ascending black ladder without an end.
“If abolition is not solely about what we dismantle, but also about what we build in its stead, then what monuments or points of gathering will we, the collective body of the dispossessed who make life on the periphery of empire, make for ourselves as stewards of our own histories and futures,” she told Hyperallergic in November.
The installation was first commissioned in 2018 through the city’s Percent for Arts program, which sets aside 1% of budgets for city-funded construction projects to create new artwork, as part of a now-completed $62.5 million reconstruction of the Grand Concourse.
A panel of local elected officials, art experts and community board members chose Rodriguez, who pocketed $81,400, as 20% of the budget for each piece of art created through the Koch administration-era program is set aside to pay an “artist fee,” city officials said.
Bronx residents bashed the piece as a polarizing eyesore.
“Somebody who’s violent; there’s better people who should’ve been given the opportunity,” said Frankie Santiago. “It looks like a piece of junk.”
Quote:TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, two major frequent flier airport security programs, were briefly suspended Sunday by the Department of Homeland Security — with Secretary Kristi Noem blaming the partial government shutdown that began just over a week ago.
The Transportation Security Administration quickly reversed its decision and said PreCheck would still operate — though courtesy escorts for members of Congress and other VIPs would be suspended.
The programs allow fliers to bypass the main lines at airports in favor of expedited processes, which are more automated and have less screening.
TSA PreCheck allows fliers to get through security lines faster and more easily — by not forcing them to remove laptops from bags, for instance.
Global Entry allows travelers arriving in the US to use kiosks to speed through border controls.
“This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” DHS head Noem said in a statement.
“Shutdowns have real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security,” she added.
“The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians.”
The partial government shutdown started Feb. 14 following a funding deadlock between Republicans and Democrats. Lawmakers on both sides agreed to fully fund the rest of the government outside DHS through Sept. 30, but the Homeland Security funding bill proved tricky due to Democrats’ demands for sweeping reforms to immigration enforcement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection remain largely funded because of the GOP’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
Other DHS programs, such as the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are not fully funded.
“TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts. FEMA will halt all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,” Noem explained. “This is particularly important given this weekend another significant winter storm is forecast to impact the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States.”
Quote:The Transportation Security Administration abruptly reversed course on suspending its PreCheck service Sunday — saying it will remain operational despite a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” a TSA spokesperson told The Post.
“As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the spokesperson added. “Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies.”
The DHS had said that it was temporarily “ending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck® lanes and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service,” due to the partial government shutdown.
TSA Pre is a paid service that allows frequent fliers to get screened through an expedited process at airports where they keep their laptops in the check-in bags, among other accommodations.
It typically costs about $85.
The DHS has been partially shut down since Feb. 14 due to a funding lapse in Congress caused by a deadlock over the Democrats’ demands for sweeping reforms to immigration enforcement policy.
The Post contacted the DHS for comment on the reversal and for clarification on whether Global Entry is continuing as well.
Quote:Despite backlash over Florida lawmakers approving a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump, the move would place him among a growing list of commanders in chief whose names already greet travelers on airport terminals across the country.
If finalized by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Federal Aviation Administration, Palm Beach International would become the ninth commercial U.S. airport named after a president, joining hubs from New York to Houston.
The name change would go into effect on July 1 if signed into law, according to reports, making Trump the first to receive the honor while still in office.
Palm Beach International Airport holds particular significance, as it is located just minutes from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, which serves as his primary residence.
Following approval by the Florida House and Senate, some Democrats in the Sunshine State pushed back, citing concerns over the cost of rebranding and what they described as a lack of community input, Fox News Digital previously reported.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, meanwhile, took to X to say the name “has a GREAT ring to it.”
Here are eight commercial airports that already bear the names of former presidents.
The Airports
1. Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI)
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Illinois, was renamed in 2004 to honor the 16th president, whose longtime home and political base were in the state capital.
Lincoln’s name was added to the airport’s existing name — the facility first opened as Capital Airport in 1947 — according to the Sangamon County Historical Society.
Dickinson Municipal Airport opened in 1959 and was later renamed Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, reflecting the region’s connection to the nearby Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the president’s legacy in the North Dakota area, according to reports.
3. Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT)
Wichita’s airport was renamed Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in November 2014 to honor the 34th president, who considered Kansas his home state, following a citizen-led petition effort, according to the airport’s website.
4. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
John F. Kennedy International Airport was renamed just weeks after Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, with New York City officials voting in December to change the name from Idlewild Airport in his honor.
The new name was formally unveiled on Christmas Eve 1963, making it one of the swiftest presidential airport renamings, according to “The Bowery Boys,” a popular New York City history blog.
5. Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR)
Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids was renamed in 1999 to honor the 38th president, a longtime Michigan resident who represented the area in Congress for more than two decades before ascending to the White House, according to the airport’s website.
6. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was renamed in 1998 after Congress passed legislation changing the name from Washington National Airport to honor the 40th president, according to the airport. The bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, marking the first time the airport’s name had been changed since it opened in 1941. The renaming came nearly a decade after Reagan left office.
7. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Houston Intercontinental Airport was renamed in 1997 to honor former President George H.W. Bush, becoming George Bush Intercontinental Airport four years after he left office, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
The change recognized Bush’s longtime ties to Houston, where he lived and built much of his political career.
8. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT)
In March 2012, Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport was unveiled, replacing the former Little Rock National Airport/Adams Field designation to honor the former president, a native Arkansan, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their long-standing ties to the southern state.
Quote:New York’s mind-boggling $124 billion taxpayer-funded Medicaid program is riddled with fraud and waste, US regulator Dr. Mehmet Oz said Sunday — and dogged federal investigators are digging into it.
“In the beautiful city of New York and surrounding New York state, we know that there are a lot of people who are providing services that we don’t think are legitimate, that are costing the taxpayers a lot of money,” said Oz, who heads the US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on 77 WABC’s “Cats Roundtable” program.
“That ends up not only hurting taxpayers, but it hurts the actual people who are vulnerable. … who need these services,” he told host John Catsimatidis.
“The dishonesty around some of these programs, in Medicaid in particular, costs a lot of money that has stripped the guts out of the affordability of these systems,” the celebrity doc said.
Oz did not provide specifics, but his office is probing aspects of New York’s massive program, an insider told The Post.
Medicaid is the public-health insurance program for the needy, and New York has among the most generous programs in the country, covering services provided in hospitals, nursing homes and a growing home-care industry amid an aging population.
More than 6.8 million New Yorkers — 34% of the state’s population — are currently covered by Medicaid.
As The Post recently reported, a 2022 federal audit accused New York drivers of swiping up to $196 million from a badly managed Medicaid transportation program through rides that “did not meet or may not have met Medicaid requirements.”
The money was paid to companies enrolled in the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation program.
The Post also recently uncovered how the state allegedly lost $1.2 billion in taxpayer money to scammers through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program and how it spends up to $400 million a year on Social Adult Day Care centers, which mostly duplicate the offerings of senior centers.
Quote:Over 3,000 flights have been canceled at major Big Apple airports as a historic blizzard threatens to bury the region in at least two feet of snow, reports said.
With perilous conditions expected to batter the Northeast Sunday, several major airlines grounded flights Saturday at key hubs, including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, and airports in Philadelphia and Boston — and the number is expected to skyrocket once snow begins to fall, according to FOX Weather.
Major carriers, including Delta, American, and United, scrapped flights in the New York City area and Boston’s Logan Airport ahead of the massive nor’easter, with JetBlue cutting 40% of its Sunday schedule, according to FlightAware data reviewed by the outlet.
The carrier also canceled 24 percent of its flights scheduled for Monday.
American Airlines will suspend operations at LaGuardia, JFK, and Philadelphia starting Sunday afternoon, with flights expected to resume Tuesday.
“Teams across the airline are working around the clock and will be ready to resume operations at the affected airports Tuesday, Feb. 24 as soon as the conditions allow airlines to safely do so,” the airline said in a statement, WABC reported.
Cancellations and delays could stretch through Wednesday, as major airlines roll out winter travel waivers for impacted airports, the outlet reported.
The monster storm is set to hit Sunday and rage into Monday, bringing wind gusts over 60 mph and snow falling up to 3 inches per hour, threatening power outages and coastal flooding for more than 30 million people from Delaware and Maryland to New York and Boston, forecasters said.
Quote:Millions along the East Coast are set to get hit by a massive blizzard that could drop as much as 24 inches of snow on the Northeast, forecasters warned.
New York City is expected to be hit with up to 20 inches of powder, with heavy winds up to 60 miles per hour. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency for the city, Westchester County, and Orange County.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned New Yorkers to stay inside, but declined to give a concrete answer on whether homeless people would be forced off the streets for their own safety just weeks after more than a dozen froze to death.
Hizzoner also declared a travel ban across the five boroughs starting at 9 p.m. Sunday.
More than 1,700 flights in and out of the NYC-metro area have already been canceled as of Sunday afternoon. While the Big Apple’s subway system will to operate on modified service during the onslaught, the Long Island Rail Road will shut down, and Metro-North will run on a holiday schedule Monday, with weekend schedules in place on branch lines.
DoorDash will halt its delivery service by 8:30 p.m., just before Mamdani’s travel ban begins.
...
Quote:San Diego beaches have been shut down after a wave of storms sent bacteria levels soaring along the coast — with health officials warning beachgoers to stay out of the water.
Multiple shorelines across San Diego County were closed at the weekend following days of heavy rain that triggered contaminated runoff, NBC 7 San Diego reported.
The closures stretch from Imperial Beach through the Silver Strand and up to Coronado, officials said. Elevated bacteria levels in the ocean prompted the county to post yellow hazard signs advising swimmers and surfers to steer clear.
Health officials routinely issue advisories for about 72 hours after significant rainfall, when stormwater runoff can carry bacteria, debris and pollutants into the surf.
Despite the warnings — and temperatures hovering in the low 60s — crowds still flocked to Coronado’s picturesque shoreline Saturday as gray skies gave way to sunshine.
“We were just going to go visit the beach, we just wanted to look at it but it was just a little bit too cold to actually go in the water,” Katie Peterson, who was visiting with her family, told NBC 7.
Several surfers ignored the caution tape and paddled out anyway, taking advantage of calmer conditions after days of stormy weather. Others were more hesitant.
“I was just a little confused because I was like, ‘Oh wow it’s a beach, but we can’t really go in the water,’” Lizzie Peterson told the network.
County officials urged residents to take the advisories seriously, warning that swimming in contaminated water can cause illness.
Quote:Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos revealed that there are problems with the DNA evidence collected from Nancy Guthrie’s house that could take up to a year for the private Florida lab he’s using to resolve.
Local cops recovered DNA from the missing 84-year-old grandmother’s home that does not match her, family members, or people who worked in the home — but it is mixed with Guthrie’s DNA and the samples are not complete, he revealed to NBC News last week.
“Our lab tells us that there’s challenges with it, and we understand those challenges,” he said.
“But our lab also knows that the technology is moving so fast and in such a frenzy that they think some of this stuff will resolve itself just in a matter of weeks, months or maybe a year, to allow them to do better with, say, a mixture of that kind of thing.”
Nanos said the DNA could be from the man who abducted “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mom — but so far the lab has been unable to match the sample to any of the convicted criminals or suspects in the FBI’s CODIS database.
It’s not clear why Nanos is using a private lab in Florida for the samples and not FBI labs or Arizona’s state Scientific Analysis Bureau.
As the search for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, 54, entered its fourth week, the FBI is continuing to analyze cellphone data, video, and interviews.
However, despite releasing security footage of a suspect over a week ago, Sheriff Nanos, who has been accused of letting his ego dictate the investigation, stated that his officers had no suspects or a list of names.
This despite multiple local businesses claiming they were shown lists of names and pictures by the FBI.
“It’s never fast enough for the sheriff. I want it like you, ‘Come on, guys, let’s go, let’s go, let’s find her,'” Sheriff Nanos told NBC News on Friday as he acknowledged the investigation’s delays.
Quote:Four Colombian nationals were arrested, including three at an airport with one-way tickets out of the country, after prosecutors say they posed as immigration judges and federal agents to target migrants.
Three of the Colombian nationals arrested were identified as siblings Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, 25, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez, 29, and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez, 38.
Federal prosecutors said all three were arrested at Newark Airport in New Jersey with one-way tickets to Colombia.
The fourth individual was identified as Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, 24.
She was arrested at a restaurant in New Jersey.
A fifth defendant in the partially unsealed indictment is still not in U.S. custody.
“The defendants brazenly stole their victims’ money and deceived them by sending fictitious documents and holding sham court proceedings,” Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
The group allegedly impersonated judges, law enforcement officers and lawyers to orchestrate sham immigration proceedings held over videoconference.
Court documents contain two representative photos of two of the virtual “proceedings” with faces blacked out.
Victims were led to believe that their immigration cases had been resolved, resulting in victims missing their actual appearances in immigration court, according to prosecutors.
At least one victim who mistakenly believed her immigration issues were resolved was ordered to be deported due to the scheme, prosecutors said, noting that the order was later reversed.
The group is also accused of lining their pockets and the pockets of their coconspirators in Colombia by laundering tens of thousands of dollars of victims’ funds.
The group operated a fictitious law firm and solicited prospective “clients” primarily through Facebook, prosecutors alleged, adding that they charged fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars “for nonexistent legal advice and services.”
Quote:A gunman accused of shooting dead a world-famous Caltech genius last week was let out of jail just two months ago despite a felony gun charge, the California Post has learned.
Freddy Snyder was released by a judge using an “unnecessary prosecutions” law in December — before allegedly going on to kill Carl Grillmair in Llano last week.
The 29-year-old was picked up two days before Christmas for carrying a loaded firearm and an attempted jail escape, but was released on his own recognizance.
The felony case was suddenly dismissed under the Penal Code 1385 California, often referred to as PC 1385, a code ultimately decided by the judge.
It is unclear why Snyder’s charges were dropped by the judge under the code. The electronic court records did not provide the name of who was overseeing the case.
DCD Law, an LA law firm, said: “The key standard for dismissal under Penal Code 1385 is the “interest of justice.
“This means the court looks beyond technical rules and focuses on what is fair. The judge considers the nature of the offense, the circumstances of the accused, and public interest.
“The defense can request dismissal, but the judge must agree. Sometimes, prosecutors can also move to dismiss charges. However, the final decision rests with the judge.”
Snyder is accused of gunning down 67-year-old Grillmair at his remote home in Antelope Valley, California, on Monday.
Police responded to a 911 call and found the astrophysicist bleeding from his torso on the front porch of his house. He was given life saving measures but pronounced dead at the scene.
A nearby car jacking call came in soon after leading authorities to Snyder.
The sheriff said: “While investigating the shooting call, Palmdale Sheriff’s Station deputies also responded to a carjacking call. The suspect who committed the carjacking was arrested.”
Snyder was formally charged with murder, carjacking, and burglary. His bail was set at $2 million. Grillmair was a beloved scientist who worked on NASA’s Spitzer Space telescope.
Quote:COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s military said its arctic command forces evacuated a crew member of a U.S. submarine off the coast of Greenland for urgent medical treatment.
The Danish Joint Arctic Command, on its Facebook page, said the crew member was evacuated on Saturday some 7 nautical miles (8 miles; 13 kilometers) off Nuuk — the capital of the vast, ice-covered territory — and transferred to a hospital in the city. The crew member was retrieved by a Danish Seahawk helicopter that had been deployed on an inspection ship.
Also late Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy a hospital ship to the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, alleging that many people there are sick and not receiving care — prompting a defense of Denmark’s health care system from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to his special envoy for Greenland.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, speaking to public broadcaster DR, said Danish authorities had not been informed that the ship was on its way.
The historically strong bilateral ties after World War II between NATO allies Denmark and the United States have come under severe strain in recent months as Trump ratcheted up talk of a possible U.S. takeover of the mineral-rich and strategically located Arctic island.
Frederiksen defended Denmark’s health care system on Sunday, writing on Facebook that she was “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all. Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment.”
“You have the same approach in Greenland,” she said, before adding: “Happy Sunday to you all” in front of a blushing, smiling emoji.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump said Saturday that he was dispatching a hospital boat to Greenland shortly after news broke that Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command evacuated a crew member from a US Navy submarine.
Danish defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen publicly claimed that his government had not been briefed on Trump’s plan and that there was “no need for special health care efforts” in Greenland.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen was more blunt: “It’s a no thank you from here.”
Trump wrote in a signed Truth Social post late Saturday: “Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there.”
Landry was appointed special envoy to Greenland after Trump repeatedly said he wanted to buy or otherwise take over the territory, which is controlled by NATO ally Denmark.
The US Navy has two big hospital ships in its fleet, the Comfort and the Mercy.
Trump’s post came just before he hosted GOP governors at the White House.
The medical incident impacted at least one crew member, who needed urgent treatment, while stationed on a US submarine in Greenlandic waters, Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command revealed Saturday.
That individual was then transferred via a Danish Defense Forces Seahawk helicopter to Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
Quote:A major Mexican resort town was under siege on Sunday as drug cartels lashed out after the leader of the brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed in a military raid, authorities said.
Tourists in Puerto Vallarta were warned to stay indoors as narco gangs went on a rampage following the death of drug kingpin Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the powerful boss of the violent crime outfit.
The US State Department urged Americans to shelter in place, and some American tourists have reported being trapped in the region.
“We are here at a hotel in the hotel zone,” one stranded tourist posted online. “Staying put until we get the all clear. All of the businesses in the area have closed.”
Mexican officials reported on the violence throughout the day.
“Federal forces carried out an operation in Tapalpa a few hours ago, which has led to clashes in the area,” Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro said on X.
“Also as a result of said operation in various points of that region and in other parts of Jalisco, individuals have burned and blocked vehicles with the aim of hindering the actions of authorities.”
Navarro added that much of Jalisco was in a “code red.”
“We reiterate the recommendation to avoid leaving your homes,” Navarro said. “The clashes are occurring in several federal entities.”
Mexican officials said cartel thugs began setting blazes throughout Jalisco to block federal forces during the raid, the Spanish-language news outlet El Universal reported.
The chaos has hotels in the Pacific Ocean vacation spot of Puerto Vallarta holed up inside their hotels as cars and barricades burn in the streets.
As panic spread throughout the region, reports surfaced of gunfire at Guadalajara International Airport — with one video posted online showing what appear to be passengers running for shelter.
In a statement later in the day, the Pacific Airport Group said the Mexican National Guard had been dispatched to the bustling airport but maintained it was operating as usual.
Quote:Investigators have launched a manslaughter probe into the harrowing death of a guard at a Winter Olympics construction site as the international sporting event comes to a close.
Pietro Zantonini, 55, reportedly died from a heart attack while working a Jan. 8 overnight shift at the then-under construction Olympic venue in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
An autopsy confirmed the medical emergency was brought on by the freezing temperatures – but now prosecutors are evaluating if there is more to the story.
Zantonini, a resident of the coastal city of Brindisi, was stationed by the Cortina Olympic Stadium when it was just 10°F, according to Italian media outlets.
He began having trouble breathing at around 2 a.m. but by the time an ambulance was called to the scene, he was already dead.
Investigators are looking into any potential “aggravating circumstances” – such as unsafe word conditions – that may have contributed to Zantononi’s death, according to Open.
The Italian outlet reported that despite the below-freezing temperature, Zantonini only had a small heater with him as he braved the cold from a tiny temporary enclosure.
Zantonini reportedly complained about his working conditions leading up to his death. He was allegedly worried about his long overnight hours and the lack of protective measures in place at the site, per Open.
In the aftermath of his death, Italy’s Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Simico, the government agency responsible for Olympic infrastructure, said in a statement at the time that it did not oversee the site where Zantonini died.
Quote:Iranian police officers are gang-raping imprisoned female protesters and then cutting out their uteruses to cover up the horrific torture – before shipping their lifeless bodies home to their families, according to a shocking new report.
Prisoners suspected of participating in the nationwide anti-regime demonstrations that shook the nation last month are being terrorized, raped, and slaughtered daily by groups of militant police officers behind bars, an Iranian source told News Nation.
“I am most worried about the people who got arrested,” the source, who witnessed the massacre of protesters, said.
“They are raping men and women in jail. They are being raped every day by [a] group of police. We are not people to [the regime]. People are getting raped in the jail every day,” they continued.
“They will hurt you. They will punch you. They will dig your nails out of your skin. They are biting them. The people who are arrested will not be fed. They are being killed by the government every day in jail.”
An Iranian refugee also told the outlet that they and others who were locked up were gang-raped at gunpoint by masked men and turned into “sexual slaves” who were mocked for their opposing beliefs.
Some female detainees were allegedly mutilated in an attempt to conceal the militants’ barbaric sexual abuse.
“Some of the women’s bodies that were returned to their families were missing their wombs so that the crimes could not be traced or investigated,” the refugee added.
“To be honest, most families did not pursue the matter further in order to avoid even more suffering.”
One haunting photo obtained by the outlet showed the body of a woman imprisoned in Bojnord, with “clear signs of torture and trauma” when returned to her family 25 days later, the refugee said.
Shaghayegh Moradiannejad, an Iranian photographer who escaped the country with her family five years ago, pressed that torture has “always been the regime’s method.”
“During interrogations, they squeeze their breasts, use obscene and degrading language, and subject them to sexual abuse,” she told News Nation.
Iran’s security forces have arrested more than 50,000 people suspected of participating in the protests, with detainees including students, children, lawyers, doctors and more, according to activists.
Quote:Noor Pahlavi’s heart breaks as she watches her people suffer in Iran – a land in which she never stepped foot, yet remains forever in her blood.
The exiled princess recounted in a wide-ranging interview with The California Post the horrors inflicted on protesters, parents and even children during a crackdown by the same brutal regime that deposed her grandfather, the Shah of Iran, 47 years ago.
Kids have been shot in the street, doctors persecuted for treating anti-regime protesters and scores of Iranians abducted for secretive interrogations, often never to return, Pahlavi said.
“Imagine if this were happening to you and your country,” she said. “It’s happening at the hands of the government, the government that’s meant to protect them.
“It’s literally a government waging war on its own citizens. It’s just incredibly painful to watch, to hear about. And it’s hard for people here to see and hear about. But it’s our responsibility not to look away.”
Pahlavi’s passionate plea for regime change comes as the protests against the regime persist, on the streets of Iran and worldwide – including a massive rally in her newfound home of Los Angeles.
The protests run parallel with President Trump’s renewed saber rattling against Iran. He has sent two aircraft carriers to the Middle East as he weighs a military strike, giving Tehran a 10-day ultimatum.
The confluence of pressures from inside and outside Iran shows the regime has never been so ripe for change, Pahlavi said.
“It’s never been this close, and the regime has never been this weak,” she said.
”The need for regime change can’t be stressed enough. A reformist won’t do it. And, you know, they’re [the Iranian people] being extremely clear.
They’re dying for something specific. And we need to listen to them.
”The people really listened when the president told them that help was on the way and that they should continue taking to the streets. They’ve named streets after him. They’re holding up signs with his face on them. They’re begging him to come in and help them because they’re fighting this government empty handed.
Quote:Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed Saturday that Tehran will not “bow” to foreign pressure as war tensions mount with the US amid ongoing nuclear talks – even as Washington rolls out its biggest military buildup in the Middle East since the Iraq invasion.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads,” a defiant Pezeshkian said on state TV.
“But we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us.”
The remarks come as tensions soar over Iran’s atomic program, with President Trump warning the nation it has just 10 days to make a nuclear deal or face devastating airstrikes on its weapons facilities.
An anticipated attack could also be directed at the Islamic Republic, potentially targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters.
Trump has not ruled out the use of military force against the theocratic regime, and his military buildup in the region mirrors the one he amassed near Venezuela before the Jan. 3 raid to capture strongman Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
“They have something for every scenario,” one Trump adviser told Axios of the Pentagon’s plan.
“One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs. What the president chooses no one knows. I don’t think he knows.”
The Iranian dictator — whose brutal crackdown on nationwide protests last month has killed at least 7,000 — also threatened on social media to sink US warships. Trump had vowed to come to the protesters’ rescue, but has thus far declined to take military action against Iran.
“It is entirely possible we will see the regimes fall in Iran, in Venezuela and in Cuba, and we could also see governments replace them that want to be friends with the United States of America,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Wednesday night.
The Republican said he told the president Iran’s regime is “teetering” and that the US has an opportunity to take military action, arguing that toppling it would mark the “most consequential geopolitical shift” since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:President Trump touted his efforts to lower prescription drug costs during his State of the Union address Tuesday, and recognized the very first customer of his TrumpRx website.
“Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could,” Trump said of lowering drug costs.
“But I got it done,” he boasted.
The president held up his most favored nation policy — which is intended to equalize drug costs between the US and other major Western countries — and TrumpRx, which drug companies like Pfizer have pledged to provide discounted medicines for, as evidence of his success.
“Americans who for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation, anywhere in the world, for prescription drugs, will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world,” Trump asserted.
“That’s a big achievement,” he continued, adding that his TrumpRx platform has drugs discounted by as much as “600% and more, all available right now.”
Trump invited Catherine Rayner, a military spouse and the first TrumpRx customer, to the State of the Union and shared her story.
“She and her husband have struggled with infertility, and they turned to IVF,” the president explained. “One drug has been costing Catherine $4,000 to purchase, but a few weeks ago, she logged on to the TrumpRx website and got that same drug that cost $4,000, got it for under $500.”
“Katherine, we are all praying for you and you’re going to be a great mom.”
The president also called on Congress to codify his most favored nation policy into law.
Quote:President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday broke an all-time record, becoming the longest one in US history.
Clinton’s record spanned just over 1 hour, 28 minutes, according to the American Presidency Project, which has been tracking the length of the State of the Union for decades.
The shortest such speech was delivered by Richard Nixon in 1972, which was only 28 minutes.
Technically, Trump’s speech last year was longer than Clinton’s record, clocking in at 1 hour, 39 minutes, but that was an address to a joint session of Congress, not a State of the Union.
Before Trump’s marquee speech to Congress, rumors had swirled that he would get close to or surpass the two-hour mark, with the president hyping it up as a long speech.
“I’m going to be making a speech tomorrow night, and it’s going to be a long one because we have so much to talk about,” Trump teased Monday.
The State of the Union address is widely seen as one of the largest platforms Trump will have with the American public before the 2026 midterms.
Seeking to take full advantage of that, Trump used his speech to tout a slew of accomplishments from his first year in office, including tax cuts, the Trump accounts, border security, the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, and more.
Trump also laid out his vision for the future, urging Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, legislation to restrict congressional stock trading, and a larger military budget.
The marquee address featured Trump’s typical combative style, with the president taking repeated swings at Democrats and even a swipe at the Supreme Court for knocking down his International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs last Friday.
Quote:President Trump awarded a Medal of Honor during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to a 100-year-old Korean War veteran — who received a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes.
Trump bestowed veteran fighter pilot E. Royce Williams, a retired Navy captain who shot down four Soviet MiG-15 jets in a classified 1952 operation that remained hidden from the American public for decades, with the nation’s highest military decoration near the end of his speech to Congress.
“Royce was in the dogfight of a lifetime,” the president said of Williams’ heroics.
“His squadron was ambushed by seven Soviet fighter planes,” Trump continued. “It was his first aerial combat of the war, and despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the take down of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others – vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.”
“His story was secret for over 50 years … but the legend grew and grew.”
The fighter pilot’s exploits were kept under wraps for decades – even his wife was unaware – to avoid escalating tensions with the Soviet Union.
Williams’ mission required him to hit targets on the ground in North Korea – close to the country’s border with North Korea and in blizzard conditions — from his F9F-5 Panther fighter aircraft, according to a Pentagon account.
Within minutes of Williams arriving at his destination, the Soviets scrambled seven MiG-15 fighters tasked with shooting down his plane.
“They dropped back in and started shooting,” said Williams. “Since they started the fight, I shot back.”
“I could see the bullets coming over me, and under me.”
Trump reportedly called Williams earlier this month to inform him of the honor, according to CBS News.
“Tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves,” Trump said.
First lady Melania Trump, who was seated next to the veteran in the gallery, presented Williams with the medal.
Williams received an extended standing ovation.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) celebrated a report that Trump would be honoring the veteran ahead of the address, noting that he and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) had “passed a law to waive the time limits so that Captain Williams could receive the Medal of Honor he deserves.”
Quote:President Trump awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to one of the pilots in the Venezuela raid, praising his courage under fire during his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover and his wife, Amy, were in the House chamber for the speech, garnering a standing ovation and shouts of “USA, USA, USA” from the crowd.
Trump described in detail how Slover, a US Army helicopter pilot, was wounded during the Nicolas Maduro raid.
Slover was “hit very badly in the leg and hip” while preparing to land, the president said.
“The success of the entire mission and the lives of his fellow warriors hinged on Eric’s ability to take searing pain,” Trump said.
Slover piloted a twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook, the lead aircraft, tasked with inserting the assault team in the heavily fortified compound where Maduro was believed to be holed up.
As the helicopters approached, Venezuelan defense systems opened fire.
Slover was struck three times in the leg, the New York Times reported in its account of the raid.
Trump noted Slover is still recovering. About a half-dozen American soldiers were injured in the January raid.
The president also said other members of the military involved in the mission would be honored at the White House at a later date.
Quote:President Trump paid tribute to Charlie Kirk during his State of the Union address, crediting him with renewing religion in America.
“I’m very proud to say that during my time in office, both the first four years, and in particular this last year, there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God,” he said.
“This is especially true among young people, and a big part of that had to do with my great friend Charlie Kirk, great guy.”
He described Kirk as a “martyr” for his faith.
“Charlie was violently murdered by an assassin, and a martyr, really, for his beliefs. His wonderful wife, Erika, is with us tonight,” Trump said.
Lawmakers in the chamber shouted “Charlie, Charlie” as Erika Kirk stood, wiping tears from her eyes.
Trump had invited her to watch his remarks in the House Chamber.
Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on September 10th when speaking to an event at Utah Valley University.
Trump invoked Kirk’s name as he called for an end to political violence.
“In Charlie’s memory, we must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under god, and we must totally reject political violence of any kind,” Trump said in his speech.
Quote:The mother of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was murdered by a repeat offender out on no-cash bail in North Carolina, broke down in tears as President Trump recounted the attack during his State of the Union address.
“[Iryna’s killer] stood up and viciously slashed a knife through her neck and body. No one will ever forget, the people on that train. No one will ever forget the expression of terror on Iryna’s face as she looked up at her attacker in the last seconds of her life. She died instantly,” Trump said.
Iryna’s mother, Anna Zarutska, teared up while leaning into comfort provided by a man at her side.
“She had escaped a brutal war only to be slain by a hardened criminal, set free to kill in America,” Trump continued.
“Mrs. Zarutska, tonight I promise you that we will ensure justice for your magnificent daughter, Iryna,” the president assured, to raucous applause.
Erika Kirk, widow of slain Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, was sitting beside Anna and appeared to offer words of condolence while the man offered her a handkerchief.
During the emotional moment, Trump called out Democrats, who didn’t appear to rise for the standing ovation with Republicans.
“How do you not stand?” Trump said, gesturing toward Democrats.
Iryna, 22, was fatally stabbed by alleged schizophrenic career criminal Decarlos Brown while riding a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August.
Iryna’s father couldn’t attend her funeral, held in Charlotte, because he was stuck in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion.
Brown, 34, was arrested at least 14 times in North Carolina for crimes ranging from assault and firearms possession to felony robbery and larceny dating back to 2007.
After he was captured stabbing Iryna three times on surveillance video, at least once in the neck, the young woman collapsed in her seat while blood spilled onto the train floor.
Quote:Annie Farmer, who was one of roughly a dozen Epstein survivors to attend the State of the Union address Tuesday, has a message: “We’re not going away.”
Farmer and her sister Maria were both abused by Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1990s.
“We were there as a reminder that transparency hasn’t happened and we’re still demanding it,” Farmer told the California Post.
Maria, who was hired by Epstein to help purchase art, urged the FBI to investigate him for child pornography back in 1996 — but the feds allegedly did nothing.
She also said she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell.
Maria filed a lawsuit in May accusing the justice department, US Attorney’s Offices and the FBI for negligence and emotional distress.
Annie publicly testified at Maxwell’s trial in 2021 that she visited Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico at the age of 16, where Maxwell gave her a nude massage and groped her. Epstein later went into bed with her to “cuddle,” according to Farmer.
She told the Post that all the remaining files pertaining to Epstein should be released.
“I would hope that people would follow up on these investigative leads so that we could get true accountability and also just a sense of connecting the dots and understanding for ourselves, what happened here, what went wrong, why was this allowed to go on for so long,” Annie said.
A sentiment echoed by Lauren Hersh, the co-founder of World Without Exploitation, the largest anti-trafficking coalition in the country that worked with victims to push lawmakers for the release of the Epstein Files.
Quote:President Trump used his State of the Union address as the backdrop of an emotional, surprise reunion between a Venezuelan woman and her uncle, who was held as a political prisoner by the country’s ousted Maduro regime.
Trump reunited Alejandra Gonzales with her uncle, Enrique Márquez, who was kidnapped by Maduro’s security forces and held in a “vile” prison in Caracas after he ran for office in opposition to the dictator.
“Alejandra, I’m pleased to inform you that not only has your uncle been released, but he’s here tonight, we brought him over to celebrate his freedom with you in person,” Trump said.
The uncle and niece tightly embraced and shed tears as the audience erupted with applause.
Márquez was one of “hundreds of political prisoners” released after the US toppled ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime in January.
The president added that Alejandra “feared she would never see her uncle again” and “feared for her own life also” before US military intervention.
“But since the raid, we have worked with new leadership, and we have ordered the closure of that vile prison and released hundreds of political prisoners already,” Trump said.
Quote:Sen. John Fetterman joined FOX News Channel's "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday to react to Democrats either skipping the State of the Union address, heckling President Trump, or refusing to stand on key issues.
Quote:BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is one Democrat who was in the chamber for the speech last night and he joins us this morning. And thank you for your time senator. Always good to see you.
Thank you for sharing your insights with us. You had about half your colleagues who chose not to go. That was their choice. You chose otherwise. What do you think of the decision they made?
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Well, I mean, I think it's just disappointing. Honestly, I mean I think that's sad that I think half of my colleagues didn't show up. I mean, that's not a judgment, so for me, I think show up.
You don't have to clap for everything. You don't have to agree with anything. I think we're in a different place right now where it's now people are not even gonna show up or doing other kinds of alternative things, so for me, that's what I think.
HEMMER: Yeah, that's interesting. Do you think the State of the Union Address has changed for good now?
FETTERMAN: Oh Yeah, absolutely, I mean now it's you know, the constant kinds of yelling and screaming. And now holding up signs and for doing all these things, I don't think -- I don't care if it's a Republican or Democrat as a president. Just don't do that. Don't do that. Respect the office, regardless of who's in it, and now for me, it's like now when half the people in my party haven't showed up. And then some of them have chosen to just yell and say and scream during all of it. I just don't think that's what we want, and I don't believe as a Democrat. I think like dancing frogs really moves the ball for us as a party either on that first point here.
HEMMER: Here's some of the moments you had Ilhan Omar out of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib out of Michigan, just watch here for our audience.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens. In many cases, drug lords, murders all over our country. They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself.
HEMMER: That exchange obviously went to immigration and enforcement and DHS funding. I saw an email thread last night where you shook the president's hand, I believe it was on the way in and it suggested that you were the only Democrat who did. Is that true?
FETTERMAN: I do believe that that's true. And now for me, I'm not going to yell or do that. Again, regardless of who the president is, I think that's been lost out here for our nation to do that. So, for me, yes, I shook his hand, of course. He walked in and I'm always going to do that, for sure.
HEMMER: So the New York Times wrote up the following moment as a ploy that was the way they described it, and this was probably the moment that people will remember. When asked to stand for Americans or illegal immigrants, the president phrased it last evening. This is how that went
TRUMP: So tonight, I'm inviting every legislature to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens not illegal aliens... Isn't it a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up.
HEMMER: So, Senator, to you, do you consider that a ploy as you look back on that 12 hours later? And if I may did you sit or did you stand for that moment?
FETTERMAN: Well for me, you know, I never checked to see what what the rest of people in my party It would stand up and clap. I clapped with a lot of those things that it seemed like others.
Like I stood up and I clapped to recognize the family that lost their daughter the Ukrainian girl that was stabbed to death, you know in North Carolina. And I stood up and I clapped. That political prisoner from Venezuela, I mean, how can you not celebrate those kinds of things? And now I also celebrated all the veterans that were in the audience as well, too.
And even more the political things like like Erika Kirk. I stood up and I clapped for her as well, too though. You know, can't we just be more kind to a widow? I mean, I we just shouldn't be -- it wasn't that long ago that a widow, you know with young children has her husband murdered. You know, how we can't just acknowledge that is as well too, whether why people would attack her. You know whether the left or the right either. So I'm always going to stand up and clap for things that I agreed with like striking in the Iranian sites now. For me, I see I never worry about who's standing up or clapping. If I see it I'm going to. If I don't agree with it or whatever, I'm certainly not going to yell and scream and disrupt the whole thing.
Quote:CNN political analyst and Associated Press White House reporter Seung Min Kim appeared to trivialize President Donald Trump’s event offering tribute to the families of Americans killed by illegal immigrants on Monday.
Trump’s Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony became a point of controversy after the White House called out CNN for failing to provide live coverage of it.
During the ceremony in the East Room of the White House, President Donald Trump honored families who have lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
“Throughout this hall, I am joined by heartbroken Americans who have lost parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, and treasured loved ones to the scourge of illegal immigration, let in by the past administration,” Trump said.
CNN host Audie Cornish spoke to a panel of experts earlier that morning about Trump’s upcoming “State of the Union” speech, asking them for their thoughts on Trump’s struggling poll numbers and how he will likely address the country in his speech.
“I think what we’re actually getting a little preview of kind of the theme of his address later today at The White House, when he hosts the so-called ‘Angel Moms,’” Kim said. “So really focusing on immigration as he kicks off his big State of the Union week.”
“But as we see in the poll, the number one concern for voters continues to be affordability,” Kim continued, referring to a CNN poll.
While she said that immigration is indeed a “base issue,” the wider public is looking at the economy.
Quote:On Tuesday’s broadcast of “The Late Show,” host Stephen Colbert tore into House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., over his guidance for a “silent” protest of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as a “bold rebrand of doing jack squat.”
“For Democrats who did attend [the State of the Union], Hakeem Jeffries urged members not to make a scene, an approach he dubbed ‘silent defiance,’ which I believe is a bold rebrand of doing jack squat,” Colbert said.
“As Martin Luther King once said, ‘Shhhh,’” he added, displaying a mock quote from Dr. Martin Luther King.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Prior to Tuesday’s State of the Union, Jeffries asked members of his caucus to approach the State of the Union in one of two ways.
“The two options that are in front of us [are] to either attend with silent defiance or not to attend and send a message to Donald Trump in that fashion,” Jeffries said at a press conference last week.
Several Democrats decided to attend the “People’s State of the Union” event near the Lincoln Memorial instead of Trump’s address held at the U.S. Capitol.
The event, described as a rally, was organized by MeidasTouch and MoveOn Civic Action, a pair of left-leaning media and activist groups, and focused on criticisms of Trump’s first year back in office.
The event drew senators like Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Tina Smith, D-Minn.
On the House side, Democrats who said they’d be in attendance included Reps. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz.; Becca Balint, D-Vt.; Greg Casar, D-Texas; Veronica Escobar; D-Texas, Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; John Larson, D-Conn.; Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif.; Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.; Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; Emily Randall, D-Wash.; and Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
Earlier in the show, Colbert touted those members of the Democratic Party who opted out of attending the president’s address.
“One of the big stories tonight was who wasn’t there. Roughly 50 Democratic members of the House and Senate plan to forgo the speech,” he noted, citing The Wall Street Journal. “I wish we were one.”
“The folks who skipped included Sens. Chris Murphy, Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley, as well as ‘Merk Manly-Manly Merken.’ Mork and Mindy, Marky Mark and Megan Markle,” Colbert joked.
A smaller group of Democrats previously announced they would be skipping the State of the Union but would not be attending the counter event, including Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
Quote:President Donald Trump called out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during his State of the Union address Tuesday, urging lawmakers to pass a ban on congressional stock trading — an issue that has long been a source of criticism for the California lawmaker.
“Let’s also ensure that members of congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,” Trump said, before adding, “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up? … Doubt it.”
While Pelosi said she doesn’t trade or personally own stocks, her venture capitalist husband Paul Pelosi does, and has grown the power couple’s wealth exponentially during her congressional career.
When she first entered office, Pelosi and her husband reported between $610,000 and $785,000 in stock holdings according to her 1987 financial disclosure form — nearly 40 year later, her trade volume has exploded to more than $99 million, according to Capitol Trades, which monitors stock market activity for lawmakers.
The 85-year-old, who critics argue benefitted from insider information as one of the most influential politicians, pushed back on the president’s jab, telling Trump to “look at your own self.”
“I say back to him, as that’s what members said, look at your own self,” Pelosi told CNN. “The inference he wants to draw is there was something wrong with that, which there wasn’t, and if there was, people get prosecuted for it. For a long time now we’ve been trying to pass this law. It doesn’t have — now it has more support than it had before.”
Pelosi told the outlet that she did in fact stand up when Trump pressed congress to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would prevent members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing or trading individual stocks, bonds, and other securities.
“He said, ‘Did Nancy stand up?’ Yeah, I did, too. A lot of people stood up, a lot of Democrats stood up,” Pelosi said on CNN.
Quote:Progressive “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib sparked outrage for repeatedly chanting “KKK” as Republicans cheered “USA” during President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The Michigan Democrat was caught in a new clip mockingly jeering the far-right hate group’s moniker to controversial ally Rep. Ilhan Omar as her Republican colleagues erupted in thunderous applause and support for Trump inside the House chamber.
“Everything you need to know about today’s Democrats,” the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a fiery post on X, along with a video of the explosive outburst.
“They cannot stand this country, they cannot stand its comeback, & they cannot hide their contempt anymore.”
Outraged critics blasted Tlaib – already under fire for sporting a “F–k ICE” pin on her lapel and frequently heckling Trump throughout his primetime speech – and Omar, while urging they be expelled from Congress for their “offensive” and “treasonous” behavior.
“As a Black American, watching Tlaib, a non-Black person chant ‘KKK’ is beyond offensive,” one X user raged, adding, “That word carries generations of terror and pain; it’s not a prop for political theater. This is conduct unbecoming of a Member of Congress. Censure her.”
Another chimed in: “They absolutely embarrassed themselves last night.”
“Tlaib and Omar need to be removed from Congress,” one online naysayer fumed.
“It’s unbelievable the hatred they have for the USA. Why is this being allowed without consequences?”
A rep for Tlaib did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Quote:One of Representative Ilhan Omar's guests to President Donald Trump's State of the Union was arrested during the address on Tuesday.
The U.S. Capitol Police told Newsweek that Aliya Rahman, a disabled U.S. citizen who made headlines last month after she was filmed being dragged out of her car and detained by immigration officers while on her way to a medical appointment in Minneapolis, was arrested after disrupting the proceeding. The police said Rahman was arrested after she "started demonstrating" during the address and refused to obey orders to sit down.
Alexa Van Brunt, Rahman's attorney and the director of the MacArthur Justice Center, said in a statement to Newsweek that Rahman was targeted after "simply standing in silence" during Trump's address. Van Brunt called her arrest a "blatant abuse of power."
On Monday, Omar's office identified Rahman as one of four Minnesotans who would be her guests to the State of the Union address. In a news release, the Democrat's office said Rahman was calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to "face legal accountability for their aggression against civilians."
Newsweek has contacted Omar's office and the White House for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
...
Rahman, a Bangladeshi American software engineer, said she had been on her way to an appointment at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center when she encountered federal immigration agents at an intersection. She told Newsweek that she was dragged from her vehicle even after telling agents she was disabled. She said she was denied medical care while in ICE custody and only taken to the hospital after she lost consciousness.
The Department of Homeland Security described Rahman as an agitator who "ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene."
What To Know
Rahman "started demonstrating" during the State of the Union address around 10:07 p.m., the Capitol Police said.
She was "told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders." The police added, "She was given a citation release, which is routine."
In an MS Now interview alongside Omar, Rahman said of her decision to attend the State of the Union address, "I almost don't feel like it was a choice."
She said: "I'm just so painfully aware that what happened to me is a very common experience in this country, except for the part where I got out and I got to come back to my community.
"Honestly, the emotional toll of it is the reason that I think it's still important to come be in front of people who are happy this happened to me or think I deserve worse."
Rahman testified about her experience before lawmakers at a congressional forum examining ICE's actions earlier in February.
In the MS NOW interview, Omar said she invited Rahman and other guests who continued to live with the consequences of the Trump administration's actions in Minnesota.
She said: "One of the things that we know is that the occupation that we experienced in Minnesota was a very harmful, terrorizing occupation. It harmed so many people. It obviously took the lives of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, but there are so many people who are alive who have to live with the damages that this administration has caused in Minnesota.
"So it's really important to the Minnesota Democratic delegation to keep these stories alive, to bring guests that speak to what the ICE occupation has meant for our constituents and the real harm that this administration has caused."
Quote:President Trump lambasted “Squad” Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for their rowdy behavior during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, calling for them to “be institutionalized.”
“When you watch Low IQ Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as they screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event,” Trump began on Truth Social.
“They had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized,” he added.
“When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible.”
Tlaib (D-Mich.) sat in the House chamber wearing a “F— ICE” pin on her lapel and frequently heckled Trump throughout the speech alongside Omar (D-Minn.) before the two left early.
Quote:WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson has claimed that he could have booted more Democrats from the House chamber Tuesday night for their “shameful” behavior during President Trump’s record-long State of the Union address.
Throughout Trump’s remarks, multiple Democrats, including “Squad” Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — the latter of whom sported a “F— ICE” pin on her lapel — repeatedly jeered the president.
Tlaib, in particular, was visibly sneering and audibly grumbling before the duo departed prior to Trump wrapping up the speech.
“It was a very shameful display. There was a couple of times, there’s a couple of House members that I probably could have ejected from the chamber because of their behavior,” Johnson (R-La.) told Newsmax following the address.
“But the president handled it so well, and I decided not to do that because, you know, I thought it would be better for the American people to see that, to see the shame that they were bringing upon themselves, and they just continued to do it.”
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was ejected by the House sergeant-at-arms after parading around with a “Black people aren’t apes” sign and refusing to sit throughout the address.
The sign was motivated by a since-deleted Truth Social post Trump made eaerlier this month that included a video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as apes.
The clip appeared following an apparent screen recording of a video raising doubts about the 2020 election and Trump has claimed he wasn’t aware of the ape meme’s existence when he posted it.
Green was also kicked out of the House chamber during Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last year for shouting at the president and waving his cane.
“They stood at the wrong times and they refused to stand when they should have,” Johnson summed up Democrats’ behavior Tuesday night. “They stood and applauded themselves for voting against the working families’ tax cuts.”
“I mean, that video is going to be very valuable to us in the future, and on the contrary, they refused to stand when the president said answer this simple question – the first job of the government in the country is to defend Americans and not illegal aliens,” the speaker added. “They sat on their hands for that.”
At times, Trump himself called out the opposition over a range of issues, including the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown and resistance to his prized One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Quote:WASHINGTON – Democrats’ counterprogramming event to President Trump’s State of the Union address was hijacked by MAGA supporters and liberals dressed up like frogs — chirping “ribbit.”
Activists and lawmakers held dueling events on Tuesday night to present their counterargument to the president. Some speakers were there to entertain, some to rally the troops ahead of the November midterm election and some charged that Trump was lying to the American people.
“I’m not at the State of the Union speech tonight, because you’re not going to hear about the State of the Union. You are going to hear lie after lie,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told the “People’s State of the Union” rally on the National Mall.
But, across Washington D.C., at the National Press Club, adults dressed as frogs dominated the room. Members of the audience embraced the theme, with many donning frog hats to get into the spirit.
And they yelled “ribbit, ribbit, ribbit” to praise the speakers, who included actor Robert De Niro.
The “Godfather” star closed out the “State of the Swamp” event and used his speaking time to blast President Trump, comparing him to an abusive spouse and a dictator.
“Our country isn’t so lovable right now,” De Niro told the crowd. “In the current climate, declaring love for our country is like an abused spouse professing love for their abuser.”
He went on to say: “We’re now in a country by and for a handful of dishonest, greedy and cruel authoritarians.”
“I feel betrayed by my country,” De Niro added as the crowd cheered him on.
The four-hour event was mostly entertainment and part rallying cry.
Quote:President Donald Trump claimed that the Supreme Court's ruling striking down his imposition of tariffs under emergency laws has actually extended his powers.
"The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling," Trump said in a Monday morning post on Truth Social.
"For one thing, I can use Licenses to do absolutely “terrible” things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades," he added."
Trump appeared to be referring to federal trade or sanctions licenses, which govern whether certain foreign transactions are allowed. Newsweek reached out to the White House by email to comment on this story.
The Context
Trump's social media post comes after, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court voted Friday to strike down the sweeping tariffs imposed by the president under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) on "Liberation Day" in 2025.
The court had grappled over whether Trump had the authority to impose the tariffs under the IEEPA, a 1977 law that grants commanders-in-chief special powers in emergencies, but ultimately decided tariffs must be approved by Congress.
What To Know
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it,” the court ruled.
The ruling continued: “IEEPA’s grant of authority to ‘regulate . . . importation’ falls short. IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power.”
Trump implied Monday that while the court had ruled against charging country's a license fee, "ALL LICENSES CHARGE FEES" and so the U.S. may do the same. He did not go into further detail about how he might impose license fees.
The court's decision has not affected other tariffs that were not imposed under IEEPA. These include industry-specific tariffs imposed on steel, aluminum, autos and parts and other industries. Trump also said they could "all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way."
He did not go into further details about how he might extend these tariffs but after the court ruling on Friday, Trump announced a new 10 percent blanket tariff on all countries—“many of which have been ripping the U.S. off for decades” he said—later raising it to 15 percent on Saturday pending a review of what he described as “new and legally permissible tariffs.” These will come into effect on Tuesday, the White House said.
Quote:A federal judge on Monday handed President Donald Trump a legal victory by permanently blocking the release of a special counsel report examining his handling of classified documents, shutting down a disclosure tied to a criminal case that once posed significant legal peril.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump nominated to the bench in 2020, granted the president’s request to keep the Jack Smith report under wraps, ruling that its release would be unfair after the classified documents case was dismissed.
Cannon last year threw out the prosecution after finding Smith was unlawfully appointed, and said publishing the report would undermine the presumption of innocence because the charges were never adjudicated and were abandoned following Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Quote:A group of volunteers helping in the search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie reportedly recovered a backpack on Sunday.
The volunteers searched along Orange Grove Road not far from Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, AZCentral reported. They recovered a backpack that was handed over to sheriff’s deputies.
True crime reporter Jonathan Lee Riches, who goes by JLR Investigates on social media, shared photos on X of the backpack as it was removed from where it was found and bagged by a sheriff’s deputy.
The Context
The discovery comes as the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, has entered a fourth week.
She was reported missing from her home on February 1 after spending the previous night with family, authorities said. Authorities believe she was taken against her will, and said her blood was found on her porch. Authorities have expressed concerns about her health because she needs daily medication.
On February 10, authorities released surveillance footage showing a masked man wearing a backpack outside Guthrie’s front door on the night she disappeared. The FBI later released a description of the person, who they called a suspect, and said he was carrying a 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.”
What To Know
The discovery comes after the Pima County Sheriff's Department addressed unsanctioned volunteer search parties on Saturday, asking them to refrain from operating independently in the search area.
The department said multiple groups had inquired about searching in the area, but they were asked to give investigators space to conduct their work without interference.
The sheriff's department also said on Saturday that detectives and agents have collected multiple gloves from the search area, and those items are being analyzed. "Specific details about these pieces of evidence will not be shared publicly, as this remains an active investigation," the department said.
Last week, authorities said DNA from gloves found a few miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home did not match any entries in CODIS, the FBI’s national database. The FBI has said the gloves appear to match the gloves worn by a masked person seen in the surveillance footage outside Nancy Guthrie’s house on the night she disappeared.
Investigators also collected DNA from Nancy Guthrie’s property that doesn’t belong to her or those in close contact with her, the sheriff’s department said.
The sheriff's department has also said investigators were turning to investigative genetic genealogy in a bid to track down the suspect.
The sheriff’s department said on Friday that although investigators are seeking information “related to the person seen on video, investigators are not ruling out the possibility that more than one person may be involved.”
The surveillance videos from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera showed an individual wearing a ski mask, long pants, jacket, gloves and handgun holster. The FBI described him as a man about 5 feet, 9 or 10 inches tall with an average build.
Quote:Bill Gates has admitted to having affairs and apologized for his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a town hall meeting with employees of the Gates Foundation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Microsoft co-founder acknowledged he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but he said they didn't involve Epstein's victims, the Journal reported, citing a recording of the meeting it had reviewed.
Gates said it was a "huge mistake" to spend time with Epstein and bring executives from the foundation into meetings with Epstein. According to the Journal, he also said: "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit."
"I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made," he continued.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told Newsweek in a statement on Wednesday that Gates "spoke candidly" as he answered several questions submitted by staff on issues, including the release of the Epstein files, during the meeting and "took responsibility for his actions" over his ties to Epstein.
Why It Matters
The Department of Justice has released millions of pages of documents in the latest disclosure of records from its investigative files on Epstein, which provided more details about his alleged interactions with high-profile figures, including Gates. The inclusion of someone's name or image in the files related to Epstein does not imply wrongdoing.
The files included claims that Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which he denied as "absolutely absurd and completely false." Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. After their split, he acknowledged an affair with an employee.
What To Know
According to the Journal, Gates said in the town hall that he had an affair with a Russian bridge player and another with a Russian nuclear physicist who worked at one of his companies.
He said his former science adviser Boris Nikolic was aware of the affairs and told Epstein about them. The Journal reported in 2023 that Epstein appeared to use the knowledge of Gates' affair with the Russian bridge player to threaten him.
During the town hall, Gates also said photos in the Epstein files that showed him with women whose faces were redacted were photos that Epstein requested he take with Epstein's assistants after their meetings. Gates said, "To be clear I never spent any time with victims."
Gates said he began meeting with Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor, in 2011.
He said he continued meeting with Epstein even after French Gates had raised concerns about it in 2013, saying she was "always kind of skeptical" about Epstein.
Gates said his meetings with Epstein continued through 2014; that he spent time with Epstein in Germany, France and the United States; and that they also flew on a private jet together. He said he never stayed overnight or visited Epstein's private island.
Epstein, Gates said, had portrayed himself as someone with intimate ties with numerous billionaires and as someone who could help raise money for causes including global health.
He also acknowledged that his association with Epstein helped burnish Epstein's reputation and had harmed the reputation of the Gates Foundation.
"It definitely is the opposite of the values of the Foundation and the goals of the Foundation," he said. "And our work is very reputational sensitive."
Quote:The White House warned Mexican drug cartels "not to lay a finger" on any American citizens as deadly violence sweeps through the country following the operation that killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho," leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG in Spanish initials).
U.S. authorities had urged American citizens and government staff in parts of Mexico to shelter in place as the sudden eruption of violence over El Mencho's killing posed a threat to their safety. Many Americans live and travel in Mexico, the southern U.S. neighbor, and it is a popular destination for tourists.
"We encourage all Americans in Mexico to of course adhere to the guidance provided by the State Department. Right now, we are unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning.
"And the Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this president. And they already are.
"This operation, which was carried out successfully by Mexican authorities, was of course supported by the United States, would not have happened without the leadership of President Trump."
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican, had warned that “narco-terrorists” in Mexico were “hunting down American citizens” following the killing of El Mencho. But Moreno's claims were the only reports of Americans being targeted in the chaos that ensued. There were no corroborating reports.
Who Was 'El Mencho'?
El Mencho was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico—known to traffic fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to the U.S.—and the most wanted man in the country.
The 59-year-old former police officer was killed by the Mexican army during a shoot-out in the town of Tapalpa in Jalisco, his home state, on Sunday.
Mexico's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the operation was "planned and executed" by the country's special forces. The U.S. provided intelligence support to the Mexican authorities for the operation to capture El Mencho.
The killing sparked chaos in Mexico, with reports of roadblocks, arson, and flight disruptions caused by suspected cartel members across multiple states.
Retaliatory violence saw the deaths of at least 25 National Guard members and led to dozens of arrests, officials said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm and praised federal security forces after the Mexican army killed El Mencho. She said that in the "vast majority of the national territory, activities are proceeding with complete normality."
Quote:Three people were killed in the latest U.S. attack on an alleged drug smuggling boat in Caribbean waters on Monday, according to the U.S. military.
It was the latest strike in a U.S. government crackdown on narcotrafficking into the country that has attracted increased international criticism and congressional scrutiny.
More than 150 people have been killed in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific by U.S. attacks since early September, according to figures provided by the Trump administration.
The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) described the three people killed on Monday as "male narco-terrorists" traveling along a known trafficking route and said no U.S. military personnel were harmed in the "lethal kinetic strike."
The military shared footage bearing an "unclassified label" showing a boat floating in an unspecified area before flames and smoke engulf the vessel. The 20-second clip then shows what remains of the boat.
This is the third U.S. attack on suspected drug vessels within a week. SOUTHCOM said it had killed three people in the eastern Pacific on Friday, four days after strikes on three separate boats killed 11 people. It was one of the deadliest attacks by the U.S. on alleged drug vessels in the last six months.
The U.S. government has said it is in a legal "armed conflict" with drug cartels, insisting the campaign against alleged small drug vessels is necessary to clamp down on drug flows into the country and save American lives.
International experts and some former officials have criticized the strikes as illegal under international law. Lawmakers have looked more closely at the attacks since it emerged U.S. forces killed survivors of the first attack in September with a follow-up strike.
There was a lull in the number of strikes in January after elite U.S. forces swept into the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and captured then-leader Nicolás Maduro. Along with his wife, Maduro was brought to New York to face narco-terrorism charges.
Earlier this month, a U.S. Marine on the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship in the Caribbean became the first known U.S. casualty in the region since the start of the strikes on suspected drug vessels.
Lance Corporal Chukwuemeka Oforah was declared dead on February 10 after falling overboard three days earlier and being "lost at sea," the Marines said in a statement.
Five U.S. Navy ships and 10 aircraft from different branches of the military were involved in a 72-hour search for Oforah.
Quote:Bullet holes were found on the wing of an American Airlines Boeing jet after landing in Miami from Colombia, according to a report.
Flight AA923 landed at the Miami International Airport on Monday when a routine post-flight inspection found the puncture marks on the 737 MAX 8’s right aileron, which is responsible for lateral balance, AirLive reported.
Despite the puncture marks, the aircraft flew and landed safely.
There were no flight-related issues or injuries on board related to the incident, American Airlines told The Post.
“The aircraft was immediately removed from service for further inspection and repair. We will work closely with all relevant authorities to investigate this incident,” the company said in a statement.
The plane had been in Colombia’s Jose Maria Cordova International Airport on Sunday and was completing a round trip when the bullet holes were discovered, according to AirLive.
It remains unclear how many passengers were aboard the plane, which can seat more than 160 people.
There appeared to be no delays or major changes during the trip, according to FlightAware’s online tracker.
After landing at the Miami International Airport, American Airline technicians reportedly performed temporary patching to stabilize the surface of the wing.
By Monday night, the plane was sent over to Americans’ primary maintenance hub at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to AirLive.
The plane is currently grounded as engineers are conducting a full assessment of the wings where the bullet holes were discovered, the outlet added.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz mused that the collapse of the brutal regimes in Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela during the next six months is “entirely” within the realm of possibility.
The Republican, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, contended to Sean Hannity on Fox News Wednesday that the US is living through a period of tremendous geopolitical opportunities, but cautioned that there’s no guarantee those regimes will fall.
“We are at an extraordinary moment in history. It is entirely possible, Sean, that in the next six months, we will see the regimes fall in Iran, in Venezuela, and in Cuba, and we could also see governments replace them that want to be friends with the United States of America,” Cruz said on “Hannity.”
President Trump has dramatically ramped up pressure on all three US adversaries over recent weeks.
Since last year, the US has maintained an oil quarantine around Venezuela. Trump also authorized the Jan. 3 Operation Absolute Resolve raid to capture strongman Nicolas Maduro.
Those efforts enabled the US to cut off Cuba’s key source of oil, putting a big squeeze on Havana.
More recently, Trump has massed US military assets, including two aircraft carriers, near Iran as a show of force while allowing negotiations with the regime to continue playing out.
The pressure campaign comes on the heels of the theocratic regime massacring thousands of people in what has been described as one of the largest protest activities since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
“Now, let me be clear, I’m not being Pollyannish about this; there are a thousand things that can go wrong,” Cruz added.
“But if that happens, this would be the most consequential geopolitical shift since the fall of the Berlin Wall, since America won the Cold War without firing a shot.”
Trump claimed on Thursday that a decision about whether to strike Iran will come “over the next, probably 10 days.”
“We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal,” Trump said during his Gaza-centered Board of Peace summit in DC.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly taunted Trump repeatedly this week and threatened to sink US warships in the region.
“The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran,” Khamenei’s team wrote on his English X account. “Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware.”
Quote:Russia has said it will direct its nuclear arsenal toward NATO member Estonia if nuclear weapons are stationed in the Baltic country.
"We do not threaten Estonia, as well as all other European countries, but if there are nuclear weapons aimed at us on the territory of Estonia, then our nuclear weapons will be aimed at the territory of Estonia, and Estonia must clearly understand this," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks reported by Russian state media on Sunday.
Estonia's defense ministry said it does not comment on Kremlin statements. Tallinn's foreign ministry said in a statement it treats nuclear weapons "with full responsibility," adding: "It is Russia that has repeatedly used nuclear threats and rhetoric against others as a tool of pressure."
But it also downplayed the role of nuclear weapons in the country's defense, saying it was not a "current issue."
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, said on Wednesday Tallinn would be willing to host nuclear weapons on its territory in the future.
There are currently no public plans to move nuclear weapons to Estonian soil and several other European members of NATO have floated changes to where such hardware is stationed on the continent as confidence in the U.S. coming to the alliance's aid with its vast nuclear cache wavers.
Poland, another NATO state on the alliance's eastern border with Russia, could look at developing nuclear defenses of some kind, the country's president said earlier this week.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda had suggested in 2024 that the country was ready and willing to host American tactical nuclear weapons.
These weapons, sometimes called substrategic or nonstrategic, are designed for use on the battlefield. They have a smaller yield, and would be used against different types of target than strategic nuclear weapons like intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), typically thought of as much more destructive and would target cities if nuclear war broke out.
U.S. tactical nuclear weapons are already based in several European nations, including Germany and Italy. Russia confirmed in 2023 that it had moved tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, its key ally in Europe.
NATO countries near Russia are generally more worried about the prospect of a Moscow attack than alliance members further away from the Kremlin's territory.
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun World War III, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The Kremlin leader has "already started it," Zelensky told the BBC in an interview published late Sunday, referring to a third global conflict.
"Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves," Zelensky said.
Tuesday will mark the start of the fifth year of all-out war in Ukraine, Europe's largest conflict since World War II ended in 1945.
The frontlines snaking through eastern and southern Ukraine have long been relatively static, with Russia controlling roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory. The grinding, bloody warfare in eastern Ukraine has reminded many observers of the trenches of World War I.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that if Kyiv loses the war, Russia will attack other countries in Europe and the conflict will spread across the continent. Putin has branded this "complete nonsense," while European states bordering Russia have quickly built up new defenses and surged defense spending.
"I believe, and have long believed, that Putin has already begun this war and we are preventing it from becoming a broad full-scale Third World War," Zelensky said.
Peace talks, pushed by the U.S. since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, have made only sluggish progress. After renewed trilateral talks in Switzerland last week, Ukraine and the European Union accused Russia of tripping up a peace settlement, while Moscow has not budged from its demand to control all four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine it says it has annexed.
"The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him," Zelensky said.
Russia has not stepped down from its demands to keep control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas, plus the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Crucially, Russia has said it wants a chunk of Donetsk still held by Ukraine that is key for Kyiv's defenses in the east.
Kyiv says it would be illegal to cede territory and territorial concessions would also be deeply unpopular among Ukrainians.
"I don't look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment —weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there," Zelensky said.
Quote:Ukraine has retaken eight settlements in the southeast of the country in the past few weeks, Kyiv's top soldier has said, one day before the country marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Elite Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 400 square kilometers of territory along a chunk of the southern front lines since late January, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's military, said in a post to messaging app Telegram on Monday.
Significant gains for Ukraine have been hard to come by since its initial counteroffensive against Russian forces in 2022, although Russia's grinding advances have also been slow and at a high cost to Moscow.
Russia has seized a total of 572 square kilometers of Ukraine—including 19 settlements—since the start of 2026, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Friday.
Soldiers with Ukraine's airborne forces had said on Sunday they had kicked off an offensive operation to disrupt Russia's advance in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Ukrainian troops described the situation as "very dynamic" and said Russian soldiers were "clinging to every meter of the captured territory, using all available resources."
The airborne forces did not specify when the operation began but said they had recaptured more than 300 square kilometers of territory, covering eight settlements.
"Our soldiers are not only holding the defense but also successfully operating in the offensive operation," Syrskyi said.
Russia first said it had pushed from the eastern Donetsk region—the site of much of the heaviest fighting of the war—into neighboring Dnipropetrovsk in late June last year. Ukraine acknowledged Russia had established a presence in Dnipropetrovsk in August 2025.
Ukraine's military said in an update at 4 p.m. local time on Monday that Russia had launched three attacks around the Dnipropetrovsk village of Ternove, and just west, near Vyshneve. The settlements sit close to the Dnipropetrovsk border with both Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.
Russia's defense ministry separately said on Monday its forces had attacked Ukrainian brigades, including assault forces, deployed in Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukraine's former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said on Monday that as the war enters its fifth year, the rapid development of drone technology and artificial intelligence was reshaping how modern wars are fought.
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to visit Ukraine as he marked the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion.
"I really want to come here with the President of the United States one day," Zelensky said in a video posted on X on Tuesday. "I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one's own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain—only then can one understand what this war is really about."
He added that Putin now understands he is "not capable of defeating Ukraine on the battlefield," and had "not achieved his goals."
"He has not broken Ukrainians. He has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice," he said.
...
What To Know
Zelensky delivered his 18-minute anniversary address from an underground bunker beneath Kyiv's Bankova Street, where the president and his advisers worked during the first hours of Russia's invasion in 2022.
He recalled receiving a warning from President Joe Biden to "leave Ukraine urgently," to which he replied: "I need ammunition, not a ride."
Zelensky said that a visit from Trump would make it clear "who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured."
He added: "This is not a street fight—it is an attack by a sick state on a sovereign one, and that Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace."
Zelensky also urged Trump this week to "stay on our side," and said that the U.S. was not putting enough pressure on Putin.
"They have to stay with… a democratic country which is fighting against one person. Because this person is a war. Putin is a war. It's all about himself. It's all about one person. And the country, all his country is in the prison," he said in an interview with CNN on Monday.
Trump has on numerous occasions appeared to side with Russia during the peace negotiations, and pressured Zelensky to sign on to a peace proposal including major territorial concessions, or risk losing U.S. support.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance also attacked Zelensky during a fractious meeting in the Oval Office in February last year, during which Trump threatened to withdraw U.S. support if Ukraine did not make a deal.
Quote:KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians would overwhelmingly reject any referendum that cedes territory in exchange for “peace” with Russia, Kyiv lawmakers warned Wednesday, arguing that no one believes Russian President Vladimir Putin would keep his word and end his invasion.
Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine’s parliament for the opposition center-right Holos party, said the core issue is trust— which she added is non-existent in her country after 12 years of war and other atrocities.
“The question that we are constantly asking is, who or what will make sure that Putin will keep his part of the deal?” Rudik told The Post. “We know for a fact that since 2014, when Russia first attacked us, Putin has never held up his end of the bargain.”
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, representing another opposition party, European Solidarity, agreed that Russia’s goal is to “ensure that we are non-existent, and that will only feed their appetite to attack again.”
“We are seeing in the sociological data right now that the majority of the Ukrainian population is not ready to give in on any part of Ukrainian territory,” she said. “And why is that? Because we know that it won’t stop the Russian Federation. It won’t bring the end of the war.”
As the Trump administration has tried to hammer out a cease-fire and several frameworks for peace deals, pressure has grown on Kyiv to consider territorial compromises after four years of full-scale conflict.
In the Verkhovna Rada, as Ukraine’s parliament is known, Rudik said lawmakers understand that any deal that looks like capitulation would face fierce public resistance.
“The end of the war,” she said, “is when Russia is weakened to the point where they cannot continue.”
To bring that about, Rudik argued, the West should step up its support for Ukraine, building on sanctions, humanitarian aid and munitions.
“We were very good — we exceeded expectations in defending ourselves,” she said. “Give us one more game-changer, and we will change the game.”
Ukraine has been through “dozens of so-called cease-fires that Russia always broke,” Rudik added. “There was no way to complain to everyone and defend ourselves the proper way.”
Another factor in Ukrainian skepticism is the US and UK’s failure to live up to its obligations in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which they promised to protect Ukraine from Russian invasion in exchange for Kyiv giving up its nuclear arsenal.
Quote:The United States and Canada scrambled multiple aircraft to intercept and track five Russian military planes flying near Alaska on Thursday.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it detected two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s and one A-50 early warning spy aircraft operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian command, said it launched two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3, and four KC-135 aircraft to "intercept, positively identify, and escort the aircraft until they departed the Alaskan ADIZ."
...
What To Know
NORAD said it detected, tracked, and identified Russian aircraft inside the Alaskan ADIZ and launched U.S. fighter jets to respond, adding that the foreign planes remained in international airspace and did not enter sovereign U.S. or Canadian airspace.
The Russian formation included two Tu-95 bombers, two Su-35 fighter jets, and an A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft. NORAD scrambled two F-16s, two F-35s, and four KC-135 refueling tankers to monitor and escort the group until it departed the ADIZ.
The Alaskan ADIZ is a defined area of international airspace that begins where sovereign airspace ends and requires positive identification of aircraft in the interest of national security, a characterization also noted in recent coverage of operations there.
NATO leadership has warned about expanding Russian and Chinese patrols across the Arctic, including areas north of Alaska and near Canada.
Supreme Allied Commander of Europe General Alexus Grynkewich recently warned at Sweden’s National Security Conference that Russia and China are escalating joint patrols in the Arctic, extending their presence from the Russian northern coast to north of Alaska and near Canada.
While Thursday’s interception has been described as “routine,” the Arctic is increasingly serving as a location for great power competition, possibly raising the stakes for national security and global stability.
Quote:Former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was arrested Monday in a misconduct probe over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
It follows allegations that the former Labour minister passed market‑sensitive government information to Epstein, the late U.S. financier and convicted sex offender.
Emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appear to show Lord Mandelson forwarded information to Epstein in 2009, when he was serving as business secretary under then‑Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He does not face any allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement, "Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview. This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas."
It did not name Mandelson, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case has previously been identified as Mandelson.
...
Who is Lord Peter Mandelson?
Mandelson served in several senior roles under previous Labour governments and was widely regarded as a central figure in the party’s modern history. He also served as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington before Prime Minister Starmer dismissed him in September over his ties to Epstein.
How is Mandelson Referenced in the Epstein Files?
Mandelson was dismissed from his diplomatic post in September after emails surfaced showing he maintained contact with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Police opened a criminal investigation last month after additional details emerged in documents released by the U.S. Justice Department.
The files suggested that the former ambassador passed on sensitive and potentially market-moving government information to Epstein in 2009. At the time, Mandelson was part of the U.K. government.
Law enforcement searched both of his houses, in London and western England.
Among the disclosures in the recently released files were bank documents suggesting that between 2003 and 2004, Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Mandelson has said he does not recall receiving the money and is examining whether the documents are authentic.
The files also showed that in 2009, Epstein sent 10,000 pounds—about $13,650 at current exchange rates—to da Silva to pay for an osteopathy course. Mandelson told The Times of London that "in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer."
Emails from the same year suggested Mandelson, then serving as business secretary, discussed with Epstein the possibility of lobbying other government officials to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
Another message showed Mandelson forwarding Epstein an internal government report on potential measures to raise money following the 2008 financial crisis, including the sale of government assets. Mandelson wrote in the email: "Interesting note that’s gone to the PM."
Quote:Injured survivors and bereaved families from the New Year's bar fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana will receive a one-off payment from the Swiss government.
Switzerland's governing Federal Council said the solidarity payment would go to the families of each of the 41 people who died, as well as more than 100 survivors who suffered serious injuries.
Witnesses and prosecutors said the fire at Le Constellation in the early hours of New Year's Day appeared to have been caused by sparkling candles, which ignited foam soundproofing on the bar's basement ceiling.
Many of the victims were teenagers, with ages ranging from 14 to 39. It emerged that a service door had been locked, preventing many inside from escaping as the fire spread around 1.30 a.m. on New Year's Day, the BBC reported.
No fire inspection had taken place there since 2019, and the former security officer at Crans-Montana's town hall told a hearing that local authorities had not closed any establishment because of fire risks until January, it was reported.
Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans said the federal government would pay 7.8 million francs ($10 million) for 156 individuals most severely affected by the fire. Jans said the money would complement the 10 million francs ($12.9 million) provided by Crans-Montana's home canton, Valais.
Swiss authorities said 115 people were injured in the fire. Most of those who died were teenagers, and many were foreign, including several from France and Italy.
The Swiss government also said it would work to help victims, insurers, and authorities reach out-of-court settlements and aims to contribute up to 20 million francs ($25 million) for such settlements.
One survivor, Mélanie Van de Velde, wrote on Facebook that she had suffered 40 percent burns and that "every treatment revives the pain."
Swiss prosecutors have launched an investigation into the club's owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who have been the focus of fury from grieving parents. Earlier this month, the couple faced relatives outside the prosecutor's office in Sion, where they had arrived for questioning. The pair, who have blamed a waitress who also died in the fire, are under judicial supervision.
The couple faces charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, and arson by negligence. They could face 20 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said Wednesday: “We too want to know what happened, why, and how it could have been prevented," Reuters reported.
Quote:German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, his first visit to China as his country's leader, as the latest Western leader seeking to strike a balance between Washington and Beijing as tensions deepen between the world’s two largest economies.
The visit comes nearly 10 months after he took office and at a moment when China has reclaimed its position as Germany’s top trading partner, edging out the United States last year after Washington briefly held the spot in 2024. The shift underscores the economic stakes behind the trip, even as political and trade frictions persist.
Newsweek has reached out to Merz’s office by email with a request for comment.
Chinese 'Oversupply'
Ahead of his visit, Merz cited trade as a key concern he would discuss with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Successive German governments, along with European Union leadership, have accused China of unfair trade practices, particularly the oversupply of subsidized products such as electric vehicles—a sector where Chinese manufacturers are increasingly outcompeting Germany’s flagship auto industry.
Germany’s trade deficit with China reached a record $102.5 billion last year, a nearly 30 percent increase year on year.
The EU imposed tariffs on electric vehicles from leading Chinese automakers in response to what it characterized as a supply glut. Even so, Chinese brands captured between 11 and 16 percent of the European EV market last year.
Beijing has denied engaging in unfair trade practices and has accused Europe of interfering with free trade.
Fair competition is one of the five key principles Merz outlined ahead of his departure. German businesses have long complained of unequal access to China’s vast domestic market and state-backed competition that distorts pricing and supply.
Yet the trip also unfolds against renewed trade uncertainty with the United States—which Merz has described as “poison for the economies of Europe.” German exports to the U.S. fell by more than 9 percent between January and November last year, driven in part by tariffs. The United States now lags not only China, but also Poland and Italy as a destination for German exports.
While Merz welcomed this week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down several sweeping tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump through executive action, Section 232 tariffs on German vehicles and auto parts remain in place. Trump has also announced a new blanket 15 percent tariff on certain countries, a move that has delayed a planned European Union vote on a trade deal with Washington.
Quote:North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has handed his teenage daughter a leadership role in the regime’s powerful "Missile Administration," the body that oversees Pyongyang’s nuclear forces, South Korean media reported Monday.
The girl, Ju Ae, who is believed to be 13 or 14 years old, was assessed by South Korean intelligence received on Sunday to be acting as a "missile general director" while authorities monitor developments at the ongoing Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, the reports said.
The Chosun Daily, citing high-level government sources familiar with the matter, said intelligence agencies obtained reports that Kim’s daughter has been elevated to the position.
While Jang Chang-ha is officially listed as director of the administration, intelligence suggested Kim’s daughter is receiving briefings from generals and issuing directives.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service recently told lawmakers that her public profile signals she is also in the "stage of being designated as a successor," adding that circumstances have been seen where she provides opinions on policy, The Associated Press reported.
The teen has appeared alongside her father at high-profile military events, including intercontinental ballistic missile launches and weapons inspections.
North Korean state media first confirmed her existence in November 2022, and described her only as a "beloved child" when she accompanied Kim at the launch of the Hwasong-17 ICBM.
Her name has never been officially disclosed by Pyongyang.
Her reported role comes as Kim continues to showcase advances in the country’s weapons programs.
On Feb. 18, Kim was photographed taking the wheel of a nuclear-capable 600mm multiple rocket launcher in Pyongyang, touting it as among the most powerful of its kind.
State media showed rows of launch vehicles and said the rockets, which Kim claimed rival short-range ballistic missiles and use artificial intelligence in their guidance systems, have "completely changed" modern artillery warfare, Reuters reported.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Kim was re-elected general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Feb.22, a decision announced by state-run media following the party’s Ninth Congress.
Just notice that the Chosun Daily actually called the girl Kim Ju Hae.
Quote:The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry compared the U.S. administration to the top Nazi propagandist after President Donald Trump again warned Tehran against pursuing a nuclear weapon in his State of the Union address to Congress.
Trump has ordered a massive military build-up in the Middle East and threatened to strike Iran if it does not make a new nuclear deal with the U.S.
Tehran denies seeking to build a nuclear bomb—and says it will never do so—though it has stockpiles of uranium enriched to a purity beyond what is needed for civilian energy purposes.
"Professional liars are good at creating the 'illusion of truth,'" Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said in a post on X after Trump's address.
"''Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth', is a law of propaganda coined by Nazi Joseph Goebbels.
"This is now systematically used by the U.S. administration and the war profiteers encircling it, particularly the genocidal Israeli regime, to serve their sinister disinformation & misinformation campaign against the Nation of Iran.
"Whatever they're alleging in regards to Iran's nuclear program, Iran's ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January's unrest is simply the repetition of 'big lies'. No one should be fooled by these prominent untruths."
Trump: Iran Wants a Deal
A third set of U.S.-Iran diplomatic talks is slated for Thursday in Geneva. The nuclear issue is top of the agenda, but the U.S. also wants to discuss Iran's ballistic missile capabilities and its support for proxy militias in the Middle East.
"They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: 'We will never have a nuclear weapon,'" Trump said during his speech on Tuesday.
"My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon," he added.
"And no one should ever doubt America's resolve. We have the most powerful military on Earth."
Before Trump spoke, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that "Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon," but defended Tehran's "right to harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology for our people."
An anonymous official from the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah told AFP it would not intervene militarily if the U.S. conducted limited strikes on Iran, which Trump has said he is considering to increase pressure on the regime.
Quote:A dozen American F-22 Raptor fighter jets, representing more than $4 billion of military spending, have arrived at an Israeli air force base amid a massive buildup of US military hardware in the Middle East.
The planes, widely considered the best in the world due to their speed and stealth, arrived in the Jewish state Tuesday evening as tensions with Iran soar, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Designed by Lockheed Martin, the F-22s cost around $350 million each, and are so vital to the US that the Pentagon has forbidden their sale or licensure to any foreign government.
The dozen jets were previously stationed at the RAF Lakenheath base in southern England and were seen taking off earlier on Tuesday, the Times of Israel reported.
One was reportedly forced to return to the base due to a technical issue before taking off again later in the day.
F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, along with B-2 bombers, were used in June 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the US struck three Iranian nuclear sites.
More than 300 US military aircraft are deployed across the Middle East, according to open-source intelligence monitoring and publicly available flight data.
The jets arrived just days after the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived off Israel’s coast ahead of Thursday’s scheduled nuclear talks between the US and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if the talks fail, while the Islamic regime has vowed to strike Israeli and US targets in the Middle East in response.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump branded the Iranian regime “the world’s number one sponsor of terror,” and ordered Tehran to end its nuclear program.
“We are in negotiations with [Iran], they want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those sacred words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,'” Trump said.
Quote:Mexican soldiers captured and killed a notorious cartel boss after tracking a romantic partner to his hideout, officials have revealed in new details on the operation.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was one of the Mexican and U.S. government's most wanted drug lords. He headed up the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the main groups responsible for trafficking fentanyl into the U.S.
On Sunday, the Mexican army tracked him to the town of Talpalpa, where they launched a dramatic raid on his hideout, killing at least eight other cartel members along with El Mencho in a bloody fight.
Here's how it unfolded.
From a Lover to a Firefight
On Friday, Mexican forces acted following a tip-off from a trusted associate of one of El Mencho's romantic partners. They've not been named by Mexican authorities for their own safety.
Police then followed El Mencho's lover to a wooded mountainous area on the outskirts of Tapalpa and the building where the drug kingpin was holed up, the Mexican government said on Monday.
Mexico's defense minister, General Ricardo Trevilla, said the woman, described as one of El Mencho's "romantic partners," was taken to the property in Tapalpa by another associate on Friday, but the woman had departed on Saturday.
The drug boss remained in the area with a security detail while special forces soldiers planned their assault.
The element of surprise was key, Trevilla said. Some of the forces hung back along the border of Jalisco state to avoid detection as ground troops approached the building.
El Mencho's bodyguards opened fire on the soldiers before the cartel leader and his inner circle fled toward cabins in a wooded area on the outskirts of Tapalpa, Trevilla said. They were found hiding among the undergrowth.
The firefight forced one helicopter to make an emergency landing at a nearby military base, but no personnel were injured, the defense chief said.
El Mencho and two others were gravely injured and evacuated from the scene, but died en route and were ultimately taken to Mexico City rather than Guadalajara, as originally intended.
The U.S. Role
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her top officials have faced increasing U.S. pressure to crack down on drug trafficking operations across the border.
Much of the fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. comes via Mexico, and President Donald Trump and his administration have shown they are willing to use military force to tackle drug trafficking.
On Monday, U.S. forces killed another three people aboard an alleged drug boat as part of a nearly six-month-long controversial strike campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.
Shortly after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to face narco-terrorism charges in January, Trump had said cartels were "running Mexico" and suggested the U.S. would "start now hitting land with regard to the cartels."
The White House also designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization last year, giving the U.S. more options for how it could target the cartel.
Sheinbaum quickly rejected U.S. military operations in Mexico without its approval, but increased cooperation on extradition to the U.S.
U.S. and Mexican officials said U.S. intelligence had supported the operation against El Mencho but did not offer up further information.
A joint U.S.-Mexico task force that frequently collaborates with the Mexican military was involved in the operation on Sunday, U.S. media reported, citing anonymous U.S. defense officials. American officials had handed over a dossier of information on El Mencho ahead of the Mexican military operation, an unnamed former U.S. official told Reuters.
Violence Continues
The drug baron's death after a shoot-out with Mexican forces ignited a massive wave of retaliatory violence and widespread disruption across 20 states.
Quote:FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said he is "not worried" about security at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico after days of violence following the killing of the cartel boss Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes.
Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was one of the world's most wanted drug lords and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). He was killed by Mexican special forces in an operation in Tapalpa on Sunday, which has sparked widespread unrest and cartel retaliation in multiple Mexican states.
The violence - which has seen American tourists told to shelter in place - has raised concerns over whether soccer fans will be safe during the World Cup tournament this year, when numerous games are scheduled to take place in Mexico.
Why It Matters
Violence has been reported just a few miles from Estadio Akron, in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, which is scheduled to host a World Cup qualifying playoff tournament in late March.
Mexico is also set to host four World Cup matches in June and July.
What To Know
Infantino told the Spanish media outlet AS: "We have full confidence that everything will go very well: the playoff and then the World Cup. It will be a celebration."
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also said there was "no risk" to soccer fans planning to travel to Mexico, saying on Tuesday that "all the guarantees" were in place for the tournament to go ahead safely.
Pablo Lemus, the governor of the Mexican state of Jalisco, said: "There is absolutely no intention on FIFA's part to remove any venues from Mexico. The three venues remain completely firm."
It comes after multiple people expressed concerns about the games set to be hosted in Mexico, with some calling for them to be moved.
Mexico's Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that Oseguera Cervantes was wounded during a Sunday's operation and died en route to Mexico City, while four other CJNG members were killed and three army personnel injured.
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to shelter in place in Jalisco—including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala and Guadalajara—as well as parts of Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon due to road blockages and criminal activity.
Sheinbaum said all state governments were in "absolute coordination" and that activities were proceeding "with complete normality" in most of the country.
Quote:The Cuban government on Wednesday night said that the 10 people onboard a U.S.-registered boat involved in a deadly shooting with the Cuban Coast Guard were armed Cuban nationals living in the United States, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for additional comment.
Why It Matters
U.S. officials said earlier that they were aware of or briefed on the incident and gathering additional information, underscoring the significance of determining the passengers' identities, what they were doing in Cuban waters and whether any are U.S. nationals or lawful permanent residents.
What To Know
Cuba’s coast guard killed four people and wounded six during the exchange with the Florida-registered speedboat off the island’s coast, according to the country’s Ministry of the Interior, which identified the vessel's registration number as FL7726SH. The speedboat approached up to 1 nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in the Cayo Falcones, Corralillo municipality, Villa Clara province, per the ministry.
Cuban officials said when their Coast Guard approached the vessel, the speedboat's crew opened fire on them. According to the AP, Cuba’s government said that the majority onboard the U.S.-registered boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
Who was onboard the U.S.-registered boat?
The Cuban Embassy in the U.S. listed seven of the 10 onboard, identifying them as: Amijail Sánchez González; Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez; Conrado Galindo Sariol; José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló; Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara; and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. In an X post, the embassy also identified Michel Ortega Casanova as among those killed.
The embassy adds that there are ongoing efforts to identify the remaining three passengers who were onboard the U.S. vessel.
González and Gómez are wanted by officials in Cuba “for their alleged involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support, or execution of terrorist acts in #Cuba or abroad," the Cuban Embassy says.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Iran has prevented international inspectors from reaching three nuclear facilities struck by the US this past June, leaving the outside world unable to determine how much near-weapons-grade uranium the Islamic Republic posesses, according to a confidential report.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stressed to member states that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” nor can it provide “any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran,” according to the Associated Press.
That “loss of continuity of knowledge over all previously declared nuclear material at affected facilities in Iran needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency,” added the IAEA, which noted that Iran’s stonewalling was in direct violation of its legal obligation under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA after its 12-day war with Israel in June 2025 — during which the US dropped at least six “bunker buster” bombs on nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
In the absence of access to those three sites, the nuclear agency has been forced to rely on commercially available satellite imagery.
Observation of the Isfahan facility, some 215 miles southeast of Tehran, showed “regular vehicular activity” around the entrance to a tunnel complex used to store enriched material and that appears to have averted destruction in June, the report said, adding that it was unclear whether the site “contains nuclear material or is operational.”
The IAEA also noted that prior to the American and Israeli strikes, Iran said it was setting up another enrichment plant at Isfahan, though the agency does not know its precise location or whether it is functioning.
Activity was also observed at Fordow and Natanz, the former of which is buried 300 feet inside a mountain, but “without access to these facilities it is not possible for the Agency to confirm the nature and the purpose of the activities,” the IAEA acknowledged.
Iran has given inspectors access to its other nuclear facilities “at least once” since June 2025, with the exception of a power plant at Karun that is under construction, the watchdog noted.
Tehran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the US, UN and other Western nations have confirmed an organized atomic weapons program existed through at least 2003.
According to the IAEA, Iran maintains a stockpile of 972 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned in an October interview that stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, though he added that does not mean Tehran has such weapons.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Iran left talks with the US without a deal to end its nuclear program shortly before President Trump launched a “massive and ongoing operation” against the regime.
The negotiations in Geneva were inconclusive, with Trump’s self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program ticking down as soon as the weekend approached.
Nevertheless, Iran had said technical talks had been set to resume Monday in Switzerland.
“They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore,” Trump said in his speech announcing the attack that he posted on Truth Social.
“Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”
he initial strikes showed the huge force and capabilities arrayed against Iran. US and Israeli jets carried out dozens of strikes, with large explosions visible in Tehran near the presidential palace, with Iran firing back at US assets in neighboring countries.
With diplomacy failing to achieve US ends of securing Iran’s commitment to end its nuclear and missile program, Trump continued to amass military assets throughout the week — with ships moving into position and hundreds of military aircraft now gathered within range of Iran.
Trump had said he’d prefer a deal, but all options are on the table militarily.
Thursday’s meeting took place exactly one week after Trump told a meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington that he would decide whether to hit the theocratic regime “over the next, probably, 10 days.”
Under deadline pressure, all sides described progress after more than six hours of discussions in Geneva — with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and mediator Badr Albusaidi, Oman’s foreign minister, saying follow-up “technical” talks would happen in Vienna, Austria, on Monday.
The Austrian capital is home to the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But Iranian state media said the country had rejected the central US demand that it relinquish its nuclear program — saying representatives “firmly” reiterated Iran’s “nuclear rights” while demanding the end of US sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baqaei bashed the American side halfway through the day’s discussions.
“There are contradictory statements from some US officials, which raise doubts about their seriousness,” he said after a break in talks.
A starkly different tune came from the foreign minister after negotiations concluded for the day, who said that “overall, it was one of the best rounds of negotiations and one of the most serious and longest.”
Who currently holds power in Iran’s political leadership is unclear amid reports that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has effectively sidelined President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in 2024 as a reformer. Both men were reportedly the targets of Israeli strikes Saturday.
“On some issues, understanding has now been established,” the foreign minister said. “And on some issues, it is natural that we have differences of opinion, and perhaps more than in the past, the seriousness on both sides was evident to reach a negotiated solution.”
There was no immediate response from the White House, but War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were spotted departing the executive mansion around the time the Geneva talks wrapped up.
The US team was led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who left a morning session “disappointed,” but later felt the day’s work was “positive,” Axios reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff and Kushner have demanded that Iran dismantle three key nuclear sites — at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz — that were hit by the US this past June and turn over all of its enriched uranium to Washington.
The American side also reportedly demanded that any agreement be permanent, with none of the so-called “sunset clauses” found in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The outlet later reported that the Iranian side had rejected those demands, and it was unclear how flexible Witkoff and Kushner were willing to be.
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to Congress, the president claimed that Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” among other “sinister designs.”
“We are in negotiations with them,” Trump said. “They want to make a deal but we haven’t heard those sacred words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump spent Friday repeatedly saying that he was “not happy” about ongoing negotiations with Iran and that he’s nearing a decision on whether to launch a military attack.
“We have a big decision to make. You know that. Not easy, it’s not easy. We have a very big decision,” Trump said during a political rally in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The president is demanding that Tehran completely abandon nuclear enrichment, but US negotiators were rebuffed in Geneva on Thursday despite a massive American military buildup in the Middle East.
Trump sounded increasingly hardened going into the weekend — a period of time that he has favored for military operations.
“We have a country that’s been for 47 years blowing people’s legs off, arms off, their face,” he said.
“They’ve been knocking out ships, killing people —lots of people, not only Americans, lots of people. It’s been terrible. 32,000 people killed over the last two, three months, protesters — 32,000, that’s some number of people, 32,000. They want to make a deal, but gotta make a deal that’s meaningful.”
Trump, speaking with a large Venezuelan oil tanker as his backdrop — after capturing that nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in a Jan. 3 military raid — told a gaggle of reporters that Iranian officials “don’t want to say the key words, ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.’”
“They have to say, ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon’ and they just can’t quite get there. They want to enrich a little bit. You don’t have to enrich when you have that much oil. So I’m not happy with the negotiation.”
Trump insisted that “we haven’t made a final decision” on whether to follow through with a threatened military attack following the massive buildup of naval and air assets within striking distance of Iran.
“We’re not exactly happy with the way they’re negotiating. They cannot have nuclear weapons,” he reiterated.
A reporter then asked Trump if there was “a risk that strikes could turn into a long, drawn-out conflict in the Middle East.”
“I guess you could say there’s always a risk,” the president replied. “You know, when there’s war, there’s a risk in anything, both good and bad.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner represented the president Thursday in Switzerland and are preparing for follow-up talks Monday in Vienna.
A source familiar with the talks said the US negotiators were disappointed by “multiple” aspects of the Geneva talks, including Iran’s insistence it has an “inalienable right” to enrich uranium.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to be in Israel Monday and Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And he DID attack as you'll learn in the next section.
Quote:Israel won’t hesitate to re-invade Gaza to dismantle Hamas if the terror group refuses to uphold President Trump’s peace plan and disarm, Israel’s ambassador to the US said Friday.
In an exclusive sit-down with The Post, Yechiel Leiter stated that the Jewish State wasn’t confident that the terrorist group would cede control of the region in accordance with Trump’s peace plan — and Israel could be forced to take matters into its own hands.
“I don’t see a terrorist organization that defines itself through weapons and through terror disarming,” Leiter said Friday.
“The president has made it clear that if they don’t disarm, Israel is going to have a green light to go back. And we’re not going to live with jihadis on our border and everybody understands that.”
Leiter would not say how long Israel is willing to wait for Hamas to back down, but said officials are “realistic and with a little tilt towards optimism” that the miltant group responsible for the Oct. 7 terror attack would comply with Trump’s peace plan that would transform Gaza into a “deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.”
Should Israel re-invade Gaza, it would do so “in tandem” with the US, Leiter said.
Israel is “very positive,” however, that peace talks are progressing in the right direction, which could eliminate the potential need for a re-invasion.
“But we’re ready to do it if we have to. We’re not going to live with this Hamas terror on our border,” said Leiter.
Netanyahu reportedly does not believe the international body led by Trump to oversee Gaza will be successful in disarming Hamas, which is why he ordered the IDF to prepare a “contingency plan.”
Earlier this month, Israel told The Post that the Israel Defense Forces would implement operations in the Gaza Strip, including in the city of Deir al-Balah, if Hamas refuses to disarm.
Quote:Israel said it launched a preemptive attack against Iran on Saturday, pushing the Middle East into a renewed military confrontation and further dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West.
The attack, coming after Israel and Iran engaged in a 12-day air war in June, follows repeated US-Israeli warnings that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported.
The US and Iran renewed negotiations in February in a bid to resolve the decades-long dispute through diplomacy and avert the threat of a military confrontation that could destabilize the region.
Israel, however, insisted that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process, and lobbied Washington to include restrictions on Iran’s missile program in the talks.
Iran said it was prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions but ruled out linking the issue to missiles.
Tehran also said it would defend itself against any attack.
It warned neighboring countries hosting US troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington struck Iran.
In June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iranian nuclear installations, in the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran retaliated by launching missiles toward the US Al Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest in the Middle East.
Western powers have warned that Iran’s ballistic missile project threatens regional stability and could deliver nuclear weapons if developed. Tehran denies seeking atomic bombs.
Quote:President Trump ordered the Iranian regime, military and police forces to “lay down” their guns or face “certain death” after the US and Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury” Saturday — as he appealed to protesters to control their “destiny.”
The commander in chief warned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his lackies that they will face the full force of the US military if they don’t heed his warning.
“To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or in the alternative face certain death,” Trump said during his eight-minute video address Saturday morning.
“So lay down your arms, you will be treated fairly with total immunity or you will face certain death.”
Trump told the Iranian citizens that it was their time to “respond” and seize and take control of the government.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” Trump said.
“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force.
Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close, within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”
Quote:A wild video shows the moment US and Israeli missiles rained down on Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s compound — while a witness laughed in apparent disbelief.
The footage shows thick smoke billowing from the fortified complex, which, along with military infrastructure, was targeted in what the State Department called “Operation Epic Fury.”
Upon the realization, a woman can be heard laughing, seemingly stunned at the sight.
“Oh my God, they hit it. They struck it. Oh my God!” the woman says.
“They hit the Supreme Leader compound!”
At least seven missiles struck the area around Khamenei’s fortified complex in central Tehran, with additional strikes near the presidential palace.
The 86-year-old supreme leader was reportedly not in the compound — or in Tehran — when the strikes were launched and has since been moved to an undisclosed secure location.
Airstrikes were also reported in other enclaves, including Isfahan, Qom, Karaj and Kermanshah, but the full extent of the attack was not yet clear early Saturday.
Iran responded with a series of retaliatory attacks across in Bahrain, one of which struck a US Navy base.
The US and Israel joint strike came Saturday morning in response to the regime’s refusal to dismantle its nuclear program after weeks of negotiations.
Operation Epic Fury’s objective was to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” President Trump said Saturday.
Trump also called upon the Iranian citizens to overthrow the “violent” regime.
The president had given the Iranian officials a 10-15 day deadline to reach an agreement on a nuclear deal on Feb. 19, asserting the regime would face “really bad things” if it didn’t.
Trump insisted he would not accept a deal that would allow Iran to continue to enrich uranium out of fears the regime is using it to build a nuclear weapon, but Tehran has claimed it was using the material for civilian purposes.
On Friday, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged US citizens to evacuate the embassy as soon as possible.
Quote:US Central Command released video Saturday of American missiles obliterating various targets in Iran.
The dramatic footage shows Tomahawk cruise missiles being launched from a US Navy vessel and various types of fighter jets taking off from a ship.
Aerial footage of missiles striking five different targets, including an aircraft and radar station, was also shown.
“As the President stated, our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” CENTCOM wrote on X.
“The President ordered bold action,” the post continued. “CENTCOM forces are delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow.”
The military campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, involves “the largest regional concentration of American military firepower in a generation,” according to CENTCOM.
The operation aims to “dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus” and is focused on “imminent threat” locations.
US and Israeli forces began hitting targets, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields, at 1:15 am ET.
In addition to the “precision munitions launched from air, land, and sea,” CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike deployed “one-way attack drones for the first time in combat.”
“The President ordered bold action, and our brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians, and Coast Guardsmen are answering the call,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement.
After the initial wave of strikes, CENTCOM forces repelled “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.”
There have been no reports of US casualties or combat-related injuries.
US installations in the Middle East sustained “minimal” damage that has not impacted operations.
Quote:Saudi Arabia said it’s ready to put “all its capabilities” at its allies’ disposal, warning of “grave consequences” if retaliatory Iranian strikes continue — sparking fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
It comes after the Islamic Republic launched a barrage of missiles on US military bases in Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan — in retaliation for US and Israel military strikes against Tehran overnight.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns and denounces in strongest terms the blatant Iranian aggression,” the Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on a statement on X Saturday.
Iranian strikes targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the ministry said.
“These attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way whatsoever, and they came despite the Iranian authorities’ knowledge that the Kingdom had affirmed it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran.”
“The Kingdom affirms its full solidarity with and unwavering support for the brotherly countries, and its readiness to place all its capabilities at their disposal in support of any measures they may undertake,” it added.
“It also warns of the grave consequences resulting from the continued violation of states’ sovereignty and the principles of international law.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salma later made calls to the leaders of the Gulf states to reaffirm his support, he said in a statement.
The US and Israel launched airstrikes against the Iranian regime Saturday morning, with the initial strike near Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran office.
It came after the countries failed to make progress on a nuclear deal during talks earlier this week.
Quote:At least five people were killed after Iran retaliated Saturday against “Operation Epic Fury” by firing ballistic missiles at nine countries, including a US Navy base in Bahrain.
A massive explosion could be seen close to the base on the Persian Gulf Island nation, according to video obtained by The Post.
The footage was taken from a vehicle passing by the area.
A cloud of dark smoke blasted into the sky after the explosion, which then sent shrapnel flying in all directions.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” the passengers can be heard shouting.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the impact of the strike was on the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, the naval command overseeing the US Navy’s Middle East operations.
Initial reports suggested there were no US casualties in Bahrain.
Military personnel and residents were warned about the incoming missile attack, according to Stars and Stripes.
The hours-long attack on Bahrain included multiple explosions rocking the capital Manama Saturday afternoon, according to the outlet.
In addition to the attack on the American base in Bahrain, Iran launched a barrage of missiles in strikes targeting Israel, and US military bases across the region, including in Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles in strikes targeting Israeli and US military bases across the region, including in Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Jordan.
Israel bore the brunt of Iran’s ire with at least 125 missiles fired at the central and northern areas of Jewish state by Iran during the first barrage, with 35 successfully entering Israeli airspace, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The other 90 bombs were intercepted.
There was one direct hit on a residential building in northern Israel, first responders Magen David Adom told the outlet.
Only one person suffered minor injuries from that strike.
A second barrage later Saturday afternoon included 15 missiles launched in northern and central Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post.
One bomb from that volley also struck a residential building in central Israel where one person suffered minor injuries, that report stated.
Quote:Law enforcement was on high alert for terror attacks at sensitive sites in and around New York City Saturday following a series of US/Israel missile strikes on Iran overnight.
Video posted on X showed NYPD counterterrorism officers patrolling outside the Iranian Embassy on Third Avenue between East 40th Street and East 41th Street in Midtown, Saturday, video posted to X showed.
The department pledged to send additional officers to potential targets including diplomatic missions, cultural centers, religious institutions and other sites — which is its normal protocol when global tensions are heightened.
“The NYPD is closely monitoring events in Iran and the Middle East and coordinating with our federal and international partners,” the NYPD posted on X. “As is our protocol and out of an abundance of caution, we will be enhancing patrols to sensitive locations throughout the city, including diplomatic, cultural, religious, and other relevant sites.”
While no specific, credible threats were immediately identified, the careful approach came as supporters of the Iranian regime lashed out with anti-US rhetoric, law enforcement sources said.
Pro-Iranian group Kata’ib Hezbollah was threatening to target U.S. military bases in the Middle East, the sources said.
But the NYPD had yet to identify specific calls for targeted attacks in the city or the rest of the US, the sources said.
The Port Authority also upped its tactical patrols — sending more officers to the region’s three major airports along with bus terminals and railroads, the agency said.
Quote:A lush Dubai tourist hot spot was set ablaze Saturday in Iran fired missiles on the middle east nation in retaliation for US-Israeli airstrikes.
Fairmont The Palm, at the Palm Jumeirah — the glitzy tree-shaped island renowned for luxury apartment towers and hotels — looked like a war zone on Saturday, video and images circulating on social media showed.
The massive hotel was engulfed in flames after UAE forces intercepted an Iranian air attack, according to reports.
Debris from the intercepted attack, initially believed to be a missile, were believed to have crashed down near the front of The Palm, setting the facade of the building on fire, photos showed.
Officials have not revealed whether anyone was hurt or killed at the luxury hotel.
The strikes also sparked concerns that the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, may have also been struck.
The UAE military boasted of intercepting three waves of ballistic missiles from Tehran.
Debris from one of the waves intercepted by the UAE Air Defense system fell on several areas in Abu Dhabi, the country’s Ministry of Defense announced on X.
One person was killed in the failed strikes.
A “worker of Asian nationality” was killed in one of the strikes in residential areas of Abu Dhabi, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The UAE stated it “reserves the right to respond” to the Iranian strikes, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Iran launched strikes into other Gulf nations on Saturday after being hit by Operation Epic Fury, including Israel, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
Quote:The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic chokepoint for seaborne oil that Iran has long used as a geopolitical bargaining chip, with Tehran repeatedly threatening to close it during times of crisis.
A senior naval commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards again threatened its closure in the event of an attack in late January. On Saturday, US President Donald Trump made good on his warnings of military action should the Islamic Republic fail to cut a deal to curb its nuclear program, with the US and Israel launching a joint operation targeting regime sites and military facilities across Iran.
Despite its frequent warnings of a blockade, Tehran has never acted on them, though it closed part of the strait briefly for “safety” reasons during recent military drills.
Here are the key points to know about the waterway.
Gateway to the Gulf
The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is situated between Iran and Oman’s Musandam exclave, at the tip of a peninsula.
Its narrowness, at around 50 kilometers (30 miles), and shallow waters, at no more than 60 meters (200 feet) deep, make it vulnerable to being sealed off militarily.
The strait is dotted with sparsely inhabited or desert islands, which are strategically important, notably the Iranian islands of Hormuz, Qeshm, and Larak.
Also among them are the disputed islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Mussa, which lie between the UAE and Iran and provide a vantage point over the Gulf, and have been under Iranian control since 1971.
Oil transit hotspot
The strait is a vital corridor connecting the oil-rich Gulf with markets in Asia, Europe, North America, and elsewhere.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Strait of Hormuz is “one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.”
About one-fifth of global oil and petroleum product consumption flows through the strait, averaging 20 million barrels per day in 2024, according to the EIA.
Quote:The Israeli Air Force has completed another wave of airstrikes in Iran, targeting Iranian ballistic missile launchers and air defense systems, the military says.
According to the IDF, the missile launchers and air defenses were struck in western and central Iran. The military also says it “attacked several launch sites in central Iran that had not yet been targeted.”
One of the targeted missile launch sites, in the Qom area, was utilized by Iran to store “H-1” Ghadr missiles, capable of carrying warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives, the military says.
The IDF says the strikes on the launchers and other infrastructure at the sites “thwarted dozens of launches toward the territory of the State of Israel and dealt a severe blow to the regime’s most central offensive capability.”
The military publishes footage showing some of the strikes.
Quote:Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, says that Israel and the United States will “regret their actions” after Jerusalem and Washington said the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
“The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” Larijani posts on X.
Quote:Multiple high-ranking Islamic Revolution Guard Corps commanders and regime officials — including IRGC Commander Gen. Mohammad Pakpour and Iranian defense minister Amir Nasirzadeh — may have been killed in Operation Epic Fury, according to reports
Pakpour was named head of the IRGC after Israel’s June attacks on Iran killed his predecessor, Hossein Salami, and oversaw the deaths of thousands of protestors during weeks-long unrest in December.
Multiple sources said the joint Saturday strikes were believed to have eliminated Pakpour and Nasirzadeh, according to Reuters.
US and Israel launched at least seven missiles on Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s fortified compound, killing numerous senior officials, Iranian sources told the outlet.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News also admitted that at least two Iranian commanders were killed in the attack, but did not confirm any names.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, may have also been killed, according to Iranian media.
Another 40 people were killed when Israeli missiles landed on a school, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.
Under his rule as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ top commander, Pakpour oversaw the deaths of 3,117 civilians across the nation — including bystanders and witnesses — during nationwide anti-regime protests.
Soldiers allegedly opened fire into the crowds indiscriminately — and put the country under a media blackout to hide the bloodshed.
“I was there that night. The security forces opened fire on people. They killed my child,” one mother told Reuters about Dec. 28.
UN human rights experts warned Tehran’s crackdown on anti-regime protesters has resulted in as many as 20,000 Iranian demonstrators, including children, being killed.
Iranian officials have claimed at the time that the mounting deaths during the protests were the fault of “rioters,” “terrorists,” and foreign influence.
Last month, Pakpour threatened that Iran’s “finger is on the trigger” as US military resources were allocated to the Middle East, and warned the US and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were also targeted in Saturday’s attack, though the fate of both officials remains unknown.
Conflicting reports about whether Khamenei, 86, survived the bombing swirled.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei is alive “as far as I know.”
Pezeshkian’s son claims his father survived the attack, stating: “The assassination attempts failed and other officials are also healthy.”
President Trump said in an address early Saturday morning that the strikes were targeting Iranian leadership and that Operation Epic Fury’s objective was to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Airstrikes were also reported in other enclaves, including Isfahan, Qom, Karaj and Kermanshah, but the full extent of the attack is not yet clear.
Quote:President Trump believes a “large” amount of Iranian leaders have been killed from the U.S.-Israeli strikes today.
In a three-minute phone call with NBC News, the President said “a large number of their leaders have also been killed.”
“I don’t mean like two people,” the President told NBC, without specifying a number. Fox News reported 40 top Iranian leaders were killed.
The U.S. conducted three attacks, which consequently killed a number of Iranian leaders, according to NBC News.
When asked who he believes will replace Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump joked, “I don’t know, but at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like.”
“I’m only being sarcastic when I say that,” he added.
Quote:Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike Saturday as part of a massive joint military operation between the U.S. and Israel, Israel's ambassador to Washington told U.S. officials.
The latest: President Trump told NBC News that "we feel certain" Khamenei is dead, along with "most" of Iran's senior leadership. "The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone," he said.
An Israeli official confirmed to Axios that Khamenei is dead and his body was recovered from his destroyed compound, according to Israeli intelligence.
Why it matters: The 86-year-old Khamenei led Iran for 35 years, making him one of the world's longest-serving authoritarian rulers. His death is a massive blow to the regime and could accelerate its collapse, which U.S. and Israeli officials have stated as a goal of their operation.
The big picture: Khamenei's killing sets off an immediate succession crisis with no clear answer.
Under Iran's constitution, an interim council assumes power while the Assembly of Experts — a body of 88 Islamic clerics — selects a new supreme leader.
But Israel says its opening strikes decimated the chain of command — killing seven senior defense and intelligence officials and targeting 30 top military and civilian leaders overall.
Those confirmed killed include:
Khamenei's top security adviser Ali Shamkhani
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour
Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh
Khamenei's chief military secretary Mohammad Shirazi
Head of Iranian military intelligence Saleh Asadi
Chairman of the SPND (Iran's nuclear weapons research organization) Hossein Jabal Amelian
Former SPND chairman Reza Mozaffari-Nia
What to watch: One senior official who survived is Ali Larijani — secretary of Iran's supreme national security council, former parliament speaker and one of Khamenei's closest confidants.
With much of the leadership killed, Larijani has emerged as the most senior civilian official still standing. In a post on X Saturday, he vowed Iran would deliver Israel and the U.S. an "unforgettable lesson."
Between the lines: Whether the IRGC moves to seize control — or whether the strikes create the popular opening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump have both called for — remains unclear.
Israeli officials said Israel targeted Khamenei's sons, but intelligence assessments suggest they survived the strikes.
Mojtaba Khamenei, one of the supreme leader's sons, had been widely discussed as a possible successor to his father.
Context: Khamenei took power in 1989 following the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and spent 35 years consolidating near-total control over the Iranian state.
As supreme leader, he held authority over the judiciary, state media and all security forces — including the IRGC.
He wielded that power ruthlessly against dissent. Thousands of protesters were killed under his watch during the most recent nationwide uprising, and his forces have repeatedly crushed reform movements over the decades.
What to watch: In an overnight video address, Trump called for the Iranian people to remain in their homes during the bombing campaign — but rise up and "take over your government" when it concludes.
Iran's exiled former crown prince Reza Pahlavi, a leading opposition leader who has organized mass protests against the regime, also called for the Iranian people to take to the streets.
Pahlavi urged Iranian security forces: "Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei's ship and his crumbling regime."
Quote:Feb 28 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who turned the country into a powerful anti-U.S. force and extended its military influence across the Middle East while crushing repeated domestic unrest, was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on Saturday.
There was no immediate Iranian confirmation of his fate.
The United States and Israel carried out military strikes on Iran on Saturday, targeting its top leaders and plunging the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the U.S. and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
Khamenei, 86, became Iran's highest authority in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. As supreme leader, he held ultimate control over Iran's political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and guiding foreign relations.
Israel long saw him as a destabilizing force in the Middle East, citing his backing for Iran's network of militant allies, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah. When Israel and Iran fought a 12-day air war in June 2025, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to assassinate him, saying the supreme leader "cannot continue to exist."
That war saw Israel launch a surprise strike that struck Iran's underground nuclear site, killed senior commanders and nuclear scientists, and wiped out much of the military leadership. Khamenei's killing deals another blow to a country already reeling from war and economic hardship.
Khamenei upheld the conservative vision of his predecessor, Khomeini, quashing the ambitions of elected presidents who sought more open policies at home and abroad. Under his rule, authorities crushed repeated protests and sidelined reformists pushing for less confrontation with the West.
Iran became a powerful regional anti-U.S. force under Khamenei, extending its influence across the Middle East. He backed the 2015 nuclear deal brokered with world powers and pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, which briefly eased Iran's isolation. But tensions spiked after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Iran has seen its allies weakened. Hamas and Hezbollah suffered heavy blows from Israel, while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long propped up by Tehran, was toppled in December 2024.
The post of Supreme Leader was created after the 1979 revolution and enshrined in Iran's constitution, giving a top cleric ultimate authority over the president and parliament. The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body vetted by a hardline watchdog aligned with Khamenei, formally selects the leader.
Quote:Channel 12 news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump were shown an image of the body of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, after it was recovered by Iranian authorities from his compound in Tehran.
Israel carried out a massive strike on Khamenei’s compound in the opening salvo of attacks on Iran this morning.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter updated American officials that Israel had succeeded in killing Khamenei, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel, confirming reporting in the Axios news site.
Quote:Iran’s militant and unyielding supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades and oversaw an era of harsh internal repression and confrontation with the United States and Israel, has died following the Israeli strike in Tehran, as his compound was reduced to rubble, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Digital.
"Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital.
"Khamenei’s worldview was shaped by his militant anti-Americanism and antisemitism, which first manifested itself in his protests against the Shah of Iran," he added.
Born April 19, 1939, in Mashhad, eastern Iran, Khamenei was among the Islamist activists who played a central role in the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A close ally of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei rose through the new system and served as president from 1981 to 1989 before becoming supreme leader after Khomeini’s death that same year.
Decades in power, Khamenei consolidated control over Iran’s political and security system, presiding over repeated crackdowns on dissent and maintaining a hardline posture toward Washington and Jerusalem.
"Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule has been marked by unrelenting brutality and repression, both within Iran and beyond its borders," said Lisa Daftari, an expert on Iran and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk. She pointed to executions and the enforcement of strict social controls as defining features of the system under Khamenei’s leadership.
His ultra-conservative style of leadership did face challenges, however. In 2009, following disputed elections in which Khamenei declared victory for the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, massive protests erupted across the country.
Mass demonstrations also broke out in 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. The protests were brutally put down, with many of those arrested and put to death by his regime.
In late December, Iran was again rocked by protests and a fierce brutal security response. According to an Iran International investigation, as many as 30,000 people may have been killed across two days, Jan. 8 to 9, 2026.
International monitors and rights groups have repeatedly documented high execution numbers in Iran in recent years as well. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities executed more than 1,000 people in 2025, calling it the highest yearly figure the organization recorded in at least 15 years. Separately, a U.N. report said Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024, the highest number since 2015.
Across the region, Khamenei invested heavily in Iran’s network of allied militias and armed groups, a strategy used to project Iranian power beyond its borders. From the West Bank and Gaza, where he backed terror groups such as Hamas, to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi extremists in Yemen, as well as other militant militias in Iraq, Iran under Khamenei’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the terror groups.
However, his prized proxies, as well as the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, collapsed under Israeli military pressure following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. During a 12-day war in June 2025, Israel also succeeded in taking out some of Khamenei’s closest aides and senior security figures, leaving the long-serving leader significantly weakened.
Yet analysts argue that Khamenei’s most enduring legacy may be the institutional machinery he built at home to safeguard the system.
Quote:21:46
Donald Trump has just announced that Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei has been killed. Here is his whole post on his Truth Social Platform:
Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!” Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!
Quote:22:00
A social media video, shared on X and verified, external by BBC Persian, shows some Iranians in Karaj celebrating the reported death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - before it was seemingly confirmed by Donald Trump.
US President Donald Trump has just posted on Truth Social to announce Khamenei's death, following earlier reports in Israeli and US media.
Quote:22:12
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah (king), has welcomed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty Zahhak [an evil king in Iranian mythology] of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons and daughters, has been erased from the pages of history," Pahlavi writes on social media.
"With his death, the Islamic Republic has effectively come to an end and will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history."
Pahlavi discouraged Iranian officials from appointing a successor and warned that it was the military, security and police forces "last chance" to join the people.
"This marks the beginning of our great national celebration; but it is not the end of the road."
Pahlavi followed his parents and siblings into exile following the 1979 revolution and has resided in the United States since.
Quote:Rival opposition figures are jockeying for position in a new Iran, in the wake of the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In dueling messages on Saturday, opposition leader Maryam Rajavi and exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi urged Iranians to unite — while making clear they have different visions for the country’s future.
Rajavi -— president-elect of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran — called for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerical regime and the creation of a democratic republic as conflict intensifies over Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs following Saturday’s strikes by the US and Israel.
“Our homeland continues to endure greater pain and destruction under the rule of religious fascism,” Rajavi declared in a statement shared with The Post, urging Iranians — particularly the nation’s “courageous youth” — to protect civilians amid mounting instability.
The NCRI, formed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, presents itself as a government-in-exile and says it has a ready blueprint for a six-month transitional administration that would organize free elections and transfer sovereignty to the people.
“Now is the time for solidarity,” Rajavi said. “[Iranians] reject both the Shah and the mullahs,” she added, dismissing any return to monarchy.
That was a swipe at Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last monarch, who has told The Post he also has plans for a democratic transition if the Islamic Republic collapses.
In a post on X, Pahlavi described the US action as a “humanitarian intervention” aimed at the regime — not the Iranian people.
“The final victory will still be achieved by us,” he wrote. “It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching.”
Pahlavi also called on President Trump to exercise “the utmost possible caution” to protect civilians if strikes continue, adding that Iranians “will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history.”
Both figures appealed directly to Iran’s military and security forces.
Rajavi urged members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other security bodies to lay down their arms and side with the people.
Pahlavi warned security personnel they would “sink with Khamenei’s ship” if they continued defending the regime rather than “protect[ing] Iran and the Iranian nation.”
Rajavi pointed to her “10-point plan” advocating free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality and a non-nuclear Iran as the framework for a transitional government.
“Our path leads toward the future and the establishment of a democratic republic,” she said, “not a return to the buried dictatorship of the past.”
Quote:California Gov. Gavin Newsom received intense blowback for calling the joint US-Israeli airstrikes in Iran an “illegal, dangerous war” while ripping President Trump’s decision to attack Tehran..
“The corrupt and repressive Iranian regime must never have nuclear weapons. The leadership of Iran must go,” Newsom wrote on X Saturday, after the US and Israel launched the coordinated strikes early that morning.
“But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people.
“President Trump is putting Americans at risk abroad because he is unpopular at home.”
The comments earned immediate criticism from those who questioned the potential 2028 presidential candidate‘s position.
“Which one is it Gavin? They can’t have nuclear weapons and need to be removed? Or the operation is not justified?” one X user responded. “Pick one stance please. If you want to run for President, you should get comfortable making bold statements on where you stand.”
Another defended the Trump’s authority, arguing Trump was within his constitutional powers to authorize the strikes: writing: “Not illegal — but you’d have to be able to read the Constitution to know that,” the user wrote.
A third added that Newsom should simply stand behind his country.
“I know this is hard for you Gavin, so let’s try saying it together: ‘I support America,’” the user wrote.
Quote:NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Squad Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar led a laundry list of far-left pols condemning President Trump for launching airstrikes with Israel against Iran.
“Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,” Mamdani said Saturday, mere days after the socialist mayor briefly bonded with Trump over potential Big Apple housing investments during a visit to the White House.
“Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.”
Mamdani insisted he’s focused on “making sure that every New Yorker is safe.”
He was in contact with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and emergency management officials to take “proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders,” said the Ugandan-born pol. “You will be safe here.”
Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) also accused Trump of “dragging” Americans “into a war they did not want,” alleging the president “does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions.
“This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic,” she ranted.
Omar (D-Minnesota) also piled on the president, accusing Trump of “unilaterally dragging this nation into an illegal and unjustified war with Iran without congressional authorization, without a clear objective, and without any imminent threat to the United States.”
Quote:Venezuela condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran — while also criticizing Tehran’s “undue” retaliatory attacks on US military bases across the Gulf region.
“Venezuela condemns and regrets deeply that, in a context in which diplomatic efforts and ongoing negotiations are being developed, the military route was opted for, through attacks against Iran,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement Saturday.
The strikes caused “undue and condemnable military reprisals against targets located in different countries of the region by Iran,” it added.
Venezuela has been an ally of Iran, but the interim government in place since US forces captured dictator Nicolas Maduro last month has been walking a tight rope in diplomatic relations with the Trump administration.
Quote:Chinese Communist Party sympathizers helped spur protests Saturday planned for the Big Apple and other cities across the country in opposition of Trump administration and Israel launching airstrikes against Iran.
Tech mogul and alleged CCP propagandist Neville Singham and other CCP mouthpieces are major backers of many far-left groups sponsoring the “STOP THE WAR ON IRAN!” protests set for Times Square, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and roughly 70 other locations nationwide.
The sponsors include The People’s Forum, Palestinian Youth Movement, CODEPINK, Black Alliance for Peace, Democratic Socialists of America, ANSWER Coalition, National Iranian American Council, 50501 and American Muslims for Palestine, according to a statement put out by the coalition.
“Trump’s unprovoked, illegal attack on Iran is an act of war that threatens to cause unthinkable death and destruction,” the coalition said.
“But the people of this country reject another endless war and will take to the streets now and make our voices heard.”
The State Department earlier this month transmitted a report to Congress Tuesday linking lefty nonprofits Code Pink and the People’s Forum to Chinese influence operations.
The report on “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference” alleges that China “spreads propaganda through influence campaigns run by nonprofit organizations like Code Pink, the People’s Forum and groups linked with the notorious Singham network.”
The so-called “Singham network” are nonprofits funded by Singham, whose activist wife Jodie Evans is a co-founder of Code Pink and also presides over New York City-based the People’s Forum.
Singham — an American expat living in Shanghai, China — “works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide,” the New York Times reported in 2023.
The People’s Forum and affiliated entities have also been involved in anti-Israel demonstrations in the city following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel as well as pro-Nicolas Maduro demonstrations after the former leader of Venezuela was captured by US forces in January.
Singham has also been accused to pushing his domestic chaos and a sympathetic CCP narrative by helping fund the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition.
Quote:Iran posed an “intolerable risk” to the U.S. with its missile threat and, during negotiations, wouldn’t accept “free nuclear fuel forever” – all of which led up to Saturday’s attack on Tehran.
Senior administration officials briefed reporters on the hours leading up to “Operation Epic Fury.”
One official described Iran’s missile inventory and said it posed “an intolerable risk to the United States.”
The US had “indicators” that Tehran was going to launch a preemptive strike against American assets in the region, pointing to Iran’s retaliatory strikes on US bases in the region, including ones in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as proof.
“The president decided he was not going to sit back and allow American forces in the region to absorb attacks from conventional missiles. We had analysis that basically told us, if we sat back and waited to get hit first, the amount of casualties and damage would be substantially higher than if we acted in a preemptive, defensive way to prevent those launches from occurring,” the official said.
Another senior administration official described the final talks in Geneva with Iranian officials and revealed the astonishing offer the Americans made.
“One of the things we offered – we said, we will give you free nuclear fuel forever,” the official said. “And they basically said that didn’t work for them. They needed to enrich uranium.”
The Trump administration said Iran’s nuclear capabilities were destroyed in Operation Midnight Hammer last year, but were concerned Tehran was preparing to ramp them up again.
Quote:As many Americans slept, the US military struck Iran — sparking swift reactions from celebs and lawmakers.
In a combined effort with Israel, a series of attacks was leveled against Iran. The initial attack happened close to the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
The regime has, for months, refused to dismantle its nuclear program after weeks of negotiations. President Trump warned there would be consequences if a deal was not reached. “It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in a video message posted on Truth Social.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was one of the first celebrities to chime in after the attacks.
“I always laugh at yo-yo’s who don’t have the 1st clue what information the President had that forced this decision. Even politicians who despise him but were briefed on the situation seem to agree with this operation. I guess lotta podcasters know better,” he said on X.
“Iran is a terror nation with a long history of some of the worst human rights atrocities in the world. Nobody disputes that fact.They hate Americans. They hate Israel. They hate all Jews. They hate the West. They would kill us all if given the chance. They just murdered tens of thousands of their own people. The rest of the Middle East is on our side. The Iranian people are on our side. It isn’t that complicated to support our Troops and our country this morning. We are on the right side here. God Bless America,” Portnoy added.
Health guru and staunch Trump supporter Jillian Michaels also weighed in on the attacks.
“We all know President Trump declaring war means America’s brave men and women putting on uniforms. It’s moms, dads, and spouses holding their breath. It’s the fate of the Iranian people hanging in the balance. Agree or not, pray for our troops and for the families who shoulder this burden at home. Pray for the people of Iran,” she wrote on X.
“The world has watched their suffering for decades: young women beaten to death for showing a strand of hair, dissidents tortured in secret prisons, protestors hanged from cranes, live rounds fired into crowds chanting “freedom.” A regime that rapes, silences, and executes to cling to power,” Michaels said.
“… But if from this darkness comes liberation for millions, defanging the top funders of terror around the world, and a wider peace in the Middle East, history will mark it as a defining moment,” she added.
Apparently taking the temperature of his social media platform, Elon Musk also jumped on X with a message to those who were hit with a barrage of Iran and politically-related posts.
“You can now select topics for your timeline, so if you’re tired of political ragebait, you can select something else,” Musk said.
The White Stripes lead singer Jack White also took to Instagram to condemn President Donald Trump for his attack on Iran.
“Don’t you love seeing him declare war on a country while wearing a trucker hat that says “USA” on it? Behold the leader of the “Board of Peace”. For the next war announcement donny, may I suggest having your feet up on the Resolute desk while eating a Big Mac in a velvet track suit? Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Cuba, what’s the difference right? don jr. and barron won’t have to fight or die, just other people’s children, so…invade and bomb away! New sign ups for the “board of peace” starting at one billion dollars! Can you believe donny hasn’t received a real Nobel Peace Prize yet? Unfair! Maybe in his third term he’ll get one.
Quote:Pakistan bombed Taliban government forces in Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, the first time it has directly targeted its former allies, and described the situation as “open war,” raising tensions in a volatile, nuclear-armed region.
The Pakistani strikes hit the capital, Kabul, and the city of Kandahar, where Taliban leaders are based. It was the first time Islamabad has attacked the Taliban rather than militants allegedly backed by them, a stark rupture in ties between the Islamic neighbors.
Security sources in Pakistan said the strikes involved air-to-ground missile attacks on Taliban military offices and posts in Kabul, Kandahar as well as Paktia province.
There were ground clashes in multiple sectors along the border between the Islamic nations.
The Taliban said they launched what they described as retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military installations.
Both sides reported heavy losses, issuing sharply differing figures that Reuters could not independently verify.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan),” Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Friday.
The strikes threaten to unleash a protracted conflict along the 1,615-mile frontier with relations between Kabul and Islamabad shattered by a long-running dispute over Pakistan’s accusation that Afghanistan harbors militants carrying out attacks across the border.
The Taliban have denied the charge and said Pakistan’s security is an internal problem.
Pakistan is nuclear-armed and its military capabilities are vastly superior to Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban are adept at guerrilla warfare, hardened by decades of fighting with US-led forces, before returning to power in 2021.
Russia, China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were trying to mediate, diplomats and news reports said.
Iran, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, has also offered to help, according to its foreign ministry. The offer came as Tehran holds crucial talks with Washington on resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new US strikes.
Quote:Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes on Pakistani border posts late Thursday, according to the Taliban, after what it said were Pakistani airstrikes. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Afghan forces targeted Pakistani military positions along the Durand Line, with clashes in some areas lasting more than two hours. Pakistan said it was responding to “unprovoked fire” and put security forces on high alert nationwide.
Quote:KYIV, Ukraine — President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has promised this week he will not sign off on a peace agrement between Ukraine and Russia until Ukrainians feel sure that Moscow will no longer take up arms against them.
“There is no deal here unless Ukraine and its people can believe that they will be able to live in peace if, in fact, there is a diplomatic solution,” Witkoff said in a virtual address to the Yalta European Strategy conference held here Tuesday. “That has to be the end result here — a reality that peace is there.
“That, I believe, will require strong security protocols from the United States backing up strong security protocols from Europe. And we set forth in that Geneva first meeting — we worked long hours — to establish that.”
Witkoff and Jared Kushner are again in Geneva on Thursday, first meeting with an Iranian delegation before talks with Ukraine’s negotiators.
“Today in Geneva we continue our work within the framework of the negotiation process,” said Ukrainian national security adviser and delegation head Rustem Umerov. “Together with the Government’s economic team, we will thoroughly work through the prosperity package: mechanisms for economic support and recovery of Ukraine, instruments for attracting investment, and frameworks for long-term cooperation.”
The teams will also “synchronize positions” ahead of additional talks with Russia, which will include “the issue of possible exchanges” of prisoners of war, Umerov said.
“We expect concrete results regarding the return of our citizens,” he said. “We are focused on practical solutions.”
The US-Ukraine talks come ahead of a fourth trilateral meeting between Washington, Kyiv and Moscow set for next week, during which the three sides will assess whether they can make progress on arranging a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Witkoff said Tuesday he “strongly” believed such a meeting could happen — a breakthrough that would rank as the most significant toward resolving the conflict since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
Quote:PAVLOHRAD, Ukraine — Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv says it is now killing or wounding more Russian troops each month than the Kremlin can replace — a shift they argue could change the war’s trajectory.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s latest figures are staggering: 65,000 Russian troops killed or wounded over December and January alone, according to Kyiv — a number exceeding the roughly 58,000 US troops killed during the entire two decades of the Vietnam War.
Some estimates have the ratio as high as 27 Russian losses for every Ukrainian killed.
While The Post was unable to independently verify the figures, the highly digitized, drone-saturated nature of the war has made battlefield losses easier to document than in past conflicts, with many strikes captured on video.
Kyiv does not disclose its own casualty figures. The total number of casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) is at least 1.2 million Russians — which is the most of any major power since World War II, a late-January report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found. In comparison, Ukrainian forces suffered somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties.
Looking at deaths alone, between 100,000 and 140,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the war began, and roughly 325,000 Russian troops have died, CSIS found.
Even though Kyiv wants peace, Russia has so far been unrelenting in its determination to keep sending soldiers into Ukraine. In the meantime, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Yurii Myronenko told The Post this week the goal for summer is even more ambitious — inflicting up to 50,000 Russian casualties every single month.
“We’re not stopping,” he said with a steely resolve. “The task is clear: we will keep killing Russian soldiers and make it impossible for them to continue this war.”
The change comes after a shakeup in the Ukrainian government, with the nation’s energetic, young drone czar Mikhailo Federov — formerly minister of digital transformation — becoming the country’s new defense minister last month.
The Post spent Friday with a unit in the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ “Spartan” brigade as they hunted for Russian troops across the countryside — not from trenches, but from a heated command room lined with screens.
About 25 troops sat in a dim room, scanning dozens of live feeds for sudden movement — a flicker in a tree line, a shadow in the rubble of villages that were once home to thousands of people now buried beneath them or evacuated far away.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
By Steve Mollman / Newsweek Wrote:An array of Republicans have come out against the Trump administration's strikes that were conducted alongside Israel on Saturday against Iran.
Why It Matters
While Republicans in Congress, for the most part, supported President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, dubbed "Operation Epic Fury," the pockets of defiance demonstrate that the GOP isn’t as unified as the administration would hope.
The U.S.-led strikes on Saturday morning struck multiple targets in Iran, killing at least 200 people, and injuring over 740, according to Iran's Red Crescent, per state television. The Islamic Republic then launched retaliatory strikes across U.S. bases in the Middle East, widening the conflict.
The attacks mark a sharp escalation following recent nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran and raise the risk of a wider regional conflict. They come as the U.S. has deployed additional warships, aircraft and air defenses to the Middle East in what analysts describe as the largest U.S. buildup there since the Iraq war in 2003.
Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform during the 2024 election, but his second term has featured major foreign interventions, including a U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and U.S. strikes on Iran last June in coordination with Israel that the administration dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer.”
What to Know
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has long opposed the U.S. getting entangled in overseas military conflicts, and on Saturday criticized Saturday's operation.
“The Constitution conferred the power to declare or initiate war to Congress for a reason, to make war less likely,” the senator wrote on X. “[James] Madison wrote that ‘the Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature.’ As with all war, my first and purest instinct is wish Americans soldiers safety and success in their mission. But my oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war.”
Representative Thomas Massie, also a Kentucky Republican who has been leading the House effort with Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, to pass a war powers vote, wrote that he is “opposed to this War. This is not ‘America First.’ When Congress reconvenes, I will work with @RepRoKhanna to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran. The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.”
The call for a vote in Congress aligned with prominent Democrats’ positions. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine wrote on X that Trump "launched an unnecessary, idiotic, and illegal war against Iran that puts America’s servicemembers and embassy personnel at risk. I’m calling on Congress to immediately return to vote on my War Powers Resolution that blocks war with Iran without congressional approval.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who retired from Congress early this year after a falling out with Trump over the Epstein files, wrote a lengthy post on X saying she felt betrayed by the president, noting his campaign promised to avoid foreign wars.
“We said ‘No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!’ We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech,” the former Georgia Republican congresswoman wrote. “Trump, Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again…It’s always a lie and it’s always America Last. But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different and said no more.”
Representative Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, was asked on X by a user if he supports the strikes on Iran to which the congressman responded, "No. War requires Congressional authorization."
Two days before the strikes, Davidson wrote on X: "I have asked for a classified briefing defining the mission in Iran. In the absence of new information, I will support the War Powers resolution in the House next week. War requires Congressional authorization. There are actions short of war, but no case has been made."
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, told ABC News' Jonathan Karl the attack on Iran was "absolutely disgusting and evil."
Meanwhile, John Fetterman, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, took a stance more akin to most Republicans, writing on X: “President Trump has shown time and time again, you NEVER threaten America. God Bless our great troops, God Bless President Trump, and God Bless America.”
In a separate post, he wrote in regard for a call for a war powers vote by Congress: “Committed Democrat here. I’m a hard no. My vote is Operation Epic Fury.”
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social on Saturday: "Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world."
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, on X: "A word of advice to our regional Arab partners and other allies: get behind President Trump and go all in to ensure the ayatollah’s Iran, which has become the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world is no more. Stand with the people and stand against the ayatollah. You won’t regret it if you do."
Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul on X: "Trump is now the 'neocon' that he has ridiculed for all of his public life. Trump has just openly called for regime change in Iran. He is using the American armed forces to facilitate that outcome. This is a complete reversal of what he has been promising his supporters for decades."
Meghan McCain, conservative commentator and daughter of the late GOP Senator John McCain, on X: "Remember when every maga personality screamed at the top of their lungs that anyone with the last name McCain was a blood thirsty neocon warmonger who would bomb Iran and had no place in the Republican Party? Yea I didn’t forget that either."
Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, on X: "The United States has the most capable military in the world. I have complete confidence in our service members, and I’m praying for their safety. The question is never whether they can do the mission. It’s whether the mission makes sense and makes us safer—and what it’s going to cost. The Iranian people deserve freedom. They deserve the right to choose their own leaders. So, what's the plan for what comes next? I don’t think Donald Trump knows the answer, and that’s dangerous when American lives are on the line."
France24 Wrote:The three countries' leaders were "appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations", said the joint statement.
"Iran's reckless attacks have targeted our close allies and are threatening our service personnel and our civilians across the region," the statement added.
"We call on Iran to stop these reckless attacks immediately.
"We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran's capability to fire missiles and drones at their source," said the statement.
"We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter."
Iran has launched a series of missile and drone strikes on several Gulf countries, saying it is targeting US bases, after being hit by US-Israeli missile strikes from Saturday.
Iran's attacks have hit a multinational military base near Arbil in northern Iraq, and a German army camp in the east of Jordan, a German army spokesman told AFP, confirming media reports.
There had been no casualties in the attacks, he added.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced a "large-scale" attack on Sunday, and blasts were heard in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with Israeli rescue services reporting at least nine people killed in the city of Beit Shemesh.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei's killing a "declaration of war against Muslims" and warned: "Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime."
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US channel ABC News on Sunday: "We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people."
Reuters Wrote:March 1 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his country has accepted a U.S. request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.
"The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region," he said in a video message on X.
Starmer reiterated that Britain was not involved in the joint U.S.-Israel air strikes on Iran that killed the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, adding that Britain would not join further waves of strikes.
But he said Iran had retaliated by launching sustained attacks across the region and its missiles had hit airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.
"Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate, not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon," he said.
"But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk."
Britain's partners in the Gulf had asked it to do more to defend them, he said, and it was his duty to protect British lives.
Eric Shawn / FOX Wrote:Shouts of "Trump act now!" filled the sunny Saturday afternoon on New York's Fifth Avenue as hundreds of anti-Iranian regime protesters denounced the theocratic regime in Tehran and called for the U.S. to take action against Iran.
"We want freedom for the Iranian people," said protester Sarah Shahi.
"We want this theocracy that has been taking people's rights away to be taken out with whatever means necessary. We need help when so many people have been killed."
The protesters gathered across the street from the residence of Iran's ambassador to the United Nations and called for the regime in Tehran to be toppled.
The ornate 19th century limestone townhouse was originally purchased by the Iranian government under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran who ruled from 1941 until 1979. It has been the official home of the country's U.N. representative ever since. Protests have been rare at the location, but, at some point overnight, someone spray-painted the words "terrorists" and "killers" on the front facade.
The building's location is one of the most exclusive on the Upper East Side, diagonally across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and less than a block away from the former residence of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
One protester's sign showed a photograph of current Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani with the words "A terrorist lives here."
"For the people of the Islamic republic to be residing here is just so unjust," said Shahi. "But it is the closest thing we have to an embassy" as a protest location.
Since Iran does not have diplomatic relations with the United States, the building is the only Iranian government-owned property in the country.
President Trump has ordered U.S. warships to within striking distance of Iran as he considers potential attacks against the regime's nuclear program, oil and military targets. The buildup is in response to Iran's continued support of terrorism and its brutal mass killings of protesters, with estimates saying as many as 30,000 people have been killed for participating in anti-regime street demonstrations.
The protesters in Manhattan are supporters of the late shah's son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been speaking out for weeks against the regime as its barbaric crackdown continued. Pahlavi has been in exile for 47 years since his father fled and the Iranian revolution ushered in the hardline religious Anti-American regime of the Mullahs.
The chants from the protesters were no less impassioned than those of their brethren who have flooded the streets of Iranian cities. Signs demanded "End the regime in Iran," and "Brave Iranians are fighting on the ground. The U.S. and Israel must act against a common enemy now." Other signs proclaimed, "No to the Islamic Republic regime," and "Make Iran Great Again."
The protesters say they are waiting for President Trump to take military action against the regime so that the nation can finally taste freedom.
Brie Stimson / FOX Wrote:Iranians across the country could be seen and heard celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after coordinated Israeli strikes overnight.
In one video, Iranians near Karaj, Iran, outside the capital of Tehran, took to the streets, honked their horns and cheered.
In social media videos, Iranians in Tehran cheered from their apartments, playing loud music and setting off fireworks as the news spread.
In Fuladshahr, people packed the streets, waving their arms in the air, whistling, honking and cheering over the news.
In Borazjan, Iran, celebrants chanted and, in Mamasani, they waved flags and danced.
People also celebrated in the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Abadan, "where the people are out on the streets till the wee hours of the night in celebration of an Iran that is on the brink of finding its freedom after almost five decades," according to Lisa Daftari, editor at The Foreign Desk.
Iranian people also cheered the news in other parts of the world, such as Madrid, London, Berlin, Armenia and the United States.
"Iranian people all over the world, from Los Angeles to Tehran, are on the streets celebrating [in] sheer jubilation over the dawn of a new and free Iran," Daftari told Fox News Digital.
"Iranians poured onto the streets cheering, clapping, waving the lion and sun flag, dancing openly and singing the old national anthem. It’s hard to imagine a people so starved for freedom, so desperate for justice, that they are cheering military strikes on their own soil as the price of liberation."
In Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community in the U.S., hundreds came out to wave Iranian and American flags on Saturday.
Some people also held signs bearing expressions such as, "Make Iran Great Again."
"I love America. I love everything about this country," Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad told Fox News Saturday.
"I grew up in a country where I was brainwashed to say, ‘Death to America,' the same country — how ironic — the same country that saved my life three times and is now helping my people in Iran. They’re celebrating. They’re celebrating out of joy.
"Thank you, President Trump, for taking decisive action. This is how true leadership looks like."
Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, like Boston; Washington, D.C.; and New York City held competing anti-war protests, as did cities in Europe.
Sonya Gugliara/ NY Post Wrote:Celebrations erupted across Iran as citizens cheered the US and Israeli missile strikes targeting the regime, according to reports.
Iranians were seen dancing and chanting in the streets Saturday morning in video circulating online after “Operation Epic Fury,” which unleashed strikes targeting Iranian leadership.
“I love Trump!” one student shouted as smoke arose from a nearby building, according to a clip shared on X and reported by The Telegraph.
Other footage showed people dancing in the middle of the road — an act of joy that has been criminalized by the Islamic regime since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Women smiled and twirled as music played and onlookers clapped, more footage shared by Iran International appeared to show.
Students at Tehran University held a demonstration in support of the US-Israeli military operation.
Demonstrators at the college in Iran’s capital city waved the country’s flags while chanting, an unverified clip posted on X by news outlet Rudaw showed.
The US and Israel also launched an attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran compound.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said Saturday, addressing the people of Iran.
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach.”
Maryam Sinailee/ Iran International Wrote:Some Iranians expressed gratitude to Israel for assassinating military and political officials they viewed with contempt in video and voice messages sent to Iran International TV.
“I wanted to thank Israel and Uncle Netanyahu for what they did last night and to tell Iran: You are nothing. (You say you are) a power in the region, but three of your top commanders were killed in a single attack,” a viewer said in his message.
“I want people to get out [on the streets to protest] and be united with each other and to topple this blood thirsty government,” she added.
Following Israel’s military strike, the Iranian currency, the rial, experienced a sharp depreciation of at least 15% in the unofficial market.
The sudden plunge of the rial highlights growing public anxiety over potential escalation and lack of confidence in the government's ability to stabilize the economy amid intensifying geopolitical tensions.
Another Iran International viewer similarly thanked Israel but urged it not to forget to target Khamenei.
“No one approves of war, but I’m sure when it comes to the murderous and terrorist Islamic Republic, all the 80 or 90 million people in Iran approve of this attack,” she said.
“Now they will get the seriousness of the situation and will understand that although they may be able to bully the Iranian people and kill them on the streets, they can’t bully the world and the big powers,” she added.
In another message, a viewer expressed his happiness after realizing that the sound that woke him up was the sound of the explosion of Israeli bombs, not lightning.
“It was good news and a harbinger of freedom to all Iranians. Well done, Israel. You have avenged all those freedom-seeking youth who were torn apart and raped on the streets.”
In another message, a viewer said he was pleased by the Israeli attack which, according to the Israeli military hit dozens of military and nuclear sites and eliminated some of the country's top military leadership in an open-ended campaign dubbed "Rising Lion" by Netanyahu.
Iran has confirmed the deaths of several top commanders including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, and six nuclear scientists, including former chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency Fereydoun Abbasi.
There are also unconfirmed reports of the death of Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has vowed a “severe punishment” and a “harsh response.
“Mr. Pezeshkian, do you remember saying Israel and America can strike Iran's nuclear facilities but can’t strike Iranian scientists? Israel just did that,” he asked. “Why do you speak so much nonsense?”
“You couldn’t do a damn thing! Thank you, thank you Uncle Netanyahu, even if it’s we [ordinary Iranians] who will suffer the consequences,” he added.
In a statement shared online, Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, accused Khamenei of dragging the country into a war that does not reflect the will of the Iranian people, calling the current conflict "Khamenei’s war, not Iran’s."
He urged Iran's military, police, and intelligence personnel to distance themselves from what he described as a “corrupt and incompetent leadership” and to join the people.
The path forward, he said in his message, is the overthrow of the Islamic Republic through street protests and nationwide strikes.
Khamenei described the attack as a "crime" that revealed Israel's "evil nature" by targeting residential centers and said Israel will face “a bitter and painful end”.
In response, Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel just hours after the attack. Israeli defense officials claimed all drones were successfully intercepted.
A military official said in a Friday morning briefing that 200 fighter jets had been involved in the operation.
He said air defenses, ballistic missiles ready to launch to Israel and missile manufacturing sites and facilities were also targeted in the strikes. The operation came as Iran's nuclear program "is approaching the point of no return and is rapidly advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon", he told reporters.
"We struck their nuclear plan, and we struck military targets—before they had the ability to strike us with weapons of mass destruction, with nuclear weapons. We had no other choice, and we launched this operation now because this is the most appropriate time in light of this concrete threat. They have already obtained enough uranium for 15 nuclear weapons," he said.
Up is down, left is right and sideways is straight ahead. - Cord "Circle of Iron", 1978 (written by Bruce Lee and James Coburn... really...)
News of the World
He's got a point here. Why paying them any amount of 
cash? Especially if you don't know if she's still alive. At this point, even the police could end up finding her body buried somewhere. 
It was not a mere accident, he intentionally shot her down. His 
alcoholism issue only makes it worse than that. Honestly, I suspect their true motivation was that it all happened because of Trump. 
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![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
as you'll learn 
in the next section.
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