News of the World
Yesterday, 08:15 PM
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian troops are "deliberately" hunting Ukrainian civilians with drones in the south of the country, as Kyiv contends with both the threat of cheap unmanned vehicles close to the front lines and the sophisticated missile barrages launched against its major cities far from the heart of the fighting.
The Ukrainian leader said on Tuesday a Russian drone "deliberately hunted down" a man selling vegetables in the southern Kherson region, where Ukrainian-held territory has been largely separated from Russian-occupied ground by the Dnieper River since late 2022.
The drone "detonated right next to him" and injured the man, Zelensky said.
Russia has consistently denied targeting civilians. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Ukraine's national police, which shared footage purporting to show the drone menacing the man, identified him as a 52-year old resident of the nearby Mykolaiv region and said he was treated for shrapnel injuries and other wounds.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Ukraine's police have accused Russia of committing a war crime. Analysts have for months accused Russia of targeting civilians with drones in southern Ukraine, particularly Kherson, in so-called "human safaris."
Moscow Accused of Targeting Civilians with Drones
Alexander Prokudin, who heads up the Kherson regional administration, named the 52-year-old man in the clip shared by Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday as Yuriy.
His wife was nearby, and the pair had just started to lay out vegetables to sell to residents in Kherson when the Russian drone approached, Prokudin said. The drone then circled and chased Yuriy for roughly a minute while his wife fled the scene.
Quote:Germany's Interior Minister has said that the country has experienced "a hybrid attack scenario" after police and security experts discovered and defused a drone that was armed with explosives at Leipzig airport in the eastern state of Saxony.
Speaking to reporters late on Wednesday from Leipzig/Halle airport, looking ashen-faced and surrounded by state and security officials, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt did not attribute the attack to any nation in particular but said, "We're talking about a professional hybrid threat situation."
"The fact that a drone armed with explosives is here on the grounds of an airport represents a new threat scenario," Dobrindt said.
The incident has shaken officials and security experts who are starting to ask what was once unthinkable—whether Germany is de facto at war, or at least engaged in a hybrid war—and with whom?
Hybrid warfare is aggression designed to take place just below the threshold of accountability, making it very difficult to issue responses.
Germany recorded more than 1,000 suspicious drone overflights in 2025, according to an interview in Bild newspaper with the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Muench.
But the incident at Leipzig appears to have been the most serious. German security and intelligence experts have pointed to Russia as the most likely origin of the threat, with some saying China could also be a possibility, or at least that the country may form part of the threat picture in a very uncomfortable "new normal."
Quote:NATO has said its fighter jets were scrambled more than twice as often in July than during the same period last year along the alliance's eastern flank.
The alliance said on Wednesday that Russian military aircraft "repeatedly flew close to NATO airspace without a flight plan and transponder signal," forcing the alliance's fighter jets to take off and intercept the aircraft. Transponders provide information about an aircraft, such as its altitude and exact location.
In the first half 2026 alone, NATO member Norway deployed fighter jets 62 times in response to Russian flights on NATO's northeastern flank, Newsweek reported in July.
In just six months this year, Oslo said it had detected more Russian aircraft near its airspace than in any entire year since 2021.
While it is not unusual for military aircraft to skirt near to the airspace of other countries, Russia sending its sophisticated bombers close to NATO's borders is generally seen as an intimidation tactic.
NATO has several different air policing missions in areas close to Russian territory, like the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
Member countries contribute a handful of fighter jets and pilots for several months at a time to help protect NATO airspace.
French Rafale jets finished up a four-month stint in Lithuania this week, and responded to nearly 40 "Alpha Scrambles," or real-life alerts, NATO's Air Command said on Tuesday.
Quote:A drone carrying explosives entered Bulgaria from neighboring Romania and detonated near a major international gas pipeline on Saturday, prompting heightened surveillance along the border between the two NATO members.
The drone exploded shortly after 5 a.m. about 330 feet inside Bulgarian territory, said Prime Minister Rumen Radev. The blast occurred in a sunflower field near the village of Kardam, around 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and 1 kilometer from Bulgaria’s compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
No casualties or damage to infrastructure were reported, and authorities cordoned off the area while investigating the incident, Radev said. The pipeline runs through the Balkans and connects Turkey with Ukraine.
The drone’s origin and any connection to Russia or Ukraine were initially unclear. Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry later said a preliminary analysis of the wreckage indicated that it was most likely a Maya decoy drone, a type widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces, according to The Associated Press.
"At this time, there is no reason to believe that the incident was intentional," the ministry said in a statement.
Neither Romania nor Bulgaria detected or identified the drone before the explosion. Romania’s Defense Ministry said its radar surveillance systems had registered no aerial target whose trajectory indicated that it had crossed Romanian airspace toward Bulgaria.
Radev said Bulgaria would strengthen surveillance and move anti-drone detection and countermeasure equipment from its border with Turkey to the Romanian frontier. Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Sofia planned to raise the incident at a meeting of NATO’s North Atlantic Council early next week.
Given the size of the blast and the volume of black smoke, the unmanned aircraft appeared to have carried significant levels of explosives, Stoyanov said, adding that such drones are hard to detect because of their relatively small size and low flight paths.
Quote:BELGRADE, Serbia — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will on Saturday make his first official visit to Serbia, one of the few European countries that have maintained friendly relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.
The office of Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vučić announced the visit late Thursday. Zelensky’s office has not officially confirmed his trip to Belgrade.
The visit comes as Vučić tries to balance Serbia’s traditional ties with Moscow against pressure to align its foreign policy with the European Union.
Vučić has refused to join international sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, citing historic ties between the two Slavic nations.
Serbia is in the process of joining the EU, but that has been stalled partly because of Belgrade’s policies toward Moscow.
Serbia relies almost entirely on Russia for its energy supplies.
Although Belgrade has refused to sanction Russia, it has provided aid to Ukraine and Vučić has recently stepped up contacts with Kyiv, in an apparent bid to boost his image in the West.
Russia last year accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine through NATO member states, describing the move as a “stab in the back.” Serbia also has promised to help rebuild Ukraine after the war.
Ahead of the visit, Vučić said he and Zelensky will discuss cooperation in various fields and their countries’ paths toward EU membership.
Vučić said Serbia does not intend to change its position on Russia sanctions.
“As far as sanctions are concerned, let me tell you directly: Serbia has established its policy,” Vučić said on Friday. He added that Serbia’s stand “has not changed and this will remain so for the time being.”
Russia has faced international condemnation and sanctions since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Djordje Vlajic, a senior editor at the independent Fonet news agency in Belgrade, believes that both Vučić and Zelensky aim to make political gains from the Belgrade visit.
Quote:The Senate approved a long-stalled Russia and Iran sanctions bill Friday in a final tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who championed the legislation before his sudden death last month.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 was passed in a 86-11 vote.
The legislation targets Russian oil and gas exports that have been fueling Vladimir Putin’s long and bloody war against Ukraine and extends existing sanctions against Iran’s energy and weapons sectors.
The bill cleared a major procedural hurdle last week with overwhelming support from both parties hours after Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral.
The legislation allows the Trump administration to impose targeted tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas by volume. It also renews sanctions on Iran set to expire after the end of this year.
“This bill says to Vladimir Putin, ‘Your days of war are numbered,’” bill co-sponsor Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said last week. “’You are on the losing side. Better to come to the table now than sacrifice more lives, waste more money, crater your economy, destroy your standing in the world.’
“America stands with Ukraine.”
Ahead of Friday’s vote, Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC), called for “a show of strength” to continue the tradition of America “as a beacon of hope to the free world.”
Quote:Ukraine said Saturday its long-range drones destroyed 12 Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov over the past week, escalating its campaign against vessels helping Moscow evade sanctions and export oil.
The strikes came as Russia launched a massive overnight barrage of drones and ballistic missiles on Kyiv and the surrounding region, killing four people – including a 3-year-old boy – and wounding at least eight others, according to Ukrainian officials.
The successful strikes are part of Operation Molochka, which kicked off July 6, and is responsible for 218 strikes on the Russian shadow fleet, including 134 in the Sea of Azov and 84 in the Black Sea, the Kyiv Independent reported citing officials.
Russia’s shadow fleet consists of hundreds of vessels flying flags from other countries to avoid detection as the Kremlin exports oil.
The announcement came on the heels of tragedy in Kyiv and the surrounding area after Russia launched a successful overnight drone attack on the capital, killing four and injuring eight others.
Three of the people killed included the unidentified boy, his grandmother, and grandfather, who were slain in the village of Pukhiva outside of Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The child’s parents and his 15-year-old brother were among the wounded, according to the Independent.
“The victims have thermal burns and shrapnel wounds,” Zelensky wrote in a post to Facebook Saturday.
Inside Kyiv, fires broke out in two separate garages and a commercial building, after Russia sent a swarm of drones and at least six ballistic missiles, according to Zelensky.
Photos showed buildings and homes completely bombed out and blazing from the overnight attacks.
Russia utilized both drones and ballistic missiles in the assault, the outlet reported.
Quote:Russia and Ukraine traded heavy blows overnight with hundreds of strikes that left at least 18 people dead and more than 100 injured.
Four people were killed in Kyiv during the Russian bombardment on civilian areas, including a 3-year-old boy and his grandparents, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, a Russian missile struck a high-rise apartment in the Saltivskyi district, killing three people and leaving 37 others wounded, according to regional authorities.
Moscow’s defense ministry claimed that strikes in the Kharkiv region were aimed at Ukraine’s drone warehouses.
Another six people were killed following airstrikes near the frontlines in Sumy, Kherson, and Donetsk, Kyiv added.
At least eight others were injured after Russia fired “dozens of missiles and drones” at Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa, local administration head Oleh Kiper said in a statement.
The Odessa strike included more than 200 drones targeting Ukrainian military equipment and fuel depots, according to Kyiv’s air force.
Overall, Ukrainian officials said 13 people were killed and 90 others were left wounded in the past 24 hours.
Large-scale Russian missile strikes have become almost routine in recent weeks as Moscow seeks to exploit the shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors, which serves as the country’s sole air defense weapon capable of downing ballistic missiles.
“Russia continues to bet on ballistic terror, which is not limited to just one city or community,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“Every such attack on human life serves as a constant reminder – we need more pressure, more sanctions against Russia, and more air defense for Ukraine,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Russia, a Ukrainian drone hit Belgorod and killed five people and left two dozen others injured, including a 4-year-old boy, according to regional officials.
MIDDLE EAST WAR
Quote:WASHINGTON — Iran’s parliament is weighing a sweeping new law that would block ships from the US, Israel and other “hostile” nations from sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Tehran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
The proposed legislation, dubbed the “Strategic Action for the Security and Sustainable Development of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf,” is under review by parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Tasnim reported.
Abbas Salimi, a member of parliament’s presiding board, told the IRGC-aligned outlet that lawmakers are reviewing the draft bill before it moves forward.
Under the proposal, ships belonging to the United States, Israel and other nations Tehran designates as hostile would be barred from transiting the strategic waterway — a passage point for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The bill would also prohibit military and civilian cargo accused of supporting Israel from coming through the Strait.
The legislation would go even further by allowing Iran to deny passage to countries and individuals it blames for causing damage to Tehran until compensation is paid, according to Tasnim.
Violators could face steep penalties, including fines of up to 20% of a ship’s cargo value — which could amount to tens of millions of dollars.
The US is likely to outright reject the Iranian law if passed, as Washington and most of the world considers the strait an international waterway open to ships of all countries.
The proposal comes as Tehran seeks to tighten its grip over the Strait of Hormuz after months of war with the United States brought shipping levels down to just a fraction of pre-war traffic.
Quote:WASHINGTON — The much-hyped Iran-Oman deal that US officials predicted would reopen the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week never materialized — but another consequential agreement moved forward Friday as three of the Muslim world’s most powerful nations joined forces against a region on fire.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey announced Friday they signed a landmark joint defense pact in Mecca, declaring that an attack on one would be treated as an attack on all — a move that could reshape the security landscape as Iran continues missile strikes and threatens vital energy routes across the Gulf.
The agreement comes as Tehran and its allies have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during the US war on Iran, sending shockwaves through global energy markets and raising fears that Washington’s traditional security partners may seek new ways to protect themselves.
The pact — signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — creates a new security framework linking a NATO power, the Arab world’s heavyweight and the only nuclear-armed Islamic nation.
The timing was impossible to ignore.
For weeks, the Trump administration has pushed to restore stability after Iran disrupted commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which a huge portion of the world’s oil supply flows.
US officials had expected an Oman-brokered arrangement with Tehran to create a limited shipping corridor through the strait to help traffic kick up. But as those efforts stalled, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan moved ahead with their own answer to the growing threat.
Under the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement,” the three countries said they would strengthen collective deterrence against aggression and consider an armed attack on any member an attack on all three.
Still, the agreement did not spell out specific military commitments or automatically require a military response, leaving questions about how far the alliance would go if one member came under attack.
Quote:Vice President JD Vance said Saturday the US and Iran are “in the middle of the game,” as Iran issued a series of demands to the US to reopen vital shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The VP, who helped negotiate a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the Islamic regime in June, spoke to Fox News on Saturday as Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said his country and Oman were “very close” to an agreement on reopening shipping through the strait.
Vance said ultimately the “same amount of oil” will be coming out of the strait as before the war, which the US and Israel launched February 28, but declined to spell out a plan for how it would happen.
“We’re really in the middle of the game here. This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning. We’re we’re in the middle of the game, and we’re applying a whole host of tools – diplomatic, economic, military tools-to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people,” he told interviewer Kayleigh McEnany on her “Saturday in America” show.
“I feel quite confident we will get there, but we’re still a bit in the middle of the game,” he added.
President Trump said Thursday that a deal “could be soon.” Oil prices have dropped and markets have responded positively to inklings of progress.
“The Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz,” Vance said, addressing concerns Iran and Oman would ultimately slap tolls on the vital waterway which was free before the US and Israel attacked Iran.
He also said Iran laid a “large number of mines” early in the war.
Quote:President Trump’s best option to stop Iran from rebooting its nuclear weapons program is to take out the entrances to Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran’s busy nuke activities can be seen from above, says a nuclear expert who’s been eyeing the site.
“One set of tunnels is hardened and filled with dirt and rock. The other is still open – we see some trucks ongoing construction vehicles coming in and out,” Iran nuclear expert Andrea Stricker told The Post as the world prepared for another furious round of US military strikes, with the underground site in President Trump’s sights.
Whether another round of strikes happens remains to be seen. Iran says it’s in the final stages of a deal with and Oman to partially ensure travel through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has threatened Iran with “decapitation” if it doesn’t make a deal, and has said the US still has “massive” amounts of munitions at its disposal despite leaks to the contrary.
Bunker-buster bombs might not be able to penetrate up to 450 feet down, after The Post and Wall Street Journal reported Israel claimed to have intelligence of Iran moving centrifuges into the secret mountain fortress.
A “boots on the ground” operation to seize the material is risky – although it does offer a way to place explosives in an optimal location deep underground.
Getting to the bottom is like descending a 38-story condo building. “Who knows how far down you’d have to go,” Stricker, who directs the nonproliferation program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said.
That leaves the air strike option as among the best bets.
Quote:Iran’s top security official Saturday threw cold water on hopes for a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — declaring the waterway will not be restored to normal traffic “until America corrects its behavior.”
The comments came as Iran appeared close to a limited deal with Oman to reopen a narrow passage for some vessels, that would stop short of restoring normal traffic through the strategic waterway.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, a former IRGC deputy commander, issued Iran’s sweeping conditions for a full reopening in a message released Saturday.
The demands involve a complete US military withdrawal from the region, removal of the naval blockade, the lifting of sanctions against Iran including the release of blocked and seized assets, paying Iran for the damages caused by the war and ending attacks against Iran’s allies in the Middle East.
“The Supreme National Security Council will never back down, neither in war nor in negotiations,” Zolqadrc threatened, according to state-controlled Tasnim News Agency.
Iran also wants permanent strategic control of the waterway and being able to impose a toll of up to 7%.
Earlier in the day, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson said the critical waterway wouldn’t permanently reopen until the US fully accepted Iran’s “legal and logical conditions.”
“The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is subject to the specific mechanisms and conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is not related to the negotiations between Iran and Oman,” IRGC General Hossein Mohebbi told reporters in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan.
Quote:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fully rejected the 15-point plan to disarm Hamas after President Trump announced a breakthrough last week, in which his Board of Peace announced a deal with the terror group.
Trump claimed last month that his panel cut a deal with Hamas for the terror group to disarm in exchange for Israel withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, but Netanyahu voiced skepticism about its sincerity.
“I want to be precise here: Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said at a weekend cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu declared that Israel will “not withdraw at all until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens.”
“We are now discussing this with the Americans,” the Israeli leader said. “They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand up to those things.”
“As long as I am prime minister, no Palestinian state will be established — not in Gaza and not in the West Bank,” he added.
Despite their once famously chummy relationship, Netanyahu and Trump have been at odds over key details of the president’s push for peace in the region.
Last October, Trump’s administration cut a 20-point Gaza peace plan, featuring three phases: cease-fire and humanitarian support, demilitarization and reconstruction, and recognition of a Palestinian state.
Quote:The Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group attacked an Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia and a critical Red Sea port on Sunday, killing at least seven people, officials said.
A fire broke out at the Aramco refinery in Jazan early Sunday after it was struck by a Houthi drone, claimed Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the terrorist group.
It was a response to the latest Saudi retaliatory drone attack in the Houthi-controlled provinces of Hajjah and Saada, Saree claimed.
“The competent authorities are completing the necessary procedures to deal with the incident,” Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement, adding that no one was injured.
The strike on the Aramco refinery coincided with a Houthi missile and drone attack on the Red Sea port of Mokha, which is controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemen government.
The attack killed four troops and three civilians, with 15 others injured in the blasts, according to the National Resistance Forces, a Yemeni government-allied force.
The airstrikes also left the crucial port wrecked, with severe damage done to its buildings, pier and cargo held at the facility, said Fayed al-Noman, assistant undersecretary of Yemen’s information ministry.
The Mokha port serves as one of Yemen’s key ports that was recently renovated and used to avoid the Houthi-held docks in Hodeida.
The missile and drone strikes in Mokha were also targeting “Saudi enemy” troops and equipment allegedly stationed near the city, the Houthis claimed.
USA
Quote:President Trump expressed full-throated support for War Secretary Pete Hegseth Thursday – a day after a report claimed the president accused the Pentagon chief of misleading him about the state of America’s arms stockpile.
“I think he’s actually one of my best,” Trump said of Hegseth, in an interview with NBC News Thursday. “I’m very good at this stuff.”
Six months into the Iran war, and with the critical midterm elections fast approaching, the president gave no indication that he plans to shake things up at the Pentagon.
“Smart guy,” Trump said of Hegseth. “He’s very much into it. Respected by the military.”
The president’s praise for the former “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-host follows a Washington Post report Wednesday that he lashed out at Hegseth during a Camp David Cabinet meeting last week.
Trump reportedly fumed that munitions shortages threatened to limit US military options in Iran. The president told Hegseth that he thought the issue “had been fixed,” according to the outlet, which claimed the war secretary blamed his deputy for the miscommunication.
Both the White House and the Pentagon denied the Washington Post report, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt declaring it “B.S.” and War Department spokesman Sean Parnell calling it “fictional.”
Earlier Thursday, Trump took to Truth Social and asserted the US “ has massive amounts of ‘munitions.’”
Quote:WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court blocked further construction of President Trump’s planned White House ballroom Friday, ruling that the massive project must first receive congressional approval.
A divided panel of DC circuit judges determined that “Congress has exclusive authority to regulate the construction and demolition of White House structures.”
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” wrote judges Patricia Millet and Bradley Garcia in their majority opinion.
“The Constitution’s Property Clause vests Congress with plenary control over all real property that belongs to the United States,” added Millet and Garcia, appointees of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively.
“Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to dramatically redesign, reshape, and reconstruct the White House — the People’s House — to fit a particular President’s desires.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit to stop construction of the ballroom in December of last year, weeks after workers bulldozed the East Wing to prepare the new structure.
The nonprofit alleged that Trump and the National Park Service didn’t have the authority to destroy the historic structure or build a new one without Congress’ approval. Senior US District Judge Richard J. Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled twice in favor of pausing construction, while still letting some work underground continue.
Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Neomi Rao dissented Friday, arguing that Leon “had no jurisdiction because the Trust has no standing to stop construction at the White House.”
“The ballroom is also likely within the President’s authority to make improvements to the Executive Residence at the White House,” Rao added. “The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President’s home and office.”
In a Truth Social post later Friday, Trump said he would immediately appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Quote:WASHINGTON — A Senate committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt for declining to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his past testimony to Congress regarding risky, US-funded “gain of function” research.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to refer the former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for potential prosecution after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 111 times last week.
“We have received the document, we are reviewing it, and will work with the Senate accordingly,” a Department of Justice spokesperson told The Post.
The contempt resolution authorizes Vice President JD Vance, the president of the Senate, to certify the Homeland Security panel’s report on Fauci to DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
If convicted of a misdemeanor contempt charge, Fauci could face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Fauci appeared miserable as he took out the trash Thursday hours after the contempt vote, photos snapped by a Post photographer show.
His wife, Christine Grady, an ex-bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, also seemed rankled by the heightened publicity following the contempt vote — and chose to flip off the photographer.
Committee chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his fellow Republicans had planned to quiz the doc on sketchy experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, whether COVID-19 emerged from an accidental lab leak and the scientific basis for controversial pandemic mitigation policies.
By taking the Fifth, Fauci was unable to answer even mundane questions, including a query by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) about the color of his tie.
Republican senators argued that Fauci’s opening statement — and the pardon he received from then-President Joe Biden for any potential crimes committed between January 2014 and January 2025 — prevented him from being able to plead the Fifth.
“The assertion of a Fifth Amendment privilege only adheres to those instances where the witness has a reasonable fear of future prosecution, and it must be tailored to any such fear,” Hawley noted.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former White House COVID-19 czar who became the face of the US response to the pandemic, has been subpoenaed by three state attorneys general who are investigating whether he promulgated health guidance for “personal profit.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier joined West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill in requesting Fauci hand over records generated between January 2020 and August of this year.
“Government officials have a certain level of immunity in their official capacities, but if Fauci personally profited off of the ‘guidance’ he issued, that very well could have broken Florida law,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
“Fauci’s diary focused more on self-promotion than the legitimate safety concerns from the mRNA vaccines. While Fauci was pushing for book deals, awards, and fortune and fame, Floridians were being deceived and harmed by his misrepresentations.”
The request followed Sen. Rand Paul’s release last month of Fauci’s personal diaries, which had been made between 2019 and 2022 and preserved on government computers at the Department of Health and Human Services.
In some of the earliest entries, Fauci disputed the theory that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated in a Wuhan, China, wet market — despite having publicly advocated for a natural spillover from animals to humans and denounced proponents of the so-called “lab leak theory.”
“What we know already is Fauci lied — we just don’t know yet how much,” Murrill claimed. “But he lied about something as basic as keeping a diary.”
The former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director also prided himself in the diary on his newfound notoriety amid the pandemic and privately quizzed colleagues about awards that he could apply for.
Quote:The Pentagon is pressing major U.S. defense contractors to accelerate weapons production, issuing strict deadlines to replenish critical military stockpiles depleted during the conflict with Iran, according to newly disclosed Defense Department directives.
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders on Wednesday, giving them no more than 21 days to submit plans to drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.
“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote in the memo, demanding faster program schedules and an expansion of production capacity.
In a statement to Newsweek on Sunday morning, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that from day one under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, "this Department has been focused on delivering generational change to the speed, capacity, and lethality of America’s defense industrial base and the Arsenal of Freedom."
He continued: "Deputy Secretary Feinberg is a generational leader in that effort, driving the hard work of fixing our broken, antiquated, and immensely complex acquisitions system so we can actually produce the weapons our warfighters need at the pace the threat demands. Working directly with industry leaders to accelerate production is not new. It has been the clear intent of the President and this Secretary from the start."
Concerns Over Depleted Missile Defenses
The initiative underscores mounting concern within military planning circles that months of combat against Iran have significantly reduced inventories of key missile defense systems, such as Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors. Shrunken inventories of these interceptors may force the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses, according to an analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. American forces may launch fewer missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, raising the chance of one getting through.
According to the CSIS analysis, the number of Patriot interceptors fell from 2,330 before the Iran war to 1,030 when the April ceasefire took effect, and following recent fighting, the stockpile is now estimated to be between 759 and 827—a decrease of at least 65 percent since before the conflict began. Similarly, the number of THAAD interceptors fell from 452 before the war to between 232 and 262 at the start of the April ceasefire; while the U.S. was able to partially replenish the inventory to between 234 and 278 interceptors, the stockpile remains at least 38 percent smaller than it was before the conflict.
Restocking heavily depleted items—such as Patriot, THAAD, and Tomahawk cruise missiles—could take at least three years, even with elevated funding.
Quote:Representative Thomas Massie escalated his criticism of the Iran war on Saturday night, writing on social media that the conflict could ultimately become the Trump administration's "biggest and most costly blunder."
In a pair of X posts, the Kentucky Republican suggested the war would prove more damaging than a string of other policies he has sharply criticized, including the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, tariffs, government spending and other domestic issues.
"Of all the stupid things this administration has done...Hiding Epstein files, trying to pass tariffs without Congress, advocating for more spending, ignoring DOGE, indemnifying glyphosate, starting a war in the Middle East will prove to be the biggest and most costly blunder," the congressman wrote.
In a follow-up post, Massie added that the conflict could carry steep economic and political costs.
"$100+ billion in direct military costs, $100+ billion in costs to consumers, incalculable political capital burned," he wrote. "But those insults and injuries pale in comparison to the diminished standing of our great country among the world. We should walk away from this now."
Massie's X posts came as debate continues over the costs and future direction of the conflict, with the administration facing ongoing questions about military spending and the economic disruption tied to tensions in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical, narrow waterway that serves as the world's most vital oil transit chokepoint.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth informed senators last month that the war with Iran has cost an estimated $37.5 billion since hostilities began in late February, covering current operations and projected needs through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Meanwhile, a defense spending bill is currently stalled in Congress, with lawmakers fuming over President Donald Trump’s military action against Tehran and resisting the White House request to substantially increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year.
"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.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[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)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
