Trump calls for more military action in Strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump in a social media post today called for the U.S. military to shoot and kill Iranian boats operating to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he issued the shoot and kill order to the U.S. Navy and said he ordered the Navy not to hesitate to carry out his order. Trump also said that he has ordered the Navy to triple its efforts to remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, meanwhile, has said that it has collected its first tolls from ships passing through the strait. Iran did not say how much it has collected in tolls so far.
Senate Republicans approve funding for ICE
With Congress at a stalemate over how to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, Senate Republicans took a key step to tee up a party-line measure that would fund only the most controversial immigration programs — to eventually reopen the government completely. The GOP effort to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol without any Democratic support moved ahead after a marathon overnight session known as a “vote-a-rama” that stretched into the early hours of Thursday morning. The chamber adopted the Senate GOP budget blueprint by a vote of 50-48, with all Democrats present opposed. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky, broke ranks with their party, voting against the immigration funding. The effort comes weeks after the Senate unanimously approved a package to fund the rest of DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration.
Phelan fired as Navy Secretary by Hegseth
Six sources familiar with the matter have told CNN that Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was fired by Defense Secretary Hegseth because of his close relationship with Donald Trump and Phelan having gone directly to Trump to urge reforms in the Navy’s shipbuilding program. Phelan has been a major contributor to Trump’s political campaigns. A senior administration official told CNN, “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth agreed new leadership at the Navy is needed.” The Navy directed queries about the details of Phelan’s departure to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Hegseth is reported to have sent a message to Phelan informing him he needed to resign or be fired.
Lebanon accuses Israel of war crime
Lebanon’s prime minister has accused Israel of war crimes after an airstrike in the south of the country on Wednesday killed one journalist and seriously wounded another. Amal Khalil, who worked for Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper, was killed while carrying out her journalistic work, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). She is the fourth media worker killed as a result of action by Israel inside of Lebanon since last month. The two journalists had taken shelter during a series of strikes in the town of Tayri in southern Lebanon when the building they were in was hit. Lebanese authorities also accused Israeli forces of trying to prevent emergency workers from trying to reach the journalists.
Trump administration makes charges against Southern Poverty Law Center
The Trump administration’s Justice Department has filed charges against the against the civil rights organization the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) related to its using informants to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi and similar groups. The Justice Department charges that the SPLC defrauded its donors by funding the extremism it claimed to be fighting. Prosecutors allege the Southern Poverty Law Center used more than $3 million in donor funds to secretly pay leaders of violent extremist groups to act as confidential informants without disclosing those payments to its contributors. The SPLC had long provided its research on hate crimes and extremism to the government, but Trump’s FBI Director Kash Patel labeled it a “partisan smear machine.”
Drinking water hazard highlighted in new report
More than 62 million Americans — roughly 1 in 5 people — may be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of nitrates in their tap water, according to a new report released today by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a nonprofit health advocacy organization. Federal guidelines established in 1962 — which have never been updated —set nitrate safety levels at 10 milligrams per liter. A growing number of studies, however, show an association with health impacts at 5 milligrams, 3 milligrams, and even as low as 2 milligrams per liter. Nitrates are colorless, tasteless and odorless. Nitrates at low concentrations in drinking water have been linked to various health issues including premature births, birth defects, thyroid disease and cancers.
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