No private individual should, or indeed even have the capability to, make national security policy. Slowing down Starlink was, in effect, a U.S. intervention in a foreign conflict. It helped Russia, our long-time adversary, and hobbled Ukraine, during a very critical time in this war. It also helped Russia at a time when Putin is increasingly emboldened to menace Europe through acts of sabotage, intimidation and support of the extreme right such as the AfD in Germany. (Recall that Musk has openly supported the AfD.)
The service members at Navy and Marine Corps hearings are finding ways to keep trans troops in uniform.
A Virginia grand jury has indicted Democratic state Sen. L. Louise Lucas and six others, including members of her family, on charges that she engaged in a racketeering conspiracy to sell marijuana and launder the proceeds. According to the indictment, Lucas, the 82-year-old president pro tempore of Virginia's senate who has pushed for the drug to be legalized, ran several businesses that purchased and sold illegal amounts of marijuana in the state to build her family's wealth.
The Department of State has asked civil servants up for promotions who they voted for in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections. Top State Department officials have indicated that the only candidates eligible for mid- to upper-level foreign service roles were people who had supported President Donald Trump, and that political donations to any Democrat would be disqualifying, The Washington Sun reported Thursday.
Remember when President Donald Trump put his son-in-law in charge of negotiating a grand bargain in the Middle East, back in his first term? Understandable if not, given that no grand bargain emerged and the region is more on fire than ever courtesy of the U.S. and Israel's disastrous war with Iran, the atrocities of the Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza, and a raging conflict between Yemen's Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition. Yet Jared Kushner is more than one of the many ghouls who have clambered over a track record of failure right back into Trump's second-term White House, where he's still a top envoy. He also got owned by the Dutch, according to an excerpt from Matthew Cole's new book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, published in Vanity Fair. Read more
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the record-setting judgment should encourage more states to take the tech industry to trial.
The first case of New World screwworm in wildlife in the United States has been found in an elk in Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. The elk was discovered on a game ranch in Pecos County and was reported after being harvested by a hunter, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said.
Tom Skerritt, Emmy-winning actor with roles in Picket Fences,' Alien' and Top Gun,' dies at 93
NEW YORK (AP) " Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor who embodied a solid, wry authority figure, whether as a flight instructor in "Top Gun," a tough-but-fair sheriff on TV's "Picket Fences" or the doomed captain of "Alien," has died.
He was 93.
Skerritt died Wednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement. "While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives.
He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices," the statement said.
More than 1,250 people were evacuated from a major US naval installation in Bahrain in March after Iranian attacks threatened American personnel and their families. Five people affected by the departure told MS NOW the evacuation was chaotic, leaving military families to deal with trauma, housing instability and rising expenses months after fleeing the Gulf country.
Elon Musk has invested roughly $1 billion in Skydance, according to people familiar with the matter, providing a much needed financial injection as the company looks to cut costs and bolster its stock price.
A Minnesota man is opening up after he saved nearly 20 children when their school bus driver suffered a medical emergency. "I really felt like it was my duty," Ebro Ahmed, 27, told ABC News. "Also, too, it's kids we're talking about, you know. Even if I were to die, it would still be worth it."
Company ordered to stop work at two sites in country, which has found itself at forefront of tech firms' latest push.
MIAMI (AP) " A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11.
The order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqu Lett came as lawyers for the British broadcaster complained that Trump had delayed his appearance. Charles Tobin, the attorney for the BBC, said that with two months left in the discovery period, "we still haven't been able to depose the plaintiff."
He noted there was an agreed-upon date of Oct. 16, but that Trump had canceled it for a "matter of national importance." Tobin said the Republican president was in fact campaigning in Georgia that day.
Donald Trump said he would settle cases of water contamination at a military base, but only if Republicans win in the midterms.
President Donald Trump warned he'd send "no money" to poisoned veterans if Republicans did not win the House and Senate in November, marking a new low for his shoddy midterms campaign.
Speaking at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, Trump promised that if Republicans kept control of Congress, he'd direct the Department of Justice to "settle all remaining legitimate claims" made by the victims of contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
"If we don't win, there's no money. If we do win, you're getting it, it's going to be finally over with that nightmare that's been going on for so many years. We will never abandon the heroes who served America," Trump said.
Staffers for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broke a globe used by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower during World War II after the Trump Cabinet official demanded that it be moved to his office in the Pentagon. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Hegseth wanted the historic 30-inch globe delivered to his office because he found its historical significance "attractive." Read more
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said he would rather see Republicans keep control of the House by five seats than watch Democrats win the chamber by the same margin, warning that a "nightmare" razor-thin majority would leave party leaders "hostage to the DSA."
