escalation

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The bitter divorce between an Ohio congressman and his former wife, the daughter of one of the state’s U.S. senators, has escalated into new legal action.

Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against Emily Moreno, his one-time spouse, on Wednesday in Cleveland, citing “the considerable reputational and financial harm” caused to him by her accusations that he was “a violent and abusive husband and father.”

Miller, a two-term congressman up for reelection this fall, alleges that Moreno, her attorney Andrew Zashin and his law firm have engaged in a defamatory campaign against him by spreading knowingly false information about him to media outlets including the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, and the New York Post. The action contends that the resulting damage to his reputation undermines his chances of reelection.

Those outlets have “circulation measured in the tens of millions of print and online readership,” the complaint states, and their articles have been read, viewed or discussed by Miller’s constituents, his congressional colleagues, ”his political supporters and donors, the media, and the general public.”

The suit seeks compensatory damages in excess of $25,000, punitive damages sufficient to deter future similar conduct and attorney’s fees.

“Congressman Miller is seeking to hold those responsible accountable and to obtain damages for the significant personal, professional, and political harm that he has suffered,” his spokesman said in a statement.

Zashin declined comment.

The incident brings to mind a similar situation that played out as Miller, a White House aide to President Trump during the Republican’s first term, made his first run for Congress in 2021.

Miller’s former girlfriend, one-time White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, raised allegations in her book and in a Washington Post op-ed at the time that a former White House staffer later identified as Miller had physically abused her while they were dating. Miller responded by filing a defamation lawsuit against her. He voluntarily dismissed the suit with prejudice in August 2023, just before the case was set to go to trial.

Moreno’s spokesperson, Stefan Mychajliw, cited the earlier lawsuit in a statement Thursday.

“Mr. Miller is upset because he’s tried to silence Emily Moreno the same way he silenced Stephanie Grisham — and Emily won’t let him,” he said, suggesting Miller is “running the same playbook against a woman with photographs of her bruises and burns.” He added, “Mr. Miller will not silence Ms. Moreno.”

Miller married Emily Moreno in 2022. They had a daughter in 2023.

He filed for divorce in August 2024, as her father, Bernie, was making a successful run for U.S. Senate backed by Trump. The abuse allegations — most recently, Moreno said Miller threw boiling water at her, an allegation he denies — come amid a messy custody battle that has included Miller seeking a restraining order against his ex-wife and subpoenaing the senator to testify. The divorce was finalized last June.

Miller’s spokesperson provided documentation that several allegations that he had abused his daughter were investigated by the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services and deemed unsubstantiated.

Amid the drama, Democrat Brian Poindexter, a five-term local councilman and union ironworker, is looking to oust Miller and flip Ohio’s 7th Congressional District in November.

Smyth writes for the Associated Press.

Hezbollah rejects allegations from Benjamin Netanyahu that it is undermining the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

Israel has issued new forced evacuation notices for areas in southern Lebanon, ordering residents of seven towns that lie beyond its so-called “buffer zone” to leave, ramping up the conflict with Hezbollah despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement on X on Sunday that the Lebanese armed group was violating the ceasefire ⁠and that Israel would act against it, telling residents to head north and west.

The towns are north of the Litani River, in an area where Israeli troops have continued military operations despite the ceasefire. They lie outside of what Israel has declared a “buffer zone”, an area stretching roughly 10km (6 miles) north of the border inside southern Lebanon where Israeli forces remain.

Hezbollah rejected allegations that it is undermining the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, saying its continued attacks are a “legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire”, which it claims have exceeded 500 incidents.

The Iran-aligned group said in a statement on Telegram on Sunday that it shouldn’t be linked to a ceasefire that it didn’t approve, as it had “no say or position”, adding that the group will not “place out bets on a failed diplomacy that has proven its ineffectiveness.”

“It must be understood that Hezbollah’s violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting.

The US-mediated ceasefire, which started on April 16 and has been extended to mid-May, has brought a significant reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, though both sides have continued to fire at each other, trading blame over breaches.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tyre, Heidi Pett, said “there have been multiple airstrikes across south Lebanon” on Sunday, with many people fleeing to the towns of Sidon and Tyre.

“We once again have thousands of people leaving their homes, joining the hundreds of thousands who were already previously displaced,” she said.

Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli troops inside Lebanon as well as the rescue force that came to evacuate them, targeting a newly established Israeli artillery position in the town of Biyyada with a swarm of drones.

It also claimed two drone attacks on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the town of Taybeh, saying casualties were reported among Israeli forces, without giving further details.

‘The security of Israel’

The Israeli army said a 19-year-old soldier, Sergeant Idan Fooks, was killed “during combat” in southern Lebanon, while five others were injured.

“From our perspective, what obliges us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, the security of our communities,” Netanyahu was cited as saying at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, by Reuters news agency.

Under the terms of the truce, Israel reserves the right to respond to “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks” and has been striking what it says are Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon almost every day.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s “military infrastructure sites used to advance attacks,” in a post on X.

Since the war was renewed between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, at least 2,509 people have been killed and 7,755 wounded by Israeli attacks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

WASHINGTON — With a fragile ceasefire set to expire with Iran in a matter of days, President Trump is still deciding between diplomacy and a resumption of fighting that may ultimately hinge on his definition of victory.

Negotiations have continued over the last week between the warring sides over a potential agreement that would end the conflict and curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with interlocutors from Pakistan passing messages that have kept talks alive. Tehran has floated an extension of the two-week ceasefire, set to expire Tuesday, that is under active consideration by the American side.

But the Islamic Republic has simultaneously vowed retaliation over a new U.S. blockade of Iranian ports that in effect cut off Tehran’s oil sales, which make up nearly 85% of the country’s export revenue. And the Trump administration is deploying up to 10,000 additional troops to the region, on top of the 50,000 already there, both reinforcing the blockade and threatening ground operations if diplomacy fails.

Conflicting messages from the Trump administration are designed to escalate pressure on Tehran ahead of the ceasefire deadline, potentially extracting concessions at the negotiating table.

But speaking with reporters, Trump has made it clear he is seeking a way to end the war for good.

“I think it’s close to over,” Trump told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday. “I view it as very close to over. If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.”

Negotiations toward that end have proved more challenging than the administration initially anticipated.

Trump has said he started the war in order to eliminate Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, degrade its ballistic missile and drone programs, and destroy its navy. But in talks, the Iranians have not relented on their right to enrich uranium, to maintain conventional defensive capabilities and to police traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital waterways.

Tehran rejected a proposal by U.S. negotiators last week for a 20-year pause on Iran’s domestic enrichment of fissile material, with the Iranians countering with a five-year moratorium, one official said.

In his interview with Fox, Trump said the talks were going so well that an extension of the ceasefire might not be necessary. Yet, speaking with the New York Post, Trump suggested he wouldn’t settle for less than an indefinite cap on Iran’s nuclear work.

“I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons,” Trump said, “so I don’t like the 20 years.”

“I don’t want them to feel like they have a win,” he added.

The U.S. ceasefire with Iran was predicated on the resumption of free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. But Iranian threats of a new toll system and warnings of drifting mines have limited traffic, prompting the Trump administration to announce a full blockade of the strait. Despite the U.S. threat, ships have continued transiting the passage this week, suggesting the U.S. blockade has focused more specifically on Iranian ports.

Amid the impasse, global oil prices remain stubbornly high — a concern for Republicans entering this year’s midterm election season. Trump told Fox that he expected prices to drop to prewar levels by the time of the vote in November.

“There’s gonna be a hit, but it’s going to recover, I think, fully,” Trump said. “I think that we will be somewhere around where we were — maybe even lower. And when this is over, I think the stock market is going to boom.”

A second round of high-level negotiations could take place in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the next several days, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters at a news briefing Wednesday.

Pakistani officials traveled to Tehran on Wednesday to deliver a message from the U.S. delegation, potentially laying the groundwork for new, in-person talks.

“He’s made his red lines in these negotiations very clear to the other side,” Leavitt said. “We feel good about the prospects of a deal.”