Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the joint US‑Israel strikes on Iran aim to remove an ‘existential threat.’ He hailed the joint action as empowering the Iranian people to shape their own future and praised US President Donald Trump for his leadership.
Published On 28 Feb 202628 Feb 2026
Share
Feb. 19 (UPI) — More than 550 commercial driver’s license schools were cited for safety violations, including employing unqualified teachers, using improper vehicles, failing to properly test students, among other violations, according to the Trump administration, which said the “sham” institutions received notice they would be removed from the federal government’s National Training Provider Registry.
The Department of Transportation said Wednesday that more than 300 investigators conducted 1,426 on-site inspections of driver training schools across the country in a five-day sting operation. The Commercial Vehicle Training Association said the inspections took place during the week of Dec. 8.
The DOT said more than 550 schools were found in violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety standards. Of those, 109 training providers agreed to voluntarily remove themselves from the registry, while an additional 97 schools remain under investigation.
“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild, West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions. The buck stops with me,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
“American families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel.”
The department said some of the schools lacked qualified instructors, used fake addresses or failed to properly train drivers in the transportation of hazardous materials. One school provided training for school bus drivers, the department said.
Following the inspections, CVTA, the largest association of commercial truck driver training programs, said in a statement that it welcomed the initiative, saying it strengthened “the integrity of commercial driver education and reaffirmed the critical role high-quality training plays in protecting the motoring public.”
SAM Thompson has shared a health update after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.
The TV favourite, 33, revealed in January that he would be having the surgery, and underwent the procedure on Tuesday.
A day later, Sam shared a snap of him back home as he updated fans on his recovery.
Wearing a T-shirt underneath a zip up hoodie, Sam smiled for the selfie and wrote: “Day 1 of no speaking… I am so bored.
“Although I am LOVING seeing all the cat memes you’re sending!!”
In a video shared from hospital on Tuesday, Sam was seen in his medical gown as he said: “I’m having vocal cord surgery – this has been in the diary for a while, I had a cyst on my vocal cords.
Read More on Sam Thompson
“It’s because I talk to much and shout too loudly and I keep losing my voice really easily.
“So yeah they are cutting it out, they are putting me to sleep, I’ve never been put to sleep before.
“I’m a bit nervous, I don’t like not being in control.”
Sam first revealed the surgery on his podcast with BFF Pete Wicks.
A vocal cord cyst is a benign lesion which may cause a hoarse voice.
They often occur in those who over-use their voice, such as singers, professional speakers and broadcasters and the cysts happen when glands that produce mucus in the throat get blocked up.
According to NHS after-care advice from London-based Guys and St Thomas’, they state: “For the first three days after the operation, we recommend that you do not speak or use your voice at all.
“This is to allow healing time for the surface of your vocal cord or cords around the site of the surgery.”
They state whispering, laughing or humming should also be avoided.
Los Angeles city officials may be empowered to remove homeless encampments from hillside areas at severe risk of fire, even without the property owner’s permission, under a proposal that the City Council moved forward on Tuesday.
The proposal would allow the city to remove hazardous materials, including homeless encampments, from private property in hillside areas in “Very High Fire Severity Zones,” including in the Santa Monica and Verdugo Mountains.
By an 11-3 vote, the council directed the city attorney to draft changes to the municipal code, which the council will then vote on at a later date.
“Prevention [of fires] is the most cost-effective tool we have,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who sponsored the proposal. “When we are in imminent threat of wildfires, especially as it relates to or is exacerbated by these types of encampments, we have a duty to act.”
Rubbish fires, many related to homeless encampments, have skyrocketed over the last several years, according to Los Angeles Fire Department data. Rodriguez said there have been five wildfires in her northeast San Fernando Valley district since she took office in 2017, though none was caused by an encampment.
Between 2018 and 2024, about 33% of all fires in the city, and more than 40% of rubbish fires, involved homeless Angelenos, according to the LAFD.
Rodriguez said the city is often left flat-footed when encampments pop up on hillsides and property owners don’t help address the issue.
“If a private property owner is not responsive, it puts the rest of the hillside community under threat,” Rodriguez said in an interview.
Rodriguez’s motion said it’s often difficult for city departments, including police and fire, to get permission from property owners to enter.
“It can take weeks to determine property ownership and to obtain the necessary signoffs from property owners to access the property, causing unnecessary delays and increasing the risk for a serious fire and threats to public safety,” the motion reads.
Some council members argued that while they agreed with the intent of the proposal, some details needed to be addressed.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez — who voted against the proposal — said he was concerned that homeless people would end up getting shuffled around the city.
“What I don’t want to see is this being used as a tool to push homeless folks from one side of the street to the other side of the street,” he said before casting his vote.
Soto-Martínez said he wouldn’t vote for the proposal until the city developed a definition of what a fire hazard is.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado also voted against the proposal, saying she wanted the council to do more research before changing the municipal code.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez was the third “no” vote.
