March 7 (UPI) — Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced he is retiring at the end of his term and put his support behind San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond.
Issa issued a statement Friday on social media saying he will not be seeking re-election in this year’s midterm elections.
“This decision has been on my mind for a while and I didn’t make it lightly,” Issa wrote. “First, we built the right campaign infrastructure, support has been overwhelming — including from President Trump — and our polling was unmistakable: We would win this race. But after a quarter-century in Congress — and before that, a quarter-century in business — it”s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges.”
Issa offered his “enthusiastic endorsement” to San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond, who filed to run for Issa’s seat on Friday.
The announcement comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s ballot measure to redraw state congressional districts, which passed in November, transformed Issa’s district from safely Republican to an area more friendly to Democrats.
Issa had previously been rumored to be considering a run for Congress in Texas, but he told Fox News in December that the plan would not be going forward.
“I’m thrilled to set the record straight and here’s the truth: Texas House members and residents of that state did ask if I would consider running there following Gavin Newsom’s historically corrupt gerrymander,” he said at the time. “I appreciate the opportunity, but California is my home. I told them I’m going to stay in Congress, and I don’t need to go to Texas for that.”
Anna Elsasser, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, celebrated the news of Issa’s retirement in a statement.
“After over two decades of disastrous representation, Darrell Issa is once again running for the exits — and good riddance. Issa abandoning his voters now is the clearest sign yet that Republicans know he can’t win on his record of skyrocketing prices, gutting health care, and looking out for himself and wealthy special interests above all else,” Elsasser said. “Any Republican who tries to parachute into this race with the same extreme agenda will face the same fate.”
Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, praising Issa for his “decades of dedicated service” in a statement provided to Politico.
“We are optimistic that this district will continue to be represented by a Republican who will stand for common sense and reject the radical agenda and chaos that progressive Marni von Wilpert and socialist Ammar Campa-Najjar would bring,” Martinez said.
At least six people were killed when tornadoes touched down Friday night in Michigan and Oklahoma. Photo courtesy of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office
March 7 (UPI) — Tornadoes that swept through Michigan and Oklahoma on Friday killed at least six people and injured several others, authorities said.
Sheriff Frederick Blankenship of Branch County, Mich., said the tornado that touched down in Union City, about 40 miles southeast of Kalamazoo, killed at least three people and injured 12 others, with three being hospitalized for their injuries.
Blankenship warned residents to expect power outages and interruptions to Internet and cellular networks.
Cass County Sheriff Clint Roach said a 12-year-old boy was killed and multiple other people were injured in Edwardsburg, Mich. Damage was also reported to multiple large structures, with some said to be entirely destroyed.
Jeffrey Moore, emergency manager for Okmulgee County, Okla., reported at least two people were killed by a tornado near Beggs, about 30 miles south of Tulsa.
Multiple injuries and damage to homes, buildings and trees were also reported in Three Rivers, a city in Michigan’s St. Joseph County, located about 25 miles from Union City. Videos captured in the city show debris flying through the air, and photos shared Saturday morning showed a trampoline stuck on power lines.
It was not yet clear Saturday whether a single tornado was responsible for the damage in Michigan or if there were multiple touchdowns.
Meteorologists said the Union City tornado appeared to have been caused by a nearby warm front.
WASHINGTON — Signs of division emerged in Iran’s leadership Saturday as U.S. and Israeli strikes continued battering targets throughout the country, with Tehran sending mixed signals on whether it would keep attacking Washington’s Arab allies entering the war’s second week.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian began the day offering an apology “on behalf of Iran to the neighboring countries affected,” promising to halt the attacks that have affected nearly every nation in the Middle East. But strikes continued within hours, hitting Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and Pezeshkian quickly issued a statement walking back his remarks.
President Trump vowed on social media to “hit Iran very hard” on Saturday, shortly before flying to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the dignified transfer of six service members killed in the war.
Speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami before his trip to Delaware, the president said the fallen service members were heroes “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home.” He said it was “a very sad situation,” and he pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum.”
And Israel launched its own wave of fresh attacks against Iran while taking incoming fire from Hezbollah, Iran’s allied force in Lebanon, that set off sirens in Tel Aviv. Reports of a fire at a major oil refinery outside Tehran sparked fears the conflict was only escalating, marking the first attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure, if confirmed.
The burst of activity over the weekend underscored that Trump’s unexpected war with Iran, launched alongside Israel just a week ago, is continuing at full force with no sign of slowing.
Missile and drone strikes by Iran against Arab nations, targeting U.S. military assets in the region as well as civilian targets, including hotels and airports, have been an effort by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to pressure regional governments to in turn press Trump to end the U.S. air campaign. The strikes have jolted markets worldwide and sent the price of oil soaring.
President Trump salutes Saturday as soldiers carry the coffin of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa. Coady and five others were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait.
(Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)
While the attacks have decreased substantially over the course of the week, with U.S. Central Command recording a 90% decrease in ballistic missile launches and an 83% drop in drone attacks as of Friday, Iranian strikes are still penetrating regional air defenses. One drone hit the world’s busiest airport, in Dubai, on Saturday, dashing hopes that flights could resume from the regional hub.
Hours after Pezeshkian’s apology, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement vowing to continue strikes on territories that host U.S. offensive forces. Iran’s Defense Ministry said that its strategic stockpile of munitions was sufficient to sustain a protracted campaign. And a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson issued a statement addressing Trump, calling him “the corrupted island man,” referring to his former friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender who allegedly trafficked girls to his private island.
“The ground and the map of the war is in our hands,” the Revolutionary Guard official said. “This will continue.”
In his videotaped remarks, Pezeshkian also rejected Trump’s call for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.” Trump later said he would be satisfied reaching a point at which Iran is no longer capable of fighting back.
“The idea of Iran surrendering unconditionally is a dream they will take to their graves,” Pezeshkian said.
A member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a council of 88 clerics responsible for naming the country’s supreme leader, was quoted in local state media vowing to select a new ayatollah within the next day, more than a week after U.S. and Israeli forces assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo of the war.
Trump has said he expects a say in that decision, preemptively rejecting the late supreme leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is seen as the most likely successor.
Mojtaba Khamenei is seen as even more ideological than his father, with deep ties throughout Iran’s security apparatus — and with a potential vendetta against Trump, on the heels of U.S. forces killing much of his family.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who formerly served as the late Khamenei’s top advisor, said in his first remarks since the ayatollah’s killing that his assassination was unprecedented. “The price for this is not small,” Larijani said.
“They shouldn’t think we’ll let America quickly sweep this under the rug and say, ‘We hit, now let’s move on,’” Larijani continued. “Things will only resolve when they understand they no longer have the right to violate Iran, and when they compensate the Iranian people for their losses.”
More that 1,200 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, according to Iranian officials.
“He killed and martyred our leader,” Larijani added. “We’re not letting it go.”
Caitlin Clark is excited to make her U.S. national team debut next week when the Americans play in an FIBA World Cup qualifier in Puerto Rico.
It will be Clark’s first game in about eight months since a multitude of injuries derailed her WNBA season with the Indiana Fever in July.
“It’ll probably take me a second to knock a little bit of the rust off,” Clark said Saturday. “I’ll probably be a little bit nervous, which I usually don’t get nervous but that probably comes from I haven’t really played basketball in a while. I’m sure after the first minute of running around on the court, I’ll be just fine. But more than anything, just really excited. I know how much work and how much time I put in to make sure my body’s as healthy as it can be and to get back.”
It’s been quite a journey for Clark, who played in 13 games last season. She had groin injuries and then a bone bruise in her left ankle. She’s been in the gym getting ready, working with the Fever medical team and player developmental staff over the last few months.
“I’ve always been a person that’s going to just rely on my work. I feel like it’s certainly made me work harder,” Clark said of the injuries. “But that’s also probably the part that kind of stunk about it, is I felt like I put in so much time and so much energy going into last season, and then obviously, only appeared in about 13 games.”
Clark has fond memories of playing with younger USA Basketball teams. She recalled being in Colorado Springs in her teens and going into a room filled with jerseys of past American greats.
“My eyes were so wide, thought it was the coolest thing in the world of all,” she said. “[To see] the senior national jerseys of great men’s players and women’s players. It’s a 15- or 16-year-old’s dream of doing that one day.”
Clark knows this is just her first step with the national team. There was an uproar when she didn’t make the 2024 Paris Olympic team. She eyes playing on the World Cup team next fall and then in Los Angeles on the 2028 Olympic squad.
“There’s a lot to get to that point,” she said. “Obviously that’s my goal, the World Cup before that. There’s a lot for me to learn.”
A CONCACAF source with knowledge of the issue not authorized to discuss it publicly said the organization was aware of the problem and working with the team to appeal the decision. The Champions Cup is the most prestigious club tournament in CONCACAF, the 41-nation FIFA confederation that governs soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Mount Pleasant FA, champion of last year’s CONCACAF Caribbean Cup and runner-up in the last two Jamaican Premier League tournaments, is playing in the Champions Cup for the first time. The team has six Haitian players on its roster, and Haiti is one of 19 countries whose citizens have been banned from entering the U.S by the Trump administration. Citizens from an additional 20 countries faced partial restrictions.
“This decision raises serious concern about the administration’s willingness to abide by its own agreement and statements regarding the issuance of visas for the World Cup,” said David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. “The President’s proclamation clearly exempts athletes and necessary support personnel for ‘major sporting events.’ But apparently, this exception is not being applied in all cases.”
The State Department has the ability, under the Presidential Proclamation exception, to grant entry to “athletes, coaches and essential support staff” from any country traveling to the U.S. for “the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.”
Despite that, eight members of Cuba’s delegation to the World Baseball Classic — among them federation president Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo and pitching coach Pedro Luis Lazo — had their visa requests denied. Under the Trump administration’s rules, Cuban citizens are subject to the same travel restrictions as Haitians.
However, Haiti and Jamaica were able to play in last summer’s Gold Cup soccer tournament in the U.S. without issue. The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The CONCACAF source said the confederation hopes to reach an agreement with the State Department but added that Mount Pleasant’s game with the Galaxy will go forward either way. The club, which is scheduled to depart Sunday, told a Jamaican newspaper that up to 10 players have been denied visas and coming to Los Angeles without them would require it to rely on seven or eight players from the team’s youth academy to fill out the roster.
“We don’t want to just show up for the game, we want to be able to compete, but we are not being given the opportunity to be at our best,” Paul Christie, the team’s sporting director, told the Jamaica Observer.
The teams will meet in the second and deciding leg of the two-game playoff March 19 at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Mount Pleasant is expected to be at full strength for that game.
The State Department’s approach to the visa requests for the Cuban baseball delegation and Jamaican soccer team raise questions about how the Trump administration will handle visa requests ahead of this summer’s World Cup. Four tournament qualifiers are impacted by the administration’s travel restrictions, with citizens of Iran — a country with which the U.S. is at war — and Haiti facing a total ban, and those from Senegal and Ivory Coast subject to severe restrictions.
Members of Iran’s delegation were refused entry to the U.S. for December’s World Cup draw in Washington, during which FIFA president Gianni Infantino presented President Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize. And last summer, Senegal’s women’s basketball team was forced to cancel a 10-day training camp in the U.S. when visa requests for five players, six staff members and a ministerial delegation were rejected.
The FBI is investigating a breach into unclassified but significant networks that may have granted access to information about ongoing investigations and persons of interest. File Photo by Sascha Steinbach/EPA
March 6 (UPI) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating what it calls a “suspicious” breach of networks containing information of ongoing investigations, though details of them have not been revealed.
The cybersecurity incident on a network used for wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants was confirmed Thursday by CBS News, CNN and Politico.
Investigators declined to offer more information on who was behind the breach or what may have been accessed during what the FBI called “abnormal log information” in mid-February.
The Bureau alerted Congress about the breach this week.
“The FBI identified and addressed suspicious activities on FBI networks and we have leveraged all technical capabilities to respond,” the bureau said.
The FBI, in its alert to Congress, said that the breach included efforts at “leveraging a commercial Internet Service Provider vendor’s infrastructure” in order to access the bureau’s networks.
The White House, FBI, National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency are investigating the breach, noting to lawmakers that the system accessed in the hack contains information on targets of law enforcement investigations and it appears to have been “sophisticated.”
There have been reports that China is allegedly behind the breach, however a request for comment from UPI on Friday night about the reports had not been responded to by publication time.
“The affected system is unclassified and contains law enforcement sensitive information, including returns from legal process, such as pen register and trap and surveillance service returns, and personally identifiable information pertaining to subjects of FBI investigations,” the notice to Congress reportedly reads.
The breach has been compared to the 2024 Salt Typhoon breach that nabbed communications records for millions of people in the United States, including those of top level federal officials.
Salt Typhoon, a Chinese hacking group that is believed to be sponsored by China’s government, that year accessed a wide range of U.S. communications companies and U.S. government systems.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
March 6 (UPI) — The Department of Justice released new FBI documents Thursday that describe several interviews with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a young teen.
Officials said they were held back because they mistakenly believed they were duplicates.
The 16 pages of notes describe three interviews that the FBI conducted in 2019 with the woman, who said she was sexually abused by Epstein and Trump when she was between the ages of 13 years and 15 years in the 1980s.
There are also two pages from an intake form that document the initial call to the FBI from a friend who reported the woman’s claims.
Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019.
The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, which are legally required to be released to the public.
The Justice Department posted on X that it identified about a dozen other documents that were “incorrectly coded as duplicative.”
Federal prosecutors in Florida also determined that five prosecution memos that had been labeled privileged could be redacted and released.
NPR reported that it conducted an investigation that found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public release database.
There are still 37 pages missing, NPR said, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said in a statement that they applauded the release of the interviews but still criticized the department for its handling.
“But let’s be clear — this White House cover-up is ongoing. Millions of pages still remain concealed from the public and our committee,” said Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for Oversight Democrats.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to NPR Friday that Trump has been “totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein files.”
“These are completely baseless accusations, backed by zero credible evidence, from a sadly disturbed woman who has an extensive criminal history,” Leavitt wrote to NPR.
“The total baselessness of these accusations is also supported by the obvious fact that Joe Biden‘s department of justice knew about them for four years and did nothing with them — because they knew President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. As we have said countless times, President Trump has been totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein Files,” she wrote.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
March 6 (UPI) — Russia is helping Iran by giving it intelligence on American troops, ships and aircraft during the U.S. and Israeli assault on the Middle Eastern nation.
The intelligence Iran has received on potential U.S. targets in the region — naval vessels, military bases and the locations of other American assets — has largely been provided using Russia’s massive space-based surveillance apparatus, CNN reported.
It remains unclear exactly what or how much Russia has helped Iran with but The Washington Post, which was the first to report that one of the United States’ longest-running adversaries is assisting the Iranian regime, reported that one its sources said the assistance “does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort.”
Additionally, sources told NBC News that the intelligence could potentially be used to help Iran locate American assets in the region, though there has been no indication that Russia has actually helped direct Iranian attacks against U.S. interests there.
One source that was briefed on the intelligence reported by all three news organizations told CNN that despite Russia’s appearance that it is staying out of the widening conflict in the Middle East, it “still likes Iran very much.”
Dara Massicot, expert on the Russian military at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told The Post that Iran’s “very precise hits on early warning radars or over-the-horizon radars” indicated they were methodically targeting U.S. assets in an effort to undermine American command and control.
When asked by reporters on Friday, President Donald Trump replied that the U.S. is doing “very well” in its plans against Iran and said it was “a stupid question … to be asking at this time.”
“Somebody said, how would you score it from zero to 10?,” NBC News reported Trump said. “I’d give it a 12 to a 15. Their army is gone. … Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone. Two sets of their leaders are gone. They’re down to their third set. Their air force is wiped out entirely. Think of it.”
U.S. intelligence also reportedly suggests that China is considering getting involved in the conflict, with financial assistance, spare parts and missile components potentially being on the table as it worries about access to Iranian oil that it heavily relies on.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
March 6 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, announced on Friday that he is ending his campaign for re-election after acknowledging an extramarital affair that he had been denying for months.
House Republican leadership called for Gonzales to pull out of the race after the House Ethics Committee said it was investigating the three-term member of Congress over the affair and he then admitted to it on a radio show hours later.
After Tuesday’s primary, Gonzales was to face a runoff for the Republican nomination for his seat after he and YouTuber Brandon Herrera each failed to win more than 50% of the vote.
“After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district,” Gonzales said in a post on X.
“Through the rest of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents, for whom I am eternally grateful,” he said.
Gonzales has for months been denying he had an affair with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, in 2024, who later died by suicide after lighting herself on fire.
Gonzales had denied the affair happened since texts were shared by her husband, Adrian, of him asking for a “sexy pic” and her favorite sex position, The Washington Post reported.
Wednesday, not long after the ethics committee announced its investigation, Gonzales said on a radio show that he took “full responsibility for those actions,” admitting to the affair, and said he has reconciled with his wife.
House GOP leadership on Thursday, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R.-La., publicly called for him to end his campaign after the admission.
Herrera’s campaign manager told NBC News in a statement that he appreciated Gonzales for “making the appropriate decision.”
“I look forward to being the voice of TX23 that our district deserves … It’s an honor to be chosen and together we will make Texas proud,” he said in the statement.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Pall bearers carry the casket containing the body of the Rev. Jesse Jackson as it arrives for the public service at the House of Hope church in Chicago on Friday. The public service is for people to pay respects and honor Jackson. Jackson, a well known advocate for civil rights and for the poor, and two time presidential candidate, died Feb. 17 after suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
March 6 (UPI) — The public funeral for the Rev. Jesse Jackson began Friday morning, with state, religious and local dignitaries attending.
Musical guests scheduled are pop singer and actor Jennifer Hudson, and gospel singers Bebe Winans and Pastor Marvin Winans.
The event, called “The People’s Celebration,” is at House of Hope, a south side venue that can hold 10,000 people.
By 8 a.m. CT Friday, thousands were waiting outside the House of Hope to pay respects to Jackson, USA Today reported.
“This is an occasion for all of us – not only the African American community, but the rest of the world, to celebrate the accomplishments of a great man,” Eric Williams, a Chicago resident and member of the House of Hope church, told USA Today. “He will be greatly missed.”
Jackson died Feb. 16 at 84 of complications from progressive supranuclear palsy.
The civil rights activist lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Columbia, S.C., the state where he was born, and there were public and private services held in his honor there.
A service planned for Washington, D.C., has been postponed.
“The Jackson Family looks forward to honoring Rev. Jackson’s work and life in Washington, a city that held rich friendships and deep meaning for the Reverend,” Jackson’s family said in a press release.
Neil Sedaka
American singer/pianist Neil Sedaka performs at the “BBC Proms In The Park” in Hyde Park in London on September 11, 2010. Photo by Rune Hellestad/UPI | License Photo
Lindsey Halligan is under investigation by the Florida Bar Association for her efforts to prosecute President Donald Trump’s enemies. File Photo by Al Drago/EPA
March 6 (UPI) — Former Justice Department official Lindsey Halligan is under investigation by the Florida Bar Association for her time trying to prosecute President Donald Trump‘s enemies while acting as a U.S. attorney.
Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, brought cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of which failed. On Nov. 24, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie in South Carolina dismissed both cases and ruled that Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s installation of Halligan as interim U.S. attorney was invalid. But Halligan continued to work as a U.S. attorney in the Justice Department.
In January, Halligan stepped down from the position after a U.S. District Judge David Novak ordered her to stop “masquerading as a U.S. attorney in Virginia.
The Florida bar, of which Halligan is a member, sent a letter to the nonprofit Campaign for Accountability acknowledging the investigation.
The Campaign for Accountability had requested disciplinary proceedings against Halligan over her conduct while acting as a U.S. attorney in the cases against Comey and James. It sent a similar request to the Virginia bar about Halligan, who worked as an insurance lawyer in Florida before Trump’s second administration.
“We already have an investigation pending,” the Florida bar said in its letter, which was also sent to Halligan, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post.
If the Florida bar determines that she acted improperly, she could be disbarred in the state.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday proposed a change to federal regulations for state bar investigations of its attorneys. The proposal was posted to the Federal Register and said, “Before a current or former Department lawyer may participate in any investigative steps initiated by the bar disciplinary authority … in response to allegations that a current or former Department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s federal duties, the Department will have the right to review the allegations in the first instance and shall request that the bar disciplinary authority suspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the Department’s review.”
The rule change is necessary because “over the past several years, political activists have weaponized the bar complaint and investigation process,” the memo said.
Halligan, who had no previous trial experience, was appointed to replace Erik Siebert, who resigned the position in September amid concerns he would be forced out for failing to prosecute James.
Interim U.S. attorneys can only stay in their positions for 120 days, and Siebert had already exceeded his time without confirmation.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Responding to a question from The War Zone at a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, the admiral leading the war against Iran praised the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) kamikaze drone. Based on the Iranian Shahed-136, these weapons were used in combat for the first time just six days ago. They were fired against unspecified Iranian targets in the opening salvos of the Operation Epic Fury joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and repeatedly since.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth examines a Shahed-clone kamikaze drone at the Pentagon, (US Army)
“LUCAS, indispensable,” Cooper told us when we asked how effective they have been and how much they’ve helped preserve magazine depth, given their comparative low cost and faster and easier production.
America’s stockpile of offensive and defense munitions remains a concern as Epic Fury drags on, even though War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also spoke at the press conference, downplayed it. More on that later in this story.
A Tomahawk cruise missile cost roughly between $2 million to $2.5 million a piece. Air launched cruise missiles currently in service cost over a million a piece, although work is being done to reduce that number considerably. There is still a tradeoff in warhead size, response time, and survivability, but cheaper weapons in greater quantities that can deliver a payload over hundreds of miles are badly needed as part of a arsenal mix that includes more advanced types.
File photo of TLAM launch. USN
“Costing approximately $35,000 per platform, LUCAS is a low-cost, scalable system that provides cutting-edge capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional long-range U.S. systems that can deliver similar effects,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson, told TWZ back in December. “The drone system has an extensive range and the ability to operate beyond line of sight, providing significant capability across CENTCOM’s vast operating area.”
Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones are positioned on the tarmac at a base in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) operating area. (Courtesy Photo)
Moreover, the LUCAS design includes features that allow for “autonomous coordination, making them suitable for swarm tactics and network-centric strikes,” a U.S. official told us in December. As we have explained in detail in the past, the swarming capabilities combined with some of the drones being equipped with Starlink terminals, means extremely advanced cooperative tactics and dynamic targeting are possible, all while keeping humans in the loop.
The video below is said to show a LUCAS drone, recovered largely intact in Iraq. Its beyond-line-of-sight satellite datalink can be seen detached and hanging by a cable.
Locals in Iraq appear to have recovered a crashed and almost entirely intact Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), an American copy of the Iranian Shahed-136 Attack Drone, which is confirmed to have been used recently by Task Force Scorpion Strike during U.S. attacks on… pic.twitter.com/SEqO6627en
Cooper highlighted how the U.S. has reworked the Iranian Shahed, which have been wreaking havoc during this conflict, killing six U.S. troops and causing destruction across the Middle East.
“We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little ‘Made in America on it,’ brought it back here and we’re shooting it at the Iranians.”
LUCAS kamikaze drone. (Courtesy photo) NAVCENT/C5F/U.S. Army Spc. Kayla Mc Guire
In a video message earlier this week, Cooper said that the U.S. has fired “countless one-way attack drones” to great effect.
Thursday, we asked him what kinds of targets LUCAS drones have been used against and he offered a short response.
“I’m not familiar with the particular offer, but the interceptors in general, we’ve had a number of new capabilities being fielded,” the CENTCOM commander explained. “Obviously, I’m not going to talk about it from the operational perspective of what those are, but I think you have seen over a period of time us kind of get on the other side of this cost curve on drones in general.”
“If I just walk back a couple of years, remember what you used to always hear, we’re shooting down a $50,000 drone with a $2 million missile,” he added. “These days, we’re spending a lot of time shooting down $100,000 drones with $10,000” weapons.
Before Cooper answered our questions, Hegseth repeated the Pentagon’s assertion that it has the weapons it needs to outlast Iranian missile and drone barrages.
“We’ve got no shortage of munitions,” Hegseth proclaimed. “Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to again, our munition status only increases as our advantage increases our capabilities.”
However, as we have often noted, one of the big concerns about Epic Fury is whether Iranian missile and drone barrages would outlast the ability of the U.S. and allies to defend against them. Despite six days of intensive attacks, Tehran still possesses thousands of missiles and drones, though a significant number of these weapons and their launchers — specifically the longer range ballistic missile types —have been destroyed or prevented from being accessed by crews.
The effort to eliminate the Iranian regime’s mobile missile launch capabilities continues. We are finding and destroying these threats with lethal precision. pic.twitter.com/AkGRYOjnOz
Though Iran has been severely pummeled by both the U.S. and Israel, it is unknown how much longer the conflict will grind on. President Donald Trump had stated that it could last four or five weeks. Now the time table is very murky, with the administration indicating it could last much longer. Regardless, the more it drags out, the more munitions the U.S. will expend, but at least it knows it can quickly build more LUCAS drones, if need be.
WASHINGTON — Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called for the Department of Homeland Security to return a California woman with DACA who was recently deported a day after her green card interview.
DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is the Obama-era program that since 2012 has shielded certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and allowed them to work legally.
Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez lived in California for 27 years before being detained at her green card interview last month and deported within 24 hours, despite having active DACA protection and no criminal history. Her story was first reported by the Sacramento Bee.
On a call from Mexico on Thursday with reporters, Estrada Juarez, 42, said DACA was supposed to protect people like her who work hard and follow the rules.
“I did everything I could to build a stable life and give my daughter the opportunities that I never had,” she said. “But about two weeks ago, everything changed. I was wrongfully deported. In a single moment, nearly 30 years of my life were taken away from me — my home, my work, my community.”
Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment about Estrada’s case.
The detention and deportation of DACA recipients is in stark contrast to previous administrations, including the first Trump administration, and years of bipartisan support for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. For admission into the program, they must pass background checks and meet certain educational or work requirements.
Trump has given mixed signals on DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers.” In his first term, he tried unsuccessfully to shut down the program. In December 2024 on “Meet the Press” he said that “I want to be able to work something out” on their behalf, but offered no specifics and the administration has done nothing to offer them extra protection.
The program’s fate has since remained embroiled in litigation.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said Homeland Security provided conflicting data to members of Congress about how many DACA recipients have been detained and deported since Trump returned to the White House.
In a Jan. 12 letter to Garcia, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that between Jan. 1 and Sept. 28 of 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested 270 DACA recipients. The letter did not say how many of those 270 were deported.
Of those, 130 had criminal convictions, 120 had pending criminal charges and 14 were in violation of immigration law, she wrote. That adds up to 264, not 270.
“Please note DACA is a form of prosecutorial discretion that does not confer lawful status,” wrote Noem, who was fired Thursday.
But in a letter to Durbin and other senators last month, Noem provided smaller numbers, though she addressed a longer time period, Jan. 1 to Nov. 19, 2025. She said the agency had arrested 261 DACA recipients and deported 86.
She said that of those arrested, 241 had criminal histories, though she did not specify if that meant convictions or pending charges.
On Wednesday, Garcia wrote back to Noem, saying, “The discrepancies between your two responses demonstrate gross incompetency or intentional misdirection.”
The conflicting data from Noem came after 95 members of Congress in September demanded answers about the targeting of DACA recipients. They wrote that letter after Tricia McLaughlin, the former Homeland Security public affairs secretary, said DACA recipients “are not automatically protected from deportation.”
The lawmakers cited the case of a deaf and non-verbal DACA recipient with no criminal history who was detained last year amid the immigration raids in Los Angeles. He was later released.
As of June 2025, there were more than 515,000 DACA recipients in the U.S., a decrease since the program’s peak of nearly 800,000. With 144,000, California has the most of any state, according to federal data.
Estrada Juarez did not take questions during the call Thurday with reporters, but Ivonne Rodriguez, press director for immigration reform at the advocacy group FWD.us, explained to The Times what happened.
Around 11 a.m. on Feb. 18, Estrada Juarez arrived with her daughter Damaris Bello, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, at the John E. Moss Federal Building in Sacramento for an interview as part of the process to obtain legal permanent residency, or a green card.
At the courthouse, immigration agents took Estrada Juarez’s fingerprints and asked her to apply a fingerprint to a form saying she had agreed to be deported, Rodriguez said. She refused.
An officer told Estrada Juarez “If you don’t sign, I will make you sign.” The officer grabbed her hand and forced her to sign using her fingerprint, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said federal agents cited a deportation order from 1998 during Estrada Juarez’s detention last month at the courthouse. But being a DACA recipient should mean that such orders are not acted upon while the protected status is active, so long as the person stays out of criminal trouble.
“She kept stating she had active DACA throughout the entire time and they did not care,” Rodriguez said.
By 8 a.m. the next morning, Estrada Juarez had been dropped off by bus in Tijuana, Rodriguez said.
Estrada Juarez is among many immigrants arrested for deportation at courthouses since last year, a practice that breaks from longstanding former procedure.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on oversight of Homeland Security, Durbin asked Noem about Estrada Juarez and the other deported DACA recipients.
“Madam secretary, why have you deported dozens of DACA holders who had to comply with a criminal background check to be eligible for DACA?” Durbin asked.
“Sir, we follow all laws as applicable to the Department of Homeland Security,” Noem replied before Durbin cut her off.
“Why did you deport them?” he repeated.
Noem said she wasn’t familiar with the details of Estrada Juarez’s case but would look into it.
On the call Thursday with Estrada Juarez, Sen. Padilla (D-Calif.) said he met her daughter this week. He and other Democrats called for Congress to pass legislation that would permanently protect DACA recipients from deportation.
“DACA recipients did everything right and followed all the instructions laid out in the program,” he said. “They took the United States government at its word, and they’ve kept their end of the deal. But now we know that Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are breaking the government’s promise.”
Estrada Juarez said justice in her case would mean being allowed to return to the U.S.
“I’m not asking for a special treatment,” she said. “I’m asking for what is right. My deportation was wrong, and my family should not have to be torn apart. I just want to change to go home and hold my daughter again.”
The U.S. Department of State announced that the United States and Venezuela are re-establishing diplomatic and consular ties as Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, right, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum concluded two days of meetings on cooperation in the energy and mining sectors. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA
March 5 (UPI) — The United States and Venezuela will re-establish diplomatic and consular relations just over two months after former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was deposed from power.
The U.S. Department of State made the announcement on Thursday evening after high-ranking U.S. officials met with their counterparts in Venezuela to negotiate greater access to oil, critical minerals and gold.
“This step will facilitate our joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement.
“Our engagement is focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government,” officials said in the statement.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum met with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who was installed as the country’s leader after the U.S. military captured Maduro and brought him to the United States to face charges that include narco-trafficking.
Burgum and Rodriguez were discussing oil and critical mineral opportunities, in addition to finalizing an American-brokered deal with a Singapore-based company to mine and buy $100 million in gold, The New York Times reported.
Rodriguez said after Burgum’s two-day visit that her government has “full willingness to build a joint work agenda based on respect and mutual benefits,” specifically with regard to energy and other business cooperation, Axios reported.
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge inside the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on Wednesday. Technology firms that sign the pledge will commit to ensuring artificial intelligence infrastructure does not raise utility bills for households and small businesses. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced an initiative to increase the number of nutrition-related credit hours that doctors are required to have in medical school, along with 53 schools that have already agreed to participate. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo
March 5 (UPI) — Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Thursday that the department will be pushing for increased nutrition education in medicine.
Kennedy made the announcement after having communicated with dozens of medical schools in the last couple of months to increase what doctors learn about human nutrition.
Fifty-three medical schools have agreed to start requiring that every medical student complete 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or an equivalent this fall, the HHS chief said at a presentation of the initiative.
The push for increased nutrition education follows Kennedy’s announcement in January of new dietary guidelines and a new food pyramid aimed improving Americans’ diets.
Kennedy called the initiative a “transformative program that will reshape the way that we train doctors in this country.”
“Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis,” Kennedy said in a news release.
Surveys have found that medical students receive as little as 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education per year, three-fourths of U.S. medical schools do not require education courses and about 14% of residency programs require nutrition courses, according to HHS.
The 53 medicals, across 31 states, that have made agreements with the Trump administration will also be eligible for federal funding to
The administration also will now require U.S. Public Health Service officers to take a minimum number of continuing nutrition education hours as part of their overall continuing education requirements, HHS said.
Since the late 1960s, doctors and health experts have noted that nutrition education does not rank high enough in medical education, NBC News reported.
Among the topics that Kennedy and HHS have suggested be considered for school curricula — a list of 71 has been circulated as the department works with medical schools to join the initiative — include nutrient deficiencies, food allergies, dietary supplements, wearable devices, composting and food safety, The New York Times reported.
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge inside the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on Wednesday. Technology firms that sign the pledge will commit to ensuring artificial intelligence infrastructure does not raise utility bills for households and small businesses. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied claims circulating online of the loss of another F-15E Strike Eagle, this time over enemy territory, as part of ongoing operations against Iran. Earlier this week, three Strike Eagles were downed in an apparent friendly fire incident, reportedly by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet. All of this comes as the U.S.-Israeli air campaign continued to expand, and as the overall conflict has otherwise spilled further through the region.
You can catch up with our latest coverage of ongoing operations against Iran here.
“Rumors circulating on social media of a U.S. F-15E crash in Iran early Wednesday are baseless and NOT TRUE,” CENTCOM stated on X Thursday morning.
A CENTCOM spokesperson also told TWZ directly that there have been no aircraft downed other than those in Kuwait.
The denial came after a now-deleted post from the popular @sentdefender account on X claiming a F-15E had gone down went viral, with at least nearly 800,000 views. The post said the aircraft had gone down during a strike mission over southwestern Iran, but said the proximate cause was unknown. The Strike Eagles were said to have been able to eject safely and were then recovered in a joint U.S.-Israeli combat search and rescue mission. Claims about the loss had already been swirling amongst the open-source community.
via X
“We have made the decision to delete reports made last night regarding the crash of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran and the successful evacuation of the crewmembers by U.S. and Israeli Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR),” the account wrote in a new post today. “Defender Media maintains confidence in its sources, however, the story is as of now being officially and publicly denied by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).”
We have made the decision to delete reports made last night regarding the crash of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran and the successful evacuation of the crewmembers by U.S. and Israeli Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR). Defender Media maintains confidence in its sources, however,… pic.twitter.com/E1IYxcAwXs
TWZ has reached out to @sentdefender for further comment.
This is not the first time CENTCOM has taken part in the online information war that has become standard for conflicts in the social media era. Yesterday, the command took to X to refute several claims made by Iran about killing 100 Marines, sinking a destroyer, taking down other aircraft, and forcing U.S. troops to withdraw from the conflict.
“ALL LIES,” CENTCOM stated in its post.
More fake news from the Iranian regime: 🚫The regime claims U.S. forces are withdrawing. 🚫They say they sank a U.S. destroyer. 🚫IRGC claims to have taken down U.S. fighter aircraft. 🚫The regime says they killed 100 U.S. Marines. ALL LIES.
What is true is that the U.S.-Israeli air war over Iran is expanding and includes an increasing number of aircraft employing stand-in munitions closer to their targets. Potential risks can only be magnified, at least to a degree, as operations push deeper into Iran. There is always the potential for aircraft to go down for reasons other than enemy fire, as well.
The rest of our ongoing rolling coverage of the conflict continues below, with the latest updates at the top.
UPDATE: 4:57 PM EST –
U.S. Central Command edited a post on X that originally said “Rumors are circulating on social media of a U.S. fighter jet crash over Basra. These are baseless and NOT TRUE.” to read instead that “Rumors are circulating on social media of a U.S. fighter jet shot down over Basra. These are baseless and NOT TRUE.”
In speaking directly to TWZ, U.S. Central Command had also denied claims that a U.S. military aircraft had been shot down over Iraq, and said the change in the X post’s language was simply a matter of semantics.
Al Jazeera and Rudaw had earlier reported that a search was underway for a U.S. pilot after their plane went down in Iraq’s Basra region, citing local police officials, but did not give a reason for why the aircraft had come down.
#BREAKING: Basra Police Command in Iraq reportedly told Al Jazeera: “Our elements have been dispatched to search for an American pilot who crashed within the province’s borders and has not been found yet” https://t.co/JUDSPSAqGd
#BREAKING: Basra Police confirm to Rudaw that a US aircraft has crashed within the borders of the province. Security forces have launched a search operation for the pilot. pic.twitter.com/8SpZJz5YF9
Regardless, TWZ continues to highlight the potential risks associated with the expanding U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran. This all comes amid widespread misconceptions about the degree to which air superiority, let alone air supremacy, has been achieved, as you can read more about in our new piece here.
UPDATE: 3:45 PM EST –
“We are now moving to the next phase of the campaign, in which we will increase the damage to the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities,” IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has said in a statement. “We have additional surprising moves, which I do not intend to reveal. We will pursue our enemies, all of them, and we will find them.”
“The Israeli Air Force has carried out 2,500 strikes and dropped over 6,000 munitions,” Zamir also said. “We have neutralized and destroyed more than 60 percent of the ballistic missile launchers” and 80 percent of Iran’s air defense systems.
IDF Chief-of-Staff Eyal Zamir:
“We are now moving to the next phase of the campaign, in which we will increase the damage to the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities. We have additional surprising moves, which I do not intend to reveal. We will pursue our… pic.twitter.com/xUc2k4d5Uj
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 5, 2026
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in a press statement says Israel has destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defense systems, “and achieved almost complete air superiority in the skies of Iran.”
“The Israeli Air Force has carried out 2,500 strikes and dropped over 6,000 munitions,”…
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
The IDF continues to release footage from strikes in Iran and Lebanon.
The IDF releases footage of airstrikes targeting several Iranian soldiers in Iran earlier today.
The attacks took place amid a wave of strikes against some 200 targets in western and central Iran, according to the military. pic.twitter.com/zoeMaBrkbU
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
A top Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut yesterday, the military announces.
According to the IDF, Zaid Ali Jumaa was responsible for Hezbollah’s “firepower management” and served as the head of its artillery forces in southern Lebanon.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
The IDF says its aircraft collectively flew more than 7,000 flight hours and struck more than 750 targets in the first 100 hours of Operation Roaring Lion.
The videos below are said to show a major strike in Iran’s Bushehr region earlier in the week. There are reports that Bushehr Air Base was the target.
The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released a new tally of interceptions of Iranian missiles and drones in the course of the conflict so far. The country’s forces have downed 196 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles, and 1,072 drones, per the latest data.
There are reports of a drone attack in Iraq’s Duhok province near an oilfield operated by U.S. firm HKN Energy.
Two drones have fallen near the Chamanke town of Duhok province in the northern Kurdistan Region-Iraq. HKN, an American oil company, is operating an oilfield in the area. pic.twitter.com/Nln1RrIuMN
The U.S. State Department has suspended operations at the American Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait, indefinitely. “While there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel, the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State,” the Embassy said in a press release.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that his government made the decision to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayollah Ali Khamenei back in November and planned to do so within a six-month timeframe, according to Reuters.
JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) – Israel took the decision to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in November and was planning to carry out the operation around six months later, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.
The picture below is said to show Iranian sailors from the IRIS Bushehr being brought ashore in Sri Lanka.
The 208 crew members of the Iranian vessel “IRIS Bushehr” anchored near the Port of Colombo are being brought ashore by the Sri Lanka Navy.
They will be taken to the Welisara Naval Base, while the vessel is expected to be moved to the Port of Trincomalee, the President said. pic.twitter.com/5cJAUgYC1P
— Vidharshana Fernando (@MsVidharshana) March 5, 2026
UPDATE: 2:23 PM EST –
The IDF says it has now conducted 12 waves of strikes on Tehran. Israeli forces also continue to hit targets elsewhere in Iran.
⭕️The IDF completed its 12th wave of strikes across Tehran.
📍Alborz province: The headquarters of the special unit responsible for all internal security forces was targeted.
📍Tehran: Targets belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij organization, and a…
The IDF issues an “urgent warning” to Iranians in industrial zones near Tehran of ahead of planned airstrikes.
“Urgent warning to all individuals located in the Abbas Abad industrial area and also the Shenzar industrial area near Sharif Abad in eastern Pakdasht. In the coming… pic.twitter.com/Cgr7LmYI0x
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
In its latest wave of airstrikes in the Tehran area, the IDF says it struck the headquarters of Iran’s special forces, bases of the Basij paramilitary force, and other regime sites.
Some 90 Israeli Air Force fighter jets participated in the strikes, hitting some 40 targets with… pic.twitter.com/To8jbW4APy
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.
Iran said the death toll in the country from U.S.-Israeli strikes had risen to 1,230 people.
Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.
The IDF issues a wide evacuation warning in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.
“Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa area, specifically the residents of the villages and towns: Douris, Brital and Majdaloun. Hezbollah’s activities in… pic.twitter.com/2uO7VUbObT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Previous evacuation warnings in Beirut have been for specific buildings that the IDF has then struck. The latest order covers four major neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of the city.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Lebanon’s health ministry says 102 people dead, 638 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since monday.
The video and pictures below are said to show a fire at the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s (BAPCO) oil refinery in the Ma’ameer following an Iranian attack.
The earlier Iranian attack on Azerbaijan has caused that country to close a portion of its airspace over the southern end of the country. This adds to already significant airspace closures across the broader region.
Following drone strikes on Nakhchivan International Airport (NAJ) earlier today, Azerbaijan has closed the airspace in its southern sector. Learn more about this, and more, in our updated list of airspace closures and restrictions: https://t.co/AU0KOdzprtpic.twitter.com/X19SnOglD5
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told NBC News that his country is prepared for a ground invasion in a new interview. He also said that Iran is still refusing to engage with the United States and has not asked for a ceasefire.
BREAKING: Iranian Foreign Minister tells NBC News that Iran is ready for a U.S. ground invasion of the country as the war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel has quickly spread across the region.
He also refuses any negotiations with the U.S. and says that Iran had not asked for a…
The IDF issues an “urgent warning” to Iranians in industrial zones near Tehran of ahead of planned airstrikes.
“Urgent warning to all individuals located in the Abbas Abad industrial area and also the Shenzar industrial area near Sharif Abad in eastern Pakdasht. In the coming… pic.twitter.com/Cgr7LmYI0x
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
In its latest wave of airstrikes in the Tehran area, the IDF says it struck the headquarters of Iran’s special forces, bases of the Basij paramilitary force, and other regime sites.
Some 90 Israeli Air Force fighter jets participated in the strikes, hitting some 40 targets with… pic.twitter.com/To8jbW4APy
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.
Iran said the death toll in the country from U.S.-Israeli strikes had risen to 1,230 people.
Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.
The IDF issues a wide evacuation warning in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.
“Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa area, specifically the residents of the villages and towns: Douris, Brital and Majdaloun. Hezbollah’s activities in… pic.twitter.com/2uO7VUbObT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Previous evacuation warnings in Beirut have been for specific buildings that the IDF has then struck. The latest order covers four major neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of the city.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
Lebanon’s health ministry says 102 people dead, 638 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since monday.
The video below is said to show strikes on an Iranian missile base in the country’s mountainous Damavand region.
The IRGC’s Damavand missile base, an underground facility east of Tehran used to store ballistic missiles and air defense systems, was heavily struck today. pic.twitter.com/vdf093dYB5
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. government will have a role in choosing Iran’s future leadership, per Reuters. Trump said today that he would be personally involved in such a selection, according to Axios.
Trump spoke with @steveholland1 and reiterated that the U.S. would have a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again … Somebody that’s going to be great for the people, great for the country,” Trump said. https://t.co/UM8E0hStIA
U.S. Central Command has released a new video showing B-52 bombers flying in support of Operation Epic Fury. Closer inspection of the footage shows the aircraft carrying loads of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) air-launched cruise missiles.
“This came up in one of my threads yesterday as to B-52s and B-1s likely executing standoff strikes using cruise missiles fired from outside Iran, not direct attacks,” our own Tyler Rogoway has written on X. “This video confirms it, AGM-158 JASSMs on the wings. They were not ready to push anything but B-2s over Iran.”
This came up in one of my threads yesterday as to B-52s and B-1s likely executing standoff strikes using cruise missiles fired from outside Iran, not direct attacks. This video confirms it, AGM-158 JASSMs on the wings. They were not ready to push anything but B-2s over Iran. https://t.co/iYmHgUy2jK
The Washington Post has reported on the U.S. military’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) driven tools to help with developing target packages and other tasks in support of Operation Epic Fury. U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, very briefly mentioned the contributions of AI at a press conference at the Pentagon yesterday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited Ovda Air Base, which is currently hosting U.S. combat jets. Pictures show U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors, which were reported to have arrived last week, as well as at least one F/A-18F Super Hornet. The presence of Super Hornets at Ovda does not look to have been previously disclosed.
IDF Logistics Command says it has already provided “hundreds of millions of liters of fuel” to support ongoing operations, according to The Jerusalem Post. Israel’s small fleet of KC-707 tankers has conducted 550 individual aerial refuelings, according to the Israeli Air Force. Before the conflict erupted, TWZ highlighted the immense value that U.S. tanker support would bring to any future operations against Iran.
The IDF Logistics Command said on Thursday that it has provided a staggering number of hundreds of millions of liters of fuel to enable the game-changing air war against Iran.
כ-550 תדלוקים אוויריים בוצעו עד כה במבצע ״שאגת הארי״, על-ידי מטוסי התדלוק של טייסת 120 (״ענקי המדבר״). מדובר בהיקף המהווה יותר מ-50% מסך התדלוקים שבוצעו בכל מבצע ״עם כלביא״.
התדלוק האווירי של מטוסי הקרב מהווה רכיב הכרחי בפעילות חיל-האוויר באיראן, ומאפשר את שימור העליונות… pic.twitter.com/j1NmEiJ55d
The Institute for the Study of War has published additional satellite imagery analysis of damage to Ali al Salem Airbase in Kuwait from Iranian attacks.
2/ Iranian strikes targeting US bases in the region have caused some material damage and casualties. Commercially available satellite imagery captured on March 4 shows that Iranian airstrikes on the Ali al Salem Airbase in Kuwait damaged several buildings, including aircraft… pic.twitter.com/Gm4lS7sfJT
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) March 5, 2026
Iranian authorities claim to be engaged in “preemptive” operations targeting Iraqi-based “separatist groups.” This follows still conflicting reports that began emerging yesterday regarding the possibility of a ground incursion by armed Iranian Kurdish groups.
BREAKING: IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announce “preemptive joint operations” against “separatist groups” in Iraq who “intend to enter from the western borders of the country and carry out terrorist attacks with separatist goals in urban and border areas”
Reports that speak about a role of the Kurdistan Region and the allegations claiming that we are part of a plan to arm and send Kurdish opposition parties into Iranian territory are completely unfounded. We categorically deny them and affirm that they are being published…
Iranian state media has also carried threats, attributed to unnamed officials, of attacks targeting the Israeli nuclear site at Dimona in the event of any concerted effort to unseat the current regime in Tehran.
Italian authorities say they are joining the multinational effort to bolster the defense of Cyprus in the face of Iranian attacks.
BREAKING:
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto:
“We will deploy a multi-domain force in the Middle East, with air-defense systems against drones and missiles.
Together with the Spanish and the French, we will bring assistance to Cyprus” pic.twitter.com/ZzzgXIdS7T
In a new interview with Bloomberg, Antony Blinken, who was U.S. Secretary of State under President Joe Biden, has suggested the Trump administration could seek to declare victory based on achievements so far as a possible off-ramp to the current conflict. Blinken also highlighted concerns about the impacts on U.S. munitions stocks and global energy markets if the fighting drags on.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Blinken: One possible off-ramp from the war with Iran is simply declaring victory.
Saying the ayatollah is gone and Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have been degraded — and leaving the future of the regime to the Iranian people.
Blinken: Watch the markets — oil, stocks, and bonds. President Trump is very attentive to them. If stocks and bonds fall, or oil rises sharply and stays there, that could become a limiting factor.
Blinken: One risk of the war with Iran is depleting U.S. arsenals so much that it takes years to rebuild them, leaving America at a disadvantage against powers like China or Russia.
If you undertake something like this, you must factor that in.
There are reports that 1,000 commercial vessels, roughly half of which are oil and natural gas tankers, are currently anchored in and around the Persian Gulf as operators weigh the risks of attempting to sail in and out of the region, citing data from Lloyd’s Market Association. As already noted, ships are being attacked while sailing and at anchor in the Persian Gulf, as well as the Gulf of Oman.
Around 1,000 vessels, roughly half oil and gas tankers, are currently in the Gulf and surrounding waters with an aggregate hull value exceeding $25 billion, Lloyd’s Market Association CEO says.
AFP Infographic with a map of the Strait of Hormuz showing ships that reported attacks or incidents to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) between March 1 and March 4 at 1700 GMT pic.twitter.com/bECVuFSvvP
Strait of Hormuz closure puts Dubai’s import lifeline under strain
Access to key Gulf container ports including Jebel Ali, Khalifa Port, Dammam, and ports in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait is currently blocked, with vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz down by an estimated… pic.twitter.com/1ZXcMVg2hV
As the joint U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran continues into a sixth day, the war is spreading beyond the Middle East. On Thursday, Azerbaijani officials said Iranian drones struck territory and vowed to retaliate. The country shares a border with northwestern Iran.
“At around midday on 5 March, drone attacks were carried out against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “One drone struck the terminal building of the airport in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shakarabad. We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and injuries of two civilians.”
AZ
İran İslam Respublikası ərazisindən Azərbaycan Respublikasının Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikasına dron hücumları barədə bəyanat
Four people were injured in the attack, according to Azerbaijani officials, and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev told a meeting of his Security Council that his country would respond militarily.
“We will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan,” he proclaimed, according to Reuters. “Our Armed Forces have been instructed to prepare and implement appropriate retaliatory measures. We are ready to demonstrate our strength against any hostile force – and they should not forget this in Iran.”
Aliyev did not offer specifics about what kind of retaliation.
Video seen below is said to show the aftermath of these attacks.
BREAKING:
Iranian suicide drones keep striking Nakhchivan Airport in Azerbaijan.
Iran is now attacking almost every country they can. The neighboring countries won’t put up with this craziness for too long. pic.twitter.com/RhUkOAQtee
Meanwhile, several nations continue to send more military assets to Cyprus. Sky News reported on X that the U.K., Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands are all deploying warships to help bolster the island nation’s defenses. Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to head to the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, Greece has already deployed four F-16s to the island.
Italy, Spain and Netherlands will send naval ships to protect Cyprus, it’s been announced. They’ll join a Greek warship (already in place), French warship (also in place) and British warship (once it leaves UK next week)
This comes as RAF Akrotiri, a British air base on Cyprus, continues to come under attack. On Thursday, an image emerged showing what appears to be a hole punctured in a hangar regularly used by U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes operating from the base. A one-way attack drone hit the RAF Akrotiri base late on Sunday, March 1. It is unclear if any aircraft were there at the time.
The U.K. Defense Ministry told us that there were no casualties and that damage to the base was “minimal.” There was “no damage to equipment inside the hangar,” the official added.
We’ve reached out to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. European Command for comment and will update this story with any pertinent details provided.
🚨 SCOOP: Photo of damage to secret US spy site on RAF Akrotiri.
The drone hit a hangar for US U-2 spy planes on Operation Olive Harvest
Is this “minimal” as per John Healey?
UK Home Sec Yvette Cooper claimed the drone hit the runway. Not true.https://t.co/RsWYSDy9De
Iran claims it has now begun employing Khorramshahr-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) in strikes on Israel, but firm corroborating evidence has yet to emerge. The IRGC said it fired a volley of these missiles at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport earlier today.
NEW: Iranian state media reported that a Khorramshahr-4 heavy missile was launched early this morning toward Israeli territory.
According to the report, the missile carries a one-ton warhead and has an estimated range of about 2,000 kilometers. pic.twitter.com/3sqMLxRv0a
The Khorramshahr-4 is said to carry a 3,300-pound warhead, the heaviest payload of any of Iran’s ballistic missiles, which would allow for a broader swath of targets to be threatened with greater damage from any successful impacts. Khorramshahr-4s could also be fired from areas further in the eastern interior of the country, reducing vulnerability to U.S. and Israeli strikes that have already significantly degraded Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones. You can read more about what is known about this missile, which is derived from a North Korean design, here.
So far, Israel has not reported any casualties or major damage resulting from Iranian volleys today, and authorities in the country have highlighted a notable drop in overall attacks.
There are no reports of injuries following the latest Iranian ballistic missile salvo on central Israel, medics say.
A small number of missiles were launched in the attack, according to preliminary military assessments. There are no reports of impacts in residential areas.… https://t.co/PsOdR4AWv4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
The rate of Iran’s ballistic missile fire on Israel continues to slow, according to the Israeli military, with all projectiles fired overnight being successfully intercepted by air defenses.
Iran fired at central Israel three times overnight, lobbing a handful of ballistic…
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026
The IDF has now released a video of yesterday’s shootdown of one of Iran’s Russian-made Yak-130 light jets by an F-35I Adir fighter, which appears to be a view from the latter’s targeting system. You can read more about this engagement, which is the first known instance of an F-35 of any kind destroying a crewed aircraft, here.
The Pentagon and at least one Gulf Arab nation have reportedly reached out to Ukraine for cheap interceptors to help fend off waves of low-cost Iranian drones that have killed American troops and caused widespread damage across the Middle East. The talks, reported by the Financial Times, come amid continuing questions about the sufficiency of stocks of anti-air interceptors as Iran’s retaliatory attacks continue. As we have frequently noted, Ukraine has made significant investments in the development of new, lower-cost interceptors in response to years now of Russian drone attacks.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also acknowledged the interest in his country’s counter-drone systems.
“We received signals from partners in the Middle East,” he explained on X. “There have been strikes by Iranian ‘Shaheds’ on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request from Europeans and from the United States. Requests have come to us to share our experience with partners in the Middle East.”
However, Zelensky also stated his oft-repeated concern about his own country’s stock of interceptors and suggested a swap of those for Patriot missiles.
“Regarding weapons: we ourselves are at war. And I said, completely frankly, that we have a shortage of what they have,” the Ukrainian leader noted. “They have missiles for the Patriots, but hundreds or thousands of ‘Shaheds’ cannot be intercepted with Patriot missiles – it is too costly. Nothing is too much for the people, of course, but they simply do not have that many missiles. That is why they need interceptor drones, which we have. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. So, when it comes to technology or weapons exchange, I believe our country will be open to it.”
We received signals from partners in the Middle East. There have been strikes by Iranian “shaheds” on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 5, 2026
While the Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptors, U.S. Central Command is reportedly seeking additional personnel to help handle the flow of intelligence pouring in from the Middle East. CENTCOM “is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September,” Politico reported, citing a notification it obtained.
“It’s the first known call for additional intelligence personnel for the Iran war by the administration, and a sign the Pentagon is already allocating funding for operations that may stretch long beyond President Donald Trump’s initial four-week timeline for the conflict,” the outlet posited. “The rush to add people and resources to support efforts that are often organized well in advance of U.S. military action highlights how the Trump team had not fully anticipated the wide fallout of the war it launched alongside Israel on Saturday.”
“U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September, according to a notification obtained by POLITICO.”…
It has been pointed out that the “through September” timeline for these temporary deployments may simply be dictated by standard personnel management procedures.
I’m seeing a lot of commentary about CENTCOM’s request for intelligence officers to support ops in Iran “through September”. Worldwide Individual Augmentee System taskers often reassign personnel on a temporary basis for 179 days (through September). pic.twitter.com/KmyjPrZJjQ
CENTCOM has released a new video showing attacks on Iranian hardened shelters and aircraft out in the open.
The Iranian regime’s ability to impact U.S. forces and regional partners is rapidly declining, while American combat power continues to build. pic.twitter.com/21TXHbWwFi
CENTCOM has also highlighted new attacks on Iranian mobile missile launchers. As we noted yesterday, these strikes have been a big focus of Epic Fury and have helped drastically reduce the number of missiles Iran has launched.
The effort to eliminate the Iranian regime’s mobile missile launch capabilities continues. We are finding and destroying these threats with lethal precision. pic.twitter.com/AkGRYOjnOz
A new uncrewed surface vessel attack on a commercial ship has been reported. The Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker Sonangol Namibe, which was anchored in Iraqi waters, is said to have been struck. As we previously reported, the first Iranian kamikaze boat attack during Epic Fury took place on March 2 on a ship in the Gulf of Oman.
BASRA, Iraq, March 5 (Reuters) – An Iranian remote controlled boat laden with explosives was used on Thursday to target and damage the Bahamas flagged crude oil tanker Sonangol Namibe anchored in Iraqi waters, according to initial assessments from two Iraqi port security sources.… https://t.co/cvaQ25S1pZpic.twitter.com/l4pDRmaNHc
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) March 5, 2026
A video emerged on social media purporting to show the moment that USV hit the Sonangol Namibe.
In the wake of the sinking of an Iranian frigate by a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called the incident an “atrocity” and vowed revenge. The unnamed American submarine sank the Moudge class frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near the island of Sri Lanka. Our sister site Task & Purpose has reported that a Los Angeles class submarine was responsible. Regardless, it is was the first sinking by a U.S. Navy submarine since World War II.
“Mark my words,” he stated on X. “The U.S. will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set.”
The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores.
Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.
The Indian government has also now released a statement with details about the rescue effort after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed.
Satellite imagery collected today shows what appears to be oil on the surface of the water near Galle, Sri Lanka, which could be tied to the sinking of the IRIS Dena.
Imagery collected earlier today shows oil floating on the water surface 25-nautical miles west of Galle, Sri Lanka in the vicinity of where a Sri Lankan naval vessel was observed patrolling yesterday – possibly linked to the sinking of Iranian Navy Ship Dena https://t.co/9o2AX3qi5dpic.twitter.com/IjSiqnBxgK
Meanwhile, another Iranian ship is seeking shelter in Sri Lanka.
“The Sri Lankan minister Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament that another Iranian vessel was sailing close to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday morning,” The Guardian reported. “We are making necessary interventions to resolve this issue, restrict the threat to lives and to ensure regional security.”
Unnamed sources told The Guardian that “the ship was a logistical pipe-laying vessel, which is not categorised as a warship. It may be as close as 10 nautical miles from the western coast of Sri Lanka, putting it within the country’s sovereign waters.”
Sri Lanka has granted approval for an Iranian vessel IRINS Bushehr to dock at Trincomalee Harbour, with passengers to be evacuated and transferred to Colombo before the vessel proceeds to Trincomalee. pic.twitter.com/e8ePf31NO5
The sources told the news outlet that the ship, which is reported to have a crew of more than 100 onboard, “had made an urgent request to dock at Colombo port for engine repairs.”
March 5 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has removed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and appointed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., Thursday after she was aggressively grilled by a Senate committee the day before.
Trump announced the change on Truth Social, along with a new job for Noem, naming her “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.'”
He praised Noem for her “numerous and spectacular results” in the announcement.
“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” he said.
Mullin has been a Senator since 2023 and served in the House from 2013-2023. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation.
Noem faced a combative Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, as they pressed her for answers on several issues the department has been plagued with in the past year.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called her leadership a “disaster” and told her she should resign.
“What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American citizens,” Tillis said in a heated exchange.
“The fact that you can’t admit to a mistake, which looks like, under investigation, is gonna prove that Ms. [Renee] Good and Mr. [Alex] Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back. Law enforcement needs to learn from that. You don’t protect them by not looking after the facts.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed Noem about DHS ads that she starred in, spending $200 million.
The ads were made by a Republican consulting firm that was allegedly created just before submitting bids for the work.
The company is reportedly connected to the husband of Noem’s former spokesperson, though she denied any part in choosing the firm and called the ads “extremely effective.”
“Well they were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy said. “It troubles me. A fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money when we’re scratching over every penny and we’re fighting over rescission packages. I just can’t agree.”
Noem told the Senate panel that Trump had authorized the ads.
Kennedy told reporters Thursday that he got a call from the president about her testimony, The New York Times reported.
“Put it this way: His recollection and her recollection are different.”
Mullin told The Times that he has not had time to call Noem, whom he said is a friend.
“She was tasked with a very difficult job,” he said. “I think she has done the best that she could do under the circumstances.”
But he said he believed that there are opportunities to “build off things that didn’t quite go as planned.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he would wait and see if Mullin will be an improvement at DHS but told The Times, “It will be hard to be a downgrade.”
The Department of Homeland Security is in its third week of a shutdown, with Congress expected to vote later Thursday on a funding package.
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge inside the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on Wednesday. Technology firms that sign the pledge will commit to ensuring artificial intelligence infrastructure does not raise utility bills for households and small businesses. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
On its own, the phrase “Christ is king” sums up a core tenet of the Christian faith, that Jesus is the divine ruler of the universe. Catholics and many Protestants celebrate a Christ the King Sunday each year.
But the ancient proclamation can morph into something political, controversial or even sinister, depending on who says it and how it’s said.
In recent years, “Christ is king” and similar phrases have been chanted at political rallies, posted on social media and proclaimed in speeches by voices on the right.
At times the phrase is used to support the notion of America as a Christian nation or as one that owes its allegiance specifically to the Christian God. Some current Cabinet officials and recent members of Congress have used the phrase in speeches and on social media.
But other times, political activists have paired “Christ is king” with anti-Zionist statements or negative Jewish stereotypes.
The phrase has gained popularity among far-right figures and their followers. Conservative influencer Candace Owens, who shares antisemitic conspiracies, sells branded “Christ is King” coffee mugs and T-shirts.
The controversy connects to a larger schism on the right, with some conservatives pushing back against an increasingly vocal faction whose denunciations of Israel, critics say, often combine with blatant antisemitism. Some of the latter group insist they’re not antisemitic, just anti-Zionist. That itself is a sharp break from what was once a near-consensus of pro-Israel sentiment among Republicans.
But there are times when the use of the phrase “Christ is king” is unquestionably hostile toward Jews, said a 2025 report by the Rutgers University-affiliated Network Contagion Research Institute.
Analyzing social media postings between 2021 and 2024, the institute reported a dramatic increase of the phrase “Christ is king,” often used as a hate meme targeting Jews. The report lamented this deviation from its historical use as a hopeful, sacred affirmation with biblical roots.
“The weaponization or hijacking of ‘Christ is King’ represents a disturbing inversion of its original intent. Rather than sacralizing shared values, extremists have exploited this religious expression to justify hatred,” the report said.
Controversy spotlighted at religious liberty hearing
A recent meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission, a group President Trump created and appointed, put the phrase and related controversies in the spotlight.
At a Feb. 9 hearing focused on antisemitism, a witness, Seth Dillon, spoke of often hearing people use the phrase “Christ is king” followed immediately by a highly contemptuous slur toward Jews.
“This should offend every Christian,” said Dillon, the CEO of the conservative satirical site The Babylon Bee.
Commission member Carrie Prejean Boller repeatedly grilled witnesses about whether opposing Zionism could be construed as anti-Jewish. She said that as a Catholic she opposes Zionism but that this is not antisemitic. She asked Dillon if he thought “saying ‘Christ is king’ is antisemitic.”
Dillon said no and that, as a Christian, he regularly declares that “Christ is my king” — but context matters.
He testified that the phrase has been co-opted by Groypers, alluding to the followers of far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, who has spread antisemitic views.
It’s “using the Lord’s name in an abusive manner,” Dillon said.
Fuentes’ supporters chanted “Christ is king” at the Million MAGA March, a November 2020 rally denying the Republican Trump’s defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in that year’s presidential election.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who chairs the Religious Liberty Commission, announced Prejean Boller’s removal from the panel after the meeting. He asserted that she tried to “hijack” the hearing for her own agenda.
Following the commission meeting, Prejean Boller has posted prolifically on X, denouncing “Zionist supremacists” and repeatedly using the phrase “Christ is King.” She also has denounced the war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
A recent Catholic convert, she said she opposes a popular evangelical view that modern-day Israel exists in fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
A religious phrase ‘co-opted by extremist figures’
The commission hearing was hardly the first forum to air controversy over “Christ is king.”
The Network Contagion Research Institute’s 2025 report noted that while many “Christ is king” references on social media are strictly religious, the phrase has been “systematically co-opted by extremist figures.”
The report said Fuentes and other extremists use the phrase as a “white supremacist mantra publicizing their antisemitic beliefs.”
Fuentes has said the Holocaust was exaggerated, and he has denounced “organized Jewry in America.” He has claimed to be in battle with “satanic, globalist elites,” an antisemitic trope.
The religious phrase “Christ is king” is not inherently political, said Brian Kaylor, president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way, a progressive site covering faith and politics.
But that fact provides a “deniability” to those politicizing it, he said.
“We’re at a dangerous point with the phrase ‘Christ is king’ because of the heavy activity and use of it on the far right in very fascist, antisemitic ways,” said Kaylor, a Baptist minister and author of several books on religion and politics. “We’re at the danger of that phrase losing its meaning to where this new antisemitic use is the dominant definition.”
The phrase has also gained popularity in political settings with some on the Catholic and evangelical right who are strongly pro-Israel and have repeatedly denounced antisemitism, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Kaylor said the phrase is often used as “a declaration of Christian nationalism ” asserting that “the nation should be brought under the dictates of Christ.”
A dispute over politics and religion
The controversy has highlighted both religious and political fissures.
The Vatican has diplomatic relations with Israel and has also recognized a state of Palestine. Pope Leo XIV has called for a two-state solution while denouncing antisemitism. During the Israel-Hamas war, popes Francis and Leo denounced the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and Israel’s massive military response, with Leo demanding a halt to Israel’s “collective punishment” of Gaza’s population.
Other Catholics on the Religious Liberty Commission noted that Jesus and his followers were Jews and that a seminal 1965 Vatican document rejects antisemitism and the blaming of all Jews, including those alive today, for Jesus’ crucifixion.
Patrick, the commission chairman, said the dispute with Prejean Boller reflects “a real problem with a very small group in our Republican Party.” Antisemitism needs to be repudiated or “this is going to destroy our party,” he said on “The Mark Levin Show,” a podcast.
But Prejean Boller has galvanized supporters from a staunchly conservative group called Catholics for Catholics, a lay-led, self-described “militant organization dedicated to the evangelization of this great country.”
It plans to honor Prejean Boller at a March 19 event with a Catholic Champion Award in Washington featuring speakers such as Owens.
Prejean Boller has reposted announcements of the event on X, including one post that shared a Spanish-language statement that translates to “We will not rest until we convert the USA into a Catholic nation.” The post concluded in English with “Christ is King!”
A polar bear swims in the water off a barrier island in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just outside the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, Alaska. File Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
March 5 (UPI) — This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Arctic Council, once a hallmark of post-Cold War cooperation in the far north.
For decades, the Arctic Ocean remained at the margins of global power politics — a remote, ice-locked expanse governed largely through scientific collaboration and consensus-based frameworks.
That balance is now shifting. Rapid ice loss is opening seasonal sea lanes, exposing fragile ecosystems and drawing new commercial and strategic interest, even as the suspension of routine cooperation with Russia has strained the council’s role.
The Arctic is emerging as a maritime crossroads where environmental risk, economic ambition and intensifying geopolitical competition increasingly converge.
Established by the 1996 Ottawa Declaration, the Arctic Council — bringing together eight Arctic states from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden the United States, Indigenous permanent participants and observers including China — remains the region’s central forum for coordinating science, environmental policy and cooperative governance. Despite mounting geopolitical strain, it continues to provide an institutional platform that could support future U.S.-China maritime cooperation in the Arctic.
Recent diplomacy suggests that even as tensions rise across trade, technology and security, cooperation is still possible when interests align.
The 2018 Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, in force since 2021, offers a case in point. By imposing a 16-year moratorium on commercial fishing while joint scientific research assesses the ecosystem, the pact places precaution ahead of competition and provides a model for managing emerging Arctic risks.
The significance of the fisheries decision should not be understated. The agreement brought together Arctic coastal states and distant-water fishing powers, including Washington and Beijing, to manage a region where no fisheries regime previously existed.
In doing so, it transformed an ungoverned expanse of high seas into a shared space of stewardship — governed not by territorial claims, but by science, restraint and a shared recognition of ecological risk.
“The Arctic Council is a dedicated body creating a platform for collaboration built on consensus. It is far from perfect, but it has produced a number of highly influential assessments and created an international community devoted to cooperation and shared stewardship,” said Henry P. Huntington, arctic science director of the Ocean Conservancy.
Science diplomacy as a foundation
For the United States, the Arctic is a strategic frontier and an environmental priority, tied to maritime access, national defense, Indigenous livelihoods and ecological protection.
For China, it is an emerging arena of economic opportunity and global governance engagement. Beijing’s self-description as a “near-Arctic state,” combined with its investments in polar research, ice-capable vessels and Arctic shipping studies, reflects a broader ambition to participate in shaping the rules that will govern the region’s future.
International law scholar Michael Byers said China’s Arctic posture differs sharply from its behavior in the South China Sea. While Beijing has strategic interests in the region through its “Polar Silk Road,” it has no territorial claims in the Arctic and has largely operated within the existing legal framework.
In contrast to its role as a resident power in the South China Sea, Byers notes that China presents itself in the Arctic as a “near-Arctic state,” focused on resource access and emerging shipping routes — a presence that Arctic nations are watching more closely as its footprint grows.
Despite competing strategic interests, both countries share a clear objective: preventing a governance vacuum in the Arctic. The fisheries accord underscores that even amid rivalry, Washington and Moscow recognize the dangers of unregulated exploitation in fragile waters and the need for baseline rules. As such, the agreement serves not only as a conservation tool, but as a diplomatic signal that pragmatic cooperation in the Arctic remains possible.
At its center is a commitment to joint scientific research. Participating states will collaborate to monitor fish stocks, map Arctic ecosystems and assess climate impacts, generating the shared data needed to determine whether any future fishing can be conducted sustainably.
“The Arctic Council’s 30th anniversary finds its consensus-based structure severely tested. Western states suspended cooperation with Russia in 2022, effectively paralyzing what was once exemplary post-Cold War diplomacy,” said Pavel Devyatkin, a senior associate at the Arctic Institute. He said the council’s experience offers practical lessons for managing contested waters elsewhere, including the South China Sea.
Arctic marine science has long bridged geopolitical divides, including cooperation with China, showing how shared environmental risks can transcend political tension. As Devyatkin noted, the region offers a clear lesson: ecological disruption can outweigh traditional security concerns. When U.S.-Russia fisheries monitoring was suspended, key data gaps emerged just as warming waters pushed fish stocks northward — a cautionary signal for any contested maritime region facing climate-driven change.
China’s Arctic engagement is anchored in scientific diplomacy. Unlike more securitized theaters such as the South China Sea, Beijing has framed its Arctic role around cooperation, climate research and environmental stewardship. Its Yellow River Station in Svalbard has supported long-term research since 2004, while icebreakers such as Xue Long and Xue Long 2, along with polar-capable satellites, have expanded China’s research reach and technological presence in the region.
At the same time, Western policymakers remain cautious about the potential dual-use nature of these activities. Concerns focus on whether data gathered from satellites, seabed mapping or subsea systems could support military applications. U.S. and NATO officials have questioned how China might use its growing Arctic data capabilities.
The model reflects a broader principle of science diplomacy — one that has long shaped cooperation in contested maritime regions. Scientific collaboration provides a low-politics entry point for engagement, allowing rival states to build trust, exchange data and establish working relationships even when political tensions remain high.
“Marine science is an area that can promote international cooperation. That is true in many contexts, including in relation to the next International Polar Year collaborations currently being planned, that will include China,” claimed Evan T. Bloom, polar governance chair at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.
Collaborative mapping of sensitive habitats could inform conservation planning and risk management. Even the design of Arctic marine protected areas, an issue gaining attention as part of global “30 by 30” conservation goals, could become a platform for coordinated policy development.
From fisheries to shipping and conservation
Shipping governance is emerging as the next test of whether U.S.-China scientific cooperation can translate into operational rules in the Arctic. As sea ice recedes, a transpolar route linking Asia, Europe and North America could reshape global trade, but the region remains poorly charted, remote and environmentally fragile, with high risks of accidents and long-term damage.
Analysts say a cooperative framework on Arctic shipping, covering safety standards, environmental protections, data sharing and emergency response, could reduce those risks. Joint monitoring of ice and vessel traffic, coordinated search-and-rescue protocols and agreed-upon environmental rules for polar operations would form the backbone of such an approach.
Marine conservation offers another pathway for cooperation. The precautionary logic underpinning the fisheries agreement aligns with broader global efforts to expand ocean protection and safeguard biodiversity.
The United States and China have expanded marine protected areas domestically and have endorsed international conservation targets. Extending that logic to the Arctic through coordinated conservation zones or networks of protected areas would reinforce ecological resilience while creating a stabilizing framework for governance.
Such initiatives also would resonate with a wider global trend: the recognition that environmental security and geopolitical stability are increasingly intertwined. As climate change accelerates, the management of shared ecosystems is becoming a central component of international relations. The Arctic, like the South China Sea or the Mediterranean, is emerging as a test case for how science-based stewardship can mitigate strategic rivalry.
The obstacles to deeper cooperation, however, remain substantial. The broader U.S.-China relationship is marked by strategic distrust, trade disputes and military competition. Arctic policy cannot be entirely insulated from tensions in other theaters, including the Indo-Pacific. Russia’s war in Ukraine has also disrupted Arctic diplomacy, limiting the functioning of multilateral bodies such as the Arctic Council and injecting new security concerns into the region.
Trust remains a central obstacle.
Washington remains wary of Beijing’s long-term strategic intentions in the Arctic, particularly the dual-use potential of infrastructure and emerging shipping routes.
Beijing casts itself as a legitimate stakeholder in global commons governance and is pressing for a greater role in shaping the rules of the evolving Arctic order.
At the same time, Russia’s continued isolation from Arctic Council processes since 2022 has pushed Moscow to seek new partners, further complicating the diplomatic landscape and slowing meaningful progress on joint conservation efforts for Arctic flora and fauna.
Against that backdrop, any expansion of cooperation will need to be incremental, transparent and anchored in verifiable scientific collaboration. The fisheries agreement provides a template: begin with a shared risk, rely on joint science, build institutional mechanisms and create habits of cooperation over time. That process is gradual, but it can be durable.
The iPic dine-in movie theater chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and intends to pursue a sale of its assets, citing the difficult post-pandemic theatrical market.
The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company has 13 locations across the U.S., including in Pasadena and Westwood, according to a Feb. 25 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach division.
As part of the bankruptcy process, the Pasadena and Westwood theaters will be permanently closed, according to WARN Act notices filed with the state of California’s Employment Development Department.
The company came to its conclusion after “exploring a range of possible alternatives,” iPic Chief Executive Patrick Quinn said in a statement.
“We are committed to continuing our business operations with minimal impact throughout the process and will endeavor to serve our customers with the high standard of care they have come to expect from us,” he said.
The company will keep its current management to maintain day-to-day operations while it goes through the bankruptcy process, iPic said in the statement. The last day of employment for workers in its Pasadena and Westwood locations is April 28, according to a state WARN Act notice. The chain has 1,300 full- and part-time employees, with 193 workers in California.
The theatrical business, including the exhibition industry, still has not recovered from the pandemic’s effect on consumer behavior. Last year, overall box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada totaled about $8.8 billion, up just 1.6% compared with 2024. Even more troubling is that industry revenue in 2025 was down 22.1% compared with pre-pandemic 2019’s totals.
IPic noted those trends in its bankruptcy filing, describing the changes in consumer behavior as “lasting” and blaming the rise of streaming for “fundamentally” altering the movie theater business.
“These industry shifts have directly reduced box office revenues and related ancillary revenues, including food and beverage sales,” the company stated in its bankruptcy filing.
IPic also attributed its decision to rising rents and labor costs.
The company estimated it owed about $141,000 in taxes and about $2.7 million in total unsecured claims. The company’s assets were valued at about $155.3 million, the majority of which coming from theater equipment and furniture. Its liabilities totaled $113.9 million.
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Today’s sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine is a hugely significant event in the annals of military history. After all, you have to go back to the final days of World War II to find the last time a U.S. submarine sank an enemy vessel. Since then, however, submarines under the flags of different navies have sunk vessels in combat.
You can catch up with our coverage of the sinking of the Iranian warship here.
In fact, there are some varying accounts as to which U.S. Navy submarine was the last to sink an enemy vessel. The situation at sea as World War II was drawing to a close in the Pacific was a chaotic one, with an increasingly deadly U.S. Navy submarine force tearing through the remnants of Japanese shipping, with subs racking up multiple victories in a short space of time.
A U.S. Navy officer at periscope in the control room of a submarine in the Pacific in 1945. Photo by JAZZ EDITIONS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
With the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in disarray and with Japan still reeling from the two atomic bombs dropped on it, what was left of its seagoing force provided relatively easy pickings for U.S. submarine commanders.
As such, it was on VJ-Day, or Victory over Japan Day, that U.S. subs claimed their last victims before today’s action.
According to available records, on August 14, 1945, the same day that saw President Harry S. Truman announce Japan’s unconditional surrender, two U.S. submarines sank three Japanese warships.
The first victim — a Japanese submarine — appears to have fallen to the USS Spikefish (SS-404).
A bow view of USS Spikefish (SS-404) underway on the surface after World War II. National Archives
Commissioned in June 1944, the Spikefish was a Balao class submarine, the Navy’s largest submarine class, with 120 boats completed. With a surfaced displacement of 1,526 tons, the Balao was around 311 feet long and had a speed of 20 knots surfaced, reduced to 8.75 knots submerged. Moving on the surface at a speed of 10 knots, the boats could cover 11,000 nautical miles.
As of the night of August 13, 1945, the IJN transport submarine I-373 was surfaced in the East China Sea, southeast of Shanghai. Transport submarines of this type were used by the Japanese to transport troops and supplies between mainland Japan and remote islands. Spikefish sighted the Japanese sub on its radar at 8:10 p.m. and also detected emissions from its air-search radar. Spikefish got closer before losing visual contact, after which the I-373 disappeared below the waves. Just after midnight, Spikefish regained radar contact. At 4:24 a.m., Spikefish fired a spread of six Mk 14 torpedoes at a range of 1,300 yards. Two of the torpedoes hit I-373, sinking it. Spikefish surfaced and found five survivors in the water, all of whom refused rescue, a grim reflection of the bitter fighting at this late stage of the Pacific conflict. One IJN crew member was forcibly brought aboard the U.S. sub; his 84 compatriots died.
In previous days, the USS Torsk, a Tench class submarine, commissioned in December 1944, had been marauding in and around the Tsushima Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan. Here, the boat had been picking off Japanese merchant vessels and warships.
USS Torsk (SS-423) underway after the war. National Archives
The Tench class was essentially an improvement of the earlier Balao and Gato classes, moderately bigger but more strongly built and with more fuel. These boats had a surfaced displacement of 1,570 tons, were also around 311 feet long, and had similar surfaced and submerged speeds to the Balao. Thanks to their additional fuel capacity, the Tench boats had a range of around 16,000 nautical miles.
On August 14, Torsk encountered a medium-sized Japanese cargo ship accompanied by the Japanese Type C escort vessel CD-47, off Maizuru in the Sea of Japan. At 10:35 a.m., Torsk launched a Mk 28 torpedo, an experimental type with acoustic homing. The torpedo smashed a hole in the stern of the escort, which quickly went below the waves. An attempt was made to sink the cargo ship, too, as it entered harbor, but the torpedoes missed.
A Japanese Type C escort vessel, of the same kind sunk by USS Torsk. IJN
At around midday, a second Type C escort vessel, CD-13, arrived, apparently in pursuit of Torsk. After firing off a Mk 28 torpedo, Torsk dived for safety. From a depth of 400 feet, Torsk launched a Mk 27 torpedo, a weapon known as “CUTIE,” this time with passive homing. The hydrophone operator on the Torsk then detected a large explosion, indicating the Mk 28 had found its target. The Mk 27 impacted moments later.
A different Japanese transport after having been torpedoed by the American submarine USS Raton (SS-270). National Archives
While the timings are not entirely clear, CD-13 is widely identified as being the last Japanese warship to be sunk in World War II, and therefore the last enemy vessel to have been sunk by a U.S. submarine until today.
The war still wasn’t over for Torsk, however. With more patrol vessels arriving, plus patrol aircraft, the submarine had to remain submerged for more than seven hours after CD-13 went under. After this date, other Japanese vessels would continue to be sunk by mines that had been laid earlier, including by submarines.
Torsk received two battle stars for its World War II service and is today preserved in the Historic Ships collection in Baltimore.
USS Torsk is preserved in the Historic Ships collection in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images
At a press conference today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the sinking of an Iranian warship by an as-yet unidentified U.S. submarine marked the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.”
This is not true.
The Torsk may have been the last U.S. submarine to have sunk an enemy ship prior to today, but other navies have achieved the same feat.
Back in 1971, during the Indo-Pakistan War, the Indian Navy frigate INS Khukri was sunk by the Pakistan Navy submarine PNS Hangor. The Khukri, with a displacement of around 1,200 tons, became the first warship anywhere to fall prey to a submarine since the end of World War II.
A poor-quality but rare view of PNS Hangor in December 1971, while sailing toward its deployment area during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
The Falklands War, fought in the South Atlantic in 1982, between the United Kingdom and Argentina, saw the first instance of a nuclear-powered submarine sinking an enemy vessel.
On May 2, 1982, in a somewhat controversial incident, the Argentine Navy cruiser ARA General Belgranowas sunk by a torpedo launched by the British nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Conqueror, with the loss of over 300 crew.
The Royal Navy Churchill class nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Conqueror, underway in the early 1970s. Photo by Royal Navy Official Photographer/Crown Copyright
The controversy around the incident centers upon the fact that General Belgrano was targeted when it was outside a so-called ‘total exclusion zone,’ covering a 200-nautical-mile radius from the Falklands. While there were subsequent protests about the legality of the action, the fact remains that the British had previously warned Argentina that any ships that posed a potential threat to its own task force would be sunk.
The Argentine Navy cruiser ARA General Belgrano lists heavily to port in the Atlantic Ocean, after being attacked by the British Conqueror during the Falklands Conflict. Press Association
Until the sinking of the Russian Navy’s Slava class cruiser Moskva by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles in 2022, the sinking of the General Belgrano was the last time a cruiser was fully destroyed by enemy action.
Another disputed incident occurred in 2010, with the sinking of the South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan.
On March 26, 2010, the Cheonan, a Pohang class corvette, sank in the Yellow Sea, off the country’s west coast, killing 46 of the 104 personnel on board. Exactly why the warship sank remains a matter of conjecture, although a South Korean-led investigation concluded that the vessel was sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired by a midget submarine. The U.S. Navy also stated that the sinking was caused by a non-contact homing torpedo that exploded near the ship. North Korea denied responsibility.
Republic of Korea Navy and U.S. Navy officers inspect the corvette ROKS Cheonan. U.S. Navy photo by LT Jared Apollo Burgamy/Released
The manner of the sinking certainly appears consistent with a torpedo hit, with an explosion reported near the stern of the ship that caused it to break in half soon afterward.
Since then, the closest we have come to seeing submarines destroying other vessels has been sinking exercises (SINKEX) and similar tests. At times, these have also provided a rare glimpse into the effects of potential adversaries’ submarine weapons capabilities. Case in point, the sinking of a decommissioned Chinese amphibious landing ship by a People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine, seen in the video below:
The cloak-and-dagger nature of submarine operations means that many details about their use in combat remain closely guarded secrets. In the case of the Cheonan, we may never exactly know what happened to it. For the time being, we also await more information about today’s sinking of the Iranian frigate. What is certain, however, is that this was an unprecedented event, at least as far as the modern U.S. Navy is concerned, and a truly rare action by any standards.
WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether the brokers who connect shippers with trucking companies can be held liable for irresponsible drivers.
The case, Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II LLC, stems from a 2017 incident in which Shawn Montgomery, the petitioner, suffered significant injuries after a tractor-trailer hit his parked truck on the side of an Illinois highway.
A key part of the case is the interpretation of part of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994. It prevents state laws “related to a price, route or service” of trucking companies or brokers that connect them to shippers.
However, the statute also provides an exception, stating that it will “not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a state with respect to motor vehicles.”
The outcome could redefine liability standards for freight brokers and impact the broader transportation industry and interstate commerce landscape.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Yosniel Varela-Mojena, had been involved in a crash months earlier, but was still employed by Caribe Transport II, an interstate trucking company. Freight broker C.H. Robinson recruited Caribe II to deliver a cross-country shipment. After the crash, Montgomery sued the broker for negligent hiring under Illinois state laws.
During the arguments, the two sides disagreed about whether the phrase “with respect to motor vehicles” includes brokers.
“We do believe that ‘with respect to motor vehicles’ is the crucial question here,” said Theodore Boutrous Jr., Caribe II’s counsel. He argued Congress did not intend for brokers to be included.
The attorney for the United States agreed that the two different sections of the law being discussed should, in context, be taken altogether to mean that brokers are not included in the realm of “motor vehicles.”
“Paragraph one uses the phrase ‘with respect to the transportation of property,’ [and] paragraph two [says] ‘with respect to motor vehicles,'” said Sopan Joshi, assistant to the U.S. solicitor general. “That seems like a conscious choice that Congress made to parallel the language, but change the noun to a much narrower noun.”
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned Paul Clement, Montgomery’s counsel, on how brokers would address safety concerns if the court were to rule in favor of Montgomery and say that brokers are liable for consequences of negligent hiring.
For instance, Kavanaugh suggested drivers should be proficient in English to ensure safety. In April 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to enforce English-language requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers.
“If you’re hiring drivers who can’t read the signs, that seems like a safety issue,” Kavanaugh said.
Clement said brokers could work with larger trucking companies with deeper pockets and check that they have adequate programs in place to test drivers for drug use, check on prior accidents and address other potential concerns.
“One of the reasons, I think, that you do want [brokers] to have some duty of care in these circumstances is this is a margin business,” Clement said. “If they don’t have any sort of incentive to internalize any of the cost of not asking the question, they really have no good reason to ask the question. They want the cheapest carrier.”
Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked Joshi to explain why he thought Congress did not think brokers should share responsibility for safety given the language in the 1994 law.
“The problem, I think, with the argument in the way that you’ve set it up is that you are assuming away any responsibility that a broker might have for safety,” Jackson said.
Joshi argued that Congress did not intend for brokers to have responsibility regarding safety and could have worded the law differently if it did.
“Congress has an entire chapter, several chapters, of the U.S. Code in Title 49 that deal with safety addressing carriers, safety of motor vehicles, driver qualifications, and they’re all addressed at carriers,” Joshi said. “Not a single one is addressed at brokers.”
Joshi acknowledged that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is “understaffed,” “overworked” and unable to review all of the federally registered carriers. However, he said Congress has provided ways of bringing consequences against carriers who violate federal requirements and regulations.
In his closing rebuttal, Clement told the court that 94% of registered carriers on the road do not have meaningful federal safety inspections — a number derived from 2021 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data.
He said state tort law could provide a “backstop to the federal system.”
“This case doesn’t have to be that hard. The thing that triggers state tort liability is an 80,000-pound motor vehicle. That’s what devastatingly injured my client,” Clement said.
The court is expected to issue a ruling by summer.
