TV News LIES

The pro-Israel advocacy group J Street is now calling for an end to "direct" US military support to Israel, per a new policy document published on Monday. 

The group had previously backed Washington's continued provision of defensive weapons systems, such as the replenishment of Israel's Iron Dome, at no cost to Israelis. 

Now, it says the US "should continue to sell" short-range air and ballistic missile defence capabilities to Israel, but Israel should use its own money to pay for them. 

"Israel faces real security challenges that require a significant defense investment. With a per capita GDP comparable to leading US allies such as the United Kingdom, France and Japan, as well as an annual defense budget of over $45 billion, it has the financial means to address these challenges," J Street said. 

"It does not require almost $4 billion per year in US financial subsidies to purchase weapons," it added.

"Continuing this assistance is both unnecessary and politically counterproductive, creating avoidable tensions in US domestic politics and in the bilateral relationship."

The way the current military aid package operates is that the US provides Israel with American taxpayer funds, and those funds are put into US weapons companies to acquire equipment.

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Peter Magyar, Hungary’s newly elected opposition leader, said Monday that Ukraine alone must determine the conditions of any peace settlement with Russia, while also opposing Kyiv’s accelerated path toward European Union membership.

“No one should tell Ukraine under what conditions it must enter peace or sign a peace treaty,” Magyar said in remarks to reporters. “We cannot ask any country to give up its territory. If they do, they would be considered traitors.”

Magyar acknowledged Ukraine as the victim of the conflict but struck a cautious tone on his own potential role in diplomacy. Asked whether he would engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said he would answer a phone call but would not initiate contact.

“If Vladimir Putin calls me, I will pick up the phone,” Magyar said. “I will not call him myself, but if we do talk, I can tell him to please stop the killing now, after four years.” He added that he did not expect his words to carry decisive influence with the Russian leader but expressed hope that Putin would ultimately be compelled to end the war regardless.

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More than a dozen newborn lambs cavorted around a fenced-in yard beneath the scrutiny of their mothers and a few watchful students taking turns attending to them.

The lambs' successful births have been a needed bright spot at tiny Sterling College, which uses a 130-acre farm to teach agriculture and other disciplines in a part of northeastern Vermont so isolated there's no cell service and it's rare to see a passing car.

LillyAnne Keeley, a senior, likes that remoteness. "We have a beautiful view," said Keeley, in the barn where she's come for her turn checking on the lambs. "There are beautiful sunsets here. I kind of take it for granted every day."She and her classmates have started taking such experiences less for granted now, since Sterling has announced that it will close in May at the end of this semester.

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A federal judge dismissed President Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Monday over a story on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.

Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump's signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday.

The letter was subsequently released publicly by Congress, which subpoenaed the records from Epstein's estate. Trump denied writing it, calling the story "false, malicious, and defamatory."

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President Trump says the U.S. military began a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday, drawing threats of retaliation from Iran, after talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement over the weekend.

"Right now we have a blockade," Trump said Monday. "They're doing no business."

In a social media post earlier, he reiterated his threat to Iranian ships that tried to interfere. "Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED," he wrote.
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5783445/iran-war-updates
It was the latest tactic to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — by blockading the strait outright.

Trump says Iran has charged tolls for some ships to pass and laid mines in the strait, amounting to "WORLD EXTORTION." He said Sunday that he had instructed the Navy "to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran."

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Two immigration judges who ruled against the Trump administration in the deportation cases of pro-Palestinian university students have been fired by the Department of Justice.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that the justice department had terminated six judges, including Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who oversaw deportation proceedings against Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, two students who were arrested last year as part of Trump’s campaign against the Gaza protest movement.

In an interview with the Guardian, Patel said she did not view her dismissal as “directly retaliatory” for any one case. She said it fit within a broader pattern of the administration dismissing judges near the end of their probationary term, particularly those who have experience representing immigrants in court.

“I think there’s a broader agenda of trying to reshape the immigration bench to be more reflective of the political agenda of the administration,” Patel said.

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Representative Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, announced on Monday he was stepping down from Congress after acknowledging an extramarital affair with a staffer.

Gonzales, who was facing a growing threat of expulsion by his colleagues, admitted last month that he had an affair with an aide who later died by suicide.

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales wrote on X.

His announcement came hours after Eric Swalwell, a Democratic representative, said he was resigning from Congress following multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.

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The Trump administration will allow an LGBTQ pride flag to fly at the Stonewall national monument after the removal of a flag sparked uproar and a lawsuit.

According to court documents, the administration agreed to hang a rainbow pride flag at the New York City monument, which commemorates the struggle for LGBTQ rights.

The agreement ends a lawsuit filed by nonprofits over the flag’s February removal. It had argued that the Trump administration, through the National Park Service (NPS), was targeting the LGBTQ community and that the flag’s removal “is the latest example in a long line of efforts by the Trump administration to target the LGBTQ+ community for discrimination.”

“The NPS does not prohibit sales of Confederate flag merchandise at gift shops located on its premises; instead, it has merely requested that its vendors voluntarily withdraw such items from the shops,” the lawsuit said. “In contrast, the NPS has ordered the removal of all products recognizing the identities of LGBTQ+ people from its gift shops.”

“The NPS does not prohibit sales of Confederate flag merchandise at gift shops located on its premises; instead, it has merely requested that its vendors voluntarily withdraw such items from the shops,” the lawsuit said. “In contrast, the NPS has ordered the removal of all products recognizing the identities of LGBTQ+ people from its gift shops.”

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