TV News LIES

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) this week abruptly reversed course on a new rule requiring veterans’ disability ratings to be calculated by how well they function on medication and not on the underlying condition or injury itself, a stance that was quickly condemned.

“Effective immediately, VA is halting enforcement of the interim final rule, ‘Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication,’” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement posted to social media Thursday afternoon.

“VA issued the rule to clarify existing policy and protect Veterans’ benefits in the wake of an ongoing court action. But many interpreted the rule as something that could result in adverse consequences,” Collins said.

The federal rule, which went into effect Tuesday with no warning, drew swift outrage from major veterans groups that argued it could lower disability compensation for millions of veterans who suffer from physical ailments, such as bone or muscle injuries and hypertension or mental health issues.

Chief among the concerns was that the change could lead to veterans choosing not to take medication to be rated higher and receive larger compensation.

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At least one Republican lawmaker is formally pushing back on President Trump’s effort to boost a controversial herbicide, glyphosate, that’s reviled by supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement.

Trump this week stoked MAHA fury by issuing an executive order that seeks to “ensure an adequate supply” of glyphosate as a national security issue and grant “immunity” to makers of the pesticide under the Defense Production Act.

In response, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) drafted legislation to prevent the order’s implementation. Massie’s legislation also seeks to explicitly allow citizens to bring lawsuits related to exposure to glyphosate, the key ingredient in the frequently litigated Roundup weedkiller.

“This week I will introduce the ‘No Immunity for Glyphosate Act’ to undo the recent Executive Order which promotes glyphosate (Round-Up) and insulates manufacturers from liability,” Massie, who has broken with Trump on multiple issues, wrote on the social platform X.

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A federal judge rejected Tesla’s request to overturn a $243 million jury verdict over the 2019 crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S, which killed a 22-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend.

In a decision made public on Friday, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said the evidence at trial “more than supports” the August 2025 verdict, and Tesla raised no new arguments to set the verdict aside.

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is expected to appeal. Neither Tesla nor its lawyers immediately responded to requests for comment.

The case arose from an April 25, 2019, incident in Key Largo, Florida, in which George McGee drove his 2019 Model S through an intersection at about 62 mph (100 kph) while he bent to look for his phone, which he had dropped.

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Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch outside Arlington National Cemetery, arguing the colossal structure is being built without congressional approval and that it would obstruct the layout of other monuments.

The lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Trump’s “Independence Arch” of being unlawful with its planned position in the traffic circle in front of the historic military cemetery.

At 250 feet tall, the statue would be “more than double the size of the Lincoln Memorial and the equivalent of a twenty-five-story office building,” states the suit, which was filed on behalf of the veterans and historian by the government watchdog group Public Citizen.

“Its location on Memorial Circle would situate the monument on an axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, obstructing a line of sight that was designed to represent the unification of the Nation following the Civil War and that has existed for nearly a century,” it goes on.

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The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump's economic agenda, ruling that he does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs at the stroke of a pen.

The court on Feb. 20 tossed the tariffs that are the centerpiece of his economic policy and a major foreign policy tool – but that have also raised costs for consumers and businesses. The 6-3 decision from the conservative court was its first major ruling against Trump's controversial expansive view of presidential power.

“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”

Trump, Roberts concluded, cannot.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first of three conservatives Trump appointed to the court, wrote a separate opinion stressing the importance of major policies like taxes and tariffs going through Congress.

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Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian-American during an attack on a village, the Palestinian Health Ministry and a witness said Thursday.

Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhmas, said a group of settlers came to the village Wednesday afternoon where they attacked a farmer, prompting clashes after residents intervened. Israeli forces later arrived, and during the violence armed settlers killed 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam and injured several others.

Abu Ali said that the army shot tear gas, sound grenades and live ammunition. Israel’s military acknowledged using what it called “riot dispersal methods” after receiving reports of Palestinians throwing rocks but denied that its forces fired during the clashes.

“When the settlers saw the army, they were encouraged and started shooting live bullets,” Abu Ali said. He added that they clubbed those injured with sticks after they had fallen to the ground.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Abu Siyam’s death from critical wounds sustained Wednesday afternoon near the village east of Ramallah.

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On Friday, the High Court in the United Kingdom ruled on Friday that the government’s ban on the pro-Palestine direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful. The ruling marked a major legal victory for the group, which was founded in 2020 and campaigns against companies complicit in “the occupation, apartheid and genocide of Palestine,” with a focus on Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

Huda Ammori, the 31-year old British-Palestinian co-founder of Palestine Action, spoke to Drop Site News’s Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous about the movement’s strategy, rooted in direct action to physically disrupt and dismantle the war machine that facilitates the genocide and occupation in Palestine.

Also on the livestream, Ryan Grim spoke with Carrie Prejean Boller on her ouster from Trump’s religious liberty commission.

“As a Palestinian, the best moment of my life was being on top of an Israeli weapons factory with a sledgehammer being able to destroy that site. And knowing, that just that by being there and causing damage, they would have to shut down. Not just while I was there, but for weeks after.”

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With Olympic gold on the line, with just over two minutes to play in regulation of Thursday's final match, it was the U.S. women's hockey team's two biggest stars who kept their dream alive.

The 22-year-old phenom Laila Edwards, a Day 1 starter in her first career Olympic Games, launched a rocket toward the goal, where the 36-year-old captain of Team USA, Hilary Knight, tipped the puck into the net — sending Milan's Santagiulia Arena into roars and the gold medal match into overtime, where the Americans prevailed 2-1.

The equalizer by Knight, with an assist by Edwards and Megan Keller, represented the essence of this U.S. team — the energy of its young stars combined with the calm experience of its veteran leadership.

Then, just over four minutes into a thrilling, fast-paced overtime period, Keller was the hero, maneuvering the puck around Canadian defender Claire Thompson for the game-winner.

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