TV News LIES

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the terminations of hundreds of humanities grants last year by the Trump administration’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) were unconstitutional and involved “blatant” discrimination. In April last year, Donald Trump’s administration terminated more than 1,400 grants, representing more than $100m in congressionally appropriated funds awarded to scholars, writers, research institutions and other humanities organizations.

The terminations were part of a cost-cutting drive that billionaire Elon Musk was leading at Doge.

“The Government engaged in blatant viewpoint discrimination,” the US district judge Colleen McMahon said in condemning what the Trump administration cast as a crackdown on diversity practices.

The judge said the terminations violated the US constitution’s first amendment, which provides free speech rights, and its fifth amendment’s equal protection component. The ruling also said Doge did not have the legal authority to terminate the grants.

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The US military on Friday said it struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one survivor in the latest attack on boats suspected of transporting narcotics. This brings the death toll from strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific to more than 190 people since September.

A video posted by the US Southern Command shows the vessel traveling through the water being hit by what appears to be a missile. The screen momentarily goes black and then shows the boat engulfed in flames.

The Southern Command said, “the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes” and “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations”. It said the two people killed were men and that it notified the US Coast Guard to start a search and rescue for the sole survivor. No further details were divulged.

The military has attacked multiple alleged drug-running boats in the eastern Pacific in recent weeks, including a strike on Tuesday that killed three people. According to a tally by the Intercept, there have now been 58 such boat strikes since September amounting to a death toll of 193 people with four survivors.

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A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent interviewed a high-ranking Wisconsin state election official in recent days about the 2020 presidential election, according to sources with knowledge of the conversation.

The agent sat down with Wisconsin Elections Commission deputy administrator Robert Kehoe earlier this week and discussed with Kehoe how elections are carried out in Wisconsin and various election theories. Kehoe debunked false claims and clarified how elections work, according to the sources.

One of the sources called the conversation "a professional interview by a career FBI agent."

A spokeswoman for the FBI did not immediately respond to questions. A spokeswoman for the state Elections Commission declined to comment.

The interview comes at a time when Wisconsin and Milwaukee election officials are bracing for potential action from federal authorities over their administration of the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump falsely claims he won.

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Mysterious videos of darting black objects, renderings of flying ships, and eyewitness reports of unexplained lights are among the previously unseen files released by the Department of Defense, and President Donald Trump said some are “related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life.”

The files published online Friday of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), previously known as UFOs, are to be released on a rolling basis “in the interest of total transparency,” the Pentagon said.

The release allows the general public to “make up their own minds about the information contained in these files,” the Pentagon said.

The files include government documents dating back to the 1940s, images taken from moon landings, astronaut transcripts, copies of eyewitness reports and news clips, as well as video and renderings of unexplained moving objects. Most of the files are dated before this year, though one video showing unidentified aircraft flying in an undisclosed location was listed as taken in January.

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A little over a year after President Donald Trump scolded him during a nationally televised Oval Office meeting, insisting he held “no cards,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is proving he holds a few after all.

Setbacks for Trump ally and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the world’s newfound appreciation for Ukraine’s drone-focused defense industry have given Zelenskyy a remarkable reversal of fortune and a much stronger position than Trump could have predicted 14 months ago.

In Moscow on Saturday, Putin, who expected to take control of Ukraine within days of his 2022 invasion, will instead oversee a Victory Day parade that is drastically scaled down out of fear of Ukrainian long-range drones and missiles. Russian airports were closed in the preceding days and cell service periodically shut off as security measures. Putin himself has cut back on public appearances over fears of assassination attempts or even a coup.

On the same day, 1,000 miles to the southwest, Putin’s biggest defender in Europe, Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán, will officially hand over power to a new prime minister, Peter Magyar, whose election last month has already opened the door to more European Union and NATO help for Ukraine.

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Virginia Democrats on Friday asked the state Supreme Court for a stay on its ruling that threw out last month’s referendum on redistricting in the commonwealth, signaling plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state, Virginia’s House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D) and others filed a joint motion asking the state Supreme Court to “delay issuing its mandate” on the referendum, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. It also stated that they plan to file an emergency petition to the nation’s highest court.

“Today’s action is an imperative step in the process we promised to pursue to explore every available option to restore the will of the voters. We will continue moving through that process deliberately, responsibly, and with full respect for the voters who made their voices heard,” said Rae Pickett, spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D), in a statement shared with The Hill.

The Virginia court on Friday had issued a ruling that quashed a new map, narrowly approved by voters in a referendum last month, that would have given Democrats as many as four new pickup opportunities ahead of the midterms.

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A new initiative named the Anti-Zionist America Political Action Committee (Azapac) released an unprecedented video ad on Monday calling for donations and volunteers to help it build momentum and counter pro-Israeli lobbying groups in the US. 

The project, which kicked off earlier this year, is spearheaded by former New York University professor and author Michael Rectenwald, a self-described Libertarian, and has amassed more than 22,000 followers on X.

"Our government acts like the servant of another country. That other country is, of course, the State of Israel," Rectenwald says in the ad, overlaid with images of the Israeli flag outside several offices of members of the US Congress.

"That's not policy. That's a national disgrace," he adds. "Their strings are pulled by donors loyal to the modern nation-state of Israel. This isn't an alliance. It's extortion."

As Rectenwald details the US contribution to Israel of $33bn since 7 October 2023, the ad shows images of Palestinians in body bags.

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Ukraine said its forces struck a Russian warship capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles during overnight attacks targeting military infrastructure deep inside Russian-controlled territory and along the front line.

The Ukrainian General Staff said on May 7 that Ukrainian Defense Forces had hit a Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ship near the Russian naval base in Kaspiysk.

According to the military, the vessel has the capability to launch Kalibr cruise missiles, which Russia has repeatedly used in attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure throughout the war.

“The extent of the damage is being clarified,” the General Staff said.

Ukraine also said it struck a Russian command post in Sosnivka in the occupied Luhansk region and a drone command center near Yasne in the Donetsk region.

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