TV News LIES

A trembling ceasefire has brought a pause to what had become the familiar sounds of explosions over Tehran. I was born in 1988, a year before the Iran-Iraq war came to an end. For my generation, war was something that belonged to the past – an impossible event, until this summer.

For 12 days, we lived in the capital under incessant Israeli attacks, and what we saw has changed us for good: dead neighbours, buildings gutted and worry – endless, deep-etched worry – on the faces of people.

There is comfort in speaking of “the Iranian people” as though we are one unified bloc. But like most societies, Iranians hold divergent views. When fighting first broke out, there were people who were glad to see a foreign power targeting the widely disliked Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top brass, at least in the beginning. But others – though dissidents themselves – deeply resented the idea of foreign invasion. Some hardliners saw this war as a messianic mission to be carried through to the bitter end; others were numb to what was happening.

But as the news filled with footage of civilian casualties, and the attacks grew harsher and less targeted, different social factions began to unite around the notion of watan, homeland. Patriotism gained new currency, and national pride was on most lips. Scenes of solidarity – whether lasting remains to be seen – abounded: landlords cancelling rent in light of the crisis; people outside Tehran hosting those fleeing the capital; no rush to grocery stores, no chaos, no panicked evacuations.

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Sereen Haddad is a bright young woman. At 20 years old, she just finished a four-year degree in psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in only three years, earning the highest honors along the way. Yet, despite her accomplishments, she still can’t graduate. Her diploma is being withheld by the university, “not because I didn’t complete the requirements”, she told me, “but because I stood up for Palestinian life.”

Haddad, who is Palestinian American, had been raising awareness on her campus about the Palestinian fight for freedom as part of her university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The struggle is also personal for her. With roots in Gaza, she has lost more than 200 members of her extended family to Israel’s war.

She was part of a group of VCU students and supporters who attempted to set up an encampment in April 2024. The university called in the police that same night. Protestors were pepper sprayed and brutalized, and 13 were arrested. Haddad was not charged, but she was taken to the hospital “because of the head trauma that I endured”, she told me. “I was bleeding. I was bruised. Cuts everywhere. The police slammed me down on the concrete, like, six different times.”

But last year’s attempted encampment wasn’t even the reason Haddad’s degree is being withheld. This year’s peaceful memorial of it was. And how that scenario played out, with the university and campus police constantly changing the rules, illustrates something worrisome far beyond the leafy confines of an American campus.

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Local offices at the National Weather Service had staffing shortages that might have led to a harder time forecasting Central Texas's severe rain and deadly floods, according to The New York Times.

Former officials told the Times the staffing shortages meant there were less experienced workers who could have helped communicate with local authorities after the flash flood warnings were issued.

Along with the staffing shortages, it seems local communities weren't properly prepared.

Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge, told the Times that the county did not have a warning system because residents are hesitant to spending money on something so expensive.

“Taxpayers won’t pay for it,” Kelly said.

He added that he doesn't know if residents might reconsider getting them after this deadly flood.

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Visiting America's national parks is about to get more expensive for international tourists, but that's not the only change President Donald Trump ordered that will impact park visitors.

A new executive order calls for charging non-U.S. residents higher fees for park entry and recreation passes, like the yearlong America the Beautiful pass, which grants access to public lands across federal agencies.

"From the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon to the tranquility of the Great Smoky Mountains, America’s national parks have provided generations of American families with unforgettable memories," Trump said in the order issued July 3.

"It is the policy of my Administration to preserve these opportunities for American families in future generations by increasing entry fees for foreign tourists, improving affordability for United States residents, and expanding opportunities to enjoy America’s splendid national treasures," he said.

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Authorities on Sunday were in a desperate search to find those still missing after historic flash floods swept across central Texas — including 11 children from a beloved all-girls camp — as the death toll rose and forecasters warned of more rain.

Officials said at least 70 people have died in flooding triggered by unrelenting rain Thursday night into Friday. Sheriff Larry Leitha of Kerr County, where the worst of the flooding occurred, said it had recovered the bodies of 38 adults and 21 children.
Among those still missing were 11 children and a counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp at the edge of the Guadalupe River, which surged over 26 feet in less than an hour as storms dumped six months' worth of rain over the Texas Hill Country.

It's unclear how many people were missing in the communities along the Guadalupe, where local officials say thousands of people came from out of town to celebrate Independence Day weekend. Forecasters expect several more inches of rain on Sunday and warned of additional flooding and a worsening of conditions on the ground.

For days, crews have been working around the clock to find the missing, traversing swollen waterways and scouring riverbanks littered with mangled trees and rubble. Rescuers have pulled residents from rooftops and found survivors clinging to trees. As of Sunday, about 650 people have been rescued, officials said.

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Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early on Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while waiting for aid.

Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights office says it has recorded 613 killings within the span of a month in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and as Palestinians try to reach aid at distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were “GHF-related,” meaning at or near its distribution sites.

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An 83-year-old retired priest has been arrested for defying a newly enforced ban on pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, just hours after the group was formally outlawed by the UK government.

The Reverend Sue Parfitt, from Bristol, was detained for holding a placard that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” She was among more than 27 people arrested on Saturday for acts of defiance against the proscription.

Parfitt’s arrest has sparked widespread outrage on social media. One user called it “the march of authoritarianism & crackdown on freedom of speech & expression,” while another questioned whether it was now illegal to call her “a hero.”

Her friend, Jerry Hicks, demanded her release, stating: “She is against genocide & that’s not a crime.”

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President Trump is enacting a mass deportation campaign promised to be the largest in U.S. history. New data is giving a clearer picture of exactly what that looks like: at least 56,000 immigrants are being held in ICE detention.

According to the Deportation Data Project, a group that collects immigration numbers, about half the people in detention don't have criminal convictions. That's close to 30,000 people in detention, without a criminal record — the group that has grown the most in recent months.

"You listen to Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, they're saying things like they are going after the worst of the worst, the people who are murderers," says UCLA Professor Graeme Blair, referring to President Trump's 'Border czar' Tom Homan and key White House Aide Stephen Miller. "That's just not what the data says about the people that they are actually arresting."

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