TV News LIES

The fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is under threat of falling apart after President Trump declared that the U.S. would “guide” vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort he called “Project Freedom,” to begin Monday.

In response, Iran’s armed forces said they would not allow passage to American combat forces or commercial ships without their authorization.

Tehran’s forces opened fire on U.S. warships and commercial vessels on Monday, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) head Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters. He said American forces returned fire and destroyed six small Iranian boats.

Cooper would not say whether the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran had ended.

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When you hear about a massive human trafficking and prostitution sting — 266 arrests in one Florida county — you expect disturbing details. But what stands out here isn’t just the scale. It’s who some of these people are, and what that says about a bigger pattern.

Among those arrested: Craig Long, a self-described MAGA influencer with more than half a million followers. Someone who built a platform around political commentary and proximity to power.

“He’s an influencer. He moves in big circles even with the president. This is a photograph of him with the president and his son not long ago.” That’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. He didn’t stop there: “Well there you go, you got arrested in a human trafficking sting. Influence that for a while.”

And he’s not the only one raising eyebrows.

Another man highlighted by investigators, in the same sting operation, Ryan Yates, has a history that connects to something much bigger: the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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The Supreme Court on May 4 reinstated mail-order access to the widely used abortion drug mifepristone, a temporary decision that gives the justices more time to consider the issue.

The court intervened after the Food and Drug Administration was ordered on May 1 to revive a requirement that doctors prescribe the drug only after an in-person exam. It was the first time access to mifepristone had been significantly curtailed during years of litigation over the drug, which was first approved in 2000.

At the request of drugmakers, Justice Samuel Alito paused until May 11 the restrictive ruling by a lower court while the full court decides what the rules for mifepristone should be as Louisiana challenges expanded access.

“This ruling is not final − keep watching,” Nancy Northup, head of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “Getting abortion pills through telehealth has been a lifeline for women since Roe v. Wade was overturned. There is no reason people shouldn’t be able to get mifepristone at a pharmacy or through the mail.”

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An Israeli court has extended by two days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, their lawyer said on Sunday.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish-Swedish national of Palestinian origin, and Thiago Avila, a Brazilian national, were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestine activists aboard the Global Sumud flotilla were taken to the Greek island of Crete.

According to the Brazilian embassy, Avila said he had been subjected to torture, beatings and mistreatment in Israeli detention.

During a monitored visit in which he was separated by glass and unable to communicate freely, embassy officials observed visible marks on his face. He also reported significant pain, particularly in his shoulder.

Abu Keshek was "subjected to torture and severe abuse while detained aboard the military vessel prior to transfer", the Global Sumud flotilla said, citing eyewitness testimony.

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For decades, two irreconciliable narratives about Israel and its motivations have existed in parallel. 

On the one side, an official western narrative portrays a plucky, besieged "Jewish" state of Israel, desperate to make peace with its hostile Arab neighbours. Even to this day, that story dominates the political, media and academic landscape. 

Time and again, or so we are told, Israel has held out an olive branch to "the Arabs", seeking acceptance, but is always rebuffed. 

A largely unspoken subtext suggests that supposedly irrational, bloodthirsty, Jew-hating regimes across the region would have completed the Nazis’ exterminationist agenda but for the West’s humane protection of a vulnerable minority.

It presents Israel as an ethnic supremacist, highly militaristic state - armed by the US and Europe - bent on expansion, mass expulsions and land theft.

On this view, the West implanted Israel as a colonial military outpost, there to subdue the native Palestinian population, and terrorise neighbouring states into submission through relentless and overwhelming displays of force. 

Palestinians cannot make peace, or reach any kind of accommodation, because Israel pursues only conquest, domination and erasure. No middle ground is possible.

The proof, note Palestinians, is Israel’s long-standing refusal to define its borders. As its military power has grown decade after decade, ever more extreme political agendas have surfaced, demanding not just Israel’s takeover of the last remnants of the Palestinian territories it illegally occupies but expansion into neighbouring states like Lebanon and Syria.

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Three people have died in an outbreak of a dangerous respiratory virus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the World Health Organization.

At least six people are believed to have been infected with a hantavirus, including one whose infection has been confirmed by a laboratory, and five other suspected cases. Three people have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa, the WHO said.

"Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing," the agency said.

The agency is also "facilitating coordination between" WHO member states and the ship's operators to evacuate two passengers showing symptoms "as well as full public health risk assessment and support to the remaining passengers on board," the WHO said.

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Officials are investigating whether a huge fire that destroyed a top marine science laboratory at the University of South Florida may have been caused by a lightning strike.

Despite a massive response from local fire crews the Marine Science Laboratory building was completely destroyed after the blaze began on Saturday.

Moez Limayem, the USF president, said that lightning storms in the area were being looked at as a possible cause of the enormous and devastating blaze at the advanced scientific institute.

“St Pete Fire and Rescue said there was lightning reported in the area around at the time the fire started, but the cause remains under investigation,” Limayem said in a statement.

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Six months out from November’s midterm US elections, Donald Trump’s disapproval rating has reached 62% – the worst of his two terms in office – according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.

The US president received his worst ratings on the cost of living and other economic issues since launching his deeply unpopular war against Iran in February, which has plunged the global economy into an oil crisis and sent gas prices rocketing to a four-year high.

Trump achieved majority disapproval on his management of every issue measured, including Americans disapproved of his handling of that war by 66% to 32%, while a staggering 76% disapproved and only 23% approved of his handling of the cost of living. Two-thirds of Americans now feel the country is headed in the wrong direction.

The poll found Trump’s overall approval now stands at 37%, which isn’t much movement from 39% in February. But his disapproval rose to 62%, a record high across his two terms in office.

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