TV News LIES

Senior officials at the US Department of Veterans Affairs have ordered VA physicians and scientists not to publish in medical journals or speak with the public without first seeking clearance from political appointees of Donald Trump.

Veterans advocates say the decision fits into a pattern of censorship by the Trump administration, and came hours after the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective co-authored by two pulmonologists who work for the VA in Texas.

The article warned that cancelled contracts, layoffs and a planned staff reduction of 80,000 employees in the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system jeopardizes the health of a million veterans who served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Federal courts have handed a series of resounding victories to the law firms fighting back against President Trump’s targeted executive orders, a sharp rebuke of his retribution campaign against them.

Three judges, appointed by presidents of both political parties, forcefully struck down orders this month aimed at limiting government contracts and access for Big Law firms Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block.

The early wins underscore the legal system’s ability to withstand the Trump administration’s pressure test, and have led some in the legal community to take shots at other elite firms that struck deals with Trump to avoid punishments.

“This is a moment for courage, not capitulation,” said Harold Hongju Koh, a Yale Law School professor who authored papers calling Trump’s orders retaliatory and the law firm deals unenforceable.

“The firms that showed courage are being vindicated, and the ones who have capitulated have another chance to show courage,” he continued. “So, what are they going to do?”

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The Security Service of Ukraine oversaw a drone operation on Sunday that struck dozens of Russia’s strategic bombers just ahead of planned peace talks in Istanbul.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the “absolutely brilliant” outcome of the attack, which he described as “our most long-range operation” to date.

Zelensky said the attack had been in planning for more than one and a half years.

“Of course, not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,” Zelensky said Sunday in a post on the social platform X.

“Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war, Russia must end it. Glory to Ukraine!” he continued.

A military official told The Associated Press that the drones hit 41 planes stationed at military airfields on Sunday afternoon, including A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M aircraft.

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An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point run by a private U.S.-based group killed at least 31 people in Gaza on June 1, local health authorities said, as Hamas and Israel exchanged blame over a faltering effort to secure a ceasefire.

The incident in Rafah in the south of the enclave was the latest in a series underscoring the volatile security situation that has complicated aid delivery to Gaza, following the easing of an almost three-month Israeli blockade last month.

"There are martyrs and injuries. Many injuries. It is a tragic situation in this place. I advise them that nobody goes to aid delivery points. Enough,” paramedic Abu Tareq said at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis city.

The Palestinian Red Crescent, affiliated with the international Red Cross, said its medical teams had recovered bodies of 23 Palestinians and treated another 23 injured near an aid collection site in Rafah. The U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation operates the aid distribution sites in Rafah.

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Barely noticeable only a few months ago, opposition is growing about fresh Israeli operations in Gaza even among the country’s military reservists, some of whom have publicly called out the government for what they say is an immoral and politically motivated decision to continue the war.

“I refuse to commit war crimes,” Yuval Ben Ari told NBC News earlier this month. “The patriotic thing to do is to say no.”

“As an Israeli, as a human being, I’m calling the Israeli government to stop starving 2 million people,” he said, adding that he felt shame and guilt because “people inside Gaza are starving to death.”

As a reservist soldier, Ben Ari served two rotations inside Gaza, the first in the north of the enclave and the second in the south, and he is one of a growing number of former and current Israel Defense Forces personnel — including high-ranking commanders — who have voiced their concerns about the country’s conduct in the war.

This pushback has only grown after the Netanyahu government announced a major new operation dubbed “Gideon’s Chariot,” which began earlier this month.

Over 12,000 current and former service members signed a series of letters since the collapse of the ceasefire in March calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to end the war and declaring they will refuse to serve if it continues, according to Restart Israel, an activist group that tracks how many people oppose the government’s actions.

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Thick, billowing clouds of smoke are sweeping south from wildfires ravaging the central Canadian province of Manitoba into parts of the United States, compromising air quality for millions of Americans across several northern states.

The Manitoba wildfires have forced 17,000 people to flee the province, according to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who called the evacuation the largest in recent history.

"With the wildfires in northern Manitoba intensifying, our government has triggered a provincewide state of emergency to help us through this crisis," Kinew said in a statement on Wednesday.

The state of emergency will last 30 days and can be extended as needed.

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President Trump has nominated 30-year-old conservative lawyer Paul Ingrassia, to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a government ethics office, despite Ingrassia's ties to multiple antisemitic extremists.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ingrassia would oversee the agency that enforces the Hatch Act, which limits government employees from engaging in certain partisan political activities, and provides protections to whistleblowers. (The agency is separate and distinct from special counsels appointed by the Department of Justice, such as Robert Mueller or Jack Smith, who investigate sensitive cases.)