TV News LIES

The Pentagon is pushing back on allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is politicizing the military with his planned Monday appearance in Kentucky to campaign for the man who is challenging Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

“Secretary Hegseth is attending this event in his personal capacity,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill. “No taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit. His participation has been thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers, including the Department of War Office of General Counsel, and does not violate the Hatch Act or any other applicable federal statute.”

Hegseth has been accused of potentially violating the Hatch Act in stumping for former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the Trump-backed GOP candidate challenging Massie. Under federal law, executive branch employees — with the exception of the president and vice president — are limited in using government resources or their official titles for partisan political activity.

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A massive religious gathering on the National Mall backed by the White House is sparking backlash from critics who say it blurs the lines between church and state.

The unprecedented appearance of government officials featured virtual remarks from members of the administration including Vice President Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. President Trump also delivered a brief virtual message in which he read from the Old Testament.

The daylong prayer rally, pegged as part of the America 250 celebrations, comes as concerns mount about the administration’s push for more Christian prayer and religious symbols in schools and for faith-based organizations to get federal funding.

Some critics questioned the constitutionality of the event.

“Rededicate 250 is a betrayal of America’s founding values guaranteed in the First Amendment — which made clear that there shall be no establishment of religion by the government, and that each one of us should be free to live out our beliefs in our own way,” Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, said in a statement.

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Three adults are dead following a shooting at a San DiSharp Memorial Hospital, located about 2 miles from the Islamic center, confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that it is "receiving patients" and that its "disaster procedures have been activated."

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed in a news conference that the two suspects in the shooting are also dead.

Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego issued a brief statement following the shooting, telling community members "we are safe," and students, teachers and staff at the center's school were also not harmed.

Sharp Memorial Hospital, located about 2 miles from the Islamic center, confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY that it is "receiving patients" and that its "disaster procedures have been activated."

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France is moving to deport prominent Egyptian-Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath over his opposition to Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Shaath, a political campaigner and human rights defender, was released from arbitrary detention in Egypt in January 2022 following pressure from French President Emmanuel Macron.

A key figure in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, he now faces expulsion from France on the grounds that he poses a “serious threat to public order”.

He is due to appear before a deportation committee on 21 May, after which the local prefecture "may immediately issue a deportation order that can be enforced at any time", according to his lawyer, Damia Taharraoui.

A notice by the Nanterre prefecture and seen by AFP cited Saath's activism and comments in support of Palestinians as factors in his deportation.

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The presence of two secret Israeli bases in Iraq may have led to the death of a shepherd who discovered them, according to an investigation by The New York Times (NYT).

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel set up a covert outpost in Iraq’s western desert during the conflict with Iran. The site was reportedly used to support air operations and housed special forces units.

According to the report, installations were built shortly before the war began in February and were later used during an attack in March on Iraqi troops who had nearly uncovered the site.

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that the Israeli military deployed rescue teams and commando units to the forward position, tasked with extracting downed air crews from inside Iran if necessary.

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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in tandem with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), has claimed operational responsibility for a highly destructive weekend air campaign that bypassed the Russian capital’s elite air defenses and heavily degraded occupied infrastructure in Crimea.

In a statement published to the intelligence agency’s official Telegram channel on Sunday, May 17, SBU Head Major General Yevhenii Khmara confirmed that specialized drone operators from the Center for Special Operations “Alpha” managed to simultaneously hit heavily fortified domestic manufacturing assets and frontline military airfields.

While the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have neutralized over 550 Ukrainian drones across 14 separate regions overnight, SBU flight logs and corresponding ground telemetry confirmed that precision munitions cleanly hit several highly sensitive targets inside the Moscow region.

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While the world watched the pomp of Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing, the US was turning up the pressure thousands of miles away. Its oil blockade has plunged Cuba into a humanitarian crisis, sparking nationwide blackouts that have prompted rare protests, closing schools and universities and leaving hospitals battling to treat patients.

Surveillance flights are circling. US media reported this weekend that federal prosecutors are preparing an indictment for Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president and brother of Fidel. Mr Trump has casually observed, while bragging about the kidnapping of Venezuela’s then leader Nicolás Maduro in January, that “Cuba is next”.

A military assault on Havana would be vastly more fraught for the US – even without the war on Iran – and disastrous for Cubans. Washington hopes that threats and privation will be sufficient. UN experts warn that the blockade is unlawful, puts human rights at risk and may amount to collective punishment. The government admitted on Wednesday that fuel oil had run out.

Tourism has collapsed. The Canadian mining company Sherritt pulled out of a joint venture and countries have axed their contracts for Cuban doctors – a vital source of income for the island, and trained medical staff for others. Havana may hope that it can stagger on. But Mr Trump is not patient.

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The shutdown of the Long Island Rail Road, North America’s largest commuter rail system, continued into a second day on Sunday after unionized workers went on strike a day earlier for the first time in three decades.

The railroad, which serves New York City and its eastern suburbs, ceased operations just after midnight Friday after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job.

Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, said at a Sunday news conference: “Let me be clear, I did not want a strike.”

Hochul defended the MTA’s negotiations, saying: “The MTA has put fair offers on the table, in fact, many of them. And so, despite that, for the first time in 30 years, hundreds of thousands of people that rely on the LIRR are without service because of a strike.”

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