In a display of what some are calling extreme political theater, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has stirred controversy with her recent critique of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The congresswoman cautioned that the legislation, which facilitates cooperation between U.S. forces and the Israel Defense Forces in areas like cybersecurity, poses “an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy.” Her remarks have sparked fierce debate across party lines.

The accusation has been labeled as an overreaction by many. Section 219 of the NDAA merely sanctions joint military initiatives in cybersecurity, technology drills, and similar collaborations. This section echoes the United States’ existing agreements with numerous countries, including long-standing allies like Canada and India.

Nonetheless, skepticism towards Israel appears increasingly prevalent within the Democratic Party. This sentiment emerges at a time when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refrained from guiding his party members’ votes against a recent amendment aimed at cutting U.S. aid to Israel. Shockingly, more than half of House Democrats endorsed this amendment.

This internal division illustrates a broader strategic alignment within the party: a concerted opposition to policies associated with former President Trump. Such is the unity in resistance that Senate Democrats are prepared to employ a filibuster strategy to thwart the Defense bill, which has forced Republicans to resort to reconciliation—a complex procedural tactic—to maintain military operations in the face of unfolding tensions with Iran.

In an effort to keep the legislative process moving, the House has gone ahead and approved the NDAA along with a Republican-sponsored $95 billion spending resolution. This measure is designed to set the stage for reconciliation and may balloon to accommodate pressing defense modernization requirements.

But that process won’t finish until mid-September at the earliest, and is sure to feature a host of other proposed amendments designed to please Dems hard-left base, with lots more speeches implying that Benjamin Netanyahu is using Jewish mind-control powers to make Trump do his bidding.

Yes, Trump should be doing a better job of explaining his war strategy and selling it to the public — but it’s simply disgraceful for Democrats to block Defense funding while enemy fire is killing US service members in the Middle East.

Again, they’re blocking both emergency funds for the Iran war and the larger Defense bill for the year that they had agreed on with Republicans before their base’s anti-war fever reached a new peak.

All of it, with an eye on causing chaos in advance of November’s elections — even as their posturing in Washington feeds the hard left’s drive to knock off more-moderate Democrats in the primaries.

We keep urging sane Dems to fight back against the lefties, yet Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer keep appeasing them and saving all their fire for Trump and the GOP.

If they keep this up, AOC will soon be the heart of the party and maybe even its 2028 nominee.

In a strong declaration, former President Donald Trump warned that any harm inflicted on cargo ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz will be compensated using ‘Iranian funds’ currently held by the United States.

Trump issued this statement on his Truth Social account Thursday night amid escalating tensions in the crucial waterway, a vital artery through which a significant portion of the global oil supply flows.

‘Let it be known,’ Trump wrote, ‘that until further notice, any damage incurred by ships, cargo, or related entities will be settled with Iranian assets under U.S. control.’

‘Despite the potential for these damages to be considerable, this approach remains fair and just,’ he added.

The strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz has long been a contentious issue in U.S.-Iran negotiations, with Iran asserting its influence over this pivotal maritime passage.

It has repeatedly struck vessels trying to pass through the strait, and on Thursday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Following the attack, Trump said he was considering a ‘massive attack’ on Iran.

He had claimed leaders in Tehran wanted a deal but had not yet felt ‘enough pain’ to properly negotiate. He did not say when he would finalize his decision.

Trump also claimed that Israel would join the new strikes if he were to ask, though he insisted the its help was not needed.

Already, the Pentagon has flown a B-1 bomber over the region for the first time since the ceasefire collapsed and surged extra special operations forces into the area. 

A further 150 medics have also been sent to a military hospital in Germany that treats US troops wounded in the Middle East.

Trump is under pressure at home to wrap up the war as Republicans, facing crucial midterm elections in November, fear a bloodbath if gas prices remain elevated and push inflation higher.

Many Democrats have voiced opposition to the war since its inception. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was grilled in a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, where even a Republican senator rebuked him for not giving ‘straight answers’ to questions.

Hegseth testified that the cost of the war has already exceeded $37.5billion, and the White House is asking Congress for even more than that in emergency war funding.

Trump has made repeated threats against the Iranian regime, but since the collapse of the memorandum of understanding, the US has been unable to restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that Iran would harshly respond to any military action taken against it.

‘Our defense doctrine is clear: Eye for an eye,’ he wrote. ‘Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio shot back, telling reporters that US policy would be a ‘head for an eye’ when it comes to retaliating against Iranian action. ‘They will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing,’ Rubio added.

But as American confidence in the war wanes, four US soldiers were killed over the weekend, bringing the death toll to 18 since the war’s beginning. 

Three died in an Iranian missile and drone attack on an air base in Jordan. One died after an attempted controlled detonation of an Iranian drone. 

More than 400 US troops have been wounded in the fighting.

Nearly half of voters, 49 percent, now say launching military action in Iran was the wrong thing to do, according to a Daily Mail/JL Partners poll of 1,021 registered voters taken between July 17 and 20.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

Earlier this month, federal immigration authorities arrested a Southwest Airlines flight attendant at work due to visa-related issues, according to officials.

The individual, identified as Lorenzo Thompson from Jamaica, was apprehended on July 14 in Nashville, Tennessee, as reported by local sources.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thompson had entered the U.S. on April 17, 2021, using a visa that ultimately expired on October 16, 2021, as stated to Fox News.

“Against our nation’s laws, he overstayed his visa and failed to depart. He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings,” an ICE spokesperson said.

The agency noted that illegal immigrants are offered $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport from the U.S.

“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,” the agency said. “If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

TWU Local 556, the union that represents Southwest Airlines flight attendants, also confirmed the arrest.

“Every Member deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring this Member and their family know they are not alone during this difficult time,” the union wrote on Facebook.

The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) said Thompson was working toward obtaining U.S. citizenship.

“He had a valid work visa and was a dedicated flight attendant, touching countless lives with his kindness,” the group wrote on social media.

An online crowdfunding page launched to cover Thompson’s legal bills said he left Jamaica “seeking safety from life-threatening abuse.”

“Since arriving, he has worked tirelessly to build a stable life, following every legal step toward citizenship,” the page states. “He has no criminal record. No parking tickets. He holds a valid work visa, has a pending asylum case, and is a dedicated flight attendant for a beloved airline.”

The page described him as “honest, caring, and loyal, always ready to lend a hand without expecting anything back.”

News Media has reached out to the airline for comment.

New York City’s public schools have missed out on an overwhelming $431.6 million in Medicaid reimbursements, according to an audit conducted by the city comptroller’s office. This financial oversight pertains to services rendered to students with disabilities but not billed to the federal government.

Covering fiscal years 2023 to 2025, the audit revealed that approximately $273.4 million was left unclaimed for services like occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. This amount represents roughly 46% of the total services provided to the students.

Additionally, the comptroller’s office discovered $132.7 million in mandatory services for students with disabilities lacked the necessary documentation to secure federal reimbursement.

“The failure to secure Medicaid reimbursements that the city is entitled to is not just a financial issue; it calls into question the efficacy of government operations that New Yorkers rely on,” stated City Comptroller Mark Levine.

This audit follows a similar report from 2021, which identified that public schools were not applying for Medicaid reimbursement for eligible services provided to disabled students, despite federal provisions allowing for such compensation.

But the new audit found the school system deliberately chose not to seek repayment in a slew of instances — including for 10 federally-covered services, like psychological counseling for certain students — losing at least an additional $25.4 million in the three-year period.

“NYCPS (New York City Public Schools) continues not to seek reimbursement for a significant percentage of encounters that are legally reimbursable,” the report said. “In some cases, it chooses not to; in others, processes for collecting documentation needed to seek reimbursement from Medicaid are ineffective.”

City public schools are required to provide eligible students with various rehabilitation programs, but the audit also found no record of nearly 20% of all services they were mandated to provide. 

The Department of Education had adopted only three of the 30 recommendations given in 2021, and eight that were partially implemented included – with a total of 19 actionable steps left completely unaddressed. 

The DOE has a whopping near $45 billion budget, the most of any city agency.

A spokesperson for the DOE argued the comptroller’s report contained “assumptions and misconceptions,” and overstated what the agency can be reimbursed for in the current structure.

“Our priority is to provide high-quality services to every student who needs them while maximizing available funding to strengthen those services,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“We will continue pursuing every operationally feasible reimbursement opportunity to maximize available resources and ensure every student receives the resources they deserve.”

In a proactive health measure, over a million eggs have been withdrawn from retail stores across six U.S. states due to concerns about potential contamination with a dangerous bacteria, the FDA reports.

Midwest Poultry Services has issued a recall for almost 1.6 million dozen cartons of both white and brown eggs. Health authorities have sounded the alarm about the risk of Salmonella Enteritidis contamination, a bacteria often found in food tainted by animal waste.

The eggs involved in the recall were distributed to a variety of retailers, notably including Kroger in Texas and Louisiana, and Brookshire Grocery outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi, as detailed by the FDA.

Originating from Texas farms, the eggs were packaged and dispatched between June 6 and July 3, 2026. They bear sell-by or best-by dates that fall between July 20 and August 17.

The FDA has confirmed that, as yet, no illnesses have been connected to these eggs. However, caution is advised as infected eggs may appear normal but can still cause sickness if consumed raw or without sufficient cooking.

Midwest Poultry Services temporarily stopped distributing the potentially contaminated eggs from its Texas farms, adding that no other products were part of the recall.

The company said they identified the possible contamination through ‘proactive environmental monitoring practices’ and ‘root cause analysis.’ 

Salmonella is most common in poultry, red meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, fruits and vegetables.

The bacterium strikes 1.3 million Americans every year. Most people recover within days, though the illness is responsible for more than 26,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths a year. 

Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that begin six hours to six days after initial infection, according to the CDC. 

Unlike most bacteria, once consumed, some strains of salmonella can survive the stomach acid and travel into the intestines.

Once there, they burrow into the cells lining the organ, causing inflammation, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. The bacteria may also enter the bloodstream and travel to other organs.

People can catch salmonella after eating contaminated food, drinking fluids laced with the bacteria or touching the droppings of infected animals.

Humans can catch salmonella from other humans via touching surfaces that have been contaminated with the feces of a sick patient.

Symptoms are triggered within six hours to six days of infection, with patients told to call their doctor if diarrhea or vomiting lasts more than two days, if they notice blood in their urine or feces, develop a high fever or show signs of dehydration.

Infections are treated using fluids to keep patients hydrated. In serious cases, individuals may also be prescribed antibiotics.

Officials are urging consumers who purchased recalled eggs not to eat them and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. 

This recall follows an outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul that killed one person and hospitalized dozens of people back in April.

The antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria was linked to backyard poultry flocks and led to 184 cases, 53 hospitalizations and one death across 31 states.

At the time, the CDC said there was ‘an unusually high number of people reporting contact with ducks’ for this massive outbreak.

Doctors treat the infection with antibiotics, but in cases where the bacteria are resistant, it severely limits options and raises the risk of serious complications.

Kentucky saw the highest number of cases with 22, followed by 21 in Michigan, 17 in Wisconsin, 15 in Ohio, and ten each in Idaho, Indiana and Maine. The death was reported in a patient from Washington state, which had nine cases.

DES PLAINES, Ill. (WLS) — A tragic update has emerged concerning the devastating fire in a Des Plaines condo building, as the man accused of intentionally setting the blaze has died, officials reported.

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The inferno erupted in the early hours of May 6, around 1 a.m., on the 1200 block of Harding Avenue. The incident has since shaken the community.

Authorities identified the individual as 36-year-old Taner Bayramli. He succumbed to the injuries he sustained from the fire on May 21, according to the police.

Residing on the building’s third floor, Bayramli was labeled a person of interest. Authorities claim to possess compelling video and forensic evidence, including footage and receipts of Bayramli purchasing a gasoline container and fuel from a nearby gas station.

Surveillance footage purportedly captures Bayramli spreading gasoline along the building’s corridors and stairwells. The fire led to a catastrophic collapse of the stairs, leaving many residents trapped inside, escalating the gravity of the situation.

Seven other people, including four children, were taken to hospitals after a reported explosion.

The entire building was destroyed, leaving most families displaced.

“We are not closing the investigation,” Des Plaines police Chief David Anderson said. “We are still waiting, as I mentioned, for electronic evidence that we have subpoenaed.”

Some residents told police the suspect had been acting erratically days before the blaze.

Police say if Bayramli has survived they would forward their findings to the state’s attorney so charges could be filed.

The family of Bayramli says they are filing a lawsuit against the building’s owners.

An attorney representing Bayramli’s family says his client is innocent.

Police say he had recently removed many of his valuables including his passport from the apartment.

Joe Rogan shared a shocking revelation on his podcast: a former guest allegedly committed a murder just weeks after making an appearance on his show.

On the Wednesday episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan revisited his 2024 interview with Sheldon Johnson while engaging in a conversation about sociopaths with physician Zach Bush.

Johnson, who had previously served time and presented himself as a criminal justice reform advocate, found himself on the wrong side of the law again in spring 2024. He faced arrest for the alleged killing of Collin Small in a New York City apartment. The grim details include accusations of dismembering the body and concealing the remains across several locations, leading to a charge of second-degree murder.

When officers arrived at the scene, they initially discovered Small’s headless torso. The investigation further unravelled to find his feet stuffed in a plastic bin. Ultimately, more body parts were reportedly uncovered in Johnson’s Harlem apartment.

“We had a guy in the studio that cut a guy’s head off after the podcast. He killed a guy and cut his head off,” Rogan said. “He does the podcast and then afterward goes and visits this guy that apparently he had a beef with, kills him, cuts his head off, puts him in a [suitcase], like puts a wig on, and tries to escape in the hallway through the cameras.”

At the time, Johnson appeared on the podcast with civil rights attorney Josh Dubin, who leads an organization focused on advocating for people who have been wrongly convicted. He was released from prison in 2019 after serving time for a series of armed robberies in 1999.

When Johnson appeared on the podcast, he was working as a client advocate for the public defender’s office in Queens.

According to the New York Post, a man could be heard begging for mercy before two gunshots rang from the apartment building where Johnson was seen going in and out of in different disguises following the murder.

Records from the New York Department of Corrections indicated that both Johnson and Small had served time in prison, though the nature of their relationship remained unclear.

During his appearance on Rogan’s podcast, Johnson said turning his life around was his goal.

“I said to myself, ‘I’ve been doing bad for so long. I’m going to try to do something good,'” Johnson said.

The mystery surrounding the discovery of a hiker found naked and deceased in Big Sur has been unraveled with a newly released cause of death.

Joanna Ruth Shields, a 37-year-old from Carlsbad, passed away due to “probable alcohol withdrawal seizures as a consequence of chronic alcohol use disorder,” according to a statement from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Her remains were discovered on April 9 in a water pool along Pine Ridge Trail, close to Sykes Hot Springs. Notably, she had a gash on her head, and other hikers noted peculiar marks on her neck.

The identified cause of death largely rules out foul play. Authorities had previously dismissed theories of strangulation, suggesting that the unusual neck markings were likely the result of ant bites.

Suri Cruise is stepping into the spotlight, echoing the career paths of her famous parents, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, by joining a production of a classic Shakespeare play.

The 20-year-old, who is majoring in musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will appear in Midsummer!, a contemporary adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, per Page Six.

In a captivating turn, Suri, while her mother has been noted for her blossoming romance with younger artist Jason Bard Yarmosky, will share the stage with fellow students in a 90-minute performance. This engaging production will take place at the Trust Arts Education Center’s Peirce Studio in Pittsburgh, a venue that seats just 175 attendees, offering an intimate theatrical experience.

The performance is slated for two exclusive evenings on July 31 and August 1. After these dates, the troupe will bring their show across the pond for a UK tour, gracing the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 7 through August 31 with their presence.

Despite earlier speculations about her pursuing a career in fashion, Suri seems to be confidently embracing her theatrical lineage, diving into the world of acting with enthusiasm.

In her final year of high school, Suri showcased her talent by playing Philoclea in Head Over Heels and taking on the iconic role of Morticia Adams in The Addams Family: A New Musical.

This past March, she took on the character Angel in Cosmic Microwave Background, a staged play presented at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh as part of its CSA: Off the Page reading series.

During her graduation ceremony from LaGuardia High School, Suri dropped her father’s surname and used Suri Noelle as a tribute to her mother, whose middle name is Noelle. So, it’s a good guess what name she will be billed as in this latest venture.

Suri and the Mission: Impossible star, 64, who is still a dedicated and active member of the Church of Scientology, remain estranged. They have not had any semblance of a father-daughter relationship for over a decade.

Holmes and Cruise divorced in August 2012 after little more than six years of marriage.

Since then, Suri has lived with her mother, who previously told InStyle her main goal has been to nurture her daughter into her own person and making sure she is ‘100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able.’

Suri has the unwavering support of Holmes, who recruited her to sing over the opening credits of her 2022 film Alone Together and said at the time that she hoped she would continue down a showbiz path.

‘I hope she always does something on my films. I always ask her… you have these projects and you become a family with people. And it’s this safe, beautiful, creative space,’ the Dawson’s Creek alum told Glamour.

An insider previously told the Daily Mail about Suri’s early days at college: ‘She is a smart girl, and she is turning into a very intelligent mature young woman. She has a very close group of loyal friends, and she knows exactly where she comes from.’

Another source said Suri’s mother was ‘overwhelmed’ at the prospect of Suri being away from home: ‘Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely over-protective.’

Cruise, meanwhile, is said to be paying Suri’s annual university tuition of $65,000.

‘Tom is indeed paying for Suri’s tuition – he has always paid for her schooling and would never stop as he is a stand-up guy,’ an insider previously revealed to The Daily Mail.

‘He has never hesitated paying his daughter’s child support and expenses. He does not go back on his word. He is fulfilling his obligation.’