TV News LIES

A US federal appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of the US president’s $400m White House ballroom, in a fresh blow to the controversial project.

Donald Trump, who demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make way for planned ballroom, has repeatedly touted it as “a gift” to the US people.

But in a major setback in a case testing ⁠his presidential authority, the Washington-based US ⁠court of ​appeals for the District of Columbia circuit upheld a preliminary injunction in a divided 2-1 order on Friday.

The appeals court put ⁠its ruling on hold for two weeks, allowing the administration to appeal to the ​US supreme court. Writing on social media, Trump described the ruling as “totally wrong” and said an appeal would be filed.

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The U.S. Army removed a top general overseeing forces in Europe from command in recent days, close to two months before his time in the role is slated to end, two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters, told The Hill on Friday.

Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza was the commanding general of the Army’s V Corps, a forward-deployed corps headquartered at Fort Knox, Ky., and Camp Kościuszko, Poland.

When reached for comment, the Army confirmed to The Hill Costanza’s removal, adding the matter was “referred to the appropriate authority in accordance with Army regulations.”

Brig. Gen. John B. Mountford, deputBrig. Gen. John B. Mountford, deputy commanding general of readiness for V Corps, will serve as the acting commanding general, an Army spokesperson said.y commanding general of readiness for V Corps, will serve as the acting commanding general, an Army spokesperson said.

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The Pentagon revoked former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information, accusing him of “unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities” to a news outlet, it announced Friday evening.

Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said the Defense Department (DOD) also yanked Kendall’s “ability to hold any sensitive position,” he wrote in an X post.

“Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty,” Parnell added. “Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.” 

Kendall did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

Kendall, a trained lawyer and engineer, served as the Air Force secretary from 2021 to 2025 during the Biden administration and spent decades in national security roles prior. He is currently a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American progress.

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A medical transport plane crash that killed four people in New Mexico this spring has been linked to a U.S. military GPS jamming exercise, a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows.

The medevac plane, operated by Generation Jets, crashed about 12:15 a.m. MT on May 14 near Lincoln in the southeastern part of the state, the NTSB wrote in its report released Aug. 5.

The town is along U.S. Route 380 about 60 miles west of Roswell.

The aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 90, was traveling from Roswell to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso, New Mexico, when it crashed, NTSB investigators said. The plane and air crew were both based at Roswell Air Center (ROW), the report said, and the two passengers on board were flight nurses employed by Trans Aero Medical Services.

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How many people do you need to kill before you’ve violated a ceasefire?

One, surely. But what about two? 10? 100?

Or how about more than 1,200? That’s how many Palestinians Israel has killed in Gaza since agreeing to an ostensible ceasefire with Hamas in October. 

Israel has also continued to pummel southern Lebanon, despite a “ceasefire” there. But the western media appears to see no violations at all. Instead, it sees ceasefires that are “fragile”, “tested”, “strained” or “shaky”.

Given that news reporting is supposed to rely on precision and accuracy, you’d imagine organisations such as the BBC, Reuters, the Associated Press and CNN have read the terms of the deal that was signed between Israel and Hamas in Egypt. It’s unequivocal, and there really isn’t much room for interpretation.

There were conditions that needed to be fulfilled within the first 72 hours before the truce could take effect, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces to agreed lines within Gaza, and the return by Hamas of all remaining Israeli hostages, living or dead.

Once the prerequisites were met, which they were, the text said that “all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment and targeting operations will be suspended”.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered government authorities to prepare a new sanctions operation against Russia’s military industry, saying delays allow Moscow to adapt to existing restrictions.

According to Zelensky’s statement on Thursday, Aug. 6, he held a coordination meeting on sanctions against Russia, covering all categories of restrictions as the war approaches its fifth year. Denying Russia time to adjust to restrictions already in place remains the top priority, he said.

“We also discussed Russia’s use of machine tools and technologies that Moscow is a generation behind on and definitely could not have created on its own,” Zelensky said, adding that “more pressure is needed to limit such ties between the aggressor state and the world.”

According to Zelensky, every participant in the meeting was assigned concrete tasks that are expected to be fully carried out.

The announcement builds on the EU’s finalized 21st sanctions package against Russia in mid-July, which targeted specific companies, entities and individuals tied to Moscow’s war effort.

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Iran's parliament is reviewing a plan to ban ships linked to the U.S., Israel and other "hostile countries" from transiting the Strait of Hormuz until Tehran is compensated for war damage, according to Iranian state media.

The plan would impose fees of up to 7% of cargo value on commercial vessels that pass through the strait. It would also fine ships 20% of cargo if they violate Iran's conditions.

Iran on Wednesday said it was finalizing an agreement on shipping routes with Oman, a U.S. ally that sits on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying that ships would enter through the strait's northern corridor near the Iranian coast and exit through the southern corridor near the Omani coast.

Oman has not commented.

The Trump administration has disputed Iran's characterization of the agreement.

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