TV News LIES

The Pentagon fired the publisher, editor in chief and at least one reporter at Stars and Stripes, a historically independent military news outlet, Friday as the department has looked to reshape its coverage in recent months.

Slavin said he was ousted for insubordination after telling CBS News in an interview that potential censorship of news for U.S. service members would be a red line.

Korte confirmed her firing on social media, saying it was for “insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.”

“I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” Korte said on social platform X.

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An Israeli drone attack on a cafe in the port area west of Gaza City on Tuesday killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, and left one body so mutilated that health workers could not identify the victim, according to Gaza health officials. 

Most of the injured, including those in critical condition, were transferred to al-Shifa Hospital, which reported that it had received six bodies and 13 wounded, one of whom succumbed to their injuries later in the evening.

The hospital said one victim appeared to have taken a direct missile hit, with the body shredded beyond recognition.

Al Jazeera Arabic said the intensity of the strike pushed a number of the injured and dead into the sea, meaning the real number of casualties may be higher. 

Recovery efforts are currently underway.

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For the 12th consecutive day, three Palestinian families, comprising 10 people, including two young children, have been trapped inside their homes in the occupied West Bank, besieged and terrorized by dozens of armed Israelis—both settlers and soldiers. The family members have been stuck in separate homes, unable to shelter together or attend to their basic needs, with food supplies running dangerously low and without access to cooking gas or a fridge.

While the siege on the three families has garnered international media attention and statements of condemnation, the attack is not the first of its kind, but rather a more prominent example of a growing tactic by Israeli settlers and soldiers working in tandem to dispossess Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. The attacks are increasingly focused on Palestinian communities in Area B, a designation under the Oslo Accords where the Palestinian Authority is nominally in charge of civil administration while Israel retains security control.

The latest Israeli siege targeted a small cluster of Palestinian homes that sit atop a hill on the edge of the village of Qusra, in the southern part of the Nablus governorate in the northern West Bank.

On the morning of August 9, armed settlers blocked off the only road leading to the homes and erected a colonial outpost directly in front of the door of one of the houses. They began pelting the homes with rocks and trying to break inside on a regular basis.

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Palestinians trapped in their homes by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Qusra are running out of food as the siege enters its 12th day.

Aisha Hassan, who is sheltering in one of three surrounded homes south of Nablus with her mother and brother, said they were “starving”.

Israeli soldiers arrived last week, ostensibly to remove the settlers, but have since effectively contributed to the siege by blocking food deliveries to the families.

“The municipal council tried to bring us food, but the soldiers prevented them, and the food was left outside,” Hassan told Middle East Eye. 

“Unicef staff were able to deliver some food to us a few days ago, and now it’s starting to spoil.”

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The nonpartisan on Friday shifted its ratings in five gubernatorial races, moving all but one race in favor of Democrats, as the left gains momentum in several key states ahead of November.

Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors’ editor for the report, wrote that Democrats are finding themselves uniquely competitive in several red-leaning states, benefiting from a “favorable national climate” and “unique Democratic recruits.”

The biggest changes came in Arizona and Ohio; the governor’s race in the Grand Canyon State moved from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” and in the Buckeye State — which is currently led by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) — the race shifted from “lean Republican” to a “toss up.”

In Arizona, the report cited Gov. Katie Hobbs’s (D) fundraising advantage over likely Republican nominee Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), as well as her relatively strong approval ratings as reasons for moving the race into the Democratic column.

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A small plane carrying eight people crashed Aug. 20 in a remote part of western Alaska, the Federal Aviation Administration told USA TODAY.

The Cessna 441 departed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was headed to Cape Newenham, a remote area in western Alaska, when it crashed at around 12:15 p.m. local time, an FAA spokesperson said. The condition of the eight people aboard was not immediately known.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. The agency said the NTSB will lead the probe.

USA TODAY reached out to the NTSB and the U.S. Coast Guard for comment.

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Progressive Aisha Wahab has been elected to Congress in a special election following a bitter intra-party battle over the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April after facing sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell has denied the allegations.

Wahab, a state senator, was widely considered the frontrunner in the district in California’s East Bay and had the backing of the state Democratic party as well as Our Revolution, labor unions, local officials and the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta.

She won the primary for the special election for the final months of Swalwell’s term by more than 20 points over Melissa Hernandez, the president of the board of directors for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) agency.

“I will fight for this district that raised me,” Wahab said in a statement on Thursday. “From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”

While Wahab held a major lead throughout the race, Hernandez’s campaign received a significant boost as Super Pacs connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) poured money into the race.

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Natalie Harp, special assistant to Donald Trump, continues to be the focus of media attention Thursday after an MS Now report revealed that she had worked at the White House for nearly a year without obtaining a security clearance.

Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president. Her presence with Trump when the president left Air Force One as a decoy while sneaking on to another plane in a service cart – even as senior officials remained behind – drew attention.

Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia, amplified that attention with comments at a rally Sunday in Atlanta. Speaking of Trump, Ossoff said: “He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job; he wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”

A clip of his commentary went viral on social media, drawing attacks from the president’s defenders.

White House communications director Steven Cheung posted in reply on X: “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics,” while White House spokesman Davis Ingle posted, “Jon Ossoff is a cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama. Nobody gives a shit what this lightweight loser says.”

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