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Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional

A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said. The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables. A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died af ...

BumRushDaShow

ICE Spent $700 Million on 7 Warehouses. Now It Wants to Get Rid of Them.

June 18, 2026Updated 1:50 p.m. ET The idea was meant to supercharge President Trump's mass deportation plan. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would purchase more than a dozen empty warehouses across the United States to massively expand its capacity to detain people deemed to be in the country illegally, which in turn would spike deportations. A year into Mr. Trump's term, it had bought 11 facilities at a cost of $1 billion. But in a major turnabout, the agency is planning to offload seve ...

BumRushDaShow

Trump's $14M Reflecting Pool Paint Job Is Now Peeling Off In Chunks

Updated Thu, June 18, 2026 at 3:29 PM EDT President Donald Trump positioned himself as a swimming pool expert, having put in "more than 100" over his career as he touted the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations he ordered this year. But after spending $14 million, the reflecting pool now looks arguably worse than it did before. Aside from the green hue of the water, the product of what is reportedly one of the largest algae blooms in recent years, the "industrial-grade ...

BumRushDaShow

Exclusive: Conservatives plan nationwide protest against AI data centers

2h A conservative group seeking stricter rules on AI is organizing a day of protest against data centers across the country next month, the group told Axios exclusively. Why it matters: Republicans in Washington are trying to pay attention to Americans' concerns over AI's impacts while supporting U.S. advancements in the technology. Driving the news: Humans First, a conservative organization that says it is fighting for an "America First AI policy," is planning a "Nationwide D ...

muriel_volestrangler

Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz

Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months, after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Tehran, claiming a historic victory over the US, said the strait was under its control and a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships though the strait would not be welcome. The warning came as the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Benjamin Netanyahu, the I ...

Uncle Joe

Strongman Trump's 'Forever Wars' All Come Back to Jeffrey Epstein

(Dadily Beast) This man who literally wraps himself in the flag and who, along with his aides, regularly touts their love of the military, views the entire massive U.S. defense apparatus as a prop, a personal plaything, an entity that exists not to defend the country, but rather to defend the president himself. Whatever the cost. Whatever the lasting damage done. It doesn’t matter as long as people do not find out any more of the dark truth about who Donald Trump is, what he has done in his past, and why our worst fears about him may not go far enough in detailing his depravity and contempt for the law and human decency.

Dulcinea

Here's how much the Iran war cost -- and how its effects will linger

(NPR) As conflicts go, the Iran war, should a loose framework and ceasefire deal hold, was relatively short in duration. But its costs and aftereffects will likely linger for years. The months-long conflict, which pitted the world's most powerful military against a far weaker, yet strategically adept, adversary cost the lives of 13 U.S. service members and more than 3,300 Iranians, according to state media. Another 3,826 have been killed in Lebanon, nearly 60 in Israel and dozens across Gulf states, according to authorities in those countries.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

Trump blows up spy bill after Senate Republicans say 'no' to voter ID legislation

(Reuters) President Donald Trump's derailment of a U.S. Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week is only the latest example of a growing rift with Senate Republicans, who are more willing to defy the commander-in-chief in the run-up to the November midterm elections. Aiming to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill ‌Pulte as acting U.S. spy chief, Trump forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to postpone a confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, his permanent nominee for director of national security, who ‌Republicans had hoped to fast-track into the job.

Swede

Yesterday Trump praised Russia for helping his "deal" with Iran. Today Hegseth lashes out at NATO.

(CNN) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on the Trump administration’s combative posture towards NATO on Thursday, announcing a six-month review of US forces in Europe and lambasting Washington’s allies for limiting their involvement in the war in Iran. “This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly towards Europe stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” he said at a meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers in Brussels.

KS Toronado

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South Dakota man whose life sentence was commuted by Noem now implicated in his niece's death

6 min ago - Two men, including one whose life sentence was commuted by then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, have been charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in a rural area five days after she went missing in March. McKenna Wendel was rep ... (AP)

Irish parliament votes to remove three-day abortion wait

7 min ago - Waiting period before receiving medication was included in draft law to gain support for abortion ban in 2018 referendum Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent Thu 18 Jun 2026 07.11 EDT Ireland’s parliament has voted to remove a mandatory three-da ... (the guardian)

Google's Secret Warrant Fight Over DOJ Pipe Bomb Probe Revealed

17 min ago - June 18, 2026 at 2:50 PM EDT Google waged a secret court fight against a US warrant demanding identities of hundreds of internet users who searched for the Democratic and Republican party headquarters in Washington before pipe bombs were planted ther ... (Bloomberg)

US diplomats depart Latin America-focused mission amid clashes with Trump ally

34 min ago - June 18, 2026 2:56 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Several senior U.S. diplomats posted to the Organization of American States have quit or been fired amid clashes with a Trump-appointed ambassador, according to six ... (Reuters)

Trump administration will pay to scrap California offshore wind lease

50 min ago - June 18, 2026, 1:17 p.m. ET June 17 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday said it would pay $765 million to power project developer Invenergy to terminate four wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Maine. The Department ... (USA Today)

Hotel workers strike at Hilton's Embassy Suites in Seattle seeking fair wages and ICE protections

1 hr ago - Jun 18, 2026, 7:38 AM | Updated: 3:03 pm BY JASON SUTICH Hotel workers have gone on strike on Thursday at Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Pioneer Square, calling for better wages, more hours, and year-round healthcare. The strike officially began at ... (My Northwest)

Jamie Raskin Expands Probe Into Trump's Health Amid Reports Of His 22 Doctors

1 hr ago - Jun 18, 2026, 11:23 AM EDT | Updated 7 hours ago WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Thursday expanded his probe into President Donald Trump’s health, demanding the White House physician provide Congress with a complete list of his me ... (Huff Post)

Luigi Mangione's legal team withdraws intention to invoke psychiatric defense

1 hr ago - Luigi Mangione's legal team withdraws intention to invoke psychiatric defense The update comes a day after they announced it in court. By Peter Charalambous and Aaron Katersky June 18, 2026, 5:51 PM Luigi Mangione's legal team on Thursday withdrew it ... (ABC News)

Federal regulators back Trump's plan to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers

1 hr ago - Thursday 18 June 2026 11:27 EDT Federal regulators on Thursday agreed to let large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and electric transmission system to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intellig ... (The Independent)

Student loan borrowers will get an interest rate cut if they sign up for auto pay

2 hrs ago - June 18, 20261:28 PM ET Student loan borrowers who enroll in automatic payments will get a much bigger discount on interest starting July 1, the U.S. Department of Education says. Auto pay has long offered a modest discount off borrowers' interest ra ... (NPR)

DOJ Invokes McCarthy-Era Law to Strip Somalia-born Minnesotan of Citizenship

2 hrs ago - 06.18.26 | 7:00 am The federal government is applying a McCarthy-era law to strip a Somalia-born Minneapolis man of his citizenship over actions that took place after he became a citizen. It’s a fundamental break with how the government has at ... (TPM)

ICE Spent $700 Million on 7 Warehouses. Now It Wants to Get Rid of Them.

3 hrs ago - June 18, 2026Updated 1:50 p.m. ET The idea was meant to supercharge President Trump's mass deportation plan. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would purchase more than a dozen empty warehouses across the United States to massively expand its capaci ... (New York Times)

Scores Fall Ill at Air Force Base After Hegseth Makes Flu Vaccine Optional

3 hrs ago - A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials s ... (NYT)

Trump's $14M Reflecting Pool Paint Job Is Now Peeling Off In Chunks

4 hrs ago - Updated Thu, June 18, 2026 at 3:29 PM EDT President Donald Trump positioned himself as a swimming pool expert, having put in "more than 100" over his career as he touted the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations he ordered this year. But after ... (Yahoo! News/Huff Post)

Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz

4 hrs ago - Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months, after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Tehran, claiming a historic victo ... (The Guardian)

Trump Labor Department sued over access to workplace diversity data

4 hrs ago - Updated June 18, 2026, 2:09 p.m. ET A shareholder group is fighting the Trump administration over its refusal to release federal government data that tracks diversity in the American workplace. USA TODAY exclusively obtained a lawsuit filed by As You ... (USA Today)

Janeese Lewis George wins the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, DC

4 hrs ago - Updated 2:50 PM EDT, June 18, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — Janeese Lewis George, who pledged to aggressively stand up to federal intervention into Washington, D.C.'s affairs, won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor, setting up a potential show ... (AP)

Trump administration ditches plan to close a critical ocean monitoring system after furious bipartisan backlash

5 hrs ago - PUBLISHED Jun 18, 2026, 1:58 PM ET The Trump administration is U-turning on its controversial decision to dismantle a critical ocean monitoring system that provides vital information on the health of the world’s oceans, after a bipartisan backla ... (CNN Climate)

Exclusive: Conservatives plan nationwide protest against AI data centers

6 hrs ago - 2h A conservative group seeking stricter rules on AI is organizing a day of protest against data centers across the country next month, the group told Axios exclusively. Why it matters: Republicans in Washington are trying to pay attention to America ... (msn/Axios)

Trump administration quietly shifts $352m in federal funds for White House ballroom

7 hrs ago - Donald Trump's administration has quietly redirected $352m in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president's controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be finance ... (The Guardian)