US ‘locked and loaded’ to destroy Iran’s ‘crown jewel’ ‘if we want,’ Trump warns
President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is “locked and loaded” to destroy Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, but has chosen not to do so. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump referenced previous U.S. strikes on the island, which he described as the country’s “crown jewel,” leaving only the section that handles oil pipelines intact. “We can do that on five minutes’ notice. We have it all locked and loaded and ready to go if we want to do it,” he said. “We chose not to do it. I chose not to do it again. We’ll see what happens.” Trump suggested the threat is intended to pressure Iran into talks, saying Tehran wants to “negotiate badly” but is not yet ready to make the concessions the United States expects. TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY REVEALS WHAT LED TO BREAKDOWN IN IRAN TALKS BEFORE OPERATION EPIC FURY “I don’t think they’re ready to do what they have to do. But I think they will be at some point,” he told reporters. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday that his country has not asked for a ceasefire or negotiations in the now three-week conflict. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes,” Araghchi explained. “And this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do that until President Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory.” TRUMP SAYS IT’S AN ‘HONOR’ TO KEEP STRAIT OF HORMUZ OPEN FOR CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRIES U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) struck Kharg Island on Friday in a large-scale precision attack as part of Operation Epic Fury. The strikes hit more than 90 military targets, including naval mine storage facilities and missile bunkers, while leaving the island’s oil infrastructure intact, according to CENTCOM. Axios reported that Trump has discussed the possibility of seizing Kharg outright, which one U.S. official reportedly said would amount to “an economic knockout of the regime” by effectively cutting off a key source of Iran’s oil revenue. IRAN WAR JEOPARDIZES TRUMP ECONOMIC BOOM BEFORE KEY MIDTERM ELECTIONS Seizing the island could require deploying U.S. troops and risk Iranian retaliatory strikes on oil infrastructure across the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia. “There are big risks. There are big rewards. The president isn’t there yet and we’re not saying he will be,” the official told Axios.
Dem candidate’s unearthed ‘winter Texan’ comment could haunt campaign
Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner and music star, once said he would pursue Mexican citizenship and described himself as a “winter Texan” for spending much of the year south of the U.S. border, drawing scrutiny for his time spent internationally as he pursues a seat in Congress. “It gets hot here, bro. Like real hot — like real hot. I’m a summer Mexican,” Pulido told interviewers in 2023. “It sounds better: winter Texan. It sounds better to say, ‘I’m a winter Texan.’” His comments, which Pulido says he made in jest, run counter to statements he made to NBC News earlier this month. TEXAS BORDER DISTRICT DEM CUELLAR BEATS BACK PRIMARY CHALLENGERS “I live in Texas. We’ve always lived in Texas. Since COVID, really — that’s just not true,” Pulido said, responding to accusations that he only sometimes lived in the district he is running to represent. Pulido is best known for his Tejano and Mexican–Spanish folk-style songs, such as “Desvelado” and “Se Murió de Amor,” and has received five nominations for a Latin Grammy Award. He won Best Tejano Album in 2022 and 2025. Pulido’s career still takes him south of the border on a regular basis, leading him to tell local newspapers in Mexico that he was considering dual citizenship in 2015. “I’m going to be Mexican because I want the same Mexican passport you have,” Pulido told El Norte, a Mexican outlet. His last five concerts have been in Mexico, according to his tour website. Pulido made headlines last fall when he announced a congressional bid in one of the country’s most competitive districts. Shortly afterward, he also drew scrutiny for a resurfaced history of posting links to explicit websites on his personal X account — as well as for a social media post of what appeared to be him urinating on President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star. TRUMP’S PARDON OF HOUSE DEM CUELLAR BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS HIS BROTHER FACES INDICTMENT He has also received backlash over his past vulgar attacks against Trump, including posting the Spanish translation of “f— your mother.” “I’d like to give you the biggest ‘f— you” you piece of s—, a–hole, d— head, son of a b—-,” Pulido said to Trump in another post. Despite those controversies, Pulido recently captured the Democratic nomination to run in Texas’ 15th Congressional District — a seat currently held by Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. De La Cruz, a two-term incumbent, needled Pulido over his time spent in Mexico through a post to X. She quipped that Pulido “only belongs at quinceañeras,” referring to the lavish, coming-of-age parties traditionally thrown for girls turning 15 in Latin cultures. “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Pulido shot back. His campaign said Pulido asked local quinceañeras if he could attend them, drawing nearly 1,000 invites to parties in the district. Pulido’s ties to Mexico extend beyond his music career. A person familiar with Pulido’s background said his wife still lives in Mexico along with children from previous marriages. He also owns a house there and told interviewers in 2025 that he goes to Mexico for healthcare. “We live on the border. My wife and I have a house in Mexico. So, we travel there, and we spend time over there. And I’ve had a pretty unique perspective of experiencing healthcare over there and healthcare here,” Pulido said. TRUMP ENDORSES CUELLAR OPPONENT AFTER PARDONING DEM REP His campaign confirmed that Pulido does not have dual citizenship. “Bobby has one citizenship — American, and he’s proud of it. And, frankly, there’s nothing wrong with people having ties to family and heritage across borders,” Pulido’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Hawaii Dem reveals why she stayed seated during Trump’s viral SOTU moment about prioritizing Americans
Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, said she had no hesitations about remaining in her seat at the 2026 State of the Union when President Donald Trump challenged lawmakers to stand if they agreed the U.S. government should prioritize its citizens’ safety over that of illegal aliens. Like every single one of her Democratic colleagues, Tokuda, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, stayed put as Republicans stood for over a minute and a half, applauding in a show of support for the president’s statement. A voter approached Tokuda about the moment two weeks later, pressing her on why she didn’t stand. “The statement was: ‘The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.’ I noticed you did not stand,” a voter who identified herself as Arline said. TRUMP SHAMES DEMOCRATS IN VIRAL STATE OF THE UNION CHALLENGE ON MIGRANT CRIME: ‘FIRST DUTY’ “I’d like to know your reasoning why you did not stand.” After a brief smattering of applause from the audience, Tokuda thanked Arline for the question, noting that lawmakers don’t always get easy questions at town hall events. “But that decision was easy for me,” Tokuda said. She said her reaction was based on her interpretation of Trump’s challenge, stating that she believed the president had no intention of fielding the support for the statement. “If it had been a genuine question, a true question — not a ploy to be able to put on some commercial later on to say ‘look at all those Democrats who don’t believe in protecting Americans’ — I absolutely would have stood,” Tokuda said. DEMOCRAT SLAMMED FOR STAYING SEATED DURING TRUMP SPEECH HONORING VICTIMS’ FAMILIES Tokuda did not reference the moment in her immediate reactions to the State of the Union. Instead, on her website, she focused on Trump’s tariffs. “If you consider tariffs and the hundreds of billions of dollars that tariffs have taxed on everyday Americans … the hundreds of billions of dollars he’s collecting in tariffs have been a tax on everyday people,” Tokuda said, highlighting comments made to a local outlet. In the past, Tokuda has criticized Trump’s immigration crackdown efforts for hitting close to home. “We’re all one degree of separation from knowing somebody who is right now living in fear, worried that they could be picked up off the streets, or they could be deported, even if they have no grounds to,” Tokuda told the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last year. DEMOCRATS’ BIG MISFIRE AT STATE OF THE UNION HAS GOP STRATEGISTS SALIVATING: ‘HUGE MOMENT’ “There [are] too many looking over their shoulder and fearing for their lives right now.” Tokuda’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
LPG Crisis Deepens: 75 cylinders seized, 3 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhaderwah over illegal hoarding, black-marketing charges
In a major crackdown against the illegal hoarding and black-marketing of LPG cylinders, Bhaderwah Police on Sunday carried out a successful operation in the area and recovered 75 LPG cylinders while arresting three accused persons involved in the illegal trade.
ECI Model Code of Conduct: From new funds ban to ministers’ photos removal, what are its key directives?
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday enforced the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) soon after announcing the schedule for Assembly elections in five states and one Union Territory, Keralam, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The assembly elections between April 9 and April 23.
10 killed in massive fire in Medical college, hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack
At least 10 patients were killed in a major fire at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack district.
String of attacks connected to naturalized citizens raises national security questions
The United States is left vulnerable even by its own naturalized U.S. citizens from hostile foreign lands, proving a free country can be exposed to security risks by the very freedoms the Constitution endows, an expert warned on Fox News. “That’s partially because of legal reasons: They can’t just monitor constitutionally protected free speech and opinions after they become a naturalized citizen, indefinitely, just to keep tabs on them,” Mauro Institute president Ryan Mauro told Fox News on Saturday. “They legally can’t do it, and they also don’t have the resources to do it.” Just this month alone, the U.S. has experienced four attacks with ties to naturalized citizenship. TULSI GABBARD WARNS OF ‘DIRECT THREAT’ FROM SUSPECTED TERRORISTS NOW LIVING IN UNITED STATES “There’s a bit of a jihad olympics going on, which is where you have the Sunni radicals like ISIS competing with the Shiite radicals of the Iranian regime because they need attention in order to survive and in order settle the argument of who has Allah’s blessing so that they can trigger the apocalypse,” Mauro said. “That’s what they both want to do,” Mauro said. NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT URGES DHS TO RAISE TERROR THREAT LEVEL, WARNS OF SLEEPER CELL RISKS IN US The process of citizenship revocation has been a hotly debated topic during the second Trump administration, and the spate of four terror attacks amid the latest Israel-U.S. war on Iran may increase scrutiny on the vetting process. “A person is subject to revocation of naturalization if the person becomes a member of, or affiliated with, the Communist party, other totalitarian party, or terrorist organization within five years of his or her naturalization,” the U.S. Grounds for Revocation of Naturalization reads. ODU GUNMAN WHO KILLED ROTC INSTRUCTOR HAD PRIOR ISIS CONVICTION, WAS RELEASED EARLY Mauro’s institute is not constrained by federal law in vetting potential terrorist ideology of naturalized citizens like the Justice Department is, he noted. “That’s why I personally have set up a civilian intelligence team that does do that type of thing,” Mauro said. “And why we’ve been so successful is because whereas the government has to be very careful not to launch investigations based off of just a mere suspicion or an unpopular opinion, civilians are free to comb through social media and just find people and report them.” U.S. freedoms even protect suspected terrorists, he added. “If they do come across someone who is expressing support for a terrorist organization, it still gets tricky,” he lamented. “You would think, oh, at that point you can revoke it and just get rid of the people because that would make sense, but the question is membership and affiliation. “I mean, there’ll be a lot of headaches just over those words. At what point does it go from, oh, I agree with them, versus actually being affiliated with them as like a unit?” Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department, the FBI and multiple agencies within the Department of Homeland Security for comment on this story. The State Department redirected us to the latter two federal departments.
Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program
California state librarian Greg Lucas is facing scrutiny from lawmakers after roughly $650,000 tied to a statewide literacy program connected to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library could not be accounted for. The issue surfaced during a Thursday Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education hearing, which examined how funds were distributed for California’s participation in the book-gifting program. Documents shared by the subcommittee as part of its hearing agenda claim that a nonprofit created to help administer the program reported spending roughly $1.2 million, while bank statements provided to Senate budget staff showed $555,000 in expenditures, leaving about $649,000 without supporting documentation. “I find this to be incredibly concerning,” said state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, chair of the subcommittee. “There’s $650,000 that’s been unaccounted for in a program, a bipartisan effort that was intended to increase literacy among children. This is incredibly serious.” TRUMP ADMIN UNCOVERS ‘STAGGERING’ $8.6 BILLION IN SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS FRAUD State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, also criticized the lack of documentation, saying the situation raised serious concerns about transparency and oversight. “That makes no sense,” Grove said during the hearing. “And that reeks of horrific no transparency and potential fraud.” The California state library did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Lawmakers said Senate budget staff had requested financial records from the Strong Reader Partnership, the nonprofit created to help administer the program, multiple times, including receipts, invoices and bank statements to corroborate expenses. EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS According to the subcommittee, those requests were made on several occasions between November 2025 and February 2026, but the documentation had not been provided. During the hearing, Lucas acknowledged that lawmakers had received bank statements accounting for roughly $555,000 in spending but disputed the claim that the funds were unaccounted for. “I don’t believe that’s correct,” he said. “I mean, we received a final report on the disposition of the money by the Strong Reader Partnership, which has expressed, and we’ve passed this on to you as well, the difficulty in obtaining some of this information because they no longer have any money or members of the partnership since the money was transferred to the Imagination Library.” He added that his agency has repeatedly asked the nonprofit for additional records and pledged to continue requesting the information. PROPOSED CALIFORNIA WEALTH TAX DRIVES BILLIONAIRE EXODUS TO FLORIDA REAL ESTATE, LOCALS CONFIRM A spokesperson for the state library told ABC10 in a statement: “The California State Library takes seriously its responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in the taxpayer dollars entrusted to it. The State Library has provided the Legislature with all documentation in its possession and has repeatedly requested additional records from the Strong Reader partnership. The California State Library remains committed to cooperating fully with all legislative oversight and maintaining accountability in the administration of public funds.” Pérez gave Lucas seven days to produce the financial records, saying the subcommittee expected invoices and receipts detailing how the money was spent.
Latino voters are ‘no longer sleeping,’ Univision president warns GOP, Dems
Ahead of the 2026 midterms, Televisa Univision President Ignacio Meyer is calling for a revamping of political priorities with the key Latino voting bloc, “a sleeping giant that is no longer sleeping.” “Hispanic voters are largely sophisticated, are largely independent, and they want to be swayed by issues,” Meyer told Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston on Saturday at a SXSW event in Texas, urging both major political parties to “look at how they’re speaking to Hispanic voters.” “They do not want to be spoken to about partisan politics.” With the 2026 midterms prepped to set the table for the U.S., Congress and the White House, Meyer added the Latino vote is “largely up for grabs” and there is a “big disconnect” with it. DEMOCRATS HAD MAJOR ELECTION VICTORIES IN 2025, BUT WINS DON’T ERASE PARTY’S CRITICAL WEAKNESSES “The Hispanic population has been called the great sleeping giant,” he added. “It’s no secret that it’s no longer sleeping. They’re awake. They’re influential, the largest growing demographic in the United States across culture, sports, news, any one of the segments.” President Donald Trump‘s border security and legal immigration policies are a lot more popular with Latino voters than Democrats might have imagined. Trump won more than 48% of the vote in his sweeping 2024 presidential election, winning all of the key battleground states. Meyer pointed to the recent Texas primaries, saying addressing Hispanic voters in their language is key, urging spending early and often – a boon for his network. HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS “Those that did their homework won,” he said, adding those that didn’t “lost, and they lost big.” “I’m not a huge expert on politics,” he admitted, trying to play both sides to keep the campaign funds flowing in the political battlegrounds, but “balance of power in both the House and the Senate is going to be swung by very few races this year.” “Out of all of those races, every single one has a high-density Hispanic population. Every single one of those voting blocs is up for grabs, and they want to be spoken to about the issues that are important to them.” HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR WANTS TRUMP ‘OUT THERE ON THE TRAIL’ IN MIDTERM BATTLE FOR MAJORITY Univision is the largest American Spanish-language television network, targeting Latino audiences, and is the way to speak to Hispanic voters “in their language,” which politicians do not do enough, according to Meyer. “Why would our civil servants not speak to us in the language and the culture that we deserve to be spoken to, and talk to us about the issues that we deserve to be spoken to?” he asked. “I think people would like to oversimplify what it’s like to be a U.S. Hispanic in the United States. When you come from another country, you have to fight for your place with different circumstances, different language.” MARK HALPERIN: TRUMP STRATEGY SUPER SESSION PLOTS MIDTERM SURVIVAL AS HISTORY STALKS GOP Latinos should not be a “check-the-box” voting bloc to reach. “Big growing population, check the box, spend X amount of money, spend it late – only in that window – and let it go: It’ll work,” he said of miscalculating political campaigns. “Well, there’s no magic.” “It takes commitment.” Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who also spoke on the panel, said Democrats’ losses among Latino voters reflect a broader disconnect with working-class concerns. He argued the party must focus on economic issues such as lowering prices and improving household finances to regain support.
Moment Iranian missile hits Tel Aviv
NewsFeed CCTV footage released by Israeli police shows the moment an Iranian missile struck a street in Tel Aviv. Emergency crews say at least three people were injured, and several vehicles were destroyed. Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)