INTERNACIONAL
Flaring Iran nuclear crisis provides first major test for pivotal Trump trio

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A trio of key Trump administration officials — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt — are in the midst of facing their first major foreign policy test in their high-profile admin roles after Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran and President Donald Trump weighs involving the U.S. in the conflict.
The trio ascended to their roles with widespread fanfare among many MAGA conservatives, though many critics just months ago questioned if their prior careers prepared them for what was to come. The current flaring tensions with the Islamic Republic could be the final arbiter of which side was correct.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Fox News / The Will Cain Show)
«President Trump leads from the front, and he has assembled a highly-qualified, world-class team that has helped him achieve numerous foreign policy accomplishments this term,» White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox Digital on Wednesday when asked about the trio’s test on Iran. «The American people trust the President to make the right decisions that keep them safe, and he has empowered his team to meet the moment and advance his foreign policy goals.»
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
Secretary Hegseth was one of Trump’s more controversial nominees among critics, as Democrat lawmakers and left-wing pundits slammed Hegseth as unqualified for the job.
IRAN WARNS US JOINING CONFLICT WOULD MEAN ‘ALL-OUT WAR,’ REFUSES DEMANDS TO GIVE UP DISPUTED NUCLEAR PROGRAM
«This hearing now seems to be a hearing about whether or not women are qualified to serve in combat. And not about whether or not you are qualified to be secretary of defense,» Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth said during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in January. «And let me just say that the American people need a secretary of defense who’s ready to lead on day one. You are not that person.»
«Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?» asked Democrat Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking member of the committee.

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
Hegseth battled against claims he would lower previous standards for the secretary of Defense and that his vows to strengthen the military could be bluster once he was in the role and juggling oversight of the entire military.
«As I’ve said to many of you in our private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense,» he said in his opening statement during his confirmation hearing. «He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job.»
Hegseth was confirmed to the role after Vice President JD Vance issued a tie-breaking vote when Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in voting against the confirmation.
Hegseth is an Ivy League graduate and former National Guard officer who was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay during his military career, which began in 2003. He is also the recipient of a handful of military awards, including two Bronze Stars. He appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday and was pressed about the Israel–Iran conflict.
«They should have made a deal,» Hegseth said.
«President Trump’s word means something — the world understands that,» Hegseth said, referring to Trump’s repeated pressure on Iran to make a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program as the conflict spiraled.
VANCE DEFENDS TRUMP’S IRAN POSITION AMID ‘CRAZY STUFF ON SOCIAL MEDIA’
«And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that’s precisely what we’re doing,» Hegseth continued.
He did not reveal if the U.S. would assist Israel in the ongoing strikes on Iran, but that the Pentagon is in the midst of preparing options for Trump.
Any potential U.S. involvement in the strikes could pull the country into war against Iran.
«I may do it, I may not do it,» Trump said Wednesday on whether he would order a strike on Iran. «I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.»
Hegseth was among high-profile Trump officials who joined Trump in the White House’s Situation Room as the president and his team closely monitor the flaring conflict.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. (John McDonnell/The Associated Press)
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
Director of National Intelligence Gabbard is another Trump official who faced an intense confirmation hearing as critics argued she was unqualified for the role.
Gabbard is a former Democrat who served in the U.S. House representing Hawaii from 2013 to 2021, a former member of the House Armed Services Committee and an Iraq war veteran. However, she had never held a formal position within the intelligence community before serving as director of national intelligence.
Ahead of her confirmation, Gabbard’s critics slammed her as lacking the qualifications for the role, questioning her judgment over a 2017 meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, labeling her as sympathetic toward Russia, and balking at her previous favorable remarks related to former National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.
USS NIMITZ CARRIER STRIKE GROUP SAILING TOWARD MIDDLE EAST AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, US OFFICIAL SAYS
«Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience and the Constitution of the United States,» she said during her confirmation hearing. «Accusing me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, a guru’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters.»
She ultimately was confirmed in a 52–48 vote.

Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo)
Gabbard’s March testimony before the Senate dismissing concerns Iran was actively building a nuclear weapon is back under the nation’s microscope after Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran. Israel’s strikes were in direct response to Israeli intelligence showing Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a short span of time.
Trump was asked about Gabbard’s testimony while traveling back to Washington Monday evening from the G7 summit in Canada, and the president said he did not «care» what Gabbard had to say in previous testimony, arguing he believes Iran is close to building a nuke.
«You’ve always said that you don’t believe Iran should be able to have a nuclear weapon,» a reporter asked Trump while aboard Air Force One on Monday. «But how close do you personally think that they were to getting one?»
«Very close,» Trump responded.
«Because Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon,» the reporter continued.
Trump shot back, «I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.»
When Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee in March, she delivered a statement on behalf of the intelligence community that included testimony that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon.
«Iran’s cyber operations and capabilities also present a serious threat to U.S. networks and data,» Gabbard told the committee on March 26.
The intelligence community «continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003,» she said. She did add that «Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.»
«Iran will likely continue efforts to counter Israel and press for U.S. military withdrawal from the region by aiding, arming and helping to reconstitute its loose consortium of like-minded terrorist actors, which it refers to as its axis of resistance,» she warned.
However, as critics picked apart Gabbard’s past comments, the White House stressed that Gabbard and Trump are closely aligned on Iran.
A White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday afternoon that Trump and Gabbard are closely aligned and that the distinction being raised between Gabbard’s March testimony and Trump’s remarks that Iran is «very close» to getting a nuclear weapon is one without a difference.
The official noted that Gabbard underscored in her March testimony that Iran had the resources to potentially build a nuclear weapon. Her testimony in March reflected intelligence she received that Iran was not building a weapon at the time but that the country could do so based on the resources it amassed for such an endeavor.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
Leavitt is the youngest press secretary in U.S. history, assuming the role at age 27.
Some liberal critics, such as Joy Behar of «The View,» attempted to discount her appointment when she was first tapped by Trump, and she has since emerged as a Trump administration firebrand during her routine White House press briefings.
Though Leavitt has overwhelmingly been praised by supporters of the president for her defense of the administration and repeated fiery exchanges with left-wing media outlets during briefings, her tenure has overwhelmingly focused on domestic issues.

President Donald Trump is in the midst of monitoring the flaring conflict between Israel and Iran. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press )
Leavitt has kept the nation updated on issues such as mass deportation efforts, Trump’s ongoing list of executive orders affecting policies from transgender issues to electric vehicles, national tragedies such as the terror attack in Boulder targeting Jewish Americans and Trump’s wide-ranging tariff policy that affects foreign nations.
Though the administration entered office with a war raging between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the ongoing war in Israel after Hamas attacked the country in 2023, the Israel–Iran conflict provides Leavitt with her first major international crisis that could include U.S. involvement.
Leavitt’s highly anticipated first press briefing since Israel launched its preemptive strikes is scheduled for Thursday.
INTERNACIONAL
Dublin protesters clash with police, burn vehicle after migrant accused of sexually assaulting Irish girl

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Protesters set a police car on fire and hurled glass bottles at officers in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday night after an illegal migrant was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Irish girl who was in state care.
The violence erupted outside the City West Hotel, a sprawling former hotel-turned migrant center where an illegal migrant — who had deportation orders standing against him — is accused of attacking the girl late Sunday night.
Irish police, An Garda Síochána, said that six people were arrested during the clashes and one female police officer suffered a foot injury.
HERE’S WHY IRELAND IS AT BOILING POINT OVER MASS IMMIGRATION
Onlookers film a Garda vehicle burning as a demonstration outside a hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent in Saggart, southwest Dublin, on Oct. 21, 2025. Police in riot gear clashed with hundreds of protesters after allegations that a 10-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. (Peter Murphy / AFP via Getty Images)
Police said their officers were subject to «sustained attacks» as they tried to cordon off the building. Nearly 300 police were dispatched to the area in Saggart.
Some protesters were seen waving Irish flags while others could be heard chanting, «Get them out, get them out,» in reference to the 2,000 migrants living at the shelter.
Police said protesters hurled hundreds of empty glass bottles from nearby garbage containers and bricks at officers, while fireworks were also discharged. A police helicopter was targeted with lasers, a spokesperson said.
Men on horseback attempted to breach police lines by charging at law enforcement, police said. Police used pepper spray as they tried to disperse the crowd.
«An Garda Síochána facilitates peaceful protests on a daily basis. This was obviously not a peaceful protest,» Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said in a statement. «The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence against Gardaí.»

A protester films as a Garda vehicle burns during violent clashes outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Saggart, southwest Dublin, on Oct. 21, 2025. (Peter Murphy / AFP via Getty Images)
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin condemned the attacks on police and said there was «no justification for the vile abuse against them.»
On Wednesday, he said the girl who was allegedly raped had not been protected by the state and the circumstances around the alleged attack are of «deep concern.»
THOUSANDS MARCH IN DUBLIN AGAINST IRELAND’S MASS MIGRATION POLICIES AS MCGREGOR PURSUES PRESIDENTIAL BID
The victim was in the care of child protection services, known as «Tusla,» which said she had absconded from staff during a planned recreational trip in the city center. It is unclear how she got in contact with the suspect.
The suspect, who is in his 20s, is originally from Africa, according to the Irish Mirror. He arrived in Ireland six years ago and failed his application for international protection in 2024 and was ordered deported in March, according to the Irish Times.
The incident took place on the grounds of Citywest, a former hotel which for the last few years has been housing migrants seeking international protection.
The Irish government bought the hotel in September for around $150 million with the aim of turning it into a permanent migrant facility despite several protests by locals.

A protester waves the Irish flag in front of riot police on Oct. 21, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland. Demonstrators gathered outside the Citywest Hotel after police arrested a foreign national in connection with the alleged rape of a 10-year-old girl. (Getty Images)
Tensions around mass immigration continue to bubble since November 2023 when hundreds of rioters looted shops, set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at police officers after three young children were stabbed outside a school allegedly by an Algerian-born suspect who had become an Irish citizen.
Last week, a 17-year-old Ukrainian was murdered just days after he came to Ireland and was placed in asylum care operated by Tusla. A Somalian youth, also an asylum seeker and described as a minor, has been charged with his murder, according to RTE News.
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A homeless foreign national was arrested and charged last week with the murder of an 89-year-old Irish woman, per the Irish Independent.
On Friday, Irish people go to the polls to elect a new president.
europe,crime,ireland,immigration,illegal immigrants,migrant crime,police and law enforcement
INTERNACIONAL
Government shutdown knowledge: gaming out its potential end

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«I know that I know nothing» – Socrates
«You don’t know nothing» – Baseball Legend Yogi Berra
Socrates may have been claiming ignorance, Berra was talking about baseball, but both may as well have been talking about the government shutdown.
So when will it end?
«You shouldn’t ask me because I’m the guy who said it’ll only last five days,» Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said on Fox. «But I will tell you, a couple of Democrat senators recently indicated that they think this is going to go ‘til at least the first of November.»
However, Biggs added that he doesn’t «see an end in sight.»
GOVERNMENT ENTERS LONGEST FULL SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY WITH NO END IN SIGHT
The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Whether you are Socrates or Yogi Berra, we don’t know «nothing.» Which technically means that we do know something.
However, I do know proper grammar.
The one thing that I do know in this case is that I don’t know anything about ending the government shutdown.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALLS AS DEMOCRATS DEMAND OBAMACARE SUBSIDY EXTENSION
Regardless… Is it even possible to game out when the government shutdown may end?
Congressional Republicans believed that Democrats would fold after a matter of days once funding lapsed in the wee hours of Oct. 1. Then Republicans argued that Democrats would cry «uncle» once federal workers missed their first paycheck last week. Later, the GOP suggested Democrats would keep the government shuttered through the «No Kings» rallies around the country last weekend.
The GOP argued that Democrats needed to show their base that they were «fighting» against President Donald Trump.
«Now that they had their protests, I just pray that they come to their senses and re-open the government this week,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., says he doesn’t «see an end in sight.» (Getty Images)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of continually changing their reasons for why Democrats are blocking the GOP bill to fund the government.
«In a few days, it will be about something else,» Jeffries said.
So, we enter the ice age of Congressional inactivity as the government shutdown enters its fourth week.
Who could have predicted it?
Then again, who could have predicted thieves could make off with millions of dollars of jewelry inside the Louvre in an historic heist? At least the bandits stole our attention away from the government shutdown for a bit.
SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL: NO HEADWAY UNTIL THERE’S ‘INCENTIVE,’ POLITICOS LAMENT
That said, everyone knows (even if they won’t say it publicly) who will likely end the government shutdown: Trump.
He’s not just the president. Trump has a sway over Republicans in Congress that Ronald Reagan could only envy. So until he joins the fray, the government will remain closed.
«Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines. Get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created and that he has allowed to happen,» Jeffries said.
«Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis,» said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. «The president should meet with us. It’s not me, him or anything political. It’s that the people are in crisis every day.»

President Trump met with Republican lawmakers this week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The president did meet with lawmakers this week, holding court with Senate Republicans for lunch in the renovated Rose Garden.
«Did you notice the white marble floor?» quipped the president.
But Democrats contend that Trump huddled with the wrong party. Schumer characterized it as «a Rose Garden pep rally.»
Trump implored Democrats to bend – and vote for the GOP spending bill.
«They’re getting killed in the polls,» he said.
SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
«Shouldn’t the president get involved in negotiations at this stage to end this?» yours truly asked Johnson.
«We’re not going [to] pay a ransom to reopen the federal government,» replied the speaker.
«Isn’t the only key to end this shutdown to just have a sit-down negotiation with both sides?» I countered.
«Republicans have nothing to offer to Democrats,» replied Johnson.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, contends that «Republicans have nothing to offer Democrats.» (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
In fact, some Republicans argued that Trump shouldn’t even negotiate.
«If I’ve learned anything about President Trump, it’s his timing. I think that he feels like the timing is not right now. We’re winning the messaging war,» said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. «So there’ll be a time. But the time is not ripe yet.»
It’s unclear when that time may come, considering that the government has remained shuttered for more than three weeks.
And two weeks ago, Republicans torched Schumer for declaring things got «better» for Democrats the longer the shutdown dragged on, but shutdown fatigue is now setting in on Capitol Hill.
BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN
«Welcome to day 22 of the Democrats’ shutdown,» Johnson declared at the now sonorous daily press briefings delivered by both sides.
«This does suck,» said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Fox Business about the shutdown.
Lawmakers are now seeking shutdown daylight.
«The hope is that we get this shutdown resolved before the end of the month,» Jeffries said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expresses hope that the shutdown will be resolved by the end of the month. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
There’s worry about how the shutdown might impact national parks.
«(Here are) the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see without regular staffing. Litter will pile up and park ecosystems will be affected,» said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.
Both parties are convinced they’re prevailing in the shutdown.
«What I did hear on our telephone town hall repeatedly (is) ‘Don’t you guys give into these hostage takers,’» said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. «I heard that repeatedly.»
«It’s resonating with Americans. What I’m hearing from people in Connecticut is ‘hang tough,’» said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
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The Senate holds a test vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential workers who are on the job without a paycheck, but Democrats are skeptical.
«I’d be in favor of paying the federal workers,» said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. «That bill, unfortunately, gives a lot of latitude to the president to pick and choose, or, I should say, (White House Budget Director) Russell Vought to pick and choose (who gets paid).»
So while shutdown weariness sets in, no one knows when it might end.
It is said that knowing what you don’t know actually constitutes true knowledge.
And if no one knows the end of the shutdown, that must mean that everyone is pretty smart.
congress,government shutdown,house of representatives politics,senate
INTERNACIONAL
Detuvieron a la gemela de una mujer acusada de matar a cuatro personas: “Asesina serial como su hermana”

El Ministerio Público de San Pablo acusó formalmente a las gemelas Roberta Cristina Veloso Fernandes y Ana Paula Veloso Fernandes de ser “asesinas seriales”. Ambas están presas por una serie de envenenamientos cometidos entre enero y mayo en los estados de San Pablo y Río de Janeiro.
Los fiscales sostienen que Roberta “instigó” y “alentó” a Ana Paula a cometer los crímenes, llegando incluso a participar en la planificación de los ataques.
Leé también: Brasil: investigan a una estudiante de Derecho acusada de matar con veneno a su exnovio y a tres víctimas más
Por primera vez, la Justicia brasileña calificó a Roberta como “asesina serial”, igual que a su hermana. Ana Paula Velloso Fernandes habría asesinado a cuatro personas con veneno. (Foto: gentileza O Globo).
“Estamos ante otra ‘serial killer’”, escribieron los fiscales Rodrigo Merli Antunes y Vania Caceres Stefanoni en la denuncia contra Roberta. “Demuestra ser una asesina en serie, igual que su hermana”, apuntaron.
Cómo operaban las gemelas: veneno y móviles económicos
Las investigaciones revelaron que las hermanas usaban veneno en bebidas y alimentos para eliminar a sus víctimas, casi siempre por motivos económicos. Un informe pericial confirmó la presencia de insecticida en los frascos encontrados en la vivienda de Ana Paula, en Guarulhos, en la región metropolitana de San Pablo.
Leé también: El caso que sacudió a Mar del Plata: mató a su marido dándole veneno para ratas, la condenaron y destapó un infierno familiar
Según la causa, Ana Paula también “sentía placer al matar”. Además, no actuó sola: Michelle Paiva da Silva, de 43 años e hija de una de las víctimas, está acusada de haber pagado 4 mil reales a las gemelas para que envenenaran y mataran a su propio padre, de 65 años.
Ana Paula fue detenida en julio, Roberta en agosto y Michelle en octubre. El Ministerio Público pidió que la prisión de Roberta pase de temporaria a preventiva y que pague 80 mil reales como reparación mínima a las familias de las cuatro víctimas. Encontraron un frasco con un potente insecticida en la casa de Ana Paula. (Foto: gentileza Metrópoles/g1).
Quiénes son las víctimas de las gemelas
- Marcelo Hari Fonseca: dueño de la casa que alquilaba Ana Paula en Guarulhos. Murió el 31 de enero tras comer un sándwich que posiblemente estaba envenenado. Tras su muerte, la estudiante universitaria comenzó a exigir a la familia del hombre que le permitiera permanecer en la residencia. La mujer afirmó tener una relación romántica con él, lo cual es falso, según la policía.
- Maria Aparecida Rodrigues: conoció a Ana Paula a través de una app de citas. Luego fue a la casa de la estudiante, donde comió una torta presuntamente envenenada. Regresó a su casa en Guarulhos, se sintió mal y murió el 11 de abril.
- Neil Corrêa da Silva: padre de Michelle, amigo de Ana Paula y excompañero de la universidad. Según la policía, su hija pagó a la asesina en serie R$4.000 para viajar a Duque de Caxias, Río de Janeiro, donde vivía el hombre de 65 años. La mujer le puso veneno en sus porotos. El hombre murió el 26 de abril.
- Hayder Mhazres: un joven tunecino de 21 años que conoció Ana Paula a través de una aplicación de citas. Según la policía, tras iniciar una relación con ella, quiso terminarla, lo que llevó a la estudiante a matarlo. La mujer le habría servido un licuado envenenado. Tras su muerte, la familia de la víctima declaró que Ana Paula afirmó estar embarazada de su hijo y les había pedido dinero. Según la investigación, mintió sobre el embarazo.
En un interrogatorio grabado, Ana Paula admitió haber matado animales con veneno. Según el diario Estadao, la estudiante también habría matado a 14 perros para probar la eficacia del veneno.
Si se confirman las muertes, la sospechosa también podría ser acusada de crueldad animal.
Leé también: Sanae Takaichi hizo historia y se convirtió en la primera ministra de Japón
El caso que estremece a Brasil
La historia de las gemelas Veloso Fernandes, acusadas de planear y ejecutar una serie de asesinatos con veneno, mantiene en vilo a la opinión pública de Brasil. La Justicia avanza en el proceso y busca determinar el alcance real de los crímenes y la responsabilidad de cada una de las involucradas.
Brasil, asesino serial
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