INTERNACIONAL
Ex-counterterrorism official Joe Kent continues calling for US military withdrawal from Middle East
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Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent is renewing his call for the withdrawal of US forces from the Middle East amid the ongoing war with Iran.
«Get our troops out now before we suffer a mass casualty attack. Break the escalation trap. Trump still has the political strength at home to declare victory & have it resonate, that ability will be lost if we suffer more casualties. Now is the time to leave, immediately,» he wrote Sunday on X.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Monday.
US SERVICE MEMBER KILLED IN IRAQ AS TROOPS RECOVER UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS IN JORDAN: CENTCOM
President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, N.Y. on July 17, 2026. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
Kent made the comments while sharing a post from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
«Yesterday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the passing of two U.S. service members and the missing status of one in Jordan following an Iranian attack on July 17. After a thorough search, U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today. An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing,» CENTCOM noted in part of a statement on Sunday.
«Separately, a U.S. service member in northern Iraq was killed in action July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury,» the statement noted.
EX-COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL JOE KENT ENDORSES GOP SENATE PRIMARY CHALLENGER AS TRUMP BACKS LINDSEY GRAHAM
Kent quit the counterterrorism government post earlier this year, citing his opposition to the Iran war.
In part of his resignation letter he asserted, «Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.»
EX-COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF WARNS OF ‘MAJOR PROBLEM’ THAT COULD FORCE US ‘BACK INTO THE WAR ON IRAN’S TERMS’
Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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In a portion of a Saturday post on X he wrote, «We restore order by ending the conflict on our terms: deprive Iran of military targets to strike by removing our troops, bases, & naval forces from the area. Our bases in the region are liabilities & relics of the past—abandoning them is not retreat, it’s strategic adaptation to modern warfare. This move removes Iran’s primary justification for disrupting shipping in the SOH and for attacking its neighbors. We can then offer the carrot: sanctions relief in exchange for freedom of navigation in the SOH.»
politics, war with iran, foreign policy, military, donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
Rand Paul releases docs that reveal FBI halted border inspection of virus researcher over Wuhan lab links
Rand Paul torches Fauci over alleged COVID ‘conspiracy’ cover-up
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., details how Dr. Anthony Fauci allegedly funded gain-of-function research leading up to the global pandemic. Paul claims Fauci coerced intelligence analysts, including the CIA, to alter their initial findings about the COVID-19 lab leak origin. He criticizes the ‘misdirection, conspiracy,’ and ‘cover-up’ that misled the public about the virus.
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Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were preparing to question a British zoologist and disease ecology expert upon his return to the United States from the World Health Organization’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19, before the FBI intervened and asked agents to stand down, according to files released Monday by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
«They told the public a COVID lab leak ‘wasn’t plausible,’» Rand wrote on X. «Their own private messages say otherwise. Today I’m launching The Reading Room where the public can review records related to my ongoing investigation – not just conclusions but the actual documents.»
The documents show CBP’s National Targeting Center flagged Peter Daszak as «a high person of interest» ahead of his Feb. 5, 2021, arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Daszak, the former president of EcoHealth Alliance, was flagged because of more than 15 years of collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and his longstanding relationship with its lead researcher, Zhengli Shi, as well as his role as principal investigator on National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants funding bat coronavirus research in China.
RAND PAUL BRINGS CIA WHISTLEBLOWER TO SENATE HEARING ALLEGING ‘DEEP STATE’ COVID-19 CONSPIRACY
Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Peter Daszak prepared to question and search Peter Daszak upon his return to the United States from the World Health Organization’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19, before the FBI intervened and asked agents to stand down, according to documents released Monday by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Getty Images)
Much of the funding Daszak received was put toward gain-of-function research, the documents state.
The documents highlight that the NIH had asked Daszak to retrieve the original type-specimen used by WIV for genetic analysis and return it to the U.S., as well as to explain several aspects of his collaboration with the lab, including providing related cell phone data.
CBP officials planned to question Daszak on his activities in China, his contacts at the WIV, and whether he illegally collected or carried biological samples.
TOP 4 EXPLOSIVE MOMENTS FROM CIA WHISTLEBLOWER’S TESTIMONY ON ALLEGED COVID-19 LAB LEAK COVER-UP
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 04: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questions National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on November 04, 2021 in Washington, DC. Paul called on Fauci to resign and accused him of lying about the work done in a lab in Wuhan, China. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Internal communications highlighted concerns regarding Daszak’s involvement in gain-of-function research and potential conflicts of interest involving federal grants.
However, three days before his arrival in New York, CBP received a request from the FBI’s New York Field Office to halt the stop, and the inspection never happened.
«FBI New York requested we do not stop the subject below,» the request states, according to the documents.
MISSING SCIENTIST SCRUTINY REACHES FBI AS PATEL’S PROBE OF MYSTERY DISAPPEARANCES SET FOR ‘FINAL REPORT’
The records include detailed flight itineraries, proposed interrogation questions, and internal emails documenting the interagency disagreement over the search.
«This isn’t the whole story. It’s the start of one,» Paul wrote in a lengthy thread on X. «The Reading Room will be updated on a rolling basis as the investigation continues.»
At the time of the planned interception, Daszak headed the now-defunct EcoHealth Alliance, an American-based nonprofit that conducted research and outreach on the causes of emerging pandemic diseases, such as those originating in bats.
He was a member of the 10-person WHO team that traveled to China to investigate the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
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Daszak had received public criticism regarding a potential conflict of interest for being included on the WHO investigative team despite his financial and professional ties to WIV.
Daszak now heads Nature Health Global, a non-profit scientific organization focused on ecological research, public health, and pandemic prevention.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the FBI and Nature Health Global.
fbi, health, coronavirus, us, china
INTERNACIONAL
Estados Unidos desvió siete buques comerciales en el mar Arábigo para garantizar el bloqueo sobre los puertos iraníes
El Comando Central de Estados Unidos (CENTCOM) informó este lunes que las fuerzas estadounidenses redirigieron siete buques comerciales y dejaron fuera de servicio otra embarcación como parte de las operaciones destinadas a reforzar el bloqueo naval impuesto sobre los puertos iraníes. La medida forma parte de la campaña militar lanzada por Washington para restringir el tráfico marítimo vinculado con Irán en el estrecho de Ormuz, uno de los corredores energéticos más importantes del mundo.
A través de un comunicado publicado en la red social X, el mando militar estadounidense señaló que las operaciones continúan desde el mar Arábigo con el apoyo del buque de asalto anfibio USS Boxer.
“El 20 de julio, las fuerzas estadounidenses han redirigido siete buques comerciales y han inutilizado a otro para evitar que partieran o arribaran a los puertos iraníes”, indicó el CENTCOM.
La institución agregó que efectivos desplegados a bordo del USS Boxer mantienen operaciones aéreas durante el día y la noche mientras se ejecuta el bloqueo naval contra Irán.
El anuncio representa una actualización de las medidas adoptadas por Washington desde que restableció, el pasado 14 de julio, las restricciones marítimas contra la república islámica.
Las autoridades estadounidenses no ofrecieron detalles sobre la identidad de las embarcaciones afectadas por las interceptaciones ni precisaron el lugar exacto donde fueron desviadas o inmovilizadas.
El comunicado fue difundido el mismo día en que trascendió un nuevo incidente en el estrecho de Ormuz que involucró a dos petroleros operados por una empresa griega.
De acuerdo con información proporcionada por la consultora especializada MARISKS, los buques cisterna Kavomaleas, con bandera de Malta, y VLCC Acheloos, registrado en Liberia, fueron alcanzados por misiles mientras navegaban por el corredor sur del estrecho frente a las costas de Omán.
Ambas embarcaciones son operadas por la compañía Dynacom, con sede en Atenas, y fueron atacadas casi de manera simultánea durante la noche. Hasta el momento, las autoridades no han identificado el origen de los proyectiles.
En el caso del Kavomaleas, dos misiles impactaron en la sala de máquinas, lo que provocó un incendio que pudo ser controlado mediante los sistemas automáticos de extinción del propio buque. Posteriormente, la tripulación abandonó la nave y fue rescatada sin sufrir lesiones.
El Acheloos, por su parte, recibió el impacto de un misil en la popa, lo que ocasionó daños estructurales. A pesar de la avería, el petrolero logró dirigirse a una zona de fondeo y todos sus tripulantes permanecieron a salvo.
Poco después del ataque, la Guardia Revolucionaria iraní afirmó que dos buques cisterna que utilizaban una ruta marítima considerada “insegura” habían quedado fuera de servicio. Sin embargo, el régimen iraní no asumió la autoría del lanzamiento de los misiles.
La consultora MARISKS advirtió que estos episodios reflejan un deterioro de las condiciones de seguridad para la navegación comercial en la región, donde continúan los enfrentamientos entre Estados Unidos e Irán.
La escalada coincide con la intensificación de las operaciones militares estadounidenses. El domingo, el CENTCOM anunció una nueva ronda de bombardeos contra objetivos iraníes, correspondiente a la novena jornada consecutiva de ataques desde la reanudación del conflicto.
Según el mando militar, las operaciones buscan destruir capacidades utilizadas por Irán para atacar embarcaciones mercantes y buques civiles que transitan por el estrecho de Ormuz.
La nueva ofensiva fue anunciada pocas horas después de que Estados Unidos confirmara la muerte de un tercer militar estadounidense en Irak. Ese fallecimiento se sumó al de otros dos soldados que perdieron la vida recientemente en Jordania, en los primeros casos registrados desde el fin del alto el fuego entre Washington y Teherán.
Con esas bajas, el número de militares estadounidenses muertos desde el inicio de la guerra el 28 de febrero ascendió a 17, según el balance difundido por las autoridades estadounidenses.
Mientras continúan los bombardeos y el refuerzo del bloqueo marítimo, Irán ha respondido con ataques contra posiciones militares estadounidenses en países aliados del Golfo y ha advertido que adoptará nuevas represalias si Washington mantiene sus operaciones militares en la región.
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