INTERNACIONAL
‘Gate of Tears’ at risk: Iran threatens major new global chokepoint if US moves on Hormuz
Trump details US oil demand amid conflict in Iran
Rep. John James, R-Mich., discusses the failed US-Iran talks, President Trump’s energy dominance strategy, and the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. James highlights how U.S. oil output affects global energy prices and Iran’s economy.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Iran could retaliate against a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by directing its Houthi allies to disrupt another critical global shipping route, a senior Middle East analyst warned Sunday.
The Bab al-Mandeb — a narrow chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — carries roughly 12% of global oil shipments and serves as a vital trade corridor between Asia and Europe, making it a strategic target for escalation that could further strain global energy markets.
«If the U.S. proceeds with its plan to blockade the strait, Iran’s escalation strategy could dictate that it ensures Gulf countries can’t export, either,» Mona Yacoubian, director and senior adviser at the Middle East Program, told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP VOWS US WILL STRIKE IRAN’S POWER PLANTS, BRIDGES IF STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS NOT REOPENED
Aerial view of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait showing the waterway and surrounding land. (Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images)
«This could translate to further attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure or even deploying the Houthis to blockade the Bab al-Mandeb,» Yacoubian added.
Yacoubian’s remarks came after Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser on international affairs to Iran’s Supreme Leader, signaled Tehran’s view of the Bab al-Mandeb in light of potential U.S. action to block the Strait of Hormuz.
«Today, the unified command of the Resistance front views Bab al-Mandeb as it does Hormuz,» he said in a post on X.
WHY THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MATTERS AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH ULTIMATUM TO IRAN
Yemeni soldiers patrol the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait (Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP)
«If the White House dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move.»
U.S. Central Command released a statement Sunday saying the naval blockade would begin Monday and be «enforced against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.»
President Donald Trump also said the U.S. Navy would block «any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz» in a post on Truth Social.
In March, the U.S. warned ships at the Red Sea chokepoint of Houthi attacks
«The Houthis continue to pose a threat to U.S. assets, including commercial vessels, in this region,» a maritime advisory said of the Iran-backed armed group that controls much of northern Yemen.
TRUMP GIVES IRAN 48-HOUR ULTIMATUM TO REOPEN STRAIT OF HORMUZ OR FACE STRIKES ON POWER PLANTS
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Aug. 9, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S. Navy)
«Potential hostile actions include one-way unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks; unmanned surface vehicle (USV) attacks; unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) attacks; ballistic and cruise missile attacks; small arms fire from small boats; explosive boat attacks; and illegal boardings, detentions, and/or seizures,» it said.
«U.S.-flagged commercial vessels operating in these areas are strongly advised to turn off their AIS transponders,» the advisory stated.
Yacoubian also determined in a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report that Iran was threatening to expand the conflict further to the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb compounding global market disruptions.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«It could leverage the Houthis, its Yemeni proxy, to once again wage attacks on the strategic waterway, depriving Saudi Arabia of its key workaround for oil shipments given the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz,» she added.
The Houthis joined Iran’s war against the U.S. and Israel on March 28 when the organization launched two ballistic missiles at southern Israel. Both were intercepted.
middle east, saudi arabia, trade, terrorism, iran
INTERNACIONAL
Dem senator accused of being ‘nowhere to be found’ on crucial issue impacting kids in swing state
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is being accused by Georgia’s top child welfare official of using vulnerable children and the state’s embattled foster care system for campaign credit after releasing a new ad touting his work on the state’s troubled system.
Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) Director Candice Broce criticized the new foster care-focused ad released last week as the Georgia Democrat seeks re-election in one of the nation’s most closely watched races. In the ad, titled «Our Kids,» Ossoff highlights «a scathing report» and «yearlong bipartisan investigation» alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., into the Georgia foster care system.
Ossoff presents his probe and new legislation as part of his record protecting children and holding the system accountable. However, Broce says the Democrat is overstating his role and turning a serious child welfare issue into a political victory lap.
«For five years, I’ve been in the trenches fighting for vulnerable children and foster care reform alongside thousands of DFCS workers. Trust us when we say Jon Ossoff is nowhere to be found,» Broce said in a post on X. «Ossoff didn’t get more funding for DFCS after calling us incompetent and resource-strapped. He didn’t secure more federal support for child advocacy centers despite the State’s requests.»
FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE GEORGIA SENATE RACE
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., recently released an ad titled «Our Kids» touting his work reforming mismanagement and neglect in his state’s foster care system. (Getty Images)
«He didn’t fix federal law putting group homes out of business,» she continued. «He hasn’t streamlined adoptions for kids placed with loving families. Jon’s ad sounds great, but his words are meaningless to the men and women in the arena.»
Ossoff’s team fired back, however, calling Broce an «unqualified partisan political hack» and accusing her of «dangerous incompetence.» They pointed to Ossoff’s oversight work highlighted in the advertisement that Broce criticizes, which the spokesperson said found children in Georgia’s foster care system were likely sex trafficked while in state care, among other issues.
«The Office of the Child Advocate, juvenile court judges, former foster children, nonpartisan advocates, investigative reporting, and Senator Ossoff’s yearlong investigation have laid bare the deep and dangerous dysfunction at DFCS,» an Ossoff campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The campaign also cited testimony from juvenile court judges who accused Broce of suggesting that children with special needs be held in juvenile detention while DFCS searched for placements. Broce has denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated and arguing they distort a broader discussion about how to keep foster youth with complex behavioral issues, runaway histories and trafficking risks safe amid placement shortages.
ONE OF NATION’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN FOSTER AGENCIES WILL NOT ALLOW LGBTQ COUPLES TO ADOPT CHILDREN
Candice L. Broce (left) is the Director of the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS). She is pictured next to an image of baby strollers in an office. (Georgia DFCS/Getty Images)
«Candice Broce is a partisan political hack irresponsibly placed in charge of care for the state’s most vulnerable kids,» the Ossoff spokesperson said. «Instead of whining that her dangerous incompetence was made public, she should fix her broken agency.»
Broce rejected the attacks on her qualifications, pointing to her background as a health care attorney, former chief deputy executive counsel and chief operating officer to Gov. Brian Kemp and saying roughly 40 state agencies, including DFCS, reported to her in that role.
At the same time, she did not dispute that Georgia’s foster care system has faced serious challenges, but argued Ossoff used those problems for hearings, reports and campaign messaging without delivering meaningful help to fix them.
«If you’re going to beat us down, show up with something to make it better,» Broce said. «He didn’t do that.»
16 CHILDREN FOUND LIVING IN ‘DEPLORABLE’ OHIO HOME CONDITIONS, 4 ARRESTED: ‘PURE EVIL’
Broce said Ossoff could have used his federal role to pursue resources on Medicaid, behavioral health access and placement capacity, rather than simply spotlighting DFCS failures.
«What’s actually bipartisan is the over $100 million in state funds we’ve gotten from Republican and Democrat legislators who support the issues we’re tackling and believe we deserve more resources,» Broce said. «If he decides today that he actually wants to help us and vulnerable Georgia kids, we’d welcome him with open arms.»
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., (right) and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., (left) wave to students before speaking at a Dawgs for Warnock rally at the University of Georgia December 4, 2022, in Athens, Georgia. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
However, Ossoff’s team contests it is not even «Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency [Broce] leads» in the first place, and said Broce was whining that «it’s Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency she leads.»
«While Sen. Ossoff led oversight, passed an anti-trafficking law, and helped save foster care funding President Trump cut, unqualified partisan hack Broce whines it’s Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency she leads,» Ossoff’s representatives told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Broce’s criticism of Ossoff included a contrast between his record and that of Georgia’s other U.S. Senator, Democrat Raphael Warnock. Broce called the difference «stark,» pointing to Warnock’s community events for vulnerable mothers and children and adoption-related measures as examples of practical support she says Ossoff has not delivered.
«Compare his child welfare record to Warnock’s. It’s crystal clear which U.S. Senator from Georgia cares about vulnerable families and kids, and it’s not Jon,» Broce said in her X post.
Ossoff, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, is seeking a second term in November against Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who won the Republican nomination after defeating former football coach Derek Dooley in a mid-June GOP runoff election. Warnock will not face reelection again until 2028.
democrats elections, democrats senate, midterm elections, georgia, senate elections
INTERNACIONAL
Conmoción en Damasco: explotaron dos bombas frente al hotel de Macron durante su visita a Siria
Cómo fueron las explosiones
Ayuda a Siria para su reinserción
Qué contaron los testigos
Tensión y atentados
INTERNACIONAL
Cuba restablece parcialmente la electricidad tras el tercer apagón nacional en seis meses
Cuba afirmó este martes haber restablecido más del 30% del suministro eléctrico en La Habana tras un nuevo apagón nacional, en un contexto de crisis energética agudizada por el bloqueo petrolero de Estados Unidos. Es el tercer apagón en los últimos seis meses y el octavo desde finales de 2024.
Según el último parte de la Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana, se han restablecido los “circuitos de distribución que benefician a 262.369 clientes (…) para el 30,4% en la ciudad”.
“El restablecimiento se realiza de forma gradual en la medida que lo permitan las condiciones”, añade la empresa, según la cual ya funcionan los servicios “vitales de salud” de 43 centros de atención médica de la capital.
La falta de combustible “complejiza indiscutiblemente el proceso de restauración” de la red eléctrica, había declarado el lunes por la noche en la televisión estatal Lázaro Guerra, director de Electricidad del Ministerio de Energía y Minas.
Miguel Díaz-Canel responsabilizó directamente a la política estadounidense de sanciones contra la isla. “Mientras EEUU trata de inducir un estallido social por asfixia, al bloquear los accesos de combustible a Cuba, la UNE (Unión Eléctrica de Cuba) se moviliza”, dijo en X.
“Es heroico lo que hacen los trabajadores eléctricos en medio de un bloqueo energético genocida”, añadió.
A mediodía del lunes, la compañía eléctrica anunció “desconexión total” del sistema que afecta a toda la isla, donde viven 9,6 millones de personas. No se precisaron las causas.
El envejecimiento del sistema eléctrico sumado al bloqueo petrolero desde enero hace que los cubanos enfrenten apagones de hasta 30 horas en la capital, y de varios días en el interior de la isla.
“Al final, teníamos tres o cuatro horas de luz al día, así que el mayor impacto ahora es que no sabes cuándo volverás a tener ese poquito de luz”, declaró a la AFP Meybol Font, una trabajadora independiente, de 51 años.
“Es agónico vivir así”, acotó la mujer.
La producción de electricidad en el país depende principalmente de siete centrales térmicas obsoletas, algunas de las cuales llevan más de 40 años en explotación y sufren averías frecuentes o deben parar para mantenimiento, así como de una red de generadores de respaldo alimentados con diésel importado.
La central eléctrica Antonio Guiteras, ubicada en el oeste de la isla y la principal del país, se encuentra paralizada desde hace varios días por una falla.
Esta central ha registrado más de 15 paralizaciones sucesivas por averías desde principios de año. Esta situación provoca cortes y racionamientos constantes, pese a un amplio programa de construcción de parques solares lanzado hace dos años.
Cuba se encuentra sumida en una fuerte crisis económica con escasez de alimentos, medicinas y una inflación galopante.
Los apagones se han intensificado desde que la administración estadounidense de Donald Trump cortó los envíos de petróleo desde Venezuela, principal proveedor de la isla, y amenazó con sanciones a otros países que le vendan combustible.
Un joven programador de 24 años que trabaja para una empresa privada de desarrollo de software en La Habana Vieja regresaba frustrado a su casa.
“No hay wifi, no hay electricidad, no podemos trabajar”, explicó a la AFP el joven, que prefirió no revelar su identidad.
Cuba solicitó para el martes una sesión especial de la Asamblea General, el principal órgano representativo de las Naciones Unidas, para abordar el tema de las sanciones estadounidenses.
En ese contexto, el canciller cubano, Bruno Rodríguez, afirmó el lunes que Washington busca impedir que la Asamblea se pronuncie sobre el impacto del bloqueo petrolero y otras sanciones impuestas a la isla.
“El gobierno de EEUU intenta impedir que la Asamblea General de la ONU se pronuncie. Presiona a gobiernos y busca coaccionar la voluntad soberana de los Estados miembros”, señaló en X Rodríguez, quien participará de la sesión del martes en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York.
Se requiere una votación de los Estados miembros para la apertura de un debate de este tipo ante la Asamblea General.
(AFP)
General Society,Human Interest,South America / Central America,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
Dem senator accused of being ‘nowhere to be found’ on crucial issue impacting kids in swing state
Mundial 2026, en VIVO: últimas noticias de hoy, 7 de julio, resultados, fixture y el minuto a minuto de la previa del partido de Argentina
Ojo con las multas de tránsito: las más caras llegan a $3.8 millones
José Luis Espert declara ante la Justicia en la causa por lavado de dinero
La Academia Nacional de Ciencias alertó por la “fuga de cerebros” y cuestionó las políticas del Gobierno para el sector
Conmoción en Damasco: explotaron dos bombas frente al hotel de Macron durante su visita a Siria
El Salvador, segundo país más dependiente de importaciones alimentarias, según la Mesa por la Soberanía Alimentaria
Javier Milei y sus medidas, EN VIVO: denunciaron al Presidente por los ejercicios militares conjuntos de Argentina y EE.UU.
Guido Rodríguez renovó con Valencia: firmó hasta 2028 y algo más
La Justicia ordenó revisar la causa contra Guillermo Moreno por la manipulación de los datos del INDEC
ECONOMIA1 día agoLa producción textil aceleró su caída y la capacidad instalada siguió entre las más bajas de la industria
- DEPORTE21 horas ago
Portugal vs España: formaciones, hora y dónde ver por tv
- POLITICA2 días ago
Fin al presidente antisistema: Milei ya tiene su “casta” y se aferra al dogma económico
