Politics
U.S. bracing for imminent Iranian response to attack attributed to Israel
The U.S. and its allies are sounding an unusually urgent alarm over Iran’s possible plans to retaliate in the coming days over Israel’s purported killing of senior Iranian officials at a diplomatic mission in Syria.
An Iranian action, it is feared, would likely provoke an Israeli response, which could ratchet up violence in the region.
U.S. officials said this week that Iran appears to be lining up a series of potential retaliations, including direct attacks on Israeli assets — within Israel territory or at diplomatic missions, or operations carried out by proxy groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel’s northern border, and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
“Iran is threatening to launch a major attack on Israel,” President Biden said Thursday. “Our commitment to Israel’s security in the face of these threats from Iran and its allies is unwavering.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed similar thoughts. “Threats by Iran are inadmissible,” he said.
The trigger for the latest Israel-Iran standoff is the April 1 bombing of an Iranian building adjacent to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, in which seven high-ranking Iranian military officers from the Islamic Republican Guard were killed. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
Iran maintains the attack on its diplomatic mission violated international law. U.S. officials say regardless of whether the building had diplomatic status, it was being used to conduct what they call “terrorist” operations targeting Israel from Lebanon.
“The evil regime [Israel] made a mistake and must be punished,” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week.
Biden administration officials are not pleased to see the latest tensions, which come as Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas are attempting to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza Strip and the possible release of dozens of Israeli hostages, including several U.S. citizens.
In recent days, senior administration officials say, the U.S. has been frequently exchanging messages with Iran and Israel, in an effort to tone down tensions.
The U.S. is urging restraint by Iran and warning that no strikes should be carried out against U.S. targets. To Israel, the U.S. is saying it will offer support in the case of a major assault, but also urging a calibrated reaction from Israel commiserate with the scale of Tehran’s operation.
The U.S. has insisted to Iran that it was not involved with nor aware of the April 1 attack.
Other countries, including several Arab nations, are also pressing Iran to show restraint, diplomats said.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has made clear “that escalation is not in anyone’s interest, and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday. “Escalation is not in Iran’s interest, it’s not in the region’s interest, and it’s not in the world’s interest.”
Conventional wisdom dictates that Iran does not want a war with the United States. But short of that, the Islamic Republic’s retaliation would have to be carefully dialed up in a way that does only minimal damage to Israel while demonstrating its determination to stand up to external attacks from a hated enemy.
The April 1 attack attributed to Israel came as Hamas, Persian Gulf states and the U.S. were involved in complicated negotiations to free hostages in Gaza seized by Hamas in the Oct. 7 assault.
Some analysts believe Hamas will now be less likely to release hostages as it waits to see the next move by its patron, Iran.
Negotiators in the hostage release are discussing the release of 40 people in the categories of women, children and men over 50 years of age. But U.S. officials say it appears there are no longer 40 living hostages to fit that category, and so Hamas would have to be willing to add other hostages, such as younger non-military men. In exchange, Israel would release a still fluctuating number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Politics
Republicans light cigars, cigarettes on burning photos of Khamenei to show support for Iranian protesters
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Republican lawmakers are jumping on a social media trend to show their support for the anti-regime protesters in Iran.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., posted photos of themselves using burning photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light up a cigarette and a cigar respectively. Both lawmakers used the caption “Smoke ’em if you got ’em.”
The lawmaker’s images mirror a social media trend in which people are using burning photos of Khamenei to light cigarettes and cigars. The trend emerged as the people of Iran hold increasingly intense protests against the Islamic regime. The movement against the regime has seen increasing support from abroad as world leaders back the people of Iran.
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People gather during a protest on Jan. 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Anonymous/Getty Images)
Khamenei’s regime has started to crack down on protests and even instituted a sweeping internet blackout to try to quell the unrest. Some have posited that the internet blackout was also meant to impede the spreading of information about and visuals of abuses committed against protesters by regime-backed forces.
Recently, exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi has publicly urged President Donald Trump and the U.S. to back protesters in Iran as they fight the decades-old regime.
Sheehy told Fox News Digital that he takes the issue personally, saying that Iran has participated in the torturing, kidnapping and killing of Americans across the globe, “including friends of mine.”
“The Iranian regime are a bunch of murderous b——- who have been chanting ‘death to America’ for the past 46 years. They have backed up this chant by kidnapping, torturing, and killing thousands of Americans all over the world, including friends of mine. For me, it’s personal; it’s time to take out the trash,” Sheehy said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital via email.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., showed his solidarity with the people of Iran by hopping on a social media trend in which she used a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light a cigarette. (Courtesy of Sen. Tim Sheehy’s Office)
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The senator also expressed his solidarity with the people of Iran and encouraged them to keep fighting the regime.
“To the Iranian people — we applaud your courage, keep fighting, and know we fully support your brave efforts to topple this evil regime,” he added.
Tenney’s office also spoke with Fox News Digital about the congresswoman’s post, praising the bravery of the people of Iran for standing up to the regime. Additionally, Tenney’s office expressed the congresswoman’s solidarity with the Iranian people.
“The bravery of the Iranian people in the face of decades of oppression by a brutal, extremist regime is extraordinary. Men and women across Iran are risking their lives to stand up to authoritarian mullahs who have denied them basic freedoms for generations,” Tenney’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., showed her solidarity with the people of Iran by hopping on a social media trend in which she used a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light a cigar. (Courtesy of Rep. Claudia Tenney’s Office)
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“The congresswoman stands firmly with the Iranian people and their demand for dignity and self-determination, and believes their courage must be recognized and amplified. Today, the Iranian people finally have an ally in the White House, President Trump, who has made clear that the United States stands with those fighting for freedom against tyranny,” Tenney’s office added.
Trump has been vocal about his support for the people of Iran and has warned that the U.S. would be ready to step in if the regime used violence against protesters.
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 10. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”
SACRAMENTO — California announced an investigation into Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI on Wednesday, with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying that the social media site owned by the billionaire is a “breeding ground for predators to spread nonconsenual sexually explicit AI deepfakes.”
Grok, the xAI chatbot, includes image-generation features that allow users to morph existing photos into new images. The newly created images are then posted publicly on X.
In some cases, users have created sexually explicit or nonconsensual images based on real people, including altered depictions that appear to show individuals partially or fully undressed. Others have generated images that appear to show minors, prompting criticism that there are not sufficient guardrails to prohibit the creation of child pornography.
The social media site has previously said “we take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
Newsom called the sexualized images being created on the platform “vile.” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said his office will use “all tools at our disposal to keep Californians safe.”
“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said in a statement Wednesday. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further. We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material.”
Newsom signed a pair of bills in 2024 that made it illegal to create, possess or distribute sexually charged images of minors even when they’re created with computers, not cameras. The measures took effect last year.
Assembly Bill 1831, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), expanded the state’s child-porn prohibition to material that “contains a digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated depiction [of] what appears to be a person under 18 years of age” engaging in or simulating sexual conduct. Senate Bill 1381, authored by Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward), amended state law to more clearly prohibit using AI to create images of real children engaged in sexual conduct, or using children as models for digitally altered or AI-generated child pornography.
new video loaded: Supreme Court May Allow States to Bar Transgender Athletes
transcript
transcript
Supreme Court May Allow States to Bar Transgender Athletes
The Supreme Court heard two cases from West Virginia and Idaho on Tuesday. Both concerned barring the participation of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports teams.
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“It is undisputed that states may separate their sports teams based on sex in light of the real biological differences between males and females. States may equally apply that valid sex-based rule to biological males who self-identify as female. Denying a special accommodation to trans-identifying individuals does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity or deny equal protection.” “West Virginia argues that to protect these opportunities for cisgender girls, it has to deny them to B.P.J. But Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause protect everyone. And if the evidence shows there are no relevant physiological differences between B.P.J. and other girls, then there’s no basis to exclude her.” “Given that half the states are allowing it, allowing transgender girls and women to participate, about half are not, why would we at this point, just the role of this court, jump in and try to constitutionalize a rule for the whole country while there’s still, as you say, uncertainty and debate, while there’s still strong interest in other side?” “This court has held in cases like V.M.I. that in general, classification based on sex is impermissible because in general, men and women are simply situated. Where that’s not true is for the sorts of real, enduring, obvious differences that this court talked about in cases like V.M.I., the differences in reproductive biology. I don’t think the pseudoscience you’re suggesting has been baked.” “Well, it’s not pseudo. It’s good science.” “It’s not pseudoscience to say boys’ brain development happens at a different stage than girls does.” “Well, with all respect, I don’t think there’s any science anywhere that is suggested that these intellectual differences are traceable to biological differences.” “Can we avoid your whole similarly situated argument that you run because I don’t really like it that much either? And I’m not trying to prejudice anyone making that argument later. But I mean, I think it opens a huge can of worms that maybe we don’t need to get into here.”
By Meg Felling
January 13, 2026
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