World
Israel warns US defense chief Iran aggression has ‘reached all-time high’
In a Monday meeting with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned “Iran’s aggression has reached an all-time high” as the U.S. scrambles to broker a cease-fire deal with Hamas after nearly 11 months of war.
“To counter this, we must work together to achieve and project groundbreaking capabilities in all arenas,” Gallant said according to a readout of the meeting from Tel Aviv, which was also attended by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Gallant highlighted the “strategic junction” that Israel finds itself in as it stares down threats from Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north — both of which are heavily backed by Iran.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in a meeting with the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, and IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi meet 8/26/2024. (Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Israeli Ministry of Defense)
ISRAEL ATTACKS TARGETS IN LEBANON TO THWART HEZBOLLAH’S PREPARED STRIKES: IDF
Despite U.S. attempts to garner a cease-fire deal in coordination with Egypt and Qatar, Hamas has yet to agree to any terms so long as Israeli forces are permitted to remain in security corridors throughout Gaza.
Details of the cease-fire talks remain unclear, but on Monday Gallant looked to remind Brown what Israel’s primary aims are in its war in Gaza, including the dismantlement of Hamas, ensuring the return of hostages first taken by the terrorist group following the Oct. 7 attacks, and “changing the security situation along Israel’s northern border so that the region’s communities may safely return to their homes.”
Since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza claims some 40,000 Palestinians have been killed — though it does not differentiate the number of civilians versus the number of terrorists killed. Nearly another 700 Israeli soldiers and roughly 1,200 Israeli civilians have also been killed since the Hamas attack.
But despite the ongoing fighting in Gaza, some security officials argue the biggest threat Jerusalem faces is in the north, where it routinely exchanges missile and drone fire with Hezbollah.
The meeting between Brown and Gallant came one day after the world watched with concern that an all-out-war between Israel and Hezbollah — and by extension Iran — had finally begun following threats from Tehran last month.
An explosion takes place as Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Zibqin, Lebanon, August 25, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video. (Reuters TV)
On Sunday, Hezbollah said it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at northern Israeli military positions. Jerusalem said it too had fired upon southern Lebanon using 100 warplanes to launch a series of preemptive strikes on Hezbollah strongholds where thousands of rocket launchers were reportedly positioned in a move to thwart an imminent attack. The IDF said no Israeli military installations were hit during the Hezbollah attack.
NETANYAHU VOWS MORE ‘SURPRISING BLOWS’ AFTER ISRAEL THWARTED ‘THOUSANDS’ OF HEZBOLLAH ROCKETS: ‘NOT THE END’
The exchange appears to have resulted in three deaths in Lebanon, and one Israeli soldier was killed, though by mid-morning Sunday the assault was over.
Reports on Monday suggested the long-awaited attack by Iran and Hezbollah, which resulted in a relatively limited number of casualties, may have eased concerns of a broader war in the Middle East.
But comments made by Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, on Monday signified the threat posed by Iran has not diminished.
“What we witnessed yesterday is only part of that revenge,” he said, according to Arab news outlet Al Mayadeen English. “Revenge against the Israeli entity is inevitable.”
Men carry the coffin of Amal fighter, Ayman Kamel Idriss who was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on August 25, during his funeral on August 26, 2024 Nabatieh, Lebanon. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The exchange of fire on Sunday does not appear to have altered any of the progress in the ceasefire talks with Hamas, according to White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby on Monday.
“There continues to be progress. Our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as constructive,” he told reporters. “Despite the rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah over the course of the weekend, which Israel did a terrific job defending against, it has not affected the actual work on the ground by the teams trying to get the ceasefire deal in place.”
Kirby said there remains a sense of “urgency” in trying to get a ceasefire secured.
World
Colin Jost Says ‘SNL’ Rejected Joke About Pete Hegseth Reading ‘Pulp Fiction’ Bible Verse Two Weeks Before It Happened in Real Life
Donald Trump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth was widely mocked in April after he read a fake Bible verse from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic “Pulp Fiction” during a Pentagon worship service. It turns out Colin Jost sort of saw it coming.
During a recent visit to “The Tonight Show,” Jost revealed that before Hegseth’s viral gaffe he told the “SNL” writers room: “Would it be funny if Hegseth just did that Bible verse that they have in ‘Pulp Fiction’ Remember, from Ezekiel, Samuel L. Jackson?”
The writers shot down Jost’s pitch, deeming it “too ridiculous” and claiming it “would take up all this time in the cold open. “And then he for real did it, like two weeks later and I was like, ‘Well, the good news is, I’m being surveilled, so that’s a relief.’” Jost has been playing Hegseth on “SNL” this season to much acclaim from critics and viewers.
The real Hegseth was at a Pentagon prayer service in April when he read the altered version of Ezekiel 25:17 that’s delivered by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in “Pulp Fiction” before he shoots a man. Hegseth said the prayer was recited by the “Sandy 1” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in Iran.
Calling on everyone to pray with him, Hegseth then read a prayer that was nearly word-for-word the line delivered by Jackson in Tarantino’s film: “The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother, and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”
Watch Jost’s full interview on “The Tonight Show” in the video below.
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A car reportedly drove into a crowd in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring several people.
The vehicle slammed into a store window, and its driver allegedly stabbed a passerby who attempted to intervene, Reuters reported, citing local Italian media.
Mayor Massimo Mezzetti told Italian TV no one was killed but eight people were injured, including four who were in critical condition, according to The Associated Press.
Blood is seen next to a destroyed car on a street of Modena, Italy, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Lapresse via AP)
He said a woman pinned against a shop window may require the amputation of both legs.
Financial Police patrol a scene after a car incident in a street of Modena, Italy, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Lapresse via AP)
The driver is a 31-year-old man born in Bergamo and raised in Modena with Maghreb origins, Mezzetti said.
The man was detained and was being questioned at police headquarters as authorities worked to determine whether he was under the influence of substances or acted deliberately, the mayor said.
Mezzetti said the vehicle entered one of the city’s main streets and “drove onto the sidewalk, sending several people flying,” before crashing into the shop window.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
A tragedy unfolded in the night between Friday and Saturday on the island of Lampedusa, where a newborn migrant baby girl just a few weeks old died of hypothermia immediately after disembarking and while being rushed to the island’s outpatient clinic.
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At 4.30 a.m., after being rescued by the V1307 patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza, 55 people from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Sierra Leone landed at Favarolo pier. Among them were seven women and six minors. The baby girl, whose condition immediately appeared critical, was taken together with her mother to the medical facility, where doctors could do nothing but declare her dead.
Investigation opened into the baby girl’s death
The Agrigento prosecutor’s office has opened an inquiry into the tragic case and ordered a post-mortem examination of the child’s body, a necessary step to confirm hypothermia as the actual cause of death.
The body is being transferred to the mortuary at the Cala Pisana cemetery, while in the coming hours the mother will be questioned by investigators to reconstruct the details of the crossing and establish exactly how and when the baby fell ill.
According to accounts from other migrants on board, the group had set off from Sfax-El Amra in Tunisia at around two o’clock yesterday morning, making the journey in a seven-metre metal boat that cost between 400 and 600 euros per person.
The baby girl’s mother, originally from Côte d’Ivoire, was later taken to the hotspot in the Imbriacola district together with her other daughter, aged around two. According to reports, the woman is currently in a severe state of shock over the loss of her child and is receiving continuous support from staff of the Italian Red Cross, which manages the island’s reception centre.
The centre’s director, Imad Dalil, confirmed to Italian media that psychosocial support measures had been activated. “The mother and the sister are here in the hotspot and are in good physical condition; for them and for the other people psychological support was activated immediately and in the coming hours the medical and psychosocial teams will continue their work,” he said.
NGOs’ reaction
The German NGO Sea-Watch voiced its outrage in a strongly worded post on X. “While the state attacks those who save lives at sea, investigating the captain of Sea-Watch, a one-month-old baby has arrived in LAMPEDUSA, dead in her mother’s arms, after a three-day crossing. Who will be held responsible for this injustice?” The outburst refers to the news, received by the NGO after arriving in Brindisi with 166 rescued people, that a criminal investigation has been opened against the captain of the Sea-Watch 5 on suspicion of aiding illegal entry.
The UN agency specialising in the protection and assistance of people forced to flee war, violence and persecution (UNHCR) also intervened to express deep condolences and grave concern over yet another victim claimed along the Mediterranean routes.
“A mother has lost her newborn daughter, who arrived dead this morning together with 54 other people in Lampedusa. Deep sorrow and concern for the many children and adults who should not be dying in the Mediterranean,” reads a post published on social media by UNHCR, which explains that the agency is on the ground providing assistance to the mother and all the other survivors of the landing.
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