- Tuesday September 1st, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Trump says Iran is ‘DEAD’ — experts point to the real sign Tehran is nearing the brink
Trump declares Iran a 'Failed Nation' as renewed strikes raise questions over whether Tehran is losing its remaining leverage
President
Donald Trump declared Iran a "Failed Nation" Monday, claiming the
country is economically and militarily broken as renewed fighting with
the U.S. raises questions about how much leverage Tehran still has left.
"Iran is
officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD!" Trump wrote on Truth Social
Monday morning. "They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have
no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police."
Trump also
claimed Iranian inflation had reached 300% and said the country's
leadership was "in total disarray and incapable of properly
representing the country."
DHS to Push Voter Fraud Probes in 9 States Before Midterms
The Department
of Homeland Security is preparing to launch a new surge of voter-fraud
investigations in nine states beginning Tuesday, according to internal
federal guidance reviewed by CNN, as the Trump administration
intensifies its election-integrity efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm
elections.
The initiative
will be carried out by Homeland Security Investigations, the arm of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement that typically handles drug
smuggling, human trafficking, and child exploitation.
HSI offices in
Washington state, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California,
Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, and Connecticut are expected to take
investigative action from early September through mid-October,
according to the guidance reviewed by CNN.
Iran's President: Tehran Will Reciprocate If US Honors Interim Deal Commitments
Iran will
immediately reciprocate if the United States returns to its commitments
under an interim deal signed in June, President Masoud Pezeshkian said
on Tuesday.
He made his
comments at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Bishkek
after the first exchange of direct attacks in the U.S.-Iran conflict
since late July, with the U.S. striking Larak Island and Iran then
launching attacks on two U.S. air bases in Jordan.
"I am stating
clearly that if the U.S. returns to its commitments under the
Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will
immediately reciprocate," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state
media.
He was
referring to an interim deal signed in June between Tehran and
Washington in efforts to end the war, which started with U.S. and
Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. The deal quickly unraveled amid
disagreements over its implementation.
Putin tells Iran’s Pezeshkian Russia stands in solidarity with Tehran
Russian
President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on
Tuesday that the Russian people stand in solidarity with Iran as it
fights for its interests, according to Russian state media.
Putin also said
Russia and Iran have maintained their economic and trade relationship
despite the current military and political environment.
The comments came during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, K
Putin 'fears being hanged' for failing in Ukraine and is planning to escalate war, insider claims
Vladimir Putin
fears he could be 'hanged' for failing to win the war in Ukraine and is
planning to escalate the conflict, an insider has claimed, amid growing
Kremlin warnings that Britain is in the crosshairs.
Sources close
to the Kremlin have claimed Mr Putin has chosen to escalate the war,
fearing he could face backlash from the Russian public if he ends the
conflict without being able to claim victory.
In an August 22
address, the Russian president accused Ukraine of opening a 'Pandora's
box' and threatened 'blowback on the most sensitive sectors of your
economy'.
Mr Putin
reportedly believes he could be at risk if he ends the war without
achieving at least his minimum goal of capturing the entire Donbas
region.
'They will hang me,' he reportedly said at one point during the war, according to an insider cited by The Economist.
Dem AG urges Jewish voters to put humanity above 'safety and security' of own people
The remarks underscore deepening Democratic tensions over Israel in crucial battleground Michigan
Addressing deep
intra-party divides over Israel ahead of the general election,
Michigan's Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel urged a private
gathering of Jewish Democrats to place the needs of "the rest of
humanity" above their own "safety and security."
Nessel,
Michigan's top law enforcement officer who is also Jewish, made the
remarks during an Aug. 30 event in Birmingham hosted by the Michigan
Democratic Party's Jewish Caucus, where members of the press were
barred. According to a video recording reviewed by The Detroit News,
Nessel invoked the story of Queen Esther to argue that Jewish Democrats
have a "moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our
own self-interest," urging attendees to "sacrifice the comfort, safety
and security and even the very future of our own people in exchange for
the opportunity to save the rest of humanity."
The comments
highlight a boiling point for Democrats in crucial battleground
Michigan, where many Jewish voters report feeling forced to choose
between their faith and their party amid rising anti-Israel rhetoric
from progressive, far-left candidates.
Obama-era mandate slashed after being blamed for 'skyrocketing' housing costs
HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the Trump administration 'will continue to repeal and replace' these mandates
In a bid to
tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis, the Trump
administration has scrapped a controversial Obama-era mandate blamed
for driving up property costs and stifling the affordable housing
supply.
The Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alongside the Department of
Justice, jointly rescinded an Obama-era policy that allowed third
parties to file accessibility-related complaints over original building
design flaws indefinitely, putting subsequent building owners on the
hook for millions of dollars years after a project is completed, even
if they were not the original builders.
According to
internal agency data, the previous policy forced property owners to
spend more than $112 million in accessibility retrofits over the last
five years just to qualify for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
refinancing—costs that HUD says directly choked off affordable housing
supply.
Israel captures top Hamas commander in Gaza strike, defense minister says
Defense Minister Israel Katz says the IDF will not leave until the Gaza Strip is demilitarized and Hamas is disarmed
The Israel
Defense Forces captured Hamas' head of general security during a raid
in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
An Israeli
security official identified the Hamas leader as Mu'in al-Arabid, head
of the General Security Apparatus, saying he was arrested during an
Israeli incursion deep inside Hamas territory in Gaza. The IDF carried
out airstrikes to cover the raid's withdrawal, adding that there were
no Israeli casualties.
"A short time
ago, a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested, and this is our policy: We
do not wait for threats. Instead, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart
them, and destroy their terrorist infrastructure. We have built a
strong and unprecedented security zone in Gaza to protect residents and
IDF soldiers," Katz said in a statement.
Tensions erupt in House hearing as GOP advances anti-socialism resolution while Dems rage: 'Silly season'
A resolution condemning socialism and a constitutional amendment to cap justices at nine are set for votes this week
House
Republicans are teeing up a pair of bills this week to put Democrats on
the record about where they stand on their party's socialist insurgency.
The House Rules
Committee just advanced a resolution to condemn socialism during its
Monday meeting, with no Democrats voting in favor of moving it forward.
Democrats, in fact, criticized the resolution as a waste of time.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., called the bill "nonsense" and argued it did little to better the lives of Americans.
"So you're
concerned about rising gas, or are you concerned about grocery prices?
You know, don't worry. Republicans in Congress are passing another
non-binding resolution condemning socialism," McGovern said.
Tensions
erupted at one point as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., clashed with
Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., over
the definition of socialism.
'None of the government's damn business': DeSantis pushes back on highway surveillance
The governor warned against a 'digital AI surveillance state' as the state revokes all law enforcement camera permits
Florida drivers
may soon see fewer high-tech eyes monitoring their highway commutes
after state officials ordered local police to strip automated license
plate readers from state roads, dealing a blow to private surveillance
vendors like Flock Safety while drawing a hard boundary against what
Gov. Ron DeSantis warns is an expanding "digital AI surveillance state."
"If you want to
get in your car and you want to go down to Buc-ee's in St. Augustine,
it's really none of the government's damn business if you're doing
that, right? What we don't want in the state of Florida is to have a
digital AI surveillance state where everything we're doing is being
tracked at all times," DeSantis said at a Monday news conference.
"There's
obviously times when I think it's probably been useful, but where is
this data going?" the governor continued. "They claim that the
companies aren't going to misuse it, but no one's watching that. And I
know you can make some money selling cameras, but you really can make a
lot of money if you can sell people's data."
DeSantis’
comments come as the Florida Department of Transportation announced in
a one-page memo Monday that it was revoking existing permits for
automated license plate readers within state highway rights-of-way and
giving law enforcement agencies 30 days to remove existing devices.
Trump: Chicago 'Will Die' Without Federal Intervention on Crime
President
Donald Trump warned Tuesday that Chicago "will die" without federal
intervention, urging Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor
Brandon Johnson to seek his administration's help after a violent
weekend in which 41 people were shot and three were killed.
"Chicago
violence is unchecked and at record levels. It has never been worse!"
Trump wrote on Truth Social. "These numbers are becoming normalized. It
is out of control!"
Trump said the
city would continue to deteriorate unless state or local officials
sought federal assistance to combat violent crime.
It’s change-or-die time for America’s overpriced, smugly lefty colleges
By New York Post Editorial Board
US colleges face a deadly crisis, with enrollments plummeting and budgets crashing — and they did it to themselves.
The die-back is
huge: More than 130 private nonprofit colleges and universities
announced closures or mergers these last five years, and (per the Huron
Consulting Group) “as many as 442 of the 1,700 private nonprofit
degree-granting institutions” — about one in four — “will arrive at the
cusp of financial exigency” and face closure over the next decade.
Yes, one piece of the puzzle is demographic: Falling birth rates mean fewer college-age kids.
But another
part is the plummeting value of a college degree, as four-year schools
arrogantly hiked prices on the false assumption that they’d forever
remain the only major path to success.
Centers for Higher Education Becoming 'Schools for Radicals'
By Michael Dorstewitz
If you're
wondering what's happening to today's youth, look no further than the
colleges and universities their parents are sending them to, under the
belief that they're doing the right thing and preparing them for
success.
And this isn't
just happening in the Ivy League. Public universities are also
rejecting classic education and are telling their young charges what to
think rather than how to think.
The University of Pittsburg, for example, offers multiple courses on Karl Marx and Marxism for the 2026-27 academic year.
The school's Department of Political Science, for example, is offering a class, "Marxism and Its Legacy."
Its legacy? Its legacy was widespread misery, the murder of millions, and the starvation of millions more.
