US Embassy in Baghdad Hit in Missile Attack

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The US Embassy in Baghdad was targeted in a missile attack on Friday night, according to reports.

The missile struck a helipad at the embassy, the Associated Press reported.

Smoke was seen rising from the diplomatic mission in video posted on social media by Sabereen News, a pro-Iranian militia outlet in Iraq.

The attack took place shortly after two fighters belonging to an Iran-backed militant group were killed in Baghdad, AFP reported, citing sources.

The embassy is located in Baghdad’s heavily fortified “green zone.”

It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the attack. (Read more from “US Embassy in Baghdad Hit in Missile Attack” HERE)

Lebanon Proposes Ceasefire as Israel-Hezbollah War Displaces Hundreds of Thousands

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The Lebanese government pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah this week, citing the vast number of civilians displaced from southern Lebanon by the fighting.

Israel has thus far been cool to the proposal, expressing little confidence in the Lebanese government’s will or ability to disarm Hezbollah by force.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun presented a four-point proposal on Tuesday that would include a “complete truce,” logistical support for the Lebanese Army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations under international auspices” to get Israeli forces out of Lebanon. Direct negotiations with Israel have previously been a forbidden subject for Lebanese leaders.

Aoun denounced Hezbollah’s attack on Israel as “a trap, and an almost overt ambush for Lebanon, and the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese people.” He said Hezbollah and its paymasters in Tehran were trying to “buy the fall of the Lebanese state” without concern for the price, which included “destroying dozens of our villages and the fall of tens of thousands of our people for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations.”

Aoun said over 700,000 Lebanese citizens have been displaced by the fighting, including 200,000 children, creating a massive humanitarian crisis. (Read more from “Lebanon Proposes Ceasefire as Israel-Hezbollah War Displaces Hundreds of Thousands” HERE)

President Trump Orders Oil Drilling Operations to Resume off California

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The Trump administration has signed an executive order to ​resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.

The order, which invokes a Cold War-era Defense Production Act, will prove controversial despite the potential to bring down gas prices, which are now the highest in America.

Gov. Gavin Newsom also flagged the state would challenge the order in the courts.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright is now permitted to take actions under the Defense Production Act.

California’s price for a regular gallon hit an average of $5.416 on Friday.

That’s far above the national average of $3.60. (Read more from “President Trump Orders Oil Drilling Operations to Resume off California” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Scott Bessent Says U.S. Navy Will ‘Soon’ Escort Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the U.S. Navy will “soon” begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them from Iranian terrorist attacks.

“My belief is that as soon as it is militarily possible, the U.S. Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through,” Bessent told Sky News on Friday.

“There are, in fact, tankers coming through now, Iranian tankers, I believe some Chinese flag tankers have come through. So we know that they have not mined the straits,” he continued.

Sky News reported that Bessent had to take a two-hour break from the interview because he was called into the White House Situation Room. Upon his return, the interviewer asked if plans for naval escort had been discussed, and Bessent responded: “Your words, not mine.”

On Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright also said naval escorts for tankers could begin “soon,” perhaps by the end of March, but the forces necessary for the mission were not available yet. (Read more from “Scott Bessent Says U.S. Navy Will ‘Soon’ Escort Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz” HERE)

JD Vance Responds To Report He Opposes Iran War Behind Closed Doors

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Vice President J.D. Vance disputed reports Friday that he quietly opposes the U.S.’ strikes against Iran.

Officials alleged that Vance opposed the U.S. intervention in Iran and expressed skepticism about President Donald Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury in late February, according to Politico. Vance said while he would not publicly discuss his private conversations on the matter, he ensured that the president and his advisers discussed what actions needed to be taken to “best protect the American people.”

“But imagine the situation, we’re in the Situation Room, where you can’t even take your iPod in there, or your AirPods, I guess what they’re called, you can’t take your iPhone in there, you can’t take anything in there, because it is the most classified space anywhere in the world,” Vance said. “And I sit there with Pete Hegseth and General Kane and Marco Rubio and the entire White House team, and the President and I and the entire senior team are talking about the options and about what we need to do and about how we must best protect the American people.”


“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to show up here in front of God and everybody else and tell you exactly what I said in that classified room, partially because I don’t want to go to prison, and partially because I think it’s important for the president of the United States to be able to talk to his advisers without those advisers running their mouth to the American media,” Vance continued.

One anonymous source told Politico that Vance was “worried about success” and “just opposes” the war in Iran, while another official said Vance is “fully on board” with Trump’s decisions once they are made. Vance defended the U.S.’s military actions in Iran during a March 2 interview with Fox News, saying that the strikes intended to deter Iran’s nuclear capabilities. (Read more from “JD Vance Responds To Report He Opposes Iran War Behind Closed Doors” HERE)

Here Are The Biggest Things America Could’ve Done With $11 Billion Spent In Iran War Week 1

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The Iran War is costing the U.S. billions of dollars every week it drags on. Meanwhile, there are programs at home that desperately need the funding more.

In a closed-door briefing with Congress, the Trump administration said that the first week of the Iran war cost around $11.3 billion (as well as several heroic lives). The figure, which covers munitions and initial operations but excludes ongoing maintenance, personnel costs, and pre-war buildup, represents a significant outlay of taxpayer dollars directed toward overseas military engagement. While some argue this is a small price to pay to end the Iranian regime, the economic toll on Americans should not be ignored.

That $11 billion could support key domestic initiatives that enhance U.S. security, create jobs, and reduce reliance on foreign resources, thereby better fulfilling President Donald Trump’s 2024 voter mandate.

Domestic energy production is central to reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil and stabilizing prices for American consumers. Diesel prices spiked to well over $5 per gallon in some areas amid the U.S. involvement in Iran. The current national average for regular gasoline is $3.63, up almost $1 from a month ago ($2.94), according to AAA data.

Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. would build the first large-scale greenfield refinery in Brownsville, Texas, in nearly 50 years. (Read more from “Here Are The Biggest Things America Could’ve Done With $11 Billion Spent In Iran War Week 1” HERE)

Dramatic Moment Bessent is Yanked from Interview for Urgent Talks in Situation Room: ‘President wants you right away’

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President Trump ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was in the middle of an interview, to the White House Situation Room as the administration deals with the financial fallout of the Iran war.

Bessent, 63, was speaking with Sky News’ Wilfred Frost of “The Master Investor Podcast” on Thursday inside the Treasury Department’s Cash Room when an aide suddenly interrupted roughly 13 minutes into the conversation.

“The president wants you right away,” the aide told Bessent from off-camera, according to a clip shared on X by the outlet.

A microphone was removed from Bessent’s jacket as he left the building at 10:22 a.m., according to the outlet’s timestamp. The top economic official returned nearly two hours later.

Bessent said he discussed a “plethora of things” during his meeting with Trump. (Read more from “Dramatic Moment Bessent is Yanked from Interview for Urgent Talks in Situation Room: ‘President wants you right away’” HERE)

Aging could slow down with one common daily habit: ‘Live longer and better’

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Aging can’t be stopped, but a daily pill could slow it down, according to new research led by Mass General Brigham in Boston.

Among people who took a multivitamin every day for two years, biological aging slowed down by about four months, found the study, which was published in Nature Medicine.

Biological aging refers to the pace of aging on a cellular level, which is often different from chronological age.

The findings came from a large randomized clinical trial of nearly 1,000 healthy older adults averaging 70 years of age. The participants were divided into four groups — one took a daily multivitamin-multimineral supplement along with a cocoa extract, one took a daily cocoa extract and placebo, one took a placebo and multivitamin, and one took just a placebo, according to the study press release.

The researchers analyzed blood samples taken from the participants at three points during the study, looking at five biomarkers known as “epigenetic clocks” that measure age-related changes to DNA.

“Aging at the cellular level can be marked by DNA methylation, where in some cells it decreases and in some it increases,” Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital. “This is also described as epigenetic changes – or DNA expression.” (Read more from “Aging could slow down with one common daily habit: ‘Live longer and better’” HERE)

US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once

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Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be.

Days of downpours have begun in Hawaii. The Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern Great Lakes states. And the dreaded polar vortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing Arctic chill.

This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash has already hit much of the East. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., residents walked around in shorts in record-breaking 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 C). On Thursday, it snowed.

“All of the country, even if you’re not necessarily seeing extremes, are going to see generally changing from cold to warm, or warm to cold to warm,” said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland. (Read more from “US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump temporarily lifts sanctions on Russian oil ‘stranded at sea’

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The Trump administration temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil “stranded at sea” Thursday in an effort to contain skyrocketing energy prices due to Iranian threats against tanker ships.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the move as one of President Trump’s “decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets” and keep oil prices low amid the “threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime.”

“To increase the global reach of existing supply, [Treasury] is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” Bessent wrote on X.

The treasury secretary noted that the “narrowly tailored, short-term measure” will only apply to oil “already in transit.”

There are an estimated 124 million barrels of oil originating from Moscow at sea, which is enough for about five to six days of supply, according to CNBC. (Read more from “Trump temporarily lifts sanctions on Russian oil ‘stranded at sea’” HERE)