Category: Security

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the United States Army to change Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg on Monday following the military base’s name change under the Biden-Harris administration.

In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth said, “Pursuant to the authority of the Secretary of Defense, Title 10, United States Code Section 113, I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That’s right, .”

Following Hegseth’s order, Department of Defense Press Secretary John Ullyot released a statement confirming that Hegseth had signed a memorandum ordering the name change “while flying aboard a C-17 from Joint Base Andrews to Stuttgart on February 10, 2025.”

According to The Post Millennial, Fort Bragg was changed to Fort Liberty in June of 2023. While Fort Bragg was originally named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate Army general, the Department of Defense announced that the fort’s new name honors “Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.”

The Department of Defense explained that the change from Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg reflects the legacy of recognizing individuals who have “demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation.”

READ MORE: Video: SECDEF Hegseth refers to ‘Fort Liberty’ as ‘Fort Bragg’

The memorandum signed by Hegseth notes that Roland Bragg “saved a fellow soldier’s life by commandeering an enemy ambulance and driving it 20 miles to transport a fellow wounded warrior to an allied hospital in Belgium” during the Battle of the Bulge.

NBC News reported that Fort Bragg was changed to Fort Liberty under the Biden-Harris administration after a 2021 congressional commission recommended nine name changes to various military installations associated with Confederate leaders.

According to NBC News, Fort Bragg houses the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Joint Special Operations Command, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the XVIII Airborne Corps. The outlet noted that the military base spans over 250 square miles and supports more than 55,000 military members, 12,000 civilian workers, and 25,000 family members.

According to The Hill, Trump previously pledged to reverse the controversial name change during the 2024 presidential election. During a campaign rally in North Carolina, Trump said, “We did win two world wars from Fort Bragg, right?” At the time of the rally, he added, “We’re going to get it back. We’re going to bring our country back.”

Boeing told its employees working on the NASA Artemis lunar program’s Space Launch System rocket they could be facing layoffs by April.

The move underscores the uncertainty facing the Artemis program under the Trump administration, although no specific modifications to the current Artemis plan have been disclosed.

“To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, today we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,” the company said in a media statement.

The company, which announced the potential layoffs on Friday, said it was required to give 60-day notices of involuntary layoffs to all impacted employees as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

“We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses and retain our talented teammates,” the company stated.

Boeing is the prime contractor on the SLS rocket’s core stage, which when combined with solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman provide the rocket with 8.8. million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making it for now the most powerful rocket ever to send something into orbit.

So far the SLS rocket has flown just once, on the uncrewed Artemis I mission in late 2022, that sent the Lockheed Martin-build Orion spacecraft on an orbital mission to the moon.

The second SLS rocket is tapped for Artemis II, which would be the first crewed mission of Orion slated for no later than April 2026, aiming to fly four astronauts around, but not land on the moon.

The core stage for that mission arrived to Kennedy Space Center last summer and is now located within the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with the solid rocket boosters and potentially fully stacked and ready to roll to Launch Pad 39-B before the end of the year for wet dress rehearsals.

The Artemis III mission would follow during which Orion would rendezvous with a SpaceX Starship while in lunar orbit so astronauts could venture down and return humans to the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

That mission for now is slated to come as early as summer 2027.

The Trump administration, though, especially with SpaceX founder Elon Musk pushing for a renewed focus on Mars, may shift the direction of the Artemis program, including the further use of SLS rockets, prompting the potential layoffs from Boeing.

The layoffs would affect the core stage manufacturing at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans as well as Boeing jobs in Florida at Kennedy Space Center.

Details on how many jobs in Florida may be affected were not provided.

Boeing already announced 141 layoffs amid its Florida operations that were part of intentions announced in 2024 to lay off 10% of about 170,000 employees nationwide.

Those included 26 at KSC offices, where its Starliner spacecraft is manufactured, and another 20 in Titusville, the home of Boeing’s Space and Launch Division headquarters.

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© 2025 Orlando Sentinel

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Actress Christy Carlson Romano is recovering after being “shot in the eye” while shooting clay pigeons at her husband’s birthday party over the weekend.

The accident took place when “another party with us” at the shooting range “unsafely fired in the wrong direction and shot me in the face,” the Connecticut-born former Disney star said on Instagram, emphasizing that she is “safe.”

Husband Brendan Rooney “immediately sprung into action, assessed me, and rushed me to the hospital,” the “Even Stevens” alum said in her Saturday Instagram post. “I was hit in five places; one was less than an inch from hitting me directly in my right eye.”

Romano posted that alongside a photo of her with a pockmark in her cheek just below an eye, adding that bullet fragments lodged behind her eye and in her forehead were too risky to remove.

“With everything that happened, all I can think about is how grateful I am to be alive,” she wrote. “I love my daughters, husband, family, and friends so much. I saw my life flash before my eyes and I’m telling you, hug the people around you every chance you can. Life can change in an instant.”

The “Kim Possible” star shares two young daughters with Rooney and is based in Austin, where she moved in 2020 to raise her family outside of Hollywood’s glare, as she told People last year.

Rooney weighed in too, commenting on his wife’s heroism.

“You are the bravest, toughest, most stoic and badass woman I have ever met,” he wrote. “I am so thankful you are alive. I am so thankful you are the mother to our children. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I love you more than life itself.”

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© 2025 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was mocked on social media Monday after announcing a whistleblower portal to “expose corruption, abuses of power, and threats to public safety” under President Donald Trump’s administration.

In a Monday post on X, formerly Twitter, Schumer shared a link to a whistleblower portal on the Senate Democrats website, writing, “Today, I’m calling on our brave public servants: I’m launching a new portal for anyone who wants to expose corruption, , and threats to public safety with the legal protections of being a whistleblower.”

On the website link shared by Schumer, whistleblowers can report complaints of “criminal activity,” “retaliation,” “fraud,” and “wasteful spending.” Whistleblowers can also report a complaint under an “other” category on the website. 

The new whistleblower portal claims that whistleblowers are a “vital part of Congressional oversight to hold the administration accountable.”

Schumer’s whistleblower announcement was quickly mocked on social media. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tweeted, “Great! I wanna report: Joe Biden. Kamala Harris. Chuck Schumer. And the entire corrupt Democrat party that weaponized & abused the federal government for the past four years.”

Comedian Tim Young mocked Schumer, saying, “We already have that… it’s called DOGE.” Tesla CEO and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk wrote, “Look into this Schumer guy, he’s definitely done crime!”

READ MORE: Whistleblower exposes Biden admin’s plan to ‘infuse DEI into every federal agency’

Fox News reported that many social media users referenced Schumer’s warning to Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch in 2020 when he appeared to threaten them, saying, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Katie Pavlich, a Fox News contributor, shared a picture of Schumer protesting outside the Supreme Court. Pavlich tweeted, “I have someone to report, pictured here at the Supreme Court threatening Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.”

Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, shared a screenshot of her “retaliation” whistleblower report on Schumer’s new whistleblower portal. In her whistleblower report, Hemingway referenced Schumer’s previous threat to the Supreme Court justices. She added that she was not sure “whether to file this under ‘retaliation’ or ‘criminal activity.’”

President Donald Trump’s administration was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Sunday from sending three Venezuelan nationals suspected of being Tren de Aragua members to the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of the administration’s effort to deport illegal immigrants in the United States.

According to Fox News, reported that lawyers for the three Venezuelan nationals submitted a legal filing, arguing that the Venezuelan nationals “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”

According to court documents, the three Venezuelan nationals, identified as Luis Eduardo Perez Parra, Leonel Jose Rivas Gonzales, and Abrahan Josue Barrios Morales, have been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in New Mexico since late 2023.

Fox News reported that lawyers asked a U.S. District Court in New Mexico to grant a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from flying them to Guantanamo Bay, claiming that “the mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction.”

READ MORE: Video: 300 troops deployed to Guantanamo Bay: Report

On Sunday, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary restraining order, writing, “Considering the uncertainty surrounding jurisdiction, the court determines it is necessary to enjoin the transfer of petitioners to Guantánamo Bay.” Gonzales claimed that blocking the Trump administration from flying the three Venezuelan nationals to Guantanamo Bay was “necessary to achieve the ends of justice entrusted to this court.”

In a statement obtained by NPR, Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, claimed that sending immigrants to Guantanamo Bay and “holding them incommunicado without access to counsel or the outside world opens a new shameful chapter in the history of this notorious prison.”

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the “first flights” of illegal immigrants being sent to Guantanamo Bay were “underway.” The Trump administration’s confirmation came after the president signed an executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense to “begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay” to house “high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”

A viral picture on social media allegedly appears to show a female Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent pointing a gun at a baby in a crib during a raid against one of the individuals involved in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Sharing the picture of the FBI agent pointing a gun at a baby in a crib on social media, End Wokeness tweeted, “FBI agent. Pointing a gun. Loaded. At a baby in a crib. During a raid against a nonviolent January 6th protestor.”

Conservative social media user Bradley Brewer also shared the viral picture, tweeting, “Imagine. You’re a baby lying in a crib. All of a sudden, a female FBI agent points a loaded gun at you just because your daddy walked around inside the Capitol building after being invited in by police.”

The viral picture of the FBI agent was quickly met with backlash on X, formerly Twitter. One social media user wrote, “Sickening, President Trump should not only fire these corrupt FBI agents they must be prosecuted to the fullest.” Another social media user said, “So sad, to see a picture like this. The government is so corrupt it’s hard to recognize that it[s] the United States of America that I grew up in.”

Philip Anderson, who describes himself on social media as a free speech activist and a “January 6th survivor,” claimed that the viral photo shows how the FBI “behaved” as “40% of all the FBI agents in America did nothing except hunt down Trump supporters for the last 4 years.”

READ MORE: 5,000 FBI employees linked to Jan 6 cases

On the other hand, some social media users argued that the picture does not clearly show an FBI agent pointing her gun at the baby in the crib.

“Respectfully, this photo is distorted,” one X user tweeted. “There might be someone on the floor by the crib that the agent is addressing. Without more context, it’s too hard to know for certain.”

Another social media user argued, “Having used a pistol light…if it is a nighttime raid, dim environment, pistol mounted light, the pistol would need to be ‘aimed’ in the direction you need illumination. It’s not pointed directly into the crib. It’s right at the edge, ambiently lighting the area…. respectfully.”

President Donald Trump issued a major warning to the Hamas terrorist organization on Monday, threatening that “all hell is going to break out” if all the Israeli hostages are not released by noon on Saturday.

Addressing reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday, Trump emphasized that it was Israel’s decision whether or not to cancel the ceasefire deal that was announced just prior to his inauguration last month.

Commenting on the condition of the hostages that were recently released by Hamas terrorists, Trump said, “I looked at the hostages that came in, and they were emaciated. It looked like something out of the 1930s. It’s an absolute disgrace.” Trump told reporters that it looked like the Israeli hostages “came out of the Holocaust.

Trump claimed that Hamas has probably released the hostages “that look at least healthy,” as part of the initial ceasefire agreement phases and that one of the reasons Hamas might be hesitant to release more hostages is that it would make the Hamas terrorists look worse because of the condition of the hostages.

Addressing the ceasefire agreement, Trump told reporters, “As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock, I think it’s an appropriate time, I would say cancel it, and all bets are off and let hell break out. I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday.”

READ MORE: Video: Hamas agrees to ceasefire, hostage release after Trump warns ‘all hell to pay’

“And after that, I would say all hell is going to break out,” Trump added. “And I don’t think they’re going to do it. I think a lot of them are dead. I think a lot of the hostages are dead. I think it’s a great human tragedy what’s happened.”

During his comments at the White House, Trump noted that he was speaking for himself and that Israel could “override” his comments. However, the president doubled down on his warning to Hamas, saying, “But from myself, Saturday at 12 o’clock. And if they’re not, if they’re not here, all hell is going to break out.”

Trump on the ceasefire: “As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock … I would say cancel it, and all bets are off, and let hell break out.” pic.twitter.com/2mBdvTKUqn

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 10, 2025

Fox News reported that a Hamas spokesperson claimed on Monday that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement and announced that the next release of hostages would be delayed.

Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesperson, confirmed that “the release of the Zionist prisoners next Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to and provides compensation for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively.”

According to Fox News, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also released a statement on Monday, saying, “Hamas’ announcement to stop the release of Israeli hostages is a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and the hostage release deal.”

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted an overloaded migrant boat carrying more than 130 people from Haiti, including small children, near the Florida Keys last week.

The sailboat was traveling between Cuba and Cay Sal Bank in the Bahamas, about 50 miles southeast of the Middle Keys city of Marathon, when it was spotted Feb. 4 by a Coast Guard airplane crew and a Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations crew, according to a Coast Guard statement.

Photos released by the Coast Guard showed crew members caring for small children and infants. There were a total of 132 people on the sailboat, the Coast Guard said.

“The Coast Guard will continue to prioritize strengthening our domestic integrity and disrupting attempts to enter the United States illegally by sea,” Lt. Zane Carter, a Coast Guard District 7 enforcement officer, said in a statement. “We are steadfast in our mission to safeguard America by securing our maritime borders.”

The interdiction comes about two weeks after the Coast Guard announced it was surging personnel and assets to South Florida to comply with the Trump administration’s orders to use the military to secure the U.S. border.

On Monday, the people were returned to Haiti on board the Coast Guard cutter Escanaba.

The Coast Guard said it has returned 313 people to Haiti who were stopped at sea since Oct. 1. In all of fiscal year 2024, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, the total number of Haitians intercepted at sea was 857, according to the Coast Guard.

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© 2025 Miami Herald

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described Elon Musk as stupid and immoral in an Instagram video condemning the billionaire Trump surrogate’s involvement in dismantling government agencies like USAID.

According to the 14th congressional district representative, she’s met wealthy people who are a lot more impressive than the world’s richest man.

“This dude is probably one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met or seen or witnessed,” Ocasio-Cortez laughed in her video.

After Musk reportedly spent nearly $300 million to get Trump and his MAGA movement back into office, the president tasked his megadonor with heading a department to cut government spending. Critics like Ocasio-Cortez worry that will amount to the elimination of important services and tax breaks for the wealthy.

She contended Monday night that Musk and his young team of helpers “don’t do their homework” and have no understanding of the institutions they’re impacting.

“This dude is not smart,” she said of the entrepreneur whose involvement in electric cars and space exploration make him worth more than $400 billion.

Ocasio-Cortez cited last week’s temporary freeze on Medicaid portals is an example of what can go wrong if people like Musk and his tech-world acolytes are allowed to tinker in systems she claims they don’t understand.

According to the 35-year-old lawmaker, Musk’s “lack of intelligence,” “lack of expertise” and “morally vacant” approach to such systems will continue being problematic.

Musk and Ocasio-Cortez traded barbs in 2023 when she complained that X had become a dysfunctional hotbed for harassment after he took over the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Methinks somebody doth protest too much … ” Musk replied, paraphrasing William Shakespeare.

Musk boasted at a political rally in November that he could trim $2 trillion in federal spending. He’s since admitted that cutting half that much would be an accomplishment.

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© 2025 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office was still searching Tuesday for a suspect over a month after nine puppies were shot on Christmas night in Kathleen, investigators say, and a local nonprofit is trying to help a surviving puppy recover.

Only one dog, named Brody, miraculously survived, according to Jessica Gomez, president of Paws in Middle Georgia. Paws is a volunteer-based, no-kill pet rescue nonprofit in Warner Robins.

“While he was okay physically, mentally was a very different story,” Gomez told The Telegraph.

Reward offered for info

The incident was reported on Christmas after a man heard what he thought were fireworks on Dixon Road, but he witnessed a cruel sight.

“He drove up to see a metal dog kennel getting pushed off the side of an (all-terrain vehicle) and then they sped off,” Gomez said.

She believes Brody survived without any physical injuries because he was likely protected underneath the others.

The puppies weren’t little, she said. They were likely five or six months old and tightly packed in the crate.

Eight puppies were found dead at the scene from gunshot wounds, according to the sheriff’s office.

Police found 11 shell casings and gloves left at the scene. The sheriff’s office “spoke to some people about it,” but there was not enough information to make an arrest yet, Capt. Nate Noler said Monday. The incident was still under investigation.

A man connected to Paws in Middle Georgia was offering a $500 reward for any tips that lead to an arrest, Gomez said.

The nonprofit was accepting donations in honor of the deceased puppies and for Brody’s recovery efforts.

Brody’s recovery

Brody was timid and in shock days after the incident, Gomez said.

He is not available for adoption until he “learns how to trust humans again,” according to Gomez.

The man who found the puppies and reported the incident initially told Gomez he would adopt Brody, but recently changed his mind because he was returning to active military duty, Gomez told The Telegraph.

Warner Robins Animal Control held Brody for four days after the incident, then gave him to Paws in Middle Georgia. He lived with Gomez for a week, and now lives with a medical foster from the nonprofit.

“He wouldn’t make any effort to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, he wouldn’t even look at you when you walked in the room,” Gomez said. “He was completely shut down.”

About six weeks later, he now runs around and plays in the foster’s backyard, which are major improvements.

“He’s learned the joy of toys and is very food motivated,” Gomez said, chuckling. “If you have food, he’ll find a way to be your best friend.”

While Brody has made big strides in his mental and social recovery, he was far from ready for adoption, according to Gomez.

“It probably won’t be anytime soon, just whenever he’s ready,” she said. “It’s really going to depend on him warming up to people.”

People often try to get rid of unwanted litters, but this was the most drastic incident Gomez ever heard of locally.

“I do see desperate people all the time trying to get rid of puppies and kittens, but never to this level of cruelty,” she said. “Not that this would ever excuse something like this.”

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© 2025 The Macon Telegraph

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC