FORTE GLOW

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at American allies Friday for not committing naval forcesforcibly re-open the Strait of Hormuzafter Iran shut down the key waterway in retaliation against the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

During a Pentagon briefing with Joint Chiefs of Staff chair General Dan Caine, Hegseth implied thatEuropean and Asian countries were not sufficiently gratefulfor the U.S.-led war, which he called “a gift to the world” from PresidentDonald Trump, citing the administration's purported goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“It's a bold and dangerous mission ... courtesy of a bold and historic president,” Hegseth said.

The defense secretary claimed the U.S. Navy's “ironclad blockade” on Iranian ports would be “going global” and “tightening by the hour” to prevent any ships from entering or leaving Iran's territorial waters absent U.S. permission.

At the same time, he accused Iranian forces of “acting like terrorists” by attempting to enforce their own blockade of the waterway against “random ships" and laying "indiscriminate mines" in the strait.

"Iran's battered military ... has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag. They cloak their aggression in slogans, but the world now sees them for what they are — criminals on the high seas," he said.

“We are in control. Nothing in, nothing out,” Hegseth added.

Although the ex-television presenter turned defense chief claimed the U.S. has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, American ships have not been operating in that narrow passage because doing so would put them in range of Iranian drone or missile attacks.

Instead, American forces in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean have been intercepting ships bound for or originating from Iranian ports since earlier this month as a way of restricting Iranian revenue from both oil exports and Tehran’s efforts to extract massive tolls from ships seeking to pass through the strait.

Iranian forces have effectively blockaded the strait since the start of the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, cutting off approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil supply from markets and sending petroleum prices to levels not seen in years.

Tehran has also placed mines in the strait and has seized or attacked ships transiting through it, leading to a massive buildup of idle ships and raising fears of shortages of fuel and other products in regions that rely heavily on imports and exports through the strait.

Hegseth denigrated longtime U.S. allies in Europe and Asia for not joining in the American-Israeli war and claiming that they have more reason to want shipping traffic through the strait to resume because the U.S. “barely” makes use of it in comparison.

“Europe and Asia have benefited from our protection for decades, but the time for free riding is over. America and the free world deserve allies who are capable, who are loyal and who understand that being an ally is not a one way street. It's a two way street,” Hegseth said.

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“We are not counting on Europe, but they need theStrait of Hormuzmuch more than we do, and might want to start doing less talking and having less fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat.”

The defense secretary’s derisive comments towards U.S. allies come one week after the U.K. and France convened a 51-country summit on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced that both countries would lead “an independent and strictly defensive multinational mission to protect merchant vessels, reassure commercial shipping operators, and conduct mine clearance operations.”

Starmer and Macron said in a statement that the multinational effort would commence “as soon as conditions permit” but only after implementation of a “sustainable ceasefire agreement.”

While a long-term deal appears far off, earlier this week Trump announced that he would continue to honor a temporary ceasefire deal that had been set to expire Wednesday after Pakistani leaders prevailed on him to do so rather than resume attacks on targets inside Iran. But the president told reporters he’s in no hurry to make a deal with Tehran, insisting that he has “all the time in the world” to do so.

During a question-and-answer session with a handpicked selection of right-wing reporters who’d been given front-row seats at the Pentagon press conference, Hegseth said the blockade would last “as long as it takes” while belittling Starmer and Macron’s efforts as “a lot of talks” and mocking the multinational summit as “a silly conference in Europe last week where they got together and talked about, talking about maybe doing something eventually, when things are done.”

He similarly slammed the proposed multinational force as “not serious efforts” because they would not involve offensive operations against Iranian forces while claiming the U.S. would “welcome a serious European effort to do something about this straight and this passage, considering it's their energy capabilities that are most at stake.”

Hegseth’s repeated belittling of America’s traditional allies is in line with the president’s repeated expressions of disdain for NATO after the 32-member defensive alliance did not join in the offensive war he started on February 28 alongside Israel without consulting or requesting help from other members of the alliance.

Trump has since then repeatedly mocked NATO as a “paper tiger” and claimed members “weren’t there for us” despite the fact that the alliance’s mutual defense provision has only been invoked to defend the U.S. in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

As Iran’s retaliatory blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil prices to spike and Trump’s approval rating to sink ahead of the November midterm elections in the U.S., the president and his aides have been considering how to punish NATO members for not joining the U.S.-led war.

Trump has mused aloud about withdrawing the U.S. from NATO — a course of action that would be prohibited under a 2021 law authored by Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his time as a Florida senator — and a leaked Pentagon memorandum first reported on by Reuters suggests retaliating against the U.K. by purportedly “reviewing” British claims to the Falkland Islands.

The State Department’s website states that the islands are administered by the UK but are still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian president, Javier Milei, is a Trump ally.

In response, a spokesperson for Starmer pointed out that Falklanders “have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining a UK overseas territory.”

“The question of the Falkland Islands and the UK’s sovereignty and the islanders’ right to self-determination is not in question, and we’ve expressed that position clearly and consistently,” the spokesperson added.

The American Lung Associationrecently released its yearly “State of the Air” report – and though none of South Florida’s cities are among the 25 most polluted, air quality has decreased in some of the region’s metros.

The report analyzes data from 2022 through 2024 to grade counties onunhealthy levelsof ozone and particle pollution, perhaps better understood assmog and soot, respectively. In the Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale metro area, the air quality declined slightly, exposing residents to more unhealthy ozone pollution. The region ranked as the 132nd worst out of 226 metropolitan areas for high ozone, 110th worst out of 224 areas for 24-hour particle pollution and 57th worst out of 211 areas for annual particle pollution.

“Clean air is essential to the health and well-being of families across Florida. Children deserve to breathe air that won’t make them sick,” Ashley Lyerly, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, said in a press release.

Collectively, 152 million people of all ages in the U.S., or about 44%, live in counties that have received a failing grade on at least one air pollution measure.

“Clean air takes work. Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rollbacks of critical healthy air rules are impacting our residents. We urge Florida’s policymakers to take action to improve our air quality, and we are calling on everyone to tell EPA that our kids’ health counts.”

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The air quality monitoring network in Florida is limited, according to the report – if there’s no monitor present in a county, no data for it will be available. In Florida, 35 of 67 counties could be graded on at least one air quality measure, according tothe ALA's report card.

See the high ozone days of 35 out of 67 Florida counties

Grade, Average Weight of Air

Hillsborough

Indian River

See particle pollution rankings for 16 out of 67 Florida counties

Grade, Average Weight of Air

Hillsborough

Don't see your county? Try your address instead

If you do not see your county on the list, you can still tryputting in your address on the website.

How does bad air quality impact our health?

The report found that 32.9 million people live in counties that received failing grades on all three measures.

As for what that means for their health – the ALA says its years of scientific research have shown thatparticle pollution and ozone are a threatto human health at every stage of life. Some of the major respiratory symptoms of air pollution include wheezing and coughing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, worsening COPD and lung cancer.

Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter,Florida TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:South Florida had fairly clean air, American Lung Association reports

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and Iran have signaled they will hold a new round of ceasefire talks in Pakistan, two regional officials said Tuesday, as leaders on both sides warned they were prepared for more fighting if afragile two-week truceexpires without a deal.

Neither the U.S. nor Iran has publicly confirmed the timing of the talks in Islamabad, with Iranian state television denying any official was already in Pakistan’s capital.

Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that the top negotiators, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday to lead their teams in the talks, the regional officials told The Associated Press.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

A ceasefire that began April 8 was set to expire Wednesday.

Trump says he doesn't favor extending ceasefire

Both sides remain dug in rhetorically. U.S. PresidentDonald Trump has warnedthat “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline, and Iran’s chief negotiator said that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven't yet been revealed.

The ceasefire could be extended if talks resume, though Trump said in an interview Tuesday with CNBC: “Well, I don't want to do that.”

"We don’t have that much time,” Trump said, adding that Iran “had a choice” and “they have to negotiate.”

During his CNBC interview, Trump confirmed that he’s considering the possibility of a currency swap with the United Arab Emirates to help the Mideast ally secure U.S. dollars, as its oil-rich economy has been rattled by the Iran conflict.

The president expressed surprise that the nation needs assistance, but made clear he was open to the prospect of making the move to help meet his ally’s concerns.

While it has been able to send some of its oil out via a pipeline to the Gulf of Oman, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has squeezed the country’s oil exports.

White House officials have said that Vance would lead the American delegation, but Iran hasn't said who it might send. Iranian state television on Tuesday broadcast a message saying that “no delegation from Iran has visited Islamabad … so far.”

Iranian state TV long has been controlled by hard-liners within Iran’s theocracy. The on-screen alert likely reflects the ongoing internal debate within Iran’s theocracy as it weighs how to respond to the U.S. Navy’s seizure of anIranian container shipover the weekend.

US says its forces board sanctioned oil tanker

On Tuesday, the U.S. said its forces boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia. The Pentagon said in a social media post that U.S. forces boarded the M/T Tifani “without incident.”

The U.S. military did not say where the vessel had been boarded, though ship-tracking data showed the Tifani in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia on Tuesday.

The statement added that “international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels.”

The U.S. military on Sunday seized an Iranian cargo vessel, the first interception underblockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a violation of the ceasefire.

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Strait of Hormuz control key to negotiations

The U.S. imposed the blockade to pressure Tehran into ending its stranglehold on theStrait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane through which 20% of the world’s natural gas and crude oil transits in peacetime.

Iran’s grip on the strait has sent oil prices soaring.Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at close to $95 per barrel on Tuesday, up more than 30% from Feb. 28, the day that Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran to start the war.

Before the war began, the Strait of Hormuz had been fully open to international shipping. Trump has demanded that vessels again be allowed to transit unimpeded through the waterway.

European Union transportation ministers were meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to protect consumers after the head of the International Energy Agency warned that Europe has “maybe six weeks” ofjet fuel suppliesremaining.

Over the weekend, Iran said that it had received new proposals from Washington, but also suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations includedIran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the strait.

Qalibaf on Tuesday accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender. He said that, on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” he wrote in an X post.

Pakistan hopeful talks will proceed

Pakistani officials have expressed confidence that Iran will also send a delegation for more talks.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met with the ambassador from China, which is a key trading partner with Iran, while the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the conflict was at a “critical stage of transition between war and peace.”

Security has been tightened across Pakistan’s capital, where authorities have deployed thousands of personnel and increased patrols along routes leading to the airport.

The arrangements appear stricter than those put in place during the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, suggesting the possibility of high-level participation, if negotiations make progress, said Syed Mohammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst.

Historic Israel-Lebanon talks also set to resume

Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks betweenIsrael and Lebanonwere set to resume on Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.

A10-day ceasefirebegan on Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backedHezbollah militantsbroke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran to start the war. Fighting in Lebanon haskilled more than 2,290 people.

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to authorities. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. David Rising and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok; Sam McNeil in Brussels and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.

TheUSmilitaryhas released avideoshowing a helicopter crew redirecting a ship amidDonald Trump’sStrait of Hormuzblockade.

Footage shared by theUS Central Commandon Monday (20 April) shows a crew member communicating with a ship attempting to enter an area of blockade, warning that the blockade on Iranian ports will be enforced against all ships “regardless of flag”.

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He added: “Any vessel will further intent to enter or exit An Iranian port will be subject to the right of visit and search in accordance with international law.

“If you attempt to run the blockade, we will compel compliance with force.”

CENTCOM says US forces have directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court handed a win Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.

The unanimous procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to payupward of $740 millionto clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.

Backed by the Trump administration, the companies argued the case belongs in federal court because the work in Louisiana started as an effort to quickly increase the supply of aviation gasoline for the U.S. government during World War II.

The high court agreed. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 8-0 court, noted Congress has long allowed lawsuits against the government and its contractors to be heard in federal court. This suit, he wrote, is clearly related to Chevron’s wartime efforts to bolster the U.S. aviation fuel supply.

Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of land over the past century, according to theU.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agencyhas warned.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the lawsuits when he was attorney general, even though he’s a longtime oil and gas industry supporter. An attorney for local Louisiana leaders, John Carmouche, said they disagree with the decision but plan to keep the lawsuits alive.

“Simply changing where the case will be heard, as has happened, will not deter our efforts to have Big Oil held accountable for the damages they caused and the enormous restoration they owe the people of Louisiana,” Carmouche said.

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The companies appealed to the high court after jurors in Plaquemines Parish — a sliver of land straddling the Mississippi River into the Gulf — found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.

Chevron applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying the claims are related to work that the companies did under federal supervision. “Chevron looks forward to litigating these cases in federal court, where they belong,” the company said in a statement.

The company denies responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and argues it’s wrong to sue it for what it did before state environmental regulations were in place.

The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed in 2013 alleging oil giants including Chevron and Exxon violated state environmental laws for decades. Friday’s ruling overturns a 2024 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Carmouche said it affects 11 of the 42 cases against various oil companies.

The energy industry group Grow Louisiana said the decision should spell the end of the litigation. “These lawsuits have cost Louisiana billions, killed jobs and padded trial lawyers’ pockets," Executive Director Marc Ehrhardt said. “Enough is enough. Stop these lawsuits.”

Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, pointing to financial ties to ConocoPhillips. He's previously recused himself from other cases due to his stock holdings.

Brook reported from New Orleans.

A shelter formigrant childrenin New York is facingallegations of abuseincluding placing children in restraints and isolating some kids in a so-called “red room,” according to a report.

The alleged abuse occurred at Children’s Village, a shelter in Dobbs Ferry, 25 miles north of Manhattan, which has served unaccompanied migrant children since 2004,CNN reported.

The children were allegedly beaten by a “special unit” team, with abuse taking place out of the view of security cameras. Some were punished with restraints or isolated in a so-called “red room,” for extended periods of time, sources told CNN.

The shelter stopped housing children in January and kids were moved elsewhere due to “significant child welfare concerns,” according to documents viewed by the publication.

Unaccompanied migrant children are the responsibility of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which falls under the Health and Human Services Department. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told CNN the agency “takes all allegations of misconduct involving children in its care extremely seriously.”

“Upon receiving an allegation related to this facility, ORR acted immediately to transfer all unaccompanied children to other locations and referred the matter to the appropriate federal investigative authorities. The safety and well-being of children in ORR care is a top priority, and any credible concerns are addressed swiftly and thoroughly,” Nixon said.

One teen at the shelter said he spent four days alone in a “red room,” which had a red light and no door. While isolated in the room, the boy did not bathe and was only given bread to eat, according to the report.

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The teen also reported that a “special unit” would get involved when fights broke out and restraints were needed. He said he was thrown to the floor, hit and placed in restraints nearly two dozen times.

Sources told CNN that multiple teens in the shelter had similar experiences with the “special unit.” While New York laws allow for “de-escalation rooms,” they are not permitted as a form of punishment. Sources said the shelter’s “red room” was not voluntary.

“It sounds like real abuse,” one said. “If a kid was subjected to that in their home, not allowed to shower, kept in a confined space for that long, they’d be considered to be in an abusive situation.”

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the Children’s Village said: “We have zero tolerance for any form of punishment.”

“All teens in our care deserve the highest level of care, support, and professionalism from every adult responsible for their well-being. Allegations of employee misconduct are deeply distressing, and if received, we make an immediate report to the authorities. We will take all necessary steps to ensure that any staff member found to have engaged in misconduct is addressed appropriately and without hesitation,” the spokesperson added.

The Independenthas contacted the Children’s Village for comment.

The New York State Justice Center, which recieves reports of abuse and neglect declined to comment on reports it received about the shelter and did not provide CNN with information about its investigation.

FBI Director Kash Patelhas vehemently denied—and threatened a lawsuit over—a new reportfromThe Atlanticthis week, which alleges excessive drinking and unexplained absences during his tenure as bureau chief.

In onepost on X, Patel told the outlet and author of the report: “See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court,” calling the piece a “legal layup.”

“Memo to the fake news - the only time I’ll ever actually be concerned about the hit piece lies you write about me will be when you stop,” Patel added in another poston XSaturday morning. “Keep talking, it means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”

Thearticle, published Friday evening, cites more than two dozen people, including unnamed current and former FBI officials, alleging several episodes described as “freak-outs” from the 46-year-old former public defender. These allegations of erratic behavior and excessive drinking are indicative of what they describe as poor and even absent leadership of the agency, which hasabout 38,000 employees.

Several officials cited in the piece say that Patel is known for "obvious intoxication" at private clubs in Washington and in Las Vegas, forcing his staff to move early morning meetings to later in the day as he recovered. Justice Department and White House officials also described instances in which aides or security personnel had difficulty waking him. In one case, members of his security detail were unable to reach him behind locked doors, prompting a request for “breaching equipment” typically used by tactical teams. If substantiated, such conduct would violate the Department of Justice’sethics standards, which prohibit habitual intoxication.

Officials also said it had raised concerns about public safety, with some wondering how Patel would handle a domestic terrorist attack. “That’s what keeps me up at night,” one official toldThe Atlantic, adding that concerns have grown in the weeks since the United States beganmilitary operations against Iran.

The article also alleges that many staffers are just “waiting” for the notice that Patel will be fired from his position, despite President Donald Trump havingpreviously defendedthe FBI director. Officials cited in the report pointed to his unreachability and impulsivity in response to high-stakes situations.

In response to the allegations, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the magazine that “crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars. Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.”

The report comes weeks after Iran-linked hackers calling themselves Handala claimed to have breached Patel’s personal email andpublished photographsand documents online, according to Reuters.

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Past controversies

The report adds to the mounting questions over Patel’s leadership of the U.S.’s principal federal law enforcement agency and is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding him.

In September 2025, Pateldrew criticismamong lawmakers across the political aisle over his handling of the manhunt for right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk’s killer, especially after heprematurely announcedthat the authorities had detained a suspect.

At the time, Patel said in an interview that he had “no regrets” about the social media post, claiming that he was acting in the interest of transparency.

“Mr. Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr. Kirk’s assassin that he violated one of the basics of effective law enforcement: At critical stages of investigation, shut up and let the professionals do their job,” Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois,saidin an FBI oversight hearing at the time.

Read more:After Missteps, Kash Patel Faces Questions Over His Leadership of Charlie Kirk Investigation

In December last year, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committeereleased a letterdemanding answers after reports emerged that Patel used a government aircraft on a “date night” with his country singer girlfriend, to go see her perform in Pennsylvania, and for trips to places like Texas and Scotland. Patelcalledthe accusations “baseless rumors” at the time.

Then, this February, he once againcame under firefor traveling to the Milan-Cortina Olympics to watch the U.S. men’s hockey team win the gold medal. Videos shared on social media after the game showed Patel chugging a beer, wearing a gold medal, and dancing and singing with the team.

An FBI spokesperson later defended Patel in aposton X. “No, it’s not a personal trip. Director Patel is on a trip that was planned months ago.”

The White House did not immediately respond to TIME's request for comment.