Super Bowl champ and Olympic legends take sides in high-stakes Supreme Court battle
Super Bowl-winning head coach Barry Switzer and 31 Olympians have signed an amicus brief in support of the legal defense to “save women’s sports” ahead of two upcoming Supreme Court cases over trans athletes. The signees also include 12 Olympic medalists, including eight gold medalists.
Switzer, women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh-Jennings, Summer Sanders, Donna de Varona, Nancy Hogshead, Laura Wilkinson, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, and Rhi Jeffrey, and former NFL quarterback Steve Stenstrom are among the top sports figures who signed the brief.
The signees also include multiple female athletes who have had to compete against biological male trans athletes, including fencer Stephanie Turner, former NCAA volleyball player Macy Petty, former University of Pennsylvania women’s swimmer Monika Burzynska, and U.S. Masters swimmers Wendy Enderle, Cissy Cochran and Angie Griffin.
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The brief has a total of 124 signatures, which also includes the family members of athletes who signed.
The brief argues that state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that protect women’s sports from trans athletes also protect women and girls from mental and physical harm.
“By ruling in favor of West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws, this Court can reaffirm that women should not lose their equal opportunity to compete in sports on a level playing field. By affirming the states’ right to stand with women and girls, this Court can ensure that females’ basic right to be treated equally is still the legal norm in the United States,” the brief reads.
“It is hard to express the pain, humiliation, frustration, and shame women experience when they are forced to compete against males in sport. It is public shaming and suffering, an exclusion from women’s own category – a place that uniquely belongs to them… The shame does not disappear after competition is over. It stays forever as a memory of sanctioned public ridicule… The psychological, tangible, and long-term harm suffered by females forced to compete against males is irreversible.”
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On the other side, 130 congressional Democrats signed an amicus brief supporting the trans athlete plaintiffs in the two cases.
The coalition, which includes nine senators and 121 House members, is led by Congressional Equality Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
The list of signees features prominent figures on the party’s left wing, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. The list also includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The list does not include noted moderate Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
What to know about the two cases
The Little vs. Hecox and West Virginia vs. BPJ cases were each initially legal wins that enabled biological males to bypass their state’s laws to compete against females. But now that the cases will be heard by the Supreme Court, a decision could have a wide-ranging impact on the legality of trans athletes in women’s sports going forward.
The cases are set for oral arguments on Jan. 13 in Washington, D.C.
The Little vs. Hecox lawsuit was initially filed by trans athlete Lindsay Hecox in 2020, when the athlete wanted to join the women’s cross-country team at Boise State and had the state’s law to prevent trans athletes from competing in women’s sports blocked.
Hecox was joined by an anonymous biological female student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the potential of being subjected to the sex dispute verification process. The challenge was successful when a federal judge blocked Idaho’s state law.
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld an injunction blocking the state law in 2023, before the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case. Hecox then asked the court last month to drop the challenge, claiming the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently withdraw and refrain from playing any women’s sports at BSU or in Idaho.”
Hecox tried to have the case dismissed in September after the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case, but U.S. District Judge David Nye, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, rejected Hecox’s motion to dismiss the case.
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The West Virginia vs. B.P.J. lawsuit was brought against the state of West Virginia by trans athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson, who was initially granted a preliminary injunction allowing the athlete to participate on the school’s sports teams. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated Title IX and the equal protection clause. Now the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the state’s appeal.
In a response brief, the athlete’s mother, Heather Jackson, argued West Virginia’s law that prohibits transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports violates Title IX.
However, Title IX does not explicitly protect the right of biologically male transgender people to identify as women. The Trump administration and West Virginia state government do not interpret Title IX as protective of that right.
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Family coach accuses Oprah of fueling the ‘silent epidemic’ she now laments
Oprah Winfrey is shining a light on family estrangement, which she calls “one of the fastest-growing cultural shifts of our time” — but one expert says the media mogul helped fuel that very culture.
“A Cornell University study now shows that almost one-third of Americans are actively estranged from a family member,” Winfrey said on a recent episode of “The Oprah Podcast,” referring to adult children going “no-contact” with parents, siblings or entire family systems.
Winfrey said the trend is a “silent epidemic” that can be especially relevant during the holidays.
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But family and relationship coach Tania Khazaal, who focuses on fighting “cutoff culture,” took to social media to criticize Winfrey for acting as if the estrangement crisis appeared “out of thin air.”
“Now Oprah is shocked by the aftermath of estrangement, after being one of the biggest voices pushing it for decades,” Canada-based Khazaal said in an Instagram video, which drew more than 27,000 likes and 3,000 comments.
Khazaal claimed that Winfrey’s messaging started in the 1990s and has contributed to a cultural shift where walking away became the first resort, not the last.
According to the relationship coach, millennials, some of whom grew up watching Oprah, are the leading demographic cutting off family members — and even if it wasn’t intentional, “the effect has absolutely been harmful,” Khazaal told Fox News Digital.
FAMILY BREAKUPS OVER POLITICS MAY HURT MORE THAN YOU THINK, EXPERT SAYS
The coach, who has her own history with estrangement, questioned why Winfrey is now treating the issue as a surprising crisis.
“Now she hosts a discussion with estranged parents and estranged kids, speaking on estrangement like it’s some hidden, sudden, heartbreaking epidemic that she had no hand in,” she said in her video.
Khazaal said she believes discussions about estrangement are necessary, but insists that people shouldn’t “rewrite history.”
“Estrangement isn’t entertainment or a trending conversation piece,” she added. “It’s real families, real grief, parents dying without hearing their child’s voice.”
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Winfrey reportedly responded in the comments, writing, “Happy to have a conversation about it — but not on a reel. Will have my producer contact you if you’re interested.” But the comment was later deleted due to the backlash it received, Khazaal told Fox News Digital.
“I would still be open to that discussion,” Khazaal said. “The first thing I’d want her to understand is simple: Setting aside cases of abuse or danger, the family unit is the most sacred structure we have.”
“When children lose their sense of belonging at home, they search for it in the outside world,” she added. “That’s contributing to the emotional fragility we’re seeing today.”
Her critique ignited a debate online, with some social media users saying Khazaal is voicing a long-overdue concern.
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“The first time I heard, ‘You can love them from a distance’ was from Oprah … in the ’90s,” one woman said.
“My son estranged himself from us for five years,” one mother commented. “The pain, hurt and damage never goes away.”
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Others, however, argued that Winfrey’s podcast episode was empathetic and that estrangement shouldn’t be oversimplified.
Mental health experts say the conversation around estrangement is more complex than any single celebrity influence, and reflects broader cultural shifts.
In the episode with Winfrey, Joshua Coleman, a California-based psychologist, said, “The old days of ‘honor thy mother and thy father,’ ‘respect thy elders’ and ‘family is forever’ has given way to much more of an emphasis on personal happiness, personal growth, my identity, my political beliefs, my mental health.”
Coleman noted that therapists sometimes become “detachment brokers” by unintentionally green-lighting estrangement.
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Jillian Amodio, a licensed master’s social worker at the Maryland-based Waypoint Wellness Center, told Fox News Digital that while public figures like Winfrey help normalize these conversations, estrangement might just be a more openly discussed topic now.
“Estrangement used to be handled privately and quietly,” she said.
But even strained relationships can be fixed with the right support, experts say.
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Susan Foosness, a North Carolina-based clinical director of patient programs at Rula Health, said families can strengthen their relationships by working with a mental health professional to improve communication, learn healthier conflict-resolution skills, and build trust and empathy through quality time together.
“No family is perfect,” Foosness told Fox News Digital.
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Khazaal agreed, saying, “Parents need to learn how to listen without slipping into justification, and children need help speaking about their pain without defaulting to blame or avoidance.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Winfrey for comment.
White House mocks CNN as ‘Chicken News Network’ over Stephen Miller standoff
The White House mocked CNN as “Chicken News Network” on Thursday for failing to book deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, but the liberal network quickly insisted members of the administration are welcome on air when appropriate.
Miller said earlier in the week that the White House communications office reached out to CNN to schedule him for an interview on “any show from dawn to dusk,” to discuss “any topic with any host at any time.” White House director of communications Steven Cheung then took to social media on Thursday to escalate the situation.
“DAY 3: The White House has again made Stephen Miller @StephenM available to CNN for a third day (any time, any show, any topic). They have declined, presumably because they are scared Stephen will school them and call out Fake News. CNN = Chicken News Network,” Cheung posted.
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Vice President JD Vance quoted Cheung’s post and wrote on X: “If CNN wants to be a real news network it should feature important voices from our administration.”
CNN’s public relations team then responded with a statement.
“Members of the administration, including Stephen Miller, are welcome to come on our air. As a news organization, we make editorial decisions about the stories we cover and when, and that depends on the news priorities of the day. We look forward to having Stephen on again in the future as the news warrants,” CNN posted.
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Miller last appeared on CNN on Oct. 6, when he sparred with the network’s host over National Guard deployments and threats to ICE personnel.
Trump and members of his administration have mocked CNN for years. Trump has recently criticized the network’s current leadership, and insisted Wednesday that CNN be part of any sale of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
“I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace,” Trump told reporters from the White House on Wednesday. “I think it’s imperative that CNN be sold because you certainly wouldn’t want to put people, just leave those people with some money, good money at CNN so that, you know, they can spend even more money spreading poison because it’s lies. It’s a disgrace. So, I wouldn’t want to see the same company end up with CNN.”
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Congressional candidate faces scrutiny over explicit content on social media
Bobby Pulido, an award-winning musician-turned-congressional candidate, has a digital footprint of references to explicit material that lingers on his social media as he pursues a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
From 2013 to as recently as 2024, Pulido has posted a range of links, images and references to pornographic material.
In 2013, Pulido told viewers to visit pornographic website YouPorn if bored and reposted links to porn sites featuring the music of fellow musicians, asking them if they’re receiving royalties for being featured.
Later that same year, he posted a link to XVideos with the caption “homemade porn while sleep-deprived?”
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In 2015, he posted a link to YouPorn but later deleted it, claiming his account had been hacked.
“It’s impossible to have Twitter and not watch porn,” Pulido said in a 2014 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“To everyone crying over the shutdown of XVideos, I’m telling you there are other free sites. I mean, that’s what they’ve told me. #you’rewelcome,” Pulido wrote in a 2016 post on X.
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Pulido’s online history follows him in his bid to unseat Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. His race, which is expected to be one of the more competitive opportunities for Democrats in Texas after a redistricting effort in the state looks to squeeze five Democrats out of office, will turn on whether he can attract support from across the aisle. A two-term incumbent, De La Cruz last won election to the district in 2024 in a 57.1%–42.9% victory over Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo. Redistricting changes will still favor Republicans but are expected to put the seat more in reach for Democrats.
Democrats had heavily recruited Pulido to run, according to reporting from Politico.
Reacting to the slew of posts, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) blasted Pulido’s record, calling them disqualifying.
“Radical Bobby Pulido is unhinged and unfit to serve in Congress,” NRCC spokesperson Reilley Richardson told Fox News Digital.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) did not respond to a request for comment.
Pulido is best known for Tejano, or Mexican-Spanish folk-style songs like “Desvelado” and “Se Murió de Amor,” and he received five nominations for a Latin Grammy Award, winning Best Tejano Album in 2022 and 2025.
Since announcing his bid, Pulido has attempted to reframe himself as a bipartisan candidate with a strong emphasis on family. He has scrubbed his social media of more references to his political stances — like a photo of himself urinating on Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
“You may know me as Bobby Pulido the singer,” Pulido said in his campaign launch video. “I am José Roberto Pulido Jr., the son of a migrant farmworker and 100% South Texas Tejano. Let me tell you. I won’t stand by and watch the South Texas that raised me be torn down and divided.”
Despite his profile’s scrubbing, many of his posts referencing porn remain in place. A few explicit images have also escaped removal.
Although Pulido himself has denied participating in any adult material, he has reposted fans noting his music’s use in explicit productions. As recently as 2024, he posted a picture of a fan in a compromising position at one of his concerts.
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At the time, he received backlash for the post but initially kept the image up.
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Pulido’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment.
Doorbell camera captures devastating home explosion as construction crew worked
Six people were hospitalized in California following a devastating home explosion caught on video.
Footage from a doorbell camera at a home near Hayward in the San Francisco Bay Area showed a property blowing up Thursday, sending debris flying into the air. Sirens could then be heard as a fire broke out.
“It was scary,” Christian Maldanado, who took the video, told KTVU. “It was like a scene from Hollywood. It was unreal.”
The Alameda County Fire Department said 75 firefighters battled the three-alarm blaze, while the explosion and fire left three buildings destroyed and adjacent houses damaged.
Six people were taken to local hospitals, and the cause of the incident is under investigation, the department added.
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The explosion occurred in the unincorporated community of Ashland, near the city of Hayward. The city is home to about 160,000 residents in the East Bay, 15 miles south of Oakland.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was alerted around 7:35 a.m. that a construction crew — not with the utility — had damaged an underground gas line. Utility workers arrived to isolate the damaged line, but gas was leaking from various locations.
Workers stopped the flow of gas at 9:25 a.m., and the explosion followed shortly afterward.
Gas was flowing for two hours, but the explosion happened 10 minutes after the line was shut off, PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian confirmed.
VIDEO CAPTURES DEVASTATING AFTERMATH OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY HOME EXPLOSION THAT LEFT TEEN CRITICALLY INJURED
Three structures on two separate lots were severely damaged, said Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Nishimoto. Some of the 75 firefighters who responded had to back off momentarily when they felt electric shocks from power lines that had fallen on the site.
“Every window in my house was blown open,” a local resident, identified as Deborah, told KTVU. “There are cracks in the ceiling. My house is destroyed.”
The neighborhood of single-level homes near two freeways had been undergoing construction work for wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
Interstate Highway 238 was temporarily shut down by the California Highway Patrol as authorities responded to the explosion and fire, according to KTVU.
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PG&E told the station that three of the company’s workers were among the injured, while a family member said the other three people injured were residents of the home that exploded and are being treated for third-degree burns.
Disturbing allegations revealed in chilling 911 audio after Michigan coach fired
Details of the detention of former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore surfaced Wednesday and included allegations of stalking and a possible mental health crisis.
Audio of a 911 dispatch call obtained by Fox News Digital details allegations of an alleged “domestic” assault in which police said the victim claimed “there’s a male at the location and the house attacking her” and noted that the suspect had been “stalking her for months.”
The audio goes on to say that the suspect, “did put a knife to his throat and ran out.”
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According to TMZ Sports, additional audio from dispatch included the suspect’s wife saying he is suicidal due to “losing his job today.”
Moore’s name was not mentioned in the audio, but TMZ Sports reported that the call came from a Michigan football employee’s address in Ann Arbor at the time Moore was arrested on Wednesday.
Moore, 39, was booked into Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan, Fox News Digital confirmed. No charges were listed.
Pittsfield police said they responded to a home as part of an assault investigation. Police said a suspect was taken into custody and that the incident does not appear to be random in nature. Police said the suspect was lodged in the Washtenaw County Jail pending review of charges by the Washtenaw County prosecutor.
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Moore’s arrest came after the Wolverines head coach was fired after it was revealed that he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement that “credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”
University of Michigan interim President Domenico Grasso also sent an email message to students Thursday addressing the situation, saying that Moore’s actions were a “breach of trust,” and he encouraged students to come forward with information as their investigation continues.
“Students, Earlier this week, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics dismissed head football coach Sherrone Moore with cause for violating University policy by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member,” a copy of the message obtained by Fox News Digital said.
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“There is absolutely no tolerance for this conduct at the University of Michigan. None. I have been in close communication with the Board of Regents and we are united in committing to doing what is right. This breach of trust by Coach Moore is painful for many in our community, first and foremost, the individuals directly involved in this situation.”
Moore is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.
Trump gives Ukraine ‘days’ to accept peace plan as lawmakers support tactic
Lawmakers gave mixed reactions to the timeline that President Donald Trump laid out for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a peace plan.
The new timeline, first reported by the Financial Times, gives Ukraine just “days” to consider the 20-point design floated by the administration after months of stalemate. According to the Times, the administration wants to have an answer by Christmas.
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Where some lawmakers believe a sense of urgency is essential to drawing the parties to the table, others criticized the timeline as a tool that they believe is putting a disproportionate amount of pressure on Ukraine.
“I don’t think people should be given a deadline when it comes to defending their freedom and sovereignty,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Wednesday.
Whether Ukraine will have to surrender some of its land has become the main sticking point amid broader conversations on the 20-point peace plan brokered by the United States. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said conceding territory is a line he won’t cross.
On Wednesday, in a post to X, he said he would work with Ukraine’s allies to find an acceptable resolution to the conflict.
“We continue to communicate with all our partners on a daily basis, virtually 24/7, to identify doable and realistic steps to bring the war to an end. Everything must be reliable and dignified for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are finalizing work on the 20 points of a fundamental document that could define the parameters for ending the war, and we expect to deliver this document to the United States in the near future following our joint work with President Trump’s team and partners in Europe.”
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Like Van Hollen, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he believes the timeline doesn’t help reach a resolution. But he also questioned how firm the timeline request would be. Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted Trump has made similar efforts to put pressure on peace talks in the past.
“Over and over and over and over, President Trump’s attitude towards Russia and Ukraine has changed off again, on again, off again over the last 11 months,” Coons said.
“It is long past time for President Trump to acknowledge that Russia is the aggressor, that Ukraine is a democracy, and that our vital national interest rests with defending Ukraine. He should not be giving timeline ultimatums,” Coons said.
But not all lawmakers see the timeline as counterproductive. Republicans said it introduces a needed degree of pressure.
“I don’t criticize the timelines, because I think that forces people to the table and to try to work it out,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who is a longtime supporter of sending U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“But I do think that we have to make sure that we’re clear on who the aggressor is and who the victim is and proceed accordingly,” Fitzpatrick added.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, declined to praise or condemn the timeline. But in a pragmatic sense, he believes it helps Ukraine come to grips with the ugly reality of war and what he sees as an unsustainable drain to the country’s military power.
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“I’m not trying to take any sides on this, other than the longer this goes on, the more devastating it is to Ukraine post-war,” Issa said. “If you look at this, like you look at a chessboard where you have 20 pawns and I have 10, and we’re trading them one for one. Time is not on the side of the one that has 10.”
“Time is [Zelenskyy’s] enemy, because every day that goes by that we’re at a standstill, he doesn’t become militarily weaker, but from a human asset [view], he’s becoming weaker. And you know, this is not a sustainable war because he can’t produce another generation of fighters to replace the ones that are being killed or maimed every day,” Issa said.
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It’s unclear what the Trump administration would do if the conflict were to stretch past that window. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why the US could snatch a Venezuelan tanker — and not under ‘wartime’ authority
The Trump administration is relying on a sharply different legal justification for seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker than striking alleged narco-traffickers, even if both moves are intended to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday framed the U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan crude oil tanker as a straightforward sanctions enforcement action rooted in a federal court warrant. Bondi said the tanker, long sanctioned for moving illicit Venezuelan and Iranian oil in support of foreign terrorist organizations, was taken into custody by the Coast Guard with help from the War Department after investigators executed a warrant off the coast of Venezuela.
A senior administration official told Fox News the sanctions designation is the sole legal basis for seizing the ship — not the armed-conflict authority the administration has invoked to justify kinetic strikes on drug-trafficking vessels. The distinction highlights the administration’s reliance on two very different legal frameworks in the same region: traditional sanctions and forfeiture statutes for the tanker, and a contentious assertion of wartime authority against drug cartels for the maritime strikes.
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The tanker, known as the Skipper, has been on a U.S. sanctions list for several years for allegedly moving crude tied to a clandestine Venezuela–Iran oil network that Washington says helped generate revenue for foreign terrorist organizations.
According to officials, that designation rendered the vessel “blocked property” under U.S. law, allowing the Justice Department to seek and obtain a federal warrant to seize it under civil forfeiture statutes. That process — rooted in domestic law and executed through a U.S. court — is the basis for Thursday’s operation, administration officials said.
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While the administration argues the seizure is fully authorized under U.S. sanctions and forfeiture law, the use of domestic legal authorities to detain a foreign vessel on the high seas historically has generated debate in maritime law circles, particularly when the ship is not under the U.S. flag. The allegation that the Skipper was stateless or fraudulently flagged could prove significant in that debate.
If true, “the U.S. could treat this vessel as ‘stateless’ and subject to seizure since it is otherwise acting in violation of U.S. law,” law professor Julian Ku told Fox News Digital. “That would be the strongest legal basis.”
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Under the sanctions framework, the government is not claiming battlefield authority or self-defense powers. Instead, officials are relying on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and related OFAC regulations, which allow the U.S. to target property linked to sanctioned entities, even when that property is located abroad.
A senior administration official emphasized that this is the only legal theory the government is using for the Skipper seizure and said it carries none of the Article II wartime arguments the administration has invoked to justify its strikes on cartel boats in international waters.
The result is a civilian enforcement action carried out with help from the military, alongside a separate military campaign premised on the assertion that the United States is “at war” with foreign drug cartels. But both efforts are rooted in what onlookers believe to be the president’s intended goal: pressuring Maduro to step down from power.
Researchers flag sleep-related behavior as a potential early-death predictor
Insufficient sleep is one of the strongest predictors of shorter life expectancy in the U.S., surpassed only by smoking.
That’s according to a new nationwide analysis published in the journal SLEEP Advances, led by senior author Andrew McHill, Ph.D., associate professor with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
To explore how sleep habits relate to lifespan, the researchers examined data from surveys conducted by the CDC between 2019 and 2025 across more than 3,000 U.S. counties, according to a press release.
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Sufficient sleep was defined as at least seven hours per night, consistent with guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.
The researchers compared average life expectancy in each county with the proportion of residents reporting sufficient sleep, controlling for traditional predictors of mortality such as smoking, diet, physical inactivity and loneliness.
Counties where more people reported insufficient sleep tended to have lower life expectancy. This pattern held across most states and years studied, even when accounting for other lifestyle factors.
“I didn’t expect it to be so strongly correlated to life expectancy,” McHill said in the press release, noting that although sleep’s importance to health is well-established, its association with lifespan exceeded expectations.
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“We’ve always thought sleep is important, but this research really drives that point home: People really should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep if at all possible.”
The research builds on a broad body of evidence linking sleep duration to health outcomes, including mortality risk, heart health, immune strength and brain function.
However, this is the first analysis to map the relationship between sleep duration and life expectancy at a detailed, county-by-county level across multiple years, establishing a consistent association across diverse communities, the release states.
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The study did have some limitations, including its reliance on self-reported survey data, which can be subject to reporting bias. It also cannot establish causation and does not explain the biological factors behind the results, the researchers noted.
Although the statistical models controlled for several lifestyle factors, other unmeasured variables could influence both sleep patterns and life expectancy.
Sleep duration alone does not capture other dimensions of sleep health, such as quality or regularity, which may also affect long-term outcomes, according to the study.
The authors emphasized that these findings highlight the importance of prioritizing sleep as a core pillar of health, on par with diet and exercise.
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“This research shows that we need to prioritize sleep at least as much as what we eat or how we exercise,” McHill said. “Getting a good night’s sleep will improve how you feel, but also how long you live.”
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The study was primarily conducted by graduate students in the Sleep, Chronobiology and Health Laboratory at OHSU’s School of Nursing.
The research was funded in part by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, along with institutional support from OHSU.