Pope Leo XIV expressed “profound sorrow” this week after a Maronite Catholic priest was killed in southern Lebanon during an Israeli strike, as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate along the border. The priest, Fr. Pierre al-Rahi, was killed March 9 in the village of Qlayaa near the Israeli border after rushing to help parishioners wounded in an earlier attack, according to Catholic officials. In a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff said he was grieving the victims of recent violence across the region. “Pope Leo XIV expresses his profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in the Middle East these past few days, for the many innocent people, including numerous children, and for those who were helping them, such as Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite priest killed this afternoon in Qlayaa,” the Vatican said. The statement added that the pope is “following the events with concern and prays for a swift end to all hostilities.” Al-Rahi, a parish priest serving the Maronite Catholic community in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, was reportedly assisting wounded villagers when the fatal strike occurred. According to accounts from Catholic sources in the region, an Israeli tank shell first struck a house in the village, injuring residents. Al-Rahi and several neighbors rushed to help those wounded in the attack when the location was struck again. The priest was seriously wounded and later died in a nearby hospital. L’Œuvre d’Orient, a French Catholic organization for Eastern Christians, confirmed the priest’s death and condemned the violence in a statement. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need said al-Rahi had been ministering to distressed parishioners when the strike occurred. “Very disturbing reports that a parish priest in southern Lebanon has been killed in an Israeli strike,” the organization said in a statement, asking the faithful to pray for the slain priest and for peace in the region. Al-Rahi, who was 50 years old, had reportedly refused earlier calls to evacuate the village despite the growing conflict in southern Lebanon. “We are forced to stay despite the danger, when we defend our land, and we do so peacefully,” the priest said in an interview just one day before his death. “None of us carries weapons. All of us carry peace and goodness and love.” The killing comes as Israel has intensified its military campaign against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, southern Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley in an effort to dismantle the Iran-backed militant group’s military infrastructure. Hezbollah fighters have frequently operated from populated areas, including villages in southern Lebanon, leading to increasing danger for civilians caught in the crossfire. The violence has tragically fueled a growing humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern Lebanon, joining hundreds of thousands of displaced people seeking shelter elsewhere in the country. Al-Rahi was widely regarded as a respected figure among local Christians for his dedication to the people of his parish and his decision to remain with them during the fighting. The pope’s statement concluded with a prayer for peace, reiterating the Vatican’s call for an end to the violence that has devastated communities across the Middle East in recent days.

Team USA ice hockey star Jack Hughes, known for being featured in one of the most iconic sports photos in recent memory, said his fans are probably going to be “p*ssed” when he fixes his broken teeth. The 24-year-old athlete told The Daily Mail that dentists are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to repair his cracked smile, but Hughes knows the repair won’t go over well with everyone.  “Yeah, the amount of dentists that have reached out, man, it’s too many,” he told the outlet during an appearance at Raising Cane’s in Times Square on Monday. “But I’m going to get them fixed, hopefully this week.” “I think people will be p*ssed if I do get them fixed,” Hughes added. Team USA won gold during the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan for the first time in 46 years. The game came down to overtime against Canada. Hughes, a center and alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils, scored the winning goal. Hughes was captured in an iconic, patriotic photo that quickly went viral. The ice hockey player can be seen smiling a bloody, broken grin, raising his fist in victory, and posing with an American flag draped around his shoulders. Viewers praised the emotions conveyed by the single image, which at once exemplified grit, determination, and ultimately, American excellence.  But any new or old fans should already know that Hughes wasn’t willing to live with broken and missing teeth forever, even if his smile helped make him famous. One reporter asked about it after Team USA’s big win last month, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “You get hit in the face. You lose a tooth or two. You still maintained your composure and stayed in the game. You’re tough enough to keep playing, you scored the winning goal … what is that like?” the reporter asked at the time. “Yeah. I mean, it sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different profession, but in hockey, like, if you lose your teeth, it’s not even a question of, like, coming back and playing,” Hughes replied. “That’s like an automatic.” Hughes described the moment he realized what had happened, saying, “I just, like, was feeling around my mouth and I was just disappointed I lost my teeth…but it is what it is now, so,” he added while laughing. When asked whether he planned to keep his smile the way it was, he said, “No, I’m going to fix these things, I want my good smile back.”  

A heated hearing on sanctuary policies before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday highlighted deep divisions in Washington over immigration enforcement, with Republicans arguing that sanctuary policies undermine public safety while Democrats primarily warned that aggressive deportation efforts would harm the economy. Former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf argued that local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities weaken the rule of law. “States do not have the authority to pick and choose which federal laws are followed,” Wolf told lawmakers. “To restore the rule of law, common sense, and public safety, the era of sanctuary jurisdiction needs to come to an end — permanently.” Wolf warned that sanctuary policies prevent federal agents from identifying and removing individuals already in local custody who may be in the country illegally. “The American people are safer when state and local government cooperate with federal immigration agencies,” Wolf said, urging local jurisdictions to give federal agents access to jails and prisons so immigration status can be determined before inmates are released. Local law enforcement officials echoed those concerns. Michael Chapman, a Republican sheriff who represents Loudoun County, Virginia, testified that in his jurisdiction, three of five homicides in 2024 were committed by illegal immigrants. Republican senators pressed witnesses about what they see as growing resistance to immigration enforcement among Democratic lawmakers. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Wolf directly why many Democrats appear supportive of more lax border policies. “In your opinion, why do so many — not all — of my Democratic colleagues believe in open borders?” Kennedy asked. Wolf responded, “There are some that believe anyone and everyone should be able to come to the United States whether they apply for protections under U.S. law or not,” Wolf said. “And there are some probably that would like to see more voters in the U.S.” The hearing also included sharp exchanges between Republicans and economists critical of the administration’s immigration policies. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sparred with David Bier of the Cato Institute over deportation procedures and enforcement priorities, rejecting claims that judicial warrants are necessary for immigration arrests. “Why? Because it’s stupid.” Graham said after Bier acknowledged that such warrants are rarely used.  Graham also floated legislation allowing victims to sue local prosecutors who release repeat offenders who later commit crimes — an idea immigration policy analyst Jessica Vaughan said could deter sanctuary policies adopted for political reasons. Democrats used the hearing to highlight concerns about the broader economic impact of expanded immigration enforcement. Ranking member Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) argued that mass deportations and expanded detention could shrink the labor force and reduce economic growth. “Fewer working people equals a smaller GDP,” Brendan Duke, who served as a senior policy adviser at the Biden White House National Economic Council, told lawmakers to back up Merkley’s rhetoric. However, Sen. Kennedy clashed with Duke over his sudden concern and used it as an opportunity to air out more grievances with the fiscal record of the Biden-Harris administration. “Isn’t it a fact that the profligacy of President Biden caused 9% inflation in America?” Kennedy asked. Duke rejected the premise, prompting Kennedy to respond with sarcasm: “Isn’t it a fact that if President Biden had discovered life on Mars when he was president, he would have immediately sent it money?” Duke again said no. “Oh you don’t,” Kennedy said. “Well I appreciate your newly found fiscal conservatism.” Advocates of stricter enforcement rejected that argument and instead focused on the public safety and fiscal costs they associate with sanctuary jurisdictions.  In written testimony submitted to the committee, Vaughan said roughly 13 states and about 100 local jurisdictions have adopted sanctuary policies and estimated that more than half of the illegal immigrant population lives in those areas. According to data cited in her testimony, more than 26,000 criminal aliens sought by federal immigration authorities were released by local jurisdictions between 2022 and early 2025 despite detainer requests from immigration officials. Vaughan argued the policies create both public safety risks and high costs to taxpayers, including spending on healthcare, education, and welfare programs. “Sanctuary policies that block cooperation with ICE end up shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement,” she wrote. With immigration expected to remain a central political issue heading into the midterm elections, the debate over sanctuary jurisdictions and whether Congress should penalize them appears likely to intensify in the months ahead.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday that there is not enough support for the talking filibuster pushed by President Donald Trump and some Republican senators, placing the SAVE America Act’s Senate chances further in doubt. The talking filibuster, first suggested by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, would potentially clear a path for the GOP-controlled Senate to pass the legislation by forcing Democrats who oppose the SAVE America Act to speak non-stop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote. Thune said the Republican-controlled Senate, however, doesn’t have enough support from his party to use the talking filibuster. “The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,” Thune told reporters. “It’s just a reality. I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it.” Trump has ramped up the pressure on Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act before the 2026 midterms, arguing that a law imposing strict voter ID requirements is vital for Republicans to perform well in the upcoming elections. The legislation would require voters to provide proof of citizenship before registration and would prohibit states from sending mail-in ballots to voters, with the only exceptions being illness, disability, military service, or travel. Sen. Lee, who sponsored the legislation, told The Daily Wire that Senate Republicans need “to push even harder” to get the SAVE America Act across the finish line. “Voters across the nation are demanding the SAVE America Act. If we need a few more Senators to get on board to beat a Democrat standing filibuster, that’s not a reason to give up — it’s a reason to push even harder,” he said. “If Republicans don’t fight hard to deliver this wildly popular legislation that President Trump has specifically requested, how can we ask Americans to entrust us with both chambers of Congress in the future?” Recent polling has shown that despite harsh Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act, a majority of Americans support strict voter ID requirements. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the SAVE America Act “one of the most critical pieces of legislation in our nation’s history.” “Passing the SAVE America Act is the most important thing that Republicans and frankly, Democrats, can do to strengthen election integrity and protect democracy,” Leavitt added. “It’s what the American people elected Republicans to do, and they must deliver on it as soon as possible.” The press secretary also slammed Democrats for promoting the “myth” that the legislation would make it more difficult for women to vote. “As far as married women who have changed their name, if they’re already registered to vote, they’re entirely unaffected by the SAVE Act, and for the some fraction of individuals who have changed their name or their address, they can still register to vote, of course. They just have to go through their state processes to update that documentation,” Leavitt continued. Trump said on Sunday that he would not sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk. The White House kept the pressure up on Tuesday, urging Americans to “DEMAND” that their senators get on board with the Save America Act. “We either fix the integrity of America’s elections, or we won’t have a country left to fight for,” the White House posted on X. The post also included a link to a White House webpage that provided contact information for each U.S. senator’s office. Thune said on Monday that much of the pressure campaign on the SAVE America Act is coming from conservative activists on X, which he called a “paid influencer ecosystem,” not from within the Senate itself. “We want to get to the SAVE Act,” Thune added, but he warned that a talking filibuster would make other priorities much “harder” to address. The Senate effectively ended the talking filibuster in the 1970s and moved to the silent filibuster, which has allowed the opposition to stall votes only by stating their intent to filibuster, and thereby require 60 votes to invoke cloture. Trump, who also pushed for the Senate to abolish the filibuster, has suggested that he would take executive action to impose voter ID and citizenship requirements if Congress doesn’t pass the SAVE America Act.

A California voter ID proposal could land on the November ballot as debate over federal election policies intensifies. Roughly 1.3 million petition signatures were submitted for verification — well above the 875,000 threshold required for a constitutional amendment pitch to go before voters, according to CalMatters. “This is a true, grassroots, broad-based, bipartisan movement. It’s about good government,” Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-CA) said in a recent video regarding the effort. “In November, we will strike a blow for democracy. We will improve public trust and confidence in our elections, and the fact that that frightens the establishment politicians who have failed us, we need to keep this bipartisan movement going,” DeMaio added. Specifically, the initiative would require photo identification for those who choose to vote in person, or “the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail.” Secondly, it would require proof of citizenship in order to be registered to vote. It would also require the Golden State to “provide voter identification cards on request” and for election administrators to provide an annual update on the “percentage of each county’s voters whose citizenship they have verified.” The amendment, if passed, would have “tens of millions” in “one-time” expenses, as well as “tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars to fulfill new requirements related to elections administration,” according to the Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance estimate. Some of the key ideas in the proposal are similar to those outlined in the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump has been urging the Senate to pass. “It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday. “MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!” he wrote. Opposition to the California-based initiative remains, including from liberal groups such as the League of Women Voters of California and the American Civil Liberties Union. “This voter ID measure is not about protecting voters; it is about importing the current federal administration’s election lies and intimidation tactics into California,” Jenny Farrell, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California, said in a March 2 statement. “It would expose voters’ sensitive personal information, create new ways to reject eligible ballots, and wrongly target voters through error-prone citizenship checks.”