Ukrainian drones have recently struck vessels and other assets used in military cargo shipments between Iran and Russia across the Caspian Sea. The attacks expand Kyiv’s long-range drone campaign into waters more than 430 miles from Ukraine’s nearest border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saturday. “We also achieved very strong results with long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea — including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship,” he wrote. The Security Service of Ukraine said the strikes hit a Russian oil field, a Russian missile boat, and ships used to transport Iranian drones to Russia. The operation forms part of a wider campaign that has also reached oil refineries far inside Russia and contributed to an energy crisis in a country that remains one of the world’s largest petroleum producers. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, blamed Zelensky on Sunday for a strike he said killed a sailor on an Iranian commercial vessel. Araghchi said that he contacted Russian and European Union leaders and stated that Kyiv’s actions could not go unanswered, and Iran summoned the Ukrainian chargé d’affaires in Tehran. Analysts noted the strikes also allow Ukraine to signal alignment with the Trump administration on Iran. Hanna Notte of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies said the attacks more closely link the European and Middle Eastern theaters. “The more that Zelensky can signal to Trump that he’s on Trump’s side against Iran, the better,” she said. The Caspian Sea attacks come as Zelensky arrives in Washington for talks with President Donald Trump. Zelensky is expected to press for firmer U.S. commitments on air defenses, including a license that would allow Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. Russia has stepped up ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, Zelensky has said interceptors are urgently needed, and a Raytheon delegation visited Kyiv last week. After the meeting with Zelensky, Trump is scheduled to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both leaders are in Washington for the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The timing has highlighted the growing overlap between the two conflicts. Kyiv has called Iran a “direct accomplice to Russian aggression against Ukraine.” Zelensky said his country has evidence that Russia shared satellite imagery with Tehran to help it attack U.S. military facilities and Gulf states. Trump said he would ask Putin about the claim and that it had no impact even if true. Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed one-way attack drones since the fall of 2022. Russia later began producing its own version of the drones, the Geran, at a factory 600 miles east of Moscow. Ukrainian forces targeted that plant as recently as last year. The Caspian Sea has served as a key route for the shipment of these drones, along with other military shipments. Russia has used shipping companies to move equipment from Iran to the Russian mainland, with some vessels continuing via rivers and canals to the Black Sea. The sea gives Iran its most direct path to Russia and Central Asia. Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po who has written on the Russia-Iran partnership, described the route as “somewhat unfettered by any kind of interdiction by the United States or other partners.” Trump paused U.S. strikes on Iran over the weekend while considering further action aimed at loosening Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s southern ports remain more important economically, but the Caspian Sea offers a way around the blockade of its Persian Gulf and northern Arabian Sea facilities. Israel targeted a naval outpost on Iran’s Caspian coast in March. Continued Ukrainian strikes there could pressure an economic link for both countries under sanctions. Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Iran sees the attacks “in the context of this bigger picture of being under blockades from both the south and the north.” Since the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran began in February, Tehran has used Shahed drones against commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, civilian airports and seaports, Gulf oil infrastructure, and American bases in the region. The Ukrainian moves follow earlier U.S. efforts to isolate Iran’s key southern port. In mid-July, American forces struck bridges, railways, and other transport links around Bandar Abbas, the strategic city on the Strait of Hormuz that hosts Iran’s naval headquarters. Those strikes were intended to cut the city off from the rest of the country while targeting maritime surveillance assets used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In Moscow, the mayor reported that more than 390 Ukrainian drones targeted the capital region overnight into Tuesday, with most intercepted. Damage was confirmed to a high-rise south of the city and a warehouse to the west. No casualties were reported.

Another far-Left socialist bartender running for governor in the American heartland is giving Democrats a fresh headache as the party reels from deep ideological divisions and mounting financial woes. Francesca Hong, a 37-year-old dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is leading the crowded field in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in a race Republicans see as ripe for a flip. In the mold of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the state representative’s Left-wing platform calls for a sweeping expansion of government into everyday life, including abolishing ICE, imposing a one-year moratorium on data centers, creating government-owned grocery stores, and providing universal childcare and paid leave for all. Hong also supports legalizing marijuana to fund high-speed broadband and backs a state-run development bank, a 32-hour workweek with no reduction in pay, restoring voting rights to felons, and dramatically reducing the role of prisons and police, according to The Wall Street Journal. “It’s so stressful to get by these days, and I know a lot about stress. I work in restaurants,” Hong said in a campaign launch video. “I’m a service worker, community organizer, and a mom. I work for a living, always have, still do.”  “The system is rigged. I’m running for governor to fix it. For years, we’ve been told that doing better is impossible. Well, let me tell you, that’s bullsh*t,” she added.  Hong also called for abolishing the U.S. Senate in a February 2021 social media post. In a statement to Fox News, Hong’s campaign denied that she had ever called for eliminating the upper chamber: “Rep. Hong has never called for abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a single statement where she did, because it doesn’t exist.” The leftist populist platform has resonated with much of the Wisconsin Democratic base, triggering a last-minute scramble among establishment leaders who fear that nominating a socialist in a state that President Trump won could hand the governor’s mansion to Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, the expected GOP nominee. Recent polling shows Hong with a double-digit lead over established politicians, including former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who suspended his gubernatorial bid before reviving it two weeks later with the backing of outgoing Democratic Governor Tony Evers.  “The Republican Governors Association is bankrolling millions right now, not to attack a Democrat, but to boost one, because they’ve decided which Democratic nominee they can beat in November,” Crowley said, explaining his decision to get back into the race.  “That is a five-alarm warning sign. We cannot let the GOP choose the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin,” he added.  NBC News recently uncovered old social media posts linking Crowley to a pseudonymous X account called “Dirt McGirk,” which the outlet said featured racist, sexist, and homophobic posts between 2010 and 2014. Crowley insisted other people had access to the X burner account and condemned the derogatory posts.  The August 11 primary will test the appeal of democratic socialists in the industrial Midwest, following a string of victories in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Denver. Prediction markets overwhelmingly favor Hong to win the primary.   A similar battle is playing out right next door in the U.S. Senate race in Michigan, where Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens is working overtime to fend off a stronger-than-expected challenge from leftist Abdul El-Sayed, who is leading in most polls. The contentious race took an unexpected turn when a black Farmington school board member backing Stevens urged El-Sayed to stop embracing his Muslim identity on the campaign trail. “The other candidate seems to be … doesn’t work a room. You have to know how to work the room. Don’t come out speaking only Arabic,” Angie Smith said at a Stevens campaign event. “Don’t come out with your Arabic music on. Represent everyone.” “You know, I’m the mother of a lesbian. I’m Puerto Rican and Cherokee, with a grandfather that was a white man from Ireland. Represent us all. Don’t just represent one ethnicity or one race,” she added. The Democratic Party’s heartburn, spilling out of deep-blue cities and into purple battleground states, comes as the cash-strapped DNC sinks deeper into internal turmoil. DNC chairman Ken Martin is descending into fear and “a growing sense of paranoia” about his job security, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The chairman — responsible for fundraising, party operations, and campaign infrastructure — is “relying on a vanishingly small circle of people he trusts.”  And for good reason.  Heading into the midterms, the financial gap between the parties is striking. President Trump has amassed a $400 million war chest, the RNC has another $130 million available, and the DNC is reportedly about $2 million in debt, according to The New York Times. “This is not sustainable,” said MS NOW host Joe Scarborough. “Anyone who cares about the Democratic Party — including Ken Martin — would say ‘Enough.’ The DNC is flat broke. This must change now.”

After President Joe Biden outraged millions of Christians by declaring Easter Sunday as the “Transgender Day of Visibility,” former Republican representative David Jolly stood by him.  Jolly, now running for governor in Florida as a Democrat, did a media tour to defend Biden and lecture conservatives about their theology. Now, Democrats are running him to replace Ron DeSantis as governor of Florida as he attempts to sweep culture war issues under the rug.  Many Democrats have been quiet on the transgender issues this election cycle after polling showed that the issue hampered Kamala Harris in 2024. Jolly was vocal about the topic during his post-Republican days, attacking his former party for passing laws banning transgender procedures on kids and keeping gender-confused boys off of girls’ sports teams. Jolly even vigorously defended Biden after he called in March 2024 for Americans on Easter Sunday to “join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation.” Biden’s decision prompted significant pushback from prominent Republicans like House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Trump campaign. Jolly said their politics and theology were wrong.  “The Jesus they celebrate today would be inclusive of the transgender community, and would be supportive of the transgender community,” he said while appearing on MSNBC, adding that “all Christians, including Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and others who celebrate today, that, in fact, they should love the transgender community as they love their own God. I am not sure the theology upon which they rely to criticize Joe Biden.” “I think it’s wrong theologically, it’s wrong morally, and it’s absolutely stupid politically,” he added.  In another appearance on the Stephanie Miller Happy Hour podcast, he said conservatives turned Biden’s proclamation into the latest “culture war” flash point.  “First, theologically and doctrinally, I think the Right is wrong when it comes to biblical theology. I think they’re a long ways from what Jesus would do, the bracelets they used to wear,” he said. “
The reality is Jesus is a loving God who would support the trans community and be proud of their bravery and the struggle that they have gone through for recognition and equity.” In other media appearances reviewed by The Daily Wire, Jolly attacked a law shielding kids from transgender procedures and claimed that kids would be ripped away from their parents if they obtained transgender medications from outside of Florida.  “That’s the real consequence of this war on gender-affirming care and the trans community,” he said on the Joe Walsh podcast. “I don’t have a personal appreciation or understanding of what all that is like. But I know what it would feel like if the state stepped in and say, ‘Hey, Jolly, you’re not allowed to make decisions for your kid?’” Jolly also said he was fine with biological boys competing on girls’ sports teams during an interview with radio host Charlie Sykes.  “I think it’s been pretty disgusting what we’ve seen from Republicans in the past several years on this. Look, I don’t think we need to knock down that youth soccer player who is working with their family and their doctor on whatever their current, you know, crisis is personally,” he said. “I think it can be supportive of them to allow them to play in youth sports.” Ultimately he said he thought that the case should be decided by the Supreme Court. “I think some latitude among the sports leagues to make decisions, but ultimately, it’s a constitutional question that the courts are going to have to decide,” he said.  Jolly, whose issues page on his website does not mention “transgender” or LGBTQ, recently predicted that he would be criticized by Republicans for being pro-transgender. The Democrat is expected to face off against Rep. Byron Donalds, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Donalds has a large lead against GOP rivals including James Fishback, Lt. Governor Jay Collins, and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner.

Imagine you are a parent concerned about your child viewing inappropriate content. You rely on the usual parental guidelines, such as “TV-MA,” to select age-appropriate shows. But what if those apparently age-appropriate shows essentially promote gender ideology and transgenderism without any warning? You might be forgiven for worrying that this is part of a plot to “trans the kids”—a component of a leftist agenda to undermine traditional family roles as it tills the ground for the coming neo-Marxist revolution (see, e.g., here and here), specifically leveraging media’s influence on culture. But such a conspiracy is certainly not required to conclude that parents should be warned about sexual orientation and gender transition themes in programming. But is this ratings system, long a tool, if an imperfect one, compelled speech or censorship? Most parents do not realize that television ratings warning of violence, crude or suggestive language, and sexual situations operate through a quasi-private, quasi-public system that was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1997. Through the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress authorized the FCC to permit the media industry to develop a ratings framework intended to help parents make informed decisions about what their children watch. Although private media sector leaders proposed the ratings guidelines, the framework expressly depended on FCC approval, as well as input from parents, children’s advocates, and the medical community. The original purpose of the TV Parental Guidelines was not to dictate values or control programming. Section 551 was designed to give parents clear information about mature content so they could make decisions consistent with their own judgment and the needs of their children. To carry out that purpose, the TV Parental Guidelines Oversight Monitoring Board (TVOMB), composed primarily of media industry representatives and members representing children’s, medical, and educational viewpoints, proposed the ratings system that was established in 1997 and remains in place today. Following feedback from parents, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, TVOMB added the content descriptors we know and use today. For example, TV-MA (V) indicates violence, while TV-MA (S) indicates sexual situations. TV-MA is the age-based rating, and V and S are content descriptors. Despite all this apparent collaboration, parents seeking notice about gender identity content are frequently dismissed as unreasonable or intolerant. The question today is whether the existing ratings framework still provides parents with meaningful, reliable information in today’s media environment. Specifically, the FCC has sought related comments and organizations such as America First Legal have submitted comments. While the comment period is closed, the issue deserves ongoing attention. Certain groups argue that the FCC’s request for comments regarding content descriptors is an “expansion of federal supervision over how programmers describe their own expressive work.” They assert that, by requesting comments from concerned parents regarding gender-transition themes in children’s shows, the FCC is compelling speech through disclosure. In other words, they argue that additional content descriptors informing parents that sexual orientation descriptions or discussions of gender transition appear in youth programming would amount to unconstitutional editorial categorization of expressive content because “age-based ratings and content descriptors are evaluative judgments rather than purely factual reports.” This argument overextends its own logic. Age-based ratings and content descriptors have always required some degree of editorial judgment. Determining whether a program contains “violence,” “sexual situations,” “suggestive dialogue,” or “coarse language” is not a purely mechanical exercise; it requires classification, context, and judgment. But this has never meant the ratings system is unconstitutional, nor has it meant that every descriptor amounts to compelled editorial speech. The better question is not whether descriptors involve judgment, but whether the government is requiring programmers to adopt a viewpoint-based characterization of protected expression. A neutral descriptor that informs parents that certain content is present in a program is different from a federally mandated label declaring content indecent. Additional content descriptors would not ban programming, restrict viewpoints, or silence writers and producers. Broadcasters would remain free to create and air the content they choose, and families would remain free to decide what they watch. If TVOMB chooses to heed parents’ concerns, the result would simply be that parents receive more information before making those decisions. Censorship restricts choice by suppressing speech. Transparency expands choice by allowing families to make informed decisions for themselves. The question is not whether certain ideas should appear on television. The question is whether parents deserve clear notice when they do. If not, parents may be surprised to find their children watching “The Best Kids’ TV Shows With Transgender Characters.” *** Stefan Padfield, JD, is a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a principal in its Free Enterprise Initiative. Esther Bouquet is a senior associate in the Initiative.

Newly released audio recordings of Joe Biden reveal the former president was aware that material he had stored in his basement was classified, and discussed such materials. In the audio, which was obtained and released by the Oversight Project after a legal battle, Biden told his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer in 2017 that he found documents “downstairs” and acknowledged multiple times that some of the material may be or is “classified.” “So this was, I early on, um, in ’09 I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,” Biden tells Zwonitzer in one portion of the audio. “Some of this may be classified so be careful with it,” he says at another point. “I’m not sure … It’s not marked classified but —” “The next thing I have here is, um, this is classified …” Biden also says to Zwonitzer. Additionally, Biden often sounded uncertain and confused in the audio. In one portion of the conversations, Biden told his ghostwriter, “Alright — what was I going to ask you? Something else … Uh … um. Oh gosh. I can’t think of anything else.” “Hang on a second,” he says in another conversation. “Um … it’s confusing me.” The audio reveals that Biden knew he possessed potentially classified material, even though Special Counsel Robert Hur declined to prosecute him, concluding that a jury would likely view Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” By contrast, President Donald Trump was aggressively prosecuted and hauled into court for his supposed mishandling of classified docs. That case was dismissed by a judge due to an unconstitutional appointment by Special Counsel Jack Smith and later dropped by the Department of Justice after Trump was elected president in 2024. The tapes prove that Biden not only lied when he previously claimed that he “did not share classified information” with his ghostwriter, but also that the White House “orchestrated a willful coverup of the facts to the American people when they tried to discredit the Hur report in 2024,” a press release from the Oversight Project said. “Two and a half years ago, the Oversight Project began a lonely project trying to get access to Biden’s ghostwriter tapes where he disclosed classified information to writer Mark Zwonitzer. To date, Biden has paid zero consequences for betrayal of the country,” Oversight Project Vice President of Litigation Jeff Clark said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. In the audio tapes, Clark said, “Biden clearly gives away secret after secret to someone not authorized to hold such secrets” and did all of that for “personal and family profit to the tune of $8 million.” “Americans want to see accountability,” Clark added. “Now you know why Biden’s lawyers fought so hard to keep these tapes and transcripts out of the public’s watchful eye.” The transcript of the conversations can be viewed here, and the full audio can be heard here. Related: Release The Tapes: Watchdog Scores Big Legal Win Against ‘Autopen’ Biden