An illegal immigrant accused of killing his three-year-old nephew in Florida was released into the United States by the Biden administration despite having previously been deported, The Daily Wire has learned. He later went on to receive a deportation order after his release, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. Honduran illegal immigrant Samuel Antonio Maldonado-Erazo, 28, allegedly took the toddler to work on March 4 and ignored severe signs of distress his nephew appeared to be experiencing, according to Fox10. Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the child had several broken ribs, one of which was detached from the backbone, a broken collarbone, and a transected pancreas from blunt trauma, the local news outlet reported. The child also appeared to show signs of possible sexual abuse. When first responders came upon the toddler, they found he was suffering from cardiac arrest, according to Fox10. “Life-saving measures were attempted but unfortunately, he passed,” Simmons said. “We learned this young boy suffered extensive bruising about his body, to include 17 strikes to the head alone. Additionally, there were several burn marks consistent with heating a lighter and then pressing that lighter against the skin. These injuries and the neglect associated with them contributed to his death.” “The injuries to the child are hard to talk about, and even harder to imagine having to endure,” Simmons said. “The only solace I can think of is he suffers no more.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a detainer with local authorities on March 5, asking for a heads-up before releasing Maldonado-Erazo, DHS said. Maldonado-Erazo illegally entered the United States in August 2021 and “was immediately removed,” DHS said. He then reentered the country illegally in November 2021 and was released “under the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies,” the agency added. He was ordered deported in May 2023, according to DHS. Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary Lauren Bis called the situation “absolutely sickening,” saying “This heinous crime underscores the importance of local authorities working with ICE to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities.” “The Biden administration should have never RELEASED this monster into our communities,” Bis added. The three-year-old was left with Maldonado-Erazo after his mother and aunt were deported, Simmons said. Maldonado-Erazo had other children living with him who have since been taken into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families, the sheriff said. Erazo was originally charged with negligent manslaughter, but his charges have since been upgraded to felony murder, according to the sheriff’s office.

As the United States and Israel continue their joint military campaign against Iran, Israelis have set up a memorial in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square honoring fallen American service members. The display has turned a busy public space into a place of reflection, where Israelis have gathered to pay their respects to the American soldiers who lost their lives during the conflict. The memorial features photos of six fallen U.S. soldiers, with flowers placed nearby and visitors pausing in silence.  The Tel Aviv memorial comes as the United States and Israel continue close military coordination against Iran. The campaign — known in Washington as Operation Epic Fury and referred to in Israel as Operation Roaring Lion — began on February 28 with coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes targeting Iran’s missile systems, military infrastructure, and naval assets.  The soldiers honored in the display were members of the United States Army Reserve working in logistics when a drone struck their command center at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. The attack occurred one day after the United States and Israel launched their military campaign. A sign at the memorial reads: “For the American heroes, your courage and dedication will not be forgotten,” alongside “Seek peace and pursue it,” from Psalm 34:14. Memorial on Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on March 10, 2026. (OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP via Getty Images) Those honored in the memorial are: Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien Capt. Cody Khork Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens Sgt. Declan Coady Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, who was also killed in an Iranian drone attack, was not included in the display because his name had not yet been publicly announced when the memorial was created. His remains were returned to the U.S. in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base on Monday.  The memorial comes as U.S. forces continue to face attacks across the region amid the conflict with Iran. About 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks, though most injuries have been minor, and 108 troops have already returned to duty, according to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell. Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care. Israel has previously erected memorials dedicated to American victims and service members. One of the most prominent examples is the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem, built by the Jewish National Fund. Located in the hills outside the city, the monument, shaped like a rising American flag, is the only memorial outside the United States that lists the names of all 2,977 victims of the September 11 attacks. The site hosts annual commemorations attended by Israelis and Americans.

In order to understand why opera and ballet fans are so mad at actor Timothée Chalamet, you’ll need to go back to a February 24 town hall interview he did with Matthew McConaughey for Variety and CNN. At the time, the 30-year-old “Marty Supreme” star disparaged the two art forms, claiming they were outdated and irrelevant. “I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, who go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta keep this genre alive,'” Chalamet said at the time. “And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like ‘Barbie,’ like ‘Oppenheimer,’ they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.” “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore,’” the actor went on. “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost fourteen cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason.” This led to Chalamet being slammed by the opera and ballet community. There are even debates over whether the actor reduced his likelihood of winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in less than a week, with betting markets reducing Chalamet’s odds for taking home a golden statue after predicting him as a likely winner for months. Many have pointed out that it’s only his reputation that risks being ruined, because the Oscars ballots were submitted long before the clip went public. Chalamet’s comments went viral on social media and got some big reactions. The Metropolitan Opera posted a video showing all the work that goes into productions and added the caption, “All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there…This one’s for you, @tchalamet.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by The Metropolitan Opera (@metopera) LA Opera posted an update to say they were considering giving the actor free tickets, but decided not to because “it’s selling out.” The caption added, “There are a few seats left to purchase if you hurry.” The U.K.’s Royal Ballet and Opera also stressed how popular their shows were and invited Chalamet to come check out the “sheer magic” of a live performance. Seattle Opera offered 14% off tickets to “Carmen” for patrons using the promo code TIMOTHEE. “Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too,” they said. And it wasn’t just ballet companies getting in on the mockery. On a recent episode of “Jeopardy!” a category featuring ballet and opera was shared in Instagram reels alongside the caption, “NOBODY @ HIM

Split ticket?

'You're dismissing this'

REUTERS–As many as 150 U.S. troops have been wounded in the 10-day-old war with Iran, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The casualty figure has not been previously reported. Prior to Reuters’ publication of the figure, the Pentagon had only disclosed eight U.S. personnel seriously injured. In a statement after Reuters published its report, the Pentagon estimated the figure to be approximately 140 wounded and said the vast majority of them were minor. “Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks,” said chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. He said 108 of the wounded service members had already returned to duty. Parnell said the eight seriously wounded service members were receiving the highest level of medical care. Reuters could not determine the types of injuries and whether they include traumatic brain injuries, which are common after exposure to blasts. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against U.S. military bases since the start of the conflict on Feb. 28. It has also struck diplomatic missions in Arab Gulf states as well as hotels and airports and damaged oil infrastructure. The Pentagon says the number of Iranian strikes has fallen sharply since the start of the war, as the U.S. military bombs Iran’s weapons inventories and targets Iran’s more limited number of missile launchers. Asked if Iran was a stronger adversary than he expected when the U.S. military drew up its war plans, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that the fight was not harder than expected. “I think they’re fighting, and I respect that, but I don’t think they are more formidable than what we thought,” Caine told a Pentagon briefing. The post Reuters: As Many as 150 US Troops Wounded So Far in Iran War, Sources Say appeared first on The Daily Signal.

China is carefully watching the U.S. operation in Iran and is receiving “mixed signals,” according to Jeff Smith, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. Since operations began on Feb. 28, the United States has carried out more than 5,000 strikes on targets in Iran and has destroyed more than 50 Iranian vessels, according to U.S. Central Command. “On one hand, China is aware that America is devoting scarce resources, munitions and military assets to a theater outside the Indo-Pacific. In a vacuum, this can negatively impact deterrence, and the strained industrial base must be addressed,” Smith told The Daily Signal. The U.S. moved military assets, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, from the Indo-Pacific region into the Middle East ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran. “On the other hand,” Smith continued, “the military operations in Iran can enhance deterrence by making the Chinese leadership fearful of President Trump’s unpredictability, his willingness to use force abroad, and the demonstration of the U.S. military’s ability to operate effectively thousands of miles from home in ways the Chinese military cannot.” China remains a threat to Taiwan, as the Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as its own while Taiwan maintains its independence from China. The U.S. has pledged an arms package for Taiwan, and both Democrats and Republicans have largely supported Taiwan’s sovereignty. “I think the Chinese are extremely concerned because they see another successful military operation,” Gordon Chang, author of “Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America,” told The Daily Signal. Following not only the U.S. operation in Iran, but also the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, Chang believes the U.S. has “increased deterrence in East Asia.” Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi in Beijing from March 31-April 2, five months after the two leaders met in South Korea to discuss a trade deal. The summit with Xi creates somewhat of a ticking “geopolitical clock” on the U.S. operation in Iran, according to Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. Trump “has to set the table for that meeting, and that involves not only stabilizing global oil prices, but also having a firmer grip on Iran in order to be able to use that as leverage against the Chinese,” Berman said. Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel this week as Iran threatened the safety of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. However, oil prices fell Tuesday after Trump indicated Operation Epic Fury was nearing an end. Trump is more concerned, in Chang’s estimation, with a successful outcome in the Middle East than with how the operation’s outcome will affect the meeting with Xi. Still, the result in Iran could have a significant influence on the summit, he said. If the operation in Iran “turns sour,” China will likely give Trump “a really hard time,” and it would be in Trump’s best interest to cancel the meeting, Chang said. But if Trump secures the unconditional surrender of the Iranian regime, or the regime has fallen by the end of March, this will give Trump a strategic advantage in Beijing, according to Chang. China is also made nervous “when people throw off their leaders,” the author explained. “I’m sure the Chinese leaders worry that if the Chinese people see that the Iranians have overthrown the Iranian regime, then I’m sure the Communist Party is going to be even more insecure,” Chang said. The post China Receiving ‘Mixed Signals’ on US Operation in Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. There’s been a lot of talk in connection with the ongoing Iran war about our allies. Specifically, people are suggesting that Israel has an inordinate role to play in our decision to attack the theocracy in Iran. And there’s even posters going around of Israeli puppeteers and we’re the puppets, which is kind of ironic when we’re a country of 340 million people and Israel is tiny at 11 million, and they, of course, don’t direct American foreign policy. But before I get to Israel, I’d like to talk about our other allies. Here we are in an existential fight with Iran, and remember, it’s a 47-year war. They have attacked our embassies in Beirut, Kenya, Tanzania. They blew up our Marines, 241 deaths in Beirut. We’ve had Khobar Towers. They killed people. They’ve sent assassination teams all over the world. Killed a lot of Jewish people in Argentina. They tried to kill former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Donald Trump. It’s not true that they only killed 600 Americans with shaped charges. I think most people in the military that were acquainted with that … It’s more like 1,500, and thousands were maimed. And it was not just in Iraq. It was also in Afghanistan. In other words, they sent shaped charges into the hands of Islamic militants who used them in a variety of ways, specifically IEDs, to kill Americans. That went unanswered as well. They’ve taken hostages. They killed 41 Americans, their surrogates, Hamas did, on Oct. 7. Of the 1,200 Israelis that were butchered—men, women, older people—41 were American citizens. I could go on, but we’ve been in a 47-year war with this country since its birth in 1979. And remember, it was birthed on one fact: It took over the American Embassy and took our diplomatic personnel as hostages. That was never really replied to. And now they have bragged in the negotiations… They had an out. They had an out. Just don’t make a bomb. Don’t keep giving 50 million a month to Hezbollah, 50 million to Hamas, or 50 million to the Houthis. Just don’t do that. And they wouldn’t do it. So here we are in a war, and now we’re blaming many people in the United States, Israel, as the instigator. But I’d like to talk, as I said, about our other allies. First, Spain has already announced that we could not use the NATO base near Gibraltar—a key base that governs traffic in and out of the Mediterranean. We cannot use it for operations against Iran. In other words, they’re saying that they don’t want any part in this war, and you the United States cannot use this base, which is supposed to be for NATO operations. And NATO has been on the record criticizing Iran and saying it should denuclearize. This is kind of ironic. Spain did the same thing, if you remember, in 1986. It told Ronald Reagan if you’re going to hit Libya, you cannot fly over our territory from bases in England. I think it cost them about 2,500. France did the same thing. Can’t fly over the Iberian Peninsula—2,500-mile detour for us to do that. They’ve been very vocal that they will not meet their 5% armament. They have barely, I don’t think they’ve quite met the 2% unless they did it recently. Then we turn to France. France has already said from the very beginning that this was a dangerous war and basically wanted no part in it. The most surprising though is the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom under Prime Minister [Keir] Starmer has said that they cannot use that key base for long-range bomber operations in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. England has always allowed us to do that, but they said we can only use it for defensive operations. What does that mean? What does it mean when you fly into Iran to stop them from shooting missiles at the Emirates or Israel? That’s an offensive operation? It was incoherent. And then, in addition, it decided it would keep away from… It wouldn’t really weigh in. And then when it had a base in Cyprus that was hit, or was going to be hit, targeted, then all of a sudden, the U.K. said well, we’ll send one destroyer? But we’re not even able to send it for the weekend because we don’t want to pay overtime pay. What’s going on with our allies? Does Mr. Starmer remember the 1982 Falklands Wars? Remember, Falklands. Argentina took it. Britain wanted to go halfway around the world. They didn’t have the wherewithal to do it. We didn’t really want to offend Argentine, even though that was a dictatorship in Latin America, we were trying to create a solidarity in our backyard. The dictatorship in Argentina was reprehensible, but not as reprehensible as the Iranian dictatorship. And what did we do? Al Haig, our secretary of state said we should triangulate. Reagan said no. Give them two million gallons of gas. They’re out of gas. They’ll be stranded. Give them satellite reconnaissance. Give them 200 Sidewinder missiles. Give them anything they want. If they lose a carrier, you give a United States Marine carrier and give it to them. It was just a blank check to Margaret Thatcher. Do they forget that? Because they’re going to remember it because we’re not going to do that again in extremis from what they have done. Germany. Well, no need to talk about Germany. Chancellor [Friedrich] Merz was in the White House. He kind of had a hangdog look. He had a hangdog look because a week or two earlier, into a huge crowd in Germany, he was trashing the United States and Trump himself. Then we get to Israel. Besides that Israel is the only democratic consensual government in the Middle East that has been a lifelong friend of the United States that has provided essential intelligence to us about our enemies and the people who have been killing us, such as Hamas on Oct. 7 and Hezbollah for 40 years, we haven’t replied to them effectively. We’ve sent some battleship shells under Reagan. We’ve done a few things. But they are the ones that have taken out our enemies. And by the way, it’s very rare for the United States to have a capable ally. Israel is capable. I’ll give you one example. If you count all of the planes that are ready to fly, jet fighters that Britain has, Israel has more. A lot more. A hundred more. If you count all the planes that France does—200. Israel has 300. If you count the planes that Germany has, 150, Israel has 300. What I’m getting at is the so-called big powers of NATO themselves, with these huge populations of 80 million, 60 million, 55 million, they don’t have the air capability that tiny Israel does. And right now, they are fighting side by side with us, and those 300 planes are being used every day to take out the ability of the Iranians to do what? Fund the people who’ve killed Americans—Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. Make sure they do not send missiles toward Europe. Remember Barack Obama? He gave missile defense away in 2012 in Seoul in that quid pro quo with the Russian government. That missile defense was aimed at protecting Europe from a potential ballistic missile attack from where? Iran. In conclusion, we have a very strong ally in Israel. It’s one of the most capable countries in the world. And we have some unreliable allies in our formal alliance. We should remember that before we start making accusations that the Jews or the Israelis are pulling the strings of American diplomacy and military decision making. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post While Some Allies Hesitate, Israel Is Already in the Fight Against Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Too Fun to Check: Democrats Less Popular Than ICE?