U.S. forces seized one tanker and are pursuing another on Wednesday.  The seized tanker, Bella 1, was escorted by a Russian Submarine. The United States seized the Russian‑flagged oil tanker Bella 1 in the Atlantic after a dramatic weeks‑long pursuit, officials confirmed. The operation, led by the Department of Homeland Security with military support, marks […] The post US Seizes Sanctioned Tanker Escorted by a Russian Sub appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

An OLA audit found that the Minnesota Department of Health Services created and backdated records to mislead auditors. Governor Tim Walz appointed Shireen Gandhi as temporary commissioner of DHS in February. They will both be investigated. An OLA performance audit released January 5, 2026, found “widespread failures” in how DHS’s Behavioral Health Administration managed hundreds […] The post Massive Cover-Up: Walz’s DHS Created & Backdated Records appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The Trump administration sketches out its vision for Venezuela, a Minnesota hotel attempts to ban ICE, and lawmakers are putting other states under a microscope amid the rampant fraud in Minnesota. It’s Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below: Trump’s Plan For Venezuela As Nicolás Maduro prepares to stand trial in the United States, President Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela is beginning to take shape. In the immediate aftermath of the operation to arrest Maduro, the president turned heads when he said the United States planned to “run” the country. But it now appears the administration prefers to control Venezuela through a pressure campaign. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim authorities will transfer between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States. The White House reportedly has three priorities. First, a government-led crackdown on drug cartels that for years have acted with impunity throughout the country. Second, Washington wants Maduro’s replacement, Delcy Rodriguez, to loosen Caracas’ relationship with Iran, Cuba, and other adversaries. Finally, Trump wants the regime to stop the sale of oil to countries such as Cuba and Russia and open up access for American companies. Immigration Agents Surge To Minnesota The Trump administration has sent roughly 2,000 immigration agents to Minnesota as the federal government doubles down on its fraud crackdown. Officers from across the country received orders over the weekend to head to Minnesota “ASAP” to assist in a major immigration operation. At the same time, Homeland Security Investigations agents are expected to aid in fraud investigations after federal prosecutors found that dozens of Somali immigrants living in Minnesota were allegedly tied to a multibillion-dollar swindling scheme. More than 90 people have been charged since 2021, and more than 60 have been convicted. Trump Expands Probes Into Blue State Fraud Following the latest Minnesota fraud scandal, there’s now a nationwide push to crack down on fraud in other states. Five blue states, including California, are among the targets of the Trump administration’s probe into fraud. The Department of Health and Human Services said it is suspending certain welfare payments while investigations proceed. The Minnesota scandal brought social-service fraud into the national spotlight and accelerated the crackdown. In addition, the state of Texas is launching its own proactive investigation into childcare payments to assess the extent to which social-service fraud may be defrauding taxpayers in the Lone Star State.

The Senate is set to hold a hearing next week on the dangers of the abortion pill, as pro-life groups urge the Trump administration to roll back Biden-era rules allowing the drug to be shipped through the mail, The Daily Wire has learned.  The hearing will be led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Cassidy has pushed for the Trump administration to end the mail-order abortion policies and release a safety study on the effects of mifepristone, the active drug used in medication abortions.  “As a doctor and a strong pro-life conservative, I am committed to protecting mothers and the unborn. The medical evidence is clear: chemical abortion drugs not only kill innocent babies, but also put women in serious danger,” Cassidy told The Daily Wire. “As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I look forward to discussing how to uphold a culture of life and prioritize women‘s safety over political ideology.” The hearing, titled “Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs,” will take place at 10:00 am in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  Medication abortions, now the most common abortion method, involve the use of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. After a pregnant woman takes mifepristone, the unborn child is cut off from the vital nutrients it needs to survive and is effectively starved to death. Misoprostol is then used to induce labor and expel the deceased baby from the mother. The hearing comes as Cassidy has pushed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for answers after it approved another generic form of mifepristone in September, much to the surprise of pro-life advocates, and left in place rules allowing abortion pills to be mailed. In response, more than 51 senators asked for the FDA to reverse course and reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement.  Earlier this year, Cassidy and 16 other GOP senators wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in October asking if the agency was conducting a study into the dangers of the abortion pill and whether it was aware of cases in which women had been coerced into taking the drugs or given them without their knowledge.  In one recent incident, an Ohio surgeon was charged after allegedly forcing his girlfriend to take an illegally obtained abortion pill, resulting in the death of her unborn child. “The in-person dispensing requirement also helped guard women from being coerced into having chemical abortions against their will,” the senators wrote. During his confirmation hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would conduct a study into the abortion pill. That study has yet to be released, and some pro-life groups have accused the FDA of slow-walking it for political reasons.  Data has shown that allowing abortion pills to be shipped by mail has resulted in tens of thousands of abortions in states like Texas and Tennessee, where medication abortions are technically illegal. This largely happens under “shield laws” in states like New York, which bar prosecution of those who ship abortion pills into states with abortion bans.

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If you went to high school in the 1970s as I did, I will bet you my old pet rock that you or someone in your family had a copy of Frampton Comes Alive lying on the bedroom dresser. I think just about every family in the world had a copy of that album in 1976. I was only in 9th grade at the time, but I was a member of the high school radio station. Our radio station was basically just two speakers and a turntable in the Commons. Nonetheless, as a 9th grader, I was a backup DJ, meaning The post  Was It Really 50 Years Ago That ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ Was Released? appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

2025 was a big year for one of Florida’s premier manatee rescue organizations. ZooTampa released 26 rehabilitated manatees back into Florida waters in 2025—the highest number in its long history. The accomplishment, the zoo stated, underscores its pivotal role in conserving this iconic species and its role within the manatee rescue network in the state. […] The post ZooTampa Released 26 Rehabilitated Manatees Back into Florida Waters in 2025–the Most on Record appeared first on Good News Network.