TV News LIES

Amazon Web Services is giving the Trump administration a $1 billion coupon to use their services for the federal government’s digital transformation and artificial intelligence capacity. On Thursday, the General Services Administration announced a sweeping “OneGov” agreement with Amazon Web Services that would yield up to $1 billion in cost savings for federal agencies shifting to cloud services.

The deal, set to run through 2028, is being framed by administration officials as a cornerstone of both the administration’s AI strategy and its broader effort to modernize government IT systems.

The agreement is expected to accelerate cloud adoption across dozens of civilian agencies, support workforce training in AI tools, and establish the technical infrastructure needed to power large language models and machine learning applications. It’s the second major OneGov cloud services deal since President Donald Trump’s executive order on procurement consolidation earlier this year.

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Vinay Prasad, a top vaccine regulator ousted from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late last month, is set to return to his post, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“At the FDA’s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told The Hill in a statement. “Neither the White House nor HHS will allow the fake news media to distract from the critical work the FDA is carrying out under the Trump administration.”

Prasad’s July 30 resignation as the FDA’s chief science officer followed criticism from right-wing figures — including activist Laura Loomer and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) — that ran parallel to a regulatory showdown with drug manufacturers over a gene therapy treatment for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Loomer, a key ally of President Trump with noticeable influence, lavished attacks on the FDA official in recent weeks — calling him a “saboteur” and “trojan horse” for HHS’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ruled out any U.S. military Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ruled out any U.S. military “invasion” into Mexico following the Trump administration’s reported plans to use military force against Latin American drug cartels.

"The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military," Sheinbaum said Aug. 8 at her regular morning news conference. "We co-operate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out."

Sheinbaum comments are in response to a New York Times report Aug. 8 that President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to target transnational fentanyl traffickers that use Mexico as a base of operations.

The Times said Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force on foreign soil against cartels. In February, the U.S. designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, which some analysts have warned could be a stepping stone to such military action.

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Jim Lovell, an astronaut best known as the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13, has died. He was 97.

NASA announced his death Friday and included this statement from his family: "We are enormously proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments, highlighted by his legendary leadership in pioneering human space flight. But, to all of us, he was Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our Hero. We will miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible. He was truly one of a kind."

The Apollo 13 mission almost ended in catastrophe after an explosion crippled the spacecraft and took a herculean effort to bring home the three-astronaut crew.

Lovell's NASA career was peppered with firsts. His first flight — Gemini 7 in 1965 — set a space endurance record of almost 14 days. After Lovell commanded Gemini 12, he'd flown in space longer than any other person at that point. His next flight, Apollo 8, was the first time humans left Earth orbit.

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Germany will suspend arms exports to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Friday, marking Berlin’s clearest shift yet in response to Israel’s escalating military campaign.

“Under these circumstances, the German government will, until further notice, not approve any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip,” Merz said in a government press release. He added that Israel’s intensified operations in Gaza — approved by its Cabinet overnight—make it “increasingly difficult” to see how stated goals like the release of hostages or the disarmament of Hamas can be achieved.

The move stops short of a full weapons embargo and leaves open the possibility of continued exports for systems unrelated to the Gaza campaign, such as missile defense or naval equipment.

Germany has long emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense and reiterated Friday that “the disarmament of Hamas is essential.”

However, Merz sharply criticized the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s planned offensive, urging the government to allow “full access for aid deliveries, including for U.N. organizations and other non-governmental institutions.”

“The Israeli government carries greater responsibility than ever for the civilian population’s supply,” Merz said.

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The Trump administration is doubling to $50m a reward for the arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narcotraffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said on Thursday in a video statement announcing the reward.

Maduro was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies on federal charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. At the time, the US offered a $15m reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25m – the same amount the US offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden in 2001, after the September 11attacks.

Despite the big bounty, Maduro remains entrenched after defying the US, the European Union and several Latin American governments who condemned his 2024 reelection as a sham and recognized his opponent as Venezuela’s duly elected president.

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The White House announced on Thursday that it will use federal law enforcement officers to help police Washington D.C.

The move comes one day after President Donald Trump threatened to take over the city’s police force in response to an attempted hijacking that left one Trump administration staffer injured.

“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.

The effort will begin as a seven-day operation, with “the option to extend as needed,” according to a White House statement. Increased law enforcement will be present on the streets at midnight, led by the U.S. Park Police, with participation from all members of the “Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force” established under a March executive order.

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Israeli authorities are moving forward with plans to dramatically expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite growing international condemnation and warnings that the move would destroy already moribund prospects for a two-state solution.

The Israeli government has set Wednesday as the date to discuss building thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, east of occupied East Jerusalem. The proposed expansion would link the large and illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement with Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government also appears on the cusp of announcing its intention to occupy all of Gaza as its genocidal war on the besieged enclave rages on.

The E1 plan in the West Bank has long been criticised by the international community, including the European Union and successive United States administrations. In 2022, Israel postponed the plan following US pressure, but in recent months, the government approved road-widening projects in the area and began restricting Palestinian access – a move rights groups say indicates a renewed push to entrench control.

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