Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department forced to backtrack after bizarre condolences for US strike on Iran
"Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran," the post on X stated. "While this tragic event happened overseas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is closely monitoring the situation alongside our local, state and federal partners."
The department eventually amended the post, which deleted the sentence regarding the U.S. strikes before it was removed from X altogether. It was not clear if anyone was harmed or killed during the operation.
A sheriff's department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that he wasn't aware of the initial post expressing condolences.
"We sincerely hope your account was hacked," said a post from Stop Antisemitism, which works to expose groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards Jewish people and those who engage in antisemitic behavior. "There were no victims in last night's successful targeting of Iran's nuclear sites. Please verify this post was not posted by an employee of the LA County Sheriff's HQ."
Over the weekend, the U.S. military carried out strikes targeting three nuclear sites in Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer. The mission targeted nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.
Fordow, which many international experts believe is key to Iran's nuclear program, is buried almost 300 feet beneath a mountain.
"At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States," Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said during a Sunday morning press conference from the Pentagon.
Caine said the U.S. was able to maintain the element of surprise during the entire operation.
Iranian officials were still assessing the significance of the strikes, but the Trump administration has described them as a success that has degraded Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's secluded hideout hits the market
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988. Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's former New Hampshire mansion has been listed for $2.5 million nearly five years to the day after the FBI tracked her to the property ahead of her arrest and conviction on sex trafficking charges, according to a new report. The 156-acre mountaintop property sold for $1.1 million in 2019, according to -- purportedly to a limited liability company with ties to Maxwell. She is currently appealing a 20-year prison sentence in connection with the Epstein case. He died in a federal jail cell in 2019 while awaiting his own trial. Ghislaine Maxwell Follows Prison Fitness Routine, Video Shows, As Doj's Jeffrey Epstein Memo Draws Heat The property includes a luxe main home that features a fieldstone fireplace, a sun room with its own wood-burning stove, and floor-to-ceiling windows. There's also a converted barn and freestanding garage. Read On The Fox News App The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Ghislaine's latest appeal in December. She has filed a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a review at the highest level. Epstein Victims Numbered Over 1,000 – Far More Than Previously Known, Federal Investigators Say Maxwell's appeal centers on a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida, which stated that "the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein." Maxwell is serving her sentence at FCI Tallahasee, where exclusive photos published by Fox News Digital over the weekend show she is keeping up a jailhouse fitness routine as she vies for her freedom. Jeffrey Epstein Madam Ghislaine Maxwell's Former London Townhouse, Linked To Prince Andrew Photo, For Sale Epstein's plea deal came from a controversial child trafficking case in the early 2000s, details of which did not emerge for more than a decade. He received a punishment of 13 months for soliciting prostitution from a minor in Palm Beach, Florida. The deal gained intense scrutiny years later after the Miami Herald uncovered details about the crime – so concerning that Florida lawmakers years later passed a bill that allows for the release of secret grand jury files in certain cases. Watch On Fox Nation: The Final Hours Of Jeffrey Epstein Authorities arrested him in 2019 to answer for more crimes – but he died in a New York City jail just a month later, in what was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. The following summer, the FBI arrested Maxwell in the New Hampshire hideout. Her former London townhouse also went up for sale recently – for nearly $4 million. It's in the UK city's upscale Belgravia neighborhood, across the street from the Nag's Head Pub and near the upscale Pantechnicon complex. In a U.S. lawsuit, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre alleged she met the British Prince Andrew at a London nightclub called Tramp before he forced her to have sex inside the home. She died of suicide earlier this article source: Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's secluded hideout hits the market
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Retired Army officer pleads guilty to sharing classified info on Russia-Ukraine war on dating site
A retired Army officer who worked as a civilian for the Air Force has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit classified information about Russia's war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform. David Slater, 64, who had top secret clearance at his job at the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, pleaded guilty to a single count before a federal magistrate judge in Omaha on Thursday. In exchange for his guilty plea, two other counts were dropped. Slater remains free pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 8. Prosecutors and his lawyers agreed that he should serve between five years and 10 months and seven years and three months in prison, and the government will recommend a term at the low end of that range. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years behind bars. U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher will ultimately decide whether to accept the plea agreement and will determine Slater's sentence. 'I conspired to willfully communicate national defense information to an unauthorized person,' Slater said in a handwritten note on his petition to change his plea. Slater had access to some of the country's most closely held secrets, John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. 'Access to classified information comes with great responsibility," said Lesley Woods, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska, said in the same statement. "David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing National Defense Information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person's motives.' Slater retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2020 and worked in a classified space at the base from around August 2021 until around April 2022. He attended briefings about the Russia-Ukraine war that were classified up to top secret, court documents say. He was arrested in March of 2024. In his plea agreement, he acknowledged that he conspired to transmit classified information that he learned from those briefings via the foreign dating website's messaging platform to an unnamed coconspirator, who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine. The information, classified as secret, pertained to military targets and Russian military capabilities, according to the plea agreement. 'Defendant knew and had reason to believe that such information could be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation,' the agreement states. According to the original indictment, the coconspirator regularly asked Slater for classified information. She called him, 'my secret informant love!' in one message. She closed another by saying, 'You are my secret agent. With love.' In another, she wrote, 'Dave, I hope tomorrow NATO will prepare a very pleasant 'surprise' for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin! Will you tell me?" Court documents don't identify the coconspirator, or say whether she was working for Ukraine or Russia. They also don't identify the dating platform. Amy Donato, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Omaha, said Monday that she couldn't provide that information. Slater's attorney, Stuart Dornan, didn't immediately return a call seeking further details.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Analysis-US rare earth pricing system is poised to challenge China's dominance
By Eric Onstad LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. efforts to break China's dominance of the rare earths market and to drive investment in its own industry have moved up a gear with a Washington-backed plan to create a separate, higher pricing system. The West has struggled to weaken China's grip on 90% of the supply of rare earths, in part because low prices set in China have removed the incentive for investment elsewhere. Miners in the West have long called for a separate pricing system to help them compete in supplying the rare earths group of 17 metals needed to make super-strong magnets of strategic importance. They are used in military applications such as drone and fighter jets, as well as to power motors in EVs and wind turbines. Under a deal made public last week, the U.S. Department of Defense will guarantee a minimum price for its sole domestic rare earth miner MP Materials, at nearly twice the current market level. Las Vegas-based MP already produces mined and processed rare earths and said it expects to start commercial magnet production at its Texas facility around the end of this year. Analysts say the pricing deal, which takes effect immediately, should have global implications - positive for producers, but may increase costs for consumers, such as automakers and in turn their customers. "This benchmark is now a new centre of gravity in the industry that will pull prices up," said Ryan Castilloux, managing director of consultancy Adamas Intelligence. The DoD will pay MP the difference between $110 per kilogram for the two most-popular rare earths and the market price, currently set by China, but if the price rises above $110, the DoD will get 30% of additional profits. Castilloux said other indirect beneficiaries of the pricing system may include companies, such as Belgian chemicals group Solvay, which launched an expansion in April. "It will give Solvay and others the impetus to command a similar price level. It will give them a floor to stand on, you could say," Castilloux added. While Solvay declined to comment, other rare earth miners, developers and their shareholders welcomed the news. Aclara Resources is developing rare earths mines in Chile and Brazil, as well as planning a separation plant in the United States. Alvaro Castellon, the company's strategy and development manager, told Reuters the deal added "new strategic paths" for the company. MP'S GRADUAL OUTPUT INCREASE MP Materials, which suffered a net loss of $65.4 million last year largely because of China's low pricing, will build up magnet production at its Texas plant initially to 1,000 metric tons a year, later expanding to 3,000 tons a year. Under last Thursday's deal, the DoD will become its largest shareholder with a 15% stake and MP will construct a second rare earth magnet manufacturing facility in the U.S., eventually adding 7,000 tons per year. In total, production would be 10,000 tons a year - equalling U.S. consumption of magnets in 2024. That does not include, however, the 30,000 tons imported by the United States already installed in assembled products, Adamas consultancy said. It predicts global demand for rare earth permanent magnets will more than double over the next decade to about 607,000 tons, with the U.S. seeing the strongest percentage annual growth rate in coming years at 17%. The world's reliance upon China for much of this demand was brought into focus by China's curbs on its exports as trade negotiations continue between the United States and China. So far Western governments have had little success in trying to help their own industries to compete. Attempts to agree stronger pricing have been confined to piecemeal deals that set premiums for magnets. Dominic Raab, a former deputy prime minister and former foreign secretary for the United Kingdom, said he was not surprised the Trump administration had concluded that tax breaks alone would not create the level of investment required. "The next step is, can they scale it up?" asked Raab, now head of global affairs at Appian Capital Advisory, a private equity firm that invests in mining projects. The $110 level for neodymium and praseodymium, or NdPr, guaranteed by the DoD is slightly above a $75-to-$105 per kg range that consultancy Project Blue reckons would be needed to support enough production to meet demand in coming years. It compares to a current level of about $63. David Merriman of Project Blue said it was unclear how commercial industrial consumers would respond to higher prices and whether it would make them invest in rare earths as they have more diverse supply sources. "Major non-government backed consumers are less likely to follow this same investment pattern, however, as they are not so clearly aligned to a particular regional supply route," he said. A spokesperson for German auto giant Volkswagen declined to comment on pricing when asked about the DoD floor level but said: "We welcome all efforts to strengthen long-term stability and diversification in global supply chains for critical materials."
