作者： root

FIRST ON FOX: DOJ sues Spanberger’s Virginia over laws kneecapping federal agents as mask war escalates

2026-06-11T17:50:02-04:00 / Fox News

By Ashley J. DiMella, Fox News

Published June 11, 2026 5:50pm EDT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397999599112

Tom Homan touts Trump admin’s escalated illegal immigration crackdown in New York

Border czar Tom Homan details the escalated crackdown on illegal immigration, criticizing New York City’s anti-ICE policies implemented by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul. Homan emphasizes the necessity of federal enforcement, deploring sanctuary city rules he believes endanger communities. He responds to arguments for abolishing ICE, citing successes in removing criminal aliens and combating human trafficking, urging states to cooperate.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

FIRST ON FOX: The Justice Department sued The Commonwealth of Virginia on Thursday over two new laws the DOJ says would subject masked federal agents to criminal penalties and threaten local ICE cooperation agreements.

“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in comment provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Virginia’s anti-law enforcement policies regulate the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand.”

The lawsuit, first shared with Fox News Digital, argues Virginia is violating the Constitution by attempting to dictate how federal officers carry out law enforcement operations — including when they can wear masks, what identifying information they must display and whether local agencies can maintain ICE cooperation agreements unless the federal government accepts state-imposed conditions. The DOJ said the laws threaten officer safety, undermine federal immigration enforcement and violate the Supremacy Clause.

At the heart of the suit, are a pair of laws that Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed, which are set to take effect on July, including: one restricting law enforcement officers, including federal officers, from wearing facial coverings while on duty and requiring them to display identifying information, and another imposing state-mandated conditions on federal immigration enforcement agreements.

ICE PRESSURES SPANBERGER AS FAIRFAX MURDER SUSPECTS TRIGGER NEW DETAINERS IN ‘SANCTUARY’ CLASH

The Justice Department sued Virginia over laws that officials say could punish masked federal agents and dismantle local ICE cooperation deals.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The DOJ said federal officers who violate Virginia’s mask and identification law could face a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable under Virginia law by up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.

The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and left-wing Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano — who was previously backed by groups connected to George Soros.

The suit claims Virginia’s mask ban is “blatantly unconstitutional” because it attempts to regulate “what federal officers may and may not wear” while carrying out their duties, exposing agents’ identities and increasing risks to them and their families.

“The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the privacy and safety of law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like Virginia’s,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division in the press release.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS CALIFORNIA LAW FORCING ICE AGENTS TO REMOVE MASKS DURING OPERATIONS

Spanberger restricted ICE agents from operating on state properties and requiring federal agents to wear visible badges and barred law enforcement from wearing facial masks while on duty in May.(Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch)

DOJ is seeking a court order to block both laws that begin July 1.

Spanberger, Jones and Descano have all moved to counter the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda in Virginia.

In February, Spanberger issued an executive order that rescinded a Youngkin-era order directing state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

TOM HOMAN VOWS TO WORK AROUND NEW DEM VA GOV SPANBERGER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING ICE COOPERATION

Anti-ICE agitators attempted to block vehicles from leaving the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday night.(FreedomNewsTV)

“The President told us that we are safer because unaccountable, poorly trained ICE agents are arresting mothers and detaining children. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed — not an excuse to terrorize our communities,” Spanberger posted on X in response to Trump’s State of the Union.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The suit comes as there have been ongoing protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in New Jersey where protesters verbally abused ICE agents, obstructed vehicles, allegedly assaulted officers, and made threats leading to multiple arrests.

“Governor Spanberger cannot tell Federal officers how to do their job,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward in the press release. “She certainly cannot prohibit them from ensuring their own safety in conducting Federal law enforcement operations. Our suit today stops those unconstitutional efforts.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Gov. Spanberger and AG Jones for comment.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Step-grandmother of suspect in Anna Kepner case calls for charges against Kepner’s father, stepmother

June 11, 2026 / 4:59 PM EDT / CBS News

The step-grandmother of Timothy Hudson, the 16-year-old stepbrother of Anna Kepner who has been charged in her death and sexual assault, is calling for charges against Kepner’s father and stepmother over alleged neglect during their cruise vacation.

Kepner, an 18-year-old high school cheerleader, was on a Carnival cruise ship with her family, including her father and stepmother Chris and Shauntel Kepner, when she was killed.

“The lack of parental supervision on a floating city,” said Sonya Ziske, who says she helped raise Hudson. “Putting three teenagers, two boys and a girl in a room together that were not raised together, It’s just a recipe for disaster.”

This is the first time Ziske, who is also Shauntel Kepner’s stepmother, has spoken to the media about the incident. According to Ziske, when she and her husband, who is Shauntel Kepner’s biological father, tried to reach out to her about the incident after reading reports about it online, she wouldn’t explain what happened.

“Whatever you do, just don’t talk to the media,” is all Shauntel Kepner told them, according to Ziske.

Hudson has told his family he has no recollection of the night Kepner died. Ziske believes alcohol was involved and that he may have blacked out.

“He truly does not remember,” Ziske said. “Timothy has said that they were drinking. I believe 100% those kids were drinking on the ship.”

Shauntel and Chris Kepner have previously denied the children were drinking through their attorney during a family court hearing related to a custody battle.

“The issue that counsel raised about drinking, there are videotapes on the ship that confirmed that there was absolutely no drinking,” said Millicent Athanason, an attorney for Shauntel Kepner during a November custody hearing.

“Here, the question is, did the parents do something or fail to do something that enabled their child to commit this horrific crime?” said Dave Aronberg, former Palm Beach State Prosecutor, about how investigations on parental neglect typically take place. He is not involved in this case.

“It’s a very fact-based inquiry, and I don’t know if there are enough facts to sustain that charge,” he told CBS News.

Despite being charged as an adult and facing first degree murder and sexual assault charges, Hudson is not being detained because he is a minor.

Being charged in a federal court has vast protections for minors, including that they be held near their family or, whenever possible, a foster home or community-based facility.

“I’m not saying he did, or he did not. I’m saying it’s not his character,” said Ziske. “Everybody’s out there saying how he’s walking free. He is not free. His life is over, whether he is innocent or guilty.”

Hudson is currently in the custody of his maternal uncle, but has spent time with Ziske and other family members, including his young cousins who live with him in a home in Florida’s Tampa area.

Ziske believes Chris and Shauntel Kepner are unfit to have custody of the remaining children, given what allegedly transpired on the cruise ship.

“She kept them isolated from everybody over here. From their dad, from their grandparents. From all of us,” Ziske said. “So, I don’t know the past two years. Like, if he was angry, or his mental state, I don’t know any of that.”

New court documents obtained by CBS News reveal authorities recovered Anna Kepner’s cell phone from the ship’s lost and found. The phone had been recovered from a trash can where Hudson allegedly was seen on surveillance video apparently disposing of the device.

According to the court documents, Hudson and Anna Kepner were alone in the cabin they shared from about 7:51 p.m. to 11:21 p.m. the night of the incident.

Prosecutors allege Anna Kepner’s Apple Watch, which tracked her heart rate, stopped working during this time, which they believe is when the crime allegedly occurred.

CBS News reached out to Chris and Shauntel Kepner’s attorney, who did not respond to our inquiry.

Trump says he is considering helping farmers with high fertilizer prices

June 11, 2026 8:27 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is considering taking action to help farmers affected by high fertilizer prices.

“I am looking at doing a form of help,” Trump told reporters at the White House, without providing details.

Get weekly news and analysis on U.S. politics and how it matters to the world with the Reuters Politics U.S. newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

被禁参与海峡论坛 台东县长质疑中央放任农民自生自灭

2026年6月12日 07:55 / 联合早报

台东县长饶庆铃星期四在脸书发文批评中央限制地方参与两岸交流，并质疑中央政府“打算放任农民自生自灭”。 （饶庆铃脸书）

台湾陆委会今年首度禁止地方政府人员参加由中国大陆主办的海峡论坛。因禁令导致申请未获准的台东县长饶庆铃批评中央限制地方参与两岸交流，并质疑中央政府“打算放任农民自生自灭”。

本届海峡论坛将于星期六（6月13日）登场。饶庆铃星期四（6月11日）在脸书发文说，地方政府参与论坛的初衷在于协助产业发展，并不涉及政治议题。

她表示，地方政府希望通过交流寻找更多机会却遭中央阻挠，对此感到深深的无力感，并反问：“关心台湾民众生活的慈悲心，难道也有政党之别吗？”她呼吁中央具体说明究竟为农民做了哪些努力，以及未来将如何协助产业发展。

据台湾《联合报》报道，陆委会副主委梁文杰同日回应称，饶庆铃可前往大陆或日本等地促销凤梨释迦，此次的禁令仅针对海峡论坛这一特定活动。

他说，饶庆铃原计划参加论坛的开幕大会，届时致辞的可能是中国大陆政协主席王沪宁或国台办主任宋涛。“他们就是要塑造台湾重要政治人物或地方首长来听我训话的印象”，“中华民国”公职人员不该让对方有此机会。

针对陆委会对地方政府下达禁令，国民党立委陈玉珍也称，中央政府“对台澎金马的民主信仰没有信心”，并称可借交流“统战对方”。梁文杰则回应，两岸政策必须全台一致，并请陈玉珍展示统战成果。

国民党立院党团书记长林沛祥也质疑，陆委会依据哪一项法律规定、什么法源依据来限制台湾各界参与对岸活动？“台湾到底是自由民主社会，还是只能接受执政党指定立场的社会？”

The president’s Trump Accounts didn’t initially plan for foster kids — until the first lady’s office stepped in

2026-06-11T23:07:37.183Z / CNN

By Betsy Klein

23 min ago

PUBLISHED Jun 11, 2026, 7:07 PM ET

Investing Donald Trump

See all topics

First lady Melania Trump is seen during an event at the US Treasury Department on Thursday, June 11, in Washington, DC.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Summary

• First lady Melania Trump unveiled updated guidance allowing state child welfare agencies to open Trump Accounts for foster youth.
• Child welfare advocates raised concerns that foster children would be excluded from the program due to unclear guardian requirements.
• So far, 23 states led by Republican governors have opted into the new program.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

After President Donald Trump unveiled his signature Trump Accounts earlier this year, child welfare advocates realized it would be challenging, if not impossible, for one eligible group of children to access the IRA-style savings accounts.

The accounts must be opened by an “authorized individual,”who is most typically a parent or other family member named as a legal guardian. But it wasn’t clear what that might mean for children in foster care who may have a rotating cast of legal guardians.

“Foster youth would have been left out. What would it have meant if you come into care? Who’s your custodian? Who signs up? Who is going to open the account for you? What does it look like if you go back home?” said Sixto Cancel, the founder and CEO of child welfare advocacy group Think of Us.

Cancel raised the issue with the office of first lady Melania Trump, who in her second term has used her platform, in part, to shine a spotlight on children in the foster care system, working on legislative and other efforts to support a long-marginalized group.

Immediately, Cancel said, Trump’s office “jumped into action” and “responded with ‘how can they help?’ and pulling people together.”

On Thursday, after months of coordination between her office, state governments and the Treasury Department, the first lady formally unveiled “Fostering the Future Accounts,” offering updated guidance that allows state child welfare agencies and foster youth representatives to set up the accounts for children in foster care.

Trump, who typically keeps a low public profile, appeared at the Treasury Department to make the announcement alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Approximately 400,000 American youth live in foster care, according to the US Department of Education.

One in five of those children, Bessent said on Thursday, could experience homelessness as they age out of the system, and only half “obtain gainful employment by the time they turn 24.”

The accounts, which officially launch July 4, are open to any child who is a US citizen with a valid Social Security number. For the regular Trump Accounts, children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, may receive a one-time, $1,000 pilot contribution from the federal government.

But child welfare agencies cannot receive that $1,000 pilot contribution for children in foster care. Instead, a parent or foster parent can elect to have the child’s account receive that contribution if they anticipate the child will be their “qualifying child,”according to the Internal Revenue Service. States can also deposit federal survivor benefits into these accounts, along with unobligated Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.

When they turn 18 years old, the first lady said in her Thursday remarks, those children will be able to access the money in the account. She called it a “first step toward personal independence.”

So far, 23 states — all with Republican governors — have opted in to the program, with efforts from advocacy groups and the office of the first lady underway to get the remaining states on board, according to Melania Trump’s office. The Treasury Department is providing extra guidance and support to the state welfare agencies on how to maximize the benefit, Bessent said.

For Cancel, who was once part of the foster care system himself, Thursday’s announcement marks an important step that could serve as a lifeline.

“To have that as a high schooler — to think, ‘I can use that to get an apartment’ — brings you a peace of mind that is unexplainable,” he said.

US judge blocks Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue

2026-06-11T20:47:52.649Z / reuters.com

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks outside the U.S. Capitol building on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 3, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

BOSTON, June 11 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Thursday blocked Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from continuing to pursue ​a lawsuit against the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue over its donation practices, ‌saying he was retaliating for fundraising on behalf of his opponent in the race for the U.S. Senate.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a

preliminary injunction, opens new tab
at the behest of ActBlue, which argued Paxton infringed ​its free speech rights by suing the organization in April while campaigning against ​Democrat James Talarico for a Senate seat up for grabs in November’s election.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Stearns, who ⁠was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said Paxton had a “well-known history of filing ​retaliatory lawsuits,” which continued with his filing of a lawsuit against ActBlue aimed at suppressing political ​speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

“The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign,” ​Stearns wrote.

ActBlue and Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Paxton’s lawsuit stemmed ​from one of several Republican-backed probes into ActBlue, which President Donald Trump last year directed the U.S. Department of ‌Justice to ⁠investigate along with other online fundraising platforms.

Paxton alleges Massachusetts-based ActBlue violated Texas law by misleading consumers about its fundraising processes when it told Congress in 2024 it had stopped accepting donations via gift cards and foreign prepaid debit cards, only to quietly resume gift card donations.

The ​group’s actions facilitated illegal ​campaign contributions by foreign ⁠nationals who could conceal their identities, according to the lawsuit, and as a result ActBlue should be forced to pay penalties and be ​blocked from accepting gift card donations.

After Paxton filed that case in ​a Texas state ⁠court, ActBlue filed its federal case, arguing the Republican was trying to retaliate against a political foe in violation of the free speech protections of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

Its lawyers said ⁠Paxton ​only launched the case following several fundraising announcements by Talarico, ​who has used ActBlue to raise millions of dollars from small-dollar donors.

Since its founding in 2004, ActBlue has helped ​raise $19 billion for Democratic candidates and causes.

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot

Group of Epstein survivors announce opposition to Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination

2026-06-11T21:10:05.061Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/11/politics/epstein-survivors-blanche-nomination

A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors came out in opposition to Todd Blanche’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s permanent attorney general, citing his participation in secret White House meetings on how to contain the political fallout from the Epstein files.

In a new statement obtained by CNN, 19 women responded to The New York Times’s reporting that Blanche and other senior officials participated in Situation Room meetings to discuss how to respond to growing pressure for more transparency as the issue became a public relations crisis for the administration.

“We are deeply disturbed to learn that so many senior members of the administration gathered in the Situation Room to discuss the release of the Epstein files as a reputational problem, rather than an opportunity to pursue investigative leads and try to figure out what actually happened,” the survivors of Epstein’s abuse said in the joint statement. “These revelations confirm our worst fears about the administration prioritizing political expediency over justice for survivors and truth for the American people.”

The survivors raised specific concerns about Blanche, who played a key role in overseeing the release of the Epstein files after Congress passed a law mandating it, who has now been nominated by President Donald Trump to permanently serve as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“We are especially concerned that Todd Blanche, the person nominated for the highest law enforcement position in the country, was at that table. Blanche has consistently minimized legitimate concerns about how the files have been handled, including problematic redactions and the exposure of survivors’ personal information. Blanche failed to deliver transparency, and he has gravely failed survivors. This is failing upward, plain and simple,” they wrote.

“We deserve better. We deserve truth, transparency, and accountability. We deserve to be taken seriously when we come forward. And we deserve an attorney general who will use the full power of that office to pursue justice, protect others, and ensure that what happened to us never happens again,” the women continued.

Liz Stein, one of the Epstein survivors who signed the letter, told CNN, “If his nomination is confirmed, Todd Blanche would be the head law enforcement agent of our country, and we have seen consistently over the past year his behavior in regards to the Epstein case is just really concerning.”

“At the end of the day we’re victims of a crime – and what is the message that we are sending to Americans in this country about how victims of crimes should be treated? This is an issue that has been laden with a ton of political emotion but if we can’t count on our government to prosecutre crimes than we’re in big trouble,” Stein said Thursday on “The Lead.”

CNN has reached out to DOJ for comment.

In response to a request for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson pointed to how Trump has said that he has been exonerated on any matters relating to Epstein, and said, “And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”

The administration provided a similar statement to the New York Times.

Earlier this week, House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters that he planned to ask Blanche to testify in front of his committee in July as part of the panel’s ongoing Epstein probe, an indication that even Republicans still have questions about how the Justice Department has handled the Epstein matter.

As the Trump administration continues to deal with the political fallout over how the files were released, the millions of documents that were withheld, and redaction issues, former Attorney General Pam Bondi has sought to distance herself from the process and testified behind closed-doors to the panel last month that Blanche was responsible for overseeing the release of the files.

“He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” Bondi said at the time when asked about her role in the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

DOJ has released approximately 3 million files compelled by Congress, but Bondi was pushed to explain why another roughly 3 million have not yet been released.

Earlier this week, Comer met with roughly a dozen Epstein survivors in a private meeting, sources told CNN.

A member of the group meeting with Comer told CNN that survivors felt heard by the chairman. The survivors also told the Kentucky Republican that some of what’s been said by witnesses that his panel has interviewed has been inaccurate and this is why witnesses should be under oath and recorded.

“We have consistently looked to meet with lawmakers just to kind of explain our story and explain what our concerns are,” Stein told CNN on Thursday.

Stein continued on to say, “We were really glad that Mr. Comer was receptive to meeting with us and it was an extraordinarily positive interaction that we had with him. I think that to hear from us directly what the particular concerns were I think that it opened his eyes in a way that they haven’t been opened before.”

Many of the people testifying as part of the panel’s Epstein investigation have appeared voluntarily, which has meant that they have not had to take a formal oath before speaking to the panel. Witnesses are reminded at the start of their interviews, however, that making false statements to Congress is subject to criminal prosecution.

“We’re continuously meeting with the survivors of Epstein,” Comer, who has said he wants to eventually hold a hearing with survivors, told reporters on Tuesday.

He pointed to recent testimony from Epstein’s longtime assistant as an example of what his committee will need to fact check with the survivors.

“Chairman Comer’s goal from the start of the Oversight Committee’s investigation has been to provide transparency for the American people and accountability for survivors. We will continue to work with survivors as we conduct our review of the federal government’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases,” a House Oversight Committee spokeswoman told CNN.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Starmer in ‘seismic’ crisis, UK defense chief quits before high-stakes Trump NATO summit

June 11, 2026 5:00pm EDT / Fox News

Starmer reportedly refused to set a timeline to reach 3.5% GDP defense spending by 2035, a promise he made to Trump

By Emma Bussey, Fox News

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday after clashing with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government over military spending, dealing the British leader a setback weeks before a critical NATO summit to include President Donald Trump.

Healey’s departure stemmed from a dispute over the delayed Defense Investment Plan (DIP) — the government’s long-promised roadmap for military investment and readiness — and as NATO allies face renewed pressure from Trump to boost defense spending.

“John Healey’s resignation is a seismic moment for the government and the Ministry of Defense,” Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Senior Associate Fellow Ed Arnold told Fox News Digital.

“For the government, it creates a sequence of political headaches in terms of a replacement, and trying to get the Defense Investment Plan published.”

BRITISH PM KEIR STARMER MOVES UK MILITARY INTO ‘WAR-FIGHTING READINESS’

Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey speaks with British and Norwegian naval personnel at the unveiling of the Atlantic Bastion programme in Portsmouth, Britain, on Dec. 4, 2025.(Peter Nicholls/Pool via Reuters)

Healey had been in intense, late-stage negotiations with Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves over the scale and timelines of the DIP.

Starmer reportedly refused to set out a timeline to reach 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2035 — a promise he made to Trump at last year’s NATO summit — and would not commit to a firm date for reaching 3%.

Instead, Starmer offered Healey a deal to spend 2.68% of GDP on defense by 2030, up only marginally from 2.6% next year, Reuters reported.

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country,” Healey wrote to Starmer in his resignation letter, warning that the financial constraints would “make the country less safe,” the outlet reported.

NATO CHIEF URGES MEMBERS TO ‘TURBOCHARGE’ DEFENSE PRODUCTION AS HE PAINTS PICTURE OF A WORLD BOUND FOR WAR

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose with NATO country leaders during the NATO Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025.(Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters)

“If the delay to the Defense Investment Plan was already undermining the government’s credibility on defense, John Healey’s resignation has blown a hole in its side,” Professor Kevin Rowlands of the RUSI defense and security think tank told Fox News Digital.

“The immediate consequence is not just political embarrassment for No. 10, but a significant loss of planning certainty at a time when the British Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, and industry really need clarity on what will be funded, and when,” he added.

The political fallout is expected to reverberate across the Atlantic, where Washington has increased pressure on European allies to fulfill their defense obligations. Trump has frequently criticized NATO alliance members as “free riders.”

On June 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the upcoming Ankara summit would be the “most important meeting” in NATO’s history because there are some things “that need to be cleared up and fixed.”

He added, “The United States is still in the NATO alliance, and we’ll be there.”

TRUMP EFFECT FORCES GERMANY TO REPRIORITIZE DEFENSE AS NATION PLAYS CATCH-UP IN MILITARY SPENDING

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer increased the military presence in Cyprus following an Iranian drone strike early Monday, Feb. 24, 2026.(Kin Cheung / POOL / AFP via Getty Images))

However, U.S. officials have made it clear that patience is wearing thin.

“Ahead of next month’s NATO summit, POTUS has been clear: Allies must fulfil their commitment to spending 5% of GDP on defense,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker posted on X this week.

Furthermore, a U.S. official noted that a U.K. funding package far lower than 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) would send a highly “negative” signal to Trump ahead of the Ankara meeting, according to The Times.

Starmer has pledged to lift spending to 3% in the next Parliament but Healey’s exit has exposed that the current strategy leaves the U.K. lagging behind key allies. By comparison, Germany plans to spend 3.7% of its GDP on defense by 2030.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Healey knows the threats we face, he knows the capabilities and shortfalls the armed forces have, and if he believes that the financial settlement is not enough to keep the country safe — to the extent that he cannot honorably stay in post — then we are in trouble,” Rowlands added.

“While the impact will mainly be felt on Whitehall, the international implications are severe with a NATO summit just three weeks away,” Arnold noted.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

Alabama inmate’s nitrogen gas execution tonight hinges on last-minute appeal to Supreme Court

June 11, 2026 / 4:37 PM EDT / CBS News

By Emily Mae Czachor News Editor
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and climate. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

Read Full Bio

A death row inmate in Alabama is waiting on a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court to see if the state will be allowed to carry out his scheduled execution Thursday night using nitrogen hypoxia.

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office petitioned the high court to reverse a federal judge’s decision to permanently ban the state from putting Jeffrey Lee to death using the controversial and relatively new execution method that Alabama first introduced in 2024.

Although critics often note the intentional secrecy around nitrogen hypoxia that keeps inmates and the public from understanding how it works, the known parameters of the procedure involve a gas mask being strapped to the face of a condemned inmate, who is then forced to inhale pure nitrogen through it. The lack of oxygen eventually causes death from asphyxiation.

Lee, 49, had been scheduled to die by nitrogen hypoxia at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday, according to court filings. With the justices’ decision still pending hours before the scheduled time, a spokesperson for Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office told CBS News in a statement that “the governor remains prepared to move forward with the planned execution” while the state “continues to defend its execution protocol in the courts.”

But whether and how the execution would proceed was not clear after a federal judge ruled Alabama’s method unconstitutional this week, and an appeals court subsequently rejected the state’s request for a stay.

The application, from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and his associates, then made its way to the Supreme Court. Marshall traveled to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to ask justices to vacate a Tuesday ruling by U.S. District Judge Emily Marks, which barred Alabama from executing Lee using its nitrogen hypoxia protocol. In an unprecedented decision, Marks found the protocol unconstitutionally cruel and in violation of Lee’s constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment.

Alabama’s appeal argued that executing Lee by firing squad instead of nitrogen gas, as his legal team proposed and Marks accepted in her ruling, was “not feasible or readily implemented” because Alabama does not currently have a protocol in place for it. It also insisted the state’s nitrogen protocol was incorrectly characterized as barbaric in the court proceedings that led to Marks’ decision, saying inmates quickly lose consciousness.

Marks had said in her decision that “Lee has shown by a preponderance of evidence that the Protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” on the heels of an appeals court ruling Monday that reversed an earlier decision from Marks, in which she found the method constitutional.

The Monday ruling determined that Alabama’s nitrogen protocol poses “a substantial risk of serious harm” to inmates who likely experience “severe air hunger and corresponding emotional distress, anxiety, physiological stress, and physical discomfort” for at least one to three minutes before suffocating.

Lee has been incarcerated on the state’s death row for well over two decades, since his conviction in a 1998 double murder and store robbery. The jury that presided over his criminal case voted 7-2 for Lee to receive a lifetime prison sentence rather than face the death penalty, but the trial judge overruled them. That practice, called “judicial override,” landed many inmates on Alabama’s death row before it was outlawed in 2017.

International human rights leaders have condemned nitrogen hypoxia as experimental, violent and potentially torturous. It had never in known history been used to execute someone before Alabama in 2024 tested it on an inmate who had previously survived multiple botched attempts to execute him by lethal injection. Now, eight inmates have been put to death using nitrogen gas in the U.S., including seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana.

Witnesses who observed those executions later shared unnerving, and, at times, horrific, accounts of inmates thrashing, moaning, or otherwise appearing to show signs of suffering after the nitrogen gas began to flow. Several of them recalled that the inmates’ distress went on for at least several minutes before they seemed to lose consciousness on the gurney. During the most recent nitrogen gas execution in Alabama, witnesses said inmate Anthony Boyd gasped, shook and heaved for some 15 minutes before he stopped moving.

But Alabama has consistently defended its nitrogen gas protocol as an effective and humane alternative to lethal injection, the default execution method that also faced heavy scrutiny in Alabama after multiple bungled execution attempts. An upcoming series of legal claims challenging the nitrogen method is set to go to trial in 2027.

特朗普6月11日对白宫记者说，伊朗最高领袖穆杰塔巴已批准协议，霍尔木兹海峡将恢复航运交通。 （法新社）

美国总统特朗普恫言要在星期四（6月11日）晚“狠狠打击”伊朗后，突然撤回言论，并声称可能“未来几天”与伊朗签署和平协议。伊朗方面则说，尚未就特朗普希望尽快签署的协议做出最终决定。

综合路透社和《纽约时报》报道，特朗普11日下午在白宫普椭圆形办公室对媒体说，协议“可能周末在欧洲签署”。若协议顺利签署，副总统万斯将出席相关活动。特朗普未说明协议具体内容，仅称协议“已基本定稿”。

特朗普说，伊朗最高领袖穆杰塔巴已批准协议，霍尔木兹海峡将恢复航运交通。但他同时也说，一直是和平谈判主要症结的核问题还在“概念层面上”讨论。

另据伊朗媒体报道，伊朗外交部发言人巴盖说，谈判文本的大部分内容已经敲定，但伊朗不会在核心问题上妥协。“伊朗尚未就协议作出最终决定。”

伊朗半官方法尔斯通讯社报道称，德黑兰可能会批准协议，但尚未给出正式回应。

分析：特朗普军事打击伊朗策略存在漏洞
美伊连续两天交火 特朗普恫言升级打击占领伊朗石油命脉

特朗普11日上午在社交平台Truth Social发文称，将于当晚“狠狠打击”伊朗。他随后接受电视采访时也暗示，不排除派遣美军占领伊朗石油出口枢纽哈尔克岛。

自3月中旬以来，特朗普一再声称与伊朗结束战争的协议已接近达成。双方本周再次互相发动空袭，令4月宣布的停火协议岌岌可危。