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Bernie Sanders, AOC-backed Democrat wins key House race; GOP fails to expand fragile majority

2026-04-16 20:13:04 EDT / Fox News

Mejia, a former Sanders campaign staffer also backed by AOC, defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in the suburban district

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Published April 16, 2026 8:13pm EDT

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia says a victory would show ‘that people power can deliver the day’

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia ran to fill the seat in New Jersey’s 11th District left vacant when Mikie Sherrill stepped down to become governor.

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Republicans fell far short in their bid to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey.

Democrat Analilia Mejia, who was backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, convincingly defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, The Associated Press reported. The race was called minutes after the polls closed at 8pm ET.

With her victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced a steep uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order 12 restricting certain immigration enforcement activities on state property shortly after taking office in January.(Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, in congratulating Mejia on her victory, said her “grassroots campaign spoke to hardworking New Jersey families. I know she’ll fight to lower costs, protect health care, and tackle the affordability crisis head-on.”

Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out a more moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the moderate and center-left vote.

Her primary victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, aimed to paint Mejia as too far to the left for the district. He told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”

PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS

Analilia Mejia secured the Democratic Party nomination in a special election to find out who will take over newly elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s vacant House seat.(Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and, on Sunday, teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail as she aimed to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district. Sherrill, a moderate Democrat, flipped the district in her 2018 election to Congress.

Hathaway claimed Mejia was trying “to hide a little bit” from “some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.”

Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393040941112

Hathaway said, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.”

Mejia pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents” and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”

As he worked to win over independents and Democrats, Hathaway pointed out where he agrees and disagrees with President Donald Trump, who lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.

REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO CLAIM VICTORY WITH BALLOT BOX SURGE IN TRUMP TERRITORY

Campaign signs for Republican candidate Joe Hathaway and Democrat Analilia Mejia in the NJ-11 special congressional election, in Randolph, N.J., April 13, 2026(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

“I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen in our community, those are good things. I support those policies,” Hathaway said.

“But, on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.

“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said.

“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”

Republican congressional candidate Joe Hathaway speaks with voters at the Randolph Diner April 13, 2026, in Randolph, N.J.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

But Hathaway came up short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.

Mejia repeatedly linked Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,” she wrote in a recent social media post.

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Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, called Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”

“Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” Cassino said on Monday, predicting most voters in the special election would be strong partisans.

“Democratic turnout is through the roof, and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.”

Hathaway, looking ahead to a likely rematch with Mejia in November, said in a statement Thursday night, “I still believe the broader electorate in NJ-11 is looking for balanced, pragmatic leadership, not the kind of far-left policies embraced by Ms. Mejia. That conversation is not over.”

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.

伊朗据报利用中国卫星监视美军基地 中使馆：坚决反对造谣

2026年4月17日 09:49 / 联合早报

这张于3月29日发布在社交媒体上，并经法新社工作人员核实的照片显示，沙特阿拉伯苏丹王子空军基地一架疑似被摧毁的美国军机。伊朗对苏丹王子空军基地发动的导弹和无人机袭击，导致至少12名美军士兵受伤，其中两人伤势严重。 （法新社）

对于有英国媒体报道伊朗军方获取一颗中国间谍卫星，以监视并协助打击中东的美军基地，中国驻英大使馆表示，坚决反对一些人编造谣言。

中国驻英国大使馆官网星期五（4月17日）发布消息，使馆发言人应询表示，中国外交部已就相关问题作出回应。

“我要重申，该报道不属实。伊朗危机是一场本不该发生的战事，起源各方都很清楚。中方坚决反对一些人编造谣言关联中方。”

《金融时报》星期三（15日）引述泄露的伊朗军方文件报道，相关卫星名为TEE-01B，由北京沐美星空科技有限公司（Earth Eye Co）建造，于2024年底在中国发射升空后，被伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队航空航天部队获取。

据悉，这颗卫星于3月13日、14日和15日对沙特阿拉伯的苏丹王子空军基地进行了成像。

3月14日，美国总统特朗普证实，上述基地内的美军飞机曾遭遇打击。

美国宣布扩大西半球签证限制

2026年4月17日 11:53 / 联合早报

美国4月16日宣布，对西半球为美国敌对方效力、破坏美国利益的26名个人实施签证限制。图为美国得州埃尔帕索国际机场。 （路透社）

美国扩大在西半球地区的签证限制政策，并已对26人实施签证限制。

路透社报道，美国国务院星期四（4月16日）发表声明说，这项政策针对的是那些为美国敌对方效力、破坏美国利益的人员。

声明说：“这项扩大后的政策使我们能够限制向西半球国家公民发放美国签证。这些公民若身处西半球国家境内，并蓄意代表敌对国家、其代理人或企业行事，明知故犯地指导、授权、资助或提供重大支持，或实施与美国在西半球的利益相敌对并破坏其利益的活动，将被禁止入境美国。这些人及其直系亲属通常将被禁止入境美国”。

声明称：“我们已采取措施，对西半球参与此类活动的26人实施签证限制。”

国务院声明并未列出26人详细名单，也未提及哪些国家属于“敌对国家”。

美国宣布扩大西半球签证限制

2026年4月17日 11:53 / 联合早报

美国4月16日宣布，对西半球为美国敌对方效力、破坏美国利益的26名个人实施签证限制。图为美国得州埃尔帕索国际机场。 （路透社）

美国扩大在西半球地区的签证限制政策，并已对26人实施签证限制。

路透社报道，美国国务院星期四（4月16日）发表声明说，这项政策针对的是那些为美国敌对方效力、破坏美国利益的人员。

声明说：“这项扩大后的政策使我们能够限制向西半球国家公民发放美国签证。这些公民若身处西半球国家境内，并蓄意代表敌对国家、其代理人或企业行事，明知故犯地指导、授权、资助或提供重大支持，或实施与美国在西半球的利益相敌对并破坏其利益的活动，将被禁止入境美国。这些人及其直系亲属通常将被禁止入境美国”。

声明称：“我们已采取措施，对西半球参与此类活动的26人实施签证限制。”

国务院声明并未列出26人详细名单，也未提及哪些国家属于“敌对国家”。

This is the fastest-growing job for young workers, LinkedIn says

April 16, 2026 / 5:47 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

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As the rise of artificial intelligence stirs anxiety over the technology taking people’s jobs, AI is also opening pathways to new careers, according to LinkedIn.

The fastest-growing job title for young workers on the networking platform is “AI engineer,” a recent report from the company found. LinkedIn analyzed millions of member profiles to determine the number of entry-level workers hired over the last three years and the roles they were hired to fill.

“It’s measuring momentum for these job titles,” said Kory Kantenga, the head of economics, Americas, at LinkedIn. “Companies are just gorging on AI talent.”

Between 2023 and 2025, LinkedIn added 639,000 AI-related job postings in the U.S., 75,000 of which were AI engineer roles.

What is an AI engineer?

AI engineer is the fastest-growing job title for young people for the second year in a row, according to LinkedIn. The job responsibilities are broad, but generally involve building and running AI products, including AI agents and Large Language Models (LLMs), and integrating them into a business’s workflow.

“Ultimately, it comes down to building models, meaning that they’re building something that can make a decision or make some inference or identify some patterns, and then they need to be able to evaluate those models and update them accordingly,” Kantenga explained,

The tech industry hires the most AI engineers, followed by financial services, according to Kantenga. A LinkedIn search for entry-level AI engineers also reveals job listings from defense contractors, universities and consulting firms. Employers hiring for the role bill it as a chance to “solve business challenges,” “improve efficiency” and “eliminate repetitive, manual work,” according to job descriptions on LinkedIn.

Young Americans can use help finding a job. The unemployment rate for people ages 20 to 24 was 6.4% in March, well above the overall U.S. rate of 4.3%, according to government data. Although the jobless rate is typically higher for entry-level workers, some evidence suggests that some employers could be opting to plug in AI rather than hire younger, less experienced employees.

After ChatGPT launched in 2022, jobs involving structured and repetitive tasks fell by 13%, according to a recent study from Harvard Business School.

Young people today often report applying for hundreds of jobs before they successfully land a role. Between December 2025 and February 2026, hiring for entry-level roles in the U.S. sank 6% compared with the same period the previous year, LinkedIn found.

“Getting started and breaking into the labor market right now probably does require a certain amount of AI aptitude, or AI literacy, to get ahead,” Kantenga said, “because companies are increasingly looking for folks who can bring that skill into their company, help them actually scale up and figure out what they want to do and what the best use cases for AI are.”

Edited by Alain Sherter

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Two more Democrats qualify for California debate stage after Swalwell exits

April 16, 2026 8:59 PM UTC / Reuters

By Daniel Trotta

Updated 3 hours ago

节点运行失败

California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra speaks during the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 21, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo Purchase Licensing Rights

Becerra, a Latino, jumps to 10% from 3% in latest poll
San Jose mayor also joins debate stage with 5% support
Republican leads field with 17%, but 23% of voters undecided

April 16 (Reuters) – Two more Democrats, former California ​attorney general and cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, cleared the ‌polling threshold and will join next week’s debate in the state’s gubernatorial primary campaign after Eric Swalwell, accused of sexual assault, dropped out of the race, organizers said on Thursday.

Nexstar Media Group, which will broadcast the debate on news channels in six of ​the state’s largest markets, said recent polling put Becerra, who was secretary of health and human services ​under President Joe Biden, at 10%, well over the 5% threshold.

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Mahan, the mayor of ⁠California’s third-largest city by population, came in right at 5%.

Nexstar commissioned a new poll from Emerson College Polling ​to re-evaluate the field after Swalwell, 45, left the race on Sunday and resigned from the U.S. Congress after ​multiple women accused him of sexual assault and other forms of impropriety.

Swalwell has denied the allegations but suspended his campaign, creating an opening after polling had qualified him for Wednesday’s debate.

Becerra and Mahan will join four others – Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, ​plus Democrats Tom Steyer and Katie Porter – who previously qualified for the debate to be held at Nexstar’s ​KRON4 studios in San Francisco.

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The inclusion of Becerra, a Latino who shot up from 3% support in the previous poll in ‌March, adds ⁠a non-white candidate to the debate stage. He appeared to be the biggest beneficiary from Swalwell’s departure.

The University of Southern California canceled a planned March 25 debate following an uproar over race representation as the six candidates to qualify at that time were all white. California, a liberal state where 30% of eligible voters are Latino, ​has only elected white men ​as governor.

There are 61 ⁠candidates, including 24 Democrats and 12 Republicans, who qualified for the June 2 primary ballot.

In California’s “jungle primary,” the top two vote-getters advance to the runoff in November, even ​if they are from the same party.

The Nexstar poll showed Hilton, a former Fox ​News host ⁠who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, leading the pack overall with 17%.

Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, was tied at 14% with the Democrat Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire who is bankrolling his own campaign.

Becerra was tied with former U.S. ⁠Representative ​Katie Porter at 10%, followed by Mahan at 5%.

The largest segment of ​voters – 23% – were undecided.

Emerson College Polling surveyed 1,000 likely primary voters on Monday and Tuesday. It said the poll had a margin of ​error of plus or minus 3%.

Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Donna Bryson and Edmund Klamann

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Artemis II astronauts still awed by moonshot experience: “It was otherworldly”

April 16, 2026 / 5:43 PM EDT / CBS News

Nearly a week back from a voyage around the moon, the four Artemis II astronauts described an almost mystical experience flying over the normally unseen lunar far side, awed by their views of Earth a quarter of a million miles away and equally stunned watching a solar eclipse, they told reporters Thursday.

“I want to thank the world for tuning in for a second and getting hooked on this mission,” commander Reid Wiseman said. “When we came home, we were shocked at the global outpouring of support, of pride, of ownership of this mission.”

“And really, that’s what the four of us wanted. We wanted to go out and try to do something that would bring the world together, to unite the world,” he said. “I will just wrap that all up with the astronaut’s creed, always launch as friends and land as friends.”

Wiseman said the Artemis II crew launched as friends and landed as best friends.

The astronauts blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1. Nine days later, the Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, an epic ending to their historic mission.

NASA’s Artemis II crew poses for a photo during a news conference on April 16, 2026, in Houston. Ashley Landis / AP

Asked Thursday what was the most memorable event during a flight that carried them farther from Earth than any other humans and gave the crew a close-up look at the moon’s far side, Wiseman said he and his crewmates — pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — had not yet had time to fully process the experience.

But it was powerful enough for him to ask the chaplain aboard the Navy recovery ship after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean to pay the crew a visit.

“I am not really a religious person, but there was no other avenue for me to explain anything or to experience anything, so I asked for the chaplain on the Navy ship to come visit us for a minute. I had never met him before in my life, but I saw the cross on his collar and I broke down in tears. It’s very hard to fully grasp what we just went through,” Wiseman said.

Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen speak during a news conference on April 16, 2026, in Houston. Ashley Landis / AP

Since splashing down off the Southern California coast on Friday, the crew has been subjected to “medical testing, physical testing, doctors, science objectives,” Wiseman said. “We have not had that decompression. We have not had that reflection time.”

But the event he mentioned as one of the most memorable to him was viewing a solar eclipse in deep space when the moon moved between the Orion crew ship and the sun, producing a ghostly glow all the way around the lunar horizon.

“When the sun eclipsed behind the moon, I turned to Victor and I said I don’t think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we’re looking at right now. It was otherworldly, it was amazing,” he said.

Along with close-up views of the normally unseen far side of the moon, the astronauts also got a chance to take in a total eclipse of the sun. NASA

Wiseman and his crewmates launched flew around the moon on April 6 and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10 to close out a voyage spanning nearly 700,000 miles.

For Hansen, the first Canadian to venture beyond low-Earth orbit, one of the more memorable aspects of flying in deep space was the three-dimensional appearance of the starry void, the moon and the Earth suspended in space close by.

“What kept grabbing my attention when the lighting was right and we were looking out the window is that I kept seeing this, like, depth to, I guess, the galaxy,” he said. “It’s not that I could tell which stars were really closer and farther… but because of how bright they are and their differences, they look like you can tell where they are in 3D.”

“That was mind-blowing for me, and then you see the same thing with the moon and the Earth,” he said. “You’re viewing them from this new perspective with like three-dimensional depth. I’ve heard Christina talk about this a lot. We’re all kind of struck by these things that make us feel small, and that’s the sense I had.”

Shortly after leaving Earth orbit and heading for the moon, the Artemis II astronauts captured this stunning nighttime view of Earth. NASA

At the same time, Hansen said, he experienced “this very powerful feeling as a human being, like as a group. I saw it in all these sights over and over again. I kept seeing that same thing and (having) that same feeling.”

The Artemis II mission, NASA’s first piloted voyage to the moon since the last Apollo landing in 1972, was primarily a test flight of the agency’s Orion spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts to and from the moon, and an opportunity for flight controllers to hone their skills managing upcoming lunar landing missions.

After multiple delays, the astronauts were launched aboard an Orion capsule atop a Space Launch System rocket that put them into an elliptical orbit with a high point of more than 44,000 miles. They were the first to ride into space atop an SLS rocket, the most powerful operational booster in the world, and the first crew to fly in an Orion capsule.

It took 24 hours for the crew to complete one trip around the world in that highly elliptical orbit, giving them a full day to thoroughly test their Orion capsule’s life support, navigation and propulsion systems to make sure the ship was operating as required.

Then, as they reached the low point of the orbit at an altitude of just 115 miles, they fired the Orion’s service module engine for six minutes to break away from Earth and head for the moon.

The “free-return” trajectory was designed to carry the astronauts around the far side of the moon, using lunar gravity to bend their path back toward Earth without the need for any major thruster firings.

Four days after the trans-lunar injection engine firing, Wiseman and his crewmates reached a point in space 248,655 miles from Earth, the previous record for the farthest any human has flown into deep space.

A spectacular view of the Earth setting behind the moon from the perspective of the Artemis II astronauts. NASA

That record was set in 1970 by the crew of Apollo 13 while making an emergency return to Earth. Shortly after passing behind the moon and out of contact with Earth, the Artemis II crew set their own record, reaching a distance of 252,756 miles before looping back toward Earth.

While flying some 4,000 miles above the moon’s far side, the astronauts were able to photograph and see with their own eyes a large swathe of the normally unseen terrain.

The crew was out of touch with mission control for 40 minutes. Ten minutes after regaining radio contact, they were able to witness an hour-long solar eclipse.

From there, the astronauts headed home, slamming back into the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean at a velocity of more than 24,000 mph. Thirteen minutes later, after their heat shield endured reentry temperatures of some 5,000 degrees, the spacecraft safely splashed down.

Artemis II crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are loaded into a raft after successfully splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10, 2026. James Blair/NASA via AP

During an unpiloted test flight in 2022, an Orion capsule’s heat shield suffered unexpected damage. NASA said extensive testing and analyses showed the cause was related to the capsule’s so-called “skip” reentry trajectory that subjected the heat shield to alternating temperature extremes.

A different trajectory was used for the Artemis II reentry, and NASA officials said there were no obvious signs of any major damage. But engineers will not get a chance to thoroughly inspect the shield until after the Orion capsule is trucked back to the Kennedy Space Center.

From the crew’s perspective, their heat shield did just fine.

“We came in fast, and we came in hot, and I will tell you, that whole way in it was a smooth ride,” Wiseman said. “It was a very smooth ride.”

He said both he and Glover noticed a “touch of char loss” during the descent, referring to small bits of the heat shield’s outer layer coming off and flying past the cockpit windows.

But all four crew members looked underneath the capsule after it was hauled inside the recovery ship and “it looked wonderful to us,” Wiseman said. “It looked great, and that ride in was really amazing.”

All four astronauts, none the worse for nine days in weightlessness, flew back to their homes in Houston the day after splashdown, landing at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center on Saturday afternoon to cheers and applause from family members and hundreds of space center workers who gathered to welcome them home.

Dozens of safety violations found at Tennessee munitions factory after last year’s deadly explosion

April 16, 2026 / 6:22 PM EDT / CBS News
By Nicole Valdes

A munitions company that handles explosives for the U.S. military is facing a fine of over $3 million after Tennessee investigators found dozens of safety violations at the company’s facility where an explosion killed 16 people last year.

The Oct. 10 explosion destroyed Building 602 at Accurate Energetic Systems’ facility in McEwen, Tennessee, killing all 16 employees inside. According to investigators, employees in that building were working a supply chain that handled “melt cast explosives.”

A 122-page inspection shared with CBS News details more than 100 safety violations, with at least 44 described as “willful-serious.”

Among the violations, officials with the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration said they found evidence that Accurate Energetic Systems had not taken adequate precautions to prevent the ignition of flammable vapors being handled at the facility. The agency said the company also failed to maintain required safety information for its hazardous equipment and demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety.

“AES, despite clear knowledge of the industry standards and recognized explosion hazards in Building 602, continued operations with excessive personnel, unnecessary occupancy, and explosive quantities far beyond the minimum needed for safe and efficient operations,” investigators said in their report.

“AES demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety by failing to limit personnel present, duration of employee exposure, and amount of explosive material present during operations in Building 602 that exposed employees to known explosion, fire, and blast hazards,” the investigators said. “AES increased limits including the net explosive weight, personnel, and transient limits for Building 602 without documented basis demonstrating intentional disregard for industry standards.”

Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images

The 16 victims were identified as: Jason Adams, Erick Anderson, Billy Baker, Adam Boatman, Christopher Clark, Mindy Clifton, James Cook, Reyna Gillahan, LaTeisha Mays, Jeremy Moore, Melinda Rainey, Melissa Stanford, Trenton Stewart, Rachel Woodall, Steven Wright and Donald Yowell.

In a statement to CBS News, Accurate Energetic Systems CEO Wendell Stinson disputed the state’s findings.

“We believe that TOSHA’s findings do not represent the standard of safety we strive to achieve every day, nor our commitment to the wellbeing of our team members and their loved ones,” Stinson said.

He said the company was investigating the explosion and assisting government investigators.

“Those we lost embodied the very heart of our community,” Stinson said. “They were our friends and family, and we suffer from their loss. We miss them, love them, and will always cherish our memories of them.”

Attorney Darren Richie, who is representing the families of Reyna Gillahan and Steven Wright, said, “Every aspect of this is egregious.”

His firm alleges the explosion was not unforeseeable and notes that the $3.13 million penalty from the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the largest in Tennessee history.

“This company took a $120 million Department of Defense contract in 2025,” Richie said. “I believe that these folks knew exactly what they were doing, and they were fine sacrificing their employees’ lives for that $120 million contract.”

Richie provided CBS News with a draft of two wrongful death lawsuits his firm plans to file later this month in federal court on behalf of the Gillahan and Wright families.

Earlier this week, each family demanded $150 million from Accurate Energetic Systems in a prelitigation settlement offer. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the potential litigation to CBS News.

“What we can say is that the families of the victims of this tragedy have been our focal point since October 10,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Richie said the company rejected the settlement demand and argued the state’s workers’ compensation program is the exclusive remedy for any injury in the workplace. Richie alleged the company also refused to provide insurance information to families.

“To date, the conduct of AES to show their gratitude to the families and support to the families consists of three items: They had a barbecue food truck at an event for the families, they sent a T-shirt with the deceased loved one’s picture on it to the families and a $50 gift card to Walmart. Needless to say, that’s insulting,” Richie said.

Stinson said the company has been providing long-term care and resources through a support fund and the nonprofit health system Centerstone.

“With the assistance of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Helping Hands of Hickman/Humphreys County, Centerstone, and thousands of people within our community and from across the country, we have provided financial relief, grief and ongoing counseling, regular food deliveries, access to professional services and consulting, and recurring everyday needs among a host of other support measures,” the company spokesperson told CBS News. “We continue to be devastated for their losses.”

Acting US ICE head Todd Lyons plans to leave agency this spring, CBS News reports

April 16, 2026 11:37 PM UTC / By Reuters

节点运行失败

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons attends a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 12, 2026. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) – The acting head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to leave the federal government later this spring, CBS News reported on Thursday, citing two U.S. officials familiar with his plan.

Todd Lyons told colleagues that he is planning to depart the agency in June, the news outlet reported.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has been at the heart of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown that rights groups say has violated free speech and due process rights.

ICE’s fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota – Alex Pretti and Renee Good – in January sparked nationwide protests and human rights experts say the agency’s actions have created an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.

The Trump administration has said the crackdown is necessary to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.

ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh And Ismail Shakil; Editing by Noeleen Walder

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

中国向伊朗提供紧急人道主义援助

2026年4月17日 07:47 / 联合早报

中国向伊朗提供紧急人道主义援助。

据新华社报道，中国向伊朗提供紧急人道主义援助项目政府间交接证书签字仪式，星期三（4月15日）在德黑兰的伊朗红新月会总部举行，中国驻伊朗大使丛培武同伊朗红新月会主席科利万德出席。

报道未进一步提及关于紧急人道主义援助的详情。

丛培武形容中国和伊朗是好朋友、好伙伴，两国人民的友谊源远流长。他说，中国始终心系伊朗人民，此次向伊朗提供紧急人道主义援助，是中国践行人类命运共同体理念，履行国际人道主义义务的生动实践。

丛培武也说，自战事爆发以来，中国一直致力于恢复地区和平、结束冲突。中国将继续同国际社会一道，推动中东早日恢复和平稳定。

延伸阅读

伊朗小学遭袭击 中国红十字会提供20万美元援助

中国官方早前曾宣布，中国红十字会决定向伊朗红新月会提供20万美元（25万新元）紧急人道主义援助，专门用于慰问和抚恤伊朗学校遇袭事件遇难学生家长。

据中方新闻稿，科利万德感谢中国多次在困难时刻向伊朗伸出援手，并在双多边场合坚定给予伊朗支持，两国友谊历久弥坚。他说，在战事爆发首日，伊朗南部城市米纳卜一所女子学校遭到袭击后，中国就向伊朗捐赠了紧急人道主义援助。