News Roundup and Comment

Here's a look at some headlines from the first 20 minutes of this "Round-Up" broadcast. Later on, listeners were given the opportunity to share their thoughts: --At 2:19am Eastern Time this morning, before adjourning for a 2 week recess, the U.S. Senate passed a bill approving Department of Homeland Security funds to pay TSA agents, but it excludes money for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. --Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is said to be leading diplomatic talks with the U.S., praised Hamas' October 7, 2023, massacre against Israel as a victory and recently threatened to, "...make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders" if Washington targets regime assets on islands there. --Iran has rejected a 15 point cease-fire proposal from the U.S. while offering a 5 point counter-plan of their own. --Iran just released a video simulating a missile attack on the Statue of Liberty. --Iran's IRGC Navy Commander was targeted and killed in an Israeli attack. --Multiple Gulf and Arab states are taking a far more forceful posture concerning Iran. --President Trump extended, by 10 days, possible attacks on Iran's energy sector. --The Pentagon is considering sending up to an additional 10,000 ground troops to the Middle East according to a senior defense official. --The Saudi Crown Prince has been pushing President Trump to continue the war with Iran. --Russia is sending drones and other equipment to Iran this month. --President Putin of Russia reportedly has asked the nation's ultra-wealthy oligarchs to donate funds to help boost the nation's dwindling military budget.