Iran airs ship seizure video as Hormuz fight stalls talks; Judge blocks Virginia map

Peace talk stalled. The U.S. and Iran at odds over control of the Strait of Hormuz, and neither side is backing down

Plus, a sudden shakeup at the Navy. The Secretary is out. What some say is behind a growing power clash inside the Pentagon

And ICE funding finally gets passed, with no new limits. And it all happened in the middle of the night

The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. This morning, as Washington prepares to host peace talks between

Israel and Lebanon, U.S. negotiations with Iran appear to be stalling. New video aired on Iranian

state TV shows armed forces boarding two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz

where attacks on vessels have resumed. Iran is refusing to return to the negotiating table

unless the United States lifts its blockade of Iranian ships and ports, calling it a violation

of the ceasefire that President Trump extended indefinitely this week. After weeks of signaling

the conflict could end soon, the president now says there is no timeline for when it will be over

Meanwhile, talks aimed at extending the fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon are facing new strain

Authorities in southern Lebanon say at least six people were killed in three overnight strikes

with several others wounded just hours before those talks were set to begin

Israel has denied carrying out at least one of the strikes and says its military intercepted a drone launched from southern Lebanon early this morning

A sudden shakeup at the Pentagon. The Navy's top civilian leader is out

Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his post effective immediately, according to the Pentagon

Multiple outlets, including CNN and Fox News, report Phelan was pushed out

with some sources saying he was given the option to resign or be fired

The move follows months of reported tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

including disagreements over shipbuilding and leadership direction. Under Secretary Hong Kao is now stepping in as acting Navy Secretary The departure comes at a crucial moment with the Navy playing a central role in U operations tied to the Iran conflict Phelan is also the latest in a series of high departures across the administration

and had previously faced scrutiny after his name surfaced in records tied to Jeffrey Epstein's

private flight logs, according to CNN. There's no indication, though, of wrongdoing

The Pentagon has not given an explanation for his exit. Also from Washington, after an overnight voterama, the Senate has passed a budget blueprint that would fund immigration enforcement and move toward ending the partial government shutdown

Senators approved the measure 50 to 48, mostly along party lines, advancing roughly $70 billion in new funding without Democratic support

Republicans Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski were the only GOP members to vote no

The plan sets up a filibuster-proof path to fund immigration and customs enforcement, border patrol, and related agencies through the remainder of President Donald Trump's term, without adding new operational limits

Democrats offered a series of amendments focused on cost-of-living concerns, all of them rejected

The measure now heads to the House, which must pass the same version before lawmakers can move forward with final legislation

Any changes there would send it back to the Senate for another vote

Now to redistricting. A Virginia judge is blocking new congressional maps just one day after voters approved them at the ballot box

A circuit court judge in Tayswell County has ordered the state not to certify Tuesday's results

In his ruling, Judge Jack Hurley says the referendum likely violates the state constitution

pointing to a required 90-day public notice period that was not met

He also calls the ballot language, quote, flagrantly misleading. Right now, Virginia's congressional delegation is split six to five in favor of Democrats

The new maps could shift that to a 10 to one advantage. The state attorney general says he will appeal immediately, arguing a single judge should not override the will of the voters

The Republican National Committee, which filed the lawsuit, is calling the ruling a win

But the group Virginians for Fair Elections says voters knew exactly what they were approving

The case now heads to the Virginia Supreme Court which is already reviewing the challenge Wildfires are tearing across parts of the southeast this morning destroying homes in Georgia and forcing hundreds to evacuate as conditions rapidly worsen

In Brantley County, flames have already wiped out more than 50 homes

You see them roaring right there. They're spreading so fast, some residents had little to no warning

Multiple large fires are burning across southern Georgia, including a major inferno in Clinch County, together scorching more than 30 square miles

Crews are working to contain the fires with air support and fire breaks or barriers

but dry conditions and gusty winds are fueling the spread. In neighboring Florida, more than 100 wildfires are burning this morning

what officials say could become one of the worst fire seasons in decades

Smoke from the fires is drifting hundreds of miles, reaching cities like Atlanta and Jacksonville

with air quality dropping to unhealthy levels in some areas. The governor of Georgia has declared a state of emergency with drought conditions worsening

Officials say they urgently need rain. Mexico's president is now considering sanctions after a deadly crash involving U.S. personnel inside the country

President Claudia Scheinbaum says her government is looking at possible action against the state of Chihuahua

after what she calls an unauthorized operation involving American agents. The crash happened last weekend as a convoy returned from dismantling

a large clandestine drug lab in northern Mexico. Four people were killed in the crash, including two U.S. embassy personnel

and two Mexican investigators. U.S. officials have since confirmed to CBS News

the Americans were tied to the CIA, working as instructors on anti-drug efforts

But Scheinbaum says the Mexican federal government was never informed and made clear that foreign agents are not allowed to operate on Mexican soil without approval

She's now demanding answers and raising the possibility of sanctions if laws were violated

The incident is exposing new tensions between the United States and Mexico

as Washington pushes for more aggressive action against cartels, a crackdown on fentanyl coming into the U.S., and Mexico pushes back on sovereignty

Earlier this week, we showed you a robot running a marathon. Now Sony has developed one that can play table tennis and not just casually at a high level actually The robot uses eight joints to control its movements positioning the paddle returning shots and sustaining rallies with human opponents

Researcher Peter Doerr helped develop the system. He explains how it works

The robot uses a system of cameras to understand what's happening. It's then taking decision how to move and it's then moving the racket to hit the ball back or to serve under the official rules of table tennis

And the robot can really do that by learning to play table tennis from scratch

So there is no way to program a robot by hand to play table tennis

You have to learn how to play from experience. It's a pretty neat video

They've named the robot Ace. Sony says it's the first time a robot has reached human expert-level play in a real-world competitive sport

And early results back that up. Human practice partners say Ace is not just keeping up

It's beating some expert-level players. Can you imagine? You see, I wonder if Ace has, like, a personality or a temper

Like John McEnroe, you cannot be serious. Where if Ace loses a point, it slams its paddle

That would add some flavor, right? All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today

At 8.30, the Labor Department releases its weekly jobless claims report, a key read on the pace of layoffs

At noon, Freddie Mac puts out its latest mortgage rates, a snapshot of where borrowing costs stand right now

That same hour, First Lady Melania Trump joins congressional spouses at the annual First Lady's Luncheon

where she's expected to deliver remarks. At three, President Trump participates in a healthcare

affordability event at the White House. No noise, no sides, just the story. NewsGuard gives us a

perfect score for reliability. All sides gives us a center rating for balance certification

We give you facts first and the news straight. Those here are unbiased updates for this Thursday

We'll see you back here tomorrow, Friday. We love that. For all of us here at Straight Arrow

I'm Craig DeGrelli. Have a great day