Top Stories

Iran War Intensifies as Energy Prices Spike Globally The U.S.-Iran conflict entered its fourth week with significant escalation after an Israeli strike on Iran's South Pars gas field — a critical node in global energy infrastructure. Brent crude topped $111 per barrel, with U.S. benchmarks also climbing sharply. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Iran's regime "appears to be intact, but largely degraded due to attacks," while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a briefing on the war's progress. The Senate voted down a war powers resolution by Sen. Booker that aimed to restrict President Trump's authority to escalate the conflict. (CBS News, ABC News)

Joe Kent Resigns as Counterterrorism Chief, Now Under FBI Investigation Joe Kent, Trump's counterterrorism director, resigned this week over the Iran war, writing in his resignation letter that Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation" and asserting the war was started "due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby." The FBI is now investigating Kent in connection with alleged leaks of classified information. (CBS News)

House Democrats Walk Out of Bondi Epstein Briefing A group of House Democrats walked out of a closed-door briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the DOJ's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein's longtime lawyer, Darren Indyke, is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday. (CBS News)

Mullin DHS Confirmation Hearing Turns Contentious Sen. Markwayne Mullin's confirmation hearing for DHS Secretary featured a tense exchange with Sen. Rand Paul, who accused Mullin of having "completely approved" of Paul's 2017 assault by a neighbor. (ABC News, CBS News)

Left Perspective

Lean-left outlets emphasized the humanitarian and civil liberties dimensions of the current news cycle. CBS News gave prominent coverage to the family of an Afghan immigrant who died in ICE custody in Dallas, with relatives saying they have received "no answers" about his death. CBS also highlighted the denial of an asylum claim for the family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, whose arrest by ICE in January drew national attention. On the Iran war, CBS and ABC foregrounded the Senate's rejection of war powers restrictions and the Kent resignation as signs of internal dissent over the conflict's justification, with Kent's pointed criticism of Israeli lobby influence given significant airtime. Coverage of rising gas prices was framed in the context of the war's domestic economic impact on American consumers. (CBS News, ABC News)

Right Perspective

No articles from right-leaning outlets were included in today's provided sources. Typically, right-leaning outlets have emphasized the national security rationale for the Iran campaign, the threat of Iran's nuclear program, and support for Israeli defensive operations. Coverage of the Kent resignation from right-leaning sources would likely focus on the leak investigation rather than his policy criticisms. On immigration, right-leaning outlets have generally supported enforcement actions and highlighted cases like the Florida man stripped of citizenship after $3.8 million in COVID-19 fraud. [Note: No right-lean sources were provided for this digest.]

International View

Israeli Strike on South Pars Gas Field Reshapes Global Energy Markets Analysts warn the conflict is "now hitting the plumbing of the global energy system" after Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field, one of the world's largest natural gas reserves. Iran retaliated, and Israelis are bracing for further Iranian cluster bomb attacks. NATO allies are accelerating anti-drone system procurement, with experts noting Iran's drone warfare is exposing NATO's failure "to adapt to the drone threat." Poland is applying lessons from Ukraine's experience to bolster its defenses. (CBS News, ABC News)

Costa Rica Closes Embassy in Cuba Costa Rica shuttered its embassy in Havana and ordered Cuban diplomats to leave the country, a notable diplomatic rupture in the region. (CBS News)

Israeli Airstrike Levels Beirut Building Eyewitness video captured a multi-story building in Beirut collapsing after an Israeli airstrike, signaling the conflict's widening geographic scope. (ABC News)

Underreported

• Ancient Seated Skeletons in Dijon, France: Children discovered a mysterious ancient skeleton buried in a seated, west-facing position near a playground — the latest in a series of similar unusual burials in Dijon whose origins remain unexplained. (CBS News)
• Western U.S. Heat Wave: A long-duration extreme heat wave is forecast to settle over the western United States, receiving limited attention amid war coverage. (CBS News)
• NATO Drone Defense Gaps: Europe's scramble to acquire anti-drone systems, driven by lessons from both the Iran conflict and Ukraine, highlights a critical and underreported military vulnerability across the alliance. (CBS News)
• Rapper Afroman Wins Lawsuit Against Police: A court ruled in favor of the rapper who mocked a police raid on his home in music videos, in a case testing the boundaries of parody and First Amendment protections for social commentary about public figures. (CBS News)
• Rhode Island Hockey Team Wins Title After Rink Shooting: Weeks after three family members of player Colin Dorgan were killed in a shooting at a Rhode Island hockey rink, his team won the state championship. (CBS News)

Sources

• CBS News (Lean Left): Senate war powers vote, Iran war escalation, South Pars strike, gas prices, Joe Kent resignation and FBI investigation, ICE custody death, Liam Ramos asylum denial, Epstein briefing walkout, Mullin confirmation, NATO drones, Costa Rica-Cuba, heat wave, Dijon skeleton, Afroman lawsuit, Rhode Island hockey
• ABC News (Lean Left): Beirut airstrike, Gabbard Senate testimony, Mullin-Paul exchange, Israel Arrow defense system, Manhattan fire

Note: Today's digest drew exclusively from lean-left sources (CBS News, ABC News). No center, lean-right, or right-leaning outlets were included in the provided articles, which limits the ideological breadth of this analysis.