The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Rochester police officers and a Crisis Response Team social worker were called to an apartment in the 1900 block of Ashland Drive Northwest around 9:30 p.m. March 11 on a report that a man was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Officers and social workers arrived and spoke to the man in his apartment, the bureau said, adding that an adult female and multiple children also were present.

The bureau said White ‘grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire.’

Officers and the social worker noted that the man was acting erratically and paranoid, and they concluded that he possibly was a threat to himself and others, the bureau said.

Authorities decided to place the man — later identified as 47-year-old Cleavon White — on a 72-hour mental health hold and told him he would be transported to a hospital, the bureau said.

RELATED: Police release bodycam video of cop fatally shooting 6’5″ woman who slashed his face, kept advancing despite warnings to stop

Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

After White refused to go, officers then attempted to take him into custody, the bureau said.

But White resisted and a struggle ensued, the bureau said.

RELATED: Sheriff gave dire public warning after being forced to release ‘very dangerous’ inmate. Turns out his warning was warranted.

Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

The bureau said White “grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire.”

Police bodycam video of the incident — which can be viewed here — recorded the moment when the officer shouted, “He’s grabbing my gun!”

Seconds later, another officer fired five shots, according to the bodycam video.

The bureau said the shots struck White, after which officers immediately rendered medical aid until an ambulance arrived and transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In the aftermath of the shooting, someone is heard on the bodycam video asking where the gun is, and someone else — presumably the officer who shouted, “He’s grabbing my gun!” — is heard saying, “It’s still in my holster.”

No officers were injured, the bureau said.

Officer Josiah Duit — who has three years of law enforcement experience — fired his department-issued firearm, the bureau said, adding that the Rochester Police Department placed Duit on critical incident leave.

A March 12 news release from Rochester Police said the then-unidentified man grabbed one officer’s firearm during the struggle, but it did not indicate he pulled the trigger. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued it’s report March 17. The police bodycam video was released Wednesday.

The bureau said the Rochester Police Department requested that it investigate the use of force, and the bureau will present its findings without recommendation on charges to the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office for review.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Mental health crisis, Bodycam video, Rochester, Minnesota, Police, Police involved shooting, Fatal shooting, Man grabs cop’s gun, 72-hour hold, Resisting officers, Use of force, Minnesota department of public safety’s bureau of criminal apprehension, Crime 

President Donald Trump is praising the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are helping at airports amid a partial government shutdown and says the public is responding positively.

Long lines at airports have been plaguing travelers since a congressional standoff paused some funding for the Department of Homeland Security, affecting mainly the Transportation Security Administration.

‘They are Great American Patriots, they just happen to have much larger, and harder, muscles than most — which is what they’re supposed to have.’

While the media has tried to scare the public into thinking ICE agents would harass and detain U.S. citizens, other reports say the program has been a success.

“I am so proud of our ICE Patriots! They were unfairly maligned by the Lunatic Democrats for years, and now, at the Airports, in addition to what they are supposed to be doing, they are helping people with bags, even picking up and cleaning areas. They are so proud to be there!” the president wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.

The president went on to say the Democrats’ criticism against ICE has backfired.

“The fact is, they shouldn’t have to do this, but they are rehabbing a fake image given to them by Radical Left Democrat politicians,” he added. “The Public is loving ICE, so the Democrats, unwittingly, did us a favor — They are Great American Patriots, they just happen to have much larger, and harder, muscles than most — which is what they’re supposed to have.”

Democrats have been trying to force Republicans to defund ICE by stalling the funding for DHS, leading Republicans to blame Democrats for the staffing shortages and long lines.

ICE has been sent to 14 U.S. airports to help with the long lines, according to border czar Tom Homan, who added, “If they see criminal activity, just like a law enforcement officer, they should take action.”

“Thank you to ICE for the GREAT job you are doing. America very much appreciates it!” the president concluded.

RELATED: Heroic off-duty ICE officers jump into action to save 4-year-old boy under water in hotel pool for 5 minutes

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Ice at airports, Trump thanks ice, Dhs funding shutdown, Dems to blame for dhs shutdown, Politics 

The White House has flat-out rejected media reports claiming key players have been cut out of ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Outlets like CNN and the New York Post have reported that Iran does not want to re-enter negotiations with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and that they instead insist on negotiating with Vice President JD Vance. The White House and other sources familiar with the negotiations vehemently pushed back on this characterization, telling Blaze News that only one person has the discretion to decide who is or isn’t involved in peace talks.

‘The whole premise and their sourcing is laughable.’

“President Trump and only President Trump determines who negotiates on behalf of the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Blaze News.

“As the president stated today, Vice President Vance, Secretary [Marco] Rubio, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Mr. Kushner will all be involved.”

RELATED: ‘TOTAL RESOLUTION’: Trump orders temporary suspension amid Iran peace talks

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Other officials went even further, telling Blaze News that these anonymously sourced articles are just another attempt to quash peace negotiations.

“These stories are utterly false,” a White House official told Blaze News. “This obvious op sourced entirely to anonymous or ‘regional’ sources is clearly a coordinated foreign propaganda campaign meant to undermine the president.”

Another source familiar with the negotiations said the reports are sourced by foreign actors attempting to push their own propaganda about the ongoing Iran war.

RELATED: ‘Insulting and laughable’: Trump administration slams Joe Kent’s resignation protesting Iran strikes

Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

“CNN and NYPost are using anonymous sources aka sources from other Middle Eastern countries who clearly want to scuttle negotiations to launder foreign propaganda and blatant misinformation,” the source told Blaze News. “The big tell is it’s not even being sourced to the Iranians but other unnamed regional sources who may or may not have a reason to undermine negotiations by peddling this type of laughable fiction.”

“The whole premise and their sourcing is laughable,” the source added. “They’re relying on other countries who may have an interest in quashing any negotiations here.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Karoline leavitt, Jd vance, Marco rubio, Steve witkoff, Jared kushner, Iran, Iran war, Cnn, Nypost, Peace talks, Politics 

As many top figures in the Department of Homeland Security are being replaced, another department has lost a key adviser in the health sector amid a lengthy legal fight.

The New York Times reported that Dr. Robert Malone, who served as the vice chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, has resigned from his position amid a complicated legal fight and recent setbacks.

‘If offered the opportunity to participate in a relaunched ACIP, I will respectfully decline.’

Dr. Malone, an ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a strong critic of the COVID pandemic response, resigned shortly after the panel’s existence was thrown into jeopardy by a federal judge in Massachusetts.

The ruling, the New York Times previously reported, struck down several decisions on vaccines made by the panel.

RELATED: ‘Rogue’ Biden judge blocks critical pieces of RFK Jr.’s vaccine reform

Photo by Ben Hendren/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In his decision to halt the panel’s overhaul of the vaccine regulations, Judge Brian Murphy of the District of Massachusetts noted that the panel is supposed to review scientific evidence with “a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements,” according to NYT.

However, the judge wrote, “Unfortunately, the government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.”

In a series of text messages obtained by Roll Call, Malone said he would not consider rejoining the panel if it were revived after this legal setback: “If offered the opportunity to participate in a relaunched ACIP, I will respectfully decline.”

“Hundreds of hours of uncompensated labor, incredible hate from many quarters, hostile press, internal bickering, weaponized leaking, sabotage,” Malone wrote in another text message, according to Roll Call. “I have better things to do.”

However, there is evidence to suggest that Malone gave much thought to this decision, including another text message that reportedly said, “This was not an impulsive decision.”

Malone also echoed these sentiments publicly on Monday in a social media post, which included the final publication of research he had prepared for the panel. He wrote: “That concludes publication of materials I had prepared for the ACIP COVID and Influenza work groups. I hope y’all find them useful. Please keep in mind that both the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Boston Federal Judge have determined that I am unqualified to serve on the CDC ACIP and contribute to advising the CDC Director on vaccine policy matters.”

“So much for providing hundreds of hours of free labor to serve my country. Truly a fool’s errand,” Malone added.

Dr. Kirk Milhoan serves as chair of the panel. Milhoan and Malone were joined by 13 other voting members on the panel, a handful of ex officio members from different government health agencies, and a number of liaison representatives from other medical institutions.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Robert malone, Dr. robert malone, Cdc, Acip, Advisory committee on immunization practices, Rfk jr, Covid, Vaccines, Federal judge brian murphy, Massachusetts, Kirk milhoan 

Iran won’t be “fixed” by a press conference, a bombing run, or a fantasy about instant regime collapse. If you want a road map for what comes next, look at Northern Italy in 1945 — and the quiet, brutal work that made liberation possible.

The situations share a grim similarity. In Northern Italy, civilians lived under overlapping enemy forces — SS, Waffen-SS, Wehrmacht units, and Italian Fascists — all capable of total control, including public executions at a local commander’s discretion.

America will not administer Iran. Iranians will. US involvement will not morph into open-ended governance or ‘reconstruction’ missions that turn into permanent deployments.

The U.S. Office of Strategic Services began the behind-the-lines effort by building the Committee for the Liberation of Northern Italy — the CLNAI (from its Italian name, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia) — into a political umbrella that assembled a host of anti-fascist and anti-Nazi groups into something recognizable as a governing alternative.

Then the OSS inserted American and Italian anti-fascist agents, organized reception networks, and helped train and equip partisan formations. By early 1945, OSS Operational Groups and Special Operations parties were raising hell across Northern Italy in an arc from Genoa and Belluno to Ravenna. OSS officer Captain Albert “The Brain” Materazzi kept pressure on by anticipating and parrying German countermoves against individual missions.

As the war ended, the results were uneven: Wehrmacht units often surrendered; SS and Gestapo often did not. The CLNAI declared national liberation on April 25, 1945. A large uprising across Northern Italy forced the surrender of most enemy units; the remainder were killed, captured, or fled.

Even then, stability did not arrive overnight. Italy needed another year before a referendum made it a republic — and many more years before postwar order fully settled.

The point: Liberation is a sequence, not a switch.

What Italy suggests for Iran

Iran already has the raw material for internal change. The question is whether it can be organized, protected, and sustained long enough to become the next government rather than the next massacre.

1) Resistance exists — at scale

It’s obvious that many Iranians are willing to resist the mullahs and their coercive apparatus. The sheer number killed in recent protests — as many as 30,000 — proves that a large demographic has already shown the will to fight the regime.

2) The opposition is diverse — and that’s normal

The resistance contains deep political differences. Some want a return of the shah; others vehemently reject that. Some are Kurds seeking autonomy; others are separatists. But the unifying principle remains the same: ending the clerical regime and its enforcement arms.

3) Not every unit will fold the same way

Some elements of Iran’s security forces may quietly cease hostilities when the regime’s command structure fractures. Hardcore units — especially ideologically driven formations — will resist longer and more violently, like the SS “Werewolf” units after May 1945.

4) Preventing post-conflict starvation

A transition can fail because people get hungry, cold, and desperate faster than a new order can take shape. Keeping the civilian population alive and supplied is strategy, not charity.

What can be done

1) Build an umbrella political alternative

Organize and fund an Iranian resistance umbrella organization capable of acting like a provisional authority: coherent messaging, defined leadership, internal discipline, and a plan for a post-regime state.

2) Reopen information flow

Help the Iranian people communicate beyond regime control. That means smuggling thousands more Starlink communication kits to inform and unify the civilian population.

3) Create protected space for internal organization

Iran’s borders and peripheries are strategically vital. The objective is to give resisting Iranians room to organize, train, coordinate, and survive the fight against the hardcore religious units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, especially the Basij — without turning the effort into an open-ended American occupation.

4) Neutralize Tehran’s remaining leverage

As we have seen, the regime’s last international lever often involves disrupting commerce and energy flows, especially around the Strait of Hormuz. But that can work both ways. The goal should be to reduce Tehran’s capacity to use choke points as blackmail — through sustained maritime security and allied coordination — while keeping escalation controlled.

In recent weeks, U.S. air power suppressed all of Iran’s military sites on Kharg Island, stopping short of sending ground troops to control the island and reopen the Strait.

The U.S. can further counter Iran by “absorbing” whatever drones, missiles, fast-attack boats, mini-subs, and unmanned “suicide skiffs” it has left until the regime runs dry. We don’t need to put our ships and sailors in harm’s way. Instead, we can create a flotilla of “drone sponges,” a screen of decoy tankers loaded only with ballast, to force the IRGC to attack what appear to be hostile targets in the Strait.

With constant airborne surveillance (aided by artificial intelligence), each launch site and its personnel can be immediately and overwhelmingly attacked and reduced. The preferred weapon for these attacks should be Mark 77 Incindigel (not your grandfather’s napalm) because of its destructive potential and psychological effects.

RELATED: Trump acted first — and the ‘experts’ are furious because it worked

Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images

End state

The United States should pursue a defined end state in Iran: the collapse of the regime’s coercive apparatus, the emergence of an Iranian-led governing alternative, and the rapid stabilization of civilian life — without a large-scale U.S. occupation.

This doctrine rests on five commitments.

1) No occupation, no nation-building bureaucracy.

America will not administer Iran. Iranians will. U.S. involvement will not morph into open-ended governance or “reconstruction” missions that turn into permanent deployments.

2) Iranian-led transition, backed by U.S. leverage.

Washington will recognize and support an Iranian resistance umbrella capable of coordinating civil authority, communicating with the public, and negotiating defections from regime institutions. The goal is political consolidation inside Iran, not a U.S.-designed replacement government.

3) Relentless pressure on the regime’s hard-power core.

The campaign will focus on degrading the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and associated internal-security organs until they can no longer sustain repression or organize effective retaliation. The objective is to break the regime’s capacity to rule by fear.

4) Targeted “advise and assist” support, not massed ground forces.

U.S. support will center on intelligence, communications, logistics, training, and limited partner enablement in support of Iranian formations willing to resist. The mission stays narrow: enable Iranians to defeat the regime’s coercive units and secure key nodes long enough for civil authority to take hold.

5) Humanitarian stabilization as a war aim, not an afterthought.

The United States will plan and execute large-scale relief to prevent post-conflict collapse: food, medical supplies, power and water restoration support, and protected corridors for aid delivery. Starvation and infrastructure failure create chaos, empower extremists, and discredit any transition. Stabilization protects the moral legitimacy of the effort and the practical viability of the outcome.

Success looks like this: The regime’s enforcement arms split and lose cohesion; civilian life steadies; an Iranian transitional authority takes control of basic services and internal security; Tehran’s ability to retaliate drops below the level that gives it strategic leverage; and the United States draws down to diplomacy, intelligence cooperation, and humanitarian support — then exits.

​Iran, Iran war, Trump, Antifascist, Oss, Regime change, Tehran, Strait of hormuz, Opinion & analysis, World war ii, Italy, Liberation, Nazis, Drones 

Two leftist members of Congress aim to shut down artificial intelligence data center construction, claiming that such centers destroy jobs and American attention spans.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced the proposal Wednesday to pause the creation of AI infrastructure in order to allow Congress enough time to pass more regulations.

‘We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue.’

“AI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity,” said Sanders in a statement to Axios. “The scale, scope, and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.”

Many cities have already passed laws against data centers, and some states are considering the same.

In a February interview on MS NOW, Sanders said he was concerned about the effect on young people’s attention spans as well as the possibility that AI will make many jobs obsolete.

“I think we have not a clue. We are totally unprepared for what is coming,” he said at the time.

Opponents of new data centers point to concerns over their massive water and electricity usage, potentially damaging effects from chemicals they produce, as well as quality-of-life issues for nearby residents.

AI defenders respond that in order to maintain its global economic dominance, the U.S. must build up its own AI infrastructure industry.

“We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy, and the future of humanity,” Sanders added. “We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue. The time for action is now.”

RELATED: Citizen outcry blocks a Microsoft data center, making AI an acid test for local government

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania responded immediately, and negatively, to the proposal.

“The emerging chassis of AI must be built by America,” he wrote on social media. “We can put appropriate guardrails in place without handing the win on AI to China. A moratorium is China First.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Data center ban bill, Data center water use, Bernie sanders on ai, Aoc against ai, Politics 

Massachusetts officials are standing by their decision to ban a Catholic couple, who hold biblical views on marriage and sexuality, from fostering children, despite a December policy change that removed the state’s radical gender ideology mandate for caregivers.

Mike and Kitty Burke, long desiring to become parents, applied to become foster parents in 2022 after learning they would not be able to have children on their own.

‘The Commonwealth’s doublespeak is exactly why they are pressing for a clear ruling from the court protecting the freedom of religious families to foster and adopt children.’

Despite the couple successfully completing hours of training, extensive interviews, and a home study, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families denied their request.

The DCF’s Licensing Review Team stated that the Burkes were rejected “based on the couple’s statements/responses regarding placement of children who identified LGBTQIA,” according to the couple’s 2023 federal lawsuit against state officials.

At the time of the denial, Massachusetts foster parent licensing policy required applicant parents to “promote the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of a child placed in his or her care, including supporting and respecting a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”

This policy did not include any exemptions for religious perspectives.

RELATED: Blaze News original: Trump gives willing parents hope by taking aim at anti-Christian bigotry in foster system

Photo by Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

In December, the DCF issued an emergency amendment that removed the “sexual orientation or gender identity” language in the policy.

The DCF stated that the amendment would “strike the requirement that a foster/pre-adoptive parent or applicant affirm a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity and [replace] it with a requirement that a foster/pre-adoptive parent or applicant affirm a child’s individual identity and needs.”

In a March court filing, Massachusetts officials contended that policy change was irrelevant in the Burkes’ case because their denial was based on the rules in effect at the time. Further, they asserted that the denial “did not violate the Constitution” and was “not hostile to religion.”

Massachusetts officials argued that “the mere fact that the Burkes could not satisfy” the LGBTQ+ requirements, “whether due to their religion or otherwise, does not clearly establish that denying their license application was unconstitutional.”

RELATED: Lawsuit: Massachusetts refuses to allow couple to foster or adopt children because of their Christian faith

Roxbury Department of Children and Families. Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Burkes maintained that the discovery process proved that their religious beliefs were “the only reason for that denial.”

“Mike and Kitty were cautiously hopeful that Massachusetts would finally end its religious discrimination,” Lori Windham, senior counsel for Becket, the law firm representing the Burkes, told Blaze News. “But that hope turned to heartbreak when Massachusetts chose to keep fighting them in court. The Commonwealth’s doublespeak is exactly why they are pressing for a clear ruling from the court protecting the freedom of religious families to foster and adopt children.”

“Mike and Kitty are still open to fostering or adopting children in the future. But Massachusetts has made it harder for them to adopt any child with its discriminatory decision on their record, and that’s why they are asking the court to erase it,” she added.

A decision in the case is expected by the fall, Windham stated.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Massachusetts, Massachusetts department of children and families, Massachusetts dcf, Lgbt, Gender ideology, Mike and kitty burke, The burkes, Religion, Faith, Catholic, Gender, Sexuality, Foster care, Foster parents, Politics 

Despite signs of renewed interest in faith, a troubling trend is emerging within the American church.

In a recent study by the Family Research Council, it was revealed that the percentage of regular churchgoers who identify as pro-life was only 43% in 2025, after being 63% in 2023.

“That is so unfortunate,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says. “And what happened there, I think, was just the propaganda war after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which happened in the summer of 2022. And it convinced so many people.”

“I know people like this who are Christians who consider themselves pro-life, and they bought into all of these lies that these pro-life laws are causing women to die from miscarriages in emergency rooms. It’s a lie. It’s not true,” she adds, pointing out that any pro-abortion tale spun by the left can be easily debunked.

“If you send me someone who tragically died because of a miscarriage, or because of something that was going on in their pregnancy, I can tell you exactly why the legislation in that state had nothing to do with that person dying,” she explains.

“And you even see these stories from places like California of women dying. I’m like, what does that have to do with pro-life laws, which are nonexistent in the state of California? So much propaganda, but clearly the propaganda works,” she continues.

Stuckey believes that the propaganda is playing on what she’s coined the “toxic empathy” manipulation tactic.

“You tell a really sad story of a mom in distress who didn’t want to have an abortion. She wanted this child, and then she ended up losing her life or she ended up being forced to have a child that died soon after birth. And as women, as moms, that understandably pulls on our heart strings,” she says.

“And then it’s presented in a way that if you just allowed women the choice in these extreme situations, then you could relieve her pain. And if you don’t want to relieve her pain, it’s because you’re selfish. It’s because you’re close-minded and bigoted,” she continues.

“And they never talk about the actual victim of that abortion. … That’s the baby,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Allie stuckey, Blazetv, Blaze media, Blaze originals, Blaze online, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Pro life, Church, Religion, Pro choice, Propaganda, Toxic empathy, Abortion, Choose life, Christiantity, Conservative, Christian podcast 

NASA announced it is shifting priorities to make sure it meets President Donald Trump’s goals before the end of his term.

The announcement, part of NASA’s “Ignition” event, declared that the space agency is “committed to achieving the near‑impossible once again.”

‘Returning to the moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison.’

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed the agency’s new directive at the event, telling audience members that the new “National Space Policy” includes accelerating preparations for America’s return to the moon.

First, this involves fulfilling missions that will establish an American base on the lunar surface.

“Return to the moon before the end of President Trump’s term, build a moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space,” Isaacman said.

The administrator added, “If we concentrate NASA’s extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead.”

That’s not all, though. NASA’s plan also includes nuclear-powered space exploration that will see new space helicopters used on Mars.

RELATED: Is real-life ‘Star Wars’ America’s manifest destiny?

NASA said it will launch Space Reactor-1 Freedom, a “nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft,” on a mission to Mars before 2028. Once the craft reaches Mars, it will deploy another craft called Skyfall, which will then drop a group of new space helicopters, called the Ingenuity-class helicopters.

These tissue-box-size helicopters will then explore the surface of the Red Planet.

At the same time, NASA plans to launch a “nuclear-powered octocopter” in 2028, set for arrival at Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034. This will be launched by Dragonfly, which, according to Gadgets 360, is another fully autonomous nuclear-powered craft.

These highly ambitious projects face an already strict timeline, as several of NASA’s current lunar missions are years behind.

RELATED: America’s historic return to the moon suffers ANOTHER setback

NASA’s Artemis II mission, a crewed lunar orbit meant to test landing systems, has already missed its late 2024 window. However, NASA still says it will launch by April 1.

This mission delay has pushed Artemis III to mid-2027. That mission was originally meant to include a lunar landing; it no longer does. That job is left to Artemis IV, which has a launch date of early 2028. Artemis V is meant to be another lunar landing by the end of 2028, which NASA previously said is when it expects to “begin building its moon base.”

The latest plan is set for three phases, with phase one sending “rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations” to the moon for testing.

Phase two is meant to establish early infrastructure on the surface, with help from Japan’s pressurized rover.

Phase three would reportedly get help from Canada’s Lunar Utility Vehicle and Italy’s “Multi-purpose Habitats” in order to establish a permanent lunar base.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Return, Space, Moon, Lunar landing, Mars, Red planet, Moon base, Trump, Nasa, Tech 

As the conflict with Iran stretches into the fourth week and shows little sign of stopping, the United States has reportedly submitted a peace plan to the Iranians. However, the plan has hardly been well-received by the Iranians, whose spokesperson even mocked the United States’ latest actions.

The United States reportedly proposed a 15-point peace plan on Tuesday for the Iranians to consider.

‘Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?’

The New York Post, citing a report from Israel’s Channel 12, gave an outline of the proposed plan. The plan contains 15 points, most of which intend to further proscribe Iran’s nuclear capabilities and its projection of power through proxies in the region. It also demands that the Strait of Hormuz remains open.

The United States and its allies would in return offer assurances to Iran in the rebuilding of the country after peace is agreed to.

RELATED: ‘TOTAL RESOLUTION’: Trump orders temporary suspension amid Iran peace talks

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Photo by HELMUT FOHRINGER/various sources/AFP via Getty Images.

However, an Iranian spokesperson mocked the United States’ latest offer to negotiate, saying Iran is unwilling to reach an agreement after being fooled by the current administration’s past offers of diplomacy.

According to the Post, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on a video shared by the state-run Fars News Agency, “Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever.”

“The one claiming to be a global superpower would have already gotten out of this mess if it could. Don’t dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end,” Zolfaghari said.

Zolfaghari reportedly went on, asking, “Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”

Wednesday morning, Axios reported that Iran has officially rejected the 15-point peace proposal, citing Iran’s English-language Press TV.

An Iranian official reportedly told Press TV that the Iranians see the proposal “as a ploy,” calling the terms “excessive.” The official added that the war would only end “on Tehran’s own terms and timeline.”

Axios, citing Press TV’s report, noted that Iran provided a counterproposal that consists of five conditions:

Complete halting of attacks and assassinations by the U.S. and Israel;The establishment of mechanisms to ensure the war doesn’t resume;Compensation for the damages caused during the war;Halting all U.S. and Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq; andReceiving international recognition and guarantees for Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz.

​Politics, Trump, Trump administration, Iran, Israel, United states, America, Iran peace talks, 15 point plan, Iranians, Lt. col. ebrahim zolfaghari, Press tv, Fars new agency, Pakistan, Shehbaz sharif