Cuba kills 4 in Florida speedboat clash; Patel fires FBI agents
Cuban officials say armed men aboard a Florida-based speedboat opened fire in Cuban waters, killing four. The U.S. says it’s investigating and confirms it wasn’t a government operation.
Plus, the FBI director has dismissed agents tied to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. Why now, and what this says about the bureau’s direction under President Donald Trump.
And Hillary Clinton is set to answer questions under oath about Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers want clarity on what she knew — and what her husband’s relationship involved.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Four killed when Cuban troops return fire after vessel enters territory
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is investigating a deadly confrontation between a Florida-registered speedboat and Cuban forces.
Cuba’s government said ten Cuban nationals living in the United States entered Cuban territorial waters with plans to carry out what it called an infiltration “for terrorist purposes.”
According to Cuba’s interior ministry, the people aboard the boat opened fire on border troops after being approached for identification. Cuban forces returned fire.
Four men were killed. Six others were wounded. A Cuban commander was also injured.
Cuban authorities said the six surviving men were detained and hospitalized.
Officials also reported arresting a seventh Cuban national who had traveled to the island to “guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is conducting its own investigation before responding.
“The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans,” Rubio said. “We will verify that independently. And we’ll as we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly.”
Rubio told reporters U.S. diplomats in Havana are working to gain access to the individuals involved to determine whether they are American citizens or lawful permanent residents.
FBI director fires agents tied to Mar-a-Lago search
Director Kash Patel has fired at least six agents tied to the 2022 search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in the classified documents case.
The dismissals come as Patel accuses the bureau, under the Biden administration, of improperly subpoenaing phone “toll records” belonging to him and current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles when both were private citizens.
Toll records show the timing and recipients of calls — not the content.
Patel said those records were placed in files labeled “prohibited.”
Key details remain unclear. Reuters reported it could not independently verify the timing, scope or purpose of the subpoenas. It also could not confirm who authorized them or whether Patel or Wiles were targets of an investigation.
The FBI has not publicly commented on the firings.
The FBI Agents Association has called the terminations unlawful, arguing they violate due process and warning that the move strips the bureau of experienced personnel.
Clintons to testify under oath in Epstein probe beginning Thursday
On Thursday, Hillary Clinton will sit for a closed-door deposition in the House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, with former President Bill Clinton scheduled to follow on Friday.
The depositions will take place in Chappaqua, New York, near their home. It’s the result of months of legal back-and-forth between the Clintons’ attorneys and the House Oversight Committee.
Republicans and many Democrats say they want answers about Epstein’s network, what powerful figures knew, and whether federal investigations were mishandled.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s private plane multiple times in the early 2000s and appears in photographs released by the Justice Department.
He’s denied any wrongdoing and has said he cut ties before Epstein’s 2019 arrest.
Hillary Clinton has said she doesn’t recall ever meeting Epstein.
Committee chairman James Comer says he plans to release video and transcripts of the depositions as soon as they’re approved.
Questions remain about how Epstein amassed such immense wealth and cultivated relationships with so many influential and powerful people.
The Oversight Committee is reviewing the millions of documents released by DOJ and is set to depose the Clintons next week. @seanhannity pic.twitter.com/1Xz1AfWm7A
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) February 20, 2026
The Clintons had initially resisted appearing in person, arguing they’d already provided sworn statements, but reversed course after the committee moved toward holding them in contempt.
The couple had pushed for public testimony. Republicans insisted on closed-door depositions.
What’s notable is the bipartisan dynamic.
Democrats joined Republicans in compelling the testimony, reflecting how the Epstein investigation has shifted political calculations on both sides.
Still, some Democrats, like Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, say the process is partisan.
“What the Epstein survivors have been asking for is both transparency and accountability,” she told reporters Wednesday. “And what Republicans want to do is turn this into political theater.”
Means defends vaccine comments, declines to fully back universal immunization
Trump’s pick for surgeon general faced pointed questions about vaccines, birth control, pesticides and her qualifications during a tense Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Dr. Casey Means — a Stanford-trained physician, wellness entrepreneur and ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — was repeatedly pressed on whether she would advocate for routine vaccinations as the nation’s top doctor… But she stopped short of fully endorsing them.
Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, a physician himself, asked Means directly whether she accepts the scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism.
Dr. Casey Means: “And we do not know as a medical community what causes autism. The administration has just committed a huge amount of funding to look at the exposome of all environmental factors that could be contributing to autism. And until we have a clear understanding of why kids are developing this at higher rates, I think we should not leave any stones unturned.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.: “There’s been a lot of evidence showing that they’re not implicated. Do you not accept that evidence?”
Means: “I do accept that evidence. I also think that science has never settled.
The exchange echoed broader concerns about Kennedy’s overhaul of federal vaccine messaging.
As health secretary, Kennedy has removed long-standing language from CDC materials that states vaccines do not cause autism.
Democrats also challenged Means about past comments on birth control.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.: “You called birth control pills, and I’m going to quote, ‘a disrespect of life,’ and you said Americans, quote, ‘use birth control pills like candy.’ You also claimed, contrary to established science, that hormonal birth control has, quote, ‘horrifying health risks for women.’“
Means: “I’m curious if you are aware of what the side effects of hormonal contraception are.”
Murray: “I’m curious if you are with the FDA that went through all of these and rigorously looked at them, or as Surgeon General, if you’re going to tell the truth to the American people.”
Beyond vaccines and contraception, senators questioned Means about her past financial ties to wellness products, her inactive medical license and her comments on pesticides and psychedelic therapy.
She pledged to divest from health-related business interests if confirmed and said she takes conflicts of interest seriously.
The surgeon general position has been vacant for more than a year.
The committee will now decide whether to advance her nomination to the full Senate.
Judge halts third-country deportations, stopping migrants from being sent to unrelated nations
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot deport migrants to countries with which they have no connection.
The decision stems from a case last year in which the government attempted to send undocumented immigrants to South Sudan and later routed them to Djibouti, even though neither country was listed in their final removal orders. The migrants had no ties to either nation, and neither country was listed as their destination in official removal paperwork.
Immigration advocates sued, arguing that the policy violated due process protections.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts agreed, ruling that the federal government cannot send migrants to so-called “third countries” without legal authority and adequate notice.
He ordered the administration to provide what he called “meaningful notice” before any deportation, giving individuals time to challenge their removal in court.
The Trump administration now has 15 days to appeal the ruling.
Scientists decode sneaker squeak, opening new clues on friction
It’s a sound we’ve all heard, but probably never stopped to ask “why?”
A Harvard scientist was sitting at a Boston Celtics game when he started wondering what actually causes the constant squeak every time players plant, pivot, and explode across the court.
So he went back to the lab to find out.
Researchers repeatedly slid a sneaker across a smooth glass plate, capturing the sound with a microphone and filming the sole with a high-speed camera to observe what was happening underneath.
What they found surprised them.
Tiny sections of the rubber sole briefly lose traction, then snap back into it, creating rapid ripples, or wrinkles, that vibrate at high frequency.
That vibration? That’s the squeak.
“Squeaking is basically your shoe rippling, or your shoe creating wrinkles, that travel super fast, and they repeat at a high frequency, high cadence and this is why you get this squeaking noise,” the report’s author, Adel Djellouli, said.
“We did not expect such violent events to take place under a shoe,” Djellouli continued.
Researchers say the discovery extends beyond basketball.
Understanding how rubber grips, slips and snaps back could deepen scientific understanding of friction more broadly, from how materials wear over time to how tectonic plates slide and grind during earthquakes.
All from a sound most of us just tune out.
More from Straight Arrow News:
The hidden labor crisis behind your latest electricity rate hike
In the wake of January’s massive Winter Storm Fern, which knocked out power for 1 million U.S. households, the national power grid is at maximum strain. And lineworkers — the energy utility workers tasked with fixing power poles and electrical systems — are feeling the pressure as a depleted force struggles to meet a surge in demand.
Add to this the fact that consumers are frustrated by prolonged outages, like the weeks-long blackout in Nashville, and notifications from utility companies that cold weather could lead to higher-than-average bills, further heightening tension. In some cases, electric companies report their workforce has been attacked onsite, part of a nationwide issue that has prompted legislative action in several states. Read the full story now>
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
