Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire; Bondi won’t testify on Epstein files
Possible complications with the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. How Israeli bombing attacks on Lebanon appear to be clouding the agreement.
Plus, Pam Bondi is no longer attorney general, and she has no plans to return to Washington to testify before Congress in the Epstein case. Will the threat of contempt compel her to change her mind?
And his wife went overboard while on a small boat in the Bahamas. The husband says high winds, rough seas and the current swept her away. But now he’s under arrest, and she’s still missing.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, April 9, 2026.
Iran accuses US of violating ceasefire with strikes in Lebanon
The two-week ceasefire in Iran is already tenuous, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the terms of the deal after attacks on Lebanon.
The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said in retaliation, it launched “a large barrage” of rockets at a settlement in Israel overnight.
The Israeli military announced Thursday morning that it killed Ali Yusuf Kharshi, the nephew and personal secretary of Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem, in what it calls its most powerful attacks yet on Lebanon on Wednesday. They said Kharshi “played a central role” in providing security for Qassem.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Wednesday’s strikes claimed the lives of at least 182 people.
Iran and other world powers, including some U.S. allies, have condemned Israel’s strikes, saying they violate the ceasefire deal. But President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the ceasefire deal does not include Lebanon.
Despite that, an Iranian delegation is still set to arrive in Pakistan on Thursday night ahead of talks about a permanent ceasefire with the U.S. Pakistan, which is mediating the talks, said those talks could begin as early as Friday.
The White House has confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. negotiating team. Vance told reporters in Hungary that it is his understanding that Israel is now willing to back off its attacks on Lebanon for the good of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Trump said American troops will remain in the region until “the real agreement reached is fully complied with.”
Strait of Hormuz closed as officials warn of underwater mines
The Strait of Hormuz appears to be closed as of Thursday morning as Iran claims the U.S. violated the ceasefire. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said shipping through the critical waterway is now halted.
Traffic had resumed after the ceasefire took effect. Marine traffic data, however, shows most ships remained anchored in the Persian Gulf, and only four passed through Wednesday.
The Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization has urged vessel operators to use alternative shipping routes to avoid potential naval mines.
It comes after semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart showing Iran’s military put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war. The chart covers the period from Feb. 28 to April 9, and it’s not clear whether any of the mines have been removed.
Vance restated Wednesday night that if Iran does not follow through on its promise to reopen the strait, the ceasefire will end.
Bondi subpoena no longer applies as lawmakers threaten contempt charges: DOJ
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was supposed to appear before the House Oversight Committee next week, but the Justice Department said she will not. The department argued that because Bondi was subpoenaed in her official capacity as attorney general, the subpoena no longer applies.
Trump fired Bondi last week.
Lawmakers on both sides said they still expect her to sit for the deposition.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said Bondi “cannot escape accountability” by leaving office.
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia said he will push for contempt charges if she refuses to appear.
The fight centers on Bondi’s role in releasing the so-called Epstein files, which lawmakers say contained multiple errors and missed a release deadline set by Congress. The committee is also pressing ahead with other witnesses.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is set for a closed-door interview on June 10. Gates has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and said he is willing to cooperate. He has called his meetings and dealings with Epstein a huge mistake.
Search underway for woman who went overboard in Bahamas; husband arrested
There are new updates regarding the case of missing boater Lynette Hooker from Michigan. She went overboard on a dinghy in the Bahamas last Saturday and has not resurfaced.
Her husband, Brian Hooker, said she lost her balance, fell into the water and disappeared. The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested him in connection with his wife’s disappearance.
The couple was on a small boat heading toward their yacht when the incident happened around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Brian Hooker then showed up on shore around 4 a.m. Sunday, claiming that strong currents swept his wife away.
The 55-year-old woman remains missing, and authorities are now conducting a recovery operation in the Bahamas. Her daughter told ABC News she wants a full investigation. The U.S. Coast Guard will lead that probe.
The husband denies any wrongdoing, blaming unpredictable seas and high winds for her fall, and says he is heartbroken.
Gilgo Beach serial killer pleads guilty to killing eight women
The man accused of terrorizing women on Long Island, New York, for decades, killing them and leaving their remains scattered around Gilgo Beach, has pleaded guilty.
Rex Heuermann, 62, a former architect, admitted in court Wednesday that he killed eight women — not seven — over a 17-year span.
In court, Heuermann admitted to meeting all eight women, some of whom were prostitutes, strangling them and dumping their bodies on a parkway near the beach on Long Island’s southern shore.
The first murder happened in 1993, and as more cases appeared, they eventually became known as the Gilgo Beach killings.
Investigators arrested Heuermann in 2023. They used DNA evidence from a discarded pizza crust to link him to the murders. The Suffolk County police commissioner called him a demon, a predator who destroyed families.
A judge will sentence Heuermann in June. He is expected to receive consecutive life sentences without parole, ensuring he will never be released from prison.
New spider species caught on camera, researchers race to learn more
For the first time, a new spider species was recorded on video. The rare Cryptodrassus michaeli is smaller than the tip of a pencil and is just the eighth specimen ever documented.
Researchers are now working to learn more about the elusive species, beginning with what this spider eats and what preys on it.
“It is a new species, and the particularity of this species is that it is very tiny compared to others in their family, which is Gnaphosidae, ground spiders. We don’t know yet anything about the biology, but we know they are in these food webs that we are studying.”
— Jordi Moya-Laraño, research scientist at the Spanish Research Council
The spider, which measures only between two and three millimeters when fully grown, was first caught in southern Spain in 2021.
More from Straight Arrow News:
How the Iran war put America’s food supply at risk
The war in Iran exposed a fundamental weakness in the U.S. food system: its dependence on a fragile global fertilizer network.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant amount of the world’s fertilizer supply passes, underscored the degree to which the American farm economy is vulnerable not just to weather, but also to geopolitical turmoil, energy shocks and other global disruptions — with fallout that hits farmers first and then consumers at the grocery store.
Whether or not the Strait remains open during the two-week ceasefire announced Tuesday by President Donald Trump, supply chains disrupted by the conflict — including fertilizer shipments — may take months to recover.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
