Republicans tee off on Talarico  —  Presented by:  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray  —  Good Wednesday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard, still gripped by the GOP primary race for North Carolina state Senate District 26, where the margin is currently just two votes.

CIA working to arm Kurdish forces to spark uprising in Iran, sources say  —  The Middle East Donald Trump Federal agencies National security  —  The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, multiple people familiar with the plan told CNN.

Americans Stranded in the Middle East Are Having a Hard Time Getting Help From the State Department  —  The Trump administration told Americans trying to evacuate the Middle East that they cannot “rely” on U.S. government assistance, despite urging Americans to “depart now” …

Scoop: Lutnick volunteers to testify on Epstein ties  —  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, once a Manhattan neighbor of Jeffrey Epstein, voluntarily agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee over past ties to the convicted sex offender, Axios has learned.

Inspector General Says Kristi Noem's DHS Has ‘Systematically Obstructed’ Its Work  —  Letter outlines 11 instances of agency allegedly blocking information, including in criminal inquiry  —  The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency's leaders had …

Support for abolishing ICE reaches 50%  —  Support for abolishing ICE has hit a new high in this week's Economist / YouGov poll.  Half (50%) of Americans now somewhat or strongly support abolishing ICE.  Only 39% oppose abolishing the agency.  —  This marks the first time support has reached 50% in YouGov polling.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Son Emerges as Leading Choice to Be His Successor  —  If Mojtaba Khamenei is chosen by Iran's senior clerics, it may signal a victory for hard-liners, an analyst said.  —  The senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran's next supreme leader met on Tuesday to deliberate …

US Military Leaders Accused of Framing Iran War as Biblical Mandate, Jesus' ‘Return’  —  An organization that has been fighting against religious extremism in the United States military for two decades has reported more than 200 new complaints since Saturday's initial strikes against Iran …

Trump Administration, in Reversal, Tries to Continue Fight Against Law Firms  —  The administration told a court on Monday that it was abandoning its defense of executive orders targeting the firms.  But on Tuesday, the Justice Department abruptly changed its position.

Emotional tributes begin pouring in after four US soldiers killed in war with Iran identified  —  Pentagon identifies first US casualties in US-Israeli war with Iran  —  Secretary Noem defends ICE actions in combative hearing  —  Former U.S. Representative stuck overseas due to Iran war

U.S. Takes Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’  —  U.S. Special Forces soldiers were advising Ecuadorian commandos on raids against suspected drug shipment facilities and other drug-related sites.  —  As Trump Bashes Spain, the German Chancellor Looks On

Kuwaiti Fighter Jet Mistakenly Shot Down American F-15s, Initial Reports Say  —  A Kuwaiti F/A-18 fighter jet was the cause of the accidental shootdown of three American F-15s on Sunday, according to three people familiar with initial reports of the incident.

Hundreds of Voters in Dallas and Williamson Counties Affected by Polling Location Confusion  —  DALLAS/FORT WORTH - Today should be a celebration of democracy.  Instead, hundreds of Dallas and Williamson County voters are being turned away from the polls — and we know exactly why.

There Are 47,635 Epstein Files Offline for Review, DOJ Says  —  Among the unreleased documents are a woman's unverified allegations against President Trump  —  The Justice Department has withheld thousands of documents from the Epstein files, including FBI documents that detailed …

Arkansas Democrats just flipped a Republican seat  —  Democrat Alex Holladay won a Republican-held seat in the Arkansas state House on Tuesday night, marking the ninth time Democrats have flipped a district from red to blue in a special election since the start of Donald Trump's second term.

Exclusive: US turns up heat on Venezuela with threat to indict new leader Delcy Rodriguez  —  The Trump administration is quietly building a legal case against Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez including readying a draft criminal indictment, one of several tools it is using …

‘Cheap’ and ‘Appalling’: Trump's Ballroom Plans Receive a Flood of Negative Comments  —  The National Capital Planning Commission received about 32,000 messages during its public comment period.  Suffice it to say: Many people are not happy with the president's ballroom plans.  —  “Gaudy and cheap.”

Justice Department rescinds Biden-era ‘no-knock’ warrant policy  —  Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has rescinded the Biden Justice Department's policy that tightly restricted when law enforcement agents executing a search could take the exceptional step of bursting into a home without knocking first.

Iran war live: Iran ‘close’ to choosing new leader as sources say Khamenei's son is alive  —  Mojtaba Khamanei, the son of Iran's late Supreme Leader, has survived the assault on the country by U.S. and Israeli air strikes, two Iranian sources told Reuters.