Israel believes Iran war could last months, testing US resolve

WASHINGTON — U.S. and Israeli officials are privately casting doubt on projections from the Trump administration that the war with Iran could end within a matter of weeks — instead warning that a months-long campaign may be required to destroy the country's ballistic missile capabilities and install a pliant government, multiple sources told the Los Angeles Times.

The prospect of extended combat creates new political risks and uncertainties for President Donald Trump, whose penchant for dramatic, short-term military operations has suddenly given way to a full-scale assault on the Islamic Republic, shocking a MAGA base that for years supported his calls to end forever wars in the Middle East.

One Israeli official told The Times — despite internal guidance among Israeli officials to adhere to the U.S. president's stated time frame — that the war "definitely could be longer" than the four-week window that Trump repeatedly offered to reporters.

A U.S. official said that in private conversations, top administration officials presume the campaign will require a longer runway now that remnants of Iran's government have chosen to resist rather than acquiesce to Washington.

—Los Angeles Times

William & Mary on Pentagon’s list of ‘toxic indoctrination’ colleges, losing its support

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary has joined a growing list of universities that have been rebuked by military leadership in a recent Pentagon effort to divert federal resources from institutions deemed “woke” and “anti-American.”

After saying in mid-February it was cutting ties with Harvard University, the Pentagon announced Friday it would also eliminate tuition-assistance fellowships at an additional 21 colleges. A Pentagon memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named William & Mary among other universities — such as Yale, Columbia and Princeton.

“We’re done paying for the privilege of our enemy’s wicked ideologies to be taught to our future leaders,” Hegseth said in video announcement posted to social media.

Effective for the 2026-27 school year, the Pentagon no longer will fund the Senior Service College fellowship program at the schools. In his video address, Hegseth called for the immediate cancellation of attendance by all Department of Defense personnel from the institutions.

—The Virginian-Pilot

Do microplastics contribute to prostate cancer risk?

Prostate tumors contain more microplastics than healthy prostate tissue, researchers from New York University Langone Health found.

Tiny plastic particles were present in nine of 10 men diagnosed with prostate cancer, and appeared in greater amounts in the tumors than in nearby noncancerous tissue, they found.

“Our pilot study provides important evidence that microplastic exposure may be a risk factor for prostate cancer,” lead study author Stacy Loeb, a professor in the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Departments of Urology and Population Health, told SciTechDaily.

Loeb said that earlier studies hinted at links between microplastics and heart disease and dementia. However, little direct research had connected them to prostate cancer.

—Baltimore Sun

The true, the false and the dubious: What we know about Cuba boat-shooting story

MIAMI — At the center of Cuba’s story that its coast guard last week thwarted a counterrevolutionary invasion of the island is a 24-foot fishing boat reported stolen from the Florida Keys.

As the Cuban government tells it, 10 men took off from Marathon aboard two vessels and then piled everyone and everything onto one boat after the other broke down.

Cuban authorities say the group was traveling at close to 30 miles per hour as they tailed their vessel in territorial waters on Feb. 25 before the men on board opened fire, striking a coast guard commander and leading to an open-water firefight.

While the 24-foot Pro-Line boat seized by the Cuban government is perfect for a day of fishing just offshore, or to go lobstering, experts note it’s hardly the type of vessel you’d want to take on the 90-mile journey to Cuba from the Keys, especially loaded down with everything the government claims was on board: 12 rifles, 2 shotguns, 11 handguns and 12,846 rounds of ammunition, plus backpacks, a generator and other supplies and weapons.

—Miami Herald