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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, December 19th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In response to several attacks on ships by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, the Biden administration has unveiled Operation Prosperity Guardian, which it calls an important new multinational security initiative.
--:-- John Bickley: Operation Prosperity Guardian involves several countries combining forces to ensure safety in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The allied countries include the U.S., U.K., Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain. The operation is designed to ensure freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity.
--:-- [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking in Bahrain]
--:-- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: All countries have the right to move freely and lawfully in international But that foundational global right is under new threat today from the totally unacceptable attacks on merchant vessels by the Houthis in Yemen That endangering our common prosperity in the lives of innocent mariners These reckless hooty attacks are a serious international problem and they demand a firm international response
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--:-- Georgia Howe: More than 170 of Jeffrey Epstein's associates, recruiters, and victims may be known to the public at the beginning of January. That comes after a judge ordered Monday that key court documents should be unsealed. Judge Loretta Preska ordered that documents containing some 177 names of the deceased pedophiles' friends, associates, and victims should be unsealed in full. The documents come from a settled defamation case brought by Prince Andrew's accuser, Virginia Roberts, against Epstein's confidant, Jelaine Maxwell. The Miami Herald sued to get the documents made public, and that's now expected to happen on January 2nd.
--:-- John Bickley: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration is accusing bus companies of secretly dropping migrants off throughout the city to avoid city penalties. Daily Wire reporter Maraid Elordi reports.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The city has filed at least 50 lawsuits against the bus companies for not utilizing coordinated landing zones or communicating about their arrival. Bus companies currently risk a $3,000 fine and possible seizure and impoundment for skirting the city's ordinances, but the fines and suits have not slowed them down. According to Mayor Johnson's aide, Christina Passione-Zayas, quote, since we've instituted the ordinance and the amendment, we've lost all communication with the border. They're not sending us any notices.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New government guidance in England states that teachers and students are not compelled to use students preferred pronouns The guidance which comes from the country Department of Education also states that parents should not be excluded from decisions about social transition and that parents should be made aware of students requests to change their gender It adds that only under very rare conditions when parental involvement could raise significant risk of harm should schools forgo parental notification. Overall, schools have been advised that there is no general duty to follow children's lead on gender decisions and that a cautious approach is warranted in all cases.
--:-- John Bickley: The guidance further states that the influence of peers and social media should be taken into account when considering the seriousness of the student request. A prominent trans-identifying LGBT activist in Philadelphia, Kendall Stevens, was arrested Monday on charges that he raped two 13-year-old boys. The charges include indecent assault against a person less than 13 years old, rape, unlawful contact with minor sexual offenses, and endangering the welfare of children. The trans activist made headlines in August of 2020 after allegedly being attacked for being transgender. According to ABC affiliate Action News, Stevens became a prominent activist for the LGBTQ plus community and urged lawmakers to add LGBT people to Pennsylvania's hate crimes statute. The original reporting about the sexual assaults implied the alleged rapist was female with she-her pronouns, but he has since been confirmed to be male.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill this week that makes it a crime to illegally cross into the state from the southern border. The law gives state officials more power to take steps to secure the border amid the ongoing immigration crisis A recent congressional report estimates that more than 5 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the U under President Biden and more than 2 million of them were released into the country Many of those migrants came through the Texas border
--:-- John Bickley: Attorneys for singer Lizzo have filed a motion to dismiss a harassment and discrimination lawsuit brought by one of her former employees. The documents filed Friday claim that the case is meritless and salacious. The dismissal request further accuses the former employee of abandoning her post by skipping a concert she was scheduled to work at in Paris. Lizzo's attorneys also said the harassment case, which was filed in California, should be tossed out on a technicality because the employee was a New York resident who worked for a Delaware corporation while the singer was touring in Europe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Marvel may have to rethink the direction of its cinematic universe after a New York jury's ruling this week. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham has more.
--:-- Megan Basham: Marvel Studios has officially cut ties with 34-year-old rising star Jonathan Majors. Majors was found guilty Monday of reckless assault and harassment of his ex-girlfriend. The studio had already produced multiple installments of its cinematic universe, with Majors playing the arch-villain Kang the Conqueror. And he was set to be central to several more storylines, including in the film Avengers the Kang Dynasty. The studio may now have to pivot to a different supervillain, with some reports suggesting Dr. Doom may return to fill the void.
--:-- John Bickley: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
