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Pete Hegseth, a white man with gray hair in a gray suit, blue and white tie and U.S. flag pocket square, speaks and gestures as he stands in front of a deep blue background that reads "STATE OF THE FORCE"

The facts behind Pentagon's new 'Project Meridian' initiative

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently announced "Project Meridian," which he described as "an effort led by America's best minds to study the future of warfare."

Rumors soon swirled online about the initiative, including who was tapped to lead the project.

Reporter Anna Rascouët-Paz explained what we know about the plan, its goals and the people involved.

Screenshot from Oval Office event in which Trump made his troubled people comment. Trump is speaking and looking up towards a gathering of people to his right, which include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutwick, Export-Import Bank of the US Chairman John Jovanovic, and several political leaders from Iowa.

Did Trump say Iowans are 'really troubled people'?

What was the president talking about? We checked the footage to find out.

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On the left, an silhouette of the state of Texas. On the right, a bottle of liquor, a pork chop and a lottery ball within a red "prohibited" symbol, a circle with a slash through it.

Are Texas Muslims ordering businesses to remove haram products within 30 days?

One Houston imam asked Muslim business owners to not sell haram products like pork, alcohol and lottery tickets.

Black-and-white image shows actor John Wayne seated in a cowboy hat while holding up a gun.

John Wayne: 8 claims we've fact-checked

We dug into our archives to round up our stories about the late actor.

U.S President Donald Trump at the White House shown in a split-screen with Geddy Lee of Rush perfoming on stage in Fort Worth, Texas.

Did Trump ban people from listening to Canadian band Rush amid trade war?

While the Trump administration has banned some Canadian imports, the rock musicians haven't made the list.

Staff pick

Simple illustration in orange of the country of the United States with target icons and Europe with flame icons with diagonal framing by thermometers and guns.

Do more people die from heat waves in Europe than gun violence in US?

"Europe refusing to install air conditioning is worse than gun violence in America," a popular video claimed. "One is EASILY fixed, the other is an extremely complicated issue due to constitutional rights."

To investigate the claim, reporters Rae Deng and Jack Izzo teamed up and crunched the numbers.

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