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The violence in the Middle east continues. A whistleblower made shocking claims about Doge and if you think it's too late to take up running, think again. That's some of what we'll get to on the Seven from the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Wednesday, March 11th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. One. A drone assault hit a major American diplomatic facility in Iraq. Since the start of the US Israeli assault on Iran a week and a half ago, the Baghdad Diplomatic Support center has come under repeated attack. Yesterday, six drones were launched toward the sprawling compound in a suspected retaliation by pro Iran militias. Five drones were shot down and one hit the facility. There were no known casualties. The attack underscores the continued vulnerability of U.S. facilities and personnel in the Middle East. The Pentagon has acknowledged that about 140 US service members have been wounded in the conflict, in addition to seven who have been killed. Yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kaine acknowledged the losses during a press briefing alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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To the families and the families of all of our fallen, we share in your profound grief. The Joint Force remains eternally grateful for your sacrifice and the gift of a great example that your service members have given all of us. I want you to know that their names will never be forgotten and you and your family are part of our Joint Force family forever.
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Several US Embassies and consulates have been struck in suspected Iranian strikes over the past week. The State Department has ordered the evacuation of scores of non essential diplomats around the Middle East. An election in Georgia yesterday showed the power of President Donald Trump's endorsement. That's number two. Former MAGA favorite Marjorie Taylor Greene abruptly resigned from her U.S. house seat in January after clashing with President Trump in Georgia yesterday. Voters narrowed a crowded field in a special election to replace her. Clay Fuller, Trump's favored candidate, advanced to an April 7 runoff after no candidate received a majority of the vote. Here he is speaking to NBC 11 in Georgia about the voters he encountered on the campaign trail.
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They support President Trump. I think you see that in the results tonight. They want to know who President Trump was endorsing in this race and that's why they came out in droves to support him, because they know they want an America first fighter on Capitol Hill fighting for his policies that are going to make a difference for our community. And that's what they want to see.
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Fuller will face Democrat Sean Harris. He's a military veteran who lost to Greene in 2024. Fuller will be favored to win in the next round. Meanwhile, in Mississippi, Representative Bennie Thompson, a 78 year old Democrat who has served in Congress for more than three decades, won his primary over 34 year old Evan Turnage. Turnage is a lawyer and former congressional aide who sought to tap into calls for generational change. Number three Democrats want to know what happened to millions of dollars that were earmarked for Trump's presidential library in the months after the 2024 presidential election. ABC, Meta, Paramount and X each committed millions of dollars to Trump's planned library. The money came from legal settlements between those companies and Trump. Trump had claimed that they had harmed him by restricting his access to social media or defaming him in their coverage. The companies reportedly agreed to pay a total of at least $63 million. But the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund, which was set to receive at least some of the settlement funding, was dissolved last September by Florida officials. So congressional Democrats are now asking where the money has gone. The probe is a preview of how Democrats will likely scrutinize Trump if they retake one or both chambers of Congress this fall. Number four is a Post exclusive. A whistleblower claimed a former Doge engineer said he took sensitive data to a new job. The Social Security Administration's internal watchdog is investigating an alarming allegation. A whistleblower said a former employee with Elon Musk's government slashing Doge outfit claimed he had access to two highly sensitive agency databases and that he planned to share the information with his new Post Doge private employer. The engineer worked at the Social Security Administration last year. If the whistleblower's claim is true, it would constitute an unprecedented breach of security protocols. The data may include records for more than 500 million Americans living and dead, including their Social Security numbers, citizenship and places and dates of birth. The complaint does not allege that the engineer was successful in uploading the data to his new company's system, and his lawyer said he denies all wrongdoing. Number five is another post exclusive. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. S vaccine advisers have abandoned an attack on MRNA Covid vaccines. Some people on the CDC's revamped vaccine advisory panel had been seeking to potentially stop recommending MRNA Covid vaccines. But according to two people who spoke to the Post, that plan is no longer going forward. The change in direction comes as some Republicans have warned that any further changes to vaccine policy may damage their party in the midterms. Trump's chief pollster described skepticism toward vaccine requirements as politically risky. He also said candidates who supported getting rid of long standing requirements would pay a price in the election. Members of the panel who were handpicked by Kennedy have publicly questioned the safety of COVID 19 shots. They have even raised a debunked theory that DNA contaminants in the vaccines are harmful. In reality MRNA Covid vaccines are credited with saving millions of lives. A billion dollar voucher program in Texas is excluding Islamic schools. That's number six. In November, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American Islamic Relations, or cair, a terrorist. CAIR denies that it is or is affiliated with such organizations. But the Texas official who oversees a huge new school voucher program claims that private Islamic schools in the state have hosted events by CAIR and has barred the schools from participating in the voucher program as a result. That has sparked a lawsuit and claims of discrimination. The Texas voucher program, which launches later this year, offers thousands of dollars for families to spend on private TU or other education related expenses. Advocates warn that a similar effort against Islamic schools is unfolding in Florida. In both states, it threatens to shut out thousands of Muslims from benefiting from the national movement to allow public money to be spent on private schools. And at number seven no matter what you think, it's not too late to take up running in middle age. Anna Fifield is a former Post editor who lives in New Zealand. She says she is not a natural born runner, but used to run sporadically throughout her life. When she was 47, alarmed at changes in how her body functioned, she decided to take it up again more seriously. At first she couldn't complete a mile without stopping, but just before her 50th birthday she completed her first ultramarathon. That's 33 miles. Anna shared her advice with the Post for how to get started without letting your old creaky knees deter you. She recommends removing barriers to consistent running. She even started sleeping in her workout gear to make it more likely she would get up and go in the morning. She also stresses the importance of setting a goal and finding like minded people to run with. Anna says she is not only taking better care of herself, but it has given her an amazing sense of achievement. Alright, you're all caught up. Before you go. Leave us a nice rating or review wherever you're listening to the seven. It helps others find the show and it gives you and us an amazing sense of achievement without having to run an ultramarathon. I'm Hannah Jewell. We'll meet you back here tomorrow.