First Thing: US reportedly poised to send airborne troops to Middle East

Key Points:

• The US is reportedly preparing to deploy up to 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East amid escalating strikes by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeting Israel and US bases in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain.
• Meta has been ordered by a New Mexico jury to pay $375 million in civil penalties for enabling child sexual exploitation on its platforms, marking the first jury trial holding the company liable; Meta plans to appeal the ruling.
• Democrats flipped Florida’s 87th state house district, which includes Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, with Emily Gregory defeating the Republican candidate despite Trump’s endorsement, signaling potential voter dissatisfaction with rising costs under his administration.
• Israel has not prosecuted any citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since 2020, despite at least 1,100 deaths, including many children, according to a Guardian analysis.
• Additional developments include the Philippines declaring a year-long energy emergency due to the US-Israel-Iran conflict, Moldova imposing a 60-day energy state of emergency after Russian strikes, and US lawmakers proposing a pause on AI datacenter construction for environmental and community safeguards.