Judge blocks most of an Iowa law banning some school library books and discussion of LGBTQ+ issues
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but already had resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from Iowa schools. IOWA GOV. KIM REYNOLDS SLAMS MEDIA ‘BOOK BAN’ NARRATIVE: JUST A ‘D-MN DISTRACTION’ The law, which the Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds approved early in 2023, bans books depicting sex acts from school libraries and classrooms and forbids teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through the sixth grade. Locher blocked enforcement of those two provisions. The judge said the ban on books is “incredibly broad” and has resulted in the removal of history volumes, classics, award-winning novels and “even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault.” He said that part of the law is unlikely to satisfy the constitution’s requirements for free speech. In barring the provision barring any discussion of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” in elementary school, Locher said the way it was written it was “wildly overbroad.” Iowa educators lauded the decision. “When education professionals return to work next week, they can do what they do best: take great care of all their students without fear of reprisal,” Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said in a statement. Reynolds’ office did not immediately comment on the ruling. The judge let stand a requirement that school administrators notify parents if their child asks to change their pronouns or names, saying the plaintiffs did not have standing. Iowa’s measure is part of a wave of similar legislation across the country. Typically backed by Republican lawmakers, the laws seek to prohibit discussion of gender and sexual orientation issues, ban treatments such as puberty blockers for transgender children, and restrict the use of restrooms in schools. Many have prompted court challenges. Opponents of the Iowa law filed two lawsuits. One is on behalf of the organization Iowa Safe Schools and seven students, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda Legal. The other is by the Iowa State Education Association, publisher Penguin Random House and four authors. The first lawsuit argues the measure is unconstitutional because it violates students’ and teachers’ free speech and equal protection rights. The second suit, which focused more narrowly on the book bans, argues the law violates the first and 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lawyers for both lawsuits said the law is broad and confusing. At a Dec. 22 hearing, Daniel Johnston of the Iowa attorney general’s office argued that school officials were applying the book ban too broadly. When deciding whether to remove books, educators shouldn’t focus on the idea of a sex act but instead look for text or images that meet Iowa’s definition of a sex act, Johnston said.
Biden administration urged to increase electric vehicle infrastructure
As President Biden’s goal to shift to electric vehicles moves closer, some energy experts say the administration needs to look at power infrastructure before pushing for an increase in sales. “They’re promoting policies that will drive the sale of electric vehicles but not necessarily the use of electric vehicles,” former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee said. The number of electric vehicle charging ports in the U.S. has nearly doubled in the past three years. Public charging ports account for around 88% of all EV charging ports. However, many owners also charge at home, where it’s cheaper and easier to plug in overnight. “The real challenge that I’m seeing is that we just don’t have the charging infrastructure in place around the country to really alleviate concerns that drivers have, particularly about range anxiety,” Chatterjee said. WHITE HOUSE TAKES ACTION TO FORCE GOVERNMENT WOKERS TO TRAVEL VIA ELECTRIC VEHICLE, RAIL According to the Department of Transportation, there are three different levels of public charging ports. Only about 200 are level one. Those can take more than 50 hours to charge a vehicle from empty to 80% full. Most public stations are level two. Those can charge a vehicle to 80% in four to 10 hours. Just 15% of public chargers are fast charging or level three. Those take the least amount of time but are still not as quick as a trip to the gas station. It takes between 20 minutes to an hour to get a vehicle to 80% charged. MAINE FORCED TO DELAY VOTE ON EV MANDATE AMID WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES “People want to charge their cars really fast, and so that’s a lot of electricity in a short amount of time. It’s not the way the grid is set up to operate today,” National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson said. “Every one has its own set of complexities, and it’s hard to get these things built. These things don’t just happen overnight, and you’ve got to get the permitting. So, it’s not as easy as people make it out to be.” In 2021, when President Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, around $7.5 billion of that was allocated for building electric vehicle charging stations. It took more than two years for the first fast charging stations to open. “You have these national programs as a one-size-fits-all approach. It doesn’t work. And, in this case, the uptake for this has been really slow,” Matheson said. “I represent a lot of the rural areas where there’s not as big of an uptake on electric vehicles because the range people have to drive in their vehicle every day.” The Energy Department is working to address range concerns. It’s tracking locations across the U.S. where an electric vehicle road trip could be possible using what the department calls fuel corridors. Most on the department’s website are still in the planning stages. Those in place are mostly along the East and West coasts. A 2,400-mile road trip along Route 66 is not yet possible in an electric vehicle. “More electricity sounds good in a lot of ways for the people I represent. But, on the other hand, we want to make sure it’s delivered in a reliable, affordable way,” Matheson said. “In this case, you’re looking at these infrastructure needs that are going to boost cost. And, also, when you have this increased electric demand, we’re concerned it affects reliability, and we want to keep the lights on.” Wireless charging roads could be the infrastructure of the future. Those are being installed by Swedish company Electreon. It completed the first project stateside in Detroit recently. Coils are laid beneath the asphalt and a receiver is connected to the vehicle. As the car travels, the battery unit is powered directly. The company is also working on several wireless charging projects across eight countries. Some of those include bus terminals in Israel, delivery truck loading docks in Sweden and ports in China. “If the market through innovation can have these technological breakthroughs that enable us to have this futuristic advancement in how our transportation sector functions, that’s amazing,” Chatterjee said. “I hope that that happens, but I want the market to drive that.”
GOP voters appear unbothered by Nikki Haley’s Civil War gaffe: ‘pile of bull—-’
GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley flubbed an answer about the Civil War and is looking to break the bad news cycle. But voters suggest the gaffe hasn’t swayed their vote. At a campaign stop in New Hampshire Wednesday, Haley was asked by an attendee, “What was the cause of the United States Civil War?” Haley said the Civil War was about government control, “freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.” Haley drew sharp criticism for leaving slavery out of her answer and sought to clean up her response Thursday, saying she believes slavery sparked the war, but the “bigger issue” was determining the role of government in people’s lives. NIKKI HALEY CLARIFIES CIVIL WAR ‘WAS ABOUT SLAVERY,’ AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM WAS ‘THE LESSON’ Media pundits, her fellow GOP contenders and Democratic foes all piled on Haley for the misstep, but reports reveal voters were less bothered. “Everybody knows [the Civil War] was about slavery, and what else can you say about it?,” Alison Bolt, a self-described moderate Republican from Littleton, New Hampshire, told Politico. “Frankly, I’m sick to death of hearing about these issues. I’m sick to death of hearing about, you know, racist kinds of things and transgender things. I want to get back to things that are going to help or destroy this country.” NIKKI HALEY HIT FROM ALL SIDES AFTER OMITTING ‘SLAVERY’ FROM CIVIL WAR RESPONSE Robin Smith, another Republican voter, told the outlet she believed the question was from an opposition plant. “That was a pile of bulls—. OK, there was somebody planted in that audience, in my opinion,” she said. “It had to be somebody that wanted to try to make her look bad.” The Wall Street Journal spoke to voters in Iowa, which will hold its primary caucus next month. Several undecided Iowans who attended a Gov. Ron DeSantis event Thursday evening said they “either hadn’t heard about Haley’s comments about the Civil War or weren’t bothered by them.” DON LEMON HITS HALEY WALKING BACK SLAVERY COMMENT AFTER PREVIOUS CLASH: ‘DIDN’T OFFER ME THAT SAME GRACE’ “If your living is to talk all day, every day, something goofy is bound to come out,” Iowa Republican Frank Wilson, a retired computer engineer and undecided voter from Cedar Rapids, told the outlet. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of the Granite State said Haley’s cleanup was “spot on.” “Spot on. That’s it. The Civil War is about slavery,” he told reporters. “She acknowledged it. Moving on.” Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.
How recent ‘swatting’ calls targeting officials may prompt heavier penalties for hoax police calls
ATLANTA (AP) — A spate of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days could be setting the stage for stricter penalties against so-called swatting in more states. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost have been among the victims. OHIO REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER LATEST VICTIM OF ‘SWATTING’ INCIDENT Several Georgia lawmakers targeted say they want increased penalties for swatting, like laws enacted this year in Ohio and Virginia. Similar bills are pending in other states and Congress. Here’s a look at the issue and what could be done about it: WHAT IS ‘SWATTING’? Swatting is the act of making a prank call to emergency services to prompt a response at a particular address. The goal is to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to show up. Calls in multiple states in recent days featured the voice of a man calling himself “Jamal,” claiming he had shot his wife because she was sleeping with another man and saying he was holding the boyfriend hostage, demanding $10,000. Two Ohio lawmakers said they thought they were targeted recently for helping pass a law making swatting a felony in the state. Georgia state Sen. Clint Dixon said the incident at his house in Buford on Christmas evening was “quite startling” for himself, his wife and three children. “I was watching a little football and my wife was upstairs packing for a trip, and all of a sudden, I heard her, you know, start yelling, ‘There’s police running at the door.’ She saw on our Ring doorbell,” he told WABE. WHO’S BEEN TARGETED RECENTLY? A man in New York called the Georgia suicide hotline just before 11 a.m. Monday, claiming that he had shot his girlfriend at Greene’s home in Rome, Georgia, and was going to kill himself next, said Kelly Madden, the Rome police spokesperson. The call was quickly transferred to police when suicide hotline responders recognized the congresswoman’s address. The department said it contacted Greene’s private security detail to confirm she was safe and that there was no emergency. The call was then determined to be a swatting attempt so the response was canceled while police were on the way. Greene has been the subject of multiple swatting attempts. Scott wrote on X that police were sent to his home in Naples, Florida, while he and his wife were out at dinner on Wednesday night. Police said they met Scott’s private security service at the home, but didn’t find anything out of place. “These criminals wasted the time & resources of our law enforcement in a sick attempt to terrorize my family,” Scott wrote. In Boston, a male caller claimed on Monday that he had shot his wife and had tied her and another man up at Wu’s home. The Democratic mayor said she was surprised to open the door and see flashing lights, but said her home has been targeted by multiple swatting calls since she took office in 2021. “For better or worse, my family are a bit used to it by now, and we have a good system with the department,” Wu told WBUR. Also targeted have been a Republican congressman from New York, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and a former state senator in Nebraska. Dixon was among four Georgia state senators who were recently swatted. In Ohio, a total of three current or former state lawmakers were affected. Jones said his home in a small town south of Atlanta was swatted on Wednesday, only to have a bomb threat called in on Thursday. “Thankfully everyone is safe, and I commend our local law enforcement officers for their professionalism,” Jones wrote on X. “Let me be clear — I will not be intimidated by those attempting to silence me,” Jones wrote on X We will put an end to this madness. HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PROBLEM? Hundreds of cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number. And those targeted extend far beyond public officials. Police in Lincoln, Nebraska, told KETV-TV that they had handled three swatting calls in the same 48-hour period in which they went to the unoccupied home of former state Sen. Adam Morfeld. The FBI said earlier this year that it had created a national database in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies to track swatting incidents nationwide. Police had for months reported a huge surge in fake claims about active shooters at schools and colleges. There have also been reports of hundreds of swatting incidents and bomb threats against synagogues and other Jewish institutions since the Israel-Hamas war began. The Anti-Defamation League estimates that by 2019 there were more than 1,000 incidents of swatting nationwide each year. That group says each incident can costs taxpayers thousands of dollars in emergency response costs. DO FALSE THREATS POSE OTHER RISKS? Such calls have proven dangerous and even outright deadly. In 2017, a police officer in Wichita, Kansas, shot and killed a man while responding to a hoax emergency call. Earlier this year, the city agreed to pay $5 million to settle a related lawsuit, with the money to go to the two children of 28-year-old Andrew Finch. In 2015, police in Maryland shot a 20-year-old man in the face with rubber bullets after a fake hostage situation was reported at his home. In addition to putting innocent people at risk, police and officials say they worry about diverting resources from real emergencies. WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE COULD THIS PROMPT? Police are investigating the recent threats. No arrests have yet been reported. Ohio earlier this year made it a felony offense to report a false emergency that prompts response by law enforcement. And Virginia increased the penalties for swatting to up to 12 months in jail. Dixon, the Georgia state senator, said in a statement he planned to introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session to strengthen penalties for
Illegal immigrant population soars under Biden: government data
The number of non-detained illegal immigrants has soared under the Biden administration amid a historic crisis at the southern border, a new report released Friday shows, even as deportations have climbed but have failed to keep pace with the surge at the border. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report for fiscal 2023 shows that the number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket has soared from 3.7 million in FY 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in FY 2022 to nearly 6.2 million in FY 2023. The non-detained docket includes illegal immigrants who have final orders of removal or are going through removal proceedings but are not detained in ICE custody. The number on the detained docket has increased from 22,000 to over 36,000 in the same period. BORDER NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER BREAK MONTHLY RECORD, AS BIDEN TALKS AMNESTY WITH MEXICO The number of illegal immigrants being deported has increased, according to the report, but it is still a fraction of the increase in the illegal immigrant population. There were 142,580 removals in FY 23, up considerably from 72,177 in FY 22 and 59,011 in FY 21, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in FY 19. ICE noted that the 142,580 removals were in addition to over 60,000 Title 42 expulsions in FY 23 at the border, some of whom it said would have otherwise been subject to deportation. That’s at the same time as there were a record 2.4 million migrant apprehensions at the southern border. Those numbers have looked likely to continue, with Fox News reporting on Friday that December will shatter records for monthly encounters with over 276,000 encounters. Fox has previously reported that officials have said they are releasing around 5,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. each day. The agency also pointed to an increase in administrative ICE arrests, which increased by 19.5% to 170,590 in FY 23. It also arrested 73,822 illegal immigrants with a criminal history. “ICE continues to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, remove threats to national security and public safety, uphold the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and collaborate with colleagues across government and law enforcement in pursuit of our mission to keep U.S. communities safe,” acting ICE Director Patrick Leichleitner said in a statement. “I am proud of the efforts of our more than 20,000-strong workforce who work every day to achieve their mission while also assisting homeland security and law enforcement partners with integrity, courage and excellence.” US-MEXICO MIGRATION TALKS INCLUDED BENEFITS OF ‘REGULARIZING’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN US The Biden administration significantly narrowed ICE enforcement priorities in 2021, limiting agents to arresting and deporting those who are either recent border crossers, national security threats or public safety threats. It came after the administration initially tried to slap a moratorium on all ICE deportations, but was blocked by a federal judge. The administration says the narrowed priorities are necessary due to limited ICE resources, but Republican critics have claimed it is part of an open-borders agenda from the administration. Separately, ICE only removed 212 unaccompanied minors in FY 23, despite the more than 137,000 arriving in FY 23; it’s a new low and down considerably from over 6,000 removed in FY 19. Meanwhile, ICE deported 139 known or suspected terrorists in FY 23, a large jump in deportations of that population from 56 in FY 22 and higher than the numbers seen during the Trump administration as well, where 58 were removed in FY 19. LIBERAL MAYORS PUSH BIDEN FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION, ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO DEAL WITH MIGRANT CRISIS The new report is unlikely to satisfy Republican criticisms of the Biden administration, who see the enormous number of migrants being released into the U.S. and what they regard as insufficient efforts to either stop them coming in or deport them. Some Republicans have pushed for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, while a number of Republican states unsuccessfully sued to block the administration’s narrowing of ICE priorities. The White House has called for an additional $14 billion in border funding, which includes additional ICE detention beds and immigration judges. But it has been held up as Republicans demand stricter limits on asylum and the administration’s use of humanitarian parole. Some Republicans have called for the inclusion of the House GOP border security bill, which would restart border wall construction and significantly limit releases of migrants into the interior. The administration has reportedly been open to a new Title 42-style removal authority and additional detention and removals as part of any agreement, but it is unclear if any such agreement can be reached and if it could pass both chambers of Congress. Fox News’ Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
South Africa files case at ICJ accusing Israel of ‘genocidal acts’ in Gaza
South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza after nearly three months of relentless Israeli bombardment has killed more than 21,500 people and caused widespread destruction in the besieged enclave. In an application to the court on Friday, South Africa described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”. “The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” the application said. The ICJ, also called the World Court, is a UN civil court that adjudicates disputes between countries. It is distinct from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes individuals for war crimes. As members of the UN, both South Africa and Israel are bound by the court. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank with his country’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation imposed by the white-minority rule that ended in 1994. Several human rights organisations have said that Israeli policies towards Palestinians amount to apartheid. PRESS RELEASE: #SouthAfrica institutes proceedings against #Israel and asks the #ICJ to indicate provisional measures https://t.co/WedDXvtBD4 pic.twitter.com/VCCDyORrLy — CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) December 29, 2023 Global condemnation South Africa said Israel’s conduct, particularly since the war began on October 7, violates the UN’s Genocide Convention, and called for an expedited hearing. The application also requests the court to indicate provisional measures to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people” under the Convention. “South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants,” a statement from South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said, adding that the country has “repeatedly stated that it condemns all violence and attacks against all civilians, including Israelis.” “South Africa has continuously called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the resumption of talks that will end the violence arising from the continued belligerent occupation of Palestine,” the statement added. Israel has rejected global calls for a ceasefire saying the war would not stop until the Hamas group, whose October 7 attack triggered the current phase of the conflict, was destroyed. Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack in Israel. The Palestinian group has said its attack was against Israel’s 16-year-old blockade of Gaza and expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Settlement expansions pose the biggest hurdle in the realisation of a future Palestinian state comprising Gaza, occupied West Banka and East Jerusalem. In the latest development in Israel’s war on Gaza, tens of thousands of newly displaced Palestinians in the centre of the Palestinian enclave on Friday were forced to flee further south as Israel expanded its ground and air offensive in the centre of the enclave. Israel has faced global condemnation for the mounting toll and destruction and is accused of meting out collective punishment on the Palestinian people. ‘A very important step’ The court application is the latest move by South Africa, a vociferous critic of Israel’s war, to ratchet up pressure after its lawmakers last month voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a ceasefire was agreed. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the United Nations headquarters in New York, said the move was “clearly a very important step to try to hold some accountability to Israel.” “Now that South Africa is pushing this to the ICJ, it will be on [the UN’s] agenda to try to make a ruling on this very important question,” he added. On November 16, a group of 36 UN experts called on the international community to “prevent genocide against the Palestinian people”, calling Israel’s actions since October 7 a “genocide in the making”. “We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilise to prevent genocide,” the experts said in a statement. Israel rejects South Africa’s accusations Israel has rejected South Africa’s move as “baseless”, calling it “blood libel.” “South Africa’s claim lacks both a factual and a legal basis, and constitutes despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court,” Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Lior Haiat, said in a statement posted on X. “Israel has made it clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not the enemy, and is making every effort to limit harm to the non-involved and to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip,” the statement added. “It does rally public opinion to the reality of what’s going on in Palestine, not just in Gaza but also in the West Bank,” said Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara. According to Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, genocide involves acts committed with the “intent to destroy, either in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” “Where the disagreement lies is whether there is intent or no intent,” Bishara said. “The three leading Israeli officials have declared the intent, starting with Israeli President Herzog when he said there are ‘no innocents’ in Gaza, the defence minister who said Israel will impose collective punishment on the people of Gaza because they are ‘human animals’,” Bishara said, adding that prime minister Netanyahu also used a biblical analogy in a statement widely interpreted as a genocidal call. Adblock test (Why?)
Iranian national with terror ties caught crossing US northern border illegally
An Iranian national with links to terrorism attempted to cross illegally into the U.S. via the northern border, officials announced this week — coming amid ongoing concerns about the potential for those with terror ties to enter via the border. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a release this week that it has removed the Iranian, who is also a permanent resident of Canada, a national security priority and wanted for assault, back to Canada. The unnamed man had tried to enter legally in October at the port of entry in Niagara Falls, but was refused entry by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and turned back to Canadian border officials. BORDER PATROL ENCOUNTERED 17 PEOPLE ON TERROR WATCH LIST AT SOUTHERN BORDER IN NOVEMBER He was then arrested two days later trying to enter illegally between the ports of entry near the Whirlpool Bridge port of entry. He was served with an expedited order of removal in November and was removed to Canada earlier this month based on a Safe Third Country agreement between the two countries. “The strong law enforcement partnership between ERO Buffalo and Canadian law enforcement authorities is imperative to increasing national security and preventing dangerous individuals from fleeing justice,” Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas Brophy said in a statement. “The Canadian resident’s return to Canada to face charges is due to the dedicated officers on both sides of the border, working in tandem, to provide public safety for our communities,” he said. The arrest comes amid continued concerns that terrorists may try to enter the U.S. through the land borders, particularly at the southern border where officials are overwhelmed with the migrant numbers coming over. But the northern border has also seen a sharp increase in encounters too. In FY 23, there were 484 encounters of people on the FBI’s terror watch list at the ports of entry, and three between ports of entry. BORDER NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER BREAK MONTHLY RECORD, AS BIDEN ADMIN TALKS AMNESTY WITH MEXICO The Department of Homeland Security’s threat assessment, published in October, noted that agents have encountered a growing number on the watch list and warned that “terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.” “Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States,” the assessment also said. At the same time, FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that those who evade Border Patrol and get into the U.S. as gotaways are a source of “great concern” for the agency. Officials have also stressed that encounters of those on the watchlist are uncommon, and have highlighted the multi-layered screening processes designed to weed out those with terror ties coming into the U.S. — as they did with the Iranian encountered this year. “Encounters of watchlisted individuals at our borders are very uncommon, underscoring the critical work CBP Agents and Officers carry out every day on the front lines,” the agency states on its website. “DHS works tirelessly to secure our borders through a combination of highly trained personnel, ground and aerial monitoring systems, and robust intelligence and information sharing networks.”
Maine GOP state lawmaker moves to impeach state secretary over Trump ballot removal
A Maine Republican state lawmaker wants to impeach the Maine secretary of state who removed former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot. GOP state Rep. John Andrews said he wants to pursue impeachment against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she disqualified Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday. In her ruling, Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection.” Andrews said in a statement that he filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office saying he wanted “to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.” HOUSE DEMOCRAT FROM MAINE RIPS STATE’S DECISION TO TAKE TRUMP OFF BALLOT “In Maine, the people do not elect the Secretary of State, Attorney General or Treasurer,” Andrews told Fox News Digital. “They are chosen by elected Democrat Party insiders after deals are made in the back room of State House.” “Shenna Bellows knows that the process that put her there is extremely partisan,” he continued. “She should know better and be going out of her way to be as neutral as possible to serve every citizen in Maine and not just registered Democrats.” “That’s why she swore an oath to the Constitution and not the Democrat Party,” he added. “We are still a republic, but moves like this fracture that foundation, which ultimately is the point of all this.” Andrews said in his statement that he wants to impeach Bellows “on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and [the] 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Party ballot in March.” “Donald J. Trump has met all qualifications for the March 2024 Republican Presidential Primary. He should be allowed on the ballot. This is raw partisanship and has no place in the offices of our state’s Constitutional Officers,” he continued. Andrews’ press release noted a social media post he made, saying Bellows’ decision “is hyper-partisanship on full display.” “A Secretary of State APPOINTED by legislative Democrats bans President Trump from the 2024 ballot so that she can jockey for position in the 2026 Democrat Primary for Governor,” Andrews said. “Banana Republic isn’t just a store at the mall.” Andrews said Friday in a “FOX & Friends” interview that Bellows “has unilaterally disenfranchised 300,060 Maine voters with this partisan move.” He also applauded U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, for speaking out against Bellows’ move, even with his dislike of Trump. Golden slammed Bellows over the move, saying that he “voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th Insurrection.” “I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Golden said Thursday night. “However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.” The Maine secretary of state defended her move while responding to Golden’s criticism during a CNN interview on Friday. “I reviewed Section Three of the 14th Amendment very carefully and determined that Section Three of the 14th Amendment does not say ‘conviction,’ it says ‘engage,’” Bellows said. “And, let’s go back and keep in mind that the events of January 6, 2021, were unprecedented and tragic,” Bellows continued. “This was an attack, not only on the Capitol and the government officials, the former vice president, members of Congress, but an attack on the rule of law.” “And the weight of evidence that I reviewed indicated that it was, in fact, an insurrection,” she added. “And Mr. Trump engaged in that insurrection under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.” In a shock decision issued Thursday evening, Bellows said Trump was ineligible for the state’s 2024 primary ballot, citing a clause in the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” from running for elected office without two-thirds congressional approval. The clause was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military. It was also referenced by Colorado’s highest court in a 4-3 ruling last week similarly barring Trump from that state’s primary ballot. The decision was challenged by the Colorado GOP, setting up a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bellows’ office declined to comment. Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
What’s behind recent coups in Africa?
Overthrow of leaders in Niger and Gabon has been met by international condemnation but celebrations at home. Two more coups in Africa during the past year. That brings to nine, the number of governments deposed on the continent since 2020. Are there common factors, or are these takeovers isolated? And what could we see in the coming year? Presenter: Laura Kyle Guests: Alexis Akwagyiram – Managing editor at the news website, Semafor Africa In Abuja is Kabir Adamu – Managing director at Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence provider in Nigeria and the Sahel region And in Bamako, Mali is Moussa Kondo – Executive director of the Sahel Institute and formerly special adviser to the current interim president of Mali, Assimi Goita Adblock test (Why?)
Argentina announces that it will not join BRICS bloc
The move is the latest shift in economic and foreign policy by newly elected hard-right President Javier Milei. Argentina has announced that it will not join the BRICS bloc of developing economies, fulfilling a campaign promise by newly elected far-right President Javier Milei who has pledged to pursue closer ties with the West. In a letter dated December 22 but released on Friday, Milei told the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that the timing for Argentina’s membership in the bloc was not opportune. Milei said in his letter that his approach to foreign affairs “differs in many aspects from that of the previous government. In this sense, some decisions made by the previous administration will be reviewed.” Argentina’s new president, a self-described anarcho-libertarian who has pushed forward a series of radical economic reforms since taking office in December, has said that he will pursue a foreign policy that aligns with Western countries, moving away from the previous administration’s efforts to build ties with other developing countries. Former centre-left President Alberto Fernandez had promoted Argentina’s inclusion in BRICS as a way to foster economic relations with the bloc, whose members account for about 25 percent of world GDP. Argentina had been set to join on January 1, 2024. Reporting from the capital city of Buenos Aires, Al Jazeera correspondent Monica Yanakiew said that Milei has already issued sweeping changes during his three weeks in office. “He has already made dramatic changes in all walks of life, from expediting divorce procedures to deregulating prices to eliminating subsidies, everything is changing here now,” she said. During his campaign, Milei railed against countries ruled “by communism” such as China and neighbouring economic power Brazil and said he would pursue greater alignment with “free nations of the West” such as Israel and the US in his economic and foreign policy. However, in his letter to the BRICS leaders, Milei said that Argentina would seek to “intensify bilateral ties” in order to increase “trade and investment flows” without joining the group. Domestically, Milei is also facing substantial pushback from the country’s powerful organised labour groups as he embarks on a programme of economic “shock therapy” and deregulation as Argentina reels from sky-high inflation. Adblock test (Why?)