Breaking: TMC MP Mahua Moitra expelled from Lok Sabha over cash-for-query row
During the discussion, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla did not allow Mahua Moitra to speak in the House on the recommendation of the Ethics Committee. He had said that she got a chance to speak in the panel meeting.
Biden heads to California for big Hollywood money haul
President Joe Biden kicks off a three-day, star-studded fundraising trip in California on Friday that a top campaign official boasted will rake in a record amount of cash for the Democratic president’s 2024 re-election effort.
IPC issues alert against adverse reactions of painkiller Meftal
The mefenamic acid painkiller is prescribed in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhoea, mild to moderate pain, inflammation, fever and dental pain.
2024 Showdown: The real winner of four GOP presidential primary debates could be the guy who didn’t show up
The four Republican presidential primary debates of 2023 are in the books. Whether there will be another showdown before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses remains to be seen. The big winner from the four prime-time clashes appears to be the candidate who skipped out on all four debates and came out relatively unscathed. That candidate is former President Donald Trump, who, in his third straight White House run, is the commanding frontrunner in the GOP nomination race with the Iowa caucuses, which kick off the 2024 GOP presidential nominating calendar, and the New Hampshire primary fast approaching. TRUMP ONCE AGAIN OFF THE HOOK DESPITE THIS CANDIDATE’S BEST EFFORTS “They did not change the fact that former President Trump will likely be the nominee and will likely win Iowa and New Hampshire by large margins,” said Jimmy Centers, a longtime Iowa-based Republican strategist and communicator who served on multiple presidential campaigns. Dave Kochel, another veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns with decades of experience in Iowa, emphasized the debates have been “the semifinals.” He said Trump’s had “a bye week” and that he’s already “going into the finals.” RNC CHAIR MCDANIEL DEFENDS THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING GOP 2024 FIELD Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including those in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County Court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters. Wednesday’s debate — with just four candidates on the stage — was the smallest to date but delivered some of the biggest fireworks. Much of the verbal crossfire at the showdown at the University of Alabama was directed at Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor who has enjoyed plenty of momentum this autumn. Despite the best efforts of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who repeatedly chastised his rivals for failing to verbally confront Trump, the former president once again emerged with relatively few bruises. TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREVIEWS ‘EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE’ PUSH IN IOWA “We’re 17 minutes into this debate. … We’ve had these three acting as if the race is between the four of us,” Christie said as he pointed to Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Christie said it was “ridiculous” his debate rivals wouldn’t discuss Trump. “I’m in this race because the truth needs to be spoken,” Christie said. “He is unfit to be president.” Christie’s jabs at Trump drew boos a couple times during the debate, including in his closing comments when he predicted Trump would be convicted and would be unable to vote for himself. “If we deny reality as a party, we’re gonna have four more years of Joe Biden,” Christie warned. But Christie’s scolding of his rivals mostly fell on deaf ears. They mostly avoided direct criticism of Trump even when the moderators asked a series of questions regarding the former president. “None of them on that stage tonight talked about his conduct. They acted as if this trial that’s coming up in March isn’t even going to happen. That’s why I said tonight, ‘Can we stop pretending that four of us are the only people in this race?’” Christie told reporters in the spin room after the debate. DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP? At one point during the debate, Christie and DeSantis engaged in a heated exchange as Christie pushed DeSantis to answer whether he thought the 77-year-old former president was fit for office. While DeSantis reiterated that “we should not nominate someone who is almost 80 years old,” he wouldn’t go any further. It was the latest example of the reluctance of the major candidates other than Christie to lay into Trump as they try to succeed the former president. Asked about his confrontation with the former New Jersey governor, DeSantis said Thursday on “Fox and Friends” that when it comes to taking on Trump, Christie “was trying to go in a much different direction.” Karoline Leavitt, a former Trump White House press official and former GOP congressional candidate who’s a top spokesperson for the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, argued the debates have been “pointless” and “the biggest waste of time and money and energy that we’ve ever seen.” “Our message consistently — and it continues to get more worthy every day — is that it’s so beyond time for them to do what’s best, realize that they don’t have a practical pathway to the nomination … and they should be unifying around the president,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “That’s been our message for a long time, and I think it’s just become more and more apparent with every single one of these debates.” While the debates haven’t changed the dynamic at the top of the race, they’ve made an impact. Haley has risen in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three debates. She has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire and her home state, which holds the first southern contest. And she’s aiming to make a fight of it in Iowa, where she is pulling even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls. Her rising status was evident Wednesday night, as she came under repeated and withering attacks from DeSantis and Ramaswamy. Even Christie, who defended Haley from Ramaswamy’s degrading attacks, highlighted his policy differences with his fellow former Republican governor. Centers, who served as a top communicator for current Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and former Gov. Terry Branstad, said the debates “have changed things in the sense that here in Iowa and New Hampshire Nikki Haley has positioned herself to come in second place and become the clear alternative to former President Trump. “Absent these debates, we would not be having the conversation we’re having
Top GOP lawmaker moves to reinstate Trump-era rule shredding government red tape
FIRST ON FOX: A top House Republican is moving to force a Trump administration-era policy back into the federal government, calling it a “simple way” to rein in President Biden’s progressive regulatory actions. The bill introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., would codify a government policy active under former President Donald Trump, which forced federal agencies to identify two regulations to be cut for every new one enacted. The legislation, expected Friday, is named “The 2 for 1 Act.” RNC CHAIR MCDANIEL DEFENDS THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING GOP 2024 FIELD “The Biden administration rules by regulation and finds new ways each day to make life harder for American farmers and small businesses,” Gallagher told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Restoring the Trump administration’s common-sense principle of repealing two regulations for every new regulation created is a simple way to rein in the regulatory state, cut red tape and make it easier for Americans to earn a living.” TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREVIEWS ‘EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE’ PUSH IN IOWA In addition to requiring proposals for new regulatory cuts, the bill would direct the White House Office of Management and Budget to project how much a new rule would cost the private sector. The cost of implementing a new rule must be offset by the two proposed cuts. The original policy was enacted with an executive order signed by Trump in January 2017, just days after he took office. It was rescinded by President Biden his first day in the White House. DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP? Biden further empowered regulators in May with an executive order that, among other things, raised the threshold for review of rules based on economic impact. Previously, a new rule was slated for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs if its projected annual economic impact was at least $100 million. Biden’s executive order raised that threshold to at least $200 million. More than 750 new regulations have been finalized since Biden took office, according to the American Action Forum. According to the group’s projection, those regulations cost a total of roughly $437 billion.
UN climate summit serving gourmet burgers, BBQ as it calls for Americans to stop eating meat
The ongoing United Nations COP28 climate summit in Dubai is offering a wide variety of gourmet food options from vendors who serve beef, even as it prepares a report that is expected to call for the West to reduce consumption of beef. According to the summit’s online portal, its food offerings include “juicy beef,” “slabs of succulent meat,” smoked wagyu burgers, Philly cheesesteaks and “melt-in-your-mouth BBQ” in addition to African street BBQ, fast casual Mexican fare and an Asian option that has a “touch of French flair.” The revelation comes as the U.N. faces criticism for preparing a first-of-its-kind report that is expected to be published at the summit and call for lower meat consumption. The U.N.’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) will publish its first-ever global food systems’ road map during an upcoming COP28 session, which is expected to recommend nations that “over-consume meat” to limit their consumption as part of a broader effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U.N. has, for years, called for individuals to ditch animal-based diets, which it says “have a high impact on our planet.” “FAO emphasizes the critical need for an innovative plan and a concrete package of solutions to overhaul agrifood systems,” the organization said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Global Roadmap is positioned as a strategic tool to demonstrate that accelerated climate actions can transform agrifood systems, simultaneously addressing food security and nutrition challenges today and in the future without breaching the 1.5 degrees threshold. In this roadmap, FAO is urging for good food for today and tomorrow.” BIDEN ADMIN UNDER FIRE FOR BURNING TAXPAYER FUNDS ON UN CLIMATE SUMMIT TRIP “The core goal is to achieve [Sustainable Development Goal 2]; Zero Hunger, while being climate-friendly, to attract climate financing for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, along with the actions required to support the achievement of 1.5 degrees (by 2050) based on country commitment, consensus, and country transition,” FAO’s statement continued. However, despite the recommendations of the upcoming FAO report and the U.N.’s repeated calls for people to transition to plant-based diets, roughly a third of the food vendors at COP28 provide meat options, according to the summit’s data. The summit said that figure represented a victory as part of its commitment to deliver “environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, delicious, and nutritious food and beverage.” JOE MANCHIN GOES SCORCHED-EARTH ON BIDEN ADMIN OVER EV ACTIONS BOOSTING CHINA In May, Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of COP28, said in a letter to activists that the summit would “ensure the availability of plant-based food options that are affordable, nutritious, and locally and regionally sourced, with clear emissions labeling.” His letter came in response to repeated calls from the Food@COP climate activist group for the summit to cut back on meat options. “We know that our food systems are intrinsically linked to the fate of our natural world, and so we have made the progressive decision to ensure that we explore how the catering provided across the event can be responsible and climate conscious, helping to echo the emphasis we have placed on the Emirates Declaration,” Mariam Almheiri, the director of COP28’s food system program, said in October. Among the food options offered for attendees are The Hungry Hub, which offers beef and meat; Philly Jawn by Ghostburger, which offers burgers and Philly cheesesteaks; Swaggers, which offers smoked ribs and smoked wagyu burgers; and Mattar Farm Live Cooking, which serves “unbelievable smoked meats” and “melt-in-your-mouth BBQ.” “The hypocrisy of the global elites never ceases to amaze. They’re the same ones who want working people to swear off flying at all while they get to travel to glitzy conferences on private jets to push a radical green agenda,” Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., a member of the Congressional Beef Caucus, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “COP28 putting meat on the menu just proves that we need beef and all kinds of meat to help feed the world,” he continued. “And that’s why I’ll keep fighting the U.N. and the global elites who are trying to kill meat production, which would only shatter the world’s food security and end an age-old way of life for millions of farmers and ranchers around the world.” BIDEN ADMIN UNVEILS LATEST CRACKDOWN ON OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY AT UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), which represents American beef producers, also criticized the U.N. ahead of the FAO’s global food systems’ road map report, pointing to the industry’s relatively low carbon footprint. “As delegates from around the world are preparing to gather in Dubai to identify solutions to the climate change crisis, we call on them to look at solutions holistically. Solutions that seek to reduce meat consumption are misguided and will only lead to limited consumer choice and higher food prices,” NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “At a time when malnutrition plagues countries across the world, a reduction of high-quality animal protein would disproportionately impact consumers who can ill-afford to pay more and are ultimately at the highest risk of malnutrition,” Lane added. “Reducing beef consumption in the U.S. is not a realistic or impactful solution for climate change. America’s beef producers and consumers around the globe deserve real solutions to the climate issue, not artificial barriers to protein consumption that will do nothing to solve the world’s climate issues.” The global food system — which includes land-use change, actual agricultural production, packaging and waste management — generates about 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of 34% of total worldwide emissions, according to a March 2021 study published in the Nature Food journal. FAO data indicates livestock alone is responsible for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., however, agriculture alone generates about 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions, federal data shows. The American agriculture sector accounts for just 1.4% of global emissions and has implemented a wide range of solutions, making it the
Migrant crisis smashing new records amid fresh surge at southern border
The ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border is breaking new records, and multiple marks have been set since September, as the crisis deepens into its third year and Washington struggles to agree on solutions. The latest record was smashed Tuesday with over 12,000 migrant encounters at the southern border. It marked the highest total for a single day ever recorded. Over 10,200 of those were Border Patrol encounters of illegal immigrants coming between ports of entry. The record is one of a number that have been broken in recent months. It was revealed in October that fiscal 2023 set a new record for migrant encounters at the southern border with 2.4 million migrant encounters, outpacing the record set in fiscal 2022. CONGRESS STALLS ON TACKLING BORDER SECURITY AS MIGRANTS STREAM IN WITH NO END IN SIGHT September, the last month of fiscal 2023, had sent its own record for monthly totals with over 260,000 encounters. The numbers dropped to over 240,000 in October, but that marked the highest October figure on record. More recently, the Tucson Sector in Arizona broke records for weekly encounters when officials encountered over 17,500 migrants last week. The records show that despite the efforts of the Biden administration, the crisis has continued to worsen, even after a lull after the expiration of the Title 42 public health order. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS HIT DAILY RECORD AT SOUTHERN BORDER AS WASHINGTON STRUGGLES TO AGREE ON SOLUTIONS The Biden administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and has appealed to Congress for more funding and comprehensive immigration reform to fix what it says is a “broken” system. A $14 billion emergency funding request includes money for shelter and services, more hiring of officials, transportation and resources for an expansion of expedited removal. The administration says it is pursuing a strategy of expanding “lawful pathways” while increasing consequences for illegal entry. “We’ve presented proposals that address the situation, that provide real practical solutions and also do not do violence to our fundamental values,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on CNN Wednesday. “We are a country of refugees. We do have asylum laws. We do have refugee laws. We abide by our international obligations that are long-standing.” REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS, DEMAND DEMS FACE BORDER CRISIS AS BIDEN UKRAINE PLAN HANGS IN BALANCE That funding request, however, has stalled in Congress as Republicans have demanded stricter limits on asylum and a reduced use of humanitarian parole, an executive authority the administration has used to release tens of thousands of migrants into the U.S. each month. Democrats have balked at that demand, some saying it would only be acceptable if it was combined with a mass amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. President Biden this week said he was prepared to accept “significant compromises” on border policy to finish a deal for emergency spending, which would also include funding for Israel and Ukraine. “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border. We need to fix the broken border system,” he said. Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
Hunter Biden’s attorney claims indictments would not have been brought if he was not related to the president
Hunter Biden’s attorney said Thursday that his client would not be facing charges out of Delaware and California if he was not President Biden’s son, saying the charges would not be brought if his last name was “anything other than Biden.” Earlier Thursday, Hunter Biden was indicted in California on nine tax charges over $1.4 million in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019. Special Counsel David Weiss has been using a federal grand jury in Los Angeles to gather evidence of possible criminal tax charges against Hunter Biden. The charging documents filed in California accuse Hunter Biden of spending money on personal expenses including drugs, luxury hotels and exotic cars. “[I]n short, everything but his taxes,” prosecutors wrote. If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 17 years in prison. HUNTER BIDEN FACES NEW INDICTMENT IN CALIFORNIA This comes after Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in October to federal gun charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in connection with Weiss’ years-long investigation. “Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,” defense attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement. “First, U.S. Attorney Weiss bowed to Republican pressure to file unprecedented and unconstitutional gun charges to renege on a non-prosecution resolution. Now, after five years of investigating with no new evidence — and two years after Hunter paid his taxes in full — the U.S. Attorney has piled on nine new charges when he had agreed just months ago to resolve this matter with a pair of misdemeanors.” “I wrote U.S. Attorney Weiss days ago seeking a customary meeting to discuss this investigation,” he continued. “The response was media leaks today that these charges were being filed. All these issues will now be addressed in various courts, the first to occur this Monday when the prosecutors knew our motions to dismiss their first set of questionable charges would be filed.” Lowell said all of Hunter Biden’s back taxes were paid in full more than two years ago and that he has since been up-to-date with his filings and taxes. Lowell also said his client was suffering from a serious drug addiction during the period of unpaid taxes. HUNTER’S EX-BUSINESS ASSOCIATE BLASTS BIDEN’S NEW CLAIM ABOUT SON’S BUSINESS DEALINGS Additionally, Lowell pointed out that millions of Americans fail to file or pay their taxes on time each year and that it is uncommon for someone to be charged for not filing or paying their taxes on time. Lowell said it is especially rare for a person who paid the taxes, interest and penalty afterward to be charged. Thursday’s indictment comes ahead of an expected vote from House Republican leaders next week to formally initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over possible ties to his son’s overseas business dealings. The White House has maintained that President Biden had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings. House Republicans have also said they would move to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he does not appear for a closed-door deposition on Dec. 13. But Hunter Biden has said he would only testify before the House if it is in public because information from closed-door testimonies is selectively leaked and used to “manipulate, even history, the facts and misinform the American public.”
ZPM chief Lalduhoma sworn in as Mizoram chief minister
Alongside Lalduhoma, several other ZPM leaders also took the oath of office as ministers during the swearing-in ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan complex in Aizawl.
Austin will now allow more homes to be built on single-family lots
City officials hope that allowing up to three units per lot will increase supply and slow the explosive increase in housing costs. The measure was approved by Austin City Council in a 9-2 vote late Thursday night.