Lincoln Memorial steps vandalized with ‘Free Gaza’ graffiti, red paint
The National Park Service is working on Wednesday to remove red paint and the words “Free Gaza” that appeared this morning near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. “Vandalism was discovered in the area of Lincoln Memorial Circle and the Reflecting Pool,” the United States Park Police said in a statement. “National Park Service conservators have begun the process of removing the paint this morning, though it may take multiple treatments over several days to remove all of it,” Park Police added. “The steps on the west side of the Reflecting Pool are closed to visitors while the conservation work takes place.” Images and video captured by Fox5 DC showed workers washing and brushing away the red paint. LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS It is not immediately clear who was behind the incident. Anyone with information about it is urged to contact the United States Park Police, according to Fox5 DC. Numerous pro-Palestinian protests have unfolded in Washington, D.C., since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October. Dozens of anti-Israel protesters were arrested on Tuesday after staging an illegal rally inside the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., an act led by activist Linda Sarsour, according to reports. Last Monday, a protest calling for a cease-fire led to over 40 arrests at the Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Fox5 DC reported. The pro-Palestinian protesters were illegally demonstrating inside the Congressional space, according to authorities. Just after 10 a.m., a Capitol spokesperson told Fox 5 that the demonstrators arrived, with one man even climbing a statue in the atrium, before being charged with resisting arrest. CAPITOL POLICE ARREST 60 ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS FOR ILLEGALLY PROTESTING INSIDE ROTUNDA: REPORTS Earlier that day, just hours before the annual White House Hanukkah party, 18 Jewish elders chained themselves to the White House gates to demand the U.S. to stop funding and arming the genocide in Gaza, according to a post on X by Jewish Voice for Peace. In November, police responded to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee as pro-Palestinian demonstrators grew violent while calling for an immediate cease-fire. U.S. Capitol Police said about 150 people were “illegally and violently protesting” near the DNC headquarters building on Nov. 15. Police made arrests and USCP confirmed on X that six officers were injured during clashes with demonstrators. Authorities said that the officers suffered injuries ranging from minor cuts, pepper spray burns or being punched by protesters who turned violent alongside peaceful protesters. Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Stepheny Price, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Feds sue Colony Ridge developer, accusing it of preying on Latino homebuyers
Federal authorities accused the Houston-area developer of targeting Latino home buyers with predatory loans and false promises. The housing development drew the attention of state lawmakers after right-wing publications claimed it is a magnet for undocumented immigrants.
Red states see 2023 population growth as Americans flee blue states, census data shows
Red states are dominating migration trends among U.S. states, according to new population estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau released a report Wednesday outlining population trends in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. “The increasing number of states with population growth reflects both the broad national trends of deaths and net international migration returning to pre-COVID levels as well as reduced net domestic outmigration for some of the states,” the report reads. Texas experienced the largest numeric population growth of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the data. THOUSANDS OF BLUE STATE RESIDENTS FLOCK TO IDAHO, BRINGING CONSERVATIVE POLITICS WITH THEM: DATA The Texas population grew from 30,029,848 on July 1, 2022, to 30,503,301 on the same day in 2023. Florida was directly behind Texas in second place, experiencing a growth from 22,245,521 in 2022 to 22,610,726 in 2023. NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA EXODUS CONTINUES, BUT ‘CATASTROPHIC EFFECT’ OF BIDEN ECONOMY MAY BE ON THE WAY: EXPERTS In descending rank, the rest of the top 10 states for population growth between 2022 and 2023 are: North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Virginia, Colorado and Utah. South Carolina and Florida led the way as the two fastest-growing states by percentage last year, growing by 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively, the report found. Eight states experienced a fall in population between 2022 and 2023: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP California experienced the highest gross population decrease by far, losing 75,423 residents. The population losses in those states were less than in 2022. They lost a total of 249,161 in 2023, versus 509,789 in 2022, the Census Bureau estimated. Puerto Rico continued to experience population decline between 2022 and 2023, though the trend has slowed to a loss of 0.4% – approximately 14,422.
Biden’s House Democrat challenger embraces progressives’ Medicare-for-All bill
President Biden’s House Democrat challenger for the White House is endorsing the progressive policy of “Medicare-for-All.” Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., threw his hat behind the controversial state-provided free healthcare policy in a recent interview amid his challenge against Biden for his job. Phillips said he was signing on to the bill led by House Progressive Caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., with his staff saying the congressman would sign onto the bill Wednesday. DEAN PHILLIPS CALLS BIDEN POSSIBLY ‘UNELECTABLE’ IN 2024 AFTER GOP IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY Phillips, a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus who has long been considered a centrist, had not signed onto the proposal before. His signature on the bill shows him moving toward the progressive wing of the party. The congressman told Politico that his policy shift did not have anything to do with his presidential bid against Biden. However, Phillips’ endorsement of the policy puts him in stark contrast to Biden amid his White House challenge against the president. Biden refused to endorse socializing healthcare during the 2020 presidential election — even as his eventual running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, did. Prior to his election, he indicated during an MSNBC interview that he would veto Medicare-for-All legislation as president over its price tag. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s campaign for comment. Phillips also said he has his issues with the plan, such as prohibiting almost all private health insurance. The Democratic congressman said his “journey” to endorsing the plan was “a long one.” Phillips said he took his healthcare access for granted until he saw uninsured children battling cancer after his daughter’s Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis almost 10 years ago. The issue entered his mind again in 2016 when he opened up coffee shops and found it “profoundly disappointing” that he could not afford health insurance for his part-time employees. Phillips also took another look at the policy after being elected in 2018 to represent the district that headquarters UnitedHealth Group. “I started to recognize this massive disconnect between the behemoths in the health insurance business and then the people that I represented, who were telling me the most horrifying stories about having their coverage denied or having to take on medical debt or going bankrupt,” Phillips told Politico. “I have a progressive heart, a pragmatic head, and want to work with people on both sides of the aisle to achieve better outcomes for the country that both improve care and lower costs,” he added. “Those are the best combinations of progressive and conservative principles I could possibly imagine, and that makes this proposition remarkably centrist.” Phillips declined to say how “Medicare-for-All” would be paid. Fox News Digital reached out to Phillips’ campaign for comment.
Three new criminal bills passed in Lok Sabha: 8 key points
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws by voice vote.
How Do I Handle a Delayed Flight?
Familiarize yourself with the airline’s policies and the UK regulations on passenger rights to ensure you receive the compensation you are entitled to.
New satellite-based tolling system on National highways to start by…: Nitin Gadkari
India’s National highways will soon bring satellite-based tolling systems, announced the Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
Trump decision splits Colorado Supreme Court along elite East Coast law schools, Denver Law lines
The decision to disqualify former President Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot split the Colorado Supreme Court not along party lines, but by law schools. The four Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot all attended Ivy League institutions or otherwise a top-ranked elite law school on the East Coast for law school. The three dissenting justices, meanwhile, all graduated from the University of Denver’s law school, Jason Willick, a Washington Post columnist, pointed out in a post on X. The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate, setting up a likely showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race. “A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision. COLORADO SUPREME COURT DISQUALIFIES TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT The four who ruled in favor of the plaintiffs were Colorado Supreme Court Justices Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Monica Márquez and William W. Hood III. Gabriel graduated from UPenn, Hart graduated from Harvard, Márquez graduated from Yale and Hood graduated from the University of Virginia for law school. This comes as the nation’s most prestigious universities have faced widespread criticism for spreading wokeism and failing to condemn rampant antisemitism on American campuses in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on southern Israel. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who grilled the presidents of Harvard, UPenn and the University of Massachusetts earlier this month on whether calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews violated their institutions’ codes of conduct, also reacted to the Colorado ruling Tuesday. “Four partisan Democrat operatives on the Colorado Supreme Court think they get to decide for all Coloradans and Americans the next presidential election,” Stefanik, R-N.Y., said. Those who dissented were Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright and Justices Maria E. Berkenkotter and Carlos Samour. All three went to Denver for law school. “Our government cannot deprive someone of the right to hold public office without due process of law,” Samour wrote in his dissent. “Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past — dare I say, engaged in insurrection — there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office.” POLL SHOWS BIDEN HITTING RECORD LOW APPROVALS, FALLING BEHIND AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024 MATCHUP All seven Colorado justices were appointed by Democrats. Boatright, Hood, Gabriel, Hart and Samour were appointed by Democratic former Gov. John Hickenlooper, while Márquez was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, and Berkenkotter was appointed by current Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. Trump lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and does not necessarily need the state’s 10 electoral votes to win next year’s presidential election. However, the danger for the former president is that more courts and election officials could follow Colorado’s lead and exclude Trump from must-win states. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed nationally to disqualify Trump under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War. The Colorado case was brought by the left-leaning group, Citizens for Responsibility, on behalf of six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters. After a weeklong hearing in November, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace found that Trump indeed had “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, but her ruling said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the Section 3 provision was intended to cover the presidency. Trump’s attorneys had afterward urged Colorado’s highest court to reverse Wallace’s ruling that Trump incited the Jan. 6 riot, arguing the then-president had simply been using his free speech rights and had not called for violence. Trump attorney Scott Gessler also argued the attack was more of a “riot” than an insurrection. The Colorado Supreme Court overturned Wallace’s ruling Tuesday but stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado election officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CAIR quietly scrubs Democrats’ praise for group after blowback over leader’s pro-Hamas comments
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) appears to have scrubbed Democratic lawmakers’ praise for its group from its website following blowback over its leader’s controversial statements regarding Hamas, Fox News Digital has discovered. Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director, recently said he was “happy to see” the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of Israel and that the Jewish state did not have a right to self-defense because it was an “occupying power.” After Awad made the contentious comments, Fox News Digital and other publications questioned Democratic lawmakers who previously expressed support for the group in letters and statements, including some posted on CAIR’s endorsements and awards page. The endorsements and awards page that contained glowing recognition from Democrats was wiped clean sometime in the past few days and now shows a ‘404’ error. DEM LAWMAKERS HAVE HISTORY OF PRAISE FOR GROUP WHOSE LEADER SAID HE WAS ‘HAPPY TO SEE’ HAMAS ATTACK ISRAEL The page was last captured by the Wayback Machine, an internet archiver, on December 4. It shows its previous state, including its “Awards and Recognitions from Interfaith, Law Enforcement, Elected Officials and Others.” The page contained over 100 current and former Democratic politicians heaping praise on the group. Federal lawmakers such as Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Vice President Kamala Harris had attributable quotes on the website. Additionally, the page contained numerous quotes from lawmakers in Congress’ lower chamber, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Andre Carson of Indiana, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Katie Porter of California, among others. Awad caused headaches for several Democrats following his Nov. 24 speech at the 16th Annual Convention for Palestine in the U.S., where he said he was “happy to see” Hamas attack Israel. WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLES TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM ISLAMIC GROUP AFTER LEADER’S PRAISE FOR HAMAS’ OCT 7TH SLAUGHTER “The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege – the walls of the concentration camp – on Oct. 7,” Awad said during his speech. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not free to walk in.” “And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense – have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense,” he said. Awad’s remarks forced the White House to scramble and scrub CAIR as a committed partner to fight antisemitism on its website. A White House spokesperson also forcefully reprimanded his comments in a previous statement to Fox News Digital. “We condemn these shocking, Antisemitic statements in the strongest terms,” the White House spokesperson said. “The horrific, brutal terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th were, as President Biden said, ‘abhorrent’ and represent ‘unadulterated evil.’” CAIR DIRECTOR SAYS HE WAS ‘HAPPY’ TO WITNESS OCT. 7 ATTACKS, ISRAEL ‘DOES NOT HAVE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE’ Some Democrat lawmakers who associated with or praised the group also condemned Awad’s statements after facing questions about their support, while others remained silent. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms these antisemitic statements – and anyone who tries to make excuses for Hamas’ murder of innocent civilians,” Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who also had an attributable quote on CAIR’s website, previously told Fox News Digital. “I strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself and will continue to stand with the Israeli people as they fight back against Hamas’ terrorism.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told Fox News Digital that Awad exhibited “blatantly antisemitic comments.” “There are no two ways about this: Hamas’s October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel were completely horrific – innocent Israelis were slaughtered, hundreds of civilians were kidnapped, and now, countless families are grieving and afraid,” Baldwin said. “I condemn these blatantly antisemitic comments in no uncertain terms, and these remarks have led to me completely losing faith in the organization and its work.” Likewise, Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who previously praised a local CAIR chapter’s “diversity and equality” efforts, pushed back against Awad’s remarks. “October 7th was a brutal and vicious attack on innocent Israeli civilians,” Casey told Fox News Digital last week. “I unequivocally condemn the antisemitic and hateful comments made by CAIR’s leadership and any comments that celebrate the despicable acts of Hamas terrorists.” CAIR did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on its endorsement page.
Biden admin holds 73 million-acre lease sale after appeals court steps in
The Biden administration will hold a massive offshore oil and gas lease sale Wednesday after its efforts to scrap the auction over potential climate and environmental impacts failed. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold Lease Sale 261, which spans more than 73 million acres across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to garner hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bids from industry. BOEM’s sale comes a month after an appeals court forced the agency to scrap eco restrictions on the sale and nearly two years after the White House tried to cancel the sale altogether. “It’s a very important lease sale considering the uncertainty on the horizon for additional offshore oil and gas leasing,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents both traditional and renewable offshore energy producers. “There are competing pressures heading into the event. “On one hand, unless there is congressional action, this marks the final lease sale until at least 2025,” he told Fox News Digital. “We operate in a prospective business where companies must acquire new lease blocks for exploration and potential development. However, there is no guarantee that acquired leases have enough hydrocarbons to warrant investment. Companies want to invest in the Gulf of Mexico, and this represents their final opportunity to gather more leases for a while.” MAJOR ‘CLIMATE DECEPTION’ LAWSUIT AGAINST BIG OIL VOLUNTARILY DISMISSED Milito added that, on the other hand, the Biden administration has “repeatedly shown an unwillingness” to encourage offshore oil and gas production and could pursue policies delaying or shrinking future sales. Such policies would discourage investment in domestic exploration, driving it overseas instead, he said. “Companies have already faced a slate of regulatory and policy-driven disincentives as they try to develop what is fundamentally a national strategic asset,” Milito said. “While the U.S. offshore energy regulatory structure has historically been a competitive advantage, at a certain point, companies will choose to invest their dollars in regions with fair and predictable regulations and policies.” DARK MONEY GROUP WIRED MILLIONS TO LAW FIRM SUING BIG OIL WITH DEM STATES In November, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that last-minute restrictions BOEM placed on Lease Sale 261 under a closed-door settlement with climate advocacy organization were illegal, and the agency was required to move forward with the sale as originally planned. Following the ruling, BOEM scheduled the sale, which had originally been slated for late September, for Wednesday. The July settlement with environmental groups, meanwhile, came after years of litigation and specifically expands protections for the Rice’s whale, a species listed as endangered. The settlement made the lease sale smaller by 6 million acres and created multiple vessel restrictions for companies that obtain leases which energy groups argued would stifle industry interest. In May 2022, the White House intervened in Lease Sale 261 and the two other remaining scheduled offshore lease sales, canceling all three in an unexpected move “due to factors including conflicting court rulings.” However, the three sales were all reinstated under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which tethers future oil and gas lease sales to future renewable energy lease sales, effectively forcing the administration to pursue both. A BOEM spokesperson declined comment. Under federal law, the Department of the Interior is required to periodically issue five-year plans scheduling future offshore lease sales. Lease Sale 261 is the final sale scheduled under the 2017 plan that expired last year. Earlier this month, the administration finalized the newest five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program, which schedules just three Gulf of Mexico lease sales through 2029, marking the fewest number of sales ever included in such a plan. As a result, the next sale is slated for 2025 and 2024 is expected to be the first year without an offshore lease sale since the mid-1960s. “Simply put, this final 5-year program fails to meet the energy needs of the American people and could threaten to increase reliance on foreign energy sources,” American Petroleum Institute Vice President of Upstream Policy Holly Hopkins said last week. “Demand for affordable, reliable energy is only growing, yet the administration is choosing to limit future production in a region that plays a critical role in powering our nation and supplies among the lowest carbon-intensive barrels in the world,” she added. “This program is a step in the wrong direction for U.S. energy security and will only make it harder to meet growing energy demand over the long-term.”