Woman’s body stuffed in red suitcase found on Delhi-Lucknow highway, police initiate probe
According to initial reports, the police suspected that the entire crime happened elsewhere, and the body was then dumped into the suitcase along the highway.
Gov. JB Pritzker vows Illinois will boost sex changes after decisive Trump victory
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pledged Saturday to keep his state open to transgender treatment after the issue, particularly regarding minors, became a bone of partisan contention during the presidential election. The billionaire governor, whose family is deeply involved in the transgender movement, posted the tweet to mark Transgender Awareness Week. “This Transgender Awareness Week, I want you to know that I see you and have your back as governor,” wrote Pritzker. “Illinois has enshrined protections for gender-affirming care to meet this moment — and because of that, you will have a home here always.” OHIO SENATE PASSES BILL THAT WOULD RESTRICT TRANSGENDER STUDENT ACCESS TO SCHOOL BATHROOMS His state is one of several, including Minnesota and California, critics say foster a climate that encourages some children to seek so-called “gender-affirming care.” Pritzker’s cousin, Jennifer, was born a male but now identifies as a female and is an outspoken proponent of transgender treatment. Jennifer (née James) Pritzker was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army National Guard and is a father of three. Jennifer Pritzker also leads the Chicago-based Tawani Foundation, which awards grants to organizations that support “gender and human sexuality,” according to its website. The Pritzker family fortune was made in Hyatt Hotels. “Continuing my family’s tradition of putting personal philanthropy into service for the public good, the Tawani Foundation strives to make grants that empower the organizations we support to realize and build on their missions,” Jennifer wrote on the foundation’s website. TRUMP HHS COULD REVERSE BIDEN-HARRIS POLICIES ON GENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS Illinois is one of the most progressive states in the nation when it comes to minors who identify as the opposite sex. Gov. Pritzker enacted guidance through the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHR) in December 2021 about non-discrimination protections for “transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students” under the Illinois Human Rights Act of 1979. “Ensuring every Illinois student has access to a safe, validating learning environment where they can be their true self is a top priority for my administration,” Pritzker said in a release. “This guidance from the Illinois Department of Human Rights will provide students, caregivers, and educators another tool to ensure classrooms are welcoming, affirming, and inclusive for all students.” In Illinois, biological males can compete with females under Pritzker’s guidance in school or club sports. Additionally, “use of restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms may not be restricted based upon a student’s physical anatomy or chromosomal sex. A student must be permitted to access restrooms or bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms that align with their gender-related identity and without having to provide documentation or other proof of gender,” according to the IDHR. Pritzker’s policy clarifies that “discomfort or privacy concerns of other students, teachers, or parents” are “not valid reasons to deny or limit the full and equal use of facilities based on a student’s gender-related identity.” The 2024 presidential election’s nationwide GOP mandate is giving Democrats who publicly supported “gender-affirming” policies for minors pause. In a February 2023 video, President-elect Trump said, “I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.” In Illinois, Medicaid can cover gender transition surgeries and drugs for those who are 21 years or older under Gov. Pritzker. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Pritzker’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Federal appeals court affirms ruling that Caldwell County must hold public bail hearings
The Texas Tribune, the Caldwell/Hays Examiner and Mano Amiga challenged the county’s policy of barring the press and public from bail hearings, saying it violated the First Amendment.
Biden awkwardly stands in back of APEC photo with China’s Xi Jinping front and center
President Biden awkwardly stood in the back corner of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) family photo on Saturday, as other prominent world leaders were spotted front and center. Chinese Premier Xi Jinping was placed in the front-center of the photo, next to Peruvian president Dina Boluarte. Boluarte hosted the world leaders in Lima for this year’s APEC summit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was seen in the front row on Xi’s right, along with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Pictures show Biden smiling and laughing with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand while the family photo was being taken. This weekend, Biden had closed-door meetings with a variety of leaders, including Boluarte and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. TRUMP APPOINTS TULSI GABBARD AS DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: ‘FEARLESS SPIRIT’ The photograph’s placement of Biden, who is leaving office in January, departs from where American leaders typically stand. Last year, Biden was center in the 2023 APEC family photo, which was hosted in San Francisco. Trudeau and Xi were on Biden’s right. In 2017, former President Trump stood towards the front-center of that year’s APEC family photo, along with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. HERE ARE THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT CANDIDATES FOR TOP POSTS IN TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION The conference came nearly two weeks after the 2024 presidential election, where Vice President Harris lost to Trump in a huge upset victory. Biden met with the Republican leader this week to discuss the transition process. “I look forward… to having a smooth transition. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,” the Democratic president said to Trump during the meeting. “I appreciate very much the transition that’s so smooth,” Trump replied. “It will be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that.” Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Trump lawyer William Owen Scharf picked for ‘crucial’ White House assistant role
President-elect Trump announced that William Owen Scharf, one of his lawyers, will serve as assistant to the president and staff secretary in the upcoming administration. “I am pleased to announce that William Owen Scharf will serve as Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary,” Trump’s statement read. “Will is a highly skilled attorney who will be a crucial part of my White House team.” The Republican leader added that Scharf, a former federal prosecutor, “has played a key role in defeating the Election Interference and Lawfare waged against me, including by winning the Historic Immunity Decision in the Supreme Court.” “Will is going to make us proud as we Make America Great Again,” Trump added. GOV KRISTI NOEM REFLECTS ON TRUMP WIN, SAYS DEMOCRATS ‘TRY TO PUT WOMEN IN A BOX’ Scharf, who received an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Harvard University, has clerked for two federal appeals court judges. The former prosecutor was also employed by CRC Advisors, a conservative public relations firm, and has also worked for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. Scharf also worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney in St. Louis. HERE ARE THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT CANDIDATES FOR TOP POSTS IN TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION The lawyer recently ran for Missouri attorney general, but lost in the Republican primary to incumbent Andrew Bailey. Bailey won against Democrat Elad Gross earlier in November. Trump posted about Scharf’s appointment shortly before he announced his pick for secretary of energy, Chris Wright, on Saturday night. Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy, “was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics,” Trump wrote. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Trump taps Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright for Department of Energy: ‘Leading technologist and entrepreneur’
President-elect Donald Trump announced that Chris Wright, the CEO and founder of Liberty Energy, will lead the Department of Energy in his new administration. “I am thrilled to announce that Chris Wright will be joining my Administration as both United States Secretary of Energy, and Member of the newly formed Council of National Energy,” Trump said in a statement released Saturday. The newly-elected president wrote that Wright “has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy.” “He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas,” Trump’s statement read. “Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.” The key Cabinet position announcement comes after Trump made independent energy and bolstering oil and gas production a cornerstone of his campaign. While on the campaign trail, Trump pledged to expand fracking and lift a pause on liquefied natural gas exports, which marks a sharp contrast with his predecessor. LEAVE THE OIL TO ME: TRUMP VOWS TO UNLEASH US ENERGY, UNDO KEY BIDEN RULES IN 2ND TERM “They annihilated your steel mills, decimated your coal jobs, assaulted your oil and gas jobs and sold off your manufacturing jobs to China and other foreign nations all over the world,” Trump said of the Biden administration during a campaign event in Pennsylvania last month. BIDEN ADMIN TOUTS JOB WELL DONE REPLENISHING OIL RESERVES DESPITE DEPLETING THEM BY HALF OVER LAST 4 YEARS The president-elect has also vowed to use his second White House term to re-exit the Paris climate accord, undo strict emissions standards for vehicles and power plants, and bolster production of U.S. oil and gas, including through fracking. Trump’s nominees and administration picks during his second administration are being publicly announced at a much faster pace than during his first administration in 2016, which the transition team attributed to Trump’s commitment to putting “America first.” EPA’S NEW RULE TO CHARGE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES FOR EMISSIONS COULD FACE A TRUMP RECKONING “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail — and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First. President Trump will continue to appoint highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked about Trump’s speedy roll-out of Cabinet picks. Under his first administration, Trump tapped former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the position, before Dan Brouillette took the position over in 2019. Trump did not announce his choice of Perry until Dec. 14, 2016, putting him ahead of his first term’s nomination process. On the energy front, Trump also reportedly plans to install an “energy czar” to scale back energy and climate regulations implemented under the Biden administration, and also already named former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
Media bias, inaccuracy and the violence in Amsterdam
What one night of violence revealed about the western media’s failings on Israel and Palestine. In the wake of an ugly eruption of violence on the streets of Amsterdam, the media coverage of the story has been put under the microscope with editors scrambling to revise headlines, rework narratives, and reframe video content. Contributors: Dana Mills – Writer, Local Call and +972 MagazineMarc Owen Jones – Associate professor, Northwestern University QatarJames North – Editor-at-large, MondoweissSamira Mohyeddin – Founder, On The Line Media On our radar Incoming president Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk – one of his most vocal supporters – to co-lead the brand new Department of Government Efficiency. Meenakshi Ravi looks at Musk’s new role and how he could use his influence to get favourable government treatment for his companies. The Headline Fixer Throughout Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, critics have been tearing apart the media coverage – especially by news outlets in the United States. Feature blurb: Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has shone an often-unflattering spotlight on media coverage by mainstream US news outlets. Such failings jump out at us because they often come in the form of headlines. Historian Assal Rad explains the mission she has undertaken to “fix” misleading headlines. Featuring: Assal Rad – Author of State of Resistance: Politics, Culture and Identity in Modern Iran Adblock test (Why?)
G7 backs Ukraine as Zelenskyy says he wants to end war next year
Ukraine president says Kyiv will do everything possible so the war with Russia ends in 2025 ‘through diplomatic means’. Leaders of the G7 alliance have reaffirmed support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants to end the war through talks next year. The Ukrainian president said in a radio interview aired on Saturday that his side will do everything possible so that the war with Russia ends in 2025 “through diplomatic means”. The previous day he said that the re-election of Donald Trump as United States president means that the war will likely end “sooner” than it otherwise would have. Trump has said he wants to end the war immediately and Vice President-elect JD Vance has suggested that a Trump administration could favour letting Russia keep land it has seized on the battlefield, but Zelenskyy said he “didn’t hear anything that goes against our position” when he spoke with Trump earlier this month. For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will only accept an agreement if it sees Kyiv surrender the Ukrainian territory it has lost during the war. The Russian leader told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday during their first direct conversation in almost two years that an agreement would also need to address the “root causes” of the conflict, which include NATO expansion. As all sides prepare for the impacts of a Trump presidency on the war, the G7 affirmed its “support of Kyiv as the thousandth day of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine approaches”. “Russia remains the sole obstacle to just and lasting peace. The G7 confirms its commitment to imposing severe costs on Russia through sanctions, export controls and other effective measures,” the leaders of the group said in a statement. The intergovernmental group consists of the US, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. Italy currently holds the rotating presidency until the end of the year. In advance of Trump’s inauguration in January, Ukraine has been scrambling to secure more Western weapons and funding as the president-elect has heavily criticised US spending on aiding Ukraine. The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden has pledged to strengthen its support for Kyiv in its remaining time in power. Russian advances Zelenskyy also conceded that the situation in eastern Ukraine was difficult and Russian forces were making advances. Moscow’s forces are bearing down on Kurakhove, which has a thermal power plant and is only seven kilometres (four miles) from Pokrovsk, a large town that, for much of the war, has been one of Ukraine’s logistical linchpins. On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, Russia is now advancing at the fastest rate since the war’s earliest days in 2022. North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk to help Moscow fight off a Ukrainian incursion that started in August. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that air defences downed 15 drones in Kursk, along with multiple other attacking aircraft in several other regions. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli air raid on Gaza City school-turned-shelter kills 10 people
The strike took place at a UN-run school in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp. An Israeli strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp has killed 10 people and wounded at least 20 others, Palestinian medics said. Rescue operations were under way at the UN-run Abu Assi school in northern Gaza on Saturday, health officials said. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that according to locals and witnesses, most of the people sheltering in the school were displaced from other parts of Gaza. “Let me remind you there is only one hospital functioning in the city … and we know the health situation in hospitals in Gaza has been horrible … so it is difficult to help the injured,” she said. Palestinian health officials said at least 30 people were killed by Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Saturday. The northern Gaza Strip, in particular, has been under siege for more than 40 days. “Israeli soldiers have surrounded and imposed a strict blockade on Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, Jabalia and Beit Hanoon, where Palestinians are unable to evacuate their besieged homes,” Khoudary said. “We have received many appeals from people in Beit Lahiya who say they’re stuck and need rescuing. They have no food, water or medical aid,” she noted. “Other than air strikes and continuing artillery shelling, the military has extensively deployed quadcopters that Israeli forces use to fire live ammunition at Palestinians and kill them in different areas across the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary added. Later on Saturday, the Israeli military reported that two rockets fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip were intercepted. The launches show the ability of Palestinian fighters to fire rockets into Israel despite more than 13 months of an aerial and ground offensive that turned vast land in the enclave into wasteland and displaced most of the 2.3 million population. Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 43,799 Palestinians and wounded 103,601 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive. Adblock test (Why?)
Schumer now pleads for bi-partisanship having promised to railroad Democrat agenda through
With Republicans sweeping to a red trifecta in last week’s elections, stunningly capturing the White House and majorities in the House and Senate, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is cutting a different tone, compared to his pre-election hype where he posited a Democrat win in the Senate and then potentially getting rid of the filibuster, among other radical proposals. Ending the filibuster rule – which requires 60 votes to pass bills – would have made it easier for Democrats to supercharge their agenda and essentially railroad any Republican opposition. Schumer and the Democrats tried to kill the filibuster in 2022 when they had 50 votes – the vice president could have broken the tie – but Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema refused to toe the Democratic party line. They eventually became Independents. FILIBUSTER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE POLITICAL DELAY TACTIC With Manchin and Sinema leaving the Senate, Schumer was confident of having at least 50 Senate seats after this year’s election with a then-potential Vice President Walz breaking the tie on a filibuster vote. “We got it up to 48, but, of course, Sinema and Manchin voted no; that’s why we couldn’t change the rules. Well, they’re both gone,” Schumer told reporters on the Tuesday during the week of the Democratic convention, according to NBC News. “Ruben Gallego is for it, and we have 51. So, even losing Manchin, we still have 50.” The result would have essentially meant one-party rule in the Senate, with Schumer also toying with expanding voting rights nationwide by passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He also discussed a potential rule change to codify abortion rights in federal law, a party priority after Roe v. Wade was overturned, which would have faced staunch Republican opposition and lacking a path to 60 Senate votes. Schumer also posited reforming the Supreme Court by slapping 18-year term limits on justices and touted reversing the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, which determined that presidents are immune from prosecution for some “official acts.” He has previously announced his intention to move legislation that would expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 members. But this week, he went to the floor of the Senate to tell Republicans to essentially go easy on their legislative colleagues on the other side of the aisle, since Republicans will have a 53-to-47 majority. WHAT TRUMP’S REPUBLICAN TRIFECTA IN HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHED, AND WHERE THEY FAILED: FLASHBACK “To my Republican colleagues, I offer a word of caution in good faith,” Schumer said. “Take care not to misread the will of the people, and do not abandon the need for bipartisanship. After winning an election, the temptation may be to go to the extreme. We’ve seen that happen over the decades, and it has consistently backfired on the party in power.” “So, instead of going to the extremes, I remind my colleagues that this body is most effective when it’s bipartisan. If we want the next four years in the Senate to be as productive as the last four, the only way that will happen is through bipartisan cooperation.” Schumer’s about face wasn’t lost on Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner and a Fox News contributor. “The short version of that is: Please don’t do to us what we were going to do to you,” York writes in the Washington Examiner. “Schumer is obviously concerned that Republicans might embrace a scheme to eliminate the filibuster and pass all sorts of consequential legislation with no Democratic input at all. That wouldn’t be bipartisan!” “Fortunately for Schumer, Republicans have been more principled than Democrats when it comes to the legislative filibuster, and to the filibuster in general. Republicans realize that even though they will have the majority for the next two years, they might be back in the minority at any time after that. So Schumer will not get it good and hard the way he planned to give it to Republicans.” York writes that Schumer’s “brand of hypocrisy is particularly egregious” since he was advocating changing Senate rules on a partisan basis to eliminate the minority party’s ability to demand a higher standard of approval for controversial legislation, as opposed to advocating to get a particular bill across the line. “He was. And then, when Schumer’s party loses, he instantly turns around and becomes Mr. Bipartisanship. For that, there should be a word that goes beyond mere hypocrisy.” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., will replace Schumer as Majority Leader and is planning to make ushering in President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda the first item on his to-do list when he succeeds. He has not indicated that he intended to vote on the filibuster rule. He said repairing the economy is also near the top of his list. As crucial elements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 passed by Trump are set to expire in 2025, Thune said Republicans will take action through the budget reconciliation process to renew them. The trifecta will make Trump’s agenda easier to pursue without opposition from a Democratic majority. Republicans held a governing trifecta from 2017 to 2019. The GOP achieved much of their agenda, including sweeping tax reform and confirming justices to achieve a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. But Thune said he would protect the filibuster rule, even if it stands in the way of the Trump agenda it hopes to advance. Fox News’s Jamie Joseph, Julia Johnson and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.