Iran fires dozens of missiles at Israel
NewsFeed Videos show dozens of missiles flying over Tel Aviv, some of them landing. The Israeli military says the missiles were fired by Iran and that a “large number” had been intercepted. Read more Iran fires dozens of missiles at Israel Published On 1 Oct 20241 Oct 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Claudia Sheinbaum sworn in as Mexico’s first female president
Sheinbaum begins six year term, taking over from Morena party ally Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Claudia Sheinbaum has been sworn in as Mexico’s first female president. Sheinbaum took over from outgoing president – and close Morena party ally – Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at an inauguration ceremony in the country’s Congress on Tuesday. The 62-year-old climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City is set to serve a six-year term, ending in 2030. Sheinbaum took the oath of office in front of parliamentarians, as her supporters chanted “President! President!” and “Long live Mexico!” “Now is the time of transformation, now is the time of women,” Sheinbaum said. She enters office with her party holding supermajority control in the legislature’s lower house, and nearly the same in the Senate, and immediately sought to reassure investors, saying that investments will be safe in Mexico. Sheinbaum will need to contend with some last-minute moves by Lopez Obrador, namely a controversial judicial overhaul that will see federal judges – including those on the Supreme Court – elected by popular vote. The constitutional change has roiled both advocates of judicial independence and investors. The incoming president will also be navigating a US election on November 5 that could shift relations with Mexico’s top trading partner. Later in November, she will deliver her government’s first budget, which will likely give clues as to whether Sheinbaum can make good on commitments to reduce the country’s widening fiscal deficit while maintaining popular welfare spending and costly crime-fighting initiatives. That task comes at a time when Mexico’s economy, the second-largest in Latin America, is forecasted to have only modest growth. Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and President Claudia Sheinbaum embrace on the day of her swearing-in ceremony at the Congress, in Mexico City, Mexico, October 1, 2024 [Raquel Cunha/Reuters] Historic presidency Sheinbaum’s inauguration is the culmination of a four-decade rise in Mexican politics, punctuated by her history-making election as the first woman to lead Mexico City. Sheinbaum, the daughter of academic activists, has also leaned into the history-making nature of her presidency. In a social media post on Monday, she unveiled a logo showing a young woman in profile hoisting a Mexican flag, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The hairstyle has become a sort of signature for Sheinbaum. “A young Mexican woman will be the emblem of Mexico’s government,” Sheinbaum wrote. Mexico remains one of the most conservative countries in Latin America, with its 65 presidents since independence from Spain all men. As Mexico City mayor, Sheinbaum built a reputation for a data-driven approach to leadership, winning praise for reducing the city’s murder rate by half. Her policies sought to boost security spending on an expanded police force with higher salaries. She has pledged to replicate the approach across Mexico, which continues to be plagued by high rates of crime and the outsized influence of powerful drug cartels. Critics have questioned how realistic those pledges will prove to be. At the same time, Sheinbaum has promised to continue policies of generous social spending pensions and youth scholarships championed by her populist predecessor Lopez Obrador. Having studied energy engineering, and later being tapped for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sheinbaum has sought to strike a more careful balance on environmental initiatives. She has said she will protect the industrial dominance of Mexico’s state-owned oil and power companies, while expressing interest in shifting towards renewable energy projects. Sheinbaum shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore in 2007 for her climate work. Prior to that, she had been Lopez Obrador’s environmental chief when he served as the mayor of Mexico City. She had previously served as the chief spokesperson for Lopez Orador’s failed 2006 campaign. Adblock test (Why?)
US says helped Israel thwart Iranian attack, reasserts ‘ironclad’ support
The United States has said it helped Israel thwart an Iranian ballistic missile attack, with a senior White House official telling reporters that the US military “coordinated closely” with its Israeli counterparts to shoot down the projectiles. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that “US naval destroyers joined Israeli air defence units in firing interceptors to shoot down in-bound missiles”. “In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” Sullivan said during a news briefing at the White House. “This was first and foremost the result of the professionalism of the [Israeli military]. But in no small part because of the skilled work of the US military and meticulous joint planning in anticipation of the attack.” Asked what Washington’s view was on possible Israeli retaliation, Sullivan said discussions were continuing between top US and Israeli military and political leaders. “We want to have some deep consultations with the Israelis,” he said. Sullivan added later: “We are proud of the actions that we’ve taken alongside Israel to protect and defend Israel. We have made clear that there will be consequences — severe consequences — for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.” Analysts have been warning for months that the failure of US President Joe Biden’s administration to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip would push the Middle East into a regional war. “A regional war becomes inevitable when the United States continues to fund and aid Netanyahu and all of his war crimes, his genocide, his attacks on all of his neighbours,” said Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at DAWN, a think tank in Washington, DC. “This will not stop without the United States putting its foot down and saying, ‘We will not send more weapons to Israel. We will not fund and aid Israeli crimes,’” Jarrar told Al Jazeera. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening in retaliation for the killings of people in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the recent assassinations of Hamas, Hezbollah and IRGC leaders. The firings came just hours after the Israeli army said it had launched “limited” ground incursions into southern Lebanon. Hezbollah denied that Israeli forces had entered Lebanese territory. The Israeli military, which has been trading fire with Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border for months, recently escalated its assault on the country. Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and other areas have killed and injured thousands of people over the past weeks. Amid the surge in attacks and regional tensions, the Biden administration has repeatedly said it favours diplomacy and wants to see a de-escalation. But critics have noted that the US government continues to offer Israel unwavering military and diplomatic support. Washington provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually, and Biden has greenlit $14bn in additional assistance to the US ally since the Gaza war began in October of last year. Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said that Biden had “directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel”. The Pentagon also said in a statement that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant had discussed “the severe consequences for Iran in the event Iran chooses to launch a direct military attack against Israel”. The statement did not elaborate on what those consequences would be. This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel. We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region. — President Biden (@POTUS) October 1, 2024 A spokesman for the US State Department said on Tuesday afternoon that the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s security remains “ironclad”. “We will continue to stand with the people of Israel at this critical moment,” Matthew Miller told reporters. But according to Jarrar, the analyst at DAWN, the Biden administration’s “blank cheque” policy to Israel is what led to the current escalation. “The Biden administration is dysfunctional and there is no one behind the wheel. There is no leadership whatsoever,” he said. “This administration is completely absent. They give Israel 100 percent of what they want, from weapons and money, and they can exercise 0 percent pressure on Israel. Netanyahu gets all that he wants, but he doesn’t have to pay a price for anything. “What we’ve seen today is a result of this failed US leadership in the Middle East and North Africa. The region has officially entered a full-scale regional war.” Adblock test (Why?)
Bernie Sanders tells Texas progressives to back Harris, says Allred win would “make all the difference”
Joining Sanders as he campaigns up and down the I-35 corridor are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Greg Casar, and former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke.
Dera chief, rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets parole ahead of Haryana elections
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted 20-day parole with strict conditions ahead of Haryana’s assembly elections.
Texas prison system’s staffing crisis and outdated technology endanger guards and inmates
A new state report says the prison population will outgrow capacity by the end of next year.
Manoj Gupta: Visionary Leader in IT Distribution
Manoj Gupta, Managing Director of Fortune Marketing Pvt Ltd, has over three decades of experience in the technology distribution industry. Since founding the company in 1994, he has been instrumental in establishing Fortune Marketing as a trusted leader in the sector.
Trump edges Harris in North Carolina poll, state that hasn’t voted Democratic since 2008
North Carolina remains a dead heat in the presidential race as the November elections draw ever nearer. The state – which is now undergoing serious recovery efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Helene – has been consistently close in its political polling. A new poll conducted by the Washington Post finds former President Trump leading with 50% of likely North Carolina voters compared to Vice President Harris’ 48%. BIDEN TO VISIT NORTH CAROLINA DAYS AFTER HELENE’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION LEAVES MANY DEVASTATED Trump’s slim lead is within the poll’s +/- 3.5% margin of error, but the former president won the state in 2020 with a similarly tight 1.3% lead. The poll contacted 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a statewide database. North Carolina has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since former President Obama’s 2008 victory, but the Democratic National Committee sees the state’s Republican majority as fragile, with a possibility to tip the other way. Because the majority of the survey was conducted before the full impact of Helene on the state, it does not reflect any possible shifts the storm may cause in public opinion. NORTH CAROLINA REVEALS SHOCKING DAMAGE TO TOURIST TOWN: ‘ALL OF IT WAS WASHED INTO THE LAKE’ More than 120 people have been killed by Helene since the hurricane made landfall in Florida late Thursday before tearing a path of destruction through the interior Southeast. The storm caused millions to suffer power outages and billions in property damage as it smashed through the southern Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP President Biden announced Monday that he will visit North Carolina on Wednesday after Hurricane Helene ravaged the state. The president’s announcement comes after critics slammed him for a lack of leadership following the monster storm’s devastating impact on the southeastern portion of the country. Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Elon Musk compares Newsom to ‘The Joker’ after voter ID requirements banned in California
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation banning local governments from requiring voters to present an ID at the ballot box in order to cast a vote – a move which sparked backlash from Elon Musk, who branded Newsom as “The Joker.” “Wow, it is now illegal to require voter ID in California! They just made PREVENTING voter fraud against the law,” Musk wrote on X late Monday. “The Joker is in charge.” The bill was passed by the California Assembly in August after being introduced earlier in the year by state Sen. David Min, a Democrat. Newsom signed the bill into law on Thursday. NEWSOM SIGNS ELECTION ‘DEEPFAKE’ BAN, MUSK CLAPS BACK RESHARING AI-ALTERED VIDEO OF KAMALA HARRIS The new law was in response to the beachside city of Huntington Beach passing a voter ID amendment, Measure A, in March with the support of a majority of residents which would allow the city to require voter identification, increase in-person voting sites, and monitor ballot drop boxes in local elections. The measure won at the polls in March with 53.4% approval, county election data shows. But Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber challenged Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, which would have amended the city’s charter to allow voter ID requirements by 2026. In their lawsuit, Bonta and Weber argued that the city’s voter ID law “unlawfully conflicts and is preempted by state law.” California is one of 14 states that does not require voter ID at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said in a statement earlier this year. He argued that state elections already contain “robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud.” He said the new requirements would disproportionately burden “low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.” AG GARLAND PLEDGES TO FIGHT VOTER ID LAWS, ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES While that lawsuit made its way through the courts state, Min introduced Senate Bill No. 1174. It passed out of the State Assembly in a 57-16 vote and in the State Senate in a 30-8 vote. The Huntington Beach City Council placed the voter ID measure on the March ballot after taking a series of hotly contested decisions on topics ranging from flag flying to the removal of books from the public library’s children’s section over concerns about the appropriateness of materials. The moves were initiated by a politically conservative council majority, which took office in 2022, and have drawn scores of residents on all sides of issues to city meetings. Huntington City Attorney Michael Gates said in March that the passage of the amendment approved by voters was “not only permissible” but backed by the state constitution. Last week he vowed to continue to enforce Measure A. “That bill means nothing to the city of Huntington Beach,” Michael Gates said, per OrangeCountyLawyers.com. “The city is going to proceed with its voter ID laws because it has a constitutional right to do so.” Musk’s outburst is not the first time he has sparred with Newsom. Musk last month encouraged his 198 million X users to share an AI-doctored video of Vice President Kamala Harris after Newsom signed a bill into law banning digitally altered political “deepfakes.” Musk said he also plans to move the California headquarters for SpaceX to Texas after Newsom signed a bill into law that will bar school districts from notifying parents if their child uses different pronouns or identifies as a gender that’s different from what’s on school records. The Space X owner has also said Democratic states are gaining an unfair advantage over red states in elections as a result of illegal immigration since the census is based on a simple headcount of all residents, both legal and illegal. He said congressional representation and electoral votes are apportioned based on all residents instead of just focusing on citizens. Musk has often weighed in on voter integrity and immigration matters, writing on X in March that “failure to require photo ID to vote obviously makes it impossible to prove voter fraud. That is why the far left refuses to require photo ID to vote.” Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
GOP leader says Vance ‘absolutely prepared’ for VP debate showdown with Walz
NEW YORK – Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley is confident that Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is “absolutely prepared” for Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate showdown. Vance, former President Trump’s running mate on the GOP 2024 ticket, will face off in New York City with Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota in the one and only debate between the two running mates. “You look at everything he’s done since he was named as the candidate. He’s been preparing, he’s been talking with the press, he’s been out there, he’s been moving around and talking to the American voters. So, he’s very ready to have this conversation,” Whatley emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview hours ahead of the debate. A source familiar with Vance’s debate prep told Fox News Digital that over the last month, the senator took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team, where a group of people ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate. THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City. Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE VP DEBATE Heading into the 2024 vice presidential debate, the 40-year-old Vance has been very talkative, sitting for scores of interviews and taking plenty of questions from reporters on the campaign trail. Walz, who is 60, has been much more reluctant to speak with the national news media. The governor was in debate camp ahead of the showdown to prepare. Walz huddled with advisers and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – who played the role of Vance in mock debates – in Harbor Springs, Michigan, near the northern tip of the state’s lower peninsula. Also helping out – Walz’s wife – Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz. Asked on the eve of the showdown with Vance how his wife had been helping him with debate preparation, Walz told reporters, “She wins every one.” WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 ELECTION POWER RANKINGS SHOW With a second face-to-face showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump unlikely – and with a margin-of-error White House race with five weeks until Election Day in November – there will be heightened stakes at the running mate debate, which is traditionally seen as a second-tier event in the presidential campaign. “Given that we’re only likely to have one head-to-head match-up between the principal candidates and this is the last meet-up between the two tickets directly before the election, it heightens the importance and significance of this debate,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, told Fox News. Most political pundits said Harris bested Trump last month in their first and likely only debate. And flash polls of debate watchers agreed. So a strong showing by Vance in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate could give Trump a boost. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION And there’s a precedent from 12 years ago. After a shaky first debate by then-President Barack Obama against 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, then-Vice President Joe Biden’s well-regarded performance in the running mate debate against Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan gave the Democrats’ ticket a big boost. Whatley, the former RNC general counsel and former North Carolina GOP chair who’s a close ally of Trump, told Fox Digital that Vance’s debate mission is to “deliver the message” to voters across the country. Whatley argued that “if you look at the Democrats, they don’t just have messenger problems, they have message problems. The polices that they’re pushing right now are not popular with the American people…. I think on every single one of these issues, the Republican ticket is the ticket of strength, the ticket of common sense, and I feel really great about where we’re going into tonight.” The RNC chair also said that when it comes to Vance’s game plan for the debate, “I think he’s going to talk about the issues that the voters care about and those are the issues like inflation, like the southern border, like prices at the grocery store and at the gas pump. That’s really what people care about. That’s what we’re going to talk about.” Part of the Harris campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz. For weeks, they’ve painted Walz as a regular guy who will be facing off with the Ivy League-trained Vance. What they don’t mention is that Walz won six House races and two gubernatorial elections. The Trump campaign’s playing the same game. “Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well-prepared for tomorrow night,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday. But Trump seemed to undercut this campaign’s argument, charging in an interview with Kellyanne Conway’s Fox Nation program “Here’s the Deal with Kellyanne” that Vance is “going up against a moron. A total moron, how she picked him is unbelievable.” Walz comes into the debate with better poll numbers than Vance. According to the latest Fox News national poll, Walz was slightly above water