Pentagon plans to shrink US ‘footprint’ in Iraq, but declines to say by how much
The Pentagon has finalized plans to wrap up the U.S.-led mission to fight ISIS by next year, with many U.S. troops leaving the bases they have occupied for much of the past two decades. The Biden administration insists their plan is not to fully pull out of the nation but declined to say how many of the 2,500 troops currently stationed in Iraq will remain. “I think it’s fair to say that, you know, our footprint is going to be changing within the country,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday. The Iraqi government announced earlier this month it had reached a deal with the Biden administration to remove most U.S. troops from its nation over the next two years. U.S. officials disputed characterizations of the plan as a withdrawal, prompting confusion about what the American presence there would look like over the coming months. “I’d like to emphasize that this is an evolution of the military mission in Iraq,” a senior Biden administration official said. The current mission is now set to end by September 2025. The notion of pulling troops out of Iraq has prompted concerns about a lack of support for the 900 troops currently stationed in Syria. US, IRAQ TEAM UP TO KILL 15 ISIS OPERATIVES “Not only will it undercut the fight against ISIS, but more importantly, in the effort to restrain Iran, forces in Iraq — particularly in the Kurdish north — are very important. We need Iraq forces in order to support our troops in northeast Syria,” Ambassador James Jeffrey, former presidential envoy to the coalition to combat ISIS in Iraq, told Fox News Digital. “We have a very effective ally there, the Kurds, the Syrian Kurds, that we want to not abandon,” he went on, adding that a U.S. withdrawal would allow space for Russia and Iran to tighten their grip on the nation. “At the end of the day, it’s a decision of the Iraqi Government, and if the Iraqi government is being pressured by the Iranians, just as they were in 2011, and want us out, then we have no choice.” Tehran and its influence have infiltrated the Iraqi government in a way that some say means a U.S. presence indirectly benefits Iran. “With the current Iraqi government heavily influenced by Iranian-backed Shia factions, including the Popular Mobilization Front, maintaining U.S. troops doesn’t effectively counterbalance Iran. In fact, our resources end up indirectly benefiting those aligned with Iranian interests, making this a misguided strategy,” director of Concerned Veterans for America and Iraq War veteran Jason Beardsley told Fox News Digital. “ISIS may be a challenge, but it’s a challenge that the government of Iraq should be handling themselves.” HARROWING FOOTAGE SHOWS US TROOPS BEING FIRED AT Baghdad and Washington have “reached an understanding” that U.S. forces in Syria will be supported from a presence on the Iraqi side of the border through at least September 2026. U.S. Central Command announced over the weekend that forces in Syria had conducted two targeted strikes in Syria that killed 37 terrorists, including leaders of ISIS and Huras al-Din, an al Qaeda affiliate. U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan have come under increased attacks since the eruption of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza nearly a year ago. Three U.S. troops were killed by a drone attack in January at a U.S. base in Jordan supporting operations in Syria. American forces have responded with periodic airstrikes in response, such as in July near Baghdad, which have drawn sharp rebuke from the Iraqi public. Last month, seven U.S. troops were wounded in an operation to target ISIS in western Iraq. At the same time, troops are planning to depart Iraq, elsewhere in the Middle East the U.S. military presence is growing. U.S. officials announced Monday a “few thousand” more troops would be added to the roughly 40,000 service members deployed in the region.
‘Gone to Adani’s pocket’: LoP Rahul Gandhi claims BJP govt intends to snatch away pensions from Agniveers
Rahul Gandhi criticises the Agnipath scheme claiming it deprives Agniveers of pension benefits to benefit industrialist Gautam Adani.
VA employees improperly accessed JD Vance, Tim Walz’s medical records, prompting criminal probe: report
At least a dozen staffers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs improperly accessed the medical records of both vice presidential nominees, Republican Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over the summer, according to a report. Those employees are under criminal investigation for potentially violating federal health privacy laws, The Washington Post reported. The unauthorized views came from staffers within the Veterans Health Administration and were uncovered by Veterans Affairs investigators, who notified the Vance and Walz campaigns, sources familiar with the probe told the Post. It’s the first time veterans were both parties’ vice presidential nominees since Democrat Al Gore and Republican Jack Kemp during the 1996 election. Law enforcement officials told the Post that VA Inspector General Michael Missal’s office shared evidence with federal prosecutors related to several health system employees, including a physician and a contractor who “spent extended time” viewing the medical files of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mates. FOX NEWS MEDIA WILL PRESENT SPECIAL LIVE PROGRAMMING OF VANCE-WALZ DEBATE The potential motive for accessing the medical records is under investigation, and investigators are still trying to determine if Vance and Walz’s information was shared as a result of the breaches, the Post reported. “We reported to law enforcement allegations that VA personnel may have improperly accessed Veteran records,” VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in a statement to Fox News Digital, regarding the report. “We take the privacy of the Veterans we serve very seriously and have strict policies in place to protect their records. Any attempt to improperly access Veteran records by VA personnel is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” Hayes referred Fox News Digital to the Department of Justice for further queries. The VA employees under investigation, including the physician and contractor, accessed the medical records using their VA computers and did so mostly from their government offices, the Post reported. Some of the staffers in question reportedly told investigators they were simply curious to see the files of Vance and Walz given both candidates have defended their military records on the campaign trail. JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’ Walz in particular faced criticism for ending his 24-year career in the Army National Guard to run for Congress months before his unit would deploy to Iraq. Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marines and deployed to Iraq for about six months in 2005, has accused Walz of being “dishonest” about having served in combat zones. Law enforcement officials told the Post that the VA staffers under investigation did not access any disability compensation records, which have more security protocols than health information. A source at VA shared with Fox News Digital an internal memo sent out Aug. 30, 2024, by VA Secretary Denis McDonough “upholding our commitment to protect privacy.” The message reminded VA staffers that veteran information “should only be accessed when necessary to accomplish officially authorized and assigned duties as an employee, contractor, volunteer, or other personnel.” The secretary said “viewing a Veteran’s records out of curiosity or concern – or for any purpose that is not directly related to officially authorized and assigned duties – is strictly prohibited.” The memo also warned VA employees that “failure to comply with these requirements may result in disciplinary action, including removal, as well as referral to law enforcement for civil penalties and criminal prosecution.”
Harris-Trump showdown: Hurricane Helene in eye of the campaign storm
As the death toll and devastation from Hurricane Helene soars in the southeast, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be briefed by officials on Monday, as the destructive storm is smack in the middle of the White House race with just over five weeks until Election Day. Trump will make a stop in Valdosta, Georgia, to receive a briefing on the devastation, assist with relief distribution and “deliver remarks to the press,” according to his campaign. Harris headed back to Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, cutting short a western campaign swing. The White House said the vice president would travel to Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters once she arrives in the nation’s capital, where she will be briefed on the impact of the hurricane and the federal response to support rescue and recovery efforts. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON HELENE’S HAVOC Over 100 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 sparked millions of power outages and billions of dollars in property damage as it smashed through the southern Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley. SCENES FROM THE STORM’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION Among the hardest hit states were North Carolina and Georgia, two of the seven key battlegrounds whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump and are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 showdown between Harris and Trump. Trump at a Sunday rally in battleground Pennsylvania took aim at the administration and Harris over the storm, accusing the president of “sleeping” at his beach house in Delaware as the storm blasted the Southeast. Biden returned to the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon to monitor federal relief efforts. The White House noted that over 3,300 federal workers have been deployed to support storm response efforts in the impacted states, and at least 50,000 personnel from across the country and Canada are responding to the massive power outages in affected areas. Biden told reporters the federal government is giving states “everything we have” to assist with their response to the storm. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN Biden said he would tour the storm-damaged areas later this week as long as his presence on the ground would not hamper rescue and recovery efforts. Trump, at his Sunday rally, attacked Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California this weekend. He argued that Harris “ought to be down in the area” where the storm caused destruction. The White House said Harris spoke Sunday with the governors of Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina and that “the Vice President intends to visit impacted communities as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” In a Saturday statement, Harris said that she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.” The response by elected officials to natural disasters can vastly impact their political fortunes on the campaign trail. Trump faced criticism early in his White House tenure as Puerto Rico struggled to recover from a powerful storm. The then-president was criticized for throwing paper towels to the crowd as he stopped by a relief center during a storm-related visit to the island. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
FLASHBACK: Walz doubled down on support for government-run health care during gubernatorial campaign
Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who is currently running to be the next vice president of the United States, once said in a gubernatorial debate that he supports “single-payer health care,” also known as “Medicare-for-all.” “I think that’s probably the path where we end up,” Walz said in a 2018 debate while running for governor when asked, “Are you for single-payer?” “And I say that because, be very clear about this, there were no protections for preexisting conditions before the ACA,” Walz continued. “A vote for the ACA was the first time in this nation’s history we had those protections and making sure people have that protection, making sure they were covered, and then making sure we were focused on preventative care, people were finally getting that under the ACA, we started to see health outcomes improve and that’s the real key to driving down insurance premium prices.” Walz went on to say “let’s be very clear” that there is “no market in health care.” MINNESOTA GOP LEADER SOUNDS ALARM ON WALZ TRYING TO ‘BAMBOOZLE’ RURAL VOTERS: ‘BERNIE SANDERS IN FLANNEL’ “Because markets by nature would be a failure if someone didn’t have it, there’s not going to be, you cannot simply shrink a pool to the sickest people and say that’s where we are going to manage them when they’re in crisis. That’s not the way to go about this. The way to go about this is making sure everybody has that preventative care, making sure everybody has that access on the front end, you start to drive down prices. The ACA did that.” Walz’s opponent, Republican Jeff Johnson, then pressed Walz on the issue. “I’m not sure what your answer was. Do you support single-payer health care?” “Yes,” Walz said. “That was the answer I just gave you.” WALZ BLASTED FOR HUDDLING WITH GEORGE SOROS’ SON AT NYC LUXURY APARTMENT: ‘BILLIONAIRE NEPO BABY’ Johnson interjected, “Are you for it?” “Yes,” Walz said. “I’m going to push for not paying twice as much as any other industrialized nation. Getting half for it. I’m making sure that the 14 top nations that get the best returns at the least cost make sure you cut out that piece that is simply payer getting between people and their doctors.” When Johnson countered that “single-payer” means “everybody loses their insurance” and “forced on to one government plan,” Walz countered, “We can do better.” The comments from Walz come under the backdrop of Vice President Kamala Harris supporting “Medicare-for-all” when she ran for president in 2019. However, in August, her campaign claimed she will not push the subject of single-payer or “Medicare-for-all” during the campaign. In 2019, Fox News spoke to Harris in the hallways of Capitol Hill, asking about her plans for providing health care. “How important is it to your health care plan to get rid of private insurance companies? Because there is some confusion about that,” Peter Doocy asked Harris on Jan. 30, 2019. “I’m glad you asked. Yeah. So, the bottom line and the most important is that everyone have access to health care,” Harris said. “That is the goal. That is the purpose for me supporting the policy of ‘Medicare-for-all.’ “If Congress votes in a way that reflects the values and desires of the American people, then Congress will vote for a policy that gives everyone access to health care,” she later said. Her proposed solution was to provide “Medicare-for-all” because “Medicare works” and “it’s popular.” “‘Medicare-for-all‘ will cover all medically necessary services, including emergency room visits, doctor visits, vision, dental, hearing aids, mental health, and substance-use disorder treatment, and comprehensive reproductive health care services,” Harris wrote. “It will also allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive a response. Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Peter Doocy contributed reporting.
‘Whoever gets elected’: Vulnerable Dem Tester digs in heels on not endorsing Harris
Vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is continuing to defend his decision not to endorse in the 2024 presidential race ahead of his tough re-election, but the Democrat’s opponent suggests his “record” signals support for Vice President Kamala Harris. Tester recently revealed that he would not be making an endorsement in the presidential race in order to focus on his re-election, despite being a key player in Harris’ recruitment to the Senate. Tester served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) from 2015 to 2017, leading the efforts of the campaign arm to elect Democrats to the chamber when Harris first announced her senatorial aspirations. And after Harris launched her California Senate bid, the Los Angeles Times reported in January 2015 that, according to an adviser, Tester was one of the players who encouraged her to run. Asked again about withholding an endorsement, Tester’s response was that he would work with or hold accountable whichever presidential candidate gets elected. KAMALA HARRIS ISN’T ALONE: VULNERABLE DEMS WANT CURRENT FILIBUSTER GONE “Unfortunately, my opponent would rather talk about a national race that will be decided by the people of Montana. Whoever gets elected to the U.S. president, I can guarantee you one thing, just like all previous ones, I’ll work with them when they’re doing good things for Montana, and I’ll hold them accountable when they’re not,” Tester told MTN News in an interview. NEW YORKER SPENDS LARGE PART OF KAMALA HARRIS ENDORSEMENT REBUKING BIDEN: HE ‘STOOD IN THE WAY’ Tester endorsed Harris when she was selected as President Biden’s 2020 running mate. “My friend @KamalaHarris is a proven fighter and an excellent pick for Vice President. As VP, I’m confident she will continue to fight for working families across this country. Looking forward to supporting her and @JoeBiden in November,” Tester wrote in an August 2020 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Montana Republican nominee and Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who endorsed former President Trump in the presidential race, suggested that Tester’s voting record is his endorsement for Harris. “Jon Tester votes with Kamala Harris 95% of the time. His voting record is his endorsement of the failed Harris agenda, and every time Montanans needed him to stop the insanity in Washington, he was the deciding vote to further her progressive liberal agenda,” a spokesperson for Sheehy for Montana told Fox News Digital. “That same agenda has made costs for things like groceries and gas skyrocket, it’s brought us record high inflation, and has given us a wide-open southern border that has brought crime and deadly drugs into our communities. Tester also voted to allow benefits for illegal immigrants paid for by the American taxpayer – a hallmark of the Harris agenda. We can’t afford to re-elect Jon Tester because his voting record in Washington proves he’s changed and is and will continue to support the radical America Last agenda.” Tester is running for re-election in red state Montana, a race that could likely determine which party controls the chamber, and recent polling and political forecaster predictions suggest that Sheehy is currently leading the race just weeks before Election Day. A recent AARP survey found that Sheehy is leading by six percentage points in a head-to-head matchup against Tester. His lead against Tester widened to eight points in a multi-candidate field that included the state’s Green Party and Libertarian candidates. The Cook Political Report, an independent nonpartisan elections handicapper, recently shifted the race from “toss-up” to “lean Republican,” while Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics moved the race to “leans Republican.” Tester’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time of publication.
‘He impregnated his kid’s nanny’: Psaki ripped after claiming Emhoff ‘reshaped’ masculinity
Social media critics are dragging second gentleman Doug Emhoff for his previously admitted affair with his family’s nanny after he joined MSNBC host Jen Psaki for an interview where he was lauded for reshaping “the perception of masculinity.” “Psaki to Doug Emhoff: ‘You reshaped the perception of masculinity’ PS: He impregnated his kid’s nanny,” popular conservative X account End Wokeness posted Sunday. The account was reacting to a snippet from Emhoff’s interview with Psaki, who previously served as President Biden’s White House press secretary before joining MSNBC, where Psaki heaped praise on Emhoff for reshaping masculinity. KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND DOUG EMHOFF ‘RESHAPED THE PERCEPTION OF MASCULINITY’: MSNBC HOST “There is also an important, interesting part about how people have talked about your role is how your role has reshaped the perception of masculinity,” Psaki said. “I’m not sure you planned on that, but you are an incredibly supportive spouse. Has that been an evolution for you? Do you think that’s part of the role you might play as first gentleman?” “It’s funny. I’ve started to think a lot about this. I’ve always been like this. My dad’s always been like this. To me, it’s the right thing to do, support women. It is mutual with Kamala and I. We support each other, we have each other’s back,” Emhoff responded. He added, “I’ve said many times when we lift up women, we support women, whether it’s pay equity, child care, family leave, and all of these issues in this post-Dobbs hellscape. Women should not be less than. Women should not have less rights and be treated differently. That’s not the American way.” MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: TRUMP APPEALS TO MEN WITH ‘RETRO, MACHO’ VIEWS, WHILE EMHOFF EMBODIES ‘SUPPORTIVE’ MEN Clips of the exchange spread like wildfire on social media as critics cited that just last month, Emhoff admitted to having an affair with his family’s nanny during his first marriage years ago. The nanny’s close friend claimed to the media that the nanny became pregnant during the affair with Emhoff, but did not keep the baby. Critics also slammed Psaki for the “softball interiew.” “Emhoff also once impregnated his child’s nanny. Jen still says she’s a journalist,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X in reaction to the clip. Psaki continued in the interview that aired Sunday by asking Emhoff if he’s familiar with “a pop-culture phrase, ‘wife guy,’ which you’ve kind of been known as.” KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND DOUG EMHOFF ADMITS TO EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR THAT LED TO BREAKUP OF FIRST MARRIAGE “I have heard about it,” Emhoff said. “A ‘wife guy,’ a ‘proud wife guy.’ How do you feel about it?” she asked. DOUG EMHOFF’S EX-WIFE RESPONDS AFTER SECOND GENTLEMAN ADMITTED TO AFFAIR WITH NANNY Emhoff joked, “If I do something annoying to Kamala, and she gets upset, I’ll just show her that article.” Emhoff admitted to having an affair with his family’s nanny shortly after the Daily Mail published a report in August that he got his daughter’s nanny pregnant. The nanny’s close friend told the outlet that she did not keep the baby, but did not elaborate further. The affair with a nanny occurred before Emhoff’s relationship with and eventual marriage to Harris. “During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side,” Emhoff said over the summer, acknowledging the affair, but not naming the nanny. HOW KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND’S CHEATING SCANDAL COULD HELP TRUMP, EXPERT SAYS Emhoff and his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, were married from 1992 to 2008 and share two adult children. Harris married Emhoff in 2014, and helped co-parent his children, who call their stepmom “mommala.” The divorce cited “irreconcilable differences” as the motivation behind parting ways, the New York Post reported. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Harris knew about the affair before they married, and the Biden 2020 campaign knew about it when it was vetting her for Biden’s vice presidential pick. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the interview and social media reactions as well as for comment on the affair itself, but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
What is Green War Room, created to curb Delhi air pollution?
The Delhi government has launched a 24×7 ‘Green War Room’ and a 21-point Winter Action Plan to combat air pollution incorporating technology and public participation.
Nantucket group appeals to Supreme Court to end offshore wind projects and protect endangered whales
A group of Nantucket, Massachusetts, residents are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in their challenge to the industrialization of parts of the Atlantic Ocean, where they say offshore wind farms – developed with the blessing of the federal government – are putting an endangered whale species at risk. The group, Nantucket Residents Against Turbines, argues in its petition to the high court that “the federal government has lost sight of its statutory obligations to conserve endangered species that will be directly affected by the construction of thousands of wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.” They argue that the federal agencies that authorized the leasing of the water area to wind turbine companies excluded certain data in their analysis to the benefit of offshore wind development. “Despite the agencies’ explicit statutory duty to consider all ‘best information available,’ regarding the impacts its actions might have on an endangered or threatened species and those habitats, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), did not consider the cumulative impacts of other planned projects when they authorized and issued permits to construct the Vineyard Wind 1 Project.” MAINE LOBSTERMEN CATCH BIG COURT VICTORY AGAINST BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ‘EGREGIOUS’ REGULATIONS The petition to the high court is the latest swell in a surge of opposition to offshore wind development that was fast-tracked at the behest of the Biden-Harris administration, which has incentivized a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030. Pursuant to that goal, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which President Biden signed into law in 2022, gave millions in tax breaks to green energy production deals. Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between foreign entities Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is the nation’s largest offshore wind energy project off the New England coast – 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The project was one of the first beneficiaries of the IRA. Vineyard Wind boasted of a $1.2 billion “first-of-its-kind tax equity package” for commercial scale offshore wind with three U.S.-based banks, calling it “the largest single asset tax equity financing and the first for a commercial scale offshore wind project.” “The Vineyard Wind 1 Project is the first of the government’s ‘coordinated steps’ to construct about 30 wind turbine projects along the Atlantic seaboard that, when built out, will have thousands of turbines covering millions of acres of federal submerged lands,” the petition states. “Vineyard Wind LLC has constructed, or partially constructed, 47 of the 62 approved wind turbines, with each turbine spaced one nautical mile apart. Once fully constructed, each turbine stands 853 feet above the water and is almost three times the size of the Statue of Liberty.” The petition notes that 47 turbines so far have “already begun to adversely impact the Nantucket community, the ocean environment, and marine species’ habitat.” “Although not considered in any environmental impact analyses, problems with the turbines have also already begun. In July 2024, a large portion of a 350-foot fiberglass and PVC blade broke off one of Vineyard Wind’s turbines into the water, and pieces of the blade washed ashore and littered the beaches of Nantucket,” it notes. ‘RUINED BY NEGLIGENCE’: DAVE PORTNOY BLASTS NANTUCKET WIND FARM AFTER BROKEN BLADE SHUTS DOWN BEACHES The petition argues that around the time of the Vineyard Wind 1 Biological Opinion, BOEM had issued over 25 offshore wind leases (on which one or more projects will be built). However, in the Biological Opinion, NMFS openly stated that it did not consider the cumulative impacts of those projects. The North Atlantic right whale, which has been on the brink of extinction for more than 100 years, will “bear the brunt of the federal government’s shortcutting of the environmental review process,” the petition argues. “Despite the obvious effects that constructing wind turbines all along the North Atlantic Right Whale’s migratory route and now year-round habitat will have, the agencies evaluated only the impacts caused by the Project itself and ignored obvious impacts from all the other projects planned in the Atlantic Ocean,” it states. The petition argues that the Supreme Court should hear this case to decide a circuit split between the Ninth and First Circuit decisions on the matter, which conflict with one another. “Petitioners ask this Court to grant review of the important issue presented in this petition to resolve the split among the circuits and provide guidance to lower courts that will soon be facing the identical issue on how to conserve endangered species while seeking to achieve renewable energy objectives,” it states. Between the fishing industry arguing that offshore wind production unduly prohibits their business, to unprecedented whale deaths and the Nantucket blade disaster, criticism has mounted in recent months. However, despite public favor dwindling, government officials are still pushing for record areas of the Atlantic Ocean to be industrialized. Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy announced the single largest procurement of offshore wind in the state’s history by pursuing purchase agreements with SouthCoast Wind, New England Wind and Vineyard Wind II. Rebecca Tepper, the secretary of the state’s office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said the state said, “offshore wind is our future, and it is vital that we build that future today.” LOCAL FISHERMEN SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NEWLY UNVEILED PLANS TO INDUSTRIALIZE GULF OF MAINE “By going big now with projects, we are going to lead the nation in the global race for developers, vessels, materials and expertise,” she said. As to why wind energy production is undeterred by environmental warnings and concerns, Annie Hawkins, executive director of Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, says that offshore wind companies and government agencies are working hand-in-hand. “For a long, long time now, we’ve had the tail wagging the dog in terms of the wind developers, energy companies and utilities, as well as investment banks and everyone else pushing forward offshore wind from a private sector perspective and from an economic interest investment. It’s far outpaced the environmental look and thought around offshore wind,” Hawkins
Fox News Media will present special live programming of Vance-Walz debate
Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off in a vice presidential debate Tuesday evening, with Fox News airing special programming across its key platforms, including the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital. Vance and Walz will travel to New York City for their first and only scheduled debate of the election cycle. The debate will be held at 9 p.m. EST. The debate will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan. The Fox News Channel, FOX Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation will air special programming of the debate. VANCE VS. WALZ: THINK VP DEBATES DON’T MATTER? JUST LOOK AT THESE 6 EXAMPLES Fox News will begin broadcasting special coverage at 8 p.m. Tuesday, kicking off with debate preview analysis from “Jesse Watters Primetime” until 8:20, when the Fox News Channel will then air “FOX News Democracy 2024,” which will be hosted by Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham. EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME Fox News’ Sean Hannity will also join the coverage live from the debate’s spin room. Congressional correspondent Aishah Hasnie and senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich will also report live from the spin room. The Fox News Channel will present “FOX News Democracy 2024: CBS Vice Presidential Debate” between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tuesday, which is a simulcast of CBS’s vice presidential debate. JD VANCE DEBATE PREP STRATEGY INCLUDES TAPPING PROMINENT LAWMAKER TO PLAY WALZ The debate will last 90 minutes and wrap up at 10:30 p.m. The debate will include two four-minute commercial breaks, and campaign staff will not be permitted to interact with their respective candidates during the breaks, per debate rules. Microphones for Vance and Walz will not be muted during the debate, unlike the recent presidential debates, but CBS could turn off their mics if moderators find it is warranted. Vance won the coin toss and will deliver the final remarks. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.