Hysterical town hall attendee interrupts AOC, yells about ‘genocide’ in Gaza: ‘You’re a liar!’
A hysterical protester yelling about the “genocide” in Gaza interrupted a district town hall event being held by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., shortly after it began on Friday night. As Ocasio-Cortez first began speaking, she pulled up a PowerPoint presentation for the night’s event. She was then interrupted before even getting through her first slide discussing the Trump administration’s budget cuts, including alleged cuts to local healthcare systems. “I am a healthcare worker and I want to know what you’re doing about the genocide in Gaza!” the protester started shouting at the congresswoman. WATCH: AOC LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR 2028 PRESIDENTIAL BID AS CAMPAIGN BUZZ SOARS “Shame! Shame! Shame!” the audience began shouting at the disruptor. Audible “boos” could be heard as well. Ocasio-Cortez attempted to appease the disruptor, but nothing she could say calmed the person down. Staff at the event allowed the disruptor to continue yelling until they approached her and eventually led her out voluntarily. “Shame on you, I used to support you,” the woman shouted as she exited. “You’re a war criminal! War criminal! War Criminal!” AOC CLAIMS ‘WE ARE ONE’ IN CAMPAIGN-STYLE VIDEO DESPITE YEARS OF INVOKING RACE, GENDER IN POLITICS Ocasio-Cortez responded to the protester after things quieted down. “I more than welcome people who disagree, or are super pissed off at me for any issue to come, but we have some ground rules here,” she told the town hall’s attendees. “Please wait for the Q&A, because we don’t want to deprive all of our neighbors of the ability to have information and hearing them respond to it… We need to be able to have this conversation.” As rumors swirl over Ocasio-Cortez’s ambition for higher office, the congresswoman raked in a massive $9.6 million over the past three months. The record-breaking fundraising haul was one of the biggest ever for any House lawmaker. Ocasio-Cortez’s team highlighted that the fundraising came from 266,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of just $21. “I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy. Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities,” Ocasio-Cortez emphasized in a social media post.
New report warns NATO’s data vulnerabilities could cost lives without US fix
A new report warns that NATO is unprepared for modern digital warfare. Without stronger leadership, especially from the U.S., the alliance could face serious security risks. The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) released a study showing that many NATO members are failing to modernize their military data systems. Although NATO leaders talk about the importance of secure and shared cloud infrastructure, most countries still store critical military information in local servers that are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The report calls data the “currency of warfare” and urges NATO to improve how it stores and shares military information. FOR PUTIN, ‘US IS THE MAIN ENEMY,’ ESTONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS At the moment, most NATO countries are building separate national cloud systems. France uses Thales, Germany uses Arvato, and Italy is working with Leonardo to develop sovereign defense cloud services, according to the CEPA report Defend in the Cloud: Boost NATO Data Resilience. The U.S. has its own approach, using Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to build a sovereign cloud for the Department of Defense, as noted in the same CEPA report. This fragmented setup is creating major problems. The CEPA report explains that many of these national systems are not interoperable, which makes it difficult for NATO allies to share intelligence or respond rapidly in times of crisis. Although 22 NATO members have pledged to build shared cloud capabilities, progress has been slow. CEPA describes a gap between what leaders promise and what is actually getting done, and the process remains slow and overly bureaucratic. NORWAY RAISES SECURITY CONCERNS OVER MANHATTAN-SIZED ARCTIC LAND SALE AS TENSIONS RISE Some of the hesitation stems from political tensions. Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has reinforced his long-standing position that NATO members must meet their defense spending commitments. In early 2025, Trump proposed raising the target above the current 2% benchmark and stated publicly that the U.S. would only defend NATO allies who meet what he considers their “fair share” of the burden. TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’ At the same time, Trump has taken credit for strengthening the alliance by pushing European governments to boost their defense budgets. In March, he pointed to what he called “hundreds of billions of dollars” in new allied defense spending as proof that his pressure was effective. His administration continues to engage in high-level NATO meetings and has publicly affirmed support for the alliance’s core mission. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has worked to reassure European partners. During an April meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, he stated that the U.S. is “as active in NATO as it has ever been,” pushing back on claims that the administration is disengaging. According to statements published by the State Department and reported by Reuters, Rubio emphasized that Trump is not opposed to NATO itself, but to an alliance that is under-prepared or underfunded. Rubio is also playing a central role in U.S. efforts to broker peace in Ukraine. In early 2025, he led direct talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia and presented Trump’s terms for a possible ceasefire, according to official State Department readouts and contemporaneous reporting by Reuters and other outlets. Rubio has emphasized that Ukraine and European allies will remain closely involved in the process. After a pause in U.S. aid earlier this year, he announced that military support would resume once Kyiv signaled agreement with the proposed framework for peace. Meanwhile, NATO continues to provide assistance to Ukraine through a trust fund valued at nearly $1 billion. This figure is based on NATO’s own reporting on its Comprehensive Assistance Package, as cited in CEPA’s April report. The alliance is also coordinating training and equipment donations, but the CEPA report makes it clear that efforts are being slowed by a lack of secure data sharing. The report points to Estonia as a model for digital resilience. Estonia backs up its government data in Luxembourg through a “data embassy” system, ensuring it remains protected even if local systems are attacked. NATO, according to CEPA, should encourage similar strategies across the alliance. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP According to CEPA, the U.S. is best positioned to lead the way, with Trump and Rubio already taking the necessary steps to push NATO in the right direction. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. CEPA’s report can be reviewed here.
GOP fires back at DNC’s ‘political stunt’ targeting ‘vulnerable’ Republicans over Medicaid fight
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching a month of action to “Fight to Save Medicaid,” targeting four “vulnerable” House Republicans, who Democrats claim are “poised to gut Medicaid and other critical programs.” Republicans quickly fired back in statements to Fox News Digital on Friday. “The dishonest Democrats should rename their campaign ‘the fight to save taxpayer-funded welfare benefits for illegal immigrants’ because that’s what they’re really trying to do,” Rep. Mike Lawler’s director of communications, Ciro Riccardi, told Fox News Digital. “This is a desperate political stunt, plain and simple. The truth is that Congressman Lawler has been very clear on this: he will vote to protect and strengthen Medicaid for those who rely on this critical program.” DAVID HOGG FACES CHALLENGE TO DNC ROLE AS PARTY TENSIONS ESCALATE The DNC’s multipronged pressure campaign, including digital, local and direct action, will target Republican Reps. Lawler of New York, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. The DNC is advising voters to post “accountability content” on social media, host “People’s Town Halls” in the Republicans’ congressional districts, and call or email their representatives to “make their outrage known.” DNC Chair Ken Martin said the four Congressional Republicans will “seal their political fate if they go along with Trump’s disastrous budget.” “To ensure these Republicans understand that it’s either their vote or their job, the DNC is launching its first-ever distributed organizing program to offer voters a platform to join Democrats in taking direct action — from hosting town halls to mobilizing their personal networks — against the GOP’s budget, while building grassroots power for critical elections still ahead. Our representatives must serve the people — not ignore them. Republicans will either learn that lesson now or at the ballot box,” Martin said. TRUMP SAYS PUBLIC ENTITLEMENTS LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICAID WON’T BE TOUCHED IN GOP BUDGET BILL While Democrats have railed against potential cuts to Medicaid since President Donald Trump was elected in November, the White House has maintained that public entitlements, including Social Security and Medicaid, will not be cut in the Republicans’ budget bill. “All national Democrats have are pathetic lies and fear-mongering tactics to distract from their failures. They were already forced to take down their dishonest Medicaid ads across the country because Americans know they’re full of crap, and voters aren’t going to buy their latest publicity stunt,” National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) Spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital in a response to the DNC’s new pressure campaign. Last month, Democrats were forced to take down six billboards targeting Republican Reps. Gabe Evans, Don Bacon, Ryan Mackenzie, Monica De La Cruz, Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman, as reported by the Washington Examiner, after the NRCC sent a cease and desist letter to Lamar Advertising Company, accusing the vendor of spreading “defamatory messages.” “What DC Democrats are saying when it comes to Medicaid is they oppose having work requirements for able-bodied adults without children, annual audits to ensure only eligible individuals receive benefits, and ensuring that only people who are here legally should qualify,” Bacon told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The methods our group of 12 Republicans has identified to improve Medicaid are not controversial or cutting the quality of healthcare. We’re protecting our children and those most vulnerable. Last time the DNC targeted me on this issue, the billboard companies pulled their ads for false information.” Despite Republicans’ assurances that Medicaid services will be protected, there is debate among the party about how to slash wasteful spending within the program. Those discussions come as Republicans seek to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and deliver Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes no taxes on tips and Social Security. But Democrats are warning “vulnerable” House Republicans that Medicaid cuts are a losing issue, and their new campaign will not just hold Republicans accountable but help them win back a Democratic majority in 2026. “House Republicans have lost the trust of the American people and are on track to lose in the midterms because of their record of broken promises. They’ve consistently sold out their own constituents to please their billionaire backers, even when it means supporting catastrophic cuts to health care access,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Suzan DelBene said. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Connecticut Senate Democrats list outrageous things they’d rather endure instead of 100 more days of Trump
Connecticut Senate Democrats posted an outlandish TikTok video on Thursday, featuring lawmakers listing out unpleasant things they would rather subject themselves to, rather than face another 100 days of the Trump administration. The video, which had garnered just over 100 likes on the platform as of Friday afternoon, appears to have been partially filmed in the State Senate chamber. TRUMP TOUTS ‘MOST SUCCESSFUL’ FIRST 100 DAYS IN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY DURING MICHIGAN RALLY Lawmakers suggested they would rather have 100 bad haircuts, 100 vaccination shots in the arm or spend 100 hours in a traffic jam on Interstate 84. Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, added she would rather cook 100 family meals, which she noted her kids would find “very funny.” FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP, REPUBLICANS AT RECORD-HIGH RATINGS AS DEMOCRATS FALTER The post came days after President Donald Trump said at a Michigan rally that his administration had enjoyed the most successful first 100 days in presidential history. Trump’s first 100 days of his second term centered around aggressive action to address border security, trade, education, civil rights, technology and innovation, Fox News Digital previously reported. TRUMP ADMIN REVOKES 4K FOREIGN STUDENTS’ VISAS IN FIRST 100 DAYS, NEARLY ALL WITH SERIOUS CRIMINAL RECORDS The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), established with an executive order signed by the president on his first day in office, claims to have slashed federal spending through budget and staffing cuts. However, the latest poll numbers show Trump has 44% approval and 55% disapproval ratings in the most recent Fox News national poll, which collected data from April 18-21. On specific issues, Trump received a 55% majority approval on border security, 47% approval on immigration and 38% approval on the economy. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE His worst ratings were on inflation (33% approve, 59% disapprove), tariffs (33%-58%), foreign policy (40%-54%), taxes (38%-53%) and guns (41%-44%). Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
Chinese official reportedly seeking talks with Trump on fentanyl ingredients amid trade war
A top Chinese government official is asking what the Trump administration wants the communist nation to do about chemicals used to make fentanyl amid an ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Wang Xiaohong, China’s minister of public security, has been making inquiries about what Trump wants China to do about the fentanyl issue over the last few days, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Chinese companies produce precursors, large quantities of chemicals that eventually flow to Mexican drug cartels, which then make fentanyl and smuggle it into the United States. ON TRUMP’S 100TH DAY, CHINESE COMMUNIST REGIME DECLARES IT WILL ‘NEVER KNEEL’ TO U.S. PRESSURE IN FIERY VIDEO Beijing could possibly have Wang meet with senior Trump administration officials in a neutral country, the newspaper reported. Trump has tried to persuade China, Mexico and Canada to do more to combat the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. TRUMP SAYS TARIFFS ARE INCENTIVIZING US INVESTMENT, HURTING CHINA “Fentanyl can be the icebreaker for the two countries to start with a more positive tone,” Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, told the news outlet. “Both sides are eager to get some negotiations started.” Upon taking office, Trump imposed 20% tariffs on China over its role in the fentanyl epidemic in the U.S., which kills tens of thousands of Americans every year. Since then, Trump has increased tariffs on China to 145%, while Beijing has retaliated with 125% tariffs on American goods.
Top 5 most outrageous ways the government has wasted your taxes, as uncovered by Elon Musk’s DOGE
As President Donald Trump celebrated his 100th day in office this week, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it has cut at least $160 billion in waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. When Trump signed an executive order establishing the agency on his Inauguration Day, DOGE set an ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. According to the Office of Government Ethics, “special government employees” like Musk can work for the federal government no more than 130 days a year, which in Musk’s case will fall on May 30. He has already started pairing back his hours leading the controversial agency. Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” had the opportunity to see behind the curtain of Musk’s infamous DOGE, which Democrats have railed against and Republicans have celebrated since Trump returned to the White House this year. The “DOGE boys” reminded Watters on Thursday of some of the most shocking savings secured by the department this year. DOGE’S GREATEST HITS: LOOK BACK AT THE DEPARTMENT’S MOST HIGH-PROFILE CUTS DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS Earlier this year, DOGE discovered the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) had transferred $132,000 to Mohammad Qasem Halimi, a former Taliban member who was Afghanistan’s former Chief of Protocol. DOGE announced on March 31 that the contract was canceled. Halimi was detained by the U.S. and held at Bagram Air Base for a year beginning Jan. 2, 2002. He held several positions in Afghanistan’s government following his release and was appointed as the Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Afghanistan in 2020. “A small agency called the United States Institute of Peace is definitely the agency we’ve had the most fight at. We actually went into the agency and found they had loaded guns inside their headquarters — Institute for Peace,” a DOGE staffer told Watters. “So by far, the least peaceful agency that we’ve worked with, ironically. Additionally, we found that they were spending money on things like private jets, and they even had a $130,000 contract with a former member of the Taliban. This is real. We don’t encounter that in most agencies.” USIP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry. ELON MUSK LOOKS BACK ON 100 DAYS OF DOGE, PREVIEWS FUTURE OF THE ‘LONG-TERM ENTERPRISE’ Fox News Digital reported earlier this year that the nation’s schools spent $200 billion in COVID-relief funds on expenses “with little oversight or impact on students,” such as Las Vegas hotel rooms and buying an ice cream truck, according to DOGE’s audits. Granite School District in Utah spent their COVID-relief funds on $86,000 in hotel rooms for an educational conference at Caesars Palace, a ritzy Las Vegas casino, while Santa Ana Unified in California spent $393,000 to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium, according to a report by Parents Defending Education and shared by DOGE. Granite School District has since denied “any impropriety for having our educators participate” in the Las Vegas conference. The cost-cutting department also revealed that schools spent $60,000 of COVID-relief funds on swimming pool passes, while a California district used its funds to purchase an ice cream truck. “They were basically partying on the taxpayers’ dollars,” Musk told Watters on Thursday. CAESARS PALACE, MLB STADIUM, AN ICE CREAM TRUCK: DOGE REVEALS HOW SCHOOLS SPENT BILLIONS IN COVID-RELIEF FUNDS Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus and who has collaborated closely with Musk to identify waste to cut, revealed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) “authorized a whopping $20 million to create a ‘Sesame Street’ in Iraq.” Ernst said that under the Biden administration, USAID awarded the $20 million to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to produce a show called “Ahlan Simsim Iraq” in an effort to “promote inclusion, mutual respect and understanding across ethnic, religious and sectarian groups.” DOGE received a hand from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which released a report in March revealing that federal agencies wasted $162 billion in “improper payments,” which was actually a decrease of $74 billion from the previous fiscal year. GAO’s analysis revealed that of the 16 government agencies reporting improper payments, 75% of the waste found was concentrated in five programs: $54 billion from three Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Medicare programs; $31 billion in HHS Medicaid; $16 billion from the Department of the Treasury’s earned income tax credit; $11 billion from the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and $9 billion from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Restaurant Revitalization Fund. On the campaign trail and since taking office, Trump has made it clear he aims to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spending in the federal government, while making the case that a system of meritocracy should be the focus. DOGE has announced over the last few months that it has cut hundreds of millions in DEI contracts. Earlier this month, DOGE announced it had worked with the U.S. National Science Foundation to cancel 402 “wasteful” DEI grants, which will save $233 million, including $1 million for “Antiracist Teacher Leadership for Statewide Transformation.” The Department of Defense could save up to $80 million in wasteful spending by cutting loose a handful of DEI programs, the agency announced last month. The Defense Department has been working with DOGE to slash wasteful spending, DOD spokesman Sean Parnell said in a video posted to social media. Parnell listed some of the initial findings flagged by DOGE, much of it consisting of millions of dollars given to support various DEI programs, including $1.9 million for holistic DEI transformation and training in the Air Force and $6 million to the University of Montana to “strengthen American democracy by bridging divides.” The Trump administration announced earlier this month it is slashing millions of dollars in DEI grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of its overall DOGE push. And in February, the Department of Education said it is canceling more than $100 million in
ICE makes major arrest after Soros-backed prosecutor made controversial plea deal
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Virginia State Police arrested an illegal immigrant after he was released as a result of a plea deal made by the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. Guatemalan national Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron, 34, faced numerous felony charges in January, including abduction by force, assault on a family member and felony strangulation causing injury to a Virginia woman, according to ICE, which has Ramos-Giron in custody. Ramos-Giron spent only two months in an adult detention center in Fairfax County. The county attorney’s office, led by Democrat Steve Descano, arranged a plea deal dropping Ramos-Giron’s charges to misdemeanors. Ramos-Giron would have faced up to 16 years behind bars on the felony charges if convicted, according to ABC 7. DEM PROSECUTOR LETS OFF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH STRANGULATION, KIDNAPPING The outlet reported that even though the county attorney’s office said the plea deal was what the victim wanted, the victim said that’s not true. Ramos-Giron was deported two other times but found his way back into the U.S. despite being convicted in a federal gun case. But it’s not clear when he returned to the country, according to ICE. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office praised the April 24 arrest. “It’s disappointing that the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney’s Office has been more concerned about shielding dangerous illegal immigrants than ensuring the safety of Virginians,” Peter Finocchio, Youngkin’s press secretary, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Fortunately, Wilmer Osmany Ramos-Giron will no longer pose a threat to Virginia families, thanks to brave federal and state law enforcement heroes.” Descano’s campaign received over $627,000 between 2019 and 2023 from the Justice and Public Safety PAC, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Fox News Digital previously reported that a large majority of the super PAC’s funding came from liberal billionaire George Soros. ICE NABS MORE THAN 425 MIGRANT CRIMINALS IN VIRGINIA, GOV. YOUNGKIN SAYS Fairfax County District Attorney Steve Descano, a Democrat, has had a clear policy against wanting to enforce federal immigration laws and has a history of not complying with many ICE detainers, ABC 7 reported. “Wilmer Ramos-Giron represents a significant threat to our Virginia residents,” said Russell Hott, who directs the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., field office. “He has displayed a blatant disregard for our immigration laws and, more importantly, for the safety and well-being of our community. He is a violent and recidivist threat to public safety that ICE Washington, D.C., cannot tolerate. Regardless of the obstacles placed in our way, we remain committed to prioritizing public safety. The men and women of ICE Washington, D.C., will continue to arrest and remove criminal alien threats from our Washington, D.C., and Virginia neighborhoods and ensure their victims receive the justice they so rightly deserve.” ICE TOUTS RECORD-BREAKING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS Descano’s office did not respond to a request for comment. As ICE continues its crackdown on illegal immigrants it considers public safety risks, state and local laws nationwide continue to face scrutiny. Last month, the state of California said it would transfer an illegal immigrant into ICE custody after the state prison system was preparing to release a man convicted of killing two teenagers in a DUI manslaughter who was 3½ years into a 10-year sentence in July.
Australia’s election will show if PM Anthony Albanese has won back voters
Australians are heading to the polls shortly in parliamentary elections which will decide if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor government will return for a second term. Labor’s main rival is the country’s conservative coalition, led by opposition leader Peter Dutton, which came into the election campaign polling strongly but is now lagging slightly behind Labor. If Albanese does win, it could mean Australia is following in similar footsteps to Canada, where the Liberal party reversed its prospects in recent weeks, amid concerns about the effect of United States President Donald Trump’s policies on Canada’s economy. Amy Remeikis, chief political analyst at the Australia Institute, an independent research centre, told Al Jazeera that polls indicate President Trump is “an increasing concern for Australian voters” and that “Labor’s gamble of holding a later election to allow some of Trump’s policies to start to impact has paid off.” In comparison with Canada, where both major parties tried to distance themselves from Trump, Remeikis notes that Australia’s opposition leader Dutton has courted “favourable comparisons” to Trump for months. Advertisement But, he has been “badly damaged by the ‘Temu Trump’ label” – a reference to the Chinese online shopping website known for selling cheap copies of original brands. The Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher and Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton after attending mass, following the death of Pope Francis, at Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, on April 22, 2025 [Hollie Adams/Reuters] War on Gaza and the price of eggs Uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs on Australia has only compounded the concerns of many Australians around the cost of essential items, including housing, food, healthcare and childcare. In the final televised leaders’ debate, a week before the election, both Dutton and Albanese stumbled when asked to guess how much a dozen eggs might cost at a supermarket. Albanese was closer, guessing 7 Australian dollars, nearly two dollars less than the actual price of $8.80, while Dutton guessed $4.20, less than half the actual price. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during an appearance as a guest on the Sunday Footy Show during the federal election campaign in Sydney, Australia, on April 20, 2025 [Alex Ellinghausen/Pool via Reuters] Cost of living has “trumped everything” leading into the election, says Josie Hess, who comes from the Latrobe Valley, a coal-mining region in Victoria, and who also works for advocacy group Environment Victoria. For a number of Australians, the most important issue on election day will be beyond Australia’s borders, says Nasser Mashni, the president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN). Advertisement Mashni told Al Jazeera that “the genocide that is occurring in Palestine” has seen a “new constituency” emerge in Australia that understands that Israel is “a settler colonialist movement doing exactly what occurred here [in Australia] 238 years ago”. APAN has developed a scorecard of where the major parties stand on Palestine. Of those, only the Greens received a tick from APAN on every issue. The scorecard for Labor was mixed, while the conservative Liberal-National coalition did not meet a single criterion. “We’ve asked for people to make Palestine their number one issue and to find a candidate that best reflects a just and humane position for Palestine,” Mashni said. “Certainly, the easiest candidates to find will be in the Senate, but I am sure there’ll be somebody in every seat where they can vote a little bit better for Palestine, and in some cases, very well for Palestine,” he added. Dozens of minor parties and independents from across the political spectrum are also vying for votes. Remeikis said there is a “late surge to the nationalistic, far-right, One Nation party”, which has been aided by Dutton’s conservative coalition preferencing votes for One Nation, and vice versa, in outer suburban and inner regional seats. Next year marks 30 years since One Nation’s leader Pauline Hanson was first elected to federal office in Australia. But Remeikis says the late surge is unlikely to affect the outcome of the election, with polls suggesting Labor will win with a minority government. The Greens, along with some independents running on pro-climate action platforms, will also be hoping to repeat successes in Australia’s 2022 election, which followed many months of devastating fires and floods. People arrive at a polling centre as early voting begins in Sydney on April 22, 2025 [Mark Baker/AP] Going nuclear With climate change remaining a key concern for many Australians, Dutton, whose party has long delayed taking action on climate, has chosen to focus on campaigning to build Australia’s first-ever nuclear power stations in areas where coal power stations are closing down, such as the Latrobe Valley, in Victoria. Advertisement This week, organisations representing more than 350,000 emergency and health services workers released a letter calling on Dutton to drop his plan to introduce nuclear energy to Australia, saying “Australia’s current emergency services do not have the support or resources to respond to nuclear disasters.” Josie Hess, a Latrobe Valley local who works for Environment Victoria, told Al Jazeera that people there still have questions about the viability of Dutton’s proposal. She says people in the valley “desperately need jobs” but the timeline to build nuclear means that it would do little to help workers now. “We have some people who support nuclear but for the most part, the Latrobe Valley is not a monolith, and there is clear and demonstrable opposition to the proposal,” she said. And while economic issues are a concern, she added, there is also an “intrinsic link between climate security and cost of living and housing”. Melissa Sweet, who runs public health news site Croakey, told Al Jazeera that climate change remains a key issue for Australian health workers heading into the election. “Heatwaves, floods, and bushfires are already driving up demand for emergency care, mental health services, and chronic disease management,” Sweet said. The recent US cuts to “public health, global health and climate action and science generally” under Trump mean it’s “more important than ever” that the next Australian
ICJ hearing on Israel’s obligation to allow aid to Palestine: Key takeaways
On May 2, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded public hearings into what Israel’s obligations are regarding allowing United Nations agencies and other relief groups to work in the Palestinian territory it occupies. A panel of judges has heard oral arguments from 40 countries since Monday, including China, France, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and the United Kingdom. The court will likely deliberate for months before making a ruling, requested of it in December by the UN General Assembly. Many of the participating states rebuked Israel for acutely restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza since launching a genocidal war on the enclave on October 7, 2023. Israel has cut off all aid – food or medicine – entirely for the last two months, accelerating the starvation and medical crises. Here are the key takeaways from the hearings: Starvation threatens the Palestinians as a people There was broad consensus that Israel, as an occupying power, would be obliged to allow aid organisations to deliver assistance to the people it occupies, particularly in Gaza, which Israel is also bombing. Advertisement Israel has weakened human rights norms through its violations in Gaza, Juliette McIntyre, a legal scholar at the University of South Australia, argued. She pointed out that nearly all the states speaking at the hearings affirmed that the ability of Palestinians to receive humanitarian relief is necessary for their survival, to guard their right to eventual self-determination and safeguard the entire UN system and the treaties underpinning it. Put bluntly, she said most states agree that Israel should not be allowed to starve civilians it occupies nor impede the relief work of UN agencies. “Every state, except for two, agrees that Israel is an occupier and it owes certain obligations,” she told Al Jazeera. Palestinians, mostly children, wait in long lines with empty pots in their hands to get food aid distributed by charity organisations in northern Gaza City on May 1, 2025 [Karam Hassan/Anadolu Agency] What did Israel say? Israel submitted written statements which called the hearings a “circus” and accused the court of anti-Semitism. On top of that, it claimed that it has no obligation to work with what it described as compromised UN organs or aid groups and that its sovereign right to “defend itself” takes priority over its responsibility to deliver aid to the people it occupies. This is not the first time Israel has refused to attend ICJ sessions leading to an advisory opinion. The US statement The US defended Israel, said Heidi Matthews, assistant professor of law at York University, Canada. Advertisement She added that the US tried to deny the severity of the situation and shield Israel from accountability by deliberately not speaking about the facts on the ground. According to Matthews, while the US mainly said the ICJ should advise Israel to uphold its legal obligations under international law, it did not provide details of Israel’s conduct or call for Israel to take concrete steps to mitigate the humanitarian crisis it created. “This kind of highly formalist and factually empty approach to law is characteristic of one form of fascist engagement with legal argument,” Matthews told Al Jazeera. The US also tried to “spook” the court by bringing up Israel’s unsupported allegations that the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) had been infiltrated by Hamas, said Adel Haque, a legal scholar at Rutgers University. In October 2024, Israel banned UNRWA, which aids the Palestinians made refugees by the Zionist ethnic cleansing that made way for the declaration of Israel as a state in 1948. The US is betting that the court can be swayed, Haque said, and so it is trying to encourage a more “general” advisory opinion. “Basically, if the advisory opinion is made at such a high level of generality, then it wouldn’t say anything about Israel’s conduct at all,” he told Al Jazeera. More than two million Palestinians in Gaza are starving as they face genocidal levels of violence at Israel’s hands. ICJ cases as a substitute for action? While ICJ advisory opinions reaffirm international laws and norms, its non-binding opinions cannot change facts on the ground, and some countries may be seeking ICJ opinions rather than take concrete, coordinated action against Israel, said Haque. Advertisement “Many [European states] have come before the ICJ in these hearings to say Israel is not fulfilling its obligations. But the question, now, is what are these states going to do about it?” he told Al Jazeera. A Palestinian reacts as people gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, April 29, 2025 [Hatem Khaled/Reuters] He noted the UK had used the recent hearings to denounce Israel’s obstruction of aid and to speak about its decision to halt arms sales to Israel, not enough of an action, he added. France also spoke about the need for Israel to quickly facilitate aid into Gaza. But the statements appear to be attempts to substitute for Europe’s collective failure to take urgent action against Israel for its conduct in Gaza, said Haque. “The onus is on states to decide what they are going to do about [Israel’s actions] and not to wait for the court to rule on what they already know,” Haque added. When and how will the ICJ rule? The ICJ is not expected to issue an advisory opinion for months. The non-binding advisory opinion will likely not compel Israel or member states to change course, according to legal scholars. Israel has ignored an earlier binding provisional measures by the ICJ ordering it to scale up humanitarian aid and end acts of genocide in Gaza as a result of a genocide case brought against Israel by South Africa in December 2023. No state has taken any action against Israel for failing to implement the provisional measures. Advertisement McIntyre believes the court will eventually issue a narrow ruling that outlines Israel’s responsibilities to facilitate aid and cooperate with UNRWA. By the time the court issues its opinion, tens of thousands of
US man sentenced to 53 years for the murder of a Palestinian American child
The death of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, a Palestinian American, has shone a light on instances of anti-Arab hate. A United States man has been sentenced to 53 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy, after being found guilty of hate crime charges and murder. Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak announced the sentence on Friday in the case of 73-year-old Illinois landlord Joseph Czuba. On October 14, 2023, just days after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, Czuba attacked two of his tenants, Hanan Shaheen and her young son Wadee Alfayoumi. Police say Czuba arrived at their door angry about the war and proceeded to force his way inside, strangling Shaheen and holding her down before pulling out a military-style knife. Shaheen suffered more than a dozen stab wounds before escaping to a bathroom to call 911 for help. Alfayoumi, meanwhile, was stabbed 26 times. He did not survive. Czuba’s trial featured audio from Shaheen’s panicked 911 call, as well as testimony from the mother herself. Speaking from the witness stand in English and Arabic, she described Czuba becoming increasingly paranoid and Islamophobic as the war progressed. Advertisement For nearly two years before the attack, the family had rented a pair of bedrooms in Czuba’s house in Plainville, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. But after the war began on October 7, Shaheen recalled Czuba telling her to move out of her lodgings because Muslims were not welcome. Then, during the attack, she once again heard him citing her Muslim faith. “He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen. The incident was one of the highest-profile acts of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim violence in the US after the war in Gaza broke out. But advocates say it is part of a trend of anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic hate that has swept the country in recent months. Wadee Alfayoumi’s father, Oday Alfayoume, and his uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, attend a vigil on October 17, 2023 [Nam Y Huh/AP Photo] After the attack, police found Czuba sitting on the ground outside of the home, his hands and body bloody. Czuba pleaded not guilty, and his defence team has sought to vacate his conviction on the grounds that the prosecution played to the jury’s emotions. Some of the images of the crime scene were so graphic that the judge ordered the court’s television screens to be turned away from the audience. Jury members heard Shaheen telling 911 operators in fear, “The landlord is killing me and my baby!” During his opening statements, Michael Fitzgerald, the assistant state’s attorney for Will County, described Alfayoumi’s final moments as full of horror. “He could not escape,” Fitzgerald said. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.” Advertisement In February, the jury took less than 90 minutes to return a guilty verdict. On Friday, Judge Bertani-Tomczak rejected the defence’s bid to overturn the conviction. In announcing the sentence, she called Czuba’s actions “brutal” and “heinous”. She said a 30-year prison sentence was given for Alfayoumi’s murder, plus another 20 years for the attack on his mother and three years for committing a hate crime. Hela Yousef, second from left, prays for her slain cousin, six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, outside the Will County Courthouse on February 28 [Nam Y Huh/AP Photo] Alfayoumi’s great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member to speak at the sentencing hearing. He said no amount of prison time could ever make up for the loss his family has suffered. He also explained that Alfayoumi had seen Czuba as a grandfather figure, and he questioned what “fake news” about the war in Gaza could have prompted such violence. “Some people are bringing this war to this country,” Yousef said. “We cannot do that. We can’t bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country.” In March, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a report saying it had received 8,658 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents in the last year alone, a 7.6 percent rise. It was the highest tally the group had recorded since it began collecting data in 1996. Adblock test (Why?)