BJP’s Vijender Gupta, once dragged out of Delhi assembly, returns as speaker in Rekha Gupta’s cabinet
As tables turned in Delhi with the triumph of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded assembly polls, party’s MLA from Rohini Vijender Gupta has been named the speaker.
Trump floating returning 20% of DOGE savings to American people
President Donald Trump floated the idea of delivering 20% of savings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directly to the American people on Wednesday. Trump said 20% of the savings could be delivered to U.S. citizens in personal checks to taxpaying households, while another 20% would be used to pay down the national debt. “There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20% of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20% goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible,” Trump told reporters during an event at Miami Beach, Florida. Users on X, formerly Twitter, first pitched the idea of a “DOGE dividend” to Elon Musk earlier this week, suggesting payouts of $5,000. The billionaire Tesla owner said he would “check with the president” about the plan. DC FEDERAL WORKERS IN A ‘PANIC’ OVER NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF JOB INSECURITY WITH JOB CUTS A reporter asked Trump about the proposal directly during Wednesday night’s event in Florida. “I love it,” Trump said. “A 20% dividend, so to speak, for the money that we’re saving by going after the waste, fraud and abuse and all of the other things that are happening. I think it’s a great idea.” TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE Trump went on to suggest that the dividend could serve as an incentive for Americans to report government waste on their own, according to NBC News. DOGE so far claims to have saved some $55 billion via cuts to USAID, the Department of Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Some of DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts are under legal challenge, however. DOGE is currently planned to exist only through July 4, 2026, after which the organization will be dissolved. Trump has not clarified what his administration would do with the remaining 60% of DOGE savings if he moves forward with the plan.
Liz Cheney lambastes Trump over Russia/Ukraine, branding him ‘the antithesis’ of all ‘Reagan stood for’
Former Rep. Liz Cheney lambasted President Donald Trump in a tweet on Wednesday, asserting that he is the “antithesis” of all that Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th president, “stood for.” She claimed that Trump “is aligning” the U.S. with the opponents of liberty. “Trump – with his devotion to Putin, abandonment of Ukraine, and lies about history- is the antithesis of everything Ronald Reagan stood for. He is aligning America with the enemies of the very freedom that generations have fought and died to defend,” Cheney declared in the post on X. TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS “History will not be kind to those who are helping him, especially those who call themselves Reagan Republicans while they pretend not to see what’s happening,” she added. The former congresswoman, who was one of the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, has been a vociferous Trump critic over the years. Her post on Wednesday came after Trump excoriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a Truth Social post, referring to the foreign figure as “A Dictator without Elections,” who “has done a terrible job.” TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY WAR OF WORDS HEATS UP EVEN AS US LOOKS TO WIND DOWN WAR IN UKRAINE The U.S. has doled out billions worth of aid to assist Ukraine as the Eastern European nation has warred against Russia in response to a 2022 Russian invasion. “You shoulda never started it. You could’ve made a deal,” Trump said on Tuesday. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served alongside Trump during the president’s first term in office, pushed back in a post on Wednesday. GOP SENATORS BACK TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR UKRAINE ELECTIONS, BUT WON’T CALL ZELENSKYY ‘DICTATOR’ “Mr. President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth,” Pence tweeted.
Lawmaker who lost son to suicide warns Senate that ‘big tech is the big tobacco of this generation’
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). South Carolina House Rep. Brandon Guffey gave powerful testimony in Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Children’s Safety in the Digital Era. Guffey knows the dangers facing children online all too well. Nearly three years ago, Guffey lost his teenage son, Gavin, to suicide in an apparent sextortion scheme. “Protecting youth from online dangers and holding big tech companies responsible is now my life’s mission,” Guffey told the committee. He also issued a stark warning, saying “big tech is the big tobacco of this generation.” SOUTH CAROLINA LAWMAKER EXPOSES DANGERS OF ‘SEXTORTION’ AFTER TEENAGE SON’S SUICIDE In his testimony, a visibly emotional Guffey recounted the night his son took his own life and the fallout. A scammer posing as a girl convinced Gavin to turn on “vanish mode” and send explicit photos in an Instagram chat. “Vanish mode” allows messages to disappear once they are received. The scammer then threatened to release the photos unless he received money from Gavin, who sent the online predator $25, saying it was all he had in his account. This wasn’t enough for the scammer, who continued to demand more money. Tragically, Gavin took his own life as a result. The predator, however, was not done with the Guffey family. The state lawmaker told the committee that the scammer proceeded to harass himself, his son and his teen cousin. Guffey says this is because Meta took down the account that tormented his son Gavin and left the rest of the scammer’s accounts up. AFTER MICHIGAN TEEN’S SUICIDE, NIGERIAN BROTHERS PLEAD GUILTY TO PLANNING DEADLY SEXTORTION SCHEME Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, who was indicted by a Grand Jury in October 2023, was extradited to the United States from Lagos, Nigeria. He faces the possibility of life in prison. Within a few months of taking office, Guffey was able to pass a law bearing his son’s name. Gavin’s Law makes sextortion, the act of blackmailing someone using explicit images or videos, a felony in South Carolina. The offense can be upgraded to an aggravated felony if the victim is a minor or if there are other mitigating circumstances, which are outlined in the law. Additionally, Gavin’s Law requires South Carolina schools to teach students about the dangers of sextortion. “Sextortion is now taught throughout the State and every kid at least has some awareness so they don’t feel alone like my son did that night,” Guffey told the Senate committee on Wednesday. Guffey does not have faith in Big Tech’s ability to reform itself. He recalled attending a January 2024 hearing in which Mark Zuckerberg offered what he called “a forced, pathetic apology.” PENNSYLVANIA FATHER HELPS FBI TRACK DOWN SCAMMING SUSPECTS WHO LED HIS SON TO SUICIDE Guffey is demanding lawmakers take action on Section 230, which he believes will “go down as one of the greatest disasters.” Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act distinguishes Big Tech platforms from those that would be treated as a “publisher.” This absolves online platforms of legal liability for what users post. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle discussed the need for legislation to create new industry standards for Big Tech aimed at protecting America’s children. While Guffey is advocating for federal legislation, he is also calling for a cultural shift. “I believe that in this country we’ve lost grace, and we have too often kicked people for the mistakes that they make, and we tell our kids that ‘everything you do online will stay with you forever.’ Well, imagine if you just took your darkest moment and posted it online,” Guffey said to the committee. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) says it received more than 26,710 reports of financial sextortion in 2023. NCMEC says it has seen “an overwhelming increase in reports of sextortion from children and teens.” The center advises parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of sextortion, but also to let them know that they need to get help and not immediately pay or comply with the blackmailer.
A Jat, a Poorvanchali, a Sikh, a Dalit and more: Meet the ministers in Delhi CM Rekha Gupta’s cabinet
After a landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi assembly polls 2025 which paved the way for the party’s comeback in the national capital after an exile of 27 years, Rekha Gupta, a first-time lawmaker, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister.
‘Help us’: Indians, other deportees cry for help after being held in Panama amid US immigration crackdown
The deportees – including from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China – are being held at a hotel in the capital Panama City before they can be repatriated to their countries of origin.
National leaders mount pressure campaign on Texas House GOP to pass voucher bill
Supporters of voucher-like education savings accounts are trying to press their advantage early and build a sense of inevitability.
Feds approve another deepwater oil export terminal off Texas coast
The terminal continues an oil export infrastructure buildout that pushes growth in U.S. oil production as momentum fades on a phase-out of fossil fuels.
Shelters, Jesus, and Miss Pac-Man: US judge grills DOJ over trans policy in dizzying line of questioning
A federal judge in D.C. peppered Justice Department lawyers with hypothetical questions and video game references as she presided over the second day of oral arguments about the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict or ban transgender U.S. service members in the military. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes searched in vain for answers to key questions about the nature of a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump that requires the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.” Though Trump has instructed that “radical gender ideology” be banned from all military branches, the executive order did not explain how the Pentagon should do this – a lack of clarity that Judge Reyes, a Biden appointee, zeroed in on Wednesday. For a second day, Judge Reyes led the court through a dizzying-fast line of questions that whipsawed between real and hypothetical, fact and fiction, and was flecked with her own sarcastic quips and observations. FIRST OPENLY GAY DC FEDERAL JUDGE RAKES TRUMP ADMIN OVER MILITARY TRANS BAN At one point, Judge Reyes ticked through a list of actions the Trump administration has taken in the past three weeks against transgender persons, including moving to revoke a regulation that ensured trans-identifying individuals have equal access to homeless shelters. Judge Reyes then asked the Justice Department lawyers to tell her whether, in their view, such actions are discriminatory. “What do you think Jesus would say,” Reyes proceeded to ask, about an action that revokes a transgender person’s access to homeless shelters? “Do you think he’d say ‘sounds right to me’ or ‘WTF, let them in?’” LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS Jason Lynch, the Justice Department lawyer, told the court that the government did not have an answer as to what Jesus would think. The pace of the back-and-forth kept both plaintiffs for the transgender service members and the Trump administration’s lawyers on their toes, even if it did little, in the near-term, to effectuate an actual court ruling or answer any outstanding questions about the executive order, which is extremely scant on details. The Trump administration and DOJ lawyers have declined to answer Reyes’s questions over whether they can ensure plaintiffs in the case will not be removed from their roles in the military or face discrimination as a direct result of the executive order. The Justice Department, for its part, has described the order as not a ban but a pause, which Lynch said will allow the Defense Department time to align its policy with Trump’s order. During the second day of oral arguments, Reyes appeared exasperated and did little to disguise her displeasure with the order itself, which she described as expressing “unadulterated animus” towards transgender service members. Reyes did concede that there is an obvious national interest in ensuring the U.S. military is prepared. “It is the greatest fighting force this world has ever seen, and we want to keep it that way – I’ve got that part,” the judge said. “So how does this executive order effectuate that policy?” “By telling the Department of Defense to issue a policy within 30 days,” Lynch responded. “Oh, okay, any policy?” Judge Reyes quipped. She then outlined a hypothetical situation in which she, as head of the Pentagon, issued a policy that all DOD units be equipped with Miss Pac-Man machines – a game she noted she has in her own chambers, and plays from time to time to let off steam. DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES “So I’m now Secretary of Defense, I’m thinking about how to make my military best prepared,” Reyes said. “And I think people need to let off steam every once in a while. So I’m going to issue a policy that Miss Pac-Man machines should be in every unit.” “Would that be consistent,” she challenged Lynch, with the 30-day policy? Lynch said that would be for the president to decide. Putting aside whether the order discriminates on the basis of sex, Reyes asked the DOJ attorneys, “you agree the order penalizes on basis of sex, right? How is that not a sex-based classification?” The judge has made clear she will not rule on the executive action until the Trump administration outlines its policy – including how, or to what extent, transgender service members might be impacted. But she continued to probe Lynch, whom she reminded Tuesday is technically acting as the legal representative for the Trump administration. “I mean, I have no one else to ask, right?” Judge Reyes asked Lynch, before amending the question mark in her voice. “You are the person I have to ask,” she told him. The transgender military policy is slated to take effect Feb. 28, and the court has set a March 3 hearing date to consider the executive order. Fox News’s Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Trump vs Zelenskyy: What’s behind escalating war of words?
United States President Donald Trump has called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ as the rift between them has deepened over Ukraine peace negotiations. Trump’s latest broadside against Zelenskyy came after the Ukrainian leader challenged his claims that Ukraine had started the war. Zelenskyy had also spoken against being left out of the Russia-US peace talks held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday. In an online post later on Wednesday, and during a speech in Miami on the same day, Trump delivered scathing attacks against the Ukrainian leader, accusing him of taking US money and embroiling the country in an endless conflict. Here’s the war of words between Trump and Zelenskyy and how it may affect the Ukraine peace talks: What did Trump say about Zelenskyy? In a Wednesday post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote that Zelenskyy, a “moderately successful comedian” has “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start”. Advertisement In terms of funding disbursed to Ukraine, he added: “The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe.” Trump added that Zelenskyy “refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle’”. He said Zelenskyy had done a “terrible job” as the leader of Ukraine, deeming him “A Dictator without Elections”. “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.” On Wednesday, onstage during the Saudi-backed Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute summit in Miami, Trump thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting talks about Ukraine which were attended by US and Russian officials. On Tuesday, diplomats from Russia and the US held the first face-to-face talks since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago. After four hours of talks, the two sides agreed to form a team to work on ending the war – Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. They also agreed to revive diplomatic ties, which had descended to a historic low following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Why is Trump saying this and what else has he said? Trump’s comments came a day after Zelenskyy said that Trump was inhabiting a “Russian-made disinformation space” regarding the war in Ukraine. “The reason that Donald Trump is doing this is that he is notoriously thin-skinned. And he is not happy about the comments that Volodymyr Zelenskyy made earlier,” said Al Jazeera’s White House correspondent, Kimberly Halkett. Advertisement On Tuesday, Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, saying: “Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” He also asserted that Ukraine should conduct elections. He said, without evidence, that Zelenskyy had an approval rating of 4 percent. The pushback from Zelenskyy, some analysts say, came after Trump repeated Russian talking points on the Ukraine war and excluded Kyiv from the Riyadh talks on Tuesday. While the war of words between Trump and Zelenskyy has recently escalated against the backdrop of Ukraine peace talks, hostility has been brewing between the two for years. During Trump’s first term in September 2019, he wanted Zelenskyy to work with US attorney Rudy Giuliani in investigating political rival Democrat Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump alleged that Biden tried to interfere with a Ukrainian prosecutor in relation to his son. This was when it was alleged that Hunter accepted bribes from a Kyiv-based company, Burisma. Hunter pleaded guilty in the tax evasion case but was pardoned by Biden months later in December 2024. Despite criticising the Ukrainian leader on the campaign trail, Trump met Zelenskyy months before the elections at his New York base in Trump Tower to discuss how to end the war. What has Zelenskyy said? “We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump … unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelenskyy told Ukrainian television on Tuesday in the context of Trump’s comments about his approval rating. Advertisement The war of words between the two leaders intensified after Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and agreed to hold talks with Moscow without the involvement of Kyiv and Europe. A miffed Zelenskyy asserted that Ukraine, with European nations, needed to be represented at the peace talks. Trump’s overture to Putin has stunned European leaders who believe the Russian leader cannot be trusted. They fear a Ukraine deal without them would leave Europe vulnerable to Russia aggression. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy accused the Trump administration of bringing Moscow out of isolation. He said Russia could not be trusted. “This isn’t positive for Ukraine. What it does is that they’re bringing Putin out of isolation, and the Russians are happy because the discussion focuses on them.” Are Trump’s claims true? Zelenskyy’s five-year term was due to end in May 2024, but elections have been suspended after martial law was declared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the East European nation. The numbers cited by Trump in terms of aid to Ukraine contradict the data collected by research institutes. As of December 2024, European countries sent about $138bn to Ukraine, while the US sent about $120bn, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. In terms of Zelenskyy’s approval rating, at the end of 2024, 52 percent of Ukrainians said they trusted him, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Trump’s claim that Ukraine started the war is also untrue. Russia sent troops inside Ukraine as part of what it called a “special military operation” and has since captured nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. Advertisement What are