Rubio denies visas to Palestinian leaders for UN General Assembly, citing terror support
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied Palestinian leaders visas to attend next month’s United Nations General Assembly, citing longstanding U.S. law that prohibits recognition of Palestinian statehood and sanctions the Palestinian Authority for so-called “pay for slay” payments to terrorists. According to internal documents reviewed by Fox News, Rubio signed off on recommendations that would block visas for senior officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), including PA President Mahmoud Abbas. “In compliance with the laws and national security interests of the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Friday. “Before they can be taken seriously as partners for peace, the PA and PLO must repudiate terrorism, lawfare campaigns at the ICC and ICJ, and the pursuit of unilateral recognition of statehood. The PA Mission to the UN will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters agreement. The United States remains open to re-engagement should the PA/PLO demonstrably take concrete steps to return to constructive engagement. The Trump Administration does not reward terrorism.” HOUSE DEMOCRATS CALL ON RUBIO TO ALLOW INJURED CHILDREN FROM GAZA INTO US FOLLOWING VISA HALT The move prevents Palestinian leaders from addressing the annual U.N. gathering in New York next month, a stage they have frequently used to advance unilateral recognition of statehood. The decision stems from findings under the Palestinian Liberation Organization Commitments Compliance Act (PLOCCA) and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act (MEPCA), which determined the PA and PLO were out of compliance with U.S. commitments by “unilaterally declaring Palestinian statehood; glorifying violence; promoting antisemitism; and providing material support to terrorists.” The sanctions mandate an automatic denial of visas for at least 180 days. While the United States has previously denied visas on a case-by-case basis — including for members of the Iranian delegation — officials acknowledged in the documents that Washington has never before barred an entire delegation from attending the U.N. General Assembly. The internal guidance argues that the unprecedented step is justified because Palestinian leaders plan to use the September forum to push a “constitutional declaration” of independence, a move the U.S. views as a major propaganda victory for Hamas and a threat to ceasefire talks in Gaza. The recommendations call for rejecting visa applications from Palestinian officials, declining a waiver for Abbas himself, and revoking visas issued before July 31 for PLO and PA members. However, the guidance makes one exception: permanent staff and dependents at the Palestinian U.N. Observer Mission would be allowed to remain under U.S. obligations to the U.N. Headquarters Agreement. U.S. officials wrote that granting waivers “would undermine the credibility” of existing sanctions and embolden the PA to pursue unilateral recognition efforts. By contrast, enforcing the visa bans was described as a “low-cost, high-impact action” to reinforce U.S. policy. US SANCTIONS PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY OFFICIALS AFTER REJECTING GLOBAL PUSH TO GIVE IT CONTROL OF GAZA Since 2012, Palestinian representatives have held non-member observer status at the U.N., a designation that allows them to participate in debates but not vote. While the U.S. has pledged under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement not to obstruct travel for official U.N. business, the documents argue that the PA’s use of the General Assembly to advance statehood recognition falls outside routine mission work and poses a direct challenge to U.S. national interests. Rubio’s decision marks a historic departure from the U.S. practice of accommodating U.N. participation, setting up a likely clash with international bodies and U.S. allies that continue to recognize Palestinian representatives. The move follows decades of friction between Washington and the United Nations over Israel-related issues, most especially after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The United States has used its Security Council veto power dozens of times to block resolutions critical of Israel — more than any other permanent member has used its veto for a single ally.
Newsom warns Americans ‘you will lose your country’ under Trump at California summit
California Gov. Gavin Newsom unleashed on President Donald Trump on Wednesday, criticizing his “authoritarian tendencies” and warning Americans that Trump won’t concede the presidency at the end of his second term. During POLITICO’s California Summit in Sacramento, the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate ripped into Trump, arguing the president “doesn’t believe in free, fair elections,” referencing the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021. “You think he’s joking about 2028?” Newsom asked before warning Americans, “Wake up. You will lose your country.” When reached for comment regarding Newsom’s remarks, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “While Newscum is on a Panican Media Tour, President Trump is delivering win after win for the American people. When will Newscum learn that President Trump is right about everything?!” CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR DEMANDS TRUMP ABANDON TEXAS REDISTRICTING PUSH, THREATENS BALLOT MEASURE RESPONSE While the White House has maintained that Trump is not seeking a third term, which would be unconstitutional, the Trump organization’s official online retailer launched a “Trump 2028” hat earlier this year, sparking buzz about another run. “I don’t think Donald Trump wants another election,” Newsom claimed. “I have two dozen ‘Trump 2028’ hats his folks keep sending me … Who spends $200 million on a ballroom at their home and then leaves the house? This is serious guys. This is serious.” NEWSOM UNDER FIRE FROM TRUMP WORLD, BUT DEMOCRATS HOPE HIS SPEECH RESETS HIS IMAGE Newsom’s fiery rebuttal of the Trump administration’s sweeping second-term agenda came after the political leaders’ contentious relationship came to a boiling point earlier this summer. For the first time in 60 years, the president federalized a state’s National Guard without the governor’s approval when Trump deployed the California National Guard to Los Angeles during protests rejecting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump has since deployed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as part of his administration’s crackdown on crime, mobilizing more than 20,000 troops in Washington, D.C. He has also floated similar deployments to Baltimore and Chicago. “This is a real and serious moment in U.S. history,” Newsom said. “And by the way, I say that as an American, not as a Democrat. Every Republican should be ashamed about this and scared to death about not just these authoritarian tendencies, but these authoritarian actions by the president. He is weak. He’s weakness masquerading as strength and that makes him more dangerous than most people believe.” “This is simply the most destructive and damaging individual in my lifetime that happens to be the President of the United States,” Newsom said. Newsom’s remarks came on the heels of the Texas legislature passing their Trump-backed redistricting maps, which will shift the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of the midterm elections by securing five more Republican-leaning districts. The California governor has followed suit with his own redistricting plan, seeking to pick up five Democrat-leaning U.S. House seats to level the playing field ahead of the midterms. “I’m sick and tired of Democrats being on the losing end in this country, and our democracy being on the losing end. We have got to fight fire with fire,” Newsom said. As Newsom lambasted the Trump administration for close to an hour, he said he was done “giving a d— about people’s feelings about this moment.” “We’re losing this country in real time. This is not bloviation. This is not an exaggeration. It’s happening,” Newsom warned before adding that the rule of law is “being replaced with the rule of Don.”
GOP senators say they’re open to Trump deploying National Guard in their states’ blue cities
Senate Republicans are behind President Donald Trump’s desire to send the National Guard to Democrat-led cities and states with high crime rates, and some are even open to sending troops to blue cities in their own states to clean up the streets. “Blue cities like Memphis need all the help they can get to combat violent crime,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital in a statement. Trump’s desire to replicate his crime-fighting efforts in Washington, D.C., where he federalized the local police and sent in the National Guard to patrol the streets and Metro stations, led him to signal plans to send troops to Chicago and Baltimore, two blue cities in blue states with high rates of crime. DC STATEHOOD DEBATE INTENSIFIES AS TRUMP FLEXES AUTHORITY OVER LOCAL POLICE The likely move has riled up Democratic senators from Illinois and Maryland, who accused the president of playing “political theater” in D.C. and making an attempt to “play dictator” with the U.S. military. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., charged that Trump’s National Guard threat was “nothing more than a power grab to distract from his disastrous policies,” while Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Trump’s threats to invade our cities are not the answer – and are sad attempts to distract from his failures to actually put forward solutions to these and other issues facing our communities, like the rising cost of living.” “Instead of politicizing our great City of Baltimore, which Trump knows nothing about, he should just button it up while federal, state, and local law enforcement do their important work,” he said. CAPITOL HILL PREPARES FOR HIGH-STAKES BATTLE OVER TRUMP CRIME PACKAGE, DC POLICE AUTHORITY Republicans, however, have largely backed Trump’s decision to bring in the National Guard to the district and have considered extending his federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department — or allowing him to bypass Congress altogether to maintain his grip on the local police — after the 30-day window expires. Some welcome the idea of troops coming to crack down on crime in their cities with open arms. Memphis, for example, is ruby-red Tennessee’s largest city and has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. Similar to Baltimore and Chicago, it is led by a Democratic mayor. Blackburn told Fox News Digital that she’d welcome Trump to send troops to the city. REPUBLICANS READY TO SUPPORT TRUMP’S MOVE TO SKIRT CONGRESS IN DC CRIME CRACKDOWN “I support the Trump administration’s efforts to restore law and order in lawless cities across America, and I’ll continue to work with the president, Attorney General [Pam] Bondi, and FBI Director [Kash] Patel to do whatever it takes to make cities like Memphis safe again,” she said. And in St. Louis, another major city that consistently cracks the top 10 of violent and overall crime data pools, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., recently worked with Patel to secure funding for a surge of FBI agents dubbed as “one of the largest per capita infusions of full-time agents and intel personnel in the nation.” Schmitt signaled an openness to troops coming to St. Louis and charged that “for too long, local leaders in blue cities have been more focused on the rights of criminals than victims, and it’s allowed crime to run rampant.” “American families want and deserve to feel safe in their communities, and I’m glad to see President Trump doing what it takes to enforce the rule of law and increase public safety,” Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “His efforts in D.C. have been hugely successful, and I have no doubt other cities could benefit from increased law enforcement presence.”
Top Republican points finger at Walz’s trans agenda after Catholic school shooting
EXCLUSIVE: The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is accusing his state’s Democratic governor of focusing on the wrong issues in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school. “Tim Walz and the people around him, they’re not trying to solve this. They’re just exacerbating the problem, and they’ve been exacerbating it over the last several years,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital. “So yes, I do put this squarely in their lap, and if we’re going to get this fixed, then I think Tim Walz and Democrats in my state really need to sit down and have a thoughtful discussion about how we deal with this mental health issue that they have encouraged.” A 23-year-old opened fire on a Mass being held at the Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday, which was being attended by students at its affiliated school. MINNEAPOLIS CHURCH SHOOTER ROBIN WESTMAN’S FORMER CLASSMATE SAYS SHE KNEW SOMETHING ‘WAS OFF’ Authorities said two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed. Fifteen other children between the ages of 6 and 15, and three adults, were injured. The shooter was identified as Robin Westman, whose name was originally Robert Westman. Federal officials, including Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, said Westman claimed to be transgender. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey publicly urged people to not use the shooting “as an opportunity to villainize our trans community.” But Emmer criticized Democrats, both in his state and in Congress, for renewing their push for gun control in the wake of the shooting. “It starts at the top,” he said. “If a gun wasn’t going to be available, clearly based on what this young man, what little we know of it right now, he would have found another way to commit a heinous act like this,” Emmer said. “That wasn’t going to stop him, and that’s not what caused the problem. What caused the problems is all the transgender confusion that Tim Walz and his Democrat colleagues are causing.” “I wish our governor, rather than calling us a transgender sanctuary state, why doesn’t he say we’re a sanctuary state for all people of all faith, and we’re going to protect them all?” He was referring to laws signed by Walz that made the state a “refuge” for transgender people. Walz touted his policies earlier this week at the DNC’s summer meeting: “Minnesota ranks the highest per-capita for being a safe haven for transgender individuals.” But Emmer said the shooter “clearly had some mental health issues.” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told ABC News that the shooter “harbored a whole lot of hate towards a wide variety of people and groups of people” while also showing an “obsession” for mass shooters. The New York Post reported that Westman’s manifesto showed the 23-year-old struggled with having a trans identity. “I regret being trans,” the shooter reportedly said before the attack. “I wish I was a girl. I just know I cannot achieve that body with the technology we have today. I also can’t afford that.” WHO IS ROBIN WESTMAN, SUSPECT IN ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS? The shooter also reportedly expressed hatred for Jews and complained that media outlets “only talk about brown people dying, and I don’t care about them.” Walz, for his part, has not commented on the shooter’s identity. Recent statements from the governor expressed thanks to law enforcement and condolences to those affected. “Students deserve to start the school year full of hope and excitement. No child in America should go to school apprehensive of danger, of losing a classmate, of gunshots during prayer,” Walz said on X on Thursday afternoon. Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office for a response to Emmer but did not hear back.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers ask judge for gag order against Trump officials
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers asked a federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday to prohibit top Trump officials from making remarks about their client that could bias the jury against him. His defense team said that administration officials have repeatedly accused Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national facing human smuggling charges, of being a criminal gang member and made other negative claims about him that pose a “substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing this proceeding.” The attorneys pointed to numerous recent instances, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Abrego Garcia an “MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator.” FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION, EXTENDING COURT FIGHT “She also called Mr. Abrego a ‘monster,’” the attorneys wrote. This is the second time Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked the judge to rein in statements from the administration. Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously responded by reminding the government to follow all typical rules and procedures for prosecutions, which include barring prosecutors from making prejudicial statements outside of court. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys asked Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, to bar Department of Homeland Security officials, Department of Justice officials and anyone else involved with the case from making such statements. Abrego Garcia was erroneously deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador in March. The government claimed for nearly two months in combative hearings and court papers that it could not return him, despite an order from the Supreme Court to attempt to do so. The Salvadoran migrant entered the country illegally more than a decade ago, but an immigration judge previously barred the government from sending him back to El Salvador, citing his fears of persecution if he were sent there. Abrego Garcia was however eligible to be deported to other countries. ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT In a surprise move in June, the DOJ returned Abrego Garcia to the United States and brought an indictment against him for two counts of conspiring to transport illegal immigrants within the country. He was released from jail last week while he awaits trial, but immigration authorities promptly re-detained him in Maryland, fulfilling fears previously expressed in court by Abrego Garcia and his lawyers. In a separate civil case in Maryland, a judge has barred the government from deporting Abrego Garcia until at least October. It is unlikely that the DOJ would need to prove its criminal case against Abrego Garcia if he is deported. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have said that since he was released, the Trump administration’s attacks on their client outside of court have only worsened. His defense team noted how Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, appeared on television on Fox News this week and called Abrego Garcia “a gang member, terrorist, wife beater, pedophile, human trafficker [and] alien smuggler.” Abrego Garcia was accused by his wife in 2020 of beating her. He is not facing human trafficking charges, and he has denied all the allegations against him. “The substance of these statements, like the countless other statements highlighted in prior briefs before this Court, clearly violates [prosecutorial rules] and prejudices Mr. Abrego’s right to a fair trial,” the attorneys wrote. They asked that if Crenshaw did not want to put restrictions on Trump officials’ speech, then the judge should, in the alternative, require the government to explain how it has complied with prosecution rules.
Trump revokes Kamala Harris’ Secret Service protection, spokesperson says
A spokesperson for Kamala Harris confirmed to Fox News on Friday that the former vice president’s Secret Service protection has been revoked by President Donald Trump. The spokesperson added that there was no reason given as to why it was removed. A senior White House official told Fox News Digital that vice presidents usually have a Secret Service detail for only six months after departing office. A source briefed on the matter also told Fox News that the decision to revoke Harris’ Secret Service protection was made yesterday and that is when the Secret Service was notified. KAMALA HARRIS FUNDRAISING EVENTS HAVE BEEN A FLOP TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR DNC: REPORT Former President Joe Biden signed an executive memorandum before leaving office which extended Harris’ protection for an additional year after the normal six months that former vice presidents received in the past. On Thursday, Trump rescinded that memorandum and Harris’ Secret Service protection officially ends on Sept. 1. KAMALA HARRIS’ BOOK PROMOTION PUSH SKEWERED ONLINE AS ‘NATIONWIDE COMEDY TOUR’ The move comes as Harris is set to kick off a tour for her upcoming book “107 Days” in late September. The tour is scheduled to visit major American cities in its opening days, including New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The Secret Service says on its website that after former presidents leave office, they get security details for themselves and their spouses for life, “unless they decline protection.” Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff had his Secret Service protection removed in July, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Weather Update: Delhi-NCR receives fresh spell of rain, humidity levels drop, IMD predicts…
The heavy rain is expected to bring relief to people in the region, who have been facing humid heat due to sunshine throughout the day on Thursday. Read here to know full forecast.
Two cloudbursts struck Uttarakhand’s Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts, several families trapped, rescue operation underway
Two different cloudbursts struck Uttarakhand’s Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts. Several families are reportedly trapped under debris. The incidents occurred in the Deval area of Chamoli and the Bareth Dungar Tok area of Rudraprayag’s Buskedar tehsil.
Former MLB player Mark Teixeira announces run for 21st Congressional District
The former Texas Rangers slugger, who is running as a Republican, launched his campaign after incumbent Rep. Chip Roy announced he was running for attorney general.
Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert
The Pentagon has refused to release the contract or explain why it selected Acquisition Logistics over a dozen other bidders to build the massive tent camp at Fort Bliss in west Texas.