Chairman of far-right Reform UK party quits after burqa row
Zia Yusuf, a self-described ‘British Muslim patriot’, leaves a party accused of fuelling Islamophobia after 11 months. The Muslim chairman of the United Kingdom’s radical right-wing Reform UK party has quit after denouncing a call from within party ranks to ban the burqa as “dumb”. “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office,” Zia Yusuf announced on X on Thursday, hours after hitting out at Reform UK lawmaker Sarah Pochin for asking Prime Minister Keir Starmer whether his government would consider banning the burqa. Pochin won her seat in a by-election last month that saw the anti-immigration party, some of whose members have been accused of Islamophobia, make significant gains in a political landscape traditionally dominated by the governing Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives. The new lawmaker had urged Labour’s Starmer during her debut appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday if he would consider the move “in the interests of public safety”, according to the BBC. “I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do,” Yusuf said on X amid an ensuing flare-up over whether banning the burqa should be party policy. Advertisement Yusuf, a former banker and self-described “proud British Muslim patriot”, became Reform UK chairman after last year’s general election, having jumped ship from the Conservative Party. Reform UK, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, won four parliamentary seats in a breakthrough result last year, going on to gain a fifth parliamentary seat, its first mayoralty and a number of council seats in local elections last month. It currently leads national opinion polls, ahead of the Labour Party. Farage said on X that Yusuf was “a huge factor in our success on May 1st and is an enormously talented person”. Divisions in the party’s upper ranks have been made public before. In March, Reform referred one of its lawmakers, Rupert Lowe, to police over a number of allegations, including threats of physical violence against Yusuf. Prosecutors later said they would not bring charges against Lowe, who was suspended by the party. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel launches several attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs
A series of Israeli strikes have targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, almost an hour after the Israeli army issued a forced evacuation order to residents in areas that it says held underground facilities used by the Lebanese group Hezbollah for drone production. This is the fourth time Israel has attacked Beirut since a ceasefire with Hezbollah went into effect in November. It has carried out assassinations and announced strikes that it said targeted Hezbollah sites. Israel has violated the ceasefire on a near-daily basis for seven months, according to the Lebanese government led by President Joseph Aoun, Arab nations, and rights groups. Aoun has appealed to the United States and France to rein Israel in. Before the attacks on Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee had ordered residents living near buildings in the neighbourhoods of Hadath, Haret Hreik and Borj el-Barajneh in the Dahiyeh suburbs to evacuate. “You are next to infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah,” Adraee said in a social media post, which included a map of the eight buildings being targeted in four different locations. The message in Arabic indicated that Israel would soon bomb the area. Advertisement After the evacuation order, Lebanese media reported the area was nearly emptied of inhabitants, who had been preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha. It was sealed off as “warning strikes” could be heard, the reports said. Later Thursday night, the Israeli military also warned residents of the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana to stay away from two buildings that appear set to be targeted. Ain Qana is located to the east of the coastal city of Sidon. ‘A lot of panic’ Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, in the immediate aftermath of the strikes said: “There was heavy traffic here as people were making their way out. As you can imagine, this did cause a lot of panic. This is not the first time the army has carried out air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs since a ceasefire came into force last November, but this is the largest attack.” Khodr said up to eight buildings were targeted in four densely populated neighbourhoods, adding that the magnitude of these air strikes, meant all the area’s residents had to flee. Analyst Rami Khouri told Al Jazeera that the attack was “no surprise”, as Israel has been assassinating people over the last three, four months. They’ve continued occupying five places in South Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement.” “The Israelis have always used military force as their main instrument to get their foes to submit to them,” he said. “But the irony is that it hasn’t worked. It has only generated great dissent, and we’ll have to see in Lebanon what it means … Hezbollah took a hit last year, and they’re obviously regrouping,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but they are regrouping,” he added. Advertisement Video verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency showed people hurrying away after the evacuation warning: حركة نزوح كثيفة من الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت بعد تهديد الجيش الاسرائيلي pic.twitter.com/yuqA4giy4v — Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) June 5, 2025 The Israeli military accused Hezbollah of manufacturing drones in the area in a “blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”. The Israeli military “will work to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens and prevent any attempt to reestablish the terrorist organization Hezbollah”, the military said. “If you talk to people here, what they will tell you is that this is terrorism,” said Khodr, as “Israel warns people to leave in the middle of the night and on the eve of a major religious holiday.” The Lebanese authorities said these attacks were “blatant violations of the ceasefire,” said Khodr. Following the attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Israeli military also warned residents of a southern Lebanese village on X to evacuate ahead of strikes. Adblock test (Why?)
A ship called Madleen: Gaza’s first fisherwoman inspires solidarity mission
Gaza City – As the Madleen sails towards Gaza to try to deliver life-saving aid to its people, little is known about the woman the boat was named after: Madleen Kulab, Gaza’s only fisherwoman. When Al Jazeera first met Madleen Kulab (also spelled Madelyn Culab) three years ago, she had two children, was expecting her third and lived a relatively quiet life in Gaza City with her husband, Khader Bakr, 32, also a fisherman. Madleen, now 30, would sail fearlessly out as far as Israel’s gunship blockade would allow to bring back fish she could sell in a local market to support the family. When Israel’s war on Gaza began, the family was terrified, then heartbroken when Israel killed Madleen’s father in an air strike near their home in November 2023. They fled with Madleen nearly nine months pregnant to Khan Younis, then to Rafah, to Deir el-Balah and then Nuseirat. Now, they are back in what remains of their home in Gaza City, a badly damaged space they returned to when the Israeli army allowed displaced people to head back north in January. Advertisement Responsibility and pride Madleen sits on a battered sofa in her damaged living room, three of her four children sitting with her: baby Waseela, one, on her lap; five-year-old Safinaz beside her; and three-year-old Jamal – the baby she was expecting when Al Jazeera first met her – at the end. She talks about what it felt like to hear from an Irish activist friend that the ship trying to break the blockade on Gaza would be named after her. “I was deeply moved. I felt an enormous sense of responsibility and a little pride,” she says with a smile. “I’m grateful to these activists who have devoted themselves, left their lives and comforts behind, and stood with Gaza despite all the risks,” she says of the group of 12 activists, who include Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. “This is the highest form of humanity and self-sacrifice in the face of danger.” Madleen Kulab and her husband, Khader Bakr, with their four children in their damaged Gaza City home [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Khader sits on another sofa with six-year-old Sandy. He holds out his phone with a photo of the Madleen on it, flying the Palestinian flag. Madleen has been fishing since she was 15, a familiar figure heading out on her father’s boat, getting to know all the other fishermen and also becoming well-known to international solidarity activists. In addition to bringing home the fish, Madleen is also a skilled cook, preparing seasonal fish dishes that were so famously tasty that she had a list of clients waiting to buy them from her. Especially popular were the dishes made with Gaza’s ubiquitous sardines. Advertisement But now, she can’t fish any more and neither can Khader because Israel destroyed their boats and an entire storage room full of fishing gear during the war. “We’ve lost everything – the fruit of a lifetime,” she says. But her loss is not just about income. It’s about identity – her deep connection to the sea and fishing. It’s even about the simple joy of eating fish, which she used to enjoy “10 times a week”. “Now fish is too expensive if you can find it at all. Only a few fishermen still have any gear left, and they risk their lives just to catch a little,” she says. “Everything has changed. We now crave fish in the middle of this famine we’re living through.” The Madleen has several prominent figures on board aiming to break Israel’s siege of Gaza, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Sleeping on a bare floor, newborn in her arms After the air strike near the family home in November 2023, Madleen’s family’s first displacement was to Khan Younis, following Israeli army instructions that they would be safer there. After searching for shelter, they ended up in a small apartment with 40 other displaced relatives, and then Madleen went into labour. “It was a difficult, brutal birth. No pain relief, no medical care. I was forced to leave the hospital right after giving birth. There were no beds available because of the overwhelming number of wounded,” she says. When she returned to the shelter, things were just as dire. “We didn’t have a mattress or even a blanket, neither me nor the kids,” she said. Advertisement “I had to sleep on the floor with my newborn baby. It was physically exhausting.” She then had to tend to four children in an enclave where baby formula, diapers and even the most basic food items were almost impossible to find. The war, she says, has reshaped her understanding of suffering and hardship. In 2022, she and Khader were struggling to make ends meet between Israel’s gunship blockade and the frequent destruction of their boats. There was also the added burden of being a mother with small children and undertaking such physically taxing work. But now, things have gotten far worse. “There’s no such thing as ‘difficult’ any more. Nothing compares to the humiliation, hunger and horror we’ve seen in this war,” she says. A ship named Madleen Throughout the war, Madleen remained in touch with international friends and solidarity activists she had met through the years. “I would share my reality with them,” she says. “They came to understand the situation through me. They felt like family.” Her friends abroad offered both emotional and financial support, and she is grateful for them, saying they made her feel that Gaza wasn’t forgotten, that people still cared. She is also grateful for being remembered in the naming of the Madleen, but she worries that Israeli authorities will not let the ship reach Gaza, citing past attempts that were intercepted. “Intercepting the ship would be the least of it. What’s more worrying is the
SHOCKING! Woman in Uttarakhand lets boyfriend and his aide rape 13-year-old daughter for months
A former BJP worker allegedly let her boyfriend and his aide rape her 13-year-old daughter, police said, adding that all three have been arrested. The trio has been charged under different sections of the POCSO Act and the BNS.
Texas secretary of state refers 33 potential noncitizen voters for criminal investigation
The 33 potential voting violations are a tiny fraction of the roughly 11 million who cast ballots in the November 2024 election.
First trial of immigrant accused of trespassing on Texas border military zone ends in acquittal
The trial of the Peruvian woman was the first test of the Trump administration’s new policy aimed at prosecuting immigrants who crossed the border illegally with military-related charges.
Musk unleashes wild Epstein claim against Trump after being booted from DOGE
Billionaire Elon Musk dropped a serious bomb on social media on Thursday when he made allegations that President Donald Trump was in the Jeffrey Epstein file. “@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote on X on Thursday afternoon. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk followed the post with another, saying, “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.” PRESIDENT TRUMP TEASES ‘LAST DAY, BUT NOT REALLY’ FOR ELON MUSK AT DOGE: OVAL OFFICE PRESSER SET FOR FRIDAY The former First Buddy dropped the allegation in response to a back-and-forth series of social media messages between him and Trump. Trump lambasted Musk on Thursday afternoon, saying he asked the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head to leave. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” Trump said on Truth Social. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
GOP bill takes aim at Congress’ ‘no rules apply’ emergency spending
FIRST ON FOX: A House fiscal hawk wants to create a payment plan for congressional emergency spending to create accountability for the “no rules apply” funding stream. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., is set to introduce the Emergency Spending Accountability Act that would add guardrails to last-minute funding meant for national emergencies, like natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic or other spending meant to fill the gaps in the appropriations process. SENATE WEIGHS TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AS POLICY GROUP BACKS CBO, PROJECTS $3 TRILLION DEBT INCREASE Stutzman told Fox News Digital that lawmakers will go about the usual budgeting process, passing stopgap spending bills or colossal, omnibus spending packages, but that “somewhere in between” there’s always extra money pushed out the door for emergencies. “Whenever there’s an emergency, Congress always overreacts,” he said. “And I believe they pass these big spending bills under the guise of an emergency, national emergency, and spend money that we don’t take into consideration through our budget process.” WHITE HOUSE INSISTS FEMA IS TAKING HURRICANE SEASON ‘SERIOUSLY,’ BLASTS ‘SLOPPY’ REPORTING He said that when he first came to Washington in 2010, the national debt was $9 trillion. After leaving the House and returning during last year’s election cycle, that number has since ballooned to more than $36 trillion. And since the early 1990s, more than $12 trillion in emergency spending has added to the ever-growing deficit. The lawmaker said that the money dedicated for emergency use was rarely ever paid back, and he argued that the taxpayer dollars were sometimes not used for actual emergencies. ‘HE’S NOT A BIG FACTOR’: TRUMP’S SENATE ALLIES DISMISS ELON MUSK’S CALLS TO ‘KILL THE BILL’ Stutzman’s legislation, which so far has seven House Republican co-sponsors, would require the federal government to pay off the balance of future emergency spending by 20% each year for five years after an emergency following a green-light from lawmakers to open up the cash flow. His bill would also stipulate that any emergency spending would have to comport with the criteria laid out by the Balance Budget and Emergency Control Act of 1985, which laid out a five-point roadmap to justify that emergency spending be necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen and not permanent. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He understood that there is always a need for emergency spending, giving the examples of the pandemic and of Hurricane Sandy, which blasted through the East Coast more than a decade ago, but he noted there should be offset cuts to account for the spending and better planning on how the taxpayer dollars would be used. “Most companies and family budgets, they always have a rainy-day fund or an emergency fund that they can tap into if they need it for unexpected costs and expenses, but that’s not the way Washington works,” Stutzman said. “So that’s the idea.”
White House highlights Pelosi hypocrisy after Schiff demands Trump admin financial, ethics docs
Sen. Adam Schiff faced pushback after calling on White House counsel David Warrington to release financial disclosures for senior officials—prompting a Trump aide to suggest he start by requesting the same from longtime Rep. Nancy Pelosi. “The American people remain highly concerned about Nancy Pelosi’s long, documented history of insider trading and eagerly await Adam Schiff refocusing his political stunt on serious issues, like Pelosi’s portfolio,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told ABC News after it inquired about Schiff’s letter. In a letter to Warrington and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Schiff, D-Calif., expressed “continued and growing concern regarding … failure to submit any financial disclosure reports for senior White House officials to the Office of Government Ethics within the statutorily mandated period.” Schiff demanded the White House turn over a list of officials required to file “new entrant” reports, an explanation for “failure to transmit” such reports for certification and any late-filing fees imposed for “delinquent filings.” ‘WATERMELON HEAD’: TRUMP TROLLS DEMOCRATIC SEN. ADAM SCHIFF He noted that he had signed on to a bicameral April letter that included fellow Californian Rep. Mike Levin, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and several other Democrats asking for similar information. In comments to Fox News Digital on Thursday, the White House pushed back again on Schiff, saying that all officials there who are required to file public reports continue to comply with their obligations. “… including the obligation to file periodic transaction reports disclosing the purchase or sale of certain securities,” said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman. “For decades, administrations of both parties, including the first Trump Administration, have fulfilled this obligation, recognizing that public trust in government depends on robust, enforceable transparency standards,” Schiff said in a statement. KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD ‘WE’ “However, senior officials in this administration have repeatedly failed to disclose assets and business entanglements, as well as potentially misused their official positions for personal gain.” “Transparency and compliance with ethics laws are essential.” In that regard, Desai’s initial response highlighted ongoing criticisms of Pelosi, whose net worth is reportedly north of $120 million, and who has been accused of wrongful financial transactions over her 38 years in the House. Pelosi, a California Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment, and the Speaker Emerita kept walking when asked on the Hill about the matter last month by a Fox News Digital reporter. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced the PELOSI– Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments – Act in 2023, and fellow Missourian Rep. Mark Alford crafted a similar bill in the House, alluding to allegations against her over the years. Trump has said he would support such legislation this term, telling Time he had purportedly “watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be OK with it. If they send that to me, I would do it.” Fox News Digital found no record of Schiff making similar requests to the Biden administration and received no response from the Burbank lawmaker when asked for comment. Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and Remy Numa contributed to this report.
‘KILL BILL’: Elon Musk’s conservative evolution puts him at odds with Trump on key legislation
Tech tycoon and former DOGE chief Elon Musk‘s political evolution has shifted to the right after he jumped into the election fray as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump on the campaign trail and ultimately as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk’s conservative genesis on the public stage has put him at odds with the president as he rails against the One Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump has touted as legislation that would translate into big tax breaks for Americans across the pay brackets and subsequently called on Republican lawmakers to swiftly pass it. Musk, who is considered America’s wealthiest resident, is publicly criticizing the sweeping legislation just days after his departure from DOGE and the federal government. The “big beautiful bill” is currently making its way through the Senate and would fund Trump’s agenda, including strengthening border policies and ending taxes on overtime and tips. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk posted to X Tuesday. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.” ELON MUSK WARNS EXCESSIVE SPENDING WILL PLUNGE US ‘INTO DEBT SLAVERY’ He added the next day that the bill’s “immense level of overspending will drive America into debt slavery!” This was followed by a stream of X posts calling on Americans to encourage their lawmakers to “kill the bill” as well as a “KILL BILL” meme of the 2003 movie with the same name. Musk has found himself aligned with members of the House Freedom Caucus, which is considered the most conservative voting bloc within the lower chamber, as well as staunch fiscal conservatives in the Senate, such as Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Wisconsin Sen. Ron. Johnson, who have publicly rebuked the legislation. ELON MUSK ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY TRUMP’S SPENDING BILL, SAYS IT UNDERMINES WHAT DOGE IS DOING Paul said Monday that its potential passage would increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, calling the bill a “terrible idea” that bucks conservative ideas. The national debt currently stands at about $36 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent government agency, published a June report that the bill would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion throughout the next decade. “I want the tax cuts to be permanent. But at the same time, I don’t wanna raise the debt ceiling five trillion,” Paul told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The GOP will own the debt once they vote for this.” Trump has admonished the criticism from fiscally conservative Republicans, arguing that Paul, for example, was on the verge of siding with the “Radical Left Democrats” and encouraging a 68% tax hike on Americans if he votes against the legislation. “Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him! The GROWTH we are experiencing, plus some cost cutting later on, will solve ALL problems. America will be greater than ever before!” Trump posted to Truth Social Saturday of Paul. Musk, in an earlier public rebuke of the bill, remarked that he was “disappointed” it passed the House in May as it “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump is aware of Musk’s views on the bill, but that the legislation still has the president’s full endorsement, when asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy about Musk’s X post claiming the bill was a “disgusting abomination.” “The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” Leavitt said. “It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill and he’s sticking to it.” Leavitt also pushed back in the briefing Tuesday that the Congressional Budget Office’s prognostication for the bill is likely wrong, citing a history of missing the mark on budget predictions. “The Congressional Budget Office has been historically wrong,” Leavitt said. “In fact, they predicted the Trump tax cuts from the president’s first term in 2017. Their prediction was wrong by half a trillion. Those tax cuts had nearly a half trillion dollars more of revenue than the Congressional Budget Office scored. And I would also point out, I don’t think many people know this, there hasn’t been a single staffer in the entire Congressional Budget Office that has contributed to a Republican since the year 2000. But guess what? There have been many staffers within the Congressional Budget Office who have contributed to Democrat candidates and politicians every single cycle.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also slammed the report for employing static scoring as opposed to dynamic scoring, which in “layman’s terms is they don’t give us any credit for the extraordinary economic growth that will be spurred along by this bill.” Static scoring evaluates the fiscal impact of a policy change without considering how the change will affect the economy overall, while dynamic scoring broadens the scope of a study to include how a policy change would affect the economy. A White House official told Fox News Digital that Musk and Trump have historically seen eye-to-eye on political issues more than they differ, adding they continue to share many political views when asked if Musk has gone further to the right than Trump since his work within the administration. Trump spoke publicly about Musk’s criticisms Thursday from the Oval Office during a meeting with the chancellor of Germany, remarking he was “disappointed” with Musk’s rebukes. “I’m very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair.” “Elon and I had a