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Year: 2026

New Democratic group pushes fresh faces as party’s brand sinks to historic lows

New Democratic group pushes fresh faces as party’s brand sinks to historic lows

Democrats are rolling out The Bench — a new political group pushing a crop of rising star candidates aiming to remake the party. The organization, which was formally launched earlier this month by a handful of campaign veterans, says its mission is to spend resources to build a bench full of candidates, which they highlight as “the future of the Democratic Party.” The launch of the new group comes as Democrats aim to win back House and Senate majorities in this year’s midterm elections, but as the party also suffers from historically low favorability and approval ratings. The party in power in Washington, D.C., which this year is clearly the GOP, normally faces stiff political headwinds in the midterm elections. And the latest national polls indicate that President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings remain well underwater, fueled in part by Americans’ continued deep concerns over persistent inflation. DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW AND UPHILL PATH TO SENATE MAJORITY But Democrats have their own polling problems, with a slew of surveys dating back a year indicating the party’s brand hitting historic lows. The Bench, in a statement, says the candidates they’re backing “can help us repair our brand, they are best positioned to win general election races and hold onto seats.” The group plans to provide these candidates “with the tools, strategy, and support to run serious, solutions-focused campaigns that challenge the status quo, connect with voters, and deliver real results for the people they serve.” CALL TO DUTY: IN BATTLE FOR HOUSE, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO VETERANS The group, which includes well-known Democratic operative and strategist Lis Smith and communications specialist Andrew Mamo, has been working for months to recruit and build up three Senate candidates and a dozen House contenders. The Senate candidates are Michigan state Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow, Texas state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico and Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player. In House races, the group is backing Jamie Ager in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, Shannon Bird in Colorado’s 8th District, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, Cait Conley in New York’s 17th District and Mike Cortese in Tennessee’s 5th District. FIRED UNDER TRUMP, THESE TWO FORMER TOP MILITARY OFFICES HAVE A NEW MISSION: RUN FOR CONGRESS AS DEMOCRATS  The list also includes Sam Forstag in Montana’s 1st District, Sarah Trone Garriott in Iowa’s 3rd District, Matt Maasdam in Michigan’s 7th District, Darren McAuley in Florida’s 15th District, Denise Blaya Powell in Nebraska’s 2nd District and Bobby Pulidio in Texas’ 15th District. And this week, the group backed Nancy Lacore in South Carolina’s 1st District. Lacore, a 35-year military veteran who served as a Navy helicopter pilot and later as chief of the Navy Reserve, a 60,000-person force, was removed from her post last August by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The group notes that the candidates they’re supporting range from progressives to centrists. “These candidates aren’t united by ideology, but by a willingness to break from Democratic defaults, speak honestly to their communities, and compete seriously in places the party has too often written off,” the group said. But Mike Marinella, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital, “The Democrat Party is a broken brand, and they’re stitching it together with deeply radical candidates. They’re too woke for the working class, too weak to get anything done and too lost to get out of the wilderness.”

GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis

GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., called for a full investigation after a federal agent fatally shot a man who was allegedly armed in Minneapolis on Saturday, calling the incident “incredibly disturbing.” Cassidy joined a chorus of Democratic lawmakers raising questions following the shooting death of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex J. Pretti, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. Pretti allegedly confronted officers during a Department of Homeland Security operation in south Minneapolis and was carrying a gun, according to the agency. “The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing,” Cassidy said in a post on X. “The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation.” Cassidy added that “we can trust the American people with the truth.” TRUMP BRIEFED ON BORDER PATROL-INVOLVED SHOOTING AS MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR DEMANDS END TO ENFORCEMENT OPERATION The Louisiana Republican’s comments were seemingly at odds with members of his party, including President Donald Trump, who said in a post on Truth Social following the shooting that federal agents “had to protect themselves” because of the lack of support from local police in Minneapolis. “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go—What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?” Trump wrote in the post. “The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves—Not an easy thing to do!” Last week, Trump pledged his endorsement for U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow if she were to enter the GOP primary in Louisiana, challenging Cassidy, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015. Letlow launched her Senate bid days later. NOEM SAYS MINNEAPOLIS SUSPECT COMMITTED ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM,’ ACCUSES WALZ, FREY OF INCITING VIOLENCE Cassidy was one of the Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump after the House impeached him in 2021. The Senate vote ultimately fell short of the threshold required to convict Trump. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a news conference Saturday that the incident had occurred while DHS officers carried out “targeted operations” in Minneapolis against an illegal immigrant with a violent criminal history. “An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun,” Noem said. “The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently,” Noem said. “Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots.” BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE Noem said Pretti had “two magazines with ammunition in them that held dozens of rounds” and no identification, adding that “this looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” She said DHS is investigating the shooting “just like we do all other officer-involved shootings,” adding that additional details would be forthcoming. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during a news conference Saturday that “we need ICE out of Minnesota,” while placing blame on the Trump administration. “I have personally warned them that there would be more deaths, that more of this would happen,” she said. “And clearly they’re not listening. So, we ask people around the country to talk to their Republican representatives to make clear that this is not the America that is ours. This has got to stop.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Klobuchar’s comments in an X post Saturday, saying federal agents should not be removed from Minnesota. “We need dangerous criminal illegal aliens out of Minnesota. The Democrats have their priorities completely upside down. They will not keep the American people safe,” she wrote. In his own post, Vice President JD Vance blamed “far left agitators” for the recent unrest in Minneapolis. “This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” he posted on X Saturday evening. “It is the direct consequence of far left agitators, working with local authorities.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

Trump lavishes praise on UK troops amid anger over his Afghanistan claims

Trump lavishes praise on UK troops amid anger over his Afghanistan claims

Trump’s praise comes after UK prime minister called the US leader’s remarks ‘insulting’ and suggested he apologise. By News Agencies Published On 24 Jan 202624 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States President Donald Trump has praised UK soldiers a day after receiving a rare rebuke from United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer over comments he made about European troops staying “a little off the front lines” in the war in Afghanistan. In an apparent bid to ease tensions with Starmer, Trump took to social media on Saturday to acknowledge that 457 UK soldiers had died in Afghanistan, with many others badly wounded, describing them as being “among the greatest of all warriors”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” he wrote. “It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken.” Starmer said on Friday that Trump’s comments to US broadcaster Fox News on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were “insulting and, frankly, appalling”. Asked whether he would demand an apology from Trump, Starmer said, “If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologise.” While Trump’s response stopped short of an apology, his olive branch came after he spoke to the UK leader earlier on Saturday, according to a statement from Starmer’s office. “The prime minister raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home,” the statement said. “We must never forget their sacrifice, he said.” King Charles’s younger son, Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, also weighed in on Friday, saying the “sacrifices” of UK soldiers during the war “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect”. Advertisement The UK was not the only NATO ally to express anger at Trump’s remarks. Other European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron, reacted sharply on Saturday. Alongside the US and UK forces were troops from dozens of countries, including from NATO, whose collective security clause, Article 5, had been triggered for the first time after the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. More than 150 Canadians were killed in Afghanistan, along with 90 French service personnel and dozens from Germany, Italy, Denmark and other countries. The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers. At least 46,319 Afghan civilians died as a direct result of the 2001 invasion, according to a 2021 estimate by Brown University’s Costs of War project. Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,431

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,431

These are the key developments from day 1,431 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. By News Agencies Published On 25 Jan 202625 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Sunday, January 25: Fighting Russian forces launched another major attack on Ukraine overnight on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding four in the capital, Kyiv, and leaving 1.2 million properties without power nationwide, according to officials. Kyiv’s military administration reported strikes in at least four districts in the capital and said a medical facility was among the buildings damaged. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Russia targeted the capital and four regions in the country’s north and east. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the worst-affected in the capital was the northeastern suburb of Troyeshchyna, where 600 buildings were without power, water and heat. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia unleashed 375 drones and 21 missiles, including two of its rarely deployed Tsirkon ballistic missiles. At least 30 people, including a child, were also wounded during the same attack in the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 25 drones had hit several districts in the city. Among those struck was a dormitory for displaced people and two medical facilities, including a maternity hospital, Terekhov wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram late on Saturday that more than 800,000 Kyiv households were still without power, as were a further 400,000 in the Chernihiv region, north of the capital. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said more than 3,200 buildings in Kyiv remained without heating in the late evening, down from 6,000 in the morning. Night-time temperatures were hovering around -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha denounced the attack as “barbaric” in a statement posted on X. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of acting “cynically” for launching the attack amid United States-led trilateral talks on the war in the United Arab Emirates. In Russia, Ukrainian forces launched a “massive” attack on the border region of Belgorod on Saturday, damaging energy infrastructure, but causing no casualties. Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the incident as “the most massive shelling of the town of Belgorod”. Gladkov said the attack damaged “energy sites” and that fragments of a downed drone triggered a fire in a courtyard of a building. Reports from the area also said the shelling and sounds of explosions had gone on for some time. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces had completed the takeover of the village of Starytsya in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, close to the border with Russia. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had launched six attacks on an area including Starytsya. But it made no acknowledgement that the village had been captured by Russian forces. Diplomacy Advertisement Ukraine and Russia ended their second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi without a peace deal, with more talks expected next weekend, amid the massive Russian strikes across Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X following the meeting that “the central focus” of the discussions was “the possible parameters for ending the war”, but he did not say if the negotiators were close to a deal. More discussions are expected next Sunday in Abu Dhabi, according to a US official who spoke to reporters immediately after the talks. The official, who requested anonymity, said negotiators “saw a lot of respect” during the discussions, “because they were really looking to find solutions”. The US official also voiced hopes for further talks, possibly in Moscow or Kyiv, beyond next week’s discussions in Abu Dhabi, adding that the next step would be a possible bilateral discussion between Putin and Zelenskyy, or a trilateral meeting that includes US President Donald Trump. An unnamed UAE government spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that there was face-to-face engagement between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi – rare in the almost four-year-old war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion – and said negotiators tackled “outstanding elements” of Trump’s peace framework. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also hinted at the prospects of additional talks with Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul after negotiations in Abu Dhabi, adding that Moscow remains open to a continuation of dialogue, the Russian state RIA news agency reported. Residents stand in line to fill bottles with drinking water, during a power blackout after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile and drone attacks in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv [Gleb Garanich/Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)

Myanmar holds final election round, military-backed party set to win

Myanmar holds final election round, military-backed party set to win

Polls have opened in Myanmar for the third and final round of a controversial general election, with a military-backed party on course for a landslide win amid a raging civil war. Voting began in 60 townships, including in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay, at 6am local time on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday). Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Critics say the polls are neither free nor fair, and are designed to legitimise military rule in Myanmar, nearly five years after the country’s generals ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, leading to a civil war that has killed thousands and displaced more than 3.5 million people. Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention and, like several other opposition groups, her National League for Democracy (NLD) has been dissolved, tilting the political playing field in favour of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is leading in the polls. So far, the USDP has secured 193 out of 209 seats in the lower house, and 52 out of 78 seats in the upper house, according to the election commission. That means that along with the military, which is allocated 166 seats, the two already hold just under 400 seats, comfortably surpassing the 294 needed to come to power. Seventeen other parties have won a small number of seats in the legislature, ranging from one to 10, according to the election commission. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who heads the current military government, is widely expected by both supporters and opponents to assume the presidency when the new parliament meets. Advertisement The military has announced that the parliament will be convened in March, and the new government will take up its duties in April. While the military has pledged that the election will return power to the people, rights monitors said the run-up was beset with coercion and the crushing of dissent, warning that the vote will only tighten the military’s grip on power. A new Election Protection Law imposed harsh penalties for most public criticism of the polls, with the authorities charging more than 400 people recently for activities such as leafleting or online activity. Ahead of the third round of voting, Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also called for the rejection of its outcome, calling it “fraudulent”. “Only an illegitimate government can emerge from an illegitimate election,” he wrote on X on Saturday. “As Myanmar’s election ends, the world must reject it as fraudulent while rejecting what follows as simply military rule in civilian clothing.” Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan told Parliament on Tuesday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, did not send observers and would not certify the election, citing concerns over the lack of inclusive and free participation. His comments were the first clear statement that the 11-member regional bloc will not recognise the election results. In Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay, Zaw Ko Ko Myint, a 53-year-old teacher, cast his vote at a high school around dawn. “Although I do not expect much, we want to see a better country,” he told the AFP news agency. “I feel relieved after voting, as if I fulfilled my duty.” The previous two phases of the election have been marked by low voter turnout of about 55 percent, well ⁠below the turnout of about 70 percent recorded in Myanmar’s 2020 and 2015 general elections. Official results are expected late this week, but the USDP could claim victory as soon as Monday. Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD thrashed the USDP in the last elections in 2020, before the military seized power on February 1, 2021. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors human rights abuses in the country, at least 7,705 people have been killed since the outbreak of the civil war, while 22,745 remain detained. But the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a monitoring group that tallies media reports of violence, estimates more than 90,000 have been killed on all sides of the conflict. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)