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Year: 2026

Senate hopeful says US should be ‘far more cooperative’ with China to fight climate change

Senate hopeful says US should be ‘far more cooperative’ with China to fight climate change

Maine Democrat Graham Platner is vowing to pursue closer ties with China if elected to the Senate, arguing that the U.S. should be “far more cooperative” with the communist state on issues like climate change. “I think our position towards China should be one of cooperation instead of one of opposition,” Platner said during a livestream in February, arguing it would be “absurd” to have an aggressive approach toward Beijing, citing its trade relationship with the United States. “I am not a China hawk, not by any stretch of the imagination,” he continued. “I think we need to be figuring out how to integrate, or at least be far more cooperative, especially to fight challenges like climate change.” Platner, a staunch progressive, is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November’s midterm elections. His views on China appear to be well outside the political mainstream and place him to the left of many Democratic lawmakers, who see the country as the United States’ most formidable strategic competitor or a geopolitical threat. LEFT-WING DEM HIT WITH HOMETOWN CHURCH BLOWBACK OVER 30-SECOND AD The Senate hopeful has also argued that fascism followed by climate change is the top two challenges facing the United States on the world stage. “Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest challenge we have … globally is climate change,” Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, said during the livestream.  Platner referred to federal immigration officers as “armed thugs,” accusing them of murdering American citizens, an apparent reference to two fatal shootings during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year. He has previously advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dragging agents in front of Congress to testify about their work. Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The Republican National Committee (RNC) sharply criticized Platner’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Graham Platner’s soft-on-communism radical ideology would lift up dictators, threaten America’s national security, and cost American lives,” RNC spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement. “He has no business in the Senate or any position of power.” WARREN CONFRONTED ON CALLING CONTROVERSIAL SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER HER ‘KIND OF MAN’ Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in an increasingly nasty primary that has split factions of the Democratic Party. Leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed him while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who leads the party’s establishment wing, is supporting Mills.  Sanders and Warren have doubled down on their embrace of Platner despite the political newcomer’s bevy of controversial online posts and scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he has had removed. Platner called for deposing Schumer as Democratic leader, weakening the filibuster to ease the passage of left-wing legislation and adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the conservative majority, in an interview with NBC News this week. The Sanders-backed oyster farmer has carved out a dominant lead in recent polling ahead of the June primary, despite Mills serving as the most senior-ranking Democrat in the state.  Collins is running for a sixth Senate term in the blue-leaning state. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up.”

Steak ‘n Shake’s new ‘Chief MAHA Officer’ teases RFK Jr-inspired menu shift

Steak ‘n Shake’s new ‘Chief MAHA Officer’ teases RFK Jr-inspired menu shift

FIRST ON FOX — Steak ‘n Shake will switch to grass-fed beef at all of its locations by June 1, the fast food chain’s newly-appointed “Chief MAHA Officer” Michael Boes exclusively told Fox News Digital. The move comes after Steak ‘n Shake sought to align with the “Make America Healthy Again” priorities of the Trump administration last year by switching to beef tallow instead of seed oils in their fryers. “There are a lot of health benefits that I could get into in regard to grass-fed beef and non-grass-fed beef, but the reality is we think it tastes better,” Boes said in an interview just days after his new role was announced. “We tested it out in local markets and the customers reiterated that desire to go that route.” It’s unclear whether the switch to grass-fed beef might result in an increase in the chain’s pricing amid soaring beef prices. RFK JR CLAIMS HE LOST 20 POUNDS IN 20 DAYS, GAINED MENTAL CLARITY ON EXTREME DIET The move further bolsters the company’s previous efforts to align itself with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAGA agenda. At the outset of President Donald Trump’s second term, Steak ‘n Shake announced it would start cooking its french fries in beef tallow — raising alarm among health advocates and praise from those who denounce seed-based oils. Kennedy praised the switch at the time, saying he hoped more companies would follow suit. He confirmed HHS under his leadership would not ban use of seed oils but would allow companies to respond to consumer priorities. “I have a libertarian outlook. People should be able to make their own choices. If you want to eat a donut or seed oils, you should be able to,” Kennedy told Fox News during a visit to a Florida Steak ‘n Shake location in March 2025. “We want to do everything that we can to incentivize these companies to be transparent, to switch over from ultra-processed food and to be part of this movement to make America healthier,” Kennedy added. MIKE TYSON IN THE ‘FIGHT OF MY LIFE’ AS HE PARTNERS WITH TRUMP ADMIN IN HEALTH INITIATIVE TO TACKLE OBESITY Boes’ new position, which the company says is “dedicated to advancing nutritional integrity, ingredient transparency and the healthiness of our products,” furthers the company’s alignment with RFK Jr.’s aims. Before making history as the world’s first “Chief MAHA Officer,” Boes worked as a senior advisor at HHS. When speaking with Fox News Digital, Boes said he got sign-off from Kennedy before using the MAHA moniker for his new role. SEN RAND PAUL: KENNEDY IS CONFRONTING ‘CORRUPT’ HEALTH AGENCIES TO MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN “During my time serving Sec. Kennedy, I had countless conversations with industry partners about returning to real food,” Boes said in a post to LinkedIn on Tuesday. “Time and again, I heard the same hesitation: ‘Our customers aren’t demanding this.’ Steak ‘n Shake challenged that narrative and growth followed. Fast food doesn’t have to mean processed, complicated or artificial. It used to mean real, simple and delicious — and it can again.” Boes did not say when asked by Fox News Digital whether the change to all grass-fed and grass-finished beef on June 1 could result in an uptick in pricing for Steak ‘n Shake. The conflict in Iran — and specifically the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route — is resulting in a bottleneck in getting oil and other fuels out of the Middle East, which is driving up the costs of beef and a myriad of other products. Fox News Digital’s Katelyn Caralle contributed to this report.

US professors sue university over arrest during pro-Palestine protest

US professors sue university over arrest during pro-Palestine protest

By The Associated Press Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026 Three professors at Atlanta’s Emory University in the United States have filed a lawsuit over their arrests during a 2024 campus protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Their lawsuit on Thursday argued that the university broke its own free-speech policies when it called in police and state troopers to aggressively disband the protest, making 28 arrests. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The judicial system would find that Emory failed to protect its students, to protect its staff, to protect the educational mission of the university,” said philosophy professor Noelle McAfee, one of the plaintiffs. “So this isn’t just about people’s individual rights. It’s our educational mission to train people in free and critical inquiry, to be able to learn how to engage with others, to be fearless.” Laura Diamond, a spokesperson for Emory, responded that the university believes “this lawsuit is without merit”. “Emory acts appropriately and responsibly to keep our community safe from threats of harm,” Diamond said in a statement. “We regret this issue is being litigated, but we have confidence in the legal process.” The suit is just one example of how the nationwide wave of protests from 2023 and 2024 continues to reverberate on elite campuses. There have been multiple instances where students and faculty have filed lawsuits against universities, arguing they were discriminated against because of the protests. But the Emory suit is unusual. McAfee and her fellow plaintiffs — English and Indigenous studies professor Emilio Del Valle-Escalante and economics professor Caroline Fohlin — all remain tenured faculty members. None were convicted of any charges. The civil lawsuit in DeKalb County State Court demands that the private university repay money the three spent defending themselves against misdemeanour charges that were later dismissed, along with punitive damages. Advertisement McAfee said she’s suing her employer “to try to get them to be accountable and to change”. All three say they were observers on April 25, 2024, when some students and others set up tents on the university’s main quad to protest the war. They say Emory broke its own policies by calling in Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers without seeking alternatives. McAfee was charged with disorderly conduct after she said she yelled “Stop!” at an officer roughly arresting a protester. Del Valle-Escalante said he was trying to help an older woman when he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Fohlin said that, when she protested against officers pinning a protester to the ground, she herself was thrown face-first to the ground and arrested, suffering a concussion and a spine injury. Fohlin was charged with misdemeanour battery of an officer. Emory claimed that those arrested that day were outsiders who trespassed on school property. But 20 of the 28 people arrested were affiliated with the university. The professors said that, after their arrests, they were targeted by threats and harassment, part of a pushback by conservatives who said universities were failing to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism and allowing lawlessness. Nationwide, however, advocates say there is a “Palestine exception” in which universities are willing to curb pro-Palestine speech and protest. Palestine Legal, a legal aid group supporting such speech, said Tuesday that it received 300 percent more legal requests in 2025 than its annual average before 2023, mostly from college students and faculty. McAfee served as president of the Emory University Senate after her arrest. The body makes policy recommendations and has helped draft the university’s open expression policy. She said she asked then-President Gregory Fenves in fall 2024 why Emory police weren’t dropping the charges against her and others. McAfee said Fenves told her that he wanted “to see justice”. The open expression policy was revised after 2024 to clearly prohibit tents, camping, the occupation of university buildings and demonstrations between midnight and 7am. Whatever the policy, McAfee said students are afraid to protest at Emory, saying the university has turned its back on what Atlanta civil rights icon John Lewis called “good trouble”. “Students know right now that any trouble is not going to be good trouble at Emory, that they could get arrested,” she said. “So students are afraid.” Adblock test (Why?)

Iran war live: Lebanon truce extended; Trump says time not on Tehran’s side

Iran war live: Lebanon truce extended; Trump says time not on Tehran’s side

blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Death toll from Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza has reached 72,568 with 172,338 injured: Gaza’s Health Ministry. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Oil rises above $106 per barrel as US, Iran deadlocked in Strait of Hormuz

Oil rises above 6 per barrel as US, Iran deadlocked in Strait of Hormuz

Jump in prices comes as Donald Trump says vessels will need permission of US Navy to transit key waterway. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026 Oil prices have jumped on heightened tensions between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz following Washington and Tehran’s tit-for-tat captures of commercial vessels. Brent crude, the international benchmark, topped $106 per barrel early on Friday morning as Washington and Tehran stepped up their confrontation over the key maritime route for transporting the world’s energy. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Brent stood at $106.80 as of 01:00 GMT, up nearly 5 percent from its closing price on Wednesday, when it surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time in two weeks. US stocks fell overnight, with the benchmark S&P 500 index dipping 0.41 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.89 percent. Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, remains at a standstill as Iran continues to demand the right to decide which vessels may pass and the US blocks Iran’s maritime trade. US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, shortly after the Pentagon announced that it had seized a tanker carrying sanctioned Iranian oil for the second time in less than a week. Trump also appeared to expand the scope of the US naval blockade beyond Iranian ports, writing on Truth Social that no ship “can enter or leave” the strait without the approval of the US Navy. “It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!” Trump said. Advertisement Trump’s threats came a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the capture of two foreign cargo ships in the waterway. The IRGC said it had seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and Greek-owned Epaminondas after the vessels had endangered maritime security “by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems”. The Greek Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Ministry has denied that the Epaminondas was captured and said the vessel remains under the control of its captain. Only nine commercial vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, compared with seven on Tuesday and 15 on Monday, according to maritime intelligence platform Windward. Before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, the waterway saw an average of 129 transits each day, according to United Nations Trade and Development. Adblock test (Why?)