2026 – Page 9 – Texas Weekly Online

Texas early voting begins ahead of contentious March 3 primary elections

Early voting ahead of Texas’ March 3 primary contests runs from Tuesday, Feb. 17 through Friday, Feb. 27, according to the Texas secretary of state. The Lone Star State’s Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate primaries are being watched nationally, as the GOP seeks to cling to its majority in the chamber. Incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn is facing primary challengers, including notable figures like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. SHARIA LAW VICTIM WHO FLED SOMALIA ISSUES ENDORSEMENT IN CRITICAL SENATE RACE Cornyn has served in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades — he took office in late 2002. The top contenders in the Democratic primary are U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Texas state Rep. James Talarico. JASMINE CROCKETT’S VULGAR 6-WORD MESSAGE FOR TRUMP IN EPSTEIN PROBE “While people don’t know if their loved ones will come home because they’ve been disappeared by ICE or if there will be accountability for the despicable things in the Epstein files or if they will be choosing between rent, healthcare, or food… some would suggest let’s just do politics as usual… THAT is the exact thinking that got us here,” Crockett wrote in a Monday post on X. “Tomorrow is the first day of early voting, It’s time for the people to be heard, loudly & clearly!” she declared in the post. CROCKETT DISPUTES OPPONENT’S DENIAL OF ‘MEDIOCRE BLACK MAN’ COMMENT, CALLS OUT ‘WELL-INTENTIONED WHITE FOLK’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP If no candidate were to win a majority in a race, there would be primary runoff in May.

Trump task force racks up 500 arrests in January as president brands cartels ‘ISIS of the Western Hemisphere’

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump’s joint Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) made more than 500 arrests in one month as the interagency operation conducted a “surge” of resources in January. HSTFs, joint operations of DHS’ Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI that partner with other state and local agencies, were established via the president’s day-one executive order, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” “The President’s Homeland Security Task Forces are a landmark achievement that highlight what the federal government can achieve with a leader like President Trump who is willing to slash red tape, increase coordination, and put the safety of the American people first,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “The January HSTF Human Trafficking Surge made tremendous progress toward getting criminals off the streets and protecting victims,” she said, adding that HSTFs around the country continue similar work every day to fulfill Trump’s pledge to “Make America Safe Again.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS ‘MOST SECURE BORDER IN HISTORY’ AS 2.5 MILLION MIGRANTS EXIT US The January surge sought to stifle the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs and dismantle cross-border smuggling rings with a particular focus on crimes involving children as it utilized any and all available tools to enforce federal immigration laws. During HSTF’s 114 operations in January, 507 people were arrested — 231 facing federal charges and 276 facing state charges — and 16 federal indictments were secured. Authorities seized 1,109 pounds of narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl and meth, as well as six weapons caches. Fifty-two victims identified during the operations were provided about $491,000 in restitution. ICE REVEALS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP ‘THUGS’ CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES A total of 257 victims were successfully identified, with 27 being children. The operation spanned the entire Lower 48, from Atlantic City to San Diego, and included Las Cruces, Raleigh, Miami, Buffalo, St. Paul, Wilmington, Delaware, Key West, and several border towns, including San Ysidro in California, Laredo in Texas, Nogales in Arizona, and Eagle Pass in Texas. Departments involved ranged in size from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Police Department in Cape Charles, Virginia, to the Coast Guard and Border Patrol. In one case last week reported by the Coast Guard, its San Juan station worked with HSTF to apprehend a stowaway smuggler with 10 bales of cocaine in a Puerto Rico harbor. That cache weighed 790 pounds and had a street value of $5 million. “It should now be clear to the entire world that the cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said in christening the HSTF in October. Since its launch, HSTF has partnered with other agencies on several operations, including with the IRS and SDNY.

SCOOP: Hegseth orders removal of Army public affairs chief amid broader Pentagon purge

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his current job serving as chief of Army public affairs and chief advisor to Driscoll, who currently is in Geneva serving on the negotiating team to end the Ukraine war, Fox News has learned. Butler served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs when Gen. Mark Milley was chairman, and was slated to receive his first star. His name appeared for two years in a row on an Army list of 34 officers selected for promotion. That list has been held up by Hegseth for nearly four months because he reportedly has concerns about four to five officers selected by the Army board, but by law he cannot remove them from the list. Butler volunteered to take his name off the promotion list if it would help unlock the other promotions, according to an Army official. Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance – he attended Yale Law School with the vice president – had resisted Hegseth’s pressure to fire Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the Army. HEGSETH MOVES TO CENSURE SEN MARK KELLY, REVIEW HIS RETIREMENT RANK AND PAY OVER ‘SEDITIOUS VIDEO’ “We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” Driscoll said in a statement. “Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service.” Butler traveled with Driscoll to Ukraine in November 2025 to help jump-start negotiations. The demand by Hegseth came Thursday, Fox News has learned. Hegseth entered the Pentagon in 2025 and immediately began firing top officers or forcing them into early retirement without giving a reason or for cause: Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who was serving as chief of naval operations; Gen. CQ Brown, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Mingus, who was serving as vice chief of the Army; Gen. Douglas A. Sims, director of the Joint Staff; Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin; Gen. James Slife, vice chief of the Air Force; and Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, among others. The unexplained firings have led to fear, uncertainty and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders. FIRED UNDER TRUMP, FORMER MILITARY OFFICERS LAUNCH DEMOCRATIC BIDS FOR CONGRESS One of the Army’s best communicators, Butler served alongside the nation’s tiered special operations units on countless missions overseas attached to the Army’s Delta Force from 2010 to 2014. He served as the public affairs officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2015 to 2018. He worked as the public affairs officer for Gen. Scott Miller when he was Joint Special Operations Command commander from 2016 to 2018, and then, at Miller’s request, served in Afghanistan when Miller deployed there from 2018 to 2019. Butler served as the chief spokesman and director of communications for all U.S. and NATO forces during that time that Miller served as the top four-star general in Afghanistan. A former four-star commander who once commanded U.S. Special Operations said Butler was “the consummate professional, the most competent Public Affairs officer I have ever worked with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.” During the Army’s 250th birthday celebrations in 2025, President Donald Trump recognized Butler by name for helping the Army chief to organize the parade in Washington, D.C.

Trump remembers Jesse Jackson as ‘good man,’ ‘force of nature’

President Donald Trump issued a Truth Social post on Tuesday, reflecting on Rev. Jesse Jackson in the wake of the 84-year-old civil rights leader’s death. Trump said he knew Jackson “well” and described him as “a good man.” “The Reverend Jesse Jackson is Dead at 84. I knew him well, long before becoming President. He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and “street smarts.” He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!” the president said in the post. REV JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND RAINBOW PUSH FOUNDER, DIES AT 84 “Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way,” Trump continued. “I provided office space for him and his Rainbow Coalition, for years, in the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street; Responded to his request for help in getting CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM passed and signed, when no other President would even try; Single handedly pushed and passed long term funding for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved, but also, which other Presidents would not do; Responded to Jesse’s support for Opportunity Zones, the single most successful economic development package yet approved for Black business men/women, and much more,” the president added. “Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him. He had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand. He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!” Trump concluded. Jackson’s family described him as a “servant leader.” ‘GODFATHER’ STAR ROBERT DUVALL DEAD AT 95 “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the family noted in a statement. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by,” the statement said. Jackson had been suffering from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, according to a Rainbow PUSH Coalition press release issued last year. REV JESSE JACKSON RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER TREATMENT FOR RARE BRAIN DISORDER CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “He has been managing this neurodegenerative condition for more than a decade. He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease; however, last April, his PSP conduction was confirmed,” the release noted.

Trump says he will be involved ‘indirectly’ in Iran nuclear talks

The US president’s comments come ahead of a second round of high-stakes talks in Geneva on Tuesday. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 5 mins info United States President Donald Trump has said that he will be involved “indirectly” in the second round of the high-stakes nuclear talks between Iran and Washington in Geneva. Trump’s comments on Monday came as Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi travelled to the Swiss city for meetings ahead of the indirect talks with the US. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Tensions in the Gulf region remain high ahead of the crucial negotiations, with the US deploying a second aircraft carrier to the region and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warning that any attack on Iran would prompt a regional war. Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that the discussions on Tuesday were significant. “I’ll be involved in those talks, indirectly. And they’ll be very important,” he said. “Iran is a very tough negotiator.” Asked about the prospects for a deal, Trump said Iran had learned the consequences of its tough approach last June, when the US joined in Israel’s 12-day war on Iran and bombed three of its nuclear sites. The attacks came amid indirect talks between Iran and the US on Tehran’s nuclear programme and resulted in their derailment. However, Trump suggested Tehran was motivated to negotiate this time. “I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” he said. Despite the US president’s comments about Iran seeking an agreement, the talks face major potential stumbling blocks. Washington has demanded that Tehran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil and has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues, such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Advertisement But Tehran, which insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, has said it is only willing to discuss curbs on its programme in exchange for sanctions relief. It has said it will not accept zero uranium ‌enrichment and that its missile capabilities are off the table. ‘Fair and equitable deal’ Araghchi, who arrived in Geneva earlier on Monday, said he was in the city “with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal”. He added, in a post on X, “What is not on the table: submission before threats.” The Iranian diplomat also met with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in Geneva for a round of technical discussions. Tehran had suspended cooperation with the United Nations watchdog body after the US and Israel’s attacks on its nuclear sites. The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440kg (970 pounds) of highly-enriched uranium following the Israeli-US strikes and to let inspections fully resume, including in three key sites that were bombed: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. Tehran has allowed IAEA some access to the sites that were not damaged, but has not allowed inspectors to visit other sites, citing a potential risk of radiation. Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said there was “optimism” in the Iranian capital ahead of the talks. “Officials here say the Iranian delegation in Geneva includes fully authorised economic, legal, political and technical teams. This signals that the Iranian side is ready for some serious concessions, particularly regarding its nuclear programme,” he said. But Serdar noted that the talks come in the face of a massive US military build-up in the region, which continues to grow. The Iranians, too, he said, were not “stepping back”, with the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launching military drills in the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf on Monday. Iran has ⁠repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route from Gulf Arab states, in retaliation against any attack. The move would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher. Iran has also threatened to strike US military bases in the region in the event of an attack, promoting concerns of a wider war. “This military escalation is going on in parallel with the diplomatic engagement. The regional countries are also stepping up diplomacy, because they have their concerns and they have their own fears,” Serdar said. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)

Australian PM Albanese says no help for ISIL relatives held in Syria camp

Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that his government will not repatriate Australian women and children from Syria who have been identified as relatives of suspected ISIL (ISIS) fighters. “We have a very firm view that we won’t be providing assistance or repatriation,” Albanese told ABC News on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Albanese said that while it is “unfortunate” that children have been affected, Australia is “not providing any support”. “As my mother would say, you make your bed, you lie in it,” he said. “We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who travelled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a caliphate to undermine and destroy our way of life,” he added. A spokesperson for Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke also warned that those who return to Australia from Syria will face the law if they have committed crimes. “People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia, they will be met with the full force of the law,” the spokesperson said, according to the Reuters news agency. A total of 34 women and children holding Australian citizenship were released on Monday from the Kurdish-controlled Roj detention camp in northern Syria. The Australians, who are said to be relatives of ISIL fighters, were later returned to the camp due to what was described as “technical reasons”, the Reuters and AFP news agencies reported. Roj detention camp director Hakmiyeh Ibrahim told Al Jazeera that the women and children from 11 families were handed over to relatives “who have come from Australia to collect them”. Advertisement The women and children were seen boarding minibuses to reach the Syrian capital, Damascus, from where they were to depart for Australia. But halfway through the trip, Kurdish escorts were ordered to turn back, as the group did not have permission “to enter government-held territory”, according to Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett, who is reporting from Aleppo. Rashid Omar, an official at the Roj camp, later confirmed to AFP that the Australian nationals were forced to return to the detention facility. He said that representatives of the families were still working to resolve the issue with Syrian authorities. ‘Concern in the Australian population’ The humanitarian organisation Save the Children Australia filed a lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of 11 women and 20 children, seeking their repatriation, citing Australia’s “moral and legal responsibility” to its citizens. The Federal Court ruled against Save the Children, saying the Australian government did not control their detention in Syria. A 17-year-old Australian boy died while under detention in Syria in 2022. Rodger Shanahan, a Middle East security analyst, told Al Jazeera that the Australian government is facing more resistance to the return of its citizens from Syria following the deadly Bondi Beach attack in December, in which 15 people were killed, at a Jewish festival in Sydney. “I think that there’s a concern in the Australian population that people might appear to have done away with their radical views, but they still retain them deep down,” Shanahan said. While Kurdish-led forces still control the Roj camp, they withdrew from the larger al-Hol camp in January, when Syria’s central government’s security forces took control of the area. At one point, the al-Hol camp housed some 24,000 people, mostly Syrians, but also Iraqis, and more than 6,000 women and children with foreign nationalities. Governments around the world have been resisting the repatriation of their citizens from the camps in Syria. The Roj camp also housed United Kingdom-born Shamima Begum, who was 15 when she and two other girls travelled from London in 2015 to marry ISIL fighters in Syria. In 2019, the UK government revoked Begum’s citizenship soon after she was discovered in a detention camp in Syria. Since then, Begum has challenged the decision, which was turned down by an appeals court in February 2024. Born in the UK to Bangladeshi parents, Begum does not hold Bangladeshi citizenship. She is reported to still be in the Roj camp. Adblock test (Why?)

Train derails in Switzerland, injuring five amid avalanches in the Alps

The accident, near the town of Goppenstein, occurred as the region is under its second-highest avalanche warning, a level four out of five. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 2 mins info Published On 17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A regional train has derailed in southern Switzerland, injuring five people, police said, as the risk of avalanches in the region has reached its second-highest level. The accident on Monday near the town of Goppenstein occurred amid heavy snow and at an altitude of 1,216 metres (4,000 feet), according to the AFP news agency. “According to initial findings, an avalanche may have crossed the tracks shortly before the train passed,” police said, adding that the public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. “Five people were injured. One of them was taken to hospital,” police added. The train accident follows a series of deadly avalanches across the Alps in recent days involving skiers. On Friday, three skiers were killed after being swept away by an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine resort of Val d’Isere. Cedric Bonnevie, who oversees the resort’s pistes, said one of the victims was a French national while the others were foreign citizens. He said one victim appeared to have been caught in the avalanche high on the mountain slope, while the other two were part of a group of five, including a professional guide, lower on the mountain face and did not see the avalanche approaching. In Italy, rescuers said last week that a record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers had died in the mountains over the previous seven days, including 10 in avalanches triggered by an exceptionally unstable snowpack. Fresh snowfall during recent storms, combined with windswept snow sitting on weak internal layers, has created especially dangerous conditions across the Alpine arc bordering France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy, Italy’s Alpine Rescue said. Advertisement “Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche,” Federico Catania, Alpine Rescue’s spokesperson, said. The avalanche deaths have occurred on ungroomed mountain slopes, away from the well-maintained and monitored Winter Olympic sites in Lombardy near the Swiss border, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Veneto, and the cross-country skiing venues in Val di Fiemme, within the autonomous province of Trentino. A Securite Civile helicopter flies over an off-piste area around the Alpe d’Huez, French Alps, during an avalanche emergency response rescue mission on January 29, 2026 [Jeff Pachoud/AFP] Adblock test (Why?)

Year: 2026