‘Against our daughters’: Cruz challenger hit with blistering 7-figure ad over transgender sports bill vote
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative super PAC is blanketing the airwaves with a new advertisement slamming Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Colin Allred, who is locked in a high-profile race against Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. The pro-Cruz Truth and Courage PAC is rolling out a $3 million dollar ad buy in Texas hitting the Democratic congressman over his previous support of allowing biological males to compete in sports against female opponents. “Texas girls are tough,” the 30-second version of the ad says, as it shows young women training for various sporting events. “But they’re facing a new opponent they can’t beat by digging deeper.” “Colin Allred could have stopped men from competing in women’s sports, but instead, he voted against our daughters,” the ad continues before it shows a man resembling Allred with the name “Allred” on his jersey, tackling one of the girls. CRUZ INTERRUPTED BY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATOR WHO YELLED, ‘F—ING JEWS’ DURING HEARING ON ‘HATE’ “What kind of man does that?” There is also a 60-second version of the ad that shows him in a couple of photos with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. As the ad shows the photos, the narrator says Allred “voted against the Protection of Women and Girls Act of 2023. He stood with woke progressives and radical Democrats, not our daughters.” The ad, which will also run in Spanish, cites Allred’s vote in Congress against The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, which passed the House on a party line vote with President Biden saying he would veto it if it got to his desk. “This is a disgusting, false attack, and another example of how Ted Cruz only wants to divide Texans,” Allred campaign spokesperson Josh Stewart told Fox News Digital. “He’ll say anything to distract from his dangerous abortion ban that is putting women’s lives at risk, trying to raise the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare and fleeing to Cancun during a deadly winter storm.” Cruz won his last Senate race by about three points in 2018, and some experts believe that this year’s race could be close again. While the Real Clear Politics polling average shows Cruz with a five-point lead in the race, there are some troubling signs for the Republican incumbent, including recent polls showing Cruz with a lead close to within the margin of error. TEXAS DEM’S SENATE AD FEATURES BORDER WALL HE ONCE BLASTED AS ‘RACIST’ “Texas will stay red this November and Ted Cruz will win re-election,” Jimmy Keady, the founder and president of JLK Political Strategies, recently told Fox News Digital. “But Republicans should not take the threat of losing this state lightly. As the Republican Party makes a play for blue states, Democrats are going to start making a play for red states… to hold these seats, Republicans will have to stay disciplined on messaging and prioritize candidate recruitment.” Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report
Attorney General Ken Paxton targets El Paso nonprofit that offers legal services to migrants
Attorney General Ken Paxton has investigated at least five organizations this year that do immigration-related work.
Maryland Senate race: Democrat Alsobrooks leads Republican Hogan in closely watched contest
The Democratic candidate for senate in Maryland has pulled significantly ahead of her Republican rival, according to a recent poll. The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released Thursday shows Democrat Angela Alsobrooks holding an 11% lead over her rival, Republican Larry Hogan. Alsobrooks is leading Hogan 51% to 40%, according to the Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. ACCUSATIONS OF IMPROPER TAX BREAKS FLY IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE: ‘RULES DON’T APPLY’ The gap between them among likely voters is surprising, given that both candidates enjoy a similar level of popularity with respondents. Approximately 53% of respondents expressed favorable impressions of Hogan, compared to 27% who reported an unfavorable impression. Respondents gave Alsobrooks a 50% favorability rating, compared to 22% unfavorability. Registered voters in the poll ranked the economy as the most important issue of the November elections, followed by immigration and then abortion. MARYLAND SENATE RACE POLL SHOWS DEMOCRAT ALSOBROOKS LEADING GOP’S HOGAN, DESPITE ONE IN THREE NOT KNOWING WHO SHE IS The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll was conducted between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23 with a sample size of 1,012 registered voters. It has a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. With Democrats outnumbering Republicans by a roughly two-to-one margin in the state, Hogan will need a good chunk of cross-over voters to have a chance and has been highlighting his opposition to Trump and his independence from his party as he runs for the Senate. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Hogan, who flirted with a 2024 White House run before deciding against it, stood out from most other Republicans this spring for publicly calling for the guilty verdicts in Trump’s criminal trial to be respected. Hogan skipped July’s Republican National Convention, where Trump was formally nominated, and has said he would not be voting for the former president. Hogan’s campaign, after the former president’s comments, spotlighted in a statement that “Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting President Trump just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020.” Republicans are also aiming to flip seats in Ohio and Montana, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago. And five more Democratic-held seats up for grabs this year are in crucial presidential-election battleground states. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
‘Thumb on the scale’: Consumer watchdog slams Dem push to codify law SCOTUS struck down
FIRST ON FOX: A consumer watchdog agency is warning lawmakers in the Senate to end plans to codify a legal doctrine that the Supreme Court struck down earlier this year. The high court ruled in favor this summer of a group of fishermen who challenged a federal agency, claiming that a decades-old legal doctrine gave the administrative state too much power over their business. Known as the Chevron doctrine, the legal theory established in the 1980s says that if a federal regulation is challenged, the courts should defer to the agency’s interpretation of whether Congress had granted it authority to issue the rule, as long as the agency’s interpretation is reasonable and Congress had not addressed the question directly. Democrats in Congress have since attempted to pass legislation that would codify Chevron deference. Alliance for Consumers, a national consumer advocacy organization, is urging those lawmakers to not “[re-empower] bureaucrats to ban or wipe away even more products with near impunity and a thumb on the scale for the government against the little guy.” SUPREME COURT APPEARS READY TO REEL IN ADMINISTRATIVE STATE IN LANDMARK CHALLENGE FROM EAST COAST FISHERMEN “The end of Chevron deference was a huge win for consumers,” Alliance for Consumers Executive Director O.H. Skinner wrote in a letter Wednesday. “Chevron deference gave agencies a sense of invincibility in the way they interpreted their authority and the power Congress gave them by statute,” Skinner wrote. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have both introduced legislation that would reform “the federal rulemaking process to protect consumers, workers, health care, and our environment. We must pass our bill to level the playing field and ensure our government puts people first, not giant corporations.” Wyden argued that “the Chevron doctrine acknowledged that courts should give deference to agency experts to write rules and regulations in order to implement laws passed by Congress,” and that “the overturning of Chevron deference undermines government agencies’ ability to promote worker safety, ensure clean air and water, and protect consumers.” Wyden did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Skinner’s letter. SUPREME COURT SIGNALS INTEREST IN HEARING A MAJOR CLIMATE CHANGE CASE THAT COULD BE A ‘NIGHTMARE’ FOR LIBERALS However, Skinner argues in his letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs that “what we have now, with the end of Chevron deference, is a better world, where Congress’s words matter (not the policy preferences of bureaucrats) and agencies are no longer allowed to freely take advantage of statutory ambiguity to extend their powers and reshape the things available to consumers.” HOW MAINE LOBSTERMEN TURNED A ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ FROM THE WHITE HOUSE INTO A POLICY VICTORY “With the end of Chevron deference, everyday consumers will now have a chance when facing off against the government in a challenge to federal edicts that do enter the world,” he continued. “Chevron deference put a thumb on the scale in every case against the government, never more so than when individuals or small businesses were going up against an agency over a mundane regulation or requirement.” Skinner added that “while mega-corporations facing an existential-level regulation could always push on in the Chevron deference era to the Supreme Court, the little guy was trapped in a world where deference had the most power and sway, and the deck was stacked in the government’s favor.” “That is thankfully no longer true,” he said. The Senate committee did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Skinner’s letter.
Biden urged to crack down on oil companies doing business with Venezuela after Maduro’s refusal to cede power
Earlier this year, the Biden administration eased sanctions on Venezuela in efforts to persuade dictator Nicolas Maduro to hold free and fair elections. It didn’t work. Now, Latin America watchers say, it’s time to bring back those sanctions in full force – by canceling the licenses for U.S.-based oil and gas companies to do business there. The U.S. reinstated sanctions on the gold mining industry that were lifted earlier this year under the Barbados Agreement in April, as Maduro continued to crack down on the opposition, including by barring opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado from running. It allowed the expiration of some sanctions relief and export licenses, but critics say the administration left major carve-outs for U.S.-based companies doing business there. VENEZUELA SAYS FOURTH US CITIZEN ARRESTED IN PLOT TO KILL PRESIDENT MADURO In July, Venezuela’s National Electoral Commission claimed that Maduro won 51.2% of the vote, defeating the Unity Platform candidate Edmundo González, backed by Machado. But precinct-level vote counts published by the opposition show González winning by a large margin. The U.S. government recognized González as the winner on August 1, yet Maduro still clings to power. In September, U.S. officials unveiled new personal sanctions against Maduro and his acolytes over human rights abuses. “The individual sanctions are meaningless and obviously haven’t changed [Maduro’s] behavior one bit,” Victoria Coates, former deputy national security advisor and senior advisor at the Department of Energy under Trump, told Fox News Digital. Maduro officials have enforced the election results they claim through harsh post-election repression of protesters, including charging González with terrorism before he sought refuge in the Spanish embassy. González said last week he was “forced” to accept the Maduro win before being allowed to seek asylum in Spain. “They’ve done nothing serious to try to challenge the results of the fraudulent election, to support the folks who are trying to get the information out, and then to offer an off-ramp to Maduro.” BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IMPOSES SANCTIONS AGAINST VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT MADURO’S ‘CRONIES’ “Get him out of the country, figure out what his terms are,” Coates went on. “By the way, there are a bunch of the senior military brass in Venezuela who like to spend a lot of time in Miami. Is that something you want to hold at risk?” “They could see if they could have some conversations with them about what a transition would look like. But rather than doing any of that, they’re just letting the oil flow.” “The administration is, on the one hand, doing some actions that would make it appear that it is heightening enforcement against the Maduro regime,” Andres Martinez-Fernandez, lead Latin America policy adviser at Heritage’s Allison Center for National Security, told Fox News Digital. “But it’s clearly holding off on really restating and fully pressuring the Venezuelan government with sanctions and economic restrictions, particularly when it comes to the oil sector.” One option would be to cancel the remaining licenses for big oil companies like Chevron to make deals with PDVSA, the country’s state-owned oil company. Chevron scored a license to do business with the oil-rich state in 2022 after Maduro had expressed an openness to conducting fair elections. The White House left open the possibility for other companies to apply for such licenses to take advantage of the nation’s oil-rich reserves. “The oil licenses, which only benefit Maduro and his cronies, should have been canceled as soon as they refused to recognize the real results of the election showing his loss by two million votes,” Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, told Fox News Digital. “The failure to make these decisions is sending a clear signal around the world that United States leadership is weak, and you can get away with whatever you want.” “We want them canceled … this is a lifeline to the regime,” opposition adviser Rafael de la Cruz said in reference to the licenses during a panel discussion hosted by the New York-based Council of the Americas business organization earlier this month. He said the presence of U.S. oil companies serves to “normalize … de facto dictatorship that he is trying to set up in Venezuela.” The National Security Council has said its sanctions are designed to ”hold Nicolas Maduro and his representatives accountable for its electoral fraud and violent repression, without harming the everyday Venezuelan people.” But critics say that oil money rarely flows down to everyday Venezuelans, nearly 80 percent of whom fall below the poverty line. “The primary sanction facing the Venezuelan people is the regime itself,” Andres Martinez-Fernandez said. “The Venezuelan regime uses its revenue primarily not to support the Venezuelan people, but to ensure its own grasp on power, whether that’s through buying loyalty in the military or sowing discord abroad” he went on. “[The sanctions] never should have been lifted, they got scammed,” Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. Why, exactly, the Biden administration hasn’t taken enforcement action is up for debate. Coates believes it is “to keep domestic energy prices low before the election.” Martinez-Fernandez said there could be heavy lobbying involved behind the scenes, and the administration could be worried that removing U.S. companies from the scene would create a space for China to swoop in and set up operations. “The administration is still hoping beyond reason that there is a path to a sort of negotiated settlement with the regime,” he said. “This is what the administration did earlier in the year and late last year with the removal of sanctions, and then dangling the threats of reinstating them. And clearly, that had none of the desired effects.” Chevron spokesman Bill Turenne said in a statement: “We remain committed to conducting our business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, both in the U.S. and the countries where we operate.”
Hezbollah rockets land in sea near Israeli city
NewsFeed Explosions were seen near the city of Haifa in northern Israel as a barrage of Hezbollah rockets landed in the sea. The Israeli army reported that around 45 rockets were identified crossing from Lebanon. Published On 26 Sep 202426 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Will Israel’s onslaught on Lebanon force Iran to shift its approach?
Tehran, Iran – Iran has been biding its time since the July 31 assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. The high-profile assassination will beget Israel vengeance, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top political and military officials have promised, as a “guest” dear to Iran and its “axis of resistance” was killed on Iranian soil. The manner of Haniyeh’s and his bodyguard’s killing also raised many eyebrows, as they are believed by Iranian armed forces to have been targeted with a projectile – likely a relatively small, anti-armour guided missile – fired from not too far outside their residence for foreign dignitaries in affluent northern Tehran. The fact that Israel is now pounding Lebanon, its civilians and infrastructure to devastating effect, supposedly only to target Hezbollah, a prominent member of the Iran-led “axis of resistance”, merely ramps up pressure on Iranian leaders to take a more direct retaliatory approach. The Israeli military has killed at least 620 people and wounded thousands more across Lebanon in the past four days, with at least 72 killed on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The attacks have been the deadliest Lebanon has seen since the end of its civil war close to 35 years ago. The thousands of bombs that have been dropped over Lebanon by a fleet of Israeli aircraft have also destroyed many homes and other civilian infrastructure, displaced tens of thousands, and killed paramedics and journalists. Is Iran’s timeline changing? Iran has continued to exercise restraint as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, who are still killing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank on a daily basis, are increasingly being seen as eager to drag the region – and the United States – into an expanded conflict. But the significant increase of Israeli attacks on Lebanon “will not be without effect in accelerating Iran’s response”, according to Hadi Afghahi, a West Asia analyst and former Iranian charge d’affaires to Lebanon. He told Al Jazeera that this was especially true after the “fiery” speech delivered by the supreme leader during a meeting with military commanders on Wednesday, when he asserted that Hezbollah had not been brought to its knees despite taking considerable blows. Khamenei promised that “final victory will belong to the resistance front and the Hezbollah front”. “Iran will not wait so long as to make the enemy insolent and believe that there will be no strike back. After the supreme leader’s speech, I think a strike will take place soon,” Afghahi said. He said that the most explicit comments about the nature of the Iranian retaliation against Israel so far have been delivered by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, who stated Tehran will respond decisively and independently of the “axis of resistance”. Afghahi pointed out that Hezbollah has launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv for the first time, the Houthis in Yemen successfully landed a hypersonic ballistic missile in central Israel, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is ramping up its attacks using new missiles and drones. But Iran would likely wish to further display and also evaluate the effectiveness of its weapons in independent attacks, rather than a joint attack. “And a potential war will not simply be a war of missiles and drones, it would be a hybrid war,” the former official explained. “I have heard from a military official that we might even be considering going after a number of high-ranking Israeli political or military officials amid the war and our retaliatory operation. The Zionist regime has used assassination as a method since its founding, so if there is an assassination against these war criminals, it would be considered as retaliation and self-defence.” Afghahi emphasised that the Iranian response “will be within the framework of international law”, meaning no places of worship, schools, markets or other civilian infrastructure will be attacked, making a distinction with Israel’s repeated attacks on non-military targets. ‘Maintaining the initiative’ The election of centrist President Masoud Pezeshkian could mean that Tehran will display more “flexibility and strategic patience” overall, but “there are no disagreements over the nature, legitimacy or certainty of the response” among top Iranian leadership, Afghahi explained. Pezeshkian struck a moderate tone during his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, including saying Iran wants to hold more talks with the West and other global powers on its nuclear programme and US sanctions. But he also railed against the “genocide” being perpetrated in Gaza and called for a ceasefire. After returning to Tehran on Thursday, he told reporters that his team spoke with 15 countries about Gaza and Lebanon, and asserted that “the Zionist regime and its supporters are the biggest terrorists” who are killing civilians while claiming to be supporters of human rights and international law. Useful talks with EU High Rep @JosepBorrellF on range of issues of mutual interest/concern—incl nuclear talks, dangerous situation in Middle East caused by Israeli aggression against Lebanon, Ukraine, and need to avoid double standard on human rights. Urged EU to stop certain… pic.twitter.com/2ivIXJH2HI — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) September 24, 2024 Iran wishes to reserve a legitimate right to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territory while remaining mindful of Israel’s goals, according to Sasan Karimi, a professor at the Faculty of World Studies of the University of Tehran. He told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu is trying to protect himself politically, but Israel has adopted an overall “thousand daggers” policy since it realises it cannot defeat Iran with a single big blow. “The Islamic Republic has preferred at this stage to consciously maintain the initiative and not lose it even in response to Israeli acts of terror. In this vein, the timing, nature and scale of this reaction will be set in Tehran while maintaining a sense of agency,” Karimi said, adding that Iran will not be forced into an uncalculated response that could prompt more Western
Mass funeral for Kenya school fire victims
A mass funeral has been held for the 21 children who were killed in a boarding school fire in central Kenya earlier this month. Each small coffin was topped with a photograph, with most of the boys killed aged between nine and 13. Published On 26 Sep 202426 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Bilkis Bano case: SC rejects Gujarat govt’s plea seeking review of verdict over certain observations
In 2008, 11 men were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but they were released on August 15, 2022, under the Gujarat government’s remission policy.
GOP senators vow to stop Biden admin’s ‘amnesty wand’ for illegal immigrants with US spouses
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans in the Senate are introducing a bill to block a push by the Biden administration to give humanitarian parole to illegal immigrants living in the U.S. who have American spouses — amid a broader conservative opposition to the administration’s use of parole. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is leading more than a dozen senators in introducing The Visa Integrity Preservation Act, which would amend federal law to explicitly bar illegal immigrants — specifically those who have entered illegally or overstayed a visa for more than 180 days — from receiving a waiver of the in-person consular interview. The rule would affect the Biden administration’s introduction of “parole in place,” which was announced in June and allows it to grant humanitarian parole and a path to permanent residency for certain illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens without them having to leave the country and interview at a consulate, as they generally do in order to apply for a visa. IMMIGRATION EXPERT WARNS BLACK AMERICANS ARE BEING IMPACTED BY MIGRANTS ‘FLOODING THEIR COMMUNITIES’ The new process, called “Keeping Families Together,” applies to noncitizen spouses who have lived in the U.S. for 10 years as of June and are judged not to pose a threat to public safety or national security. The administration argues that families live in fear and “face deep uncertainty about their future” due to the requirement that they depart and be processed abroad. “In addition, individuals must have no disqualifying criminal history or otherwise constitute a threat to national security or public safety and should otherwise merit a favorable exercise of discretion,” a fact sheet said. DHS estimates that it will affect approximately 500,000 illegal immigrants. The process would not be eligible for new arrivals, as they must be in the U.S. for more than 10 years by June 2024. ‘POLITICAL STUNT’: CRITICS DISMISS HARRIS’ EXPECTED ARIZONA BORDER VISIT AS IMMIGRATION REMAINS TOP ISSUE Republicans have pushed back furiously against the broad use of parole by the administration, including not only parole in place, but also the use of the CBP One app to grant parole to over 1.3 million foreign nationals in recent years both at the border and via a travel authorization program for four nationalities. The Republican bill would mean that any illegal immigrant who wished to apply for a visa would still have to leave the U.S. for a consular interview before they could be granted a visa. Joining Cornyn on the bill are Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, James Risch, R-Idaho, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Steve Daines, R-Mont., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Ted Budd, R-N.C., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. Cornyn’s office said it would prevent the administration from using “amnesty” to regularize illegal immigrants. “For almost four years, the Biden-Harris administration has waived their magic amnesty wand to create unlawful programs that allow any and every person to enter and stay in the U.S. — legally or not,” Sen. Cornyn said in a statement. “By strengthening the laws already on the books, our legislation would root out this massive pull factor while also preserving the integrity of our employment-based nonimmigrant visa program, and I’m grateful to my colleagues for their support.” The bill marks the latest pushback by Republicans against the program. Republican states, led by Texas, sued the administration over the rule, and a federal court has paused the program indefinitely. The states argued that the rule violates federal law by an unlawful use of parole, which is limited to use on a “case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “Claiming that it has ‘unfettered discretion,’ Implementation of Keeping Families Together…DHS has announced the creation of a program that effectively provides a new pathway to a green card and eventual citizenship; announcing that it would allow more than 1.3 million aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States—more than 200,000 of whom live in Texas—to circumvent the processes established by Congress to apply for permanent residency,” the states argue in the filing. The White House, responding to the lawsuit last month, accused Republican officials of being “more focused on playing politics than helping American families or fixing our broken immigration system.” “This lawsuit goes against our nation’s values, and we will vigorously defend Keeping Families Together and our ability to make the immigration system more fair and more just. We will also continue securing our border and enforcing our laws, something Congressional Republicans have refused to do time and time again,” a White House spokesperson said.