Telangana YouTuber shoots video featuring ‘peacock curry’ recipe, arrested after…
The YouTuber, apparently to garner more views for his channel resorted to the act, a forest official said based on preliminary investigation.
Democratic heavyweights to speak at party’s convention; preparing for large Palestinian protests
The biggest names in the Democratic Party will be center stage next week as the party’s national nominating convention kicks off in Chigago. President Biden, former Presidents Obama and Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have been confirmed as speakers at the Democratic National Convention, a source familiar with convention planning confirmed to Fox News. While a mostly unified and now energized Democratic Party will meet inside the United Center arena on Chicago’s West Side Aug. 19-22, outside of the security perimeter, there will likely be scenes of anger and dissent – as demonstrators protesting the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel in its nearly 11 month-long war with Hamas in Gaza are planning to take to the streets. HARRIS HAULS IN $12 MILLION DURING SAN FRANCISCO STOP AS PELOSI WELCOMES THE VICE PRESIDENT HOME The Democrats’ convention comes nearly a month after the president’s blockbuster July 21 announcement that he was suspending his re-election bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris following his disastrous performance against former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, in their late June debate. Biden’s rambling and uneven answers at the debate fueled questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to handle another four years in the White House and sparked a chorus of calls from within his own party to end his 2024 campaign. WHAT THE LATEST POLLS IN THREE KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES SHOW IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN Democrats desperate to keep Trump from returning to the White House quickly coalesced around Harris, who last week was formally nominated by the party in a virtual roll call. Harris has enjoyed a surge in fundraising after replacing Biden three weeks ago atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, and her July haul was more than double the funds raised last month by Trump. Additionally, Harris saw another spike in fundraising after naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate a week ago. The vice president and Walz quickly hit the campaign trail with a swing through the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada that drew large crowds at every stop. Even though both Harris and Walz have been officially nominated, convention organizers say there will be ceremonial roll calls next week in Chicago. The vice president and the Minnesota governor will both address the convention in nationally televised speeches next Wednesday and Thursday. Party officials are hoping to avoid any type of repeat of their 1968 convention in Chicago, when scenes of fighting among delegates and clouds of tear gas and police batons used to smash protests as divided Democrats brawled over the Vietnam War. While Democrats are divided over the U.S. response to the soaring death toll among Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war, political pundits say comparisons to the 1968 chaos are not justifiable. However, the Coalition to March on the D.N.C., an umbrella group of organizations on the left that is helping to organize the planned protests, said in a social media posting on Sunday that Democratic Party officials “underestimate our rage, our tenacity, and our steadfast commitment to the precious life of every Palestinian person enduring this horrific genocide. We’re fighting back.” Protesters are trading fire with Chicago officials over where they will be allowed to march during the convention. The activists are aiming for a longer route which they say would better accommodate the tens of thousands of people they hope will protest. A federal judge overseeing the dispute between the protesters and city officials has yet to make a decision. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Has Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk changed dynamics of the war?
Russia has asked thousands of its citizens to evacuate from Kursk and neighbouring Belgorod region, days after an unprecedented incursion on its territory by Ukrainian forces – the most significant cross-border attack since Moscow invaded Kyiv in February 2022. On Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that his military was fighting inside Russian territory. The latest fighting has caused thousands of people to flee the border areas. Authorities have declared a “federal-level” state of emergency in the Russian regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a “large-scale provocation” by Ukraine, which has been fighting Moscow forces in its eastern region. Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the outbreak of fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which remains under Russian control. The fire has since been put out. Here’s more about the Kursk incursion and what it means for the war: A man looks at debris near a multi-storey residential building, which according to local authorities was hit by remains of a destroyed Ukrainian missile, in Kursk on August 11, 2024. [Kommersant Photo/Anatoliy Zhdanov via Reuters] When did Ukrainian troops enter Kursk? Ukrainian forces launched the Kursk attack on August 6, taking Moscow by surprise. Fighting is under way between Kyiv and Moscow forces in the region. “We are seeing the Ukrainian operation slowly expanding into neighbouring Belgorod,” said Alex Gatopoulos, Al Jazeera’s defence editor. The Ukrainian army has taken some border villages in Belgorod, Gatopoulos said, adding that 11,000 people have been ordered to evacuate Belgorod region. Ukrainian forces are around 30km (18.6 miles) inside Russia, according the Russian Ministry of Defence. The AFP news agency quoted a Ukrainian official as saying that thousands of Ukrainian troops are in Kursk. Why did Ukraine decide to carry out such an attack, and what is Ukraine’s strategy? The Ukrainian attack came after weeks of military setbacks in the eastern Donetsk region. One of the reasons is “to seize the initiative”, Sean Bell, a retired fighter pilot and military analyst, said, explaining that there is a very long border between the two countries and “it’s evident that they can break through”. Secondly, Ukraine’s move demonstrates that Russia does not control this war alone; “Ukraine is clearly taking the reins here,” Bell said. Gatopoulos said Ukraine’s strategy with the Kursk attack amounted to a “drone Blitzkrieg” after Ukraine aggressively used first-person view drones that jammed the Russian drones. First-person-view drones are low-cost and usually operated using a screen or virtual reality goggles. Where did the attack take place? The attack took place in the town of Sudzha in Kursk located 530km (330 miles) from Moscow. Sudzha has the only pumping station that delivers Russian natural gas to Europe through Ukraine. Kursk is in western Russia, at the border with Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy city. How will the attack affect the Russia-Ukraine war? The attack has raised questions on how Ukraine was able to attack Kursk so easily after two years of intense fighting. Military analyst Bell told Al Jazeera that the attack can change the course of the war. While critics deemed Ukraine’s surprise attack reckless, “momentum and initiative is everything in warfare; this caught everybody off guard”, Bell explained. The Ukrainian attack forced Russia to take troops from the front line, where they have been advancing to Ukraine’s Donetsk, and deploy them at Kursk, relieving pressure from the front line for Ukraine, Bell added. To maintain its current position in Kursk, Ukraine will have to send more troops, tanks and resources, Gatopoulos said. While there is a possibility that Russian forces will outnumber and defeat Ukraine, if Ukraine persists, “it would be a great bargaining chip in peace negotiations”, he said. If the Ukrainian mission fails, “it will be a morale blow rather than a morale boost” for Kyiv, Gatopoulos said. What has been Russia’s reaction? Russia hit back militarily, deploying its own troops to quash the incursion. Additionally, Russian forces shot down 35 drones over the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Oryol regions on Sunday night. Ukrainian officials said on Sunday that Russian air attacks killed five people including a four-year-old boy and his father just east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Russia has also evacuated civilians in border cities and declared a state of emergency in Kursk. The Russian state broadcaster said that 20 temporary accommodation centres were set up, airing footage of a tent camp in Kursk. Officials from Russia have implied that the Ukraine attack had foreign backing. “We have no doubt that the organisers and perpetrators of these crimes, including their foreign curators, will bear responsibility for them,” said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that the United States was not made aware of Ukraine’s plans to attack Kursk. Why is Belarus deploying forces to Ukraine border? Belarus announced on Saturday that it was sending its forces to the border with Ukraine, claiming Ukraine violated Belarusian airspace during its Kursk incursion. Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarusian air defence forces destroyed thousands of Ukrainian targets flying over eastern Belarus’s Mogilev. Viktor Khrenin, the country’s defence minister, announced that Ukraine’s violation of the Belarus airspace is indicative of a provocation and is “ready for retaliatory action”. What happened at the Zaporizhzhia power plant? On Sunday, Ukrainian official reported that a fire had broken out at the cooling tower of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, said that the fire has not caused an impact on safety. According to Russian state media, the fire has been extinguished. Zelenskyy accused Russia of the fire, while Moscow blamed it on Kyiv. “These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” said Rafael Grossi, chief of IAEA in a statement, without blaming either side. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine arrests energy official as it continues anti-corruption drive
Kyiv has been working hard to try to tame corruption among state officials. Ukraine has detained a deputy energy minister accused of taking a bribe worth half a million dollars as it continues a bid to tame corruption among state officials. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Monday that it had arrested the official over a scheme to smuggle mining equipment out of the war-torn east of the country. Three alleged accomplices have also been detained. Ukraine has said that, amid its war against Russia’s 2022 invasion, it is trying to step up its fight against official corruption to prove the country’s credentials for joining the European Union. The SBU announcement did not disclose the identity of the official or his accomplices, posting photos of its officers arresting the suspects with their faces blurred. However, opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak named the deputy minister as Oleksandr Kheilo. The SBU said that the minister, responsible for securing vital energy equipment amid the conflict, allegedly demanded mining industry officials pay him to transfer equipment from mines in the front-line eastern Donetsk region to a coal basin in western Ukraine. “The equipment in question is unique and scarce, belonging to one of the state-owned coal companies located in the most active area of the eastern frontline – Pokrovsk,” the SBU said in a statement. “In the spring of 2024, industry representatives approached the deputy energy minister to obtain permission to evacuate the equipment from the war zone and use it at mines in a western region,” it added. “However, the official, whose duties included the preservation of mining equipment, demanded money for its removal,” it said. The suspects were detained as they were about to receive $100,000 of the $500,000 bribe demanded. Investigators had previously documented receipt of another $200,000. Kheilo has now been dismissed, according to a government Telegram channel. Ukraine has been battling corruption for years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rose to power on a platform of ending corruption. He has fired a number of officials, including the defence minister last year over corruption scandals in the army. In April, the agriculture minister was detained and sacked over allegations of his involvement in an illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth $7m. Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza, Ukraine conflicts increasing Geneva Conventions violations: Red Cross
International humanitarian law violations should not be normalised, ICRC warns, noting 120 global conflicts as it marks Geneva Conventions’ 75th anniversary. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on the world to respect the Geneva Conventions as the international treaties setting out the rules of war mark their 75th anniversary. The rule book for the conduct of war is under strain and often disregarded, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said on Monday. Conduct in conflicts such as in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria and Myanmar illustrate that the conventions are being largely ignored and a new commitment to international humanitarian law is needed, advocates say. The Geneva Conventions, which mark out rules on the protection of civilians, detainees and wounded soldiers, were adopted by most of the world after they were finalised in 1949. “The world must recommit to this robust protective framework for armed conflict, one that follows the premise of protecting life instead of justifying death,” Spoljaric told reporters at ICRC headquarters in Geneva. Today we mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. Since Aug. 12th, 1949, they have safeguarded human dignity in the darkest times. 📜 States and non-state armed groups must ensure these rules continue to save lives. pic.twitter.com/DRnukK09IX — ICRC (@ICRC) August 12, 2024 “Today we mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions,” the ICRC wrote on X. “They have safeguarded human dignity in the darkest times. States and non-state armed groups must ensure these rules continue to save lives.” The conventions ban torture and sexual violence, require humane treatment of detainees and mandate searches for missing people. They “reflect a global consensus that all wars have limits”, Spoljaric said. “The dehumanisation of both enemy fighters and civilian populations is a path to ruin and disaster.” The Red Cross said the rule book is needed now more than ever. More than 120 active conflicts persist around the world, it pointed out, a six-fold increase from the half-century anniversary of the conventions in 1999. Modern armed conflicts have become more dangerous since the 20th century due to new technologies, the urbanisation of warfare and “the deliberate dehumanisation of the enemy through labels such as ‘terrorist’”, it went on to say. The Red Cross stated that violations – including firing on hospitals, schools and ambulances and the killing of aid workers and civilians – should not become the norm. When international humanitarian law “violations are committed with impunity, this fuels further cycles of violence often resulting in protracted armed conflicts that span decades”, the organisation said. Actors in many conflicts today are accused of violating the conventions, from Gaza to Ukraine. The United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory has accused Israel of violating three of the five acts listed under the UN Genocide Conventions during its war in Gaza. South Africa has also taken Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza – with 12 other countries backing the case. Russia’s actions in Ukraine, meanwhile, should be investigated as war crimes, organisations like Human Rights Watch have said. Adblock test (Why?)
Hindenburg vs Adani issue may reach Supreme Court again; petitioner says…
In January 2023, Hindenburg published a report accusing the Adani Group of financial irregularities, leading to a significant drop in the company’s stock price.
Trump shooting task force demands documents from top Biden officials in probe kickoff
The House of Representatives is kicking off its formal probe into the attempted assassination of former President Trump on Monday. The bipartisan Trump shooting task force sent a pair of letters announcing its investigation will now supersede several other ongoing House investigations into the matter and asking for all information sent to those committees about the July 13 shooting so far. One letter was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe; the other was addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Lawmakers are seeking staff-level briefings from each agency and department, to be scheduled by Aug. 16 – a signal that the task force is serious about its pledge for a short investigatory timeline. BUTLER DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS LOCAL SNIPERS WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOFTOP SHOOTER FIRED FROM “We, as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump (Task Force), write to request documents and information related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024,” wrote Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo. There have been multiple Congressional inquiries launched into how a 20-year-old gunman was able to position himself on a rooftop just outside Trump’s rally perimeter last month, opening fire and killing one rally attendee. Trump himself was shot in the ear and rushed offstage by Secret Service agents. The task force is a push by House leadership to consolidate those efforts. The panel is armed with subpoena power and wide-ranging jurisdiction to probe the shooting, with the goal of producing an end-of-year report. TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM SAYS HE IS ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US Kelly and Crow asked that the Biden administration officials they wrote to “should produce documents and information directly to the Task Force from this point forward, including any documents and information that are in process in response to pending requests.” Lawmakers also asked for “all documents and information that have been produced to date, to any committee of the House or Senate related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump” and “a briefing for staff to review DHS and USSS’ responses to Congress to date, and to discuss the Task Force’s priorities with respect to documents and information moving forward.” The task force, comprised of seven House Republicans and six House Democrats, was formed after a unanimous 416-0 vote last month. One senior House Republican told Fox News Digital last month that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was inundated by House GOP lawmakers’ requests and arguments to be on the panel. IRAN THREAT PROMPTS QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP GUNMAN’S UNCRACKED ENCRYPTION Both Kelly and Crow have stressed that the investigation must be apolitical. Crow, a former Army Ranger, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he and Kelly were discussing a possible trip to the Pennsylvania rally site where the shooting took place. Kelly, who was at the rally in Butler, represents the surrounding district. “Chairman Kelly and I have discussed that, and we do think that would be an important thing to do if we have the support to do it,” Crow said.
Biden has another light schedule this week with 5 months until term ends
President Biden has a lax schedule this week as he appears to coast toward the end of his term as Vice President Kamala Harris takes the helm. Biden will arrive back in Washington, D.C., Monday morning after spending the weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was pictured sunbathing with his family over the weekend. The president has no public events on his schedule for Monday, and he has just two for the entire week. That is one more than he had last week. He will appear at a Cancer Moonshot event on Tuesday in New Orleans, and then he will appear at a campaign rally for Harris on Thursday in Maryland. Biden is expected to highlight the administration’s efforts to lower costs for Americans, which has been a sticking point for Harris’ campaign. BIDEN’S UPCOMING SUNDAY SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW FIRST SINCE EXITING 2024 RACE: ‘HAPPY TO DO IT, WHITE HOUSE SAYS’ The president has no public events scheduled for Wednesday or Friday, and he will retire to the presidential retreat in Camp David for the weekend, according to his schedule. KAMALA HARRIS HAS AVOIDED INTERVIEWS FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS SINCE BECOMING DEM NOMINEE Biden’s lax schedule comes as there is no shortage of global events requiring U.S. leadership. Israel remains on the brink of war with Iran and its terrorist proxies. Iran has goaded Israel with rocket attacks by Hezbollah in recent weeks, and Hamas has refused to move forward with cease-fire talks. Biden said achieving a cease-fire agreement before leaving office was his top priority after announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race. Biden has also made no comment on Team USA’s dominant performance at the Paris Olympics, which wrapped up this weekend. Biden’s only major news-making event in recent days was an interview with CBS that aired on Sunday. In the conversation with host Bob Costa, Biden revealed the extent of Democratic pressure that forced him out of the race. PELOSI DEMURS ON IF ‘EVERYTHING IS OK’ BETWEEN HER AND BIDEN: ‘YOU’D HAVE TO ASK HIM’ “A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic, you’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say -why did – and I thought it’d be a real distraction,” Biden told Costa. Biden announced at the end of July that he would be bowing out of the presidential race and quickly endorsed Vice President Harris. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrats reportedly called on Biden to drop out in private in the weeks following his first debate with former President Trump. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, it would have been down to the wire,” Biden added.
Fox News Power Rankings: Voters’ appetite for ticket-splitting will decide the Senate
Republicans have a favorable map, but Democratic candidates are on top in several battleground states. It is anyone’s game in the first Fox News Power Rankings for the Senate this cycle. Ticket splitting will make the difference If you know one fact about the 1984 presidential election, it’s that Ronald Reagan won in a landslide. With wins in 49 states and a total of 525 electoral college votes, no candidate has ever pulled off a larger victory. You might not remember that in the same election, Republicans lost two Senate seats, leaving them with a total of just 53 in the upper chamber. Outcomes like these used to be normal. Voters have opted for different party winners in more than a hundred races with a presidential and senate election on the same ballot in the postwar era, with the practice reaching its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, voters are much more loyal to their party. In the last presidential cycle, the electorate only chose different party winners in one out of the 35 states with presidential and senate races (Maine, where Susan Collins held on for a fifth term). Calculated another way, Democratic and Republican senate candidate vote-shares each differed from the top of the ticket by an average of 2.4 points. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: WITH VP PICKS, HARRIS AND TRUMP MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO BROADEN THEIR APPEAL The outcome of the presidential race will therefore heavily influence the result of most of the 34 senate seats up for election this year. In fact, the Power Rankings have the same party winning the presidential and senate races in every state where one party has an edge in both forecasts. However, the exceptions to this rule will determine who takes control of the upper chamber. Republicans are chasing wins in two Trump-leaning states that have held on to moderate Democratic incumbents. Nearby, a handful of Democratic candidates have been outperforming their presidential counterpart, even after the party’s last-minute candidate switch. The performance of the top of the ticket will be important in those races, but candidate quality, efficient campaigning and a message targeted to local voters will make all the difference. The Reagan era can feel long forgotten in America. This year, we find out if ticket splitting is a distant memory too. A favorable map puts Republicans close to victory Republicans have a head start on their road to a Senate majority thanks to a favorable map. The GOP has a clear advantage in all the seats they will defend this year, whereas Democrats must defend eight seats that are hotly contested. Democrats will also kick off the night with a very likely loss in West Virginia. The seat is currently held by Sen. Joe Manchin, who decided not to run for re-election earlier this year. The senator’s enduring relationship with West Virginians helped him eke out a 3-point win in 2018, but with Trump’s nearly 39-point win in the last presidential race, this is deep red territory. Democrats needed Manchin on the ballot to put up a good fight. That victory alone would give Republicans 50 senate seats, or one short of a majority. (If Trump wins the presidential race, the GOP would rule the senate even without a majority because the Vice President breaks ties.) To guarantee control, Republicans are looking for victories in Montana and Ohio. Some of the dynamics in these races are similar to West Virginia. In 2020, Trump won Montana by 16 points and Ohio by 8 points. Two years earlier, Democratic incumbent Sens. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown won the same states by nearly four and seven points, respectively. Republicans are optimistic that victories in both races are within reach. Tester and Brown have mostly voted in line with the Biden administration’s priorities, and the GOP has fielded capable candidates in both states, including retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy in Montana and businessman Bernie Moreno in Ohio. At the same time, the Democrats’ sitting senators have bucked their party on the items that matter most to their voters. Tester is a key proponent of the Keystone XL pipeline, for example, and Brown has pushed his party to support more tariffs on Chinese imports. Montana and Ohio are toss-ups. Democratic senate candidates are outperforming their presidential ticket in battleground states Despite a challenging Senate map, Democrats have been buoyed by strong polling in most of the seats they are defending. That includes Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, three famously swingy rust belt states at the heart of the presidential race. Recent Fox News surveys for each of these three races show more than 50% of voters supporting the Democratic candidate. Slotkin, Casey and Baldwin are all experienced politicians. They are running well-funded campaigns and hoping that focusing on local issues like infrastructure, child safety and health care funding will get them over the line. These races are far from settled. Republicans will look to build more name awareness for their candidates as their races heat up, and hope to remind voters that their opponents have been supportive of the Biden administration’s economic and immigration policies. However, these polling leads give the Democrats an advantage today. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin’s senate races are rated Lean D. In the southwest, Republican and former local news anchor Kari Lake is running her second statewide race in Arizona after an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022. Lake ran very close in that election, but her 17,117 vote loss was nearly double that of former President Trump’s in 2020, and in the 2022 Fox News Voter Analysis, she ran 28 points behind her Democratic opponent with independents. This time, she faces Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-3), an Iraq War veteran, progressive and critic of retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. With the border a top issue, Lake and allies have hit Gallego on his support for sanctuary cities, among other liberal immigration policies. Gallego has an edge on Lake in recent polls and more than triple her cash on hand. A strong Trump showing in Arizona may be enough
Freedom Caucus draws first battle lines in election year government shutdown fight
The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is signaling it will not help Congress avoid a government shutdown next month unless a short-term spending bill is linked to a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. The House GOP rebels are also calling for a short-term spending plan to extend until the new year, at which point allies of former President Trump hope he will be in the White House again. That puts the group in direct opposition to their more traditional GOP colleagues, including House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., who suggested last month that he would want to finish the government funding process by the end of 2024. With just six of 12 individual appropriations bills having passed the House, and none yet in the Senate, it is all but certain that a short-term extension of the current year’s funding levels will be needed to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. NEW POLL SHOWS TRUMP, HARRIS TIED IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE: ‘CLOSE AS CLOSE CAN BE’ Even senior Republicans like Cole have admitted that a short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will be needed to avoid federal offices shuttering and potentially thousands of federal employees getting furloughed. However, the Monday morning House Freedom Caucus statement, released while lawmakers are in the middle of a six-week-long recess from Washington, shows the beginnings of a potentially messy fiscal fight. In a new statement obtained by Fox News Digital, the House Freedom Caucus said that “House Republicans should return to Washington to continue the work of passing all 12 appropriations bills to cut spending and advance our policy priorities … If unsuccessful, in the inevitability that Congress considers a Continuing Resolution, government funding should be extended into early 2025 to avoid a lame duck omnibus that preserves Democrat spending and policies well into the next administration.” “Furthermore, the Continuing Resolution should include the SAVE Act – as called for by President Trump – to prevent non-citizens from voting to preserve free and fair elections in light of the millions of illegal aliens imported by the Biden-Harris administration over.” TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT The House passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act last month with five Democrats voting with every single House Republican in passing the bill. However, it is opposed by the White House and likely will not get a vote in the Democratically-held Senate, meaning its inclusion in a final CR would be fighting an uphill battle. Cole told reporters last month that he would prefer something with wider bipartisan appeal, like supplemental disaster relief funding, to be attached to a CR instead. “I haven’t really thought about it yet, it’s not a big deal to me. But again, if it can’t pass the Senate, it isn’t going to be an effective CR,” Cole said when asked about the SAVE Act. “So a real CR, you know, I’m more interested actually in disaster relief. That’s something that I think the two sides can come together on.” AOC DEMANDS BIDEN ‘REVERSE COURSE’ ON BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION AMID MIGRANT SURGE: ‘CRUEL POLICY’ The 118th Congress has seen historic levels of discord over the issue of government spending, with GOP rebels clamoring for House Republican leadership to wield their razor-thin majority to force through conservative policy priorities or risk a shutdown. However, leaders on both sides have signaled that they want to avoid the political ramifications of a shutdown, especially one this close to the November election. Last year’s spending fight saw the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by a handful of his own GOP colleagues after he helped pass a “clean” short-term funding extension in September of last year.