SC to hear plea against Bombay HC ban on hijab, burqa in colleges tomorrow
The high court on June 26 refused to interfere with the decision of the Chembur Trombay Education Society’s N G Acharya and D K Marathe College imposing the ban, saying such rules do not violate the fundamental rights of students.
‘Bharatiya Zameen Party…’: Akhilesh Yadav hits out at centre over introduction of Waqf Bill in LS
Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took a dig at the central government over the introduction of the Waqf Act Amendment Act.
Taylor Swift concerts cancelled in Austria after attack threat
Chancellor Karl Nehammer says threat was ‘very serious’ and a ‘tragedy was averted’ after police detain two suspects. Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week have been called off, organisers said, after the authorities announced arrests over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Austrian capital. Swift was scheduled to perform at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of her Eras Tour. Event organiser Barracuda Music said in a post on Instagram late on Wednesday that “we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”, citing government officials’ “confirmation” of a planned attack at the stadium. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said “a tragedy was averted”, in a post on X. “Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated and a tragedy averted,” Nehammer wrote. DSN is Austria’s Directorate for Security and Intelligence. Barracuda Music said all tickets would be refunded. Police detained two people suspected of plotting attacks on concerts, Franz Ruf, director general for public security, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “During our investigations, we identified preparatory actions and noted that the 19-year-old suspect had a particular focus on the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna,” Ruf said, adding that the suspect, an Austrian citizen, had pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group. Another suspect was later arrested in Vienna. Police searched the residence of one of the suspects in Ternitz, Lower Austria, and were analysing items from the home, according to the Reuters news agency. Austrian media, citing police sources, said at least three suspects were still on the run. Earlier on Wednesday, before the cancellation announcement, police had said the events would take place but with increased entry checks and personal searches, and with deployment of special units including anti-terror and bomb disposal teams, advising the public to arrive early. Police had been expecting about 65,000 people to attend each show, as well as up to 15,000 people outside the stadium without tickets. The American singer-songwriter commands a massive following around the world, and her ongoing series of concerts have drawn hundreds of thousands of spectators, which has also been an economic windfall for countries where the events are held, leading to the coining of the term “Swiftonomics“. Swift, 34, has not yet commented on the cancellations on her official Instagram account which has 283 million followers. In the official “Swifties” fan group on WhatsApp, panic ensued following the announcement of the cancellations with administrators overwhelmed with thousands of messages. After Vienna, Swift was set to perform in London where six concerts are scheduled at Wembley Stadium, starting on August 15. Adblock test (Why?)
Tunisia’s President Saied sacks prime minister
The dismissal comes ahead of Tunisia’s October 6 presidential election and amid a continuing crackdown on critics. Tunisian President Kais Saied has sacked Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani and replaced him with the social affairs minister. The statement from the president’s office late on Wednesday did not specify why Hachani was removed. Hachani had taken office on August 1 last year, replacing Najla Bouden, who was also dismissed without an official reason by Saied. A few hours before he was dismissed, Hachani said in a video message that the government had made progress on a number of issues despite global challenges, including securing the country’s food and energy needs. His replacement, Kamel Madouri, had only taken on the social affairs portfolio in May. In a social media post from his office, Saied is shown shaking hands with Madouri with a brief statement saying only that the president had “decided to assign him to head the government, succeeding Mr Ahmed Hachani”. The sacking comes ahead of Tunisia’s October 6 presidential election, in which Saied is seeking another term, and amid widespread discontent over continuing water and electricity outages in many parts of the country. While the government attributes these issues to a persistent drought, leading to the implementation of a water distribution quota system, Saied claims that the water cuts are a conspiracy in the run-up to the presidential election, insisting that the dams are actually full. The agriculture ministry says the dam level is extremely critical and has reached 25 percent. A growing crackdown Saied was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021. He faces criticism from the opposition, human rights groups and candidates for restricting and intimidating competitors to pave the way for him to win a second term. Earlier this week, an opposition figure and potential presidential candidate was sentenced to two years in prison. Lawyer Abir Moussi was arrested last year after criticising the electoral process, and investigated under a controversial cybercrime decree outlawing fake news. The sentence is the latest in a growing crackdown that observers have said is politically motivated against Saied’s critics, regardless of political affiliation. Moussi appeals to parts of the population that are nostalgic for Tunisia’s pre-revolutionary era. A critic of politicians such as imprisoned Ennahdha leader Rached Ghannouchi, Moussi was an official in longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s ruling party. Tunisia’s constitution was rewritten in 2022 to create a presidential regime whose parliament has extremely limited powers. Adblock test (Why?)
Nagasaki defends decision not to invite Israel to atomic bomb memorial
The United States, United Kingom and other countries say they will send lower-level officials to ceremony that will take place on Friday. The mayor of Nagasaki has defended his decision not to invite Israel to Friday’s memorial for those killed in 1945’s atomic bombing after ambassadors from countries including the United States and the United Kingdom said they would no longer attend the event. “It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend,” Shiro Suzuki told reporters on Thursday. Suzuki said Israel had not been invited to avoid possible protests over Israel’s war on Gaza war. “We made a comprehensive decision not for political reasons. We want to conduct a smooth ceremony in a peaceful and solemn environment.” On August 9, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people including many who survived the explosion but died later from radiation exposure. The attack came three days after the US dropped the world’s first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima killing 140,000 people and devastating the city. Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia. The US embassy announced on Wednesday that Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel would skip the Nagasaki memorial because Israel’s exclusion had “politicized” the event. Nagasaki officials said they were told that an official of the US consulate in Fukuoka will represent the US at Friday’s ceremony. Five other Group of Seven nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the UK — as well as the European Union, are also expected to send lower-ranking envoys to Nagasaki. Envoys from those nations signed a joint letter expressing their shared concern about Israel’s exclusion, saying treating the country on the same level as Russia and Belarus — the only other countries not invited — would be misleading. The envoys urged Nagasaki to reverse the decision and invite Israel to preserve the universal message of the city’s ceremony. The exclusion of Israel would make their “high-level participation” difficult, they said. The British embassy said leaving out Israel created “an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus — the only other countries not invited to this year’s ceremony”. Hiroshima invited the Israeli ambassador to Japan to its memorial ceremony, which took place on Tuesday. At least 39,677 people have been killed since Israel went to war in Gaza after Hamas, the group that controls the territory, launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed more than 1,000 people. Thousands have been killed and millions forced to flee since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belarus is Moscow’s closest ally. Adblock test (Why?)
Central Government to run 222 Ganpati special trains for Ganesh Chaturthi; check details here
The Union Railways have announced 222 special trains for Ganesh Chaturthi, which will begin on August 7.
Harris’ VP pick faces backlash over resurfaced calls to transfer ‘most dangerous terrorists’ to US facilities
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, picked this week by Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as her running mate, voted in 2009 against a measure that would have barred the federal government from transferring inmates at the Guantánamo Bay prison facility – and argued that facilities in the U.S. could handle the alleged terrorists being transferred. Walz voted against a measure to block the transfer of detainees from the facility, sometimes referred to as “Gitmo,” near Cuba to the United States, The MinnPost reported at the time. The measure was an effort led by Republicans to block an amendment to authorize transfers to the United States to stand trial as part of then-President Barack Obama’s efforts to close the terrorist prison. Republicans had claimed that bringing the suspects to the U.S. for trial would be a security risk and would give them American legal protections. It was a measure attached to a DHS appropriations bill, according to the New York Times. BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION BACKTRACKS, REVOKES PLEA DEAL FOR 9/11 TERRORISTS The Washington Free Beacon, which unearthed the vote this week, also reported on remarks he made the same year in which he shrugged off objections about the risk posed if Gitmo detainees were transferred to the United States, saying it could include care at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Air Force veteran, ripped Walz for previously pushing to close Gitmo, saying his record has “put Americans’ safety and our national security at risk.” “Tim Walz, under fire for repeatedly lying about dodging war in Iraq, repeatedly voted to close Guantanamo Bay and move the world’s most dangerous terrorists to the United States,” said Sam Rogers, an Army veteran and government affairs director at the Foundation for Government Accountability. Walz said he wanted to see the facility closed, and that it was a serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East, according to MPR News. “If all the procedures are in place, as they’ve been done with everyone else, if we’re very clear on what the legal avenues that these people have, I think our professionals there can handle it,” the Minnesota Democrat said. 9/11 MASTERMIND, 2 OTHERS STRIKE PLEA DEALS WHILE AWAITING TRIAL; FAMILIES OF VICTIMS ‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’ Guantanamo Bay was back in the headlines this week after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin backtracked on a plea deal that Pentagon prosecutors agreed to with three of the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, who await trial in the facility. There are currently around 30 detainees still there, according to the Times. There is increased scrutiny on Walz, who after serving as a lawmaker in the House became governor of Minnesota. He was selected this week by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, leading to a flurry of analyses and scrutiny of his past record on everything from immigration to his military service. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his own. We are going to build a great partnership,” Harris said in a statement. “We start out as underdogs but I believe together, we can win this election.”
Heritage chief mum on House Dems’ demand for a meeting as left digs in on Project 2025
The Heritage Foundation’s advocacy arm will not say if it will heed House Democrats’ demand for a sit-down with its president, Kevin Roberts, about the conservative think tank’s Project 2025. A Heritage spokesman declined to comment to Fox News Digital on Wednesday when asked about the letter from nearly 40 House Democrats that read, “We write to invite you to meet with Members of Congress to discuss the Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project.” “The content within this transition plan will permanently damage federal administrative operations and have a direct impact on all our Districts,” reads the letter led by Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. “Our offices are increasingly hearing from constituents worried about the impact of Project 2025 on the future of our nation. Many of them see it as an extreme takeover plan to dismantle checks and balances, amass unprecedented presidential power, and exercise total control over our government and our daily lives.” AMID HARRIS’ YOUTH POLLING SURGE, LATEST FIGURES SHOW BIDEN DID BETTER WITH BLACK VOTERS The initiative, a set of proposals outlining right-wing policy goals and recommendations for a new Republican administration, has prompted a political firestorm in the middle of the 2024 presidential election cycle. Former President Trump and his top campaign aides have criticized and distanced themselves from the plan, but that has not stopped Democrats from using it as a political cudgel to accuse the GOP of embracing extremism. Project 2025 is broken into four parts – policy recommendations, a “Presidential Personnel Database” with recommendations for open administration jobs, an “academy” to train new political appointees, and a roadmap for a suggested first 180 days in office. LEGAL EXPERTS CALL BIDEN’S COURT OVERHAUL PLANS A ‘PIPE DREAM’ Among its proposed overhauls is the elimination of the Department of Education, and dismantling the Health and Human Services Department’s Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force, replacing it with a panel to recommend pro-life changes “to ensure that all of the department’s divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children,” according to its site. The Democratic letter accused Roberts of not being forthcoming with the fourth pillar of Project 2025, which details the first 180 days of a GOP administration. The Project 2025 website suggests that details of that portion, however, can be viewed in the Heritage Foundation’s book, “Mandate For Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” “It is time to stop hiding the ball on what we are concerned could very well be the most radical, extreme, and dangerous parts of Project 2025. If we are wrong about that – if your secret ‘Fourth Pillar’ of Project 2025 is actually a defensible, responsible, and constitutional action plan for the first days of a second Trump presidency – then we hope you will publish it, without edits or redaction. Allow the American people to see it and scrutinize it,” the letter said. TRUMP CAMPAIGN REJOICES AFTER HARRIS LEANS IN ON KEY ISSUE HAUNTING HER VICE PRESIDENCY CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Allow members of Congress to see it, so that we can discuss it with you and with the growing number of our constituents who seek to understand what Project 2025 portends for their government and their lives.” A separate House Democratic initiative, the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, was panned by Roberts as “unserious.” “It’s amusing how those on the Left seem surprised that conservative policy organizations advocate for conservative policies. Yet instead of addressing the issues caused by this administration and Congress, House Democrats are dedicating taxpayer dollars to launch a smear campaign against the united effort to restore self-governance to everyday Americans,” Roberts said in June.
‘Never went to war’: Walz ripped for saying he wants to ban guns he ‘carried in war’
Vice President Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said he wants to ban guns he “carried in war” though he never saw combat during his time in the Army National Guard and left the service after being informed that his unit would be deployed to Iraq. “I spent 25 years in the Army, and I hunt. I’ve been voting for commonsense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war are only carried in war,” Walz said in a video posted by the Harris campaign on Tuesday. Walz joined the Army National Guard in 1981, retiring in 2005 from the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, where he rose to the rank of command sergeant major. Across his more than two decades of service, he never saw combat, according to an interview with Minnesota Public Radio in 2018. “I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that,” Walz said, acknowledging that he never saw combat. “I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else.” HARRIS, WALZ MADE UNPRECEDENTED ABORTION CLINIC VISIT PRIOR TO PRESIDENTIAL TICKET TEAM-UP Walz retired months after a warning order was issued to his battalion that it would be deployed to Iraq, the New York Post reported Tuesday. Service member Thomas Behrends went in his place, according to the Post, sparking the veteran to slam Walz as “a traitor” and “coward” for retiring before deploying. “When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle, not the other way,” the retired command sergeant major told the New York Post. “He ran away. It’s sad.” TIM WALZ SLAMMED AS ‘POLITICAL CHAMELEON’ AFTER DITCHING FORMER PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT STANCE Walz ran for Congress instead, winning his race and subsequently being sworn into office in 2007. Harris’ running mate did train with military weapons, including specializing in heavy artillery, and was awarded ribbons for his proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Critics on social media slammed Walz and the Harris campaign for running the snippet of Walz calling for a ban on guns he allegedly “carried in war,” pointing to his previous remarks that he never saw combat; others called him out for portraying himself as a gun advocate and hunter despite supporting left-wing gun control legislation. TRUMP CAMP SAYS HARRIS-WALZ ‘DANGEROUSLY LIBERAL’ TICKET IS ‘EVERY AMERICAN’S NIGHTMARE’ While Walz served as a congressman from 2006 to 2019 representing a rural district that typically voted red, he leaned into his support of the Second Amendment and hunting, with pro-gun groups such as the NRA lauding him for his outspoken support of gun ownership. The National Rifle Association awarded Walz an A rating for his commitment to protecting gun ownership, while Guns & Ammo magazine listed him in 2016 as one of America’s 20 top politicians for gun owners. VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE: AP Walz has since changed his tune to champion gun control measures and lost his high marks among the Second Amendment community. The NRA slammed Walz as a “political chameleon” in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday after Harris officially announced him as her running mate. “Tim Walz is a political chameleon – changing his positions to further his own personal agenda. In Congress, Walz purported to be a friend of gun owners to receive their support in his rural Minnesota district. Once he had his eyes set on other offices, he sold out law-abiding Minnesotans and promoted a radical gun control agenda that emboldened criminals and left everyday citizens defenseless. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz cannot be trusted to defend freedom and our Constitutional rights,” Randy Kozuch, chair of the NRA Political Victory Fund, said in a statement. Walz announced in 2017, after the Las Vegas mass shooting, that he was donating the roughly $18,000 he received from the NRA to charity. In the following year, he joined fellow Democrats in calling for gun control measures, including banning so-called assault weapons. WHO IS TIM WALZ? MEET THE HARRIS RUNNING MATE WHO CALLED REPUBLICANS ‘WEIRD PEOPLE’ Walz wrote in an op-ed in 2018 that his views on guns are “evolving in some ways” but that he’s “always been a reformer.” “To finally come together to end gun violence, we’ll need a new approach. We’ll need to build a coalition we haven’t seen before: rural, urban, suburban and exurban folks; gun owners and gun-violence survivors; hunters and advocates and police officers and the young people who are stepping up right now. We’ll need a coalition of folks of good faith who haven’t seen eye to eye but respect the different ways of life in every corner of our state,” he wrote in an op-ed published by the Star Tribune in 2018. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
National Guard report refutes Tim Walz’s claim of actually toting war weapons ‘in war’
Video showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claiming that he carried weapons of war into actual war has surfaced. A Minnesota National Guard response to Fox News disputes the fact that Walz actually went into battle, but rather he skirted any skirmishes and retired instead, leaving his troops behind. Walz, who’s the chosen vice presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, served a quarter of a century in the National Guard. A video of Walz making the controversial statement can be seen on X. “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war,” Walz said in his speech, aiming toward voters who don’t want guns on the streets. VETERAN WHO SERVED IN TIM WALZ’S BATTALION ADDRESSES STOLEN VALOR ACCUSATIONS: ‘FAR DARKER THAN PEOPLE THINK’ Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, blasted the governor’s comments. “To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,” Behrends told the ‘Ingraham Angle’ on Wednesday. Walz never said which war he fought. During his time in the Guard, there were two wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, neither of which show on his military record. JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’ The Minnesota National Guard told Fox News that Walz was part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) while he was stationed in Italy with his unit in 2005, but that he retired before his unit went into battle. “Walz left the National Guard in May 2005 after 24 years of service. His unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July. He had put his retirement papers in 5-7 months prior to his retirement in May,” the Minnesota National Guard said. “Second, there are questions about whether he served in OEF. His battalion was sent to Europe, in his case Vicenza to train units in artillery – his specialty was artillery. If you are deployed overseas in support of OEF according to the National Guard you officially served in OEF, whether you touched foot in Afghanistan or not. That is in his official military service record below.” Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment and received an automated response. Walz was named this week as the running mate with Kamala Harris on the Democratic national ticket. Harris, the current vice president, will look to fill the shoes of President Biden and take on former President Donald Trump in the general election. Trump’s running mate is J.D. Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. While speaking at an event Wednesday in Michigan, Vance said that Walz deserted his fellow soldiers who were heading off to war. “You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq,” Vance said. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin contributed to this story.