Mahakumbh 2025: Hours after first stampede, second incident occurs near Sangam Nose, saint claims ‘conspiracy’
There was another stampede at the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, hours after the first crowd crush near Sangam Nose on Wednesday, i.e., January 29, India Today reported.
Trump says Reagan National Airport crash could have been prevented: ‘CLEAR NIGHT’
President Donald Trump suggested the horrific collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., late Wednesday could have been prevented. “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time,” Trump posted on Truth Social early Thursday morning. “It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!” LIVE UPDATES: AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE, MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDE NEAR REGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT IN WASHINGTON, DC According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport (DCA) around 9 p.m. local time. The jet was operating as Flight 5342 for American Airlines, and it departed from Wichita, Kansas. There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight and three Army soldiers on the Black Hawk. Those aboard the plane included “several members” of U.S. Figure Skating, including athletes, coaches and family members who had just attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26. The exact number of injuries and fatalities has not yet been confirmed. REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH: MILITARY BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER COLLIDES MIDAIR WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES JET At the time of the crash, Reagan National Airport reported clear skies, visibility of 10 miles and winds sustained out of the northwest at 16 mph, gusting to 26 mph. The temperature was 50 degrees. Nearly 300 first responders deployed to the freezing Potomac River, where the wreckage of the plane lies partially submerged for search and rescue operations, but hope of finding survivors is fading. The temperature in the river was 37 degrees on Wednesday night. AMERICAN FIGURE SKATING MEMBERS, RUSSIAN OLYMPIANS ABOARD PLANE IN REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH Vice President JD Vance took to social media Wednesday night to address the collision and urge prayer for those involved. “Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening. We’re monitoring the situation, but for now let’s hope for the best,” he said. The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and the U.S. Army have each launched probes into the deadly collision. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other officials will hold a press conference at 7:30 a.m. ET Thursday at Reagan National Airport. “Tonight, as our first responders continue their efforts, we are sending our love and prayers to the families, loved ones, and communities who are experiencing loss during this terrible tragedy,” she wrote on X. The airport remains closed until 11 a.m. this morning following the nearby collision last night between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter. “What a terrible night this has been,” Trump said. “God bless you all!”
Many new moms in Texas don’t know they qualify for a year of Medicaid, doctors say
“Now that we have this coverage, what do we do to make sure women can get it?,” one health advocate said.
Texas legislators seek more protections for death penalty defendants in wake of Trump executive order
Trump’s new directive that aims to increase death sentences clashes with some Texas lawmakers’ efforts to add guardrails to capital punishment.
Supriya Sule’s BIG statement on Guillain-Barre Syndrome outbreak in Pune: ‘Current situation is all because of…’
Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule demanded that the government bear all medical expenses of the GBS patients, claiming the disease was prevalent due to “flawed management”.
Vantara partners with ACTP to reintroduce 41 extinct-in-the-wild Spix’s Macaws in Brazil
The Spix’s Macaw, famously featured in the Hollywood movie Rio, is at the heart of a global conservation effort that includes private organisations such as Vantara’s GZRRC and ACTP, alongside the Brazilian government, all working together to rebuild the species’ population in captivity.
Scaling Sustainable Food Tech: A roadmap for startups in the CPG sector by Mohan Valluri
Mr Mohan Valluri tells us that for every startup aiming to leave a significant imprint on food tech, it’s vital to possess an unambiguous vision focusing on sustainability right from inception
Sparks expected to fly at Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing to lead FBI
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Patel, a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime Trump ally, will join the Senate committee at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when lawmakers are anticipated to grill the nominee on plans detailed in his 2023 book to overhaul the FBI, his crusade against the “deep state” and his resume, as Democrats argue the nominee lacks the qualifications for the role. The president and his allies, however, staunchly have defended Patel, with Senate Judiciary member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., arguing that Democrats are “fearful” of Patel’s nomination and confirmation due to “what he’s going to reveal” to the general public. “They are very fearful of Kash Patel, because Kash Patel knows what Adam Schiff and some of the others did with Russia collusion, and they know that he he knows – the dirt on them, if you will – and I think they’re fearful of what he’s going to do and what he’s going to reveal,” Blackburn said on Fox News on Sunday. WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD THE FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’ Patel, a New York native, worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City. Patel’s national name recognition grew under the first Trump administration, when he worked as the national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the leadership of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Patel became known as the man behind the “Nunes Memo” – a four-page document released in 2018 that revealed improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation into Trump. Patel was named senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in 2019. In that role, he assisted the Trump White House in eliminating foreign terrorist leadership, such as ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and al Qaeda terrorist Qasim al-Raymi in 2020, according to his biography. His efforts ending terrorist threats under the Trump administration came after he won a DOJ award in 2017 for his prosecution and conviction of 12 terrorists responsible for the World Cup bombings in 2010 in Uganda under the Obama administration. Following the 2020 election, Patel remained a steadfast ally of Trump’s, joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring of 2024, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled. ‘JUST LIKE TRUMP’: ISIS MURDER VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS ENDORSE PATEL FOR FBI FOLLOWING MILITARY OP ROLE Patel underscored in his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” that “deep state” government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed “Overhauling the FBI.” “Things are bad. There’s no denying it,” he wrote in the book. “The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed.” “The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused,” he wrote, advocating the firing of “corrupt actors,” “aggressive” congressional oversight over the agency and the complete overhaul of special counsels. FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL Patel adds in his book: “Most importantly, we need to get the FBI the hell out of Washington, D.C. There is no reason for the nation’s law enforcement agency to be centralized in the swamp.” Trump heralded the book as a “roadmap” to exposing bad actors in the federal government and said it is a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government.” Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. He slammed the department, for example, for allegedly burying evidence related to the identity of a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., a day ahead of Jan. 6, 2021. ‘BEACON OF SELFLESSNESS’: ISIS VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER HONORED AT CONGRESSMAN’S SWEARING-IN 10 YEARS AFTER DEATH Patel has also said Trump could release both the Jeffrey Epstein client list and Sean “Diddy” Combs party attendee lists, which could expose those allegedly involved in sex and human trafficking crimes. Senate Democrats received an anonymous whistleblower report that was publicly reported Monday alleging Patel violated protocol during a hostage rescue mission in October 2020, an allegation Trump’s orbit has brushed off. The whistleblower claimed that Patel leaked to the Wall Street Journal that two Americans and the remains of a third were being transferred to U.S. custody from Yemen, where they had been held hostage by Houthi rebels, before the hostages were actually in U.S. custody. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the whistleblower report. A transition official pushed back on the report in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, saying Patel has a “track record of success.” ‘WHEN THEY FAIL, AMERICANS DIE’: TRUMP SOURCE BLASTS FBI, URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF KASH PATEL AS DIRECTOR “Mr. Patel was a public defender, decorated prosecutor, and accomplished national security official that kept Americans safe,” the official said. “He has a track record of success in every branch of government, from the courtroom to congressional hearing room to the situation room. There is no veracity to this anonymous source’s complaints about protocol.” Alexander Gray, who served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council under Trump’s first administration, called
Tension builds around Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation with key GOP Senators undecided
Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t currently have enough votes to advance out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Fox News Digital has learned. The former Democrat representative’s nomination to be director of national intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump is in danger as she lacks enough Republican support on the committee, sources confirmed. Before heading to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Trump’s picks all have hearings and their nominations are voted on at the committee level. Gabbard’s confirmation hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday. SCOOP: KEY GOP SENATOR WHO HESITATED ON PETE HEGSETH PUSHES KASH PATEL FOR FBI So far, no Trump nominees have failed to advance out of their respective committees. A senior Intel Committee aide confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gabbard does not currently have a majority of its members’ votes, which are necessary to move to the full Senate. According to the source, half of the Republicans on the coveted committee are not sold on Trump’s DNI pick. A Senate source familiar told Fox News Digital, “Some members are undecided.” “Not true that [they] are NOs,” they clarified. The source confirmed that the undecided senators in question are Republicans. ‘SQUEEZED BY RISING COSTS’: DEMOCRAT JACKY ROSEN LEADS BIPARTISAN BILL TO ADDRESS CHILDCARE AFFORDABILITY A spokesperson for Gabbard told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Anonymous sources are going to continue to lie and smear to try and take down the President’s nominees and subvert the will of the American people and the media is playing a role in publishing these lies. That doesn’t change the fact that Lt. Col. Gabbard is immensely qualified for this role and we look forward to her hearing.” The senior committee aide shared that the reasons for GOP uncertainty include her previous Section 702 stance, her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her past defense of Edward Snowden. “It’s about judgment,” they said. Gabbard will likely need every Republican vote to move past the committee, assuming Democrats will vote against her. DOGE CHAIR JONI ERNST TAKES ON FOOD STAMPS IN NEW BILL TO HOLD STATES ‘ACCOUNTABLE’ Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., serves as chair of the committee alongside other Republican members Jim Risch of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Jerry Moran of Kansas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana. Lankford recently came out in support of Gabbard after she reversed her position on a controversial intelligence gathering tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Neither the White House nor Cotton’s office provided comments to Fox News Digital in time for publication. Fox News Digital reached out to multiple Republican Senate offices for comment. SENATE TO KICK OFF RFK JR, KELLY LOEFFLER CONFIRMATION HEARINGS FOR TOP TRUMP POSTS As Gabbard’s confirmation fate hangs in the balance, there is reportedly a push by some Trump-aligned Republican senators to waive the committee’s rules in order to open the vote on Gabbard’s nomination, as Politico reported. This would mean each senator’s vote is accessible to the public. The Intel Committee’s rules stipulate that the vote is conducted in a closed meeting and a tally is released afterward. The vote is expected to go forward in a closed manner, in accordance with the rules.
Trump HHS nominee RFK Jr returns to Capitol Hill for round 2 after heated first day of hearings
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is back on Capitol Hill for a second day of Senate confirmation hearings after a grilling by Democrats during a contentious first day on Wednesday. Kennedy will take questions on Thursday in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. On Wednesday, in front of the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on Kennedy’s confirmation, there were plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments by the vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump. But Kennedy’s uneven performance didn’t appear to do damage to his confirmation, as no Republican on the panel voiced opposition to his nomination to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health. Those agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MULTIPLE OUTBURSTS AT COMBUSTIBLE RFK JR CONFIRMATION HEARING Democrats on the committee repeatedly pointed to Kennedy’s controversial vaccine views, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research. They also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children. “Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He’s made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the panel, charged in his opening statement. WATCH: RFK JR WARNS THAT AMERICA’S HEALTH IS IN ‘GRIEVIOUS CONDITION’ The senator also pointed to past Kennedy vaccine comments in podcasts, including one from 2020 when he said he would “pay anything” to be able to go back in time and not vaccinate his kids. “Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine? Or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden asked. Pushing back in a heated exchange, Kennedy said the statements he made on podcasts have “been repeatedly debunked.” And he vowed he would do nothing to prevent Americans from obtaining certain vaccines. “I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking anything,” Kennedy said. Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado accused Kennedy of “peddling half-truths, peddling false statements.” RFK JR ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF PUSHING DISHONEST NARRATIVE And Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who has known Kennedy for decades, dating back to their days as law school students and roommates at the University of Virginia, told his friend, “Frankly, you frighten people.” Kennedy was also heckled multiple times near the start of the hearing. As Kennedy delivered his opening comments and said, “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety,” a protester shouted, “You lie.” The heckler was led out of the hearing room by Capitol Police, as was a second protester minutes later. And another protester was spotted in the audience holding a sign reading, “Vaccines Save Lives, No RFK JR.” The 71-year-old Kennedy, a scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination against President Joe Biden in April 2023. But six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House. Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism. Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS. In the two months since Trump’s announcement, it’s not just Democrats who’ve raised questions about Kennedy’s confirmation. Social conservative Republicans took issue with his past comments in support of abortion rights. “My belief is we should leave it to the woman. We shouldn’t have the government involved, even if it’s full term,” Kennedy said as he ran for president. But since endorsing Trump, Kennedy has walked back his stance on abortion. And in an exchange Wednesday with Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kennedy said, “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy.” Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a former two-time Democrat presidential candidate, argued that Kennedy made a “major U-turn” on abortion. Kennedy was also questioned about how he would reform Medicare and Medicaid, the massive government healthcare programs used by millions of older, disabled and low-income Americans. “I don’t have a broad proposal for dismantling the program,” Kennedy said of Medicaid. And he said Trump hadn’t asked him to cut the program but rather “asked me to make it better.” Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, vowed that “if confirmed, I will do everything in my power to put the health of Americans back on track.” While Democrats may find common ground with Kennedy’s aim to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases, Kennedy lamented that they oppose him because he’s Trump’s nominee. “Now they’re against me because anything that President Trump does, any decision he makes, has to be lampooned, derided, discredited, marginalized, vilified,” Kennedy said. RFK JR LIKELY TO BE