Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz collapses on stage during speech at New York Young Republican Club gala
An adviser to President-elect Trump’s campaign, Alex Bruesewitz, passed out and collapsed as he was speaking onstage during a New York Young Republican Club gala Sunday night. Bruesewitz, 27, was introducing incoming White House senior aide Dan Scavino inside a venue in Manhattan when he began stumbling over his words and fainted, video on social media shows. Several people quickly rushed to his aid after his collapse. It was not immediately clear what caused him to faint. Master of ceremonies Raheem Kassam, also a former aide of British conservative politician Nigel Farage, later assured the audience that Bruesewitz was doing fine backstage and that he even asked if he “look[ed] cool” when he fainted. TRUMP TAPS RIC GRENELL AS PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR SPECIAL MISSIONS, EDWARD S. WALSH AS IRELAND AMBASSADOR “I talked to our friend Alex Bruesewitz and you know what he said to me? He goes ‘Did I at least look cool?’ I said Alex, you used gravity like I’ve seen nobody use gravity before in their lives,” Kassam said. “But he’s recuperating back there, so give him a big cheer so he’ll hear you.” Trump also said following the collapse that he believes Bruesewitz will be fine, according to the New York Post. “I know that Alex is going to be fine because he’s a tough son of a gun,” Trump said. “There’s no doubt about that. So I want to say hello to Alex, because he’s a very special guy.” Bruesewitz is the CEO of consultancy firm X Strategies LLC, which states its mission to help elect “America First” candidates. Its website says he is “a prominent political consultant and strategist known for his unwavering support of President Donald Trump and the America First agenda.” The website adds that Bruesewitz “has been the driving force behind the efforts to defeat Republicans who fight against Trump and the MAGA movement and works to replace them with Republicans who fight for the values we hold dear.” DC RESTAURANT SERVER FIRED AFTER COMMENTS ABOUT REFUSING SERVICE TO SOME TRUMP OFFICIALS Before his collapse, Bruewitz appeared to be OK while commending the New York Republican Club for backing Trump’s campaign. He also gave shout-outs to several supporters of the incoming president who were at the event, including former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who recently resigned from his U.S. House seat. Other notable speakers at the event included former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser to President-elect Trump, Corey Lewandowski.
GRAP 3 reimposed in Delhi-NCR after rise in air pollution, schools up to class 5 shift to hybrid mode
GRAP Stage 3 also entails a ban on non-essential diesel-operated medium goods vehicles with BS-IV or older standards within Delhi.
RFK Jr set to face abortion, vaccine scrutiny in sitdowns with senators on Capitol Hill
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on Capitol Hill this week for a series of meetings with senators after being chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to head up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in his next term. Kennedy is expected to spend four days on the Hill before lawmakers leave town for Christmas. While he’s there, Kennedy is expected to be pressed on his beliefs about abortion, which have left some Republicans with questions, as well as the efficacy of vaccines, which bipartisan lawmakers have publicly expressed concern about. BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ “I want to know what his real concerns are and what he would want to do different. But I do not want to lose our vaccine programs,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., recently told reporters, reflecting on his time as governor overseeing such programs. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., shared that while he will meet with Kennedy, he is already a resounding “yes.” “I’ve had the privilege to already sit down and answer most of my questions. We will meet, but I was supportive of the president nominating him for it,” he said. “So, I was supporting before that even took place.” TIDE TURNS IN FAVOR OF TRUMP DOD PICK PETE HEGSETH AFTER MATT GAETZ FAILURE Mullin, a close ally of Trump, noted that he had spent significant time with Kennedy on the campaign trail. Kennedy is a prominent vaccination skeptic and has expressed his own criticism of many popular shots. This has drawn criticism from some on both sides of the aisle, as vaccinations have been commonly relied on for preventing viruses in childhood and diminishing their spread. Since getting behind Trump before the end of the campaign, however, Kennedy has moderated his tack on vaccines somewhat. In an interview with NBC News, he pushed back at the suggestion that he is “anti-vaccine.” GOP ATTORNEYS GENERAL OFFER SUPPORT FOR TRUMP FBI PICK KASH PATEL, URGE SENATORS TO DO THE SAME “If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,” he promised. “So, I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital that he expects to meet with Kennedy. A staunch pro-life advocate, Lankford has previously said he had many questions about Kennedy’s position on abortion. MANCHIN, SINEMA TANK SCHUMER LAME-DUCK EFFORT TO SECURE DEM MAJORITY ON TOP LABOR BOARD A number of other Republicans have previously expressed to Fox News Digital their interest in talking to Kennedy about abortion. At the same time, Kennedy has managed to appeal to some politicians with his plans to tighten food regulations and “make America healthy again.” The longtime Democrat-turned-independent could potentially gain support from those on the Democratic side of the aisle, given that there is bipartisan backing for addressing food safety. It’s unclear with whom Kennedy will meet on Capitol Hill, but some Democrats have signaled that their doors are open. A representative for Kennedy declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the visits planned this week.
‘Going to be painful’: Venezuelan expert sounds alarm about what’s next if sanctuary city policies continue
An expert on the international criminal group Tren de Aragua (TdA) is warning that if sanctuary city and state policies are allowed to continue, the U.S. will soon be facing a slate of targeted assassinations across the U.S. “The next step is targeted assassinations,” said Jose Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army. “That is what has happened in Venezuela, what is happening in Latin America and that will happen here in the U.S.” Tren de Aragua, which means “Train from Aragua,” is a massive criminal and terrorist organization that originated a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison. In addition to Venezuela, the group has already established a significant presence in Southern American countries, including Colombia, Peru and Chile and is present in 30 major U.S. cities. SANCTUARY CITY DENVER SPENDING A WHOPPING $356 MILLION ON MIGRANTS: STUDY According to Arocha, who fled the country after being imprisoned by socialist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro for eight months, TdA is a “state-sponsored, Maduro regime organization,” formed and trained by the Venezuelan government to sow chaos, violence and discord throughout the Western hemisphere. “Right now is the right moment to take action,” he said. “If you let them grow, they are going to be more embedded in the communities, it’s going to be harder to take any action against them, and it’s going to be painful for U.S. society.” He said that recent movements to defund the police and enshrine sanctuary city and sanctuary state policies into law only further embolden and enable TdA to carry out its crimes with impunity. If policies like this are allowed to continue, he said TdA is “going to be all over the United States” like a “disease.” LOS ANGELES BECOMES SANCTUARY DESPITE DOZENS OF MURDEROUS, CHILD-PREYING ILLEGALS ARRESTED IN CITY THIS YEAR “When I listened last year to the ‘defund the police’ [movement], I said … ‘something is going to happen here because it is the same playbook,” he explained. “Because if you don’t have rule of law, you don’t have police, it’s like a special ground for this kind of organization to establish and then they control the society because there are no police, there is no rule of law. They’re going to do whatever they want.” Who will be in Tren de Aragua’s crosshairs? Arocha said TdA’s primary targets will be law enforcement officials, such as ordinary police officers, police chiefs and sheriffs, as well as any elected officials who attempt to crack down on them. Besides law enforcement and political leaders, Arocha said it is likely that TdA will also target enemies and refugees of the Maduro regime. VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA IS A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT,’ WARNS RETIRED ICE SPECIAL AGENT According to Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, the TdA assassinations in the U.S. have already begun. She pointed to the case of TdA member Yurwin Salazar who she said beat, tortured and killed a former Venezuelan police officer named Jose Luis Sanchez Valera in Miami in November 2023. In addition to the murder, Salazar also stole the former police officer’s life savings. Agreeing with Arocha, Vaughan said that sanctuary policies are especially harmful to efforts to combat TdA. “The sanctuary policies have to go,” she said. “It’s critical that these local law enforcement agencies are able to share information with ICE and vice versa.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It’s no coincidence that so many of these TDA members are in sanctuary jurisdictions like Chicago, Colorado and New York. That is not a coincidence. They know that they can hide behind their sanctuary policies and that is one reason they choose these communities because they know that the local authorities are not going to turn them over to immigration agents for removal,” she explained. While some individual states, such as Texas, have taken significant steps to root out TdA, she said that ultimately the federal government will have to lead the effort and incorporate all aspects of government to dismantle the group. “It’s too big a problem to solve at the local level,” she said. “And one of the most important elements of that campaign to eliminate TdA has to be building more effective partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, particularly in the areas where TdA has been operating, some of which are sanctuary jurisdictions. So, this artificial obstruction between local law enforcement agencies and ICE that’s been imposed for political reasons has to end.”
Indian Railways to review AC coach fares to raise earnings from passenger segment
The parliamentary committee on Indian Railways has directed the national transporter to review fares of AC coaches and align them with incurred cost to improve revenue from passenger segment.
Texas AG sues New York doctor who allegedly prescribed abortion pills to woman in Lone Star State
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has filed a lawsuit against a New York doctor who allegedly prescribed abortion drugs to a woman in the Lone Star State, violating Texas law. Paxton accused Dr. Margaret Carpenter of mailing pills from New York to a 20-year-old woman in Collin County, Texas, where the woman allegedly took the medication when she was nine weeks pregnant, according to the lawsuit. When she began experiencing severe bleeding, she asked the baby’s father, who had been unaware she was pregnant, to take her to the hospital. The filing does not state if the woman successfully terminated her pregnancy or if she experienced any long-term medical complications from taking mifepristone and misoprostol. PRO-LIFE GROUPS SOUND OFF AFTER TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOT RESTRICT ABORTION PILLS: ‘SERIOUS AND GROWING THREAT’ Paxton’s lawsuit is the first attempt to test legal protections when it comes to states with conflicting abortion laws since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending federal protection on the matter. Texas has enacted an abortion ban with few exceptions, while New York protects access to the procedure and has a shield law that protects providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, which has been viewed as implicit permission for doctors to mail abortion pills into states with restrictions. Texas has promised to pursue cases like this regardless of the shield laws, though it is unclear what the courts may decide on this issue, which involves extraterritoriality, interstate commerce and other legal questions. New York’s law allows Carpenter to refuse to comply with Texas’ court orders. ABORTIONS SLIGHTLY DECLINED THE YEAR ROE V. WADE WAS OVERTURNED, CDC SAYS It is also unknown whether New York courts would side with protecting Texas’ law, which prohibits prescribing abortion-inducing drugs by mail and prohibits treating Texas patients or prescribing medication through telehealth services without a valid Texas medical license. Texas’ abortion laws prohibit prosecuting a woman for getting an abortion, but do allow for physicians or others who assist a woman in receiving the procedure to be prosecuted. The lawsuit says Carpenter, the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, knowingly treated Texas residents despite not being a licensed Texas physician and not being authorized to practice telemedicine in the state. Paxton urged a Collin County court to prohibit Carpenter from violating Texas law and impose civil penalties of at least $100,000 for each violation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” Paxton said in a statement. “This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs — unauthorized, over telemedicine — causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications. In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.” Carpenter also works with AidAccess, an international abortion medication provider, and helped found Hey Jane, a telehealth abortion provider.
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Palestinian journalist, Gaza Civil Defence workers killed in Israeli strike
An Israeli air strike has killed Palestinian journalist Ahmed Al-Louh and five Palestinian Civil Defence workers in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp. Al-Louh, who worked as a cameraman for Al Jazeera alongside other media outlets, was killed on Sunday in the strike on the Civil Defence post in the central Gaza camp, according to medics and local journalists. The attack occurred as Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 Palestinians on Sunday, medics said. Allouh is the third journalist killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Al-louh was working while killed, wearing a press vest and helmet. He was taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza’s city of Deir el-Balah. Al Jazeera Media Network condemned Al-Louh’s killing, and called on human rights and media organisations “to condemn the Israeli Occupation’s systematic killing of journalists in cold blood, the evasion of responsibilities under international humanitarian law, and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice”. Advertisement “We urge relevant international legal institutions to take practical and urgent measures to hold the Israeli authorities and all those who are responsible accountable for their heinous crimes and to adopt mechanisms to put an end to the targeting and killing of journalists,” the network added. Al-Louh had been covering Israel’s war on Gaza when it first began in October 2023, embedded with the Gaza Strip’s Palestinian Civil Defence teams, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said. “It’s another heartbreaking day for Palestinians, Civil Defence teams, journalists. We [have been] wondering, how many times are we going to continue reporting on the killing[s] of our colleagues and beloved ones?” Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah. Gaza’s media office said the head of the civil emergency service in Nuseirat, Nedal Abu Hjayyer, was also killed in Sunday’s attack. “The civil emergency headquarters in Nuseirat camp was hit during the crews’ presence. They work around the clock to serve the people,” said Zaki Emadeldeen from the civil emergency service to reporters at the hospital. “The civil emergency service is a humanitarian service and not political. They work in war and peace times for the service of the people,” he said, adding that the place was hit directly by an Israeli air strike. The Israeli military said they were looking into the attack. Several other Palestinian journalists were killed this past week, with 195 killed in Gaza since Israel’s war began, Khoudary said. Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said earlier on Sunday that Palestinian journalist Mohammed Jabr al-Qrinawi was killed along with his wife and children in an Israeli air attack that targeted their home in Bureij refugee camp, in central Gaza, late on Saturday. Earlier on Saturday, Al Mashhad Media said its journalist Mohammed Balousha was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza. Several Al Jazeera journalists have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, including Ismail al-Ghoul, Rami al-Rifi, Samer Abudaqa and Hamza Dahdouh. Also on Sunday, an air strike hit people protecting aid trucks west of Gaza City. Medics said several were killed or wounded but exact figures were unavailable as of yet. Residents also said at least 11 people were killed in three separate Israeli air strikes in Gaza City. Nine were killed in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia camp when clusters of houses were bombed or set ablaze, and two were killed by drone fire in Rafah. Earlier on Sunday, at least 15 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces stormed Khalil Oweida School in Beit Hanoon, sources told Al Jazeera. Several other Israeli attacks earlier on Sunday killed Palestinians near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza; and in Shujayea, in Khan Younis. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 44,976 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel approves plan to surge settler population in occupied Golan Heights
Move comes days after rebel groups toppled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, weeks before Donald Trump becomes US president again. Israel’s government has approved a plan to increase the number of settlers in the illegally occupied Golan Heights, days after seizing more Syrian territory following the toppling of Syria’s longtime leader Bashar al-Assad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the government had “unanimously approved” the “demographic development” of the occupied territory, which would seek to double the Israeli population there. The new plan is only for the portion of the Golan Heights that Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, Israel’s Knesset moved to impose Israeli law over the territory, in an effective annexation. The plan does not relate to the portion of Syrian land seized by Israel in the wake of al-Assad’s toppling a week ago. The seized area, which had been demilitarised as part of an agreement reached after the 1973 war, also includes Mount Hermon overlooking the Syrian capital Damascus. In a statement, Netanyahu praised the plan, which provides more than 40 million shekels ($11m) to increase the settler population. Advertisement There are about 31,000 Israeli settlers spread across dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights already. They live alongside minority groups, including the Druze, who predominantly identify as Syrian. “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it.” Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the approval comes at what Israel views as an “opportune moment”. While Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, during his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, US President-elect Donald Trump made the United States the first country in the world to officially recognise Israeli sovereignty over the area. Trump is set to retake office again on January 20 after winning the US presidential election in November. “Netanyahu is using this moment to announce more settlement activity in order to entrench that occupation and make it permanent,” Odeh said. “Much like he’s doing in the occupied West Bank: land grab, settlements, permanent occupation.” Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s office said he had discussed the situation in Syria during a phone call with Trump on Saturday. He also discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Despite Israel launching hundreds of strikes on Syrian sites since opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew al-Assad and moved to create a transitional government, Netanyahu said: “We have no interest in conflict with Syria.” Advertisement He said the attacks were to “thwart the potential threats from Syria and to prevent the takeover of terrorist elements near our border”. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first to condemn Israel’s new plan to increase the number of settlers, while accusing Israeli leaders of seeking to sabotage Syria’s fledgling transition. Adblock test (Why?)
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agree to grace period in ECOWAS withdrawal
The Economic Community of West African States hopes to use this time to convince the three nations to stay in the bloc. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger will have a six-month grace period following their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), scheduled for January 29, a year after the countries announced their intentions to leave. The decision, reached at a summit of West Africa’s main political and economic group this weekend in the Nigerian capital Abuja, was seen as a last-ditch effort to dissuade the three countries from leaving, a move the bloc has thus far been unable to halt. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger reaffirmed that their decision to leave is “irreversible”. The three countries, located in the insurgency-torn central Sahel region, have formed their own group called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The new effective departure date has now been extended to July 29, although January 29 will still be the official withdrawal date. The bloc hopes to use the six-month transition period to convince the countries to return. On Saturday, the three nations stated that their territories would remain visa-free for all ECOWAS citizens post-exit. This move has alleviated concerns that their departure could threaten free trade and movement for the 400 million people living across the region. Advertisement Among those who attended the summit was Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who has served as a mediator between the 15-member bloc and the three countries set to leave. The Senegalese president, who was appointed to lead negotiations in July, said he was “making progress” in talks with the three countries and added that there was no reason for them not to maintain relations amid ongoing security concerns in the region, where al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have gained ground. The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS would mark the culmination of a tumultuous period for the Sahel, where a series of coups since 2020 has brought military authorities to power. The new governments have fostered closer ties with Russia at the expense of their former colonial ruler, France, and other one-time allies from the region and beyond. Adblock test (Why?)