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China denies new report linking CCP to four sites in Cuba allegedly used to spy on the US

China is denying a new report linking it to four bases in Cuba that a think tank says allows the CCP to spy on the U.S.  The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a report last week detailing facilities in Cuba that it claims China may be using to gather signal intelligence (SIGINT) on the U.S.  “The cooperation between China and Cuba is aboveboard, not targeting any third party, and does not allow any malicious slander from third parties,” Chinese foreign minister Mao Ning told reporters on Wednesday.  Cuban foreign minister Carlos de Cossio claimed reports of Chinese spying hubs in Cuba originate from “Cuba’s enemies” in the U.S. “as a way of justifying the criminal policy of economic aggression. It is absolutely false.” CSIS analyzed over a dozen “sites of interest” in Cuba and four stuck out as most likely to be supporting China and its spying ambitions.  “These sites have undergone observable upgrades in recent years, even as Cuba has faced increasingly dire economic prospects that have drawn it closer to China,” the report’s authors said.  Each of the four sites had “observable SIGINT instrumentation,” clear physical security infrastructure and other signs of intelligence collection.  One such station located on a hill overlooking Havana, Bejucal, has been suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence for years. The complex gained notoriety for housing Soviet missiles during the Cuban missile crisis.  REPUBLICANS LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO FORCE THROUGH CHINA CRACKDOWNS LEFT OUT OF YEARLY DEFENSE BILL During the 2016 presidential debates, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on Cuba to “[kick] out this Chinese listening station in Bejucal.” According to CSIS findings, satellite imagery shows that the site was active as of March 2024 and had been for some time. There are at least five entrances to underground facilities at the base, but what the facilities contain could not be discerned by satellite imagery. Antennas dot the ground, including satellite antennas used for intercepting satellite communications.  With Havana situated just 100 miles off the coast of Florida, the site could potentially be used to collect data on U.S. rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.  BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION The U.S. and China are locked in a space race and rocket launches that deliver U.S. satellites to space will likely garner a high level of interest within the CCP.  On another site on the opposite side of the island, east of the city of Santiago de Cuba, a large radio signal finding technology project is under construction, one capable of detecting signals between 3,000 and 8,000 nautical miles away.  Cuba has a history of allowing U.S. adversaries to use its soil to snoop on U.S. communications. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union operated a SIGINT facility at the Lourdes Signals Intelligence Complex near Havana. That site monitored U.S. satellites and intercepted sensitive military and commercial telecommunications.  In recent decades, the alliance between China and Cuba has grown – and China has provided around $7.8 billion in development financing to the island nation. 

Amid a national attack against transgender people, Odessa elected its first gay City Council member

Donald Trump won Ector County, which includes Odessa, with more than 70 percent of the vote.

‘Despicable’: Immigration activists fume at blue city mayor’s meeting with Trump border czar

Immigration activists in New York City on Thursday slammed Mayor Eric Adam’s meeting with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan, accusing him of “collaborating” with the new administration. “It’s despicable that Mayor Adams continues to shirk his responsibilities to uphold New York City’s existing policies and values as a sanctuary city by collaborating with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan,” Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement. Adams will meet with Homan on Thursday afternoon. Adams had said that he wants to sit down with Homan and talk about cooperation on deporting violent criminals specifically. Homan has repeatedly said that public safety threats will be the priority for the expected mass deportation campaign. TRUMP BORDER CZAR MEETING WITH NYC MAYOR ADAMS DESPITE SANCTUARY CITY STATUS “I’m not going to be warring with this administration, I’m going to be working with this administration,” Adams said last week. “President Trump is the president-elect. And whomever he chooses to run his agencies. I’m looking forward to sitting down and see how do we better New York.” “I would like to speak with our border czar and find out what his plans are. Where our common grounds are, we can work together. And I strongly believe, my history is sitting down with those across the aisle with different ways of thinking and sit down and share my ideas,” he said. “I believe I have some ideas that could deal with this issue, and we can reach what the American people have been saying to us: Secure our borders, address the people who are committing violent acts in our country and make sure that … our citizens are going to be safe.” But he also clarified that otherwise law-abiding immigrants “should not be rounded up in the middle of the night.” Adams also had a message for critics from the left, telling them to “cancel me.” ‘WE’VE TURNED THE CORNER’: BLUE CITY ANNOUNCES SHUTTERING OF MIGRANT SHELTERS AS NUMBERS DROP “Well, cancel me, because I’m going to protect the people of this city, and if you come into this country, in this city, and think you’re going to harm innocent New Yorkers and innocent migrants and asylum seekers, this is not the mayor you want to be in a city under,” he said. But that has not stopped the criticism from activist groups over the meeting. “New Yorkers know that under Homan ICE will be used to divide us, cruelly targeting and demonizing immigrants, while making every New Yorker even more unsafe, Awawdeh said. “Too many of us remember the gunfire and street brawl that took place as a result of ICE’s actions in a residential Brooklyn neighborhood, in 2020, which resulted in an immigrant New Yorker being shot in the face.” “Targeting immigrants for arrests and deportation is destructive and diverts resources away from initiatives that actually promote safety and well-being. Mayor Adams has an obligation to every New York family to maintain our public safety by refusing to participate in ICE’s cruel, politicized immigration agenda.” “Study after study shows that cities with large immigrant populations are safer than those with fewer immigrants, and places with sanctuary policies have lower crime rates. Adams is clearly prioritizing his own political self-interest over the needs and the public safety of all New Yorkers,” Awawdeh said. Homan, meanwhile, said last week that he was open to a meeting with Adams. “I’m willing to meet with him, and I’m willing to meet with anybody to help make their communities safer,” Homan said on “America’s Newsroom” after being contacted by the Adams administration.  “Prioritization out of the gate is public safety threats; work with us on that. It makes your community safer. It keeps my officers safe. It keeps the community safe. Let’s work together and get this done.”  Adams has taken a tougher approach to illegal immigration than many of his Democratic counterparts, including by suggesting that sanctuary policies be rolled back to allow for the deportation of criminals. Other Democrats have promised to either resist or not assist in deportation operations. 

Drunk immigrant killed 7 year old months after he was released from ICE detainer

Seven-year-old Ivory Smith was killed by Venezuelan migrant Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin in a late-night drunk driving accident in north Houston just two and a half months after ICE released a hold against him, court documents revealed. Fox 26 Houston reported that court records revealed that Chacin had previously been placed on another ICE hold earlier this year after being arrested for assaulting a family member in June.  The felony assault charge against him ended up being dropped to a misdemeanor and, after pleading guilty, Chacin was sentenced to 113 days in jail, which he had already served, and was released that same day. The ICE detainer against him was also lifted that same day for an unknown reason.  ILLEGAL MIGRANT ALLEGEDLY COMMITS 22 CRIMES IN 6 MONTHS: ‘IT WILL GET WORSE,’ EXPERT SAYS Fox News Digital reached out to ICE to find out why the detainer against Chacin was lifted and has not yet heard back. Authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital that the 41-year-old migrant was intoxicated when he T-boned Christina Smith and her daughter Ivory at 2:45 a.m. Police said that Chacin took photographs of the scene of the crash “instead of helping” and then drove off. The two victims were only a few minutes from home. Smith was severely injured in the wreck but has since been released from the hospital. Chacin was arrested for intoxicated manslaughter and has been put on a new ICE detainer. Ivory was in second grade. According to a statement released by the family, the mother continues to “endure immense physical and emotional pain” from the accident.   TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBER, ILLEGAL VENEZUELAN MIGRANT, ARRESTED IN HOUSTON CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “No parent should have to suffer the unbearable loss of a child, especially under circumstances that could and should have been prevented,” said the family, adding, the incident is a “stark reminder that we need stronger accountability and justice to prevent further suffering for families like ours.”   “Even more troubling is the fact that this individual was released after being detained earlier this year, only to find themselves back in custody after causing irreparable harm,” the family went on. “Why do we have holds in place if they fail to keep dangerous individuals off our streets?  … How can a system allow such leniency, where a person with such a record is given a chance to walk free and re-offend?” Speaking of Ivory, the family said, “Her life, filled with innocence and joy, was taken far too soon due to the reckless actions of an individual who chose to drive under the influence.” “We will continue to demand answers and advocate for change so that no other family has to endure the pain, loss, and injustice that we are experiencing,” they said. “Ivory’s light and legacy deserve better, and her memory will guide us as we work toward a safer future for all.” Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. 

House Pentagon funding bill would ban transgender treatments for minor children of military personnel

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed its annual defense spending bill Wednesday, including a key culture-war caveat: a ban on transgender medical treatments for minor children of U.S. service members. The provision in the 1,800-page bill states that “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18,” referring to the transgender children of military personnel.  Republicans argued that taxpayer dollars should not fund potentially experimental and harmful procedures for minors. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the passage of the defense measure, though it now heads to the Senate for approval in the Democrat-run chamber. HOUSE PASSES NEARLY $1 TRILLION DEFENSE SPENDING BILL, ADDING TO U.S. DEBT OF $36 TRILLION “Our men and women in uniform should know their first obligation is protecting our nation, not woke ideology,” Johnson said in a statement after the measure passed. While the provision was a win for Republicans that could further push President-Elect Donald Trump’s policy agenda, the measure did not incorporate several other Republican-backed provisions related to social issues. Notably absent were efforts to ban TRICARE, the military’s health program, from covering transgender treatments for adults and a proposal to overturn the Pentagon’s hotly-debated policy of reimbursing travel expenses for service members seeking abortions stationed in states where the procedure is restricted. Democrats were largely outraged by the provision to strip TRICARE from service members’ transgender children, with the House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith, vowing to vote against the bill on Tuesday despite helping on other portions of the package. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not advise his party members to vote for or against it. 124 DEMS OPPOSE HISTORICALLY BIPARTISAN DEFENSE BILL OVER RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS The measure also drew the ire of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC), which called it an “attack” on military families. “This cruel and hateful bill suddenly strips away access to medical care for families that members of our armed forces are counting on, and it could force service members to choose between staying in the military or providing health care for their children,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. The Senate’s response to the transgender treatment provision will be pivotal in determining the final content of the defense policy for the upcoming fiscal year. If it passes, it would align with Trump’s criticisms of the military’s “woke” policies.  The Supreme Court also heard oral arguments last week for a first-of-its-kind case involving Tennessee’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors, which could place further restrictions on the procedures. RED STATE AG SLAMS BIDEN ADMIN’S ATTEMPT TO ‘REWRITE’ IMMIGRATION LAW: ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND STUFF’ The $884 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policies for the Defense Department, was passed in a 281-140 vote, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it.  Other provisions also place limits on diversity, equity and inclusion-based recruitment and the teaching of critical race theory in military-run schools. Other policies include a 14.5% pay boost for junior enlisted troops, expanded child care access and enhanced job assistance for military spouses, reflecting a year of bipartisan focus on addressing record recruitment struggles. Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

‘Incompetence’: Rep Banks rips West Point as school apologizes for ‘error’ saying Hegseth wasn’t accepted

FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is apologizing after an employee mistakenly said Pete Hegseth was not accepted by the historic military college, and now a lawmaker is seeking accountability. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., accused West Point administrators of trying to “sabotage” Hegseth’s nomination to be President-elect Trump’s secretary of Defense. Banks is now demanding information on how the error was allowed to occur. “As you know, ProPublica reporter Jesse Eisinger had been preparing to publish a story falsely claiming that nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was lying when he said that he was admitted into West Point but decided not to attend,” Banks wrote. “To preempt the publication of a blatantly false story, Hegseth published his West Point acceptance letter, proving the veracity of his claim and leading ProPublica to kill the story. Eisinger defended his reporting, claiming that West Point OPA told him ‘twice on the record’ that Hegseth had not even applied to West Point.” AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION “It is outrageous that West Point officials would so grossly interfere in a political process and make false claims regarding a presidential nominee. “Even in the unlikely scenario of OPA mistakenly making false claims not once but twice, it is an unforgivable act of incompetence that OPA did not make absolutely sure their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter.” He asked the school to hand Congress “all communication and documentation regarding how West Point OPA falsely accused Hegseth of lying about his application.” When reached for comment, West Point apologized for the error and said the academy’s records indicate Hegseth was accepted in 1999 but did not attend. PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE WILL BE ‘STANDING RIGHT HERE IN THIS FIGHT’ AFTER MEETING WITH SENATORS “An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024. Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error,” the West Point directorate of communications said. Hegseth is a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. It comes as he has continued meeting with senators as part of the confirmation process to join the next Trump administration. CONSERVATIVE GROUP COMPILES LIST OF ‘WOKE’ SENIOR OFFICERS THEY WANT PETE HEGSETH TO FIRE Banks, an Army veteran, has been a staunch ally of Hegseth’s. His support will be critical next year, having won a landslide victory in November to be Indiana’s next senator. Eisinger, an editor at ProPublica, defended the outlet’s handling of the situation in a lengthy series of posts on X. “No, we are not publishing a story. This is how journalism is supposed to work. Hear something. Check something. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as many times as needed. The end,” he said. Banks told Fox News Digital, “Pete Hegseth will shake up the DOD and eliminate wokeness from our military and military academies. This upsets the bureaucrats at West Point, who now seem to be trying to sabotage his nomination.” 

PA lawmaker demands accountability at UPenn after prof praises Luigi Mangione

EXCLUSIVE: A Pennsylvania congressman fired off a scathing letter overnight to the University of Pennsylvania’s president demanding the firing of a left-wing professor whose social media posts lauded Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In his letter, GOP Rep. Dan Meuser called for Cinema & Media Studies professor Julia Alekseyeva’s firing and noted the university had just finished weathering another scandal relating to its soft response to antisemitic and pro-Hamas protests. Alekseyeva made her online accounts private this week after blowback for saying – among other things – that she is proud to be a UPenn Quaker like the accused killer. Thompson’s murder sparked a left-wing outcry depicting a simmering anger toward the insurance industry that led to online celebrations in other quarters. Alekseyeva posted a TikTok video of herself smiling as “Do You Hear The People Sing?” from the French musical “Les Miserables” played. The play tells the story of a peasant imprisoned for stealing food and his ensuing quest for redemption.  MEUSER BILL WOULD PROHIBIT US FINANCIAL AID TO AFGHANISTAN TIL ALL WRONGFULLY-DETAINED AMERICANS RELEASED “I am writing to express my profound concern regarding the recent actions of Assistant Professor Julia Alekseyeva… which appear to celebrate the alleged actions of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the tragic murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson,” Meuser wrote to UPenn interim president J. Larry Jameson. Meuser noted Alekseyeva proudly connected Mangione to the University City, West Philadelphia school and that she had labeled him “the icon we all need and deserve.” The educator, who was reportedly born in the Ukrainian USSR and moved with her family to Chicago in the 1990s, also refers to herself online as a “socialist and ardent anti-fascist” on her website. Meuser, seen as a potential top contender in the 2026 gubernatorial contest against Democrat Josh Shapiro, called Alekseyeva’s behavior “outrageous” and said it violates the “basic ideals of a civilized society.” In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, Meuser said it is unacceptable for any educator to glorify acts of violence, especially at a high-level institution like UPenn. “These actions undermine the core values of higher education and threaten the trust placed in our academic institutions,” Meuser said. SARA CARTER RECOUNTS ‘MIND-BLOWING’ INTERVIEWS WITH UPENN STUDENTS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT’S RESIGNATION The lawmaker, who represents the Coal Region and part of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, said he is a fan of the Quakers but expects answers from Jameson in order to ensure further federal support for the school. “Your response will dictate how my colleagues and I support allocating future federal funding for research at the University of Pennsylvania,” he wrote in the letter, calculating $936 million in federal research grants in 2023. “[This] forces Congress to question whether safeguards are in place to ensure that faculty conduct reflects the ethical and professional standards in line with the University’s reputation as a center of excellence and thought leadership.” He also asked Jameson whether Alekseyeva was found to have used university property in making her pronouncements, whether other faculty made similar gestures of support for Mangione and what other steps are being taken to prevent such scandals in the future. The school has until the end of the year to respond, he said.  Fox News Digital reached out to UPenn for comment.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The school’s deputy dean of its Arts & Sciences school said in a Wednesday statement the university is aware of concerns over Alekseyeva’s posts and that they are “antithetical to the values” of UPenn. “Upon reflection, Assistant Professor Alekseyeva has concurred that the comments were insensitive and inappropriate and has retracted them. We welcome this correction and regret any dismay or concern this may have caused,” Dean Jeffrey Kallberg said, according to the New York Post. Mangione, a member of a large and well-connected Baltimore family, was captured following a tip from a customer visiting a McDonald’s off Interstate 99 in Blair County, Pa.

House passes bill under Biden’s veto threat that would give Trump more federal judge appointments

The House passed a once-bipartisan bill on Thursday that authorizes 63 new permanent district judgeships over the next 10 years, 22 of which President-elect Trump can fill during his next term.  The White House released a statement earlier this week that President Biden would veto the bill if it came to his desk.  The Senate in August passed the “Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act” or the “JUDGES Act of 2024,” which staggers the 63 new permanent judgeships the president may choose over the next 10 years. Citing how courts are burdened by heavy caseloads, the bill says the president shall appoint 11 of those permanent judgeships in 2025 and 11 more in 2027. The president would tap another 10 judges in 2029, 11 in 2031, 10 in 2033 and 10 more in 2035, the bill says.  But now key Democrats are backing away from the bill after Trump won the presidency, decrying how it wasn’t voted on until after Election Day.  “Today, the House passed the JUDGES Act to authorize additional federal judges to ensure the American people receive timely and fair justice,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement. “This important legislation garnered broad, bipartisan support when it unanimously passed the Senate in August because it directly addresses the pressing need to reduce case backlogs in our federal courts and strengthen the efficiency of our judicial system.”  “At that time, Democrats supported the bill – they thought Kamala Harris would win the Presidency,” he added. “Now, however, the Biden-Harris Administration has chosen to issue a veto threat and Democrats have whipped against this bill, standing in the way of progress, simply because of partisan politics. This should not be a political issue—it should be about prioritizing the needs of the American people and ensuring the courts are able to deliver fair, impartial, and timely justice.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

New Jersey drones: House Speaker Johnson says he’s getting a classified briefing today

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News he is getting a “classified briefing” Thursday in Washington on the mysterious drones that are being spotted flying across New Jersey.  The Louisiana Republican, speaking to Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, called the situation a “quandary.”  “I’m going to try to go get a classified briefing to see what we know, but the hearings have not yielded much yet,” Johnson said.  “It’s a specific briefing today on that subject?” Pergram then asked.  NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SAYS FEDS HAVE AUTHORITY TO SHOOT DOWN DRONES, ‘WOULDN’T BE OPPOSED’ TO THEM PLAYING ‘MORE ROBUST ROLE’   So I’m anxious to find out,” Johnson responded.  New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently told WNYC that his state government is running down every theory of what the source of the drones could be.   “I’m relying overwhelmingly on the experts in the federal government who do this for a living. There’s no evidence that anything is armed,” he said. “There’s some theories out there. Again, we take nothing off the table. Even if somebody says something crazy with absolutely no evidence. We’ve been running everything down.”   NJ LAWMAKER CALLS ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO ‘IMMEDIATELY’ INVESTIGATE MYSTERY DRONE SIGHTINGS  A New Jersey state senator is also calling on the Department of Defense to investigate the recent mysterious nighttime drone sightings amid rising public frustration over a lack of answers.  “Let me be clear: The state police, this is way beyond their expertise … We know the Department of Defense has the technology to monitor these drones,” State Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-N.J., told co-anchor John Roberts Wednesday on “America Reports.”  “The problem is we don’t have the Department of Defense in New Jersey at this time. And that’s what I call for. Until the Department of Defense comes in, shuts down airspace completely to drones, do a limited state of emergency – no drones in the sky until we figure out what’s going on here,” Bramnick warned. “But without the Department of Defense, we will have no information because the technology is way beyond state officials.”  Fox News’ Joshua Comins contributed to this report. 

Informant accused of feeding FBI bogus Biden information pleads guilty to 4 counts

Alexander Smirnov has reached a plea agreement with the office of special counsel David Weiss, agreeing to plead guilty on several counts. The plea agreement notes that Smirnov is consenting to “Count Two of the indictment in United States v. Alexander Smirnov … which charges defendant with causing the creation of a false and fictitious record in a federal investigation…”  He is also agreeing to plead guilty to several counts of tax evasion. Smirnov has been accused of providing “false derogatory information to the FBI[.]” This is a developing story and will be updated.