Author:

Assad arrives in Moscow, is granted asylum by Russia

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who fled the country Saturday as rebels closed in on the capital of Damascus, has arrived in Moscow and has been granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian News Agency Tass. Speculation about where Assad might land has been widespread since the longtime dictator fled the country, with allies such as Iran and Russia being at the top of the list. TRUMP URGES US TO STAY OUT OF SYRIAN CIVIL WAR, BLAMING OBAMA FOR FAILURE AS ISLAMISTS CLOSE IN ON CAPITAL Assad was forced to flee the country after a coalition of largely radical Islamist groups led a sweeping offensive across Syria, culminating in the capture of the country’s capital city and the fall of Assad’s regime, which had seen his family rule Syria for over 50 years. The offensive was the latest development in a bloody civil war that has ravaged Syria for almost 14 years, a war that also led to the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization and yearslong interventions by countries such as the United States, Russia, Iran and Turkey. ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE Assad has been a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had for more than a decade dedicated military resources to the defense of Assad’s regime and its government forces. Assad now arrives in Russia with his family, according to an Interfax news agency report, citing a Kremlin source. “President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the source told the outlet.

UPSC coach claims IPS trainee broke glass on his head at Delhi wedding, FIR lodged

Dhayal shared a video on X, purportedly showing the assault, including images of his blood-smeared face and clothes.

Rajasthan: 3 students killed, 25 injured after school bus gets out of control, overturns on way to picnic

A case has been registered against the bus driver and investigation is underway, the officer said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Governor Haribhau Bagade expressed condolences.

Internal House GOP memo reveals what Republicans are celebrating in $895B defense bill

FIRST ON FOX: A new 16-page House GOP memo shows Republican lawmakers are claiming victory on issues like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), border security, and green energy in Congress’ annual defense policy bill. The 1,800-page bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), was released on Saturday evening and details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent. “The [fiscal year 2025] NDAA builds upon the gains made in the FY24 NDAA to end the radical woke ideology being forced on our servicemen and women and restores the focus of our military on lethality,” a page of the House Armed Services Committee’s memo on the bill said. The document, obtained by Fox News Digital, touts key wins that GOP negotiators believe they scored in the bipartisan talks. DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES The page pushing back on “woke ideology” said the NDAA “guts DEI bureaucracy” by extending a Pentagon hiring freeze on DEI-related roles and stopping all such recruitment until “an investigation of the Pentagon’s DEI programs” can be completed. It also bans the Defense Department from contracting with advertising companies “that blacklist conservative news sources,” according to the memo. The memo said the NDAA also guts funding for the Biden administration’s “Countering Extremist Activity Working Group” dedicated to rooting out extremism in the military’s ranks. The annual defense policy bill also does not authorize “any climate change programs,” and prohibits the Pentagon from issuing climate impact-based guidance on weapons systems. On border security, a cornerstone issue for Republicans, the memo touted the NDAA’s support for “deployment of National Guard troops” to support Border Patrol at the southwest border. TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS A significant portion of the document stressed quality of life improvements for U.S. service members secured in the NDAA, a focus of much bipartisan discussion over the last year. That includes a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted troops and increasing access to child care for service members, while also providing job support to military spouses. All the while, the memo emphasized that the $895 billion in spending the NDAA directs only represents a 1% increase over fiscal year 2024 levels. The memo gives insight into Republican plans for national security in the new year, when the GOP will control all the major levers of power in Washington, D.C., after commanding victories in the 2024 election. Measures highlighted by the memo on countering China and Iran are likely to get wide bipartisan support. The NDAA itself normally passes with a healthy margin of both Republicans and Democrats, save for progressives and conservatives traditionally critical of the military industrial base. But a provision touted by Republicans in the memo – one that bans funding for transgender medical treatments for children of service members – has sparked partisan frustrations. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, cited the measures when he told Politico that he did not know if he could support the NDAA. GOP TENNESSEE AG REACTS TO ORAL ARGUMENTS IN SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER RIGHTS CASE: ‘FEEL REALLY GOOD’ “It’s the Republicans taking advantage of a partisan wedge issue,” he told the outlet. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the limitations on progressive policies in the NDAA. “We remain determined to confront increasingly hostile threats from Communist China, Russia, and Iran, and this legislation provides our military with the tools they need to deter our enemies,” Johnson said in a statement. “This legislation includes House-passed provisions to restore our focus on military lethality and to end the radical woke ideology being imposed on our military by permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors and countering antisemitism.” The bill is expected for a vote sometime this week.

Biden legacy includes relentless push for transgender agenda

Before President Biden was inaugurated as the nation’s 46th president, he and his administration put its staunch support of transgender issues at the forefront of its policies.  In the waning days of the Biden administration, Fox News Digital revisited the Biden administration’s support of transgender issues, including a handful of controversies that elicited backlash from conservatives.  “The president’s belief is that trans rights are human rights,” former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said within the administration’s first month in office during a press conference.  One day before Biden was inaugurated, he announced the nomination of a person who would become the first known transgender woman to hold an office that required Senate confirmation: Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine. The announcement was soon followed by Biden, in his official capacity as president, rolling back Trump-era trans policies, celebrating holidays championing the trans and LGBTQ communities at large, and pledging support to transgender individuals during each of his State of the Union addresses.  BIDEN OFFICIAL RACHEL LEVINE SAYS EARLY MEMORIES WERE OF TRANSGENDERISM, QUESTIONING BIOLOGICAL SEX Following Biden’s successful nomination of Levine to the Department of Health and Human Services, a job Levine still holds, Biden again underscored his administration’s explicitly pro-trans stance when he rolled back the first Trump administration’s ban on trans members of the military.  Under the Trump administration in 2018, the 45th president officially authorized the Pentagon to ban transgender individuals from joining the military, with limited exceptions, after making the pledge to do so in 2017. Biden bucked the policy on his fifth day in office through an executive order, saying it was “the right thing to do” and in the “national interest” of the country.  “President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity,” the White House said in January 2021. “This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values.” The White House said at the time that America “is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive,” adding that “the military is no exception.” 3 MONTHS AND 28 DAYS: LGBTQ EVENTS CLOG CALENDAR AS WHITE HOUSE FACES BACKLASH OVER EASTER ANNOUNCEMENT The Biden administration has also elevated trans and LGBTQ holidays across the last four years, including issuing messages of support of “Transgender Day of Visibility” each year.   “Transgender rights are human rights – and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans. Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all,” he posted to his X account in March 2021.  International Transgender Day of Visibility was created by activists more than 10 years ago and is celebrated each year on March 31. The holiday came under fierce fire earlier this year, however, as it fell on the same day as Easter Sunday – t​​he most holy holiday for Christians. Conservatives, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ripped the White House’s decision to recognize Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter, calling it an attack on Christianity. “We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only – the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Karoline Leavitt, who served as the Trump campaign’s press secretary before being named as Trump’s White House press secretary, said at the time.  White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital at the time that Biden, as a Christian, was working to bring “people together” with the event. “As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” Bates said.  BIDEN SAYS HE ‘DIDN’T DO THAT’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT EASTER BEING ‘TRANS VISIBILITY DAY,’ DESPITE PROCLAMATION Fox News Digital previously reported that the White House has celebrated or commemorated seven other holidays focused on LGBT issues, including National Coming Out Day in October; Lesbian Day of Visibility in April; International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in May; Pride Month in June; Spirit Day in October; Intersex Awareness Day in October; and Transgender Day of Remembrance in November.  The Biden administration came under fire in 2022 when one of the U.S. government’s first “non-binary” officials was accused of stealing airport luggage on multiple occasions. Non-binary is understood as an individual who does not exclusively identify as male or female.  EMBATTLED FORMER BIDEN OFFICIAL ACCUSED IN MULTIPLE AIRPORT THEFTS ENDS 2023 FREE Sam Brinton, a biological male, worked as the Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary, but made national headlines in 2022 when accused of stealing luggage at airports. Brinton was charged with stealing a woman’s suitcase at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in September and another at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in July. The DOE said, amid outrage over the case, that Brinton was no longer employed by the department.  Biden also hosted what was billed as the White House’s largest Pride celebration in its history in 2023. During that event, a transgender model and activist, Rose Montoya, came under fire for going topless and cupping their bare breasts while standing on the South Lawn of the White House. The incident was slammed by conservatives as an “international embarrassment” and Montoya was subsequently banned from visiting the White House.  “This behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House. It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance,” the White House said in response to the controversy. “Individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.” WHITE HOUSE CONDEMNS TRANS ACTIVIST FOR GOING TOPLESS AT PRIDE MONTH EVENT: ‘INAPPROPRIATE AND DISRESPECTFUL’ The administration has also invited notable transgender individuals to the White House over the

Blue state faces spike in migrant sex crimes as top city pledges resistance to Trump deportations

Massachusetts has seen a spike in illegal migrants arrested for sex offenses over the last several months as the state and city of Boston have pledged to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations. Since August, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials have arrested 26 illegal migrants in the Boston area for sex crimes against children ranging from child rape to sexual assault to distributing child pornography. Many of these migrants were previously removed from the U.S. only to later illegally re-enter the country. As recently as Dec. 3, an illegal migrant, Adrian Patricio Huerta-Nivelo, 25, was removed by ICE after it was discovered he was wanted for rape of a minor in his home country of Ecuador. ICE NABS ANOTHER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN MASS. CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIME, AS GOV SNUBS TRUMP DEPORTATIONS Nivelo’s removal came just a day after the Boston City Council unanimously voted to reaffirm a 2019 measure restricting Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE in deporting illegal migrants. The measure seeks to protect immigrant communities from “unjust enforcement actions” and restricts Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE and bans police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also vowed that state police would “absolutely not” assist Trump in the mass deportations operation. Despite this, a spokesperson for Healey denied that Massachusetts is a “sanctuary state,” telling Fox News Digital that “as a former prosecutor and attorney general, the governor believes violent criminals should be deported.” Boston officials have been largely silent on the series of sex crimes against residents in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, and the Boston City Council did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. MIGRANT ACCUSED OF VIOLENT CRIMES ARRESTED BY ICE AFTER MASSACHUSETTS COURT REFUSED TO HONOR DETAINER Boston ICE officials arrested six illegal migrants for sex crimes against children in November. One of the most recent arrests, announced by ICE on Dec. 5, involved a 46-year-old Honduran national named Salvador Castro Garcia, who is charged with indecent assault and battery of a child under 14. Garcia was previously deported in 2001 but then re-entered the country at an unknown location and time. ICE took Garcia into custody on Nov. 21 after he was released on bail by the Brockton District Court. In addition to Garcia, Boston ICE ERO officials arrested Felix Meletz Guarcas, a 45-year-old Guatemalan national, on Nov. 20 after he was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor. ‘SANCTUARY’ CITY MAYOR VOWS SHE WILL DEFY TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘CAUSING WIDESPREAD FEAR’ According to an ICE statement, the Rhode Island Department of Corrections refused ICE’s request to hold Guarcas in custody, forcing agents to make a dangerous arrest in a public parking lot. ICE is currently holding Guarcas in custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge. On Nov. 18, Boston ICE officials arrested Belardis Tapia Gonzalez, a Dominican national charged with second-degree child molestation-sexual assault, and Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, who was charged with rape of a child in his home country of Brazil. Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos, a 42-year-old Colombian migrant, was arrested by ICE in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15 after being charged with rape of a child by force, statutory rape, and aggravated rape against a minor.   On Nov. 12, ICE arrested Guatemalan illegal migrant Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, after he was charged in Massachusetts with rape of child by force, rape of a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor. Boston ICE ERO arrested three illegal migrants for child sex crimes in October. Officials arrested Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, from Brazil, on Oct. 31. Lucas fled his native country after being convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old child. Two more migrants – Colombian national Mateo Hincapie Cardona, 28, and 20-year-old Guatemalan national Selvin Alex Galvez-Mejia – were arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Oct. 29 and Oct. 18, respectively. Cardona is charged with enticing a child under 16, distribution of obscene matter, and lascivious posing and exhibiting a child in the nude. Mejia is charged with rape and indecent assault and battery against a minor. Boston ICE officials arrested nine illegal migrants charged with sex crimes against children in September. Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, a 38-year-old Guatemalan national, was arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Sept. 20. He was charged with forcibly raping a Massachusetts minor. Within a single week, seven illegal migrants – Abraham Malpica, Sept. 13, Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, Sept. 12, Enrique Alberto Ortiz-Brito, Sept. 12, Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, Sept. 11, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, Sept. 11, Jefferson Jerome, Sept. 11, Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, Sept. 10, Elmer Sola, Sept. 10 – were arrested by Boston ICE officials for sex crimes. On Aug. 1 Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, 28, Guatemala, was arrested after raping a Massachusetts resident. In August, six illegal migrants – Akim Marc Desire, 18, Haiti, Warley Neto, 24, Brazil, Elmer Perez, 49, Guatemala, Cory Bernard Alvarez, 26, Haiti, Marc Kervens Beauvais, 34, Haiti, Jackson Bento-Pinheiro, 35, Brazil – were arrested by Boston ICE for sex crimes against children.

Netanyahu hails ‘historic’ fall of Bashar Assad in Syria, credits Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria on Sunday and argued that it was a “direct result” of Israeli attacks on Iran and Hezbollah. Netanyahu made the remarks in a public address shortly after news broke that Assad had fled Damascus on Saturday night with his family. Islamist rebels took over the city on Sunday. Netanyahu cautioned that the fall of the Assad regime is nevertheless “fraught with significant dangers.” “This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression,” Netanyahu said. SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY The Israeli leader also noted that the fall of the Syrian regime also prompted action by the Israel Defense Forces, who were forced to take positions abandoned by the Syrian Army near the border with Israel. “But it also means that we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed,” he continued. “The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.” ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE Netanyahu closed by offering a “hand of peace” to people in Syria, including to “Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.” “Equally, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We’re going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” Netanyahu finished.

Weather Update: Amid ‘very poor’ AQI, Delhi-NCR receives light rainfall, temp to drop from…

The IMD defines cold wave conditions as a significant drop in temperature compared to normal climatological values for a given location.

Incoming Missouri state lawmaker introduces bill to give $1K to anyone who turns in illegal migrants

An incoming Missouri state lawmaker introduced a bill to provide $1,000 to people who report illegal migrants to authorities. Republican state Sen.-elect David Gregory proposed a measure that would offer $1,000 to any person who turned in an illegal migrant who is subsequently arrested. SB 72 would allow the state’s Department of Public Safety to “develop an information system for people to report violations of this act which shall include a toll-free telephone hotline, e-mail and online reporting portal.” BLUE STATE COUNTY TEES UP VOTE ON ‘KNEE-JERK’ RESOLUTION TO PROTECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATIONS The bill would also create the “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program” which would allow local citizens to serve as bounty hunters “for the purpose of finding and detaining illegal aliens” in the state. Only bail bond agents and surety recovery agents may apply to the program to serve as bounty hunters. The proposal would also make it a felony for anyone to be in the state as an illegal migrant. ANOTHER MAJOR BLUE CITY DOUBLES DOWN ON VOW TO OBSTRUCT TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN “As I ran for State Senate, I promised to make Missouri a national leader in combating illegal immigration,” Gregory said in a post on the social media platform X. “Now, I’m following through with my promise. SB 72 makes it a felony to be here illegally and the bill will finally allow Missouri law enforcement to find and arrest illegal immigrants,” he continued. “We need all hands on deck to ensure we catch illegal immigrants BEFORE they commit violent crimes.” President-elect Trump has promised mass deportations in his second administration.

Ex-Syrian PM to supervise state bodies until transition, al-Julani says

Bashar al-Assad-appointed Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali says gov’t ready to ‘extend its hand’ to opposition, turn its functions over to a transitional government. The leader of the main armed opposition group in Syria says former Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali will supervise state institutions until they are handed over, as fighters declared an end to Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule. Opposition forces on Sunday said they had “liberated” the capital, Damascus, in a lightning offensive. They said al-Assad had fled the city. His whereabouts are unknown. In a statement, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) head Abu Mohammed al-Julani said al-Jalali, appointed prime minister by al-Assad in September, will remain at the helm until the transition. Signed in his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, al-Julani’s statement banned military forces in Damascus from approaching public bodies and prohibited the firing of guns in the air. For his part, al-Jalali said his government is ready to hand over power to any leadership chosen by the people. “I am not leaving and I don’t intend to leave. I expect in a peaceful manner to guarantee the continuity of the public authorities and the institutions and the state apparatus and to guarantee the safety and security for all citizens,” he said in a video statement. Advertisement “And we are extending our hands even to the opposition, who extended their hands and gave assurances they will not cause any harm to any citizens who belong to this Syria of ours.” In an interview with Al Arabiya, al-Jalali said he had been in contact with the HTS leader to discuss managing the current transitional period, and said Syria should hold free elections. He also said he did not know where al-Assad and his defence minister were, adding that he had lost communication with the president on Saturday night. Separately, Syrian Communications Minister Eyad al-Khatib, in an interview with Al Arabiya, said he had been contacted by an HTS representative responsible for telecoms services. They agreed that telecoms and the internet would continue to function, al-Khatib said. Adblock test (Why?)