Federal judge sides with SpaceX after environmental group tried to stop rocket launches
A federal judge sided with SpaceX after an environmental group sought to stop its rocket launches just months before the company’s CEO is slated to work closely with the incoming Trump administration. During static fire tests and launches, SpaceX uses a “deluge system” that applies water to the rocket engine exhaust to absorb heat and prevent explosions during takeoff. SpaceX has said the system uses “clean, potable (drinking) water” for the tests, but a Texas-based environmental group claims the process poses a risk to the environment. In an October lawsuit, Save RGV, a nonprofit based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, claimed SpaceX was violating the Clean Water Act by releasing wastewater from the launches at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, roughly 25 miles east of the city of Brownsville. FEDERAL COURT UPENDS DECADES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS The group requested a restraining order be put in place to block SpaceX from using the deluge system, which would put a hold on rocket launches. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, after the suit was filed, the aeronautics company said an environmental review had already been conducted that cleared the system from any environmental hazards. TRUMP PLANNING TO LIFT BIDEN’S LNG PAUSE, INCREASE OIL DRILLLING DURING 1ST DAYS IN OFFICE: REPORT “The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) conducted a technical review of Starship’s water-cooled flame deflector, which uses potable (drinking) water and determined that its use does not pose risk to the environment,” SpaceX said in an Oct. 10 post. “Save RGV acknowledged that they are aware of these straightforward facts and still filed an unwarranted and frivolous lawsuit.” In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera denied the restraining order request, saying that halting the rocket launches could have various negative implications, including for NASA. “Being unable to launch would create various consequences for not only Defendant, but also the public at large. It would significantly delay and possibly destroy Defendant’s contracts with NASA to further the Artemis Program and Human Landing System Program — worth billions of dollars,” Olvera wrote. The judge also ruled that SpaceX has not been harming the environment, citing environmental reviews that have already been conducted on the launch system. “At the beginning of the Starship-Super Heavy Launch System’s development, it became evident that a deluge water system was necessary to protect the launch site and surrounding areas during launches,” the judge wrote. “A deluge water system sprays large quantities of potable water at the base of the spacecrafts during launch to prevent fires and reduce dispersal of dust and debris.” The decision comes just two months before Musk is expected to work closely with President-elect Trump’s administration. Musk is planning to work with Trump and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency to cut government spending.
Tamil Nadu Rains: IMD predicts heavy rainfall for 3 more days; check details
Chennai and nearby districts received rainfall on Tuesday, which was mild to moderate in many areas and heavy in a few places.
Texas offers Trump administration more land to stage mass deportations
“We have 13 million acres around the state, and if there’s something that meets the federal government’s needs, we want them to be able to utilize that,” Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said.
California Bay Area city considers ordinance blocking local resources from supporting Trump mass deportations
The Redwood City Council in California voted 4-3 in favor of calling for staff to draft an ordinance for consideration that would restrict the city from cooperating with immigration authorities. “Council voted 4 to 3 to direct staff to place an ordinance restricting the use of city resources to cooperate with ICE on a future agenda in the first quarter of 2025. Thank you, RWC!” council member Chris Sturken said in a Facebook post. The vote came ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration — Trump pledged that as president he will initiate the “largest mass deportation” in American history. MIGRANT MURDERS PUT AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ON EDGE AS OVER 1.4 MILLION AVOID DEPORTATION WITH SHADY TACTICS “The outcome of the national and state election has brought up feelings of uncertainty and anxiety for many of us. I assure you that as your representative I will do everything in my power to make Redwood City a safer and more inclusive community for all,” Sturken said in a Facebook post earlier this month. During discussion of his proposal on Monday, Sturken argued in favor of passing an ordinance to ensure that no city resources may be utilized to cooperate with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, unless required under law. Sturken said that the “ordinance would codify our existing non-cooperation policy with ICE and expand it across the whole city.” INCOMING BORDER CZAR HOMAN TO JOIN TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT AT KEY BORDER POINT, SERVE MEALS TO TROOPS Redwood City’s website indicates that “the Redwood City Police Department does not actively participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, which are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “This means that police officers do not conduct sweeps looking for suspected undocumented persons, and we serve all members of the public regardless of immigration status,” the site also states. TOM HOMAN RESPONDS TO DENVER MAYOR: ‘HE’S WILLING TO GO TO JAIL, I’M WILLING TO PUT HIM IN JAIL’ Trump has tapped former acting ICE Director Tom Homan to serve as border czar.
Tom Cotton slams ‘partisans and obstructionists’ in DOD reportedly plotting to block Trump plans
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blasted anyone within the Defense Department working to safeguard certain norms or policies that they expect the incoming Trump administration to target. “It appears that partisans and obstructionists inside the Department of Defense are laying groundwork to defy or circumvent President Trump’s plans for both military and civil-service reform,” Cotton wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in reference to reports of such strategizing among DOD employees. “These actions undermine civilian control of the military and our constitutional structure of government.” Earlier this month, it was reported that there were “informal discussions” occurring among Pentagon officials on what the department would do if Trump ordered the military for a domestic purpose or if he fired a significant number of employees, per CNN. One anonymous defense official was quoted in the report saying, “Troops are compelled by law to disobey unlawful orders.” “But the question is what happens then – do we see resignations from senior military leaders? Or would they view that as abandoning their people?” they reportedly asked. CONGRESS HAS JUST WEEKS TO AVOID A PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFTER THANKSGIVING President-elect Trump promised during his campaign to shake up the federal government, whether it be through staffing changes or reorganization. Some reports have indicated specific people are being looked at for termination once he enters office again. An ally of Trump, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has been vocal about his belief that the federal government must be shrunk in size. Ramaswamy has been tapped by Trump, along with billionaire business magnate Elon Musk, to lead his planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in his new administration. The proposed department has the goal of reducing the size of government, cutting spending and increasing efficiency. SENATE GOP MOTIVATED TO RAPIDLY CONFIRM TRUMP NOMINATIONS AHEAD OF PARTY TRIFECTA IN WASHINGTON Cotton criticized Lloyd in his letter for “promulgating false claims that the incoming administration plans to arbitrarily fire uniformed leaders.” Further, he slammed the secretary for a message after the election that the military would specifically follow “lawful orders” from Trump. Cotton said this was “a thinly veiled and baseless insinuation that President Trump will issue unlawful orders.” “I have to observe that these actions and reports only prove the need for reform and fundamental change at the Department of Defense. And, of course, while inappropriate and annoying, these tactics are also useless because no action by the outgoing administration can limit the incoming president’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief,” the Arkansas Republican wrote. ‘CONVEYOR BELT OF RADICALS’: GOP SLAMMED OVER SENATE ABSENCES THAT HELPED BIDEN SCORE MORE JUDGES IN LAME DUCK Cotton was recently elected to serve as chairman of the Senate Republican conference in the new Congress. He is also expected to take Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s place as the head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The DOD did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital for purposes of this story.
‘Deporter-in-chief’ Obama surpassed deportations under Trump’s first term
As many Democrats are voicing discontent with President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to carry out mass deportations in his second term, some commentators are pointing out that former President Barack Obama oversaw millions of deportations, even earning the title “deporter-in-chief.” On a Tuesday episode of the “Faulkner Focus,” Fox host Sandra Smith said that although Democrats are “promising pushback against Trump’s deportations plans,” “we didn’t hear much about this, former President Obama was dubbed ‘deporter-in-chief,’ that’s because he deported some 5.3 million illegals during his two terms.” “That is more than Trump, so why the resistance this time?” Smith asked. TOM HOMAN RESPONDS TO DENVER MAYOR: ‘HE’S WILLING TO GO TO JAIL, I’M WILLING TO PUT HIM IN JAIL’ Obama oversaw approximately 5,248,413 returns and removals of illegal migrants during his eight years in office, according to data collected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From 2009 to 2012, Obama’s DHS carried out approximately 3,175,696 returns and removals in his first term alone. The Trump administration, meanwhile, carried out approximately 1,795,888 returns and removals during his first term, 1 million less than Obama’s first term. Under President Biden, returns and removals dipped in the first two years but then started climbing back up. DHS data indicates that there were 700,000 returns and removals of illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2024, which is more than any other year since 2010. This comes after the Biden administration set the record for the highest number of illegal migrants entering the country in a single year in 2023, with 2,475,669 southwest border encounters. So far, there have been over 7 million southwest land border encounters since Biden took office. 1.4 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN US HAVE BEEN ORDERED DEPORTED, BUT YET TO BE REMOVED: OFFICIAL TRUMP’S ICE NOMINEE DECISION COULD BE IMMINENT AS DEPORTATION PLAN TAKES SPOTLIGHT Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said that there were more deportations under Obama because illegal immigration was higher. “Why were returns and removals higher under Obama? The short answer is because there was a lot more illegal immigration under Obama and also because interior enforcement was very strong in Obama’s first term,” she said. “The peak of interior enforcement was the last year of Bush and the first year of Obama. And then under Obama, he’s making a decision, and you can track this through certain policies that were issued, to reduce interior enforcement.” However, Vaughan also cautioned against reading too much into the DHS returns and removal numbers without understanding the context. She said that in 2012, the Obama administration started counting removals by Border Patrol the same as interior removals by ICE, further blurring the lines on what is considered a deportation. She said there was a “certain amount of book-cooking that went on under Obama,” because he “wanted to be able to tell people that enforcement was very robust, without having it actually be very robust.” “In the past, removals were typically done from the interior and returns were done by Border Patrol. But under Obama, they changed policies, and they started having the Border Patrol do some removals as a way of imposing more consequences on illegal border crossers,” she said. “That spikes Obama’s removal numbers. Under Bush, a third of removals were border cases and two-thirds were interior. Under Obama, it became two-thirds were border cases and only one-third were interior. So, these numbers are interesting, but they masked some important policy differences between the administrations.” There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. Trump and his “border czar,” former-acting ICE Director Tom Homan, have vowed to use any means necessary, including declaring a national emergency and using military resources to remove illegal migrants from the country. They have said they will start with those deemed a risk to public safety.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal Trump cases cost taxpayers more than $50 million, financials show
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Donald Trump over the last two years – which he opted to dismiss this week – have likely cost U.S. taxpayers more than $50 million, according to Department of Justice expenditure reports. Financial disclosures from the Special Counsel’s Office show that from mid-November 2022, when Smith was appointed special counsel, until March 31, 2023, his office incurred costs of about $9.25 million. A second disclosure laying out the office’s expenditures for the following six months showed the office’s spending increased to roughly $14.66 million. Meanwhile, a third expenditure report, the latest available, showed that from Oct. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, Smith’s office spent roughly $11.84 million. These costs include both direct and indirect expenses, the latter of which is provided through various Department of Justice agencies. PAM BONDI, TRUMP’S PICK FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL, PRAISED AS ‘LOYAL’ AND ‘QUALIFIED’ FOR TOP US PROSECUTOR ROLE Expenditure figures for the months between April 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2024, have yet to be released, but the average of the three reported periods is roughly $12 million. When that estimate is added to the numbers from the three reporting periods that have been publicly reported, the amount spent by Smith’s office since he was appointed rounds to about $47.5 million. However, this estimate does not include any expenditures from Sept. 30 to date, so the total money spent is likely more than $50 million, Newsweek reported earlier this month. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 to oversee the federal investigation into Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election, and his improper handling of sensitive classified documents. After an exhaustive, nearly two-year investigation, and other cases that saw Trump surrendering to authorities for a mugshot, Smith filed motions on Monday to dismiss the cases against the former president, citing procedural standards that preclude the prosecution of a sitting president. TRUMP SCORES MAJOR LEGAL WINS AS JACK SMITH DROPS CASE The judge overseeing the election interference case agreed to drop the charges, while a decision on the classified documents case was still pending as of Monday evening, according to the Associated Press. Trump responded to the judge’s decision Monday, calling the investigations he has been subjected to “empty and lawless,” adding that they “should never have been brought.” “Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, before laying into state prosecutors and district attorneys, such as Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and New York state Attorney General Letitia James, who Trump said “inappropriately, unethically and probably illegally campaigned on ‘GETTING TRUMP.’” Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and White House for comment, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Canada, Mexico leaders stress cooperation after Trump tariffs threat
The leaders of Mexico and Canada are urging dialogue and cooperation after United States President-elect Donald Trump pledged to impose 25-percent tariffs on the two countries when he takes office early next year. During a news conference on Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she planned to send a letter to Trump stressing the need to work together on joint challenges. “To one tariff will come another and so on until we put our common businesses at risk,” Sheinbaum said, warning that tariffs would cause inflation and job losses in both countries. In a post on social media on Monday evening, Trump said he planned to “charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States”. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem.” He also said he planned to impose “an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs” on Beijing, which Washington views as its largest global competitor. Trump, who won the November 5 presidential election over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, had repeatedly said during his 2024 campaign that he would impose increased tariffs on all imports into the US. The former president and his allies have portrayed the tariffs policy as a key tool to bring back jobs and manufacturing from overseas. Experts have said, however, that the move would increase costs for Americans. On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that he spoke with Trump on Monday evening after the Republican’s online posts. Trudeau said he stressed the longstanding ties between the two countries. “We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” he said, adding: “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.” The Liberal Party leader, whose popularity has dropped significantly over the past few years amid high costs of living and a housing crisis, is under pressure from Conservative politicians at the federal and provincial levels to resolve any problems before Trump takes office. “The federal government needs to take the situation at our border seriously,” right-wing Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social media post on Monday night. Danielle Smith, the right-wing premier of Canada’s oil-producing province of Alberta, also said Trump had “valid concerns” about the US-Canada land border, which stretches 6,416km (3,987 miles). A 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the U.S. The federal government needs to take the situation at our border seriously. We need a Team Canada approach and response—and we need it now. Prime Minister Trudeau must call an urgent… — Doug Ford (@fordnation) November 26, 2024 “As the largest exporter of oil and gas to the US, we look forward to working with the new administration to strengthen energy security for both the US and Canada,” she wrote on X. Trudeau said on Tuesday that he had spoken with Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault and planned to convene a meeting with provincial leaders to discuss the US. “There’s work to do, but we know how to do it,” the prime minister added. ‘Negotiating tactic’? Asa McKercher, the Hudson research chair in Canada-US relations at St Francis Xavier University in Canada, noted that Trump often threatened to enact harsh policies during his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021 but didn’t always follow through. “My initial thought is that this is probably some sort of negotiating tactic rather than something he actually wants to go through with — in part because it would be hugely damaging to the American economy,” McKercher told Al Jazeera of Trump’s tariffs threat. He explained that the tariffs would drive up prices on many things, including oil and gas supplies from Canada as well as food imports from Mexico. The US and Canada are each other’s largest trading partners, exchanging nearly $2.7bn ($3.6bn Canadian) in goods and services across their shared border daily in 2023, according to Canadian government figures. Meanwhile, US goods and services traded with Mexico totalled an estimated $855bn in 2022, the Office of the US Trade Representative said. Sheinbaum has warned that tariffs could put US and Mexican ‘businesses at risk’ [File: Raquel Cunha/Reuters] The three countries are signatories to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which they signed in 2020 when Trump was president to replace the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “He’s being a bully, which is what he is, and he’s making these kind of threats to see what kind of goodies he can get,” McKercher said of Trump, adding that the Republican’s remarks about fentanyl and irregular migration appear more geared towards Mexico than Canada. “That’s not really an issue in Canada-US relations,” he said. The Mexican peso weakened almost 2 percent in early trading on Tuesday after the US president-elect’s comments. During her news conference, Sheinbaum said her administration had always shown Mexico’s willingness to help fight the fentanyl epidemic in the US and that apprehensions of migrants and asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border were down. However, Sheinbaum noted that criminal groups in Mexico were still receiving guns from the US. She said the region’s shared challenges require cooperation, dialogue and reciprocal understanding. “We do not produce weapons. We do not consume the synthetic drugs,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country.” Adblock test (Why?)
Four bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat in Red Sea: Egypt official
Authorities says five more people have been rescued, bringing the total to 33 survivors while seven remain missing. Four bodies have been recovered as rescue teams continue to search for survivors after a tourist boat capsized in the Red Sea off Egypt’s eastern coast. Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said on Tuesday that rescue teams have found five people alive, including one Egyptian two Belgian nationals, one Swiss national, and one Finn, bringing the total number of survivors to 33. The four people who died have yet to be identified, and seven people remain missing. “Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers,” Hanafi told the AFP news agency. The incident occurred on Monday after the Sea Story boat capsized, carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multiday diving trip, after it was hit by high waves, leading it to sink near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt. Hanafi said that the boat capsized within five to seven minutes after hitting a wave, leaving some passengers unable to escape from their cabins in time. A photo shared online by the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt shows the Sea Story luxury yacht, which authorities reported capsized early on the morning of November 25 [Red Sea Governorate/Facebook] On Monday, 28 people were rescued with minor injuries and were transported to a hotel in Marsa Alam as authorities coordinated with embassies to provide assistance and documentation. The governor’s office has said that the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, the United Kingdom, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. Moreover, Hanafi said the boat had cleared its last safety inspection in March, and no technical issues were reported. However, the Sea Story is one of many boats that have sunk in this area of Egypt due to rough weather conditions. In June, a vessel suffered severe damage from strong winds, but there were no casualties. Earlier in November, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea’s Daedalus reef. Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan’s Champions Trophy fate to be decided by ICC on November 29
The ICC will decide next steps for the Pakistan-hosted tournament after India refused to travel to the country. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will meet this week to determine the destiny of next year’s Champions Trophy after India refused to play in host nation Pakistan, a spokesperson said. Earlier this month, the ICC informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that India would not tour Pakistan for the eight-team tournament, leaving the fate of the showcase event hanging in the balance. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field. A spokesperson for the ICC based in Dubai told the AFP news agency on Tuesday they could “confirm an ICC meeting on Friday” where the issue will be on the agenda, without providing further details. The PCB has already rejected proposals that would allow India to play in a neutral third country, insisting the full schedule from February 19 to March 9 must be staged in Pakistan. India’s cricket board has not commented on the tournament. India has not visited Pakistan since 2008, and deteriorating political ties mean the great rivals only play each other at multiteam ICC events. Pakistan travelled to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup in October and November 2023 and played all its matches in the host nation. Pakistan suffered a multiyear drought of matches at home as teams refused to visit after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore. International play only fully resumed in 2020. When Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup, India’s matches were played outside the country. Pakistani cricket chiefs have rejected security fears for the Champions Trophy, pointing to their recent successful hosting of top teams including Australia, England and South Africa. The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC event staged in Pakistan since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan are the defending ICC Champions Trophy holders from when it was last staged in 2017. Pakistan won the last staging of the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2017 at The Oval, London, UK [John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)