Lok Sabha Elections 2024: From Akhilesh Yadav to Asaduddin Owaisi, list of key candidates in Phase 4
With three phases already completed, the results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be announced on June 4
North Dakota gov, former presidential candidate Doug Burgum front and center at Trump New Jersey rally
North Dakota Gov. and former presidential candidate Doug Burgum was front and center at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Saturday, fueling speculation he remains a contender on the increasingly short list of potential running mates. Burgum was a guest on Trump’s “Trump Force One” campaign plan. He briefly addressed the crowd before the former president took the stage. Bergum said working with President Trump was “like having a beautiful breeze at your back.” “President Trump respects state’s rights. He cut regulation. He lowered taxes,” Burgum said. “Working under the Biden regulatory regime is like having a gale-force wind in your face.” TRUMP DENIES REPORT CLAIMING NIKKI HALEY IS ‘UNDER CONSIDERATION’ FOR VP ROLE: ‘I WISH HER WELL!’ Later in Trump’s speech, the former president heaped praise on Burgum saying, “he probably knows more about energy than anybody I know.” He then remarked “So, get ready for something, okay? Just get ready,” but did not elaborate. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. Last weekend, Trump held a closed-to-press gathering at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach and at his Mar-a-Lago estate with top donors and a list of “special guests.” Among those were a number of Republican politicians — including Burgum — considered to be on Trump’s shortlist for running mate.
Trump holds massive beachfront campaign rally for raucous New Jersey crowd: ‘We’re going to win’
WILDWOOD, N.J. — Former President Trump held a raucous rally in New Jersey, where on Saturday he confidently predicted he would easily win the Garden State on Election Day in November. “We’re going to win New Jersey,” the GOP frontrunner told the crowd to exuberant cheers. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who briefly shared the stage with Trump, dubbed the event as the largest political rally in the state of New Jersey. A spokesperson for the City of Wildwood told the Associated Press she estimated there were between 80,000 and 100,000 people at the rally. Trump devoted much of his rally to attacking his Democratic rival, President Biden, whom he called a “moron” and the “worst president that we’ve ever had.” “As you can see today, we’re expanding the electoral map because … we’re going to win the state of New Jersey,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to win them all. All across America, millions of people, so-called blue states, are joining our movement based on love, intelligence, and a thing called common sense.” Trump took aim at Biden’s economic and border policies. “The Biden price hikes are continuing to drain over $1,000 from the typical New Jersey family budget every single month,” Trump said, noting that the price of everything from hot dogs, to chicken, to gasoline and bacon, has gone up because of inflation. TRUMP SAYS SON BARRON, 18, LIKE POLITICS AND GIVES HIM ADVICE: ‘HE’S A SMART ONE’ “On day one, we will throw out Bidenomics, and we will reinstate MAGAnomics,” he said. “And we’re going to bring manufacturing, tourism, and other industries back to New Jersey like we’ve never seen before.” Several times, Trump goaded the rowdy crowd. “You look at the Afghanistan disaster, you look at the border, you look at the economy — the real economy, not the fake economy — everything [Democrats] touch turns to what?” Trump asked the crowd, prompting the crowd to shout: “S—!” Trump also attacked Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and his alleged acquiescence to anti-Israel protesters on college campuses. “He’s surrendering our college campuses to anarchists, jihadist freaks and anti-American extremists who are trying to tear down our American flag. They want to tear down every single place they go,” Trump said, before calling on Biden and the Democratic National Committee, “to return the donations of all antisemites, American haters, and financiers of chaos on our campuses.” Pennsylvania also had a strong showing Saturday, based on attendees’ cheers when asked if there were any Keystone State voters at the rally. Pennsylvania is expected to again play a key role in deciding the election after throwing support for Trump in 2016, and going blue in 2020. CNN PANELISTS ARGUE THAT STORMY DANIELS, MICHAEL COHEN SHOULD BE GIVEN GAG ORDER TOO: ‘SEEMS FAIR’ The rally comes as the GOP frontrunner is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away. The conclusion of Trump’s criminal trial will see the former president either convicted or acquitted of the charges. Hours before he was scheduled to take the stage, thousands of Trump loyalists donning “Never Surrender” T-shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats crowded onto the sand between the boardwalk and carnival rides to greet the former Republican president. Many attendees who spoke to Fox News said they believe Trump could flip the Garden State in November, when he hopes to take back the White House for a second term. Most attendees who spoke to Fox News Digital listed the border and the economy as two of their top concerns going into November. Trump’s extraordinary legal woes, which include three other unrelated criminal cases, have emerged as a central issue in the campaign. Wildwood is in New Jersey’s 2nd District, which Van Drew has represented for three terms and covers all or part of six counties in southern New Jersey. It went for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020 after earlier backing Barack Obama. Trump is set to return to the courtroom next week, when key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer-turned-foe, is expected to take the witness stand.
Border Patrol mobile app for migrants seeking entry into US controversial on both sides of immigration debate
A government mobile app for migrants seeking asylum at the southern border has become controversial on both sides of the immigration debate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says on its website the CBP One app to schedule appointments at points of entry into the U.S. has “increased CBP’s capacity to process migrants more efficiently and orderly while cutting out unscrupulous smugglers who endanger and profit from vulnerable migrants.” Amnesty International, however, said in a report published this week that the mandatory use of the app for asylum seekers is a “clear violation of international human rights and refugee law.” The human rights organization says the app creates “layers of complexity and obstacles to an already challenging process.” REPUBLICAN SENATORS INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK MIGRANTS FROM USING BORDER PATROL APP AS ID AT TSA CHECKPOINT Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a statement: “The use of the CBP One application conditions entry and access to asylum on appearing at a port of entry with a prior appointment, which is not feasible for some people. While technological innovations could potentially provide for safe transit and more orderly border processes, [programs] like CBP One cannot condition and limit the manner to seek international protection in the United States.” The Biden administration began to use the CBP One app and expanded its use for asylum seekers to make required scheduled appointments at the border as illegal crossings exploded, and as they prepared to end Title 42 a year ago, according to the Los Angeles Times. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S CBP ONE APP TO MANAGE MIGRATION PLAGUED BY LOW STORE RATINGS, TECH ISSUES The app had actually been conceived near the end of the Trump administration as a way to expedite border crossings for people with the legal right to enter the country. But the app is equally unpopular with conservatives, who say it encourages migrants to seek asylum. Last fall, the House Committee on Homeland Security wrote of the “shocking abuse” of the app, saying that 95.8% of all “inadmissible aliens who scheduled appointments through the app” between January and September last year were ultimately given a “notice to appear” and let into the country. “[Homeland Security] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas has utterly abused the CBP One app in his quest for open borders,” committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “These numbers are proof that Mayorkas’ operation is a smokescreen for the mass release of individuals into this country who would otherwise have zero claim to be admitted. “At a time when global tensions are rising, and our enemies are growing bolder, releasing tens of thousands of these people into our communities — especially when they have not received adequate, if any, vetting — is irresponsible. It shouldn’t take a subpoena threat from Congress to get these answers, but we are going to keep fighting for the truth.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The government argues the app allows border agents to focus on other border security issues and that it discourages crossing illegally. “I can highlight a number of instances over the last 10 years, where migrants showing up at our ports of entry without any advance information quickly overwhelm our teams,” Diane Sabatino, acting executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s office of field operations told Congress in March, according to the Los Angeles Times. The CBP and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump says son Barron, 18, likes politics and gives him advice: ‘He’s a smart one’
Former President Trump on Friday praised his 18-year-old son, Barron, as a “smart one,” adding that the former first son likes to give his dad political advice. “He’s seen it, he doesn’t have to hear it,” the 2024 presumptive Republican nominee told Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT after the host asked if he had advised Barron on “how nasty” politics can be. “He’s a smart one,” Trump continued. “He doesn’t have to hear much, but he’s a great guy. He’s a little on the tall side. I will tell you, he’s a tall one. But he’s a good-looking guy, and he’s really been a great student and he does like politics.” TRUMP PERMITTED TO ATTEND SON BARRON’S GRADUATION AFTER RIPPING TRIAL JUDGE FOR DELAYING DECISION He added that Barron, who will be able to vote for the first time this year after turning 18 in March, likes to give him political advice. “It’s sort of funny, he’ll tell me sometimes, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do.’ So anyway, he’s a good guy. He’s a senior now in high school, and he’ll be going to college.” CHELSEA CLINTON DEFENDS BARRON TRUMP FROM BEING TARGETED IN THE MEDIA: ‘UNIMPEACHABLE RIGHT TO PRIVACY’ The 18-year-old had been selected as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party to the Republican National Convention, but declined it in a statement through his mother, Melania Trump’s office. “While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,” the statement said. The Republican National Convention is scheduled from July 15 through July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP His older children Eric, who is delegation chair, along with Donald Jr., his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, Tiffany and her husband, Michael Boulos, will serve as Florida delegates, according to The Hill.
Trump supporters flock to massive New Jersey campaign rally to hear former president speak amid ongoing trials
Supporters of Donald Trump came out in droves Saturday to hear the former president speak at a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, as the GOP front-runner faces ongoing trials in New York, D.C., Georgia, and Florida. The rally was expected to draw more than 40,000 supporters. Many who spoke to Fox News said they believe Trump could flip the Garden State in November, when he hopes to take back the White House for a second term. Rod Delaine, an Amazon factory worker in Staten Island who lives in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital he drove nearly two-and-a-half hours to attend the rally. A New Jersey schoolteacher who identified herself as Anna, said she was motivated to attend because of the state of the economy. NY V. TRUMP TRIAL CONTINUES AFTER JUDGE DENIES DEFENSE MOTION FOR MISTRIAL Another supporter, who identified himself as Carlos, said he believed the country needed to go back to the way things were under the former president. “I think this country needs to change — although, we already know what Trump’s all about. So, that change is just going to come right back to us because that’s what we need,” Carlos said. “We need Trump because I don’t think Biden is just getting the job done right now. Some of it’s his fault. Some of it is probably the people around him. But I think we need Trump back to get this country back to where it needs to be.” Asked about Trump’s prospect in November, Carlos pointed to the large crowd gathering and said: “Take a look.” “There’s probably about six to 7,000 people waiting online and probably more. [The line] goes all the way back to the entrance. So, you’re looking at 35- to 40,000 people at this venue right now,” he said, noting that some people had been waiting since Thursday for the venue to open.” Another attendee, who identified himself as “Frank from PA,” owns a small landscaping business. He told Fox News Digital his struggling business was a huge factor in supporting Trump. “Finding help is hard. And the cost of fuel and everything has just been outrageous,” he said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Thousands flee Rafah after Israeli forces issue evacuation order
Israel issued new evacuation orders in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands more people to move as it prepares to expand its military operation. With Saturday’s orders, Israeli forces have now evacuated the eastern third of Rafah, pushing into the edges of the heavily populated central area. The orders come in the face of international opposition and criticism. President Joe Biden has already said the United States will not provide offensive weapons to Israel due to its Rafah offensive. The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah, which borders Egypt near the main aid entry point, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties. More than 1.4 million Palestinians have been sheltering in Rafah after fleeing the Israeli military’s bombardments in other parts of the enclave. Considered the last refuge in the Gaza Strip, the evacuations are forcing people to return north to areas devastated by previous attacks. People have already been displaced multiple times and there are few places left in the embattled Strip to move to. Those fleeing fighting earlier this week erected new tent camps in the city of Khan Younis, which was half destroyed in an earlier Israeli offensive, and the central city of Deir el-Balah, straining infrastructure. Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas says a captive has died of wounds sustained in Israeli air strike
British-Israeli Nadav Popplewell was taken captive from Nirim kibbutz by Palestinian group Hamas on October 7. Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has said British-Israeli captive Nadav Popplewell died of wounds sustained in an Israeli air strike a month ago. The group’s announcement on Saturday came just hours after the Palestinian group released an 11-second video showing Popplewell with a bruised eye. In the video republished on social media and cited by Israeli news outlets, a man is seen wearing a white T-shirt and he introduces himself as 51-year-old Nadav Popplewell from the Nirim kibbutz in southern Israel. Superimposed text in Arabic and Hebrew reads: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.” Popplewell was taken captive in Nirim during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, according to Israel’s Ynet news site. His mother was also taken as a captive but later released during the exchange of captives and prisoners by Hamas and Israel last year. Popplewell’s brother was killed in the attack, Ynet reported. The video posted on Saturday on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s armed wing is the third time in less than a month the group has released footage of captives held in Gaza. On April 27, Hamas released a video showing two captives alive – Keith Siegel and Omri Miran. Three days earlier it also broadcast another video showing captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive. The videos come amid growing domestic pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of the remaining captives. Reporting from Amman, Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, said this tactic of releasing videos of captives on a Saturday, when protests take place in Tel Aviv, is a way of pressurising the Israeli government. “This is what’s been a drip-feed if you will from Hamas. Where, by releasing videos, at times showing hostages dead, they are trying to put pressure on the Israeli government,” she said. “But this hasn’t really changed the policies of [the Israeli] government.” On Saturday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel released a statement calling on the Israeli government to strike a deal with Hamas in order to secure the release of captives. “Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders,” the families’ group said in its statement. “We don’t have a moment to spare! You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today.” Relatives of the captives also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not caring about those being held in Gaza and called on Netanyahu to resign. “If we continue down this path, we will lose not only the hostages but the country itself,” Naama Weinberg, a cousin of one of the captives said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday afternoon. “There is no victory and can be no victory without the return of the hostages.” Despite the immense pressure, Netanyahu and his government have so far failed to strike a deal with Hamas. Some 1,139 people were killed on October 7 when Hamas and allied fighters attacked southern Israel, and 250 captives were also taken to the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials say 128 of them are still being held in the Palestinian territory, including 36 who are dead. Israel’s seven-month military campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 34,971 people and wounded 78,641 others. Adblock test (Why?)
Solar storm produces stunning northern lights across US, UK, Russia
An unusually strong solar storm hitting Earth produced stunning displays of colour in the skies across the Northern Hemisphere early on Saturday, with no immediate reports of disruptions to power and communications. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated. The effects of the northern lights, which were on display in the United Kingdom, were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week. Many in the UK shared phone snaps of the lights on social media early Saturday, with the phenomenon seen as far south as London and southern England. There were sightings “from top to tail across the country,” said Chris Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, the British weather agency. He added that the office received photos and information from other European locations including Prague and Barcelona. NOAA alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to take precautions. “For most people here on planet Earth, they won’t have to do anything,” said Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The storm could produce northern lights as far south in the US as Alabama and northern California, NOAA said. But it was hard to predict and experts stressed it would not be the dramatic curtains of colour normally associated with the northern lights, but more like splashes of greenish hues. “That’s really the gift from space weather: the aurora,” Steenburgh said. He and his colleagues said the best aurora views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye. The most intense solar storm in recorded history, in 1859, prompted auroras in Central America and possibly even Hawaii. “We are not anticipating that” but it could come close, NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl said. This storm poses a risk for high-voltage transmission lines for power grids, not the electrical lines ordinarily found in people’s homes, Dahl told reporters. Satellites also could be affected, which in turn could disrupt navigation and communication services here on Earth. Adblock test (Why?)
Pelosi rebuked to her face during Oxford debate after condemning Americans clouded by ‘guns, gays, God’
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was rebuked as an “elite” during a recent Oxford Union debate, where she argued that populism in the United States is a threat to democracy. Pelosi — a self-described “devout” Catholic — said during the April 25 debate that certain Americans, whom she considered to be “poor souls who are looking for some answers,” refuse to accept the answers Democrats give them on particular topics due to their beliefs about “guns, gays, [and] God.” Challenging Pelosi’s position in the debate about populism, Winston Marshall, a musician who was once a part of Mumford and Sons and now hosts the “Marshall Matters” podcast for The Spectator, spoke in opposition to the Oxford Union motion that “This House Believes Populism is a Threat to Democracy.” The Oxford Union at the UK’s famed university holds itself as a defender of free speech, and has hosted events with numerous U.S. politicians in the past, including former Republican House Speakers Newt Gingrich and Kevin McCarthy. Marshall argued at the April 25 debate that the meaning of the word “populist” has been changed by “elites [who] have failed” to align with their own narrative. PELOSI UNIVERSITY SPEECH INTERRUPTED BY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS: ‘WARMONGER’ “‘Populism’ has become a word used synonymously with ‘racist.’ We’ve heard ‘ethno-nationalist,’ we have ‘bigot,’ we have ‘hillbilly,’ ‘redneck,’ we have ‘deplorable,’” Marshall said. Pelosi had argued in her remarks that contemporary American populism currently had an ethno-nationalist character. “Elites use it to show their contempt for ordinary people,” Marshall said. Marshall argued that the change in meaning of the word “populist“ is “a recent change,” and pointed to a 2016 speech delivered by then-President Barack Obama, who he said “took umbrage with the notion that Trump be called a populist.” “If anything, Obama argued that he was the populist. If anything, Obama argued that Bernie was the populist,” he said. “Something curious happens. If you watch Obama’s speeches after that point, more and more recently, he uses the word ‘populist’ interchangeably with ‘strong man,’ ‘authoritarian.’ The word changes meaning. It becomes a negative, a pejorative, a slur.” Highlighting the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, which he believed to be “a dark day for America, indeed,” Marshall said: “I’m sure Congresswoman Pelosi will agree that the entire month of June 2020, when the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, was under siege and under insurrection by radical progressives, those, too, were dark days for America.” At that point, Pelosi raised her hand and said: “There is no equivalence there. . . . It is not like what happened on January 6th, which was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.” “My point, though, is that all political movements are susceptible to violence and, indeed, insurrection,” Marshall said. “Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy. And why else have universal suffrage if not to keep elites in check?” Marshall said he was “rather surprised” that Pelosi was arguing in favor of the motion as he thought “the left was supposed to be anti-elite” and that the “left was supposed to be anti-establishment.” “Today, particularly in America, the globalist left have become the establishment,” he continued. “I suppose for Mrs. Pelosi to have taken this side of the argument, she’d be arguing herself out of a job. Marshall went on to claim that “populism is the voice of the voiceless” and that the “real threat to democracy is from the elites.” PELOSI ACCUSES MSNBC HOST OF BEING A TRUMP ‘APOLOGIST’ FOR ADDING CONTEXT TO JOB NUMBERS “Now, don’t get me wrong, we need elites. If President Biden has shown us anything, we need someone to run the countries,” he said. “When the president has severe dementia, it’s not just America that crumbles, the whole world burns.” Marshal shifted his focus to examining the elites, saying he believes that Trump should have accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election. “So should Hillary in 2016, so should Brussels and Westminster in 2016, and so, too, should Congresswoman Pelosi instead of saying the 2016 election was, quote, ‘hijacked.’” “It was,” Pelosi interjected, drawing laughter from those in attendance. “That doesn’t mean we don’t accept the results of it,” she added. During his speech in opposition of the motion, Marshall also took aim at the social media companies that suspended Trump from their platforms following the January 6 Capitol protests and the mainstream media. “Mainstream media elites are part of a class who don’t just disdain populism, they disdain the people. If Democrats had put half their energy in delivering for the people, Trump wouldn’t even have a chance in 2024 … you’ve had power for four years. From the fabricated Steele Dossier, to trying to take him off the ballot in both Maine and Colorado, the Democrats are the anti-Democrat party,” he said. “Populism is not a threat to democracy. But I’ll tell you what is: It’s elites ordering social media to censor political opponents,” Marshall said. “. . . It’s Brussels, D.C., Westiminster, mainstream media, big tech, big Pharma, corporate collusion and the Davos cronies.” Delivering remarks prior to Marshall, Pelosi said, “Democracy is the rule of law, democracy is free and fair elections, democracy is about independent judiciary, it’s about freedom of the press to have transparency and to have accountability of elected officials to the people.” “It’s about all of that, and that is everything that the populist regime in Washington, D.C., is against,” she added. “Ethno-nationalistic populism, as is the threat to democracy, is about threatening what they call elites, a free press,” she said. “It’s about fighting issues that relate to free and fair elections, where we have voter suppression to the nth degree under this regime and its resistance to passing the Voting Rights Act, the John Lewis Act, all of that.” At one point, while speaking about those who may consider themselves a part of the populist movement and/or are “poor souls who are looking for some answers,”