‘Protect The Squad’ fundraising site launches to bolster far-left lawmakers as primary threats loom
House Democrats in the ultra-progressive “Squad” are being bolstered by a new joint fundraising venture as they face mounting threats to their jobs. The “Protect The Squad” website that was launched by Justice Democrats, a progressive PAC, appears to have been launched within the last week and is linked to Democratic fundraising giant ActBlue. It is the latest effort to insulate a group of progressive lawmakers who have faced bipartisan backlash over their harsh rhetoric toward Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack. “Every member of the Squad is up for re-election this year, and five of these young, working-class, Black and brown progressives are facing serious threats to their U.S. House seats: Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib,” the website stated. SIX HOUSE SEATS THAT COULD FLIP FROM BLUE TO RED IN 2024, POTENTIALLY GIVING GOP A BIGGER MAJORITY “With right-wing megadonor-funded groups like AIPAC and Moderate PAC threatening to drop upwards of $100 million on attack ads and hand-picked challengers to unseat these Squad members, we need to come together to combat their attacks with the power of our grassroots movement.” Of the “Squad” members listed – which notably excludes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the group’s original members – Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is the only one not yet facing a primary challenger. SCHUMER’S ANTI-NETANYAHU SPEECH STRENGTHENS BIBI IN ISRAEL’S WAR TO DEFEAT HAMAS The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a pro-Israel group that works with both Republicans and Democrats to bolster the Middle Eastern U.S. ally’s relationship with Washington. AIPAC is spending heavily this election cycle to promote pro-Israel candidates. AIPAC has endorsed primary challengers to Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Jamaal Bowman D-N.Y. Tlaib said on Instagram this week that “Protect The Squad” is aiming to raise $100 million by April 30. JAMAAL BOWMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN DC COURT ARRAIGNMENT ON CHARGES FOR PULLING FIRE ALARM “Our Squad is strong, but our movement is under attack from GOP-funded corporate Super PACs,” Tlaib wrote. “Together-for Palestine, for workers, for abortion rights, for LGBTQ+ people, for democracy-we’re unstoppable. We’re coming together to raise $100K for them all, chip in now!” The issue of Israel has brought long-simmering divisions within the Democratic Party up to the surface in the wake of Oct. 7, though a growing number of lawmakers on the left have been increasingly critical of Israel’s responding invasion of Gaza.
Luxury cars, apartments in Dubai, London, Rs 1400 crore assets: Meet this Lok Sabha candidate from…
The 49-year-old holds a postgraduate degree in business management from MIT, Pune University.
Seven jurors chosen in Trump criminal trial, 11 more needed
Seven jurors have been selected for former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial. Lawyers approved the seven individuals, including two lawyers, an IT worker, a nurse, an English teacher, a software engineer and a sales professional. Like all other potential jurors interviewed for the New York case, they were grilled on their political beliefs and thoughts towards the former president in order to assure impartiality. TRUMP THREATENED WITH JAIL IF HE MISSES HUSH MONEY TRIAL AS BIDEN CAMPAIGNS IN PENNSYLVANIA The jurors are picked by process of elimination in a system that will repeat until a full jury is selected: Eighteen prospective jurors are brought to the jury box and then lawyers move to have certain prospective jurors eliminated “for cause.” They then eliminate some peremptory challenges, which don’t require a reason. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree relating to alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. JUDGE PRESIDING OVER TRUMP HUSH MONEY CASE DECLINES TO RECUSE HIMSELF On Monday afternoon, 96 prospective jurors were sworn in but more than 50 of them were almost immediately excused for admitting they could not serve as impartial jurors. “It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt,” Trump said after court adjourned Monday. Judge Juan Merchan, who Trump has repeatedly criticized as being partisan and serving the interest of Democrats, addressed Trump directly before calling the prospective jurors into the courtroom. The judge told Trump that if he fails to be present, a warrant will be issued for his arrest. Merchan also told Trump that he has a right to be present at the trial, but that if he disrupts the proceedings, he would be removed. Trump nodded after hearing the instructions. The judge denied Trump’s request to be excused from the trial next Thursday, after the president expressed he wanted to attend arguments at the Supreme Court about presidential immunity. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the trial will be adjourned so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
House Republicans demand NCAA ban on biological men in women’s sports
FIRST ON FOX: More than a dozen House Republicans are calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ban transgender women who were born male from participating in female college sports teams. “We are deeply concerned about the future of women’s sports and upholding the critical Title IX protections for women’s sports with the NCAA’s current policies,” said a letter led by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and signed by 16 fellow Republican lawmakers. The group of 17 lawmakers wrote to NCAA President Charlie Baker after the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced last week that it was banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, though they can still participate in team practices and non-competition activities. OREGON HIGH SCHOOL TRANSGENDER TRACK ATHLETE COMPETES AGAINST GIRLS AT EVENT, SPARKING OUTRAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA The NAIA is a collegiate athletic league made up of smaller and private universities that governs roughly 83,000 student athletes, which is smaller than the over 500,000 student athletes across the NCAA’s three divisions. “This policy appropriately recognizes the natural advantages that biological men have in certain athletic competitions. A 2022 study entitled ‘Transwoman Elite Athletes: Their Extra Percentage Relative to Female Physiology’ concluded that ‘many anatomical sex differences driven by testosterone are not reversible,’” the GOP letter said. COLLEGE ATHLETICS ORGANIZATION BANS TRANS ATHLETES FROM PARTICIPATING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS “Further, this study found that given that ‘estrogen therapy will not reverse most athletic performance parameters, it follows that transgender women will enter the female division with an inherent advantage because of their prior male physiology.’ The NCAA’s current transgender policy fails to take these scientific facts into consideration.” The lawmakers also took issue with recent comments by University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, when she said any student athlete who considers themselves a woman should be able to play on women’s NCAA teams. “This statement ignores the biological facts and would harm female athletes throughout NCAA-affiliated schools,” they wrote. “It is simply unfair for biological males to be allowed to compete against biological females. On top of that, allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports erodes critical Title IX protections for women.” “As such, we urge the NCAA to reconsider its current policy that allows biological males to deprive women of a fair opportunity to compete and achieve athletic success. All women in NCAA-affiliated schools should not fear having their athletic accomplishments minimized by biological males.” EX-WNBA PLAYER VAL WHITING MAKES CLEAR STANCE ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS They cited the 2022 swimming competition where University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas, who is transgender, beat a biologically female swimmer. “This cannot be allowed to ever happen again. The NCAA must follow the NAIA’s lead and prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports,” they wrote. Fox News Digital reached out to the NCAA for a response.
Mayor London Breed’s office silent on anti-Israel protesters clogging Golden Gate Bridge as she visits China
San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s office has been silent since anti-Israel protesters blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, as she continued on an overseas trip to China. The office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment on Tuesday. “We’ve arrived in Shenzen, where I’ve had the opportunity to start meeting with business leaders & city officials to build stronger connections with San Francisco,” Breed said in a post on X Monday evening, hours after protesters had blocked the Golden Gate Bridge. “Thank you to Shenzen Mayor Qin Weizhong for welcoming us as we start our trip to strengthen ties between our cities.” Breed is expected to be in China for the rest of the week, according to China-run media outlet CGTN. ISRAEL PUSHES FOR NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN, URGES COUNTRIES TO DECLARE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD A TERROR GROUP Breed said Monday she gathered with leaders from China’s tourism industry “to highlight San Francisco’s vibrant arts and restaurant scene, new attractions like Tunnel Top Park and the Sky Wheel, and iconic sites.” “This is how we build bridges,” she said. “This work matters. In 2023, visitor spending from China reached over $630 million, taking back the top spot for the first time since pre-pandemic. This is how we lift our entire economy, create jobs, support small businesses, and deliver revenue that provides services across SF.” Prior to the trip, Breed told NBC a few of her goals were to bring pandas back to the San Francisco Zoo, create stronger relationships with Chinese officials to boost tourism and put San Francisco businesses on the radar. “Our goal is to enter into major agreements and make San Francisco significant to China and to let them know that we are open to the business relationship that could be developed as a result,” Breed told the station. Meanwhile, the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP’s) Golden Gate Division said Tuesday 38 people have been arrested following Monday’s incidents, in which demonstrators held up a banner with the message “Stop the world for Gaza” and attached themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with concrete. ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS BLOCK GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TRAFFIC Officials say the protesters are now facing numerous charges including unlawful assembly, resisting and delaying officers and false imprisonment. “Attempting to block or shut down a freeway or state highway to protest is unlawful, dangerous, and prevents motorists from safely reaching their destinations,” the CHP said in a statement. In the Golden Gate Bridge protest that blocked the southbound lane, “Officers had to contend with numerous vehicles utilizing chains concealed with pipes, connecting the drivers and passengers outside the vehicle,” the CHP says. A total of 26 people were arrested in that protest. Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
Anti-Israel group wants to make ‘example’ of Biden at polls to push Dems into abandoning Jewish State
DEARBORN, Mich. — President Biden is in danger of becoming a one-term “example” for other Democrats, according to a leader of the movement to desert the incumbent president at the polls due to his handling of the conflict in the Middle East. “Biden is the example,” Lexis Zeidan, one of the lead organizers and the spokesperson for Listen to Michigan, told Fox News Digital. “Telling the Democratic Party, putting them on notice that even for down ballot elections, for those congresspeople that are not pro-Palestinian and calling for ceasefires, their positions are at stake.” The comments come as Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, has become a key center of resistance to Biden’s bid for re-election. During last month’s Michigan primary, more than 100,000 voters marked “uncommitted” on their ballots instead of supporting Biden as the Democratic nominee, a number Zeidan said far exceeded her organization’s expectations. “We went into the primaries expecting or aiming to get 10,000 uncommitted votes, which was Trump’s margin of victory in 2016,” Zeidan said. “And we ended up with over 101,000 uncommitted votes, where we also landed two delegates in district 12, in district six who will be headed to the national convention.” BIDEN CAMPAIGN: WE DON’T WANT THE VOTES OF ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ PROTESTERS IN MICHIGAN The Biden campaign did not reply to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The resistance to Biden’s re-election stems mainly from the president’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, a response to the Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish State by Hamas, a terrorist group that enjoys financial and material support from Iran. However, many activists in Dearborn, a city with the highest per capita Muslim population in the country, have been vocal opponents of Israeli tactics since the beginning of the war. Zeidan, who is now serving as the spokesperson for the national “Uncommitted Movement,” also pins a lot of the blame for those tactics on Biden, arguing that the president has been allowed to “take our tax dollars to fund a genocide.” The Michigan-based activist argued that Biden had the “power to pick up the phone at the very onset” of Israel’s campaign to “ensure that there was a permanent ceasefire to save lives on both sides.” ‘DEATH TO AMERICA,’ ‘DEATH TO ISRAEL’ CHANTS POUR OUT OF MUSLIM PROTESTERS IN MICHIGAN ON LAST DAY OF RAMADAN “Instead, he continued to provide munitions and aid to a very right-wing fascist government that was literally committing war crimes,” Zeidan said. Zeidan said that the movement is spreading from Dearborn to other key swing states such as Wisconsin, battlegrounds that promise to have an outsized role in determining the fate of this year’s election. Those involved in the movement know that success could ultimately lead to a victory for former President Trump, an outcome Zeidan said will not stop her activism. “For too long you’ve had people being presented with the option of the lesser of two evils,” Zeidan said. “I think what you’re seeing is a wave of young voters and diverse groups of voters and anti-war voters that are saying ‘we’re no longer settling for this option, the lesser of two evils, and that we are going to be courageous, and we’re going to be brave, and we’re going to tell you that you cannot weaponize fear against our belief that we deserve to live in a world where every single person gets to experience self-determination and freedom.’” Zeidan said that message is especially aimed at the Democratic Party, which she said she believes will not be able to win elections simply by claiming to be better than the alternative. “We no longer are going to spend time, money, effort, organizing behind elected officials or presidents who don’t believe in this anti-war, pro-peace, pro-Palestinian view,” Zeidan said.
Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency: Check polling date, candidates list, past election results
The Bathinda seat is one of Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. Over the years, the constituency has been a stronghold of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Reducing Air Pollution in India: Need for a synergistic effort from state, market and civil society
With a synergistic effort from the state, market, and civil society, we will likely be able to address the air pollution problem successfully.
DeSantis signs Florida bill making it harder to ‘weaponize’ book bans in public schools
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Tuesday that will make it harder for some people to ban books in the state’s public schools. The new law, part of the wide-ranging education bill HB 1285, will cap the number of challenges on school materials that an individual can make per year, if they do not have a student enrolled in that district. DeSantis said the bill will help protect schools from activists trying to politicize and disrupt a district’s book review process. “You have some people who are taking the curriculum transparency, and they’re trying to weaponize that for political purposes,” DeSantis said during a news conference Tuesday in Jacksonville. FLORIDA SCHOOL BOARD FORCED TO REMOVE DOZENS OF BOOKS AFTER PARENTS READ ‘GRAPHIC’ PASSAGES ALOUD “And so that involves objecting to normal books.” Previously, there were no limits in place on who could challenge books and other educational materials or how many challenges one person could submit. Under the new bill, individuals without children in the district will be limited to one objection per month, Fox 13 Tampa reports. The bill will, however, ensure that there are unlimited objections for parents with children in the school district, including homeschooled students accessing district materials. Lawmakers have criticized parents on both sides of the political aisle for abusing the system and, at times, overwhelming districts with the number of challenges, Fox 13 reports. PINK HIT WITH COMMUNITY NOTES FOR FALSE CLAIM FL SCHOOLS BANNED ‘TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,’ ‘DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’ During the 2022-23 fiscal year, there were more than 1,200 book objections in Florida, according to state records. More than half came from counties Clay and Escambia. “This is designed, like the governor mentioned before, to allow parents to have a say, allow parents to challenge books that shouldn’t be in a school,” Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said. “But anyone who creates a cottage industry of going around the state and just creating challenges just to gunk up the system and put school systems in arrears as far as reviewing these books, that person won’t be able to do it anymore.” Florida leads the nation in public school book bans with 1,406 books banned in total, according to a report by the non-profit organization Pen America. That is about 40% of the total book bans reported in the U.S. HB 1285 also aims to simplify the process for parents to remove children from poor-performing schools and incentivize districts to increase the number of Purple Star schools that support military families. School districts and charter schools will be required to provide 11th and 12th-grade students with the opportunity to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test and the ability to consult with a military recruiter. Additionally, the bill provides a process for a struggling school to convert to a charter school. “Florida is the number one state in the country for education,” DeSantis said. “By focusing on core academic subjects and rejecting indoctrination in the classroom, we have become a standard-bearer for educational excellence. The legislation I signed today continues to build on Florida’s previous accomplishments.”
‘Have obtained requisite sanction to prosecute NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha under UAPA’: Delhi Police
The prosecution told Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur that the sanction documents have been filed as a part of a supplementary charge sheet in the case. The judge posted the matter for further hearing on April 30.