PM Narendra Modi on 2-day visit to Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar from today
The inauguration of railway projects worth about Rs 3,917 crore underscores the government’s commitment to enhancing connectivity and transportation infrastructure.
Rick Perry stumps for Speaker Dade Phelan in final days of primary election
Donald Trump endorsed Phelan’s opponent, putting Perry at odds with the former president he served under as energy secretary.
ICE says Georgia murder suspect’s brother was previously arrested, but detainers were ignored
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Thursday the brother of the suspect charged with the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley was arrested multiple times in Athens, Georgia, in 2023, but its requests to take him into custody were ignored. Diego Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, was arrested last week and charged with green card fraud. His younger brother, Jose, is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another in the homicide of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student. LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT’S BROTHER FIRED FROM UGA DINING HALL JOB AFTER PRESENTING FAKE GREEN CARD Jose Ibarra is accused of killing Riley while she was jogging along a popular pedestrian loop around Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens Feb. 22. The two brothers from Venezuela were living in the United States illegally. ICE confirmed Jose’s illegal status earlier this week. In a statement Thursday, ICE said Diego Ibarra had first entered the U.S. April 3, 2023, near Eagle Pass, Texas, but was removed via the COVID-era Title 42 process. He reentered April 30 and was enrolled into “Alternatives to Detention,” by which migrants are monitored via GPS tracking when released. BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD He was released May 12, 2023, but by May 25 was judged to have bolted from the program after abnormalities with his GPS tracking device. Enrollees can be tracked in a number of ways, including a bracelet or a cell phone app. Last year, the administration pushed for a reduction in ICE detention beds and more funding for ATD but is now pushing for more detention beds. The ICE statement said he has several arrests in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, but that ICE detainers — requests that ICE be notified when an illegal immigrant is being released for a transfer to ICE custody — were not honored. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department told Fox News Digital it is not responsible for ICE notifications and does not have access to immigration status. It said that is instead handled by the Clarke County jail and directed Fox to the Clarke County Sheriff’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the detainers were not honored. The revelation comes a day after Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz repeatedly rejected the characterization Athens is a “sanctuary” city. “There’s been no legislation from this government that’s created sanctuary city status,” he said. WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES Fox reported this week that Diego Ibarra was fired from the University of Georgia after it was discovered he presented a fake green card to work at the school’s dining hall. “Diego Ibarra presented a fake green card to the hiring unit to begin a temporary position as a dishwasher in Bolton Dining Hall at the University of Georgia on Feb. 6, 2024,” UGA spokesperson Greg Trevor told Fox News Digital in a statement. Diego then failed to “submit further documentation required to keep the job and was never paid by the university” before he was “fired,” Trevor added. The White House on Wednesday issued a statement to Fox News Digital calling on local governments to work with ICE on deporting violent criminals. “We welcome local law enforcement’s support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday in response to a question about its stance on sanctuary cities. “When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE. “Just since May 12, DHS has removed or returned more than 565,000 individuals, the vast majority of whom crossed the southwest border. (The) 565,000 removals and returns is more than every full fiscal year since 2013.” Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
CCP flagship newspaper touts Biden’s campaigns TikTok, criticizes ‘hypocritical’ politicians for ‘suppression’
The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, the Global Times, touted President Biden’s campaign’s use of TikTok and critiqued the “deep hypocrisy” of America’s politicians who call the social media platform a national security threat. The opinion article in the CCP’s state media said that Biden’s campaign use of TikTok “highlights the unjust suppression” and “proves the hype nonsense.” “As a social media app that has been heavily portrayed by the US as a ‘national security threat,’ TikTok being used by Biden’s campaign highlights the unjust suppression of TikTok by American politicians and proves the hype nonsense,” the article said. BIG TECH FACES BRUTAL QUESTIONING ON CAPITOL HILL OVER CONTENT HARMING KIDS The Global Times argued that the short-form video social media platform has become a “necessary means” for American politicians to reach young voters. Citing a 2023 survey report by the Pew Research Center, the Global Times said that about one-third (32 percent) of young Americans aged 18 to 29 say they regularly get their news from TikTok. The CCP newspaper said that American politicians are “very self-contradictory when it comes to TikTok.” The article argued that Biden’s campaign’s use of TikTok proves that the social media platform is not a national security threat and proves the “deep hypocrisy” of American politicians. “In the end, we are witnessing that Washington’s behavior toward TikTok is unacceptable to the public and society, so politicians have to choose to compromise for votes,” Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. Jake Denton, a research associate at the Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, told Fox News Digital that Biden’s “hunger for votes has blinded him to the national security threats” posed by TikTok. “Once again, President Biden’s insatiable hunger for votes has blinded him to the national security threats facing America,” Denton said. “By choosing to use TikTok for his reelection campaign, he is callously disregarding warnings from both parties and national security experts that this Chinese-controlled technology imperils our national security through invasive data gathering and its ties to the CCP.” “We cannot let one man’s thirst for social media virality and votes endanger our country,” Denton said. “The President must put America before his personal electoral interests, immediately delete TikTok, and join the bipartisan efforts to ban the app from operating on American soil.” The Biden campaign’s TikTok video sparked outrage after the administration banned the Chinese-owned app from federal devices over security concerns. TIKTOK CEO GRILLED ON CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY INFLUENCE, SEARCHES OF TAYLOR SWIFT VS. TIANANMEN SQUARE Last February, the administration set a 30-day deadline for government agencies to purge the app from federal devices. The social media platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is popular among younger Americans. Biden previously joined forces with TikTok influencers amid his re-election run, and the Democratic National Committee also joined the platform. The president’s campaign joining the Beijing-based social media platform could present unique security risks. Most notably, the Chinese Communist Party’s cybersecurity law allows government authorities to access companies’ data. TikTok and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.
Ahead of 2024 presidential election, swing state Pennsylvania sets up election security task force
Law enforcement agencies, civil defense officials and election administrators have begun meeting in Pennsylvania to coordinate how they will identify and fight election threats with the presidential contest just eight months away in the battleground state, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration said Thursday. Shapiro created the Pennsylvania Election Threats Task Force, after the state became a magnet for baseless allegations about election fraud and failed lawsuits in an effort to undo Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory there and keep then-President Donald Trump in power. CONSERVATIVES RALLY BEHIND PENNSYLVANIA AMISH FARMER WHO SUFFERED POLICE RAID OVER MILK SALES It will be led by his top election official, Secretary of State Al Schmidt. The task force’s mission is to design plans to share information and coordinate in the fight against threats to the election process, voter intimidation and misinformation about voting and elections. “Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American democracy, and we are working to continue defending Pennsylvanians’ fundamental freedoms and ensure we have a free, fair, safe, secure election this November,” Shapiro said in a statement. Partners include U.S. attorney’s offices, the state attorney general’s office, county election directors, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania National Guard. Pennsylvania is yet again expected to be pivotal in the fall presidential election. Trump declared his mistrust of Pennsylvania in 2020, saying that ” bad things ” happen in Philadelphia, and it remains in Trump’s crosshairs. Trump told supporters in December to “guard the vote” and to “go into” Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta to “watch those votes when they come in.” Shapiro — who as attorney general played a central role in defending Pennsylvania’s 2020 election against Republican efforts in court to overturn it — has said that administration officials were preparing for the election on legal, law enforcement and election administration fronts. Shapiro’s Department of State is putting more resources into countering election misinformation and is improving the connectivity and processing speed of the state’s digital voter registration database that counties use daily. PHILADELPHIA ESCAPEE SPOTTED LEAVING HOME STILL WEARING HANDCUFFS IN NEW VIDEO AFTER FLEEING FROM OFFICERS It created a unit to train county election workers and tried to standardize mail-in ballots to cut down on the garden-variety mistakes by registered voters that nevertheless have spawned countless lawsuits. The election is likely to be close. Complicating it is a state law that prohibits counties from processing mail-in ballots before Election Day — raising the specter of another drawn-out count in Pennsylvania like the one in 2020 that gave a window to Trump-inspired conspiracy theories and false claims. Nearly every other state allows mail-in ballots to be processed before Election Day. In recent weeks Schmidt — himself a former Philadelphia election official who has told of enduring death threats for defending the city’s 2020 vote-counting against Trump’s lies — has said that a wave of experienced administrators departing county election offices is a threat to elections. About 70 senior county election officials in the 67 counties have left recently, Schmidt told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon on Monday. Inexperience gives rise to mistakes that are seized on to sow doubt about elections, Schmidt said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Any mistake, “especially in an environment where any mistake, no matter how innocent, is so easily interpreted as being intentional and malicious and seeking to change the outcome of an election,” Schmidt said.
GOP slams White House for blaming ‘broken immigration system’ on them when asked about Laken Riley’s murder
Republicans are hitting back at the White House after the Biden administration appeared to blame GOP lawmakers for a broken immigration system when asked about Laken Riley’s murder. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the comments during an interview with CNN host John Berman. She was asked to respond to Republican accusations that the Biden administration’s border policies have led to the deaths of Americans, like Riley, at the hands of illegal immigrants. Berman highlighted a quote from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO., who said: “these deaths are on [President Biden].” GOP LAWMAKERS WARNED MAYORKAS ABOUT CRIME RISK FROM VENEZUELAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BUT NEVER GOT A RESPONSE “I want to offer our condolences to the family of Laken, I mean this is a horrific, horrific loss for any family, and obviously, whoever is found guilty, we need to make sure that that happens, and obviously, we don’t want to see anything like that happen again,” Jean-Pierre said, before pivoting to the broader question of the border crisis. “But here’s the thing, we have done the work, to make sure we’re dealing with a broken immigration system. The Republicans have gotten in the way. They have gotten in the way. And that’s what we continue to see over and over and over again,” Jean-Pierre said. She continued: “And so look, this is a serious matter, that‘s why the president is going to the border. The president was at the border a year ago in El Paso, visiting the border back in January 2023. He put a comprehensive, a comprehensive immigration policy on day one.” Jean-Pierre also made similar comments during an earlier press briefing, in which she said Republicans were “getting in the way,” when it came to fixing the border. In response, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the “Biden White House blaming anyone else but themselves for the effects of their open border policies is insane.” “Under President Biden’s open border policies, American lives have been lost. Laken Riley’s is the latest in that tragic count. At every turn, this administration has refused to hold themselves accountable — blaming everyone and everything but their own policy failures,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, said in a statement. “With a wave of a pen, President Biden can take action on border security, but he refuses to do so. There is no excuse for the President of the United States to turn his back on communities that are clearly in danger. We need action now.” “It’s telling that the White House can’t even admit the truth: an illegal immigrant killed Laken Riley and Joe Biden’s open border is to blame,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO., said in a statement. “It’s time for the White House to take responsibility for their dangerous policies and take action before more Americans are hurt.” TRUMP SAYS HE SPOKE TO ‘DEVASTATED’ PARENTS OF LAKE RILEY, BLASTS BIDEN FOR BORDER CRISIS ‘LIKE A WAR’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Laken Riley’s death “was caused by the Biden administration breaking the law.” “If I were her family, and this guy actually did it, I would sue the hell out of the federal government because the Biden administration has been breaking the law for over two years now when it comes to [immigration] parole.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Democrats of viewing American deaths as “acceptable collateral damage.” “They view these murders as just the price we have to pay to advance their open-border agenda,” Cruz tweeted Thursday. TEXAS WILL APPEAL RULING TO BLOCK LAW ALLOWING POLICE TO ARREST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, ABBOTT SAYS Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student, was found murdered on the campus of the University of Georgia earlier this month after going for a run. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally, was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another in connection to Riley’s death. This all comes as President Biden and his GOP rival, former President Donald Trump, made dueling trips to the southern border on Thursday, underscoring how central immigration has become in the 2024 presidential race. Biden slammed Republicans for a bipartisan border deal that collapsed earlier this month. Meanwhile, Trump continued to dial up his attacks on illegal immigrants, deriding them as “terrorists” and criminals. Trump was in Eagle Pass Thursday, roughly 325 miles northwest of where Biden visited in Brownsville.
Georgia’s GOP-led Senate passes funding ban on ‘Marxist and socialist’ American Library Association
Georgia’s Senate passed a bill Thursday that would ban libraries from spending public or private funds on services offered by the American Library Association, which a Republican member of the chamber called a “Marxist and socialist” group. The measure, Senate Bill 390, passed by a vote of 33 to 20. Democrats opposed it, saying the ALA offered libraries invaluable services and had long defended free speech and artistic expression. But one of the bill’s authors, Republican Sen. Larry Walker III, said the group’s agenda and politics were inconsistent with Georgia’s conservative values. NEW GEORGIA LEGISLATION INTRODUCED AFTER LAKEN RILEY MURDER “This is not an attack on libraries,” he said. “It doesn’t ban any books.” Right-wing lawmakers in other states have also moved to sever ties with the ALA, in part because of its defense of disputed books, many of which have LGBTQ+ and racial themes. A tweet by ALA President Emily Drabinski in 2022 in which she called herself a “Marxist lesbian” also has drawn criticism. Georgia Sen. Randy Robertson, another Republican, said the state did not need “a Marxist and socialist organization infecting” its library system. But state Sen. Elena Parent, a Democrat, said the bill was putting librarians “on the front lines of a culture war.” Lawmakers, instead, should be focusing on improving the state’s low reading scores, she said. The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
Biden admin punts major power plant crackdown until after 2024 election
The Biden administration is punting on finalizing the bulk of proposed environmental regulations targeting existing fossil fuel-fired power plants until after the upcoming election. In an unexpected announcement Thursday evening, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its “new” approach to regulating emissions from fossil fuel plants, which generate more than 60% of the nation’s electricity. Under the plan, EPA will move forward with parts of its power plant proposal unveiled in May 2023, but delay any regulations impacting existing natural gas plants until late this year or next year. “As EPA works towards final standards to cut climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, the Agency is taking a new, comprehensive approach to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines, as well as cover more pollutants including climate, toxic and criteria air pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “This stronger, more durable approach will achieve greater emissions reductions than the current proposal,” he continued. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RIGGED INTERNAL ANALYSIS, SOFTENING BLOW OF POWER PLANT REGULATIONS: REPORT EPA’s sudden shift, first reported by The New York Times, comes amid intense pressure from a wide range of business groups, energy associations, manufacturers, grid operators and lawmakers who have blasted the agency’s original proposal as too burdensome. Critics warned that cracking down on gas plants — the single largest source of electricity in the U.S., providing power to tens of millions of homes annually — would have severe consequences for Americans. US GRID OPERATORS WARN BIDEN’S POWER PLANT CRACKDOWN COULD TRIGGER ‘SIGNIFICANT POWER SHORTAGES’ On May 11, 2023, EPA unveiled the original proposal which it said would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 617 million metric tons through 2042. The proposal relies heavily on carbon capture, a nascent and costly technology that removes emissions from the air, essentially forcing plants to adopt such technology or shut down. While that proposal would have impacted existing and future natural gas and coal power plants, under the new plan announced Thursday, it will exempt existing natural gas plants. All coal-fired plants and future natural gas plants will still be impacted when EPA finalizes the regulations in the coming weeks. But the agency will now issue an entirely separate proposal covering existing natural gas plants months from now. “Sierra Club supports the Biden administration’s new strategy to address a broad range of pollutants emitted by gas-fired power plants,” Ben Jealous, the executive director of environmental group Sierra Club, said Thursday. “Strong protections against gas plant emissions will help the United States meet its international climate commitments while protecting the most vulnerable communities from the pollution contaminating their air.” “We look forward to working closely with the Biden EPA to quickly implement the building blocks of its new multi-pollutant approach for gas plants to ensure the strongest possible protections for our environment and public health,” he added.
Special Counsel Jack Smith proposes new date for Trump classified records trial
Special Counsel Jack Smith and attorneys for former President Trump proposed a start dates for the trial stemming from the investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records. The special counsel, in a filing Thursday evening, proposed the trial begin on July 8. The trial was initially set to begin on May 20, ahead of the Kentucky primary on May 21, the Oregon primary on May 25 and New Jersey’s primary June 4. Trump’s attorneys proposed the trial start on August 12, but in a filing asserted that since he is the leading GOP candidate in the 2024 presidential election, a “fair trial cannot be conducted this year in a manner consistent with the Constitution.” Smith’s filing comes a day before the next court date in the case, when U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the case, said she may delay the trial date. Should Trump win the GOP nomination, the proposed date would have the trial begin just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The convention begins July 15-18. Meanwhile, Smith’s proposal comes just a day after the Supreme Court announced it would consider whether Trump has presidential immunity from prosecution in his separate federal election interference case. That trial was set to begin on March 4 in Washington D.C., but is on hold until the Supreme Court decides on the matter. The decision is expected in mid-June. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Alabama House, Senate pass protections for IVF after court ruling
The Alabama state House and Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday granting civil and criminal immunity to in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients and medical professionals. Over nearly six hours of debate, lawmakers from both major parties raised dozens of objections to the proposals. However, lawmakers still passed each proposal. Now, the House and Senate need to vote on a unified version of the legislation before sending it to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey for a signature. Thursday’s decision comes just weeks after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF can be considered children under the law. FOLLOWING IVF RULING, BIDEN TO SEND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY TO VISIT ALABAMA The bills are intended to protect IVF health professionals, doctors and patients from being prosecuted or having a civil suit brought against them. Last week, Justices ruled that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in a mishap at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death claims for their “extrauterine children.” Justices also cited that the GOP-controlled Legislature and voters added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018 saying that the state recognizes the “rights of the unborn child.” “Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the ruling. This includes “unborn children who are located outside a biological uterus at the time they are killed.” In the wake of the court’s ruling, multiple clinics that offer IVF care in Alabama halted all appointments indefinitely, including Alabama Fertility and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System. ALABAMA PROVIDERS SUSPEND IVF TREATMENTS AFTER STATE COURT’S RULING AS FERTILITY EXPERTS WEIGH IN This latest move from the House and Senate put a measure protecting IVF on the fast track for a full vote in the state Legislature next Wednesday. It is expected to pass and be signed into law. Fox News Digital’s Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.