Alabama Sen. Katie Britt to deliver Republican response to Biden State of the Union address: ‘Truly honored’
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., will provide the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address next week. Britt’s planned response to the March 7 presidential address was announced Thursday by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak directly to my fellow Americans and have a candid conversation about the future of our nation,” Britt said in a statement. “The Republican Party is the party of hardworking parents and families, and I’m looking forward to putting this critical perspective front and center.” Britt, the first female elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, was sworn into office in 2023 and is the youngest female Republican to ever serve in the Senate. BIDEN CAMPAIGN AIMS TO USE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AS RESET AFTER DAMNING SPECIAL COUNSEL CLAIMS: REPORT “There is no doubt that President Biden’s failed presidency has made America weaker and more vulnerable at every turn,” she added. “At this decisive moment in our country’s history, it’s time for the next generation to step up and preserve the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren.” Johnson praised Britt in a statement as a “champion” for Republican priorities. “Americans are struggling amid a border catastrophe, crushing inflation, an increasingly dangerous world, and fears about a President not up to the task,” he said. “Against this backdrop, Senator Katie Britt will share her incredible story as the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the state of Alabama. As the only current Republican mom of school-aged kids serving in the Senate, Katie is fighting to preserve the American Dream for the next generation. She is a champion for strong families, a secure border, national defense and a vibrant economy with stable prices and opportunities for all.” “The American people will tune in as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate turns the page on the oldest President in history,” Johnson added.
Texas Dem running to unseat Ted Cruz has received thousands in donations from anti-Israel activists
Democrat Senate candidate Colin Allred has taken thousands of dollars in campaign donations from activists who have espoused anti-Israel views and are tied to radical groups who push the same agenda, a review of Federal Election Commission filings reveals. Following the rise of antisemitism after Hamas’s invasion of Israel last October, Allred said that he “unequivocally” denounces “antisemitism in all forms” and that his “support for Israel and its right to defend itself is unwavering.” But over the years, he’s accepted campaign contributions from individuals with anti-Israel ties, and his campaign remained silent when asked about the donations. Allred previously took $312 while running for a House seat from Ibrahim Alhusseini, a venture capitalist and environmentalist who defended Palestinians’ “hate” of Israelis. “People ask why Palestinian kids often hate Israelis, and my simple answer is: If you live the life that Israel forces on them, I dare you not to hate. Most humans would rather die standing then live on their knees,” Alhusseini wrote in a February 2018 Twitter post. HARVARD TO HOST PALESTINIAN PROF WHO BLAMED ISRAEL FOR OCT. 7, CALLED ATTACKS ‘NORMAL HUMAN STRUGGLE’ The Democrat, who is trying to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, received another $500 donation from Azhar Azeez, the then-president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in 2018. Azeez helped establish the Dallas Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter, which called for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a woman known as “Lady Al-Qaeda,” in 2021. She was convicted in 2010 for the shooting of U.S. service members in Afghanistan and allegedly holds ties to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, who is considered the main architect of 9/11. DEM SENATE CANDIDATE SENT $1M IN TAXPAYER FUNDS TO GROUP TEACHING ‘RACIAL EQUITY AND IDENTITY’ TO 4-YEAR-OLDS ISNA has also hosted speakers with antisemitic ties, including Hatem Bazian, who StopAntisemisitsm.org labeled “the most antisemitic Professor in the United States.” Among the other donors with anti-Israel viewpoints is Lorraine Leblanc, who in April 2022 wrote that Israel lived out “oppressive and brutal apartheid rule.” Leblanc has given $750 to his campaign. “Palestinians live in daily fear of violence from the Israeli military and settlers. Israel’s oppressive and brutal apartheid rule affects every aspect of Palestinian life. I have witnessed this first hand,” Leblanc posted on X. Allred also received a $500 donation from Nichole Mossalam, who, from 2013 to 2016, served as the Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) Cambridge, according to her Facebook page. The IBS Cambridge branch was frequented by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombers, as well as multiple worshipers tied to terrorist groups. IBS has invited a long list of controversial speakers to engage in events with the group, including Tariq Ramadan, who, according to the Hoover Institution, has said that killing Israeli schoolchildren is “contextually explicable.” Another speaker was Nihad Awad, the executive director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who recently said that he was “happy to see” the October 7 Hamas invasion of Israel and that the Jewish state did not have a right to self-defense, because it is an “occupying power.” In addition to some of his anti-Israel donors, Allred has also repeatedly refused to condemn Imam Omar Suleiman, who has called for an “intifada,” which means violent uprising, against Israel. Suleiman also repeatedly called Israel an “apartheid state” and has said being gay is a “disease.” The controversial Imam has also expressed support for the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BSD) movement, which is a pressure-point campaign seeking to punish Israel financially. In 2019, Allred said Suleiman’s “message of peace, unity, and support for our fellow Americans is needed now, more than ever.” He has also met with multiple other groups who have espoused antisemitic views, including the Texas chapter of American Muslims for Palestine and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Allred has a history of radical ties, including sending $1M in taxpayer funds to a group teaching “racial equity and identity” to four-year-olds. He also received backlash for claiming that it would have been “better” if the Second Amendment “had not been written.” Allred’s campaign and the anti-Israel donors did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
Fox News Politics: Biden, Trump face-off at the border
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s Happening? – Trump, Biden give competing speeches at the southern border this afternoon – House passes week-long funding bill; Senate to vote later – Trump appeals Illinois judge’s ruling to boot him from ballot President Biden’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday reflects his wishful thinking on the issue, arriving at one of the least-trafficked towns on the border. Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas, which ranks as the 29th-most trafficked town by illegal border-crossers, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Former President Trump, meanwhile, is set to hold a competing visit to the border, though he will arrive at Eagle Pass, Texas, one of the most heavily-trafficked towns in the country. Biden’s trip to Texas is an attempt to address his deep unpopularity on the issue, with a recent poll showing just 26% of Americans support his handling of the border. The White House says Biden will use the visit to renew his calls for Congress to pass a bipartisan border agreement, which would have increased staffing at the border as well as tightening asylum rules, moved to tackle fentanyl smuggling, and increased funding to communities and NGOs receiving migrants. Republicans argued it fell well short of what is necessary. WELCOMED IN: White House refers to illegal immigrants as ‘newcomers’ …Read more FOOT IN MOUTH: Kamala Harris praises ‘nonpartisan poll worker,’ immediately backfires when people learn who he really is …Read more KICKING THE CAN: House punts government shutdown deadline to next week …Read more CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION: ‘Squad’ member Tlaib reacts to question on voting for Biden at cease-fire presser …Read more MCCONNELL’S SUCCESSOR: Senate Republicans want next leader to have ‘positive relationship’ with Trump …Read more ‘AMEN TO THIS’: Fetterman shocks critics for defending Boebert’s son with compassionate post after his arrest …Read more BREAKING NEWS: Sen. John Cornyn declares candidacy for minority leader after McConnell steps down …Read more ‘HASN’T DONE SQUAT’: Vulnerable House Dem who touts her experience blasted after record comes back to haunt her …Read more GOING NUCLEAR: Progressive Dems vote against bipartisan green energy bill …Read more ‘FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP’: House committee grills Austin for secret hospitalization …Read more FIGHTING BACK: Trump campaign appeals Illinois judge’s ruling booting him from primary ballot …Read more MENTAL FITNESS: Biden ‘must take a cognitive test,’ Trump says after president’s physical …Read more NEW ENDORSEMENT: Trump-backed Moreno scores another high-profile endorsement in Ohio Senate race …Read more ‘THIS IS HUGE’: Cache of texts shows back-and-forth over affair with prosecutor Willis hired to go after Trump …Read more LAW & BORDER: Federal judge blocks Texas law allowing police to arrest illegal border crossers …Read more ON NOTICE: Union has stern warning for Biden ahead of border visit …Read more HOT AIR: NY AG hits major beef producer with climate lawsuit …Read more SOUR MILK?: Conservatives rally behind Pennsylvania Amish farmer who suffered police raid over milk sales …Read more BREAKING NEWS: WATCH LIVE: Gov. DeSantis signs law with big potential impact on Epstein case …Read more Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Rhode Island NAACP president convicted of campaign finance violations in city council run
The president of the Providence NAACP violated state campaign finance laws when he ran for City Council in 2022, officials said. A judge convicted Gerard Catala, 45, of two counts of failing to file campaign finance reports as required by state law. Catala, who was ordered to perform 20 hours of public service, immediately appealed the judge’s decision, issued Wednesday. RHODE ISLAND TEACHER SOUNDS ALARM ON DHS-FUNDED ‘MEDIA LITERACY’ PROGRAM SHE SAYS WILL ‘INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN’ Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said his office was asked by the Board of Elections to prosecute a candidate “who blithely and repeatedly ignored campaign finance laws.” “Failure to file such reports, after repeated directives from the Board of Elections to file them, can lead only to one place: criminal prosecution,” Neronha said Wednesday in a statement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The case was subject to a one-year filing. That means it could be expunged if Catala stays out of trouble for a year. Neither Catala nor his attorney immediately returned messages seeking comment.
VA legislators pass recreational marijuana sales bill, Republican Gov. Youngkin to review
Virginia lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday that, if approved by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, would allow recreational retail sales of marijuana to begin next year. Under the bills, the state would start taking applications on Sept. 1 for cultivating, testing, processing and selling the drug in preparation for the market to open May 1, 2025, with products taxed at a rate of up to 11.625%. The legislation would create the state’s first retail market in a “responsible and thoughtful way,” said Del. Paul Krizek of Fairfax County, who carried the House version. “And we’ve done so because it’s time to give Virginia’s $3 billion illicit market a run for its money. And it’s time to give Virginians access to a safe, tested and taxed product,” Krizek said on the House floor. VIRGINIA PAVES THE WAY FOR MARIJUANA SALES, ASSISTED SUICIDE AS ASSEMBLY DEADLINE LOOMS In 2021, Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana, adopting a policy change that allowed adults age 21 and up to possess and cultivate the drug. But because of political gridlock and policy differences since then, the state still hasn’t set up retail sales, which critics say is allowing illicit sales to continue to flourish. Currently, home cultivation and adult sharing of the drug are legal. And patients who receive a written certification from a health care provider can purchase medical cannabis from a dispensary. It’s not entirely clear how Youngkin will act on the legislation, which passed both the House of Delegates and Senate on Wednesday after a few last-minute changes. The governor hasn’t explicitly threatened to veto a retail sales bill. But for years he has been vague on the issue, saying his focus was elsewhere or — as he did at the start of this session — that he just isn’t interested. “I’ve said before, this is an area that I really don’t have any interest in. What I want us to work on are areas where we can find a meeting of the mind and press forward to the betterment of Virginia, and there are so many of them,” he told reporters in January. His press office declined further comment Wednesday. “This bill regulates an existing market,” said Greg Habeeb, a former Republican legislator now lobbying for the Virginia Cannabis Association, who thinks the governor will give the bill “a very serious look.” Competing bills setting up a retail market were introduced at the start of the legislative session. The versions that passed Wednesday were identical and the result of compromise, Krizek and Senate lawmakers said. Under the legislation, no group would get a head-start on kicking off retail sales, Krizek said. Products would be taxed at a maximum rate of 11.625%, with 8% going to the state, 2.5% a local option tax and 1.125% to K-12 education, Habeeb said. The 81-page bills allow for localities to hold a referendum on whether to prohibit retail marijuana stores. They also increase the amount of marijuana a person over 21 may possess from 1 ounce to 2.5 ounces. The legislation contains a lengthy section on labeling and packaging, including requirements that products identify all ingredients, THC potency, possible allergens and contain a warning label. Products would have to be sold in child-resistant packaging. The cultivation, processing, or manufacture of marijuana without the proper license would be a Class 6 felony, according to a review of the financial implications of the bill. In past years, a sticking point in negotiations has been social equity provisions that would aim to give advantages in the licensing process to people and communities hurt by old marijuana laws and disproportionate law enforcement that focused on people of color. Krizek said this version contains preferences for certain micro-businesses, a provision intended to encourage participation in the industry by individuals from historically economically disadvantaged communities. “These preferences, which will be race-neutral, will offer significant economic opportunities for economically disadvantaged persons, including persons who have suffered hardship or loss due to this country’s war on marijuana,” Krizek said. The legislation advanced mostly along party lines, with just a couple of Republicans backing it. “The idea that any of this is going to get rid of the black market is laughable, with all due respect,” House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert said. The bills have also drawn opposition from religious and socially conservative groups, which have raised concerns ranging from the harm of addiction to possible effects on children. The 2021 bill that legalized marijuana passed in a chaotic rush, strictly along party lines, with no GOP support. While there has been some Republican legislative support since then for setting up legal recreational sales, bills to do so have failed two years in a row. “The bill may not be perfect, but it’s pretty good. And it’s a very, very good framework that I think the governor should consider,” Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola said.
‘A legend for our people’: Inside an Indigenous activist’s death in Brazil
Uruçuca, Brazil – Mukunã Pataxó remembers his aunt began to sing moments before the gunfire rang out. Maria de Fátima Muniz, 52, was a spiritual leader among the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, an Indigenous group in northeastern Brazil. A short, serious woman with dark, shoulder-length hair, she was known to lead her people in prayer and song, her voice deep and steady. But on January 21, that voice could not quell the violence about to erupt in the rolling green hills outside Potiraguá, a town in the state of Bahia. About 50 members of Maria’s village had gathered there to set up camp one day prior, in an effort to reclaim part of their ancestral homeland. She, her brother Chief Nailton Muniz and the other Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe activists had planned to plant traditional crops in the area: beans, cassava and corn, alongside medicinal herbs. But their presence generated backlash among the local landowners. A social media message soon circulated on WhatsApp, calling on merchants, farmers and landholders to “take back” the parcel. More than 30 vehicles arrived the next morning, blocking access to the roads. The Brazilian government later estimated there were 200 non-Indigenous “ruralists” present. Some came armed. Mukuna said police on the scene had assured the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe of their safety. Video showed the group chanting at the top of a dirt path, while officers stood metres away. Law enforcement did nothing, however, as the ruralists raised their guns to shoot, Chief Muniz and his stepson Mukunã allege. The ruralists opened fire and attacked the group, wounding at least five people and setting fire to Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe vehicles. Chief Muniz was shot in the kidney. And his sister was fatally injured. She died on the way to the hospital. “The police were watching everything,” said Mukunã, “as if we were nothing to them.” Maria became the second Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe leader to be shot dead in southern Bahia in the past three months. Her death has raised lingering questions about the ongoing violence against the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe community — and whether Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can follow through with his promises to defend Indigenous rights. Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe spiritual leader Maria de Fátima Muniz was killed by gunfire in January [Courtesy of Alass Derivas] A cut-off date for Indigenous land claims Lula himself responded to the shooting by pledging federal support to “resolve this situation”. “I want to make the federal government available to help Indigenous peoples find a solution so that we can resolve this peacefully,” he told Radio Metropole after the attack. Lula has publicly sought to expand protections for Brazil’s Indigenous groups, a population of nearly 1.7 million people. Last April, four months into his term, he announced the creation of six new federally recognised Indigenous territories — the first such recognition in years. “We are going to legalise Indigenous lands,” he said in an accompanying address. “I won’t leave a single Indigenous territory unprotected.” The number of land demarcations was lower than expected, however, falling short of the 14 territories his government had pledged to recognise — one of which was Pataxó territory in the south of Bahia. Critics say the president has also failed to defend Indigenous groups from an onslaught of recent court cases and legislation, designed to weaken their claims over their ancestral lands. Mukunã Pataxó, centre, has denounced police inaction in the January attack [Courtesy of Alass Derivas] One of the most recent efforts has been to implement a “marco temporal” or “time marker” to cut off Indigenous land claims. Any land they did not inhabit on October 5, 1988 — the date of Brazil’s most recent constitution — would not be recognised as Indigenous territory under the policy. Advocacy groups have blasted the policy as a dangerous rollback of Indigenous rights, one that ignores the legacy of displacement many tribes have endured. A United Nations human rights expert warned the legislation could “legitimize violence against indigenous peoples”, and the Climate Observatory, a Brazil-based advocacy network, nicknamed it the “Indigenous genocide law”. But the “marco temporal” enjoys strong support from Brazil’s agricultural lobby, which seeks access to natural resources on Indigenous lands. The lobby is powerful, and its reach extends to Brazil’s Congress. A majority of lawmakers in both congressional chambers identify as part of the “Bancada Ruralista”, a voting bloc that advocates for farming interests. That broad base of support allowed Congress to ultimately pass the “marco temporal” in December, sidestepping a Supreme Court decision that previously declared the policy unconstitutional — and even overriding a partial veto from Lula himself. Joelson Ferreira — who works with Chief Muniz as co-founder of Teia dos Povos, a national alliance of Black, Indigenous and working-class Brazilians — believes that part of the blame for the bill’s passage lies with leftist leaders. Ferreira accused them of making too many concessions to the agricultural lobby. “The left likes to negotiate with agribusiness to keep itself in power,” he said. Protesters block a roadway to demand justice for the late Pataxó leader Maria de Fátima Muniz [Sara van Horn/Al Jazeera] A ‘militia’ to fight for farmers’ rights For Ferreira, there is a direct line between Maria’s death and the lobby’s sway in Congress. The ranchers accused of shooting Maria were allegedly part of an armed militia called Invasion Zero, founded in April last year by Luiz Uaquim, a politician and landowner in southern Bahia. Invasion Zero boasts ties with other conservative legislators in Brazil’s Congress. An eponymous legislative coalition was formed in October to promote legislation like the “marco temporal” and counter Indigenous land claims. “If you mess with these militias, you mess with agribusiness,” Ferreira said. In response to Al Jazeera’s request for comment, Invasion Zero denied responsibility for Maria’s death. In a public statement, Invasion Zero also said it “deeply laments the confrontation” and “has never incentivised acts of violence”, instead prioritising the “peaceful resolution of land disputes”. According to an interview Uaquim gave Al Jazeera, there is “no connection between this
Celebrating Black history while killing the Black body
With United States Vice President Kamala Harris standing by his side, President Joe Biden hosted the annual Black History Month reception in the White House’s chandeliered East Room on February 6. Addressing a throng of Black politicians, civil servants and corporate leaders, he said: “That’s the very idea of America – that we’re all created equal in the image of God” and “deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives”. Twelve days later, family and friends of 27-year-old Niani Finlayson gathered at a memorial service for her inside the spare chapel of Funeraria Del Angel, 5,000km (3,000 miles) from Washington, DC. Even for those accustomed to grief, the service in Anaheim, California, was especially wrenching. The single mother of two and home healthcare worker was fatally shot by a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy after she called the 911 emergency number for help in a domestic dispute with her ex-boyfriend. Among those sitting in the chapel’s honey-coloured pews was her father, Lamont Finlayson, “a Black man of a certain generation who you can imagine doesn’t cry often”, said the activist and scholar Melina Abdullah, who attended the service. “But he was wailing and wailing for his daughter,” she told Al Jazeera, “and for what she meant to her daughters”. The stark contrast between the White House gala and Finlayson’s killing shines a light on the yawning gap between the glossy, performative quality of Black History Month, which concludes on Thursday, and the bleak reality faced on the ground by 47 million African Americans. Since a white Minneapolis police officer murdered an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, in May 2020, law enforcement officers in the US have slain more than 4,500 people, according to the research organisation Mapping Police Violence. That includes 1,353 people killed by police in 2023, the highest total since Mapping Police Violence first began compiling data in 2014. And while African Americans account for 13 percent of the US population, they are nearly three times more likely to be killed by police officers than are whites, according to Mapping Police Violence. For every one million people, 77 Blacks are killed by police compared with 27 whites, 36 Hispanics and nine Asians. Niani Finlayson [Screengrab/YouTube] Video from Finlayson’s fatal shooting showed Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Ty Shelton firing on the woman four times within a few seconds of entering her home in the Anaheim suburb of Lancaster on December 8. Police and their defenders online argued that she was wielding a knife when she answered the door, but Finlayson’s family and supporters countered that the officers never appeared to be in imminent danger and it seems clear from the footage that she was only seeking to protect herself from her ex-boyfriend when she was gunned down in front of her nine-year-old daughter, who Shelton reportedly ordered to “clean up” her mother’s blood. Finlayson’s killing is merely the latest in a string of African Americans brutalised by police in Los Angeles. The 1965 Watts riots began when an officer struck a 21-year-old motorist in the head with a police baton, and the 1992 riots followed a jury’s acquittal of four white police officers who were videotaped beating another African American motorist, Rodney King, with police batons. Years of bad blood between law enforcement and Black Angelenos undergirded jurors’ 1995 decision to acquit the American football Hall of Famer OJ Simpson of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. More recent cases include 31-year-old Keenan Anderson, an African American schoolteacher who was Tasered to death by police on a West Los Angeles street corner in January 2023, and Ryan Twyman, who was sitting unarmed in a parked car outside a South Los Angeles apartment complex in 2019 when police opened fire on him. “When you talk about horrific cases, there are lots and lots of horrific cases,” said Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African studies at California State University in Los Angeles and director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots. ‘What does it mean to briefly choke someone?’ In the Black History Month proclamation issued by the White House this month, Biden seemed to acknowledge the ineffectiveness of his administration’s laissez-faire approach to criminal justice reform centred on retraining police to use nonlethal force and “shoot ’em in the leg”. Despite Democrats holding a slim majority in Congress in Biden’s first two years in the White House, his administration failed to pass even the watered-down George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021. Instead, he signed an executive order “instituting key elements” of the act, including “banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants by Federal law enforcement, and creating a national database of officer misconduct”. Activists’ key demand to either modify or abolish the qualified immunity extended to police who abuse their authority was not included in Biden’s executive order, leaving 18,000 police agencies nationwide without much clarity. In Washington, DC, many African Americans said that the contradictions inherent in celebrating Black history while continuing to spill Black blood imbues the month of February with a sense of foreboding or of being both “at the table and on the menu”, to repurpose a phrase spoken at a recent webinar by Washington, DC-based activist and scholar Maha Hilal, director of the Muslim CounterPublics Lab. Similar to Los Angeles, which for decades has had a troubled relationship with its Black and Latino communities, Washington, DC, is also a tough nut for activists to crack, in part because of the byzantine maze of 32 independent law enforcement agencies in the US capital region. Each department, African American activists said, is a bit like its own puzzle that must be unlocked. On February 6, the same day of the White House Black History Month commemoration, the Washington city council approved an omnibus crime bill that had permitted police to place “a brief hold” on the neck of a detainee, but that language was deleted after community pressure. “What does it mean to briefly choke someone?” Frankie Seabron, lead organiser for the advocacy group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams,
Zambia declares national disaster after drought devastates agriculture
Drought crisis brought on by El Nino and climate change will affect more than a million households, President Hakainde Hichilema says. Zambia has declared the drought the country is currently going through a national disaster, with President Hakainde Hichilema saying the lack of rain has devastated the agricultural sector, affecting more than one million families. The southern African country has gone without rain for five weeks at a time when farmers need it the most, Hichilema said in a televised national address from the capital, Lusaka, on Thursday. This compounded the effects of another dry spell and flooding that hit the nation last year, he added. “The destruction caused by the prolonged drought spell is immense,” he said. The dry spell has already affected 84 of the country’s 116 districts. Exacerbated by climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon, the crisis threatens national food security, as well as water and energy supply, Hichilema said. Zambia is highly reliant on hydroelectric power. “In view of these challenges … we hereby declare a prolonged drought as a national disaster,” the president said. The measure allows for more resources to address the crisis, with the drought expected to last well into March. With heavy hearts, we’ve declared a national disaster & emergency as our country faces severe drought, caused by the el Niño weather phenomenon, influenced by climate change. The prolonged dry spell has impacted both Zambia’s food & energy security that are our key priorities. pic.twitter.com/OKu8Zx62At — Hakainde Hichilema (@HHichilema) February 29, 2024 Due to influence of El Nino on the 2023-2024 rainy season, Zambia has lost one million hectares (2.5 million acres) from 2.2 million planted crops. Almost half of the nation’s “planted area” has been “destroyed”, Hichilema said. He said humanitarian aid would be made available to ensure people do not go hungry, and he urged cooperating partners to provide relief beyond grain. The president said Zambia had also drawn up plans to import and ration electricity to keep the economy and industries running, especially the heavily power-dependent mines. Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer. Hichilema said the energy sector this year was expected to have a deficit close to 450 megawatts or even above 500 megawatts. The 2024 national budget will be re-aligned so that more resources could be channelled towards addressing the impact of the drought, he added. “The current projections are that over a million farming households will be affected,” he said. Zambia defaulted three years ago and is trying to rework its debt under the G20 Common Framework, a programme designed to ensure swift and smooth debt overhauls for low-income nations. Hichilema said Zambia’s situation was dire and called on its official and private creditors to quickly conclude its debt restructuring process. “If this process does not close, it’s not just an indictment on Zambia but the global system,” he said. The naturally occurring El Nino climate pattern, which emerged in mid-2023, usually increases global temperatures for one year afterwards. It is currently fuelling fires and record heat across the world. Adblock test (Why?)
Republicans unveil effort protecting federal lands from foreign investors, climate activists
FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are introducing legislation Thursday that would restrict the federal government from allowing certain climate-focused companies from being publicly listed. The Protect America’s Lands Act — introduced by representatives Mark Green, R-Tenn., and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., in the House and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., in the Senate — would block the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from allowing so-called natural asset companies (NACs) to list their assets on the New York Stock Exchange. The prospect of these companies being listed has faced opposition from GOP lawmakers, state officials and consumer advocates. “It should be no surprise that the radical left once again tried to force its woke Green New Deal agenda on Americans,” Green told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Allowing natural asset companies on the New York Stock Exchange would have opened our country to a world of risk, allowing our adversaries to block energy and food production. That’s why I introduced the Protect America’s Lands Act.” Hageman added that allowing NACs to be publicly listed “would change U.S. land access, management, use and ownership as we know it. BIDEN ADMIN FAILING TO TRACK CHINESE OWNERSHIP OF US FARMLAND: GOVT WATCHDOG “As if that weren’t bad enough, as proposed, there are no limits placed on who can buy these lands. China, Russia, Iran and other bad actors would be free to participate and shut down U.S. energy, mineral and food production. “The bottom line is that we must take back lawmaking authority from the administrative state before even more of our security, freedoms and rights are taken away.” UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION IS QUIETLY FUELING CLIMATE POLICY, FUNDING STAFF IN DEM STATES The legislation comes weeks after the New York Stock Exchange withdrew a proposal submitted with the SEC to allow the listing of NACs, a novel type of company chartered to “protect, restore and grow the natural assets under their management to foster healthy ecosystems.” The NYSE states that NACs “capture the intrinsic and productive value of nature and provide a store of value based on the vital assets that underpin our entire economy and make life on earth possible.” Natural assets that could be grouped into an NAC include forests, wetlands and coral reefs, as well as working lands such as farms, according to the NYSE. The debate over NACs stretches back months to when the NYSE first proposed the rule change with the SEC last year that would have allowed for NACs to be listed on the exchange. NYSE collaborated on the proposal with financial services firm Intrinsic Exchange Group, which first floated the idea of listing NACs as a free market solution to climate change. But, in January, after receiving widespread criticism from Republican state financial officers and attorneys general, and later Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee, the SEC announced in a filing the NYSE had rescinded the proposal. BIDEN’S WAR ON HUNTING FACES BLOWBACK FROM REPUBLICANS, SPORTSMEN GROUPS “It is hard to overstate the danger that so-called ‘natural asset companies’ pose to the livelihood of millions of Americans,” Will Hild, executive director of watchdog group Consumers’ Research, previously told Fox News Digital. “Big woke corporations, including BlackRock and foreign companies from hostile nations such as China would be handed free rein to buy up millions of acres of public land. “Ranching, farming, energy production and many other critical industries would be denied shared access to public land, eliminating their productive use,” Hild added. “Even people who use public lands for recreation and hunting could suddenly find their access taken away.” Green similarly warned Thursday that publicly listing NACs would allow foreign investors to “monetize and control America’s natural resources.” “This could create a dangerous situation in which our nation’s natural resources are owned by mystery investors who can unilaterally stop activities like mining and logging on America’s land … forever,” his announcement stated. Cosponsors of Green and Hageman’s bill were listed as Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and fellow GOP representatives Ryan Zinke, Matt Rosendale, Keith Self, Pete Sessions, Michael Cloud, Lauren Boebert, Doug Lamborn, Russ Fulcher, Jim Banks, Tim Burchett, Andy Ogles, Dan Bishop, Chuck Edwards, Ralph Norman, Mike Bost, Mary Miller, John Curtis, Warren Davidson, Byron Donalds, Ronald Estes, Michelle Fischbach, Alex Mooney, John Moolenaar and Clay Higgins. The SEC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House refers to illegal immigrants as ‘newcomers’
Ahead of President Biden’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House debuted a new term for illegal immigrants arriving in the country, calling them “newcomers.” Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas, in an effort to reassure voters who have soured on his handling of the border crisis. Republicans have lambasted the Biden administration for weak enforcement of immigration laws, and a recent poll showed that just 26% of Americans approved of the president’s job on immigration. The language the White House used to describe the crisis may not alleviate voters’ concerns. In a fact sheet distributed by the White House press office to advocate for the bipartisan border agreement Biden has endorsed, officials pointed out that the bill includes $1.4 billion “for cities and states who are providing critical services to newcomers.” BIDEN’S BORDER VISIT LANDS ON ONE OF THE LEAST TRAFFICKED TOWNS, WHILE TRUMP IS HEADED INTO THE THICK OF IT The reference to illegal immigrants as “newcomers” — which suggests equal status to migrants who come to the U.S. legally — provoked a swift condemnation from House Republicans. “The Biden White House is now referring to illegal immigrants as ‘newcomers.’ Joe Biden is not serious about stopping the illegal immigration into the United States. This is a catastrophe by design,” the House GOP conference posted on X. White House officials have shot back at their GOP critics several times in recent weeks, asserting that if Republican lawmakers were serious about securing the border, they’d support the bipartisan legislation Biden has endorsed. 7.2M ENTERED US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATIONS OF 36 STATES The border bill negotiated in the Senate would increase Border Patrol staff and tighten asylum rules, expand law enforcement’s authority to tackle fentanyl smuggling and increase funding to cities and states receiving asylum seekers. Republicans argued the bill would normalize high levels of illegal immigration and do little to stop the flow of people and drugs over the border. “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,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday on CNN. WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES “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,” she added. Biden’s choice of Brownsville for his border visit is an area that has seen comparatively small numbers of migrant crossings in Texas. CBP data shows that Brownsville has seen just 46 migrant encounters over the past five days, compared to 2,106 in Eagle Pass. The former averaged 17 migrant encounters per day in February, while the latter averaged 462. Brownsville is part of the CBP’s Rio Grande Valley sector, which has seen 87,426 migrant encounters so far in Fiscal Year 2024. The Del Rio sector that encompasses Eagle Pass has seen 182,077 encounters, but even that is far below the busiest sector, which lies around Tucson, Arizona, and has seen 297,380 encounters. Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, will visit Eagle Pass on Thursday in a competing visit, one of the most heavily trafficked areas in Texas and ground zero for Gov. Greg Abbott’s fight with the Biden administration over enforcing immigration law. Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.