NFL team owner appears on stage with Trump during South Carolina victory speech
New York Jets owner and billionaire businessman Woody Johnson stood in support behind former President Trump in South Carolina on Saturday night after Trump was quickly projected the winner of the state’s primary. Johnson, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Trump administration, was on stage alongside his wife Suzanne behind Trump as the former president delivered a speech after his quick victory in the Palmetto State primary on Saturday. Johnson, a member of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson, has previously expressed support for the former president during the 2024 campaign. “Americans remember how good it was or how much better it was on the border, and inflation, and gas prices, and grocery prices, all that, during the Trump administration, and they want to get back there,” Johnson told News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo earlier this month. JETS’ OWNER WOODY JOHNSON TAKES SHOT AT ZACH WILSON, PUTS OFFENSE ON NOTICE: ‘WE’VE GOT TO PRODUCE THIS YEAR’ “So I think the most important thing is getting the former president back in the White House, which looks like it’s happening.” Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s representatives but did not immediately receive a response. WATCH: TRUMP RALLYGOERS REVEAL WHOM THEY WANT AS VICE PRESIDENT Trump’s rapidly-called victory on Saturday over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. “It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered at the South Carolina state fairgrounds in Columbia, the state capitol, just minutes after polls closed and he was declared the victor. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work,” he added, referencing next week’s Michigan primary, and Super Tuesday the following week. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
PM Modi to inaugurate Sudarshan Setu today: Know all about India’s longest cable-stayed bridge
The bridge has been built at a cost of around Rs 980 crore.
Amit Shah to visit MP today to review BJP’s Lok Sabha poll preparations
Shah will visit Gwalior, Khajuraho and Bhopal and hold meetings with party functionaries and also address a public meeting.
Weather Update: IMD issues rainfall, snowfall, hailstorm alert in these states, check forecast here
States like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Jharkhand have been issued rainfall alerts.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp demands answers from Biden on Laken Riley suspected killer’s immigration status
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is demanding answers from the White House following the tragic killing of a 22-year-old nursing student, Laken Hope Riley, on the campus of the University of Georgia. The letter came as 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, was charged as the suspect in the murder of the 22-year-old nursing student on the UGA campus. Three ICE & DHS sources told Fox News that Ibarra is a Venezuelan national who crossed illegally into El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole. Kemp addressed a letter to President Biden on Saturday morning, seeking clarification and demanding the White House secure the southern border. “Frankly, Mr. President, your continued silence in response to these reasonable requests is outrageous,” Kemp wrote in the letter, which was posted on X. “The American people deserve to know who is illegally entering our country due to your administration’s failures, and what risks and challenges every state must now face.” GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM BIDEN ADMIN IN REACTION TO COLLEGE MURDER SUSPECT’S IMMIGRATION STATUS: ‘CLOSE THE BORDER!’ In the letter, Kemp sought information on Ibarra’s current immigration status and why the administration had allegedly underscored the urgency of sharing the suspect’s immigration status promptly. “Why was my administration not made aware of the asylum claims and subsequent release of an illegal resident who presented fraudulent identification?” Kemp asked. “What is the current immigration status of Jose Antonio Ibarra and why has this information not been relayed to my administration?” “What additional information does your administration possess regarding these individuals and the circumstances surrounding their entry into the country?” Kemp asked. Kemp emphasized how his administration was forced to rely on unofficial sources and leaks to media outlets for information on Ibarra — rather than ICE & DHS officials. He asserted that answers to Ibarra’s immigration status must be provided publicly as soon as possible to ensure that state and local officials have the necessary information to safeguard communities. “While media reports surrounding this case have relied on sources and leaks from your own federal agencies, the answers to these basic questions must be provided publicly as soon as possible to ensure state and local officials have the information we need in order to keep our communities safe,” Kemp said. Kemp demanded that the federal government must secure the border before Riley’s fate is “replicated across the country.” “These tragedies are not unique to Georgia. While we will continue to support Texas with National Guard resources as we have since 2019, federal action to secure the border is the only way to wholistically [sic] address this ongoing crisis and ensure Laken Riley’s horrible fate is not replicated across the country,” Kemp said. “However, if you continue to refuse to exercise your authority as president, your administration must provide the information necessary for Georgia and other states to protect our citizens.” The White House insisted on Friday that House Republicans stand in the way of a solution to what Biden has called a “broken” immigration system. “For the past several months, we worked with Republican senators and also Democrats in the Senate to try to come up with a fair and tough piece of legislation that would deal with border security,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily White House press briefing. UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE QUESTIONING ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’ IN LAKEN RILEY HOMICIDE Jean-Pierre noted that a bipartisan deal reached last month had been endorsed by the Border Patrol union before Johnson declared it “dead on arrival.” “Speaker Johnson has gotten in the way of this,” she added. “We did our job. The Senate did their job in a bipartisan way. Ibarra was taken into custody by UGA police Friday and has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said during a news briefing Friday evening. Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was found dead Thursday after previously attending UGA before entering a nursing program at the University of Augusta’s Athens campus. BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD According to an incident report obtained by Fox News Digital, multiple officers began searching for Riley near the Intramural Fields around 12:07 p.m. At 12:38, a UGA police officer spotted her on the ground. “I called out to Riley, and I did not get a response,” the officer wrote. She had visible injuries, and police could not locate a pulse. They began CPR anyway. A sergeant arrived with a defibrillator minutes later and unsuccessfully attempted to revive the victim. Autopsy results remained pending Friday, but authorities said they were investigating her death as a homicide. Clark said it appeared as though she had been killed by blunt-force trauma. Kemp’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News’ Michael Ruiz, Chris Pandolfo and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Trump says South Carolina is a ‘bigger win than we anticipated,’ looks forward to saying ‘Joe, you’re fired’
Former President Trump touted a “bigger win than we anticipated” in the South Carolina Republican Primary Saturday night, saying he looks forward to looking at President Biden in November and saying: “Joe, you’re fired.” The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night. “This is really something. This was a little sooner than we anticipated and an even bigger win than we anticipated,” Trump said. “And I was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of South Carolina.” Trump then began highlighting the “horror” of the “millions and millions of people coming across the border illegally.” “We don’t know where they come from, they come from jails and they come from prisons — they come from all sorts of places,” Trump said. “We’re not going to stand for it — you have terrorists coming in.” Trump vowed to “straighten things out.” “The border is the worst it’s ever been,” he said. “We’re going to fix it — fix it very quickly.” He added: “Our country is going to be respected again. Respected like never before.” Trump went on to predict he’ll win the general election in November. “We’re going to be up here on November 5th, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden and he’s destroying our country and we’re going to say, Joe, get out, Joe, you’re fired,” Trump said. “Joe, you’re destroying our country.” He added: “And we’re going to I just wish we could do it quicker. Nine months is a long time. I just wish we could do it quicker.
Burning down the House: February has been an unmitigated disaster for Republicans
Ah… Watch out! You might get what you’re after. Cool babies. Strange. But I’m not a stranger. I’m an ordinary guy. Burning down the house. —Talking Heads. “Burning Down the House.” 1983 David Byrne’s hypnotic, octave plunge between the lyrics “watch” and “out” is a sonic caveat. THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: WANTS AND NEEDS, AND THE LOOMING IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF BIDEN’S BORDER CHIEF Those are the very first lines of the Talking Heads ‘80s anthem “Burning Down the House.” The listener is forewarned. A tumultuous musical adventure lies ahead. The pending libretto is gnarly gibberish. Words which fit together — but don’t make any sense. A near homage to “I Am the Walrus” by the Beatles. Like Byrne’s lyrics, what’s going on these days in the U.S. House of Representatives, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Watch out. The House is seemingly out of control right now. Political arsonists are striking matches and pouring gasoline all over the place. Republicans hold the majority. But they’ve been burning down their own House. “Things have not been functioning well at all and that needs to change,” beseeched Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn. Chaos grips the House. That’s saying something, considering this is an institution which practically mastered dysfunction. “We can’t get anything done,” lamented Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill. Lawmakers are exasperated. “My Republican friends are barely hanging onto this majority by their fingernails,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee. My house… Is out of the ordinary. That’s right. Don’t want to hurt nobody. SENATE VOTED IN FAVOR OF $95 BILLION INTERNATIONAL SPENDING BILL, THERE MAY BE ANOTHER AROUND THE CORNER House Republicans have blocked their own bills — drawn up with the blessing of GOP leaders — from hitting the House floor a staggering six times in the past eight months. The House usually requires the lawmakers approve a “rule” to allocate debate time and dictate whether amendments are in order. Only then can legislation come to the floor. The majority usually votes yes, greenlighting the debate. The minority customarily opposes the rule. But Republicans have torched their own rule six times. That’s a startling figure. Previous majorities only defeated two rules in the previous 23 years. Republicans have struggled for 13 months now with their narrow majority. It started with the 15-round Speaker’s race in January of last year — an exercise not witnessed since 1858. “We only had a two-vote margin at the end (of our majority),” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But Pelosi could empathize with the contemporary struggles of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “I don’t think people understand how hard it is,” said Pelosi “Respect members on both sides of the aisle. Build consensus. Prioritize your issues. Don’t put people out on a limb on things that aren’t important.” T. S. Eliot wrote that “April is the cruelest month” in his seminal poem, “The Waste Land.” Back on Capitol Hill, Johnson, might argue with Elliot about the brutality of April. February has been an unmitigated disaster for House Republicans. More things have gone wrong for the GOP than points scored in the NBA All-Star Game. To wit: Republicans torched two of their own “rules.” They failed during their first attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — before impeaching him by just a solitary vote after the GOP took a mulligan. Johnson even put a bill on the floor to aid Israel — which promptly failed. That was an unforced error. Conventional wisdom is that Johnson shouldn’t have pressed on the Israel bill — especially since the defeat came moments after the failed impeachment vote. And Republicans even saw their meager majority dwindle even further. Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. won a special election in New York to succeed expelled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. The GOP majority will shrink from 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats when the House swears-in Suozzi on Wednesday. That means Johnson can only lose two votes on any given roll call and still pass a measure — sans Democratic assistance. On the morning after Suozzi’s victory, Ryan Schmelz of Fox News Radio asked Johnson how he’d “handle a narrow majority.” “Just as we do every day. We just do a lot of member discussion,” replied Johnson. It’s about the math. But how they’ve done things “every day” hasn’t provided a victory. This is why some Republicans are taking aim at Johnson. They’ve regretted the House ditching former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. That’s why McCarthy allies are particularly infuriated at how bad things have been in the House of late. “Whatever the cards were for McCarthy are the same cards that are being dealt to Speaker Johnson,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla. “All it did was take a crowbar to it and make it worse.” Some Republicans criticized the leadership for indecision and making late play calls. “They’ve got to start thinking strategically over the long-term. Not just what’s in front of us,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. Some lawmakers are certainly making long-term strategic decisions. They’re getting out. So far, five committee chairs have announced their retirements: Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Tex., Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., special China committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn. Green said he wouldn’t seek re-election shortly after the House impeached Mayorkas. Green will serve as the lead impeachment manager (or prosecutor) as the House presents its case to the Senate. Green saw that as an opportunity to go out on top. “My point being, you go out for the win, right? And I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do,” said Green. A recent poll by Monmouth University found that only 17 percent of people surveyed approve of the job Congress is doing. But not everyone believes political paralysis is bad. “Let me just tell you something about the people I represent,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex. “They don’t want this body to keep passing
Trump wins South Carolina primary against Haley in her home state, moves closer to clinching GOP nomination
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former President Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, Fox News Decision Desk projects. Trump’s rapidly-called victory on Saturday over former U.N. ambassador and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state moves the former president another step closer to clinching the 2024 GOP nomination. The Fox News Decision Desk projected Trump’s primary just after polls closed at 7 p.m. ET in the Palmetto State. “We’re going to have a gigantic victory here in South Carolina,” Trump predicted on the eve of the primary, as he spoke Friday to roughly 5,000 supporters at a large rally in Rock Hill, in the northern part of the state. HEAD HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY Trump has three times as many delegates as former Haley already, and he will win up to 50 more tonight, according to the Fox News Decision Desk. Haley could not convert her hometown advantage into a win. She told supporters this week that she was not dropping out of the race. Looking ahead to his all-but-certain general election rematch with President Biden, Trump said “we’re going to show crooked Joe Biden and the radical left Democrats that we are coming like a freight train in November.” Trump said that the end was near for Haley’s White House bid. “She’s getting clobbered,” Trump emphasized at a recent rally in North Charleston, S.C., as he pointed to his last remaining major rival for the Republican nomination. “She’s finished.” And on Tuesday, at a Fox News town hall in Greenville, S.C,. Trump emphasized that “you’re not supposed to lose your home state. It shouldn’t happen,” before added that “she’s losing it bigly.” The Trump campaign earlier this week predicted an “ass-kicking in the making in South Carolina” for Haley, and that “the end is near” for her presidential run due to “a very serious math problem” she has in the race to lock up enough delegates to win the 2024 GOP nomination. TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREDICTS ‘A**-KICKING’ FOR HALEY IN HER HOME STATE, BUT SHE SAYS ‘I REFUSE TO QUIT’ But Haley remained defiant, and addressed the calls for her to drop out in a major speech minutes after the release of the Trump campaign memo. “Some of you — perhaps a few of you in the media — came here today to see if I’m dropping out of the race. Well, I’m not. Far from it,” said the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration. “I refuse to quit. South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” Haley emphasized. She added that “I have no fear of Trump’s retribution.” On the campaign trail in the closing days of the South Carolina primary, Haley told supporters that “I will take the bruises. I will take the cuts. This is going to be messy and I’ll take the hurt because I believe nothing good comes easy. Sometimes we have to feel pain to appreciate the blessing.” Haley also turned up the volume this month in her verbal attacks on Trump, from his legal entanglements to his controversial comments on NATO, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Trump’s mocking her husband — who is overseas on a military tour of duty. Trump grabbed a majority of the votes last month in Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary victories, and won by a landslide earlier this month in the Nevada and U.S. Virgin Island caucuses. HALEY ACCUSES TRUMP OF SIDING WITH A DICTATOR AND TYRANT’ Trump only made a handful of stops in South Carolina this month, while Haley campaigned relentlessly. But the final public opinion surveys indicated the former president maintaining a large double-digit lead. While South Carolina is home to Haley, the former president enjoyed the backing of the state’s governor, nearly the entire congressional delegation and scores of state lawmakers and local officials. Veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant Dave Wilson pointed to Trump’s “groundswell” in the state and highlighted the former president’s “ground forces.” Wilson, who remains neutral in the primary, also noted that “Nikki Haley is reintroducing herself to South Carolina” because “almost a million people have moved into the state since she was governor.” South Carolina holds open primaries, which means Republicans, independents, and even Democrats could vote in the GOP presidential nominating contest, as long as they didn’t cast a ballot in the Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary. TRUMP RUNNING MATE AUDITIONS ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN TRAIL Independents helped fuel Haley’s 43% showing in New Hampshire, where she lost to Trump by 11 points. But while independent voters have long played a crucial and influential role in the first-in-the-nation primary, they are much less of a factor in South Carolina’s more conservative electorate, where evangelical voters enjoy prominence in GOP contests. Regardless of the results in South Carolina, Haley in recent weeks repeatedly pledged to stay in the Republican presidential nomination race at least through March 5, when 15 states hold contests on Super Tuesday. “We are focused on every state before us. Now it’s South Carolina on Saturday. Then it will be Michigan [which holds a primary on Tuesday, Feb. 27], then it will be Super Tuesday states and we’ll take it from there,” Haley told Fox News Digital in an interview on Wednesday in North Augusta, S.C. “Our goal is that we’re giving voices a chance to be heard.” And on Friday, Haley’s campaign announced they were going up with a multi-million dollar national cable ad blitz ahead of Super Tuesday. Nearly 800 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with over 150 at stake over the following two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold winner-take-all primaries on March 19. Polling in many of those states
UK Conservatives suspend MP who said ‘Islamists’ control London’s mayor
Lee Anderson will now sit as an independent lawmaker in parliament after his remarks prompted a flood of criticism. The UK’s Conservative Party has suspended one of its lawmakers, Lee Anderson, after he said the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was under the control of “Islamists”. Khan, the first Muslim to be mayor of London and a member of the opposition Labour Party, is a frequent target of Conservative criticism for his handling of policing in the UK’s capital, including regular pro-Palestinian marches. On Wednesday hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside parliament, during a chaotic vote over whether to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and the exact language to use. The speaker of the lower house of parliament, Lindsay Hoyle, said he broke with the usual parliamentary procedure for the vote because of previous threats of violence some lawmakers had received due to their views on the conflict. Pro-Israeli voices in the UK, such as Anderson, have attempted to portray the pro-Palestinian movement as dangerous, despite the majority of British respondents in several polls supporting an end to Israel’s attack on Gaza. Speaking on Friday to the television channel GB News, Anderson said, “I don’t actually believe these Islamists have got control of our country. But what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London. He’s actually given our capital city to his mates.” His remarks prompted a flood of criticism from across the political spectrum, with Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds calling them “unambiguously racist and Islamophobic”. Conservative business minister Nus Ghani, senior backbencher Sajid Javid and Tory peer Gavin Barwell were among senior Tory figures to join the complaints, with Barwell calling the comments a “despicable slur”. The Muslim Council of Britain said they were “disgusting” and extremist. Khan – who regularly speaks of the importance of fighting anti-Semitism, misogyny and homophobia – told reporters that he regarded Anderson’s comments as racist and Islamophobic and that they would “pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”. Amid growing criticism of Anderson’s remarks on Saturday, the Conservative Party said it had decided he could no longer represent them in Parliament. “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the Chief Whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP,” a spokesperson for Simon Hart, the government minister in charge of party discipline, said. Anderson, a former Conservative Party vice chairman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He will now sit as an independent lawmaker in parliament. A survey conducted from February 16-18 by Savanta showed that 29 percent of Britons believed the Conservatives had a problem with Islamophobia, the most of any major political party. Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative member of the House of Lords and a former co-chairwoman of the party, has previously said that the Tories were “institutionally Islamophobic“. Anderson’s comments come as incidents of Islamophobia have spiked dramatically across the UK. A monitoring group said Thursday that anti-Muslim hate incidents in the UK more than tripled following the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October. Since then Tell MAMA recorded 2,010 such cases, the largest recorded number of cases in a four-month period, a statement from the organisation said, which was set up to monitor and report such incidents. The latest figures were up from 600 incidents over the same period in 2022-2023, a rise of 335 percent. “We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the UK,” Tell MAMA director Iman Atta said. “This rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and we hope that political leaders speak out to send a clear message that anti-Muslim hate, like anti-Semitism, is unacceptable in our country.” Adblock test (Why?)
What has Russia achieved during two years of war in Ukraine?
The bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II moves into its third year. The cost of the Russia-Ukraine war is already enormous: tens of thousands of soldiers killed on both sides; thousands of civilians dead; and millions of Ukrainians forced from their bombed-out towns and cities. Yet there is little sign of an end in sight. Russian President Vladimir Putin remains defiant – saying there will be no peace until his country’s goals are met. Meanwhile, Ukraine is again appealing for more donations to replace dwindling supplies of ammunition. The European Union agreed to a new package worth $54bn earlier this month. But the United States Congress cannot agree upon their support package. It is election year in the US and Republicans are arguing over whether to extend the military lifeline to Ukraine – a delay that could put more pressure on NATO. So, is the Russia-Ukraine war one that can be won? Who is benefiting? And where might Putin set his sights next? Presenter: Laura Kyle Guests: Pavel Felgenhauer – Moscow-based defence analyst and former columnist for Novaya Gazeta Stefan Wolff – Professor of international security at the University of Birmingham Hanna Shelest – Security Studies Program director at Ukrainian Prism, non-governmental analytical centre Adblock test (Why?)