RFK Jr. continues to promote JFK-style Super Bowl ad despite denouncing, apologizing to family
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing to promote an ad made by his super PAC that he previously disavowed. RFK previously apologized to members of his family for a surprise Super Bowl ad that heavily borrowed imagery and sound from campaign ads for his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. Despite claiming no involvement in the $7 million advertisement and publicly disavowing its use of JFK’s creative assets and likeness, a video of the ad remains pinned to RFK’s profile on social media platform X. RFK APOLOGIZES TO FAMILY OVER SUPER BOWL AD, CLAIMS HE HAD NO INVOLVEMENT “Our momentum is growing. It’s time for an Independent President to heal the divide in our country,” the prominently displayed post reads. It is still the pinned post on his profile as of Tuesday. RFK Jr.’s cousin, Bobby Shriver, first complained about the ad in a post Sunday night, writing that his uncles and mother would never have approved of RFK Jr.’s “deadly health care views.” “My cousin’s Super Bowl ad used our uncle’s faces- and my Mother’s. She would be appalled by his deadly health care views. Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA. She strongly supported my health care work … which he opposes,” Shriver wrote. RFK JR DROPS SURPRISE CAMPAIGN AD DURING SUPER BOWL: ‘VOTE INDEPENDENT’ “Bobby. I’m so sorry if that advertisement caused you pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Superpac without any involvement or approvals from my campaign. Federal rules prohibit Superpacs from consulting with me or my staff. I send you and your family my sincerest apologies. God bless you,” RFK Jr. replied. RFK Jr. followed up the statement with a more general apology to any of his family members who were hurt by the ad, stating once again that “FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff.” Google Trends showed searches for RFK Jr. skyrocketing after the ad aired. The ad comes after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday accused RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign of illegally coordinating with American Values 2024. The DNC filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), alleging that Kennedy’s campaign received $15 million worth of unlawful in-kind contributions from the super PAC to help him secure ballot access as an independent candidate in several states. A Kennedy campaign spokesperson told Fox the allegations were a “nonissue being raised by a partisan political entity that seems to be increasingly concerned with its own candidate and viability.” Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
Zelenskyy turns to Europe for aid as Trump bashes US funding package
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning a tour of Western European countries to push for aid against Russia as support for further aid package wanes in the U.S. Zelenskyy’s trip coincides with the Munich Security Conference in Germany, but the leader will also visit Paris and Berlin, Bloomberg News reported. The details of Zelenskyy’s trip have yet to be fully finalized. His attention toward Western Europe comes as former President Trump has thrown his weight against sending further military aid to Ukraine. Trump called on Republicans to block a $95 billion package that would provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, with Kyiv getting the lion’s share. Trump’s move goes back to his longstanding distaste for NATO and his belief that many of the group’s members are not paying their fair share for security. This weekend, he suggested that he would allow Russia to invade countries that weren’t paying their full security dues. MODERATE DEMS SILENT AS BIDEN SKIRTS SENATE CONFIRMATION FOR JOHN KERRY’S REPLACEMENT “NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said Saturday. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.” TRUMP TAKES FAMILIAR DIG AT JUSTICE SYSTEM AFTER BIDEN DOCUMENTS REPORT: ‘SICK’ The former U.S. president said “one of the presidents of a big country” once asked him whether the U.S. would still defend their country if they were invaded by Russia, even if they did not pay. “No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled telling that country’s leader. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” Despite Trump’s opposition, the aid package made it out of the Senate with a vote of 70 to 29. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The bill faces more problems in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, however, where Trump holds more sway with lawmakers. Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report
India as world’s largest book market gains global attention at New Delhi World Book Fair 2024
On Day 3, the two-day dynamic event commenced with an inauguration ceremony with an esteemed dais of Directors, organizers of international book fairs and others.
Analysis: It took me three tries to register to vote in Texas — and I’m an elections reporter
Moments after I became a naturalized citizen in 2023, I registered to vote. Here’s what happened next.
Senate passes controversial foreign aid bill sending billions to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
The Senate passed a $95 billion national security supplemental package to assist Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific after a tedious procedural process that came to an end early Tuesday morning. The final vote was 70 to 29, with 22 Republicans voting yes. Democratic Sens. Peter Welch and Jeff Merkley, plus independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, voted no. The supplemental package does not include any border security provisions and comes as the national debt soars above $34 trillion. Calls to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere went unheeded. Several Republicans spent hours — since the beginning of the weekend — collectively filibustering the package on the Senate floor. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, committed to filibustering the bill for four hours on Saturday and continued early Tuesday. The package includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific. Democrats brought the package up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion package that also included numerous border and immigration provisions — negotiated by a group of bipartisan senators and Biden officials — last Wednesday. The U.S. has already spent more than $100 billion in aid for Ukraine since its war against Russia began in Feb. 2022. U.S. NATIONAL DEBT TRACKER: SEE WHAT AMERICAN TAXPAYERS (YOU) OWE IN REAL TIME “This bill gives the finger to American taxpayers,” Paul said on the floor before the final vote. “This bill gives the finger to all of America — this bill is Ukraine first, America last.” By Monday, several GOP senators were hoping for a breakthrough to get their amendments heard, which mainly included hardline border security-related provisions. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced an amendment identical to the House’s immigration bill, H.R. 2, which would restore most Trump-era restrictions, hire additional border patrol officers and tighten asylum screenings. SENATE REPUBLICANS PREPARE FOR LONG HAUL IN FIGHT OVER UKRAINE, ISRAEL AID Republican Sens. Roger Marshall, JD Vance, and Josh Hawley were just a few other senators who spoke in opposition to the bill on Monday, continuing the filibuster. Meanwhile, GOP Sens. Mitt Romney and Thom Tillis were just a few who urged their colleagues to “delay” no further and pass the package. Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas became emotional in a floor speech in support of the bill. “I believe in America first, but unfortunately America first means we have to engage in the world,” Moran said. – John Boozman – Shelley Moore Capito – Bill Cassidy – Susan Collins – John Cornyn – Kevin Cramer – Mike Crapo – Joni Ernst – Chuck Grassley – John Hoeven – John Kennedy – Mitch McConnell – Jerry Moran – Lisa Murkowski – James Risch – Mitt Romney – Mike Rounds – Dan Sullivan – John Thune – Thom Tillis – Roger Wicker – Todd Young Democrats brought the package up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion package that also included a slew of border and immigration provisions on Wednesday. Republicans had previously said they would not approve funding for Ukraine unless the overwhelmed southern border was secured first. The border-foreign aid package was unveiled last weekend and hit a buzzsaw of conservative opposition from Republicans who said the package would normalize historic levels of illegal immigration and continue catch-and-release. Conservatives joined with some liberal Democrats in shutting down the bill, so Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer prepared a vote without the border package as a backup plan. PENTAGON FINALLY RUNS OUT OF MONEY FOR UKRAINE, URGES 50 ALLIES TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING KYIV Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had backed funding for Ukraine, but drew criticism from party members who urged lawmakers not to pass foreign aid without securing the border first. “I know it’s become quite fashionable in some circles to disregard the global interests we have as a global power, to bemoan the responsibilities of global leadership,” McConnell said on the floor on Super Bowl Sunday. “To lament the commitment that has underpinned the longest drought of great power conflict in human history — this is idle work for idle minds, and it has no place in the United States Senate.” Schumer said Monday the package is “a down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of American values.” The White House requested the supplemental funding package in October, but it was held up by Republicans who wanted more measures to fix the record-setting border crisis, including greater limits on asylum and limits on releases into the interior. Negotiators worked for months and on Sunday finally released their text. In addition to the foreign aid package, the failed border package included an “emergency border authority” to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average.
Delhi Chalo: Meet leaders who are leading farmers’ protest to Delhi this time
Rakesh Tikait and Gurnam Singh Charuni, prominent leaders from the 2020 protests, are not involved in Delhi Chalo 2.0.
‘Congress doesn’t deserve…’: AAP’s take-it-or-leave-it remark on Lok Sabha polls seat-sharing
AAP MP Sandeep Pathak said that even though the Congress party does not merit even a single seat in Delhi, in the spirit of alliance, the AAP party is willing to offer one seat.
Delhi to Jaipur in 2 hrs, 30% less fare: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reveals new plan
The distance between Delhi to Jaipur is around 270 km via road.
Biden met with chairman of Chinese energy firm Hunter did business with in 2017, ex-associate testifies
President Biden met with the chairman of the Chinese energy firm Hunter Biden sought to create a joint venture with at the Four Seasons in Washington D.C. in 2017, a former business partner of the first son told congressional investigators. Rob Walker, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, testified at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this month as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden. HUNTER BIDEN’S EX-ASSOCIATE TONY BOBULINSKI HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL THIS WEEK TO TESTIFY IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY Walker, during his closed-door transcribed interview, told congressional investigators that Joe Biden attended a meeting where he, Hunter Biden, their other business partners and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming were having lunch. “I don’t remember the exact time, but I remember being in Washington, D.C., and the former vice president stopped by. We were having lunch,” Walker testified, according to a transcript of his interview reviewed by Fox News Digital. Walker said he did not know the “exact” date, but said “it was 20-probably-17 at some point.” “I can say it was for certain he was out of office,” Walker said, referring to Joe Biden being out of the Obama administration at the time of the lunch. HUNTER BIDEN WAS PAID $100K THROUGH JOINT-VENTURE WITH CHINESE ENERGY FIRM, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIED Walker said the lunch took place “at the Four Seasons in a restaurant in a private room.” “I’m certain—I’m certain Ye was there,” Walker said, noting there were also other CEFC business partners. Ye Jianming, at the time, was the chairman of Chinese energy company CEFC. Walker said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “ways we could work together.” “I don’t think we had structured a deal on how to work together at this point,” Walker said, noting the meeting lasted “probably an hour and a half,” but said Biden “was not” there for the entirety of the meeting. DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED “The former vice president was not there the entire time. He was there maybe 10 minutes,” Walker said. “He spoke nice, you know, normal pleasantries. I think he probably did most of the talking and then left.” Walker testified that Biden addressed the entire group—which consisted of approximately 10 CEFC-linked individuals— during his visit. Walker testified that the visit, and Biden’s appearance, “likely” took place before his Robinson Walker LLC received $3 million from State Energy HK Limited—a CEFC-linked entity. But Walker maintained that Joe Biden was not involved in any of his business ventures with Hunter Biden, despite his appearance at the lunch. Walker did, however, say that early correspondence to CEFC was sent on behalf of the group—which included himself, James Gilliar, Jim Biden, and Hunter Biden—by Hunter Biden. FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE’S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN “He had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” Walker said. When pressed again as to why correspondence came from Hunter Biden, Walker testified: “It had just seemed—if a U.S. entity was going to have a foreign national represent them, It would probably make more sense to come from Hunter versus me.” “Because he’s the son of the vice president at the time, correct?” Walker was asked. “He is the son of a vice president at the time, yes,” Walker replied. “So it made more sense to get this business deal to put him as the front-facing person, right?” Walker replied: “Yes.” The House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital that it can “now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son, including Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenes Rakishev, Burisma’s corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky, Jonathan Li of BHR, and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.” Biden attended dinners at Washington D.C. restaurant Cafe Milano in Georgtown with Baturina, Rakishev and Pozharsky in 2014 and 2015. Biden also met with Li of BHR in China in 2013. Biden met with Ye at the meeting in 2017, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-business partners Rob Walker and Devon Archer. JOE BIDEN RECEIVED $40K IN ‘LAUNDERED CHINA MONEY’ FROM BROTHER IN 2017, COMER SAYS The revelations come ahead of highly-anticipated testimony from another ex-business associate of the first son–Tony Bobulinski. Bobulinski is set to testify behind closed doors Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden to create the joint-venture SinoHawk Holdings with Chinese energy company CEFC, said he met with Joe Biden in 2017. Bobulinski, in December, demanded Biden “stop lying” about that meeting and called on him to “correct the record.” “Why is Joe Biden blatantly lying to the American people and the world by claiming that he did not meet with me face to face?” Bobulinski told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He should call his son Hunter and brother Jim as they can remind him of the facts. The American people deserve the truth!” HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE ‘BIDENS ARE THE BEST,’ HAVE ‘CONNECTIONS’ He added: “I call on Mr. Biden to stop lying and correct the record.” Despite Biden’s recent denials of involvement with his son’s business dealings, text messages dating back to May 2017 reveal that Biden met with Bobulinski months after he left the vice president’s office. Fox News Digital first reported on the text messages and that meeting in October 2020. The meeting on May 2, 2017, would have taken place just 11 days before the now-infamous May 13, 2017, email, which included a discussion of “remuneration packages” for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,” in a reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co. The email includes a note that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.” A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 130
Israel continues to face growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire amid mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, February 13, 2024: Humanitarian crisis in Gaza On Tuesday, at least five people were killed in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while four more were killed by an Israeli bomb in the Brazil neighbourhood of Rafah. A growing international chorus is calling for a ceasefire as Israel plans an assault on Rafah – home to 1.4 million people, most of whom were displaced from other parts of Gaza. Meanwhile, on the Israeli side, three soldiers were killed and two others were injured during the fighting. They were part of the 630th Battalion deployed in southern Gaza. Hala Mekdad, a 10-year-old girl, has died in the intensive care room of Nasser Hospital after electricity at the hospital was cut off overnight, according to a video shared on social media by a doctor at the hospital and verified by Al Jazeera. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip has been under siege for weeks, with Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, saying that Israeli snipers have fired at and killed people in the hospital’s yard. The bodies of several people killed near Nasser Hospital have reportedly been lying on the ground for several days as it is too unsafe to reach them, the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said. Israel has described Rafah as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the territory and signalled that its ground offensive may soon target the town on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip. At least 63 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in Rafah on Sunday overnight, ahead of the impending ground offensive. Palestinian health authorities say more than 28,000 people have been killed. More than 85 percent of Gazan residents have become homeless due to the destruction of residential buildings in Israeli strikes. A UN survey found that nearly one in 10 children under five is acutely malnourished. Regional tensions and diplomacy Israel is facing growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement “strongly” condemning “Israel’s military aggression against Rafah city in Gaza and the resulting destruction and massacre of the Palestinian people”. More than 100 people were killed in intense Israeli bombardments on Sunday overnight through to Monday. Meanwhile, United States President Joe Biden and King Abdullah II of Jordan discussed strategies to end the war in a meeting in Washington, DC. Biden and Netanyahu also spoke after two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said Cairo threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if troops were sent into Rafah. Separately, a cargo ship that Yemen’s Houthis struck in the Red Sea was bound for a port in Iran, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The ship was struck by two missiles but is “seaworthy with minor damage and no injuries to the crew”, CENTCOM added. Houthi Attack in Bab al-Mandeb On Feb. 12 from 3:30 to 3:45 a.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired two missiles from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Bab al-Mandeb. Both missiles were launched toward MV Star Iris, a Greek-owned, Marshall… pic.twitter.com/vfihRaw0rr — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 13, 2024 Occupied West Bank According to reports by Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israel set a Palestinian truck ablaze overnight in the town of Huwara, in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Wafa also said that about 9,000 Palestinian prisoners are subjected to “unprecedented retaliatory measures”. “The Israeli Prison Service has further stripped the detainees of basic tools and means of communication with the outside world, such as television and family visits,” Wafa said. The number of settlers in the West Bank now stands at 517,407, up from 502,991 a year earlier. Additionally, the United Kingdom has also announced sanctions on four Israeli settlers accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank after a similar move by the US this month. Announcing the asset freezes and travel and visa bans against the settlers, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence.” Adblock test (Why?)