Parliament Budget Session: Discussion on ‘White Paper’ expected to rock Lok Sabha today
In Lok Sabha, a heated discussion is expected on Friday regarding the ‘White Paper’ presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
New York special election candidates clash over border crisis, abortion: ‘You created this issue’
The two candidates, who will go head-to-head in a special election next week in an attempt to fill the vacant House seat previously held by former Rep. George Santos, traded barbs during a debate when asked about a number of topics – including immigration and abortion. Democrat Tom Suozzi, a former lawmaker in the House who unsuccessfully ran for governor of the Empire State twice, and Republican Mazi Pilip, a former Israel Defense Forces soldier and relative political newcomer serving as a Republican county legislator, met face to face on Long Island in the first and only debate in the special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Hosted by News 12 Long Island, the pre-taped debate featured a number of topics that are top of mind as voters weigh who to vote for in the contentious election. Asked by a voter in the district who attended the debate what steps they would take to address the migrant crisis in New York City and the impact it’s having on those who live in the district, Pilip replied, “Before we even address the issue inside, we have to make sure first and foremost we need to secure the border. After that, then we have to come up with a plan. We have to know who’s here. We don’t even know who all those people are.” DEMOCRAT SUOZZI RUNNING FOR GEORGE SANTOS SEAT TAKES HEAT FOR 2019 POST ON ICE AMID NEW YORK’S MIGRANT CRISIS “So I can’t answer how we are gonna take of it before we can secure the border,” she added. “Once we secure the border, we have to review to see who those people are and what we should do with them.” Responding to Pilip’s remarks on the topic, while not addressing the question specifically about how he would handle the immigration issue himself, Suozzi said, “Mrs. Pilip points out there’s a problem, there’s a problem, there’s a problem. She has no solutions. There’s a solution that’s been proposed in the United States Senate that would actually build more wall, would get more border agents, would deal with asylum seekers, would reform the laws to make it better, and would give money to the state of New York and the city of New York to deal with the migrant crisis that we currently have.” “Right now, they wanna try and put more migrants over at Creedmoor,” he continued. “I’ve already registered my complaints with the city of New York, saying ‘don’t put anymore at that location.’ The reality is, I know how government works, I know how to get things done, I know who to talk to, how to stop things, and how to make things happen My opponent in this race is very good at pointing out the problems … except her opposition to this bipartisan deal will result in the border staying open for years and years and years, and more migrants coming to New York. She has no solutions whatsoever. … That’s not how you govern.” The bipartisan “solution” referenced by Suozzi in the back and forth between the candidates appeared to be the supplemental spending agreement that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as an ambitious border security and immigration package that failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday. Snapping back at Suozzi’s comments, Pilip said, “It’s amazing you’re coming up with a solution. You created this issue. You were there. You were in charge of this problem, Tom. It’s amazing, you have to admit it.” “You are saying you are about to go to fix it? I mean c’mon,” she added. IDF VETERAN TURNED NY GOP PICK TO REPLACE GEORGE SANTOS VOWS TO TAKE ON ‘SQUAD,’ SLAMS SUOZZI AS FAKE MODERATE Declaring him unfit to handle the issue, Pilip, who has consistently accused the former congressman of siding with President Biden and voting in lock-step with the progressive “squad” Democrats, claimed Suozzi “opened the border.” “Tom Suozzi opened the border. Tom Suozzi funded the sanctuary city. Tom Suozzi kicked I.C.E. from Nassau County,” she said. “This is absolutely you; you have to own it.” Suozzi called Pilip’s accusation “absurd” and suggested that he supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “For you to suggest I’m a member of the squad is about as believable as you being a member of George Santos’s volleyball team,” Suozzi told Pilip. Prior to his comments, Suozzi took heat from Pilip this week over a resurfaced social media post in which he shared a guide appearing to instruct migrants on how to deal with ICE agents in the event of raids promised by then-President Trump in 2019. Pilip told Fox News Digital that the post to Facebook at the time demonstrates that Suozzi “can’t run away from his record of supporting Joe Biden’s open borders, sanctuary cities, and lawlessness.” On the topic of abortion, Pilip, who noted she was “pro-life” and the mother of seven children, said, “I’m not going to force my own beliefs to any woman, therefore I’m not going to support a national abortion ban.” Pushing Pilip on the issue, Suozzi questioned Pilip about whether she would vote to codify Roe v. Wade and repeatedly asked her, “Are you pro-choice?” Pilip did not respond directly to Suozzi’s questions on the issue and instead accused the New York Democrat of attempting to tell women what to think of their bodies and distorting her record on the issue. “How dare you lie like this,” Pilip said in response. Released Thursday, a Siena College poll conducted for Newsday from Feb. 3 to Feb. 6 showed Suozzi leading Pilip 48% to 44% among likely voters. The special election is slated to take place on Feb. 13. Early voting began in the district on Feb. 3.
In Tucker Carlson interview, Putin says Russia can’t be defeated in Ukraine
Russian leader says deal to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich possible after ‘reciprocal steps’. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible” while insisting he does not seek to expand the war to neighbouring countries such as Poland and Latvia. In a high-profile interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin denied that he had territorial ambitions across Europe and said he would only send troops into neighbouring countries if attacked first. “It is absolutely out of the question. You just don’t have to be any kind of analyst, it goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war, and a global war will bring all of humanity to the brink of devastation,” Putin said in the interview posted online on Thursday. “It’s obvious.” During a two-hour interview that saw Putin talk at length about the history of Eastern Europe and Russia, the Russian leader said that his government was in contact with the United States and that a peaceful resolution to the war would only be possible if Washington stops supplying weapons to Ukraine. “I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership,” Putin said. “If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks, that’s it, and then we can agree on some terms. Before you do that, stop.” Asked by Carlson whether he would be willing to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as a “sign of your decency”, the Russian leader said a deal is possible and there is “no taboo” on resolving the issue. “We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them. No, we have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner. However, in theory, we can say that we do not rule out that we can do that if our partners take reciprocal steps,” Putin said. Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March 2023 on spying charges that Washington has described as “baseless”. The Kremlin said Putin agreed to sit down with Carlson because he presented a less one-sided view of the war in Ukraine. Carlson has repeatedly questioned the rationale for US support for Kyiv, and in a video posted on social media this week, he criticised US media outlets for their “fawning” coverage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Before the interview, Carlson attracted criticism for travelling to Moscow to interview the Russian leader, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labelling the former TV host a “useful idiot”. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 716
As the war enters its 716th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Friday, February 9, 2024. Fighting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Oleksandr Syrsky, who has led Ukraine’s ground forces since 2019, as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces, after he dismissed General Valerii Zaluzhnyi in the biggest military shake-up since Russia began its full-scale invasion. Zaluzhnyi conceded that military strategy “must change”. Mayor Vitaly Barabash told state media that large numbers of Russian forces were “storming” Avdiivka, which has been under sustained Russian assault since mid-October and lies about 20km (12 miles) east of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk. Dmytro Lykhovyy, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, told national television that Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in fighting “within the town”. Russia and Ukraine exchanged 100 prisoners of war each with the United Arab Emirates acting as an intermediary, both countries said. Zelenskyy said most of those brought home had been captured in the three-month defence of Mariupol, which fell in May 2022. In one of the only independent assessments of the death toll from the brutal battle for Mariupol, Human Rights Watch said at least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes, and named Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu among 10 people with “command responsibility” it said should be the focus of possible war crimes investigations. Ukraine’s air force said 11 of 17 Russia-launched drones targeting four regions of the country were shot down. No casualties were reported. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it destroyed a dozen Ukrainian missiles headed for the border city of Belgorod. Politics and diplomacy The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Russia to “put an end to the forcible transfer or deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian territory” and return those taken to their families. Kyiv alleges some 20,000 children have been taken from Ukraine to Russia without the consent of their families or guardians. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s commissioner over the deportations. The Kremlin said Putin spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping for an hour and that the two leaders rejected the “US policy of interfering in the internal affairs of other states”. Putin and Xi also saw eye-to-eye on the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin added without elaborating. Beijing has not condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion and claims neutrality in the conflict. Presidential hopeful and prominent Ukraine war critic, Boris Nadezhdin said the elections commission had blocked his bid to challenge Putin in March’s elections and that he would challenge the decision in the country’s highest court. Russian President Vladimir Putin told right-wing US journalist Tucker Carlson that Western countries needed to understand that it was “impossible” to defeat Russia in Ukraine. He also said Russia would fight for its interests, but had no interest in expanding its war into other countries such as Poland and Latvia. Putin and Carlson spoke for more than two hours in an interview that was dubbed into English and uploaded to Carlson’s website. Putin also told Carlson, who asked few tough questions and mostly just listened, that he thought “an agreement could be reached” in the case of jailed Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich who has been detained since March last year accused of spying. Gershkovich and the Journal have rejected the charges. A court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don jailed a Ukrainian woman for 10 years for spying, after she was accused of providing information about Russian air defence and military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces. Weapons A bill that includes $61b in aid for Ukraine moved forward in the US Senate after the failure of a broader bill including border control measures demanded by right-wing Republicans failed. It was not clear when the Senate would consider final passage, and the bill is likely to face hostility in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Adblock test (Why?)
Uttarakhand: 4 dead, over 100 cops injured in Haldwani violence over madrasa demolition
Violence in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani has resulted four deaths and over 100 injured police officers, over the demolition of an illegal madrasa and an adjoining mosque in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani on Thursday.
Trump wins twice in Nevada in the race for the Republican presidential nomination
LAS VEGAS – It was never in doubt, and now it’s official. Former President Donald Trump is projected to win Nevada’s Republican presidential caucus, according to the Associated Press. The call on Thursday night came quickly after caucus precincts from across the Silver State began reporting results. The former president, who’s the commanding front-runner for the 2024 nomination as he bids a third straight time for the White House, was the only major candidate on the ballot in a caucus run by the Nevada GOP. And he grabbed all 26 delegates to this summer’s nominating convention that were at stake in the caucus. HALEY CHARGES NEVADA GOP CAUCUS ‘RIGGED’ FOR TRUMP Trump’s win in Nevada came hours after he grabbed roughly three-quarters of the vote for a landside victory in a presidential caucus run the the U.S. Virgin Islands GOP. The former president also came up a winner on Tuesday, in Nevada’s state-run Republican presidential primary, even though he wasn’t on the ballot. Trump’s absence from the primary ballot wasn’t enough to provide a path to victory for Nikki Haley – the former president’s last remaining major rival for the 2024 Republican nomination. The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration lost on Tuesday to a “none of these candidates” option by a more than two-to-one margin in a primary where no GOP convention delegates were at stake. Voters casting ballots in the primary couldn’t write in Trump’s name, but they could vote for “none of these candidates.” And Trump supporters Fox News interviewed outside of polling stations said that is how they voted. The confusion over having two competing contests dates to 2021, when Democrats, who at the time controlled both Nevada’s governor’s office and the legislature, passed a law changing the presidential nominating contest from long-held caucuses to a state-run primary. WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX DIGITAL ABOUT WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO TO KEEP RUNNING The Nevada GOP objected, but last year their legal bid to stop the primary from going forward was rejected. In a twist, the judge in the case allowed the state Republicans to hold their own caucuses. No delegates will be at stake in the Republican primary, while all 26 will be up for grabs in the GOP caucus. The state GOP ruled that candidates who put their name on the state-run primary ballot could not take part in the caucuses. Haley and some of the other now-departed Republican presidential candidates viewed the Nevada GOP as too loyal to Trump and decided to skip a caucus they believed was tipped in favor of the former president. Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald and both of the state’s members of the Republican National Committee are supporting Trump. HALEY, TRUMP, TRADE SHOTS OVER WHO’S STRONGER AGAINST BIDEN Haley on Wednesday charged that “Nevada – it’s such a scam. They were supposed to have a primary. Trump rigged it so the GOP chairman – who’s been indicted – would go and create a caucus.” “We knew that it was rigged from the start,” Haley argued in separate interviews with Fox News Digital and with FOX 11 Los Angeles while campaigning in southern California. McDonald, responding, claimed that Haley “is not a real serious candidate.” “The fact of the matter is she didn’t show up. She did not campaign in Nevada and neither did ‘none of the above’ and ‘none of the above’ won,” the Nevada GOP chair told Fox News Digital. While the GOP presidential candidates had to choose either the caucus or primary ballot, registered Republicans in Nevada can vote in both contests. Trump’s campaign worked to get the message out to supporters in Nevada that if they want to vote for the former president, they need to show up at the caucuses. HALEY APPLIES FOR SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL “Your primary vote doesn’t mean anything. It’s your caucus vote,” Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas late last month. “So in your state, you have both the primary and you have a caucus. Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing.” Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is supporting Trump, told the Nevada Independent last month that he would vote for “none of these candidates” in the primary, and would caucus for Trump in the state GOP’s contest. While her name was on the ballot, Haley ignored the Nevada primary. Haley didn’t campaign in Nevada ahead of the primary and hasn’t been in the state since speaking in late October at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference. “We knew months ago that we weren’t going to spend a day or a dollar in Nevada, because it wasn’t worth it. And so we didn’t even count Nevada. That wasn’t anything we were looking at,” Haley emphasized on Wednesday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP As the vote count continued on Tuesday night, the former president took to his Truth Social network to take aim at Haley. “A bad night for Nikki Haley. Losing by almost 30 points in Nevada to “None of These Candidates.” Watch, she’ll soon claim Victory!” he argued. Haley, looking ahead, reiterated that “our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan, Super Tuesday.” South Carolina’s next up in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, with a primary on Feb. 24. Michigan holds its primary three days after the South Carolina. Fifteen states, including the behemoths of California and Texas, hold contests a week later, on Super Tuesday. Haley’s two campaign stops on Wednesday in California were her first to date in any of the Super Tuesday states. And the swing to the Golden State appears in part to be a marker for Haley as she pushes back against calls by some Republicans to drop out of the race and give up her uphill climb for the nomination. The trip also included a series of fundraisers. And as Fox News Digital first reported on Wednesday, Haley hauled in $1.7
Team of 3 Union ministers meet Punjab farmer leaders, another round to be held soon
After the meeting, the farmer leaders said the Central ministers have assured them that they would hold second round of the meeting soon. However, the farmer leaders said their proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13 still stands.
60 injured, curfew imposed in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani after violence over demolition of ‘illegally built’ madrasa
Police said most of the around 60 people hospitalised after the violence in the city’s Banbhoolpura area were police personnel and municipal workers involved in the demolition of a local madrasa.
Who was Shiv Sena UBT leader Abhishek Ghosalkar, shot dead on Facebook live?
A viral video of the incident showed Ghosalkar being shot in the abdomen and shoulder as he was live on Facebook with Noronha, a local activist. Sounds of three other shots being fired are also heard in the clip.
GOP Rep. Tenney calls to invoke 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office after ‘alarming’ Hur report
EXCLUSIVE: Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney is calling for the Cabinet to “explore” the use of the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove President Biden from office, following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s “alarming” report. Hur did not recommend criminal charges against the president for mishandling classified documents. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” BIDEN SAYS HIS MEMORY IS ‘FINE,’ HE IS ‘MOST QUALIFIED PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY’ TO BE PRESIDENT Hur, though, described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Hur, throughout the more than 300-page report, said “it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him” of a serious felony “that requires a mental state of willfulness,” and said he would be “well into his eighties.” Fox News Digital obtained a letter Tenney, R-N.Y., sent to Attorney General Garland Thursday night, sharing her “grave concerns” following the report. “After concluding that President Biden knowingly and willfully removed, mishandled, and disclosed classified documents repeatedly over a period of decades, Mr. Hur nevertheless recommended that charges not be brought against him,” Tenney wrote. “Special Counsel’s reasoning was alarming.” Tenney added: “He recited numerous instances in which President Biden exhibited dramatically compromised mental faculties and concluded that a jury would be likely to perceive President Biden as a sympathetic and forgetful old man.” Tenney said she “need not tell you that selective prosecution is morally, ethically, and legally prohibited.” BIDEN ‘DID NOT REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT,’ WHEN HIS SON BEAU DIED, DURING SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEWS “We don’t prosecute or decline to prosecute people based on their personalities, or on the public’s anticipated perception of them,” Tenney wrote. “If Special Counsel finds that the evidence forms a reasonable basis to bring charges, he must do so.” Tenney said the DOJ “cannot ethically bring charges against former President Trump because he has mental acuity and a forceful personality, and decline to bring charges against President Biden because of his cognitive decline.” Tenney said Biden “needs to be charged, unless he is not mentally competent to stand trial.” “Candidly, Special Counsel’s report makes a reasonable case that he is not,” Tenney said. “Being unable to remember what position he held, and when, is exceptionally concerning. Being unable to remember when one’s child died – even within a time frame of several years – is perhaps more a more damning reflection of his mental impairment.” Tenney went on to say that Biden “most seemingly lacks the ability to execute his presidential responsibilities.” “So it is incumbent upon you to explore proceedings to remove the President pursuant to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Tenney wrote. “President Biden needs to be charged, or he needs to be removed.” She added: “There is no middle ground.” SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN ‘SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,’ BRINGS NO CHARGES The 25th Amendment can be invoked by the Cabinet if the president becomes disabled to such a degree that he cannot fulfill his responsibilities. Biden, on Thursday night, though, addressed the nation saying his memory is “fine” and defended his re-election campaign, saying he is the “most qualified person in this country to be president.” “I’m well-meaning, and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing,” Biden said. “I’ve been president. I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation.” Biden added: “My memory is fine.” During his address, Biden also fired back at Special Counsel Robert Hur for suggesting he did not remember when his son Beau died. “How dare he raise that?” Biden said. “Frankly, when I was asked a question, I thought to myself, what’s that any of your damn business?” “Let me tell you something…I swear, since the day he died, every single day…I wear the rosary he got from Our Lady—” Biden stopped, seemingly forgetting where the rosary was from. Biden became visibly emotional, and declared: “I don’t need anyone—I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away or passed away.” Moments later, though, Biden transitioned to discuss the conflict in the Middle East. Biden referred to Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, as “the president of Mexico.” TRUMP DEMANDS DOJ ‘IMMEDIATELY’ DROP CHARGES AGAINST HIM IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE AFTER BIDEN DECISION But the president took a barrage of questions from the White House press corps, with some shouting and pressing him on whether he is fit to run for re-election. “I’m the most qualified person in this country to be President of the United States,” Biden said, adding that he has to “finish the job I started.” Meanwhile, Hur, in the report, said Biden, during his interview with the special counsel’s team, could not remember key details, such as when he was vice president. “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report states. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” the report continued. “And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” “In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating