The EPA sets tougher national soot standards. These 10 Texas counties already exceed them.
Some environmental experts are skeptical that Texas can meet the new rules on particulate matter, which can cause serious respiratory problems.
Mayra Flores: DNA testing needed at border, even if that means detaining kids for months
The former Republican congresswoman is running for her former seat representing the 34th congressional district.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says he won’t resign if impeached
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tells Fox News he would not resign if he were to be impeached. Mayorkas, 64, made these comments to Fox News’ Matt Finn during a security presser in Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl this Sunday. “I’ll gladly answer it again. The allegations are baseless and I’m focused on the work which was what brings me to Las Vegas today,” Mayorkas said. The comments come after a failed push by House Republicans to impeach the DHS secretary over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans were forced to shelve the priority after a few GOP lawmakers refused to go along with the party’s plan. ‘PRO-LIFE SPIDERMAN’ ARRESTED AFTER CLIMBING LAS VEGAS SPHERE DURING SUPER BOWL WEEK The stunning roll call Tuesday fell just a single vote short of impeaching Mayorkas, stalling the Republicans’ drive to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border. With Democrats united against the charges, the Republicans needed almost every vote from their slim majority to approve the articles of impeachment. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s spokesman Raj Shah said they “fully intend” to reconsider the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas “when we have the votes for passage.” But the next steps are uncertain. In the end, three Republicans opposed the impeachment, and a fourth Republican switched his vote so the measure could be revisited. The final tally was 214-216. Not since 1876 has a Cabinet secretary faced impeachment charges and it’s the first time a sitting secretary faced impeachment — 148 years ago, Secretary of War William Belknap resigned just before the vote. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Maryland Democrat Gov. Moore says state is “leaving too much potential on the table” in address
Gov. Wes Moore said during his second State of the State speech Wednesday that Maryland has boundless opportunities but is “leaving too much potential on the table” as he charts a course forward through challenging times that includes a long-term plan for governing. The address continued a narrative by the governor and others that a state often considered to be one of the nation’s wealthiest, benefiting from proximity to the nation’s capital, has been falling short of its potential. FORMER BALTIMORE PROSECUTOR MARILYN MOSBY FOUND GUILTY OF 1 COUNT OF MORTGAGE FRAUD Moore, a Democrat, began his speech by reflecting on his first year assembling a new government, after a rare two-term Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state. It was a year that had its challenges for a governor who had never held elected office before and pledged to bring change as the state’s first Black chief executive. “We learned a lot of lessons, some hard lessons,” the governor said with a smile, bringing some laughs from members of the General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, who gathered before him in the House of Delegates. “But solving big problems does not happen overnight. But let’s be clear, a change is happening, and today the state of our state, it is strong.” The governor highlighted efforts to reduce child poverty and to increase jobs during his first year in office. His first year also included big headlines, with Maryland winning the site of a new FBI headquarters and challenging negotiations that resulted in a new lease with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. He also underscored initiatives to improve public safety, increase affordable housing and enhance the state’s competitiveness in business this year. Moore also gave a glimpse of a long-term agenda for rest of his first term that he plans to detail on Thursday, a plan he says includes the input of people from across Maryland. “Our state plan is about much more than just aspirational targets,” Moore said. “The plan that we are going to lay out, it will lay out specific, actionable, realistic, and measurable goals. And we built these priorities by listening to the people who sent us here in the first place: Our constituents.” ANOTHER DEAD WHALE BEACHES IN MARYLAND AMID RAPID OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT Moore pointed to positives including the state’s lowest unemployment rate for the fifth month in a row. He also noted that Baltimore had the lowest number of homicides in 2023 than they’ve been each year in nearly a decade. “And communities that have been underestimated and undervalued now have an important seat at the table in the halls of power,” Moore said. On public safety, the governor said Marylanders are seeking justice and more accountability for people who break the law, as well as better rehabilitation for juvenile offenders. He also noted plans to do more to get illegal guns off the streets and increase the number of police officers around the state. Crime has been a focus of Maryland Republicans, who have been calling for stronger accountability and consequences for violent criminals. Sen. Steve Hershey said while Republicans believe the governor is sincere in prioritizing public safety, the chief executive’s plan doesn’t do enough to punish violent criminals. “To make a real difference, the governor will have to push for a more proactive plan that defines swift and certain consequences for violent criminals, thus preventing Marylanders from becoming victims in the first place,” Hershey, the Senate Republican leader from the Eastern Shore, said in the GOP’s response to Moore’s speech. Republicans also are wary of the condition of the state’s budget. Hershey said while Republicans were relieved Moore’s budget plan does not include tax increases, it also doesn’t identify a solution to a rising budget gap in future years, largely due to an ambitious but expensive education reform law. The state’s economic climate has been a focus of both parties, particularly following a report last month by Comptroller Brooke Lierman, a statewide-elected Democrat. That report found the state’s economic growth effectively stalled in 2017 and has been stagnant ever since, even though the state tops the nation in several key economic categories. The governor said his administration will invest in industries of the future, with funding for life sciences, biotech, data centers and cyber. Moore also said the administration will cut red tape that hinders businesses. But Hershey said Maryland ranks among the worst states for tax rates, regulatory challenges and climate for fostering private sector growth. He called attention to a GOP proposal to cut the state’s corporate income tax rate from 8.25% to 6.25% over the next four years. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The governor’s address also highlighted his administration’s proposals to make housing more affordable in Maryland. The proposals include creating new tools to drive housing development in communities that need it most, proposals to protect renters and cut red tape that makes it harder to build quality housing.
Jefferies defend surprise appearance by Texas Democrat in failed Mayorkas impeachment vote
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-New York, defended the surprise appearance of fellow Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas during Tuesday’s vote that ultimately tanked a Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “It’s not our responsibility to let House Republicans know which members will or will not be present on the House floor on any other day or in connection with any given vote,” Jeffries told reporters Wednesday in the Capitol, The Hill reported. Green, who was receiving health care at a hospital, appeared in the House chamber in a wheelchair wearing hospital garb to cast his ballot. The move surprised Republicans, who had little wiggle room after three of their own voted no. GOP SENATORS RALLY AGAINST BIPARTISAN BORDER DEAL, CITING BIDEN’S POWER TO SUSPEND ‘EMERGENCY’ BILL Fox News Digital has reached out to Green’s office. The vote was 216-214. Lawmakers voted on a resolution combining two articles of impeachment accusing Mayorkas of having “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and the other of having violated “public trust.” They were Reps. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.; Ken Buck, R-Colo.; and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. The lawmakers said while they disapproved of the job Mayorkas is doing at the southern border, the threshold for impeachment had not been met, and warned it could be used against future Republican administrations. SEN. TIM SCOTT A ‘HADES NO’ ON SENATE BORDER, IMMIGRATION DEAL “We can basically … look at this as a game, unfortunately, and their strategy. And they hid one of their members, waiting to the last minute, watching to see our votes, trying to throw us off on the numbers that we had versus the numbers they had,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R- Georgia, said. “That was a strategy at play tonight.” Jefferies said Green wasn’t coerced by his Democratic colleagues to participate in Tuesday’s vote. “He has told his story directly and he made it clear to me that it was important for him to be present to cast a vote against this sham impeachment led by Marjorie Taylor Greene, targeting a hard-working public servant like Secretary Mayorkas,” Jeffries said. While speaking to reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said the vote was changed when “people who show up when they’re not expected to be in the building.”
Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL says ‘soft-on-crime DAs’ more focused on Trump than violent migrants
U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy called out New York officials for the release of an illegal immigrant accused of brutally assaulting law enforcement officers, suggesting the state is more focused on charging former President Donald Trump than violent criminals. “The crime we’re seeing on our streets right now is a direct result of soft-on-crime policies from coast to coast in this country,” Sheehy, a Montana Republican and former Navy SEAL, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “Soft-on-crime DAs that apparently have time to prosecute Donald Trump for decades-old spurious cases, yet they don’t have time to arrest and hold illegal immigrants who have assaulted police officers in the street.” A group of illegal immigrants were recently arrested in New York after being caught on camera attacking an NYPD officer and lieutenant in Times Square, but the state sparked public outrage after one of the individuals was seen being freed from custody just days later. “It’s unconscionable what we’re seeing happen to law enforcement in this country; these soft-on-crime policies, anti-cop policies, defund the police, abolish ICE, the list goes on,” Sheehy said the New York assault is a result of failed crime policies. MIGRANTS WHO FLED AFTER ALLEGEDLY BEATING NYC POLICE USE STOLEN PHONES TO BUY CARS, POOLS BACK HOME: REPORT He added that the police officers didn’t fight back, “because they knew they would not be supported by their DA.” “Jon Tester and the Democrat Party have been anti-law enforcement for years, and now we’re seeing the results of it from big cities in New York to small towns across the country. We’re seeing our brave men and women in blue being sold down the river by Democrat elected officials,” he told Fox. Sheehy pointed to the state focusing on cases surrounding Republican presidential front-runner Trump, but allowing violent criminals to walk the streets and flee the state. “Meanwhile, we’re seeing millions and millions of dollars spent on political prosecutions of Donald Trump, other conservatives around the country,” the Republican said. “Apparently, the DAs and our law enforcement agencies have the time and money to do that, but they don’t have the time and money to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, protect our men and women in blue, and obviously, in the case of these men in New York City, arrest and hold violent criminals. It’s unconscionable.” Sheehy added that if he is elected to the Montana Senate in 2024, he “will be extremely strict on only approving cabinet appointees and judicial nominees that are pro-law enforcement and pro-rule of law.” SCHUMER-ALIGNED GROUP THAT MEDDLED IN GOP PRIMARY HIT WITH COMPLAINT ALLEGING FEC VIOLATIONS The Republican added that rising theft and violent crime in Montana is directly related to the ongoing issues at the southern border. Sheehy, who is running to unseat Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said the “criminal element” of the southern border crisis is a top issue for Montana voters going into 2024. “Every state is a border state, and Montana is a northern border state with a southern border problem,” Sheehy told Fox. “The most consistent issue I’m hearing from grassroots voters is extreme frustration at the southern border and the criminal element that’s brought to Montana.”
Paramilitary commander killed in Baghdad drone strike: Reports
Abu Baqir al-Saadi of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group has been killed in eastern Baghdad, officials say. A senior commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq that the Pentagon linked to an attack that killed three US troops, died in a drone strike on a vehicle in eastern Baghdad, according to security sources and media reports. One of the sources said three people were killed and that the vehicle targeted on Wednesday night was used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a state security agency composed of dozens of armed groups, many of them close to Iran. Two officials with Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq said that senior commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi was among those killed, the Associated Press news agency reported. Local outlet Sabereen News also reported al-Saadi had been killed in the blast. Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Baghdad, said that “several explosions” were heard across the Iraqi capital and that security sources said three people have been killed. Hashem said that the area where the attack took place, east of Baghdad, is “known to be a stronghold for armed factions”. Kataib Hezbollah fighters and commanders are part of the PMF, a coalition of mainly pro-Iran paramilitaries now integrated into Iraq’s regular security forces. Three United States troops were killed in January in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah. The group then announced it was suspending military operations against US troops in the region. Iraq and Syria have witnessed near-daily tit-for-tat attacks between Iran-backed armed groups and US forces stationed in the region since the Israeli assault on Gaza began in October. There was no immediate comment from US officials on the blast. The US struck Iran-backed Iraqi groups in Iraq and Syria last weekend in what it said was the beginning of its response to the killing of the three US soldiers in a drone attack. In January, a US drone strike killed a senior militia commander in central Baghdad, an attack Washington said came in response to drone and rocket attacks on its forces. On Wednesday, Iraqi special forces were on high alert in Baghdad and further units were deployed inside the Green Zone housing international diplomatic missions including the US embassy, a security source said. Adblock test (Why?)
Sen. Hawley claps back as ‘pro-terrorist’ activist shouts ‘Hamas will never be eliminated’
Activists from feminist organization Code Pink yelled at Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., in the Senate Hart building on Wednesday afternoon ahead of an expected vote on a clean national security supplemental package that could unlock billions of dollars in aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and citizens in Gaza. “Don’t give us your talking points… bulls—, you are unbelievable,” one protester can be heard saying in the video provided to Fox News Digital. Hawley clapped back, “The state of Israel has the right to defend itself.” “It’s not defense,” responded the protester. Code Pink has called for Israel to impose a cease-fire on its conflict with Hamas that began Oct. 7. Hawley can be heard in the video saying he won’t “call for a cease-fire until Hamas is eliminated.” “Hamas will never be eliminated,” the protester said. SOUTH AFRICA’S GENOCIDE CASE AGAINST ISRAEL SETS UP A HIGH-STAKES LEGAL BATTLE AT THE UN’S TOP COURT “You’re an antisemitic,” Hawley replied. “If you guys had your way, there’d be a second Holocaust… that’s what you want. Pro-terrorist.” This isn’t the first time Code Pink activists have mobilized in the Senate. Last month, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., confronted an anti-Israel protester in a Senate office building stairwell on Thursday afternoon, after the woman followed him and claimed Hamas was “legitimately” voted in by the Palestinian people. In a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Tillis can be heard telling the protester, “Hamas has caused this carnage, Hamas has to cease to represent the Palestinian people so we can save them and protect them.” Tillis fired back at the protester and said “they canceled future elections.” FRANCE’S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS ISRAEL, CALLS FOR CEASE-FIRE AND HOSTAGE RELEASE “They are dictators who have raped and murdered Israelis,” Tillis said. “When the people of Palestine elect somebody in a free election, I’ll be arguing for a cease-fire.” The unidentified Code Pink protester then said, “Israel won’t let them have an election,” to which Tillis shot back and said, “Hamas will not let them have an election.” “No, it’s Israel, Israel is the occupier, sir,” she said. According to its website, Code Pink has “a network of local organizers, online supporters and generous donors, with an emphasis on joy and humor, our tactics include satire, street theatre, creative visuals, civil resistance, and directly challenging powerful decision-makers in government and corporations.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Code Pink for comment. In a previous statement, the organization referred to a statement on their website applauding “the decisive stance the International Court of Justice (ICJ) took in its preliminary ruling on South Africa v. Israel.” “The Court ordered Israel to cease all actions tantamount to genocide and to facilitate humanitarian aid to mitigate the unfolding humanitarian crisis urgently, which is a crucial step toward justice,” the statement read. In January, South Africa launched a case at the United Nations’ top court alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.
‘Reckless’: Proposed ban on US funding for UNRWA raises alarm
A United States security bill that would curtail funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees is raising alarm, as rights advocates say a years-long effort to dismantle the agency is gaining steam amid Israel’s war on Gaza. The proposed $118bn legislation, a draft of which (PDF) was blocked in the US Senate on Wednesday, includes a provision prohibiting Washington from allocating any funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Seth Binder, advocacy director at the Middle East Democracy Center, said this would apply to humanitarian assistance included in the bill as well as any previously approved funds for UNRWA that have not yet been allocated, a sum totalling about $300,000. “It’s unclear … where and how this specific provision may become law, if it ever is able to,” Binder told Al Jazeera. “But it is concerning nonetheless just given recent developments.” UNRWA came under renewed scrutiny last month after the Israeli government accused around a dozen of the agency’s more than 13,000 Gaza employees of taking part in Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed a reported 1,139 people. UNRWA immediately sacked the employees in question and announced that it was opening a probe into the allegations, which it described as “shocking” and “serious”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also has appointed an independent panel to investigate. Israel has yet to provide evidence to back up its allegations, but the US and several other countries quickly suspended funding to the agency as a result. UNRWA relies on government contributions to fund its operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Against that backdrop, the Senate bill — which had the support of President Joe Biden — reflected growing bipartisan acceptance of what previously were Republican-driven attempts to curtail UNRWA, said Ethan Mayer-Rich at the Arab Center Washington DC. “We’re seeing a pretty quick departure from what used to be a split down party lines,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s reckless, and ultimately I think history is going to see [the US] as being completely complicit in what is unquestionably an incredibly tragic and dire situation.” Mayer-Rich, the centre’s liaison for US government affairs, added that “the conversation in part is guided by the Biden administration”. “We’ve seen, at this point, an endorsement by the highest level of office that it’s OK for Democrats to call into question UNRWA’s mandate, to call into question the necessity of its mission, which has long been a Republican-guided effort,” he said. “This is a message that will have a durable impact on the way that Democrats are talking about UNRWA and the necessary services it provides.” Palestinians walk amid the destruction from Israeli bombing in Gaza City on January 27 [Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency] ‘A huge hole’ Indeed, current attempts in the US to defund UNRWA come at a critical time. The agency is leading humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza, where Israel’s military bombardment has killed more than 27,708 Palestinians and caused wide-scale destruction since October 7. Palestinians in the besieged enclave also face dire food, water and medical shortages. The local healthcare system is near total collapse, and more than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced. Many families have sought shelter at UNRWA-run facilities. Since the Biden administration announced its UNRWA funding freeze in late January, top UN officials — as well as human rights advocates and humanitarian aid groups — have issued multiple pleas asking Washington to reconsider. The US previously provided $422m to the agency in 2023, making it UNRWA’s largest contributor. Those funds accounted for nearly 30 percent of UNRWA’s contributions last year, explained Bill Deere, director of the agency’s Washington representative office. “If this proposal were to become law, that’s a huge hole that would have to be filled,” Deere told Al Jazeera in an email, referring to the Senate bill. If this proposal were to become law that’s a huge hole that would have to be filled,” Deere told Al Jazeera in an email, referring to the Senate bill. The legislation, which included more than $14bn in additional US security assistance to Israel, had the backing of the White House, but it is unlikely to reach Biden’s desk to be signed into law, particularly after Wednesday’s setback in the Senate. Top Republicans have also said it will be “dead on arrival” if it reaches the House of Representatives, amid calls for stricter immigration measures. Still, Deere — who described the atmosphere in Washington as a “challenging policy environment” — said the bill “demonstrates that we need to keep discussing with lawmakers the fact that UNRWA and the UN have acted swiftly and decisively in the wake of the recent news”. He also warned that the agency “will have a very hard time operating beyond March 1st if donor states do not resume their support” and stressed that UNRWA operates beyond Gaza alone. “Hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan will lose access to primary healthcare, direct food support, rental assistance, and education,” Deere said. “Human decency aside, such an occurrence also poses a regional stability issue.” Reinvigorated pressure But despite those warnings, Republicans have seized on the accusations against UNRWA to reinvigorate a years-long effort to stymie the agency. “This is something that they’ve long been trying to do, and they’ve really seized the moment,” said Mayer-Rich. At least seven pieces of legislation aimed at defunding or disbanding UNRWA have been introduced by the Republicans in Congress since Israel’s allegations were made public, according to a tally by the Arab Center Washington DC. Republican legislators held a subcommittee hearing last week titled, “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures”. And a group of nearly two dozen Republican senators had called for legislation to include “an immediate and permanent prohibition” on US assistance to UNRWA. “The United States must permanently stop all contributions to UNRWA,” they said (PDF) on January 31. The push comes less than six years after former Republican President
Israeli bomb hits car near children in Rafah
NewsFeed Children’s chants at an entertainment event in Rafah turned to screams when an Israeli bomb struck a car just metres away. At least one person was killed in the strike near a camp for displaced people in southern Gaza. Published On 7 Feb 20247 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)