79 IPS, 45 BAS officers transferred amid political turmoil in Bihar
The bureaucratic reshuffle in Bihar took place on Friday.
Biden taunts Trump by invoking former first lady’s ‘Be Best’ anti-bullying campaign
President Biden taunted former President Trump late Friday by invoking the name of former first lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” anti-cyberbullying campaign while responding to a report that his campaign has been throwing jabs at the Republican frontrunner. “Be Best,” Biden simply wrote on his official X, formerly Twitter, account after reposting an online report that claimed Trump has been “rattled” by Biden increasingly personally insulting him on the campaign trail. The video had originally been posted by the Biden campaign’s digital rapid response channel on X. The CNN report claimed that Biden was attempting to throw Trump off-message by calling him a “loser” and emphasizing the “former” in former president. BIDEN CAMPAIGN ATTACK AD BLAMES TRUMP FOR DOBBS ABORTION DECISION Biden also referred to Trump as Herbert Hoover — who was president during the Great Depression — and teased “Good one, Donald” on X on Monday after reposting a report from his campaign that contrasted Trump’s claim that the stock market would crash if Biden was president with it hitting “all-time record highs” this week. TRUMP FIRES BACK AT JAN. 6 CRITICISM, SAYS BIDEN IS A ‘TRUE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’ He also poked fun at Trump having seemingly confused Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a recent New Hampshire rally, posting, “I don’t agree with Nikki Haley on everything, but we agree on this much: She is not Nancy Pelosi.” And after Trump won the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, Biden posted a video saying, despite so many Republicans trying to beat him, “I’m still the person to ever beat Donald Trump and I’m looking forward to doing it again.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The former first lady launched “Be Best” in 2018, saying the goal was to help children get, “the tools they need to cultivate their social and emotional health. I feel strongly as adults we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life.”
WB’s fake caste certificate case: Five-judge bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud to hear matter today
A five-judge bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, will hear the case in a special sitting today.
Nikki Haley slams Trump after defamation trial verdict: ‘Not talking about’ border, inflation
Nikki Haley criticized former President Trump on Friday, saying he is too preoccupied with other issues, hours after he was ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll more than $80 million in damages. “Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re talking about $83.3 million in damages,” Haley wrote on X. “We’re not talking about fixing the border. We’re not talking about tackling inflation. America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.” Earlier, a jury said Trump should pay Carroll over defamatory statements in which he disparaged her while denying allegations that he raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across from Trump Tower in Manhattan sometime in 1996. TRUMP DEFENDS HIMSELF ON THE STAND, BLASTS E JEAN CARROLL TRIAL: ‘THIS IS NOT AMERICA’ Trump is running against Biden for a second term in the White House despite being entangled in multiple lawsuits and criminal cases. He criticized Friday’s verdict on social media. “Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump posted on his TRUTH Social shortly after the verdict was read. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.” “THIS IS NOT AMERICA!” he added. Haley has emerged as Trump’s remaining major rival for the Republican nomination. He defeated her in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, and before that, won the Iowa caucus, where Haley placed third. On Friday, she questioned Trump’s mental state, asking whether he was “confused again” after releasing a video showing him railing against the court proceedings in New York. In the video, Trump is seen blasting someone his campaign said was Carroll. He said he has “no idea” who she is, before referencing “somebody running for office.” “Wait a second, did Trump just say the person suing him is ‘running for office?’ Is he confused again? I was not in a New York City courtroom yesterday, any more than I was in charge of security at the Capitol on January 6. I was in South Carolina meeting with voters. They’d like to see a debate between me and Trump,” Haley wrote in a post on X. Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
White House establishes guidelines for Cabinet notifications following Austin’s hospitalization controversy
The White House this week established a new set of guidelines for when Cabinet heads are unable to do their job and have to delegate authority. The new rules come in the wake of the revelation earlier this month that the Pentagon failed to notify the White House for several days of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin‘s hospitalization and surgery for prostate cancer in late December. Following the communications fiasco — and even some calls for Austin to resign — the White House conducted a review, asking each Cabinet department for its notification process before revealing its new guidelines Friday. The guidelines, obtained by Fox News, include notifying the offices of cabinet affairs and White House chief of staff, “when agencies anticipate or are preparing for a delegation of authority and again when the delegation occurs,” documenting in writing that the delegation of authority is in effect and the acting authority needs to contact its counterpart in the White House, according to a memo from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients sent to Cabinet Secretaries. DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN SHOULD RESIGN OVER ‘GRAVE ERRORS’ IN HOSPITALIZATION, SAYS CONGRESSMAN Notably, Zients’ memo added, that a delegation of authority is also required when the Cabinet member is in “limited or no access to communication, undergoing hospitalization or a medical procedure requiring general anesthesia, or otherwise in a circumstance when he or she may be unreachable.” DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN CALLED TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ABOUT SECRETIVE HOSPITALIZATION Austin was first admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Dec. 22 for prostate surgery, then taken back to the hospital after he developed an infection a week later. It was days before the White House was notified and Congress, the press and the public didn’t hear about it until Jan. 5. On Friday, Austin visited doctors at Walter Reed for a “for a scheduled post-prostatectomy surveillance appointment.” Walter Reed Dr. John Maddox and Dr. Gregory Chesnut said in a statement that Austin “continues to recover well and is expected to make a full recovery.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Secretary Austin’s prostate cancer was treated early and effectively, and his prognosis is excellent. Beyond planned physical therapy and regular post-prostatectomy follow-up appointments, he has no planned further treatment for his cancer.” A U.S. Defense official told Fox News on Friday that Austin is expected to be back at the Pentagon on Monday after recovering from his surgery and working at home since Jan. 15.
Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker says Joe Biden was ‘never involved’ in business dealings
Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker told congressional investigators on Friday that President Biden was “never involved in any of” his son’s business activities. Walker testified for hours before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees after being subpoenaed to do so last year. Walker arrived at 10 a.m. ET. When he left just before 6 p.m., he told reporters: “I answered questions to the best of my ability.” HUNTER BIDEN BIZ ASSOCIATE ROB WALKER TO TESTIFY ON BEING ALLEGED ‘VEHICLE’ FOR BIDEN FAMILY’S FOREIGN FUNDS Fox News Digital obtained a copy of Walker’s opening statement, in which he testified under oath that the allegations against the president and the first son are “unfounded,” but welcomed the opportunity to “provide context to some of the events that are frequently the public focus of the members of these committees.” Walker said he and Hunter “became friends” during the Clinton administration in 1999 and began working together around 2008 by “developing business with, and consulting for, various individuals, businesses, and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).” Walker said Hunter “is an intelligent, caring, and generous person, and his demeanor and strong interpersonal skills made him a valued and effective business partner.” He also said Hunter “lost his way” when his brother, Beau Biden, “became seriously ill” and later passed away. “I’m glad he’s recovering and hope he and his family are doing well,” Walker said. He went on to detail his business with Hunter, saying the opportunities they pursued together were “varied, varied, well-founded, and well within the bounds of legitimate business activities.” “To be clear, President Biden — while in office or as a private citizen — was never involved in any of the business activities we pursued. Any statement to the contrary is simply false,” Walker testified. “Hunter made sure there was always a clear boundary between any business and his father. Always.” He added: “And as his partner, I always understood and respected that boundary.” Walker said that he is “very concerned” that his testimony “may be taken out of context to further a political objective, rather than to discover the truth.” 6 ADDITIONAL BIDEN FAMILY MEMBERS ‘MAY HAVE BENEFITED’ FROM HUNTER BUSINESS DEALINGS “I therefore respectfully ask that any public statements about this interview be accompanied by the release of the entire transcript of what I say here today, so that members of the public can form their own conclusions about what did and did not happen during my business relationship with Hunter,” he said. Walker’s testimony came as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden. Hours into his transcribed interview, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters that Walker testified that “a couple of weeks after Joe Biden leaves the vice presidency, Hunter Biden and his team, these guys, do business with, enter a contract with, this affiliate of CEFC, the Chinese energy company.” Jordan said “a few days later there’s a lunch at the Four Seasons” that CEFC executives, Hunter, James Gilliar and Walker attended. Jordan said, “Joe Biden stops and gives a presentation.” Jordan said days later, $3 million was sent to Walker from the Chinese company. “I think that’s just the timing, just a sequence,” Jordan said. In notifying his attorney of his subpoena in November, Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., explained that Walker set up his limited liability company, Robinson Walker LLC. The chairmen said it was “used as a vehicle to receive foreign funds and send a percentage of the money to Biden family members.” One example Comer and Jordan provided is when Joe Biden served as vice president, Robinson Walker LLC received millions of dollars from a company owned by Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian who was then the subject of a high-profile corruption prosecution in his home country. BIDEN FAMILY RECEIVED MORE THAN $1M FROM HUNTER ASSOCIATE AFTER 2017 CHINA WIRE: HOUSE OVERSIGHT “Following the receipt of this money, Robinson Walker sent over one million dollars to Biden family accounts, including those of Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden,” Comer and Jordan wrote. But Comer and Jordan flagged that those payments from Romania to Robinson Walker LLC started “within approximately five weeks of then-Vice President Biden meeting with the President of Romania, where, according to the official readout, the issue of corruption was discussed.” When asked what Hunter did for Popoviciu, Walker told the committee that Hunter flew to Romania to meet with U.S. Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm, who had just been confirmed. HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN, ROB WALKER FOR TESTIMONY AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY Comer and Jordan also note that Robinson Walker LLC received the payment of $3 million from State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese company, in February 2017, less than two months after Biden left the Obama administration. Comer and Jordan said that in the three months following that payment, Robinson Walker LLC made “incremental payments totaling over one million dollars to Biden family members and their companies, including Hallie Biden and entities associated with Hunter Biden and James Biden.” According to an FBI FD-302 form detailing Walker’s 2021 interview with Special Counsel David Weiss’ team and obtained by the House Ways and Means Committee, Walker said the “$3 million amount was more of a ‘thank you’ from CEFC.” Comer and Jordan, in subpoenaing Walker, said he may be able to provide evidence relevant to the impeachment inquiry, saying that Walker “played a key role in the Biden family’s business dealings and the chain of complex financial transactions that was used to hide the foreign sources of the funds received by the Biden family.” After receiving money from the CEFC entity in March 2017, Walker testified Hunter told him to send payments to his uncle, James Biden, and sister-in-law, Hallie Biden, even though they did not do work for the CEFC entity. Further, James Biden wanted a piece of the CEFC entity money despite not being involved in the deal. Walker called Hunter to approve the money transfer to James Biden.
RNC files an election integrity lawsuit in Mississippi challenging ballot counting deadlines
FIRST ON FOX — The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Friday to stop Mississippi ballots received days after Election Day from being counted, arguing a current statute violates federal law. The state’s current deadline allows ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted if received within five business days of the election. The RNC, along with the Mississippi Republican Party and the Hinds County Republican Party, are claiming the practice violates the federal Election Day statute, which states that “the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, is established as the day for the election.” “Federal law is very clear. Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. However, some states accept and count ballots days and days after Election Day, and we believe that practice is wrong,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Digital. “We are filing this lawsuit because counting ballots that are received well after polls have closed could undermine voter confidence in elections.” RNC CHAIR MCDANIEL TELLS FOX NEWS ‘WE NEED TO UNITE’ AROUND TRUMP The Mississippi lawsuit could have major implications on how other states conduct their elections. The RNC is inovlved in 74 election integrity lawsuits in 22 states, in addition to mobilizing thousands of poll watchers in dozens of battleground states ahead of Election Day in November. The RNC also launched “Bank Your Vote” websites in all 50 states to educate Republicans how to vote early, request a ballot and find voting locations. RNC LAUNCHES ‘BANK YOUR VOTE’ WEBSITES IN 16 LANGUAGES ACROSS ALL 50 STATES AHEAD OF GOP PRIMARIES The majority of Trump supporters say they have no confidence in vote counting and reporting in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, according to a recent USA Today/Suffolk University Poll. In addition, two-thirds of Trump supporters believe Biden was not legitimately elected in 2020. The Democratic National Committee has been fighting election integrity laws in swing states. On Wednesday, the Biden campaign scored a legal victory in North Carolina after the Democrats won a lawsuit filed to block an election law that would require photo ID and address verification for voters registering on the day of the election.
Trump walks out of court during closing arguments in defamation trial
The unexpected walkout occurred when lawyer for E Jean Carroll asked jurors to decide how much Trump owes the plaintiff. Former United States President Donald Trump stormed out of closing arguments at his defamation trial as a lawyer for E Jean Carroll urged a jury to award at least $24m in damages for the “storm of hate” caused by Trump. Carroll, 80, is seeking at least $10m for Trump’s having defamed her in June 2019, when he was in the White House, by denying her claim that he had raped her in the mid-1990s. She said Trump’s comments caused her to be subjected to four and a half years of continuous attacks, including death threats. In her closing arguments at the Manhattan federal court on Friday, Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan urged jurors to punish Trump for persistently lying about her client, and destroying her reputation as a truth-telling journalist. “We all have to follow the law,” Kaplan said. “Donald Trump, however, acts as if these rules and laws just do not apply to him. “This trial is about getting him to stop, once and for all,” she added. “Now is the time to make him pay for it dearly.” Just minutes after Kaplan began her argument, Trump suddenly rose from his seat at the defence table and walked toward the exit, pausing to scan the packed courtroom as members of the Secret Service leaped up to follow him out. His unexpected departure prompted Judge Lewis A Kaplan, not related to Carroll’s lawyer, to speak up, briefly interrupting the closing argument to note: “The record will reflect that Mr Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom.” Later, Trump returned to the courtroom to hear his lawyer Alina Habba argue that Trump should not be made to pay Carroll for comments that set off hate messages from strangers. Habba showed the jury a video in which Trump said a jury’s verdict last year finding that he had sexually abused Carroll was “a disgrace” and “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time”. “You know why he has not wavered?” Habba asked the jury. “Because it’s the truth.” The jury will now consider what level, if any, to award compensatory damages and punitive damages, intended to deter repeat defamation. [embedded content] ‘Trump is not a victim’ Trump, a Republican, is seeking to retake the White House in the November election in a likely showdown against Democrat and current President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020. The race is expected to be close even though Trump faces 91 felony counts in four criminal indictments, including two cases accusing him of trying to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. He has tried to make his legal travails a campaign asset, calling himself a victim of biased prosecutors and an unfair judicial system. Carroll’s legal team urged jurors to ignore that. “This isn’t a campaign rally,” Shawn Crowley, another lawyer for Carroll, said after Habba spoke. “Donald Trump is not the victim. This is her [Carroll’s] life. Help her take it back.” Jurors in the current trial will decide only how much Trump owes Carroll for harming her reputation, and whether to impose punitive damages to stop him from defaming her again. A damages expert testified that the reputational harm alone was $7.3m to $12.1m. Lawyer Roberta Kaplan added that an “unusually high” punitive damages award might also be needed to deter Trump, a billionaire. “While Donald Trump may not care about the law, while he certainly does not care about truth, he does care about money,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)
What risk is there of India turning into a Hindu nation?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda is under scrutiny after consecration of highly controversial temple. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a controversial Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya. The shrine was built on grounds where a mosque from the Mughal-era stood for centuries, until it was destroyed by Hindu activists in 1992. In elections in 2014, Modi campaigned with a promise to build a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Lord Ram, on the very site of the demolished mosque. With the temple’s consecration coming only months ahead of a national election, opposition leaders accuse him of exploiting religion to win political favour. And as Modi seeks a third consecutive term, concerns are growing that he is building a legacy as a leader able to transform India into a Hindu nationalist state. So, what does this mean for the future of secularism in the country? Presenter: Neave Barker Guests: Shazia Ilmi – National spokesperson for the governing BJP Party Sharat Pradhan – Political analyst and independent journalist Nilanjan Mookuhpadyey – Journalist and author of, The Demolition and The Verdict, a book on the Ram Temple controversy Adblock test (Why?)
US court hears civil case accusing Biden of ‘complicity’ in Gaza ‘genocide’
Plaintiffs want the federal court to urge the US to use its influence to get Israel to end its hostilities in Gaza. A civil case accusing United States President Joe Biden and other senior US officials of being complicit in Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza has begun at a federal court in California. Lawyers representing Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, attended Friday’s proceedings along with the plaintiffs who accuse them of “failure to prevent and complicity in the Israeli government’s unfolding genocide”. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US civil liberties group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the human rights organisation, Defence for Children – Palestine; Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group based in the occupied West Bank; and eight Palestinians and US citizens with relatives in Gaza. During Friday’s hearing, the court heard from lawyers, activists and organisers, including doctors in Gaza, about the situation that Palestinians have been facing for nearly four months. I’m inside the US federal court where Palestinian plaintiffs are suing Biden, Blinken & Austin for failure to prevent -& complicity in – Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza It’s unprecedented that the case made it this far. Palestinians w family in Gaza will testify soon @ajplus pic.twitter.com/F5CUNAKGUD — Dena Takruri (@Dena) January 26, 2024 Since the war began on October 7, more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza following a Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,100 people there. The CCR complaint was first filed in November last year and said Biden, Blinken and Austin “have not only been failing to uphold the country’s obligation to prevent a genocide but have enabled the conditions for its development by providing unconditional military and diplomatic support [to Israel]”. The CCR is asking the court to “declare that defendants have violated their duty under customary international law, as part of federal common law, to take all measures within their power to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza”. The group is also calling for the US to use its influence over Israel to end the hostilities against Palestinians in Gaza. ‘Political doctrine’ Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from the court in Oakland on Friday, said the CCR is arguing that by providing weapons to Israel, the US’s support violates the 1948 Genocide Convention. In response, the lawyers for the Biden administration “are focusing on a very narrow legal argument”, he said. “They are saying the court does not have the authority to rule on this. They’re citing what is called the political doctrine, and it has to do with the separation of powers in the United States,” Reynolds said. He explained that lawyers are arguing that the conduct of foreign policy, diplomacy, military activities and the relations between allies are in the “political purview of the executive branch, in other words, the president and the cabinet” and, therefore, not amenable to judicial action by other branches of power that make up the US government. The judge appeared to also question his authority in the case, Reynolds said. “This is really the fundamental question, whether he’s got the authority to rule on this, but the judge did open the proceedings by a litany of just describing the plight of Palestinians in Gaza,” our correspondent said. Earlier on Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take all measures possible to prevent acts of genocide against Gaza and to do more to help civilians. Still, it failed to call for a ceasefire, which South Africa, who presented the case to the ICJ, had called for. Adblock test (Why?)