Why is Canada asking Palestinians to list scars on Gaza visa applications?
Montreal, Canada – Abdallah Alhamadni knows the clock is ticking. Every day, the 51-year-old Palestinian father of three checks to see whether his efforts to bring his relatives in Gaza to safety have advanced. But Alhamadni, a Canadian permanent resident who lives in Milton, Ontario, says he is stuck in a dangerous waiting game, as Israel continues to wage war on the Gaza Strip. “We feel paralysed, depressed, frustrated, crying,” he told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes we feel we need to be strong to support them because we are the only hope for them. It’s a lot of things coming together, and we are alone.” Originally from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Alhamadni is trying to bring 61 relatives, including 27 children, to Canada through a new temporary visa programme for Palestinians affected by Israel’s military offensive. Unveiled last month, the scheme allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring extended family members from Gaza to the country, where they will be granted a temporary residency visa for up to three years. But the process has prompted criticism from applicants and human rights advocates. Alhamadni called it confusing and time-consuming. Gaza remains under heavy Israeli fire and faces regular electricity and internet outages, so Alhamadni has struggled to reach his relatives and obtain the information necessary to complete the applications. The amount of personal details Palestinians are being asked to provide has also come under scrutiny, with Canadian immigration lawyers saying the process goes beyond what is typically required. Alhamadni’s brother, Suhail Alhamadni, and Suhail’s daughter Miral stand amid bombing wreckage in Gaza in October [Courtesy Abdallah Alhamadni] One form (PDF) asks people to provide a detailed employment history going back to age 16, as well as links to social media accounts and a list of all their in-laws. It also asks applicants to detail any scars or injuries that required medical attention, including how they sustained them. “They are putting all [these] impossible conditions on top of our heads,” said Alhamadni, who told Al Jazeera that his relatives have been displaced multiple times since the war in Gaza began. “I’m trying [to do] whatever I can.” The programme Marc Miller, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, announced the opening of the temporary resident visa programme on January 9, three months after the war in Gaza began. The move came amid public calls for the Canadian government to do more to help residents of the besieged enclave. At least 25,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since the start of the war on October 7. Top United Nations officials have repeatedly called for a ceasefire as the territory reels from the mass displacement of its residents, a crippled healthcare system, and a lack of water, food and other humanitarian supplies. “The situation on the ground in Gaza is challenging and volatile,” Miller said in a statement announcing the Canadian visa programme. “These new measures provide a humanitarian pathway to safety and recognize the importance of keeping families together given the ongoing crisis.” But Ottawa faced immediate criticism when it revealed it only planned to issue up to 1,000 temporary visas to Palestinians from Gaza — a cap that rights advocates said was too low. Miller later said there was no strict limit on the number of applications that would be accepted. In an email to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the programme “expires once 1,000 applications have been accepted into processing or one year after the public policy comes into effect, whichever comes first”. “IRCC continues to be flexible as we assess the situation, including the volumes of applications received and the ability to facilitate eligible family members to leave Gaza and reach a safe third country,” the spokesman said. As of January 16, Canada was processing 144 applications, though none had been finalised, the spokesman added. The government also said there is no guarantee that applicants will be able to leave Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli siege. Egypt has also limited departures through the Rafah crossing at Gaza’s southern border, as part of a long-running blockade. “If people are able to leave Gaza, the security assessment will be completed in the third county where IRCC will be able to collect biometrics,” the IRCC spokesperson said. “IRCC will then finalize the [temporary resident visa] application and render a decision on whether [the] individual is approved to come to Canada.” Bureaucratic ‘cruelty’ According to Naseem Mithoowani, an immigration lawyer in Toronto, the Canadian government has failed to provide adequate information and clear communication about the visa programme, fuelling confusion in the Palestinian community. “People are anxious about the cap and whether that’s going to be expanded; how applications are being assessed in terms of their place in the queue; [and] why some people getting further ahead than others despite applying at the same time,” Mithoowani told Al Jazeera. “There’s a lack of transparency around the process itself.” She said Palestinian Canadians have also expressed concern about some of the programme requirements, including being able to provide financial support for their relatives from Gaza. They also have asked who will see the information provided in the applications and whether it will be shared with other countries. “The Palestinian community has lost a lot of trust in our government, and so that’s part of, I think, the increased anxiety levels or the increased need for communication in this particular case,” Mithoowani said. Yameena Ansari, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Calgary, also said that, while the programme initially provided a “ray of hope” for many Palestinians in Canada, “their hopes were quickly dashed” when they understood its limited scope and requirements. “We have been informed that these very invasive questions that are being asked are coming from Canada. They’re not coming from Israel or Egypt,” she told Al Jazeera. Security checks are an ordinary part of the immigration process, Ansari explained. But “the idea of throwing that many
Former Trump aide Navarro sentenced to four months for contempt of Congress
Peter Navarro is the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges. Former US President Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro has been sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House January 6 committee. He pledged to appeal Thursday’s verdict and said he could not cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. A judge banned him from making that argument during trial, finding that he did not show that Trump had invoked it. Navarro said in court before his sentencing that the House committee investigating the January 6 attack had led him to believe that it accepted his invocation of executive privilege, which shields some presidential records and communications from disclosure. “Nobody in my position should be put in conflict between the legislative branch and the executive branch,” he told the judge. He added that there was “no reason for the harsh punishment” prosecutors were seeking. But US District Judge Amit Mehta refuted his claim and said, “You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution”. “These are circumstances of your own making,” he added. Former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party in Nashua, NH, as Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott and Eric Trump laugh [Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP] Federal prosecutors in Washington had asked Judge Mehta to give Navarro a six-month sentence and a $200,000 fine, arguing that he chose to be loyal to Trump over the rule of law. “The defendant brazenly defied Congress,” prosecutor John Crabb said. Prosecutors also said that Navarro tried to “hide behind claims of privilege” even before he knew what the committee wanted, showing a “disdain” for the committee. His sentencing came after a judge rejected his bid for a new trial after his lawyers argued that jurors might have been influenced by protesters outside the courtroom when they took a break from deliberations. Navarro, 74, advised Trump on trade issues during his presidency and became a vocal supporter of Trump’s false claims of widespread voting fraud in the 2020 election. Trump backers looked to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s victory during a clash with police and rampaging through the Capitol. Navarro is the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges, after former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who also got a four-month sentence but is free pending appeal. The judge presiding over Thursday’s sentencing also criticised Navarro for his past statements that Biden and other prominent Democrats are behind his conviction. “Joe Biden is not responsible for your prosecution,” the judge told Navarro. “It’s those kinds of statements from somebody who knows better than that contributes to why our politics are so corrosive.” Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas blasts Israel’s plan to create buffer zone in Gaza as a ‘crime’
Israel’s efforts to create a buffer zone along its border with Gaza constitute a “crime” and act of “blatant aggression” against the Palestinian people, Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said, following media reports suggesting such a plan is under way. Hamdan, who is based in Lebanon, told reporters on Thursday that Israel was “looking to establish a security belt along the borders of the Strip by levelling entire residential blocks and by bulldozing farms and civilian infrastructure”. “This is a crime and a blatant aggression against our land and our holy places,” he said, adding that “our people and our resistance will foil these attempts.” Hamdan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “delusional” and said Gaza would become the “cemetery” of his plans. He also blasted the United States for “feeding” the Israeli military machine and for its complicity in crimes against Gaza. Israel’s media on Wednesday reported that its military was aiming to create an informal buffer zone about a kilometre (half a mile) wide to prevent attackers from reaching Israeli communities near Gaza. Two TV channels ran footage showing what appeared to be a controlled demolition of several structures on the Gaza side of the border, which the broadcasters said was done in the area of an attack that killed 24 Israeli soldiers on Monday, inflicting the military’s biggest loss of life in a single attack since October 7. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC taken last Saturday, a day before the attack, appeared to show the uniform destruction of buildings and agricultural fields in the area. Military spokespeople have not used the term “buffer zone”, but say troops are uprooting infrastructure near the border to provide security for Israeli communities on the other side. The general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative party, Mustafa Barghouti, said the real intention behind such a move is to diminish Gaza’s size. If executed, Barghouti told Al Jazeera, it could only be perceived as an act of “ethnic cleansing” while also signalling a recognition of the failure of Israel’s military goals in Gaza. ‘Unjustified’ under international law Geoffrey Nice, a former United Nations war crimes prosecutor, told Al Jazeera Israel has no grounds legally to create a “buffer zone” in Gaza by destroying Palestinian homes and confiscating agricultural land. “If you want to a demilitarised zone that you’re going to fill with landmines, why not have it on the Israeli side and stop people crossing it?” he asked. “What they’re proposing, effectively and in anyone’s interpretation, is occupation.” He noted the fertile farmland Israel is eyeing to take over is “crucial to Gaza’s economy”. “But the process has already started. A large number of buildings have already been flattened. It is unjustified, by any view, under international law,” said Nice, proposing sanctions by powerful nations against Israel to stop the landgrab. The US, which has staunchly supported what it says is Israel’s right to self-defence, said it is opposed to any attempt by Israel to shrink Gaza’s territory or to occupy it militarily. The US and much of the international community have proposed a post-war plan that includes the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the conflict, a possibility that Netanyahu rejected. Barghouti said that if the US was serious about its opposition to the buffer zone, it would tell Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza. “The United States is a participant, unfortunately, in this war, and as long as they don’t support a ceasefire, they become the participant in the war crimes that are happening in Gaza,” he said. Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington DC, said Israeli plans to create a buffer zone in Gaza are not going down well at the White House. “This is just another example of a growing rift between the [US President Joe] Biden administration and the Israeli government,” she said. “There is some scope for a transitional arrangement on a buffer zone, but the worry… is that historically, transitional arrangements have become permanent.” Adblock test (Why?)
Fox News Politics: Texas showdown
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. What’s Happening? – Trump testifies briefly in defamation trial against him – Biden administration warned Iran before ISIS attack – Influential Senate moderate refuses to back Trump Top Republican governors from across the U.S. voiced their support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he defies President Biden in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border as Democrats demand Biden federalize the Texas national guard. Abbott is fighting multiple legal battles with the Biden administration, which has threatened legal action over Texas’ seizure of Shelby Park near Eagle Pass. Texas has also filed lawsuits against the administration, which cut razor wire set up by the state on the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from illegally crossing into Texas, as well as the establishment of buoys on the river. “The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting states, including immigration laws on the books right now,” Abbott said. “President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called on Biden to federalize the National Guard on Tuesday after it became clear Abbott wasn’t backing down. When asked whether the White House was considering this, Jack Kirby said, “We talked about this the other day. I don’t have any decisions to speak to for the president. I don’t have anything on that.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt have all declared that they stand with Texas and vowed to aid them in various ways. ON A WIRE: Republican lawmakers push to ban feds from removing border barriers after Supreme Court defeat …Read more ‘MAJOR MISTAKE’: Biden under fire for preparing to halt massive gas projects …Read more ‘DUTY TO REPORT’: Biden administration warned Iran before ISIS attack Jan. 3, US official says …Read more WISCONSIN’S WALLET: Biden revisits Wisconsin to announce $5 billion in funding for infrastructure …Read more ‘CLEAR AUTHORITY’: McConnell says Biden should do more to ‘deter’ terrorism …Read more VAST MAJORITY: All but two Senate Democrats sign on to Palestinian statehood measure …Read more HUNTING FOR FACTS: Hunter Biden business associate Mervyn Yan to appear at House Oversight, Judiciary for transcribed interview …Read more NEVER TRUMPER?: Key Senate GOP moderate won’t back Trump in 2024 …Read more GOP SENATOR’S WIFE DIES: Sen. Barrasso announces death of his wife, Bobbi, after battle with cancer …Read more ‘CORRUPT CASE’: MTG files complaint against ‘secret boyfriend’ of DA prosecuting Trump alleging state law violation …Read more ‘GROWING AGGRESSION’: House GOP lawmakers jab at China in memo to Taiwan’s new leader …Read more CYBER THREATS TO FARMS: GOP lawmaker introduces bill to increase defenses against cyber threats to agriculture …Read more GETTING SCHOOLED: House committee presses UPenn for documents on discipline for antisemitism …Read more BIG BUCKS: Conservative firebrand raises eye-popping amount in bid for Arizona House seat …Read more SHOW ME THE MONEY: Haley fires back at Trump’s social media attacks with link to donate to her campaign …Read more SMITHS SEETHE: Band member demands Trump stop using his song at rallies: ‘Consider this s–t shut down’ …Read more SOUNDING THE ALARM: James Carville warns ‘Trump could win this election’ …Read more ‘DEMOCRATS SHOULD BE WORRIED’: Lack of Dem support for Biden in NH could spell trouble for his 2024 bid …Read more TIM SCOTT’S OPTIONS: What’s next for Sen Scott: Trump’s running mate or possible 2028 run? …Read more ‘TRUMP UNDERSTANDS’: Sen Tuberville says school choice will be ‘focal point’ of 2024 election …Read more ‘THIS IS A CHOICE’: Haley projects optimism despite wave of top South Carolina pols siding with Trump in her home state …Read more ‘PERMANENTLY BARRED’: Trump hits out at Nikki Haley donors …Read more TRUMP FUNDRAISING SURGE: Major pro-Trump PAC reports impressive haul …Read more MAINE’S MISHAP: Maine’s top court won’t rule on Trump ballot eligibility until Supreme Court decision in Colorado …Read more PLAYING THE NAZI CARD: Joy Reid warns of Trump as another Hitler: ‘How fascism takes root’ …Read more ‘NOT NEARLY AS PROGRESSIVE’: Ousted San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin claims city taking ‘hard turn to the right’ …Read more BREAKING NEWS: Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro sentenced for defying Jan. 6 subpoena …Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Biden admin probed after Fox News Digital shows it may have fabricated paper trail to shutter chemical plant
House Republican leaders on the Science, Space and Technology Committee are probing the Biden administration over its apparent actions fabricating a paper trail in pursuit of a chemical plant shutdown in Louisiana. Environment Subcommittee Chair Max Miller, R-Ohio, and Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, penned a letter Wednesday to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, requesting more information about his agency’s actions preceding the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against synthetics manufacturer Denka Performance Elastomer (DPE) in early 2023. The federal lawsuit seeks to compel DPE’s manufacturing facility in LaPlace, Louisiana, to massively reduce its emissions of the chemical chloroprene in accordance with the standard determined to be safe by a 2010 study. DPE has argued for a more updated scientific review of chloroprene emissions, an action local EPA officials said it would pursue in 2021 before the EPA’s federal Office of Research and Development (ORD) intervened. “Officials in EPA’s Office of Research and Development may have violated scientific integrity policies by influencing EPA’s Region 6 Office to withdraw a request for a scientific review of the cancer risk assessment in the 2010 Toxicology Review of Chloroprene under EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System Program,” Miller and Babin wrote in their letter to Regan. FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY UNLEASHES ON BIDEN FOR HALTING KEY NATURAL GAS PROJECTS The lawmakers’ letter cites a Fox News Digital report which uncovered deposition testimony from Michael Morton, who serves as EPA Region 6 science liaison to ORD, stating that he didn’t author a July 2021 email sent from his email address to federal officials calling off a review of chloroprene. Months earlier, in April 2021, Region 6 nominated chloroprene for review to revisit its assessment of the chemical’s health risks. Morton told defense lawyers representing DPE in the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice during deposition in November that he was unaware of who authored the email sent from his email address. ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL ON BIDEN ADMIN TO TANK NATURAL GAS PROJECT AMID NATIONWIDE ARCTIC BLAST “I didn’t write that,” Morton told counsel. “I didn’t say that. For – for that part, I didn’t – I don’t know that, so I don’t know who wrote that,” he added when pressed on the July 2021 email. In addition to Morton’s testimony, DPE counsel submitted in court filings metadata of his email showing it was originally authored by ORD officials. The revelations suggest that, to walk back the nomination of chloroprene, ORD cited an email purportedly from Region 6, but which it appears to have actually crafted and sent to itself using Morton’s email address. If EPA had moved forward with the nomination of chloroprene and engaged with new research, though, its eventual lawsuit targeting DPE’s LaPlace facility may have been derailed. “Based on this evidence alone, it appears that ORD officials, in an apparent effort to build a fabricated scientific record, authored the email withdrawing the request for scientific review on behalf of Region 6, which had previously determined a scientific review necessary,” Miller and Babin continued in their letter. “This practice is otherwise known as ‘ghostwriting.’” BIDEN ADMIN ABRUPTLY REVERSES PROPOSAL OPENING PUBLIC LANDS TO FOREIGN OWNERSHIP AFTER GOP OPPOSITION “Additionally, because this ghost-written email was sent several weeks after the chloroprene nomination was rejected, the actions undertaken by ORD officials appear to be a retroactive attempt to provide scientific rationales and may have been an action to silence scientific opinions of chloroprene that differ from the Agency’s public position,” they wrote. The Republican lawmakers added that the revelations “raise serious concerns that could amount to a violation” of EPA’s Scientific Integrity Policy which prohibits “all EPA employees, including scientists, managers, and other Agency leadership, from suppressing, altering, or otherwise impeding the timely release of scientific findings or conclusions.” Further, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Scientific Integrity Policy states that “scientists’ ability to freely voice the legitimate disagreement that improves science should not be constrained.” ENERGY DEVELOPER AXING KEY COAL POWER PLANTS TO MEET ECO GOALS, JEOPARDIZING POWER FOR MILLIONS Miller and Babin demanded answers to a series of questions posed to Regan and additionally asked for the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General to conduct a review of the matter. EPA declined to comment, citing pending litigation in the case. Meanwhile, if the Justice Department’s lawsuit is successful, it could threaten the future operations of the DPE’s LaPlace facility — the so-called Pontchartrain Works Site which represents the only U.S. plant to produce neoprene, a synthetic rubber common in military equipment, wetsuits and medical technology — and set a precedent broadly threatening the multi-billion-dollar U.S. petrochemical industry. Overall, the multi-billion-dollar petrochemical industry in Louisiana is a key driver of jobs and investment in the state. The industry is also a central reason why the state is the third-largest consumer of petroleum and largest consumer of petroleum per capita in the nation, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, the petrochemical industry has long been target of environmentalists who argue it is responsible for harmful emissions and pollution negatively impacting surrounding communities’ health.
Haley campaign lashes out at RNC, Ronna McDaniel over resolution to declare Trump presumptive GOP nominee
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s campaign lashed out at the Republican National Committee and its chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, Thursday over a resolution that the party is considering to declare Donald Trump the presumptive GOP nominee. “Who cares what the RNC says? We’ll let millions of Republican voters across the country decide who should be our party’s nominee, not a bunch of Washington insiders,” Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas told Fox News Digital. “If Ronna McDaniel wants to be helpful she can organize a debate in South Carolina, unless she’s also worried that Trump can’t handle being on the stage for 90 minutes with Nikki Haley,” she added. VENTURE CAPITALIST, CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND RAISES EYE-POPPING AMOUNT IN BID FOR ARIZONA HOUSE SEAT The RNC is reviewing a draft resolution proposed by RNC committeeman David Bossie, a former 2016 Trump campaign official, to declare Trump the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president, despite Haley’s vow to continue her campaign into her home state of South Carolina for its primary next month. Haley is the only remaining challenger to Trump in the race after the latter won convincing victories in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries. The RNC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Nikki Haley backs Abbott in border fight with Biden admin: ‘Absolutely ridiculous’
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his legal battle with the Biden administration over his efforts to address the continuing crisis at the southern border. “Governor Abbott is right: the state of Texas has every right to defend itself and its borders,” Haley told Fox News Digital in a statement on Thursday. “It’s absolutely ridiculous that the President of the United States is trying to stop governors from doing everything they can to protect their citizens. But it’s also nothing new; Joe Biden was part of the Administration that sued me when I passed one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration laws in the country as governor of South Carolina.” Abbott is currently fighting multiple legal battles with the Biden administration. The federal government has threatened legal action over Texas’ seizure of Shelby Park near Eagle Pass, while lawsuits are ongoing over the administration’s cutting of razor wire set up by Texas and the establishment of buoys in the Rio Grande. ILLINOIS GOVERNOR COMPLAINS BLUE CITIES ARE ‘SUFFERING’ FROM ABBOTT BUSSING MIGRANTS The Supreme Court this week found in the administration’s favor when it granted an emergency appeal to allow agents to keep cutting border wire set up by Texas along the border. Texas this week published images of it strengthening physical barriers along Eagle Pass. The administration has also sued over a recently signed law that allows Texas state and local officials to arrest illegal immigrants. The administration has accused Texas of interfering with federal control over immigration and border security, and has said it is putting agents and migrants in danger. ERIC ADAMS RIPS TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT FOR ‘MEAN-SPIRITEDNESS’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRISIS Abbott, however, cited constitutional language that demands the federal government “protect each [State] against invasion” and the right of states to protect their own borders. Abbott argues that “the failure of the Biden administration” to fulfill those duties triggers a clause in Article 1 that “reserves to this State the right of self-defense.” He notes he has already declared an “invasion” to invoke the authority, which he calls “the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” “The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States,” Abbott said in a statement this week. “The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting states, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.” Over the past few days, over a dozen Republican governors have issued statements saying that they will back Abbott in his dispute with Biden. “If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on social media. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Trump campaign for comment, but did not receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Trump defends himself on the stand, blasts E. Jean Carroll trial: ‘This is not America’
Former President Trump took the stand on Thursday in his defense in the civil defamation damages trial stemming from E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit claiming he sexually attacked her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. The 2024 GOP frontrunner has vehemently denied the allegation. His denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation lawsuit, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation. Upon taking the stand Thursday, Trump was asked three questions by the defense. First, Trump was asked whether he saw his deposition played in court, to which he replied: “Yes.” Second, he was asked if he stands by his statements in the deposition, to which he replied: “100 percent. Yes.” And third, he was asked if he ever threatened Carroll in his tweets and social media posts. “No,” Trump said. “I was only defending myself from what I believe was a false allegation.” The judge struck statements from Trump that went beyond a yes or no answer. On the way out of the courtroom, Trump repeatedly said: “This is not America.” Trump and his legal team insist that Carroll’s allegations are fabricated, with the former president’s initial reaction including an accusation that Carroll was motivated by wanting to sell copies of her book. Trump has repeatedly told Fox News Digital that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is.” Carroll, 79, alleged that Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across from Trump Tower in Manhattan sometime in 1996. A federal jury in New York City decided last year that Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The former president was ordered to pay $5 million. Trump, on his Truth Social account last week, posted images of Carroll’s tweets dating back to 2015. In one image, Carroll wrote: “How do you know your ‘unwanted sexual advance’ is unwanted, until you advance it?” Trump also posted that Carroll “has been ‘all over the place’ on the timing of this alleged ‘incident,’ which never took place, and is being coached by Lunatic Radical Left Democrat operative attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who has sued me before, and just lost.” “I am the only one who has been injured by this attempted EXTORTION,” Trump posted. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan is presiding over the trial. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
US lawmakers express bipartisan support for Taiwan during congressional visit
A bipartisan delegation from the United States Congress reaffirmed support for Taiwan during a visit Thursday following its election of a new president. The delegation’s visit is the first by U.S. lawmakers to the island since the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won a third-straight term in the Jan. 13 election. China, America’s chief competitor for global influence, claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to use force to bring the self-governed island under its control. Beijing strongly condemned Lai Ching-te’s election and appears set to continue its policy of refusing to engage with the island’s government — a practice that’s been in place since outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s election in 2016. “The support of the United States for Taiwan is firm. It’s real, and it is 100% bipartisan,” U.S. Representative Mario Díaz Balart said. TAIWAN’S ELECTIONS WERE A BIG SUCCESS. JUST ASK XI Balart, a Florida Republican, was joined by California Democrat Ami Bera. “In the 21st century, there’s no place for aggressive action. We have to learn to live together, to trade together, to work together, to solve problems together,” Bera said. “Just know that we are proud of the people of Taiwan. We are proud of the relationship, and as strong as that relationship has always been. That is assured. It will even be stronger,” Balart said. “So, we look forward to working together to continue to protect the peace, prosperity (and) the future of Taiwan. It’s up to people of Taiwan,” Bera said. President-elect Lai thanked the visiting co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional Taiwan Caucus for their visit, saying that “today’s Taiwan is a Taiwan of the world.” Lai also touched on continued military assistance from the U.S. and a proposed agreement to avoid mutual taxation of companies. Beijing objects to any form of official contact between the U.S. and Taiwan. In 2022, it responded to a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with some of its largest military maneuvers in years, including missile launches and a simulated blockade of Taiwan. It views visits by foreign government officials as a recognition of the island’s sovereignty. President Joe Biden, seeking to calm that complaint, insists there’s no change in America’s longstanding “one-China” policy, which recognizes Beijing as representing China but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan. Washington cut formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 in order to recognize China, but U.S. law requires it to ensure the island has the ability to defend itself. That has translated into a heavy reliance by Taiwan on U.S. military hardware and a law saying that Washington must treat threats against the island as a matter of “grave concern.” China regularly sends warplanes and navy ships to intimidate and harass Taiwan, with 18 planes and six ships operating near the island in the 24 hours before 6 a.m. Thursday. Three Chinese balloons were recorded as crossing the island, although it remains unclear whether they have a military or intelligence gathering purpose. “We understand the pressures and the type of coercion of the Chinese Communist Party, and yet the Taiwanese people spoke loud and clear,” Balart said at a late Thursday news conference. “Taiwan is a beacon of hope and of life and of freedom and of democracy and it is such a direct contrast to what we’re seeing coming from the Communist Party of China.” Bera said Taiwan’s future “should not be dictated by any external power. But the future of Taiwan is up to the people of Taiwan.” The U.S. does not want to change the status quo between China and Taiwan, but “we have to respond to external pressures and others that potentially are changing that status quo,” Bera said. “It’s about seeking peace, prosperity and the right to your own future.”
All but two Senate Democrats sign on to Palestinian statehood measure
Senate Democrats have put forward a measure that endorses the creation of a Palestinian state backed by every member of their conference — with two notable exceptions. The proposed amendment to a pending national security supplemental package reaffirms that the United States supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, “that such a solution must ensure the state of Israel’s survival as a secure, democratic and Jewish state, and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own.” “The U.S. government has long supported a two-state solution as a path to a just and lasting peace in the region, and our amendment reaffirms our continued commitment to that vision,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who sponsored the amendment. “The horrors of the war on and since October 7th have underscored the fundamental reality that in order for both Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety and with dignity, they need to have distinct, inalienable, and mutually-recognized states that coexist side-by-side in peace,” he said. GOP LEADER THUNE SAYS REPUBLICANS AIMING FOR ‘DETAIN AND DEPORT’ BORDER POLICY The amendment comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected U.S. calls for a Palestinian state after the Israel-Hamas war. President Biden has urged Netanyahu to scale back the military offensive in Gaza, but the prime minister insisted the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed and the remaining 130 hostages held captive by the terrorist group are freed. Netanyahu said last week a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel. He insisted that Israel must have “security control” over Gaza and the West Bank and warned America not to “coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel.” HAMAS REJECTS ISRAELI TWO-MONTH CEASE-FIRE PROPOSAL, PRISONER SWAP OVER DEMAND FOR LEADERSHIP’S END The Schatz amendment is supported by 49 senators from every ideological wing of the Senate Democratic conference, including independents Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who caucus with Democrats. However, centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and vocal Israel supporter Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., have not signed on. NETANYAHU IMMEDIATELY VOWS RETRIBUTION AFTER HAMAS KILLED 21 ISRAELI SOLDIERS IN CENTRAL GAZA “Once a Palestinian government with its peoples’ best interests at heart agrees that Israel should be a state, I will be the first one to sign on to a bipartisan amendment supporting that Israel recognize a Palestinian state,” Manchin told Fox News Digital in a statement. A spokesperson for Fetterman told Axios the senator supports a two-state solution in Israel, but that “this resolution should include language stipulating the destruction of Hamas as a precondition to peace.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Schatz hopes to tie his amendment to a forthcoming $110 billion national security supplemental package that would deliver military aid to Israel and Ukraine, as well as funds for border security. However, Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach a deal that would pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-led House, with border security policies being the sticking point in negotiations. Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.