House Republicans heap praise on Taiwan’s new leader in direct jab at China
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are making a formal show of support for Taiwan’s newly elected president on Thursday in a move that’s likely to irritate Beijing’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In a letter sent to President-elect Lai Ching-te and signed by six GOP lawmakers, they vowed to help the island withstand Chinese “pressure” and accused Beijing of continuing its campaign of aggression against its neighbors in Southeast Asia. “We want to offer our sincere congratulations on your recent victory in Taiwan’s presidential election. Once again, the Taiwanese people have demonstrated the strength of your country’s robust democratic system in a region where these values are not always shared,” the U.S. lawmakers wrote. “Strengthening the U.S.-Taiwan relationship remains one of our top priorities, especially in light of China’s growing aggression.” BIDEN’S CHINA STRATEGY ‘DETRIMENTAL’ AS ‘INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM IS BREAKING DOWN,’ EXPERTS SAY The letter was led by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas. Lai’s election by Taiwanese voters was not unexpected but is still a rebuke of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his goal of “reunification” between the two territories. Taiwan’s independence has also been a flashpoint in the strained relations between the U.S. and China, particularly over the island’s booming semiconductor industry. CHINA’S XI JINPING SAYS TAIWAN WILL ‘SURELY BE REUNIFIED’ IN YEAR-END ADDRESS Semiconductors are critical components in a range of electronic devices from smartphones to satellites and bank ATMs. The U.S. lawmakers wrote to Lai on Thursday, “We look forward to working with you and your administration to advance our partnership and assist Taiwan from rampant diplomatic, economic, and military pressure from Beijing.” They also congratulated Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim, who previously served as Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S. CHINA CONDEMNS PHILIPPINES AFTER PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES TAIWAN ELECTION WINNER “Through your joint leadership, we are confident the Democratic Progressive Party will usher in the next stage for Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy. We welcome a new chapter in U.S.-Taiwan relations and look forward to collaborating with you to advance stability and growth in the Indo-Pacific region,” the letter finished. Lai favors upholding Taiwan’s strong relationship with the U.S. There are no formal diplomatic ties, however, because of the U.S.’s “One China” policy that only recognizes Beijing’s government.
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MTG files complaint against ‘secret boyfriend’ of Georgia DA prosecuting Trump: ‘Serious violations’
FIRST ON FOX: Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has set her sights on the “secret boyfriend” of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting a case against President Trump and several of his allies over alleged 2020 election interference. On Thursday morning, the firebrand conservative lawmaker filed a complaint with Georgia’s ethics commission against Nathan Wade, an outside attorney whom Willis hired for the Trump case and allegedly engaged in an inappropriate romantic relationship with, alleging “potential serious violations” of state law over his purported failure to register and file lobbyist paperwork disclosing “his solicitation” of Willis and “excessive gifts” to the prosecutor. “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis stands credibly accused of using Fulton County and federal COVID funds to pay her unqualified, secret boyfriend Nathan Wade–who has never tried a felony case–$250 per hour to collude with the Biden White House counsel and help Fani Willis bring unprecedented RICO felony charges against President Trump and 18 co-defendants,” Greene wrote in the complaint shared with Fox News Digital. “Willis allegedly paid her secret boyfriend a significantly higher hourly rate than another one of her special prosecutors who actually has significant experience,” she continued. “And with the nearly $700,000 Wade has collected in government funds as one of Willis’ special prosecutors, he has allegedly taken her on a luxury Caribbean cruise, a trip to Napa, and other lavish trips.” GEORGIA SENATE REPUBLICANS CONSIDER SPECIAL PANEL TO INVESTIGATE FANI WILLIS MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS In the complaint, Greene alleges “serious violations of the Georgia Campaign Finance Act” and said the “public has a right to know who, or what, has influence over the officials employed by their tax dollars.” “For that reason, the Act requires that lobbyists report their efforts to sway the discretion of lawmakers, administrators, and district attorneys in the discharge of their duties. Registration and disclosure requirements shine light on the infamously crooked aims of lobbyists and hold accountable corrupt public officials.” Greene charges that Wade’s law firm, Wade & Campbell, is a state vendor as defined by the Georgia Campaign Finance Act, and Wade is a lobbyist as defined by the Act and required to report as such before engaging in lobbying activities. “On information and belief, Respondent Wade began lobbying Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on behalf of Wade & Campbell Law Firm in 2021,” Greene wrote, adding Willis awarded no-bid state contracts to the firm and paid “excessive rates” to Wade for the work he performed. Greene says Wade failed to register as a lobbyist and file monthly spending reports between 2021 and 2024. She also alleges that Wade made gifts to Willis that exceeded limits imposed on lobbyists and prohibited under the law. She continued by saying Wade “should be investigated for failure to register as a lobbyist, failure to file monthly lobbyist spending reports, failure to disclose gifts made to public officers, the making of excessive gifts to public officers and the making of prohibited gifts to public officers.” JUDGE UNSEALS FULTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S DIVORCE CASE, FANI WILLIS DEPOSITION DELAYED “So no wonder Nathan Wade refused to disclose his solicitation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which blossomed into a sweetheart deal for his law firm as Willis appointed Wade to be a special prosecutor in a thoroughly corrupt case against President Donald Trump,” Greene wrote. “Had Wade done so as required by Georgia law, the public could and would have caught on to Willis’ self-serving gambit to prosecute President Trump, win the adoration of the radical left, and finance an extravagant affair with Wade. For his part in this highly illicit scheme, Wade should be fully prosecuted under the Georgia Campaign Finance Act, ensuring true justice for Georgians.” Greene demanded the commission to “immediately impose” a $10,000 late fee for each monthly report filed 45 or more days late. Wade did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Court documents filed earlier this month say Willis hired Wade to prosecute former Trump in Georgia’s election interference case. They also allege they benefited financially from the relationship through lavish vacations that the two went on using funds his firm received for working the case. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a hearing on the accusations for February 15.
Virginia General Assembly appoints SCC commissioners without opposition
The Virginia General Assembly on Wednesday elected two experienced attorneys who were nominated a day earlier to fill long-standing vacancies on the state’s powerful regulatory panel that oversees interests ranging from utilities to insurers. Without opposition, both chambers approved the appointments of Sam Towell and Kelsey Bagot to the State Corporation Commission, an independent state agency with a staff of hundreds. It has a purview that includes the regulation of utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, railroads, business filings and other matters. Three commissioners — the roles Towell and Bagot are stepping into — oversee the agency’s work. NORTHERN VIRGINIA COULD GET CASINO AS BILL TO ALLOW FAIRFAX COUNTY REFERENDUM ADVANCES Both the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions saw political gridlock over how the then-politically divided General Assembly should fill commissioner vacancies. Democrats opened this session in full control of both chambers after November’s elections, giving them the leeway to advance their preferred nominees. Bagot was most recently employed by Florida-based energy giant NextEra Energy. She previously worked at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as a legal advisor to Commissioner Mark Christie, a former chairman of the State Corporation Commission. Her six-year term will commence April 1. Towell most recently worked as an in-house attorney for meat producer Smithfield Foods and previously served in the state Office of the Attorney General as deputy attorney general for civil litigation. He will fill an unexpired term of nearly four years. The Legislature also elected judges to the Court of Appeals, circuit courts, general district courts, juvenile and domestic relations courts, the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission and the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, which investigates complaints against judges. Lawmakers conducted judicial interviews in December. At least two former members of the House of Delegates, Les Adams of Pittsylvania County and Jeffrey Campbell of Smyth County, were among those elected to six-year terms as general district court judges.
Thirty people killed in latest herder violence in Nigeria’s Plateau State
Intercommunal violence is common in the state due to tensions over land between nomadic herders and indigenous farmers. At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in Nigeria’s central Plateau State, where clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farming communities have erupted for years, a community organisation and an aid group source said on Thursday. Despite a 24-hour curfew imposed on Tuesday in Plateau’s Mangu local district, schools, places of worship, and homes have been burned and ransacked in more attacks, community leaders said. The Mwaghavul Development Association, an organisation for ethnic Mwaghavul people who are mostly Christians, blamed Fulani Muslim herders for attacking Kwahaslalek village, killing approximately 30 people. “At the moment, our people are left at the mercy of God and the little they can do in self-defence,” the association said in a statement. That figure was confirmed by a local rescue official and a source at an aid group working on the ground, who spoke to the news agency AFP on condition of anonymity. The aid source said more than 100 people had been wounded. Security personnel are yet to comment on the death toll from the most recent attacks. Two camps for the displaced have been set up in Mangu town, for about 1,500 people, local chairman of Nigeria Red Cross Nurudeen Husaini Magaji told AFP. Plateau’s governor announced the curfew on Tuesday after another clash that officials blamed on a dispute between a herder moving his cattle and other residents using the road. [embedded content] A history of communal conflict The state lies in the Middle Belt, a region seen as the dividing line between Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. Intercommunal violence has been common in the region, which is home to dozens of ethnic minorities like the Mwaghavul. Clashes in the region and the northwest are rooted in community tensions over land between nomadic herders and indigenous farmers, but exacerbated by the effects of climate change and population rise in the region. Multiple local reports have attributed the farmers as saying they have had to organise into self-defence vigilante groups to fend off attacks by the herders. The situation has been worsened by reprisal attacks and a web of broader criminality. Heavily armed gangs, known locally as bandits, raid villages especially in the northwest states, looting and kidnapping for ransom. The conflict has also seeped into parts of southwest and southeast Nigeria. In recent times, tensions have soared since nearly 200 people were killed over Christmas in raids on mostly Christian villages. The Jama’atu Nasril Islam, a Muslim community organisation, also said that clashes erupted between Tuesday and Wednesday in Mangu town, with places of worship and faith-based schools attacked. “We call on the government and security agencies to intensify their efforts in securing the lives and properties of the inhabitants of Mangu and other flash points,” JNI’s state director Salim Musa Umar said. “All concerned should also do everything possible to prevent any possible escalation.” [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)
Swedish PM Kristersson agrees to meet Hungary’s Orban for talks on NATO bid
After ratification by Turkey, Hungary is the only country left effectively holding up Sweden’s NATO membership. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has agreed to meet his counterpart from Hungary, the only NATO member yet to ratify his country’s membership in the military alliance. Swedish public television on Thursday published a letter Kristersson penned to Prime Minister Viktor Orban in which he said he accepted an invitation received this week to meet in Budapest “at a time convenient for both of us”. “The completion of the ratification process of Sweden’s NATO membership in the Hungarian parliament will create a solid foundation to move ahead in our bilateral relationship, and to reinforce mutual understanding and trust,” Kristersson said in the letter. He added that “a more intensive dialogue between our countries would be beneficial”, noting they would also have the opportunity to speak in Brussels on February 1 at a meeting of the European Council. The publication of the letter comes a day after Turkey’s parliament approved Sweden’s NATO membership. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to add his signature in the coming days. Kristersson said after the vote in Ankara that Sweden was “one step closer” to joining the alliance. In a post on X on the same day, Orban wrote that his country supports Sweden’s membership and said he would urge lawmakers to approve its accession quickly. Just finished a phone call with @NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg. I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO-membership of #Sweden. I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and… — Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 24, 2024 But on Thursday, Hungary’s parliamentary speaker, Laszlo Kover, said there was no urgency in backing Sweden’s NATO membership bid. “I do not feel any particular urgency. Moreover, I do not think there is an extraordinary situation,” Kover said. Finland became the 31st member of the alliance in April, which doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It also strengthened the defences of three small Baltic countries that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Sweden and Finland both had a lengthy history of military non-alignment harkening back to the Cold War. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked ties on the continent and changed their policy. Both Orban and Erdogan maintain relatively friendly relations with Russia. Adblock test (Why?)
This 9-year-old is reporting the war on Gaza
NewsFeed Meet Lama Abu Jamous, a 9-year-old girl who has gathered a social following as an aspiring journalist covering Israel’s war on Gaza. Published On 25 Jan 202425 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
‘Ram temple will be marked in history as…’: President Murmu in Republic Day address
She also touched on the conflicts that have emerged in several parts of the world and stressed at finding a way out in the light of reason.
Sen. Barrasso’s wife dies after 2-year battle with brain cancer
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., announced on Thursday that his wife, Bobbi, died after a two-year battle with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. “After a courageous battle with cancer, Bobbi is now at peace and at home with the Lord,” Barrasso said in a statement. “In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, Bobbi was a leader, fierce advocate for Wyoming, and friend to everyone she met. We miss her dearly. On behalf of our entire family, we thank everyone for your prayers and continued support as we remember her and grieve together.” This is a breaking story, check back for updates.