Republic Day Parade 2024: Check time, ticket price, where to watch live
The Republic Day Parade begins at 9:30 am. The ceremony starts with the President unfurling the national flag.
Biden’s new campaign chair previously called Republicans a ‘bunch of fu–ers’
President Biden’s newly anointed campaign chair previously had a few choice words about Republicans, calling them a “bunch of fu–ers” while praising Biden’s calls for unity. Biden’s team announced on Tuesday that Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s deputy chief of staff, would pivot from her White House role to his re-election campaign to help steer its operations. The team also said Mike Donilon, a senior White House adviser, would shift to his political arm as its chief strategist. O’Malley Dillon was not shy about her thoughts on Republicans during a December 2020 interview with Glamour after coming off her stint as Biden’s campaign manager. BIDEN’S TOP OUTSIDE GROUP HAULS IN OVER $200M TO AID UPHILL RE-ELECTION FIGHT “The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity,” O’Malley Dillon said at the time. “In the primary, people would mock him, like, ‘You think you can work with Republicans?’ I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f—ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that.” “From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too,” she continued. O’Malley Dillon has also projected extreme views on firearms on social media, previously saying all guns should be taken off the street while responding to a tweet from failed Texas senatorial, gubernatorial and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke regarding a baby shot in the face. “My son is 17 months old, which shouldn’t fu–ing matter,” she wrote in September 2019. “But thinking of that baby with shrapnel is his face almost broke me. GET EVERY ONE OF THOSE G–DAMN GUNS OFF OUR STREETS.” DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS SOUND THE ALARM OVER BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN: ‘NOT REAL COMFORTABLE’ The announcement comes as former President Trump has firmly positioned himself as the dominant GOP force after his showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. The moves, however, are unlikely to receive fanfare from Democrat strategists who have been openly critical of Biden’s campaign operations. O’Malley Dillon has overlooked the campaign’s path from D.C. for months, while Donilon has been involved with its strategy, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news and expressed the actions are more formal than anything. “I’m thankful to Mike and Jen both for their service in the White House these last three years, and I am grateful that in rejoining the campaign, they are stepping up one more time to ensure we finish the job for the American people,” Biden told the Times. Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Hawaii Democrat introduces bill to ban Trump from ballot
A Democrat-sponsored bill in Hawaii that could ban former President Trump from the ballot for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol advanced in the state legislature Monday. Hawaii state Sen. Karl Rhoads, a Democrat representing Honolulu who frequently criticizes Trump and Republicans over the Jan. 6 riot online, first introduced SB 2392 last week, which aims to “specify that election ballots issued by the chief election officer or county clerk shall exclude any candidate who is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; article XVI, section 3 of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; or another constitutional or statutory provision.” The bill does not explicitly name Trump, but Maine’s Democratic Secretary of State and Colorado’s Supreme Court cited the insurrection clause in barring Trump from their state ballots. The Hawaii proposal also aims to “prohibit electors of presidential and vice presidential candidates from voting for any presidential or vice presidential nominee who has been disqualified pursuant to Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as determined by any federal court, or as determined by the state supreme court in an election contest” and also “seeks to stop those disqualified by a court based on the constitutional amendment from appearing on party ballots for presidential and vice-presidential nominees.” MAINE OFFICIAL APPEALS HER REMOVAL OF TRUMP FROM VOTING BALLOTS TO STATE’S TOP COURT “The legislature finds that citizens of this State have the right to expect that public servants be people of integrity, and not people who have committed actions that threaten democracy or undermine the vote of the people,” the bill says. “Any challenge to the inclusion or exclusion of any candidate on a ballot issued by the chief election officer or clerk shall be in writing and, no later than the fifty-seventh day prior to the general election, shall be filed with the appropriate district court; provided that for any challenge to the inclusion or exclusion of a presidential candidate on a general election ballot, the appropriate district court shall be the district court of the first circuit. The challenge shall provide notice in a summary manner of the grounds that give rise to the complaint. No later than the fifty-fourth day prior to the general election, the district court shall hold a hearing regarding the challenge. The district court shall assess the validity of the complaint and shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law no later than the fifty-third day prior to the general election. The party filing the challenge shall have the burden to sustain the challenge by a preponderance of the evidence, unless a higher burden is required by constitutional law.” HALEY ALLIES ADMIT SHE HAS ‘STEEPER ROAD AHEAD’ FACING TRUMP IN SOUTH CAROLINA The bill passed its first reading on Monday. Trump’s campaign has repeatedly categorized efforts to block him from the ballot as aiming to disenfranchise American voters. Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, appealed a judge’s ruling on Friday that put on hold her decision to remove Trump from the ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar case in Colorado. Bellow, a Democrat, said she also wants to ensure Maine’s highest court has the opportunity to weigh in before ballots are counted in the March 5 primaries. The timelines are tight as Super Tuesday approaches. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the Colorado case on Feb. 8, which likely means there would not be enough time to meet statutory deadlines for Bellows to reissue a ruling on Trump’s ballot status and for additional appeals to be filed before Election Day. Lawsuits in Minnesota, Michigan, Arizona and Oregon aiming to block Trump from the 2024 ballot have already been dismissed on procedural grounds, Newsweek reported. The Illinois State Board of Elections is also reportedly still weighing a challenge to Trump’s eligibility. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Congress keeps going like a broken record on spending, border, shutdown fights
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record. But many political observers concede that Congress is broken. And it’s angling for a record in futility. For nearly eight months, Congress has been stuck. Contemporary audiophiles using Spotify or Pandora can’t appreciate the frustration of buying “Led Zeppelin IV” at Camelot Music in the ‘80s, racing home, positioning the disc on the turntable – only to hear it skip. I mean it’s one thing to tolerate the needle repeating on “Four Sticks” by Led Zeppelin. But on “Stairway to Heaven” or “When the Levee Breaks”? HOUSE GOP FOR SHUTDOWN AFTER CONSERVATIVES PROMISE REVENGE FOR BIPARTISAN SPENDING DEAL The needle would simply jump on the vinyl to the outer groove. And the same riff, vocal, lyric or cymbal clash would repeat on an endless loop. If you were lucky, the needle might slide into the next sonic cavity after a few revolutions. The tune would get its groove back and the music continued, unabated. But often, the needle dipped into that crevasse and never resurfaced, repeating the same bars of music. Such is the case on Capitol Hill. Since last spring, the song remains the same. Congress is stuck in a seemingly inescapable political trench. Lawmakers play the same chorus. The same guitar solo. The same refrain. Again and again. However, there was one respite: The 22-day crisis over the House speakership in October. But like that broken record, Congress skipped through arguments about keeping the government open, border security and assistance to Ukraine since last May. That’s back when Congress approved a bill to lift the debt ceiling. Otherwise, Congress is on repeat. The unremitting cycle on Capitol Hill is tedious. It attests to just how bogged down the 118th Congress is. 14 HOUSE DEMOCRATS JOIN REPUBLICANS TO REBUKE BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS The warning signs came on the first day of Congress last year. The House voted ad nauseum to elect a speaker. It finally settled on Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. But the House ultimately decided to scratch McCarthy. It’s been on reverb ever since. Congress has now approved three stopgap spending bills since late September to avert potential government shutdowns. Then there was another Band-Aid in early November. Then an additional temporary bill last week. The next sets of deadlines are March 1 and March 8. Congress may be able to pass a few of the 12 annual spending bills by early March. But all 12 appropriations bills? The sides are still trying to settle the allocations for each sector of federal spending. Nothing can move until congressional appropriators agree on how much they want to spend in each area. Otherwise, they just know the size of the overall spending pie, not the individual pieces. Republicans may hold the majority in the House. But it’s Democrats who are are really in charge of passing legislation. Sure, Republicans can pass various “messaging” bills on their own about abortion and Biden administration policies they oppose. But the House only advances substantive legislation when nearly all Democrats are on board and various percentages of Republicans. That’s been true on the debt ceiling and government funding. Congress never deviated from that cycle. Then there is the push for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Bipartisan advocates for Ukraine really amped up their demand to assist with the war effort as winter loomed in Kyiv. Money was certainly destined for Taiwan. Then Oct. 7 happened. A push emerged to help Israel reload with weapons in its fight against Hamas. The border devolved deeper into a crisis. Border security discussions intensified in the fall. Some Republicans said they were willing to entertain the international assistance package requested by President Biden – especially money for Ukraine. But only if they marshaled a border security pact which they liked. GOP LAWMAKER AND EX-GREEN BERET DEMANDS BRIEFING ON DEATHS OF NAVY SEALS Talks between Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla., escalated. There was even talk the Senate might try to vote on a border/immigration bill in mid-December. But negotiations lagged through the holidays. Picked up again. And the Senate still hasn’t produced an agreement. The legislative algorithm never deviates. This isn’t even the pithy idiom of “wash, rinse, repeat.” On Capitol Hill, lawmakers never made it to the shower stall. Any progress Congress would make on any of these subjects – even if it’s incremental – would be head and shoulders above what lawmakers achieved over the past eight months. And so the congressional coda continues. Stuck in a parliamentary tape loop. It’s the opposite of The Beatles avant-garde “Revolution 9.” That’s where the band assembled a noisy overdub of music and speech. The voice of a studio engineer fades up and repeats the phrase “Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine” at regular intervals. Play that section backwards and some believe the voice says “turn me on, dead man.” That only intensified rumors that Paul McCartney unexpectedly died. If there’s not a border deal soon, you might hear someone saying “the border bill is dead. The border bill is dead.” It won’t matter whether you play it backwards or forwards. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other conservatives have already said as much for weeks – even though there’s no bill text to dismiss. In fact, criticism of the Senate negotiations by House conservatives of the border talks is also looped. Maybe they never get a border agreement. Maybe they never get an accord on spending. Maybe Speaker Johnson punts yet again and does a fourth (!) temporary spending package to keep the government from closing in March. The skip in the congressional record could be beyond repair. Back with your turntable, you might find a speck of debris on the record, causing it to jump. You could fix this by simply cleaning the record with a microfiber cloth or even rubbing alcohol. But other times, the record was just junk. So, you’d take the damaged album back to the store.
RNC Chair McDaniel tells Fox News ‘we need to unite’ around Trump
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has stayed neutral since the very start of the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race. While McDaniel and the national party committee are still not taking sides in the 2024 battle between former President Trump and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the RNC chairwoman appears to be sending a signal. “I’m looking at the math and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley,” McDaniel told anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in a Fox News Channel interview late on Tuesday night. HALEY LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY, BUT FACES A ‘CHALLENGING’ ROAD AHEAD “I think she’s run a great campaign, but I do think there is a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear,” McDaniel emphasized. She urged that “we need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump, and we need to make sure we beat Joe Biden.” McDaniel’s comments didn’t appear to be sitting well with some national party committee members. “The RNC has to be neutral,” one committee member who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News. “We have a one-on-one competitive race. Is there a favorite? Well, sure there is. But it’s a competitive race. Two states have gone. We’re a long way from anybody having 1,215 delegates to wrap this thing up,” the RNC member said. “So for her to hint that Nikki needs to get of the race is beyond obnoxious and it’s certainly not neutral.” The nomination race and whether to coalesce around Trump will be a topic of conversation as all 167 RNC committee members and top staff huddle starting a week from Wednesday at their annual winter meeting, which this year is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada. TRUMP TOPS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT DOESN’T DELIVER KNOCKOUT BLOW McDaniel was interviewed hours after the former president won a second straight double-digit victory, but he did not land a knockout blow in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, as his last remaining major rival in the GOP nomination race vowed to keep on fighting. “This isn’t the RNC speaking, this isn’t the establishment speaking, this is voters speaking,” McDaniel said. When asked by MacCallum if she was suggesting that Haley needed to suspend her campaign, McDaniel would only say that Haley and her team needed to “reflect” about the upcoming contests in Nevada and South Carolina and to consider “what’s the most important thing going forward.” In a speech to supporters Tuesday night in New Hampshire after Trump’s primary victory was quickly projected, Haley said, “You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over.” Haley now heads back to her home state, which holds the next major contest in the Republican nominating calendar on Feb. 24. A rally Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, is the first in a series scheduled over the coming days. Additionally, the campaign launched a new $4 million ad blitz in South Carolina on Wednesday. Trump, in an interview with Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, argued that it was time for Haley to suspend her campaign so he could begin targeting President Biden in what is expected to be a general election rematch. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST RESULTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY “She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden,” the former president emphasized. “If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.” Trump’s victory in New Hampshire came eight days after he captured a majority of the vote and crushed the competition in Iowa’s low-turnout Republican presidential caucuses. It came two days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign, making the race a two-candidate contest between Trump and Haley. New Hampshire – where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party’s contest and have long played an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary – was considered fertile ground for Haley. She spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. Pundits viewed New Hampshire’s primary as Haley’s best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president’s march toward renomination. The former president’s nearly 12-point margin over Haley was below what most of the final public opinion surveys conducted ahead of the primary had suggested. Sununu pushed back against McDaniel in a “Fox and Friends” interview on Wednesday morning. “With all due respect to Ronna McDaniel, to say that we’re just going to call it after two states, 40 states to go, the head of the Republican Party saying, we don’t want to hear from the all the other Republicans in the nation because it’s getting too close, that’s nonsense,” the New Hampshire governor emphasized. “You got to let the voters decide, not a bunch of political elites out of D.C.” And Haley campaign communications director Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement to Fox News that “we don’t do coronations in this country. We do elections. The political elites can back Donald Trump, but Nikki Haley will continue to fight for the nearly 50% of Republican primary voters and the 70% of all Americans who don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch.” A Republican source said there did not appear to be any conversations between the RNC and Haley’s campaign. McDaniel, in a Fox News Digital interview on Monday, highlighted the benefits of the GOP nomination race coming to an early conclusion. “Obviously, it’s helpful from an organizational standpoint, from a fundraising standpoint,” McDaniel said. “The Democrats have the White
Sudan’s Hemedti embraced abroad as he terrorises civilians at home
On January 6, Sudanese paramilitary leader Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti”, visited the memorial in Kigali that commemorates the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Hemedti toured the museum solemnly, his sympathy-filled face belying the fact that his paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are accused of similar atrocities in Sudan’s civil war. Hemedti’s visit to Rwanda was part of a tour to meet African heads of state from late December to early January. South Africa, Uganda, Djibouti, Rwanda and Ethiopia all greeted Hemedti warmly, and Kenya rolled out a red carpet for him. His tour dispelled rumours that he might be seriously wounded or killed in a conflict in which his fighters have killed thousands of civilians across Sudan, seized homes, looted cars, plundered aid, robbed banks and raped indiscriminately as a weapon of war. Despite civilians testifying to these atrocities, Hemedti was received across Africa like a head of state, raising fears that he will keep terrorising civilians with regional backing, local monitors and experts told Al Jazeera. “Any efforts that aim to justify or excuse Hemedti’s crimes are permitting him to continue his massacres,” said Bedour Zakaria, a human rights monitor who survived mass killings in West Darfur and is now in Kampala, Uganda. Accused of crimes, playing statesman In West Darfur, a region on the border with Chad, RSF fighters and allied Arab militias have killed up to 15,000 non-Arabs from the Masalit tribe, according to a soon-to-be-released United Nations report obtained by Al Jazeera. Displaced people get on a truck to flee Wad Madani, Sudan, on December 16, 2023 [AFP] The report said 13 mass graves have been identified in West Darfur since the war between the RSF and the Sudanese army erupted in April. About 550,000 Masalit refugees have also been uprooted from their land to camps in Chad. [BELOW: What does the asterisk refer to?] “Hemedti has committed all of the gravest crimes that you can think of on Masalit land,” said Yousif Gamal*, a human rights monitor from the Masalit tribe. “He has even forced [all Masalit] to leave our land and brought new settlers to replace us,” he told Al Jazeera. In what was perhaps a move to polish his image, Hemedti signed an agreement with Taqaddum, a broad civilian coalition self-declared as neutral in the conflict and headed by former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 1. Many members of Taqaddum, including Hamdok, were in the civilian Forces for Freedom and Change, which briefly shared power with the military before being toppled in a coup by the army and RSF in October 2021. Still, they agreed to meet with Hemedti and expressed optimism after the signing. Taqaddum’s agreement with Hemedti said the RSF was willing “to immediately and unconditionally end hostilities” and provide security to civilians and repair basic services in areas under its control. However, so far, the RSF has failed to govern or demonstrate a desire to govern. [embedded content] Two weeks before the Addis Ababa meeting, the RSF captured Wad Madani, Sudan’s second-largest city, plundering it, killing civilians, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and raping. While Hemedti addressed his forces’ rampage in Geneina State, where Wad Madani is located, and said “rogue elements” responsible were being rounded up to be held accountable, abuses continued after the signing, prompting activists in Wad Madani to accuse Taqaddum of abandoning neutrality. “Taqaddum can’t have any legitimacy without the Sudanese people, and the Sudanese people reject the existence of the RSF,” said Mohamad Shendega, spokesperson for the Wad Madani resistance committee, one of many neighbourhood groups spearheading local relief efforts in Sudan. “Taqaddum has to remain neutral and independent of the two warring sides.” Rasha Aoud, spokesperson for Taqaddum, denied accusations that the civilian coalition was compromised. “There is no alliance between Taqaddum and the RSF,” she told Al Jazeera. Jawhara Kanu, a Sudanese expert with the United States Institute for Peace, believes Taqaddum does not have a formal alliance with Hemedti, but she fears “some in Taqaddum are blinded with hysteria and trauma and not able to see that as they fight the Kizan, they are getting closer to the RSF.” Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok addresses people on the first anniversary of the start of the uprising against Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum on December 25, 2019 [File: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters] The Kizan is the collective name for figures from former President Omar al-Bashir’s government who are suspected of being embedded in key positions in the army and de facto foreign ministry. Regional initiative Days after the Addis Ababa Declaration was signed, Hamdok and his delegation visited Djibouti, where they urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-country regional bloc, to increase its efforts to bring about a meeting between Hemedti and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. On January 18, Hemedti travelled to Entebbe, Uganda, to attend an IGAD summit that had Sudan on the agenda. Al-Burhan was invited by refused to attend, and two days later, the pro-army foreign ministry accused the bloc of “violating Sudan’s sovereignty” and suspended its membership in IGAD. Kanu said al-Burhan’s response was counterproductive. “I believe engaging is always better than disengaging,” she told Al Jazeera. “I think al-Burhan lost more than he won by not going. When you are not at the table, then anything can be said.” I had a meeting today in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, with Dr. Annette Weber, the EU special representative for the Horn of Africa. During our conversation, I briefed Dr. Weber on the reasons behind the war in Sudan, which was initiated by the extremist former regime and its… pic.twitter.com/7OictkZfAY — Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (@GeneralDagllo) January 18, 2024 Zakaria said the regional embrace of Hemedti is part of a broader history of domestic and international players whitewashing the RSF’s image. She referenced Hemedti’s photo-op with the European Union’s Horn of Africa envoy, Annette Webber, during the IGAD summit. “The Europeans pretend they care about human rights, international humanitarian law
Humanitarian aid for Gaza blocked by protests
NewsFeed A crowd of Israelis gathered to stop aid trucks from entering Gaza at the Karam Abu Salem border crossing. Some of the protesters include family members of captives being held by Hamas and are demanding their release come before any more humanitarian aid can cross. Published On 24 Jan 202424 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Drones attack deep in Russia as Medvedev threatens Ukraine’s ‘existence’
Russia and Ukraine traded deadly aerial attacks on civilian centres in the past week of the war, but Ukraine also scored hits on military and economic infrastructure deep in the Russian heartland, extending its reach to St Petersburg for the first time. Ukrainian military intelligence said it had struck an unspecified military target in St Petersburg on Thursday, using drones launched from Ukrainian soil. Ukrainian strategic industries minister Oleksandr Kamyshin confirmed the attack, telling the World Economic Forum in Davos that the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian-built drone that had travelled 1,250km (780 miles) from Ukrainian soil. Russia’s defence ministry said three drones had been launched and it had downed all three over the Gulf of Finland that day, one near an oil terminal. On Sunday, Ukraine attacked again in several locations, and this time, the evidence of its success was clear. [Al Jazeera] Russian gas producer Novatek said it was suspending operations at a plant and loading terminal in the port of Ust-Luga near St Petersburg, following a fire, which Ukrainian media credited to due to a drone attack, citing Security Service (SBU) sources. Novatek said it had resumed loading on Wednesday, but plant operations could take weeks or months to return to normal, analysts said. This meant the company would lose money, exporting low-value gas condensate rather than processed naphtha, jet fuel and gasoil. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said aerial defences were being strengthened following the attack. Ukraine also claimed to have attacked the Shcheglovsky Val plant in Tula, 150km (93 miles) south of Moscow, which reportedly manufactures the Pantsir-S and Pantsir-S1 air defence systems. Geolocated footage also showed smoke rising from the city of Smolensk, near the Russian border with Belarus, suggesting a possible third attack that day. Ukraine has been developing its own long-range aerial and surface drones at least since the middle of last year, when it attacked several military targets in Crimea and the Black Sea. Unlike donated Western weapons, they do not carry restrictions about their use on Russian soil. [Al Jazeera] Ukrainian National Defence and Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov claimed that Ukraine was among the top three drone manufacturers in the world. Ukraine is suspected of being responsible for the shelling of Donetsk city in its occupied east, which killed at least 27 people on Sunday, although it did not claim the attack. Russia has routinely targeted Ukrainian cities, and did so again with deadly results. Kharkiv bore the heaviest toll. Russian missiles killed 18 people and injured an estimated 130 in various cities on Tuesday, but eight of the dead were in Kharkiv, said its mayor, which suffered three waves of attacks. At least 100 high-rise blocks had been hit in the city. People take shelter in a metro station during an air raid, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv [Thomas Peter/Reuters] Ukraine defended its airspace from the repeated attacks. It shot down 19 out of 20 Shahed drones last Wednesday, 22 out of 33 drones on Thursday, and four out of seven drones on Saturday. In each case, Russia also used a small number of missiles, as it has been doing for months, copying a Ukrainian tactic designed to overload air defence systems. A Pentagon official said these were probing attacks as Russia looked for weaknesses in defences. “They’ve not succeeded so far. Ukrainians have a lot of experience over the last few years on how to cope with these kinds of Russian assaults,” Celeste Wallander, an assistant secretary of defense, told reporters. What made Tuesday’s attack different was that Russia used no drones. It launched 44 missiles of various types, half of which Ukraine intercepted, mostly over Kyiv. No end in sight Ukraine’s Western allies continued to pledge weapons and ammunition, forecasting a third year of war, as defiant Russian rhetoric left little hope of negotiations any time soon. “The existence of Ukraine is mortally dangerous for Ukrainians,” wrote Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s powerful Security Council, on the Telegram messaging app. “The presence of an independent state on historical Russian territories will now be a constant reason for the resumption of hostilities,” he said, elucidating an irredentist policy towards all of Ukraine. “There is a 100 percent probability of a new conflict,” Medvedev said, even if Ukraine entered the EU and NATO. “This could happen in ten or fifty years.” Some in Europe took Russia at its word. [Al Jazeera] “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day … so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told Tagesspiegel. “Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible,” Pistorius said. It was the latest in a series of ominous warnings. NATO’s military committee chief called for a “warfighting transformation” of NATO two weeks ago. And the commander-in-chief of Sweden, which came a step closer to NATO membership when Turkey’s parliament ratified its bid on Tuesday, last week told Swedes to prepare for war. Even Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who as recently as last September was saying Russia was ready for talks, said Russia “will achieve the goals of its ‘special military operation’ consistently and persistently.” Looking for ammunition Accordingly, Western governments have been stepping up ammunition production. Varying estimates give Russia an advantage of between 5:1 and 10:1 in artillery shells. There is concern that disparity could harm Ukraine’s stout defence. During the past week, for example, Ukraine has retreated some hundreds of yards in Kharkiv, where Russia has been assaulting the front lines relentlessly. European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said on Saturday that EU defence industries would be capable of producing a million artillery shells a year by April, up to 1.4 million by the end of the year and more next year. Defence industries have complained that they cannot increase production unless governments provide long-term contracts, and NATO on Tuesday made up for some of this
House Republicans unveil effort to block Biden admin from tearing down key hydro dams
FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans are introducing legislation that would prohibit the federal government from breaching, or tearing down, four hydroelectric dams in Washington state. The five lawmakers, led by Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., unveiled the so-called Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators (DAMN) Act on Wednesday morning. The legislation would prohibit federal funds from allowing or studying the breach or alteration of the Lower Snake River dams which environmentalists have targeted, arguing they have led to declining salmon populations in the region. GOP Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee; Cliff Bentz, R-Ore.; Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore.; and Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, joined Newhouse in introducing the legislation. The action comes a month after the White House entered into a legal settlement with environmental groups and tribes to study breaching, potentially paving the way for future breaching. “The Biden Administration has crossed the line with its blatant, hypocritical assault on the Lower Snake River Dams,” Newhouse told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “This Administration, since its campaign, claims to advocate for green energy solutions, yet disregards that notion when told to by manipulative environmental activists who do not understand how critical the dams are to the Pacific Northwest and a clean energy future.” HOUSE PANEL TO PROBE BIDEN ADMIN’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH ECO GROUPS TRYING TO TEAR DOWN KEY POWER SOURCE “The Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators Act is the first of many pieces of legislation coming that combats this Administration’s radical, unfair, and unsubstantiated effort to destroy our dams and the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on them,” the Washington Republican added. Under last month’s agreement, the White House Council on Environmental Quality announced the tribes and environmental groups which had sued the federal government in an effort to forcibly breach the dams agreed to stay their litigation through 2028. The agreement further includes $1 billion for wild fish restoration and a plan to develop new clean energy power operated by tribes. GOP BILL TO SAFEGUARD US AGRICULTURE FROM CHINA ADVANCES WITH HEAVY BIPARTISAN SUPPORT The White House said the investments agreed to would ensure continued energy reliability, transportation and other services currently guaranteed by the continued operation of the four dams “in the event” that the dams are breached. Officials stopped short of committing to a breach plan as demanded by plaintiffs in the case and said that decision would require congressional approval. Still, industry groups that represent companies reliant on the dams, have expressed deep concern with the Biden administration’s legal settlement which was negotiated behind closed doors. “The four lower Snake River dams are critically important to the economy of the Tri-Cities and the entire Pacific Northwest region,” Karl Dye, the president and CEO of the Tri-City Development Council, said Wednesday. “Their importance was underscored earlier this month when the Bonneville Power Administration reported record high electricity demand, which could not have been met without the power produced by these dams.” “Congressman Newhouse has always been a champion of the Snake River dams, and we sincerely thank him for his continued support.” The dams were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers primarily to ensure the Snake River — which winds through Idaho and Washington before feeding into the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean — was passable for barge transportation. MAJOR US POWER SOURCE FACING EXTINCTION THANKS TO RED TAPE, SPARKING CALLS FOR REFORM However, since then, the main benefit has been their reliable clean energy output. They still provide about 8% of the state’s electricity, enough to serve millions of residents, and have a large total capacity of 3,000 megawatts. Removing the dams would likely chip away at U.S. climate goals since their energy production would likely need to be replaced by fossil fuel alternatives. According to federal data, replacing hydropower generated by the dams with natural gas generation would increase carbon emissions by up to 2.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of 421,000 passenger cars. In addition to the impacts on energy and climate ambitions, removing the four Snake River dams would harm agriculture exports. Aided by the dams, barges traveling along the Columbia River system carry about 60% of Washington’s annual wheat exports and a staggering 40% of the nation’s total wheat production. WHITE HOUSE INTERVENED TO GRANT ‘QUASI-REGULATORY AUTHORITY’ TO FOREIGN GREEN GROUPS “The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) applauds the introduction of the Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators Act by Rep. Dan Newhouse,” WAWG said in a statement. “The Lower Snake River Dams are vital to the livelihood of Washington’s wheat farmers.” “Any alteration or breaching of these dams would negatively impact our ability to transport wheat, thus causing adverse impacts to local businesses, including family-owned farms, and the broader regional economy,” the group added. The Washington State Potato Commission, Washington State Dairy Federation and National Grain and Feed Association also added statements of support for the DAMN Act on Wednesday. “The stakes are concernedly high, as the economic harm of breaching the dams would ripple throughout the U.S. agricultural value chain by effectively shutting down a critical export corridor for grains and oilseeds,” the National Grain and Feed Association said. “Removal of the LSR locks could bankrupt thousands of producers as they attempt to change their freight distribution network from efficient river barges to far more costly – and environmentally damaging – long-haul truck or rail service.” The legislation introduced Wednesday would also prevent the federal government from implementing the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, a proposal from tribes, environmental groups and the states of Oregon and Washington, which calls for a more explicit plan to remove the dams. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
GOP lawmakers urge DOJ to forgo immigration lawsuit against Lone Star State: ‘Texas should not be punished’
FIRST ON FOX: Several members of the Texas Republican congressional delegation are calling on the Justice Department to forgo its recent lawsuit against the Lone Star State, saying the Biden administration has “failed Texans and the American people with their open-border policies.” In a letter slated to be sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, more than a dozen House Republicans from Texas called out the Biden administration for its inability to secure the southern border while simultaneously targeting those who attempt to do so. “We write to you with grave concern regarding the ongoing legal challenges being faced by the State of Texas in relation to Senate Bill 4 (SB4) passed on November 21, 2023, which grants the State of Texas the authority to arrest individuals who illegally crossed the border from Mexico,” the lawmakers, led by Texas GOP Rep. Roger Williams, wrote in the letter. Earlier this month, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas over SB4, pitting Republican Gov. Greg Abbott against the Biden administration as both remain at odds over how to handle the escalating crisis at the southern border. TEXAS SLAMS BIDEN ADMIN, PROMISES TOUGH BORDER MEASURES AFTER SCOTUS RAZOR WIRE RULING The lawsuit, filed in an Austin federal court, came after Abbott signed into law last month a measure challenging the federal government’s authority over immigration matters. In addition to President Biden, several blue cities like New York and Chicago have pushed back against Abbott for having thousands of migrants bussed from his state to their jurisdictions. Pointing to a passage in the suit against their home state — one in which the DOJ noted “the Constitution assigns the federal government the authority to regulate immigration and manage our international borders” — the Republican lawmakers insisted the Biden administration and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have repeatedly refused to enforce our immigration laws and stop the flow of illegal migrants into our country.” “Since President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has documented more than 6.7 million illegal border crossings; with an additional 1.7 million logged as ‘got-aways.’ This Administration’s open-border policies have failed the American people and turned every state into a border state,” the House Republicans said. “The record high levels of illegal migration have taken a toll on Texans throughout the state, prompting Governor Abbott to take action where the Biden Administration has not.” The lawmakers said the DOJ’s claim that SB4 is unconstitutional “neglects the fact that the Texas law simply follows current federal immigration law which already makes it a crime to cross into the U.S. illegally.” Highlighting their support for Abbott, as well as other state officials who are looking to reduce the number of illegal border crossings, the lawmakers said the Biden administration’s policies have “enticed migrants to continue to cross.” “Texas has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its residents and must be allowed to act in a manner that is consistent with that goal,” they wrote. “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have failed Texans and the American people with their open-border policies. Texas should not be punished for this Administration’s refusal to enforce our current immigration laws.” “We urge that you reconsider your lawsuit and allow the state of Texas to act as necessary to secure the safety of its residents,” the Texas Republicans concluded. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT RECORD 302K IN DECEMBER, SOURCES SAY Under the Texas law, migrants could either agree to a judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Those who do not leave could face serious felony charges if arrested again. Those ordered to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the border with Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens. The law can be enforced anywhere in Texas, but some places are off-limits, including schools and churches. “Against all odds, Texas, and Texans, have stepped up in the fight to secure our border,” Williams said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “If President Biden is not going to take responsibility for the invasion of our country, Texas must be allowed to protect itself without fear of retaliation. I, along with the members of the Texas Delegation, ask that the DOJ reconsider its harmful suit, but most importantly, it’s past time they do their job and secure our border.” As of publishing time, 15 Republicans had signed the letter expected to be sent to Garland on Wednesday evening. Those who have signed the letter include: Texas GOP Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Keith Self, Pat Fallon, Lance Gooden, Jake Ellzey, Morgan Luttrell, Michael McCaul, Ronny Jackson, Monica De La Cruz, Pete Sessions, Chip Roy, Beth Van Duyne, Michael Burgess, John Carter, and Brian Babin. Abbott has repeatedly accused the Biden administration of failing to address issues at the border amid record numbers of migrants crossing into the United States. The bussing program has angered Democrats in blue cities, who say their jurisdictions lack sufficient resources to care for migrants they have received. Following a Monday ruling by the Supreme Court that gave Border Patrol agents the ability to cut or clear out razor wire that Texas had placed along the banks of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from entering the U.S. illegally, Texas officials vowed to maintain strict border security measures. Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the state, under Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, “will maintain its current posture in deterring illegal border crossings by utilizing effective border security measures.” That includes reinforced razor wire and anti-climb barriers along the Rio Grande, Olivarez said in the post to X. Sources with Customs and Border Protection told Fox News Digital earlier this month that migrant encounters hit a staggering 300,000 incidents in December 2023, reaching a level thought unimaginable just years ago. Between Dec. 1 and December 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border. It is the highest total for a single