Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Trump addresses enthusiastic New Hampshire volunteers, announces retirement of ‘DeSanctimonious’ nickname

Trump addresses enthusiastic New Hampshire volunteers, announces retirement of ‘DeSanctimonious’ nickname

Former President Donald Trump stopped by his campaign’s New Hampshire headquarters on Sunday, shortly after opponent Florida governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. Speaking to Granite State volunteers, the former president told the crowd as he was leaving that he would stop calling DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious.” “You know…it’s retired,” Trump said to the volunteer. “Okay, I just said, will I be using the name Ron DeSanctimonious?” he added to the room of people. “I said, that name is officially retired. Thank you.” FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS DROPS OUT OF 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, ENDORSES TRUMP Later on Sunday night, Trump told supporters in Rochester, New Hampshire that his opponent “ran a really good campaign.” “I’d like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis and, of course, a really terrific person who I had gotten to know his wife, Casey, for having run a great campaign for president,” Trump said. “He did. He ran a really good campaign.” “I will tell you, it’s not easy,” he continued. “They think it’s easy doing this stuff, right. It’s not easy.” The former president also called DeSantis “gracious” by giving Trump his endorsement. FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY SAYS IT’S ‘ABSOLUTELY’ POSSIBLE FORMER PRESIDENT IS CONVICTED “He was very gracious and he endorsed me, so I appreciate it,” Trump added. “I appreciate that. And I also look forward to working with Ron and everybody else to defeat Crooked Joe Biden.” “We will have to get him out,” the former president continued. “We have to go back. He’s put our country at great peril, at great. So I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job. It’s a tough situation. It’s a tough thing to do.” Earlier on Sunday, DeSantis announced the suspension of his campaign in a video on X. DESANTIS SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN; 2 DAYS TILL NEW HAMPSHIRE, IT’S A 2-PERSON PRIMARY “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the Florida governor said. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.” “If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it,” DeSantis said in the video. “But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory.” Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 698

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 698

As the war enters its 698th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Monday, January 22, 2024. Fighting Twenty-seven people were killed and 25 injured after shelling hit a market on the outskirts of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region. Pushilin blamed Ukraine for the attack on the suburb of Tekstilshchik and said Monday would be a day of mourning. Ukraine’s forces in the Tavria, or southern zone, said in a Facebook post that its soldiers were not responsible. “Donetsk is Ukraine!” it said. “Russia will have to answer for taking lives of Ukrainians.” Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine that Russia annexed illegally in 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not address the attack in his Sunday night video but said that in a single day, Russia had shelled more than 100 cities, towns and villages in nine regions of Ukraine and that the attacks in Donetsk had been “particularly severe”. At least two people were killed in Ukrainian-controlled villages west of Donetsk, according to Ukrainian officials. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces took control of the village of Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Volodymyr Fityo, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, told reporters that Kyiv had withdrawn its soldiers and that Russia taking the village of “five houses” was of “no strategic importance”. Fito said Ukrainian forces were still holding the front line. A fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga Port following two explosions, regional officials said. Local media said the Baltic Sea port, 165km (about 100 miles) southwest of St Petersburg, had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, causing a gas tank to explode. No casualties were reported. Politics and diplomacy Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s top diplomat, said her country was “ready to greet” Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to state media. Choe was in Moscow last week where she met the Russian president. Putin expressed “his willingness to visit the DPRK at an early date”, the statement said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name. Putin last travelled to Pyongyang in 2000. Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk said it was important for the country’s players to keep winning at the Australian Open to remind people of the continuing conflict. The 21-year-old thrashed Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva 6-2, 6-1 and refused to shake her hand afterwards. Kostyuk will meet US Open champion Coco Gauff in the quarter-final. Sunday marked 100 years since the death of Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union whose body remains on display at his mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square. Shortly before launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin publicly chided Lenin for his supposed role in dividing the Russian Empire into nation-states like Ukraine. Adblock test (Why?)

Egypt’s el-Sisi says Cairo will not allow any threat to Somalia

Egypt’s el-Sisi says Cairo will not allow any threat to Somalia

El-Sisi’s comments come amid dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over the latter’s deal with Somaliland. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said Cairo stands shoulder to shoulder with Somalia and has slammed Ethiopia’s agreement with Somaliland to obtain access to the sea and establish a marine force base. “Egypt will not allow anyone to threaten Somalia or affect its security,” el-Sisi said, speaking at a news conference with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “Do not try Egypt, or try to threaten its brothers especially if they ask it to intervene,” he said. Somaliland, a region strategically located by the Gulf of Aden, broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into a civil conflict. The region has maintained its own government despite a lack of international recognition. On January 1, in a memorandum, Ethiopia said it would consider recognising Somaliland’s independence in return for the port access. It would lease 20km (12 miles) of coastland around the port of Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, for 50 years for military and commercial purposes. Ethiopia’s current main port for maritime exports is in the neighbouring country of Djibouti. Sheikh Mohamud, the president of Somalia, rejected the deal as a violation of international law and said: “We will not stand idly by and watch our sovereignty being compromised.” He arrived in Egypt over the weekend to rally support for his government. Besides meeting President el-Sisi, he met with Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Al-Azhar Mosque’s Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. “My message to Ethiopia is that … trying to seize a piece of land to control it is something no one will agree to,” el-Sisi said, noting cooperation on development was a better strategy. On Sunday, Ethiopia rejected criticism from Egypt over the deal, saying it was merely a commercial agreement aimed at securing access to the sea and not an attempt to annex land. “It isn’t annexation or assumption of sovereignty over the territory of any state,” Redwan Hussien, national security adviser to the prime minister of Ethiopia, said in a post on X. Ethiopia’s commitment for peace and security in Somalia has been demonstrated through the blood and sweat of its precious sons and daughters. Ethiopia & Somalia are not just neighbors who share a border but they are fraternal nations sharing a common language, culture & people. — Redwan Hussien (@RedwanHussien) January 21, 2024 Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia have been tense for years over a major dam Ethiopia has built on the Blue Nile. For over a decade — along with Sudan — the countries have been trying to reach a negotiated agreement on the filling and operation of the $4bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The latest round of talks last month ended without a deal and Cairo and Addis Ababa traded blame for the failure. Negotiators have said key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multiyear drought occurs, and how the countries will resolve any future disputes. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)

Ron DeSantis drops out of US presidential race, endorses Trump

Ron DeSantis drops out of US presidential race, endorses Trump

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has suspended his Republican US presidential campaign just before the New Hampshire primary and endorsed Donald Trump, ending a White House bid that failed to meet expectations that he would emerge as a serious challenger to the former president. “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” he said in a video posted on X on Sunday. New Hampshire’s primary, the first in the United States, comes on Tuesday. DeSantis derided former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, long his closest rival for second place in the primary race, saying Republicans “can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.” DeSantis entered the 2024 presidential contest with major advantages in his quest to take on Trump, and early primary polls suggested he was in a strong position to do just that. He and his allies amassed a political fortune well in excess of $100m and he boasted a significant legislative record on issues important to many conservatives like abortion and the teaching of race and gender issues in schools. Such advantages did not survive the reality of presidential politics in 2024. From a high-profile announcement that was plagued by technical glitches to constant upheavals to his staff and campaign strategy, DeSantis struggled to find his footing in the primary. He lost the Iowa caucuses – which he had vowed to win – by 30 percentage points to Trump. And now, DeSantis’s political future is in question after he suspended his presidential bid following just one voting contest. The 45-year-old is term-limited as Florida’s governor. DeSantis was widely expected to be a serious challenger to Trump. Acknowledging the threat, Trump went after the Florida governor viciously in the months leading up to DeSantis’s announcement of his candidacy in May, and continued to pound him on the campaign trail, on social media and in paid advertising in the months that followed. Yet many of DeSantis’s problems may have been his own doing. Fuelled by his dominant Florida re-election in 2022, DeSantis sidestepped tradition by announcing his presidential campaign on X, in a conversation on the social media site with CEO Elon Musk. The site failed repeatedly during the conversation, making it all but impossible to hear his opening remarks as a presidential candidate. In the subsequent weeks and months, DeSantis struggled to connect with voters on a personal level. He irked some New Hampshire Republican officials in his campaign’s inaugural visit to the state by declining to take questions from voters, as is tradition in New Hampshire. And later, uncomfortable interactions with voters in other states were caught on camera as well. More serious financial challenges emerged over the summer. By the end of July, DeSantis had laid off nearly 40 employees in a move designed to cut roughly one-third of his campaign payroll. The cuts came shortly after public filings revealed that he was burning through his substantial campaign coffers at an unsustainable rate. Some people looking for a Trump alternative backed Haley, the former diplomat and South Carolina governor who gained popularity among many Republican donors, independent voters and the so-called Never Trump crowd. DeSantis and Haley frequently attacked each other in debates and in advertising, often more directly than they went after Trump. As internal financial concerns mounted, DeSantis turned aggressively to an allied super PAC to handle basic campaign functions such as organising campaign events, advertising and an expansive door-knocking operation. Federal law does not allow campaigns to coordinate directly with super PACs. In December, a non-partisan government watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, citing reporting by The Associated Press and others, alleging that the degree of coordination and communication between DeSantis’s campaign and the Never Back Down super PAC crossed a legal line. DeSantis denied any wrongdoing and called the complaint “a farce”. Still, the steady stream of negative developments leading up to the opening primary contests undermined the confidence of DeSantis’s donor network, which was supposed to be a major strength, and would-be supporters at the ballot box. As his polling numbers stagnated, DeSantis and his allies pulled back on their multistate strategy and focused virtually all of his resources on Iowa’s opening caucuses. After leaving the 2024 presidential contest, DeSantis now refocuses his attention on the rest of his second and final term as Florida’s governor, which ends in January 2027. Adblock test (Why?)

Reporter’s Notebook: Covering an anti-war protest in Israel

Reporter’s Notebook: Covering an anti-war protest in Israel

It’s a crisp sunny Saturday morning as our crew prepares the car for the drive from Jerusalem to Haifa to cover an anti-war rally. Spirits are high as I place my camera equipment in the boot of the car. Then we discuss footwear. Stefanie, our correspondent, has chosen to wear comfortable white trainers, expecting the likelihood of violence to be low. However, Luke, whom we’ve hired to provide security, and I have plumped for sturdy boots in case things get heated. This is the first anti-war protest to take place in Israel since it began its war on Gaza following the Hamas attacks of October 7. Since, it hasn’t been easy for the anti-war voice to make itself heard. The organisers of this rally, Hadash, a left-wing socialist party that supports a two-state solution, were initially banned from gathering and had to take their request to the Supreme Court. A protester shouts into a megaphone at the anti-war rally [Alasdair Brenard/Al Jazeera] For us, even finding the protest location proves difficult. As we near the square in Haifa, our GPS begins sending us in circles. We finally park at a mosque where a local explains that the Israeli army has scrambled the GPS signal in northern Israel due to security concerns. The authorities were likely keen to let the protest go ahead on a Saturday when there’s no public transport, which would make it more difficult for people to reach the square. As we make our way to the square, we pass a large contingent of police in blue uniforms as well as what looks like border guards in dark green. They seem to be having a last-minute pep talk before the protest. No doubt they have concerns as to what might be about to happen. They are armed with rifles and pistols, and they have utility vehicles, the notorious “skunk water truck” and officers on horseback. I’m starting to feel vindicated by my choice of footwear. About 500 people showed up at the rally on Saturday [Alasdair Brenard/Al Jazeera] Around midday, we’re waiting for the rally to start. Police create a ring of steel around the area, erecting metal barricades and blocking the nearby road with trucks. They’ve also placed an armed spotter on a roof overlooking the square. A local photographer explains to me that the police are not happy the protest is going ahead, that the anti-war message is not one they are ready to hear. “They’re going to provoke violence from the demonstrators to prove that it shouldn’t have gone ahead,” he warns me solemnly. Our guard is now up. We start to survey the arriving protesters for signs of trouble or possible counter-protesters that may have been planted to try and whip up confrontations. Luke spots a man reaching into his inner jacket pocket in a very suspicious manner. The man glances around and pulls out… a packet of cigarettes. False alarm, but you can’t be too careful. More people start to show up – about 500, many of them young – and some aren’t wearing shoes. I can’t help but feel that the police may have overestimated the danger posed by this particular group of protesters. They’re banging drums, shouting slogans through loudspeakers and giving speeches on the importance of reconciliation and the failure of war to bring lasting security. Protesters wave flags and beat drums [Alasdair Brenard/Al Jazeera] It’s refreshing to hear an alternative message in Israel and to see Israelis and Palestinian Israelis standing together in hope for a peaceful future. One of the speakers, Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed by Hamas fighters during Hamas’s attacks on October 7, speaks of forgiveness: “My father cultivated the land. He grew wheat and he also brought me up to believe in a good future. “My message to the world is don’t choose a side, Israeli or Palestine, but please choose humanity.” [embedded content] Meanwhile, police are becoming increasingly twitchy. They swoop in on the crowd and pluck a man from it, then lead him away to a nearby vehicle as the protesters, police and press surge back and forth in the confusion. Fortunately, the situation doesn’t escalate and things soon calm down. But there are other events. At one point, while I’m filming Stefanie talking to the camera, a Palestinian-Israeli man and his teenage daughter approach us. He apologises for interrupting us before telling us he’d been shoved in the back by a police officer while watching the rally. He’s upset and frustrated, and feels targeted for simply showing up at the rally. Near the end of the protest, the police make another move. This time, the source of their ire is a paper mâché fighter plane with cardboard bombs dangling beneath. It’s a brief battle before the model plane is snatched away. Despite the plane incident, the protesters remain upbeat. When the rally finishes and people begin to file off in different directions,  Stefanie stays a little longer to talk with Maoz. Meanwhile, a counter-protester films him and then tries to start arguments with the people that remain. For now, those protesting here today are in the minority. According to recent polls, the majority of Israelis still support the war in Gaza. Adblock test (Why?)

‘Sense of hopelessness’: Michael McCaul sounds alarm on border patrol mental health crisis

‘Sense of hopelessness’: Michael McCaul sounds alarm on border patrol mental health crisis

MCALLEN, Texas — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul said he’s “profoundly” alarmed at the impact the ongoing border crisis is having on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents’ mental health.  The senior Republican spoke to Fox News Digital in the border city of McAllen, Texas, a bipartisan congressional delegation met with border and immigration officials while also touring facilities where migrants are brought and their asylum claims processed. McCaul said the state of the border is “just worse” each time he’s seen it. “Every time I come down here, it gets worse; the lack of detention space, the human tragedy you see here; what the Border Patrol has to deal with every day, day in and day out, looking at these migrants that are pouring in; this sense of hopelessness, that it won’t stop,” the Texas Republican said. REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS “Profoundly, I worry about the mental health of our border patrol. The suicide rate is going up. They don’t have the proper resources.” Seventeen CBP agents died by suicide in 2022 alone, Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Congress in March 2023. That’s the highest number since CBP began tracking it in 2007. There were 19,357 CPB agents on the job in 2022. Since then, the number of migrant encounters at the border has continued to see historic highs, most recently this past December, while CBP has struggled somewhat to replenish its retiring forces. REPUBLICANS MOVE FORWARD WITH MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT AMID EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY: DEMS DECRY ‘MAGA SPECTACLE’ McCaul said the cartels on the other side of the border that are bringing a constant flow of drug and human trafficking are better equipped, in some ways, than the federal officials patrolling on the U.S. side. “For instance, we only have 20 drones here in the Rio Grande Valley sector, and the cartels are way out numbering us. And that’s just eyes and ears on the ground,” McCaul said. “So, we’re not equipping them. But most importantly, more than money, is just the lack of policy.” Cabrera spoke to the media during his recent border visit, describing what he said were regular instances of officers getting overwhelmed. MEXICAN SOLDIERS FIND FACTORY PRODUCING DRONE BOMBS, GRENADE LAUNCHERS, FAKE MILITARY UNIFORMS “There’s times when you’re out there, two, three agents, and you’ll have 100 people there,” he said. “But then you also have the medical emergencies: pregnant women, dehydration, kids with illnesses, people that have broken legs along the journey. And then we have people that fall off the wall. So, while we’re dealing with two, three hundred people, or 50 people, you’re also having to deal with medical emergencies and issues like that.”