Divya Pahuja murder: Gurugram police recover ex-model’s body from Haryana canal
Gill fled from Patiala after dumping his car near the bus stand, police informed earlier. Another accused, Ravi Banga, is still reported to be on the run.
West Bengal: 12 arrested in connection with ‘sadhus assault’ brought to Raghunathpur Sub-Divisional Court
Banerjee said that the police provided the Sadhus with all possible help and their vehicle was repaired.
State of the Race: Blizzard derails Iowa campaign events; will below zero temps depress caucus turnout
The blizzard conditions across Iowa that sidetracked the presidential campaign trail three days ahead of the state’s caucuses were just the first punch. Now comes frigid below zero temperatures, which are forecast for the weekend and into next week. And the bitterly cold weather threatens to put a chill on turnout at Monday night’s caucuses, which lead off the Republican presidential nominating calendar. The blast of winter weather didn’t stop Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from holding an early morning event Friday in suburban Des Moines. HEAVY SNOW, HIGH WINDS, CURTAIL CAMPAIGNING “I’m really impressed that so many people came out, given the weather,” DeSantis said to the crowd who came out to hear him and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds — who’s backing him — addressed the crowd at a meeting of the Northside Conservatives Club. Minutes later, DeSantis pledged in a Fox News Digital interview that “I’m going to show up” and emphasized that with the clock ticking toward the caucuses, “I’m going to use every minute I can to be able to win votes.” While the weather didn’t sidetrack DeSantis’ first campaign stop of the day, his remaining four stops in northern, central and eastern Iowa, which were being organized by Never Back Down, his aligned super PAC, were postponed. NEW POLL SUGGESTS HALEY’S MOVED INTO SECOND PLACE IN FINAL DAYS AHEAD OF IOWA CAUCUSES DeSantis did head over to his campaign headquarters in suburban Des Moines in the afternoon to speak with volunteers who were making calls to urge supporters to attend Monday’s caucuses. Due to the rough road conditions across the Hawkeye State, the campaign of former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley canceled their in-person events on Friday and instead held tele-town halls, which they said were well-attended. “I’m sorry I’m not in Fort Dodge, but it was important for me to talk to you,” Haley emphasized at the top of one of her events. Of the three major candidates in Iowa on Friday, only multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy kept to his in-person campaign schedule despite the dangerous weather. The effects of the winter blast lingered into the weekend, with Donald Trump’s campaign canceling three of the four in-person rallies the former president was scheduled to headline on Saturday and Sunday. WAS THE CANDIDATE WHO SKIPPED OUT ON THIS WEEK’S IOWA DEBATE THE WINNER OF THE COMBATIVE SHOWDOWN? The big question moving forward is whether the below zero temperatures will take a bite out of turnout on Monday night. DeSantis, who polls indicate is battling Haley for a distant second place in Iowa behind commanding front-runner Trump, was confident the frigid temperatures wouldn’t deter his supporters. “We have a lot of people that we have signed up to commit to for us over many months. I think they’re motivated, they’re passionate, and they’re going to show up,” DeSantis told Fox News. “What about the broader electorate? I just don’t know. But I’m confident our people are going to come out strong.” DeSantis supporters that heard him speak Friday morning agreed. “A little bit of cold can’t keep you away,” said Brian Miller of Ankeny, who brought his two young sons with him to see DeSantis. And Laura Murphy, another Ankeny resident, emphasized “it’s important. We need people in numbers to come out Monday. We’re Iowans. We can handle it.” Linda Burk, another DeSantis supporter, said she would also brave to below zero temperatures on Monday night to attend a caucus. But Burk, an older voter, added that “it depends on the weather for people my age.” WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT CHRIS CHRISTIE’S HOT MIC MOMENT Haley, speaking to supporters on a tele-town hall, acknowledged “I know that on January 15th, it is going to be negative 19. I know it’s asking a lot of you to go out and caucus, but I also know we have a country to save. And I will be out there in the cold. And I know Iowans take this in a very serious way.” “If you go out, please remember to bring your I.D. with you. Please wear layers of clothes just in case there are lines so that you are staying safe,” she stressed. Longtime Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann was confident that the frigid forecast wouldn’t keep Iowans home on caucus night. “Out of everything – snow, ice and the cold temperatures – the cold temperatures worry me the least,” he told Fox News on Friday. Pointing to the blizzard conditions as he was interviewed, Kaufmann said “if it was today. I would be worried. On Monday, we’re going to have two days of clearing off the roads. There doesn’t appear to be any ice. There doesn’t appear to be any wind. Iowans can handle the cold. And they know exactly what to do to keep themselves safe.” It was a similar prediction from Will Rogers, the former Polk County GOP chair. “Look, we’re Iowans. It’s January in the Midwest, winter. We expect it to be cold,” he told reporters. “Yes, this may be the coldest caucus on record. I still think with the number of campaigns and what they’ve been doing, we’re going to have tremendous turnout.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Johnson caught between warring House GOP factions: ‘Drifting toward mob rule’
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is finding himself in the crossfire of feuding House GOP factions, with Republican lawmakers at odds over a path forward on government spending. “I would say the regular order crowd, people who don’t like drama and don’t like dumpster fires, are concerned that maybe we’re drifting toward a little bit more mob rule,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “Their temperatures are getting up pretty high….I would say Mike’s got to be concerned with that crowd as well.” Tensions have erupted in the House of Representatives already, less than halfway through the first month of 2024. A group of 12 conservatives staged a protest vote on Wednesday that tanked a normally sleepy procedural measure in a pointed shot at Johnson over his deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., aimed at avoiding a government shutdown. HOUSE GOP ERUPTS IN DIVISION OVER CALL TO PUSH JOHNSON OUT OF SPEAKERSHIP: ‘WORKING FOR JOE BIDEN’ Those GOP hardliners have since been pressuring Johnson to go back on the agreement, a move that has angered both moderate Republicans and rank-and-file conservatives. “If all you’re here to do is rant and rave and scream, why’d you come?” conservative Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital of that group. “I don’t scream if I’m in the operating room and don’t have the right equipment, I make it work.” One of the 12 who lodged the protest vote, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Johnson was considering dropping the Schumer deal. “[We’re’] working on alternate plans and Johnson listened to all sides. He did not commit, but he knows the crisis is border security, that has to be addressed,” Norman said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., another one of the rebels, emerged from a meeting with Johnson on Friday morning and said, “I don’t think there is a budget agreement yet.” CHIP ROY SAYS BOOTING MIKE JOHNSON FROM SPEAKERSHIP ‘ON THE TABLE’ However, Johnson himself touted the bipartisan deal later on Friday morning and said it remains in place. “I have spoken and received feedback this week from members all across the Republican Conference. That’s a very important part of this,” he said. “Our topline agreement remains. We are getting our next steps together, and we are working towards a robust appropriations process.” Freedom Caucus member Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told reporters in response, “I think that’s a bad move. I think it’s a bad deal.” However, rank-and-file members are pushing Johnson to keep holding firm against the pressure. “He’s got to be careful who he’s listening to because, you know, it impacts people like me that are in districts that are watching and that are – listen, I represent a purple district and a tough seat,” Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., said. Kiggans told Fox News Digital that she is concerned about how the further cuts being pushed by hardliners would impact her military-heavy district. HOUSE, SENATE RELEASE BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINES LOOM “They elected a Republican majority, so we can get things done, and we’re not, and it’s frustrating to me,” Kiggans said. Another moderate, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., said, “My recommendation to him is, stick to what you know is right…We know that we are working with a Democrat Senate and a very out-of-touch White House, and this is what we can negotiate, the best deal that we could come up with – even slightly more savings than what was negotiated before.” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, called on Johnson to be more decisive, but he insisted the issue began in early October when eight House Republicans voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “You’ve just got to make a decision and go with it. That’s what a leader does, right? And that’s not what we’re seeing right now, but I want to make something clear,” Miller said. “We lost 10 weeks of Congress. How? Because Matt Gaetz and eight of the biggest RINOs in the Republican Conference voted with 213 Democrats…If they actually cared about the debt they would stop lying to the American people, because we’ve never lowered our national debt by cutting discretionary spending.”
House Dem in Trump district takes heat for saying ‘nobody stays awake at night’ over border crisis
A Washington state Democrat in a district that voted for former President Trump is under fire from Republicans for comments last year in which she said that “nobody stays up at night” because of the crisis at the southern border. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who won her seat in an upset in 2022, was on Pod Save America in March when she made the comments about the ongoing border crisis — arguing that most Americans have other things to worry about. “Listen, nobody stays awake at night worrying about the southern border,” she said. “That’s just not…people stay awake at night worrying that their kid is gonna relapse or that, you know, someone’s going to drop out of school or they’re going to lose their house.” SENATE REPORT SOUNDS ALARM ON SURGE IN FENTANYL DEATHS AMONG OLDER AMERICANS: ‘SILENT EPIDEMIC’ “Those are the things that…not socialism and I think that’s been the most frustrating thing about being actually in DC is that we’re like voting on the horrors of socialism and it’s like that’s not what matters to people,” she said. The remarks came in March and before the ending of the Title 42 public health order months later. Since then, migrant numbers have skyrocketed to record highs and in December there were more than 302,000 migrant encounters. Overall in FY 23 there were a record 2.4 million encounters. The National Republican Congressional Committee pointed to reports that her part of the country has seen a 500% increase in fentanyl-related overdoses amid a nationwide fentanyl and opioid crisis. Fentanyl is typically made in drug labs in Mexico using precursors from China and then shipped across into the U.S. via the land border. Republicans have highlighted the massive increase in seizures of the drug, as well as continued high deaths from the drug, and have linked it to the ongoing border crisis, warning that drugs could be slipping past overwhelmed agents. Of the over 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021, 75% involved an opioid, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC.) The Biden administration has put the increase in seizures of the drug down to better screening and technology at ports of entry, and has said it needs more funding. DOJ RENEWS SCOTUS PUSH TO ACT AFTER TEXAS SEIZES BORDER AREAS, BLOCKS BORDER PATROL FROM ENTERING The NRCC also criticized her for voting against the Republican border security bill, H.R. 2 last year, which includes a slew of provisions to limit releases of migrants and increase border security. “Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s comments are not only tone-deaf, they reveal her dangerous true beliefs about the border,” NRCC spokesperson Ben Peterson told Fox News Digital. “Gluesenkamp Perez callously dismissing the Biden border crisis as if it’s not fueling the fentanyl epidemic slamming her district, then voting against border security shows how unfit she is,” he said. A few months after her comments on Pod Save America, Gluesenkamp Perez co-sponsored a bipartisan bill in May that would compel DHS to create a comprehensive strategy to secure the border, including a review of security risks and tools for combating fentanyl trafficking. Her office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. The criticism comes as negotiations are ongoing in Congress over the White House’s request for $14 billion in border funding as part of its overall $105 billion supplemental request. Republicans are demanding stricter limits on asylum and releases into the interior. Meanwhile, Texas has been facing off with the federal government over who has the authority to tackle the continuing crisis.
Meet the Congressional Black Caucus consultant paid lavishly to target HBCUs on behalf of a CCP group
FIRST ON FOX: A longtime public relations consultant, who has worked closely with the Congressional Black Caucus and is currently serving as dean of Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism, has been paid lavishly to target Black universities and government officials on behalf of an organization with deep ties to the Communist Party of China (CCP). Julia Wilson, whose global communications firm is across the street from the White House, has been paid over $1 million for her work as a foreign agent on behalf of China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which is an influencing operation described by congressional lawmakers as a “forum designed to advance CCP objectives.” Wilson laid out the operation for college students in 2017 at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, which is the oldest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Arkansas. The university’s YouTube channel posted the presentation, which was titled “China Initiative,” showing Wilson articulating how her firm’s relationship with CUSEF began in 2009 when Tung Chee-hwa, CUSEF’s founding chairman, visited her D.C. office in 2009 to learn more about Black Americans. “In 2009, the former chief executive of Hong Kong visited me in my office with his staff from the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and they wanted to know how we got a Black president,” Wilson told the students during the presentation. “They were saying, ‘We don’t know anything about Black people. So can you write us a white paper and share it with us. How did Black people get enough power to vote a Black man into office?’ So they really needed an overview of our history. Who are we? Who are African Americans?” MONTANA REPUBLICANS FUME OVER UNIVERSITY DEFYING CALLS TO SHUTTER CCP-LINKED PROGRAM: ‘MALIGN INFLUENCE’ In addition to his role with CUSEF, Tung Chee-hwa served as a vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 2005 to 2023. The CPPCC is the “key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation” under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website. Fox News Digital previously reported on President Biden’s clean energy czar John Podesta saying he had the “highest regard” for his “friend” Chee-hwa. Chee-hwa was also the Chinese official that Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner, James “Jimmy” Bulger, requested him to introduce to their Chinese business partners to discuss “BHR investment targets” and “fundraising,” alleging Hunter sat next to Tung at a 2013 dinner welcoming then-Vice President Joe Biden to Beijing, Fox News Digital previously reported. One report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government agency, in 2018 said that the CPPCC is a “central part” of China’s United Front system, which works to “co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” “So we started there, and then we created an African American Initiative in three different areas: education, business and civic affairs,” Wilson told the students during her presentation. “So, in addition to the HBCU educational program that I’ll talk about, we also manage a program for the Congressional Black Caucus members, of which there are 46, and there are students from the districts they represent. Those students can also study in China under this program.” Wilson further remarked the initiative started when eight HBCU presidents visited China. While there, Tung Chee-hwa, who Wilson has posted pictures with on her website and included testimonials from him, introduced them to one of the country’s vice premiers, whom Wilson did not name. “She then flew to Washington, D.C. and made an announcement in 2013 that she would award 1,000 scholarships to African American kids from HBCUs,” Wilson told the students. “She also made the announcement to award 400 scholarships to the 46 Congressional Black Caucus members so that students from their districts could also study in China.” While a handful of individuals simultaneously hold the title of vice premier in China, Wilson was referring to Liu Yandong, the only female with the title in 2013. Yandong, who has held some of the top positions in the CCP, met with representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus and HBCUs in November of that year and announced student scholarships, according to a press release from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States. CHINA FLOATS PLAN TO FOSTER ECONOMIC TIES WITH DEMOCRAT-LED CITIES: REPORT The press release named former Democrat Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, who is now serving as President Biden’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as the chairwoman of the CBC during the meeting with Yandong. The meeting took place a few months after Fudge returned from leading a delegation to China in Aug. 2013. “The CBC looks forward to continuing the conversations held with officials within the Chinese and Hong Kong governments and with American citizens living abroad to ensure we remain equipped to address the issues facing our nation in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world,” Fudge said in a press release. Democrat Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Barbara Lee of California, and now-former Congressman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who is now serving as a co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign, were some of the other CBC members present at the meeting with Yandong. Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League, and four presidents of HBCUs were also in attendance. “The Chinese government’s commitment: they pay for your tuition, the room and board, and some meals,” Wilson told the students. “The only thing you have to do is raise enough money to get an international ticket to China. Once you get there, all of your expenses are paid for.” Wilson’s slideshow displayed the participating Chinese universities, including Chongqing University, Dalian University of Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Jinan University in Guangzhou, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Shanghai Second Polytechnic University. She said about 400 HBCU students had participated in the program over the past two years (roughly between 2015 and 2016). A China expert
Surprise move: DeSantis campaign tries to outflank Haley in her own state after Iowa caucus
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling an audible. Instead of heading directly to New Hampshire following Monday’s Iowa caucuses – which is the traditional path for White House contenders – the Republican presidential candidate plans to target rival Nikki Haley with a stop in her home state of South Carolina. The DeSantis campaign said on Friday that the governor will depart Iowa following his caucus night party and head to Greenville, South Carolina, where he’ll hold a Tuesday morning rally in the state’s heavily conservative northwestern corner. DeSantis later told Fox News that he would head later in the day to New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar on Jan. 23, eight days after the Iowa caucuses. HEAVY SNOW, HIGH WINDS, CURTAIL CAMPAIGNING IN IOWA South Carolina – another crucial early voting state – holds the first southern primary in the Republican schedule on Feb. 24. The latest polls in Iowa indicate that DeSantis and Haley are battling for a distant second place behind former President Donald Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight White House run. NEW POLL SUGGESTS HALEY’S MOVED INTO SECOND PLACE IN FINAL DAYS AHEAD OF IOWA CAUCUSES Haley, who’s soared in recent months, now has second place all to herself and is closing the gap with Trump in New Hampshire. DeSantis registered in the single digits in the latest surveys in the Granite State. The most recent poll in South Carolina indicates Trump with a very formidable double-digit lead over Haley, with DeSantis a distant third in the single digits. But DeSantis, in a Friday night interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” touted his support in Haley’s home state. “I think the message is simple that you look at South Carolina, Nikki Haley was governor there, and I’ve got, like, five times more endorsements from state legislators — current and former — than she does,” he showcased. And DeSantis argued that Haley’s “really out of step, I think, with South Carolina. We’re going to show that with the support we have.” WAS THE CANDIDATE WHO SKIPPED OUT ON THIS WEEK’S IOWA DEBATE THE WINNER OF THE COMBATIVE SHOWDOWN? DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo told Fox News in a statement that the stop on Tuesday in South Carolina is a sign that “this campaign is built for the long-haul. We intend to compete for every single available delegate in New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and then into March.” The Florida governor, who was convincingly re-elected 14 months ago, has staked much of his White House campaign on a strong performance in Iowa. But there’s speculation that if he ends up finishing third in Iowa, he may suspend his campaign. Asked whether he’s heading on to New Hampshire regardless of his finish in Iowa, DeSantis reiterated in a Fox Digital interview on Friday that “we’re going to be in New Hampshire. Yeah.” Trump remains very popular in South Carolina, which is a reliably red state. He enjoys the backing of Gov. Henry McMaster, senior Sen. Lindsey Graham, and several House members. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who ended his own presidential campaign in November, remains neutral in the GOP nomination race. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
BJP has made Ram Mandir an issue: Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Congress not attending Pran Pratishtha event
The senior Congress leader said that even our Shankaracharyas (religious guru) will not be attending the Ram Mandir event which shows that the reason for not attending it is important.
Delhi weather updates: Coldest morning recorded this winter at 3.4 degrees, zero visibility, check IMD forecast
Delhi experienced the coldest night of the winter, with temperatures dropping to 3.6 degrees Celsius.
Climate protesters disrupt Ramaswamy town hall in Iowa
Climate protesters continue appearing on the campaign trail in Iowa, this time disrupting a town hall Friday night held by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. At least six protesters were spotted attempting to shout down the biotech entrepreneur at an event in West Des Moines, some of them holding signs that read “Vivek: Climate Criminal.” “The planet is on fire!” the protesters chanted. Others shouted “Vivek is a liar!” DESANTIS SHUTS DOWN ‘NUMBNUTS’ CLIMATE PROTESTERS AT IOWA EVENT, SECURITY TACKLES TO THE GROUND: ‘I’M DOING THIS’ In another video, Ramaswamy is seen engaging with the hostile attendees, clashing with them after they claimed he receives money from fossil fuels, which he denied. One of them exclaimed “You say you care about our future and that little girl’s future- how much money would it cost for you to actually care about us.” “If you want to have a seat and we can have a respectful discussion, we can do that,” Ramaswamy said. RAMASWAMY URGES SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN COLORADO DECISION, FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP The disruptive protesters were eventually forced out of the event after Ramaswamy repeatedly pleaded for them to have a “respectful discussion.” Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital, “A good way to tell whether you actually care about free speech principles: flip-flop which side is using the tactic you don’t like, and see if you feel the same way,” adding “Vivek is a free speech absolutist.” This isn’t the first campaign event climate protesters have crashed this week. On Thursday, climate protesters similarly disrupted an event by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. One protester was even seen tackled by security. “That is (what’s) wrong with the college system right there. That’s exhibit A,” DeSantis quipped about the tackled protester. Protesters also briefly appeared during Tuesday’s Fox News town hall featuring DeSantis. Time is running out for the GOP hopefuls ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Monday and the snowy and freezing conditions could have an impact on turnout. The RealClearPolitics average of polls show former President Trump with a commanding lead with 53% support of Iowa Republicans. Following Trump at a distant second is former U.N. Ambassador with roughly 18% support, then DeSantis close behind at 15.5% followed by Ramaswamy with 6.5%.