Federal appeals court rules in favor of ‘Soros’ DA fired by DeSantis
A federal appeals court said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the First Amendment rights of former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, who DeSantis suspended from office in 2022 over neglect of duty and incompetence. In a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, a three-judge panel on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court failed to consider certain First Amendment violations made by DeSantis when he removed Warren and remanded the case. DeSantis suspended Warren in 2022 via executive order for “neglect of duty,” after the prosecutor declared he would not prosecute anyone who violates state abortion restrictions, nor would he prosecute those who violate prohibitions against certain types of gender-transition treatment for minors. The Eleventh Circuit panel found DeSantis “lacked probable cause to believe Warren neglected his duty or war incompetent.” FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS SUSPENDS ‘SOROS-BACKED’ STATE ATTORNEY WHO REFUSED TO ENFORCE ABORTION BAN “The First Amendment prevents DeSantis from identifying a reform prosecutor and then suspending him to garner political benefit,” U.S. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor wrote. “On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren’s actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren.” The panel consisted of Pryor, an Obama appointee, U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsome, a Trump appointee, and U.S. District Judge Anne Conway, a George H.W. Bush appointee. A DeSantis spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FLORIDA PROSECUTOR ANDREW WARREN SUES GOV. RON DESANTIS OVER SUSPENSION Following DeSantis’ suspension of Warren last year, the governor told Fox News at the time: “I do think that some of these prosecutors that have very militant agenda in terms of ideology have been able to get away with a lot in other states … We’ve had prosecutors around this country that think they can pick and choose which laws to enforce.” DeSantis has called Warren a “Soros-backed” prosecutor and taken credit for firing him in stump speeches as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. Warren sued DeSantis after he was suspended last year, claiming that the suspension was retaliation for opposing the governor’s policies and positions. “This is what we’ve been fighting for from the beginning — the protection of democracy,” Warren posted on X after the panel ruled in his favor. “We look forward to returning to the district court for the relief that has been denied to me and all the voters of Hillsborough County for 17 months: reinstating the person elected by the voters.” COURT UPHOLDS GOV. RON DESANTIS’ SUSPENSION OF PROSECUTOR WITH ‘MILITANT AGENDA’ Tallahasee-based U.S. Judge Robert Hinkle previously found that DeSantis’ decision to suspend Warren violated the U.S. Constituion and Florida state Constitution, but upheld the suspension anyway. The lower court identified six factors that influenced DeSantis’ decision and said two of those factors violated Warren’s First Amendment rights. However, Hinkle ruled the governor would have suspended Warren based on the other four factors anyway and ruled in DeSantis’ favor. The Eleventh Circuit said two more factors identified by the lower court were protected by the FIrst Amendment and sent the case back to Tallahassee for reconsideration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren’s actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren,” the court said. Earlier this week, Warren announced he’s not seeking re-election as state attorney. DeSantis appointed Suzy Lopez to replace him and Lopez is running for reelection. Fox News Digital’s Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
Last year was the hottest ever recorded in Texas
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows that average temperatures in 2023 were 3.5 degrees above the 20th century average.
Texans will face another election after approving property tax cuts
Voters in Texas’ 50 largest counties must will now elect new three members of their respective property appraisal district boards.
Homelessness in Texas on the rise amid high housing costs, federal estimates show
Homelessness rose last year across nearly every demographic group, but strides were made to connect people with new housing.
IMF unlocks $4.7bn for Argentina amid economic crisis, Milei austerity cuts
Inflation has crossed 160 percent in Latin America’s third-biggest economy, with 40 percent of population living in poverty. Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have finalised an agreement to release $4.7bn as part of a debt restructuring plan for the troubled South American nation. Latin America’s third-biggest economy is facing dire economic challenges after decades of debt and financial mismanagement, with inflation surpassing 160 percent year-on-year and 40 percent of Argentinians living in poverty. “Understandings were reached on a strengthened set of policies to restore macroeconomic stability and bring the current program back on track,” the IMF said in a statement on Wednesday. With this deal, Argentina’s new President Javier Milei, who took power in December and inherited a deep social, economic and financial crisis, puts back on track a $44bn bailout package with the IMF that dates back to 2018. “The new administration is already implementing an ambitious stabilization plan, anchored on a large upfront fiscal consolidation, along with actions to rebuild reserves, correct relative price misalignments, strengthen the central bank’s balance sheet, and create a simpler, rules-based, and market-oriented economy,” the IMF said. The agreement is to be approved by the global lender’s executive board “in the coming weeks”, it said. The previous administration of President Alberto Fernandez renegotiated the loan, but the COVID-19-induced recession and a severe drought this year created challenges for Argentina to meet the targets agreed to with the IMF. Economy Minister Luis Caputo, commenting on the deal, clarified that it was not a new agreement, emphasising that the IMF had expressed willingness to explore a new debt programme and additional funding. Libertarian Milei has taken several steps to cut public spending and overhaul the economy. He recently presented a legislative package to Congress, seeking to privatise more than 40 public companies and impose restrictions on the right to assembly and demonstration. In December, the government said it would slash the value of its currency, the peso, by more than 50 percent against the US dollar and announced a raft of other austerity measures, including sweeping subsidy cuts, cancellation of tenders for public works projects, and plans to axe nine government ministries. While the planned measures drew praise from the IMF, they sparked harsh criticism from some progressive activists. A self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei has argued that harsh austerity is needed to put Argentina back on the path to prosperity and that there is no time for a gradualist approach. Adblock test (Why?)
Sudan should avoid the mistakes that kept Angola in conflict for 27 years
When General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and former deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan, landed in Gauteng, South Africa on January 4 for talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa, he looked civil and dapper in a navy blue suit. His calm, confident and businesslike demeanour implied he was on a mission to rescue Sudan from the violent excesses of his obstinate adversaries in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Thus, as Dagalo, known widely as “Hemedti”, posed for pictures with a smiling Ramaphosa, he did not look like a rogue military commander who is alleged to have overseen horrendous war crimes – torture, extrajudicial killings and mass rape among others – in Darfur in 2014 and 2015. Standing proudly next to the president of Africa’s second wealthiest nation, acting like a dignified and magnanimous statesman, he did not look like a vicious, power-hungry military operative who had just nine months ago launched a devastating civil conflict that already killed 12,000 people and displaced over seven million others. Hemedti’s recent rebranding as a mainstream political leader and a rightful representative of the Sudanese people – achieved through well-advertised performances of camaraderie not only by Ramaphosa but also the leaders of Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda among others – is of course nothing but a charade. Since the beginning of Sudan’s latest civil war, Amnesty International says, fighters from both Hemedti’s RSF and al-Burhan’s SAF have committed egregious human rights violations and war crimes including deliberate attacks on civilians, attacks on civilian infrastructure like churches and hospitals, mass rape and other sexual violence. The RSF has also been accused of driving the Masalit people out of Sudan’s volatile West Darfur region through an ethnically targeted campaign of violence, sparking fears of a new genocide in the region. At best, Hemedti, who has acquired a dubious fortune by seizing gold mines and selling gold, is a political reincarnation of his former boss, ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled with an iron fist, rigged general elections, stifled dissent through systemic violence, and only paid lip service to constitutional freedoms for 30 years. At worst, he is a rebel without a cause, palpable ideology, or moral compass who appears determined to exploit the Sudanese people’s genuine struggle for democratic change for his own political ends. After he met with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on December 27, Hemedti said unnamed figures from al-Bashir’s old regime and the “misguided leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces” seek to impede the peace process and prolong the war. And he claimed he was engaged in a military effort to “rebuild the Sudanese state based on new, just foundations”. Then, on January 2-3, Hemedti held talks with the leader of the Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), Sudan’s former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These discussions concluded with the two leaders signing the Addis Ababa Declaration, supposedly a comprehensive blueprint for peace talks and civilian rule. However, Malik Agar, the deputy chairman of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, dismissed the plan as “an agreement between partners, as Taqaddum and the RSF are essentially one body with two faces”, adding “there is nothing new or groundbreaking here”. That Hemedti appears to have developed a newfound appetite for civilian rule at a time when the RSF has been scoring significant military victories against its rivals, including the capture of Wad Madani, the country’s second city, comes as no surprise. All along, Hemedti’s goal has been to defeat his adversaries militarily and use these victories to proclaim himself as the legitimate leader of his country. Like many other former rebels who have needlessly pushed their people into armed conflict while pretending to be working for peace, because continuous fighting helped them obtain or maintain political power, Hemedti shows newfound but questionable commitment to advance an unimpeded constitutional order and avoid a return to war sometime in the future. As a rebel leader whose primary motivation for fighting appears to be accumulating personal power rather than improving the living conditions of his people, Hemedti is more similar to Jonas Savimbi, the founder of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), than any other political figure in Africa. Following a power struggle that broke out soon after Angola gained independence from Portugal in November 1975, Savimbi waged a 27-year intermittent civil war against the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The cold-war conflict, in which Russia supported the MPLA and the US, alongside apartheid South Africa, backed UNITA, killed one million people and made four million others homeless. For 27 years, Savimbi foiled several peace initiatives from the United Nations and the Organisation for African Unity – the predecessor to the African Union (AU). Despite the leading role he played in the continuation of the devastating conflict, however, he was accepted as a legitimate political player who should have a say over the country’s future. He was treated as a mainstream political figure, and even an anti-colonial hero, by many African leaders and was also hosted by then US President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1986. In November 1994, amid growing pressure from both the UN and AU, UNITA finally signed the Lusaka Protocol, which called for a permanent ceasefire, demobilisation of UNITA’s troops, and the integration of UNITA’s military and political wings into government departments. The protocol, however, was never fully implemented, largely due to Savimbi’s desire to continue the conflict that was the primary source of his power and political relevance. With MPLA similarly not interested in ending the conflict, for four long years the two parties continued to purchase arms and provoke each other while supposedly negotiating for a permanent end to hostilities. Ultimately, in 1998, UNITA’s refusal to demobilise its soldiers and submit UNITA-controlled areas to a civilian authority led to the complete breakdown of the Lusaka Protocol. After the demise of Lusaka, UNITA and the MPLA continued to
Qatar at AFC Asian Cup 2023: Hosts, defending champions but not favourites
Lusail Stadium, which played host as Lionel Messi’s Argentina lifted their third FIFA World Cup crown, will light up in gold once again as Qatar begin their AFC Asian Cup title defence in the tournament’s opening match against Lebanon on Friday evening. The Al Annabi (the Maroons) may enjoy the support of a partisan crowd as they step on the pitch as defending champions, but their journey from lifting the trophy in 2019 to hosting the current edition has been turbulent. Qatar go into the tournament on the back of big wins in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but their outings against higher-ranked teams have resulted in heavy losses in recent months. Paired with the sacking of the vastly experienced former Portugal and Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz a month before the Asian Cup and only 10 months into the job, they have left question marks over Qatar’s preparations. Queiroz took over from Felix Sanchez – a popular Spanish coach who worked his way up in Qatar’s football setup and led Qatar to the Asian Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates four years ago. However, Sanchez’s contract was not renewed at the end of 2022, as he saw Qatar lose all three of their group stage matches as hosts of the 2022 World Cup. Another Spanish coach, Marquez Lopez, who was previously in charge of Qatar Stars League club Al Wakrah, was quickly appointed Quieroz’s successor. It is far from the preparations and build-up the team that shocked Japan in the final four years ago would have liked. The first match for #AlAnnabi 🇶🇦 in #AsianCup2023 🏆:⚽ Qatar 🆚 Lebanon 🗓️ Friday, January 12, 2024🎬 Opening Ceremony: 17:00⏰ Kick-off: 19:00🏟️ Lusail Stadium#LetsWin 💪 pic.twitter.com/aD7cujUBLX — Qatar Football Association (@QFA_EN) January 10, 2024 Qatar to use pressure ‘in a positive way’ Nonetheless, Qatar are expected to make a strong defence of a trophy they fought so hard to lift for the first time and defender Tarek Salman says the pressure is not the same as it was going into the World Cup. “Normally you have pressure,” he said, insisting that being the current Asian champions would affect the team “in a positive way, not in a negative way”. The 26-year-old, who plays for Qatari club Al Sadd, did admit that the change of management meant the players have been required to adapt to a Spanish style. Publicly the players have welcomed the appointment and Salman says it is a late change of direction that he believes the team can navigate. “I think it’s going to fit us and we hope to achieve good things with the coach,” he added. Former national team player Raed Yaqoub, who represented his country between 1993 and 2001, says that despite the upheaval, Qatar should easily get out of a group that also contains China and Tajikistan, and that the semifinals should be possible. The 49-year-old player-turned-pundit, who made 23 appearances for the national team, has sympathy for the task the lies before Lopez after the events of December. “I think that holding him responsible only a month before the tournament is a mistake,” he said, adding that he sees Japan, as the strongest team, while also fancying Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia. Japan ‘looking for revenge’ Another former Qatar international, Mohamed Mubarak al-Mohannadi said the switch so close to the Asian Cup would make it difficult “for any coach to make the required transformation within a month’s period”. Al-Mohannadi, who played 17 times in midfield for his nation in the 1980s, warned that Qatar will have a target on their backs as holders, particularly in the eyes of Japan, who he said would be “looking for revenge”. “Japan is a developed team and its level has risen greatly since then,” he said, “unlike the Qatari team, whose level has declined significantly.” Qatar won plaudits for its organisation of the World Cup in 2022 but the team lost to Netherlands, Senegal and Ecuador to exit at the group stage. It was the worst performance by any World Cup host. 🇳🇱 Netherlands 2 – 0 Qatar 🇶🇦 FULL-TIME: With the final blow of the whistle, Qatar’s World Cup run comes to an end as the Netherlands win 2-0 at Al Bayt Stadium. ⚽ LIVE #NEDQAT match blog: https://t.co/BS6R9iDxMR pic.twitter.com/nQOOGqF1Qi — AJE Sport (@AJE_Sport) November 29, 2022 The Asian Cup, transferred to Qatar from China due to the latter’s “zero-COVID” policy, was hoped to be a fresh start. Quieroz won five, lost five and drew two matches in his aborted four-year contract while Lopez’s first game in charge, at the end of December, was a 3-0 win over Cambodia, a team which failed to qualify for the regional championship. Lopez, who played for Espanyol in his native Spain, said it was “important” that he knew Qatari football, having managed Al-Wakrah for six years. “I know the players, I know my mentality and I know … my idea for playing,” he said, explaining he was not “arriving new”. The 62-year-old said following his appointment that “in football, there is pressure all the time,” and downplayed the idea that his side was under pressure to make up for their World Cup disappointment. “More important for the players is enjoying the match,” he said. Ultimately when the words stop and the whistle blows at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, the expectation will be that the time has come for the performance of the defending champions to match the occasion. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)
Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 jolts Afghanistan, tremors felt in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad
Earthquake jolts Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad
DeSantis slams Kerry, Obama, Biden on climate change during debate: ‘Guys talk out of one side of their mouth’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took aim at prominent Democrats in the United States in response to a question about the threat of climate during a CNN debate in Iowa. “Here’s the thing, you know, they talk about, Joe Biden has said that global warming is worse than a nuclear war — and I’m just thinking well, gee, John Kerry hasn’t given up his private jet,” DeSantis said Wednesday night during the final GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses. “Obama hasn’t given up his Martha’s Vineyard seaside mansion. I haven’t seen Biden do anything to hold China accountable except making sure that Hunter gets money. So these guys talk out of one side of their mouth and then they behave in another way. And I think that’s wrong.” DeSantis added that liberal climate change policies would “devastate” communities “particularly here in Iowa.” BIDEN ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN ON DISHWASHERS DEALT BLOW BY APPEALS COURT “You’re going to end up having rolling blackouts if they kneecap reliable energy production in this country,” DeSantis said. “Florida has had a massive decline in emissions, wasn’t because of a single mandate. It was because of innovation, because a lot of natural gas has replaced coal. We do have market-based solar, and it’s a compliment, but we cannot walk away from reliable energy.” “And I think about, here’s what left wants to do. They want to take away your freedom and they want you to pay more for everything.” WHITE HOUSE SILENT AS OIL PRODUCTION REACHES RECORD, ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL FOR GREEN ENERGY Kerry, who is currently Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, has faced heated criticism from conservatives for continuing to fly private all across the world while lamenting the effects of climate change. Kerry pushed back on those allegations during a House hearing last year when he denied “personally” owning a private jet. Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Obama and Kerry as well as the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
China, Maldives upgrade ties with infrastructure deals in pivot from India
Maldives’ new president makes first state visit to Beijing as China and India vie for influence in Indian Ocean nation. China and the Maldives have upgraded their relationship during newly elected President Mohamed Muizzu’s first state visit to Beijing, following a campaign in which he cast China’s regional rival India as a threat to its sovereignty. The Maldives signed several new agreements with China – its largest external creditor – on Wednesday, including ones on climate, agriculture and infrastructure, Muizzu’s office said on Thursday. No details about the value of the deals were shared by either side. Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at the Great Hall of the People, called Muizzu “an old friend” as the Asian giant set the stage for further investment in the Indian Ocean archipelago by agreeing to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”. In talks with Xi, Muizzu “expressed gratitude for China’s significant role in the Maldives’ economic success … and infrastructure development,” read a statement from his office. “Under the new circumstances, China-Maldives relations face a historic opportunity to build on past achievements and forge ahead,” Xi told Muizzu, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu (2nd L), his wife Sajidha Mohamed (L), Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan at a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on January 10, 2024 [CNS via AFP] The Chinese president said he “respects and supports the Maldives in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions”, it said. But the World Bank, in a report in October, warned further cosying up to China could spell trouble in the Maldives, since the $1.37bn it already owes Beijing represents about 20 percent of its public debt. China is the Maldives’ biggest bilateral creditor, ahead of Saudi Arabia and India, to which it owes $124m and $123m, respectively. India’s relations with the Maldives have been strained, especially since Muizzu, who campaigned on an “India Out” platform, took office. He promised to remove a unit of Indian security personnel, deployed to operate three aircraft gifted to the Maldives to patrol its vast maritime territory. Sri Lanka, another neighbour of India, has also been gravitating towards China. India and China’s relations soured in 2020 after clashes between soldiers in the western Himalayas resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops. Last month, Muizzu said he had secured the withdrawal of Indian soldiers, but did not give a timeframe. He has denied seeking to redraw the regional balance by bringing in Chinese forces instead. Tensions between the two nations continued to flare last week, following disparaging social media posts made by three of Muizzu’s junior ministers, who reportedly called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “clown”, ” a terrorist” and “puppet of Israel”, in response to a video of him promoting tourism in Lakshadweep, an Indian territory in the Arabian Sea. The posts on X have since been deleted. In the Maldives, some viewed Modi’s visit as trying to draw tourists away from the globally popular destination, whose 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean are dotted with luxury resorts. Adblock test (Why?)