Iowa Gov. Reynolds urges sweeping changes to special education and health care in state address
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds focused on education and health care in an expansive agenda laid out for legislators Tuesday evening, calling for substantial revisions to how special education is provided in schools and how mental health and substance use are treated across the state. The proposals may bring systematic changes to services across Iowa but are drawing early concerns about disparities in care in the state, especially for rural communities. Reynolds began her annual Condition of the State address reflecting on last week’s high school shooting in Perry, about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines and thanking first responders, some of whom were in the audience. IOWA GOV. REYNOLDS, WITH DESANTIS, TAKES AIM AT TRUMP OVER ‘MISLEADING’ TV AD She made no mention of gun laws, which brought high school and college students to the Capitol rotunda Monday to advocate for gun control legislation. On education, Reynolds spoke about “troubling” performance metrics for students with disabilities despite funding levels for special education that are higher than the national average. Reynolds will target the nine regional agencies – called Area Education Agencies — responsible for providing special education services in Iowa, instead recommending that schools can decide for themselves whether their funding goes to those agencies, as is the case now, or whether they seek out other providers. Hints of reform to the agencies has already drawn some concern, prompting Reynolds to include a clarifying message to families “who have been told that we’re planning to end the AEAs or even cut services their families depend on.” “This claim is categorically false,” she said. IOWA GOV KIM REYNOLDS ENDORSES RON DESANTIS FOR PRESIDENT, SAYS SHE DOESN’T THINK TRUMP CAN WIN IN 2024 Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum expressed concern that the potential for increased privatization of education services will have an outsized impact on rural Iowa. Most of what Reynolds proposed in last year’s condition of the state crossed the finish line after a robust re-election win in 2022, which also padded her party’s majorities in the Legislature. She celebrated some of those policies Tuesday, including her signature school choice legislation to create publicly funded educational savings accounts that families could use for private school education. “There are those who said we did too much, too fast. That change wasn’t necessary or that it would make us worse off,” Reynolds said. “But when I look at the result of our hard work, I know we made a difference. And it drives me to do it again; to work even harder this session.” Reynolds’ address ran the gamut, pledging to cut taxes, expand work-based learning programs, protect minors from online pornography and to bolster enforcement of foreign ownership of land in Iowa. Reynolds also identified mental health and substance use as priorities for the Legislature this year, investing $20 million of Iowa’s settlement award money from opioid-related lawsuits and streamlining the state’s administration of behavioral health. Democratic House leader Jennifer Konfrst criticized what she sees as diminished — not expanded — mental health care in Iowa, saying she’s not optimistic that the administrative revisions will lead to substantive benefits. “I have a constituent who recently spent three days in the E.R. waiting for a mental health bed and had to go out of state because there we no beds available,” she said. Reynolds again asked the Legislature to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for moms earning less than $42,000 a year, from 60 days to 12 months. It earned applause from Republicans and Democrats in the chamber, though it was not as expansive as legislation Democrats have previously proposed to expand the benefit for all moms on Medicaid. GOV. KIM REYNOLDS SUED FOR PARENTAL RIGHTS BILL: ‘ONGOING IRREPARABLE HARM TO LGBTQ+ STUDENTS’ She also called for a select few health care proposals that tend to be supported by Democrats but failed to win over some Republicans, including over-the-counter contraception and parental leave for state employees. House Speaker Pat Grassley said he wouldn’t commit at this point to the legislation passing a majority of his caucus, but he acknowledged it’s something “we can’t just ignore.” Konfrst said she hopes House Democrats and Republicans can talk about solutions to address those priorities they have in common, saying Democrats will look to the specifics of Reynolds’ proposals and “bipartisanship isn’t — we vote for the bills Republicans bring to the table.” “We are hopeful. I’m going to hope we’re going to be bipartisan and work together,” she said. “Democrats stand ready to have those conversations. The question is, will Republicans include us in this conversation or not?”
Chip Roy says booting Mike Johnson from speakership ‘on the table’
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, made his bluntest threat yet against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warning that a motion to vacate the House Republican leader is “not off the table.” “I’m leaving it on the table. I’m not gonna say I’m gonna go file it tomorrow. I’m not saying I’m not going to file it tomorrow,” the Texas conservative said on “The Steve Deace Show” Tuesday. “I think the speaker needs to know that we’re angry about it. He needs to know that we need to sit down at the table and try to solve this.” It’s notable criticism from Roy, who was not one of the eight House Republicans who joined Democrats in ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October. HOUSE, SENATE RELEASE BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINES LOOM Roy has been on a war path against Johnson’s agreement to fund the government struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., over the weekend. He called the bill, which follows through with most commitments cobbled together by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Biden during talks to raise the debt ceiling last year, “garbage” and dismissed Johnson’s promise to negotiate conservative policy wins in the eventual spending bills. WHERE NO CONGRESS HAS GONE BEFORE: FACING GALACTIC-SCALE FISCAL CLIFF AND BORDER SECURITY THREATS The deal would set a statutory limit of $1.59 trillion for discretionary government funding but would honor a McCarthy-Biden side-deal of an added $69 billion. Johnson announced on Sunday that he secured an extra $16 billion in cuts for this fiscal year to offset some of that. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday evening, “I am a conservative. This is not what we all want. It’s not the best deal we could get if we were in charge of both chambers and the White House. But it’s the best deal we could broker under the circumstances.” But he was optimistic about scoring wins down the line. HUNTER BIDEN, MAYORKAS, FAUCI: HOUSE LAWMAKERS RETURN FROM HOLIDAYS FOR A HIGH-PROFILE WEEK “We have the topline agreement. This allows us to fight for our policy priorities, for our policy riders now, and our appropriators are resolute in doing that,” Johnson said. “Our members are excited about getting that done, and we’re going to do our job here.” Speaking to Fox News Digital earlier this week, Roy was skeptical of what could be achieved. “I will amend my sentence if we end up getting some massive policy wins attached to the spending, but I do not believe that we can possibly get enough policy wins on the riders to offset the damage of spending that much more money,” Roy told Fox News Digital on Monday. Fox News Digital reached out to Roy for further comment and to the speaker’s office for a response.
D’Esposito makes case for Mayorkas impeachment ahead of hearing, cites concern of ‘another terrorist attack’
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., made his case for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment, speaking to Fox News Digital ahead of a House committee hearing Wednesday, when attorneys general for Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri are expected to testify on how record numbers of migrants pouring into the U.S. pose a national security threat. D’Esposito, who sits on the House Homeland Security committee, told Fox News Digital that the hearing comes after a year of investigations, rejecting the argument of some Democrats, including that of Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and others who claim the Republican-led Mayorkas impeachment probe is merely a “policy dispute” and is politically motivated. “This isn’t something that was rushed into. It’s not something that is politically motivated. This is something that, especially for me as someone who spent a career in the NYPD, most of it as an investigator, I am proud of the work that the Homeland Security Committee has done over the last 12 months,” D’Esposito said. “This has become not a Democrat issue, not a Republican issue. This has become an issue for people who care about the safety of the United States of America,” he continued. “This has become an issue for people who care about their quality of life. This is an issue about people who have watched the cities and places that they’ve grown up and loved and loved to visit become destroyed at the hands of Secretary Mayorkas.” MARSHALL BRINGS ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ RESOLUTION OF MAYORKAS TO SENATE FLOOR: ‘DERELICT IN HIS DUTIES’ Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on D’Esposito’s remarks, but they did not immediately respond. During a presidential election year and amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, D’Esposito argued that the Mayorkas impeachment hearings are crucial to national security. “We’ve heard the numbers. You know, over 3 million people have come into this country since Joe Biden has taken office. We’re estimating that there are hundreds of thousands of known gotaways. These are people that we know that have come across the southern border, we just don’t know where they are, what they’re doing, or who they’re associating with,” D’Esposito said. “Think about the number of individuals who have crossed that we don’t know about.” “There is no question that there are people that have come across this border that are on the known terror watch list that, again, we don’t know where they are, we don’t know where they’re residing. We don’t know who they’re working with. We don’t know the criminal enterprises that they are associating with,” he said. “When you talk to local law enforcement agencies, whether it’s in my district or across the country, from the smaller departments to the bigger ones, one of their biggest concerns is the national security threat that this migrant issue is plaguing on their jurisdiction. And it’s not about, you know, if there’s going to be another terrorist attack, unfortunately, it’s about when there’s going to be another terrorist attack.” Wednesday’s hearing, titled, “Havoc In The Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted The States,” comes days after sources told Fox News that Mayorkas admitted during a private meeting with Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is “above 85%.” “Secretary Mayorkas’ job is to keep our homeland safe and protect our homeland. And when you tell us that [more than] 80% of the people are just being released into the United States of America with really no plan of that process of asylum, that’s a concern,” D’Esposito said. “That is in addition to the other issues that are plaguing our country, whether it’s China, whether it’s Russia, whether it is the conflicts in the Middle East and the terrorist attacks that have been committed by Hamas against Israel and the Israeli people and our Jewish friends. I mean, this has become a time [when] it seems that it’s combustible here. As the committee who was put into place after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I mean, this committee was put into place for the purpose of protecting the United States of America and the people who live here against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And that’s what we are doing.” MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING: STATE AGS TO TESTIFY ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS, BIDEN-ERA POLICIES Sources also told Fox News that between Dec. 1 and Dec, 31, 2023, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border – representing the highest total for a single month ever recorded and also the first time that monthly migrant encounters have exceeded 300,000. D’Esposito argued that the United States is “not as safe as it should be and is certainly less safe” because of Mayorkas “following the direction of the failed policies of Joe Biden.” “Sometimes people are putting their lives in the hands of the cartels, the cartels who have actually the control of the southern border, not the American government, not Homeland Security, and certainly not Secretary Mayorkas,” D’Esposito said, arguing that the last time Mayorkas appeared before the Homeland Security Committee, he tried to negotiate the definition of what it means to have operational control of the southern border but then turned around and admitted he has heard from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials that there is no control. “He’s lying on behalf of the president,” D’Esposito claimed. “We can look back at the last 50 years. Are there issues with immigration? Yeah, but we are breaking records in the administration of Joe Biden. We are breaking records under the reign of Secretary Mayorkas. And none of those records are ones that we want to set. They are ones of the most people coming across our southern border, the most known gotaways, the most people on the terror watch list.” On Tuesday, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., went to the Senate floor calling for a vote of
Pleas filed in SC seeking review of verdict upholding revocation of Article 370
The petitioners include the J-K High Court Bar Association, Awami National Conference, J-K People’s Movement and others.
GOP lawmakers urge Bernie Sanders to hold a hearing on the scope of antisemitism at college campuses
FIRST ON FOX: Sens. Jacky Rosen, R-Nevada and James Lankford, R-Okla., sent a letter Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), requesting a hearing about the scope of antisemitism on college campuses. The senators wrote a full committee hearing is necessary as Congress begins a new legislative year to “better understand the scale and scope of this scourge.” “As co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, we are deeply disturbed by the increase in antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses across the United States following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel,” the letter reads. “No student should have to fear for his or her safety or ability to study in a safe environment, regardless of his or her ethnicity, religion, race, or national origin.” FIRED HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH SAYS HE HAD ‘NOTHING TO DO WITH’ ANTISEMTIIC INCIDENT The senators highlighted several antisemitic incidents at universities since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, emphasizing the failure of some university presidents and administrators to condemn such acts forcefully. They are also concerned that despite the legal obligation to protect students from discrimination, many leaders have not adequately addressed or condemned antisemitic speech. “Schools have a legal responsibility to protect their students from discrimination, yet many university presidents and administrators have failed to forcefully condemn antisemitic speech and incidents on campuses in the wake of Hamas’s terrorist attack,” the letter reads. “Even while testifying before the House Committee on Education and Workforce on December 5, university presidents failed to speak out with conviction against clear, horrific and flagrant displays of antisemitism.” PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS SHOUT ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ OUTSIDE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE Israel declared war against Hamas after the terrorist group infiltrated the country on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets at residential areas and butchering, raping and torturing its civilians. At least 1,200 Israelis and 32 Americans were killed; over 240 people were taken as hostages into the Gaza Strip. Following these events, protests broke out on college campuses — and pro-Palestinian demonstrations frightened Jewish students for, in many cases, sympathizing with Hamas’ crimes. Incidents of antisemitism at universities also rose after the attacks, including an incident where Jewish students were trapped in a library at Cooper Union as protesters tried to break in. At Cornell University, a student made threats of violence against Jewish students. Additionally, at Stanford University, an instructor singled out Jewish students, likening them to “colonizers” and asked them to stand separately, citing actions attributed to Israel against Palestinians. The senators cited these incidents among numerous antisemitic occurrences occurring across colleges and universities in recent months. FAR-LEFT HATRED OF JEWS TODAY ECHOES THE SOCIALISM AND ANTISEMITISM OF HITLER IN THE 1930s “We look forward to hearing from you on the swift and meaningful actions the Committee can take to keep Jewish students safe, which should include, at a minimum, holding a full committee hearing on campus antisemitism,” the senators wrote. Last month, Rosen also called for a review of college policies to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment, urging compliance with federal civil rights standards. Fox News’ Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
Senators urge Bernie Sanders to hold a hearing on the scope of antisemitism at college campuses
FIRST ON FOX: Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada and James Lankford, R-Okla., sent a letter Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), requesting a hearing about the scope of antisemitism on college campuses. The senators wrote a full committee hearing is necessary as Congress begins a new legislative year to “better understand the scale and scope of this scourge.” “As co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, we are deeply disturbed by the increase in antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses across the United States following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel,” the letter reads. “No student should have to fear for his or her safety or ability to study in a safe environment, regardless of his or her ethnicity, religion, race, or national origin.” FIRED HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH SAYS HE HAD ‘NOTHING TO DO WITH’ ANTISEMTIIC INCIDENT The senators highlighted several antisemitic incidents at universities since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, emphasizing the failure of some university presidents and administrators to condemn such acts forcefully. They are also concerned that despite the legal obligation to protect students from discrimination, many leaders have not adequately addressed or condemned antisemitic speech. “Schools have a legal responsibility to protect their students from discrimination, yet many university presidents and administrators have failed to forcefully condemn antisemitic speech and incidents on campuses in the wake of Hamas’s terrorist attack,” the letter reads. “Even while testifying before the House Committee on Education and Workforce on December 5, university presidents failed to speak out with conviction against clear, horrific and flagrant displays of antisemitism.” PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS SHOUT ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ OUTSIDE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE Israel declared war against Hamas after the terrorist group infiltrated the country on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets at residential areas and butchering, raping and torturing its civilians. At least 1,200 Israelis and 32 Americans were killed; over 240 people were taken as hostages into the Gaza Strip. Following these events, protests broke out on college campuses — and pro-Palestinian demonstrations frightened Jewish students for, in many cases, sympathizing with Hamas’ crimes. Incidents of antisemitism at universities also rose after the attacks, including an incident where Jewish students were trapped in a library at Cooper Union as protesters tried to break in. At Cornell University, a student made threats of violence against Jewish students. Additionally, at Stanford University, an instructor singled out Jewish students, likening them to “colonizers” and asked them to stand separately, citing actions attributed to Israel against Palestinians. The senators cited these incidents among numerous antisemitic occurrences occurring across colleges and universities in recent months. FAR-LEFT HATRED OF JEWS TODAY ECHOES THE SOCIALISM AND ANTISEMITISM OF HITLER IN THE 1930s “We look forward to hearing from you on the swift and meaningful actions the Committee can take to keep Jewish students safe, which should include, at a minimum, holding a full committee hearing on campus antisemitism,” the senators wrote. Last month, Rosen also called for a review of college policies to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment, urging compliance with federal civil rights standards. Fox News’ Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
House Homeland Democrats back Mayorkas, slam GOP ‘sham’ ahead of impeachment hearing
Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are offering their support for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ahead of the committee’s first impeachment hearing on Wednesday — with the lawmakers accusing their Republican colleagues of running a “sham” process. “What is going on tomorrow is an embarrassment to the impeachment clause of the Constitution,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, told reporters. The hearing,”Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States,” marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at Mayorkas’ handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis. The hearing will see testimony from attorneys general from Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri. The AGs will testify about the impact of the crisis on their states and their belief that Mayorkas is not enforcing the law. But Democrats on the committee say that Republicans have turned what is a policy dispute into a politically motivated impeachment push. MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING: STATE AGS TO TESTIFY ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS, BIDEN-ERA POLICIES “This is simply a policy dispute, a disagreement about how a different party is attacking a policy problem. And the Republicans are trying to abuse their power and the Constitution to convert what is simply a disagreement into somehow, some way, a high crime and misdemeanor,” Goldman said. “There is no crime, much less a high crime or misdemeanor here.” Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., described the process as a “political sham with no constitutional basis, no factual basis.” Republicans have claimed that the crisis, which has seen multiple records smashed for migrant encounters, is “unprecedented and intentional.” HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE SETS FIRST MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING “The chaos and devastation at the border and in our communities are the result of Alejandro Mayorkas’ failure to fulfill his oath as secretary of Homeland Security,” Chairman Mark Green said this week. “His primary responsibility is to secure the homeland—and he has failed.” Republicans have accused the administration of fueling the crisis with “open border” policies, including expanded catch-and-release and the rolling back of Trump-era policies such as the Remain-in-Mexico policy and border wall construction. They’ve pointed to the record number of migrant encounters as the border that have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, as well as the significant number of releases into the interior. Democrats and the administration have said that authorities are dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and are in need of more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. Both Democrats and Republicans have proposed border and immigration bills that are vastly different from one another, while talks are currently ongoing about $14 billion in supplemental border funding requested by the administration, with Republicans demanding restrictions on releases. DHS put out a memo ahead of the hearing arguing that Mayorkas was currently working with a bipartisan group of senators to find real solutions to the challenges at the border and called the accusations “baseless.” “Members of Congress serious about addressing these challenges should oppose this baseless impeachment that is going nowhere and instead work with the Department to keep America safe by properly funding DHS’s vital missions and reforming our broken immigration laws,” the memo said, also pointing to statements by a number of Republicans who have said that the alleged offenses have not met the standard for impeachment. Talking to reporters, Democrats also blamed Republicans for not working with them to solve the issue. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., accused Republicans of being “complicit” in the struggles at the border. “Democrats fully recognize, and the administration I know recognizes that we have real challenges at the border. There are people who are fleeing their home countries due to political instability, due to violence, due to poverty and trying to come to the United States and it has created a chaotic situation,” he said. “But House Republicans, rather than work with the administration and work with the secretary to solve the problem instead care more about having a political issue to run on than they do actually solving the challenges that we have at the border.” MAYORKAS TELLS BORDER PATROL AGENTS THAT ‘ABOVE 85%’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO US: SOURCES Additionally, they praised Mayorkas’ handling of both the crisis and the efforts to find agreement on supplemental spending with lawmakers, and argued that Republiacns haven’t given him the tools with which to do his job. “I think he’s doing a very good job under very tough circumstances,” Ivey said. “We haven’t really given him the tools to fix it and now they try to beat him up for not being able to perform without the tools.” “Secretary Mayorkas has one of, if not the hardest job in the United States of America. And House Republicans have tried to undercut him and prevent him from being able to do his job every step of the way,” Magaziner said. “Deny him the funding. Deny him the tools because they view this as a political game, when really we ought to be working together to solve the challenges at the border.”
NJ Gov. Murphy proposes voting rights for 16-year-olds in school board elections
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday announced a series of new measures he wants the newly expanded Democrat-led Legislature to adopt, including allowing 16-year-olds to vote in school board elections, reducing medical debt, expanding affordable housing and launching an artificial intelligence “moonshot.” Murphy delivered his sixth state of the state address before a joint legislative session in the ornate Assembly chamber where Democrats picked up six seats in the November election. Murphy also reiterated calls he’s made since his reelection in 2021 to further ease property taxes and expand free pre-K, among the measures that he says make the state “stronger and fairer.” “From day 1, the vision has been to grow New Jersey from the bottom up and the middle out,” Murphy said. NJ GOV. MURPHY SAYS REPORTED SHOOTINGS HIT RECORD LOW IN 2023 The annual speech kicks off the legislative year and will be followed in a few weeks by the governor’s budget address, where he’ll specify how he wants lawmakers to allot the state’s income for the year. The two-term governor concentrated heavily on his and fellow Democrats’ efforts to help rein in property taxes, among the highest in the country, all part of an effort that Murphy said makes the state “the best place anywhere to raise a family.” Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, said they would work with the governor to make the state more affordable, but balked at many of his specific proposals. Taxes are still too high, they said, despite the governor’s focus on affordability. “Our tax burden is still the highest in the nation, and the tax hurdles we put in front of the businesses are still the highest in the nation,” said Republican Sen. Declan O’Scanlon. NEW JERSEY GOV. MURPHY DEMANDS BUS COMPANIES GIVE NOTICE BEFORE SENDING MIGRANTS BOUND FOR NYC Murphy’s newest proposals include a call for letting 16- and 17-year-olds vote in school board elections. A handful of towns and cities around the country, including California, Maryland and Vermont have similar allowances, according to the National Youth Rights Association. “Encouraging our young neighbors to engage with democracy is really about encouraging them to become lifelong voters,” he said. In an emotional highpoint, Murphy’s voice quavered as he said he would name a package of bills to reduce medical debt after Louisa Carman, a 25-year-old member of his staff who was killed in a car accident on New Year’s Day. “In the wealthiest nation in the world, nobody should have to worry about being able to afford critical health care services or a lifesaving medical procedure,” he said. The state has long struggled with how to enforce affordable housing requirements, currently being managed through the courts. He called on legislators to send him a bill to make it easier to build such housing, though it’s unclear exactly what that measure would look like. He also called on the state’s “top minds” to pioneer artificial intelligence technology, and laid out a kind of welcome mat for firms working on AI. “Our state government will be a catalyst for bringing together innovators and leaders to invest in research and development,” he said. A left-leaning former financial executive, Murphy came into office contrasting himself with his predecessor, Republican Chris Christie, who is in the midst of his second run for the GOP nomination for president. Murphy has steered the state in a different direction: Where Christie clashed with labor leaders, Murphy on Tuesday hailed the state’s expanded unionized workforce. Christie vetoed funding for abortion services, which Murphy has restored — and the list goes on. NEW JERSEY TO ALLOW TEENS ELIGIBLE FOR UPCOMING GENERAL ELECTION TO VOTE IN PRIMARIES Murphy has signed gun control bills into law, and touted them in his speech Tuesday, highlighting the state’s record drop in gun deaths. He’s signed into law tax hikes on the wealthy, overseen the establishment of a recreational marijuana industry, and signed a bill to enact a $15 an hour minimum wage, which took effect this year. While Murphy delivered on a number of campaign promises, thanks in large part to Democrats who control the Legislature, a 2023 vow to rewrite the state’s Prohibition-era liquor license system remains unfulfilled. Murphy also did not mention the state’s involvement in taking over the Paterson police department or give an update on a promise to close the state’s women’s prison, which the governor said last year was partially underway.
Preview: India vs Afghanistan – T20 cricket series
Who: India vs AfghanistanWhen: January 11, 14, 17Where: Mohali, Indore, Bengaluru India will rely on the services of their biggest batting stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to lead them to victory in a home Twenty20 cricket series against Afghanistan as the 2007 champions build up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June. However, Kohli will only play the second and third match as he sits out the first one due to “personal reasons,” Indias coach Rahul Dravid said. Sharma will captain the team in the three-match series starting on Thursday, less than two months after leading the cricket-mad nation’s unbeaten home run to the 50-over World Cup final, which they lost to Australia. Middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav took over captaincy duties in both of India’s T20 series after the one-day international (ODI) World Cup, leading them to a 4-1 home win over Australia and a 1-1 draw in the three-match series away to South Africa, but Sharma will return to the helm after a long break from T20 internationals. Yadav is recovering from ankle surgery and will not be part of the squad, as well as India’s previous T20 captain Hardik Pandya, who continues his recovery from an injury he sustained during the World Cup. Both Sharma and Kohli last played a T20 international match in November 2022, when India lost to England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Rashid Khan will not take part in the T20 series [File: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters] Afghanistan will ‘struggle’ without Rashid Khan Meanwhile, Afghanistan will be without their biggest star, Rashid Khan, as he recovers from back surgery that has kept him from action since the World Cup in India. Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said Khan is “not totally fit” but is travelling with the team. Khan, 25, is one of the most successful Afghan players in T20 cricket. He has previously captained Afghanistan in T20 internationals and has featured in the Indian Premier League since 2017. “Without Rashid, we will struggle because his experience is crucial to all of us, but this is cricket and you need to be ready for any kind of situation,” Zadran added. Afghanistan put up an impressive show in the ODI World Cup, with victories over England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. Zadran, a 22-year-old opening batsman, said fans’ raised expectations will motivate the team to elevate their performance. “Not only Afghanistan people are expecting lots of things, but all around the people are expecting [a] lot of things from us nowadays because we played a wonderful World Cup,” he said. Zadran said the team hoped to “play positive cricket and show our skills on the field”. The T20 series opens in Mohali on January 11. The next match will be held in Indore on January 14 and the last one in Bengaluru on January 17. The series will be crucial for both teams as they build up to the 2024 T20 World Cup, which takes place in the West Indies and the United States in June. Head to head Both teams have previously met in five T20 internationals, with India winning four and one ending without a result. Squads India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Hazratullah Zazai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Saleem, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Qais Ahmad Adblock test (Why?)
Poland ex-minister on hunger strike as row between PM and president deepens
The former interior minister and his deputy were arrested at the Presidential Palace for abuse of power. Poland’s former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski says he has started a hunger strike as a “political prisoner”, a day after he was arrested and sent to prison on abuse of power charges. Kaminski made the announcement on Wednesday, following his arrest along with his deputy, Maciej Wasik, inside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. “I declare that I treat my conviction … as an act of political revenge,” Kaminski said in the statement, read by his former deputy Blazej Pobozy at a news conference in front of the prime minister’s office. New Prime Minister Donald Tusk, of the Civic Platform party, has pledged to undo the policies of his predecessors – the government of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party – and punish those accused of wrongdoing during their time in power. Kaminski and Wasik are members of PiS. “As a political prisoner, I started a hunger strike from the first day of my imprisonment,” Kaminski’s statement read. Deputy Justice Minister Maria Ejchart responded to the strike by saying the two former officials are not political prisoners and any prisoner has the right to refuse to eat and drink if they so choose. Police on Tuesday acted on a court order to take Kaminski and Wasik into custody, amid an ongoing dispute between the head of state and the new government. Hundreds of protesters gathered on Tuesday in front of the Presidential Palace in support of the PiS and in front of a police station where they were held. Polish President Andrzej Duda, meanwhile, said on Wednesday he was deeply shaken by the arrests and promised he would work to free them. Duda is closely aligned with PiS and has made clear that he will oppose Tusk’s agenda. Duda’s second and final term runs until mid-2025. However, Duda called for calm and said he would act legally and in line with the constitution. Tusk, a former European Council president, has said he plans to reposition Poland as a leader of the European Union and will remain a loyal ally of the United States and NATO, after eight years of of far-right nationalist rule. He has also pledged to win full Western support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and mediate past hurdles with the EU. Adblock test (Why?)