Israeli Cabinet members call for emigration of Palestinians from Gaza
NewsFeed “We must…encourage the emigration of the residents of Gaza.” Senior members of the Israeli government are proposing the emigration of Palestinians as a solution to the end of the Israel-Gaza war. Published On 2 Jan 20242 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
823-feet-tall statue of Lord Ram to be installed in Ayodhya
Haryana sculptor Naresh Kumawat has been asked to create an 823 feet tall statue of Lord Ram.Till now, the record of the world’s tallest statue is the 790 feet size statue of Sardar Patel built in Kevadia, Gujarat, which the world knows as the Statue of Unity.
Judge rules former clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses must pay $260,000 legal expenses
A federal judge has ruled that former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis must pay over $260,000 in attorney fees and expenses following her court case relating to her refusal to issue marriage licenses to a same-sex couple. Davis was briefly jailed in 2015 for her refusal, and she was subsequently taken to court. Courts have also ruled that she must pay $100,000 in damages to the two men she had refused to work with. Davis’ attorneys are expected to appeal Tuesday’s ruling. Davis spent five days in jail for ignoring court orders to issue licenses to same-sex couples following a 2015 Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriage. She argued that she was acting “under God’s authority,” and was freed after a judge ordered her deputies to issue the licenses without her approval. POPE FRANCIS ALLOWS PRIESTS TO BLESS SAME-SEX COUPLES Davis had run for re-election to the county clerk office in 2018, but she lost to a Democrat. She had argued that she would be able to certify same-sex marriages due to a change in Kentucky law dropping the requirement for licenses to contain the clerk’s signature. PROGRESSIVES GRUMBLE AS RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT ADVANCES: ‘I HATE THE SENATE BILL’ Davis was defeated in the 2018 election by Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr. 54% to 46%. One of Caudill’s challengers in the Democratic primary for the post was David Ermold, to whom Davis refused to issue a license. After losing, Ermold accused Caudill of being an “anti-gay bigot.” “I just want him to lose. I would rather Kim Davis win,” Ermold said ahead of the election. “At least Kim Davis has the integrity to stand up for what she believes in. Elwood Caudill is a liar.” Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Climate activists who chased Buttigieg, Powell off stages rewarded with private White House meeting
A far-left climate activist organization was granted a private meeting with senior White House adviser John Podesta last month after the group repeatedly derailed federal officials’ public events with disruptive protests. The Washington, D.C.-based Climate Defiance — which was founded in early 2023 by activists Michael Greenberg and Rylee Haught — announced last week on social media that it had met with Podesta on Dec. 15. The group, whose members regularly conduct protests opposing fossil fuel production and use, failed to detail the contents of the meeting, but published a letter it gave to Podesta following the meeting. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today,” Climate Defiance wrote to Podesta in the letter. “We appreciate your willingness to heed our deeply-held concerns. Echoing the voices of millions of Americans, we write to you in the eleventh hour of the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced: planetary and societal collapse due to the continued burning of fossil fuels.” “We urge you to wield your utmost authority to implement a swift end to any federal support for new fossil fuel infrastructure. Both the urgency of this action and the severe consequences of further delay cannot be overstated,” it continued. “Climate Defiance recognizes your commitment to climate action and commends you on your vital work developing and implementing the Inflation Reduction Act.” HERE ARE THE TOP FIVE MOST DISRUPTIVE CLIMATE PROTESTS OF 2023 Climate Defiance added in the letter that the White House cannot only push green energy development, but must actively oppose all fossil fuel development. It further accused President Biden of supporting “massive new fossil fuel infrastructure projects which eclipse emissions reductions.” It also acknowledged that it has taken action to disrupt events where federal officials, including Podesta and Cabinet members, were speaking. In 2022, Biden appointed Podesta to lead the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, a role that includes overseeing billions of dollars in Inflation Reduction Act spending. LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUP IS QUIETLY PREPARING JUDGES FOR GLOBAL WARMING CASES “We have done so because, like the millions of young people who delivered Biden a decisive victory in 2020, we are stunned and enraged by his willingness to sacrifice our futures to satisfy the greed of the fossil fuel industry,” the letter stated. “The President’s reversal of his campaign promise to end drilling on federal lands and his relentless approval of new oil and gas projects jeopardize the survival of our species — and threaten his own political future,” the group added. “We share this information as people of conscience who know that, should Biden’s anticipated 2024 opponent win the election, it is not only game-over for the climate — but for democracy and national security.” On April 25, 2023, in one of group’s first actions, members of Climate Defiance shut down an event where Podesta was speaking about climate change policy. The activists chanted “no more drilling,” called on the Biden administration to keep its “promise” and said the nation “never needed fossil fuels.” The comments were made in reference to Biden’s approval of the Willow Project, a massive 30-year oil drilling project located in northern Alaska. The project’s developer projected it would produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day over the next three decades. BIDEN ADMIN ROASTED FOR OFFERING TO PAY AMERICANS TO SEND VIDEOS OF THEIR ELECTRIC VEHICLES: ‘BEYOND PARODY’ The Willow Project approval was announced by the Department of the Interior in March, but the decision was ultimately made by Biden and White House officials including Podesta. The decision sparked an internal dispute between officials with some seeking to tank the project from within. In addition, in the letter published following Climate Defiance’s meeting with Podesta last month, it said the Biden administration must, at the very least, withdraw support for oil and gas export projects like the Texas GulfLink project. That project is a crude oil export terminal proposed to be constructed off the coast of Texas, but has yet to receive approval by the Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration. In October, Climate Defiance activists chased Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg from a Baltimore event which they protested to call for his agency to reject both the Texas GulfLink project and a separate project, the Sea Port Oil Terminal. “Petro Pete is a coward. As we write he is ramming down our throats the Sea Port and GulfLink oil terminals – each worse than Keystone,” Climate Defiance tweeted following the event. “We must resist him with all we’ve got. And we will.” DARK MONEY FUND POURED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO ECO ACTIVIST GROUPS BLOCKING HIGHWAYS, DESTROYING FAMOUS ART Months earlier, in June, Climate Defiance disrupted an event in Michigan where Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was delivering remarks. Some of the activists associated with the group were forcibly dragged from the event after they refused to leave. The group also disrupted multiple speeches given in 2023 by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. “Close the f‑‑‑ing door,” Powell appeared to mutter during a November protest in which activists stormed a room where he was delivering remarks. On Tuesday, after criticism that its meeting with the White House suggested the group was selling out, Climate Defiance vigorously defended itself. “If there’s an opening at the table we pull up a f—ing chair,” the group said in an X post. “And yes if you are not careful it is very easy to get so enthralled by the gleam of the White House that you water down your tactics in order to preserve that access. That is a pitfall into which others before us have fallen. We get it!” The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Chip Roy to skip House GOP border trip, says Texas is ‘tired’ of ‘press conferences’
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is refusing to attend House Republicans’ planned trip to the southern border, he told fellow lawmakers on Tuesday, arguing that those being affected by the migrant crisis are “tired” of such events. “I commend Speaker Johnson’s efforts to take a group of House Republicans to the Texas border tomorrow so that any members unaware of the depths of the threat to our citizenry may become fully informed. However, I will not be attending,” Roy wrote in a letter to colleagues which was obtained by Fox News Digital. “Our people – law enforcement, ranchers, local leaders – are tired of meetings, speeches, and press conferences. So, for those of us who have already witnessed this crisis dozens of times, it’s past that time. It’s time to act with urgency.” Roy urged the House GOP majority to leverage government funding talks to force Democrats in the Senate and White House to pass H.R. 2, Republicans’ border security bill which would reinstate Trump-era policies like Remain In Mexico and vastly expand border officials’ expulsion authority, among other measures. AMNESTY REMAINS PRIORITY FOR BIDEN ADMIN, DEMOCRATS EVEN AMID RECORD BORDER NUMBERS He did so while tearing into fellow Republican hardliners who killed an earlier effort to force H.R. 2 into a short-term government funding bill known as a continuing resolution. “I am well aware that some of my ‘more conservative’ colleagues were instrumental in shooting down an attempt to attach border security in the form of H.R.2 to funding legislation this past fall. That was a disastrous mistake, and as equally tiresome and problematic as the excuses Republicans typically give about fearing ‘shutdown.’ Thus, this letter is directed to all of us, for while Democrats own the crisis and abuse of our laws, we Republicans own the failure to force a response to that crisis,” Roy said. BIDEN HAS ANOTHER CALAMITOUS YEAR AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER IN 2023 AS RECORDS SHATTER “To be certain, use of our constitutional authority to withhold funds to force adherence to the law comes with cries of ‘government shutdown’ and concerns we will fail to sustain key priorities such as funding for troops and Border Patrol agents themselves. These claims can be dismissed if we pass legislation to fund those very basic responsibilities…while withholding funding for the vast majority of the federal government until it performs its basic duty to defend the borders of a supposedly sovereign nation.” The Texas Republican’s letter appears to be a protest of GOP leaders’ handling of the border crisis, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., looks to put it front-and-center for the House in the new year. Johnson is leading a group of more than 60 House Republicans to the border on Wednesday, when they are expected to tour part of the area around Eagle Pass, Texas, and stage a press conference. They are also expected to speak to officials on the ground. It comes as the White House and Senate Democrats negotiate with Republicans on border security and asylum measures. GOP leaders have made clear that Democratic concessions on the border are necessary to pass President Biden’s $110 billion supplemental aid package that includes money for Ukraine and Israel. Johnson has suggested that anything less than H.R. 2 would face opposition in the House, a sentiment shared by Roy and others on Johnson’s right flank. Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment on Roy’s letter. The number of people attempting to cross the border in December shattered records at 302,000.
Harvard president Claudine Gay to resign amid antisemitism, plagiarism controversies, reports say
Harvard president Claudine Gay is expected to resign Tuesday afternoon, according to reports citing unnamed sources. According to the Ivy League school’s newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, Gay’s resignation will bring an end to the shortest Harvard presidency in the university’s history. The Boston Globe also reported about Gay’s expected resignation, citing sources saying Harvard’s provost, Dr. Alan Garber, will become interim president. Gay, along with the presidents of MIT and UPenn, faced harsh backlash for failing to clarify at a House Education and the Workforce hearing last month whether calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews on campus violated their institutions’ codes of conduct or policies against bullying and harassment. The hearing came in response to rising antisemitism at American universities following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel. Gay has also been at the center of a scandal in which she was accused of multiple instances of plagiarism in scholarly works.
Gunman arrested after breaching Colorado Supreme Court, holding guard at gunpoint: cops
A suspect has been arrested at the Colorado Supreme Court building after allegedly shooting out windows, holding an armed security guard at gunpoint and maneuvering about the building for nearly two hours until voluntarily surrendering early Tuesday, according to authorities. The timing comes soon after the state’s high court drew controversy by ruling that former President Trump should be removed from the 2024 GOP primary ballot. Colorado State Patrol said in a statement that preliminary investigations “confirmed a high probability the incident… is NOT associated to the recent threats against the Colorado Supreme Court Justices.” Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the Denver Police Department, which is now leading the investigation into Tuesday’s incident, but did not immediately hear back. Authorities say the episode unfolded at approximately 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when a two-vehicle crash occurred at 13th Street and Lincoln in Denver. RFK JR. ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER COLORADO COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM BALLOT: ‘COUNTRY WILL BECOME UNGOVERNABLE’ One individual involved reportedly pointed a handgun at the other driver, according to the Colorado State Patrol. “A short time later, that same individual shot out a window on the east side of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center located at 2 East 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80203,” the agency said in a press release. “The individual entered the building and came in contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit.” “The individual held the security guard at gunpoint and demanded access to other parts of the building,” Colorado State Patrol said. “The individual obtained keys from the security guard and proceeded into other parts of the building and accessed an unknown number of floors. Denver Police Department (DPD) officers, as well as Colorado State Patrol Troopers, responded to the scene and set up a perimeter. The suspect then made his way to the 7th floor, where he fired additional shots inside the building.” TRUMP DECISION SPLITS COLORADO SUPREME COURT ALONG ELITE EAST COAST LAW SCHOOLS, DENVER LAW LINES At approximately 3 a.m., the suspect called 911 and voluntarily surrendered to police, state patrol said. “He was placed in custody without further incident. There are no injuries to building occupants, the suspect, or police personnel,” according to the release. “The suspect was taken to a local hospital to be cleared by medical personnel. There is significant and extensive damage to the building and the investigation is ongoing.” “The CSP and DPD are treating this incident seriously, but at this time, it is believed that this is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices,” state patrol added. The identity of the individual taken into custody was not immediately released, and it is unclear what charges he might face.
Adani-Hindenburg case: SC to deliver verdict over pleas seeking probe on Jan 3
The top court, while reserving the verdict, had said it has no reason to “discredit” SEBI, the stock market regulator, which probed the allegations against the Adani group. The court said there was no material before it to doubt what the market regulator had done.
Hit-and-run law: Truckers’ body appeals drivers to end protests after Centre’s assurance
Hit-and-run law: Truckers’ body appeals drivers to end protests after Centre’s assurance
Trump starts 2024 in ‘strongest possible position’ in Republican presidential primary race
Former President Trump is kicking off the new year by touting his dominance over his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. “I am honored to tell you that we are beginning the 2024 Election Year in our strongest possible position since the moment I rode down the Golden Escalator and announced my bid to run for president as a political outsider,” Trump wrote in a New Year’s Day fundraising email to supporters, as he pointed back to the launch of his 2016 presidential campaign. For Trump, a year makes a big difference. FOX NEWS TO HOST TOWNHALL WITH TRUMP IN IOWA NEXT WEEK At the dawn of 2023, the former president was the only declared candidate in the race for the Republican nomination. However, he was far from a sure thing. RAISING THE STAKES: ARE TRUMP’S EXPECTATIONS IN IOWA TOO HIGH? Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh off an overwhelming gubernatorial re-election less than two months earlier, was neck and neck with Trump in some of the early 2024 polls. The former president was still facing plenty of criticism by fellow Republicans for contributing to the GOP’s lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms. Additionally, Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, a couple of weeks after the midterms was panned by many pundits. However, as the new year begins, Trump is the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House bid. Trump enjoys a formidable double-digit lead over his rivals in the latest polls in Iowa, where the Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar. He holds an even larger lead in the most recent national polls. Some pundits point back to last March to locate the start of the former president’s political resurgence after a period of vulnerability. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOWS That was when Trump was indicted by a grand jury in the New York City borough of Manhattan on charges related to an alleged illegal 2016 hush money payment. Trump made history as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime. Trump was also indicted later in the year in three other cases, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. However, none of the cases have deterred his support among Republican voters. It appears to be just the opposite, as Trump’s legal controversies have had a rallying effect among many Republicans. “I consider it a great badge of honor because I am being indicted for you,” Trump said to cheers from his supporters at a boisterous rally in New Hampshire last month. Seasoned Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams noted that “every time Trump’s targeted by legal actions, it just improves his standing with the conservative base.” DeSantis, in an interview that aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network late last month, argued that the Trump indictments “distorted the primary.” “I would say if I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff,” DeSantis said. WHERE THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE STANDS AS 2023 COMES TO A CLOSE Trump’s legal entanglements have also sucked the oxygen out of the room for his nomination rivals. Longtime Republican operative and strategist Matt Gorman, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns who served as a top adviser to Sen. Tim Scott’s 2024 bid, emphasized that “anytime you’re being forced to defend an opponent, when you could be using that time and attention to draw contrasts, that’s not helpful.” However, what has been beneficial to Trump to date in the GOP nomination race could end up serving as a detriment in the general election, with the strong likelihood of several trials unfolding and distracting him as 2024 progresses. Also boosting Trump over the past year has been what many pundits describe as a very disciplined Trump campaign team. As he ran an incumbent-style campaign, Trump decided against sharing the debate stage with his GOP rivals. “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site ahead of the first GOP primary debate in August. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!” The former president ended up skipping all four candidate showdowns held in 2023 while hosting competing events on the debate nights. Trump’s absence did not seem to hurt him. He emerged relatively unscathed by his rivals, and his lead over the rest of the field has only grown since the first debate was held. While the debates did not appear to affect Trump, they did help winnow the field of contenders, as nearly all the candidates who failed to qualify for the showdowns dropped out of the race. A field of more than a dozen candidates in August was down to just five major contenders by December. While Trump mostly kept out of the line of fire, his rivals launched broadsides against each other. Meanwhile, DeSantis spent much of the year fending off bad headlines. The candidate who was threatening the former president in the Republican primary polls at the beginning of 2023 came under attack from Trump repeatedly even before he launched his campaign. The Florida governor was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons during the late spring and summer, from a rocky campaign launch to a series of staff purges and resets. There were more staff shakeups in the autumn, this time at the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which had taken over many of the traditional duties of a presidential campaign, including grassroots outreach. DeSantis for months was the clear No. 2 rival to Trump in the Republican nomination race. However, in many metrics, Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, had surpassed DeSantis for second place by the end of 2023. However, Haley stumbled over the holidays, as her answer to a question regarding the causes of the