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Wisconsin GOP eyes medical pot legalization, with limits

Wisconsin Republicans plan to unveil a proposal soon to legalize medical marijuana in the state and could vote on it sometime in 2024, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said. Republicans have been working behind closed doors for years on a medical marijuana bill. Along the way, they have rejected calls from Gov. Tony Evers and other Democrats to legalize all uses of marijuana, including medical and recreational. Vos, in an interview Wednesday, said the proposal will be limited and modeled after the medical marijuana law that had been in place in neighboring Minnesota before it moved to full legalization. WISCONSIN GOP LEADER DOUBLES DOWN ON CRUSADE AGAINST DEI INITIATIVES “It is not going to be widespread,” he said. “We are not going to have dispensaries on every corner in every city.” He said Assembly Republicans are on board in concept, but no one has seen the actual proposal yet. He expected to unveil it in January. Vos had said in April that he hoped to have the bill by the fall of 2023, but he said it took more time to find consensus. “In concept most people are there, but I don’t want to guarantee anything until we have a wider discussion,” he said. “I feel pretty good that we’re in a place where I think it can get through our chamber.” If passed by both the Senate and Assembly, it would have to be signed by Evers before taking effect. Senate Republicans have been less open to pot legalization than those in the Assembly. But in January, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said a bill to create a medical marijuana program could pass this legislative session — as long as regulations are put forward to ensure it’s for those in serious pain. Vos has long backed some form of medical marijuana program, but no bill has ever received a vote in either the GOP-controlled Assembly or Senate. Wisconsin remains an outlier nationally, with 38 states legalizing medical marijuana and 24 legalizing recreational marijuana. The push for legalization in Wisconsin has gained momentum, as its neighbors have loosened laws. Marquette University Law School polls have shown large majority support among Wisconsin residents for legalizing marijuana use for years.

GOP senator introduces bill to protect US gun exporters from Biden admin’s license pause

A Republican senator is leading a bill to prevent the secretary of commerce from restricting export licenses for American gun manufacturers. Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced the Protecting American Gun Exporters Act on Monday to bar Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo from going through with her department’s 90-day pause on gun export licenses. “The arbitrary halt of firearm export licenses by the Biden administration lacks both justification and necessity,” Lee said in a press release. SMALL BUSINESS REPUBLICANS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM BIDEN ADMIN ON 90-DAY GUN EXPORT PAUSE “The Protect American Gun Exporter Act guards our manufacturers against capricious policy shifts that unfairly target livelihoods simply because of industry affiliation,” Lee continued. Joining Lee on the bill are fellow GOP Senators John Thune of South Dakota, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Braun of Indiana, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Rick Scott of Florida. Additionally, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., is leading the House companion bill. “Restricting the lawful export of firearms and related components is just another tactic to hamstring the American firearms industry,” Thune, the Senate GOP whip, said in a press release. “I’m proud to support this legislation that would protect U.S. jobs and weaken illicit arms dealers.” “This administration has proved it will stop at nothing to erode the rights of people in Wyoming to keep and bear arms,” Lummis said. “This arbitrary pause is the latest example of the Biden administration’s gun-grabbing policies that seek to undermine the people of Wyoming’s constitutional rights and attack gun manufacturers.” “As a proud defender of our Second Amendment, I am partnering with Senator Lee to protect law-abiding citizens’ right to bear arms from this administration’s egregious and unfounded overreach,” she continued. “Congress shouldn’t need a bill to ensure federal agencies do their job, yet here we are,” Green said. “My Protect American Gun Exporters Act requires the Department of Commerce to do the job laid out for it by Congress, bolstering the American business community, instead of anti-gun power grabs.” “Law-abiding citizens should be allowed to protect themselves, and law-abiding business owners should be allowed to sell to them,” he continued. “I appreciate Senator Lee’s leadership and support for this in the Senate.” SECOND AMENDMENT GROUP TO URGE CONGRESS TO OVERTURN ATF PISTOL BRACE RULE Specifically, Lee’s bill would strip Raimondo of her authority to take “any action to carry out the Department of Commerce’s assessment or any policy changes resulting from the assessment announced on October 27, 2023, relating to the Department’s pause in the issuance of new export licenses for exports of all items controlled under” the department’s “Commerce Control List.” Additionally, the bill prohibits the Commerce secretary from taking “any substantially similar action to pause or otherwise suspend or prohibit the issuance of new export licenses for exports of any or all items described” in the bill’s first paragraph. The lawmakers’ bill comes after Republicans on the House Small Business Committee demanded answers from the Department of Commerce on the pause. Chairman Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, led a letter to Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez earlier this month regarding the department’s pause on issuing gun export licenses. “The Biden Administration is continuing its relentless attack on small businesses with yet another decision that will only make our entrepreneurs’ lives more difficult,” Williams said. “Moreover, this decision could very well be in violation of our Second Amendment – which I will not stand for,” Williams warned. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Commerce for comment.

House widens Claudine Gay probe after new plagiarism accusations hit Harvard president

House Republicans are widening their investigation into Harvard President Claudine Gay as accusations of plagiarism in her scholarly work continue to pile up. The Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., wrote to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker on Wednesday demanding more information on the charges against Gay. “An allegation of plagiarism by a top school official at any university would be reason for concern, but Harvard is not just any university. It styles itself as one of the top educational institutions in the country,” Foxx wrote.  HARVARD BOARD STANDS BY EMBATTLED PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY, ADMITS ‘INADEQUATE CITATION’ IN SOME WRITINGS She pointed out that Harvard’s federal funding relies on its adherence to certain academic standards, which in part mandate that an institution “works to prevent cheating and plagiarism as well as to deal forthrightly with any instances in which they occur.” “Our concern is that standards are not being applied consistently, resulting in different rules for different members of the academic community,” the letter said. NAACP LEADER DEFENDS HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY, SAYS CRITICS ARE ‘ADVANCING A WHITE SUPREMACIST AGENDA’ “If a university is willing to look the other way and not hold faculty accountable for engaging in academically dishonest behavior, it cheapens its mission and the value of its education. Students must be evaluated fairly, under known standards – and have a right to see that faculty are, too.” Harvard has been grappling with an avalanche of accusations that Gay plagiarized multiple past academic works, including her own Ph.D. dissertations at the university. Gay had already been under fire after dodging questions on antisemitism on college campuses during a House hearing on the issue by the Education and Workforce Committee. She specifically received blowback for failing to sufficiently answer whether students who call for the genocide of Jews should be punished.  HARVARD STUDENT SAYS THE DECISION TO KEEP THE PRESIDENT IS ‘PART OF A REALLY LARGE TOXIC CULTURE’ ON CAMPUS In her Wednesday letter, Foxx requested copies of “all documents and communications concerning the initial allegations of plagiarism and the ‘independent review’ of President Claudine Gay’s scholarship” as well as “all documents and communications concerning allegations of plagiarism by President Gay and the University’s public response to media inquiries about those allegations.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP She also requested information on the university’s process for handling plagiarism and compliance with academic standards. Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Harris says US will land ‘international astronaut’ on the moon by the end of the decade

Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that the United States will land an “international astronaut” along with Americans on the moon by the end of the decade. Speaking at the third convening of the U.S. National Space Council under the Biden administration, Harris addressed the “importance of international collaboration on human space exploration,” noting how the Artemis program “is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations.”  “For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said. “For example, the service module that will help carry Artemis astronauts to the Moon was built by the European Space Agency. And Europe, Japan, and Canada will make significant contributions to the lunar space station.” “Today, in recognition of the essential role that our allies and partners play in the Artemis program, I am proud, then, to announce that alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the moon by the end of the decade,” the vice president said. “This announcement and this meeting of our National Space Council is further demonstration of our belief in the critical importance of international partnership… I believe we are all here together because we agree space is a place of extraordinary opportunity. So, our task – dare I say our duty – as nations must be to work together to make that opportunity real and to preserve it for future generations.”  WHAT’S INSIDE THE MOON? MYSTERIES THAT ARE STILL BEING DECODED The council made no mention of who the international moonwalker might be or even what country would be represented, according to The Associated Press. A NASA spokeswoman later said that crews would be assigned closer to the lunar-landing missions, and that no commitments had yet been made to another country. The move comes as the United States believes China is preparing for potential battles in orbit, according to Politico.  NASA has long stressed the need for global cooperation in space, establishing the Artemis Accords along with the U.S. State Department in 2020 to promote responsible behavior not just on the moon, but everywhere in space. Representatives from all 33 countries that have signed the accords so far were expected at the space council’s meeting in Washington. “We know from experience that collaboration on space delivers,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, citing the Webb Space Telescope, a U.S., European and Canadian effort. Blinken also noted that “new challenges have arisen, including from our strategic competitors,” but he did not specify countries.  The establishment of the Artemis Accords is viewed as a challenge to China’s International Lunar Research Station project, which aims to establish a coalition of nations to build a permanent base on the moon next decade. Russia and Venezuela are among the several countries that have signed on.  Russia is a partner with NASA in the International Space Station, along with Europe, Japan and Canada. Even earlier in the 1990s, the Russian and U.S. space agencies teamed up during the shuttle program to launch each other’s astronauts to Russia’s former orbiting Mir station. NASA has included international astronauts on trips to space for decades.  THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER OF 1986 SHOOK THE FOUNDATIONS OF SPACE EXPLORATION Canadian Jeremy Hansen will fly around the moon roughly a year from now as part of the Artemis II mission with three U.S. astronauts. Another crew would actually land; it would be the first lunar touchdown by astronauts in more than a half-century. That is not likely to occur before 2027, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. All 12 moonwalkers during NASA’s Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s were U.S. citizens. The space agency’s new moon exploration program is named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister. Including international partners “is not only sincerely appreciated, but it is urgently needed in the world today,” Hansen told the council. Wednesday was also the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Space Force. Former President Trump established it as the first new branch of the armed services since 1947.  During Wednesday’s meeting, Harris also announced new policies to ensure the safe use of space as more and more private companies and countries aim skyward. Among the issues that the U.S. is looking to resolve: the climate crisis and the growing amount of space junk around Earth. A 2021 anti-satellite missile test by Russia added more than 1,500 pieces of potentially dangerous orbiting debris, and Blinken joined others at the meeting in calling for all nations to end such destructive testing. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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US, China military leaders hold highest-level call since before Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

Top-level U.S.-Chinese communications have been re-established after months of antagonism and pointed silence. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. spoke Thursday morning with General Liu Zhenli — chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission in the People’s Liberation Army. “We’ve been clear about the importance of opening lines of military to military communications with the PRC at the senior most levels. However, it’s just one step, an important step, but it’s not the last step,” a senior U.S. official told Fox News of the call. The U.S. official continued, “And that’s why we’re continuing to have working level discussions with the PRC about future engagements to make sure that we deliver on what President Biden and Chairman Xi agreed to in November.” CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY TURNING US COMMUNICATIONS ‘ON AND OFF LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH,’ DOD SAYS The two leaders “discussed a number of global and regional security issues,” a U.S. readout of the call said Thursday. “Gen. Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” the U.S. said. “Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings.” The re-establishment of high-level communications follows a collapse in goodwill between the two nations after then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the island of Taiwan in August 2022. China, which aggressively claims sovereignty over Taiwan despite the island’s autonomous government, immediately ended a slew of diplomatic collaborations, including the types of phone calls re-established this week. BIDEN-XI MEETING TO SEAL DEALS ON FENTANYL, MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS The last phone call at this level was made by then-Chairman General Mark Milley to his counterpart in July 2022. The official speaking with Fox News attributed the change of heart to President Biden’s persistent appeals to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Biden met with Xi last month on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. This was a follow-up to their first in-person meeting in November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, where they agreed more direct communication between U.S. and Chinese leadership was desirable.  “It’s important to reopen the communications,” the U.S. official told Fox News. “These are the kinds of discussions that we need to have to try to avoid misunderstanding or miscalculation. And having those open channels of communication obviously, is a key part of that.” He concluded, “We view the call tomorrow as an important step of this, but also not the only step. And we have more work that we’re that we’re continuing to do on this front.”

What explains the dramatic rise in armed attacks in Pakistan?

Islamabad, Pakistan – A recent deadly suicide attack on a military post in northwest Pakistan has raised fears of the return of armed rebellion in the country’s tribal regions that have seen a dramatic rise in armed attacks this year. A little-known group, Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), claimed the December 12 bombing in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. At least 23 soldiers were killed and another 34 injured in the car bomb attack. The attacks by the TJP have brought back memories of the series of deadly attacks carried out by armed groups led by the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, in late 2000. But why have attacks on security forces increased and how are the Pakistani government and the military planning to handle it? What explains the surge in the attacks? The first 11 months of the year witnessed 664 attacks of varying nature and size across the country, an increase of 67 percent from the corresponding duration in 2022, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based research organisation. But the bulk of the attacks have targeted two provinces – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest and Balochistan in the southwest. Almost 93 percent of the total attacks took place in these two provinces, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the worst affected province, witnessing 416 attacks since November 2022 when the TTP walked out of the ceasefire with the government. Pakistan Taliban’s ideology is aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which currently rules the war-torn country. However, the groups have different goals and they operate independently. Family members of the victims of a suicide bombing in Peshawar weep as they take part in a march on February 1 denouncing armed attacks. [Muhammad Sajjad/AP Photo] In January, at least 100 people, mostly policemen, were killed in the worst attack of the year, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The attack was claimed by a TTP splinter group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. The genesis for the spike in the violence, analysts say, could be traced back to the unilateral decision by the Pakistan Taliban to end the ceasefire last year. The armed group has asserted that its attacks were in response to the renewed military operations in the region. Among their main demands include the release of its members and the reversal of the merger of the tribal region with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A stricter imposition of their interpretation of Islamic laws is also one of the demands. The Pakistani army has conducted multiple operations to eliminate the group since 2002 but struggled to achieve its goal as fighters have used the porous border to find safe haven in Afghanistan. Since its founding in 2007, the TTP has targeted both civilians as well as law enforcement personnel, resulting in thousands of deaths. Their deadliest attack came in December 2014, when they targeted the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, killing more than 130 students. The TTP also claimed responsibility for shooting Malala Yousafzai in 2012. Yousafzai went on to win the Noble Prize for Peace in 2015 and is currently a globally renowned girls’ education activist. The most disconcerting aspect of TJP lies in its implementation of suicide attacks. by Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based researcher The group remains banned in Pakistan and has been designated a “terrorist” group by the United States. Formed to unify like-minded groups in the region, the TTP stepped up attacks in response to Pakistani military operations launched to flush out foreign fighters fleeing the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. In response to the APS attack, the Pakistani military launched a large-scale military operation, titled Zarb-e-Azb, against the armed groups. While the Pakistani army claimed it was able to achieve its objective, the military operation was harshly criticised by the local population as well as human rights organisations. The military was accused of adopting scorched earth tactics and carrying out enforced disappearances of individuals accused of having links with the TTP. Many of those arrested were tried in a military court, which is considered contrary to international law. Which groups have sought to claim responsibility for the recent attacks? With the return of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in August 2021, which has had historical links with the Pakistani security establishment, it was believed that managing the TTP would become easier. A month after the Taliban took over Kabul, it helped facilitate the meeting between the Pakistani military with the TTP for both sides to engage in a ceasefire talk, a decision endorsed and pushed by Imran Khan, Pakistan’s then-prime minister. Subsequently, over the next few months, a tentative ceasefire led to the release of senior TTP leaders imprisoned by Pakistan. It also facilitated the resettlement of hundreds of TTP fighters and their families back to Pakistan. Some of their leaders had been released as part of peace deals with previous Pakistani governments. However, low-scale skirmishes between the two sides continued well into 2022, with both sides accusing each other of violating the agreement. The January 31 suicide blast targeting a mosque inside a police facility was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years. [Muhammad Zubair/AP Photo] Despite repeated meetings, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the growing distrust between the two sides increased. The removal of Khan as prime minister in April 2022, followed by the retirement of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in November 2022, did not help the cause. The TTP announced a unilateral end to the ceasefire days after Bajwa retired. The emergence of an obscure TJP, believed to be affiliated with the TTP, has further raised concerns among policymakers. TJP has been behind at least seven major attacks this year, including the latest one in Dera Ismail Khan. The group targeted a Pakistani Air Force airbase in Mianwali city in November and in another attack this year in Zhob city of Balochistan it killed at least 14 army personnel. According

UN calls for probe as Israeli army accused of killing unarmed Palestinians

UN rights office calls for investigation into ‘possible war crime’ amid reports Israeli forces allegedly ‘executed’ 11 Palestinian men in Gaza. The United Nations human rights office has called for an independent inquiry into allegations that Israeli forces “summarily executed” at least 11 Palestinian men in Gaza in what it called “a possible war crime”. “The Israeli authorities must immediately institute an independent, thorough and effective investigation into these allegations, and if found to be substantiated, those responsible must be brought to justice and measures implemented to prevent any such serious violations from recurring,” said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a statement on Wednesday. Disturbing information on summary killings of at least 11 unarmed Palestinian men in front of their family members in Al Remal neighbourhood.#Gaza #opt #IHL #humanrightshttps://t.co/Gf0GdyDPAZ — UN Human Rights OPT (@OHCHR_Palestine) December 20, 2023 Al Jazeera spoke to several witnesses to Tuesday’s raid during which Israeli troops allegedly surrounded and stormed a residential building, going floor to floor to separate the men from the women and children, and then shooting dead 11 of the men in front of their family members. The men were in their 20s and 30s, survivors said. “They saw us, men and their wives and children. My brother-in-law tried to speak and explain all in the house are civilians, but they shot him dead,” one survivor told Al Jazeera of the attack on families who were sheltering in al-Adwa building in Gaza City’s Remal neighbourhood. The soldiers “forced their way into every home, killed the men and detained the women and children. We do not know their whereabouts. They did the same on every floor. All women were rounded up in one room. By the time they reached us on the sixth floor, they started shooting all men,” a woman said, adding that her father-in-law and son were shot and killed instantly. Survivors also said that the Israeli soldiers also attacked the women and children after ordering them into a room in the residential block also known as Annan building. “The Israeli soldiers rounded up all the women in one room, then fired three mortar shells on us, then kept shooting their machine guns at us,” a wounded woman said. “I was hit with a bullet in my hand, my daughter in her head, my younger daughter was killed and my son is blind. My husband was executed in cold blood. All my other daughters suffered severe injuries, broken bones and flesh torn open. We were all hit by bullets or shrapnel,” she added. Analyst Tamer Qarmout, an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, welcomed the UN call for an investigation into the “unlawful killings”, telling Al Jazeera that the key issue is how such probes are going to be conducted. None of the entities that could investigate alleged Israeli crimes against Palestinians is currently allowed into the Gaza Strip, Qarmout noted. Other witnesses recalled that the men were forced to strip before being shot, and one man said that “even young boys were not spared. They were all battered and bludgeoned. They suffered broken bones and are in hospital.” There has been no comment from the Israeli military on the attack. Adblock test (Why?)

Greece to join US-led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthis

The maritime alliance wants to counter threats that the Yemeni rebel group says are a response to Israeli ‘crimes’ in Gaza. Greece will send a warship to support a United States-led naval coalition in the Red Sea, becoming the latest country to join the alliance to counter threats from Yemen’s Houthis. Defence Minister Nikos Dendias announced the move in a televised address on Thursday, saying Greece, as a major shipping nation, has a “fundamental interest” in addressing the “massive threat” to maritime transport. The naval task force, announced by the US on Tuesday, initially listed 10 member nations to help patrol the waters to deter the Iran-aligned Houthis, who have attacked more than a dozen vessels they claim were linked to Israel amid the war on Gaza. The Houthis say they will halt their attacks only if Israel’s “crimes in Gaza stop”. The original members of the Red Sea task force – called Operation Prosperity Guardian – include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain. Since then, Denmark has also joined the alliance, according to the Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, the European Union member states have agreed to contribute through the European Naval Force. Australia stopped short of committing its warships to the alliance but said on Thursday it would send 11 military personnel to support the mission. ‘Will not stand idly by’ Despite the Western show of force, the Houthis have promised to continue their attacks on vessels travelling to or from Israel for as long as the Gaza war goes on, saying operations will not cease even if the US mobilises “the entire world”. On Wednesday, Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi warned the group would not hesitate to strike US warships if Washington targeted it. “We will not stand idly by if the Americans are tempted to escalate further and commit foolishness by targeting our country or waging war against it,” al-Houthi said in a televised speech. “Any American targeting of our country will be targeted by us, and we will make American battleships, interests, and navigation a target for our missiles, drones, and military operations,” he added. In recent months, Houthi drone attacks and attempted hijackings have pushed more than a dozen shipping firms to suspend operations in the Red Sea, through which 12 percent of all global trade passes. On Thursday, the foreign minister of Egypt, which has not formally joined the maritime coalition, said countries on the Red Sea have a responsibility to protect the contentious waters and that Cairo would do its part to ensure “freedom of navigation”. “We continue to cooperate with many of our partners to provide suitable conditions for the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” said Sameh Shoukry at a news conference. Adblock test (Why?)

A1Loans, Personal Loan Company for Bluecollar Employees, Launched

The loan amount will be between Rs. 15,000-Rs.75,000. The company also offers SME loans and loans against properties.