ONGC’s Mahanadi Gas Discovery: Can India’s new deepwater find ease fuel crisis
ONGC has discovered natural gas in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin under Samudra Manthan. Here’s how the deepwater find could boost India’s energy security.
‘Upcoming Superpower’: V4 nations back India’s permanent UNSC seat bid, details here
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said there was unity among Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in backing India’s bid.
Delhi Horror: 17-year-old allegedly gang-raped by 3 men posing as police officer near Kalkaji Mandir; One held
According to the complaint, she visited Kalkaji Mandir with her 17-year-old male friend at around 7 pm on Monday and later went for a walk towards the park area behind it.
Mamdani tells Trump banned White House outlets are welcome at NYC meeting
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday said NYC welcomed all members of the media for a joint meeting with President Donald Trump, who recently banned certain media outlets from the White House. The remarks came during a press conference at Gracie Mansion, where a reporter asked Mamdani whether he had challenged Trump on his decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. “I told the president that we’re going to have all of the members of the press here on the lawn. And that is something that I believe in, as everyone, no matter the opinion or the critique that we engage in,” Mamdani said. Trump then took the stage, defending his decision and addressing the subsequent suspension of presidential pool coverage by the remaining television networks, which included FOX News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News. TRUMP, MAMDANI SET TO MEET AGAIN ON MAYOR’S HOME TURF AFTER MONTHS OF POLITICAL WHIPLASH “It’s interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me. So I wasn’t very worried about that. Look at all that press,” Trump said. He then explained why he chose to engage with the outlets at Gracie Mansion despite what he described as their failure to fairly cover his accomplishments, including winning the election, settling wars and improving economic numbers. “I’m only doing it because I think the press also has an obligation,” he said. “We have the best economic numbers for the country in the history of our country. We have $21 trillion pouring in, the biggest number ever… Nobody’s ever done what we’ve done,” he added. WHITE HOUSE WON’T BACK DOWN AS ATTORNEY PREDICTS HOW TRUMP’S LATEST PRESS TUSSLE WILL PLAY OUT IN COURT Trump then argued that allowing certain media outlets into the White House would be harmful to national security, accusing them of reporting what he called “fake news.” “I never get anything positive. It’s always negative, even having to do with the war. We’ve done so well,” he said, referring to Iran. “You would think that an outlet would write at least reasonably well, but never. If you look at CNN, it’s fake news,” he added. “They’re very bad for the country, very bad for national security. So I have that obligation. So we’ll see how it works out,” he said.
Socialist, communist groups coordinate, promote ‘spontaneous’ anti-ICE protests in Austin
Media accounts reported that protesters “quickly organized” a spontaneous anti-ICE protest at an Austin, Texas, intersection following the shooting of a Venezuelan man by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. But a Fox News Digital investigation shows that the protests are being promoted and organized by a coordinated network of far-left socialist and communist groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which works closely with nonprofits funded by Neville Roy Singham, a communist American-born tech tycoon living in Shanghai. Congressional lawmakers are investigating the Singham network for allegedly fomenting the image of “chaos” in the U.S., including anti-ICE protests from Minneapolis to the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, N.J. Sure enough, Sunday evening, BreakThrough News, a pro-communist media platform operated by BreakThrough BT Media, a nonprofit funded by Singham, published a “BREAKING NEWS” report from Texas with the headline: “Austin erupts in protest…” AUSTIN ICE SHOOTING SPARKS FIGHT OVER VENEZUELAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S DEPORTATION The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon at about 12:56 p.m. Central Time near Anderson Square and Research Boulevard in Austin. Authorities said an ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, during a traffic stop. Perez was hospitalized in serious but stable condition and later placed in federal custody. Local officials said Austin police weren’t involved in the shooting, which is being investigated by federal authorities with assistance from the FBI. About four hours after the shooting, local socialist and communist activists were already at the scene, waving flags of Mexico, pushing the incident through their national and Texas social-media networks and broadcasting footage of the growing crowd and confrontations with Austin police. The headlines and descriptions of the demonstration have focused on the protest’s anti-ICE message without identifying the political or ideological infrastructure that helped organize and promote the event. Local media headlines included KVUE reporting that “North Austin ICE shooting draws large protest as tensions escalate,” describing a spontaneous outburst: “What began with a handful of people gathered across the street from the scene grew into a much larger crowd over the course of several hours.” But the details of the Austin protest are important because they reveal that the demonstrations represent more than an unplanned gathering of residents responding to a breaking-news event, much like the protests in Minnesota and New Jersey and Minnesota. SECRET SIGNAL CHATS REVEAL HOW ANTI-ICE AGITATORS COORDINATED NEWARK RIOTS The shooting provided the immediate trigger, but the mobilization was amplified by organizations with explicit revolutionary socialist and communist ideologies, established propaganda outlets and long-standing ties to international movements aligned with the communist governments of Cuba and Venezuela. They each have pre-existing activist networks and online audiences that organized and promoted the protests. The event also illustrates how rapidly established activist networks can convert a law-enforcement incident into a larger political action. Within hours, the groups distributed nearly identical claims, promoted the same location and used dramatic language describing the shooting as “ICE terror,” “police violence” and part of a pattern of killings. At about 4:19 p.m. local time, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s national account, @PSLNational, posted an explosive message on X, announcing the shooting and shouting in capital letters, “BREAKING. MAN SHOT BY ICE AGENTS IN AUSTIN. It called on residents to protest ICE, declaring, “ICE OUT OF AUSTIN NOW!” Right about then, the group’s Austin chapter shared the dramatic “BREAKING” graphic on Instagram, collaborating with its national headquarters and four Texas chapters in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth and Waco. By early Monday evening, about 24 hours later, the post had 5,402 likes, 2,016 reposts and 2,391 shares/sends. DEPROGRAMMED: FORMER DSA INSIDER REVEALS ‘FRIGHTENING’ SOCIALIST AGENDA DROVE HIM FROM ‘EXTREME’ IDEOLOGY Soon after on Sunday, at about 4:30 p.m. local time, the Austin chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America posted a graphic labeled “Emergency Demonstration/Vigil” calling on supporters to gather at 8121 Research Boulevard from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday for a “spontaneous” protest. “Join us at 8121 Research Blvd from 5-8 p.m. for a spontaneous protest and vigil against yet another instance of ICE and police violence,” the post said. The group later reposted the notice with an updated location and said the demonstration would continue until 7 p.m. Right about then, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, an openly Marxist-Leninist group that has sent delegations to support communist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela, and its Austin chapter published its own hyperbolic material about the shooting. One graphic said, “ICE SHOOTS AN UNARMED CIVILIAN,” while another described the incident as part of a broader pattern of “ICE violence and killings.” Within 24 hours, the post garnered 620 likes, 214 reposts and 156 shares/sends. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization openly says it is working to build “a new, revolutionary, communist party.” In its own program, the group says it wants to replace capitalism through a socialist revolution. The group’s program describes the organization as part of the communist movement. In July, the group said it “salutes the Communist Party of China” on the 105th anniversary of its founding. For years, it’s also supported the Communist Party of Cuba, declaring, “Stand with socialist Cuba,” as it praised the Cuban Revolution and called for an end to U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Videos posted by the group showed demonstrators chanting, holding signs, blocking the roadway near the shooting scene and lighting fireworks. HASAN PIKER DEFENDS PRO-COMMUNIST, ANTI-ICE SINGHAM NETWORK ACTIVISTS AS ‘WONDERFUL PEOPLE’ The Party for Socialism and Liberation official manifesto describes itself as a “revolutionary socialist” movement that “will open the way to communism and the end of class society.” The program describes the police and state institutions as tools of capitalist rule and calls for a workers’ government to replace the current system. The Party for Socialism and Liberation functions as a key boots-on-the-ground mobilizer within the broader activist ecosystem, working alongside Singham-funded organizations such as the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News, CodePink and the ANSWER Coalition on protests, media campaigns
Fury erupts over Mamdani parade invite as old Columbus insult resurfaces: ‘Are you kidding me?’
A decision to invite New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to Manhattan’s annual Columbus Day Parade has sparked backlash among some Italian-American leaders. The Columbus Citizens Foundation, which is responsible for holding the parade, invited Mamdani in the hopes of fostering a better relationship between City Hall and the Italian-American community, the New York Post reported. Mamdani’s past criticism of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, however, has sparked backlash among Italians who feel inviting the mayor is in poor taste. “Are you kidding me? This is a WEAK and FECKLESS move by the organizers,” Italian American Civil Rights League president Mike Crispi wrote on X. “Zohran has showed contempt for our people and kissing a** won’t change his true feelings. Italian Americans need to wake up and get tough. It’s the only way to preserve our culture.” Crispi’s criticism was a reference to a 2020 social media post where Mamdani posted a photo of himself brandishing his middle finger at a statue of Columbus with the caption “take it down.” Columbus holds a near-legendary status among Italian Americans, with the 15th-century explorer viewed by many as a historic link between their heritage and the United States. ‘DIE HARD’ ACTOR ROBERT DAVI BLASTS MAMDANI AFTER NYC MAP OMITS LITTLE ITALY “We feel cooperating is always the better path . . . and we hope to create a good relationship with his office,” Columbus Citizens Foundation president Christopher Loiacono told the New York Post when asked about his decision to invite Mamdani. “We hope he will be more open to [working] with the Italian community.” It is unclear if Mamdani has accepted the invitation to the parade. Columbus Day falls on Monday, Oct. 12, with New York City’s annual Columbus Day Parade set for Manhattan. “This is a man who has made it clear that he doesn’t respect Christopher Columbus, and he doesn’t even think us enough of a group to put on his immigrant enclave map,” New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola, a Republican from Queens, wrote in response. “Why would he want to be there? To get pictures and pretend he’s a paisan now? He should sit this one out.” MAMDANI WON’T ATTEND ISRAEL DAY PARADE, BREAKING DECADES-LONG MAYORAL TRADITION AMID ANTISEMITISM SURGE Ariola’s comment was an apparent reference to a map of ethnic enclaves published by the city earlier this year that excluded Little Italy, which also sparked backlash from Italians. The map was initially created by the previous administration in 2023, and Mamdani said his administration added several neighborhoods before releasing the 2026 version. Nonetheless, Mamdani has moved to update the map to include Little Italy. A Columbus Day parade wouldn’t be the first public event Mamdani has attended this year to draw organized opposition to his presence. The mayor’s presence at the annual memorial service at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 spurred some family members of victims to circulate a petition demanding that he stay home. “Just as Mamdani’s presence at the 9/11 Ceremony was inappropriate, we Italian/Americans don’t want him on Columbus Day either,” right-wing political operative Roger Stone wrote on X. Some non-Italians are offended on behalf of the community. FAMILIES OF 9/11 VICTIMS’ MESSAGE TO MAMDANI: ‘PLEASE DO NOT COME’ TO MEMORIAL CEREMONY “I’m not Italian but I’ve been an honorary dignitary for 5 years running at the Columbus Day Parade thanks to my friend Angelo Vivolo,” Jewish radio host Sid Rosenberg wrote on X. “The organizers of the parade invited [Mamdani] to attend? What? This Radical Islam mother f*cker gave the finger to a Columbus statue and left Little Italy/Arthur Avenue OFF his bullsh*t immigrant map … When did my Italian brothers and sisters become so soft! … I will NOT attend this year if he is there.” “The Italians need to step up and stop this!” he added. Crispi has threatened to hold a competing Columbus Day parade next year if the Columbus Citizens Foundation does not revoke its invitation to the mayor. The Mayor’s office and the Columbus Citizens Foundation did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.
Rep Eric Burlison: ‘Most of my colleagues’ are ‘drunk on spending other people’s money, even Republicans’
Facing a national debt that has exploded past $40 trillion, Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison isn’t holding back on his own colleagues — accusing Washington lawmakers on both sides of the aisle of being “drunk on spending” while working-class families pay the price. Burlison recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital to discuss fiscal prudence, healthcare, inflation, and how Republicans can lift their fortunes ahead of midterm elections just six weeks away. CONGRESSMAN ERIC BURLISON: IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, ‘THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE PRISON’ “Most of my colleagues like to spend money…they like to spend other people’s money. They’re drunk on spending other people’s money, even Republicans, unfortunately, and there’s few people up here like myself who were willing to make significant spending reductions. “And so we had to fight tooth and nail to get any spending reductions in the Big, Beautiful Bill. And we were demonized by the left, obviously, but we had to fight members even on our own side of the aisle to make those spending reductions. “But, look, at some point, the party is going to be over, and we are all gonna wake up in a drunken stupor with a hangover, and it’s going to be painful, and we’re going to have to figure out how to get our way out of that. “All of these sins of overspending are haunting us. And now we’re seeing…inflation that we can’t control. We’re seeing the interest rates go through the roof. At some point, you can’t keep borrowing money…Sadly, my colleagues that weren’t willing to cut spending are going to be forced to cut spending.” Despite seeking to portray themselves as the party of affordability, the GOP seems to have a major messaging problem as it heads into the tumultuous midterm elections. Burlison points to healthcare as the main problem: “I mean, again, it’s really sad. This office has been broadcasting to the leadership every chance that we can that the American people are feeling the crunch, they’re feeling the affordability crunch. We put together a solution that we call the Great American healthcare plan. We also have another bill that addresses the housing affordability issue. “This office has been doing everything we can to try to fix the affordability issue and have been putting these ideas and solutions in the faces of leadership for at least two years. It’s just unfortunate that we can’t get people to do the difficult things. And sadly that’s because Washington DC doesn’t like to do difficult things and fixing healthcare is the number one thing that we should be looking to do. WE’RE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS. THE US MUST CHOOSE: EITHER $20 TRILLION IN DEBT OR MEDICAID REFORM “Healthcare cost is eating away everyone’s discretionary dollars…In the year 2000, the average American family was paying $6,000 a year for insurance premiums for a family of four. Today, that’s $27,000 a year. If that had followed normal inflation, that would only be $11,000 per year. “So if you ask the average family of four, would you like to be paying health insurance premiums at $11,000 a year, they would say, heck, yeah, that sounds like a great deal. That is not what they’re paying today. They’re paying $27,000. So if you think about that, just that alone, that is crowding out everything else that the average American family has to pay. You have to come up with another $16,000 that you didn’t have to come up with before, in order to pay for a healthcare system that has exceeded inflation by three-fold. “So three times normal inflation for the healthcare premiums, health insurance premiums. It’s not sustainable, and it’s crowded out everything else, and it is the reason why young people cannot afford to buy a home. It’s the reason why people have a hard time going out to eat. It’s a reason why people aren’t going on vacation as much. People are having to make very difficult choices, and it’s not the same choices that people had to make 20 years ago.” As Elon Musk and DOGE-fervor swept across the nation’s capital at the beginning of 2025, Burlison’s initial enthusiasm soon turned to disappointment as he saw colleagues avoid much-needed spending cuts: “DOGE was the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen in politics. And I was super excited about it. But I also was skeptical. I watched Elon come give speeches to my colleagues. And what was ironic is that some of the most swampy members of Congress were rushing to the microphones to embrace Elon to talk to him to tell him where he should go to look for spending reductions. “And yet those very people were the ones that were voting against every spending reduction that you would ever bring to the floor. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of opportunities to cut spending… We submitted hundreds of amendments to the appropriations committees to cut spending and yet each and every time, anytime there’s ever a vote to cut spending, they fail. “So, look. All we have to do as Republicans is look in the mirror and say where’s the problem? It’s me, it’s us…I’m one of these almost going extinct members of the Republican Party that still believes in fiscal prudence, still believes and in cutting spendings this small government free market conservative. But unfortunately, that’s not how all of my colleagues feel.” Burlison argues that the GOP has a fundamental messaging problem and has urged his colleagues to zero in on their economic pitch to the American public, with a particular focus on the healthcare crisis: “So, in my opinion, it’s not enough to run against a platform. If you have to provide a vision to the American people, and if you ask the American voter today, what will the Republican Party do if they’re reelected…I don’t think that they would know. And so to me, the vision that I would provide is to say, ‘we’re going to fix
Reporter’s Notebook: Congress faces a crisis that the ‘AI godfather’ warns it may not be ready to address
To hear estimates about the growing power of AI, one might ask AI chatbots how long it will take Congress to regulate the technology. But you might not need to do that. You could just inquire with your trusty Capitol Hill correspondent. Let’s call this chatbot “ChadGPT.” REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CONGRESS MEETS AI AS FEARS OF HUMAN EXTINCTION JOLT CAPITOL HILL And it truly doesn’t require that much congressional clairvoyance to divine when lawmakers could address AI – despite the forecast of a looming crisis. You just need a little understanding of the congressional parliamentary posture over the next few months. It’s doubtful that Congress will do anything about AI until after the midterms. Or, maybe even early next year. Results of the midterms will likely consume the lame duck session – regardless of which party wins or loses. Plus, lawmakers must fund the government by mid-December. If either the House or Senate flips, it might be March or April next year until Congress returns to AI. It simply takes Congress a long time to accomplish anything. Especially when there’s a change in who runs the place. The Senate is scheduled to meet for the next two weeks. But House Members fled the Capitol last week – a day earlier than planned and two weeks earlier than the original schedule – even as the “godfather of AI” visited Capitol Hill. Geoffrey Hinton is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. He’s a 2004 Nobel laureate for his work on “artificial neural networks.” He proffered a stark warning for lawmakers. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., summoned Hinton to Capitol Hill for a bipartisan, bicameral briefing on AI. Sanders has called for a ban on “superintelligence.” Many lawmakers are furious over what’s unfolded with AI over the past few weeks. They want action now. I had a battery of questions for Hinton when he emerged from the briefing late last week in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. We’ve heard that Congress is lagging when it comes to taking action. ANTHROPIC CEO CALLS ON AI INDUSTRY TO SLOW DOWN TECH RACE, DRAWING SUPPORT FROM ELON MUSK, SAM ALTMAN “How much time do lawmakers actually have to get ahead of this before this is a big problem,” I asked. “Very little,” replied Hinton. “What is ‘a little,’” I countered. “A few weeks? A month?” “Maybe a year,” opined Hinton. “But not much more than a year.” Sigh. Hinton characterized the incident where AI agents went rogue and hacked another company as a “little Chernobyl.” For the uninitiated, that was the epic meltdown of the nuclear reactor in the former Soviet Union in 1986. It’s one of the most extraordinary human-made disasters in history. But some Republican leaders – and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in particular – are downplaying potential doom. Especially after President Trump declared on Truth Social that AI concerns were a “HOAX.” “Do you remember when AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] said, was it climate change? What was her stupid thing? She said, ‘we’re all going to be dead in ten years,’” said Johnson. “This is what the President is saying. You’re not all going to be dead in ten years. That’s a hoax.” Johnson isn’t opposed to legislative action on AI. But he’s certainly taking his cues from President Trump. And even though many Democrats and some Republicans demanded that the House remain in session to wrestle with AI, Johnson predicted that the exercise would be moot. REP. TED LIEU: AI IS ALREADY TOO POWERFUL. WE NEED A KILL SWITCH BEFORE DISASTER STRIKES “If I called an emergency session today and I brought everybody in the House and said, ‘let’s regulate,” I tell you, nobody in the room knows yet what that should look like,” said Johnson. “We’re going to have steady hands at the wheel on this.” But other Republicans harbor more fear of rapid AI development. “What would happen if we created an independent species that became superior to a human species?” asked Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Shortly after the briefing with Hinton and others, Kennedy went to the Senate floor and implored his colleagues to pass a bill on the spot requiring AI firms to install a kill switch if their agents rebelled again. However, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked that on the floor. He feared that such a mandate could stifle innovation. “We’re going to just put this blanket regulation on the whole economy with no discussion in one fell swoop, on one day, by unanimous consent?” questioned Paul. Paul’s objection stymied the Senate. The Kentucky Republican is sanguine about what’s ahead for AI. But he worries about congressional intervention. “People have feared technology since the beginning of time,” said Paul. ” I wouldn’t put Congress in charge of a McDonald’s.” Jeffrey Ladish of Palisade Research assesses the risks of new technology. After the briefing, Ladish offered his own foreboding prediction about AI running amok. “How is this allowed to happen? And how do we ensure this never happens again?” asked Ladish. “Because right now, I guarantee you this will happen again. We are not on track for fixing this.” Ladish argued that even researchers “don’t know how to control it.” That’s why some lawmakers insist that Congress must move fast to combat AI – perhaps even treating it as a new threat. “The people who are the greatest innovators and creators in the world in the AI space are warning us of serious danger. So shame on us if we don’t listen to them,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., is studying for a master’s degree in AI at George Masson University. He says people are skeptical about AI. But he suggests that the public may grow even more skeptical if one party tries to legislate on AI without bipartisan buy-in. TRUMP ANNOUNCES NEW ‘AI FORCE,’ VOWS TO PROTECT INDUSTRY AS AI CZAR ANNOUNCEMENT NEARS “We need to do it together. Also, if we do it together, Democrats and
Mamdani in hot seat over post mourning death of inmate charged with callous crime: ‘Absolutely shameful’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing strong pushback from critics after posting his condolences for the death of a jail inmate charged in the killing of an autistic man during an ambush. “A person in City custody died yesterday evening following a court appearance in Queens,” Mamdani posted on X on Thursday. “Department of Correction staff performed CPR until emergency medical services arrived to take him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. I extend my condolences to his family. In line with standard practice, the DOC and its oversight partners will investigate the circumstances of his death.” The vast majority of social media users who replied to the post took issue with Mamdani not providing more details about the alleged crime. The individual who died was Luis Alberto Lopez Castillo, who faced charges of murder, manslaughter and robbery related to the 2025 murder of 26-year-old Ron Marte, a man with special needs, the New York Post reported. Prosecutors allege Castillo and his accomplice Axel Martinez ambushed Marte in the Bronx’s Starlight Park as he walked home from work, with Martinez shooting him in the chest while Castillo took his cellphone. CITY-RUN BOARD CANCELS LEASE OF ISRAEL DRONE SUPPLIER, SPARKING BACKLASH TOWARD MAMDANI: ‘LUDICROUS’ Mamdani’s critics highlighted the post as an example of the mayor showing more concern for suspected criminals than victims. “Again!” FOX Business anchor David Asman posted on X. “I thought somewhere in the beginning of ‘An Idiot’s Guide to Being Mayor’ here’s a suggestion: ‘Display sympathy for the victims; Not the criminals.’” “Didn’t he murder a 26 year old special needs man?” Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism posted on X. MAMDANI SETS INTERNET ABLAZE WITH VIDEO EXPLAINING CAVE ON PLAN TO ARREST NETANYAHU: ‘WHAT A JOKE’ “The guy Mamdani is mourning here was charged with robbing and murdering a 26 year old with special needs,” Benny Polatseck, a former digital producer for former NYC Mayor Eric Adams posted on X. “Did you see any tweets from him mourning his helpless victim?” “Absolutely shameful…,” conservative influencer account Proud Elephant posted on X. “Just when you thought Mamdani couldn’t go any lower. Mamdani should do the right thing and resign from office in disgrace.” Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. Mamdani has faced similar criticism before, including in August when he mourned the death of a man with 27 prior arrests who died in Rikers Island jail while facing charges for murdering a man with a meat cleaver in a Brooklyn laundromat. Mamdani has been outspoken about his efforts to improve safety and living conditions across the jail system and has made several moves he says will accomplish that, including ending 12-hour shifts for correctional staff, addressing the practice of housing people of different ages together, moving to close Rikers Island, and strengthening oversight under the federal Nunez monitoring agreement. His administration has begun transferring unused Rikers facilities out of the Department of Correction’s control and opened a 104-bed therapeutic housing unit at Bellevue Hospital to provide incarcerated people with specialized medical care. New York City has been legally committed since 2019 to closing Rikers and replacing it with four smaller borough-based jails, a plan Mamdani has pledged to accelerate. Critics argue the move would leave the city with fewer jail cells and make it more difficult to tackle crime. Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report
White House won’t back down as attorney predicts how Trump’s latest press tussle will play out in court
An attorney at a nonprofit that defends the First Amendment doesn’t think President Donald Trump will come out on top in a legal battle with three media outlets he banned from the White House. But after announcing on Friday his ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico — and the resulting lawsuit against him — the White House told Fox News Digital that Trump isn’t backing down. “I think the Trump administration will not fare well in court because its action here is blatantly unconstitutional,” predicted Aaron Terr, the director of public advocacy at the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Trump took to TRUTH Social on Friday to announce that employees with the three major media outlets will be banned from White House grounds over “reporting FAKE NEWS. He said they “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.” DISNEY SUES FCC OVER ‘RETALIATORY CAMPAIGN AGAINST ABC,’ SEEKS TO BLOCK EARLY RENEWAL PROCEEDINGS Terr says that what media outlets report is not at issue. “There’s settled precedent that when the White House opens its doors to the press, which it has done, the First Amendment walks in too,” Terr said. “So that means the administration can’t ban reporters from the White House grounds just because it doesn’t like their point of view or thinks their coverage is too negative or critical, and the president in his statements has been crystal clear that this was the exact reason that he banned CNN, MSN, and … Politico from the entire White House grounds.” Reporters and cameramen with the outlets removed their gear and set up on Pennsylvania Ave. over the weekend and this week continued to film live hits from across the street rather than from their usual spots on White House grounds. In response to Terr’s assessment, the White House remained defiant about the ban. “The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office,” the White House said. “The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy. They’re completely capable of reporting from directly outside.” CNN FIRES BACK AT TRUMP WHITE HOUSE OVER ATTACKS ON REPORTER, CALLS THEM ‘BENEATH THE OFFICE’ Monday morning, the three news outlets filed a lawsuit against Trump seeking an injunction that would halt the president’s ban temporarily, and asking the court to immediately order the restoration of the media members’ White House credentials. CNN was scheduled for White House television pool coverage on Monday. Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News, the other press pool networks, announced in a joint statement that they would not take CNN’s place. “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” the pool members said in a joint statement. Additionally, White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News, released a statement expressing the organization’s support of the outlets. “Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment,” she wrote. “The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.” “The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably,” she continued. “The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues’ access.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUBPOENAS NY TIMES JOURNALISTS IN GRAND JURY LEAK PROBE TIED TO AIR FORCE ONE REPORT Terr said that while nobody has a First Amendment right to report from the White House, he said court precedent established that once a media outlet gains access to the White House, that access cannot be revoked for ideological reasons. “The principle here is that once the government provides access, it then can’t condition that access on whether you’re expressing a viewpoint that the government agrees with,” he said. “It’s a broader First Amendment principle that the government cannot retaliate against Americans for protected speech, and that includes revoking news outlets’ access to a space open to the press just because the president doesn’t like the actual or perceived slant of their report.” Terr noted that while there can be bias in media, the alternative of government-controlled media could result in a much worse outcome. “The First Amendment is designed to prevent exactly that type of government control over the flow of information in a free society,” he said. “The First Amendment guarantees that reporters are free to cover the news in a way that they think is best, and it’s up to the American public to hear what they have to say and decide whether or not to trust them and their coverage of the government and other issues in our society.”