PM Modi rejects report on foreign travel tax: ‘Not an iota of truth in this’
The rare rebuttal from the prime minister came after a report by CNBC-TV18 said that a proposal to impose a tax or cess on foreign travel was under discussion at the “highest levels.”
Politics of revenge in Bengal: FIR against Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek
Bidhannagar Police have filed an FIR against TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee over alleged provocative and inflammatory election speeches shared on social media during the West Bengal Assembly polls.
Texas town may offer a preview of Trump administration plan to force noncitizens from public housing
Half of the residents moved out after the Port Isabel Housing Authority mistakenly said everyone must have legal status under a new HUD policy. The policy hasn’t yet been adopted.
$1.7 billion contract awarded “for border wall in Big Bend” amid public confusion over construction plans
The contract comes just a week after Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said the agency would not build a wall in Big Bend National Park.
Senator John Kennedy introduces America to ‘Margaret,’ his elliptical trainer named after Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher once ran Britain. John Kennedy’s “Margaret” mostly runs him into the ground. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is going viral after posting a tongue-in-cheek workout video introducing followers to “Margaret” — his elliptical trainer named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — while wearing a red bandanna and speaking directly to the camera from his Louisiana carport. “Hey X, I have somebody I’d like you to meet,” Kennedy says at the start of the minute-long video posted to social media Friday. “This is Margaret. Margaret is my elliptical trainer. I named Margaret after Margaret Thatcher because both kick butt and take names.” ERIC SWALWELL’S ‘CRINGE’ WORKOUT VIDEO MOCKED FOR BENCHING LIGHT WEIGHT Kennedy goes on to explain that “Margaret” lives outside under the carport for three reasons: the machine is too heavy to move, his wife “won’t let” him bring it inside and because he enjoys getting in a workout during Louisiana summers. The Senator said he enjoys working outside during Louisiana summers, a detail that drew disbelief from many viewers familiar with the state’s famously brutal heat and humidity. “As you can see, Margaret, my elliptical trainer, is out here under my carport in Louisiana,” Kennedy says. “After Margaret kicks my butt, I look for air conditioning.” The surreal, self-aware clip quickly drew thousands of reactions online, with users roasting Kennedy’s bandanna look while also praising the senator’s everyman personality. SEN KENNEDY PRAISES FETTERMAN AS A ‘TOTAL BANGER,’ WHO ‘DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN’ ABOUT ANGERING LIBERALS “You are rocking the dadgum crap outta that bandana,” one user wrote. “I thought you were representing the Bloods for a minute. Tell Margaret I think she’s cute but evil.” Others praised Kennedy’s personality and down-home delivery style. “You are a gem to us normal folk Mr. Kennedy. Live long and prosper!” one supporter posted. “Senator Kennedy is that kind of Southerner that makes you feel you’re sitting on the front porch having some bit of common sense enlighten you in that poetic Southern way,” another wrote. The Louisiana Republican has long cultivated a folksy, humorous public image that often breaks through online with colorful one-liners and unconventional social media moments. Kennedy ended the video with a line that only added to the internet’s fascination. “My work here is done,” he said. “And I can see myself out.”
Colorado governor commutes Tina Peters’ sentence as Trump posts ‘FREE TINA!’
Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — the former election clerk convicted in connection with a 2021 voting equipment breach case that became a flashpoint in the election integrity fight — drawing immediate backlash from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and praise from President Donald Trump, who posted “FREE TINA!” on Truth Social. Polis announced clemency for 44 individuals Friday, including 35 pardons and nine commutations, according to the governor’s office. Peters was among those granted a commutation reducing her prison sentence and granting parole effective June 1, 2026. “The Clemency power is a serious responsibility, and not one that I take lightly,” Polis said in a statement announcing the clemency actions. “This power has the ability to change lives – help grant a second chance for someone who has made grave mistakes – and it comes with great consideration, and sometimes even controversy,” he added. TRUMP ANNOUNCES PARDON FOR COLORADO CLERK: ‘SIMPLY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR ELECTIONS WERE FAIR’ The move immediately prompted a blistering response from Griswold, who accused Polis of legitimizing “the election denial movement.” “This clemency grant to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement Friday. “The Governor’s actions today will validate and embolden the election denial movement, and leave a dark, dangerous imprint on American democracy for years to come,” she added. FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO RELEASE PRO-TRUMP CLERK CONVICTED IN 2020 ELECTION SCHEME According to the executive order signed Friday, Peters’ sentence was commuted from 8 years and 3 months to 4 years and 4.5 months. The order grants her parole effective June 1, 2026, with conditions to be set by the Colorado Parole Board. “Tina M. Peters be and hereby is granted a limited commutation such that her total sentence, inclusive of time in County Jail and the Department of Corrections, is commuted to 4 years and 4.5 months, and that she is granted parole effective June 1, 2026,” the order states. The executive order also explicitly noted that the clemency action “shall not in any way affect the underlying criminal conviction.” TRUMP PARDONS RUDY GIULIANI, MARK MEADOWS, SIDNEY POWELL, OTHERS INVOLVED IN 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE SAGA Polis wrote in the order that “the constitutional and statutory conditions for granting this clemency petition have been satisfied, and granting this commutation is in the interest of justice.” According to the executive order, Peters was convicted in 2024 of three counts of attempt to influence a public servant, along with conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation – cause liability, official misconduct, violation of duty elections and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements. She had been sentenced to 8 years and 3 months in Department of Corrections custody, along with 6 months in county jail. Her mandatory release date had previously been listed in 2033, while her estimated parole eligibility date had been in 2028. BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE’S HOW OTHERS PRESIDENTS RANK Griswold’s office said Peters’ actions stemmed from a 2021 breach involving Mesa County voting equipment. “In 2021, then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters compromised her county’s voting equipment trying to prove conspiracies,” Griswold’s office said in a release Friday. The office said Griswold responded by decertifying the county’s voting equipment, working with Mesa County commissioners to remove Peters from election oversight and appointing a former Republican secretary of state to oversee the election process. Griswold’s office also said Peters’ actions cost Mesa County “nearly one million dollars in replacement equipment.” The secretary of state’s office noted that on April 2, 2026, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld Peters’ convictions while ordering that she be re-sentenced by the district court. Trump weighed in on the commutation Friday afternoon with a brief Truth Social post reading simply: “FREE TINA!” Peters became a nationally known figure among 2020 election skeptics following the Mesa County voting equipment breach controversy and subsequent criminal prosecution. Friday’s clemency order immediately deepened political divisions surrounding one of the highest-profile criminal prosecutions in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Supreme Court deals blow to Virginia Democrats in fight over state court election map ruling
Virginia Democrats suffered a major legal defeat after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a high-stakes redistricting dispute, leaving intact a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a voter-approved congressional map overhaul. The justices denied state Democrats’ emergency request to block the Virginia high court’s decision, which found the amendment process violated the state constitution because lawmakers advanced the proposal after early voting had already begun in the required intervening election cycle. SCOTUS acted in a brief unsigned order and no justice publicly dissented. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled May 8 in a 4-3 decision that the procedural defect “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote,” effectively killing Democrats’ effort to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. VIRGINIA GOP LEADER BLASTS ‘POWER-HUNGRY’ JEFFRIES AS DEMS MOUNT ‘INSANE’ GAMBIT TO OVERPOWER HIGH COURT Democrats had pursued the revised map as part of a broader national fight over mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections, where control of the House is expected to again hinge on a few competitive seats. Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the chamber. The Democratic-backed proposal was designed to make multiple Republican-held Virginia congressional seats more competitive and was approved by voters in an April 21 special election by a 51.7% to 48.3% margin. VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS’ $70M REDISTRICTING GAMBLE BACKFIRES AFTER COURT DEFEAT, IGNITES BLAME GAME The Virginia redistricting map was approved by voters in an April special election after the Virginia Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed amid an ongoing legal challenge over the process lawmakers used to place it on the ballot. Virginia Democrats had argued the state court improperly overrode the will of voters who approved the amendment and claimed the ruling relied on an overly broad interpretation of election law by counting the start of early voting as part of the election itself. In their emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, Democratic lawmakers said the Virginia ruling had “deprived voters, candidates and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.” Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger blasted the ruling in a post on X after SCOTUS declined to intervene. “The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians,” Spanberger wrote. “These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls. “As Governor, I will make sure voters know when and how to cast their votes this year,” she added. “Because our votes are how we choose the representation we deserve.” The case comes as both parties escalate efforts nationwide to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, with Republicans and Democrats battling over district lines in several states.
Navy veteran Rocky Rochford seeks to turn Tampa Bay red, unseat 20-year House incumbent
Navy veteran Rocky Rochford served his country for 33 years, holding the title of commodore. Now, he’s on a mission to flip Tampa Bay from blue to red, in the midst of a spirited campaign to unseat 20-year incumbent Kathy Castor in Florida’s 14th congressional district. Rochford recently sat down to discuss his campaign with Fox News Digital. “So in 20 years, Kathy Castor has been the author of two bills that became law. And both of those were to rename post offices. So I would say that Kathy Castor has been ineffective. She hasn’t really helped Tampa Bay in the ways that matter the most. Affordability is probably the biggest thing on everyone’s kitchen table list of discussion points. Gasoline, groceries, electricity, insurance. I mean, the list goes on and on and on.” Rochford emphasizes that his leadership experience has prepared him to be ready to represent the people of Tampa Bay from day one. RAYS AGREE TO $2.3B DEAL FOR NEW BALLPARK IN TAMPA “So it’s about leadership. I have spent my entire adult life…33 years in the Navy, four years at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. I got to go back to the age of 18 for the first time before I was actually part of the military. So, it’s been entrenched in my being, it is in my soul, I’m very strong in my faith. And I believe that we need someone who is not only going to bring leadership to the process, but is going to bring their faith to the process up in D.C., and be part of the solution. People who are anti the other side, whether it doesn’t matter what side you’re sitting on, when they are against the other side to the point where they won’t even talk to them, that’s problematic. We’re not gonna get anything accomplished, we’re not going to get anything done. And that’s exactly what’s happening up in DC right now, we see a lot of that.” Children’s rights is an issue at the forefront of Rochford’s campaign. “I have three major bills that are the highlight of what I’ve been working on. And the first is my children’s bill of rights. I do believe that children are the future, and they need to be protected far better than they’re being protected now. So the laws that govern children are written amongst 11 different government agencies. Those agencies don’t overlap and they don’t talk to each other. This bill is designed to create a shield, an organization that oversees all of those laws. “This covers everything from AI for kids, online predators, and it provides new penalties with teeth. This is we’re going to get after those folks. The predators have been exploiting four different avenues on children across state lines. I’m going to close every one of those doors. Parental rights, no boys in girls sports. I mean, this bill covers adoption. It covers foster care, egg donor, IVF. It is complete.” Rochford argues that foreign influence plays a large role in shaping electoral outcomes, and particularly singles out China-based political donor and activist Neville Roy Singham. “There’s a lot folks who have nothing to do with the United States…that are influencing our elections, they’re influencing the people…We know that Neville Singham, who’s a U.S. citizen living in Shanghai, is taking money from the CCP to disrupt America from the inside. China calls this the smokeless war, and it really is and and they’re not the only ones. “Iran is doing the same thing, we know North Korea is involved, Russia so there’s a lot of influence happening in here that are that are causing wreaking havoc but we as a society need to see beyond that. We are one America, and I’m America first. I’m American first before politics, America first before party.” LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S. Florida’s 14th district is hardly politically monolithic, and Rochford emphasizes that he seeks to represent the entire district, not merely Republicans. “I’m about listening. So I’m here to not only listen to the right, I’m here to listen to the center, and I’m here to listen the left. Because if we can’t come together and find the commonalities that will make us a better country, then we are doomed as a country. So we must support what we’re all after, which is a great America, a great society that takes care of its own and helps around the world.” He views energy policy and independence as the foundation of affordability for American workers and families. “So I’ve been talking about affordability for some time. To me, the foundation of affordability for just about everything runs off of energy. The price of oil drives the price of gas, which is in our trucks, in our trains, in our airplanes, in ships. And so we need to get control. And so one of the bills that I have drafted will propose that…we first have to become energy independent. We’re the largest producer of energy in the world. So our people should be benefiting from it, not hurting from it.” Among the most important policy issues for Rochford is the national debt, which he has spent a great deal of time researching. He has a plan that would retire America’s national debt by the 2060s: “We don’t want to leave a legacy of debt to our children and grandchildren. So I had go back 40 years to try to figure out where this all started, and where we went off the tracks. And I now understand the entire policy. Balancing the budget is only treating a symptom. It does not treat the disease. So the disease is Congress, I’m sorry, but it’s true. “Every bit of money that comes in that’s extra from Congress goes into the general pool and they spend it. And all of the great ideas that have been used in the past, because I studied them all
Minnesota Medicaid operator’s bankruptcy-to-riches rise crashes into fraud probe
A Minnesota Medicaid-funded home care operator who once touted his climb from bankruptcy to multimillion-dollar businesses is under investigation by state officials over allegations that his companies failed to provide services they were paid to deliver to vulnerable clients. Arnold Kubei, who came to the United States in 2007 as an asylee from Cameroon, went bankrupt in 2014 after a failed investment in a gas station, according to an interview he gave to a local media outlet in 2022. By 2021, however, Kubei was running a pair of home care businesses that he told the outlet had brought in a total of $3.7 million that year. Now, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has suspended Kubei’s license to provide home and community-based services as it investigates allegations that he was failing to render the services the state was paying him to provide. Kubei’s companies were expected to help find community-based housing for the disabled, former convicts, nursing home residents, and other people who have difficulty finding permanent housing. MAGNITUDE ‘CANNOT BE OVERSTATED’: FEDS SAY MINNESOTA FRAUD MAY BE MORE THAN $9B The Minnesota Department of Human Services determined Kubei’s businesses presented an “imminent risk of harm to persons served” due to their failure to provide certain services. Letters from the department sent in late April state that Kubei’s businesses were failing to ensure that their patients were adequately medicated, seriously injured patients lacked a contact to reach for assistance and some patients struggling with addiction relapsed “due to the lack of staff supervision to maintain their sobriety.” Kubei was also allegedly failing generally to provide patients with services “in response to identified needs as specified in their support plans.” “The license holder and controlling individual are the subjects of a pending administrative investigation and pending administrative action related to fraud against Minnesota’s Medicaid program,” a letter from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to Kubei reads. Home Sweet Home Minnesota alone has received nearly $3.2 million in taxpayer-funded payments since 2024, according to Alpha News’ review of Minnesota’s transparency database. “People use fraud, fraud, fraud everywhere, to attack us with it,” Kubei told a local news outlet in April after his license was suspended. “We are not the guys. We are not the guys. We are the guys who want to collaborate with the Department of Human Services.” “This is damaging of my reputation in this community. This is targeting. This is bullying,” he continued. YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA’S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION After getting the businesses off the ground, Kubei reportedly appeared for an interview on the YouTube channel “Immigrant Money” detailing how he “went from bankruptcy to multimillions in just five years,” according to Alpha News. The video, which included footage of Kubei drinking champagne inside his home, was made private on the account before Fox News Digital could review it. Footage of the interview has since surfaced on other social media platforms, including X. MINNESOTA’S FRAUD SCANDAL WAS ‘SHOCKINGLY EASY’ TO PULL OFF, IS LIKELY WORSE THAN REPORTED: EX PROSECUTOR Kubei’s interview was preceded by a jingle, singing: “Immigrant money, immigrant money, I came from overseas and now I got the money.” “I urge you to come to my summit for me to teach you how these things are supposed to be done,” Kubei said in the interview, per Alpha News. “I figured it out.” Fraud in Minnesota has become a national flashpoint, with Republicans alleging that state oversight failures combined with norms in some immigrant communities have exacerbated the problem. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson claimed in December 2025 that the amount of fraud in the state’s Medicaid programs likely exceeds $9 billion since 2018. He has appealed his license suspension and is seeking to restore state-funded payments to his businesses. Kubei did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.
Trump hits dramatic milestone in massive departure from Biden border plan: ‘What a difference’
The Trump administration marked a full year of “zero releases” at the southern border on Friday, a milestone officials touted as evidence that the president has effectively ended the catch-and-release policies that defined the Biden-era border crisis. “Zero releases” refers to U.S. border patrol not releasing illegal border crossers into the U.S. interior after apprehension. It does not mean zero illegal crossings or zero apprehensions. In a news release announcing the decline in releases at the southern border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pointed to broader enforcement statistics showing illegal crossings and apprehensions at levels officials said have not been seen in more than three decades. CBP said Border Patrol recorded 8,943 southwestern border apprehensions in April, 94% lower than the Biden administration’s monthly average, 96% below the December 2023 peak during Biden’s tenure and fewer than the number apprehended in just three days in April 2024. “The days of catch and release are over,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “We are enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries.” TRUMP ADMIN RELEASES SHOCKINGLY LOW NUMBER OF ILLEGAL ALIENS COMPARED TO BIDEN YEARS: ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told Fox News Digital that the administration’s claim of “zero releases” from Border Patrol custody “does appear true,” but noted that the figure does not capture migrants transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and later released on bond, parole, medical or humanitarian grounds, or after winning their cases. “What a difference,” CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott said. “The U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into our country again this month, unlike April 2024 when more than 68,000 were released under President Biden. Every minute of every day President Trump’s border security policies are making every American safer.” DHS said the April daily average of 298 apprehensions was lower than a single hour during the height of the Biden-era surge, when officials said Border Patrol was averaging 336 apprehensions per hour in December 2023. CBP also said total encounters so far this fiscal year, 215,876, are 13% lower than the total recorded in April 2024 alone. Beyond illegal crossings, CBP highlighted drug and trade enforcement numbers, noting that nationwide seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana by weight increased 60% from April 2024. The agency said it seized 463 pounds of fentanyl in April and has seized 61% more drugs so far this fiscal year than during the same period in FY 2024. US DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS PLUMMET 20% AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CRACKS DOWN ON SOUTHERN BORDER “The specific claim of catch and release is in reference to the practice involving Border Patrol releasing migrants directly from Border Patrol custody,” Reichlin-Melnick clarified when speaking to Fox News Digital. “Some people are still crossing the border, and then eventually being released. It’s just that they’re not being released directly from the Border Patrol.” Reichlin-Melnick acknowledged that Trump’s hardline immigration approach has produced results at the border, saying apprehensions are “down significantly” and that “the hardened tactics against migrants has produced results.” But he argued the administration’s policies have gone too far by effectively shutting off access to asylum at the southern border. “The Trump administration has sent the message to the world that the United States is no longer a place where people can seek safety,” Reichlin-Melnick said. Reichlin-Melnick agreed the asylum system had long needed major reform, including more asylum officers, more immigration judges and changes to screening standards. But, he said the goal should not be to end access to the system altogether, something he suggested the Trump administration has effectively done. “I think most Americans believe we should be a place where people can find safety,” he said, invoking Ronald Reagan’s image of America as a “shining city on a hill.” “I don’t think the answer was to shut it off completely.” DHS officials, however, have argued the dramatic decline in border crossings shows the administration’s policies are working after years of record-setting illegal immigration under Biden. Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Joe Biden, but did not receive a response in time for publication.