Republicans get serious on housing crisis with high-profile conservative influencer leading the charge
FIRST ON FOX: Conservative influencer Benny Johnson is leading a new initiative to “Make Housing Great Again” amid concerns that Millennials and Gen Z are being pushed out of homeownership by rising costs, stagnant wages and regulatory burdens. The new initiative, which is being announced Friday, will be led by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) with help from Johnson, who will be the initiative’s co-chair and national spokesperson, serving as the voice of the initiative. Johnson will also help lead a business advisory council related to making housing more affordable. “Benny has 4 million followers. He is, you know, so influential. He’s been talking about this a lot on his own social media platforms, and so he is the perfect person to help deliver the policies,” Ashley Hayek, AFPI’s executive vice president and co-chair of the initiative, told Fox News Digital. “He has young children. I have young children. And for us, we are both very fired up about this issue.” I WORKED WITH CHARLIE KIRK FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. AMERICA LOST A FUTURE PRESIDENT Hayek pointed out that advocating for policy is, at least in part, a messaging war, and Johnson’s ability to articulate himself well will help with that. Additionally, he has the attention of many young people, who Hayek noted often aren’t aware of the tools out there to help them buy a home. Greg Sindelar, AFPI’s interim president, added that the current culture in the United States “too often diminishes traditional aspirations,” like homeownership and building a family, which has taken a toll on younger generations. Even Democrats tend to agree. Former Democrat congressman and ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in August explaining how the increased difficulty of homeownership is depressing young men, particularly due to the fact that buying a home is often seen as such a pivotal part of achieving the American Dream. “Rising costs, stagnant wages, regulatory burdens, and a culture that too often diminishes traditional aspirations have left millions feeling directionless and forgotten,” Sindelar said. “AFPI is committed to reversing this trend by advancing meaningful, actionable policy solutions rooted in the principles of the America First movement.” BIPARTISAN PLAN AIMS TO MAKE THE AMERICAN DREAM AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR MILLIONS OF FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS The new initiative, announced Friday, laid out a list of policy proposals it plans to advance across government of all levels. Among those proposals is a push to eliminate capital gains taxes on first home sales as long as they reinvest in another home within the following five years. This proposal is aimed at mirroring the spirit of President Donald Trump’s “Opportunity Zones” aimed at accelerating wealth and economic development for low-income communities. “Homes are too expensive and totally out of reach for young people. The slow death of the American Dream is happening before our eyes. It is a generational betrayal and we must reverse this trend by Making Housing Great Again,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “Today, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in America is 40 years old. That is well past the optimal age for marriage and family creation. The battle for homeownership is a battle for our cultural and civilizational survival. We need more young people to get married and start families and that cannot happen without a culture of homeownership. We must deliver on this promise for our young people. The American Dream hangs in the balance.” Another proposal includes a push for the creation of “Home Savings Accounts” similar to a Health Savings Account (HSA) that allows individuals to contribute pre-tax dollars to pay for their healthcare needs. One proposal also includes a plan to reduce regulations and increase incentives across states and localities that have restricted the development of new housing supply. One example they point to is “green building standards,” which the initiative says bloats costs for builders. By getting rid of these regulations, they say that it will dramatically reduce the cost for builders, who will then in turn be able to increase supply. Other proposals include measures to stop predatory lending to young people, while promoting innovative housing like tiny homes. Tax-focused proposals are in the mix as well, such as a “Family Formation Mortgage Credit,” aimed at making family formation and homeownership financially synergistic. It will give families that marry and have a child within five years a $10,000 reduction on their mortgage through a refundable tax credit. The initiative will also push to double the child-tax credit for households filing their taxes jointly and own a home, or are planning to own one.
Unearthed FEC records expose Katie Porter’s hypocrisy after she fumes at ‘new billionaire’ joining race
After billionaire activist Tom Steyer entered the California gubernatorial race Wednesday, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, who is also running for governor, blasted him despite previously taking thousands of dollars from him when she was in Congress. Porter said Steyer was entering the race claiming to fight “the very industries he got rich helping grow,” to which the former member of Congress said: “I call bulls—.” Meanwhile, FEC filings show Porter, who is claiming to fight Steyer, received more than $16,000 between her House campaigns and failed Senate campaign. “Katie Porter is the ultimate hypocrite and all she’s done in this race is step on one rake after another,” a longtime Democratic strategist, who has worked with campaigns across the country, told Fox News Digital. “This is easily the most disastrous race a Democrat has been running in 2026, which is why Porter is a real liability at the top of the ticket and why Democrats are looking around for alternatives.” TOM STEYER MOUNTS CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL BID, JOINING CROWD OF CANDIDATES JOCKEYING TO SUCCEED NEWSOM The Porter campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on this story. Steyer, who once financed his own unsuccessful presidential bid in 2020, announced plans to enter the California gubernatorial race this week. The billionaire anti-Trump activist pledged to make life more affordable for working-class Americans and take on corporate interests in an announcement advertisement alerting people of his candidacy. Steyer specifically said he would take on the oil and tobacco industries in particular, which he touted a record of doing in the past as well. “A new billionaire in our race claims he’ll fight the very industries he got rich helping grow — fossil fuel companies, tobacco, and private immigration detention facilities — at great cost to Californians,” Porter posted on X after Steyer announced his run. “I call bulls—.” Attached to Porter’s post was also a screenshot of a news headline from The Sacramento Bee that reads: “Tom Steyer, starring in TV ads for tobacco tax hike, invested in tobacco companies.” People commenting on Porter’s post highlighted her financial support she has received from Steyer in the past. Between 2018 and 2023, Porter received at least $16,100 from him, a Fox News Digital review found. CALIFORNIA PARENTS CONVICTED OF STABBING, DECAPITATING 2 CHILDREN AND FORCING OTHER KIDS TO SEE BODIES For Steyer, his wealth will likely be a target for his opponents. “Tom Steyer tried to buy the presidency — and he failed,” Betty Yee, a former state controller who is running in the Democratic Primary for governor, said following Steyer’s announcement. “The California governorship is not going to be his consolation prize.” Porter, meanwhile, has faced criticism on the campaign trail for her attitude towards staffers and the media. She faced criticism last month after abruptly walking away from a CBS interview after lashing out at the reporter interviewing her. “What do you say to the 40% of CA voters who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?” Porter was asked by CBS California’s Julie Watts during a segment on the controversial redistricting effort launched by Democrats in the state. “How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?” Porter responded. DID CALIFORNIA MISMANAGE THE DEADLY PALISADES FIRE? “Well, unless you think you’re going to get 60% of the vote,” the reporter, asking about the voter breakdown of Democrats and Republicans in the state, said before Porter started laughing. Porter then went back and forth with the reporter, arguing about whether she needs to court and win over Trump voters, particularly if she’s running head-to-head against another Democrat. “So you don’t need them to win,” Watts asked Porter. “I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative,” Porter said, prompting the reporter to point out that she had asked the same question to the other candidates in the race and they answered it. “I don’t want to keep doing this, I’m going to call it,” Porter said. When Watts reminded Porter that every candidate had answered the question, Porter said, “I don’t care.” Meanwhile, Porter has also faced repeated criticism about how she allegedly treats staffers. In just a span of a single week, three videos went viral of Porter berating her staff. The race for California governor is a crowded one, with big names like former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was reportedly planning on getting involved but ultimately backed away. Lesser known candidates include state schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond, former Controller Betty Yee and former Assemblyman Ian Calderon.
Swastikas, nooses and Confederate flags designated Coast Guard ‘hate symbols’ after uproar
Facing backlash over recent policy wording, the Coast Guard moved Thursday to make one thing clear: “hate symbols” such as swastikas and nooses remain forbidden in the service. The Coast Guard announced a new order aimed at combating “misinformation” late Thursday, after the service previously issued guidance earlier in November to no longer refer to displays of swastikas and nooses as a “hate incident.” “Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” the Coast Guard said in its latest policy. “These symbols and flags include, but are not limited to, the following: a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, anti-semitism, or any other improper bias.” ‘OPTICAL ILLUSION’ SWASTIKA FLAGS DISTRIBUTED TO MULTIPLE CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES PROMPT INVESTIGATION: SOURCES “This is not an updated policy but a new policy to combat any misinformation and double down that the U.S. Coast Guard forbids these symbols,” the Coast Guard also said in a news release late Thursday. The change came after the Coast Guard faced scrutiny from lawmakers and advocacy groups for a new policy it rolled out earlier in November. While the service previously identified displays of swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags and other supremacist or antisemitic symbols as a “potential hate incident,” the guidance issued earlier in November labeled them as “potentially divisive symbols and flags.” The change was first reported by The Washington Post. Following media reports about the change, Coast Guard claimed earlier Thursday that it remained committed to barring the symbols from the service and penalizing those who display them. Additionally, it said that it still considered the symbols “extremist imagery.” “The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. “These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy.” “Any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished,” Lunday said. “The Coast Guard remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering a safe, respectful and professional workplace. Symbols such as swastikas, nooses and other extremist or racist imagery violate our core values and are treated with the seriousness they warrant under current policy.” Under the guidance released earlier in November, commanding officers and other leaders were instructed to inquire about public displays of other symbols identified as “potentially divisive,” and are granted the authority to direct or order the removal of those that negatively impact moral and mission readiness. HEGSETH, NOEM ON BOARD WITH ‘VITAL STEP’ TO CREATE COAST GUARD SECRETARY AMID TRUMP’S DRUG SMUGGLING CRACKDOWN The initial policy change also said it would completely eradicating the term “hate incident” and that incidents that were previously handled as a “potential hate incident” would not be processed as a harassment report. “Conduct previously handled as a potential hate incident, including those involving symbols widely identified with oppression or hatred, is processed as a report of harassment in cases with an identified aggrieved individual…The terminology ‘hate incident’ is no longer present in policy,” the initial guidance said. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on why it removed the term “hate incident” in the policy change. DHS RIPS HOUSTON HALLOWEEN DISPLAY DEPICTING HANGING OF ICE AGENTS, DEMANDS ‘SANCTUARY POLITICIANS’ STAND DOWN After the Post’s initial report on the update, the top Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, said there is no room for debate over whether nooses or swastikas are hate symbols. “Lynching is a federal hate crime. The world defeated the Nazis in 1945. The debate on these symbols is over. They symbolize hate,” Larsen, whose committee has oversight authority over the Coast Guard, said in a statement Thursday. “Coast Guard: be better.” The Coast Guard is the only branch of the military to fall under the Department of Homeland Security, but has launched initiatives including Force Design 2028 to revamp its organizational structure, acquisitions, contracting and technology, among other changes, to align more closely with other services that fall under the purview of the Department of War. The Coast Guard initially said that it updated its harassment policy in alignment with orders from President Donald Trump and the Pentagon. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on the matter. However, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth instructed the Pentagon to conduct a review of its hazing and harassment policies in September. The Pentagon also has its own set of extremism guidelines, which effectively bans displaying Confederate flags or those with a swastika on them. Only preapproved flags, including state flags or military service flags, are permitted.
House Dem serving since 1993 announces she won’t seek re-election
Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez of New York — the first Puerto Rican woman ever elected to Congress — announced she will not seek re-election next year after more than three decades in office. “For more than three decades, I have had the privilege of a lifetime serving the people of New York City in the United States Congress. After much reflection, I have decided that this will be my last term in Congress. This was not an easy decision, but I believe that the time is right for me to move on and for a new generation of leaders to step forward,” she said in a statement. The long-serving lawmaker first took office in 1993 and has been a prominent member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus throughout her tenure. Velázquez used her announcement to criticize President Donald Trump’s administration, accusing it of “working to undermine civil rights and our democracy.” DEM REP. VELÁZQUEZ CALLS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ‘GENOCIDAL MANIAC’ ON HIS HOLIDAY Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment. “It has been a great honor to work with my colleague, friend, and fellow New Yorker, @NydiaVelazquez,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a post on X. “The first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, Nydia ‘La Luchadora’ has been a progressive trailblazer and fighter for her district, the poor, and Puerto Rico.” ANOTHER HOUSE DEM DROPS OUT OF 2026 RAT RACE AS PARTY FACES GENERATIONAL RECKONING Velázquez and Nadler are both listed as members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “I know, most importantly, she will be a missed friend to progressive causes in the halls of Congress. Like her, I understand that there comes a time to pass the torch to the next generation to be the fighters in DC that we need,” Nadler noted in the post. DEMOCRATIC REP. JERRY NADLER WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Nadler announced earlier this year that he will not pursue re-election in 2026.
House GOP campaign chair wants Trump ‘out there on the trail’ in midterm battle for majority
EXCLUSIVE: The chair of the House Republican campaign arm says the Democrats’ sweeping victories in this month’s 2025 elections are a “wake-up call” for GOP voters. And Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who’s chairing the National Republican Congressional Committee for a second straight election cycle, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that he wants President Donald Trump “out there on the trail” in next year’s midterm elections, when the party defends its razor-thin House majority. Democrats won the only two races for governor this year, in New Jersey and Virginia, by double digits, and also scored big wins in ballot box showdowns in battlegrounds Georgia and Pennsylvania and left-tilting New York City and California. Plenty of Republicans have discounted the Democrats’ high-profile victories, since they mostly occurred in blue-leaning states, since they mostly occurred in blue-leaning states. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2025 ELECTIONS Hudson noted the top elections took place in “Democrat states,” but added, “I think our big takeaway as Republicans is the Democrats were energized. They turned out at record levels. Republicans turned out in normal levels.” “I think there’s a wake-up call there to conservatives and Republicans who are happy with the direction of the country. They’re glad President Trump’s back in the White House. But if they want to keep this momentum going, they’ve got to show up and vote,” he emphasized. Many of Trump’s MAGA supporters are considered low-propensity voters, who head to the polls only when Trump is on the ballot. But Trump won’t be on the ballot in the 2026 midterms. SETTING THE STAGE: WHAT THE 2025 ELECTIONS SIGNAL FOR NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM SHOWDOWNS Hudson, who noted that “House Republicans are very closely aligned with President Trump, and we’re supporting his agenda,” said that “we want him out there on the trail, campaigning with our candidates. I think he brings a lot of energy.” Pointing to “a lot of folks who don’t vote when he’s not on the ballot,” Hudson said, “I don’t need all of them to show up, but I need some of them. And so having President Trump out there will be a big benefit for us.” Those requests for the MAGA motivator are already coming in to the president’s political team. Matt Van Epps, the Republican nominee in next month’s special congressional election for a vacant GOP-held House seat in Tennessee, has asked for Trump to campaign in person with him ahead of the Dec. 2 election. Democrats were laser-focused on affordability on the 2025 campaign trail. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said his party’s candidates met “voters at the kitchen table. . . . From New Jersey and Virginia and New York, to Georgia and beyond, Democrats ran campaigns relentlessly focused on costs and affordability.” And Martin emphasized the 2025 elections were a preview of things to come in next year’s midterms. “In ‘26, we’ll do it again. We’ll run a National Coordinated Campaign to win races up and down the ballot to provide a check on the out-of-control Trump administration and its Republican rubber stamps,” he argued. DEMOCRATS SEE MANDATE AFTER 2025 WINS — REPUBLICANS SAY IT’S A MIRAGE Hudson, pointing to former President Joe Biden, said “there are challenges out there with the economy, because Biden broke it, and House Republicans, working with President Trump, are going to fix it, and we’re working very hard to do that. “ “Certainly, we could always improve the way we communicate with our voters about it,” he added. “But we are laser focused on the issues that matter to them. You know, it’s the cost of things, it’s the security in their neighborhood, it’s a secure border. We are very focused on that, and we’ve delivered a lot of things that are going to make their lives better.” And looking ahead to next year, he added, “come tax season, a lot of families are going to be really happy to see they’ve got a lot more take-home pay, and that’s because of Donald Trump and House Republicans.” Hudson, in step with fellow Republicans, aimed to link Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who pushed a far-left platform on the campaign trail this year, to House Democrats who may face challenging re-elections next year. “The entire Democrat Party has shifted to the left. This is Mamdani’s party now,” Hudson charged. “And every single House Democrat needs to answer for his policies, and they need to let their constituents know, do they stand with Mamdani or not?” The power in power, which nowadays is clearly the Republicans, traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. And Hudson was interviewed as two new national polls indicated Democrats with the upper hand in the 2026 battle for the House majority. But Hudson said: “The only number I’m concerned about is three. We have three Republicans in seats Kamala Harris carried.” And he highlighted that Democrats have “thirteen sitting in seats Donald Trump won. They’ve got 21 more sitting in seats that Donald Trump barely lost. So there, there are only a few seats up for grabs this time, most of them are Democrat seats.”
More details of US plan for Ukraine emerge, sees territory ceded to Russia
More details are emerging from a 28-point peace plan backed by United States President Donald Trump aimed at ending Russia’s four-year war on Ukraine, with several media outlets and officials confirming that the plan, which has yet to be officially published, appears to favour Russia. Details of the plan also come after US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told the UN Security Council on Thursday afternoon that the US had offered “generous terms for Russia, including sanctions relief”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The United States has invested at the highest levels, the president of the United States personally, to end this war,” Waltz told the council. The AFP news agency reported on Friday that the plan, which the US views as a “working document”, says that “Crimea, Lugansk [Luhansk] and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian, including by the United States”. This corresponds with an earlier report from US media outlet Axios. The Associated Press (AP) news agency also reported on Friday that the plan would require Ukraine to surrender the Donbas, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that Ukraine currently partly holds. Under the draft, Moscow would hold all the eastern Donbas region, even though approximately 14 percent still remains in Ukrainian hands, AP reported. AFP and AP also confirmed Axios’s earlier report that the plan would require Ukraine to limit the size of its military. According to AFP, the plan specifically says that the army would be limited to 600,000 personnel. Ukraine is estimated to currently have just under 900,000 active duty military staff. Two Ukrainian soldiers check the scopes of their anti-aircraft systems to ensure they are working properly before heading out on a mission in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in October 2024 [File: Fermin Torrano/Anadolu] ‘A neutral demilitarised buffer zone’ Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko shared a document showing what appeared to be the full 28-point peace plan with his 223,000 followers on the Telegram messaging app, late on Thursday, Ukraine time. Advertisement Russia’s state TASS news agency also reported on details included in the document shared by Goncharenko, saying it “purportedly represents a Ukrainian translation of 28 points of the new American plan for a peace settlement in Ukraine”. New details included in the document shared by Goncharenko include that “Ukraine has the right to EU [European Union] membership” and that the “United States will work with Ukraine to jointly restore, develop, modernise, and operate Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, including pipelines and storage facilities”. The document also states that Ukraine’s “Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will be commissioned under [UN nuclear agency] IAEA supervision, and the electricity generated will be shared equally between Russia and Ukraine in a 50:50 ratio”. The text of the document shared by Goncharenko also states that “Ukrainian forces withdraw from the part of the Donetsk region that they currently control, and this withdrawal zone will be considered a neutral demilitarised buffer zone”. Handing over territory to Russia would be deeply unpopular in Ukraine and would also be illegal under Ukraine’s constitution. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out such a possibility. No NATO membership for Ukraine The AFP news agency also reported that, according to the plan, European fighter jets would be based in Poland specifically to protect Ukraine. However, Kyiv would have to concede that no NATO troops would be stationed in Ukraine and that it would agree never to join the military alliance. Additional details reported by AP include that Russia would commit to making no future attacks on Ukraine, something the White House views as a concession by Moscow. In addition, $100bn in frozen Russian assets would be dedicated to rebuilding Ukraine, AP reported. Russia would also be re-admitted to the G8 group of nations and be integrated back into the global economy under the plan, according to AFP. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that both Ukrainians and Russians have had input into the plan, which she said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff have been quietly working on for a month. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, welcomes US special envoy Steve Witkoff to their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 25, 2025 [Kristina Kormilitsyna/Sputnik/Pool via AP Photo] Adblock test (Why?)
Fugees rapper sentenced to 14 years in prison over illegal Obama donations
Justice Department prosecutors accused Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel of betraying his country for money. A United States district judge has sentenced Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, to 14 years in prison for illegally funnelling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former US President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Michel declined to address the court before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him on Thursday. The trial in Washington, DC, included testimony from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list This week’s sentencing came after a federal jury convicted Michel on 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, in April 2023. Michel obtained more than $120m from fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho – also known as Jho Low – and steered some of that money through straw donors to Obama’s campaign. Low is wanted for his leading role in the 1MDB scandal, in which billions of dollars were pilfered from Malaysia’s state investment fund in one of the largest financial frauds in history. Several senior financial figures and members of Malaysia’s government have been convicted for their role in the scandal, including disgraced former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was handed a 12-year prison sentence in 2022, which was later halved. Court documents, filed by Justice Department prosecutors on Thursday, said the 52-year-old Grammy-winning rapper “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes” as he syphoned illegal payments from Low to the Obama campaign. Advertisement It is illegal in the US for foreigners to donate to election campaigns, as well as to pay someone else to make a campaign contribution. “Prakazrel Michel betrayed his country for money. He funnelled millions of dollars in prohibited foreign contributions into a United States presidential election and attempted to manipulate a sitting president to serve a foreign criminal and a foreign power,” prosecutors said. Prosecutors also said Michel had attempted to end a Justice Department investigation into Low and the 1MDB scandal, as well as “tampered with witnesses and then perjured himself at trial”. Judge Kollar-Kotelly was advised by prosecutors that federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for such crimes, urging her to take into account the “breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed”. Michel’s lawyers downplayed the extent of his crimes, saying Low’s motivation for donating money was not to “achieve some policy objective”. “Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” Michel’s lawyers wrote. Low – who remains in hiding and claims innocence – courted America’s rich and famous during a years-long spending spree allegedly financed by funds stolen from 1MDB. Notably, he was one of the primary financiers of the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring DiCaprio. Defence lawyer Peter Zeidenberg said Michel will appeal. He labelled his client’s 14-year sentence “completely disproportionate to the offence” and “absurdly high” given such terms are typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders. Instead, Zeidenberg recommended a three-year prison sentence for Michel. Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the US from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. The group won two Grammy Awards during their peak in the 1990s and sold tens of millions of albums. Adblock test (Why?)
Frida Kahlo painting sells for $54.7m, breaking record for female artists
A 1940 self-portrait by Frida Kahlo has sold for $54.7m and made auction history at Sotheby’s in New York. A haunting 1940 self-portrait by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has sold for $54.7m, making it the most expensive work by a female artist to sell at auction. The painting of Kahlo asleep in a bed, titled El sueno (La cama) – or in English, The Dream (The Bed) – surpassed the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1, which sold for $44.4m in 2014. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The sale at Sotheby’s in New York on Thursday evening also topped Kahlo’s own auction record for a work by a Latin American artist. The 1949 painting, Diego and I, depicting the artist and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, went for $34.9m in 2021. Her paintings are reported to have sold privately for even more. The self-portrait that broke records on Thursday is among the few Kahlo pieces that have remained in private hands outside Mexico, where her body of work has been declared an artistic monument. Kahlo’s works in both public and private collections within Mexico cannot be sold abroad or destroyed. Because the painting sold on Thursday comes from a private collection, it is legally eligible for international sale. Sotheby’s said the owner who put the painting up for auction – and whose identity has not been disclosed – “astutely” purchased the piece also at auction in New York in 1980. The buyer’s identity was also not disclosed. ‘El sueño (La cama)’ by Frida Kahlo soars to $54.7 million, becoming the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction. Painted in 1940 during a pivotal decade in her career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera. pic.twitter.com/t6Sni7fIKT — Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) November 21, 2025 Some art historians had scrutinised the sale for cultural reasons, while others had raised concerns that the painting, which was last exhibited publicly in the late 1990s, could again disappear from public view after the auction. Advertisement It has already been requested for upcoming exhibitions in cities including New York, London and Brussels. The piece depicts Kahlo asleep in a wooden, colonial-style bed that floats in the clouds. She is draped in a golden blanket and entangled in crawling vines and leaves. Above the bed lies a skeleton figure wrapped in dynamite. Kahlo vibrantly and unsparingly depicted herself and events from her life, which was altered by a bus accident at 18. She started to paint while bedridden, underwent a series of painful surgeries on her damaged spine and pelvis, and then wore casts until her death in 1954 at age 47. During the years Kahlo was confined to her bed, she came to view painting as a bridge between worlds as she explored her mortality. “I’m very proud that she’s one of the most valued women, because really, what woman doesn’t identify with Frida, or what person doesn’t?” her great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo, told The Associated Press news agency before the auction. “I think everyone carries a little piece of my aunt in their heart.” Kahlo resisted being labelled a surrealist painter, a style of art that is dreamlike and centres on a fascination with the unconscious mind. “I never painted dreams,” she once said. “I painted my own reality.” The new record for Kahlo’s painting came hours after a Gustav Klimt portrait sold for $236.4m, setting a new record for a modern art piece. Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold after a 20-minute bidding war, also at Sotheby’s in New York, on Tuesday. Adblock test (Why?)
Good News for Passengers: Uttar Pradesh to get two NEW trains, to cut short travel time to Delhi; Check route, timings, ticket prices and more
The inauguration of these trains is scheduled for 24 November, with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Minister of State for Skill Development Jayant Chaughery flagging off the trains at Baraut railway station in Baghpat.
Delhi government takes BIG action on pollution: Rs 23600000 fines imposed, 200 show-cause notices issued, 48 construction sites shut
Delhi government takes BIG action on dust pollution: Rs 23600000 fines imposed, 200 show-cause notices issued, 48 construction sites shut. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said that the measures, backed by real-time surveillance and rigorous field inspection