Wife of GOP congressman dead after being injured in January hit-and-run crash
The wife of U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., has died after suffering serious injuries in a January hit-and-run accident, the congressman’s office announced Sunday. Danise Baird died following complications from her injuries in the Jan. 5 car crash, Baird’s office wrote in a post on X. “Congressman Baird and Danise were married for 59 years, building a life centered on faith, family, and service,” the post read. “A devoted wife and loving mother of three, she was the foundation of their family and will be deeply missed. We ask that you keep the Congressman and his family in your prayers during this difficult time.” The congressman was also injured in the crash as the couple drove back to the nation’s capital. He was discharged after less than 24 hours in the hospital, though missed some time on Capitol Hill. REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER CAR ACCIDENT, SOURCES SAY Baird, 80, and his wife were both originally expected “to be okay,” President Donald Trump said a day after the crash while making remarks at the recently renamed Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The couple’s son, Beau Baird, wrote in a Jan. 15 update on Facebook that his mother had “a long recovery ahead of her after suffering nearly 15 breaks and fractures” in the “serious hit-and-run accident.” On Feb. 1, he wrote that his mother “has taken her first assisted steps,” adding that “while we’re hopeful, we know there’s still a road ahead, and family is at the center of all we do.” Baird and his wife were high school sweethearts and shared three children together, according to the congressman’s House biography. GOP REP MAST SAYS US MILITARY OBJECTIVE IN IRAN IS TO ‘ELIMINATE’ THREAT TO AMERICANS Lawmakers took to social media to share their condolences with the Baird family following the devastating loss of their matriarch. “This is incredibly sad news from our dedicated colleague Jim Baird,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote. “Jim’s wife Danise was often by his side as he worked so hard in Congress on behalf of his constituents. They are salt of the earth people and Jim and his family have sacrificed so much for our country.” Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., asked the public to “join me in lifting up my colleague Rep. Jim Baird and his family in prayer,” adding, “May God wrap them in His comfort through the difficult days ahead.” Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., wrote that she and her husband Mike were praying for the Baird family to “find comfort, strength, and peace in the days ahead.” Baird, a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War and is known on Capitol Hill for veterans and farming issues, has represented Indiana’s 4th Congressional District since 2019. The district is a largely rural, agriculture-heavy area in western and north-central Indiana. Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Alex Nitzberg and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Chasing the apocalypse: Radical Shiite clerics on American soil preach prophetic showdown with US
FIRST ON FOX: For many, the war with Iran — and the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — might seem like the climactic end to a long, brutal reign of terror by the theological clerics who have run the country since 1979. But a Fox News Digital investigation reveals that, for certain hardline Shiite ideologues, including in the U.S., this is not an ending but a prophetic showdown that will usher in the arrival of the “Mahdi,” a messiah, according to Islamic eschatology, or the theology of end times. In this prophecy, Mahdi will emerge to battle Dajjal, the Islamic equivalent of the Antichrist, in a final battle of Armageddon. For many of these ideologues, President Donald Trump is Dajjal. At a recent Friday sermon at a local Shiite mosque in northern Virginia, an imam closed prayer with an earnest plea, before war broke out in Iran: “May Allah destroy all the nonbelievers – or kafiroon or munafiqoon,” he said, using Arabic words that refer to “nonbelievers” and “hypocrites.” He asked for this victory “before the arrival of Imam Mahdi.” ANTI-US PROTESTERS FUNDED BY PRO-CHINA TYCOON MOBILIZE AS FIRST BOMBS FALL ON IRAN Fox News Digital observed the sermon and also witnessed a special table of honor in the middle of the mosque’s main prayer hall, featuring framed photos of Khamenei embracing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah, also killed by Israel for orchestrating terrorist attacks. The Friday service at the Manassas Mosque reveals a theological dynamic that Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned about in early February, noting that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s leaders are guided not merely by geopolitics and national security considerations, but by “pure theology.” “We have to understand that Iran ultimately is governed, and its decisions are governed by Shiite clerics — radical Shiite clerics — who make policy decisions on the basis of pure theology,” Rubio said. In its investigation, Fox News Digital conducted a digital analysis of hours of sermons and scores of pages of pro-regime protest slogans, messaging and social media posts, using large-language models, and found clerics, community leaders and media platforms in the U.S. framing tensions with Iran in explicitly apocalyptic terms rooted in eschatology, or Islamist end-times theology. The investigation found that precepts shaping Tehran’s worldview, from its clerics to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are also being preached on American soil by proxies for Iran’s propaganda. From the mosque in northern Virginia to religious institutions in Michigan and Texas, clerics aligned with the Islamic Republic are advancing a doomsday interpretation of faith that casts geopolitical and military confrontation with the U.S. as part of a prophetic destiny tied to the return of the Mahdi. After war broke out Friday night, Fox News Digital witnessed pro-regime chats on messaging platforms, like Telegram, filled with prayers, awaiting “the arrival” of Mahdi. “We need Al Mahdi…His return with Jesus will be the final win permanently,” one read. “The saviour the warrior the dominator ‘ imam mahdi ’ [sic] will arrive,” read another. Last summer, the Manassas Mosque co-organized a White House protest with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the ANSWER Coalition, CodePink and other far-left groups to support the Iranian regime. The groups are now again protesting Trump’s military action against Iran. One demonstrator, wearing a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarf over her face, carried a flag last summer that read “Labayk ya Mahdi” in Arabic, meaning, “At your service, oh, Mahdi.” In Farsi, Arabic and English, the flag also had the message, “I dedicate every single of my steps to your reappearance.” DEADLY AUSTIN SHOOTING THAT KILLED 3 MAY BE ‘ACT OF TERRORISM,’ FBI SAYS Pro-regime mosques, K-12 schools and local community organizations in the U.S. are “producing messaging that mirrors Tehran’s talking points almost word for word,” warned Andrew Ghalili, policy director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, an advocacy group led by Iranian Americans who oppose the theocratic regime running Iran. In an upcoming report, “The Ayatollahs’ Influence Network in the United States,” reviewed by Fox News Digital, the group’s researchers conclude the Islamic Republic of Iran spreads “Tehran’s messaging” in a network of institutions it supports in the U.S., for example, pitting Trump as the Dajjal fighting defenders of the Mahdi, like Khamenei and now his successors. “What we’re seeing is years of deliberate investment by the Islamic Republic inside the United States,” Ghalili told Fox News Digital. “This is happening on American soil, and it’s just another way in which the regime poses a direct threat to the United States, this time not with missiles but through infiltration,” he said. A gunman just killed three in Austin, Texas, wearing a sweater that said, “PROPERTY OF ALLAH.” According to media reports, law enforcement officials found the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and photos of its leaders in his home. ENEMY WITHIN: COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERTS FEAR SLEEPER CELLS COULD BE POISED INSIDE US After the recent Friday service, two community leaders at the Manassas mosque declined to speak for attribution but told Fox News Digital that the rhetoric of destroying “nonbelievers” and the photos of Khamenei and the terrorist group leaders are meant to challenge “injustice” before the Mahdi appears. A Harvard University report on “The Hidden Imam and the End of Time” recognizes the world’s two billion Muslims hold a range of beliefs regarding eschatology and many reject strict or literal interpretations. In the majority Sunni sect and the minority Shiite sect of Islam, clerics describe the Mahdi’s army traveling from modern-day Iran to Damascus, Syria, where Jesus would appear at the Umayyad Mosque and pray behind the Mahdi. The Mahdi’s forces would battle Dajjal in Syria and kill him in Lod, Israel, conquering the world. Days ago, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency repeated the end-times narrative, quoting Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem, claiming the regime is the “government of Imam Mahdi” and its anti-U.S. “resistance is the path to hastening his reappearance.” IRAN OPERATING SECRET ‘BLACK BOX’ SITES HOLDING THOUSANDS IN DETENTION: REPORTS For
3 US warplanes shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, pilots bail out in friendly fire incident, CENTCOM says
Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles were shot down in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait late Sunday during active combat operations tied to Operation Epic Fury, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The aircraft were mistakenly engaged by Kuwaiti air defenses amid a complex battle environment that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones. All six aircrew members safely ejected, were quickly recovered, and are reported to be in stable condition. Kuwaiti officials have acknowledged the incident, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause. KEY MILITARY SITES TARGETED INSIDE IRAN AS PART OF COORDINATED US-ISRAELI STRIKES CENTCOM said additional details are expected as the review progresses. Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense said earlier on Monday that several U.S. military aircraft had crashed, according to a statement carried by the state-run Kuwait News Agency. Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Saud Al-Atwan said Kuwaiti authorities immediately launched search and rescue operations, evacuated the aircrews from the crash sites and transferred them to hospitals to assess their conditions and provide any necessary medical care. Al-Atwan added that Kuwaiti and U.S. forces were coordinating on the circumstances of the incident and implementing joint technical procedures as part of the response. 3 US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED, 5 SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN IRAN OPERATION Video from the crash appeared to show one of the jets descending rapidly in a steep dive before disappearing from view. In separate footage, pilots could be seen parachuting toward the ground surrounded by smoke. The Kuwait Army’s official X account said its Air Defense Force confronted a number of “hostile aerial targets” at dawn, intercepting and tracking them as part of operations in the central part of the country. TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH The post did not specify how many targets were engaged or detail their nature, but described the response as efficient and conducted under full combat readiness to protect Kuwait’s airspace.
CM Rekha Gupta’s big push for Delhi women: Free bus travel, LPG cylinders, and more; here’s all you need to know
In the gracious presence of the President Droupadi Murmu, CM Gupta dedicated four major welfare schemes, including the Saheli Pink Smart Card for free bus travel, a free LPG cylinder scheme, and the Delhi Lakhpati Bitiya Yojana. Here’s all you need to know.
School districts can set aside prayer time under a new Texas law. Few have done so.
School boards had until March 1 to decide whether to establish a daily period for students and staff to pray or read religious texts.
Dow asks Texas to legalize plastic pollution from its Seadrift complex
Facing multiple lawsuits, North America’s largest chemical manufacturer requests an “unprecedented” permit amendment to authorize its discharge of polyethylene pellets into coastal waters.
Turnover in East Texas politics may jeopardize regional sway at the Legislature
Some advocates for the region worry freshmen lawmakers will start deal-making at a deficit, while other voters see a chance for new blood.
Balen Shah: Rapper, mayor, Nepal’s next prime minister?
Kathmandu, Nepal – Facing thousands of raucous supporters, 35-year-old Balendra Shah lifted his signature black rectangular sunglasses, asked his audience to look him in the eye, and said: “I love you.” It is a sentiment that millions of young Nepalis appear to reciprocate. Balen – as he is popularly known – was a nobody until 2013, when he almost overnight became a rap sensation. Nearly a decade later, in May 2022, he stunned Nepal’s deeply entrenched mainstream political parties by winning the post of mayor of Kathmandu, the country’s capital, while contesting as an independent. When the Himalayan nation of 30 million people erupted in popular protests against the government of then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in September 2025, Balen emerged as a high-profile backer of the protesters. He was the first choice of many Gen Z activists to take over as interim leader after Oli was forced to resign. But he instead supported former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki for the post. It is now that this was a tactical move. As Nepal heads to its first election since the protests last year, and Karki’s brief term ends, Balen is positioning himself as the future prime minister the country needs. And true to style, he is doing it with a bang: He is contesting the parliamentary elections from Jhapa-5, a seat about 300km (186 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, against Oli, the man protesters deposed just five months ago. On the surface, the odds appear stacked against him. The region is a stronghold of Oli and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), which the former prime minister heads. Balen is contesting as a candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a centrist party formed less than four years ago, which won 10 percent of the national vote in the last elections in 2022. Advertisement Balen’s volatile public communication – he has abused mainstream parties, India, China and the United States, and threatened to burn down symbols of power in Nepal – has sparked criticism and questions over whether he is ready for high office. But Balen defied the pundits when he won the Kathmandu mayoralty. And observers and analysts say that for many Nepalis, he represents a breath of fresh air in a country where more than 40 percent of the population is under the age of 35, but where the leadership of all major parties is in its 70s. “Young Nepalis see him as a decisive actor, who is not beholden to traditional political or business interests,” Pranaya Rana, a journalist who writes for the Kalam Weekly newsletter, told Al Jazeera. “Many admire his macho public persona and his willingness to take on entrenched political patronage networks.” Supporters of Balendra Shah, a former Kathmandu mayor popularly known as ‘Balen’, gather for a campaign rally in Janakpur, Nepal, January 19, 2026 [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] The craze If young Nepal burned with anger in September, when protesters clashed with security forces and attacked senior politicians after a crackdown by authorities under Oli, Balen was still seething with rage two months later. In a midnight post on Facebook in November, he lashed out: “F*** America, F*** India, F*** China, F*** UML, F*** Congress, F*** RSP, F*** RPP, F*** Maobaadi. You Guys all Combined can do nothing”, venting against the popular political parties and even nations that have close ties to Nepal. Being the Kathmandu mayor at the time, he deleted the post less than half an hour later. Then in January, he quit as mayor and joined the RSP, one of the parties he cursed in the Facebook post. More recently, after Oli called on Facebook for a public debate among prime ministerial candidates of major parties, Balen rejected the suggestion and asked the ex-prime minister to take responsibility for the dozens of civilians killed during the Gen Z protests in September. He asked Oli to acknowledge that he was a “terrorist”. Over the top? Not to many Nepalis. The rapper-turned-politician’s confrontational style and rhetoric appear to have only endeared him to large sections of the youth. His beard and dandy, all-black clothing style – he occasionally wears the traditional Newari dress of the ethnic inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley – coupled with his trademark dark glasses, have become fashion symbols. Kathmandu shops once ran out of the kind of black rectangular glasses he wears. Many online stores, including Daraz, the most popular seller in Nepal, still carry multiple choices of these shades, calling them “Balen Shah glasses”. Advertisement Unlike traditional politicians, Balen mainly stays away from mainstream media. Instead, he communicates with the wider public through podcasts, television shows where he is a judge, or through his favourite platform: social media. His 3.5 million followers on Facebook, 1 million on Instagram, 400,000 on X and nearly 1 million on YouTube give him an online audience unmatched in Nepal. This is valuable capital with a generation constantly on their phones. Yet Balen first made waves not as a politician, but as an upstart musician who shook Nepal. Balendra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician and the prime ministerial candidate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), along with Rabi Lamichhane, RSP president, takes part in an election campaign in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 28, 2026 [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] Big cars, bigger songs The youngest of four siblings, Balen was born in 1990 in Kathmandu. Balen’s father, Ram Narayan Shah – who passed away in December – was a government practitioner of ayurveda, the ancient Hindu healing system. In an interview with Al Jazeera in September – three months before his death – Shah recalled Balen as a “bright and simple” child. The father’s work took him away from home frequently, but one clear memory from Balen’s childhood stuck out for Shah: “He wrote poems. I remember that, because I also wrote poems.” Balen graduated with a civil engineering degree from Himalayan Whitehouse International College in Kathmandu and received a postgraduate degree in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka, India. Then, in 2013, he
Israel bombs Beirut after Hezbollah fires rockets in Iran war retaliation
NewsFeed Israel has carried out heavy strikes in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut after Hezbollah launched an attack on northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Al Jazeera reports from Beirut as residents flee following Israeli strikes
NewsFeed Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians are leaving areas in Beirut following Israeli strikes and forced displacement orders. Earlier Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on Israel. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr is amid the heavy traffic. Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)