Trump-backed Republican rips Dem town halls as ‘goofing off’ after chicken stunt
Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., who snagged an endorsement from President Donald Trump this week, is firing back at Colorado Democrats following a series of “People’s Town Halls” that went off the rails during the April congressional recess, as intra-party tensions and strange songs took center stage. “While Democrats goof off and sing songs, Congressman Gabe Evans is working hard and fighting to make Colorado a better and safer place to live, work, and raise a family,” Evans’ spokeswoman said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, one of several Democrats hosting town halls in Republican-held congressional districts, traveled to Colorado for a Democrat-run town hall in Evans’ home district last week. The town hall was derailed by questions about the Democratic Party, undercutting the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) plan to provide a “platform to fight back against Republicans’ dangerous agenda.” Town hall attendees asked question after question about the party’s future and expressed concerns that Democrats aren’t doing enough to resist Trump’s second term, according to a report by The New York Times. Meanwhile, Casar spoke in front of a cardboard cutout of Evans with chicken legs. FRESHMAN GOP LAWMAKER REFLECTS ON FIRST 90 DAYS IN CONGRESS AND PREVIEWS WHAT’S NEXT: ‘REALLY REWARDING’ “Republican members of Congress still aren’t willing to meet with their own constituents, so I’m still doing town halls in their districts to talk to their constituents. Today I traveled to Colorado’s 8th District to answer questions and talk about what we can do to fight back,” Casar said on X following the event. WISCONSINITES KICKED OUT AND DENIED ENTRY TO THIS DEMOCRAT’S ‘FAKE TOWN HALL’ As of Monday, the DNC reported hosting 100 “People’s Town Halls” in 45 states, alongside the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Association of State Democrats Committee (ASDC). “Americans of every political party are mad as hell that not only are Republicans jacking up the cost of living by slashing your Medicaid, threatening your Social Security, and eliminating your school’s funding to pay for tax cuts for billionaires — they don’t even have the courage to face their own constituents in-person. Colorado Democrats were proud to bring Rep. Greg Casar to town to give folks a real town hall and ensure their voices were heard — right in Gabe Evans’ backyard,” Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib said in a statement this week. But as constituents in Colorado used the forum to express their concerns with the Democratic Party, not the Republican Party, the town halls have been ridiculed by conservatives on social media for falling into theatrics. A video posted by conservative communicator, Steve Guest, from a town hall hosted by the Colorado Working Families Party last weekend, showed a woman singing into a microphone, “Oh, Gabey boy. Oh, Gabey boy. You work for us,” as the crowd erupted in cheers. “Since when is singing a ridiculous song like this part of a serious town hall? Never. The Democrat Party is floundering—that’s why people were singing laughable songs like this one in CO-08 this week,” Guest said on X. “You are not here… You just run and hide… We call you here to do your freaking job,” the woman sang. According to the event announcement, “The People’s Town Hall: Where is Gabe?” invited Evans to speak to constituents at the progressive group’s town hall. The group planned to listen to stories from the community if he didn’t attend, which he did not. Evans was the only candidate to flip a House district red in a blue state in the 2024 election, according to his campaign. The Colorado Republican picked up a key endorsement from Trump this week for his 2026 re-election campaign. “Congressman Gabe Evans is an America First Patriot who is doing a fantastic job representing Colorado’s 8th Congressional District!” Trump said on Truth Social, “Gabe Evans has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” “Thank you Mr. President! I am dialed in on making sure our community is free of criminal illegal immigrant gangs and making Colorado a safer place to live, work, and raise a family. Proud to be fighting for #CO08 in Congress,” Evans replied on X. Trump also endorsed Evans in 2024 as he unseated former Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo. Cook Political Report, a leading nonpartisan political handicapper, ranked Evans’ district a “toss up” in 2026. The DNC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
With song and seed, Brazil’s Indigenous Maxakali confront climate change
Maxakali territory once spanned at least three large valleys in the Atlantic Forest. Elders in the village remember how the forest supplied food, medicine and construction materials — in addition to serving as habitat for the yãmĩyxop, spiritual beings central to Maxakali beliefs. “There were medicines in the forest for us,” explained Damásio. “When we had stomachaches, we would use the bark from the trees to feel better. But now, it’s just grass. The farmers burned everything.” But the four remaining Maxakali reservations — reduced to 6,434 hectares (15,900 acres) of pasture — contain less than 17 percent of their original vegetation. Some experts consider the Atlantic Forest to be regionally extinct. That absence has many Maxakali leaders turning to reforestation — and finding in their musical traditions an ecological blueprint of the past. Manuel Damásio Maxakali tends to banana trees in Minas Gerais, Brazil [Sara Van Horn/Al Jazeera] Singing organises life in Maxakali villages: Music, for instance, is used to cure illness, teach history or transmit practical instructions, like how to make bags or weave fishing nets. “Songs tie together the whole Tikmũ’ũn social structure,” said de Tugny, the Hāmhi project coordinator, who is also a musicologist at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. “People don’t compose songs. They have songs.” To have a song, she added, means being capable of taking care of the spirit considered to be the song’s creator. Ancestral songs also provide an extremely detailed register of local ecology. Twelve musical canons, distinct in grammar and lexicon, total about 360 hours of song. Contained in the lyrics are hundreds of species of flora and fauna now extinct in the territory. “We sing about everything: the saplings, the bananas, ourselves,” explained Manuel Kelé, leader of the village of Água Boa. “Even dogs have a song within our religion.” Caretakers at the Hāmhi nursery tend to the growing trees and plants [Sara Van Horn/Al Jazeera] One song, for example, lists 33 species of bees, some of which don’t have names in Brazil’s national language, Portuguese, and only two of which are currently present in the territory. The lyrics supply information about bee behaviour that many Maxakali have never witnessed first-hand. “The songs are snapshots,” said de Tugny. “They are like photographs of every detail that exists in the Atlantic Forest: the names of insects, birds, plants, moments of relationship between an animal and a leaf. All these are registered.” For the Maxakali, ritual songs also play a crucial role in helping the forest regenerate. Singing is a daily part of their work in Hāmhi’s tree nurseries. Nursery caretakers not only sing to seeds as they are buried, but they also make music as part of the regular rhythms of harvesting and cultivation. Caretakers divide into groups, position themselves around the nursery, and sing in concert with each other. The song lyrics help participants remember the ecological knowledge of their ancestors. And while some of the work at Hāmhi is dedicated to planting fruit trees and other crops, the project’s leaders see reforestation as key to reducing the region’s fire risks. Song is an important part of the growing cycle in Maxakali culture [Sara Van Horn/Al Jazeera] Since its inception in 2023, the Hāmhi project has planted over 60 hectares (148 acres) of fruit trees and 155 hectares (383 acres) of Atlantic Forest vegetation. The goal is a reforested area nearly twice that size. Programme participants have also organised themselves into a provisional fire brigade and even created natural fire barriers, using traditional methods like planting species of fire-resistant vegetation. “Songs help the forest grow,” said Damásio, the village leader. “We ask those who have died to help us. They walk here and assist us. We are calling on the forest to grow back.” Adblock test (Why?)
Automakers suspend financial guidance amid tariff uncertainty
Several global automakers, including Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, have joined Michigan-based General Motors and Volvo in suspending their respective annual financial guidance reports for investors amid growing tariff uncertainty. The announcements on Wednesday came even as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to soften the blow of the auto tariffs that he had imposed earlier this month. “While we further assess the impact of the tariff policies on our North American operations, we look forward to our continued collaboration with the US administration to strengthen a competitive American auto industry and stimulate exports,” Stellantis board chairman John Elkann said in a statement. Stellantis said it was “suspending its 2025 financial guidance … due to evolving tariff policies, as well as the difficulty predicting possible impacts on market volumes and the competitive landscape.” This comes amid layoffs at Stellantis, a carmaker that houses 14 brands including Jeep, RAM Trucks, Dodge, Fiat, and Maserati. In April, it temporarily laid off 900 workers for two weeks and said at the time it was because of uncertainty about how Trump-imposed tariffs would affect its business. Advertisement Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’s chief operating officer for the Americas, said in a company-wide email that it would assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on its operations, but also have “decided to take some immediate actions”. The company reported a 14-percent drop in its first-quarter sales to $40.7bn (35.8bn euros) in its first-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmakers, reported big drops in their net profits over the same January-March period, before the US tariffs kicked in. Mercedes cited “volatility with regard to tariff policies” that meant business development could not be reliably forecast. Mercedes’s net profit plunged almost 43 percent in the first three months of the year to $1.9 bn (1.73 billion euros) Finance chief Harald Wilhelm said Mercedes still remains in a strong position, thanks to what he said was a strong position in profitable, top-end vehicles. “This, combined with a healthy balance sheet, provides a solid foundation to navigate our company through a period of geopolitical uncertainties,” he said. ‘Towards the lower end’ About 40 companies worldwide, across industries, have pulled or lowered their forward guidance in the first two weeks of the first-quarter earnings season, an analysis by the news agency Reuters showed. On Tuesday, social media giant Snap declined to offer future guidance, saying it was seeing a slowdown in ad spending and raised doubts about advertising budgets due to tariff impact, sending its stock down 15 percent on Wednesday. Advertisement Before the tariffs, European automakers were already facing slowing sales of electric cars and stiff competition from local rivals, as well as from Chinese EVs, for which it is a key market. Volkswagen, a 10-brand group that includes Audi, Skoda and Porsche, said its net profit fell 40.6 percent to $2.49bn (2.19 bn euros). For the rest of the year, the carmaker said that it expected business “towards the lower end” of its guidance, citing challenges including increased competition, more stringent emissions regulations and trade tensions. Speaking on a call for analysts and investors, Volkswagen’s finance chief Arno Antlitz said that it was “too early to say” if Volkswagen would step up manufacturing in the US to circumvent any tariffs. Volkswagen expects a profit margin of 5.5 to 6.5 percent for the coming year, but its guidance does not take into account changeable American tariffs. “It’s highly difficult to give a projection for the full year,” Antlitz said. UBS analyst Patrick Hummel wrote in a client note that the German group’s outlook did not “include any impact of US tariffs,” calling it “essentially a withdrawal of guidance”. In the United Kingdom, luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda announced that it was limiting shipments to the US, but it maintained its annual guidance as it reported a 13-percent drop in first-quarter revenue. Easing some tariffs Besides a 25-percent tariff on finished imported cars, the industry has also been affected by Trump’s 25-percent tariff on steel and aluminium. Advertisement Carmakers are also set to face new tariffs on foreign auto parts expected to take effect on May 3. Trump’s new policy means that a company would not face both a 25-percent levy for an imported vehicle and 25-percent on steel or aluminium. The importer would pay the higher of the two levies, but not both, a US Commerce Department official said. The other change is that companies that import parts for vehicles assembled in the US would be able to offset 3.75 percent of a vehicle’s list price in the first year and 2.5 percent in the second year. But analysts believe that this reprieve won’t necessarily work in practice as automakers face the effect tariffs will have on their business. “While this sounds good on paper (less bad then the original auto tariff slate), a US car with all US parts made in the US is a fictional tale not possible today and many factories/production hubs could take 4-5 years to build in the US … and this speaks to the massive frustration from the industry as the rules of the US tariff game are untenable in our view,” Wedbush Securities Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday. Adblock test (Why?)
Columbia protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi released from US custody
A United States judge has ordered the release of Columbia University student and pro-Palestine protester Mohsen Mahdawi as a case challenging his deportation proceeds. In Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday, US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ruled Mahdawi could leave the Northwest State Correctional Facility, where he had been held since immigration officials arrested him earlier this month. Mahdawi walked out of the court with both hands in the air, flashing peace signs as supporters greeted him with cheers. As he spoke, he shared a message for President Donald Trump, whose administration has led a crackdown on student protesters who have denounced Israel’s war in Gaza. “I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said to Trump. He also addressed the people of Palestine and sought to dispel perceptions that the student protest movement was anything but peaceful. “We are pro-peace and antiwar,” Mahdawi explained. “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom, and it is very soon.” Advertisement Mahdawi, a legal US resident who had been a leader in the protests at Columbia University, was detained on April 14 while attending a citizenship interview. Video of him being led away in handcuffs spread widely across social media. His arrest came as part of a wider push by the Trump administration to target visa holders and permanent residents for their pro-Palestine advocacy. Trump has also pressured top universities to crack down on pro-Palestine protests, in the name of combating anti-Semitism. Critics, however, say that rationale is an excuse to exert greater control over academia and stifle opposing views. Mohsen Mahdawi was just released on bail by a federal judge in Vermont. pic.twitter.com/sgtNyfeYmU — Katherine Franke (@ProfKFranke) April 30, 2025 What’s in the ruling? While the immigration case against Mahdawi will proceed, Judge Crawford ruled the student activist posed no flight risk and could be released to attend his graduation next month in New York City. It is possible the US government may appeal Mahdawi’s release, but the judge’s ruling allows him to leave the state of Vermont and fight his deportation from outside a detention facility. The Trump administration, however, had opposed his release. Its lawyers argued that Mahdawi’s detention was “constitutionally valid aspect of the deportation process”. Mahdawi’s lawyers have countered that his detainment treads on his constitutional rights to free speech. “Mohsen has committed no crime, and the government’s only supposed justification for holding him in prison is the content of his speech,” Lia Ernst, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Mahdawi, said in a statement following his release. Advertisement The Trump administration has taken the broad position that constitutional speech protections only apply to US citizens, a question that could eventually be decided by the US Supreme Court. In court filings, government lawyers have cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the legal basis for seeking Mahdawi’s deportation. A rarely used part of the law allows the US to deport foreign nationals “whose presence or activities in the United States” gives the secretary of state “reasonable ground to believe [they] would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used that provision as the basis for seeking to deport Mahdawi and other pro-Palestinian student protesters. Israel is a critical ally of the US in the Middle East. Demonstrators in New York City carry placards that read ‘Free Mohsen’ to push for Mohsen Mahdawi’s release [File: Jeenah Moon/Reuters] Crackdown on advocacy Mahdawi was arrested weeks after fellow Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, also a US permanent resident. In early March, Khalil was likewise detained by immigration officials. The pair co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at the prestigious Ivy League university. Khalil has remained in immigration custody in Louisiana since his arrest outside his apartment. Earlier this month, an immigration judge ruled Khalil was indeed deportable, siding with government lawyers. In a two-page letter submitted to the court, Secretary of State Rubio had written that the 30-year-old should be removed from the US for his role in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States”. Advertisement The Trump administration has broadly portrayed nearly all forms of pro-Palestine advocacy as “anti-Semitic”, in what critics have called an effort to silence freedom of speech. Rubio provided no further evidence backing his claims against Khalil, and the student leader has been charged with no crime. Rubio’s letter nevertheless said that his department can revoke a permanent resident’s legal status even where their beliefs, associations or statements are “otherwise lawful”. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Khalil can move forward with a legal challenge to his arrest and detainment on the grounds that he was targeted for his political views. Both Mahdawi and Khalil have parallel court cases, one seeking reprieve from deportation and the other challenging the basis for their arrests. While in detention, Mahdawi had been visited by US Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat who has denounced the student’s arrest as “unjust” and antidemocratic. “I’m staying positive by reassuring myself in the ability of justice and the deep belief of democracy,” Mahdawi said at the time, according to a video posted on Welch’s X account. “This is the reason I wanted to become a citizen of this country, because I believe in the principles of this country.” Adblock test (Why?)
Elon Musk receives applause from Cabinet as he begins planned departure from DOGE role
Elon Musk received a round of applause from President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as he prepares for a planned exit from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “You have been treated unfairly,” Trump said to Musk during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. “But, the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you. And this whole room can say that very strongly. It’s really been a tremendous help. You opened up a lot of eyes as to what could be done. And we just want to thank you very much.” “You’re invited to stay as long as you want,” Trump added as applause broke out in the room for Musk. “At some point, I guess he wants to get back home to his cars and his family.” Musk has been the public leader of DOGE since the administration began in January, leading teams through various federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and mismanagement, which has received repeated praise from Trump and his administration. ELON MUSK NO LONGER WORKING ON DOGE EFFORTS FROM WHITE HOUSE: REPORT The tech billionaire, who leads both SpaceX and Tesla, was hired as a “special government employee,” which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives. Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days in a 365- day period,” according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day time frame, beginning on Inauguration Day, runs dry May 30. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told the New York Post Tuesday that Musk is no longer working regularly from the White House. MUSK NOT LEAVING YET, WRAPPING UP WORK ON SCHEDULE ONCE ‘INCREDIBLE WORK AT DOGE IS COMPLETE’: WHITE HOUSE “Instead of meeting with him in person, I’m talking to him on the phone, but it’s the same net effect,” Wiles told the outlet as the tech billionaire prepares to depart from his role at DOGE. “He hasn’t been here physically, but it really doesn’t matter much.” Musk said during the Cabinet meeting Wednesday that DOGE has now saved the U.S. $160 billion through his efforts trimming government fat, and celebrated the accomplishments of the administration in the meeting. “The American people voted for secure borders, safe cities and sensible spending,” Musk said. “And that’s what they’ve gotten. Tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first hundred days. As everyone has said, it’s more than has been accomplished in any administration before. Ever. Period. So, this portends very well for what happens for the rest of the administration. I think this could be the greatest administration since the founding of the country.” DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’ The tech billionaire notably wore two Trump hats during the meeting, quipping: “Mr. President they say I wear a lot of hats,” he said. “Even my hat has a hat.” DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order. DOGE’S GREATEST HITS: LOOK BACK AT THE DEPARTMENT’S MOST HIGH-PROFILE CUTS DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would come to end in the coming weeks. “You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview with the DOGE leader in March. “Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?” “I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Musk responded. Trump also told the media in March that he would keep Musk “as long as I can keep him,” but that “he’s got a big company to run.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Tesla dealerships have faced repeated protests amid Musk’s work with DOGE, including physical attacks on cars and monetary boycotts of the company. Musk noted during the Cabinet meeting that protesters “do like to burn my cars, which is not great,” which received laughter from colleagues.
SCOOP: DOGE Caucus plans White House meeting as Elon Musk preps to step back
FIRST ON FOX: The Congressional DOGE Caucus is planning a meeting with the White House sometime next month, one of the group’s leaders confirmed to Fox News Digital. “We’re talking with the White House about our next meeting, and they may be hosting us. We’ll see what happens,” Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We’re ready to take the reins and continue to push no matter who’s leading [the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)].” HOW A DOGE REVIEW CAN ACTUALLY IMPROVE THE PROGRAMS THAT FIGHT HIV/AIDS Bean did not give a date for the meeting but said, “The answer is always, whenever Trump wants to host.” It’s not immediately clear if President Donald Trump himself will participate, but the meeting would come as Republican lawmakers get ready to consider a roughly $9 billion list of spending cuts proposed by the White House, known as a rescissions package. It’s expected to include a host of USAID programs, one of Trump’s first targets in his campaign on government efficiency. A senior House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital they expected that package to be delivered to Congress next week. The Congressional DOGE Caucus was founded by Bean alongside Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and House GOP Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore, R-Utah, to coordinate a legislative response to Elon Musk’s work with DOGE. Musk recently told Tesla investors that he would be stepping back from the federal role beginning next month. “Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said on a first-quarter earnings call. He added, however, “I’ll have to continue DOGE for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back.” DOGE SLASHES ‘WASTEFUL’ ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ CONTRACT WORTH $50K IN LATEST ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS A spokesperson for the Congressional DOGE Caucus declined to comment when Fox News Digital reached out for more details on the tentative White House meeting. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A senior White House official did not say whether Trump would attend the meeting nor whether the rescissions package would be discussed. “The president is reviewing a wide range of tax cut proposals for inclusion in the reconciliation bill. He is most focused on tax policy that will help create more good-paying jobs in America and delivering the major tax cuts he campaigned on for working and middle-class Americans,” the official said.
Rubio passionately defends immigration actions to weed out ‘perverts and pedophiles and child rapists’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s decision to send an accused MS-13 gang member back to his native country of El Salvador — and said the U.S. is seeking other countries to do the same. “I say this unapologetically: We are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries. So we are active, not just El Salvador,” Rubio said Wednesday during a cabinet meeting at the White House. “We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries.’” “We do that as a favor to us, and the further away from America the better so they can’t come back across the border,” Rubio said. “I’m not apologetic about it. We are doing that.” The “president was elected to keep America safe, and we get rid of a bunch of perverts and pedophiles and child rapists out of our country,” he said. WHITE HOUSE DISPLAYS LAWN SIGNS HIGHLIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME Rubio’s comments coincide with the Trump administration’s decision in March to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, back to his home country of El Salvador. While the Trump administration said in court filings that an administrative error led to Garcia’s deportation, it has since accused Garcia of being an MS-13 member. Additionally, the Justice Department unveiled documents in April outlining domestic violence allegations that Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her. A federal court and the Supreme Court have instructed the Trump administration to coordinate on Garcia’s return to the U.S. for proper deportation hearings, but the Trump administration has said it will defer to El Salvador on whether Garcia is sent back to the U.S. or not. On Monday, the White House placed 100 posters of the “worst illegal immigrants arrested” during the first 100 days of the term on the White House lawn. The posters include the various crimes each illegal immigrant faces accusations of, ranging from rape, murder, sexual assault of a child, lewd acts in front of a child, and distribution of fentanyl and illegal guns. TRUMP SIGNS LAKEN RILEY ACT INTO LAW AS FIRST LEGISLATIVE VICTORY IN NEW ADMINISTRATION Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters Monday that the Trump administration was tracking down illegal immigrants, and that efforts to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would prove futile. “Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime,” Homan said. “And so every sick person we take off the streets, especially child rapists, makes this country much safer. Every illegal alien we arrest, public safety threat, one at a time makes this country safer.”
Florida AG launches Office of Parental Rights, lending legal firepower to defend parents’ ‘God-given right’
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the creation of an Office of Parental Rights in the Sunshine State that will lend legal muscle to help parents fight for the rights they’ve been granted by God. Uthmeier pointed out during remarks on Tuesday that “it is not the role of the government to raise kids,” but that the role is parents’ “God-given right.” He said that “parents have the God-given rights to raise their kids the way they deem appropriate.” The attorney general said that there will be a “team of litigators focused on fighting” battles that parents alert them about — he noted that there will be a portal where parents can reach out. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO STOP ENFORCING NEW IMMIGRATION LAW When someone asked about the potential costs, Uthmeier noted that the efforts will also involve working with nonprofits and outside groups. He indicated that he is not seeking to rack up costs, but noted, “when it comes to fightin’ the right fights, I’ll spend every dollar we have.” A press release about the effort indicates that Uthmeier’s Office of Parental rights can help with a range of cases including, “Denial of access to school records,” “Lack of consent for biometric or personal data collection,” “Unauthorized healthcare, counseling, or mental health services,” “Interference with educational choices,” “Failure to notify parents or suspected criminal offenses,” “Coercion or encouragement to withhold information,” “Objectionable instructional or library materials,” “Violations of parental notification for health services,” “Restrictions on parental participation in school governance,” as well as “Unauthorized data sharing or surveys.” SUNSHINE STATE DEM ANNOUNCES SWITCH TO NO AFFILIATION: ‘DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN FLORIDA IS DEAD’ Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon have both cheered on the effort. “Great initiative that will ensure that Florida’s protections for the rights of parents are upheld,” the governor said in a post on X. McMahon noted in a tweet, “Parents have the right to know what’s going on in their child’s education and to make the decisions. It’s great to see a state showing how enforcing parents’ rights is a priority without the federal government micromanaging them.” DESANTIS EXCORIATES FL HOUSE LEADERSHIP AMID REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘REVOLT AGAINST’ VOTERS Uthmeier thanked McMahon for her support. “It’s great to have an administration in DC that respects state sovereignty and, most importantly, the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children,” he noted in a tweet when responding to her comments.
After deadly attack in Kashmir, what’s next for India and Pakistan?
India-Pakistan tensions grow after attack on tourists in disputed region of Kashmir. Tensions are growing between India and Pakistan after an attack killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir. As the exchange of accusations and gunfire continues, Kashmiris fear for what is to come. Adblock test (Why?)
Spain’s grid denies renewable energy to blame for massive blackout
REE says the outage cannot be blamed on Spain’s high share of renewable energy, cause not clear yet. Spain’s grid operator has denied that solar power was to blame for the country’s worst blackout, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces increasing pressure to explain what went wrong. Red Electrica de Espana (REE) on Wednesday said the source of the outage had been narrowed down to two separate incidents of loss of generation in substations in southwestern Spain, but stressed that it was too early to draw conclusions, as it had yet to identify their exact location. REE’s head, former Socialist minister Beatriz Corredor, told Cadena SER radio that it was wrong to blame the outage on Spain’s high share of renewable energy. “These technologies are already stable, and they have systems that allow them to operate as a conventional generation system without any safety issues,” she said, adding she was not considering resigning. Life across the Iberian Peninsula was returning to normal after a power outage halted trains, shut airports and trapped people in lifts in Spain and Portugal on Monday. Advertisement Just before the system crashed, Spain’s solar energy accounted for 53 percent of electricity production, wind for almost 11 percent and nuclear and gas for 15 percent, according to REE data. Political opponents criticised Sanchez for taking too long to explain the blackout and suggested he was covering up for failings, after his left-wing coalition government invested in expanding the renewable energy sector. “Since REE has ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack, we can only point to the malfunctioning of REE, which has state investment and therefore its leaders are appointed by the government,” Miguel Tellado, a parliamentary spokesperson for the opposition conservative People’s Party, said in an interview on RTVE. Tellado called for an independent investigation to be conducted by Spain’s parliament rather than the government probe Sanchez has announced. The prime minister has not ruled out a cyberattack, although this has been dismissed by REE. Antonio Turiel, an energy expert at the state-owned Spanish National Research Council, told Onda Vasca radio station on Tuesday that the fundamental problem was the grid’s instability. “A lot of renewable energy has been integrated without the responsive stabilisation systems that should have been in place,” he said, adding that vulnerabilities stemmed from “the unplanned and haphazard integration of a host of renewable systems”. The government had forecast private and public investment of some 52 billion euros ($59bn) through 2030 to upgrade the power grid so it can handle the surge in demand from data centres and electric vehicles. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)