Monsoon Mayhem: 7 killed, IMD issues ‘Orange’ alert for Delhi, UP, heavy rain expected
The IMD has predicted heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across several states on Friday, with Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi among the regions expected to receive more showers.
A data center proposed at a quiet corner of East Texas leaves a community bracing for a boom
Kaesha Avishai and other Angelina County residents are worried about what the data center’s arrival means for their property and their way of life.
Houston Democrats demand feds release footage of ICE agent fatally shooting migrant
Four members of Congress demand that ICE and Homeland Security release evidence supporting its claims that an ICE agent shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in self-defense.
Ted Cruz warns Talarico has “real chance” to flip Texas’ U.S. Senate seat
Calling into Gov. Greg Abbott’s guest-hosted Hannity radio show, the Republican senator said Talarico is “charming” enough to win over voters “who may not be paying close attention to the issues.”
Aaron Reitz, former attorney general candidate, appointed U.S. attorney in Texas’ southern district
Reitz, a partisan firebrand who has vowed to “destroy the left,” previously served as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top deputy.
Harris County prosecutor will investigate ICE shooting but cautions that feds control access to evidence
District Attorney Sean Teare said he is in contact with prosecutors in Minnesota who are investigating the January shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents.
Historic Rio Grande Valley church saved from being cut off behind border wall
The wall would have blocked parishioners from reaching La Lomita chapel. A state representative has put a stop to those plans.
Immigrant killed by ICE was not target of operation, Congress member says
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Houston said ICE’s acting director told her that agents were not wearing body cameras and promised that they would start soon.
Israel shares intelligence warning Iran plotted new assassination attempt against Trump: report
Israel recently shared intelligence with the United States indicating Iran had developed a fresh plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday citing people familiar with the matter. The reported intelligence would mark an escalation in the longstanding threats against Trump, who Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against over the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s remarks Wednesday when asked about the report. TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT “They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists,” Trump said. “And, so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.” Fox News Digital has also reached out to Israel’s Embassy in Washington and Iran’s Mission to the United Nations for comment. The Journal reported the intelligence surfaced as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have diverged in recent weeks over how to proceed after last month’s conflict with Iran. Netanyahu has advocated for continuing military pressure on Tehran, while Trump has sought to preserve a fragile ceasefire after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. NETANYAHU REJECTS REPORTS OF A RIFT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAYS THE TWO REMAIN ALIGNED ON IRAN Trump and Netanyahu spoke Thursday and agreed to continue coordination between the two countries, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, which said Trump also updated the Israeli leader on recent U.S. activity in the Gulf. Iranian mourners at the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei chanted for Trump’s death and displayed a banner that said, “We Will Kill Trump,” according to the Journal. Iran has publicly vowed for years to retaliate against Trump over the U.S. operation that killed Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in Baghdad in January 2020.
DHS plans costly crackdown on states that don’t cooperate on election security
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security will withhold billions in preparedness grant funding from states that refuse to adopt new election security measures, including voter citizenship verification, post-election audits and expanded use of paper ballots. The push comes as President Donald Trump and many Republicans slam states that do not want to let the federal government audit their voter rolls, while also criticizing the snail’s-pace, widely criticized vote tabulations in states like California. FEMA, a sub-agency of DHS, is making more than $1 billion in taxpayer funding available to states that want to participate in its Homeland Security Grant Program, but with a catch. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S ELECTION ORDER AS SAVE AMERICA ACT FIGHT INTENSIFIES To qualify for grants, states must submit plans to transition away from “unsecure electronic voting systems” that employ QR codes or barcodes instead of hand-marked paper ballots. By doing so, the agency said, it provides a paper trail to quickly assess any alleged irregularities. After each federal election, states seeking preparedness grants must conduct a manual audit of at least 5% of all ballots cast with the agency arguing a manual, random review will confirm voting-machine tabulations’ synthesis with paper ballots and identify any “manipulation.” States must also match the number of voters who participated in the election with the number of ballots cast and, within 120 days of any grant award, use the SAVE database — brought to the fore amid numerous illegal immigrant truckers getting in fatal crashes — to verify the citizenship of every listed voter in the state. SAVE, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, has been criticized by some Democratic governors for being insufficiently maintained, an assertion DHS has denied. LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS DHS told Fox News Digital that threats to election systems continue to evolve and that Secretary Markwayne Mullin has made critical infrastructure protection a top priority. A spokesperson suggested elections fall within that critical infrastructure and remain susceptible to foreign attacks. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats and cyberattacks,” the DHS spokesperson said. “These new requirements for homeland security grant recipients will preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results.” The new rules come as the Trump administration had a major loss in court while seeking to force the issue of election security. An Obama-appointed federal judge in Pittsburgh sided with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania after the Justice Department sued more than 25 states seeking voter records that included Social Security numbers. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Judge Cathy Bissoon ruled the feds lack authority to demand “highly sensitive” state information after Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Republican appointed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, balked at a demand to turn over data last fall. Schmidt reportedly offered a redacted version of the state voter file without the sensitive data, telling the DOJ in his response that such “broad data” collection is a “concerning attempt to expand the federal government’s role in our country’s election process,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. DHS’ new tact may or may not be tested in a similar fashion.