Rubio targets Nicaraguan official over alleged torture tied to ‘brutal’ Ortega regime
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Saturday that the Trump administration is sanctioning a senior Nicaraguan official over alleged human rights violations. Rubio said the U.S. is designating Vice Minister of the Interior Luis Roberto Cañas Novoa for his role in “gross violations of human rights” under the government of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, the latest effort to hold the regime accountable. “The Trump administration continues to hold the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship accountable for brutal human rights violations against Nicaraguans,” Rubio said in a post on X. “I’m designating Nicaraguan Vice Minister of the Interior Luis Roberto Cañas Novoa for his role in human rights violations.” RUBIO TESTIFIES IN TRIAL OF EX-FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN ALLEGEDLY HIRED BY MADURO GOVERNMENT TO LOBBY FOR VENEZUELA The designation was made under Section 7031(c), which allows the State Department to bar foreign officials and their immediate family members from entering the United States due to involvement in significant corruption or human rights abuses. The State Department has said the Ortega-Murillo government has engaged in arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings after mass protests that began in April 2018. “Nearly eight years ago, the Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega dictatorship unleashed a brutal wave of repression against Nicaraguans who courageously stood against the regime’s increased tyranny, corruption and abuse,” the statement said. The State Department said the sanction marked the anniversary of the 2018 protests, after which more than 325 protesters were murdered. A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts previously accused Nicaragua’s government of systematic abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity” after an investigation into the country’s crackdown on political dissent, according to The Associated Press. The experts said the repression intensified after mass protests in 2018 and has since expanded across large parts of society, targeting perceived opponents of the government. TRUMP ADMIN ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF VISA RESTRICTION POLICY IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE Nicaragua’s government has rejected those findings. The designation follows a series of recent U.S. actions targeting the Ortega-Murillo government. In February, the State Department sanctioned five senior Nicaraguan officials tied to repression, citing arbitrary detention, torture, killings and the targeting of clergy, media and civil society. Earlier this week, the department also announced sanctions on individuals and companies linked to Nicaragua’s gold sector, including two of Ortega and Murillo’s sons, accusing the regime of using the industry to generate foreign currency, launder assets and consolidate power within the ruling family. The State Department said the move is part of ongoing efforts to hold the Nicaraguan government accountable for its actions. Fox News Digital reached out to the Nicaraguan government and its embassy in Washington for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The Trump administration has taken an increasingly aggressive posture in the Western Hemisphere in recent months, including a Jan. 3, 2026, operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The U.S. has also carried out a series of strikes targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the region, part of a broader crackdown tied to regional security and narcotics enforcement efforts.
Walz rips Trump and Vance in Europe, says ‘feeble-minded, trigger-happy president’ has no exit plan for Iran
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz slammed President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance at a conference for progressives in Spain on Saturday, accusing Trump of being a “feeble-minded, trigger-happy president” who has “no exit plan” for the ongoing conflict with Iran. Walz delivered the criticism after a crowd at the inaugural Global Progressive Mobilization event in Barcelona heard video messages from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani about affordability and from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., about the “illegal and dangerous wars being waged by Netanyahu and Trump in Iran and Lebanon.” “We’ve got a feeble-minded, trigger-happy president who plunged us into a war where no threat was present, with no clear objectives and no exit plan. We need to call that what it is. That’s fascism. Or at least it’s fascist curious as they would be,” Walz said. “Look, it’d be easy to stand up here and just bash Donald Trump. He’s an easy target. And if you know me, we don’t get along very well,” Walz added. “But we’ve got a lot of bigger fish and bigger problems to fry in this room, because the truth is, authoritarianism is not just confined to the United States. It’s everywhere.” JD VANCE TELLS POPE LEO XIV TO ‘STICK TO MATTERS OF MORALITY’ AND STAY OUT OF US PUBLIC POLICY Walz also said, “Many of you might know me as the guy who isn’t currently the vice president of the United States, and all I have to say about that is I’m very sorry about that. “But unlike our current vice president, I’m not here to arrogantly lecture or scold you. I’m not here to pick up a fight with the Pope, and I’m not here to host a rally for some local wannabe dictator. Instead, I’m here to say thank you and to share some thoughts on what we can do to be part of a progressive movement that moves all of our countries forward.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a response. GOV. TIM WALZ SAYS HE’D ‘BEAT THE S— OUT OF’ JD VANCE IN A DEBATE REMATCH Walz told the crowd at one point in his speech, “Please don’t give up on the American people.” “Go ahead and give up and condemn that monstrosity that sits in our White House,” he added in reference to Trump. “Keep the pressure on. Keep calling it out. Keep standing up to it. Keep naming it. But know there are more good people that stand on the right side of history. There are more good people that care about equality, that understand it’s not America First, it’s humanity first. It’s all of us together.” The two-day Global Progressive Mobilization conference described itself on its website as a “necessary alternative to conservative and far-right forces.” Prior to Walz’s remarks, Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Spain. “Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!” Trump wrote Saturday. Begoña Gómez, the wife of liberal Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, also was formally charged this week with corruption after a years-long probe into charges she and her husband deny, according to Deutsche Welle.
Ilhan Omar’s office says she’s ‘not a millionaire’ after $30M filing revised down to under $100K: report
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said she is not a millionaire and blamed a major accounting error after a congressional financial disclosure listing her assets as high as $30 million drew scrutiny from Republicans and a congressional watchdog. An amended filing reviewed by The Wall Street Journal shows Omar and her husband’s assets were between $18,004 and $95,000, a sharp drop from an earlier disclosure that estimated their holdings between $6 million and $30 million. “The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” Omar spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers told the Journal, adding that the filing was corrected “as soon as the discrepancy was identified.” The revised disclosure came after the Office of Congressional Conduct requested additional information earlier this year, according to the Journal. TRUMP RIPS ‘CROOKED’ ILHAN OMAR AS HOUSE RAMPS UP INVESTIGATION INTO EXPLODING NET WORTH Omar’s attorney said in a letter to the watchdog that the inaccurate filing was unintentional and stemmed from reliance on accountants. “As the busiest of people, it is very common for members and their spouses to rely on learned professionals like accountants to make calculations and determinations that appear on public filings,” the attorney wrote, according to the Journal. “While the error is, of course, unfortunate, there is nothing untoward, and nothing illegal has occurred.” The amended filing shows Omar reported between $102,503 and $1,005,200 in income in 2024 from assets she and her husband own, according to the Journal. Documentation attached to the attorney’s letter showed $213,200 in distributions to her husband from his venture capital management firm and $3,000 from a winery. COMER TO SAY TIM WALZ ‘ENABLED FRAUD,’ FAILED WHISTLEBLOWERS IN BOMBSHELL MINNESOTA HEARING A 2025 email between Omar’s husband and his accountant valued the venture capital firm at $7.9 million and the winery at $1.5 million, though he owns roughly one-third of both businesses, according to tax documents cited by the Journal. The updated disclosure also shows Omar has between $15,001 and $50,000 in student loan debt and a similar amount in credit card debt. The discrepancy had already drawn scrutiny from House Republicans, who questioned how such a large swing in reported assets went unflagged. In a February letter to Omar’s husband, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., raised concerns about financial disclosures showing the value of two companies, eStCru LLC and Rose Lake Capital, surged from tens of thousands of dollars in 2023 to as much as $30 million in 2024. Comer said the sudden increase “raises concerns that unknown individuals may be investing to gain influence” and requested financial records tied to the businesses. Omar’s office pushed back, describing Comer’s request as “a political stunt” and part of a campaign “meant to fundraise, not real oversight,” according to The Associated Press. A 2025 financial disclosure filing had previously listed Omar’s husband’s business interests in the millions, including a winery valued between $1 million and $5 million and a venture capital firm valued between $5 million and $25 million. Those valuations were later revised in the amended filing, with the businesses listed as having no net value once liabilities were factored in, according to the Journal. Omar, a progressive Democrat originally from Somalia and a member of the “Squad,” has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump since first being elected in 2018 and has long been a target of Republican criticism. Trump has suggested Omar benefited from Minnesota’s sprawling welfare fraud scandal involving many people from the Somali community, a claim she has denied. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton weighed in on the amended filing, questioning how previously unreported liabilities wiped out millions in reported assets. “Ilhan Omar says her congressional financial reports have massive accounting error,” Fitton wrote on X. “She and her husband only worth 18k-86k, NOT $6 million-$30 million! Previously unreported ‘liabilities’ erase wealth!” Fox News Digital has reached out to Omar’s office for comment and will update this story with any response. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US Navy releases photos of ‘fresh meals,’ pushes back on reports of food shortages on Middle East warships
The U.S. Navy released photos Saturday of “fresh meals” being served onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli as it pushed back against claims of food shortages on Middle East warships. Images have emerged purportedly showing meager meals being served to sailors during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, but the claims are being rejected at the highest levels of the Pentagon, with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth blasting them as “fake news.” “Fresh meals. Full service. Mission ready. Sailors aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli continue to receive regularly prepared meals at sea — no interruptions, no shortages,” the Navy wrote on X Saturday morning. It shared photos showing full plates of food being served to sailors. One image showed boxes of food supplies stacked to the ceiling onboard one of the ships. HEGSETH EXCORIATES MEDIA, LIKENING THEM TO ‘PHARISEES’ IN TRUMP DEFENSE “Recent reports alleging food shortages and poor quality aboard our deployed ships are false,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said Friday. “Both USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli have sufficient food onboard to serve their crews with healthy options. The health and wellbeing of our Sailors and Marines are my top priority, and every crew member continues to receive fully portioned, nutritionally balanced meals.” LIVE UPDATES: IRAN REVERSES COURSE ON REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, SIGNALS WARNING TO US “The U.S. Navy is correct. More FAKE NEWS from the Pharisee Press,” Hegseth said in response to Caudle’s statement. “My team confirmed the logistics stats for the Lincoln & Tripoli. Both have 30+ days of Class I supplies (food) on board. NavCent monitors this everyday, for every ship,” Hegseth said. “Our sailors deserve — and receive — the best.” U.S. Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper also said Friday that the reports are “blatantly false.” “Our service members are absolutely being fed across the region. This is an absolute priority,” Cooper told reporters.
Newsom administration allegedly knew of $2B California budget error for months: report
California Democrats were aware of a roughly $2 billion budget accounting error for months, even though Gov. Gavin Newsom’s January spending plan already projected a roughly $3 billion deficit for the coming fiscal year, according to a report. The mistake, tied to the state’s public employee retirement system, CalPERS, could shrink that projected deficit. But state analysts warn California still faces far larger long-term budget problems, with annual deficits projected at $20 billion to $35 billion. State legislative leaders learned about the problem as early as February after it was flagged by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office but did not publicly disclose it until it was reported in April, according to a memo reported by KCRA 3. HOUSE COMMITTEE LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO ‘RAMPANT’ CALIFORNIA HOSPICE FRAUD The analyst’s office said Newsom’s administration double-counted some retirement contribution rates, creating a $1.6 billion error. Another miscalculation involving future contribution estimates added another $450 million. Together, the two errors total roughly $2 billion. “Given the size and complexity of California’s budget, it is not uncommon that we come across errors stemming from calculation mistakes or formula errors etc.,” Legislative Analyst Gabe Petek said in a statement to KCRA 3. “Indeed, part of the role of our office is to serve as a check on the administration’s budget calculations.” Petek said the issue is expected to be corrected in Newsom’s updated May budget proposal. NEW EXPOSÉ CLAIMS CALIFORNIA LOST AT LEAST $180B TO FRAUD UNDER GAVIN NEWSOM Newsom’s administration has disputed characterizing the issue as an error, saying the adjustment reflects a change in how the state estimates pension-related payments. “This isn’t a calculation error. It’s a revision to better estimate how these payments are made,” Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer told the outlet. The lack of public disclosure has drawn scrutiny after lawmakers had been publicly warning of budget shortfalls while the issue remained internal. In its January overview of the governor’s budget, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said the administration projected a $2.9 billion deficit for 2026-27, while also warning the state faces multiyear deficits ranging from $20 billion to $35 billion annually. The office called those long-term deficits “alarming” and said they raise serious concerns about California’s fiscal sustainability. The same report said the governor’s budget was only “roughly balanced” because of higher revenue assumptions, while warning that a potential stock market downturn could sharply cut income tax revenue and put the state on more precarious footing. Lawmakers are expected to ramp up negotiations next month when Newsom releases his revised budget. Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office, the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office for comment.
UNICEF ‘outraged’ after Israeli forces kill water truck drivers in Gaza
UN Children’s Fund calls on Israeli authorities to investigate and ‘ensure full accountability’. Published On 18 Apr 202618 Apr 2026 The United Nations Children’s Fund says it is “outraged” after Israel killed two drivers it had contracted to deliver clean water to families in Gaza. UNICEF said in a statement the incident occurred during routine water trucking on Friday morning at the Mansoura water filling point in northern Gaza, which supplies Gaza City. Two other people were wounded in the attack. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The agency said it had suspended activities at the site and called on Israeli authorities to investigate and “ensure full accountability”. “Humanitarian workers, essential service providers, and civilian infrastructure, including critical water facilities, must never be targeted,” it said. It said that “the protection of civilians and those delivering life-saving assistance is an obligation under international humanitarian law”. More than 750 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the US- and Qatar-brokered “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect last October, according to Palestinian health authorities. More than 72,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Khirbet Salama, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Muhammad Ahmad Suwaiti, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene, WAFA said. Israel’s military said a person carrying a knife in the illegal settlement of Negohot was killed. It did not say who was responsible. Advertisement Using the biblical term for the West Bank, the Israeli military said in a statement that “a terrorist who infiltrated the community of Negohot in Judea and Samaria was identified and eliminated in a rapid response”. Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,060 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Adblock test (Why?)
As fentanyl crisis evolves, experts say US is still ‘behind the eight ball’
Dallas, United States – Michael Watkins wipes sweat from his brow as he steps up to a stranger’s door. It’s a scorching day in Dallas, Texas; the sun has been hammering the pavement for hours. Watkins, a 50-year-old man with glasses, a goatee and a gauge in both earlobes, doesn’t know what to expect beyond the door of the single-storey house. He doesn’t even know if the person on the other side will answer. But these door knocks are a critical part of his job. Within 72 hours of a reported overdose from the dangerous opioid fentanyl, Watkins shows up on a stranger’s doorstep with a brochure full of substance abuse resources and some of the life-saving medication known as Narcan. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list He works for the Recovery Resource Council, an addiction treatment nonprofit that’s been tackling the fentanyl crisis in North Texas since it began more than 10 years ago. Their grassroots approach has yielded great results: In 2023, Dallas County — the largest county in North Texas — recorded 280 deaths from fentanyl. Last year, that number was 203. This is in line with a nationwide decrease in fentanyl overdoses that began several years ago, after the rate of overdose deaths in the United States doubled between 2015 and 2023. However, some show the number of overall overdose deaths once again climbing, as experts warn a disruption in the fentanyl market has been repaired. Dallas, like all major US cities, has been ravaged by fentanyl overdoses. Because of its relative proximity to the US-Mexico border, and its extensive highway infrastructure, Dallas also has the unfortunate distinction of being a major hub in the drug smuggling routes stretching from Mexico to other major US cities. Advertisement Becky Devine, the director of Recovery Resource Council, says her team calls these door-knocks “uninvited interventions”. “We show up wanting to bridge the gap between where they are in this moment of desperation and isolation to all of the services that are available in our community,” she said. “The majority of the people we encounter are receptive to us showing up, but they just don’t know what they want yet. We get phone calls weeks, months down the road that say, ‘Hey, I met you on my doorstep six, seven, 10 months ago, and I wasn’t ready then, but I’m ready now.’” Recently, their work, like the work of similar nonprofits across the country, has been hindered by the administration of US President Donald Trump, just as the country was making consistent progress in the fight against fentanyl. Despite declaring fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction”, the Trump administration has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in addiction services and drug-related research across multiple federal agencies. Elon Musk’s DOGE team fired a team that rigorously tracked Americans’ drug use for decades, and in January, officials abruptly cancelled roughly $2bn in grants through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), only to reverse course within days. The whiplash left providers scrambling and deepened uncertainty across the treatment system. What’s more, in the past year, the Trump administration has reduced SAMHSA’s staff by half. Estimates vary as to how much money in total has been cut from essential treatment programmes, but in late 2025, the health news website STAT reported that at least $1.7bn in block grants for state health departments had been cut, as had about $350m in addiction and overdose prevention funding. All this comes at a time when the fentanyl threat is evolving, with the market for the chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl largely shifting from China to India. Chrissie Julianno is the executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, which represents health departments in major cities across the US. According to her, the Trump administration has created rampant chaos with far-reaching consequences. “I think one piece that people don’t necessarily think about is, particularly in large jurisdictions, large counties and large cities, a lot of the dollars that they get from the federal government are then contracted out to community partners,” she said. “It’s not just the health department that can’t do something. It’s not just the health department that’s forced to lay off staff. It’s all of the other pieces that come together in these jurisdictions where there’s partnerships.” Weapon of mass destruction Last year, Watkins’s organisation tried to establish an addiction resource team devoted to Plano, one of the largest suburbs in Dallas. The team was put on hold because of a spate of federal funding cuts, including the elimination of $345m in addiction and overdose prevention. Advertisement Watkins, for his part, is trying to be the kind of person he needed when he was at the lowest point of his own addiction journey. He once called the police on himself because, in his words, “If I go to jail, maybe I won’t drink any more.” Instead of lock-up, he wound up in a hospital, where he received an offer for a state-funded treatment programme. He took the rep’s business card, went home, and drank for four days straight. “But after those four days, all of a sudden it just dawned on me, ‘Yes, I’m going to die, and I really don’t know what to do,’” he said. He called the number on that business card and entered the treatment programme. Now, 13 years later, he’s the one handing out cards and offers of help. “I just want to be there for people,” he said. “I want to be there to help them connect the dots.” Experts say initiatives like this are critical to the US continuing a trend that began in 2023, when fentanyl overdoses started falling nationwide for the first time in a decade. Instead, the Trump administration has focused on a militaristic approach that’s frustrated healthcare professionals and policy experts. Trump and his cabinet members claim recent military actions against Venezuela, including the boat strikes that have drawn war crime accusations, are part of the fight against
French soldier serving with UNIFIL killed in Lebanon attack
The deadly incident comes just days after Israel and Lebanon announced a 10-day ceasefire. Published On 18 Apr 202618 Apr 2026 A French soldier serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon has been killed, and three others were wounded in an attack that UNIFIL and French officials said was likely carried out by Hezbollah. Three other members of the peacekeeping mission were wounded in the attack in the village of Ghandouriyeh in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL said on Saturday, two of them seriously. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list UNIFIL noted that initial assessments indicated they came from non-state actors, allegedly Hezbollah, and that an investigation had been launched into what it called “a deliberate attack”. In calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “unacceptable attack”, his office said in a statement on Saturday. Macron also said the evidence so far pointed to the Lebanese armed group and urged the Lebanese government to act against those responsible. The Iran-aligned armed group rejected the allegations, calling for “exercising caution in issuing judgements regarding the incident”. “We deny any connection to us with the incident that occurred with UNIFIL forces in the Ghandouriyeh area in Bint Jbeil,” Hezbollah said in a statement. French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said the patrol was ambushed while on a mission to open a route to a UNIFIL post that had been isolated by fighting in the area. The soldier was killed by direct small-arms fire, she said. Lebanon’s army condemned the shooting and said it had opened an investigation. Advertisement President Aoun has also offered condolences and ordered an immediate probe, while Prime Minister Salam condemned the attack. Fragile ceasefire The deadly incidents come just days after an Israel-Lebanon 10-day ceasefire took effect and days before a truce in the United States-Israel war on Iran was set to expire. Lebanon was drawn into the war in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28. Israel responded with a devastating bombing campaign and a ground invasion that killed more than 2,000 people and forced more than 1.2 million others from their homes. The declaration of a ceasefire in Lebanon was seen as a boost to efforts for an agreement to end the US-Israel war on Iran. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had been a key sticking point in US-Iran talks last weekend in Islamabad. It was not clear whether Hezbollah would abide by a truce it did not play a role in negotiating, especially when it leaves Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon. Attacks on peacekeepers UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, was first deployed in 1978 along the border between Israel and Lebanon and has remained through successive conflicts, including a 2024 war during which its positions came under repeated fire. Last month, two UN peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon amid Israel’s ground invasion of the country. UNFIL said they were killed when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle. World leaders have condemned the escalating violence and attacks on peacekeepers. Last month, in a post on X, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties to the war to abide by international law and ensure the security of all UN personnel. “This is just one of a number of recent incidents that have jeopardized the safety & security of peacekeepers,” Guterres had said. Adblock test (Why?)
TCS Nashik Case: Where is Nida Khan now? Tip-off from accused’s husband leads police to locked residence
Nida Khan, linked to the TCS Nashik controversy involving alleged forced religious conversion and harassment, has been missing for a week as police investigate.
‘Opposition would never allow women in Lok Sabha’: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday accused the opposition of attempting to prevent women from entering legislative bodies. She said that Opposition would never allow women to reach the Lok Sabha.