PM Modi to flag off India’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train today in West Bengal; Check route, stoppages, timings, fares and other details
India’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train will be flagged off by PM Narendra Modi on the Howrah-Guwahati route, offering overnight semi-high-speed travel with modern amenities, affordable fares, and improved connectivity between eastern India and the Northeast.
Dense fog to grip northern, central India; snowfall likely in J&K and Himachal, check statewise weather here
India is experiencing a severe winter spell with cold waves, dense fog, and low temperatures affecting northern, central, and eastern regions. The IMD warns of poor visibility in several states, while snowfall is expected in the mountains from January 20-22 as a new western disturbance approaches.
Here’s who has the financial edge to replace Attorney General Ken Paxton
The four-way Republican primary drew millions in donations over the second half of 2025, outpacing the comparatively meager fundraising by Democrats led by Sen. Nathan Johnson.
Texas Republicans have huge cash edge in statewide elections
Democrats could be more competitive financially in the U.S. Senate race, but their comparatively small fundraising hauls for state office leave them with fewer resources to reach voters.
IRS confirms Trump-ordered $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ for 1.45M troops is tax-free
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) delivered good news for America’s troops Friday, confirming that the one-time $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” paid to service members in December 2025 is completely tax-free, allowing troops to keep every dollar of the bonus. In a Friday release, the Treasury Department and the IRS said that “supplemental basic allowance for housing payments” made to members of the uniformed services in December 2025 “are not to be included in income by those who received the payments; they are not taxable.” The agency said federal tax law specifically excludes from gross income a “qualified military benefit,” adding that basic allowances for housing payments fall under that category and therefore are not subject to federal income taxes. The confirmation caps off President Donald Trump’s pre-Christmas announcement that nearly 1.5 million U.S. service members would receive a special “Warrior Dividend” in recognition of their service and to commemorate roughly 250 years since the nation’s founding. CONGRESS UNVEILS $900B DEFENSE BILL TARGETING CHINA WITH TECH BANS, INVESTMENT CRACKDOWN, US TROOP PAY RAISE “And the checks are already on the way,” Trump said during a Dec. 17, 2025, primetime address from the White House, crediting tariffs and recently passed GOP spending and tax legislation for funding the payments. “Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody,” he added. According to the IRS, Congress appropriated $2.9 billion in legislation enacted last July to supplement the basic allowance for housing payable to members of the uniformed services, with the one-time $1,776 payments funded by that appropriation. The IRS said the supplemental payments were made primarily to active-duty service members in pay grades O-6 and below, along with eligible Reserve Component members as of Nov. 30, 2025, across the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force. TRUMP SIGNS ‘MEDAL OF HONOR ACT’ TO RAISE PENSIONS FOR AMERICA’S MILITARY HEROES Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson welcomed the tax treatment in remarks carried by Pentagon News, saying the ruling ensures the money reaches military families directly. “The tax-free Warrior Dividend places $1,776 directly in the hands of our warfighters and their families,” Wilson said. “The department is proud to recognize their sacrifice.” During his December address, Trump also pointed to what he described as a turnaround for the armed forces under his leadership, citing record enlistment and contrasting it with what he called historically poor recruitment numbers under the previous administration. “What a difference a year makes,” Trump said. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the dividend reflects a broader push to improve quality of life for military families. “This Warrior Dividend serves as yet another example of how the War Department is working to improve the quality of life for our military personnel and their families,” Hegseth said. “All elements of what we’re doing are to rebuild our military. The Department of War and the Internal Revenue Service did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment. Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this reporting.
Michael Cohen says NY prosecutors ‘pressured and coerced’ him into anti-Trump testimony
President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Friday that prosecutors in both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office “pressured and coerced” him into delivering testimony tailored to securing convictions against Trump. Cohen, who was a key prosecution witness in two New York cases against Trump, accused New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of pursuing evidence aimed at Trump, saying prosecutors were uninterested in testimony that didn’t fit their narrative. “I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote in a post on Substack. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for comment. APPEALS COURT HANDS TRUMP LEGAL WIN, ORDERS REVIEW OF HUSH MONEY CASE OVER PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer for many years, said he was writing as a federal appeals court considers the president’s request to move his hush money case to federal court for further review. The former Trump fixer testified in a civil case brought by James’ office in 2023, where Trump was found liable for fraudulently inflating his assets to obtain favorable loan terms. He also took the stand in Bragg’s case in 2024, where Trump was ultimately found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Cohen accused both James and Bragg of using their high-profile cases to elevate their careers, claiming they sought credit as officials who “took down Trump.” TRUMP FILES ‘POWERHOUSE’ APPEAL IN ‘POLITICALLY CHARGED’ MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY CASE “They blurred the line between justice and politics; and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered,” he wrote. Cohen said that both before and during the trials, prosecutors made it clear they were only interested in testimony from him that would convict Trump. “When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative,” he said. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to several crimes, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He described cooperating with authorities while incarcerated, saying he sought sentence relief and felt compelled to provide testimony fitting prosecutors’ narratives with the hope that his sentence would be reduced. “You may reasonably ask why I am speaking out now. The answer is simple. I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” Cohen said, while noting that he was not writing in defense of Trump.
Florida GOP candidate wants 50% ‘sin tax’ on OnlyFans creators to fight ‘cultural degeneracy’
A Republican candidate for governor in Florida recently proposed a hefty “sin tax” on OnlyFans content creators if he is elected. “Young women once aspired to be devoted mothers, doctors, lawyers, and nurses,” James Fishback told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. Fishback continued, “Today, young women are told by an online platform called OnlyFans that it’s morally right to sell nude photos of themselves to strangers on the internet. I will not tolerate this cultural degeneracy as Florida’s next Republican Governor.” He has estimated the income tax would raise around $200 million, according to FOX 35, which he said would be put into the state’s education system. ONLYFANS BOOM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES SPARKS CONCERN AS MORE STUDENTS TURN TO PLATFORM FOR FAST CASH The money would also go toward crisis pregnancy centers and to fund the “first-of-its-kind mental health czar for men in particular because men have been told for far too long that they are guilty of masculinity,” he told podcaster Joel Webbon this week. “That they are guilty for all of society’s ills. I’m not going to stand for that slanderous lie.” He told Webbon: “As Florida’s governor, I don’t want young women who could otherwise be mothers raising families, rearing children, I don’t want them to be selling their bodies to sick men online. And I don’t want young, impressionable men who have strayed from Christ, who have strayed from our lord and savior to be told and drawn in to lust.” Fishback told FOX 35 he would be open to a possible tax on OnlyFans customers as well. ONLYFANS STAR PREACHES TO UNIVERSIY STUDENTS AS PROFESSOR SAYS ‘MANIFESTATION WORKED’ OnlyFans content creator Sophie Rain told People magazine she thought the proposal was the “dumbest thing” she had ever heard. “No one ever forced me to start an OnlyFans, it was MY decision, so I don’t need a 31-year-old man telling me I can’t sell my body online,” she explained to the magazine. “I am a Christian, God knows what I am doing, and I know he is happy with me, that’s the only validation I need.” Piper Fawn, another OnlyFans creator, told FOX 35 she felt Fishback was trying to push his religious beliefs with the proposal. “He’s saying, you know, it’s a sin, it’s wrong, that’s true, that’s fair,” she told the station. “But sin is a biblical term, it’s not a legal term. If he’s really trying to make the state a safer spot or making changes for the better, I feel like there are other things that can be worked on and putting our attention towards versus taxing creators.” Fox News Digital has reached out to OnlyFans for comment. “If you are a man or woman selling your body on the internet, you can either have two options: The first of which, you can pay the state of Florida 50% so we can raise teacher pay, or you can quit doing that and do something morally rigorous,” Fishback added to FOX 35.
California man arrested for allegedly making online death threats against JD Vance during Disneyland visit
A California man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he made online death threats against Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in July. Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly made multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against “corrupt politicians” July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort. Aguayo was charged with threatening the president and successors to the presidency, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. SECRET SERVICE AWARE OF UMASS LOWELL-FUNDED RADIO DJ’S DIRECTIVE TO ‘KILL JD VANCE’ “This case is a horrific reminder of the dangers public officials face from deranged criminals who would do them harm,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Department of Justice news release announcing Aguayo’s arrest. “I am grateful that my friend Vice President Vance and his family are safe, applaud the police work that led to the arrest and will ensure my prosecutors deliver swift justice.” Just before 6:15 p.m. July 12, an Instagram account posted a public comment on the Disney page saying, “Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” according to an affidavit by a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent. A subsequent comment said, “It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it,” and a third comment added, “Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians,” according to the affidavit. SUSPECT IN VANCE HOME VANDALISM HAS HAD MULTIPLE RUN-INS WITH THE LAW, DEMANDED TO BE CALLED JULIA Investigators traced the Instagram account allegedly used to post the threats to Aguayo’s email address, phone numbers, IP addresses and home in Anaheim, using records from Meta, Google and other sources. While questioning Aguayo at his home, investigators said he initially claimed his account had been hacked, but he later admitted to making the posts as a “joke,” with the intention of deleting them, officials say. Aguayo consented to searches of his phone, bedroom and laptop, where investigators confirmed he was logged into the account that made the posts, according to the affidavit. “We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the release. “We are grateful the vice president and his family remained safe during their visit. Let this case be a warning to anyone who thinks they can make anonymous online threats. We will find you and bring you to justice.”
Schumer reveals ‘bipartisan’ plans to reverse DOGE cuts as lawmakers work through funding push
House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press to restore funding cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and even add to the original amounts. Schumer made the comments when he was asked Thursday if he would work to replenish funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a forum held by the Center for American Progress. “If you look at the budget we’re working on right now, we restore most of the cuts. And even go higher than previous years on many of the programs that DOGE slashed,” Schumer said. SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS “We have worked really hard and gotten bipartisan support to increase these amounts and undo a lot of the cuts which are essential.” He did not describe which specific programs he hopes to supplement. Lawmakers have not yet released a final text for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for 2026. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a plan that would increase its fiscal year 2026 funding by $5 billion over fiscal 2025 levels. Since the Trump administration began making cuts through DOGE, Democrats like Schumer have largely condemned them, calling them an attack on government resources and services. HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AFTER MODERATE REPUBLICANS’ OBAMACARE ‘BETRAYAL’ Republicans, by contrast, have framed the effort as a way to remove waste, fraud and abuse. According to the DOGE website, the group believes it has eliminated $215 billion in waste. Republicans made $115 billion of those spending reductions official through a bill passed last year. Since then, lawmakers have not advanced another rescissions package, a bill that helps lawmakers fast-track spending reductions at the request of the president. Republicans like Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chairman of the House DOGE Caucus, say the GOP’s cost-cutting efforts are still ongoing in the background. “DOGE is still alive,” Bean told Fox News Digital in December. “We’re going to get it rocking. I think that will come down the road.” Bean noted that several pressing issues have captured Congress’ attention in the last few months. CONGRESS FLEES TOWN AS HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS SET TO EXPLODE FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN JANUARY “I think, you know, the shutdown set everybody back a little bit. These credits, with the budget, with everything,” Bean said, referring to the COVID-era Obamacare tax credits that were at the heart of the 2025 government shutdown. Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Schumer’s statements.
Mamdani announces $2.1M settlement with major landlord as tenants describe ‘nightmare’ conditions
New York City reached a $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate covering 14 buildings in three boroughs, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying the agreement will force repairs and stop what he described as tenant harassment. “Today, I am proud to stand here … to announce that New York City has come to a settlement with A&E Realty regarding 14 buildings across three boroughs,” Mamdani said Friday at a news conference in Jackson Heights, Queens. Asked during the news conference how aggressive the new administration plans to be with landlords, Mamdani said, “We want to make it clear to everyone in this city that no one is above the law and that if you are a landlord violating the law, then this administration will hold you to account.” Mamdani said the settlement requires A&E to pay “$2.1 million in restitution” and includes “injunctions preventing them from harassing their tenants” while compelling the company “to correct more than 4,000 building code violations across these 14 buildings.” MAMDANI OFFICIAL CEA WEAVER SAYS SHE REGRETS ‘SOME’ OF HER PAST STATEMENTS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL POSTS RESURFACE “For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone,” Mamdani said. “City Hall will not sit idly by and accept this illegality, nor will we allow bad actors to continue to harass tenants with impunity.” A tenant, Diana De La Paz, described conditions she said residents have dealt with at her building, including prolonged elevator outages, heat issues and infestations. De La Paz said the elevator in her building has been out of service for long stretches, which she said “effectively imprison[ed] elderly and disabled tenants in their own homes.” NYC DEM REVEALS HOW CITY COUNCIL REJECTED CEA WEAVER—NOW MAMDANI IS HANDING HER POWER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy said the agreement will affect “750 tenants across 14 buildings” and said the city’s litigation “has produced a settlement that will lead to the correction of more than 4,000 Housing Code violations.” “It will enforce long overdue court-ordered repairs and impose $2.1 million in civil penalties and will include binding injunctions that will prohibit further tenant harassment and require sustained compliance moving forward from this landlord,” Levy said. Levy said the deal represents the agency’s biggest settlement to date. “Actually, the settlement announced today … represents HPD’s largest settlement in the history of the unit,” Levy said, adding that the city has additional tools it can use, including intervention in distressed buildings and, in extreme situations, removing buildings from owners’ control and installing “responsive management.” Levy added that the city’s immediate focus is getting violations fixed through the settlement but warned additional action is possible if landlords do not comply. MAMDANI HOUSING CZAR CALLED ‘WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS HOMEOWNERS’ A ‘HUGE PROBLEM’ DURING 2021 PODCAST APPEARANCE “The intended outcome is safety and well-being for tenants,” Mamdani said. “We today are announcing a multimillion-dollar settlement with this landlord to actually rectify these violations. That is what we want to see. If a landlord cannot get to that settlement, continues to operate outside of the law, then we will hold them to account in additional ways.” City Council member Shekar Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights, called A&E a “reprehensible landlord” and said enforcement is what tenants need. “As a former tenant lawyer myself … I’ve always said that tenants’ rights are not worth more than the paper they’re written on if they’re not enforced in reality,” Krishnan said. “Here we are today … showing what enforcement looks like.” Mamdani also announced what he called “rental ripoff” hearings across the city. “We will be holding a rental ripoff hearing in each of the five boroughs within the first 100 days of our administration,” he said, describing them as hearings where multiple agencies will “listen to New Yorkers’ needs” and use that feedback to shape enforcement and policy. “We’ve made it our mission to collaborate with the city to improve this building and others that were in deep disrepair when we took ownership,” a spokesperson for A&E Real Estate told Fox News Digital. “In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations. “We are pleased to have settled all legal issues with the City and have agreed upon a repair plan with the housing department that we are already delivering on. We look forward to partnering with the city to improve the lives of our residents and find collaborative ways to protect and to continue to invest in New York City’s housing stock.”