Republican majority at risk? A look at the 6 GOP Senate seats most in jeopardy in midterm elections
The Senate Republican campaign chair has a stark warning for his party as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections. National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, pointing to a ballot box deficit the GOP’s facing in the latest Fox News national poll, said it could impact specific Senate races this year. And Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine, where longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election for a sixth six-year term in the blue-leaning northern New England state. The straight talk from Scott, at a closed-door meeting earlier this week with fellow GOP senators, comes as Republicans, as the party in power in the nation’s capital, face traditional political headwinds in the midterms. And the GOP is also facing a rough political climate, with President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings remaining underwater while Democrats are energized as they work to win back the House majority and possibly recapture the Senate. GOP CALLS TRUMP ITS ‘SECRET WEAPON’ — BUT POLLS SHOW WARNING SIGNS HEADING INTO MIDTERMS While the NRSC remains optimistic that it can not only defend but expand their majority, the GOP will be playing defense in half a dozen key races. Here’s a look at the most vulnerable Republican Senate seats up for grabs in the midterms. Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election defeat to Trump. TIM SCOTT TELLS MAGA VOTERS TRUMP ‘IS ON THE BALLOT’ AS GOP FIGHTS TO GROW SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026 And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago. But Collins, who has long been a top target of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has proven tough to beat. Complicating the Democrats’ push to flip the seat is a competitive primary between two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has the tacit backing of longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, and veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is running to the left of the governor and who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Republicans are defending an open seat in the southeastern battleground state, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis retiring at the end of this year. DEMOCRATS TARGET ‘VULNERABLE’ REPUBLICAN SENATORS AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEALTH CARE SHOWDOWN Democrats landed their top recruit when former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper launched a Senate campaign last summer. Cooper enjoys tons of name ID in North Carolina and is 6-0 when running statewide races. Republicans are rallying around former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, who has the president’s backing. The race is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive Senate showdowns this year. Democrats scored another major recruiting victory when former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted. A former lieutenant governor, Husted was appointed to the Senate a year ago after then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to serve as vice president. Ohio, once a premiere general election battleground, has turned red over the past decade, and Democrats view Brown as their only competitive candidate in the race to serve the final two years of Vance’s term. Brown lost re-election in 2024 by roughly four points while Trump carried Ohio by 11 points. DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW PATH TO CAPTURE SENATE MAJORITY, BUT ONE WRONG MOVE COULD SINK THEM Similar to North Carolina, the showdown is expected to be very expensive and competitive. Democrats were given a big boost in the red-leaning state when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced last month that she would challenge GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. Peltola lost re-election 15 months ago in the at-large district that covers the entire state by three points, while Trump carried Alaska by 11 points. Republicans are defending an open seat in Iowa, a onetime swing state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade. FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS But the GOP has rallied around Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is backed by Trump, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. Hinson, a former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held seat in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party. Democrats have a contested primary that includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, state Sen. Zach Wahls and military veteran Nathan Sage. Longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is in the middle of a competitive and combustible GOP nomination battle against state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. Trump, to date, has stayed neutral in the primary, which will be held early next month. If neither Cornyn, Paxton, nor Hunt wins a majority of the vote next month, a runoff will be held in May. Cornyn enjoys the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the NRSC, which worries that the seat would be vulnerable if Paxton, who has plenty of political baggage, wins the primary. The Democrats, who are eyeing the seat in the right-leaning state, have a competitive contest for their nomination between progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, a rising star in the party. While playing defense, the NRSC is also eyeing three Democratic-held Senate seats. The GOP’s aiming to flip open seats in battleground Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is ending her long career, in which she made history as the first woman elected governor and senator. Republicans are also eyeing battleground Georgia, where they view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election this year. The NRSC is also spotlighting the open Senate seat in blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is retiring. Former longtime sportscaster Michele Tafoya is being backed by the NRSC as she runs for the GOP nomination.
Hegseth ending military education ties with Harvard amid Trump feud: ‘We train warriors, not wokesters’
The Department of War said Friday that it will end all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth slammed the university in a video announcement posted on X, saying the department would be cutting ties with Harvard for active-duty service members beginning in the 2026–27 school year — a move he said was “long overdue.” “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not,” Hegseth stated. While Hegseth, who has a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said the U.S. military has had a “rich tradition” with the Ivy League school, he argued that Harvard has become one of the “red-hot centers of Hate America activism.” HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING “Too many faculty members openly loathe our military. They cast our armed forces in a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all while charging enormous tuition. It’s not worth it,” he said. ”They’ve replaced open inquiry and honest debate with rigid orthodoxy.” The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Ivy League school. President Donald Trump said Monday he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, which the Trump administration has made a primary target in its effort to leverage federal funding to crack down on antisemitism and “woke” ideology. 40-YEAR HARVARD PROFESSOR PENS SCATHING PIECE ON SCHOOL’S ‘EXCLUSION OF WHITE MALES,’ ANTI-WESTERN TRENDS Lawyers for the Trump administration have appealed a judge’s order requiring the restoration of $2.7 billion in frozen federal research funding to Harvard. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move amounted to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” aimed at influencing and exerting control over elite academic institutions. Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, alleging that research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that university leadership has encouraged an atmosphere that celebrates Hamas, allows attacks on Jews, and prioritizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. “Why should the War Department support an environment that’s destructive to our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?” Hegseth said. ”The answer to that question is that we should not, and we will not.” HARVARD DEAN REMOVED AFTER ANTI-WHITE, ANTI-POLICE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS RESURFACED “For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” he continued. “Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.” In addition to Harvard, Hegseth took aim at much of the Ivy League, saying the schools have a “pervasive institutional bias” and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the “coddling of toxic ideologies,” that he said undercuts the military’s mission. He said that in the coming weeks, all departments at the Pentagon will evaluate existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities. UNIVERSITIES SLASH 9,000+ POSITIONS IN 2025 AS TRUMP TARGETS FEDERAL FUNDING AND FOREIGN STUDENTS: REPORT “The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost effective strategic education for future senior leaders, when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said. “At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It’s that simple. That no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country.” Hegseth concluded his message, saying, “We train warriors, not wokesters. Harvard, good riddance.” Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Japan snap election: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?
Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info Japanese voters head to the polls this weekend for a snap election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female prime minister in October last year. While she has only been in power for a few months, Takaichi is enormously popular in Japan and hopes to translate that goodwill into more seats for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the lower house of parliament. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Here’s what you need to know: When will the election take place, and who will participate? The upcoming vote will be held on Sunday, February 8, for all 465 seats in the House of Representatives. There are more than 1,200 candidates on the ballot, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK World. Parties include the LDP, the new Centrist Reform Alliance, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party and the Conservative Party of Japan, among others. There are approximately 105 million registered voters in Japan. More than 4.5 million have already taken part in early voting, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Monday. What are the key issues for this election? The rising cost of living is front and centre in this election. Consumer prices are on the rise while real wage growth is lagging behind inflation, so paycheques are not going as far as they once did. Japan also has a longstanding problem with slow economic growth. The economy only grew 1.1 percent last year, and it is on track to grow by just 0.7 percent in 2026, according to the IMF. The “goldilocks” rate of economic growth considered healthy for a developed nation is between 2 percent and 3 percent. Advertisement Parties are campaigning on varying strategies to tackle economic concerns, such as cutting Japan’s consumption tax or revising income tax rates. While the governing LDP wants to stimulate growth in the economy, some opposition parties are campaigning for greater welfare and others, like the Japan Innovation Party is pushing for deregulation. Another election concern for some parties is the role of foreigners in a rapidly ageing society. Foreign residents topped 2.5 million in 2025, and they tend to fill major employment gaps, but they are also changing the face of Japan’s once largely homogenous society – much to the chagrin of more conservative voters. The LDP is in favour of “selective” immigration by foreign workers to fill specific labour shortages. It has beefed up immigration regulations, however. What’s at stake in this election? The election will be a significant test for the governing LDP. The party has led Japan almost continuously since the end of World War II, but it has suffered serious setbacks at the polls in recent years because of a series of corruption scandals. The party is hoping for a comeback after losing its majority in both houses. Party members have been implicated in a long-running slush fund scandal over the alleged misuse of campaign funds, and the former prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, was the target of infighting. Takaichi won the post of prime minister in October through an internal leadership race within the LDP and made history as Japan’s first female prime minister. Takaichi has a very high approval rating in recent opinion polls, but she is still governing through a coalition with the Japan Innovation Party. A victory for the LDP now would shore up her position as prime minister. What’s on Takaichi’s agenda? A victory in the lower house would help Takaichi push forward with an agenda of economic reform and expanding Japan’s defences. She also wants to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution – something that has never been done before – citing security concerns like a potential conflict between China, the US and Taiwan. The US is a treaty ally of Japan, while Taiwan is both hugely popular with the Japanese public and geographically close to Japan’s outlying islands. In November, Takaichi angered China when she told Japanese legislators that if China were to use force against Taiwan, which China regards as part of its own territory, the move would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan and could warrant a military response from Tokyo. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza decimated transport and even made walking perilous
Gaza City – Every morning, university professor Hassan El-Nabih straps his briefcase and laptop to his bicycle and rides out in search of a place with electricity and an internet connection, hoping to reach his students online. Before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, a professor on a bicycle was not a common sight. Today, it has become a reality imposed by the war – a practical option, one of the only options, given damaged infrastructure and decimated public transport. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “My car was severely damaged in December 2023 while it was parked in the Shujayea neighbourhood [of Gaza City],” El-Nabih said. “I was visiting relatives when an Israeli air strike struck a nearby building … shattering both windscreens and crippling the engine. With my car unusable and fuel almost impossible to find, I had to adapt.” The genocidal war has severely damaged the besieged enclave’s transport infrastructure, with total losses estimated at roughly $2.5bn. A joint report by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations found that about 81 percent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged or destroyed, leaving many areas isolated and basic transport services largely suspended. Before the war, Gaza’s streets were buzzing with cars, motorcycles, buses and taxis, and even those without private vehicles could usually find a ride within minutes. That reality has changed dramatically after more than two years of relentless Israeli bombardment. Many streets are blocked by huge piles of rubble or considered too dangerous to use, making motorised transport difficult, and, in some places, impossible. Advertisement ‘Even walking is difficult’ Abu Mohammed Jundieh, 55, used to work as a driver using his own car, which he lost in the early days of the genocidal war. “That car was my source of income and my only way to get around,” he said, adding that owning a vehicle has now become a distant dream. “Prices are high, fuel is expensive, and even if you find transport, it’s hard to [pay],” he said. “Most of the cash we have is worn out, and drivers often refuse it.” “Sometimes I have to take much longer routes just to reach my destination,” Jundieh said, referring to the destroyed streets. “Even walking is difficult now.” There is also the ever-present threat of Israeli attack, in any type of movement by Palestinians in Gaza, or staying put. The few Palestinians, many with severe medical conditions, allowed to leave during Israel’s partial opening of the Rafah border crossing are having to do so on foot. No new bicycles for sale As its use increased, the bicycle’s status changed from a simple, affordable means of transport to a rare and expensive commodity. On Gaza City’s Jalaa Street, Abu Luay Haniyeh, 52, runs a small bicycle repair shop, its shelves filled with used parts and a few new ones and customers from all walks of life waiting to have their bicycles repaired. There are no new bicycles for sale. “Before the war, selling bicycles was my main business,” Abu Luay said. “Now, repairs are all I can offer.” “People come here every day asking for bicycles, but there’s nothing … Even when a bicycle is available, most people can’t afford it. “A bicycle that sold for less than $200 before the war now costs over $1,000,” he added. With cars and motorcycles largely unusable due to fuel shortages and damage, some residents have turned to hand-pulled carts or limited motorcycle use where fuel is available. For many, however, bicycles have become the most reliable and sometimes the only means of transport. A man carries a child while riding his bicycle along a damaged street in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City [File: Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo] Surviving displacement, finding a source of income Bicycles have also made an appearance in some service sectors, like delivery services. In a large tent on al-Shifa Street, west of Gaza City, is the headquarters of Hamama Delivery. Out front is a row of bicycles, while a few broken-down motorcycles stand off to the side. Abu Nasser al-Yazji, 45, Hamama Delivery’s manager, works from here. The company had been operating for more than 10 years before the war started, using cars and motorcycles to cover the entire Gaza Strip around the clock. Advertisement Today, the fuel shortage has made running vehicles impossible. “We had no choice but to switch entirely to bicycles,” al-Yazji said. “Most of our motorcycles were destroyed, and around 50 of our employees were killed during the war,” he continued. “But as unemployment increased, more people began looking for any kind of work, including delivery. That’s why our workforce actually grew.” Now, delivery drivers have adapted their bicycles by attaching plastic vegetable crates to them as carrier baskets. “We transport all kinds of orders … meals from restaurants, clothing from small shops, or whatever people need. We load everything into plastic crates attached to the bicycles,” al-Yazji said. Because the streets are unlit and difficult to navigate, the company had to cut its delivery hours, no longer able to operate around the clock. Now they deliver for only about 10 hours a day. Among those working with Hamama is Ahmad, 23, who was studying law before the war and is now running deliveries after being unable to continue his studies. “At the beginning, it was physically exhausting,” Ahmad said. “I never imagined I’d be so grateful for owning a bicycle. “In the first days of the war, my mother told me to buy one,” he continued. “She felt movement would soon become impossible.” “During displacement, there are no cars and no transport,” he said. “You move with a few bags, and the bicycle helps you carry them and stay with your family while you’re trying to reach a safer place.” What began as a way to survive displacement later became his only source of income. “Now, securing transport is almost impossible,” Ahmad said. “If you don’t have a bicycle, you’re nearly stuck.” Adblock
Bangladesh election: Who are the key players and parties?
An array of political parties and alliances will be vying for seats in the Bangladesh Parliament on February 12 in the country’s first election since the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. About 127 million registered voters are eligible to cast votes to elect 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad, the country’s parliament. The South Asian country has been in the hands of a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, when a student-led uprising ended Hasina’s long rule. Hasina ordered troops to crack down on protesters, killing 1,400 people. She has since been sentenced to death by a special tribunal in Bangladesh for the brutal crackdown, but remains in exile in India, and her Awami League party has been banned from political activity. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Besides the election on February 12, Bangladesh will also hold a referendum on the July National Charter 2025 – a document drafted following the student protests, setting the foundation for future governance of the country. The two biggest groups competing for parliamentary seats across the country’s 300 constituencies are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is leading a coalition of 10 parties, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JIB), which heads an 11-party alliance, including the National Citizen Party, a group formed by students who led the anti-Hasina movement in 2024. The Awami League, which dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades, has been barred from fielding candidates. Besides the two main blocs, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which broke away from the JIB-led alliance, and the Jatiya Party, a longtime ally of Hasina’s Awami League, are contesting independently. Advertisement Here is a look at the main political parties and their leaders vying for parliament seats this year, and the key players influencing the election. Bangladesh Nationalist Party Led by Tarique Rahman, the son of the late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the BNP is seen as one of the main contenders in the upcoming elections. The party was founded in 1978 by Ziaur Rahman, Tarique’s father and one of the leading military figures of the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971, on the principles of Bangladeshi nationalism. According to the BNP website, this is an “ideology that recognises the right of Bangladeshis from all walks of life, irrespective of their ethnicity, gender or race”. As a centre-right political party, the BNP has been a popular political force in the country for decades and has traditionally exchanged power with the Awami League. For four decades after Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981, his wife and Tarique’s father, Khaleda Zia, led the party. Khaleda served as the country’s first female prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. In that period, Jamaat was an ally of the BNP as they together fought against Hasina’s Awami League. After Hasina came back to power in 2009 – she had also ruled between 1996 and 2001 – the BNP faced the wrath of her government over corruption charges, and Khaleda was put under house arrest in 2018 in two related cases. She was acquitted of all charges after Hasina’s departure in 2024. Since Hasina’s ousting in 2024, the BNP has risen again as a political frontrunner. A December survey by the United States-based International Republican Institute indicated the BNP had the support of 33 percent of respondents. That was also the only month when the BNP — seeking to position itself as a liberal force ahead of the elections — broke its alliance with Jamaat. Polls show Jamaat just marginally behind the BNP in popular support. Tarique, 60, had been living in London, United Kingdom, since he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what he called politically motivated persecution. He arrived in Dhaka on December 25, 2025 to take over the BNP leadership ahead of his mother Khaleda’s death on December 30. “We will build a Bangladesh that a mother dreams of,” he said in December after returning to the country and calling on citizens from the hills and plains – Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians – to join him in creating a secure and inclusive nation. In election rallies, he has pledged to improve the country’s infrastructure, among other promises. Advertisement “If elected, the healthcare system will be improved, a flyover will be constructed in Sherpur, permanent embankments will be built in the river erosion areas of Dhunat, and the youth will be made self-reliant through the establishment of IT education institutions,” he said. According to Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan, lecturer in global studies and governance at the Independent University, Bangladesh, since Rahman’s return, the BNP has become more organised. “The party has basically revived with a newfound spirit in both its central and grassroots-level leadership,” he said. “Typical objections against BNP and affiliated party activists, like [allegations of] extortion … have also significantly declined. Top leaders of the central committee have also been comparatively cautious to avoid any statement that might create popular outrage. Significantly, the people are flocking in thousands to hear from Rahman at his electoral rally, even late at midnight,” he said. Rejwan added that it is widely believed that Rahman is the only man who can currently unite Bangladesh with an “inclusive vision”, unlike his Jamaat rivals, who have failed to address any clear stance or acknowledge what are seen by many as their restrictive policies towards women and religious minorities. Jamaat-e-Islami The party was founded in 1941 by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi during British rule in India. In 1971, during Bangladesh’s war of independence, Jamaat supported staying with Pakistan, and was banned after the country won its freedom. But in 1979, four years after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had fought for Bangladesh’s independence and is seen by many as the country’s founding father, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, who was the country’s president at the time, lifted the ban. Ziaur Rahman was also assassinated in 1981. Over the next two decades, Jamaat developed into a significant political force. It supported
Bharat Taxi to be rolled out across India in next 3 years: Amit Shah
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched Bharat Taxi, India’s first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform by the government, after it ran a successful two-month pilot programme, confirming that the taxi service will be rolled out across the country in the next three years.
ECI extends deadline for filing claims and objections for SIR of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the period for filing claims and objections in the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh until March 3, 2026.
Uttar Pradesh: Noida to get circular skywalk, to ease traffic congestion, Rs 26.34 crore allocated, check details,
The groundbreaking ceremony for the skywalk was held on Wednesday, with MP Dr. Mahesh Sharma and MLA Pankaj Singh in attendance. The skywalk is being touted as a solution to the traffic congestion and pedestrian safety issues in the area.
After years of silence, Texas Medical Board issues training on how to legally provide abortions
The course includes examples of when abortion is permitted to protect the life of the patient, but many experts say pregnancy complications are impossible to capture in a brief presentation.
These maps show how Latino voters helped Democrats flip a reliably red Texas Senate seat
Democrat Taylor Rehmet’s stunning upset victory is explained in part by the massive swing by Latino voters toward his campaign compared to other Democrats in recent elections.