Kerala reports fresh Nipah case, implements contamination protocol
Kerala reports a suspected Nipah virus case in Kozhikode as a 40-year-old man tested positive in preliminary tests. Health authorities have started treatment, contact tracing, and containment measures.
Three Indian sailors missing after US hits vessel with 21 men onboard off Oman coast
India condemned the attack on the commercial vessel Settebello off the coast of Oman, which had 24 Indian crew members onboard. While 21 Indians have been rescued, three remain missing.
Judge recommends medical parole for inmate who had been on Texas death row for 47 years
Clarence Curtis Jordan, who is intellectually disabled and had no legal representation for decades, was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Proposed ban on Big Bend border wall fails in U.S. House funding panel
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar sought to bar the Trump administration from using federal funds to build border barriers in the national park, which is rarely traversed by migrants.
House Dem lashes out at GOP efforts to probe foreign donations with stunning claim on motive
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., lashed out at Republican efforts to investigate a Democratic fundraising apparatus on Wednesday afternoon, characterizing the ongoing fraud probe as the most recent instance of GOP retribution against Black women in power. “Over and over again, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has harassed Black women with bogus lawsuits,” Sewell said on Wednesday morning. Sewell’s criticisms come as as Republican lawmakers probe ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising and campaign organization, and its CEO and president, Regina Wallace-Jones, for potentially accepting illegal donations. In particular, House Republicans are demanding that ActBlue turn over international communications, probing whether the organization knowingly misled lawmakers and dodged subpoenas to hide weaknesses in its screening process to weed out illegal, overseas donations. DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT IN THE HOT SEAT AS GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER DODGED SUBPOENA The review by lawmakers coincides with an April request from President Donald Trump to investigate the group. “There is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections,” the White House said in a press release. Wallace-Jones has called the investigation baseless, maintaining that ActBlue applies high scrutiny for its donations processing. JASMINE CROCKETT CLAIMS TRUMP IS ‘TERRIFIED OF SMART, BOLD BLACK WOMEN’ AFTER PRESIDENT’S ‘LOW IQ’ JAB “Our approach is multilayered, with checks and confirmations occurring throughout the donation process to verify donors and donor information,” she told Fox News Digital in a statement earlier this year. Among other safeguards, Wallace-Jones said the organization requires Card Verification Values (CVVs) for credit card donations, uses IP addresses, a kind of digital footprint, to identify foreign-sourced contributions, applies an industry-standard Address Verification System (AVS) and manually reviews donations. To Sewell, the investigation into ActBlue and Wallace-Jones is tainted by other investigations into black women who have crossed Trump in the past. “This investigation is just one more example of Republicans and President Trump using power of his office to harass and intimidate anyone willing to challenge him. The Trump Department of Justice has used its power to intimidate and victimize communities of color, especially Black Americans,” Sewell said. ACTBLUE CHIEF HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL HOT SEAT AS DONOR FRAUD PROBE INTENSIFIES “We should not forget the harassment of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, the harassment of the New York Attorney General, Tish James and the harassment of our colleague Congresswoman LaMonica McIver,” Sewell said, listing off a number of similar cases. “It is not surprising that this Republican-led committee is now attacking ActBlue and its CEO, Ms. Wallace-Jones,” Sewell said.
‘Squad’ Dem dismisses fraud probe speculation after $29M net-worth drop
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is continuing to deny looming questions over an Ethics Committee investigation into her financial filings, showing a significant drop in her net worth. Scrutiny of Omar’s finances intensified after financial disclosure filings appeared to show her estimated net worth falling from a range of roughly $6 million to $30 million in one filing period to between about $18,000 and $95,000 in a later disclosure. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the House Ethics Committee opening an investigation into both Omar’s personal finances and her connection to the ‘Feeding Our Future’ fraud scheme, a scandal that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $250 million. JAMES COMER RAISES FELONY QUESTIONS OVER ILHAN OMAR’S FINANCES AFTER DISCLOSURE DISCREPANCY Omar dismissed suggestions that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation. “No,” Omar told Fox News Digital, laughing, when asked if she is under an Ethics Committee investigation. “No. We go over this all the time.” She was pressed about continued reporting surrounding the discrepancy — the possibility of the roughly $29 million drop in her financial disclosure. “There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied. Along with Comer’s efforts to launch an investigation into Omar, Vice President JD Vance said just last month that the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into the Minnesota Democrat’s alleged fraud as part of the administration’s new anti-fraud taskforce. OMAR CAMP BREAKS SILENCE ON FRAUD PROBE, BLAMES WALZ, TRUMP AS NEW CLAIMS CLASH WITH EARLIER STATEMENTS Omar has declined ever being aware of the scheme happening behind doors with the organization, which claimed to be helping supply children in need of meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Justice Department described the scheme as the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country,” The Associated Press reported. The orchestrator of the non-profit, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for her involvement in spearheading the fraud scheme. Republicans have pointed to Omar’s MEALS Act, part of a federal pandemic relief measure which she sponsored, as a factor they say contributed to conditions that allowed the fraud to occur. They argue her bill was a mass contributor to the fraud occurring as it broadened USDA waiver authority at meal sites. It has also been claimed that this same act helped to dismantle anti-fraud safeguards that verified the people actually being serviced in federal nutrition programs. ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT In a previous statement to Fox News Digital from Omar, she claimed that President Donald Trump’s USDA Secretary, Brooke Rollins, imposed the regulations for the framework of the program. While Omar continues to reject suggestions time-after-time that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation, Republicans have shown little sign of backing away from their demands for a proper investigation into Omar’s finances and fraud allegations.
Vulnerable House Dem’s ‘reckless spending’ on office furniture emerges as midterms heat up
A vulnerable House Democrat in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District is facing scrutiny over expenses eclipsing over $40,000 in payments to a furniture and interior design company for refurbishing a district office. In the second quarter of 2023, Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., reported $27,300 in taxpayer-funded “habitation expenses” and another $13,030 for “office supplies and furniture,” according to congressional disclosure records — second overall among the 435 members in the House of Representatives. When pressed by Fox News Digital about the expenses, Davis blamed redistricting and “rising costs,” which would have been during the Biden administration. “Upon my first election to Congress, we immediately set to work establishing our congressional office within the new district, starting from scratch with no furniture and limited supplies. After subsequent redistricting, we expanded our offices to serve our constituents better,” Davis told Fox News Digital. “These expenses underscore not only the rising costs we are facing nationwide but also the financial impact of redistricting.” AOC SPENT OVER $53K IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY HOTELS IN 2025: ‘CARPETBAGGER’ Only one other member, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., appeared to have higher habitation expenses than Davis in 2023. Taff Office, which currently operates as “Young Office” after a merger in 2025, is an interior design company designing “spaces that inspire, motivate and engage.” When asked about the expenses, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) argued the expenses fall under the appropriate parameters of Davis’ duties. “One of the most basic functions of a Congress in maintaining an office to serve the people in their district. Congressman Davis has some of the best constituent services in the country. Maybe if Republicans followed his example they wouldn’t feel the need to once again redistrict the state in an effort to save their flailing House majority,” Madison Andrus, a spokesperson for the DCCC said. However, during the 2022 election cycle, the DCCC used habitation expenses as an attack against then-Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who spent a small fraction of the $40,000+ that Davis did. A Fox News Digital review of an oppo research book that the DCCC compiled against Chabot, shows that he spent less than $7,000 between 2011 and 2022. A spokesperson for the GOP-run Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) called Davis’ expenses out of touch with the challenges faced by state residents and framed them as a part of a larger pattern of spending. “North Carolina families struggle every day to make ends meet while Congressman Don Davis is wasting their hard-earned money on $2,300 Ubers and $40,000 office renovations. This isn’t just reckless spending—it’s a pattern of abusing the taxpayer dollars Davis was entrusted to protect. North Carolinians have had enough and will boot Don Davis from office come November,” Torunn Sinclair, a spokesperson for CLF, said. DEM RISING STAR WHO CALLED TRUMP ‘CON MAN’ SPENT OVER $120K ON LUXURY HOTELS, TRANSPORTATION AND SECURITY While not the highest habitation expense among lawmakers, Davis’ 2023 record comes amid reports of other high costs expensed to taxpayers during his years of public service. In comparison, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, another North Carolina Democrat who was sworn into office in 2023, appears to have spent under $3,000 in habitation expenses that same year. Reporting from The Center Square in March uncovered that Davis took $4,500 in per diems over the course of 19 days where he did not participate in any votes, accepting the allowances granted to cover lodging and travel costs for the lawmakers’ trips to the state capitol. Since his election to Congress, Davis has also received criticism for spending nearly $10,000 on a trip to the U.S. southern border in 2024, racking up almost $7,000 in airfare costs. Members of Congress are required to report expenses covered by the government, like costs for running an office. Among the categories of items covered, a habitation expense covers “minor, minimal expenses incurred for decorating offices.” FEDERAL ELECTION COMPLAINT ALLEGES AOC MISUSED CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PSYCHIATRIST SERVICES “This category includes furniture items such as chairs, tables, etc., which cost less than $500. Furniture that costs more than $500 and less than $25,000 should appear under the expense category or budget object code for furniture and fixtures less than $25,000,” the House website reads. The use of habitation expenses has varied widely depending on lawmakers’ needs, but has also landed some lawmakers in hot water for overly flamboyant expenses. Former Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., famously received criticism in 2015 for spending and then repaying $40,000 in taxpayer funds to refurbish a district office in the style of Downtown Abby, according to the Associated Press. Davis will be facing Laurie Buckhout, a “retired Army Colonel and decorated combat commander” in November’s general election.
WATCH: Hearing turmoil as Jasmine Crockett unloads on MLK’s niece in wild racially-charged rant
Rep. Jasmine Crockett erupted at Republicans, calling them a “majority… White” party and accusing them of using a member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s family as a prop to shield themselves from allegations of racism while interrogating the Southern Poverty Law Center’s funding of hate groups. Crockett, who is leaving office next year after a failed Senate bid, lambasted Republicans for expressing outrage at the SPLC while not addressing the “literal elephant in the room” — a reference to Martin Luther King Jr.’s more conservative niece, Alveda King. Crockett disparaged civil rights activist Alveda King as a right-wing prop while accusing Republicans of trying to trick the public into thinking a “Doctor King” was criticizing the SPLC’s work. King later questioned whether Crockett was calling her a “bastard” of the King name. “The vast majority on that side of the aisle… are White men. White men are lecturing people of color because the vast majority, actually any semblance of diversity comes from this [Democratic] side of the aisle,” Crockett said. FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING She said people of color don’t feel welcome in the GOP and “that’s why you have to parade someone who has the name ‘Doctor King’ attached to them so people can be confused.” Notably, GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, a fellow Black Texan, was on the committee’s dais and pointedly questioned SPLC leader Bryan Fair earlier in the day. Hunt often rebukes talk of race-based partisanship by quipping that he has been “Black my entire life.” Crockett said Republicans were hypocritical in accusing the SPLC of funding hate groups, citing a debunked assertion about President Donald Trump’s comments following the 2017 White supremacist rally in Charlottesville. She noted Trump had said there were “fine people on both sides,” but omitted that he later clarified he was referring to a community group opposing the removal of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s statue, a gathering that occurred before the neo-Nazi violence erupted later that day. Crockett then claimed people on social media were wondering who the “Doctor King” was who was speaking out against the SPLC as the hearing progressed, and that Republicans were trying to make the public think the historic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be on their side. NEARLY ALL SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN ST. PAUL CHURCH STORMING AS MLK’S NIECE SAYS TACTICS ‘NOT THE WAY’ Crockett said Republicans would be better served calling the Obama-supporting Martin Luther King III or his sister Bernice King to the hearing — suggesting they understand the civil rights icon’s teachings and positions better than Alveda. Before her time expired, she accused King and Republicans of “caping” for murdered activist Charlie Kirk — quoting a controversial statement by the Turning Point USA founder about the Civil Rights Act. She also claimed Republicans hauled Fair and King before the committee because they wanted to distract from their failure to hold a hearing examining associates of deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. When House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, gaveled-out Crockett’s time and passed the floor to Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., the Republican gave King a chance to respond. “I am a bit emotional,” King said of what Crockett had claimed. “I’m going to watch what I say.” Crockett did not appear to look back at Alveda King and was briefly seen closing her notebook as she prepared to stand up. JASMINE CROCKETT’S HISTORY OF PLAYING THE RACE CARD GOING AFTER CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL CRITICS “It seems as though you (Crockett) have suggested that I am bastard to the King family legacy. I am legitimately the daughter of Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King and Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King,” Alveda King said. Rev. A.D. King was Martin Luther King Jr.’s brother. “We are a family who loves God. And I love you, God bless you,” King said before yielding back to Fry. Fry then announced that, off-camera, Crockett had quickly left the room before King could substantively respond to her remarks.
Obama-appointed judge with ties to anti-Trump conspiracy theory hit with misconduct complaint
FIRST ON FOX: U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper is facing a judicial misconduct complaint from a conservative watchdog group, which argues he should have recused himself from a lawsuit involving President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) alleged that Cooper should have bowed out of the case because his wife, Amy Jeffress, has a history of representing what the group described as “anti-Trump” clients. In May, Cooper ruled against Trump by permanently blocking the renaming of the Kennedy Center after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit. CASA filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday, alleging Cooper failed to disclose or recuse himself despite what it called significant financial and professional interests stemming from his wife’s involvement in litigation against Trump. “CASA is filing a judicial complaint against Obama-appointed DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper for his potentially unethical behavior after his failure to recuse himself from the frivolous Kennedy Center lawsuit filed against President Trump, given his wife’s financial interests in opposing President Trump’s agenda through litigation,” CASA Director of Research and Policy Curtis Schube said in a statement. JUDGE WITH INTIMATE TIES TO DEM PARTY’S KEY RUSSIA HOAX PLAYERS BEHIND LATEST ANTI-TRUMP DECISION The complaint comes more than a week after Trump slammed Cooper for having a “conflict of interest,” pointing to Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress’, track record of representing Trump’s biggest foes, including former anti-Trump FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and currently representing former President Joe Biden, who is suing Trump’s Justice Department over the release of Robert Hur’s interview recordings. “Cooper’s wife is longtime Democrat activist and attorney Amy Jeffress. Jeffress is the former counsel to the January 6th committee, works as former President Biden’s personal lawyer, and currently represents Biden in ongoing litigation against President Trump,” Schube said. “There was a clear need for Cooper to recuse himself from this matter, or at the very least disclose these conflicts. By doing neither, Cooper caused — at the very least — an appearance of impropriety, which warrants a full investigation.” The complaint does not challenge Cooper’s ruling itself, but it argues that his involvement in the case could raise reasonable questions about his ability to be impartial under the federal judiciary’s Code of Conduct. JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS “We are deeply concerned with the fact that a sitting federal judge did not recuse himself, and adjudicated to disposition, a case from which he and his spouse financially benefit,” the complaint states. “Indeed, a large portion of his wife’s business model appears to rely on handling litigation that is anti-Trump in nature.” CASA argues that Cooper may have violated Canon 1, which requires judges to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary. “Canon 1 requires that a judge uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary,” the filing states. “Judge Cooper, presumably, goes home every night to his wife whose career is predicated on suing President Trump.” CASA argued Cooper is in violation of Canon 2, which requires judges to avoid situations that could appear improper, even when no actual misconduct has occurred. “More specifically, Canon 2 lists occasions when the appearance of a relationship affects a judge’s ability to adjudicate a case: 1) when public confidence is hampered; and 2) when spousal relationships influence judicial conduct,” the complaint stated. “Both problems are present here.” The complaint also argues that Cooper violated Canon 3, which requires judges to remain fair and impartial and that recusal may be warranted when a judge’s spouse’s interests or potential partisan influences could reasonably raise questions about that impartiality. The complaint concludes by urging the D.C. Circuit to investigate Cooper and determine whether disciplinary action is warranted. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Cooper has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., since 2014. Cooper has long been the target of conflict of interest allegations from Trump and his allies. The judge drew scrutiny during Special Counsel John Durham’s prosecution of former Clinton campaign-linked attorney Michael Sussmann, which was a part of Durham’s broader probe into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation centered on the now-debunked Russian-Trump collusion theory. Critics argued then that he should have recused himself because his wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a figure tied to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper and Jeffress for comment.
Trump admin offers blunt advice to White House UFC critics as 11th-hour lawsuit looms
Trump administration officials fired back at critics of the planned White House UFC fight, arguing they can simply avoid the event rather than use an 11th-hour lawsuit to block thousands of spectators from gathering on the South Lawn. “It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend,” Department of Justice attorneys wrote in a court filing this week. “Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America.” Preparations for the UFC match have been underway on the South Lawn of the White House for weeks, including the installation of a roughly 90-foot-tall steel arch, dubbed the “claw.” The Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit over the weekend on behalf of two Virginia residents in an effort to block the event, sparking the government to urge U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta to reject the plaintiffs’ bid. The suit targets the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to seek an emergency injunction to stop the event, which is expected to attract 4,000 spectators to the White House. DANA WHITE DENIES AMERICA 250 UFC FIGHT AT WHITE HOUSE WILL BE ‘POLITICAL,’ ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICS In the brief, DOJ attorneys wrote that more than $60 million has already been spent, attendees have made travel plans, and the fighters have already begun final weight cuts. They also noted the event has been planned for months, with President Trump first announcing the match in July 2025. “This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year,” the White House official added. A PIECE OF THE UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT’S SETUP IS SITTING IN PENNSYLVANIA AMISH COUNTRY Plaintiffs argued that the event will interfere with the White House and National Mall area while describing its setup as “hideous.” The plaintiffs argued that organizers ignored federal permitting rules, skipped environmental reviews and triggered conflict-of-interest concerns invoking National Park Service regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also said the “claw” needed to be built with congressional authorization. Officials responded that the plaintiffs are not forced to watch the fight and their opinions are not “superior” to those who support the match. “All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else,” the DOJ attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs must respond with their final brief by 9 p.m. Wednesday. Fox News Digital reached out to the Public Integrity Project for comment. Fox News’ Kerri Urban and Mark Meredith contributed to this report.