‘Squad’ Dem dishes out campaign cash to anti-Israel nonprofit tied to ‘Terrorist University’
FIRST ON FOX: The campaign for “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar recently sent over a thousand dollars to a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that partnered with a Palestinian university with alleged terrorist ties, according to new Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Palestine House of Freedom, also known by its Arabic name, “Dar Alhurriya,” is a nonprofit headquartered just blocks from the U.S. Capitol building. According to a video on the group’s website, it is “dedicated to the liberation of Palestine” and “the dismantling of apartheid in Palestine and the establishment of a free, democratic state from the river to the sea.” The group’s website emphasizes that Israel is “operating as an apartheid state.” The website further states that its mission is to “embark on an aggressive educational campaign targeting everyone from lawmakers, staffers, the media, to the general public” to “show how dismantling apartheid and establishing a free democratic Palestine from the River to the Sea with equal rights, is the path to peace and will benefit all parties involved.” PRO-PALESTINIAN CONFERENCE PANELIST CALLS US ‘EVIL,’ URGES ‘DESTROYING THE IDEA OF AMERICA’ The filings show that Omar’s campaign, Ilhan for Congress, sent $1,559.25 to the anti-Israel Palestine House of Freedom for “event tickets” in September. However, it is unclear which event the payments were for. The Palestine House of Freedom made headlines earlier this year for hosting a fundraiser in June for the Palestinian Birzeit University, a school that has alleged terrorist ties and has seen its student council elections favor the pro-Hamas wing of student council members, according to The Washington Reporter. The university’s student council has long been dominated by the Hamas-affiliated Al-Wafaa bloc and has been previously dubbed, “Terrorist University.” Student campus parades have also reportedly included people marching with mock suicide bomb vests and rockets, as reported by Memri TV. A Fox News Digital review found that the Hamas-affiliated Al-Wafaa bloc has won several student council elections at Birzeit dating back to the 1990’s, including victories in 2022 and 2023. After the 2023 victory, a top Hamas operative reportedly told the Middle East Monitor the victory represents an “extension” of the movement. “The second message is that the bloc has proven its ability to adapt to changes, overcome complexities, and fill the void created by arrests, martyrdom, or deportation,” Ismail Haniyeh, who was head of Hamas’ Political Bureau until he was assassinated by Israel Defense Forces last year in Tehran, told the Middle East Monitor. He added that Hamas is “unbreakable” in its homeland and that it will confront the “occupier, oppression and terrorism.” This wasn’t the first time a top Hamas operative praised the Al-Wafaa bloc’s victory at Birzeit. In 2017, a top Hamas spokesperson reportedly congratulated the student body on the election results. REP. ELISE STEFANIK LABELS NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI A ‘JIHADIST’ Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., sent a letter Sept. 29 to Harvard University, expressing concern about the university’s failure to issue a public decision on its prior partnership with Birzeit. In the letter, the lawmakers called Birzeit “an institution whose student body overwhelmingly supports Hamas” and a school that “explicitly endorses a U.S. designated terrorist organization.” Harvard announced this spring it would not renew its cooperation agreement with Birzeit and would issue a permanent decision about the partnership after an internal review, according to The Harvard Crimson. According to the June event’s flyer, all the proceeds from the Palestine House of Freedom fundraiser, “From Birzeit and Beyond: How academia shapes resistance and resilience,” went to Birzeit. DEMS SILENT ON PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE’S NAZI-STYLE TATTOO AFTER KNOCKING HEGSETH FOR CHRISTIAN SYMBOL Omar was one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018. She has taken heavy criticism for making anti-American and antisemitic comments over the years, including saying that “some people did something” in reference to the 9/11 attacks and saying that “Israel has hypnotized the world.” She later apologized for the comment about Israel. In September, a vote to censure Omar over comments she made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk narrowly failed to pass the House of Representatives. Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard, the Palestinian House of Freedom, Omar’s office and Ilhan for Congress for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Democratic congressional candidate indicted in anti-ICE protest that turned violent in Illinois
A Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois has been indicted on federal charges relating to an incident in which protesters allegedly attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle outside a Chicago suburb facility last month. Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, 26, who has branded herself a “Gen Z influencer” running for Congress in Illinois’s 9th District, is accused of conspiracy to impede or injure an ICE officer while on duty in Broadview, Illinois, Sept. 26, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. Abughazaleh had been expected to win the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., 81, who is retiring. Five other protesters were also indicted with Abughazaleh, including one of her associates and two other political candidates. DHS RIPS ‘DISHONEST, DESPERATE’ GEN Z CANDIDATE WHO RAGED AGAINST KRISTI NOEM’S ‘CRIMES’ AT ANTI-ICE PROTEST The defendants include Andre Martin, described in the indictment as an associate who worked for or with her; Michael Rabbit, a Democratic committee person in Chicago’s 45th Ward; Catherine Sharp, a candidate for the Cook County Board of Commissioners; and Brian Straw and Joselyn Walsh, who are listed as Illinois residents. According to the indictment, a group of individuals surrounded a government vehicle with “intent to hinder or impede” operations by “aggressively” banging and pushing the car. The protesters allegedly etched derogatory messages including the word “PIG” into the car, broke a side mirror and damaged a rear windshield wiper. The indictment also alleges that Abughazaleh moved to the front of the government vehicle during the confrontation, pressing her hands against the hood and using her body to block its path. “No one is above the law, and no one has the right to obstruct it,” Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, said in a statement Wednesday. “The Department of Justice will never tolerate such conduct and will continue to hold accountable anyone who seeks to impede lawful federal operations.” “All federal officials must be able to discharge the duties of their office without confronting force, intimidation or threats,” Andrew S. Boutros, United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, added in a statement Wednesday. “As we have warned repeatedly, we will seek to hold accountable those who cross the line from peaceful protests to unlawful actions or conspiracies that interrupt, hinder or impede the due administration of Justice.” ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED AFTER RAMMING BORDER PATROL IN CHICAGO AMID VIOLENT CLASH WITH PROTESTERS Abughazaleh responded to the charges in a post on X Wednesday, claiming she is being targeted for exercising her First Amendment rights. “This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment,” Abughazaleh said. “This case is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges.” The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge April Perry, who is also presiding over a separate case involving President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. Perry had previously blocked the deployment of troops, saying there was no evidence of a “danger of rebellion” in the state after the Trump administration had requested an emergency stay. ARCHITECT OF LA ICE RAIDS REPORTEDLY ARRIVES IN CHICAGO AS FOCUS SHIFTS TO WINDY CITY, AGENT’S HISTORY Protests at the ICE facility have recently thrust Abughazaleh into the spotlight, including an incident last month when an agent reportedly threw her to the ground, a moment that went viral on social media. The “Gen Z influencer” is a former video producer at the liberal watchdog Media Matters for America, which has developed a large TikTok following. Abughazaleh’s indictment comes shortly after another Democratic politician, Rep. LaMonica McIver D-N.J., was charged with assaulting ICE agents, underscoring an increase in cases involving political figures allegedly interfering with immigration enforcement. Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
Senate Republicans defect, reject Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods
A small contingent of Senate Republicans again joined with Senate Democrats to reject President Donald Trump’s tariffs — this time on Canadian goods. The Senate advanced a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., on a bipartisan basis to terminate the emergency powers Trump used to declare retaliatory tariffs against Canada earlier this year. Roughly the same core group of Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined Senate Democrats to reject the duties. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opted to vote against this latest attempt to reject Trump’s tariffs. SENATE REPUBLICANS DEFY VANCE’S WARNING, VOTE TO BLOCK TRUMP’S BRAZIL TARIFFS AMID SHUTDOWN “The vice president came up yesterday to try to corral Republicans at their lunch,” Kaine said before the lunch. “That shows the White House is worried about defectors on this.” Indeed, their votes against Trump’s tariffs on Canada came after Vice President JD Vance warned Republicans that it would be a “huge mistake” to break with the White House on the president’s tariff strategy, and he argued that using duties on countries across the globe offered leverage to generate better trade deals in return. Paul, one of the co-sponsors of Kaine’s resolution, has consistently rejected Trump’s usage of tariffs and argued that it was a tax on consumers in the U.S. rather than on foreign countries. SCHUMER, DEMS CALL ‘BULL—-‘ ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER FOOD STAMP SHUTDOWN THREAT He noted that the message it would send to the White House, despite pressure from Vance to support Trump’s duties, was “that a rule by emergency is not what the Constitution intended, that taxes are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives.” The resolution was in response to Trump’s usage of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in July to impose tariffs on Canadian goods. The tariffs on the country vary, with Trump initially placing 35% duties on the country earlier this year, along with a blanket 50% tariff on steel from other countries. However, he recently cranked up the tariffs on Canada by 10% following an ad that ran last week that featured former President Ronald Reagan, which used audio from the former president’s 1987 “Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.” TRUMP SLAPS CANADA WITH EXTRA 10% TARIFF OVER ‘FRAUDULENT’ REAGAN ADVERTISEMENT: ‘HOSTILE ACT’ Trump railed against the ad, which was run by the government of Ontario, Canada, and declared, “ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” in a post on Truth Social. The latest tariff vote is the second in a trio of resolutions from Kaine and several Senate Democrats. Despite the resolution terminating Trump’s emergency powers on tariffs in Brazil and Canada both advancing in the Senate, they will likely stall in the House. McConnell staked his position against the tariffs in a statement, where he argued that retaliatory tariffs have negatively affected Kentucky farmers and distillers. “Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule. And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise,” he said. “This week, I will vote in favor of resolutions to end emergency tariff authorities.”
Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-leader warns of mass voter boycott in 2026 polls
Sheikh Hasina puts up defiant front from exile in India, saying ban on her Awami League will disenfranchise millions. By News Agencies Published On 29 Oct 202529 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Bangladesh’s fugitive former leader Sheikh Hasina has warned that excluding her Awami League party from next year’s elections would deepen divisions in the country as millions of her supporters are set to boycott the vote. Now exiled in India, the 78-year-old is currently being tried for crimes against humanity after being toppled in August 2024 by a student-led uprising that, according to the United Nations, saw up to 1,400 people killed in crackdowns as she clung to power. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The interim government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has pledged to hold elections in February but has banned the Awami League under amendments to the antiterrorism act, citing national security threats and war crimes investigations into the party’s senior leaders. “The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating,” Hasina said in emailed comments to the Reuters news agency published on Wednesday. “Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.” The Awami League and the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have long dominated the politics of Bangladesh, which has more than 126 million registered voters. The elections in January 2024 were boycotted by the BNP as its top leaders were either jailed or in exile. Human Rights Watch has condemned the ban on the Awami League as “draconian”. In the party’s absence, the BNP is predicted to lead in next year’s election while Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, is rising in popularity. Advertisement “We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties,” Hasina told Reuters of the upcoming elections. “We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves.” ‘The nucleus’ of all crimes The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court, has concluded proceedings against Hasina, and a verdict is expected on November 13. Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam accused Hasina of being “the nucleus around whom all the crimes were committed” during the uprising and called for the death penalty if she is found guilty. Prosecutors also alleged she oversaw disappearances and torture of opposition activists at clandestine detention centres run by security agencies. Hasina has defied court orders to return to attend the trial. She told Reuters the proceedings were “a politically motivated charade”. “They’ve been brought by kangaroo courts with guilty verdicts a foregone conclusion.” In an emailed interview with the AFP news agency also published on Wednesday, Hasina called charges that she had ordered security forces to fire on protesters as “bogus” and said she “mourned all the lives lost during the terrible days” of her crackdown. The prosecution, which insisted her trial was fair, has played audiotapes verified by police that suggested Hasina directly ordered her security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters. This month, lawyers for the Awami League requested that the International Criminal Court in The Hague investigate reported “retaliatory violence”, including allegations of “beatings and lynchings”. Adblock test (Why?)
Fact checking a viral chart on US food stamps recipients’ race, ethnicity
With millions of people in the United States at risk of losing access to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – also known as food stamps – from November 1, a viral chart has claimed to show the majority of the nation’s food stamp recipients are non-white and noncitizens. The chart, titled Food Stamps by Ethnicity, listed 36 groups of people and said it showed the “percentage of US households receiving SNAP benefits”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The groups were labelled by nationality, such as “Afghan”, “Somali”, “Iraqi”, along with the racial groups “white”, “Black” and “native”. The chart appeared to show that Afghan people were the largest group receiving SNAP benefits, at 45.6 percent, followed by Somali (42.4 percent) and Iraqi (34.8 percent). White people, represented on the chart with the US flag, were third to last at 8.6 percent. The federal government shutdown, which started on October 1, is the cause of the looming SNAP funding lapse. SNAP provides food purchasing benefits to low-income households. Conservatives have peddled the misleading narrative that Democrats are pushing for healthcare for undocumented migrants, and people commenting on the chart rehashed a similar talking point. “Who is getting their EBT cut?” read the caption of an October 25 X post sharing the chart, which had 3.1 million views as of October 27. EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer, which is a SNAP payment system. “Only 18.7% of EBT or food stamp recipients are American. Let that sink in …” read another post sharing the chart, seemingly mistakenly referring to the figure next to the word “Armenian”; there was no “American” category in the chart. “We are subsidizing foreigners on the taxpayers dime.” Who is getting their EBT cut pic.twitter.com/el8x9X5iVX — The General (@1776General_) October 25, 2025 Advertisement The chart doesn’t show the full picture of SNAP recipients by race or ethnicity. The most reliable source for the breakdown of SNAP recipients by demographics comes from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the programme. According to the most recent USDA data available, from 2023, white people are the largest racial group receiving SNAP benefits, at 35.4 percent. African Americans are next, making up 25.7 percent of recipients, then Hispanic people at 15.6 percent, Asian people at 3.9 percent, Native Americans at 1.3 percent and multiracial people at 1 percent. The race of 17 percent of participants is unknown. The same report found that 89.4 percent of SNAP recipients were US-born citizens, meaning less than 11 percent of SNAP participants were foreign-born. Of the latter figure, 6.2 percent were naturalised citizens, 1.1 percent were refugees and 3.3 percent were other noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens. While large shares of the groups listed in the chart may receive food stamps, “they are certainly a tiny share of the households and spending on SNAP”, said Tracy Roof, University of Richmond associate professor of political science. Survey data shows an incomplete picture on SNAP recipients The chart shared on social media originated from a June blog post from The Personal Finance Wizards, which cited “US Census Table S0201” as its source. The site offers financial advice, but published a disclaimer saying it cannot guarantee the “completeness, accuracy, or reliability” of its information. The site’s authors appeared to cherry-pick groups to include in the chart, noting, “It’s important to note that the graph highlights a selection of ethnicities we felt would be most relevant and engaging for our audience.” It did not name an author. In a comment on an Instagram post sharing the chart, Personal Finance Wizards shared a link to the US Census table it used. It shows data from the 2024 American Community Survey, filtered by 49 racial and ethnic groups. The filtered groups don’t completely overlap with the groups in the chart, but the dataset has a column for “households with food stamp/SNAP benefits”, which shows percentages similar to the ones in the chart. The data does not show what percentage of all SNAP beneficiaries belong to an ethnic or nationality group. Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research for the food assistance team at the liberal think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the chart appeared to show the shares of households receiving SNAP based on the household respondents’ reported ancestry, which is different from citizenship status. Advertisement “Without context, this graphic is misleading and may lead some to conclude that many non-citizens are participating in SNAP, which is not true,” he said. The American Community Survey allows respondents to self-identify their race. It also defines ancestry as a “person’s ethnic origin or descent, roots or heritage, place of birth, or place of parents’ ancestors before their arrival in the United States”. Colleen Heflin, Syracuse University expert on food insecurity, nutrition and welfare policy, said the American Community Survey data on SNAP receipts is self-reported, and that question “is known to have a great deal of measurement error” when compared with SNAP administrative data. Chart reflects higher levels of need in groups with higher shares of SNAP participation Groups such as Afghans and Iraqis, who are first and third on the chart, would have been more likely to have immediately qualified for the SNAP programme before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s passage because of their special immigration status. Before the law’s passage, refugees and people who had been granted asylum were also eligible for SNAP without a waiting period. Somalis, who were second on the chart, are “more likely” to qualify based on those criteria, Roof said. Other noncitizens, such as lawful permanent residents, could be eligible for SNAP only after a five-year waiting period. But the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed the eligibility, making refugees and asylum seekers ineligible. Immigrants in the country illegally are not and have never been eligible for SNAP. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel kills over 100 Palestinians in Gaza as Trump insists truce holds
United States President Donald Trump insists that the Washington-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is holding, despite Israeli forces killing more than 100 Palestinians, including 46 children. In about 12 hours from Tuesday to Wednesday, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 104 Palestinians and wounded 253 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “These documented crimes add to the long list of ongoing violations against our people,” the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said in a statement, demanding an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” across the Strip. One of the latest attacks hit a tent housing displaced people in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Other attacks targeted the northern and southern parts of the enclave. The US president defended Israel’s actions on Wednesday, citing reports that a 37-year-old Israeli soldier had been killed in southern Gaza. A brief statement from the Israeli military did not specify when the soldier was killed but said his family had been notified before the information was released. (Al Jazeera) “As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One as he travelled from Japan to South Korea, saying he heard the soldier was apparently killed by sniper fire. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back,” he added, calling Israel’s attacks “retribution” for the soldier’s death. Hamas has denied responsibility for the alleged attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza, and said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal. Advertisement “Nothing is going to jeopardise” the ceasefire, the US president affirmed. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave,” he said. “If they [Hamas] are good, they are going to be happy and if they are not good, they are going to be terminated; their lives will be terminated.” In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had reinstated the Gaza ceasefire after carrying out a series of strikes on dozens of “terror targets”, including “30 terrorists holding command positions”. It did not provide any evidence to back up these claims. ‘Indefinite, prolonged occupation’ Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the renewed attacks had plunged Palestinians into a state of “panic”. “As of this morning, we see that a brief hope for calm has turned into despair. The skies are filled with fighter jets, drones and reconnaissance aircraft,” he said on Wednesday. “And the fear now is that what started last night is going to continue for days to come.” Save the Children called reports of children being killed along with their families “excruciating.” “This cannot become the new normal under a ceasefire,” Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, said in a statement. “A lasting ceasefire must mean safety, relief, and recovery for children not continued suffering. It must be fully respected and upheld.” “We are pleading: stop this now. Protect the ceasefire, protect children, and give Gaza’s families a step towards the genuine peace they have been waiting for,” Alhendawi added. Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told Al Jazeera that Israel had “never really fulfilled any of its commitments” under the deal, including withdrawing to the agreed line in Gaza or allowing the agreed-upon amount of aid to enter Gaza. According to Rabbani, Israel is deliberately trying to undermine a ceasefire deal it was unwillingly dragged into by the US. He said it is evident “Israel does not feel it is simply able to unilaterally renounce” the ceasefire, “so what we’re seeing is a gradual intensification of the process of erosion”. “The key issue here now is how will the United States … respond,” he added. For Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, the ceasefire has been fragile “from day one” as both Israel and Hamas agreed the deal under significant duress from the US. Advertisement He told Al Jazeera that as Israel still controls some 50 percent of the Strip, “it’s understandable why to many Palestinians in Gaza this might not look like an actual ceasefire and definitely not a peace plan and more an indefinite, prolonged occupation with no end in sight”. On the ground between Hamas and Israel, Pinfold said there is a “game of chicken where both sides are trying to test each other’s limits, test each other’s boundaries”. “The fact that a soldier was killed in Rafah – we still don’t know by whom, we still don’t know if this was ordered by Hamas or this was somebody else,” he said. But what the incident did was “allow Israel to seize this opportunity to violate the ceasefire because this is what they wanted all along”. Adblock test (Why?)
Who is Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai? Meet woman behind Uttarakhand’s UCC, named head of 8th Pay Commission
The Centre has appointed Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as the chairperson of the 8th Pay Commission. The pay panel will also include one member (part-time) and one member-secretary, as per a press release issued by the Cabinet.
India’s First Ram Yatra Ram Katha Train: 5-star spiritual journey from Chitrakutdham to Ayodhya, check routes, dates, facilities, fare
India’s first grand Ram Yatra Ram Katha train offers a luxurious spiritual experience retracing Lord Rama’s sacred journey from Chitrakutdham to Ayodhya.
Bihar Election 2025: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi, says, ‘If you tell Narendra Modi to dance in…’
The 2025 Bihar elections will have the main contest between the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan.NDA includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
8th Pay Commission: Meet the judge, professor and IAS officer who will shape salaries of central govt employees
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the commission, marking the official beginning of the 8th Pay Commission process.