MAHA caucus member pledges hearings into ‘corruption’ of a public health sector ‘captured by Big Pharma’
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the newly created Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) senatorial caucus, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that one of the first hearings he wants to hold as chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations would focus on “the corruption of science” within the public health system. Johnson said he hopes the MAHA caucus will “restore integrity” to the scientific community while adhering to recently confirmed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s other agenda items. “That’s just foundational, we have to do that first,” Johnson said. “I think we need to give the … COVID injection injured a fair hearing.” EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT MAHA Created in December by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas – who is also a physician – the MAHA caucus “will focus on nutrition, access to affordable, high-quality-nutrient-dense foods, improving primary care, and addressing the root causes of chronic diseases,” acting as a congressional arm for implementing RFK Jr.’s agenda. So far, the only other members of the caucus are Republicans, but Johnson said the MAHA movement is largely nonpartisan. Other issues Johnson hopes the coalition will explore are the childhood vaccine schedule and potential theories behind the cause of autism. “We haven’t even been allowed to ask these questions,” Johnson said. “I’d like to hold a hearing on what questions remain unanswered, what science needs to be conducted with integrity to start answering these questions.” SLEEP SPECIALIST BACKING RFK JR’S MAHA MOVEMENT PUSHES TO CHANGE SCHOOL START TIMES IN AMERICA “We can certainly reveal the fact that there are legitimate questions that are outstanding that the American people want answers to in a completely nonpartisan way,” he said. Johnson said the HHS and scientific community were “captured by Big Pharma” and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci is currently facing the ire of Republicans for unanswered questions about taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. He said MAHA’s goal is “to end that corporate capture of federal health agencies” and “reinstall in federal agencies their real mission, which is on behalf of the American public.” And a new bill he said he may introduce could address that by restoring “doctors to the top of the treatment pyramid” instead of having their hands tied by associations and health groups. “We should have a bill, and I would call it ‘Right to Treat,’” Johnson said. “Right now, they’re being crushed at the bottom of the pyramid, and the pyramid starts with people like Anthony Fauci, basically non-practicing physicians, telling doctors how to take care of their patients. That’s completely backwards. We need to re-establish doctors at the top of the treatment pyramid.” TRUMP AND A HEALTHIER AMERICA WELCOMED BY DOCTORS: ‘NEW GOLDEN AGE’ RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate last week in a 52-48 vote, nearly entirely along party lines. Kennedy’s controversial hearings focused on his previous public statements about vaccines. Kennedy has been critical of “Big Pharma” and “Big Food” on the campaign trail during his own independent bid for the presidency and continues in the MAHA movement under Trump’s administration. “Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,” Kennedy said of the increase in chronic illnesses. “And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.” Since RFK Jr.’s swearing-in, Trump has issued sweeping firings across several federal departments, including HHS, leading to a protest led by federal employees outside HHS in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
Meet Anuradha Rao, Andaman’s ‘Deer Woman’ key in bridging gap between humans, wildlife
Anuradha Rao, a fourth-generation resident of the islands, has earned the affectionate title of ‘Deer Woman,’ a recognition born from her extraordinary bond with the island’s deer population.
When will women in Delhi receive Rs 2500? Delhi CM Rekha Gupta’s big announcement on Mahila Samriddhi Yojana
Ahead of the polls, the BJP’s manifesto aimed to outdo the Aam Aadmi Party’s announcement of Rs 2,100 monthly support if it came to power.
Who is Mohan Singh Bisht? 6-time MLA and BJP’s pick to be Deputy Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly
Bisht, 67, was born in Uttarakhand’s Almora district and moved to Delhi in the 1970s. He then joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP. In 1992, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – a Hindu nationalist organisation.
Trump signs executive order ending use of taxpayer money to ‘incentivize or support’ illegal immigration
President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday night ending the use of taxpayer money for federal resources supporting illegal immigration and illegal aliens. The Trump administration said the goal of the executive order is to ensure “taxpayer resources are used to protect the interests of American citizens, not illegal aliens.” Under the order, federal departments and agencies must identify and end all federally funded programs providing financial benefits to illegal aliens. It also aims to ensure federal funds are not being used to support “sanctuary” policies. “My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” the order states. “President Trump is committed to safeguarding Federal public benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” a White House fact sheet on the executive order said. TRUMP EXPECTED TO SIGN EXECUTIVE ORDER TERMINATING ALL FEDERAL TAXPAYER BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The surge in illegal immigration over the past four years has come at a high price, costing American taxpayers an estimated $451 billion to care for illegal aliens and gotaways in the U.S. unlawfully since January 2021, according to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee. The executive order cited calculations from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which stated that American taxpayers have spent at least $182 billion annually to cover the costs of 20 million illegal aliens and their children. While that number includes $66.5 billion in federal expenses, an additional $115.6 billion has come from state and local expenses. The Center for Immigration Studies also estimated that one million illegal aliens could cost American taxpayers $3 billion annually through welfare programs, which are not supposed to be available to those unlawfully in the U.S. per the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Though, illegal aliens granted parole become classified as “qualified aliens” when it comes to welfare programs, allowing them to become eligible for various benefits with full eligibility granted within five years. TOP FEDERAL AGENCY EXPOSED FOR SPENDING BILLIONS ON MIGRANTS IN A SINGLE YEAR The Trump administration also called out former President Joe Biden and his administration for its “enabling” of illegal immigration and allocation of funds to support the crime. The executive order stated that federal and state taxpayers paid more than $16.2 billion to provide Medicaid-funded emergency services to illegal aliens through Biden’s open borders agenda – an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. “The Biden Administration gave billions in taxpayer dollars to left-wing groups that facilitated mass illegal migration and provided legal services to challenge deportation orders,” the fact sheet continued. It was also shared that FEMA has allocated more than $1 billion to illegal aliens since 2021. The move comes in accordance with promises made by Trump during his presidential campaign to secure the borders and put America first. “President Trump has delivered on his promise to secure the border and prioritize the needs of American citizens, taking immediate action to put an end to the previous Administration’s border crisis,” the fact sheet stated before listing other immigration-related moves made by Trump since he took office on Jan. 20.
Why are Trump supporters claiming Google data is exposing DC corruption?
Supporters of United States President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement have latched onto a spike in the popularity of Google searches for “criminal defense lawyer” and other crime-related terms in Washington, DC. MAGA followers have claimed that the Google data shows that a corrupt elite in the US capital are afraid of being arrested and prosecuted under Trump’s new administration. “PANIC IN DC: Google searches explode for: – Criminal defense lawyer – RICO law – Swiss bank – Offshore bank – Wire money – IBAN – Statute of limitations,” the MAGA-linked X account Libs Of TikTok posted to its more than four million followers on Sunday. The post, accompanied by screenshots of search terms on Google Trends, has been shared more than 16,000 times, attracted more than 65,000 “likes”, and received some 1.9 million views on X. PANIC IN DC: Google searches explode for: – Criminal defense lawyer– RICO law– Swiss bank– Offshore bank– Wire money– IBAN– Statute of limitations pic.twitter.com/UYtBiapWDw — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 16, 2025 Advertisement The Google Trends data has been amplified by numerous prominent MAGA figures to promote the narrative that DC elites are fearful of being exposed for their crimes. “The Beltway is in full panic mode,” Matt Gaetz, a close Trump ally and former Florida congressman, said on his show on the right-wing One America News Network on Wednesday, using a common expression for the political and social elite of Washington, DC. “Google search trends prove it, and the guilty are sweating bullets like they are auditioning for a mob flick,” Gaetz said. “Dumb criminals googling their crime,” conservative podcaster Josie Glabach, whose X account “Redheaded Libertarian” has more than 852,000 followers, posted on Sunday. While Google data does show a surge in the relative popularity of particular search terms, the truth is less clear-cut than what is being portrayed in MAGA circles. So what is actually going on in Washington, DC? What do the claims have to do with Trump’s efforts to cut government spending? The claims come as Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk are undertaking a sweeping review of the federal bureaucracy with the stated mission of rooting out waste, abuse and fraud. Some prominent MAGA figures, including Gaetz, have drawn a direct link between the Google data and Musk’s cost-cutting efforts via his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE has overseen the layoffs or resignations of tens of thousands of government employees and set in motion plans to dismiss potentially hundreds of thousands more. Over the past month, Musk’s task force has cut employees at most government agencies, including the Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Advertisement Some federal employees are now suing the US government through unions like the American Federation of Government Employees. The cuts have reinforced many longstanding MAGA beliefs about corruption in the federal government. Many MAGA supporters subscribe to the idea of a “Deep State”, the conspiracy theory that the US government is run by a secretive cabal of officials that is unaccountable to the US president or Congress. As with other conspiracy theorists, MAGA supporters believe everything is “interconnected”, Mihaela Mihailescu, a PhD researcher at the University of Bath focused on the politics of the internet, told Al Jazeera. They believe that “Washington, DC, is in full-blown panic mode, with corrupt officials desperately searching for offshore bank accounts and legal loopholes as Trump ‘cleans house’”, Mihailescu said. “The claim that a sudden surge in Google searches for terms like ‘RICO law’ and ‘Swiss bank’ indicates a widespread exodus of corrupt bureaucrats is based on little more than speculation – never mind that we have zero evidence that these searches are even coming from DC insiders,” she added. A lack of evidence has been no obstacle to the spread of Deep State-related conspiracy theories in the past, including Q Anon and Pizzagate – which claimed, respectively, that Trump was secretly fighting a cabal of cannibalistic Satan worshippers and high-level members of the Democratic Party operated a child sex-trafficking ring out of a Washington pizzeria. Advertisement What do the Google Trends results actually show? Al Jazeera on Thursday carried out searches of the terms highlighted by “Libs of TikTok” on Google Trends and found a spike in certain phrases in the Washington, DC, area in the weeks surrounding Trump’s inauguration. Searches for “criminal defense lawyer”, “lawyer”, “RICO law”, “Swiss bank”, and “IBAN” all rose in popularity around this time. While these results indicate there was a surge in the relative popularity of certain searches, it is difficult to say much more than that due to the nature of Google Trends. According to Google, Google Trends takes a sample of aggregated search data to show what search terms are rising and falling in popularity during a particular period. Data is presented on a scale of 0-100, which lets users make an “apples to apples” comparison between searches in a certain place over a certain time period. The number 100 indicates a peak in popularity relative to other terms, but 0 does not necessarily mean there were zero searches, according to Google. What are the limitations of Google Trends? Google Trends is not scientific and should not be taken as a “perfect mirror of search activity”, according to the tech giant. “A spike in a particular topic does not reflect that a topic is somehow ‘popular’ or ‘winning,’ only that for some unspecified reason, there appear to be many users performing a search about a topic,” the Google Trends FAQ section states. One of the biggest limitations of Google Trends is that Google does not disclose absolute numbers, Wietze Beukema, a UK-based cyberthreat engineer, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “Google Trends is a non-scientific tool provided by Google to give some high-level insights into search patterns. As
Australia, New Zealand monitor ‘unusual’ movement of three Chinese warships
Three Chinese navy ships have charted a course along Australia’s eastern coast in a move described as ‘unusual’ by the country’s defence minister. Australia and New Zealand are monitoring the “unusual” presence of a group of Chinese naval vessels spotted in international waters off the Australian eastern coast, defence ministers of the two countries said. Three Chinese navy vessels – a frigate, a cruiser and a supply tanker – were spotted last week in waters off mainland Australia. The warships have since charted a course taking them down Australia’s eastern coast and were reported to be located 150 nautical miles (278km) east of Sydney. “We are keeping a close watch on them, and we will make sure we are watching every move,” Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a television interview. “It’s not unprecedented. But it is an unusual event,” Marles said, stressing the vessels were “not a threat” and that they were “engaging in accordance with international law”. “And just as they have a right to be in international waters, which is what they are doing, we have a right to be prudent and to make sure that we are surveilling them, which is what we are doing,” he added. Advertisement New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins told Radio New Zealand her country’s defence forces were also monitoring the Chinese ships. “We have not been informed by the Chinese government why this task group has been deployed into our region, and we have not been informed what its future plans are,” Collins said. “We will continue to monitor these vessels,” she said. China’s People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang travels in the Torres Strait off Australia’s coast, on February 11, 2025 [Australian Defence Force via AP] The appearance of the vessels comes after Australia and China traded barbs over an incident last week between a Chinese fighter jet and an Australian military plane. Canberra rebuked Beijing for “unsafe” military conduct, accusing the Chinese jet of dropping flares near an Australian air force plane patrolling the South China Sea. Beijing swiftly hit back, accusing the Australian plane of “violating Chinese sovereignty and endangering Chinese national security”. The incident was the latest in a string of tense encounters between China and Australia in the increasingly contested airspace and shipping lanes of the Asia Pacific region. A Chinese jet was accused of intercepting an Australian Seahawk helicopter in international airspace in 2024, dropping flares across its flight path. In 2023, a Chinese destroyer was accused of bombarding submerged Australian navy divers with sonar pulses in waters off Japan, causing minor injuries. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,092
Here are the key developments on the 1,092nd day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Here is the situation on Thursday, February 20: Fighting A man was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. A “massive” Russian attack on the port city of Odesa in southwestern Ukraine left four people hospitalised and a large residential area – covering 14 schools and about 160,000 residents – without heat, water or electricity, Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said. A Russian guided bomb killed at least one person in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kupiansk, according to Kharkiv region’s Governor Oleh Syniehubov. Ukraine said Russia launched 167 drones and two missiles in overnight attacks. Ukrainian forces shot down 106 of those drones, while 56 more failed to reach their targets. They did not specify what happened to the remaining five. Ukraine’s military also said they destroyed a North Korean self-propelled M-1978 Koksan howitzer in the Luhansk region, marking the first time a weapon of this nature has been hit. South Korean newspaper, The Chosun Ilbo, has interviewed two North Korean soldiers detained in Ukraine. The pair revealed they were told they were being sent to Russia for training by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s clandestine operations intelligence agency. A man walks next to a building destroyed by a recent Russian air attack in the village of Novopavlivka, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on February 18, 2025 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters] Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that fighters from the 810th brigade crossed into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region overnight. Kyiv has denied the claim. Putin also suggested a Ukrainian drone attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in southern Russia may have been coordinated with European powers, saying Kyiv could not have carried out such an attack without Western intelligence. Kremlin forces are a little more than 4 miles (6.4km) from the Shevchenko lithium deposit in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and are advancing on it from three angles, the Reuters news agency reported, citing open-source data from Ukrainian military blog DeepState. Politics and diplomacy Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Kyiv’s exclusion from recent talks between Russia and the United States as he spoke to reporters at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkiye following his meeting with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin assured Ukraine it would not be left out of ceasefire talks, but said their success would hinge on resetting bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington, which reached “below zero” under the Biden administration. Zelenskyy took to social media to brand Russia’s leaders “pathological liars” and warned that “they cannot be trusted and must be pressured – for the sake of peace”. Trump hit back at Zelenskyy over his complaints about being excluded from peace talks, as he also blamed the Ukrainian leader for Russia’s invasion in 2022. “You’ve been there for three years,” Trump said. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” Zelenskyy has also slammed the rare earth elements deal proposed by Trump, saying he is open to the US investing in Ukraine’s natural resources, but Kyiv should also receive security guarantees. He said Trump’s demand for $500bn of rare earths for previous US aid is “not a serious conversation”, claiming Washington has supplied Ukraine with only $67bn in weapons and $31.5bn in other financial support. Zelenskyy also rejected Trump’s claims about his approval ratings being at 4 percent, dismissing it as Russian disinformation and saying the US president is trapped in a “disinformation bubble”. Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and warned that the Ukrainian leader “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Putin and Trump could meet in person before the end of February, according to Russian state media. Advertisement After speaking with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told European foreign ministers he believes Washington wants a lasting peace deal for Ukraine. Barrot said the White House’s “objective was not a fragile ceasefire or a transitional pause that would allow Russia to rebuild their forces, but a lasting peace”. Kazakhstan’s first Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rakhmetullin said Astana has contacted Ukraine after a drone attack in Russia this week which hit a Kazakh oil pipeline. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, travelled to Kyiv before planned meetings with Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials. “We’re very clear that [security guarantees are] important in the sovereignty of this nation,” Kellogg said, according to Ukrainian outlet Suspilne. The European Union has agreed on a new package of sanctions which would place a ban on importing Russian aluminium, the bloc’s diplomats said. The decision is yet to be formally approved by EU foreign ministers. Adblock test (Why?)
Who is Vijender Gupta? BJP’s pick to be new Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly
Vijender Gupta, 61, born in Delhi, is a three-time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Rohini constituency. In this year’s Delhi Assembly election, he won his seat with a margin of over 37,000 votes – highest among all the BJP candidates who emerged victorious.
Trump signs late-night executive order abolishing handful of federal advisory boards
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at eliminating a handful of federal advisory committees. The order targets the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace – all of which have received federal funding. It comes as the president has been working along with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to aggressively reduce the size of the federal government and minimize government waste and abuse to reduce inflation. TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE Cutting these governmental entities and federal advisory committees will save taxpayer dollars, reduce unnecessary government spending, and streamline government priorities, according to Trump’s administration. The named organizations were given 14 days to submit reports to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Director) confirming that they are compliant and to give an explanation if any part of their government entity is required and to what extent. In addition, the Administrator of USAID was asked to terminate the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. The Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will have to terminate the Academic Research Council and the Credit Union Advisory Council. The FDIC Board will be required to terminate the Community Bank Advisory Council. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has been asked to terminate the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID and the Administrator of CMS has to terminate the Health Equity Advisory Committee. DC FEDERAL WORKERS IN A ‘PANIC’ OVER NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF JOB INSECURITY WITH JOB CUTS The newly signed executive order coincides with one Trump signed Tuesday instructing DOGE to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers. That order instructed DOGE and federal agencies to work together to “significantly” shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post. Agencies will also be instructed to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren’t legally required. Trump is also requiring that within 30 days of the order, the President’s assistants for National Security Affairs, Economic Policy, and Domestic Policy identify and submit a list of additional committees and boards for termination. The Trump administration stated that the American people elected President Trump to drain the swamp and end ineffective government programs that empower government without achieving measurable results. Trump also voiced he wants to provide voters what they want – to tackle “all of this “horrible stuff going on” – and told reporters that he hoped the court system would cooperate. “I hope that the court system is going to allow us to do what we have to do,” Trump said, adding that he would always abide by a court’s ruling but will be prepared to appeal.