Ahead of Holi, Ramzan Friday prayers, Delhi police tighten security, to use drone surveillance, identify THESE areas as sensitive
Security has been stepped up at over 100 locations across the national capital ahead of Holi festival and Ramzan’s Friday prayers. The upcoming Holi festival coincides with Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramzan.
Social media explodes at Sanders for hosting trans musician who sang ‘pure evil’ song at anti-Trump rally
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ anti-Trump, anti-oligarch tour of the U.S. is under fire for hosting a transgender singer who performed a song with lyrics described as “pure evil,” and mocking God and Jesus. “The song specifically attacks Christianity with mentions of Easter and God’s son,” Conservative activist Robby Starbuck posted to X over the weekend. Sanders is in the midst of a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in areas of the country where the 2024 race proved competitive for Democrats, including in battleground states such as Wisconsin and Michigan. The self-described Democratic socialist senator traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday and was joined by transgender singer Laura Jane Grace, who performed an anti-Christian song on stage before Sanders thanked the musician for performing. BERNIE SANDERS SEETHES US HAS BECOME ‘OLIGARCHIC SOCIETY’ FOLLOWING TRUMP SPEECH The song is titled “Your God (God’s D—),” with lyrics mocking Christianity, Easter Sunday and Jesus through sexually explicit language. Clips of the video, including on Grace’s Instagram page, circulated across social media over the weekend. BERNIE SANDERS REJECTS JAMES CARVILLE’S CALLS FOR DEMOCRATS TO ‘PLAY DEAD’ Critics and conservatives slammed Sanders and the musician for the performance of the song on social media, including taking issue with the Vermont senator for personally thanking the singer in his remarks during the event. “Wow. AFTER the anti-Christian ‘performance’ at his event, @BernieSanders thanked the trans singer that performed this hateful, evil song,” Starbuck posted in another X post. “If he attempts to apologize, just know his first instinct was to thank the singer after he sang it.” “This is who the Democrats are now. Pure evil,” Starbuck added on X. Grace gained notoriety in the early 2000s as the lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me!. The musician came out as transgender in 2012 during an interview with Rolling Stone. BERNIE SANDERS ‘FLIPS OUT’ WHEN PRESSED ON 4-DAY WORK WEEK PROPOSAL Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office and the musician’s publicity team for comment on the performance and subsequent outrage but did not immediately receive responses. Sanders delivered a response speech to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, when he railed that the U.S. has become an “oligarchic society” under the Trump administration. “The Trump administration is not hiding it,” Sanders said in a streamed response to Trump’s address. “The Trump administration is a government of the billionaire class by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class. Notwithstanding some of their rhetoric, this is a government that could care less about ordinary Americans and the working families of our country. My friends, we are no longer moving toward oligarchy. We are living in an oligarchic society.”
Dems weaponize Medicaid anxiety in bid to take down Trump-backed federal funding plan
Democrats are accusing Republicans of trying to gut federal health care programs with their plan to avert a partial government shutdown. The bill, a rough extension of current federal funding levels called a continuing resolution (CR), is expected to get a House-wide vote on Tuesday. It will need to pass the Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump by the end of Friday, March 14 to avoid federal programs getting shuttered and tens of thousands of employees furloughed. Trump has called on all Republican lawmakers to support the bill. Democrats, however, have unleashed a staunch opposition campaign against the legislation. It is a stark departure from political tradition that normally sees liberal lawmakers vote by the dozens to avoid a government shutdown. DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT Democratic leaders have in particular accused Republicans of trying to harm funds for Medicare and Medicaid with the bill – something the GOP has denied. “The partisan House Republican funding bill recklessly cuts healthcare, nutritional assistance and $23 billion in veterans benefits. Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout this fiscal year. We are voting No,” read a joint statement by House Democratic leaders released on Saturday night. The trio of leaders – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif, – sent a letter to lawmakers bashing the CR on Friday, before the text was released. “House Democrats would enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them on the chopping block to pay for billionaire tax cuts,” they wrote. “We cannot back a measure that rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans as part of the Republican scheme to pay for massive tax cuts for their wealthy donors like Elon Musk. Medicaid is our red line.” A senior House GOP aide accused House Democrats of “intentionally misleading the American people.” “Their pre-baked statements are disingenuous,” the senior aide told Fox News Digital. “The Democrats came out against the bill before there was even text.” Trump, for his part, has said multiple times that he does not want Congress touching Medicaid but has left the door open to cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” a line that has been repeated by Republican lawmakers. It is worth noting that yearly congressional appropriations, which are covered by the CR, largely do not touch mandatory government expenditures like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Those programs need to be altered in the federal budget – which Republicans are also working on right now via the reconciliation process. However, the legislation does not address expected payment cuts coming to doctors who treat Medicare patients, a facet that’s given some interest groups like the American Medical Association (AMA) pause. GOLDMAN SACHS HIGHLIGHTS TARIFF WARS WINNERS AND LOSERS “Physicians across the country are outraged that Congress’s proposed spending package locks in a devastating fifth consecutive year of Medicare cuts, threatening access to care for 66 million Medicare patients,” AMA Chair Bruce A. Scott said on the group’s website. It is possible the bill will still get some Democratic votes, likely from lawmakers in competitive districts wary of being blamed for a government shutdown. Republicans will need to shoulder the burden largely themselves, however, in Monday evening’s expected vote to advance the bill through the House Rules Committee. If it passes, then the bill will have to see a House-wide procedural vote known as a “rule vote,” which generally falls along partisan lines. The final House vote on the bill is expected sometime Tuesday afternoon. The 99-page legislation released over the weekend largely keeps government spending flat at fiscal year (FY) 2024 levels until the beginning of FY 2026 on Oct. 1. The bill allocates an additional $8 billion in defense spending to mitigate national security hawks’ concerns, while non-defense spending that Congress annually appropriates would decrease by about $13 billion. There are also some added funds to help facilitate Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations. Cuts to non-defense discretionary spending would be found by eliminating some “side deals” made during FRA negotiations, House GOP leadership aides said. Lawmakers would also not be given an opportunity to request funding for special pet projects in their districts known as earmarks, another area that Republicans are classifying as savings. It allows Republican leaders to claim a win on no meaningful government spending increases over FY 2025.
Dem governor to headline major fundraiser in key presidential primary state stoking 2028 speculation
In a move that is sure to spark 2028 speculation, the New Hampshire Democratic Party on Monday announced that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker this spring will headline their largest annual fundraiser. Pritzker, the two-term governor of blue state Illinois, will deliver the keynote address at the New Hampshire Democrats’ McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner on April 27 in Manchester, the state’s largest city. The governor, a member of the Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain and who has started several of his own venture capital and investment startups, is seen as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic Party presidential nomination. And trips to New Hampshire – which for over a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House – are seen as an early indicator of a politician’s interest in running for the presidency in the next election. The 60-year-old Pritzker has been one of his party’s leaders in opposing President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 Pritzker, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, late last year launched a group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy, in order to resist the Trump administration. Their move came in the wake of last November’s elections, when the Democrats lost the White House and their Senate majority, and failed to win back control of the House of Representatives. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND OPINION ON JB PRITZKER In recent weeks, Pritzker has amplified his verbal attacks on Trump and his administration. The release from the New Hampshire Democratic Party noted that “Pritzker is known for his ability to provide strong leadership in tough times, something we need now more than ever.” ILLINOIS REPUBLICANS TURN UP THE VOLUME ON PRITZKER Longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, pointing to the Illinois governor’s progressive record of accomplishment, emphasized that the governor “is an example of why Democrats should govern all across this country – because they deliver.” Pritzker, who is not prevented by term limits from running for re-election in 2026, has yet to say if he’ll make a bid for a third term steering Illinois. The governor is also no stranger to New Hampshire. He headlined the 2022 New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, and he returned last September, to campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Pritzker made multiple stops, including addressing union members at the New Hampshire AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day breakfast. Pritzker, who led a successful effort to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, was also among the potential 2028 White House contenders to speak during the convention week at the New Hampshire Democratic Party delegation’s daily breakfast.
Trump admin tackling Biden ‘backlog’ of campus antisemitism complaints: ‘Immediate priority’
The Trump administration is moving to investigate as an “immediate priority” outstanding allegations of antisemitism and violence on college campuses across the U.S. after canceling roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said the Biden administration “accumulated a backlog of complaints” across universities after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel in October 2023. “Over 140 complaints alleging antisemitic harassment and violence were filed with the Biden Education Department,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for the OCR, told Fox News Digital Monday. “The Biden OCR political leadership, however, left well over 70 of those complaints unreviewed. Right now, OCR is investigating over 90 complaints filed and conducting five directed investigations involving antisemitic harassment and violence and is expeditiously reviewing the Biden backlog to open more cases and hold institutions and individuals who engaged in unlawful discriminatory conduct accountable,” Trainor said. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES ‘ENDDEI’ PORTAL FOR PARENTS, STUDENTS, TEACHERS TO REPORT DISCRIMINATION The Trump administration’s investigation of antisemitic allegations is in line with the president’s executive orders cracking down on antisemitic harassment of Jewish students since the Hamas-Israel conflict. As part of the orders, a multi-agency Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was created, making Columbia’s grant funds its first target. “American institutions of higher education erupted with antisemitic harassment and violence that denied Jewish students their right to equal access to learning, school activities, and campus facilities,” Trainor said in a statement released Friday. “Many college and university presidents took little or no credible action, and the Biden Education Department’s OCR political leadership inexplicably accumulated a backlog of complaints.” “For the relatively few complaints actually resolved, the prior administration’s assistant secretary signed off on toothless resolution agreements that provided little to no remedy for Jewish students to this day,” Trainor said. “The Trump administration will not permit antisemitic protesters and antagonists to take over campus facilities and terrorize Jewish students and staff with impunity.” Linda McMahon, Trump’s secretary of education, visited Columbia University on Friday to discuss concerns about ongoing antisemitic allegations on campus with school leaders. HOUSE EDUCATION CHAIR BACKS TRUMP MOVE TO ABOLISH FEDERAL AGENCY “Americans have watched in horror for more than a year now, as Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed on elite university campuses – repeatedly overrun by antisemitic students and agitators. Unlawful encampments and demonstrations have completely paralyzed day-to-day campus operations, depriving Jewish students of learning opportunities to which they are entitled,” McMahon said in a statement last week. “Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination. Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.” DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CANCELS ANOTHER $350M IN ‘WOKE’ SPENDING FOR CONTRACTS, GRANTS Over the weekend, an activist who led protests and encampments on the Columbia University campus for months was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a post on X.
Lalit Modi shares photo from Vanuatu after citizenship snub: ‘Must put on your…’
Earlier, Vanuatu PM directed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the passport issued to Lalit Modi.
Sec Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete with 83% gone, remainder now falling under State Dept
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programs will be canceled following the conclusion of a six-week review by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In total, 5,200 contracts are being terminated, Rubio wrote in his early Monday morning post on X announcing the new reforms. He said the canceled contracts amounted to “tens of billions of dollars” being spent “in ways that did not serve,” or even harmed, the national interests of the U.S. Rubio added that the remaining 18% of USAID programs—approximately 1,000—will now be managed by the State Department. The move to transfer that authority, he said, was made in consultation with Congress. DOGE BLOWS THE LID OFF MASSIVE NUMBER OF LOANS GRANTED TO KIDS AND MORE TOP HEADLINES In his Monday morning post, Rubio also thanked DOGE and its “hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.” Musk responded to the post, adding “good working with you,” calling the work “tough but necessary.” “The important parts of USAID should always have been with Dept of State,” Musk wrote. The pair reportedly got into a heated exchange last week during a meeting with President Donald Trump’s Cabinet officials, which included Musk, over whether Rubio was doing enough to implement cuts at USAID. Trump reportedly defended Rubio during the spat, according to The New York Times, chiming in that he was doing a “great job” in such a demanding and high-pressure position. Trump later wrote on Truth Social that the two “have a great relationship.” KAROLINE LEAVITT SHUTS DOWN ‘PITIFUL’ RUBIO-MUSK FEUD RUMORS FUELED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA USAID was an early target of Trump, who, just hours after taking office, ordered a 90-day pause on all U.S. foreign assistance programs pending a review to ensure those programs aligned with American interests. Musk has also been at the forefront of criticism of the agency, asserting it is “beyond repair” and likening the agency’s spending to illegal money laundering for left-wing nonprofits. As the Trump administration has sought to dismantle USAID, a slew of lawsuits seeking to halt its actions have come down. The Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling last week, refusing to halt a judge’s order directing the Trump administration to resume $2 billion in foreign aid payments owed to other countries via pre-existing contracts. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Trump admin ends waiver allowing Iraq to buy Iranian electricity as part of ‘maximum pressure’ campaign
The Trump administration ended a waiver that allowed the Iraqi government to buy Iranian electricity in a renewed effort to choke off Iran’s profits. National security advisor Mike Waltz told Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani that the end of the waiver was consistent with President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran as the administration goes all-in on trying to prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon. “Waltz welcomed the Iraqi Prime Minister’s efforts to achieve energy independence for Iraq, and encouraged the Iraqi government to welcome more western and U.S. energy companies into Iraq’s oil and gas sectors.” Waltz also urged the Iraqi government to resolve its dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government, where Iraq has been choking off the flow of oil from the Kurdistan region in Iraq to Turkey for years, allowing the region’s continued dependence on Iranian oil. It is part of a global push to boost oil supply and keep prices in check, in an effort that would starve Iran and Russia of fuel profits. “The National Security Advisor urged the Iraqi government to work with the Kurdistan Regional Government to address remaining contract disputes and pay arrears owed to U.S. energy companies, and also requested that the Iraqi government retain an investment coordinator to work with U.S. companies seeking to invest and operate in Iraq,” according to a readout of Waltz’s call with the prime minister. IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER REJECTS NUCLEAR TALKS WITH US AFTER TRUMP’S OVERTURES Trump first issued the sanctions waiver for Iraq when he began applying “maximum pressure” on Iran during his first administration. The waiver only applied to electricity, where Iraqi reliance on Iran has precipitously fallen to just 4%. If the new move expanded to include gas used for power plants, however, it “would cause Iraq to lose more than 30% of its electricity energy,” according to a spokesperson for Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity, Ahmad Moussa, who said the nation is searching for alternatives. Former President Joe Biden continuously renewed the waiver until its expiration on Saturday. The U.S. has significant leverage over Iraq – $100 billion of its reserves are held in the U.S., and Washington could wield that leverage amidst Iran’s increasingly firm grip over Iraqi leadership. The U.S. still has a military presence of about 2,500 personnel stationed in Iraq to help fight ISIS. IRAN CAN MANUFACTURE 6 NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH NEWLY ENRICHED URANIUM, UN ATOMIC AGENCY REPORT SAYS Trump revealed he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pushing for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement — or face military consequences. “I’ve written them a letter, saying I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” Trump told FOX Business on Friday. “There are two ways Iran can be handled – militarily, or you make a deal,” Trump said. “I would prefer to make a deal, because I am not looking to hurt Iran.” According to nuclear experts, Iran is already enriching uranium to 60%, putting it mere days or weeks away from 90% weapons-grade supply. On Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would not negotiate with “bullying countries.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Iran currently exports an average of 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, but under Trump’s Feb. 6 executive order, the secretaries of State and Treasury are to work to “implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.” The U.S. is also working to end a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port in Iran, where India has poured in $370 million to build a trading gateway to the Middle East. Next, the U.S. could set its sights on China, which buys up 90% of Iran’s oil outflow.
Ukraine announces plan to boost FPV drone arsenal
Ministry of Defence says it will buy 4.5 million first-person view drones in 2025, triple last year’s amount. Ukraine has announced plans this year to buy about 4.5 million first-person view (FPV) drones, one of the most inexpensive and potent weapons in its war effort against Russia. In a statement on Monday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said it would allocate the equivalent of more than $2.6bn for the purchases. Hlib Kanevsky, director of the ministry’s procurement policy department, said Ukraine had purchased more than 1.5 million drones in 2024, 96 percent of which were bought from Ukrainian manufacturers and suppliers. “This year, the figures will be even higher because the capabilities of the domestic defence industry in 2025 are approximately 4.5 million FPV drones,” Kanevsky said, adding that the ministry “plans to purchase them all”. Small and cheap, FPV drones are controlled by pilots on the ground and often crash into targets while laden with explosives. In April, a NATO official said FPV drones that cost less than $1,000 had destroyed two-thirds of Russian tanks worth millions. Advertisement Ukraine became the world’s largest major arms importer from 2020 to 2024, the period when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s imports increased nearly 100 times over the previous four-year period. The country, which is seeking strong security guarantees from its partners before agreeing to any peace talks with Russia, is developing its own defence industry to reduce its dependence on its Western allies. It plans to also build long-range drones. The statement said the ministry for the past three years has purchased most of its drones in the country while the number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) supplied to its armed forces had increased significantly. Kanevsky also said all procurement plans for this year have received money in the budget, which will ensure that the front line is supplied with UAVs as soon as possible. Both Russia and Ukraine have come to rely on cheaper and more effective alternatives to conventional artillery during the three-year conflict. In a separate statement on Monday, Kyiv’s top general, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Ukrainian drones had destroyed 22 percent more targets last month compared with January, but added that Russian forces were also adapting. “We simply have no right to lag behind the enemy in those areas of technological warfare where we should be arming and strengthening ourselves by our own resources,” Syrskii said. Adblock test (Why?)
Pro-Russian candidate to challenge bar on Romanian presidential run
The move follows rioting in Bucharest overnight after a court threw far-right Calin Georgescu out of the race. Romania’s far-right presidential contender Calin Georgescu plans to challenge a decision to bar him from taking part in May’s rerun presidential election. The pro-Russian politician said on social media on Monday that he would make an appeal to Romania’s Constitutional Court to lift the ban, which was placed on him the previous day. He made the announcement after violent clashes broke between his supporters and police in Bucharest overnight. “We go together all the way for the same values: peace, democracy, freedom,” Georgescu said in a video posted on Facebook. The appeal, and the unrest in the capital, follow an announcement on Sunday by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) that it had rejected the NATO critic’s candidacy for the election on May 4. Calin Georgescu, running as an independent candidate for president, speaks to the media [File: Alexandru Dobre/AP] Shortly after the BEC’s announcement, Georgescu supporters gathered in front of the electoral commission’s headquarters. Faced by a significant police presence, the protest turned violent, as participants broke through security barricades. A broadcast van belonging to a television station regarded as supporting Georgescu’s rivals was overturned, and fires were lit. Police responded with tear gas as rioters threw cobblestones and fireworks. Advertisement Some posts on social media claimed that Romania was descending into turmoil, suggesting that events could spark a revolution or cause the closure of borders. In the United States, CBS News described the country as tipping into “chaos“. However, the violence and numbers at the protests were limited. ‘European dictatorship’ The controversy surrounding the Moscow-friendly Georgescu has placed Romania in the midst of the rift between Europe and the administration of US President Donald Trump over military spending and the nature of democracy. Georgescu secured poll position in the first round of the election in November, but the vote was later annulled owing to evidence of suspected Russian interference. US Vice President JD Vance has claimed that the move illustrated Romania does not share US values. The EU has praised the independence of the country’s courts. Georgescu, who is currently under criminal investigation on numerous counts, including for communicating false information about campaign financing, has claimed that the ruling shows that Europe is turning into a “dictatorship”, and warned that “if democracy falls in Romania, the entire democratic world will fall”. If the BEC decision is upheld, the three ultranationalist parties that backed Georgescu’s previous bid for the presidency – parties that hold 35 percent of the seats in the Parliament of Romania – risk having no candidate in the election. Adblock test (Why?)