Federal judge kicks battle over NC Supreme Court election back to state court
A federal judge on Monday kicked the battle over an election to fill a spot on North Carolina’s Supreme Court back to the state’s highest court. North Carolina’s highest court on Tuesday then blocked the certification of the election results between Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs and GOP challenger Jefferson Griffin. Griffin lost the general election, and two recounts later, one statewide machine recount and a partial hand-to-eye recount of ballots from randomly selected early voting sites and Election Day precincts in each county, still showed Riggs in the lead, according to WUNC. The results show the Democrat ahead by just 734 votes from over 5.5 million ballots cast, but Riggs is contending that 60,000 ballots cast should be invalidated. The ultimate winner gets an eight-year term on a Supreme Court where five of the seven current justices are registered Republicans. Most of the ballots that Griffin is challenging came from voters whose registration records lacked either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number — which a state law has required be sought in registration applications since 2004. Before the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, of 2002, voter registration forms did not clearly require that people list the last four digits of their Social Security number or their driver’s license number. GOP LAWMAKER, 81, RECEIVES MEDICAL ATTENTION AFTER FALL AT US CAPITOL Yet it’s still legal to vote in cases where a person’s last four Social Security numbers or driver’s license digits cannot be validated. People can still present a HAVA document, such as a utility bill, and the state elections administration office is required to then assign that person a special identification number to register to vote, according to WUNC. Other large categories of votes that Griffin is challenging were cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S. but whose parents were deemed North Carolina residents and by military or overseas voters who did not provide copies of photo identification with their ballots. In accordance with federal law, the state administrative code says overseas voters are exempt from that requirement, WUNC reported. Lawyers for Griffin, who is a judge on the intermediate-level state Court of Appeals, initially asked the state Supreme Court to intervene three weeks ago. But the elections board quickly moved the matter to federal court, saying Griffin’s appeals involved matters of federal voting and voting rights laws. Griffin disagreed, and so did U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, who on Monday returned the case to the state Supreme Court. Myers — a nominee to the bench by Donald Trump — wrote that Griffin’s protests raised “unsettled questions of state law” and had tenuous connections to federal law. TWO HURRICANE HELENE VICTIMS, A FAMILY OF FOUR AND A VIETNAM VETERAN, GIFTED CAMPERS ON CHRISTMAS DAY Hours later, Griffin’s attorneys asked the state Supreme Court for the temporary stay, which the court granted. “In the absence of a stay from federal court, this matter should be addressed expeditiously because it concerns certification of an election,” Tuesday’s order read. The order said that Riggs recused herself from the matter and that Associate Justice Anita Earls, the other Democrat on the court, opposed the stay in part because the “public interest requires that the Court not interfere with the ordinary course of democratic processes as set by statute and the state constitution.” Attorneys for the State Board of Elections and Riggs quickly filed appeals notices for Myers’ decision with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The state board later on Tuesday asked the appeals court to direct Myers to take back the litigation from the state Supreme Court and block its return to the state court while the matter is appealed. Barring intervention by federal appeals judges, the Republican-majority state Supreme Court would essentially be asked to decide the winner for one of its own seats. The State Board of Elections dismissed Griffin’s written protests challenging the ballots last month. That initiated a timeline in which the board would issue a certificate confirming Riggs’ election this Friday — ending the litigation — unless a court stepped in. Tuesday’s order stops such certification and tells Griffin and the board to file legal briefs with the justices over the next two weeks. Democratic allies of Riggs have accused Griffin and the state GOP of trying to overturn legitimate election results. Riggs “deserves her certificate of election and we are only in this position due to Jefferson Griffin refusing to accept the will of the people,” state Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a news release. The state election board that dismissed Griffin’s protests is composed of three Democrats and two Republicans. The Supreme Court in the nation’s ninth-largest state has been a partisan flash point in recent years in court battles involving redistricting, photo voter identification and other voting rights. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kansas secretary of state launches 2026 GOP gubernatorial bid for seat held by 2-term Democrat
FIRST ON FOX: Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab is launching a campaign for the state’s Democrat-held governor’s seat in 2026, announcing his run exclusively with Fox News Digital on Wednesday. Schwab, who is running as a Republican, is seeking to replace Kansas’ Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly, who will have held the seat for eight years when her term ends next cycle. “We need to return to the values and principles that have always fueled us, and gave me the strength to lead in Topeka,” Schwab, Kansas’ two-term secretary of state, said in a press release shared with Fox News Digital. “I have a proven conservative record. And a servant’s heart. It’s important for Kansas to take the right path.” Schwab was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2002, serving as speaker pro tempore of the state’s House of Representatives before being elected secretary of state in 2018. KANSAS GOVERNOR VETOES BILL BANNING TRANSGENDER TREATMENT TO MINORS, ABORTION RESTRICTIONS “A Christian, a father, and a believer in the American dream. I believe that to do something great, you need to throw off the chains holding you back,” Schwab said in his official campaign launch. “For Kansas, that’s big government, and that is why I am running for Governor.” TRUMP’S CONVINCING 2024 VICTORY SETS HOUSE GOP UP FOR HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE IN 2026 MIDTERMS Schwab noted his alignment with President-elect Donald Trump on several key issues as one of the reasons he is launching a bid for governor. Specifically, Schwab noted in his first campaign ad that, if elected, he intends to stop China from buying farmland, increase security as it pertains to elections and cut property taxes. The candidate, who made his Christian faith a focal point of his campaign launch, also highlighted that he wants the U.S. to return to the “values that have always fueled us.” Although the state currently has a Democrat governor, its leadership is predominantly Republican, with two GOP senators and three of its four congressional seats held by Republicans. Kelly, who has served two terms as governor, insinuated that she might not seek re-election in the 2026 midterms. “It is really time for me to move on and to let others come up and serve,” Kelly told KCUR’s Up To Date in 2024. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, the recently elected chair of the Republican Governors Association, said the Kansas race is going to be a top priority for the GOP in 2026. “I’m going to be very engaged, you can rest assured, to making sure that my [successors] are Republican,” Kemp, who is term-limited next cycle, previously told Fox News Digital. “We’ll be working with the Trump administration and a lot of other people to make sure that that’s happening not only in Georgia, but in other states around the country, in places like Kansas, where we have a Democratic governor right now, in places like Arizona, where we have a really good shot at winning the governor’s races. So we’re going to be on offense.”
Strong winds drive wildfires across Los Angeles
California firefighters have battled wind-whipped wildfires that have torn across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes and clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled, straining resources as officials prepared for the situation to worsen. The blaze that broke out on Tuesday evening in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living centre had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a car park. The residents waited in their bedclothes as embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety. A blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialised by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ USA”. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable, as scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases. Advertisement Traffic jams prevented emergency vehicles from getting through. A bulldozer was then brought in to push abandoned cars to the side and create a path. Video along the Pacific Coast Highway showed widespread destruction of homes and businesses along the famed roadway. A third wildfire started at about 10:30pm (06:30 GMT, Wednesday) and quickly prompted evacuations in Sylmar, the northernmost neighbourhood in Los Angeles. The causes of all three fires were under investigation. Flames were being pushed by winds topping 60mph (about 100km/h) in some places. The wind speeds were projected to increase overnight, producing isolated gusts that could top 100mph (160km/h) in mountains and foothills — including in areas that have not seen substantial rain in months. The situation prompted the Los Angeles Fire Department to take the rare step of putting out a plea for off-duty firefighters to help. It was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly, further hampering the fight. Officials did not give an estimate of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat. Governor Gavin Newsom visited the scene and said many homes had burned. By evening, the flames had spread into neighbouring Malibu and several people there were being treated for burn injuries. A firefighter had a serious head injury and was taken to a hospital, according to Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott. Advertisement As of Tuesday evening, nearly 167,000 people were without power in Los Angeles County, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us. Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in southern California, where there has been very little rain this season. Southern California has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5mm) of rain since early May. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Syria’s new leaders fix the broken economy?
After almost 14 years of civil war, Syria’s economy is in ruins. After almost 14 years of civil war, Syria’s economy has been decimated. Most of its oil and gas wells, roads, electricity grids, farmland and infrastructure are damaged. Crippling the economy even further is a wide range of Western sanctions imposed on the nation and on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad and is now leading Syria’s transition. The new administration says lifting those sanctions is vital to help rebuild the country. But will they be removed? Plus, Ukraine has halted Russia’s gas flows to Europe. And sales of foreign smartphones have dropped by almost half in China. Adblock test (Why?)
Former Assad military officers reconcile with Syria’s new authorities
NewsFeed Former Syrian military officers who worked under the Assad regime are registering with the new administration as part of the effort towards a peaceful political transition. Published On 8 Jan 20258 Jan 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi school and LSR College get bomb threats; police rush teams
A dog squad and bomb disposal squad were part of the teams rushed to the spot.
France pushes back on Trump using military pressure to take Greenland, says it’s now ‘survival of the fittest’
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Wednesday flatly said the European Union will not allow President-elect Trump to take Greenland by military force. “It is out of the question that the European Union would let other countries … attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are,” Barrot said on French radio, according to Politico. Barrot added that he doubts Trump would take the extraordinary step of invading Greenland. “If you’re asking me whether I think the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no. But have we entered into a period of time when it is survival of the fittest? Then my answer is yes,” Barrot said. DANISH PRIME MINISTER HAS BLUNT MESSAGE FOR TRUMP: GREENLAND IS NOT FOR SALE That stark warning comes after Trump made various statements calling the island territory vital to U.S. national and economic security interests and expressing interest in purchasing it from Denmark. He has made similar comments about wresting the Panama Canal from Panama’s control after the U.S. relinquished the canal in 1977. On Tuesday, the incoming U.S. president would not rule out using military force to gain control of Greenland or the Panama Canal when asked about the issue at a press conference. A reporter asked Trump if he could assure the world he would not use military or economic coercion to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland. “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump said. DONALD TRUMP JR ARRIVES IN GREENLAND AS HIS FATHER SAYS DENMARK ‘GIVE IT UP’ Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasized Tuesday that Greenland is not for sale. Frederiksen told a Danish TV station that Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede “has been very, very clear – that there is a lot of support among the people of Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either,” according to The Hill. She reportedly told TV 2 that Greenland will choose its own future and said, “We need to stay calm and stick to our principles,” while praising the U.S. as a key Danish ally. TRUMP ESCALATES PLANS TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND AFTER RESIDENT PLEADS: ‘DENMARK’S USING US’ In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said he was “hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA’.” The Republican attached a video that purportedly shows a Greenlander asking the U.S. to buy his country. Trump’s son arrived Tuesday in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital. He met with locals, visited cultural sites and shot video for a podcast. The president-elect posted a video showing a plane emblazoned with the word “TRUMP” landing in Nuuk. “Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,” Trump wrote. “The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” At Tuesday’s press conference, Trump said of Greenland, “Denmark should give it up.”
Majority of Americans believe Biden will be remembered as below average or poor president: poll
Most Americans believe President Biden will be remembered as a below-average president once he leaves office, according to a Wednesday poll. The new poll from Gallup found that 54% of Americans say Biden will be remembered as either “below average” (37%) or “poor” (17%). Meanwhile, just 19% are confident he will have a positive legacy, with 6% saying he was “outstanding” and 13% saying he was “above average.” Just over a quarter of Americans, 26%, predict Biden will be remembered as an average president, the poll found. Gallup’s poll ranked Biden alongside nine other recent presidents, and only President Richard Nixon proved to be less popular. Nixon received a net positivity rating of -42, compared to Biden’s -35. The next closest president was George W. Bush at -9. ‘FAILED EXPERIMENT’: EXPERTS REVEAL WHY SOROS-BACKED POLICIES TOOK BEATING IN DEEP BLUE STATE Gallup noted that presidents who serve challenging terms like Biden typically see their approval ratings rise in the years after they leave office. The pollster noted that Presidents Jimmy Carter, Trump and Bush all benefited from this trend. President-elect Trump’s first term received a net positivity rating of -4. The most popular president was John F. Kennedy, at +68, followed by Ronald Reagan at +38. BIDEN RIPPED FOR ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ TO CRIME VICTIMS AFTER AWARDING SOROS MEDAL OF FREEDOM: ‘DISGUSTING’ Gallup conducted the poll from Dec. 2 – 18, surveying 1,003 U.S. adults via cellphone and landline. The poll advertises a margin of error of 4%. The poll came the same day that Biden acknowledged concerns about his age and discussed his legacy in an interview with USA Today in the Oval Office. He still claimed he would have won another term if he’d run against Trump, but he admitted he’s not sure if he could have lasted four more years. “Do you think you would’ve had the vigor to serve another four years in office?” USA Today’s Susan Page asked. “I don’t know,” Biden said. “That’s why I thought when I first announced, talking to Barack [Obama] about it, I said I thought I was the person. I had no intention of running after [my son] Beau died – for real, not a joke. And then when Trump was running again for re-election, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him.” OBAMA ALUMS TRASH ‘STUBBORN OLD MAN’ BIDEN’S ‘FECKLESS’ JAN. 6 OP-ED “But I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton,” Biden added, reflecting on concerns over his age, especially before he dropped out of the presidential race. Biden says his “hope” is that history remembers “that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America’s leadership in the world.” “I hope that my legacy is one that says I took an economy that was in disarray and set it on track to lead the world, in terms of the new sort of rules of the road,” he said. The White House declined to comment on the record when contacted by Fox News Digital regarding the poll.
Marjorie Taylor Greene swiftly serves up bill to rename Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America’
On the heels of President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., swiftly served up legislation to enact the idea. “The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name,” Trump said after declaring that the name would be changed. Greene quickly announced that she would introduce a measure “ASAP” to rename the body of water. Later on Tuesday she released the text of the proposal, indicating in a statement that it would be filed on Thursday morning. ‘BEAUTIFUL NAME’: TRUMP ANNOUNCES GULF OF MEXICO WILL GET NEW, PRO-AMERICA REVAMP “The Gulf of Mexico shall be known as the ‘Gulf of America,’” the text of the proposal reads in part, calling for federal documents and maps to be updated accordingly. “Mexican cartels currently use the Gulf of Mexico to traffic humans, drugs, weapons, and God knows what else while the Mexican government allows them to do it,” Greene said in a statement. “The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the maritime waterways for commerce to be conducted. Our U.S. armed forces protect the area from any military threats from foreign countries. It’s our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and it’s what the entire world should refer to it as,” she asserted. “We already have the bill written with legislative council and ready to file first thing Thursday morning.” Other lawmakers also jumped on the “Gulf of America” bandwagon after Trump’s announcement. REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO VOTE FOR JOHNSON AFTER SEEKING TO OUST HIM FROM SPEAKERSHIP LAST YEAR In a post on X, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., invited people to “visit our beautiful district and take a dip in the Gulf of AMERICA!” “Proud to represent Alabama’s First District on the beautiful GULF OF AMERICA,” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala. declared in a tweet. “Alabamians know just how important the Gulf and Gulf Coast are for our great country. The Gulf of AMERICA sounds pretty good to me,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., noted in a post. TRUMP TROLLS CANADA AGAIN, SHARES MAP WITH COUNTRY AS PART OF US: ‘OH CANADA!’ Trump will take office in less than two weeks when he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
A Texas teenager helped his border community win a $13 million grant to improve the environment
Presidio, northwest of Big Bend National Park, will get dedicated green spaces along bike lanes and pedestrian streets, plant thousands of native trees and establish a high-school run air quality monitoring program.