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Vance is the likely 2028 frontrunner, but these Republicans may also run for president

Vance is the likely 2028 frontrunner, but these Republicans may also run for president

With former president and now President-elect Trump term-limited and constitutionally unable to run again for the White House in 2028, Vice President-elect JD Vance is on a glide path to be the heir apparent to the America First movement and the Republican Party’s powerful MAGA base. It was a point driven home by Donald Trump Jr., the former and future president’s eldest son and powerful ally of the vice president-elect. “We are getting four more years of Trump and then eight years of JD Vance!” Trump Jr. said on the campaign trail in Ohio a few weeks ahead of November’s election. Plenty of Republican politicians, strategists and pundits agree that Vance, who was elected to the Senate in Ohio just two years ago, will likely be the clear frontrunner in the next Republican presidential nomination race. HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 “The vice president will be in the catbird seat. No question about it,” longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney told Fox News Digital.  Carney, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns over the past four decades, said Vance “is the guy to beat.” David Kochel, another longtime GOP strategist with plenty of presidential campaign experience, told Fox News that Vance is the frontrunner due to “the size and the scope of last week’s victory and the implied passing of the torch from Donald Trump.” “There will be no shortage of people looking at it. But most people looking at it are seeing the relative strength of the Trump victory and the movement,” Kochel said. And with Trump’s support in a party firmly in the president-elect’s grip, the 40-year-old Vance will be extremely hard to knock off.  However, Kochel noted that “nobody will completely defer to JD Vance. There will be a contest. There always is.” Carney added that “there may be other people who challenge him [Vance]… there’s a lot of people who want to be president, but it will be a very hard lane other than the Trump lane.” He added that a possible rough four years for the Trump/Vance administration would give potential Vance challengers “opportunities.” However, he praised the vice president-elect’s messaging and accessibility on the campaign trail and that “he is the guy to beat, regardless of whether it’s a good four years or a rough four years.” Carney also touted that the Republican Party has a “deep bench.”  Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, a top Trump ally, said in a recent Fox News Digital interview that he’s “very excited about the bench that we have in the Republican Party right now.” Pointing to Trump’s remaking of the GOP, Whatley added that “as we go into 2028, we are in a great position to be able to continue the momentum of this agenda and this movement.” But he also emphasized that regardless of Vance’s likely frontrunner status as 2028 nears, the RNC will hold to its traditional role of staying neutral in an open and contested presidential primary. Here’s a look at some of those on the bench that may have national aspirations and ambitions in 2028, or beyond. The conservative governor of Florida was flying high after a landslide re-election in 2022, but an unsuccessful 2024 presidential primary run and a bruising battle with Trump knocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis down in stature. However, the term-limited 46-year-old governor, who has two years left in office steering Florida, proved over the past few years his fundraising prowess and retains plenty of supporters across the country. DeSantis was also able, to a degree, to repair relations with Trump, helped raise money for the GOP ticket during the general election, and earned a prime time speaking slot at July’s convention. It’s likely that DeSantis, who sources say Trump has considered as a plan B for Defense secretary if his nominee Pete Hegseth runs into trouble, has his eyes on another White House run. The popular conservative governor is one of the few in the GOP who can claim he faced Trump’s wrath and not only survived, but thrived. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited, has two years left in office and enjoys strong favorable ratings in a crucial battleground state. Expect to see the 61-year-old Kemp on the campaign trail across the country for fellow Republicans in 2026, as his national profile expands. With his 2021 gubernatorial victory – the first by a Republican in Virginia in a dozen years – Gov. Glenn Youngkin instantly became a GOP rising star. In Virginia, governors are limited to one four-year term, which means Youngkin has one year left in office.  The 58-year-old governor, who hails from the Republican Party’s business wing but has been able to thrive in a MAGA-dominated party, likely harbors national ambitions.  A first step could be a Cabinet post in the second Trump administration after his term as governor ends. Sen. Ted Cruz was the runner-up to Trump in the blockbuster 2016 Republican presidential battle. The controversial conservative firebrand passed on challenging Trump again in 2024, as he ran for what was thought to be another difficult re-election bid, after narrowly surviving his 2018 re-election. However, the 53-year-old senator ended up winning a third six-year term in the Senate by nearly nine points. The Army veteran, who served in combat in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars before becoming a rising star in Republican Party politics, was considered to be on the larger list of potential Trump running mates. The now-47-year-old Sen. Tom Cotton seriously mulled a 2024 White House run of his own before deciding against it in late 2022, putting his young family ahead of political ambitions. However, he did not rule out a future presidential bid. Cotton is currently bidding for the GOP conference chair, the number three leadership position in the incoming Senate Republican majority. The 44-year-old Sen. Josh Hawley, along with Cotton, is another rising conservative star in the Senate.  Hawley is also a strong defender of Trump’s America First agenda

Oregon AG creates sanctuary ‘toolkit’ ahead of likely Trump-Homan illegal immigration crackdown

Oregon AG creates sanctuary ‘toolkit’ ahead of likely Trump-Homan illegal immigration crackdown

Oregon’s top law enforcement officer rolled out what she called bilingual “Sanctuary Promise Community Toolkit” to help residents refresh their knowledge of the Beaver State’s relevant laws. “Every person has the right to live, work, play, and learn safely in Oregon, period,” Oregon Democratic Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement announcing the toolkit. In 1987, Oregon lawmakers passed then-Rep. Rocky Barilla’s HB 2314 in response to several raids by INS – the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, which transformed into USCIS, DHS and ICE in 2003. The law is largely considered the first “sanctuary state” policy in the country. OREGON BALLOT MEASURE WOULD TAX BIG CORPORATION MORE, RETURN REVENUE AS REBATE TO RESIDENTS Rosenblum explicitly acknowledged Oregon’s place in that regard, noting the law prohibits state and local law enforcement resources from being used to apprehend suspects charged solely with being present in the U.S. without papers. A press release from the attorney general’s office noted Barilla’s bill passed “nearly unanimously” in 1987 but that by 2024, sanctuary laws have become an “intensely partisan issue.” “I asked my Civil Rights Unit here at the Oregon DOJ to do whatever we could to provide the people, businesses, and local governments of our state with easy-to-read materials to help them know their rights and educate others, and I’m so pleased with what they’ve put together,” Rosenblum said in her statement. In the toolkit, documents relating to the 1987 law’s passage are available for easy public consumption, along with a “conversation” with figures involved in getting the law passed. The toolkit includes several FAQs, including “how do I prepare myself and my family for encounters with ICE or other federal immigration authorities?” – “Is there a place I can call to report ICE or other federal immigration authorities active right now in my community?” and “After an encounter with ICE or other federal immigration authorities, what information should I write down?” Oregon also hosts a statewide “hotline” to report sanctuary law violations. There are also links to press coverage, as well as a separate “law enforcement bias response” toolkit. WATCHDOG SEEKS HALT TO 11TH-HOUR BIDEN DOJ EFFORT TO HANDCUFF KY POLICE OVER BREONNA TAYLOR INCIDENT Rosenblum said she also recommends Oregonians discuss the issue with family in the next few weeks to “know your rights… and make a plan for what to do if immigration officials come to your home or place of business.” “Knowing your rights in advance is essential,” she said. President-elect Trump tapped former ICE Director Thomas Homan as his “border czar” – succeeding Vice President Kamala Harris. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Homan has pledged a no-holds-barred crackdown on immigration law violators and illegal immigrants. Fox News Digital also reached out to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek for comment.

Japan Airlines hit by cyber attack, delaying some flights

Japan Airlines hit by cyber attack, delaying some flights

JAL says it has suspended ticket sales for all services on Thursday following incident. Japan Airlines (JAL) has reported being hit with a cyber attack, causing delays to some flights. The airline has been experiencing “malfunctions in systems communicating with external systems” since shortly before 7:30am local time (23:30 GMT, Wednesday), JAL said on Thursday. JAL temporarily isolated a router that was causing the disruption shortly before 9am and is currently “checking the status of the system recovery”, the Tokyo-based airline said. “We have identified the scope of the impact and are currently checking the status of the system recovery,” JAL said. The airline added that there were delays to both domestic and international flights and that it had suspended ticket sales for all services scheduled for Thursday. More than a dozen flights were delayed at several Japanese airports, but there were no mass cancellations, public broadcaster NHK reported. All Nippon Airways, JAL’s main rival, said that it had not been affected by any cyber incidents and that services were operating as normal. Advertisement American Airlines briefly grounded all flights on Christmas Eve after experiencing a technical glitch involving its network hardware. Adblock test (Why?)

Why did an Azerbaijan Airline plane crash in Kazakhstan? What we know

Why did an Azerbaijan Airline plane crash in Kazakhstan? What we know

Azerbaijan is marking a day of mourning after a local airline’s passenger plane crashed off the coast of the Caspian Sea. Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating the emergency landing on Wednesday morning that killed at least 38 people. Here’s what we know about the crash. Where did the passenger plane crash? The plane crashed about 3km (1.8 miles) from the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. It was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia. (Al Jazeera) Who was on board? The Embraer 190 aircraft, flight number J2-8243, carried 62 passengers and five crew members. According to Kazakh officials, the people on board were citizens of four different countries: 42 Azerbaijani citizens 16 Russian citizens 6 Kazakh citizens 3 Kyrgyz citizens How many of them survived? There are 32 survivors, including two children, who have been hospitalised, with many in critical condition. Many were pulled out from the wreckage, while some, according to first responders and video footage, dragged themselves out, bloodied. Advertisement Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev announced that 38 people had been killed. Russian news agency Interfax quoted emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash. Why did the plane crash? The crash was reportedly due to an “emergency situation” onboard after a bird strike, Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Telegram. The plane had to divert from its original route because of heavy fog in Grozny, its intended destination, and make an emergency landing. Commercial aviation-tracking websites recorded the flight travelling north along its scheduled route on the west coast before it disappeared. It later reappeared on the east coast, circling near Aktau airport before ultimately crashing. “According to preliminary reports, the plane requested landing at an alternative airport before the accident … due to heavy fog in Grozny,” Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova reported from Moscow. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement that “according to the information provided to me, the AZAL airline plane, flying on the Baku-Grozny route, changed its course due to worsening weather conditions and began heading toward Aktau airport, where the crash occurred during landing”. The nearest Russian airport, Makhachkala, was closed earlier in the day due to drone activity. Strong GPS jamming in the region, which has been linked to past incidents, may have further complicated navigation and contributed to the crash, according to an online post by FlightRadar24. Advertisement Aliyev acknowledged that there were multiple theories over what might have caused the crash, but cautioned against speculation. “There are videos of the plane crash available in the media and on social networks, and everyone can watch them. However, the reasons for the crash are not yet known to us,” the Azerbaijani president said. “There are various theories, but I believe it is premature to discuss them.” What is the latest on the ground? Emergency services have been actively responding to the situation. Firefighters extinguished the blaze caused by the crash, while 150 emergency workers and medical teams, including specialist doctors flown in from Astana, are treating the injured. Azerbaijan Airlines said it is suspending all its flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as Baku and Makhachkala until the investigation is concluded. The airline has also set up a hotline for family members of the passengers and posted all their names on its social media pages. Aliyev also signed a decree declaring December 26 a day of mourning in the country. The Azerbaijani president, who was flying to Russia for a summit at the time, said he was informed of the crash while he was in midair. “I immediately gave instructions for the plane to return to Baku,” Aliyev said in a statement issued by his office. Kazakhstan emergency specialists work at the crash site of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau [Handout/ Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry via AFP] What investigations are taking place? Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Advertisement “An investigative team, led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan, has been dispatched to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site,” the Prosecutor General’s Office in Azerbaijan said in a statement. Azerbaijan’s state news agency, Azertac, said that the team dispatched to Aktau for an “on-site investigation” also included Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines. Azertac said that the plane’s black box – a flight recorder that investigators use to determine the causes of aviation accidents – had been found. Aliyev, in his statement, said that a “criminal case has been launched” and that the Azerbaijani public would be “regularly informed” about progress in the investigation. Kazakhstan has formed a government commission to examine the cause of the disaster and ensure that the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed. The investigations are focusing on potential technical problems and the closure of nearby airspace. Embraer, the Brazilian manufacturer of the aircraft, has expressed its willingness to assist with the inquiries. Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,036

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,036

Here are the key developments on the 1,036th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here is the situation on Thursday, December 26: Fighting: Russian and Ukrainian forces have once again engaged in fierce battles around the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s General Staff said that 35 Russian attacks were reported around the city on Wednesday. “Three Russian armies are concentrated here against us,” Ukraine’s regional commander Viktor Trehubov was quoted as saying. Russia launched a huge Christmas Day attack on Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones. The Russian attack wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the “inhumane” attack from Russia, which included more than 170 missiles and drones, some of which knocked out power in several regions of the country. United States President Joe Biden said the “outrageous attack was designed to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardise the safety of its grid”. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, saying there was “no respite even at Christmas”. Russia meanwhile said five people were killed by Ukrainian missile strikes and from a falling drone in the border region of Kursk and North Ossetia in the Caucasus. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Australia had contacted Moscow about the possible capture by the Russian army of an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces and that it was looking into the matter. Advertisement Military aid: Biden said that he had asked the US Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after condemning Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine. Diplomacy: Pope Francis called for “arms to be silenced” around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza. Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was released in a prisoner swap by Moscow in August, has been placed on Russia’s “wanted” list, according to an Interior Ministry database seen by the AFP news agency. Yashin, 41, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison at the end of 2022 for denouncing “the murder of civilians” in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Regional security: Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused NATO of trying to turn Moldova into a logistical centre to supply the Ukrainian army and of seeking to bring the Western alliance’s military infrastructure closer to Russia. Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid, told the country’s public broadcaster Yle that “the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out” after an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia broke down. It is the latest in a series of incidents involving telecom cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea. A “terrorist act” sank the Russian cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean this week, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said. The Oboronlogistika company said it “thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major”, without indicating who may have been behind the act or why. The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was earlier diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks. Authorities in two Russian regions adjacent to Chechnya, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, reported drone strikes on Wednesday morning. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)