Is this the death of the English major?
We’re examining the global decline in demand for English degrees as students increasingly turn to STEM fields, fearing an English degree won’t lead to high-paying jobs. Is an English degree simply about analysing rhyme schemes and bragging about reading Ulysses? We speak with students and recruitment managers to uncover the causes and effects of this academic trend. Do employers prioritise communication skills, or do they value technical expertise more? And does avoiding the humanities at university really guarantee a high-paying job? Adblock test (Why?)
New DNC vice chair sets social media ablaze after ‘radical’ posts exposed: ‘Learned absolutely nothing’
Newly elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg, a 24-year-old gun control activist and emerging voice in the Democratic Party, is the DNC’s first Gen Z vice chair. He has the digital footprint to prove it. “Are you ready to go on the offense? We have to win back our young people. I’m the only candidate in this race for any of these positions that is under 30. We had a 20-point shift to the right of our young people. We must show our young people we give a damn about them, that we support them, and we invest in them,” Hogg said at the DNC’s Winter Meeting. Yet, Hogg could be backed into a defensive position as he assumes his new role as vice chair. NEW DNC VICE CHAIR PREVIOUSLY CALLED FOR ICE TO BE ABOLISHED “I have raised over $11 million in the past year to support the future of our party because I don’t just tweet,” Hogg said. “I don’t just talk the talk. I also walk the walk, and I knock the knock on doors around this country.” Hogg’s old posts have gone viral as conservative activists have sounded the alarm about his past policy positions and rhetoric against conservatives. In 2022, he rallied around several left-wing positions, including “legalizing all drugs” and “supporting a 100% tax after your first billion.” “How radical you ask? I don’t think anybody should have over $1 billion in assets there should be a 100% tax after your first billion,” Hogg posted on X in April 2022. “I think we need to do what Australia did in regards to guns. We need universal healthcare Free college for all Legalize all drugs.” DNC LAMBASTED FOR ‘BEYOND PARODY’ LEADERSHIP VOTE THAT INCLUDED SINGING, GENDER RULES: ‘CAN’T STOP LAUGHING’ Months later, he said he would prefer to own a Porsche than have kids, claiming it is better for the environment. “Like me? I’m never planning on having kids. I would much rather own a Porsche and have a Portuguese water dog and golden doodle,” Hogg posted on X in September 2022. “Long term it’s cheaper, better for The environment and will never tell you that it hates you or ask you to pay for college.” Hogg also acknowledged in 2022 that “any politician doing anything with me is in effect committing political suicide.” Conservatives on X are calling out the irony of the DNC now electing him to a leadership position. Many have pointed to Hogg’s progressive views on masculinity as a turnoff to young male voters. In 2021, Hogg called to “abolish ICE” and “defund the police not USPS.” Upon accepting the new DNC leadership position, X users are calling out Hogg for his 2022 post that said, “We have enough straight white men in power. It’d be nice to see some people who actually look like our country and not privilege.” DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW CHAIR WHO BRANDED TRUMP A ‘TRAITOR’ AS PARTY AIMS TO REBOUND FROM DISASTROUS 2024 ELECTION X users also argued Hogg’s nomination proves the Democratic Party is out of touch with its electorate. Conservatives have also trolled Hogg’s nomination, arguing that “He will help Republicans win for years to come.” Hogg garnered national attention in 2018 as a co-founder of March for Our Lives, a student-led organization launched by survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Since 2018, Hogg has become a voice of young Democrats in the mainstream media as he continues his advocacy work. After graduating from Harvard in 2023, Hogg co-founded Leaders We Deserve, a political action committee promoting young progressive candidates for state and federal office. Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC and David Hogg.
Hindenburg’s Nate Anderson reveals why he shut down firm, says stands by Adani report
Nate Anderson said that Hindenburg’s January 2023 report accusing Adani Group of “the largest con in corporate history” was a result of following “red flags” raised against the conglomerate in media reports.
‘Those who do photo-ops…’: PM Modi hits back at LoP Rahul Gandhi over ‘boring’ President speech comment
PM Modi criticized Rahul Gandhi for calling the President’s speech “boring,” accused him of using “urban Naxal” language, and slammed Congress over the caste census.
Trump handed ‘opportunity to save Medicare’ after Biden admin’s final blow to seniors: expert
President Donald Trump was handed the “opportunity to save Medicare” after the Biden administration rolled out its final Medicare Advantage proposal early in January that experts say underfunds the insurance plan after already facing rate cuts in previous years. “This is Trump’s opportunity to save Medicare,” former Republican New York Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, who is also a former nurse and was chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission until 2019, told Fox News Digital in January. “Medicare Advantage is Medicare for 34 million Americans who choose it. Those seniors are experiencing disruption with their healthcare as a result of two years of cuts — if Trump ensures MA gets funded in line with projected medical cost trends in 2026, he’ll be fixing Joe Biden’s mistake and giving seniors the healthcare they deserve right before the GOP’s midterm elections.” Medicare Advantage plans are private health insurance plans that contract with Medicare and are used by roughly 34 million Americans. The program mostly enrolls adults older than the age of 65, but also offers benefits to people of all ages with disabilities. Traditional Medicare, conversely, is a federal health insurance program for adults older than the age of 65, as well as younger individuals with disabilities. The Biden administration previously had made cuts to Medicare Advantage rates, including in April 2024, when experts said enrollees would face an additional $33 a month for out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, due to the cuts. Critics at the time said the cuts would be especially devastating to seniors living on fixed incomes who are already coping with ongoing inflation issues. DON’T LET BIDEN SNEAK IN MORE MEDICARE CUTS ON HIS WAY OUT THE DOOR Roughly two weeks before leaving office, the Biden administration rolled out its final regulation affecting Medicare Advantage, which did not outright cut rates as it did for 2024 and 2025, but increased the average benchmark payment to Medicare Advantage plans by 2.2%. The proposal, however, seemingly works as another cut and underfunds Medicare Advantage because the proposed rates are still lower than the current rate of inflation, Buerkle said, with the consumer price index showing a 12-month inflation rate of 2.7%. The proposal also comes on the heels of the Biden administration finalizing a 1.12% cut for fiscal year 2024 and a 0.16% cut for fiscal year 2025. TRUMP PUTS BIDEN ON DEFENSE FOR MEDICARE ADVANTAGE CUTS “Underfunding for Medicare Advantage will result in higher premiums, more out-of-pocket costs, and higher deductibles for the 34 million Americans who choose Medicare Advantage,” Buerkle told Fox News Digital. “This, on top of the inflation that the Biden Administration caused by their flagrant spending creates a difficult situation for those seniors on a fixed income.” The proposal is not yet locked in, as the newly minted Trump administration has until April 7 to finalize its policy for fiscal year 2026. “Medicare Advantage saved the federal government $144 billion over the last decade,” Buerkle said. That is because Medicare Advantage plans “use taxpayer dollars more efficiently than traditional Medicare,” she said. “By managing the care for 34 million seniors, MA plans are able to offer more benefits for the same price as original Medicare. Senior satisfaction rate is high, too, with 96% of seniors reporting their satisfaction with their MA plan. So, making sure MA is funded appropriately is a gift to taxpayers,” Buerkle said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services touted the proposal when it was released in early January, saying the health plan will continue providing affordable care, while “being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.” The agency “has worked to ensure that people with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D have access to stable and affordable offerings,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Today’s Advance Notice continues CMS’ efforts to provide access to affordable, high-quality care in Medicare Advantage while being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. We are also continuing implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring people with Medicare Part D have more affordable coverage for their medications.” Former Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindall, who served as an advisor to the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush’s administration, published an op-ed for Fox Digital in December 2024, warning against the Biden administration issuing any last-minute Medicare Advantage cuts ahead of Trump taking back the Oval Office. “Over the past two years, the administration has implemented a series of changes that have effectively reduced funding for Medicare Advantage,” he wrote. “These cuts are disguised as ‘payment adjustments,’ but the reality is clear: they are cutting funding for a program that seniors overwhelmingly support. The results? Higher premiums, reduced benefits, and narrower provider networks for many Medicare Advantage enrollees.” Jindall added that Medicare Advantage can be improved to better serve seniors and other enrollees, but he argued “the left” has resisted improving the system in favor of promoting a government-focused program. “Members in both parties have called for modifying the calculation of risk adjustments, to improve a system that can be gamed and often rewards companies for documenting patient acuity rather than actually improving outcomes,” he wrote. “But, the left does not want to improve Medicare Advantage — they want to undermine the program to advance their long-term goal of centralizing more health care under the government’s control.” A Trump administration official told Fox Digital that staffers are reviewing Biden administration proposals and polices skeptically but that no policy has been set in stone related to Medicare Advantage. Trump joined House Republican lawmakers in Florida on Jan. 27, when he vowed not to cut Medicare or Social Security. “I will not sign any bill that cuts even a single penny from Medicare or Social Security for our great seniors. We don’t have to do that. We don’t have to do that. We’ll not touch those benefits in any way, shape or form. I want to use that because during the campaign, they had these fake ads that Trump is going to cut Social Security,” he said. BIDEN-HARRIS MEDICARE CUTS
Elon Musk dunks on Sen Chuck Schumer, declaring ‘Hysterical reactions’ demonstrate DOGE’s importance
Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tasked with spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort, declared in a social media post that “Hysterical reactions” demonstrate the importance of DOGE’s work. He made the comment in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,” a post on Sen. Schumer’s @SenSchumer X account reads, echoing remarks the lawmaker made during a press conference. RUBIO SAYS ‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO BRING USAID ‘UNDER CONTROL’ AFTER AGENCY TAKEOVER: ‘RANK INSUBORDINATION’ “DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to make spending decisions. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law. DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Congress must take action to restore the rule of law,” Schumer’s post continued. Musk described the effort to slash government waste and bureaucracy as a one-time opportunity. “Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that @DOGE is doing work that really matters,” he wrote in response to Schumer. “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this. It’s now or never. Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people,” he asserted. USAID CLOSES HQ TO STAFFERS MONDAY AS MUSK SAYS TRUMP SUPPORTS SHUTTING AGENCY DOWN The business magnate has called DOGE “the wood chipper for bureaucracy.” “If the Treasury Secretary does not remove DOGE’s access to the Treasury payment systems at once: Congress must immediately act,” another post echoing the sentiments Schumer conveyed during the press conference reads. “That is why @RepJeffries and I will work together on legislation to stop unlawful meddling in the Treasury Department’s payment systems. We must protect people’s Social Security payments, Medicare payments, and tax refunds from any possible tampering by DOGE or other unauthorized entities.” MUSK RIPS ‘FRAUDULENT’ TREASURY HANDOUTS AS REPORTS MOUNT DOGE HAS ACCESS TO FEDERAL PAYMENT SYSTEM CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Musk declared in a post, “Doge has not looked at, nor is there any interest in, private financial data. What would we even do with it? The outgoing payment review process just looks at potential fraud and wasteful spending to organizations. Corrupt politicians are the ones complaining. I wonder why?”
US flies joint patrol with the Philippines near shoal region guarded by China
U.S. and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said. The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since President Donald Trump took office again. It comes as the Trump administration has promised to deliver a foreign policy that centers on “America First.” Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practicing how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine air force spokesperson Maria Consuelo Castillo said at a press conference. It was not immediately known if the joint patrol encountered any challenge from Chinese forces guarding the Scarborough Shoal. ‘THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL’: TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING ‘DRUG WAR,’ TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY “The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the two air forces,” the Philippine Air Force said. On Tuesday, the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said its units would maintain a “high degree of alert, resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and control any military activities that disrupt the South China Sea,” alleging the Philippines participated in joint patrols organized by other foreign countries to “undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea,” according to Reuters. The Philippine Navy said at a press conference on Tuesday that it was “closely monitoring” three Chinese navy vessels within Manila’s maritime zones, including a Jiangkai-class guided missile frigate. “The presence of People’s Liberation Army-Navy reflects the People’s Republic of China’s complete disregard for international law and undermines the peace and stability in the region,” Philippine Navy spokesperson John Percie Alcos said, according to Reuters. In August last year, two Chinese air force aircraft flew close then fired flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said. All those aboard the Philippine air force NC-212i turbo-prop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said. The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said then that a Philippine air force aircraft “illegally” entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to “stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up.” SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident “posed a threat to Philippine air force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation.” China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming face-offs in the shoal, which is called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China. “We are always prepared for any contingency, it’s part of the training,” Castillo said Tuesday when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft. “It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine air force will not be deterred to perform its mandate,” Castillo said. The U.S. military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight. China has bristled at U.S. military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security. Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal. Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DC Councilmember Trayon White faces possible expulsion vote over federal bribery charge
Washington, D.C., City Councilmember Trayon White is facing potential expulsion from city leadership amid an ongoing corruption trial on alleged bribery charges. The FBI arrested White in August 2024, alleging that he took over $150,000 in bribes to influence the city’s contracting. While the trial has yet to begin, the FBI revealed evidence showing White accepting envelopes full of cash from a bureau informant. The city council will vote on White’s expulsion later Tuesday. “This is quintessential corruption,” Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said in a December statement. “There is only one remedy: to remove the corruption from our body. This incident has damaged the public trust necessary for government to function well.” Despite the charges and evidence leveled against him, White was re-elected to the city council in November, just three months after his arrest. His federal trial is set to begin in January 2026. He has pleaded not guilty. DC COUNCILMAN A STEP CLOSER TO FACING EXPULSION AFTER LAW FIRM FINDS HE VIOLATED CODE OF CONDUCT “I feel confident that the people of Ward 8 have spoken. I feel like I’m going to win by a landslide but I’m still humbled and prayerful. I hope [it] sends a loud message to the D.C. Council about keeping the decisions in the hands of the people.” White told WJLA on Election Day after results made it clear he would win. DC COUNCILMEMBER FACING FEDERAL BRIBERY CHARGES WINS LANDSLIDE RE-ELECTION White’s expulsion would require a unanimous vote of the 11 other members of the city council, and public statements from councilmembers don’t look good for White. “Councilmember White betrayed the trust of his staff, the council, the agencies and, above all, the residents of Ward 8,” Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, a Democrat, said at a preliminary hearing last week. Mendelson, also a Democrat, echoed McDuffie’s skepticism in a statement. “The public [has to] have trust in the government, they have to have trust in the legislature, they have to have trust in those who are elected,” he said. Other members expressed hope that White would resign before the council is forced to take action. “I wish he would resign,” said Councilmember Robert C. White Jr., also a Democrat, according to the Washington Post. “If you broke the council rules, and you know you broke the council rules, to put the council through this is something to think about.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Delhi Elections 2025: Traffic police issues advisory; check restrictions, routes to avoid
The traffic police have made arrangements for the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Election 2025 on February 4th and 5th to facilitate smooth movement and avoid any inconvenience.
Texas Republicans want more property tax cuts. Here’s how they may do it.
Gov. Greg Abbott said cutting taxes is a top priority, however, state lawmakers don’t have as much money to plug into tax cuts as they did two years ago.