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Here’s how the US has helped a tiny fraction of its citizens evacuate war-torn Lebanon

Here’s how the US has helped a tiny fraction of its citizens evacuate war-torn Lebanon

As bombing intensifies around Beirut, only a tiny fraction of the 86,000 Americans and green card holders who reside in Lebanon have been evacuated with U.S. help. The State Department says it’s made some 5,000 seats available on both commercial and chartered flights for U.S. citizens, but there’s a catch: they have to get to the airport amid regular bombings on their own, and many may have to leave family behind.  That’s what’s led to only around a quarter of those seats being filled by 1,100 U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and family members flying out across 10 U.S.-organized flights, according to advocates.   Since July, the U.S. has had a level 4 “do not travel” advisory for Lebanon encouraging citizens to get out.  On Sept. 27, the State Department said it would not be evacuating Americans, prompting airlines to charge exorbitant prices – between $5,000 and $8,000 per seat. The department then back peddled and said it would help organize flights at reasonable rates.  Some 8,500 U.S. citizens have reached out to the U.S. embassy in Beirut for information and assistance in evacuating.  “We’re going to continue the flights for the time being because we do assess that there is demand,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. “We believe we have a duty to do everything we can to help American citizens get out of the country.”  1 YEAR AFTER HEZBOLLAH STRIKES, ISRAEL REINFORCES TROOPS AND QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER ‘LIMITED’ OPERATION But human rights attorney Maria Kari says those efforts are futile without a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) to bring in U.S. forces to get Americans out.  “The writing was on the wall several months ago that the situation in Lebanon was going to start disintegrating,” she told Fox News Digital.  Kari said many of the U.S. citizens and green card holders in Lebanon she works with have family members who do not hold U.S. passports and refuse to leave the region without a parent or a child.  “The Beirut embassy has made it very clear they’re not processing any new visa applications,” she said.  Kari said the U.S. needs to extend the same protections it did to Israeli Americans who were looking to escape the region after Oct. 7 – allow immediate family members of U.S. citizens to get visas. To the State Department, she said: “You’re not talking about how you’re contributing to the problem of why these flights are not filling up. You’re not talking about how it’s not safe to get to the airport, key sites around the airport, including the road and the residential building by the airport, were bombed in the last few days, right?” The only international airport in Beirut is less than three miles from where Hezbollah is headquartered.  When citizens contact the embassy, they get a response similar to the one shared with Fox News Digital: “We are only assisting U.S. citizens currently in Lebanon and their immediate family members who have a valid U.S. or Schengen visa at this time. A valid visa is required to enter the United States. Lebanese passport holders can travel to Türkiye without a visa.” “It’s absolutely absurd that the U.S. thinks it’s OK to take out Americans and their non-American relatives and drop them off in Turkey – a foreign government not responsible for Americans or Lebanese citizens,” she said. “Just another example of this administration’s failure to protect Americans, first in Gaza and now in Lebanon.” BIDEN AND NETANYAHU SPEAK AFTER REPORT US PRESIDENT CALLED ISRAELI COUNTERPART A ‘BAD F—ING GUY’ On Oct. 19, 2023, the U.S. government created a Visa Waiver Program for family members of Israeli Americans who looked to flee with their loved ones as war broke out.  “We did the right thing there. We have failed consistently to do the right thing for another class of American citizens and their relatives,” said Kari. The security situation in Lebanon is rapidly deteriorating amid Israel’s ground incursion to the home of Hezbollah, but the Biden administration has not yet determined it necessary to declare a noncombatant evacuation to bring in U.S. forces to get Americans out.  It calls to mind Israel’s 2006 incursion into Lebanon, when the U.S. brought in service members to secure safe passage out of Lebanon for some 15,000 U.S. citizens. That time, the IDF bombed Beirut’s international airport and its roadways. “The airport is open, but it’s not open indefinitely. Israel did strike directly at the airport last time. I’m sure that they’re under pressure not to this time, but the pressure is no longer really working for the White House right now,” said Zev Faintuch, head of research and intelligence at international security firm Global Guardian. Some 2,000 have been killed in Israeli attacks on the country, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It’s not clear how many of those were Hezbollah militants, but the figure includes 127 children and 261 women. The fighting has sent some 1.2 million – roughly a quarter of the country’s population – fleeing.  The Israeli military said it hit about 185 Hezbollah targets on Tuesday, as Lebanon reported dozens of people killed in Israeli airstrikes. On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck southern suburbs in Beirut to target a “weapons productions facility and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters.” Israeli airstrikes killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and now his successor, too, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘The epicenter’: How ‘key’ to White House could lie in suburban Georgia county

‘The epicenter’: How ‘key’ to White House could lie in suburban Georgia county

MARIETTA, Ga. — While 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. may sit within the boundaries of Washington, D.C., the key to unlocking its front door could lie in the suburbs outside Atlanta, local officials say. “It’s not just the state, it’s federal,” Cobb County Democratic Party Chair Essence Johnson told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Cobb County is the epicenter. It’s the bellwether of Georgia, but also on the federal level. … That’s why Cobb County is so vital.” Salleigh Grubbs, chair of the Cobb County GOP, told Fox News Digital her area would be “very key in this election.” “I think Cobb County is key,” she said. “I battle with people all the time about whether Cobb is blue or red and that kind of thing. And the reality is is that we do have some of the largest number of Republican voters in the state for our population.” GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE Georgia’s traditionally Republican status flipped when then-Democrat candidate Joe Biden won the state in 2020. Its status as a battleground state was solidified in the 2022 midterms with the victory of Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. Statewide, Biden beat then-President Trump by less than 1%. In Cobb County, which encompasses parts of the Atlanta suburbs and is anchored by the city of Marietta, Biden’s margin of victory was nearly 15%. Asked how the Democrats’ ground game in Cobb County has changed now that they’re seeking to hold onto Georgia rather than flip it, Johnson said the key was being “intentional” in outreach and meeting “people where they are.” She also signaled that abortion is a top issue for Democrats in this election cycle but noted that it may still be an uphill battle to get certain groups – like Black men and White women – out to the ballot box for Harris. GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED GOP VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE “We have seen some areas of weakness as far as voters and also reaching those communities to really understand the reason why they feel that they are not being heard,” Johnson said. “They don’t feel that certain policies have reached them. And even though I say there is no specific policy for anybody, reproductive rights impact my son, right? He has a responsibility to reproductive rights because that could be his girlfriend, his partner, his best friend.” She also said suburban White women were “sometimes the weakest link when it comes to voters” but noted that reproductive rights impacted them as well. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has been seeking to court minority men disenchanted with the Democratic Party, with Trump allies believing the strategy pivotal to winning battlegrounds like Georgia. Grubbs would not say which demographics she believes are key to winning back Cobb County, but she noted the GOP’s road to victory includes focusing on local issues and election integrity. “I don’t tend to look at things like that,” Grubbs said.  “The way I view it more is, particularly on the local level, is what’s going on in your community and what are your values and what is your quality of life, and just translating the quality-of-life issue from the county level all the way to the national level.” She cited the recent port workers strike, supply chain issues and “school quality” as issues with both local and national implications for people. TRUMP VS HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE Grubbs said she also had a focus on Americans feeling confident in the elections: “In this election, everybody needs to get out and vote. Everybody needs to have their voice heard. Everybody needs to be concerned about election integrity.” “They need to know that when they cast a ballot, their vote counts,” Grubbs said. Georgia’s early in-person voting period begins on Oct. 15 and runs through Nov. 1.

Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts begin absentee voting

Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts begin absentee voting

Alaska, Colorado and Massachusetts began absentee voting Friday, joining the vast majority of U.S. states where the 2024 election is underway. With the trio of states included, 44 states and Washington, D.C., now offer some form of early voting. Here is everything you need to know to cast your ballot. There are three competitive House districts across the states that begin voting today: This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Alaska. Alaska began absentee voting on Friday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 26, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. TRUMP ADVISER UNPACKS WHY FORMER PRESIDENT IS HOLDING RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE STATE WEEKS FROM ELECTION Alaska offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 21 and running through Nov. 4. Alaska residents can register to vote in person on Election Day. The deadline for online or mail registration was Oct. 6. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Colorado. Absentee voting is now open in Colorado. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state proactively mails ballots to eligible voters between Oct. 11 and Oct. 18. Those ballots must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. TRUMP ADVISER UNPACKS WHY FORMER PRESIDENT IS HOLDING RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE STATE WEEKS FROM ELECTION Colorado offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 21 and running through Nov. 4. Colorado residents can register to vote in person, by mail or online at any point, including on Election Day. Oct. 28 is the last day to register to vote and receive a mail ballot. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Massachusetts. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: HARRIS TICKS UP AND SENATE REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE Massachusetts began absentee voting Friday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Massachusetts offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 19 and running through Nov. 1. Massachusetts residents must register to vote online by mail or in person by Oct. 26.

Milton’s gone, but the political storm keeps raging over federal government’s hurricane efforts

Milton’s gone, but the political storm keeps raging over federal government’s hurricane efforts

One day after Hurricane Milton tore a path of destruction across Florida, the death toll is rising and millions remain without power or running water. As recovery efforts in Florida reach a fever pitch, there’s no letup in the war of words between President Biden and former President Trump over the federal government’s response to Milton and Hurricane Helene, which smashed into the southeast two weeks ago. With Trump continuing to charge that Biden and Vice President Harris have been slow and ineffective in steering the government’s storm efforts, the president once again fired back. “Vice President Harris and I have been in constant contact with the state and local officials. We’re offering everything they need,” Biden emphasized on Thursday. HEAD HERE FOR FOX NEWS UPDATES ON HURRICANE MILTON’S AFTERMATH With less than four weeks to go until Election Day, Harris and Trump are locked in a narrow margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election, the politics of federal disaster relief are again front and center on the campaign trail. CHECK OUT FOX WEATHER FOR THE LATEST NEWS AND FORECASTS For nearly two weeks, Trump has been turning up the volume. “THE WORST RESPONSE TO A STORM OR HURRICANE DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY,” Trump claimed in a social media post on Tuesday. “The worst hurricane response since Katrina,” the former president charged on Wednesday as he pointed to the much-maligned initial federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was heavily criticized for being slow and ineffective. On Thursday at a campaign event in Michigan, Trump kept up the attacks. He praised southern Republican governors for doing a “fantastic job” reacting to the storms and argued that “the federal government, on the other hand, has not done what you’re supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina. They’ve let those people suffer unjustly, unjustly.” The former president has also repeatedly made false claims that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) diverted money intended for disaster relief and spent it on undocumented migrants in the U.S. as he turned up the volume on his inflammatory rhetoric over the combustible issue of illegal immigration. “You know where they gave the money to: illegal immigrants coming,” Trump said at Wednesday’s rally as the crowd of MAGA supporters loudly booed. DESANTIS AND HARRIS TRADE FIRE OVER HURRICANE CALL Hours later, Biden pushed back, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of leading an “onslaught of lies.” Biden charged that the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans was “beyond ridiculous” and that “it’s got to stop.” On Thursday, as he updated federal hurricane response efforts, Biden told reporters that Trump needed to “get a life, man, help these people.” And he argued that “the public will hold him [Trump] accountable” for making false claims regarding the capabilities of FEMA to assist storm victims. Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding to the criticism, said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday that Trump has been “working hard every day to save this country from the mess Biden and Kamala got us into.” And Trump’s son, Eric, in a social media post, highlighted that the family has opened up one of its Florida hotels to house over 200 linemen who are helping in the storm’s aftermath. Trump last week also launched a GoFundMe campaign for victims of Hurricane Helene in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million so far. But his criticism of the federal response has also been chided by Harris. “This is not a time for us to just point fingers at each other as Americans,” the vice president said in a Wednesday interview on the Weather Channel. “Anybody who considers themselves to be a leader should really be in the business right now of giving people a sense of confidence that we’re all working together and that we have the resources and the ability to work together on their behalf.” Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who spoke with Biden on Thursday morning after the storm hit, seemed to compliment the administration’s storm efforts. “I spoke with the president this morning,” DeSantis said during one of his round-the-clock briefings. “He said he wants to be helpful. And so if we have a request, he said, send them his way, and he wants to help us get the job done. So I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.” Fox News’ Kirill Clark and Matteo Cina contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Dems launched onslaught of schemes slammed as tactics to undermine democracy ahead of high-stakes election

Dems launched onslaught of schemes slammed as tactics to undermine democracy ahead of high-stakes election

The 2024 presidential election has been touted as the “most important” election in U.S. history by both campaigns, as former President Trump works to reclaim the Oval Office and Vice President Harris pitches herself to voters as the next leader of the U.S.  As the high-stakes election comes down to its final weeks, Fox News Digital compiled the top political and legal tactics that critics, most notably on the right, have slammed as efforts by the Democratic Party to undermine democracy in the run-up to the big day on Nov. 5. Before the Republican Party officially nominated Trump as its presidential nominee, Democrats in states such as Colorado, California, Illinois and others attempted to remove Trump’s name from primary ballots. Last year, a group of Colorado voters brought a lawsuit arguing Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when some of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office. The Colorado case ultimately made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously sided with Trump that he should remain on the state’s ballot. The ruling affected all states across the nation that worked to remove Trump’s name, requiring them to include him on primary ballots as well.  SUPREME COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY FOR TRUMP IN COLORADO BALLOT DISQUALIFICATION DISPUTE The tactic was slammed by Republicans and conservatives as a “constitutional violation,” while even former Obama adviser David Axelrod warned on CNN that removing Trump’s name would be seen as “a subversion” of democracy.  Fox News Digital spoke to Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray when the SCOTUS decision was released, who called the Democrat tactic “lunacy.” Gray had been battling Democrats’ argument that Trump was ineligible to appear on the primary ballots over Jan. 6 for months ahead of the Supreme Court decision.  “I think one of the lessons of this is … the way the radical left despises the American people and our process, and what happens then is lunacy. And that’s what their whole argumentation and what they were trying to do was. It was pure lunacy,” Gray told Fox Digital in March.  “We’re going to continue to monitor the processes across our nation and be vigilant. Any time the people are able to choose for themselves, that’s a win for our republic, and that’s what our elections are about. And I’m going to continue to unapologetically fight for the people of Wyoming and the people across our country to choose who to elect for themselves,” Gray added at the time.  FAILED EFFORT TO BOOT TRUMP FROM BALLOT EXPOSES ‘RADICAL’ LEFT’S ‘PURE LUNACY’: STATE ELECTION CHIEF The Biden-Harris administration in July rolled out a slate of policies to overhaul the Supreme Court. The proposal includes calls for term limits for Supreme Court justices, an enforceable ethics code for justices and an amendment to the Constitution to overturn the high court’s ruling that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office.  Critics slammed the proposal as an attempt to pack the court, including attorney Mark Paoletta, who worked for the Trump administration. He argued that, including the term limit proposal, Biden and Harris’ plan outlined a system in which the president appoints a new Supreme Court justice “every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.” “Even though Joe Biden caved to radicals and recently endorsed court packing, Harris is even further to the left of him on this thoroughly discredited idea,” Paoletta said in a statement to Fox News Digital in August.  Conservative activist Leonard Leo also argued to Fox Digital that the proposal would likely serve as a prelude to court packing if Harris is elected next month.  LEONARD LEO WARNS BIDEN-HARRIS EFFORTS TO RADICALLY OVERHAUL SUPREME COURT COULD ‘BACKFIRE’ “If Kamala Harris is elected president, and if the Senate is in Democrat hands, I think that there is some risk of court packing. I think that there is some risk of continued, scurrilous attacks on the integrity of the court, all based on a disagreement over the outcomes of various decisions that Democrats don’t like,” he said. “And that would really be most unfortunate.” Democrats have pushed to broaden the court in an effort to switch it from a conservative majority. Biden, however, had previously called court packing a “bonehead idea” in 1983 while serving as a U.S. senator from Delaware, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it “anti-democratic” in 2021. MSNBC PANEL BLASTS BIDEN FROM THE LEFT FOR NOT PACKING THE SUPREME COURT: ‘HISTORIC POLITICAL MISCALCULATION’ Harris called for the end of the filibuster last month in an effort to pass a law restoring abortion access nationwide, which was slammed by lawmakers and conservatives as an attack on democracy.  “Shame on her,” independent Sen. Joe Manchin said at the Capitol last month. “She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It’s the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the house on steroids.” HARRIS CALLS FOR ELIMINATING FILIBUSTER TO PASS ‘ROE’ ABORTION BILL INTO FEDERAL LAW The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote, so ending it would make it easier to pass laws related to abortion rights. Harris said late last month she would like to end the filibuster to pass a law protecting access to abortion.  “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said during a WPR interview. “And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person

As Hurricane Milton hits Florida, so do more illegal immigrants

As Hurricane Milton hits Florida, so do more illegal immigrants

Authorities in Florida encountered a boat full of illegal immigrants arriving in the Sunshine State on Wednesday night, just as the state was preparing for Hurricane Milton to make landfall. Border Patrol announced that agents and law enforcement partners responded to a migrant landing in Boynton Beach on Wednesday night. The boat was carrying 11 migrants. Six from Haiti, two from Guyana, one from the Dominican Republic and two from the Bahamas. FEDS STOP MASSIVE NUMBER OF HAITIAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LANDING BY BOAT IN THIS RED STATE  Interim Miami Chief Patrol Agent Andrew Scharnweber noted in an X post the dangers of such voyages, particularly as a historic hurricane was looming. “Illegal maritime migration voyages are extremely dangerous, especially in severe weather,” he said. Florida regularly deals with boats full of migrants, particularly from Haiti, attempting to reach the United States. In June, 305 migrants were stopped by the Coast Guard as part of an operation that intercepted nearly 12,000 migrants in fiscal 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in March the deployment of soldiers and officers as well as aircraft and boats to “protect” the state from vessels carrying illegal immigrants. “Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and seacraft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state,” he said. LIVE BLOG: HURRICANE MILTON CARVES DEADLY PATH THROUGH FLORIDA, MILLIONS WITHOUT POWER The Department of Homeland Security warned this year that those entering illegally would be returned. “U.S. policy is to return non-citizens who do not have a fear of persecution or torture or a legal basis to enter the United States. Those interdicted at sea are subject to immediate repatriation pursuant to our longstanding policy and procedures,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital in March. “The United States returns or repatriates migrants interdicted at sea to The Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Migration from Haiti has been a fiery political issue, with former President Trump pointing to the alleged negative effects of mass numbers of migrants on small towns across the U.S. Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, late Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph. It had left more than 3 million people without power by Thursday morning as the storm devastated Florida’s coast. More than 10 inches of rain has fallen so far in some parts of Florida and an additional eight to 12 inches of rain is possible in many areas.