Delhi residents defy firecracker ban, illuminate night sky with Diwali celebrations
At 9 pm, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 327 including at Alipur and Anand Vihar.
A West Texas pecan farm fights to save its water supply as neighbors sell it to growing cities
A yearslong dispute over exporting water to growing Texas cities offers a hint at the battles to come as the state’s population booms and water supply dwindles.
‘Tipping the scales’: House GOP leaders rip ActBlue after Dem fundraising giant hit with subpoena
Top House Republicans are coalescing behind the House Administration Committee’s subpoena of Democratic fundraising giant ActBlue. Republicans have accused the company of having insufficient donor verification standards. Committee Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., has argued that the site is vulnerable to fraudulent and illegal foreign donations, though ActBlue has said it “rigorously protects donors’ security.” “ActBlue has a lot of explaining to do, and Chairman Steil is right to demand answers on these very serious allegations of foreign funds being funneled through the platform,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm, told Fox News Digital. “Just as we must protect the right to vote for American citizens, we must ensure our elections are free from foreign financial interference.” FORMER REPUBLICAN US SENATOR ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, SAYS ELECTION OFFERS ‘STARK CHOICE’ House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., also credited Steil and pointed out that his accusations come amid reports that China and Iran are trying to influence the election. “Malign foreign actors are attempting to hijack American elections through the Far Left Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue by tipping the scales in favor of Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats,” Stefanik said. “It has never been more critical to ensure American elections are free from foreign manipulation.” ActBlue did not require a card verification value (CVV) to be input for donations until recently, prompting a flurry of concern from Republican lawmakers and some GOP state attorneys general. Steil sent multiple letters and requests for information to the platform, which has insisted it holds donor security to a high standard. ‘ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND VOID’: GEORGIA JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NEW ELECTION RULES AFTER LEGAL FIGHTS A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said he was “supportive” of the subpoena, adding, “Only American citizens should be participants in our elections, and this investigation is critical to ensure that our elections remain secure and shielded from foreign actors.” Steil issued a subpoena Wednesday to ActBlue for “documents and communications related to ActBlue’s donor verification policies and the potential for foreign actors, primarily from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China to use ActBlue to launder illicit money into U.S. political campaigns.” ActBlue responded to Steil in a statement, “ActBlue has received Chairman Steil’s latest inquiry and will respond to address the continued inaccuracies and misrepresentations about our platform, as we have done previously. We rigorously protect donors’ security and maintain strict anti-fraud compliance practices. We have zero tolerance for fraud on our platform.” SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’ But fellow Republicans on his committee are standing firm that the subpoena was necessary. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., the chair of the panel’s subcommittee on elections, told Fox News Digital, “In our investigation so far, we have found that loopholes in ActBlue’s insufficient security protocols may be exploited by bad actors, potentially leading to countries like China, Russia and Venezuela donating to campaigns in the names of Americans without their consent.” “With the general election just five days away, Americans need to have confidence that our elections are secure and that there is no foul play involved,” she said. Committee member Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said, “The subpoena is critical for the committee to ensure federal campaign finance laws are not being violated, including laundering money into campaign coffers through inadequate security protections.” Meanwhile, Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital, “Like the chairman, I have been concerned by the inadequate security protocols at ActBlue, who haven’t required CVV verification and allow for pre-paid cards for political donations.” The accusations come at a critical time, with Election Day less than a week out. The platform denied all GOP allegations of wrongdoing in a statement to Fox News before Steil’s subpoena, “These false claims about ActBlue have been discredited repeatedly by campaign finance experts. ActBlue protects donors’ information by maintaining a robust security program and fraud prevention measures, often beyond what is required by law.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris slams ‘offensive’ Trump remark on protecting women from migrant crime
Vice President Kamala Harris criticized former President Donald Trump’s remarks at a rally about protecting Americans, particularly women, from migrant crime “whether the women like it or not,” calling his comment “offensive.” Speaking with reporters Thursday morning, Harris said, “It’s just, it actually is being very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their rights and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies,” tying his comments on illegal immigration to abortion. HOW GOP, DEM SENATORS ARE USING 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO LOBBY FOR CONFERENCE INFLUENCE During his Green Bay, Wisconsin rally, Trump talked about the southern border under President Biden and Harris. “Kamala has imported criminal migrants from prisons and jails, from insane asylums and mental institutions all over the world, from Venezuela to the Congo, including savage criminals to assault, rape and murder our women and girls,” he said. He then discussed conversations with his staff on whether he should profess that he specifically wants to protect women from the consequences of an unsecured border. According to Trump, his advisers suggested it could be inappropriate to say. TOP REPUBLICANS PROBE BIDEN ADMIN ON AFGHAN NATIONALS’ ALLEGED ELECTION DAY TERRORIST PLOT “I said, well, I’m going to do it. Whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them,” he told the crowd before being met with cheers. “I’m going to protect them from migrants coming in. I’m going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles, and lots of other things.” Harris told reporters that “this is just the latest in a series of revelations by the former president of how he thinks about women and their agency.” HARRIS BREAKS SILENCE AFTER GOP LEADERS SAY ANTI-TRUMP RHETORIC ‘RISKS INVITING’ ANOTHER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Trump is notably against a federal abortion ban and has emphasized that he wants the issue to remain in the individual states. The vice president referred to state-level abortion restrictions as a “Trump abortion ban,” claiming, “one in three women live in a Trump abortion ban state and has legal restrictions on the right she rightly should have to make decisions about her own body.” SEN TAMMY BALDWIN HITS BACK AT GOP OPPONENT’S CLINTON COMPARISON: ‘ACTUALLY CALLED YOU DEPLORABLE’ In a 2023 survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the nuance of public sentiment on abortion was revealed in greater detail. While most Americans believed that abortion should be legal to a certain extent, opinions changed drastically when the 15-week and 24-week markers were addressed. Overall, nearly three quarters believed in legal abortion at six-weeks, including more than half of Republicans. However, just 51% supported legal abortion at 15 weeks, and only 27% backed it as far as 24 weeks. The poll was conducted between June 22 and 26, 2023, and featured 1,220 respondents. The margin of error was +/- 3.9 percentage points. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Congressional panel urges University of Michigan to cut ties with Chinese institute
FIRST ON FOX: The House’s China Select Committee is calling on the University of Michigan to cease its partnership with a Chinese institute that they claim is sending sensitive technological expertise back to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “I urge you to conduct a comprehensive national security review of this partnership in light of the facts below,” the letter, penned by committee Chair Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and obtained by Fox News Digital, read. “I strongly encourage you to shutter the partnership between U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong and take the necessary steps to safeguard the integrity of federally funded research at U-M and carefully vet international students studying on U-M’s campus.” A recent GOP-led report by the committee found “U.S.-PRC academic joint institutes as a core channel leveraged by the PRC government and its affiliated entities through which sensitive U.S. technologies and research know-how are transferred to the PRC’s defense and research industrial base.” After the report came out, a number of other universities, including Georgia Tech and the University of Berkeley, dissolved their partnerships with Chinese institutes. Michigan kept its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong Institute. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF US RESEARCH DOLLARS MAY HAVE AIDED CHINESE MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, GOP-LED REPORT SAYS The letter says the institute plays a “critical role” in the CCP’s military-civil fusion strategy. The university has been under the supervision of China’s State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) since 2016, according to a select committee report from last year. The federal government heavily invests in military research at the University of Michigan. In 2023, the university received $77 million for research from the Department of Defense (DOD). Its researchers have boasted of developing what they described as an “unhackable” computer chip known as MORPHEUS. The joint Michigan-Jiao Tong partnership now features 35 specialized labs. It has received funding from China’s 863 Program, which supports the PRC’s military technology development. “Institute researchers have helped the PRC achieve advancements in defense technologies from propellant combustion modeling and solid rocket fuel research to anti-corrosion technology for military aircraft developed with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) researchers,” the letter said. It also said projects that included DOD-funded research improved CT technology to detect flaws in advanced military equipment. Shanghai Jiao Tong also agreed in 2017 to train combat forces for the PLA. Freshman at the Joint Institute are required to undergo military training when they enroll. BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION “Through its extensive military-aligned departments and laboratories, advanced dual-use research programs, and large-scale operational training platforms, Shanghai supervises universities like Shanghai Jiao Tong specifically to “strengthen military forces with additional personnel and more advanced equipment” through leveraging their research and resources,” the letter read. “This military-academic integration enables Shanghai Jiao Tong to make significant contributions to the PRC’s most sensitive defense programs, including nuclear weapons, carrier rockets, satellites, nuclear submarines, and fighter jets.” Earlier this month, U.S. authorities charged five Chinese nationals who were enrolled in the joint institute at the University of Michigan with lying and trying to cover up their visit to a remote Michigan military site where they took photos. In the summer of 2023, the five were confronted after midnight at Camp Grayling, near a lake, by a member of the Utah National Guard. In 2020, two Chinese nationals who were pursuing master’s degrees at the University of Michigan were sentenced to prison for illegally photographing sites at a Naval Air Station Key West in Florida. Under the guise of academic cooperation, the committee’s report from last month said China has orchestrated a campaign to pair with prestigious U.S. universities to transfer U.S. technologies and expertise back to China and circumvent government blacklists. The House Select Committee on China Competition, together with the Education and Workforce Committee, found some 9,000 joint research publications that were funded either through the DOD or the intelligence community published by co-authors with ties to China’s “defense and security apparatus,” including entities that are on a Commerce Department blacklist. More than 2,000 DOD-funded papers included Chinese co-authors who were directly affiliated with China’s defense research and industrial base, according to the report. The report recommends stricter guidelines around federally funded research, including cutting back on the ability of researchers who receive U.S. grants to work with Chinese universities and companies that have military ties.
Walz releases Halloween video: ‘Haunted houses got nothing on Donald Trump back in the White House’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is declaring on Thursday that “Haunted houses got nothing on Donald Trump back in the White House” as he released a Halloween-themed video of himself answering questions alongside Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. The clip comes days after Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played the latest Madden video game over Twitch in an attempt to appeal to male voters. “It’s spooky season and I’ve got some questions for our Blue Wall governors. Hard-hitting question: What is your stance on candy corn?” Whitmer asks Walz. “I’m for it,” he responds. TIM WALZ FUMBLES COMMON FOOTBALL TERM, GETS SCORCHED ON SOCIAL MEDIA At another point in the clip, Whitmer asks Walz, “Do you carve your pumpkins like you vote: on day of? Or do you do it early like an absentee voter?” TRUMP, HARRIS NEARLY TIED IN MICHIGAN AS ELECTION DAY NEARS, POLL FINDS “Do it early. You get to enjoy the pumpkin longer. Get that vote in knowing you did it and then what you can do is go out and get five more people to vote,” Walz responds. “Even if they have to vote on Election Day, you’re done.” Walz released the video on his X account alongside the caption: “Candy corn debate aside, we can all agree: Haunted houses got nothing on Donald Trump back in the White House.”
White House silent on whether transcript of Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments was approved by stenographers
The White House remained silent Thursday when asked to confirm whether its stenographers had approved the transcript it posted of President Biden’s remarks calling Trump supporters “garbage,” amid allegations from Republicans that the written version of his remarks posted to the White House’s website was deceptively edited. Republicans from the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to White House attorney Edward Siskel on Wednesday, alleging “a false transcript” of Biden’s remarks had been released by the White House and demanded that it “retain and preserve all documents and internal communications” regarding the president’s remarks and the release of the subsequent transcript. The committee also requested that an updated transcript with the correct wording be provided. Following Biden’s Tuesday remarks, which came during a virtual Zoom call with a Hispanic get-out-the-vote group known as Voto Latino, the White House posted a transcript of the president’s remarks. Transcripts are regularly posted every time the president speaks, and it is typical protocol to get those transcripts approved by the White House’s apolitical group of professional stenographers. However, the White House has not responded to repeated requests from Fox News questioning whether the final transcript of Biden’s remarks with Voto Latino had been approved by the stenographers. Sources at the Oversight Committee told Fox News that while Biden was clearly calling Trump supporters “garbage,” the transcript includes incorrect syntax that made the president’s words appear as if he was not directly speaking about Trump supporters – an argument echoed by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. BIDEN’S PAST COMMENTS ABOUT MAGA REPUBLICANS COME BACK TO HAUNT HIM AS WHITE HOUSE SPINS ‘GARBAGE’ REMARKS “President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate. Unsurprising, too, were the White House’s actions after he said them,” read the letter, signed by Reps. Elise Stefanik, R–N.Y. and James Comer, R–Ky. “The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978,” the two GOP leaders continued in their letter. “White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message.” In an attempt to clarify Biden’s remarks amid backlash over the comments, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates insisted that: “The president referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’” Biden himself also published a tweet following his controversial remarks echoing Bates’ argument. TRUMP CAPITALIZES ON BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ REMARK BY WEARING SANITATION VEST Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, sought to distance herself from the president’s comments less than a week before Election Day, but she simultaneously defended Biden by noting he “clarified his comments.” “I think that first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said from the campaign trail on Wednesday morning.
Gaza protesters plague Harris rallies: ‘Wish I Could Vote For U’
Throughout the election season, Vice President Kamala Harris’ rallies have been plagued by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters, despite the vice president’s efforts not to upset this cohort of the electorate. Protesters gathered at Harris’ campaign stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Wednesday, often disrupting the vice president and forcing her to pause in the middle of speaking. “Kamala Harris, you have disrespected the Palestinian community!” yelled a protester who interrupted the vice president’s address from Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday. Harris was referred to as a “war criminal” by disruptive protesters at her rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the same day and, in Madison, Wisconsin, protesters holding a sign that read “Killer Kamala” were forcibly removed from the venue. “Look, everybody has a right to be heard. But right now, I am speaking,” Harris said during interruptions at her rally in Harrisburg. The vice president’s response hearkened back to her reaction to anti-Israel agitators from Detroit, when she once again had to interject that she had the floor to speak – and not them. “We won’t vote for genocide!” protesters yelled at Harris in Detroit. PROTESTERS INTERRUPT KAMALA HARRIS’ MICHIGAN RALLY: ‘NO MORE GAZA WAR!’ Wednesday’s campaign events are just the latest example of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters crashing Harris’ rallies, despite the vice president’s alleged effort to quell dissent from this portion of the electorate when she decided to choose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The move was reportedly due to the latter’s Jewish heritage and record of being pro-Israel. HARRIS WAS ‘RELUCTANT’ TO CHOOSE SHAPIRO BECAUSE OF HIS ‘JEWISH HERITAGE,’ SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS: REPORT Anti-Israel agitators were also present earlier in the week, showing up to rallies on Monday and Harris’ widely attended “closing argument” election speech in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night. Protesters, organized by groups such as the left-wing nonprofit Code Pink, yelled things like “Stop Arming Israel!” and “Arms Embargo Now!” while also holding banners with slogans like “No Votes for Genocide.” Meanwhile, other banners at Harris rallies have read: “Terrified of Trump. Wish I Could Vote For U… But You Are Committing Genocide.” While Harris’ rallies have been marred by anti-Israel protesters ever since she took over the nomination from President Biden, the frequency of these protesters showing up at her rallies appears to be growing as Election Day nears. “Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris declared during her address at the Democrat National Convention in August. “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza in the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.” HARRIS APPEARS TO AGREE WITH PROTESTER ACCUSING ISRAEL OF GENOCIDE: ‘WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT, IT’S REAL’ This week, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempted to persuade voters concerned about Harris’ stance toward Israel and Gaza, noting that he too does not fully agree with Harris or Biden when it comes to the war. “Some of you are saying, ‘How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war?’ And that is a very fair question,” Sanders said in a video shared on social media Monday. “Let me give you my best answer – and that is that even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right wing friends are worse.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Trump campaign blasts top Harris surrogate Mark Cuban for ‘insulting’ pro-Trump women
EXCLUSIVE: The Trump campaign is blasting Mark Cuban, a top surrogate for Kamala Harris, for “extremely insulting” comments against women who support former President Donald Trump, demanding the vice president “immediately condemn” his remarks. Cuban appeared on ABC’s “The View” Thursday morning when he made the comments. “Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women. Ever,” Cuban said. “It’s just that simple. They’re intimidating to him. He doesn’t like to be challenged by them.” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Cuban’s comments. “Joe Biden called Trump supporters garbage, and now Kamala’s top surrogate Mark Cuban insinuated female Trump supporters are ‘weak and dumb,’” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “This is extremely insulting to the thousands of women who work for President Trump, and the tens of millions of women who are voting for him,” Leavitt said. “These women are mothers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, and they are, indeed, strong and intelligent, despite what Mark Cuban and Kamala Harris say.” Leavitt told Fox News Digital that the “joy at Kamala HQ has been replaced by division, vitriol, and a disturbing level of disrespect for the millions of Americans who are supporting President Trump after four years of destruction under Kamala Harris.” “Women want a president who will secure our border, remove violent criminals from our neighborhoods, and put more money in our pockets — and that’s exactly why we are supporting President Trump,” Leavitt said. “Kamala Harris must immediately condemn Mark Cuban’s disrespectful insult to women.” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The comment comes just days after President Biden apparently referred to Trump supporters as “garbage.” BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY Biden spoke during a Zoom call with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the U.S. on Tuesday. Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Biden replied, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” The White House has since denied that Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” and claimed the comment was taken out of context. Trump, in Wisconsin on Wednesday, drove around in a “Make America Great Again” garbage truck, wearing a garbage worker’s high-visibility vest to address supporters at his Green Bay rally. “He called them garbage — and they mean it, even though, without question, my supporters are far higher quality than Crooked Joe and Lyin’ Kamala,” Trump told supporters Wednesday afternoon. But Trump said he had a response for the president and vice president. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,” Trump declared. “And you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred there.”
Trump says he wants to protect women, Harris says Trump wants to decide ‘what you do with your body’
When sharing a clip of former President Trump speaking about wanting to protect women, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that Trump believes he should be able to make choices “about what you do with your body.” Trump made the remarks about protecting women after accusing Harris of allowing criminal illegal immigrants into the U.S. “Kamala has imported criminal migrants from prisons and jails, from insane asylums and mental institutions all over the world from Venezuela to the Congo, including savage criminals who assault, rape, and murder our women and girls. Anyone who would let monsters kidnap and kill our children does not belong anywhere near the Oval Office,” Trump said. HARRIS PLEDGES TO SIGN BILL ‘TO RESTORE REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM’ AS PRESIDENT IN WISCONSIN SPEECH The clip Harris shared did not include that section of Trump’s speech, but began as Trump went on to recall how people had advised him not to speak about wanting to protect women. He said they indicated that it was inappropriate. Trump said, “I’m gonna do it whether the women like it or not. I’m gonna protect them.” While the clip Harris shared ended there, during the actual speech Trump went on to say, “I’m gonna protect them from migrants coming in. I’m gonna protect them from foreign countries that wanna… hit us with missiles…” Harris responded to the clip, saying in a post on X, “Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body. Whether you like it or not.” TRUMP MAKES PLAY FOR WOMEN’S VOTE, VOWS TO ENSURE ‘POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS’ FOR ABORTION Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, responded to Harris, writing, “Kamala euphemistically describes the act of dismembering and killing a full-term, unborn baby as ‘what you do with your body.’” “No matter how much you like it, killing a full-term baby isn’t ‘what you do with your body,’” Lee added in another post. “The fact that we can’t all agree on this basic point is deeply disturbing,” he continued. “To be clear, most of us can and do agree on this – overwhelmingly,” he added, claiming, “But Kamala doesn’t.” Virginia House of Delegates member Nick Freitas, a Republican, also blasted Harris, posting, “You think it’s a great idea to allow abortion up to the point of birth for any reason. How sick is that.” KAMALA HARRIS’ ‘RADICAL’ ABORTION STANCE WILL NOT WIN OVER MALE VOTERS: MARK THIESSEN While interviewing Harris, “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell repeatedly pressed the presidential candidate about what abortion restrictions she would support. “Let’s put back in place Roe v. Wade,” Harris said. “So you do support restrictions after viability?” O’Donnell asked. “I support Roe v. Wade being put back into law by Congress, and to restore the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body,” Harris replied. Trump has said that he would veto a federal abortion ban. “LIKE RONALD REAGAN BEFORE ME, I FULLY SUPPORT THE THREE EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER,” he declared on social media.