RFK Jr, noted vaccine sceptic, backs measles jab amid deadly US outbreak
US health secretary says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about outbreak in Texas. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the top health official in the United States who is known for his scepticism of vaccines, has backed the measles jab amid a deadly outbreak of the infectious disease in Texas. In an opinion piece published by Fox News on Sunday, Kennedy said he was “deeply concerned” about the spread of the disease despite earlier suggesting that it was “not unusual”. “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Kennedy wrote, though he said the decision to vaccinate is “a personal one”. The US secretary of health and human services said that before the introduction of the MMR vaccine, “virtually every child” in the US contracted measles. “For example, in the United States, from 1953 to 1962, on average there were 530,217 confirmed cases and 440 deaths, a case fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases,” he wrote. US authorities last month reported the first measles death in the country in a decade after an unvaccinated school-aged child was hospitalised with the disease in northwest Texas. Advertisement As of Friday, 146 cases had been identified in the state since late January, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Health officials have said the cases have been concentrated in a community of Mennonites, a Christian sect that arose out of the radical factions of the 16th-century Reformation. Kennedy, who has promoted scientifically discredited research linking vaccines to autism, attracted criticism last month when he appeared to downplay the outbreak by pointing out there had been several outbreaks already this year. Measles can be highly dangerous for people who are not vaccinated, including young infants who are not typically eligible for immunisation. About one in five unvaccinated individuals in the US who gets measles is hospitalised, while about one out of every 20 children with the disease gets pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adblock test (Why?)
In post-war Lebanon, Hezbollah grapples with new relationship to the state
Beirut, Lebanon – Hezbollah rallied thousands of its supporters for the funeral of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in September. The funeral on February 23 was an opportunity for the Lebanese group to send a message: Despite the losses it has experienced in the past several months, it is still strong and should not be underestimated. But analysts told Al Jazeera the show of strength does not make up for the impact of Israel’s war against Hezbollah, which saw much of the group’s top leadership killed and a significant portion of its military arsenal reportedly destroyed. When a ceasefire was finally announced on November 27, Hezbollah was left battered and exhausted. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has ‘lent a hand’ to the new government, one analyst close to the group says [Manar TV via Reuters] The ceasefire stated that Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River and away from Lebanon’s border with Israel while Israeli forces would leave southern Lebanon and a newly empowered Lebanese military would control the south. Advertisement Days later, Hezbollah lost one of its most crucial allies, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, which fell in a lightning opposition offensive. It now finds itself at a crossroads. Hezbollah weakened “Hezbollah is in a difficult position,” Imad Salamey, a senior Middle East policy adviser and associate professor of political science and international affairs at Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera, adding that the group is “facing its weakest moment in decades”. Before September, Hezbollah was the most influential political actor in Lebanon and reportedly one of the world’s most heavily armed nonstate actors. It was formed to repel an Israeli invasion in the 1980s, held out against a major confrontation with Israel in 2006 and built its arsenal and manpower up since then. It has often been described as a “state within a state” and also provides key services to its predominantly Shia Muslim supporters – a community historically overlooked and underserved by the Lebanese state. A day after Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel and Israel’s launch of a genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Hezbollah entered the fray, engaging Israel along the border to pressure it to stop attacking Gaza. Its intervention was much anticipated, given that Hezbollah’s position has long been in support of Palestine and against Israel. In January, Joseph Aoun, right, was elected president, and Nawaf Salam, left, was chosen to be prime minister of Lebanon [Handout/Lebanese Presidency Press Office via Reuters] The conflict escalated in September when Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in attacks blamed on Israel. Israel also launched a day of air strikes across Lebanon on September 23 that killed at least 558 people, mostly civilians. The air attacks continued, and four days later, Nasrallah was killed. Many of Hezbollah’s military and religious leaders have also been killed since, including Nasrallah’s successor Hashem Safieddine in early October. Advertisement Israel destroyed infrastructure and homes across Lebanon, targeting parts of the country where Shia Muslims – Hezbollah’s support base – live, such as southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. It invaded Lebanon in October, particularly devastating the south, where it wiped out entire villages. Hezbollah was left militarily weakened and unable to now fight back against Israel in the same way it used to. “[New Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim] Qassem has inherited a weaker Hezbollah from his predecessor Nasrallah, and it will be interesting to see if he’d be as smart of a navigator given that so much of Nasrallah’s success was based on the party’s ability to project power,” Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese researcher and author of the Hauntologies newsletter, told Al Jazeera. “Whether or not they decide to adopt a completely different methodology or not is what we’ll see in the coming months.” A new political system and leveraging anger The other sources of Hezbollah’s strength have been the support it receives from Iran, both material through Syria and financial, manifested in the social support systems it ran and in its political representation and influence. However, as international attention increased on Lebanon after the ceasefire, its parliament was encouraged to select a new president and prime minister in early January, ending two years of government paralysis. For the first time since 2008, Hezbollah and its sister Shia party, Amal, were not able to nominate every Shia granted a ministerial portfolio in the new cabinet. Advertisement “Hezbollah no longer has the financial means, open Iranian backing or clear military options to resist these changes,” Salamey said. To make the best of the situation, Hezbollah has tried to leverage what it can, Karim Safieddine, a Lebanese political writer and doctoral student in sociology at Pittsburgh University, told Al Jazeera. “Hezbollah’s goal today is multifold,” Safieddine said. “[They want to] develop the resentment of the Shia community in the pursuit of consolidating control over it, find a way to navigate the fact that it’s facing extreme financial challenges – using international support to the government is one way but also while locating credit – [and] continue to justify holding arms in the name of state weakness and continued Israeli violations.” Thousands of people attend the funerals for Nasrallah and Safieddine at the Sports City Stadium in Beirut [Hassan Ammar/AP] While many displaced Lebanese started to return to the south after the ceasefire, Israel used the cessation of Hezbollah attacks to continue occupying many villages and enter others for the first time. The Lebanese government accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by not withdrawing from southern Lebanon and not stopping its attacks on people and villages. On February 18, Israel announced it would continue occupying at least five key points in Lebanon, but now, the Lebanese army is responsible for security in the south, not Hezbollah – and some have criticised the army for failing to liberate the land and properly protect the people of the south. Advertisement Cash-strapped Hezbollah has promised to pay for reconstruction and has already begun
Hegseth directs DOD civilian workforce to comply with Musk’s DOGE productivity email
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed the Department of Defense (DOD)’s civilian workforce to comply with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) productivity email, listing five things they accomplished after initially telling them not to reply. On Sunday, Hegseth released a video message explaining the shift. “Our civilian patriots who dedicate themselves to defending this nation working for the Department of Defense are critical to our national security,” Hegseth said. “As we work to restore focus on DOD’s core warfighting mission under President Trump’s leadership, we recognize that we cannot accomplish that mission without the strong and important contributions of our civilian workforce.” Musk, who’s heading up DOGE, shared Hegseth’s video on X, writing, “Much appreciated @SecDef Hegseth!” He also included a saluting emoji and an American flag emoji. DOD TELLS CIVILIAN WORKFORCE TO IGNORE ELON MUSK’S REQUEST TO REPORT PRODUCTIVITY Hegseth signed a memorandum on Friday to all DOD civilian employees, ahead of an anticipated email expected to be sent from the DOD on Monday requesting the five bullet points of accomplishments. OPM’S SECOND EMAIL TO FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ASKS WHAT THEY DID LAST WEEK—AND ADDS A NEW REQUIREMENT: REPORT Hegseth told employees to reply to the email within 48 hours and include their accomplishments and add their supervisors as recipients. He said in the video that the responses would be collected within the department to satisfy the requirement sent out by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM sent an email last weekend, seeking the same five bullets, though the DOD’s Office of Personnel and Readiness told its civilian workforce to ignore the request. ELON MUSK SAYS ‘BAR IS VERY LOW’ AFTER ORDERING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO FILL OUT PRODUCTIVITY REPORTS OR RESIGN The DOD is taking a different approach to the request this week after working with OPM to get better guidance on what is expected. “The Department of Defense initially paused this directive … but now requires all DOD civilian employees to submit five bullets on their previous week’s achievements,” Hegseth said in his memorandum. He told employees Monday’s email is something DOD employees should respond to, though responses should not include sensitive or classified information. Hegseth also said non-compliance may lead to further review.
Boston’s Mayor Wu offers condolences to family of suspect shot after allegedly trying to stab people
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu raised eyebrows over the weekend after she expressed condolences to the family of a knife-wielding suspect who was shot and killed by an off-duty officer after he allegedly tried to stab two people on Saturday night. The suspect, whose identity was not released by police, brandished a knife near a Chick-fil-A on Boylston Street, a busy part of the Massachusetts capital. He was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer who saw him targeting the two victims, police said. During a Saturday night press conference, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said that the officer identified himself to the suspect and asked him to drop his weapon. “The individual was trying to stab the two individuals in the store, and the off-duty officer identified himself as a police officer, instructing them to drop the weapon, at which point the individual did not comply,” Cox explained. “The officer discharged his weapon to stop the threat, and the individual was struck. The armed individual was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.” BOSTON COUNCILWOMAN SOUNDS OFF AFTER TOM HOMAN’S CPAC PROMISE TO ‘BRING HELL’: ‘WE DON’T SCARE EASY’ Cox added that he was “proud of police officers who activate themselves, whether it’s on duty or off duty, to try to save lives.” After Cox and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden both expressed some sadness over the loss of life during the incident, Wu notably did not express sympathy for the two people who were nearly stabbed by the suspect, just those “impacted” by the incident, which happened in “one of the busier parts” of Beantown. “My condolences, and all of our thoughts, are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost,” Wu said. “And I’m also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy.” “I’m glad that the officer is safe and very grateful for a quick response from all of our first responders here again,” she said. Wu’s remarks were called out by critics across the country on social media shortly after she spoke. Journalist Jonathan Choe wrote that “[i]t’s all upside down in Boston.” BOSTON COUNCILWOMAN BACKS OFF AFTER RIDICULING TOM HOMAN’S EMPLOYMENT HISTORY IN FIERY POST: ‘I UNDERSTAND’ “When is the last time you heard of a mayor apologizing to the family of a knife wielding attacker who allegedly tried to kill multiple people?” Choe questioned. “What about the people who were nearly killed?” “Boston, I’m going to say this as simply as I can: You desperately need a new mayor. Trust me,” conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said in a different X post. Fox News contributor Joe Concha, a former Boston resident, also weighed in on the incident. “How exactly did Boston vote for this again?” Concha wrote. “I lived in the Back Bay area. It was one of the safest parts of the city. And she’s offering condolences????” “Condolences from the mayor of Boston – wait for it – to a knife-wielding man trying to kill people!” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said. “Thankfully this guy was stopped in his tracks by a brave law enforcement officer.” The incident came as Boston officials, including Wu and Cox, have attracted criticism from conservatives for implementing sanctuary city policies. Catherine Vitale, a former city council candidate, told “Fox and Friends” last week that she believes Wu “doesn’t care” about crime in Boston. “There’s tons of crime almost every single day. There’s a shooting. We don’t always hear about them, but we hear them because we’re there. I don’t think that most of the crime actually even gets reported on. People don’t get arrested. Charges don’t get pressed on people who are looting stores,” Vitale said. Wu is expected in Washington, D.C., this week as one of four Democratic mayors slated to testify before Congress on sanctuary policies. Fox News Digital reached out to Wu for additional comment but did not immediately hear back. Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
Trump set to continue unprecedented level of actions, address Congress in 7th week back in office
President Donald Trump’s seventh week in office will spotlight his first joint session of Congress address since his return to the Oval Office in January. Trump is scheduled to speak before all members of Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. The speech is not officially called the State of the Union, as Trump has not been in office for a full year, though it operates in a similar fashion. The yearly presidential address is intended to showcase the administration’s achievements and policies. Trump and his administration have been working at a breakneck pace to realign the federal government with the president’s Make America Great Again policies, including Department of Government Efficiency chair Elon Musk and his team poring through federal agencies in the search for overspending, fraud and mismanagement, and prioritizing border security. The 47th president has signed at least 76 executive orders since his inauguration in January, in addition to dozens of other executive actions and proclamations. HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED DURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S 6TH WEEK IN OFFICE The address comes after Trump and Vice President JD Vance had a fiery meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, which was cut short when Trump asked the Ukraine leader to leave. The White House meeting grew tense in approximately its final 10 minutes after Vance said that peace would be reached between Russia and Ukraine through U.S. diplomacy efforts. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump added at one point during the meeting. “You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.” TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE Vance interjected, asking Zelenskyy whether he had “said thank you once this entire meeting.” He also added that Zelenskyy “went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October” and that he should “offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.” Trump said on social media after the meeting that Zelenskyy could return to the White House “when he is ready for peace.” Zelenskyy traveled to the U.K. over the weekend, joining European leaders to hash out a potential peace deal. WORLD LEADERS BACK ZELENSKYY FOLLOWING TRUMP, VANCE OVAL OFFICE SPAT U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told local media that he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the U.K. and France taking the reins on crafting a plan for peace that will be presented to the U.S. “Let me be clear, we agree with Trump on the urgent need for a durable peace. Now we need to deliver together,” Starmer said at a press conference on Sunday. He added that the U.K. is willing to put “boots on the ground” in its support of Ukraine. “The U.K. is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air. Together with others, Europe must do the heavy lifting. But to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing,” he added. TOP CANADIAN OFFICIAL SLAMS TRUMP FOR TARIFF PLAN AS TRUDEAU LEAVES OFFICE: ‘YOU LOSE PROSPERITY’ In addition to his address to Congress and the ongoing efforts related to the war in Ukraine this week, Trump is also expected to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs on Tuesday. Trump signed an executive order last month authorizing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China through the new International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The tariffs included 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China. EUROPEAN LEADERS FLAMED FOR ‘CREEPY’ PRO-ZELENSKYY POSTS THAT READ EXACTLY THE SAME Both Canada and Mexico agreed to concessions with Trump the day before the tariffs were set to take effect, pledging to send additional security personnel to their respective borders with the U.S. Trump agreed to pause the tariffs on the two nations for one month in light of the border security concessions. The month’s pause ends this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, but he did not elaborate on what the tariffs will entail. “That is a fluid situation,” Lutnick said. “There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate,” he added.
European leaders on edge as prospect looms of Trump pulling 20K troops from continent
European leaders are grappling with how to handle icier relations with the U.S. since President Donald Trump regained control of the White House this year. “The Europeans have a serious problem of readiness … that they’re trying to fix, but it takes time,” Camille Grand, a former NATO official who is now with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in a Washington Post report Sunday. “If Trump decides ‘I’m going to pull out U.S. troops from Germany because I’m upset with the trade imbalance,’ that’s much more complicated to manage than to say we have a plan to do this within X years.” The comments come as European leaders have become increasingly anxious about the future of the security of the continent in the second era of Trump, with the Washington Post reporting that leaders are wary that the American president is too friendly with Moscow and that they widely expect him to pull back roughly 20,000 U.S. troops that were deployed to the continent by former President Joe Biden in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “I would not be surprised if at some point [those troops] go back to their home base in America,” a NATO diplomat told the outlet while noting that those troops were sent to Europe at the height of an emergency and that their exit “would be, so to speak, a return to normalcy.” WORLD LEADERS BACK ZELENSKYY FOLLOWING TRUMP, VANCE OVAL OFFICE SPAT The current number of U.S. troops in Europe has fluctuated between 75,000 and 105,000 since 2022, according to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), with the higher end of that number being a result of the surge of forces into the region ordered by Biden. But fears persist that those numbers could fall even more rapidly than expected under Trump, despite assurances from Trump administration officials that there are no imminent plans for a large reduction of forces on the continent. Those fears have been buoyed by recent events, including Vice President JD Vance’s remarks at a security conference in Munich in which the American leader scolded European leaders for their alleged break from shared values such as freedom of speech and Trump’s widening rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, American presidents from both parties have been warning European leaders for more than a decade of the potential shift of troops away from the continent as the U.S. seeks to focus more effort on confronting the emerging threat of China in the Indo-Pacific, leaving Europe in charge of a greater share of its own security. JD VANCE STEPS INTO SPOTLIGHT DEFENDING TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY IN OVAL OFFICE DUSTUP WITH ZELENSKYY Indeed, the U.S. military footprint in Europe has already fallen drastically since the end of the Cold War, the CSIS data shows. At the height of hostilities between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. had nearly 500,000 troops deployed to the continent. There were still roughly 350,000 U.S. troops in Europe at the start of the 1990s and the end of the Cold War, a number that fell further to more than 100,000 at the turn of the century. Despite the consistent warnings, European leaders now fear that the timeline to move troops from the continent could accelerate further under Trump, leaving holes in European security countries they are not yet able to fill. “I just worry that, given, frankly, President Trump’s mercurial nature … how much confidence really can Europe have in any degree of American protection and defense,” Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British diplomat and senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Washington Post.
Founder of Catholic ministry Word on Fire to attend Trump address to Congress
EXCLUSIVE: A well-known Catholic bishop will be in the audience for President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress, Fox News Digital has learned. Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Catholic media organization Word On Fire, is coming to the Tuesday night speech as a guest of first-term Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va. Moore also invited Barron to participate in a Catholic Mass with lawmakers before the address. DEM GOVERNOR THREATENS TO USE ‘EVERY TOOL’ TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP-ERA DEPORTATIONS “Through Word on Fire, Bishop Barron has helped countless souls discover, strengthen, or return to the Catholic Church by proclaiming the Gospel ‘through the culture.’ His use of contemporary media to reach people is innovative and highly effective,” Moore said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital. “I am honored to host him as my guest for President Trump’s joint address to Congress, and am equally thrilled to have him celebrate the Mass for my colleagues and me prior to the speech.” Barron called himself a “student of history” in his own statement shared with Fox News Digital accepting the invitation. JD VANCE STEPS INTO SPOTLIGHT DEFENDING TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY IN OVAL OFFICE DUSTUP WITH ZELENSKYY “I want to express my sincere gratitude to Representative Riley Moore for his kind invitation to celebrate Mass for Catholic members of Congress and to attend, as his guest, the State of the Union Address,” Barron said. Barron is bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota. His name has traveled further, however, as a leader in bringing Catholic teachings to more people using digital media. Trump is making his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night since returning to the White House for his second term. Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller previewed the speech during “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday morning. Miller said Trump will discuss getting his 2017 tax cuts extended, “Making sure we get to Mars,” our artificial intelligence competition against China, and reversing the high cost of living seen under the previous Democratic administration. “We need more money for the border to keep it secure,” Miller continued, adding Trump would also discuss “making sure we keep peace and stability around the world, but we have to do it with respect and strength.”
Four ‘sanctuary city’ mayors prep for grilling in Congress this week: ‘Held accountable’
The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City are prepping for a high-stakes hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government. “Sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets,” House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a press release announcing the hearings, which are set to take place Wednesday. The hearing, which will take place in front of a full committee, comes as so-called sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, have come under increasing scrutiny since President Donald Trump regained control of the White House in January. While Trump has seemingly made quick work of the situation at the southern border, attention has turned to his promised mass deportation efforts, a process that can be helped along if state and local agencies work hand-in-hand with federal authorities. BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN SENDS MESSAGE TO FAR-LEFT OFFICIALS PUSHING BACK AGAINST MASS DEPORTATIONS: ‘GAME ON’ But some cities have for years now taken the opposite approach, refusing to comply with federal enforcement measures such as detainers placed on illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Those sanctuary policies have often generated controversy, most notably in the wake of a handful of high-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants who were allowed to duck deportation proceedings. “These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies,” Comer said in the release. “They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.” Now the mayors of four of the biggest sanctuary cities will attempt to justify their policies in front of what could be a hostile Congress, with one report from Politico noting that the mayors will be seeking to sidestep the kind of “embarrassing” episode that plagued several Ivy League presidents who were testifying about antisemitism on their campuses in 2023. The report notes that all four mayors have been working with advisers and lawyers and prepping to redact documents ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, with the thought of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill being ousted in the aftermath of her appearance at the 2023 hearing fresh in mind as they seek to avoid similar missteps. TRUMP BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN VOWS TO PROBE LEAK THAT STIFLED ICE RAID TARGETING VENEZUELAN GANG IN COLORADO The hearing could sway the political futures of Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, New York’s Eric Adams, Boston’s Michelle Wu, and Denver’s Mike Johnston. Yet the Politico report notes that not all of the mayors will be so quick to cast aside their support for sanctuary laws. “I just want to make sure that people understand that [this is] a city that has been established by immigrants and migrants who were formerly enslaved,” Johnson told reporters last week when speaking of Chicago. “It’s the global capital of the world, and we’re going to continue to show up at our very best.” Adams, meanwhile, may try to tout his recent cooperation, including his decision to sign an executive order that allowed ICE agents back into New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. That move drew the ire of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., who threatened to have Adams removed from office, though she later backtracked from that plan for the time being and instead vowed reforms aimed at reigning in the mayor’s power in the city. Just how those answers sit with members of the committee remains to be seen, though Comer promised that the four mayors would be pressed for answers. “The policies in Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the American people,” Comer said in the release. “This is unacceptable and their leaders must be held accountable. We will press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law.”
Longtime Kamala Harris mentee, friend tapped to respond to Trump’s congressional address
A left-wing political party tapped Democratic California Rep. Lateefah Simon, a longtime friend and mentee of former Vice President Kamala Harris, to deliver its response to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday. “I’m honored to speak on behalf of the Working Families Party,” Simon said in a statement last week. “We need a government that is run by and for working people, not billionaires—and that’s what the WFP is fighting for. When I see what’s happening in our country right now, it’s essential that we—as Members of Congress—are showing up for our communities and reminding people that it doesn’t have to be this way.” The Working Families Party, which is a small left-wing political party, has featured Rep. Ayanna Pressley, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to deliver its response to a president’s joint address to Congress in previous years. CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS PAC BACKS CANDIDATE WHO SIGNED ‘BLACK NEW DEAL’ DEMANDING REPARATIONS Simon is a freshman congresswoman representing California who has shared a long friendship with former 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. She spoke to NPR ahead of the November election last year, detailing that she and Harris first met back in the early 2000s when Harris worked in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office. “I really believed in her. The young women that I worked with believed in her. But never in a million years did I think that I would work for her,” Simon told NPR back in August. ‘I LOVE YOU’: LONGTIME HARRIS ALLY HAS BEEN FRIENDS WITH CCP GROUP’S TOP EXEC FOR OVER A DECADE She recounted that Harris had encouraged her to earn a college degree, asked her to join her team when she was San Francisco district attorney, given her career advice, and even officiated at her wedding ceremony. Simon recalled that when Harris offered her a job in the DA’s office, she said: “You can either carry this bullhorn on your back for the rest of your life, demanding that elected officials work for you and the young people that you care about, or you can become a part of my team, and we can actually deconstruct some of these inequities.” Simon went on to cement her status as a social justice advocate in California across the years, including amid the defund-the-police movement of 2020. While serving as board president for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in 2020, she advocated for “defunding and abolishing” policing standards on public transportation in favor of unarmed ambassadors. Fox News Digital also previously reported that Simon has had a more than decade-long friendship with a top executive of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) front group, including heaping praise on the executive on X. Simon won her election to serve as California’s 12th congressional district representative in November, taking the reins from former Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, and has since been identified as a “rising star” in the Democratic Party by liberal media outlets. Harris officiated Simon’s congressional swearing-in ceremony in January, when Simon lauded her “mentor” as a pivotal influence in her career. UNEARTHED REPORT REVEALS POWERFUL HARRIS ALLY ‘WILLING TO SHARE’ RESOURCES FROM BLACK BUSINESSES WITH CCP “I am so honored to have my mentor and former boss, Vice President Kamala Harris,” Simon said on January 7. “Since our time together in the district attorney’s office in San Francisco, the vice president has played an integral role in shaping my public service career, and I have learned so much from her. “She has also paved the way for women across the nation like me who aspire to serve their country at the highest levels. It was a special moment to stand with her today, look her in the eye and begin my journey as the Congresswoman for California’s 12th District.” Trump is set to address Congress at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, his first joint address since returning to the Oval Office in January. The speech – which is not officially called a “State of the Union” speech as Trump has not been in office for the last year – comes just days after a fiery meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The Democratic Party will also issue a response speech to Trump, tapping Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to speak to voters late Tuesday evening after Trump’s speech wraps up. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
European leaders flamed for ‘creepy’ pro-Zelenskyy posts that read exactly the same
A handful of European leaders are coming under the microscope of critics on social media for issuing pro-Ukraine messages with the exact same wording following Ukraine President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy’s fiery meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday. “Your dignity honours the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President @ZelenskyyUa. We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace,” read verbatim social media posts from at least five different European leaders since Friday. The president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, European Parliament member Manfred Weber, and European Council President António Costa all posted the same exact social media message on Friday, a review of X shows. DNI GABBARD SOUNDS OFF ON EUROPE’S ‘DIVERGENCE’ FROM U.S. VALUES AFTER TENSE TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEETING Fox Digital reached out to the European Parliament and European Commission on Sunday afternoon regarding the posts but did not immediately receive replies. WORLD LEADERS BACK ZELENSKYY FOLLOWING TRUMP, VANCE OVAL OFFICE SPAT Social media users quickly caught on that the messages were exactly the same, criticizing them as “kinda creepy” and asking tongue-in-cheek questions such as, “has the EU been bots this whole time?” JD VANCE STEPS INTO SPOTLIGHT DEFENDING TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY IN OVAL OFFICE DUSTUP WITH ZELENSKYY Trump asked Zelenskyy to leave the White House on Friday following a fiery meeting in the Oval Office, with Zelenskyy heading to Europe shortly afterward. Trump said Zelenskyy could return to the White House “when he is ready for peace.” Zelenskyy met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, with the pair spotted on camera embracing upon Zelenskyy’s arrival. “We stand with Ukraine for as long as it may take,” Starmer said on Saturday while offering the UK’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine. TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE A group of European leaders met in London on Sunday after Starmer told local media that he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the UK and France taking the reins on crafting a plan for peace that will eventually be presented to the U.S. The UK leader vowed in comments on Sunday that the nation is “ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air” to support Ukraine against Russia and ultimately reach a peace deal. “We discussed a plan today to reach a peace that is tough and fair, that Ukraine will help shape, that’s backed by strength, to stop Putin coming back for more,” Starmer said on Sunday. “I’m working closely with other European leaders on this, and I’m clear that the U.K. is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last.” TRUMP, VANCE AND ZELENSKYY SPAR OVER RUSSIAN WAR IN TENSE EXCHANGE: ‘VERY DISRESPECTFUL’ U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard joined “Fox News Sunday” ahead of the London meeting, slamming some European nations for breaking with the U.S. on the value of freedom and reaching peace in Eastern Europe after criticizing Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy. “I think those who are criticizing [Trump’s] efforts in this way are showing that they are not committed to peace, and in the case of many of those European countries, that they’re not committed to the cause and values of freedom, even though they speak of this,” Gabbard told Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday morning when asked about Democrat U.S. politicians criticizing the meeting at the White House and Russia celebrating Trump’s tense meeting with Zelenskyy. “We heard very clearly, during Vice President Vance’s speech in Munich, different examples of how these European partners and longtime allies, in many cases, are actually implementing policies that undermine democracy that shows that they don’t actually believe in the voices of the people being heard, and implementing anti-freedom policies. We’re seeing this in the United Kingdom. We’re seeing this in Germany. We saw it with the tossing out of the elections in Romania,” she continued.