Party opposed to India’s stripping of Kashmir’s autonomy wins election
National Conference-led alliance wins 48 seats in 90-seat assembly in first state legislative elections in a decade. India-administered Kashmir’s biggest political party opposed to India’s stripping of the region’s semi-autonomy has won the most seats in the first legislative elections since the move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government five years ago. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, or NC, won 42 seats in the 90-seat Legislative Assembly, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday. The BJP secured 29 seats while the country’s main opposition Indian National Congress party, which fought the election in alliance with the NC, succeeded in six constituencies. Polling took place over three phases starting on September 18. “People have supported us more than our expectations. Now our efforts will be to prove that we are worth these votes,” Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and the region’s former chief minister, told reporters in the main city of Srinagar. His father and president of the party, Farooq Abdullah, said its mandate was to run the region without “police raj” rule and try freeing people from jails. “Media will be free,” he said. Supporters of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party celebrate outside the vote-counting centre in Srinagar [Sharafat Ali/Reuters] Hundreds of NC workers gathered outside counting centres and at the homes of the winning candidates to celebrate the party’s victory. Kashmir has been at the centre of a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan since 1947. India and Pakistan both claim the region in full but rule it in part after having fought two of their three wars over the region. Restoration of ‘political rights’? Some saw the vote as a de facto referendum on the federal government’s decision to repeal the territory’s special status. The move downgraded and divided the former state into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. “The people have given their judgement against what New Delhi did,” social activist Iqbal Ahmad Bhat told the AFP news agency. Resident Jahangir Ahmad told AFP that he hoped “political rights will be restored” in the state after the NC-led alliance’s victory. Nevertheless, critics said the assembly has only nominal powers over education and culture. New Delhi also has the power to override legislation and will continue to appoint the governor. The BJP won all its seats in the southern Hindu-majority region of Jammu. Modi said he was “proud” of the BJP’s performance, saying that enthusiasm for the election was reflective of “the people’s belief in democracy”. BJP victory expected in Haryana In legislative elections held on Tuesday in the state of Haryana, the BJP appeared to be heading for victory, according to preliminary results shared by the Election Commission. The BJP was leading in 50 constituencies and the Congress in 35 out of 90. So far in the vote counting, the BJP has won 18 seats and is leading in 32 constituencies while the Congress has won 15 seats and is leading in 20, according to the commission. A victory would give the BJP a record third win in the state, which it is set to govern for the next five years. The results in Haryana state are a surprise because most exit polls had predicted an easy victory for the Congress party. Adblock test (Why?)
MI5 chief says Russia and Iran behind rise in assassination plots in UK
Ken McCallum said the number of state-threat investigations undertaken by MI5 has risen by 48 percent in the past year. The United Kingdom is facing a “staggering rise” in assassination attempts on its soil by Russia and Iran as the hostile states recruit criminals to “do their dirty work” for them, the head of the UK’s domestic intelligence agency has said. In a rare public speech on Tuesday setting out the major threats to the UK from both hostile states and terror groups, MI5 director Ken McCallum said the number of state-threat investigations undertaken by MI5 has risen by 48 percent in the past year, with Iran, Russia and, China the main perpetrators. “The first 20 years of my career here were crammed full of terrorist threats,” McCallum said. “We now face those alongside state-backed assassination and sabotage plots, against the backdrop of a major European land war.” “It will be clear to you that MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands,” McCallum told journalists at the UK’s counterterrorism command centre in London. Charting out threats from Iran, he said that his agents and police have tackled 20 Tehran-backed plots since 2022 and warned that Iran could expand its targets in the UK if Israel attacks in response to Iran’s missile barrage. The spy chief also noted that the widening conflicts in the Middle East raise the risk “of an increase in – or broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK.” With respect to threats from Russia, McCallum said that despite the expulsion of more than 750 Russian diplomats from Europe since Moscow invaded Ukraine and the ejection of the last Russian military intelligence officer from the UK earlier this year, it was “eye-catching” how Russian state actors were turning to proxies to do their work. “The GRU in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness,” he said, declining to give further details. Both Russia and Iran often turn to criminals, “from international drug traffickers to low-level crooks,” to carry out attacks, he added. The UK’s official “terror” threat level stands at “substantial,” the middle of a five-point scale, meaning an attack is likely, and since 2017 MI5 and the police have disrupted 43 late-stage “terror” plots. McCallum also said there was worrying signs that the ISIL group is back, despite the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. He said the internet was the “biggest factor” driving the rise, describing how easily youngsters can access “inspirational and instructional material” from their bedrooms. He said the intelligence service was seeing “far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism” and singled out “canny” internet memes. “Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
Kosovo to start trial for Banjska attack by Serb group: Why it matters
A year after an attack by a Serbian armed group in northern Kosovo’s Banjska killed a police officer, the trial is expected to begin on Wednesday at the Pristina Basic Court. In all, 45 suspects have been indicted for the attack in September 2023, which Kosovo Serb businessman and politician Milan Radoicic later said he led and organised after he was identified in drone footage by Kosovo security officials. The attack aggravated tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and experts fear the trial could be complicated by the difficult nature of the relationship between the two. Here’s what happened in Banjska and why the trial matters: What happened in Banjska? A group of Serbs, armed and masked, killed Kosovo police Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku and wounded two others when they ambushed a Kosovar police patrol in the village of Banjska near the Serbia-Kosovo border on September 24, 2023. The group then fled to a nearby Orthodox monastery, and its members barricaded themselves in. A gun battle ensued with Kosovo police that lasted for hours. Three of the Serb assailants were killed, and dozens of the attackers fled to Serbia. The police confiscated more than 1,000 of their weapons and pieces of equipment valued at more than 5 million euros (more than $5.5m). Kosovar officials said the confiscated weapons were produced in Serbia and cannot be found on the open market. Based in part on the alleged origins of the weapons, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other Kosovar authorities have accused Serbia of masterminding the attack. Who are the suspects and what are the charges against them? The 45 defendants have been charged with “terrorism” and crimes against Kosovo’s constitutional order and security. The central accusation against them is that they were aiming to take over the northern part of Kosovo with the intent of annexing it to Serbia, according to the indictment filed in September. Prosecutor Naim Abazi called the gunmen a “well-structured group” and said the investigations into the case were “one of the most complex that the prosecution has ever worked on”, according to the Balkan Insight news website. Only three of the suspects remain in custody in Kosovo. The rest, including Radoicic, remain in Serbia. On October 3, 2023, Serbian authorities arrested Radoicic for questioning. He denied guilt in his testimony to the Serbian prosecutor’s office. But previously in a letter read by his lawyer, he had admitted to personally organising the attack and denied the involvement of the Serbian government. Why was the attack so significant? The Banjska attack is one of the most violent incidents to occur in Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian secessionists that saw an Albanian Kosovar uprising against Belgrade’s rule. The majority Serb population that lives in northern Kosovo does not recognise the country as a sovereign nation and views Belgrade as its capital. Over the years, there have been numerous clashes between Serbs on the one hand and Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers on the other. Since 2012, Belgrade and Pristina have been holding normalisation talks mediated by the European Union with the goal of joining the bloc, but the talks have broken down mostly over a deal to create an association of Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo as some fear it would only create another mini-state. Kosovo political leaders have accused Serbia of being behind the Banjska attack politically, materially and logistically. Kurti said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic planned and ordered the attack “to destabilise” Kosovo with the goal of starting a war for more territorial gain. Speaking to the media at a commemoration ceremony last month at the scene of the attack, Kurti maintained that Radoicic – who was at the time vice president of the Serb List, a Belgrade-supported political party in Kosovo – “was trained in Serbia and financed by Belgrade”. Experts said the attack suggests a possible hardening in Serbia’s approach towards resolving differences with Kosovo. The attack showed that “Serbia and its proxy groups have abandoned peaceful dialogue and have chosen hybrid warfare to achieve their political goals”, Gezim Visoka, associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Dublin City University, told Al Jazeera. Those goals, Visoka said, are to “force Kosovo and the international community to make further concessions in the EU-led talks for normalisation of relations, which have reached a stalemate due to fundamental disagreements”. What has Serbia said? Serbia has denied any role in the attack, and Radoicic has insisted that the Serbian government was not involved. Vucic has instead accused Kurti of wanting to expel Serbs from Kosovo. After the attack, he said Kurti’s refusal to form an Association of Serb Municipalities – as part of a 2013 agreement between Belgrade and Pristina that would allocate Kosovo Serbs more autonomy – is what fuelled tensions leading to the violence in Banjska. Journalist Branislav Krstic, a Serb from northern Kosovo, described the Banjska attack to Al Jazeera as “a gift for Pristina” — in that it helps strengthen Kosovo’s argument for keeping control over the Serb-majority north. The case, he said, adds to the “loss of sovereignty of Serbs in northern Kosovo”. What’s expected during the trial? Prosecution lawyers told the Kosovo daily Koha last month that they feared the trial would be prolonged, in part because most of the suspects are in Serbia. Lawyer Kadri Osaj told Koha that their extradition from Serbia was unlikely due to a lack of legal cooperation between the two governments. “The authorities of Serbia were directly and indirectly involved in the case, so I do not expect that these persons will be extradited to Kosovo,” Koha quoted Osaj as saying. Visoka also said the fact that most suspects won’t physically be brought to trial complicates the process. Without Serbia’s cooperation and pressure from the West, it’s unlikely that Kosovo will be able to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack, Visoka said. “The trial is likely to reveal more about the
Colin Allred raises $30 million in third quarter of 2024, outpacing Ted Cruz
The staggering fundraising numbers mean that Cruz and Allred have collectively raised at least $132 million, surpassing the final combined haul from 2018.
Texas’ abortion laws are straining the OB/GYN workforce, new study shows
More doctors are considering leaving or retiring early, while fewer medical students are applying to obstetrics and gynecology residencies in Texas.
NYC First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright resigns as Eric Adams’ administration suffers more departures: report
New York City First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright reportedly resigned from her position Tuesday after the FBI raided her home in early September, becoming the latest senior official to depart Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as he faces federal corruption charges. Wright’s reported resignation comes just days after her husband, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, announced that he would resign earlier than expected in October. The New York Times, citing sources, says Wright is expected to be replaced by Maria Torres-Springer, who is the current deputy mayor for housing, economic development and workforce. When asked about the matter on Tuesday morning, the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital that “No announcement is final until and if it is made.” On Monday, Winnie Greco, the mayor’s director of Asian affairs, also resigned from her role, according to the New York Post. Her attorney Steven Brill – who did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital – told The City that Greco “officially resigned… on her own volition.” ERIC ADAMS CHANNELS TRUMP AS HE RAMPS UP REVENGE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, EXPERT SAYS The same day, Rena Abbasova, a staffer for Adams who worked in the office of international affairs, was fired from her job, with sources telling Fox News that she was let go because she is the “key cooperating witness” in the federal investigation of Adams. Senior New York City Hall official Mohamed Bahi also stepped down on Monday. This morning, federal prosecutors announced they unsealed a complaint charging him “with witness tampering and destruction of evidence in connection with a federal investigation of unlawful contributions to a particular 2021 mayoral campaign.” “If there were no vulnerabilities here, nobody would have to resign,” former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital. “Obviously, a lot of them are trying to make the point ‘oh I was going to leave anyway’ — but these are all the people from [Adams’] tightest inner circle and this is the team he put together to run the city and for them to be leaving prematurely when he would normally be gearing up for re-election, I don’t see how you can argue that this is business as usual. It’s very obvious something heavy is going on.” MOST NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS WANT INDICTED MAYOR ERIC ADAMS TO RESIGN: POLL Adams is facing a five-count indictment on fraud, bribery and corruption charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The mayor, 64, is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails to cover it up. As part of the plot, he allegedly defrauded taxpayers for $10 million over the past decade and frequently took free or steeply discounted vacations bankrolled by his foreign benefactors. Adams has said in a video statement that any charges filed against him would be “entirely false, based on lies,” and he insinuated that his criticism of the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies made him a target for retaliation. ERIC ADAMS IS LIKELY TO FACE MORE CHARGES The mayor was quoted by The New York Times as saying in a statement that will be circulated Tuesday that “We are grateful for First Deputy Mayor Wright’s years of service to the city and all she has done to deliver for children, families, and working-class New Yorkers.” “She is an exceptional leader who assembled a strong team and constantly demonstrated a bold vision for this city,” he reportedly added. The mayor’s office says on its website that Wright served in the administration since January 2022, first as deputy mayor of strategic initiatives and then as first deputy mayor starting in January 2023. “During her time in the administration, she helped launch the first phase of the MyCity portal, a one-stop-shop where New Yorkers can easily apply for and track city services and benefits. She has helped the city deliver on key planks of the Blueprint for Child Care & Early Childhood Education in New York City — most notably, clearing a backlogged waitlist for vouchers and allowing families of 36,000 children to apply for low-cost, high-quality child care,” her bio reads. Wright, a graduate of Columbia University and Columbia Law School, also “previously served as the first female president and CEO of United Way of New York City,” it added. Fox News’ Alexis McAdams, Michael Ruiz and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Oregon mistakenly registered hundreds more voters without proving citizenship
Officials in Oregon announced Monday that they have identified an additional 302 people on the state’s voter rolls who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when they were registered to vote. The announcement comes just two weeks after officials in the Beaver state said 1,259 possible noncitizens have been registered to vote since 2021, bringing the total number of mistaken registrations to 1,561. The mistakes occurred in part because Oregon passed a law in 2019 allowing some residents who aren’t citizens to obtain driver’s licenses. And the state’s so-called “Motor Voter” law, which took effect in 2016, automatically registers most people to vote when they seek a new license or ID. OREGON MISTAKENLY REGISTERED NEARLY 1,260 POSSIBLE NONCITIZENS TO VOTE, DMV ADMITS The improper voter registrations stem from clerical errors at the state DMV. On Monday, the DMV released an “After Action Report,” which identified errors in its processes that led to the mistakes, with Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade then directing county elections officials to inactivate all 302 voter registrations. Griffin-Valade and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, both Democrats, called for an independent, external audit of the motor voter system in a joint statement. “Thanks to the swift action of elections officials, I have full confidence that these new errors will not impact the 2024 election,” Griffin-Valade said. “The DMV’s After Action Report raises serious concerns about this important part of our voter registration system. The first step in restoring the public’s trust in Motor Voter is a transparent review by a neutral third party operating under strict government auditing standards.” DMV Administrator Amy Joyce said the agency believed two weeks ago that it was confident it understood and had reviewed all records at risk of error. “We have since learned this confidence was misplaced based on new information outlined in this announcement and after-action report and for this, we are sorry,” Joyce said in a statement. “DMV will follow the Governor’s directed actions and remains committed to continuous learning, corrective action, transparency and accountability.” Griffin-Valade has ordered her office’s elections division to immediately hire a new Motor Voter oversight position, according to the statement. And she has instructed the division to establish a documented process for performing regular data checks with the DMV and update the administrative rules governing the Motor Voter system. She said the Oregon Elections Division will work with the 36 county election officers to determine if any of the erroneously registered voters have previously cast a ballot. Every registered voter in Oregon is sent a ballot in the mail and the state had an 81.97% voter turnout rate in 2020. President Biden beat former President Trump comfortably in the 2020 election, winning the state by more than 380,000 votes. RNC BLASTS WALZ ADMIN’S NONANSWER ON HOW NONCITIZENS MADE IT ONTO MINNESOTA VOTER ROLLS: ‘NO HYPOTHETICAL’ Of the 302 additional cases, 178 were due to people from the U.S. territory of American Samoa being misclassified as U.S. citizens, the DMV report said. However, under federal law, people from American Samoa are U.S. nationals, not citizens, and don’t have the same right to vote. Another 123 records stemmed from the previously identified clerical error, but weren’t included in prior reviews due to a newly identified software issue. And one case was caught by the DMV’s new quality controls. Griffin-Valade’s office says they are doing everything they can to prevent the 302 mistakenly registered voters from receiving a ballot, but cannot guarantee that all 302 ballots will be removed before they are mailed. Her office is putting in place a process that will ensure those ballots are not opened or counted. Of the 1,259 possible noncitizens identified last month, 10 mistakenly enrolled individuals went on to cast a ballot, according to Oregon’s secretary of state, although at least one became a citizen before voting. A DMV audit found staff may have accidentally selected “U.S. passport” when presented with a foreign passport, or “U.S. birth certificate” when given a foreign document, triggering voter enrollment. The DMV said its drop-down menu has now been rearranged so “U.S. passport” is no longer the first, default option. Staff must also enter the state and county for all U.S. birth certificates and respond to a prompt when passport information is entered confirming that the documentation is accurate. About half of all states, as well as Washington, D.C., have implemented automatic voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But there have been numerous allegations of improper enrollment in states without automatic registration too. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in August that officials have purged 1.1 million ineligible names from the voter rolls since the 2020 presidential election. Ohio’s secretary of state referred 138 noncitizens believed to have voted in previous elections to the state’s attorney general for possible criminal charges. And a conservative watchdog group is suing Arizona’s Maricopa County for allegedly failing to remove more than 35,000 people who did not provide proof of citizenship. Fox News’ Hannah Ray Lambert and Anders Hagstrom, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this story.
5 key takeaways from Kamala Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ interview
Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for an interview on “60 Minutes” on Monday, when she dodged or refused to get specific about her plans for the country. With less than a month before the election, CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker repeatedly pressed Harris for details on how to pay for her economic proposals, on whether President Biden’s loose immigration policies were a mistake and how a Harris foreign policy might differ from Biden or former President Donald Trump. There were several moments when Whitaker had to ask follow-up questions after Harris did not directly answer his inquiries. Overall, the Democratic vice president did not differentiate herself much from her 2020 running mate, the sitting president of the United States. CBS said her Republican rival, former President Trump, backed out of an invitation to appear on “60 Minutes,” though the Trump campaign said there was never a formal agreement for Trump to appear on the program. Here are some standout moments from the Harris interview. ‘60 MINUTES’ ASKS HARRIS WHETHER IT WAS A ‘MISTAKE’ FOR BIDEN ADMIN TO GO SOFT ON BORDER, VP REPEATEDLY DODGES Whitaker asked Harris about the ongoing crises in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with Israel under assault from Iranian proxies and Ukraine persevering in the fight against Russia’s invasion. In her answers, Harris did not do much to distinguish her foreign policy from that of the current administration. On Israel, Harris echoed Biden’s call for the war with Hamas to end, though she acknowledged the Jewish nation’s right to defend itself after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, when terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people and took 250 captives back to Gaza. “I maintain Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. This war has to end,” Harris said. Whitaker pointed out that although the United States has handed billions of dollars to Israel in military aid, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted the Biden-Harris administration’s call for a cease-fire with Hamas. When asked if the U.S. holds no sway over Netanyahu, Harris dodged the question and stayed on message, emphasizing the current administration’s diplomatic efforts. “The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles,” she said. KAMALA HARRIS SET FOR EXTREMELY FRIENDLY INTERVIEW BLITZ WITH ‘THE VIEW,’ STEPHEN COLBERT AND HOWARD STERN Whitaker pressed, “but it seems Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.” Harris declined to answer that point. “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.” On Europe, Harris stuck with Biden’s position that Ukraine must be involved in any resolution to the war with Russia. “There will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the U.N. charter participating in what that success looks like,” she said. In a definitive statement, Harris said she would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the war unless Ukrainian representatives were present. However, she was less specific on whether Ukraine should join NATO. “Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point. Right now, we are supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression,” Harris said. “Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. He talks about, oh, he can end it on day one. You know what that is? It’s about surrender.” TRUMP CAMPAIGN DENIES IT EVER AGREET TO ‘60 MINUTES’ INTERVIEW AFTER CBS NEWS CLAIMED HE BACKED OUT Whitaker confronted Harris on her apparent flip-flop on immigration, noting that she supported Biden’s efforts to reverse Trump’s strict policies even as a historic flood of illegal immigrants crossed the border. Now, the vice president has “embraced President Biden’s recent crackdown on asylum seekers,” he said. Whitaker asked, “If that’s the right answer, now, why didn’t your administration take those steps in 2021?” Harris responded by pointing to congressional Republicans who backed out of a bipartisan agreement on a border security bill negotiated by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. “Donald Trump got word that this bill was afoot and could be passed. And he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. So he told his buddies in Congress kill the bill. Don’t let it move forward,” she said. However, Whitaker pushed back on the vice president, observing that in the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, border arrivals quadrupled and there was no action from Biden or Harris. “Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?” Harris did not answer the question but asserted that her administration has offered solutions “from day one, literally.” “We need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem,” she said, again echoing Biden. To fight inflation, Harris said she intends to ask Congress to pass a federal ban on price gouging for food and groceries. She would expand the child tax credit to $6,000, give first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment assistance and offer generous assistance to people starting a small business. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the total cost of her economic proposals would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. “How are you going to pay for that?” asked Whitaker. “Okay, so the other economists that have reviewed my plan versus my opponent and determined that my economic plan would strengthen America’s economy, his would weaken it,” Harris answered. “But my plan, Bill, if you don’t mind, my plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses, you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America’s economy. Small businesses are part of the backbone of America’s economy.” HARRIS SAYS WEALTHY AMERICANS, CORPORATIONS WILL PAY HIGHER TAXES TO FUND ECONOMIC PLAN Whitaker pressed
Biden White House has ‘very low’ trust in Netanyahu regime, urges transparency: report
The Biden-Harris administration has privately warned of “very low” trust in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime following several Israeli strikes the U.S. was not warned about, Axios reported Tuesday. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly told Israeli officials that the U.S. expects “clarity and transparency” about Israel’s plans, specifically regarding any retaliation against Iran for last week’s missile attack. “Our trust of the Israelis is very low right now and for a good reason,” one U.S. official told the outlet. The report comes after weeks of the Biden-Harris administration growing more and more willing to criticize Netanyahu’s regime. They have repeatedly stated that they support Israel’s right to defend itself, however. AMERICAN FATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE ITAY CHEN PUSHES US, ISRAEL ON ‘PLAN B’ AS NEGOTIATIONS FALTER Vice President Kamala Harris wouldn’t say whether she thought the administration had influence over Netanyahu in an interview this week. CBS’ Bill Whitaker asked Harris about why Netanyahu seemed to be “charting his own course,” despite the billions of dollars of military aid the U.S. has provided to Israel. “Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?” he asked. IDF MEETS LITTLE RESISTANCE FROM HEZBOLLAH AFTER WEEKS OF HITTING TERROR TARGETS, OFFICIALS SAY “The aid that we have given Israel allowed Israel to defend itself against 200 ballistic missiles that were just meant to attack the Israelis and the people of Israel. And when we think about the threat that Hamas, Hezbollah presents, Iran, I think that it is without any question, our imperative to do what we can to allow Israel to defend itself against those kinds of attacks,” Harris responded. “Now the work we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles, which include the need for humanitarian aid, the need for this war to end, the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire. And we’re not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders,” Harris responded. ISRAEL’S GROUND INVASION INTO LEBANON IMMINENT AS CABINET APPROVES NEXT PHASE OF THE WAR Harris later declined to say whether the U.S. has a “close ally” in Netanyahu. She instead stated that the American people and the Israeli people share an “important alliance.” Despite U.S. efforts to push for a cease-fire, tensions in the region only continue to rise. One year after the Oct. 7 massacre, Israel is now engaged in a multi-front conflict with Hamas to the south and Hezbollah to the north.
Wisconsin Senate race shifts to ‘toss up’ by handicapper as Tammy Baldwin fights for re-election
A top political handicapper shifted its rating for the Wisconsin Senate race on Tuesday to “Toss Up” with less than a month until Election Day. The race in Wisconsin, a pivotal battleground state in both the presidential and Senate matches, was most recently considered “Lean Democrat” by the Cook Political Report. TRUMP, REPUBLICANS VENTURE TO BLUE AREAS IN WISCONSIN TO BOOST GOP TURNOUT The handicapper cited changes in polling in recent days, with Hovde appearing to close the gap with Baldwin. But Cook also referred to private polling from both campaigns, which it said each showed the race within the margins of error. A source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital that Baldwin’s internal polling shows such a race. VULNERABLE DEM JON TESTER TURNS ON BIDEN ADMIN OVER DEI AFTER MONTANA UNIVERSITIES STRIPPED OF FEDERAL FUNDS In response to the rating shift, Hovde spokesman Zach Bannon said, “Sen. Baldwin’s radical agenda has sparked record high inflation, created chaos [at] the southern border, and made our communities less safe. Eric Hovde is going to win because the people of Wisconsin are ready for change.” HERE’S WHAT 2 UNDECIDED WISCONSIN VOTERS ARE HOLDING OUT FOR IN 2024 ELECTION “After 25 years in Washington, Tammy Baldwin has become the typical D.C. politician, voting in lockstep with the failed Biden agenda and hiding her Wall Street partner’s stock trades from her constituents. Wisconsinites are ready for change, and Eric Hovde has the momentum,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Tate Mitchell in a statement. SENATE REPUBLICANS MARK OCT 7 ATTACK 1 YEAR OUT AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CONTINUES The latest Marquette Law School poll showed Baldwin winning the battle, 51% to Hovde’s 45%. The survey interviewed 882 registered voters over Sept. 18-26. The poll’s margin of error was +/-4.4 percentage points. The most recent Fox News Power Rankings from last month had Wisconsin at “Leans Dem.” With Cook’s ratings change, Wisconsin joins other “Toss Up” Senate races in Ohio and Michigan. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.