‘Have no objections’: Farooq Abdullah on taking rival PDP’s support for govt formation
The NC president said he was not averse to taking support of the independents as well but he would not go begging for it.
‘We haven’t done that much’: Former Estonia head says US fears of escalation with Putin are unwarranted
As U.S. support for aiding Ukraine continues to fracture Americans, Kersti Kaljulaid, the former president of Estonia, wants to remind Americans what’s at stake. Estonia, a country in Northern Europe bordered by the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland, is slightly larger than Denmark and has a coastline with 1,521 islands. Kaljulaid described what’s happening across the world as a “tectonic shift,” during a recent interview with Fox News Digital at her nation’s embassy in Washington, D.C. “There is the freedom-loving world. And then there are the others – the new Axis of Evil – China, Iran, North Korea, Russia. China is leading that coalition.” “Ukraine, with its brave action, has offered us the opportunity to score the first victory in this battle, and I think we should not miss it,” she said. And the cost of securing the so-called “freedom-loving world” is relatively little, she argues. “It’s very important to understand that Ukrainians are dying, but we, the West, have not spent anything close to what normally needs to be spent to win war. We are spending at the rate of 0.1% of GDP. And frankly speaking, if we could spend 0.5, then Ukraine will win, and it would be first time in history where a major conflict can be actually be won with so little resources.” Her visit came just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the U.S., causing a stir among Republicans after he visited Pennsylvania – swing state – with only Democratic lawmakers and called Sen. JD Vance “too radical.” UKRAINIAN STRONGHOLD VUHLEDAR FALLS TO RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE He was here to beg for the U.S.’s blessing to use the long-range missiles it provides to strike deep inside Russian territory. So far, his pleas have gone unanswered. The Biden administration fears provoking nuclear-armed Russia and furthering U.S. involvement in the war. “I think the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast has demonstrated to us that the Russian threats [of escalation], they carry no value,” Kaljulaid said. In August, Ukrainian troops made a risky move, invading Kursk Oblast and taking over the Russian territory, using their best tanks in the offensive, which left several key villages and towns along the southern and eastern front lines for Russia’s taking. Kaljulaid said she supports Zelenskyy’s request to lift restrictions on the ATACMs, pointing out that Ukraine already uses these weapons to strike in Crimea, which Russia views as its territory. LITHUANIAN FM WARNS RUSSIA CAN DO ‘SO MUCH DAMAGE TO ITS NEIGHBORS’ “You could say, I mean, paradoxically, there is nothing new.” “Putin is not playing the old Cold War game where one side escalated, then the other side did, and then everybody sat down and negotiated the levels down again. I mean, Putin’s regime is a terrorist regime.” She went on: “It doesn’t abide by any rules. All the bridges are burned. So when they decide it’s worth escalating, they will decide anyway, but we should do the right thing and not worry about escalation.” A University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll conducted in July and August found 48% of Americans say the U.S. should support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s incursion “as long as it takes.” Thirty-nine percent said support should last 1-2 years and another 11% thought it should last 2-5 years. The U.S. has spent around $175 billion aiding the war in Ukraine, $106 billion of which went directly to the government of Ukraine. The rest funded U.S. activities associated with the war and other affected nations in the region. “This is about a third of the money which is considered waste in the COVID pandemic spending [in the U.S.]” “If we compare it to our economic might of the free world, then we haven’t done that much,” said Kaljulaid. “Europeans are doing even more. And this is a common error as well, to think that Europe is not doing its part. Europe’s doing even more than us right now, and I would really like to have a healthy competition. Who does more?” The U.S. has given more money to Ukraine since the outbreak of war, followed by Germany, the U.K., Japan, and Canada. As a percentage of their GDP, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania topped the ranking, with 1.8, 1.7, and 1.4%, respectively. Kaljulaid declined to say whether relations would become more difficult under a second Trump presidency – Trump has spoken out against aiding Ukraine and claimed he could negotiate peace with Zelenskyy and Putin. In fact, she had an optimistic outlook that Trump could come to support Eastern Europe if elected to a second term, just as she said he did in his first term. “Eastern Europe had quite a big presence. Trump visited Poland, [former Vice President] Mike Pence visited Talinn [Estonia’s capital].” She noted Trump’s work on the Three Seas Initiative and actions to end Syria’s chemical weapons attacks on its civilians. “That was not a simple thing. It was a quite courageous thing, and it was exactly what you expect from Republican foreign policy of the United States – to defend the free world.”
Weather Update: IMD predicts heavy rains for THESE states, issues yellow alert in parts of Kerala till..; check forecast
The IMD has issued a yellow alert in several Kerala districts, warning of heavy rain.
RG Kar case: Sanjoy Roy raped, murdered Kolkata doctor, says CBI in its chargesheet
Roy allegedly committed the crime on August 9 when the victim had gone to sleep in the seminar room of the hospital during a break, it said.
Texas students with immigrant parents lost out on college aid because of FAFSA glitch
The glitch kept the students from submitting the form on time, which put them last in line to receive aid this year.
Facing a tight race, Ted Cruz goes quiet on abortion
As abortion and other reproductive rights loom over the election, Cruz has largely been unwilling to clarify his stances.
How Texas’ environmental agency weakened a once-rigorous air pollution monitoring team
Former employees say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gutted the unit soon after the fracking boom swept the state oil industry. The operation never returned to what it was before.
Lake rips Biden-Harris ‘double whammy’ policies affecting Arizonans : ‘Driven us over the cliff’
Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake told Fox News Digital that illegal immigration has disproportionately hammered residents of her state which she says has created a “double whammy” that will result in GOP wins in the state in November. “I think most Americans think that they have driven us right over the edge, over the cliff,” Lake told Fox News Digital about the policies of the Biden-Harris administration. “And we’re hoping that we can pull this back come November and that’s what we plan to do. But our polling shows that the economy is really affecting everybody. The border is affecting everybody.” Lake explained to Fox News Digital that the current administration’s border policies have disproportionately hurt Arizona particularly when it comes to housing costs. “It’s basic supply and demand,” Lake said. “21 million people coming in, even if you take the estimate that Joe Biden and Kamala are giving, which is 10 million, they’ve got to live somewhere. They’re living in homes and apartments and hotels and these are taking away housing opportunities for Americans and also jacking up the prices as well. Because right now, when you have a very limited supply of housing, which we do, we have not built enough homes and apartments in the past 20 years to keep up with the demand. So now all of a sudden, you add 21 million people, you’ve got a supply and demand issue. You got you don’t have enough supply and you have a lot of demand.” KARI LAKE SHREDS VP HARRIS’ ‘DESPICABLE’ SOUTHERN BORDER VISIT: JUST TO MAKE THE ‘MAINSTREAM MEDIA HAPPY’ Lake continued, “We know that these people that are pouring across our country illegally, that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are bringing in hand-holding and saying, yes, please come in and we will supply you housing, federally subsidized housing, which means you and I are paying for it. And we will give you an ID card with thousands of dollars a month to pay for your food. They don’t have living expenses like the American people do. The American people are barely getting by because living expenses have gone up so they can then afford to take these jobs making less than the going rate, which takes Americans salaries and hourly wages and depresses them or pushes them down. So it’s a double whammy and it’s really affecting Arizona particularly hard.” On inflation, Lake pointed to data showing that Phoenix was at one point the hardest hit city in the country. “I talk to more Arizonans than anybody in the whole country,” Lake told Fox News Digital. “I have a better relationship with the people of Arizona, I think, than anybody in the country and they’re struggling. You know, it kills me to see families and people who are retiring or retirees, Arizona used to be an affordable state it’s not so much anymore, who are telling me now, Kari, I’ve never had to go to a food bank in my life. As a matter of fact, I used to donate to food banks. Now I’m finding myself there every couple of weeks just to make ends meet. I can’t even afford the basics. It breaks my heart because the people of this state are incredible, hard working people.” FLASHBACK: ARIZONA DEM SENATE CANDIDATE CALLED TRUMP VOTERS ‘DUMB’: ‘WORST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD’ “They don’t deserve this and they don’t want to be asking for a handout, but they’re working as hard as they ever have. Some of them are doing two jobs and there’s not enough hours in the day. They can’t work any harder than they already are and they’re still not making ends meet. So it’s very distressing for the people and it’s distressing for me because I really, truly love the people of the state.” Lake, who is running for Senate against Dem. Rep. Ruben Gallego who she says is responsible for supporting the Harris-Biden immigration and inflation record, told Fox News Digital that she believes Republicans will have success in November as a result of those policies. “Every main issue that we’re facing as a country somehow seems to kind of come right through Arizona and this is why I feel so comfortable that we’re going to win this because, well, first of all, we’re registering voters left to right,” Lake said. “People are saying, yep, we’re voting, we’re going to become a Republican. People who’ve never been a Republican before are now registered Republicans…We’re calling people who haven’t voted in a number of elections, people who maybe skipped the last 4 or 5 elections. I guess they are called low propensity voters and we’re asking, are you going to vote? And they’re saying, ‘Hell, yes, I’m going to vote. Absolutely, I’m going to vote. I’m struggling right now. This is the first election I voted in a number of elections.’ But this one really matters. I think it’s our last election. If we don’t get this right as a free America.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.
GOP New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw nearly passes out during debate
New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, appeared to freeze on Sunday during his debate against Democrat Rep. Andy Kim. Bashaw, 63, and Kim, 42, are each looking to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who resigned earlier this year following his indictment in a political corruption case. The GOP candidate stopped speaking mid-sentence during his comments about affordability and appeared to look off into space. Kim, a two-term U.S. Congressman who defeated Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife to secure the party’s nomination, was the first to rush over and check on Bashaw after noticing something was wrong. NEW JERSEY DEM HOUSE CANDIDATE SAYS SHE IS ‘NOT SUPER WORRIED’ ABOUT BIOLOGICAL MEN IN WOMEN’S LOCKER ROOMS Bashaw told Kim he was alright, and the Democrat returned to his podium. The debate then took a commercial break, so Bashaw could be checked on. He left the room for about 10 minutes. “I think maybe we need to take a commercial break and address some issues here on the stage,” the moderator told the audience. Bashaw addressed the issue when he returned to the stage. “I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” Bashaw said. “So I appreciate your indulgence.” He wrote on social media after the debate: “Thank you all for the well wishes! I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat. Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!” In a follow-up post on the social media platform X, Bashaw said the pizza was secured. “Thanks for your support, everyone!” he wrote. NEW JERSEY DEMOCRAT PROPOSES BILL TO CREATE TRAVEL ADVISORIES TO INFORM PREGNANT WOMEN OF STATE ABORTION LAWS Bashaw’s campaign also told Fox News Digital that the Republican candidate was okay and just needed some food. “Curtis is fine! He was on the campaign trail all day and didn’t get a chance to eat,” a campaign spokesperson said. “He stepped off-stage and had a protein bar and some Coke and came back to debate five minutes later. Even having not eaten all day, Curtis was still able to eat Andy Kim’s lunch tonight!”
SCOTUS kicks off historic term under scrutiny amid ethics code debate
The Supreme Court begins its new term today amid lingering internal strife over several recent rulings, with details of its thorny internal deliberations selectively leaked to certain media outlets. All of this as the nine justices have come under increasing public scrutiny and criticism over perceived blatant partisanship on hot-button issues, ethics controversies and its own wilting reputation as a body remaining above politics. “The Supreme Court, in a sense, is on the ballot this election, or at least the future of the Supreme Court,” said Thomas Dupree, an appellate attorney and former top Justice Department official. “So any time the court wades into political waters, it’s going to be upsetting people, people who are on the side that loses. And they’ll say the court shouldn’t have got involved in the political fray. The court recognizes that it’s not something that it wants to do, but in some cases, it has no choice.” JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON SAYS SHE WOULD SUPPORT AN ‘ENFORCEABLE CODE’ OF ETHICS FOR THE SUPREME COURT Here are five questions confronting the Supreme Court: Directly or indirectly, the nine members of the Supreme Court could again play an outsized role in determining who will be the next president. There is no indication yet of another Bush v. Gore, the case in which the justices in 2000 ended ongoing litigation over the Florida election results, essentially handing the presidency to George W. Bush. But the high court four years ago summarily refused to consider a series of lawsuits from Trump and other Republicans in five states President Biden won: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Former President Trump has again promised court challenges if he loses, and in a recent social media post, he said this election “will be under the closest professional scrutiny” and “people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.” Trump has proceeded with his campaign without the imminent cloud of legal jeopardy hanging over his head. His criminal sentencing in the New York business fraud conviction has been postponed until November at least. And his two separate federal cases involving document mishandling and 2020 election interference have been deferred indefinitely. Those prosecutions could disappear entirely if Trump is elected and dismisses the Justice Department’s special counsel. All this after the Supreme Court in July ruled former presidents enjoy a substantial amount of immunity for “official acts” committed in office. Trump has used that ruling to demand both of his federal cases be dismissed. Two justices took the unusual step of commenting publicly on its effect. “You gave us a very hard question,” Justice Neil Grouch exclusively told Fox News’ “America Reports” co-anchor Sandra Smith. “It’s the first time in American history that one presidential administration was seeking to bring criminal charges against a predecessor. We had to go back and look at what sources were available to us.” The Trump appointee said the Supreme Court ruled in Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) that civil claims cannot be brought against a president “presumptively, in his official capacity, after he leaves office. Why? Because that would chill him from exercising the powers and duties of a president while he is president,” Gorsuch said. “He would be overwhelmed. His political enemies would simply bring suits against him forevermore.” But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was on the losing side of the 6-3 opinion, has taken another approach. “I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances, when we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same,” she told CBS News while promoting her new book, “Lovely One: A Memoir.” The Supreme Court has already gotten involved in several pre-election challenges: allowing some redistricting maps for congressional seats to go into effect and blocking others. And the justices last month allowed Arizona to temporarily enforce its law requiring proof of citizenship on state voter registration forms. ‘STOP PRETENDING’: CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST WANTS DEMS BEHIND SCOTUS ETHICS RULES TO TAKE THEIR OWN MEDICINE Five days before President Biden withdrew as a candidate for re-election, he made the Supreme Court a major political issue. Word leaked from the White House on July 16 that Biden was seriously considering proposals to establish term limits for the justices, and an ethics code that would be enforceable under law, amid growing concerns they were not being held accountable. The proposal was made public days later, including a congressional law limiting justices to 18-year terms despite the Constitution’s guarantee of life tenure for all federal judges. Biden framed it as an effort to address “recent extreme opinions the Supreme Court has handed down [that] have undermined long-established civil rights principles and protections.” Public calls for changes came after revelations of previously undisclosed free trips and gifts by the justices and lucrative book deals. Recent public polls support greater ethics reform. Other federal judges are bound by an enforceable code of conduct, but the high court had long resisted being included. Under Chief Justice John Roberts’ leadership, he and his colleagues adopted a revised code last year, but it still lacks any enforcement mechanism, which critics say makes it feckless and ineffective. Fox News previously reported that the court had been privately meeting for months on how to structure a new ethics code, one that would address public concerns over its behavior without abdicating what Roberts in particular had said was the court’s independence on such matters from congressional oversight. So, the justices have near-total discretion to decide whether to abide by the new code. But growing and very public calls for more have come from some justices in recent days. “A binding code of ethics is pretty standard for judges,” said Jackson, “and so I guess the question is: Is the Supreme Court any different? I guess I have not seen a persuasive reason as to why the court is different.” “I am considering supporting it as a general matter,” she said. “I’m not going to get into commenting on