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Military suicides were on the rise last year, despite a massive investment in prevention programs

Military suicides ticked up once again last year, following a dark long-term trend where the Pentagon has struggled to make meaningful progress. Overall, there were 523 reported suicides in 2023, the most recent data available, up from 493 in 2022. The number of active-duty troops who died by suicide increased to 363 from 331 the previous year, up 12%. Suicide is by far the biggest killer of service members, killing more than training accidents, illnesses, homicides or combat, according to the Defense Department (DOD). In addition to the sheer number, the rate of suicides per 100,000 also went up last year. Suicide deaths by active duty service members have been on the rise since 2011. The rates are similar to those among the general population when adjusted for age and gender, since the military tends to be predominantly young and male, defense officials said. “While I know 12% may seem like a large change, reaching statistical significance requires changes in multiple factors, which are less visible in relatively small populations with relatively small event counts,” Dr. Elizabeth Clark, director of Defense Suicide Prevention Office, told reporters during a media roundtable. She argued the longer-term figures are more concerning than the year-over-year uptick. “These longer-term analyses are more robust than the year-to-year comparisons, and for the longer term, we continue to see a gradual, statistically significant increase in the active component suicide rates from 2011 to 2023,” Clark said. Another troubling sign from the data is how many suicide victims sought help: 67% had a primary care encounter in the 90 days before their death; 34% had been to an outpatient mental health center; 8% had been discharged from an in-patient mental health facility; and 18% were on psychotropic medication at the time of their death. Within a year prior to their death, 44% of military suicide victims reported intimate relationship problems, and 42% reported a behavioral health diagnosis. US FORCES TARGET HOUTHI WEAPONS STORAGE FACILITIES IN YEMEN OVER THE WEEKEND: CENTCOM “Relationship problems have been one of the biggest factors across all of these, and that’s why we’re investing in our line of effort with fostering a supportive environment to give families overall better predictability of their career, stabilization options when they’re going to be seeing their service member at home versus not,” said Tim Hoyt, deputy director for the Pentagon’s Office of Force Resiliency. The rising figure came after the Pentagon has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to tackle the rate of military suicides in recent years, and requested over half a billion dollars for the issue in 2025. In 2022, Congress mandated that it set up the Suicide Prevention Response and Independent Review Committee to provide 83 recommendations for the Pentagon to address military suicides. The committee recommended improving the delivery of mental health care, addressing stigma and other barriers to care and revising suicide prevention training. MEET PETE HEGSETH: THE ‘RECOVERING NEOCON’ AND PENTAGON CRITIC WHO’S BEEN TAPPED FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who established the committee, said the new findings “urgently demonstrate the need for the Department to redouble its work in the complex fields of suicide prevention and postvention.” The largest increase in suicides was found in the Marine Corps, followed by the Army, Air Force and then Navy. Sixty-one percent of victims were enlisted males younger than 30. Troops should expect to see “much more dynamic” suicide prevention training that “meets them where they are” going forward, Hoyt said. “I think we’ve heard loud and clear the message from the front lines that previous suicide prevention training–whether slide decks or just videos that people watch without any facilitation–were not working,” he said. “In many cases, we may have had effective programs but weren’t measuring whether or not they were having a substantial impact on the overall number.”

Wasserman Schultz sparks backlash for claiming Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is facing backlash online for claiming that Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence (DNI), is “likely a Russian asset.” Wasserman Schultz made the claims, without providing any evidence, on MSNBC Friday, sparking furious responses with commentators honing in on the Florida lawmaker’s own record. “She is considered to be essentially by most assessments, a Russian asset and would be the most dangerous,” Wasserman Schultz said, before being cut off and asked, “Is that what you consider her?” TULSI GABBARD SAYS TRUMP ‘LISTENS’ AND ‘RECOGNIZES’ CHALLENGES AMERICANS FACE “Yes. There’s no question. I consider her someone who is likely a Russian asset who would be as the DNI, responsible for managing our entire intelligence community, hold all of our most significant intelligence information and secrets, and essentially would be a direct line to our enemies,” Wasserman Schultz said. The comments drew sharp criticism. “Tulsi Gabbard resigned as DNC Vice Chair in 2016 because Debbie Wasserman Schultz was rigging the election to ensure Hillary won — as Liz Warren, Donna Brazile and WL all showed,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote. “Imagine fighting for your country and then having pro-war cretins like this impugn your loyalties.” Commentator @TexasLindsay_ invoked the debunked Russian dossier scandal, which was used by Democrats to accuse President-elect Trump of being a Russian asset. “Debbie Wasserman Schulz was DNC Chair when Hillary Clinton ran for president—during the time the DNC got caught spying on Trump’s campaign paying to fabricate the fake Russian Dossier to discredit Trump.” “The fact that she’s now accusing Tulsi Gabbard of being a Russian asset is so outrageous, I can’t help but laugh at how stupid she thinks we all are.” HERE ARE THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT CANDIDATES FOR TOP POSTS IN TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION Ian Miles Cheong cited a scandal involving Wasserman Schultz’s former IT aide Imran Awan who was indicted for federal bank fraud and conspiracy and was arrested trying to leave the U.S. Wasserman Schultz was criticized over mishandling sensitive information by defending him. Awan eventually made a plea deal with the Justice Department. “This is pure defamation and it should not go unanswered,” Cheong wrote. Commentator Bo Snerdley also chimed in and said he truly hopes Gabbard sues Wasserman Schultz “for slander and defamation of character.” During the Friday interview, Wasserman Schultz attacked Gabbard for secretly meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, in 2017 who was accused of using chemical weapons on his own citizens during the country’s civil war. Gabbard refused to call him a war criminal during her 2020 presidential campaign and said she was skeptical that his government perpetrated a chemical weapons attack earlier that year that killed dozens of Syrians. “Tulsi Gabbard is someone who has met with war criminals, violated the Department of State’s guidance and secretly clandestinely went to Syria and met with Assad who gassed and attacked his own people with chemical weapons,” Wasserman Schultz said. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who bucked her party and switched to the Republican Party, once called her former party as a “bunch of warmongers.” It’s not the first time Democrats have accused Gabbard of being a Russian asset. GOV KRISTI NOEM REFLECTS ON TRUMP WIN, SAYS DEMOCRATS ‘TRY TO PUT WOMEN IN A BOX’ In a 2019 interview, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labeled her “favorite of the Russians” while citing apparent Russian media support for her. Gabbard served in the U.S. House of Representatives from early 2013 through early 2021 as a Democrat. She mounted a presidential bid in 2019 but ultimately dropped out in 2020 and backed Joe Biden. The Republican is also a veteran who served in Iraq, as well as an Army reservist. She was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves three years ago. The former lawmaker supported Trump during the 2024 election and announced that she was joining the Republican Party. “I’ve been a soldier for over 21 years, and currently serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve,” she noted in a post on Veterans Day this week. In a statement on Wednesday, Trump said that Gabbard “has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans.” “As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” Trump said, per a statement via his transition team. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!” The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. The current national intelligence director is Avril Haines. Once confirmed to the position, Gabbard will advise Trump, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council on national security matters. Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

What Trump’s Republican trifecta in his first administration accomplished, and where they failed: Flashback

The GOP is projected to control the House majority in the new Congress, giving President-elect Trump another red trifecta similar to what he had during the first two years of his first term in office. This will make Trump’s agenda easier to pursue without opposition from a Democratic majority. Republicans held a governing trifecta from 2017 to 2019. The GOP achieved much of their agenda, including sweeping tax reform and confirming judges to achieve a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. However, not all of their priorities cleared the finish line. Here’s a look at their major accomplishments and notable setbacks: WHAT DOES PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP’S WIN MEAN FOR US AMID WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL, HAMAS? One of the GOP’s most notable achievements during Trump’s first term was enacting major tax cuts for individuals and corporations while reshaping the tax code. No House Democrats supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. While Trump’s allies in Congress tried to completely roll back the Obama-era ACA, including a much-anticipated vote in the Senate that never happened, it failed by a narrow margin in the House. Republicans also failed to completely eliminate the so-called individual mandate from the ACA, but did succeed in zeroing out the financial penalty for failure to comply with it. TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT While Congress passed more restrictive immigration laws, the construction of Trump’s famous border wall was only partially successful. Trump requested $25 billion for building the wall, but Congress only approved $1.6 billion in the 2018 budget negotiations. In February 2019, after a monthlong government shutdown, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border and reallocated roughly $8 billion from other military construction projects and other sources to fund the border wall. In total, the Trump administration completed approximately 452 miles of border wall by the end of January 2021. TRUMP NOMINATES PETE HEGSETH TO SERVE AS DEFENSE SECRETARY Trump sent the Republican Senate nominations for 161 federal judges, of whom a significant number were confirmed. Two Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were also confirmed in the first half of his term. Trump’s third and final Supreme Court nomination, Amy Coney Barrett — who replaced the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — was accomplished in 2020, the last full year of his first term. Passing with bipartisan support in Congress, Trump signed the First Step Act into law in 2018 to reduce recidivism rates and expanded eligibility for compassionate release for certain federal inmates. By 2022, the First Step Act had led to the early release or reduced sentences of thousands of inmates.

New candidate emerges in crowded field as possible replacement for Vance’s Ohio Senate seat

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is considering an Ohio attorney and Trump surrogate to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Senate seat once he vacates the position and moves on to the White House, Fox News Digital has learned. Attorney Mehek Cooke, a Republican attorney who served as a political and legal surrogate for Trump in 2024, is under consideration to be chosen to fill Vance’s seat, a source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital. Cooke, known as a formidable fundraiser in the state of Ohio, has appeared on Fox News and was a vocal supporter of President-elect Trump during the 2024 campaign, where he won Ohio by 11 points and his endorsement in the state is viewed as carrying a significant amount of weight. State law dictates that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will select a Republican to take Vance’s spot in the Senate until a special election is held in November 2026 to determine who will serve the rest of Vance’s term, which ends in 2028. The winner of that special election will then have to run again in 2028 in order to start a new six-year term. VANCE IN ‘CATBIRD SEAT’ FOR 2028 GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, BUT THESE REPUBLICANS MAY ALSO RUN Cooke, who ran for Ohio House of Representatives in 2020, spent time as the assistant chief counsel in the Ohio governor’s office from 2012 to 2014 and in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, where she handled criminal cases involving corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking, asset forfeiture, and money laundering. Cooke, a wife and mother of two, was born in India and immigrated legally to the United States with her family at the age of 5. Cooke is also the founder and President of American Frontier Strategies and has worked as a political consultant and commentator across the state of Ohio. Marty Savko, the chair of the earth moving company Savko & Sons which has been in business in Columbus, Ohio for 75 years, told Fox News Digital that Cooke “is totally 100% in touch with both the average man and wife” in Ohio. “She’s a proud American citizen, she’s proud of this country and she very much has a kind heart and realizes that not everyone has the same opportunities. She is a firm believer in what’s right and what’s wrong, and you know where she stands.” “She’s not part of a clique like some people get to Washington or even get in the state house here in Ohio, and they become part of a clique, and they vote with the clique. No, she’s a person of her own determination and what she feels is the best for everyone involved, and she’s honest, extremely honest, extremely forthright.” Savko, a prominent Trump donor, told Fox News Digital that Cooke is a “fighter” in the same mold as the last two senators who have been elected statewide, JD Vance and Bernie Moreno. Multiple sources close to the situation told Fox News Digital that elevating women is important to DeWine and that he would like to appoint a woman to the seat, although gender is not the deciding factor. Republican Jane Timken, an Ohio attorney who served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party from 2017 to 2021, is also widely considered to be another potential Vance replacement. Other candidates reportedly in the mix include Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, Attorney General Dave Yost, Treasurer Robert Sprague and State Sen. Matt Dolan. Yost, who has said he wouldn’t accept the position, and Husted are believed to be focused on the upcoming governor’s race to replace DeWine. Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had been floated as a possibility but he recently accepted a position in the Trump administration and withdrew his name. Three Republicans currently serving in Congress – Reps. Mike Carey, David Joyce and Warren Davidson – are believed to be options as well. HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS TO SEN. RUBIO’S SEAT IF HE BECOMES SECRETARY OF STATE AND WHO COULD REPLACE HIM Carey, who has strong relationships with both Trump and DeWine, reached out to DeWine shortly after Vance was selected, a source familiar with the discussion said this summer. DeWine, who is viewed as part of the Republican establishment, will face a balancing act of appointing someone highly regarded by both the Trump base of the party and the more moderate wing. Sources tell Fox News Digital that the decision from DeWine is likely not imminent and will be announced in line with whenever Vance officially vacates his seat. Cooke and a spokesperson for DeWine’s office declined to comment. DeWine press secretary Dan Tierney told Fox News Digital earlier this month that the timing of the governor’s announcement will depend on when Vance officially vacates his Senate seat and that the governor plans to appoint a “workhorse.” Tierney said that DeWine will be looking for a “workhorse” who is “qualified and ready to earn the trust of Ohio voters for another term.”

Manipur: Curfew reimposed in Imphal amid prevailing law and order situation

Authorities in Imphal West District have re-imposed a curfew starting at 4:30 am on Saturday until further notice, due to the prevailing law and order situation in the district.

Manipur: Internet suspended in 7 districts, curfew imposed after six bodies recovered near Jirimukh village

Their bodies were found near a river in the remote village of Jirimukh along the Manipur-Assam border and were sent to Silchar Medical College Hospital in Assam for postmortem.

Pennsylvania Democrats openly admit to counting illegal ballots in McCormick-Casey race

As the contested Pennsylvania Senate race barrels towards a $1 million recount, Democratic officials in a few blue counties are openly admitting to counting disqualified ballots in defiance of state law and court orders. The Associated Press has called the race for Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, who currently holds a 26,000 vote lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. But Casey has refused to concede and insisted that every vote be counted. The close margin – within one percentage point – triggered an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law. Yet the critical question is which votes should be counted? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the election that mail ballots lacking formally required signatures or dates should not be included in official results. However, Democratic officials in Philadelphia and surrounding Bucks, Centre and Montgomery counties are ignoring that court order. “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, said Thursday as she and other Democrats voted to reject a GOP-led challenge to ballots that should be disqualified. MCCORMICK-CASEY RECOUNT COST TO TOP $1M; GOP SLAMS BLUE COUNTIES DEFYING HIGH COURT “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.” Officials estimate there are fewer than 80,000 provisional ballots left to be counted across the Keystone State, less than two percent of the vote, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. While the chance that Casey could make up his deficit is small, his attorneys and McCormick’s have repeatedly clashed at county commissioner meetings this week as local officials have debated over whether to count small handfuls of ballots. Democrats insist they are acting in good faith in believing that rejecting someone’s vote because of a clerical error violates their constitutional rights. In Montgomery County, for example, officials deliberated for 30 minutes over whether about 180 provisional ballots without secrecy envelopes should be counted. The Inquirer reported that several of these votes came from the same precincts, suggesting an error made by poll workers. Democratic board chair Neil Makhija voted to accept the ballots so that voters would not be disenfranchised. But other members of the board, including one Democrat and a Republican, voted to reject the ballots on the advice of county attorneys who determined the law clearly states they should not be counted. “We’re talking about constitutional rights and I cannot take an action to throw out someone’s ballot that is validly cast, otherwise, over an issue that we know … is immaterial,” Makhija said during Thursday’s meeting. The board ultimately voted to count a total of 501 contested ballots. Similar disputes over hundreds of votes have played out in Bucks, Chester and Delaware Counties. HOCHUL SPURS BIPARTISAN OUTRAGE AMID TOLL REBOOT BEFORE TRUMP CAN BLOCK IT Separately, there is ongoing litigation over undated mail ballots or those submitted with an incorrect date on the outer envelope. Several local Democratic officials have said an incorrect date should not be grounds to disqualify a person’s vote. Lower courts have agreed with that reasoning, but Pennsylvania’s high court has determined the law requires correct dates for mail ballots to be counted. The McCormick campaign and Republican National Committee have asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reaffirm its Nov. 1 decision to stop Democrats from including undated mail ballots in their final tallies. The Casey campaign and the Pennsylvania Department of State have countered with legal motions arguing that the counties should be left alone and that the high court need not intervene as the challenges work their way through the appellate process. The open defiance of court precedent has prompted Republicans to cry foul. “Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: Democrats in Pennsylvania are brazenly trying to break the law by attempting to count illegal ballots. They are doing this because they want to steal a senate seat,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley wrote on X. He said the RNC has filed four lawsuits contesting county decisions on undated ballots and vowed to “fight for as long as necessary” to ensure that McCormick’s victory is upheld. “This is the exact kind of left-wing election interference that undermines voter confidence,” Whatley said. FETTERMAN DEFENDS CASEY-MCCORMICK RECOUNT; DINGS KARI LAKE Democrats have defended their actions and pointed out that McCormick himself had argued to count contested ballots when he trailed celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. In that case, McCormick’s lawyer told a state judge that the object of Pennsylvania’s election law is to let people vote, “not to play games of ‘gotcha’ with them.” There are potentially thousands of mail-in ballots with wrong or missing dates on the return envelope across the state, though most counties have not moved to count them. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A state-mandated recount must be finished by noon on Nov. 26. Officials have said they do not expect the process to change the outcome of the race by more than a few hundred votes. Both McCormick and Casey were in Washington, D.C., this week. Casey participated in official Senate business and cast votes on the floor while McCormick attended new member orientation and met with other members of the new Republican majority to vote for conference leadership. Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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