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Border state Democrat Ruben Gallego backs GOP’s Laken Riley Act ahead of Senate vote

Border state Democrat Ruben Gallego backs GOP’s Laken Riley Act ahead of Senate vote

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., became the second Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, which will get a vote on the Senate floor Friday after passing the House on Tuesday.  The measure would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain illegal immigrants that have committed theft, burglary or shoplifting until they are deported. Under the bill, states would also have standing to take civil action against members of the federal government who do not enforce immigration law.  “Arizonans know the real-life consequences of today’s border crisis,” Gallego told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We must give law enforcement the means to take action when illegal immigrants break the law, to prevent situations like what occurred to Laken Riley.” “I will continue to fight for the safety of Arizonans by pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and increased border security.”  RFK JR TO MEET WITH SLEW OF DEMS INCLUDING ELIZABETH WARREN, BERNIE SANDERS The bill was re-introduced in the 119th Congress by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in the House and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., in the Senate. It was named for the 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was found dead on the University of Georgia campus in February. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant, was found guilty on 10 total counts, including felony murder. He initially pleaded not guilty. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in November.  The House passed the bill, 264 to 159, on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats joining Republicans. TRUMP, GOP SENATORS TO HUDDLE AT CAPITOL, WEIGH STRATEGY ON BUDGET, TAXES AND BORDER “I’d like to thank Senator Gallego for cosponsoring the bipartisan Laken Riley Act. This commonsense legislation would keep American families safe, and every single senator should support it,” Britt said in a statement after Gallego joined the bill.  The Alabama senator reintroduced the bill in the Senate on Tuesday after first debuting it last year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., quickly teed the measure up for a floor vote on Friday.  Britt’s bill has the full backing of every Republican in the Senate and is now co-sponsored by Democrat Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Gallego.  MIDWESTERN STATE SENATOR REVIVES DOGE-ALIGNED BILLS AS GOP PREPARES FOR DC TAKEOVER Gallego notably voted in favor of the bill in the House last year, one of a few dozen Democrats to do so.  The Arizona Democrat won the swing state’s Senate race in November, taking over the seat vacated by former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who did not run for re-election. Gallego defeated Trump ally Kari Lake in the election, despite President-elect Donald Trump carrying the battleground state.  On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., revealed to Fox News Digital he would be voting in favor of the measure. The Democrat is up for re-election in Michigan in 2026, another state won by Trump.  TRANSGENDER BILL BARRING MEN FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS TO GET FLOOR VOTE IN NEWLY GOP-LED SENATE Republicans will ultimately have a 53-seat majority in the Senate. However, because Sen.-elect Jim Justice of West Virginia delayed his swearing-in, the conference only has a 52-seat majority.  To overcome the legislative filibuster, the bill needs 60 votes. The measure’s fate is thus expected to come down to the votes of a handful of Democrats. In particular, the vote will put a spotlight on the Georgia Senate delegation, as Riley was a constituent of theirs. All eyes will be on Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who has his own re-election battle in 2026 in yet another Trump-won state. Ossoff did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

House GOP mounts Trump-backed push to expand concealed carry permits for millions of Americans

House GOP mounts Trump-backed push to expand concealed carry permits for millions of Americans

A member of House GOP leadership has introduced a new bill to radically expand concealed carry permissions for Americans across the country. National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson, R-N.C., the leader of the House GOP campaign arm, is unveiling his Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act on Tuesday, a bill already backed by more than 120 fellow House Republicans. It’s also gotten support from a lone member of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine. “What we’re talking about is just requiring states to recognize the permit of another state just like you recognize a driver’s license,” Hudson told Fox News Digital. “When I drive to D.C. from North Carolina across Virginia, I don’t stop at the Virginia line and take a driver’s test to get another license. The state recognizes that North Carolina license.” President-elect Trump has already said he would sign such a bill if it reached his desk. BIDEN TO SIGN EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMED AT REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE “I will sign concealed carry reciprocity. Your Second Amendment does not end at the state line,” he said in a video from the beginning of his 2024 campaign. His son, Donald Trump Jr., shared the clip days after his father won the presidency in early November. Hudson said he has discussed the issue with Trump but not about the specific legislation. “I know I’ll need his help to get it through the Senate,” the North Carolina Republican said. The bill previously passed the House in 2017 but was not taken up in the Senate. WATCHDOG SEEKS TO HALT 11TH-HOUR BIDEN DOJ EFFORT TO HANDCUFF KY POLICE OVER BREONNA TAYLOR INCIDENT He is optimistic this time, however, that the bill can get all the way to the White House, given Republicans’ control of Congress and the presidency. “I think we’ve got the best chance of getting this into law we’ve had since 2017,” Hudson said.  Nearly 22 million Americans have some form of concealed carry permit, according to data published by the Social Science Research Network in 2023. He raised the example of Shaneen Allen, a single mother from Philadelphia who was pulled over during a routine traffic stop in New Jersey but was arrested for unlawful possession when she informed officers of her concealed carry permit and the firearm in her vehicle.  “There’s a hodgepodge of different state laws when it comes to concealed carry, and so this bill just clarifies that and then rectifies the situation where a law-abiding citizen can become a criminal just by crossing an invisible state line,” Hudson said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The bill is also backed by pro-gun groups Gun Owners of America (GOA), the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. “With all 50 states now issuing concealed carry permits, 49 states allowing nonresident carry and 29 states with permitless or constitutional carry, it is simply common sense for Congress to ensure that each state’s concealed carry license is valid in every other state,” GOA Director of Federal Affairs Aidan Johnston told Fox News Digital.

An ‘extraordinary man’: Former President Carter lies in state at Capitol ahead of state funeral

An ‘extraordinary man’: Former President Carter lies in state at Capitol ahead of state funeral

Former President Jimmy Carter’s body was brought to the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon and will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol before a state funeral set for Thursday across town at the Washington National Cathedral. Carter died Sunday, Dec. 29, at 100 years old. His death came just over a year after the death of his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter.  Carter’s ceremonial arrival at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda came after the start of six days of funeral ceremonies that began Saturday morning in the 39th president’s hometown of Plains, Georgia. Carter’s casket was greeted at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C., on Tuesday by the U.S. Air Force Band playing “Abide with Me.” From Andrews, a hearse took Carter’s casket to the U.S. Navy Memorial for a brief ceremony. Carter, a Naval Academy alumnus, served as a submarine officer before leaving the Navy to take over his family’s farm. At the Navy Memorial, the casket was transferred to a horse-drawn caisson for a procession up Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol. Vice President Harris delivered a eulogy at the Capitol’s lying-in-state ceremony and was joined by second gentleman Doug Emhoff in presenting a memorial wreath on behalf of the executive branch of the government. The U.S. Capitol ceremony on Tuesday featured remarks from both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., representing their respective houses of Congress. THE PRESIDENT WHO COULDN’T QUIT: JIMMY CARTER’S FOREIGN POLICY LEGACY GOES BEYOND WHITE HOUSE Johnson praised Carter in his speech as an “extraordinary man” and applauded both his service in the military and his work for charitable causes such as Habitat for Humanity and The Carter Center, the latter founded in 1982 by the former first couple. “I’m reminded of his admonition to quote, ‘Live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon,’” Johnson remarked on Tuesday. “And of his amazing personal reflection, ‘If I have one life and one chance to make it count for something.’” “We all agree that he certainly did,” he concluded. “So today, in these hallowed halls of our republic, we honor President Carter, his family and his enduring legacy that he leaves not only upon this nation but upon the world.” JIMMY CARTER, PIONEER OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT Johnson announced last month that Carter would lie in state in a letter to Carter’s second-eldest son, James Carter III. “In recognition of President Carter’s long and distinguished service to the nation, it is our intention to ask the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to permit his remains lie in state in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol,” the leaders wrote. Besides Carter, just 12 presidents have lain in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the use of which requires approval by both the House and Senate. The last president to lie in state was George H.W. Bush in December 2018. Since 1865, nearly all services held in the Capitol Rotunda have used the catafalque that was constructed in 1865 for displaying President Lincoln’s casket. Members of the public can view Carter’s casket from early Wednesday through early Thursday, when his official state funeral service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral.  The former president will be honored and remembered through several days of funeral services before returning to his hometown for private funeral and interment ceremonies. He will be laid to rest by his wife.

From ‘blackface’ bombshell to applauding a Nazi: Trudeau’s 5 biggest blunders as PM

From ‘blackface’ bombshell to applauding a Nazi: Trudeau’s 5 biggest blunders as PM

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will step down as the country’s leader, capping off nearly 10 years in office that included a handful of public blunders and controversies.  “I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau told reporters Monday. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.” His resignation comes after pressure from his own party, ​​the Liberal Party, mounted over his handling of the economy and immigration. Fox News Digital took a look at Trudeau’s years in office and compiled his top five biggest blunders that sparked condemnation from Canadians and other nations.  JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S RESIGNATION MET WITH GLEEFUL REACTION FROM CONSERVATIVES ONLINE: ‘THE WINNING CONTINUES!’ Trudeau found himself in a scandal in 2019 after photos surfaced of him wearing blackface in 2001. The prime minister said in an interview after the fact that he could not give a definitive number on how many times he had worn blackface.  “Darkening your face, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface,” he said in 2019. CANADIAN MP SLAMS TRUDEAU FOR ‘BLACKFACE’ WHILE ACCUSING ‘PATRIOTIC’ FREEDOM CONVOY OF RACISM “I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.” One photo from 2001 showed Trudeau at an Arabian Nights-themed gala wearing brownface. He also admitted that while in high school he wore blackface while singing the popular Jamaican song “Day-O.” In another instance, video footage from the 1990s showed Trudeau in blackface. The prime minister said at the time he could not recall how many times he wore blackface or brownface, a comment that haunted him in the following years as right-leaning lawmakers unleashed on Trudeau for his handling of the coronavirus in the 2020 era. “I will ask the prime minister, who may I remind this House wore blackface on more times than he can remember, apologize to the peace-loving, patriotic Canadians who are outside right now,” Conservative Member of Parliament Candice Bergen said of Trudeau in 2022 while demanding that he apologize to protesters who spoke out against the country’s strict coronavirus mandates. Canada had some of the strictest coronavirus mandates and requirements in the world, including making vaccinations mandatory in federally regulated workplaces, shutting down businesses for months and arresting citizens if they violated lockdown protocols.  In response to the lockdowns that disrupted the economy and day-to-day life, Canadians staged multiple protests across the country in 2022. Known as the “Freedom Convoy,” thousands of 18-wheelers and other trucks traveled to cities, as well as the Ambassador Bridge between Canada and Michigan, to protest vaccine mandates. Trudeau slammed the truckers and protesters as spreading “hateful rhetoric” while heaping praise on Black Lives Matter, which was at the forefront of the “defund the police” protests that rocked the U.S. in 2020. TRUDEAU SLAMS ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ FOR ‘HATEFUL RHETORIC,’ PREFERS TO SUPPORT BLM PROTESTERS “I have attended protests and rallies in the past when I agreed with the goals, when I supported the people expressing their concerns and their issues. Black Lives Matter is an excellent example of that,” Trudeau said in 2022.  “But I have also chosen to not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence toward fellow citizens, and a disrespect not just of science but of the front-line health workers and, quite frankly, the 90% of truckers who have been doing the right thing to keep Canadians safe, to put food on our tables. Canadians know where I stand. This is a moment for responsible leaders to think carefully about where they stand and who they stand with,” he continued. The Freedom Convoy protests were reported as being overwhelmingly peaceful by local media. Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski was repeatedly arrested, fined and imprisoned for breaking lockdown measures during the pandemic, sparking fierce condemnation from Christians and others worldwide.  In one viral video from 2021, police in Alberta were seen arresting and charging Pawlowski for “organizing an illegal in-person gathering” during Holy Week ahead of Easter. “Shame on you guys, this is not Communist China. Don’t you have family and kids? Whatever happened to ‘Canada, God keep our land glorious and free’?” Pawlowski told the arresting officers.  Amid his legal battles, Pawlowski slammed Trudeau for his arrests. CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST CANADIAN PASTORS WHO HELD SERVICES DURING PANDEMIC: ‘PLEASANTLY SURPRISED’ “I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to worship as I see fit, free to stand up for what I believe is right,” Pawlowski told Fox Digital in 2023. “Should we throw all of that out and move to Saudi Arabia? I think Justin Trudeau would fit in perfectly over there. Or maybe North Korea would be better for him. He loves dictatorship. I’ll buy him a ticket. Go, please enjoy it.” Restaurants and other business owners in the country were rocked by lockdown orders, including some businesses bucking the mandates and opening their doors during the pandemic.  In Toronto, one restaurant owner was seen handcuffed by police for defying the orders in 2020, while other business owners launched lawsuits at their government for imposing mandates on businesses during the pandemic. A report published in 2023 found an increase in restaurants that filed for bankruptcy as they dealt with a “post-pandemic hangover phase,” the CBC reported at the time. Trudeau, while describing himself as a “proud feminist,” admonished U.S. voters for electing President-elect Donald Trump after his decisive win over Vice President Harris in November. “We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult, march towards progress,” Trudeau said in December. “And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president.” TRUDEAU DECLARES HIMSELF ‘PROUD FEMINIST’ AFTER LAMENTING

Why Zuckerberg killed fact-checking as he keeps cozying up to Trump

Why Zuckerberg killed fact-checking as he keeps cozying up to Trump

Mark Zuckerberg, who often bends with the political winds, is getting out of the fact-checking business. And this is part of a broader effort by the Meta CEO to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump after a long and testy relationship. After a previous outcry, Zuck made a great show of declaring that Facebook would hire fact-checkers to combat misinformation on the globally popular site. That was a clear sign that Facebook was becoming more of a journalistic organization rather than a passive poster of users’ opinions (and dog pictures). But it didn’t work. In fact, it led to more info-suppression and censorship. Why should anyone believe a bunch of unknown fact-checkers working for one of the increasingly unpopular tech titans? MESSY BACKSTAGE JOCKEYING IN TRUMP TRANSITION COULD SHAPE HILL STRATEGY 4 YEARS AFTER JAN 6 Now Zuckerberg is pulling the plug, announcing his decision in a video to underscore its big-deal nature: “The problem with complex systems is they make mistakes. Even if they accidentally censor just 1 percent of posts. That’s millions of people. And we’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship. The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.” Let me jump in here. Zuckerberg bluntly admits, with that line about “cultural tipping point,” that he’s following the conventional wisdom–and, of course, the biggest tipping point is Trump’s election to a second term. And skeptics are portraying this as a bow to the president-elect and his team. TRUMP THREATENS MORE LAWSUITS AGAINST MEDIA AS ABC TO PAY $15 MILLION TO SETTLE CASE “So we’re gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms… “We’re going to get rid of fact checkers” and replace them with community notes, already used on X. “After Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy.  “We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth. But the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.”  It was Zuckerberg, along with the previous management at Twitter, that banned Trump after the Capitol riot. This led to plenty of Trumpian attacks on Facebook, and the president-elect told me he had flipped his position on banning TikTok because it would help Facebook, which he viewed as the greater danger. Trump said last summer that Zuckerberg plotted against him in 2020 and would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he did it again. The president-elect boiled it down in a posting: “ZUCKERBUCKS, DON’T DO IT!” Here’s a bit more from Z: “We’re going to simplify our content policies and get rid of a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are just out of touch with mainstream discourse. What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas. And it’s gone too far.”  Indeed it has. And I agree with that. In 2020, social media, led by Twitter, suppressed the New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop, dismissing it as Russian disinformation, though a year and a half later the establishment press suddenly declared hey, the laptop report was accurate. DONALD TRUMP’S TOUGH TALK—BUY GREENLAND! TAKE BACK PANAMA CANAL!—SPARKS DEFIANCE FROM MANY REPUBLICAN REBELS Let’s face it: People like Zuckerberg and Elon Musk (now embroiled in a war of words with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over an alleged coverup of gang rapes of young girls when Starmer was chief prosecutor) have immense clout. They are the new gatekeepers. With so-called legacy media less relevant–as we see with the mass exodus of top talent from Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post and the recent rise of podcasts–they control much of the public dialogue. And yes, they are private companies that can do what they want.  At yesterday’s marathon news conference, a reporter asked Trump about Zuckerberg: “Do you think he’s directly responding to the threats that you have made to him in the past with promises?” “Probably. Yeah, probably,” Trump said, twisting the knife a bit. Meanwhile, having made the obligatory trek to Mar-a-Lago for dinner, the CEO has taken a number of steps to join forces with the new administration. And it doesn’t hurt that Meta is kicking in a million bucks to the Trump inaugural. Zuck named prominent Republican lawyer Joel Kaplan as chief of global affairs, replacing a former British deputy prime minister. On “Fox & Friends” yesterday, Kaplan said:  “We’ve got a real opportunity now. We’ve got a new administration and a new president coming in who are big defenders of free expression, and that makes a difference. One of the things we’ve experienced is that when you have a U.S. president, an administration that’s pushing for censorship, it just makes it open season for other governments around the world that don’t even have the protections of the First Amendment to really put pressure on US companies. We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on that kind of thing around the world.” We’re going to work with President Trump. Got it? What’s more, Zuckerberg is adding Dana White, chief executive officer of United Fighting Championship, to the Meta board. White is a longtime Trump ally, so MAGA now has a voice inside the company. In other words, get with the program. Footnote: At his news conference, where Trump seemed angry about the latest court battles and plans to sentence him, the incoming president said–or “didn’t rule out,” in journalistic parlance– “military coercion” against two of his latest targets. “Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes,” he said. And Americans lost many lives building the Panama Canal. “It might be that you’ll have to do something.”  He’s not going to use military force against either one.

ESG Trends in Shaping Indian Real Estate

ESG Trends in Shaping Indian Real Estate

As global sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards increasingly shape investment decisions worldwide, the Indian real estate sector is also moving ahead and adopting ESG standards in its projects.