Pentagon lacks counter-drone procedure leading to incursions like at Langley, experts say
New reporting about over a dozen unidentified drones that were allowed to fly over Langley Air Force Base has prompted fresh calls for change to a threat that experts say will only become more prevalent. For more than two weeks in December 2023, the mystery drones traipsed into restricted airspace over the installation, home to key national security facilities and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. Experts say the incident is likely one of many that U.S. authorities are underprepared to tackle in an evolving threat environment. Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do – other than allow the 20-foot-long drones to hover near their classified facilities. The Pentagon has said little about the incidents other than to confirm they occurred after a Wall Street Journal report this month. Whether it knows where the drones came from or what they were doing is unclear. “I think they don’t know,” one congressional source familiar with defense operations told Fox News Digital. UNKNOWN DRONE FLEET BREACHED US MILITARY BASE AIRSPACE IN VIRGINIA FOR 17 STRAIGHT DAYS: REPORT As defense-minded lawmakers sought more answers, Langley officials referred them to the FBI, who referred them to Northern Command, who referred them to local law enforcement, the source said. “They should easily be able to know exactly what they are,” said Brett Velicovich, an advisor to drone tech company Red Cat Holdings and a Fox News contributor. “There are all kinds of radar systems out there. Each drone has its own fingerprint.” “Saying we don’t know what it is, and if we’re taking them for their word that they don’t know what it is, that speaks to a larger issue that the administration really just got caught with its pants down, and they’ve failed.” If the drones were a foreign adversary testing the limits of U.S. defenses, the message they took home is that encroaching on restricted airspace is easy enough, according to Velicovich. U.S. capabilities offer many different ways to take down a drone, including shooting them, zapping them with heat lasers and jamming the frequencies. Whether Congress needs to change the laws is a point of contention, but one thing that is clear is incursions like the one at Langley prompt confusion over legal authority. When drones encroach near bases overseas, the rules of engagement give service members more leeway to engage with them. However, U.S. law does not allow the military to shoot down drones near its bases unless they pose an imminent threat. While Langley has the authority to protect its coastal base, the Coast Guard has the authority to protect the waters, the Federal Aviation Administration has authority over U.S. airspace – some of the most congested with commercial airliners in the world. “After 9/11, we invested all this money in homeland security to deal with exactly the kind of things that we’re seeing today,” said James Carafano, defense expert at the Heritage Foundation. “We built this whole infrastructure to deal with that. And it just seems, where is it today? We’ve been very lackadaisical about this.” “We’re going to have a terrorist attack here at some point. It’s just going to happen.” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, argued that the Defense Department needs to use the authority it has been given. “Drone incursions at DOD facilities are alarming. The Department needs to focus on deploying real, effective capabilities across critical installations using existing authorities given to them by Congress. I will continue to conduct oversight of the department’s response to these drone incursions,” he said in a statement. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, promised to introduce legislation to give the Pentagon greater authority to shoot down drones. “Military leaders currently lack the authority to engage until there is an imminent threat posed to our men and women in uniform. I am working on legislation to provide the Department of Defense with the necessary authorities to engage drones or unidentified aircrafts that breach our military airspace before it is too late to respond.” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for Congress to pass laws laying out counter-drone procedures. “Adversaries like China, Russia and Iran are improving their drone capabilities every month. Our defenses are not catching up,” he said. “Congress needs to develop and execute a comprehensive set of plans to strengthen our counter-drone protocol and technological development right away. There is no time to waste. The lives of service members and all Americans are at risk.” This month, Chinese national Fengyun Shi was sentenced to six months in prison for capturing drone footage over Huntington Ingalls Industries Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, 10 miles from Langley Air Force Base. Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast. US INVESTIGATING RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED DOCS ON ISRAEL’S PLANNED STRIKE ON IRAN U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the facility. “There are a lot of regulations on terms of what the DoD is allowed to do in the U.S. homeland that make this a really difficult problem,” said Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. Even jamming the GPS systems, so drones freeze up and fall out of the sky, risks collateral damage. It could interfere with nearby air traffic. “Unlike when you’re in Iraq or somewhere and there are drones flying overhead, you can fire off a missile and intercept them without as much worry, because you’re in the middle of the desert,” he continuted. “We’re going to see more of this in the
Trump plans to tour the devastation left by Hurricane Helene in latest battleground state stop
Former President Trump will visit the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina as part of a series of campaign stops across the battleground state on Monday. The former president will travel to “see the devastation of Hurricane Helene first-hand” and deliver remarks to the press in Asheville at noon, according to a press release from the campaign. Trump is also scheduled to make another stop in Greenville, North Carolina, before attending an “11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting” with Eric Trump and Ben Carson in Concord, North Carolina, on Monday evening. The visit marks one of several campaign stops by Trump to the Old North State since the deadly hurricane swept across the southeast, which had the greatest impact on mostly red counties won by Trump last cycle. The state is expected to play a crucial role in determining the results of the 2024 presidential election – where 16 electoral votes are on the line come Nov. 5. BALANCE OF POWER: HELENE COULD SHIFT POLITICAL WINDS TOWARD TRUMP, NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS SAY While Trump visits North Carolina, Vice President Kamala Harris will make campaign stops in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Monday. Harris visited North Carolina following the deadly storm, attending a barbecue in Raleigh before packing aid supplies, such as diapers, for victims of the hurricane in October. ‘CAN’T WAIT TIL THE LAST MINUTE’: NC CONGRESSMAN RAISES ALARM ON VOTER ACCESS IN AREAS HARD HIT BY HELENE Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was joined by former President Bill Clinton at a recent campaign stop in the battleground state, which was narrowly won by Trump in 2020. President Biden has been working across the aisle to deliver diaster relief to states impacted by the storm, visiting North Carolina and ordering an additional 500 active-duty troops to the western counties in the state. The North Carolina Elections Board passed a bipartisan emergency resolution that reformed the state’s early voting process in 13 counties. The adjustments include changing or adding voting sites and maintaining their availability, extending the hours when a voting site is open, and adding or reducing days that any site is open within the early voting period, according to the election board. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Supreme Court rejects lawyer Michael Cohen lawsuit against Trump over alleged retaliation
The Supreme Court dismissed ex-lawyer Michael Cohen’s appeal to revive a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump on Monday, shutting down Cohen’s accusations for the last time. Cohen had claimed his 2020 imprisonment was retaliation by Trump’s administration for publishing a book critical of the former president. Cohen had served three years behind bars for several federal crimes relating to his work for Trump, including lying to Congress. He was released on home confinement during the pandemic, but was sent back to prison after refusing to sign an agreement limiting his postings on social media and contacts with the press. This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
Georgia casts over 1.4M ballots as critical battleground shatters early voting records
One of the most pivotal battleground states in the 2024 election has now seen more than 1.4 million residents cast their ballots early. Georgia has been shattering turnout records since early voting began on Tuesday. As of Monday morning, the Georgia state elections website showed 1,347,843 ballots were cast in person so far, while just over 80,000 absentee ballots have been returned and accepted. GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE “Today there is Sunday voting in several counties. And AGAIN the voters have set another record,” Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, wrote on X yesterday. “As of 2:30 over 25,000 Georgians had cast ballots today. The previous Sunday record was 24k back in 2022. Keep up the great work counties and voters.” The Sunday total wound up being just over 42,400 votes cast – nearly double the 2022 tally. On the first day of early voting alone, Georgians cast more than 313,000 in-person ballots. That was 123% higher than the previous Day 1 record, according to Sterling. FORMER REPUBLICAN US SENATOR ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, SAYS ELECTION OFFERS ‘STARK CHOICE’ Total turnout so far accounts for nearly 20% of Georgia’s population of active voters. White voters made up the largest share of that total so far, followed by Black voters. Georgia women also slightly outnumbered men in the pre-Election Day tally by 55.4% to 45.4%. Georgia has been a key focal point in the high-stakes White House battle between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both sides have poured enormous amounts of time and resources into the state, which President Biden won by less than 1% in 2020. GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED GOP VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE Harris spent her 60th birthday in Atlanta on Sunday, when she visited two churches alongside celebrity guest Stevie Wonder. Meanwhile, Trump will participate in a religious event himself in rural Georgia this week, according to WRBL. The former president will be in Pike County on Wednesday in support of congressional candidate Brian Jack, who worked in the first Trump administration.
New report shows clear frontrunner in Harris, Trump campaign cash race
With 15 days until Election Day in November, polls point to a margin-of-error race for the White House between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. But in the dash for campaign cash – another key metric in presidential politics – there is one very clear frontrunner: Harris. The vice president entered the final full month of the campaign with a massive financial advantage over the former president, according to new federal fundraising filings late Sunday. The Harris campaign hauled in $221.8 million in September, according to the filings, more than triple the $63 million brought in by the Trump campaign last month. CRUNCH TIME: HARRIS TEAMING UP WITH OBAMAS NEXT WEEK ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL Roughly a quarter of the money raked in by the vice president came during celebrity-studded fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco at the end of last month. Harris has vastly outraised and outspent Trump since replacing President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket three months ago, and that trend continued in September. The largest expense by the Harris campaign was for paid media – mostly to run ads. CAMPAIGN BATTLE BETWEEN THE BILLIONAIRES: MARK CUBAN AND ELON MUSK HIT THE TRAIL FOR HARRIS AND TRUMP But the vice president still enjoyed a large cash-on-hand advantage over Trump entering October. The Harris campaign reported $187 million in its coffers at the end of September, compared to $119 million for the Trump campaign. The fundraising totals reported by the two major party campaigns don’t include additional money raked in by the two national party committees, other affiliated organizations – both campaigns use a slew of affiliated fundraising committees to haul in cash – or aligned super-PACs supporting Harris and Trump. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee enjoyed a fundraising lead over Trump and the Republican National Committee earlier this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC by $331 million to $264 million during the second quarter of 2024 fundraising. Biden enjoyed a brief fundraising surge after his disastrous performance in his late June debate with Trump as donors briefly shelled out big bucks in a sign of support for the 81-year-old president. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION But Biden’s halting and shaky debate delivery also instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental ability to serve another four years in the White House and spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the president to end his bid for a second term. The brief surge in fundraising didn’t last and, by early July, began to significantly slow down. Biden bowed out of the 2024 race on July 21, and the party quickly consolidated around Harris, who instantly saw her fundraising soar, spurred by small-dollar donations. The Harris campaign on Sunday spotlighted its grassroots donors, as it announced that 95% of its donations in the past three months were under $200. This isn’t the first time Trump’s faced a fundraising deficit. He raised less than 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in his White House victory and Biden four years ago in his re-election defeat. When asked about the fundraising deficit, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley told Fox News Digital last month that “the Democrats have a ton of money. The Democrats always have a ton of money.” However, he emphasized that “we absolutely have the resources that we need to get our message out to all the voters that we’re talking to and feel very comfortable that we’re going to be able to see this campaign through and we’re going to win on Nov. 5.” The presidential campaigns later this week will give us another look at their finances – as they’re required on Thursday to file reports to the Federal Election Commission for their fundraising for the first 16 days of October. Fundraising, along with polling, is a key metric in campaign politics and a measure of a candidate’s popularity and their campaign’s strength. The money raised can be used to – among other things – hire staff, expand grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts, pay to produce and run ads on TV, radio, digital and mailers, and for candidate travel. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
SC dismisses Arvind Kejriwal’s plea in case over ‘sarcastic and derogatory’ remark made on PM Modi’s degree
Earlier this year, the High Court had declined to quash the summons issued to Kejriwal in the defamation case.
Trump, Harris neck and neck as Dems lose ground among Latino, Black voters: poll
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in recent polling as they enter the final leg of the presidential race, as the Democratic nominee appears to be losing ground among Latino and Black voters. A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll places Harris at 45% and Trump at 44%. In August, the same poll found that Harris was ahead of Trump 48% to 43% on the heels of the Democratic National Convention. The new survey released Monday questioned 1,000 likely voters by landline and cell phone from Oct. 14-18. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Harris has fallen back in support among Latino and Black voters in the seven weeks between surveys. The new poll found Latino voters now back Trump by 49% to 38%. Black voters prefer Harris by 72% to 17%, but that 55-point edge is significantly less than the advantage Democrats traditionally enjoy. BLACK GROUP FIRES BACK AT OBAMA FOR ‘INSULTING’ HARRIS PITCH: ‘WORST KIND OF IDENTITY POLITICS’ For the subsamples of Latino and Black voters, the survey’s margins of error are plus or minus 9 points, signaling possible repositioning of up to 18 points in one direction or the other. President Biden benefited from staggering support from Black and Latino voters four years ago. A Pew Research Center analysis found 92% of Black voters and 59% of Latino voters supported Biden in the 2020 race. Trump has made inroads among Black and Latino voters in the 2024 race by courting men, as he campaigns on the economy and crime. ‘PROPAGANDA’: HISPANIC REPUBLICANS BLAST MEDIA ATTACKS ON THEIR RACE, IDEOLOGY Observing the shift in Democrats’ traditional edge, the Harris campaign unveiled an economic agenda for Black men last week. It promised small business loans and the legalization of recreational marijuana. Her campaign also ramped up events targeting Latino and Black voters in battleground states, and former President Barack Obama chastised Black men, claiming they could be hesitant to vote for a woman as president. In a separate poll conducted across seven battleground states, 47% of respondents said they would definitely or probably back Harris, while 47% said they would definitely or probably support Trump. According to the Washington Post-Schar School survey, 49% of likely voters support Harris, while 48% support Trump. Among swing states, Trump is performing well in Arizona, while Harris fares best in Georgia. The poll also surveyed a portion of the electorate in the swing states dubbed “deciders” – people who have not fully committed to a candidate. About 74% of voters in the swing states said they would definitely vote for Harris or Trump – an increase from the 58% who said they had already decided in the spring. Over a five-month period, uncommitted voters narrowed from 42% to 26%. The latest survey showed 21% of likely voters across the seven states were not fully committed to either Harris or Trump. According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (AP-NORC) poll released on Monday, most registered voters are divided on whether Trump or Harris are better equipped to handle specific economic issues, including unemployment, the cost of groceries and housing, or tariffs. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The survey found only 38% of registered voters say the national economy is doing well, while 62% of respondents expressed believing the economy is in poor condition.
Squad member calls for ‘radically’ changing the Supreme Court: ‘SCOTUS reform is on the ballot in November’
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is calling for “radically” altering the U.S. Supreme Court by increasing the number of justices on the bench, and more. “We need to radically reform the broken Supreme Court,” the congresswoman declared in social media posts, calling for “expanding the number of Justices,” “a binding, enforceable code of ethics,” and “imposing term limits.” “SCOTUS reform is on the ballot in November,” the lawmaker asserted. OMAR BREAKS ‘SQUAD’ LOSING STREAK WITH PRIMARY VICTORY While there are currently nine slots on the high court, some lawmakers advocate for increasing the number of seats, a proposal referred to by critics as court packing. Omar, who took office in 2019 and is currently seeking re-election, has been an outspoken advocate of the policy. “Expand the court,” she tweeted in 2020 after the Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court. ILHAN OMAR’S ‘PRO-GENOCIDE’ JEWS REMARK SPARKS HOUSE CENSURE EFFORT Omar and dozens of other Democrats have supported proposed legislation that would add four seats to the Supreme Court, expanding it from nine to 13, but the Judiciary Act of 2023 has not been brought up for a vote. Three of the nine justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court were nominated by then-President Donald Trump during his White House tenure: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate the same year, was the latest member seated on the Supreme Court. REPS. ILHAN OMAR, CORI BUSH MIX UP MEMORIAL DAY WITH VETERANS DAY IN SINCE-DELETED POSTS ON X Unlike presidents and members of Congress, Supreme Court justices do not face term limits. “Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” the Constitution states.
Beyond Rumors: Adichunchanagiri Mutt’s enduring contributions to Karnataka and beyond
The mutt promptly ensured his admission to a registered mental health center to stabilize his condition.
Delhi Pollution: Rise in respiratory illness amid ‘very poor’ air quality in Delhi-NCR, AQI reaches…
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the rising pollution in the capital.