Thousands march as vote on curtailing Israel court's powers nears
By Dan Williams HEMED, Israel Thousands of Israelis opposed to a judicial overhaul planned by Prime Minister Benjamin
2023-07-22 18:23
Hungary’s Orban Taunts Romania, Sharpening Ethnicity Dispute
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a series of taunts against Romania on Saturday, deepening a dispute over
2023-07-22 18:23
Heat, War and Export Bans: Global Food Threats Are On the Rise
As scorching temperatures ravage farms from the US to China, crop harvests, fruit production and dairy output are
2023-07-22 15:49
US intel officials: 'No reason to doubt' Putin claims Russia has moved nuclear weapons to Belarus
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has "no reason to doubt" Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Russia has moved a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, senior DIA officials said on Friday.
2023-07-22 07:51
Biden administration planning to take legal action against Texas over floating Rio Grande border wall plan
The Department of Justice warned Texas on Thursday it plans to sue over the state’s decision to install a floating wall in the middle of the Rio Grande river, which forms the international border between the US and Mexico. “The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DoJ wrote in a letter to state officials, which was obtained by CNN. The letter says US law “prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”).” “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution,” Texas governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on twitter on Friday. “We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.” (The governor claimed last year he is authorised under the US Constitution to carry out military-style actions along the border because of a clause concerning states under “invasion,” though legal scholars have said this is not an accurate interpretation of the provision.) The warning from the federal government is the latest challenge to the governor’s plan to install a 1,000-foot long aquatic wall of buoys and netting across the river at Eagle Pass, Texas, a busy border-crossing site. As The Independent reported, a local kayak guide has also sued the state, arguing that Texas doesn’t have jurisdiction to build an impediment along an international borderline. Mexico has also said it is investigating whether Texas broke international law with the barriers. “You’ve taken a beautiful waterway and you’ve converted it into a war zone,” Jessie Fuentes, a kayak guide who works on the Rio Grande, told The Independent. Migrant advocates have also strongly criticised the buoys. They argue such installations don’t actually slow down immigration, but rather will push migrants towards ever more remote places to cross the border, increasing the likelihood they will face a perilous and potentially lethal crossing. An estimated 250 people died crossing the Rio Grande last year, and that was before Texas installed what amounts to a giant net in the river. “It’s been proven time after time that these so-called prevention through deterrence strategies don’t work,” Fernando García of the Border Network for Human Rights told The Independent. “They have not stopped immigration flows, but what they have done is they have put immigrants at risk.” “All of this is death by policy.” Criticisms have also come from the inside. A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper, one of countless state officers deployed to the border under Mr Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, wrote in a message to superiors that the obstacles at the border, as well as alleged orders from the state to push migrants back into the water, showed that Texas has “stepped over a line into the inhumane.” The medic also detailed multiple instances in June and July in which military-style barriers along the Rio Grande caused migrants to suffer severe injuries and medical issues. He described a man who lacerated his leg on razor wire attached to a buoy while trying to rescue his son, a 15-year-old who broke his leg trying to avoid the floating barrier, and a 19-year-old who had a miscarriage while trapped in razor wire. “We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,” Trooper Nicholas Wingate told the Texas DPS. “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such." Texas officials have denied ordering troopers to push migrants into the water, and the claims from the trooper are under investigation. Read More Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’ White House condemns ‘abhorrent’ reports of Texas troopers being told to push migrant children into Rio Grande Border Patrol fails to assess medical needs for children with preexisting conditions, report says Trump demands cameras in courtroom for potential election fraud case Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ DeSantis says charging Trump for Jan 6 is ‘criminalising political differences’
2023-07-22 07:26
Alabama GOP-controlled legislature approves congressional map with just one majority-Black district despite court order
Alabama's Republican-controlled legislature gave final passage Friday to a new congressional map with just one majority-Black district, despite a court order calling for the redrawn lines to create two majority-Black districts or "something quite close to it."
2023-07-22 07:19
Trump lawyer says there's 'no need' to appear before grand jury in special counsel's 2020 election probe
John Lauro, the recent addition to former President Donald Trump's legal team, told Fox News on Friday there is no reason for the former president to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the 2020 election aftermath, adding that Trump "did absolutely nothing wrong."
2023-07-22 05:46
Spain's election: some see choices for a 'least bad' option
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's election on Sunday will likely produce a win for the centre-right People's Party, opinion polls show, but
2023-07-22 04:27
Biden elevates CIA director to Cabinet, a symbolic nod to central role
President Joe Biden is elevating CIA Director Bill Burns to his Cabinet, a symbolic measure that nonetheless represents the major role he has played in national security amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
2023-07-22 04:22
Putin tells Poland any aggression against Belarus is attack on Russia
MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union,
2023-07-22 04:16
FBI searched for name of US senator facing foreign threat in latest improper use of intelligence database
Newly declassified court documents revealed Friday that the FBI improperly searched for the name of a US senator in an intelligence database after indications of a foreign threat against the lawmaker, as the intelligence program has come under a barrage of criticism in Congress and from privacy advocates.
2023-07-22 03:58
Fargo shooter who killed a police officer used 'binary trigger' device, had stockpile of weapons at home
The man police say shot and killed a Fargo police officer and shot two more officers and another person used a "binary trigger" device that allowed him to fire his weapon rapidly during the attack on July 14, according to North Dakota officials.
2023-07-22 03:54