Go to Source: Breitbart News
US declares military takeover in Niger a coup
The State Department officially declared Tuesday that the recent takeover of Niger’s government by a group of military leaders was a coup, cutting back on U.S. aid in the country.
A military junta put the country’s president on house arrest and took control of the government in late July, raising tensions in the region.
The U.S. government had previously refused to use the term “coup,” which allowed some aid programs in the country to continue. With the designation, the U.S. will end all aid to Niger, including a $300 million economic grant for the country announced last year.
Humanitarian aid to Niger will continue, the State Department said.
“We stand with the Nigerien people in their aspirations for democracy, prosperity, and stability,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. “Since the coup, we have supported the Economic Community of West African States’ [ECOWAS] efforts to work with Niger to achieve a return to democratic rule.”
“Any resumption of U.S. assistance will require action by the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland to usher in democratic governance in a quick and credible timeframe,” he added.
The coup faced fierce opposition from ECOWAS, which threatened a military intervention in the country in August. The new Nigerien regime has received support from Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also controlled by military governments.
Niger has served as a key U.S. ally in the region and hosts about 1,100 U.S. troops, largely deployed for counterterrorism efforts. It is unclear if the troops will be moved out of the country.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on Friday in preparation for the announcement.
Blinken “reiterated that a democratically elected, civilian-led government presents the best opportunity to ensure that Niger remains a strong partner in security and development in the region,” the State Department said in a brief statement.
“The United States calls for the immediate release of all those unjustly detained following the military takeover,” they added.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
Ilhan Omar condemns Israel’s military response to Hamas, says ‘solution’ is ‘negotiated peace’
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., attacked Israel’s response to an unprecedented assault by Hamas in an extensive thread on social media Monday.
Omar, a longtime critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinians, seemed to equate the Israeli victims killed by Hamas terrorists this weekend and Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli response. “Just as we honor the humanity of the hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians and 9 Americans who were killed this weekend, we must honor the humanity of the innocent Palestinian civilians who have been killed and whose lives are upended,” she wrote.
Omar went on to highlight the hardships of living in Gaza, accusing Israel of operating an “apartheid” state in an attempt to explain violence by Hamas.
“Palestinian residents of the West Bank have scarcely better lives than Gazans—with the routine destruction of their ancestral homes, destruction of their crops, and violent attacks by Israeli settlers,” Omar wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
LIVE UPDATES: HAMAS ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
“Palestinians have few recourses for justice and accountability. Attacks by the IDF and settlers against Palestinians are regularly met with impunity. Efforts to seek justice in international courts are stonewalled by the Israeli government, with U.S. support,” she added. “As the world is condemning Hamas’s attacks, we must also oppose an Israeli military response that has already taken the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, including nearly two dozen children.”
Omar’s office did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital asking her to elaborate on the thread.
The congresswoman did not clarify how she believed Israel should have responded to Saturday’s attack, which left at least 1,000 Israelis dead and 2,700 more wounded. The Minnesota Democrat’s only suggestion for a “solution to this horror” was “a negotiated peace—with Israelis and Palestinians enjoying equal rights and security guarantees.”
Later in the thread, Omar claimed that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had called all Palestinians “human animals” in comments earlier this week, though his full statement made clear that he was referring only to Hamas terrorists.
FAMILIES OF ISRAELIS FEARED KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS SPEAK OUT
“We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed,” Gallant said. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”
Israeli forces have deployed tens of thousands of troops to the area around Gaza City, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested a ground invasion may be imminent.
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U.S. calls for ‘proportionate’ Israeli response while not openly setting red lines
Biden administration officials want Israel to retaliate against the vicious Hamas attack in a “proportionate” manner, but they won’t say if there are any lines Jerusalem shouldn’t cross.
Israel is responding to the worst attack it has faced in 50 years by pummeling Gaza with airstrikes and besieging the coastal strip, killing nearly 700 in the enclave home to 2.3 million people. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized, Israel is at war and embarking on a campaign to significantly weaken the threat posed by Hamas.
To put what happened in perspective, the U.S. Holocaust Museum posted on X on Monday that “We just witnessed the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.” As of Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed.
President Joe Biden and his team repeat that Israel has every right to respond to the violence. But it was unclear if Washington asked Israel to refrain from certain maneuvers, either out of fear the conflict could escalate further or to keep Israel skeptics in the Democratic party from raising complaints.
No such request appears to have been made so far.
“We remain focused on holding the terrorists accountable for their attacks, and we support Israel taking necessary and proportionate action to defend its country and protect its people, and in doing so U.S. citizens living, working and traveling in Israel,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in an emailed statement. At least 11 Americans in Israel are confirmed dead from the attacks, with the administration noting it’s possible U.S. citizens are among Hamas’ hostages.
In previous crises in the region, the Biden administration has taken a paced response. Initially, the U.S. — at least in public — appears to give Israel carte blanche in its response. Over time, Washington ramps up the pressure to compel Jerusalem to agree to a ceasefire. (Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement on X two days ago calling for a cease-fire before it was deleted.) This is the playbook Biden used in 2021 during a much smaller skirmish between Israel and Hamas, ending the conflict in 11 days.
Israel is stressing the need to operate to the full extent of its military capabilities and so far, the Biden administration appears to be listening. Netanyahu told Biden “we have to go in” to Gaza, explaining that a ground invasion was the only way to root out Hamas, Axios reported. “Biden did not try to press Netanyahu or convince him not to go through with a ground operation,” according to the report.
Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are slated to address the crisis later Tuesday. The way they talk about the risk to civilians in Gaza could give a sense of how far they’re willing to go in trying to limit Israel’s response.
The administration doesn’t want civilians in Gaza to suffer for Hamas’ alleged war crimes, even though the Israeli Defense Forces already noted some will unfortunately die, largely because Hamas has offices in buildings near homes, schools and businesses.
Asked by a reporter whether the administration had warned Israel in any way not to target civilians, the NSC’s John Kirby notedthat Israel was counterattacking “aggressively, and given the size and scale and the scope of the violence, we understand where that’s coming from.” But, Kirby continued, Israel as a democracy shares values with the United States “when it comes to [the] law of war and respect for life.”
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer reiterated that point in a Monday night interview on MSNBC, saying, “It is our advice that this war be conducted based on principles of international law.”
That suggests that while there hasn’t been a warning, there is trust within the administration that Israel will do what it can to protect noncombatant Gazans. Meanwhile, Israel has called up around 300,000 reservists to help with the campaign against Hamas — a campaign Netanyahu is talking about in severe terms.
“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said Monday. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
Go to Source: Politico
Ramaswamy offers US strategy plan on Israel, blasts other GOP contenders for lack of ‘pragmatic’ solutions
FIRST ON FOX: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday proposed a six-prong plan for how the U.S. should strategize amid Israel’s war with Hamas while calling out former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others who have not offered “a pragmatic path forward.”
“The Hamas-led attacks on Israel were barbaric and cannot be condoned. We require a rational response that supports Israel while avoiding another U.S.-led disaster in the Middle East,” Ramaswamy said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital. “I am disappointed and deeply concerned by the remarks of certain presidential candidates including Nikki Haley who have irresponsibly called the Hamas attack an ‘attack on America’ and rabidly shout ‘FINISH THEM!!’ repeatedly without offering a pragmatic path forward.”
“The U.S. should provide Israel with diplomatic support, intelligence-sharing, and necessary munitions to defend its own homeland, while taking special care to avoid a broader regional war in the Middle East that would *not* advance U.S. interests,” he added.
Ramaswamy’s plan, according to his campaign, would:
Nikki Haley, a fellow contender in the GOP race for the White House, said Saturday that the war between Israel and Hamas “should be personal” for all Americans.
“This should be personal for every woman and man in America, why? Because when they did this surprise attack, when they took these hostages when they murdered these families, they were celebrating, and what were they celebrating? They were saying death to Israel, death to America,” she said. “This is not just an attack on Israel, this is an attack on America because they hate us just as much.”
Haley’s campaign declined to comment for this story.
Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and invaded towns along the Gaza border on Saturday, killing at least 1,000 people, a death toll not seen in Israel in decades, wounding thousands more and prompting Israel to declare war against the Iran-backed group. Hamas also took hostages, including young children, Israel has said.
The number those killed in the conflict has surpassed 1,600 dead and thousands wounded on both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told President Biden that a ground operation in the Gaza Strip is necessary after Hamas launched deadly strikes on his country.
“Israel is at war. We didn’t want this war,” he said Monday. “It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it.”
He said Hamas has “made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come.”
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Biden stands by claim climate change is greatest threat as Hamas unleashes terror across Israel
The White House is standing by President Biden’s statement earlier this year that climate change poses the largest threat to humanity, even as thousands of people have been killed or wounded after a radical Iran-backed terrorist group unleashed violence across Israel over the weekend.
John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, reaffirmed Monday that the president and his administration still believe climate change is the largest threat facing the U.S. and world since it is capable of “wiping out all human life.” His comments came as thousands of people, including hundreds of innocent civilians, have been killed or injured during the conflict triggered over the weekend after a series of unprovoked attacks by the Hamas terrorist group.
“Absolutely he does,” Kirby told Fox News when asked whether Biden stands by his comments on the risks posed by climate change. “Climate change is an existential threat. It actually threatens and is capable of wiping out all human life on earth over time.”
“The president believes wholeheartedly that climate change is an existential threat to all of human life on the planet. That’s just science,” he continued. “But it doesn’t mean that we turn our back on the other challenges facing this country and our allies and partners around the world.”
BIDEN’S DEPLETION OF EMERGENCY OIL STOCKS COMES BACK INTO FOCUS AMID ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR, PRICE SURGE
Biden remarked in January that climate change poses the “single-most existential threat to humanity we’ve ever faced, including nuclear weapons,” adding that it is a “real big problem.” Months earlier, he said global warming is “literally an existential threat to our nation and to the world” and posed a clear and present danger to the entire world.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
POMPEO TORCHES KIRBY AS WH SHIFTS BLAME TO TRUMP FOR AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL
Since taking office in early 2021, Biden has pursued an aggressive climate change agenda, pushing for a rapid transition to green energy while issuing regulations to curb the future use of fossil fuels which generate the vast majority of power across U.S. sectors.
Meanwhile, of those reported dead as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, at least 11 were confirmed to be American citizens.
Overall, the escalating conflict has claimed the lives of at least 1,600 people, including at least 1,000 Israelis, according to the latest information.
BLINKEN DELETES POST CALLING FOR CEASEFIRE
“We have only started striking Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli warplanes unleashed an aerial bombardment of downtown Gaza City, and the nation is considering sending its troops on the ground into Palestinian territories.
“Our countries will support Israel in its efforts to defend itself and its people against such atrocities. We further emphasize that this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage,” the governments of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy said in a statement Monday.
“Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region,” they added.
Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
AOC, liberal politicians slam pro-Palestine rally amid growing backlash: ‘bigotry and callousness’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, and other elected Democrats have moved to distance themselves from events that took place at a pro-Palestine rally promoted by the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
On Sunday, a protest in New York organized by the DSA – a group that boasts six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including members of “the Squad” – took place in Times Square and then advanced down 42nd Street to Bryant Park, close to the Israeli Consulate.
The DSA laid the blame for the attack at Israel’s feet, posting on social media: “Today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime – a regime that receives billions in funding from the United States.”
Demonstrators at the rally also burned and stomped on an Israeli flag and taunted Israel supporters with an image of a swastika. Others exhibited signs that read, “Palestinian return by any means necessary,” “Israeli apartheid & genocide funded by the U.S.” and “End all U.S. aid to Israel!”
In her first take on the rally, Ocasio-Cortez, a member of DSA, told Politico, “It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it. That is a core tenet of solidarity.”
“The bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment. It also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation,” she added.
New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani, who was elected with support from DSA and delivered a keynote address at the group’s national convention in August, also spoke out against the “rhetoric at the rally.”
“My support for Palestinian liberation should never be confused for a celebration of the loss of civilian life,” Mamdani told the outlet. “I condemn the killing of civilians and rhetoric at a rally [on Sunday] seeking to make light of such deaths.”
Prior to the rally, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the planned gathering as “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
“The people of Israel are facing violent terrorist attacks and civilian kidnappings. I condemn plans to rally in Times Square tomorrow in support of the perpetrators of these horrific actions. The planned rally is abhorrent and morally repugnant,” Hochul wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
During a Monday evening “Stand with Israel” rally at the Congregation Beth Emeth reform synagogue in Albany, Hochul said, “There will be a war, but it will be a just war.”
PRO-PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS IN US CHEER HAMAS TAKING HOSTAGES FROM MUSIC FESTIVAL: ‘HONOR OUR MARTYRS’
“Mark my words, I assure you as the governor I will make sure that we leave no stone unturned to find out how we can make sure that every single one of you is safe when you gather, because that is your God-given right to exercise your belief, your religion, your true identity,” she added, according to Spectrum News 1.
Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and invaded towns along the Gaza border on Saturday, killing at least 700 people, a death toll not seen in Israel in decades, wounding thousands more and prompting Israel to declare war against the Iran-backed group. Hamas also took hostages, including young children, Israel has said.
The number those killed in the conflict has surpassed 1,600 dead and thousands wounded on both sides.
Palestinian supporters are urging Israel to halt the killing of civilians as several buildings have been brought down and destroyed during continuous airstrikes on Hamas positions in the densely populated Gaza Strip.
Many Palestinian supporters have said the coverage of the conflict has been one-sided and claim their suffering is never amplified compared to that of their Israeli counterparts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told President Biden that a ground operation in the Gaza Strip is necessary after Hamas launched deadly strikes on his country.
“Israel is at war. We didn’t want this war,” he said Monday. “It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it.”
He said Hamas has “made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come.”
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Nolte: Hamas Terrorist Calls and Taunts Family of Kidnapped Daughters
Go to Source: Breitbart News
Omarosa on Trump: ‘I fell for a con man’
Omarosa Manigault Newman says she “fell for a con man” when she appeared on “The Apprentice” with Donald Trump and later worked for him in the White House.
“For me, I just can’t believe I fell for a con man, a con man who turned out to be the biggest fraud,” Manigault Newman said of the former president in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” released Monday.
Manigault Newman became a household name in 2004 when she appeared as a contestant on the first season of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” hosted by Trump.
Much of the backdrop of the reality TV competition that the cast “thought was real was fabricated, and it was just a house of cards,” Manigault Newman, 49, claimed.
She was eventually hired by Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and later joined his White House before exiting in 2017 and becoming a critic of the 45th commander in chief.
In her 2018 tell-all, Manigault Newman accused Trump of using racist and misogynistic language about Black people and women.
“So, I mean, we were duped, and we were young entrepreneurs thinking that we were really gonna learn something from this brilliant businessman,” Manigault Newman said of her time on “The Apprentice.”
The “House of Villains” cast member added, “All we learned was not the art of the deal but the art of the con.”
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill
GOP attorneys general push for fix to ‘catch-and-release loophole’ at southern border, citing terror threat
FIRST ON FOX: Republican attorneys general, led by Florida AG Ashley Moody, are calling on the Biden administration to fix what they say is a catch-and-release “loophole” — calling for urgency in the wake of the terror attack in Israel.
The coalition of 27 states has written to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the agency to make regulatory changes that “close the catch-and-release loophole that [DHS] is currently exploiting to implement its mass release policy at the Southwest border.”
The petition to initiate rulemaking notes language in U.S. Code 1225 that specifies that migrants crossing illegally or presented at a port of entry “shall be detained” if they are not entitled to be admitted.
FLORIDA AG MOODY MOVES TO BLOCK DHS FROM RELEASING MIGRANTS INTO INTERIOR WITH COURT DATES
However, the attorneys general say that DHS has been using language in U.S. Code 1226, which says that foreign nationals to which it applies “may” be detained or may be released. The attorneys general say it is that power officials have been using to release migrants into the U.S. — citing stats that more than 100,000 were released via that authority in August alone.
They call the use of the authority in such a manner “flagrantly unlawful,” and argue that it applies to those already in the U.S., and not to those crossing the border illegally — an argument Florida has made in court as part of its efforts to block mass releases of migrants into the interior.
“It is not at all clear that any regulation expressly authorizes DHS’s uses of 1226(a) at the Southwest border,” they say, arguing that DHS should “amend its regulations to expressly prohibit these releases.”
They argue this is necessary not only because the practice is unlawful — a claim which DHS has denied, and said it is conducting immigration policy in accordance with federal law — but because catch-and-release is “having horrendous effects” on the U.S.
They note the enormous migrant numbers, which hit a new monthly record in September, at the southern border and cite court rulings which tie the increase in numbers to the policies of the administration.
They also note that due to the number of releases into the interior, some migrants do not have their first court date until 10 or more years in the future.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Moody cited the recent terror attacks in Israel as an impetus for the move.
“The Biden administration has let more than 7 million illegal immigrants across the U.S. border — including more than 1.5 million gotaways and 264 suspected terrorists. Given the massive flood of unvetted migrants into the interior of our country, there is no way to know who is in the U.S. or if they plan to enact terror on Americans,” she said.
MIGRANT NUMBERS HIT HIGHEST EVER RECORDED IN ONE MONTH: SOURCES
“Given the risks illustrated by what happened this weekend in Israel, I am leading a coalition of 27 attorneys general taking action to force the Biden administration to enact responsible rulemaking to ensure our nation’s security at our Southern Border.”
The attorneys general ask Mayorkas that if he disagrees with their position, “we ask that you promptly deny this petition on the basis so we may seek judicial review.”
Signed onto the petition are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The Biden administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide migration challenge and has argued that its policies of expanding international cooperation, widening lawful migration pathways while also reasserting consequences for illegal entry since the ending of Title 42 in May is working. Officials have also pointed to stats showing that there have been more removals and repatriations since May than in the same period in 2019.
However, it says that Congress needs to provide additional funding and pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill to fix what it says is a “broken” system.
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