Fox News host Sean Hannity decries President Biden's "don't" policy regarding Israel and Iran on "Hannity."
SEAN HANNITY:Without a doubt, the biggest loser from last night to today was Joe Biden. Now, late last week, you might recall when the Islamic Republic of Iran was about to strike Israel, Biden politely told the mullahs in Iran: "Don't." And then he shuffled off to the beach.
The very next day, Iran — they attacked Israel; 170 drone strikes, more than 30 cruise missiles, 120 ballistic missiles. Ninety-nine percent of them were stopped. They never landed at their target. Now, a few days later, when Israel was planning their response, Biden once again uttered his favorite phrase: "Don't."
This time, he was telling Prime Minister Netanyahu, don't respond, give Iran a pass. Now Israel then disregarded Biden, thankfully, and they went ahead with last night's targeted attack and reportedly keeping Joe out of the loop — wisely so — until the last minute. Now the world simply has no respect for Joe Biden. That's why he is the biggest loser. Nobody listens to him, nobody cares what he has to say, nobody thinks he even knows what day of the week it is. And just to keep track, Biden's one-word foreign policy. I guess we can call it the Biden doctrine, the "don't" doctrine, is disregarded by our enemies, it is disregarded by our allies, and a few weeks ago, well the Houthi rebels, you might recall, they ignored Biden's "don't" and continued to attack cargo ships.
A 13-year-old Pennsylvania middle school student is accused of launching an unprovoked attack against a classmate this week, Upper Gwynedd Police confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The student allegedly came up behind the 12-year-old victim in the cafeteria on Wednesday and started violently hitting her on the head with a Stanley cup, FOX 29 reported.
Surveillance video of the incident viewed by FOX 29 showed the student’s head bleeding. She was taken to a hospital after the alleged assault with serious injuries.
Pennbrook Middle School parent Sarah Batory told FOX 29 her son witnessed the alleged attack and texted her about it.
"‘Mom, I’m scared,’" she said of his text. "I can’t even tell you what it’s like to get a text message like that when your kid’s at school."
She added, "He’s been a mess ever since. I just feel like there had to be multiple failures along the way for this to happen."
Another mother said she had previously reported the student, who could face charges over the incident, to school counselors because the 13-year-old had threatened her daughter.
"If it were taken serious, by multiple complaints, that little girl would’ve been in school today." She added that her daughter is "traumatized."
School officials sent a note to parents on Wednesday night, saying that resources would be available to students who witnessed the incident and that the principal planned to meet with the students Thursday to discuss the incident.
JESSE WATTERS:This New York trial is going to last two months. That's two months with Trump taken off the [campaign] trail. And if he says the Biden donating judge or the lying star witness or the crazy DA's corrupt, he violates the gag order and gets jailed. Biden can spew hoaxes, plagiarize Michael Rockefeller and Trump can't say a thing or go anywhere except on Wednesdays and on weekends. And with advantages like that, you'd think Biden would be cruising to re-election. Wrong. Biden world is trying to skip out on the debates. his buddy David Frum in The Atlantic says, "The Constitution is not debatable. The president does not participate in forums with a person under criminal indictment for his attempt to overthrow the Constitution."
Jail your rival, duck debates to save democracy. You know the real reason Biden doesn't want a debate? Because Trump is going to say your uncle was eaten by cannibals, huh Joe?
When Fox News correspondent CB Cotton attempted to interview some of the anti-Israel protesters milling about on Columbia University's campus in Upper Manhattan, she was confronted and told to speak with an unidentified "media team."
Cotton, who said she was permitted to film on campus by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, asked the protesters to elaborate on their demands to no avail.
Reporting on "The Ingraham Angle," Cotton told guest host Pete Hegseth she wanted to attempt to get live feedback from protesters, and approached some students in the crowd, and began speaking with a young woman wearing a keffiyeh and a facemask.
As she began to ask them questions, another student approached and interrupted.
"We have, like, a media team if you're interested in talking to people," said the student, who was also wearing a headscarf.
When Cotton replied that other broadcast journalists were present, the student who interrupted the interview said she would direct her to the "media team" under the stipulation that the Fox News cameraman would stop recording.
"Well, we just want to talk to you all about your demands for the university," Cotton said.
"OK, yeah, we do have a press team," the second student replied.
When Cotton indicated the Columbia Journalism school had welcomed Fox News in what was referred to as a "liberated zone," the student expressed surprise that the administration would speak on behalf of the protesting students.
"I will totally have that conversation with [Cotton] — I would appreciate your respect… " she continued before another student said, "Let's walk away for a second."
At that point, Cotton turned back to address Hegseth.
"[T]hey're very selective about who they allow into this 'liberated zone.' There are other cameras in there right now. We can see those cameras, but again, our camera is not allowed in," she said.
Hegseth noted how the students covered their faces when the camera approached.
Cotton later said that students unaffiliated with the protests have found them a distraction from typical campus life. Demonstrating students also recently pitched tents in the outdoor commons, but were met Thursday with pushback from law enforcement, which arrested about 100 protesters with the blessing of Columbia President Minouche Shafik, according to the New York Post.
According to an earlier Fox News report, the campus protesters have had to show identification to prove they should be on campus, as New York Post columnist and part-time Columbia student Rikki Schlott said on "Your World."
That, Schlott said, has led to a difference between student protests and more raucous protests occurring in the rest of Morningside Heights.
Throughout the day Friday, Fox News aired clips from the protests, including video of demonstrators near a food cart on what appeared to be Broadway in Morningside Heights, shouting that there should and will be more "October 7s," a reference to Hamas' massacre of Israeli civilians in 2023.
Chinese hackers are developing the "ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing," FBI director Christopher Wray said this week.
He added that the hackers are waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow."
The hacking campaign, known as Volt Typhoon, has embedded itself successfully in several American critical infrastructure companies that include telecommunications, energy and water, and others, he said.
"Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic," Wray said Thursday at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats.
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said this week that Volt Typhoon is part of a criminal ramsonware group and is not related to the government.
"Some in the US have been using origin-tracing of cyberattacks as a tool to hit and frame China, claiming the US to be the victim while it's the other way round, and politicizing cybersecurity issues," the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. said in a separate statement.
Microsoft and Google security experts have previously linked the hackers to China and Wray said the effort is connected to U.S.-Chinese tensions around Taiwan.
Wray gave a similar warning to lawmakers on Capitol Hill in February, saying Chinese hackers are intending to "wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities."
Wray and other government officials were testifying in front of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for a hearing titled "The Chinese Community Party Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security."
"There has been far too little public focus on the fact that PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure – our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems. And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now," Wray told lawmakers at the time.
Wray also said that "today, and literally every day" Chinese hackers are "actively attacking our economic security, engaging in wholesale theft of our innovation, and our personal and corporate data."
"And they don’t just hit our security and economy. They target our freedoms, reaching inside our borders, across America, to silence, coerce, and threaten our citizens and residents," Wray testified.
Fox News' Greg Norman and Reuters contributed to this report.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., praised her daughter Friday, a day after the Ivy League college student was arrested in New York City while participating in an anti-Israel protest.
"I am enormously proud of my daughter @israhirsi," Omar wrote on X.
"She has always led with courage and compassion, from organizing a statewide school walk out on the 20th anniversary of Columbine at the age of 15, to leading the biggest youth climate rally at our nation’s Capitol at 16, and now pushing her school to stand against genocide.
"Stepping up to change what you can’t tolerate is why we as a country have the right to speech, assembly, and petition enshrined in our constitution."
Isra Hirsi was among more than 100 people arrested and issued a summons for trespassing Thursday after protests at Columbia University. Hours earlier, she said she had been suspended from Barnard College for "standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide."
"Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated," Hirsi wrote on X. "We will stand resolute until our demands are met. our [sic] demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression."
Dozens of anti-Israel activists began protesting at Columbia University Wednesday morning, creating an encampment on the main lawn in protest of Israel's war against Hamas.
In a message to students, Columbia President Minouche Shafik said these "extraordinary steps" were necessary "because these are extraordinary circumstances," adding that protesters "violated a long list of rules and policies."
Omar questioned Shafik this week during a hearing in Washington about antisemitism on college campuses.
Both U.S. senators from Arkansas are pushing for answers from the Justice Department about a federal law enforcement search warrant execution last month that ended with an airport executive shot dead.
Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman are seeking answers in the death of Bryan Malinowski, the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.
Malinowski was shot on March 19 when agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) attempted to serve a search warrant at his home. Malinowski, 53, was wounded during a gunfire exchange with agents and died days later, the ATF said.
"The Department of Justice confirmed to us last night that the ATF agents involved in the execution of a search warrant of the home of Bryan Malinowski weren’t wearing body cameras," Cotton and Boozman said in a joint statement. "We will continue to press the Department to explain how this violation of its own policy could’ve happened and to disclose the full circumstances of this tragedy."
"Mr. Malinowski’s family and the public have a right to a full accounting of the facts," the Republican lawmakers added.
Bud Cummins, the attorney for the Malinowski family, noted that the ATF adopted a policy in 2022 that requires the use of body cameras during the execution of search warrants.
"This policy provides parameters for the use of BWCs [body-worn cameras] by TFOs [task force officers] to the extent that a state or local law enforcement agency requires their use by its officers during federal task force operations," states a Department of Justice memo dated June 2, 2022.
Cummins said the policy was created in response to the shooting of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville, Kentucky EMT worker who was killed as officers attempted to execute a search warrant.
"It is astounding for ATF to now claim they simply ignored this clear policy. It obviously raises more questions than it answers," Cummins told Fox News Digital.
As agents were attempting to serve the warrant in the early morning hours, Malinowski allegedly opened fire. An agent was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Malinowski was shot in the head by returning gunfire and died two days later.
He was under investigation for allegedly selling firearms without a license, some of which were used in crimes, authorities said. Between May 2021 and Feb. 27, 2024, Malinowski allegedly purchased more than 150 guns, which he then allegedly resold.
Malinowski purchased the firearms legally and allegedly checked a box on purchase forms that indicated the firearms were for him. However, he allegedly resold the weapons at gun shows where he acted as a vendor.
"At worst, Bryan Malinowski, a gun owner and gun enthusiast, stood accused of making private firearm sales to a person who may not have been legally entitled to purchase the guns," Malinowski's family said days after he died.
Morgan Wallen broke his silence Friday, nearly two weeks after he was arrested in Nashville for allegedly throwing a chair off a rooftop bar.
The country star took to X, formerly Twitter, to denounce his actions while reassuring fans his One Night at a Time tour will continue as planned.
"I didn't feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks," Wallen wrote on social media. "I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I'm not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility.
"I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change."
On April 7, Wallen, 30, was charged with three felony counts by the Metro Nashville Police Department after a chair he allegedly threw off the roof of the six-story Chief's bar landed on Broadway near two police officers.
"At 10:53 p.m. (April 7), Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities," Wallen's attorney, Worrick Robinson, told Fox News Digital.
The singer was booked for the arrest at 12:36 a.m. and released at 3:29 a.m. His bond was listed at $15,250.
A photo of Wallen outside the bar with police was published by TMZ.
Court documents show Wallen's first court appearance has been set for the morning of May 3. Later that night, he has a scheduled concert at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Wallen kicked off his One Night at a Time tour in Indianapolis April 4, and he is scheduled to perform throughout the country with Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith and Lauren Watkins opening.
Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Jon Pardi are just a few of the country stars set to join Wallen on tour this summer.
Wallen is scheduled to perform Saturday on the University of Mississippi campus, his first concert since his arrest.
The show at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium also marks his return to Ole Miss after last year's mishap, when Wallen abruptly canceled his performance after the opening acts had already finished and just minutes before he was to take the stage.
"After last night's show I started losing my voice so I spent the day resting up, talking to my doctor and working through my vocal exercises trying to get better," he explained in an Instagram story at the time. "I really thought I'd be able to take the stage and it kills me to deliver this so close to showtime, but my voice is shot and I am unable to sing.
Following the cancellation, one fan filed a lawsuit against Wallen on behalf of ticket buyers and sought compensatory damages for a possible class-action lawsuit. The suit was voluntarily withdrawn the following day.
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Giancarlo Esposito was struggling financially before he landed the role of a lifetime on "Breaking Bad."
Esposito, who portrayed Gus Fring on the hit AMC drama, reached such a low point in life in 2008 he considered arranging his own murder so his family could benefit from a life insurance policy.
"My way out in my brain was, ‘Hey, do you get life insurance if someone commits suicide? Do they get the bread?’" he said during an appearance on SiriusXM's Jim & Sam show. "My wife said, ‘Well that’s kind of tricky' … She had no idea why I was asking her this stuff.
"I just started scheming. If I got somebody to knock me off, death through misadventure, they would get the insurance.
"I had four kids. I wanted them to have a life. Like, it was a hard moment in time. I literally thought of self-annihilation so that they could survive. That’s how low I was."
Despite facing bankruptcy and enduring mental anguish, the idea of hurting his family was too much to bear.
"That was the first inkling that there was a way out, but I wouldn’t be here to be available to it or to be a part of it or to be there for my kids," Esposito said.
"Then I started to think that’s not viable because the pain I would cause them would be lifelong, and lifelong trauma that would just extend the generational trauma with which I’m trying to move away from. The light at the end of the tunnel was ‘Breaking Bad.’"
Esposito's role as the corrupt drug kingpin earned him an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in 2012 and opened doors to new career opportunities.
"Breaking Bad" premiered in 2008, starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn. The drug drama was regularly nominated for awards and earned 16 Emmys before it ended its run in 2013.
Esposito went on to star in "The Mandalorian," "The Boys," "Revolution" and "Once Upon A Time." He earned two Emmy nominations for his performance in the "Breaking Bad" spinoff, "Better Call Saul."
One California assemblywoman is calling the protests that brought traffic to a standstill on the Golden Gate Bridge earlier this week "unacceptable" and declaring the protesters who trapped drivers and first responders for hours need to be held accountable to "the fullest extent of the law."
Republican Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez, who represents California’s 71st district, spoke to Fox News Digital on Friday about the massive anti-Israel protests that had drivers stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge for up to seven hours.
The anti-Israel agitators shut down traffic on both lanes of the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, holding signs saying, "Stop the world for Gaza" and "End the siege on Gaza now!"
Local reports detailed how the California Highway Patrol (CHP) arrested dozens of protesters on Monday.
"These protests are not just impeding someone getting to work on time, but they're impeding, potentially, first responders from getting to the scene of an emergency or taking someone that needs help immediately," Sanchez said.
"They are impeding them, not just for a few minutes, which could be the difference between life or death, they are impeding them for hours and hours on end," she continued.
Sanchez acknowledged she believes in the right to protest and free speech, but said the extent to which these protesters went is "unacceptable."
She declared, "There has to be more productive, thoughtful ways because we don't want to hurt anyone that needs medical, necessary medical attention, from getting it."
The lawmaker mentioned new legislation she recently proposed that would help to discourage these protesters and also better empower law enforcement and prosecutors to hold them accountable.
Sanchez introduced AB 2742 in February, which ups the penalties for people impeding the pathways of emergency vehicles that are flashing sirens and within 1000 feet of them.
Sanchez said the bill would double fees that violators have to pay, stating, "If it's $100, double it to $200, up to $1,000. Nothing egregious. It would just give people more tools in the toolbox to hold protesters accountable. And I think that's a very reasonable ask."
She said the current fee is inadequate, as getting a misdemeanor ticket in this context costs "less than a speeding ticket."
"When you're talking about potentially stopping people from being able to get to emergency medical needs, right? It's less than a speeding ticket nowadays. So, I feel like asking just to double the penalty or the fines necessary to show them we are more serious about what you're doing, and please do it somewhere else, I don’t think that’s asking too much at all," Sanchez said.
She claimed authorities in Sacramento have been "very soft on crime" for the last couple of years, which has resulted in policies that don’t provide justice for those getting hurt on the ground.
Sanchez noted that if her bill is signed into law, it will "restore a little bit of balance" in the state.
"When there are adult temper tantrums like that, I want to see them held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Enough is enough," she said.
"It's unacceptable. And it needs to stop," Sanchez said, before mentioning she hopes both sides of the aisle find common ground and pass legislation that will prevent future chaos.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor said Friday that she won't bring charges against a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to evade state campaign finance laws in order to unseat the powerful speaker of the Assembly.
Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said she would not be filing felony charges against Rep. Janel Brandtjen as was recommended by the bipartisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
Ultimately, the state attorney general, Democrat Josh Kaul, could be asked to prosecute the cases.
The ethics commission alleges that Trump’s fundraising committee and Brandtjen, a Trump ally, conspired in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws to support the Republican primary challenger to Vos in 2022. It forwarded recommendations for filing felony charges to prosecutors in six counties.
Vos angered Trump by firing a former state Supreme Court justice Vos had hired to investigate Trump’s discredited allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Vos launched the probe under pressure from Trump, but eventually distanced himself from Trump’s effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in Wisconsin.
Trump and Brandtjen then tried to unseat Vos by backing a GOP primary opponent, Adam Steen. Trump called Steen a "motivated patriot" when endorsing him shortly before the 2022 primary. Vos, the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history, defeated Steen by just 260 votes.
The ethics commission alleges that Trump’s Save America political action committee, Brandtjen, Republican Party officials in three counties and Steen’s campaign conspired to avoid state fundraising limits as they steered at least $40,000 into the effort to defeat Vos.
Opper said her decision did not "clear Rep. Brandtjen of any wrongdoing, there is just not enough evidence to move forward to let a fact finder decide."
"I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her," Opper said in a statement. "While the intercepted communications, such as audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law."
WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.
Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.
The cases raise alarms about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S., especially in states that enacted strict abortion laws and sparked confusion around the treatment doctors can provide.
"It is shocking, it’s absolutely shocking," said Amelia Huntsberger, an OB/GYN in Oregon. "It is appalling that someone would show up to an emergency room and not receive care -- this is inconceivable."
It's happened despite federal mandates that the women be treated.
Federal law requires emergency rooms to treat or stabilize patients who are in active labor and provide a medical transfer to another hospital if they don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. Medical facilities must comply with the law if they accept Medicare funding.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday that could weaken those protections. The Biden administration has sued Idaho over its abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, arguing it conflicts with the federal law.
"No woman should be denied the care she needs," Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said in a statement. "All patients, including women who are experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies, should have access to emergency medical care required under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)."
PREGNANCY CARE AFTER ROE
Pregnant patients have "become radioactive to emergency departments" in states with extreme abortion restrictions, said Sara Rosenbaum, a George Washington University health law and policy professor.
"They are so scared of a pregnant patient, that the emergency medicine staff won’t even look. They just want these people gone," Rosenbaum said.
Consider what happened to a woman who was nine months pregnant and having contractions when she arrived at the Falls Community Hospital in Marlin, Texas, in July 2022, a week after the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion. The doctor on duty refused to see her.
"The physician came to the triage desk and told the patient that we did not have obstetric services or capabilities," hospital staff told federal investigators during interviews, according to documents. "The nursing staff informed the physician that we could test her for the presence of amniotic fluid. However, the physician adamantly recommended the patient drive to a Waco hospital."
Investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concluded Falls Community Hospital broke the law.
Reached by phone, an administrator at the hospital declined to comment on the incident.
The investigation was one of dozens the AP obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request filed in February 2023 that sought all pregnancy-related EMTALA complaints the previous year. One year after submitting the request, the federal government agreed to release only some complaints and investigative documents filed across just 19 states. The names of patients, doctors and medical staff were redacted from the documents.
Federal investigators looked into just over a dozen pregnancy-related complaints in those states during the months leading up to the U.S. Supreme Court's pivotal ruling on abortion in 2022. But more than two dozen complaints about emergency pregnancy care were lodged in the months after the decision was unveiled. It is not known how many complaints were filed last year as the records request only asked for 2022 complaints and the information is not publicly available otherwise.
The documents did not detail what happened to the patient turned away from the Falls Community Hospital.
'SHE IS BLEEDING A LOT'
Other pregnancies ended in catastrophe, the documents show.
At Sacred Heart Emergency Center in Houston, front desk staff refused to check in one woman after her husband asked for help delivering her baby that September. She miscarried in a restroom toilet in the emergency room lobby while her husband called 911 for help.
"She is bleeding a lot and had a miscarriage," the husband told first responders in his call, which was transcribed from Spanish in federal documents. "I’m here at the hospital but they told us they can’t help us because we are not their client."
Emergency crews, who arrived 20 minutes later and transferred the woman to a hospital, appeared confused over the staff's refusal to help the woman, according to 911 call transcripts.
One first responder told federal investigators that when a Sacred Heart Emergency Center staffer was asked about the gestational age of the fetus, the staffer replied: "No, we can’t tell you, she is not our patient. That’s why you are here."
A manager for Sacred Heart Emergency Center declined to comment. The facility is licensed in Texas as a freestanding emergency room, which means it is not physically connected to a hospital. State law requires those facilities to treat or stabilize patients, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services agency said in an email to AP.
Sacred Heart Emergency’s website says that it no longer accepts Medicare, a change that was made sometime after the woman miscarried, according to publicly available archives of the center's website.
Meanwhile, the staff at Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro, North Carolina, told a pregnant woman, who was complaining of stomach pain, that they would not be able to provide her with an ultrasound. The staff failed to tell her how risky it could be for her to depart without being stabilized, according to federal investigators. While en route to another hospital 45 minutes away, the woman gave birth in a car to a baby who did not survive.
Person Memorial Hospital self-reported the incident. A spokeswoman said the hospital continues to "provide ongoing education for our staff and providers to ensure compliance."
In Melbourne, Florida, a security guard at Holmes Regional Medical Center refused to let a pregnant woman into the triage area because she had brought a child with her. When the patient came back the next day, medical staff were unable to locate a fetal heartbeat. The center declined to comment on the case.
WHAT'S THE PENALTY?
Emergency rooms are subject to hefty fines when they turn away patients, fail to stabilize them or transfer them to another hospital for treatment. Violations can also put hospitals' Medicare funding at risk.
But it’s unclear what fines might be imposed on more than a dozen hospitals that the Biden administration says failed to properly treat pregnant patients in 2022.
It can take years for fines to be levied in these cases. The Health and Human Services agency, which enforces the law, declined to share if the hospitals have been referred to the agency's Office of Inspector General for penalties.
For Huntsberger, the OB-GYN, EMTALA was one of the few ways she felt protected to treat pregnant patients in Idaho, despite the state's abortion ban. She left Idaho last year to practice in Oregon because of the ban.
The threat of fines or loss of Medicare funding for violating EMTALA is a big deterrent that keeps hospitals from dumping patients, she said. Many couldn't keep their doors open if they lost Medicare funding.
She has been waiting to see how HHS penalizes two hospitals in Missouri and Kansas that HHS announced last year it was investigating after a pregnant woman, who was in preterm labor at 17 weeks, was denied an abortion.
"A lot of these situations are not reported, but even the ones that are — like the cases out of the Midwest — they're investigated but nothing really comes of it," Huntsberger said. "People are just going to keep providing substandard care or not providing care. The only way that changes is things like this."
NEXT UP FOR EMTALA
President Joe Biden and top U.S. health official Xavier Becerra have both publicly vowed vigilance in enforcing the law.
Even as states have enacted strict abortion laws, the White House has argued that if hospitals receive Medicare funds they must provide stabilizing care, including abortions.
In a statement to the AP, Becerra called it the "nation's bedrock law protecting Americans' right to life- and health-saving emergency medical care."
"And doctors, not politicians, should determine what constitutes emergency care," he added.
Idaho’s law allows abortion only if the life, not the health, of the mother is at risk. But the state's attorney general has argued that its abortion ban is "consistent" with federal law, which calls for emergency rooms to protect an unborn child in medical emergencies.
"The Biden administration has no business rewriting federal law to override Idaho’s law and force doctors to perform abortions," Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a statement earlier this year.
Now, the Supreme Court will weigh in. The case could have implications in other states like Arizona, which is reinstating an 1864 law that bans all abortions, with an exception only if the mother's life is at risk.
EMTALA was initially introduced decades ago because private hospitals would dump patients on county or state hospitals, often because they didn’t have insurance, said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Some hospitals also refused to see pregnant women when they did not have an established relationship with physicians on staff. If the court nullifies or weakens those protections, it could result in more hospitals turning away patients without fear of penalty from the federal government, she said.
"The government knows there’s a problem and is investigating and is doing something about that," Kolbi-Molinas said. "Without EMTALA, they wouldn’t be able to do that."
Jodie Foster continues to rack up accomplishments in Hollywood, but her two adult sons "don't seem to care" about her films.
At Foster's Handprint and Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, the award-winning actress and filmmaker spoke to Fox News Digital about being recognized and permanently cemented in Hollywood, which her sons Charlie and Kit aren't too interested in.
Foster's sons, whom she shares with ex Cydney Bernard, are fans of her HBO show, "True Detective," but that seems to be where they draw the line.
"Probably not," she said when asked if her sons would watch her other projects. "Sadly, probably not. They're very blasé about my career. They don't seem to be terribly interested."
However, Foster noted that Charlie and Kit were fans of "Silence of the Lambs," which debuted in 1991, and 1976's "Bugsy Malone," which she starred in as a child actress.
WATCH: Jodie Foster can't persuade her sons to watch her films
"They don't seem to care very much, sadly," she continued.
Foster fully supports her sons following in her footsteps and pursuing a career in acting. "Acting is a result of a lot of other things, too — about thinking and reading and wondering and curiosity. So, that's a part I get a hand in and try to get them inspired in life," she said.
Foster explained that she has one son who is pursuing a career in acting, and her other son is a scientist who "definitely does not want to act."
During her big day, which was presented by Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Foster couldn't help but remember her mom and what she would have thought of the ceremony. Evelyn Ella Almond passed away in 2019 at the age of 91.
"My mom, I kept thinking about my mom today," Foster said. "Because my mom would have really loved this, but she also would have been mad at me because she would've said, ‘Why didn’t you do this earlier and why are you not wearing high heels?'"
WATCH: Jodie Foster says cementing her hands and feet in front of Hollywood's TLC Chinese Theatre was a 'childhood dream'
Foster said she got a pedicure so that she could put her feet into the cement on Friday.
She told Fox News Digital that being honored in such a fashion was a "childhood fantasy dream" that she had as a child.
"We would go to dinner, and then we would come up here and try to put our feet in the cement and measure our feet, so it really does feel like a childhood fantasy," Foster said. "It doesn't even feel like it's related to my work as an actor. It feels like it's more about being a kid and wanting to be remembered somehow for what I did."
During his visit to a war memorial near his hometown in Pennsylvania, President Biden appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down during World War II.
"He flew single-engine planes, reconnaissance flights over New Guinea. He had volunteered because someone couldn't make it. He got shot down in an area where there were a lot of cannibals in New Guinea at the time," President Biden said. "They never recovered his body."
On Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that President Biden’s maternal uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, who he refers to as "Uncle Bosie," did die in WWII when his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean, but confirmed he was not eaten by cannibals, as Biden seemed to suggest on two separate occasions during his visit on Wednesday.
When asked about his comments on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed the President was having an "emotional moment" when he made his remarks.
"The president had an emotional and I think a symbolic moment. He had an opportunity as president to honor his uncle's service in uniform. He had an opportunity to be there as president, you know, to speak to people that put their lives on the line on behalf of this country," Jean-Pierre said.
"So his uncle, who lost his life when the military aircraft he was on crashed in the Pacific after taking off near New Guinea. The president highlighted his uncle's story as he made the case for honoring our sacred commitment to equip those we send to war and take care of them and their families when they come home," Jean-Pierre said. "And as he reiterated, the last thing American veterans are or the last thing Americans should be called are suckers and losers. And those types of words should not come from a commander in chief, as we have in the past."
Jean-Pierre's last statement was in reference to former President Trump, who President Biden claimed called soldiers "suckers and losers."
Trump was alleged to have made the comments as he was set to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery during a trip to France in Nov. 2018 while he was president.
The allegations, sourced anonymously in The Atlantic, described multiple offensive comments allegedly made by Trump toward fallen and captured U.S. service-members, including allegedly calling the World War I dead at an American military cemetery in France as "losers" and "suckers" in 2018.
"This is more made up Fake News given by disgusting & jealous failures in a disgraceful attempt to influence the 2020 Election!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter about the comments made against him.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox & Friends" that he was with the president for a good part of the trip to France. "I never heard him use the words that are described in that article," Pompeo said.
Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that she was part of the discussion about visiting the cemetery. "This never happened. I have sat in the room when our President called family members after their sons were killed in action and it was heart-wrenching. ... I am disgusted by this false attack."
Fox News' Peter Doocy continued to question Jean-Pierre about President Biden's comments about his uncle, acknowledging that Second Lieutenant Ambrose Jay Finnegan was a war hero, but stating that the Pentagon said, for unknown reasons, the plane was forced to ditch in the ocean.
"Both engines failed at low altitude. Why is President Biden saying he was shot down? There's no evidence of that. And why is he saying that his uncle was eaten by cannibals? That is a bad way to go," Doocy questioned.
"He lost his life. It's not. Look, I'm not, we should not make jokes about this," Jean-Pierre said.
Doocy reiterated that it wasn't a joke, but said again, that is what Biden said.
"I mean, your last line is, it's for a laugh, it's for a funny statement. And he takes this very seriously. His uncle, who served and protected this country, lost his life serving. And that should matter. You have a president that lifts our U.S. troops, our American veterans every day. Who thinks about them? Who actually thinks they're all heroes? And they are," Jean-Pierre sparred back.
Doocy asked one more time why he used the term "cannibalism" as Jean-Pierre gave her last comment.
"I think you're missing the point. The point is you have a president that lifts up American veterans, who lifts up our U.S. service members. And that's what matters. He understands how critical and how important it is to be commander in chief," Jean-Pierre finished.
Coban Porter, the younger brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter and Jontay Porter, who was recently banned from the NBA, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for killing a 42-year-old woman in a drunken driving crash last year.
Porter was a sophomore playing basketball for the University of Denver at the time of his arrest.
He was involved in a crash Jan. 22 just before 2 a.m., and an arrest affidavit said he was driving around 50 mph when he ran a red light at South University Boulevard and crashed his vehicle into Katharina Rothman’s vehicle.
Coban Porter pleaded guilty to DUI vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. As part of his plea agreement, Porter acknowledged he was driving drunk at 2 a.m. when he ran a red light near the university and crashed into Rothman's car, killing her and seriously injuring her 47-year-old passenger, Jason Branch.
In college, Porter averaged 11.4 points as a freshman with 2.8 rebounds and a 41.9% field goal percentage in 28 games.
The sentencing came two days after Jontay was banned by the NBA after an investigation found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games in violation of league rules and one day before Michael's Nuggets beging the playoffs in defense of their NBA title.
The league said an investigation discovered before "the [Toronto] Raptors’ March 20 game, [Jontay] disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor.
"Another individual with whom Porter associated and known to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1 million, wagering [Jontay] would underperform in the March 20 game."
He only played three minutes in the March 20 game, claiming to have been sick. The $80,000 prop bet was frozen and not paid out.
The NBA said it found that, from January to March of this year, while Jontay was either with the Raptors or its G League team, Raptors 905, he placed "at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s betting account."
Fox News' Scott Thompson, Ryan Gaydos, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mandisa, a gospel singer who kicked off her singing career as a contestant on "American Idol," died. She was 47.
Mandisa's father, John Hundley, confirmed her death to Fox News Digital, saying it was a shock. It's unclear what caused the singer's death.
Authorities are "conducting an active death investigation stemming from a body that was discovered Thursday evening at a residence," Franklin Police Department Public Information manager Max Wintz told Fox News Digital.
Mandisa competed on season 5 of "American Idol," which aired in 2006. She made it to the top nine in the music competition show. A year later, she released her first full-length album, "True Beauty."
During her time on "American Idol," she became known not only for her powerhouse vocals, but also for an inspiring speech she gave to judge Simon Cowell. After her audition, Cowell made remarks about her weight, and later in the process she confronted him about his comments in a conversation with him and his fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
"Simon, a lot of people want me to say a lot of things to you," she began. "But this is what I want to say to you is that, yes, you hurt me, and I cried and it was painful. It really was. But I want you to know that I've forgiven you and that you don't need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody. I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you."
Cowell immediately gave her a hug, telling her that he felt "humbled," then noting he felt "one millimeter small."
His comments helped inspire the name of her first album. In 2013, she told The Hollywood Reporter, "Coming straight off ‘American Idol,’ and having Simon Cowell talk to me about the way I look, I recorded ‘True Beauty,’ [asking questions like] 'Where am I going to put my value?’, ‘Am I going to determine my worth by people like Simon or am I going to put my trust into what God says about me?’"
The gospel album went on to do well on music charts, landing at no. 43 on the Billboard 200 after its release. It also earned her a Grammy nomination for best pop/contemporary gospel album.
Mandisa was nominated for the same award in 2010 for her album "Freedom," and for best contemporary Christian music album for 2012's "What If We Were Real." She won the award in 2014 for her album "Overcomer."
She notably was absent from the awards ceremony, explaining on her website the next day that she'd skipped the show because of her busy schedule, her reluctance at having her appearance critiqued and because "I have been struggling with being in the world, not of it lately. I have fallen prey to the alluring pull of flesh, pride, and selfish desires quite a bit recently."
That same year, she experienced an intense personal loss when a close friend died after battling cancer. In a 2017 interview on "Good Morning America," she revealed her friend's death left her questioning her faith and struggling with her mental health.
"It got pretty bad — to the point where if I had not gotten off that road I would not be sitting here today," she admitted. "God is what I say. He saved my life quite literally."
She also described friends staging an intervention for her in an attempt to help her come out of her deep depression, which inspired her last album, 2017's "Out of the Dark."
"I realized I don’t have to be perfect and have it all together," she said. "I am a masterpiece in the making, I’m just unfinished for right now."
In 2022, she released a memoir called "Out of the Dark: My Journey Through the Shadows to Find God's Joy." The book's publisher, K-Love, released a statement on her death via David Pierce, the organization's chief media officer.
"Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn," he said. "Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it wasno match for the size of her heart. Mandisa struggled, and she was vulnerable enough to share that with us, which helped us talk about our own struggles. Mandisa’s struggles are over. She is with the God she sang about now. While we are saddened, Mandisa is home. We’re praying for Mandisa’s family and friends and ask you to join us."
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol is asserting its authority to seize cannabis shipments — including commercial, state-authorized supplies — as licensed cannabis providers file complaints that more than $300,000 worth of marijuana has been confiscated in recent months at highway checkpoints in southern New Mexico.
New Mexico's Democratic governor says the disruptions prompted a discussion this week with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose impeachment charges were dismissed this week. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says she voiced concerns that the scrutiny of cannabis companies appears to be greater in New Mexico than states with regulated markets that aren't along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Authorized cannabis sales in New Mexico have exceeded $1 billion since regulation and taxation of the recreational market began two years ago. Yet cannabis transport drivers say they have been detained hours while supplies are seized at permanent Border Patrol checkpoints that filter inbound traffic for unauthorized migrants and illegal narcotics, typically located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the U.S. border.
"Secretary Mayorkas assured the governor that federal policies with respect to legalized cannabis have not changed," said Lujan Grisham spokesperson Michael Coleman in an email. "Regardless, the governor and her administration are working on a strategy to protect New Mexico’s cannabis industry."
Managers at 10 cannabis businesses including transporters last week petitioned New Mexico's congressional delegation to broker free passage of shipments, noting that jobs and investments are at stake, and that several couriers have been sidelined for "secondary inspection" and fingerprinted at Border Patrol checkpoints.
"We request that operators who have had product federally seized should be allowed to either get their product returned or be monetarily compensated for the losses they've sustained," the letter states.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said the Department of Homeland Security should be focused on urgent priorities that don't include cannabis suppliers that comply with state law.
"Stopping the flow of illicit fentanyl into our country should be the Department of Homeland Security’s focus at these checkpoints, not seizing cannabis that’s being transported in compliance with state law," the senator said in a statement, referring to the parent agency for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. "New Mexicans are depending on federal law enforcement to do everything they can to keep our communities safe. Our resources should be used to maximize residents’ safety, not distract from it."
A public statement Thursday from the U.S. Border Patrol sector overseeing New Mexico provided a reminder that cannabis is still a "Schedule 1" drug, a designation also assigned to heroin and LSD.
"Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under U.S. federal law," the agency's statement said. "Consequently, individuals violating the Controlled Substances Act encountered while crossing the border, arriving at a U.S. port of entry, or at a Border Patrol checkpoint may be deemed inadmissible and/or subject to, seizure, fines, and/or arrest."
Matt Kennicott, an owner of Socorro-based High Maintenance, a cannabis business, said seizures by Border Patrol started in February without warning and create uncertainty about shipments that include samples for consumer-safety testing. He said cannabis producers in southernmost New Mexico rely on testing labs farther north, on the other side of Border Patrol checkpoints, to comply with safeguards against contaminants like mold or pesticides.
"It's not a little confusing, it's a lot confusing," he said. "We're trying to figure out where this directive came from."
A social media post has prompted an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and United Airlines after a Colorado Rockies coach was seen sitting in the cockpit of a chartered flight while in the air.
The FAA confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital that the incident, which came to light in a now-deleted Instagram post, is under investigation.
"The FAA is investigating this event. Federal regulations restrict flight deck access to specific individuals. We do not comment on the details of open investigations," the statement said.
The incident centers around hitting coach Hensley Meulens during a chartered flight from Denver to Toronto. According to ESPN, Meulens posted a video showing him sitting in the pilot's seat.
"Had some fun in the cockpit on our flight from Denver to Toronto. Thanks to the captain and the first officer of our United charter that allowed me this great experience," the caption said.
United Airlines also released a statement confirming that the incident was reported to the FAA and that the pilots involved in the situation have been "withheld."
"We’re deeply disturbed by what we see in that video, which appears to show an unauthorized person in the flight deck at cruise altitude while the autopilot was engaged. As a clear violation of our safety and operational policies, we’ve reported the incident to the FAA and have withheld the pilots from service while we conduct an investigation," the statement said, via The Athletic.
The Rockies did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The team was traveling to Toronto for a three-game series against the Blue Jays at the time of flight incident.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Air National Guard has delayed its plan to downgrade the status of about 80 members of its Alaska unit, a move that would have threatened national security and civilian rescues in the nation’s most remote state.
The Alaska Air National Guard confirmed the delay in an email to The Associated Press on Friday.
Efforts by the state’s politicians and Alaskans "have been instrumental in getting this delay which will allow everyone involved the time to conduct more thorough research and analysis," wrote Alan Brown, an Alaska guard spokesperson.
The Air National Guard headquarters in Virginia did not respond to emails from the AP seeking comment.
The changes to balance top-earning positions among the other 53 state and territorial units will still be completed by Oct. 1.
Alaska was slated to convert 80 of the highly paid Active Guard and Reserve members — who are essentially the equivalent of full-time active-duty military — to dual status tech positions, a classification with lower wages, less appealing benefits and different duties.
Many say they will quit rather than accept the changes, which could include seeing their pay cut by more than 50%.
Local guard leaders argued Alaska needed the personnel in the higher classification to fulfill its requirements to conduct national security missions that other units don’t have, such as monitoring for ballistic missile launches from nations such as Russia, North Korea and China.
The Alaska guard also said its ability to fly refueling tankers to accompany U.S. and Canadian fighter jets when they intercept Russian bombers that come close to Alaska or Canada would be greatly curtailed.
The guard also plays a vital role in conducting civilian search-and-rescue missions in Alaska, sending military helicopters and cargo planes through violent storms to rescue people from small Alaska Native villages when weather prevents air ambulances from flying.
Last year, the guard conducted 159 such missions, including flying to an Alaska island just 2 miles from a Russian island to pick up a pregnant woman with abdominal pains. In one recent rescue, two paramedics parachuted into an Alaska Native village because that was the fastest way to reach a critically ill woman with internal bleeding. Another involved flying to a western Alaska village to pick up a pregnant woman who began bleeding when her water broke and delivering her to a hospital in Anchorage, more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) away.
If the staff conversions went through, the guard estimated the number of rescues would drop to about 50 a year.
The downgrades in Alaska have been delayed until Sept. 30, 2025, giving the service more time to study how the changes would affect its Alaska operations and if the changes should be made at all, according to a joint statement from the state's congressional delegation.
"The strain this uncertainty put on Alaska Air National Guard members –- who Alaskans depend on in the most dire of emergencies –- for them to worry about their jobs, their benefits, their ability to provide for their families, is unacceptable," U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, said in the statement.
"Delaying the implementation of the misguided directives is a win -– but it should never have come to this," she said.
Fifteen British soldiers who allegedly lied to an inquiry into Bloody Sunday, one of the deadliest days of the decades-long Northern Ireland conflict, will not face perjury charges, prosecutors said Friday.
There was insufficient evidence to convict the soldiers or a former alleged member of the Irish Republican Army about their testimony before an inquiry into the 1972 killings of 13 civilians by Britain’s Parachute Regiment in Derry, also known as Londonderry, the Public Prosecution Service said.
An initial investigation into the slayings on Jan. 30, 1972 concluded the soldiers were defending themselves from a mob of IRA bombers and gunmen. But a 12-year-long inquiry concluded in 2010 that soldiers unjustifiably opened fire on unarmed and fleeing civilians and then lied about it for decades.
Families of the victims were outraged by the decision. John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed by paratroopers, spoke for the group and called it an "affront to the rule of law."
"Why is it that the people of Derry cannot forget the events of Bloody Sunday, yet the Parachute Regiment, who caused all of the deaths and injury on that day, apparently cannot recall it?" Kelly said. "The answer to this question is quite simple but painfully obvious: The British Army lied its way through the conflict in the north."
Although a quarter century has passed since the Good Friday peace accord in 1998 largely put to rest three decades of violence involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants and U.K. soldiers, "the Troubles″ still reverberate. Some 3,600 people were killed — most in Northern Ireland, though the IRA also set off bombs in England.
Only one ex-paratrooper from Bloody Sunday, known as Soldier F, faces prosecution for two murders and five attempted murders. He was among the 15 soldiers who could have faced a perjury charge.
While victims continue to seek justice for past carnage, the possibility of a criminal prosecution could soon vanish.
The British government passed a Legacy and Reconciliation Bill last year that would have given immunity from prosecution for most offenses by militant groups and British soldiers after May 1. But a Belfast judge ruled in February that the bill does not comply with human rights law. The government is appealing the ruling.
Attorney Ciaran Shiels, who represents some of the Bloody Sunday families, said they would not rule out further legal action.
"It is of course regrettable that this decision has been communicated to us only today, some 14 years after the inquiry’s unequivocal findings, but less than two weeks before the effective enactment date of the morally bankrupt legacy legislation designed specifically to allow British Army veterans to escape justice for its criminal actions in the north of Ireland," Shiels said.
Senior Public Prosecutor John O’Neill said the decision not to bring criminal charges was based on three things: accounts given by soldiers in 1972 were not admissible; much of the evidence the inquiry relied on is not available today; and the inquiry's conclusion that testimony was false did not always meet the criminal standard of proof.
"I wish to make clear that these decisions not to prosecute in no way undermine the findings of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that those killed or injured were not posing a threat to any of the soldiers," O'Neill said.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, police said. They narrowly escaped the attack but three bystanders were wounded.
Separately, an Afghan Taliban religious scholar was killed in an attack in the southwest of Pakistan the previous day.
The attack on the van happened when it was heading to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors, local police chief Arshad Awan said. He said police escorting the Japanese returned fire after coming under attack, killing an accomplice of the suicide bomber whose remains were found at the scene of the attack.
"All the Japanese who were the target of the attack are safe," Awan said.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack. In separate statements, they praised police for quickly responding and foiling the attack. They also vowed to eliminate terrorism and prayed for the speedy recovery of the wounded.
Images on local news channels showed a damaged van as police officers arrived at the scene. Awan said the three passersby who were wounded in the attack were in stable condition at a hospital.
Police were escorting the van after receiving reports about possible attacks on foreigners who are working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a timely and quick response from the guards and police foiled the attack and both attackers were killed.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on a small separatist group or the Pakistani Taliban who have stepped up attacks on security forces in recent years. Insurgents have also targeted Chinese who are working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes a multitude of megaprojects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.
In March, five Chinese and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle when they were heading to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.
However, Japanese working in Pakistan have not been the target of any such attacks.
Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and the capital of southern Sindh province.
Separately, an Afghan Taliban religious scholar, Mohammad Omar Jan Akhundzada, was killed by gunmen inside a mosque in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, a local police officer Akram Ullah said Friday.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened on Thursday.
Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denounced the killing of Akhundzada on Friday, saying Akhundzada taught at a jihadi seminary in Afghanistan's Kandahar province and was a member of the Taliban oversight committee of Islamic scholars.
Many Afghan leaders and scholars had lived in Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan before the Afghan Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew. Most then went back and it was unclear why Akhundzada was still in Pakistan.
Rutgers’ University students want their school, the State University of New Jersey, to sever ties with Tel Aviv University in the wake of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The Rutgers University Student Assembly New Brunswick (RUSA) posted on their Instagram account that students voted to call for the school to terminate a partnership with Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the results were certified on Tuesday.
The vote was conducted through RUSA’s Spring 2024 Election. The student government body announced that the undergraduate student body population voted "yes" for a referendum advocating to sever ties with Tel Aviv University. Over 6,000 students voted "yes" to support the referendum while about 1500 voted "no."
The other referendum the students voted "yes" on asked, "Should Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, divest its endowment fund from companies and organizations that profit from, engage in, or contribute to the government of Israel’s human rights violations?" Over 6,000 students voted "yes" to support the referendum while about 1,700 voted "no."
After voting "yes" on two referendums, the student body added the two measures to their "advocacy agenda."
"We applaud the students of Rutgers University-New Brunswick for using their voices to vote, as shown by a large turnout for the Spring 2024 election," RUSA announced.
"Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway noted in a message to the Rutgers community earlier this month that the university's partnership with TAU began in 2016 and adds to our fundamental academic and research mission," Dory Devlin, the assistant Vice President of News and Media Relations, told Fox News Digital.
Devlin explained further to Fox News Digital that he "traveled to Tel Aviv in 2021 with a delegation from New Jersey to renew the memorandum establishing the partnership and to show a commitment to global academic exchanges and to international engagement. Rutgers has relationships like this with universities all over the world, and they help move our mission forward."
The vote comes amid increased tensions on college campuses across the U.S. amid the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Hen Mazzig, the co-founder of The Tel Aviv Institute, told Fox News Digital that "it’s appalling that Rutgers students would support an antisemitic academic boycott of Rutgers’ partnership with Tel Aviv University."
"Academic freedom is an integral part of the university experience and with this vote students have signaled that they could care less about academic freedom. The university must strongly condemn this anti-Semitic vote and make clear that Rutgers will maintain its partnership with Tel Aviv University."
The vote comes after protests erupted at a town hall at Rutgers University earlier this month.
A group of "out of control" pro-Palestinian protesters shouted anti-Israel slogans like "one solution, intifada revolution" and forced officials to end the meeting early as they and Jewish students were ushered out by police, a student previously told Fox News Digital.
The student, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and administrators "ran away," "leaving behind the Jewish/pro-Israel students to deal with an unruly and obviously antisemitic crowd, whose attention turned to the Jews after the administration left."
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik recently testified before lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday, where she was grilled on antisemitism on school grounds.
Mother's Day is a time to honor the incredible women who have nurtured, guided and loved us unconditionally.
While we often celebrate our mothers or stepmothers on this special day, it's also the perfect opportunity to show appreciation and gratitude for grandmothers who play a unique and cherished role in the lives of so many families.
If you're not sure what to get your grandmother (or nonna, mimi or gigi) this year — fret no more.
Make Grandma her own special "brag book" filled with cherished memories of family gatherings, fun occasions and precious moments — all for a very reasonable price indeed.
Amazon offers various options for personalized photo albums, such as the one above — allowing you to add custom text or engravings to make it truly unique.
With this one, the pictures are "digitally printed on waterproof hard cardboard, and the pictures do not fade for years," according to the product description on Amazon.
It's also small enough to tuck in a purse or bag and carry around as Grandma may choose.
Who doesn’t like to snuggle up under a soft blanket on a chilly night?
Treat Grandma to a luxurious faux fur throw blanket to keep her warm and comfortable.
This one — in a limited-time deal — has dozens of colors and patterns to choose from. So you can find one that perfectly matches her living room, family room or patio decor.
This blanket is machine-washable and tumble dry, according to the product description. "It’s safe to wash in a machine with cold water and a gentle cycle. To dry, you can use a mild circulation and no-heat tumble dryer."
Grandma’s always got the goodies — and now you can bring them to her.
Surprise Grandma with a gourmet gift basket filled with delicious treats such as chocolates, cookies, teas, and other gourmet snacks.
You can find a wide selection of pre-made gift baskets on Amazon, like this one, shown above — which has plenty of items she’ll love, complete with a cute little porcelain teapot.
You can also select all her favorite snacks and treats from Amazon individually and customize your own gift basket.
Show Grandma how much she means to you with personalized jewelry, such as a necklace, bracelet or locket.
Choose a design incorporating birthstones, initials or a meaningful message for a lasting keepsake.
The necklace shown above checks all the boxes because it allows you to customize it with up to five grandkids’ names and birthstones at a wallet-friendly price.
Handcrafted in the U.S.A., this product is hypoallergenic and tarnish-resistant, according to the Amazon product description.
Give Grandma a beautiful reminder of her loved ones with a customized family tree frame like this one.
It allows you to insert photos of family members on the hanging branches, creating a sentimental and visually appealing display that’s more interesting than a flat wall frame.
You can find various styles and designs to suit Grandma's taste!
A Maryland teenager was arrested after law enforcement officials uncovered a plot to commit school shootings, officials said Friday.
Andrea Ye, 18, of Rockville, who goes by Alex, allegedly wrote a 129-page manifesto detailing the strategy to commit a mass shooting at Thomas Wootton High School in Montgomery County. Ye was arrested on Wednesday.
Investigators uncovered the alleged plot through a review of Ye's writing and internet searches, authorities said. In the manifesto, Ye allegedly wrote about targeting an elementary school and expressed a desire "to be famous."
"Ye also wrote that he wanted to become a serial killer instead of a mass murderer because serial killers are romanticized a lot more," Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told reporters during a Friday news conference.
In the manifesto, Ye said he wanted to target his former elementary school because "little kids make easier targets," authorities said. He spent time on Discord chats with others who glorified school shootings, authorities said.
"He clearly had mental health issues, and I think it would be worth our while to figure out when could we have known, or when should we have possibly intervened," Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said. "We may have intervened at the right time, but at a very late time in the process. Hopefully this will lead us to look deeper into what we do for mental health support."
Ye, a former student at Wootton High School, allegedly also targeted an elementary school for a potential shooting. Ye was hospitalized in December 2022 after threatening to "shoot up a school," and the following month clinicians reported that the teen was talking about "suicide by cop."
"This individual wanted to be famous by shooting innocent children. That is pure evil," Nicole Parker, a former FBI agent and Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital.
Parker noted that Saturday will be the 25th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting in which 12 students and one teacher died.
"What a tragedy as it was the first large mass school shooting in my recollection," she said. "Law enforcement has not been successful in stopping many school shootings since then but I am grateful and relieved to learn this Wootton High School shooting was prevented due to solid police work."
Authorities first learned of Ye when the manifesto was shared by someone who knew Ye at a psychiatric facility with Baltimore County police in March. The tipster is referred to as "Witness-One" in charging documents. Ye claimed the manifesto was a fictional account of a school shooting.
The tipster told investigators that they noticed similarities between the story's transgender main character and Ye, the documents state. His internet search history revealed search terms like "gun ranges near me" and searches about school shootings, including the massacres at Sandy Hook, Connecticut and Parkland, Florida.
During a search of the family home, a gun belonging to Ye's father was found but Ye didn't appear to have access to the weapon, Jones said.
"This could well be a case where the difficulty to get guns prevented him from getting a gun when he wanted it, and possibly prevented him from acting as soon as he would have preferred to act," Elrich said, referring to Maryland's strict gun laws.
Ye was formally enrolled at Wootton High School but had not physically attended a Montgomery County Public Schools institution since the fall of 2022, Fox DC reported. He has been taking lessons through the virtual program Online Pathways to Graduation.
"Andre Ye hadn’t attended school classes in person in quite some time," Parker said. "That particularly stood out to me. This could have led to feelings of isolation which may have contributed to decisions and motivations for planning these potential targeted violent acts."
Ye has been charged with making threats of mass violence and is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and was awaiting a bond hearing.
Authorities said security has been increased at schools across Montgomery County, particularly Wootton High School.
An 18-year-old from Portsmouth, accused of creating hate-motivated graffiti, has turned himself into police on criminal charges, authorities said Friday.
Loren Faulkner was arrested on Thursday on 31 counts of criminal mischief and hate-motivated criminal mischief for the graffiti spree targeting religious buildings and other communities in February 2023, police said. He was released on bail and will be arraigned in June. It was not immediately known if he is being represented by an attorney. There was no phone number listed in his name.
Last year, Attorney General John Formella filed a civil complaint against Faulkner, then 17, alleging that the teen targeted businesses, homes, houses of worship and other locations that supported the LGBTQ+ community, religious practices inconsistent with his beliefs or for people of different races. In March, it was announced that he would pay a fine and complete 200 hours of community service to resolve allegations of violating New Hampshire’s Civil Rights Act 21 times, including carrying out an antisemitic, homophobic and racist vandalism spree that damaged a number of properties throughout the city.
The vandalism included destruction of rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags, spray-painting swastikas and crosses on Temple Israel and Jewish Stars of David on St. John’s Episcopal Church, defacing a Black Heritage Trail sign at the church, and damaging or destroying signs and murals that expressed support for diversity and Black Lives Matter.