British authorities and the country's public health service committed a "catalog of failures" and knowingly exposed tens of thousands of patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and blood products, an inquiry into the U.K.’s infected blood scandal found Monday.
An estimated 3,000 people in the United Kingdom are believed to have died and many others were left with lifelong illnesses after receiving blood or blood products tainted with HIV or hepatitis in the 1970s to the early 1990s.
The scandal is widely seen as the deadliest disaster in the history of Britain’s state-run National Health Service since its inception in 1948.
Former judge Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, slammed successive governments and medical professionals for failing to avoid the tragedy to save face and expense. He found that deliberate attempts were made to conceal the disaster, and there was evidence of government officials destroying documents.
"This disaster was not an accident. The infections happened because those in authority — doctors, the blood services and successive governments — did not put patient safety first," he said. "The response of those in authority served to compound people’s suffering."
Many of those affected were people with hemophilia, a condition affecting the blood’s ability to clot. In the 1970s, patients were given a new treatment that the U.K. imported from the United States. Some of the plasma used to make the blood products was traced to high-risk donors, including prison inmates, who were paid to give blood samples.
Because manufacturers of the treatment mixed plasma from thousands of donations, one infected donor would compromise the whole batch.
The report said around 1,250 people with bleeding disorders, including 380 children, were infected with HIV -tainted blood products. Three-quarters of them have died. Up to 5,000 others who received the blood products developed chronic hepatitis C, a type of liver infection.
Meanwhile, an estimated 26,800 others were also infected with hepatitis C after receiving a blood transfusion, often given after childbirth, surgery or an accident, the report said.
Campaigners have fought for decades to bring official failings to light and secure government compensation. The inquiry was finally approved in 2017, and over the past four years it reviewed evidence from more than 5,000 witnesses and more than 100,000 documents.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to apologize later Monday, and authorities are expected to announce compensation of about $12.7 billion in all to victims. Details about that payment are not expected until Tuesday.
Des Collins, a lawyer representing 1,500 of the victims, called the report's publication a "day of truth."
"They have spent years bravely telling their stories, campaigning and spurring collective action in order to get to this point. For some, it has been 40 years since their lives were forever blighted or loved ones were lost in cruel circumstances," he said. "Several thousands, sadly, have not lived to see this day."
Diana Johnson, a lawmaker who has long campaigned for the victims, said she hoped that those found responsible for the disaster will face justice including prosecution — though the investigations have taken so long that some of the key players may well have died since.
"There has to be accountability for the actions that were taken, even if it was 30, 40, 50 years ago," she said.
Iran will fortify its relationship with the "axis of tyranny" and continue to carry out its support of Hamas following President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash Sunday, according to foreign policy expert Dan Hoffman.
"I think we're going to see the continuation of the general contours of Iranian foreign policy, meaning domestic repression, carrying on support to Hamas, and their so-called axis of resistance against Israel and the United States and then fortifying their relationship, their alliance with this new axis of tyranny – Russia, China and North Korea," he said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" Monday.
The former CIA station chief and Fox News contributor elaborated on the expectation of continued internal oppression despite Raisi's death, since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sets policy for Iran. Though Raisi was considered a likely successor for the supreme leader, he did not have the same influence, Hoffman noted.
"I fully expect that domestic repression, including of women, especially of women, will continue," he said. "Also, I think that a new president, when one is chosen, will fall in line with the supreme leader's wishes."
The supreme leader tapped Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to serve as interim president following Raisi's death Monday. During his tenure in office, Raisi supported the country's enrichment of uranium up to near-weapons-grade levels, attacks against Israel, particularly one last month made in response to an alleged Israeli attack that killed Iranian generals at the country's embassy compound in Damascus, Syria.
Domestically, he also supported crackdowns on dissenters following the controversially suspicious death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly not wearing a hijab.
Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials were confirmed dead on Monday following a lengthy search attempt to locate the helicopter crash site in the fog-shrouded mountainous region in the northwest part of the country.
Hoffman additionally remarked that the Iranian people are discontented with the current state of their country and seek more freedom.
"They know that their economy under Raisi suffered a freefall of their currency, in spite of the oil exports, and they don't want this life and they don't want their money being spent on overseas terrorist operations, and that I expect to continue."
Iran has been consistently in media coverage for its role in the current Middle East conflict, funding terror proxies against the Jewish state.
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
The Washington Post editorial board suggested on Sunday that universities eliminate the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) statements required for professors seeking employment, because the statements often require candidates to anticipate the politics of university faculty.
"The last thing academia — or the country — needs is another incentive for people to be insincere or dishonest," the board wrote. "Whatever their original intent, the use of DEI statements has too often resulted in self-censorship and ideological policing."
Potential university hires explain how they might advance DEI in their position at the university in these statements.
DEI statement requirements are often "vague," according to the Post, and therefore, teaching candidates often find themselves anticipating the university's political leanings. The editors noted that university faculty are "disproportionately left-leaning."
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scrapped diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements from its faculty hiring process in early May.
An MIT spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "requests for a statement on diversity will no longer be part of applications for any faculty positions at MIT" and added that the decision was made by the school’s president, Sally Kornbluth, with the support of the Provost, Chancellor, and all six academic deans.
"My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here," Kornbluth said. "We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work."
The MIT communication lab previously described the statements as an "opportunity to show that you care about the inclusion of many forms of identity in academia and in your field, including but not limited to gender, race/ethnicity, age, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and ability status."
The Washington Post also expressed support for DEI programs at colleges and universities in their editorial, which they believe to be "vital."
Harvard Law professor Randall L. Kennedy called on the university to eliminate DEI statements in a column for the Harvard Crimson in April.
Kennedy, who works as the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, claimed these statements are essentially "pledges of allegiance" that "enlist academics" to adopt tenets of the DEI movement through "soft-spoken but real coercion."
Fox News' Teny Sahakian and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
The Philippines blamed Chinese fishermen on Monday for a massive loss of giant clams in a disputed shoal controlled by China's coast guard in the South China Sea and urged an international inquiry into the amount of environmental damage in the area.
The Philippine coast guard presented surveillance photographs of Chinese fishermen harvesting large numbers of giant clams for a number of years in a lagoon at Scarborough Shoal, but said signs of such activities stopped in March 2019.
Parts of the surrounding coral appeared to be badly scarred, in what the coast guard said was apparently a futile search by the Chinese for more clams. The lagoon is a prominent fishing area which Filipinos call Bajo de Masinloc and the Chinese calll Huangyan Dao off the northwestern Philippines.
"Those were the last remaining giant clams that we saw in Bajo de Masinloc," Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said at a news conference.
"We are alarmed and worried about the situation that’s happening there," National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said. He said China should allow an independent inquiry by experts from the United Nations and environmental groups.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Beijing has repeatedly asserted its sovereignty over much of the busy South China Sea. The territorial disputes involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The Indonesian navy has also been involved in skirmishes with the Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels in the Natuna waters in the margins of the South China Sea.
The Philippines has adopted a policy of publicizing China's increasingly assertive actions in the contested waters to gain international support, and the news conference was its latest effort to condemn China's stewardship of Scarborough Shoal.
China effectively seized the shoal in 2012 after a standoff that ended when Philippine government ships withdrew based on what Manila said was a deal brokered by American officials to ease the dangerous confrontation. China reneged on its promise to remove its ships and has since surrounded the shoal with coast guard and suspected militia ships, according to Philippine officials.
Since then, the Chinese coast guard has had a series of skirmishes with Philippine patrol ships and fishing boats, which have been prevented from entering the lagoon, ringed by mostly submerged coral outcrops. Three weeks ago, Chinese ships fired powerful water cannons that damaged Philippine coast guard and fisheries vessels.
"They're preventing us from getting into the lagoon," Malaya said. "We can ask third-party environmental groups or even the United Nations to do a fact-finding mission to determine the environmental situation."
The Philippines has brought its territorial disputes with China to international arbitration and largely won. The 2016 ruling invalidated China’s expansive claims to much of the South China Sea, a key global trade route, on historical grounds and cited Chinese government actions that resulted in environmental damage in the offshore region.
China refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling and continues to defy it.
The territorial hostilities have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could involve the U.S., which has warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its long-time treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
A woman is sharing her recent airplane drama with others on social media after another woman tried to shame her for traveling with an infant who made some noise — and for switching seats.
Describing herself as 31 years old and traveling alone with a 19-month-old son on a three-hour flight, the woman said her child, who was "under age two," had to sit on her lap.
"I also had a big backpack with all the necessities that I keep on the floor and easily accessible," wrote the woman on the Reddit page known as "AITA" ("Am I the a--hole").
"It can get crowded fast, but it's just how it is when you travel alone with a young child."
The woman continued in her post, "I got assigned a random seat (12C) at checkup, and ended up being in a row with no other empty seat. Although I appreciate it when there is an empty seat next to me as it greatly improves our flight experience, it's not an expectation I have and I never ask for it."
She said that once the passenger had boarded "but before take off, a flight attendant came to me and offered to move us three rows up … because there were two seats available, and that they usually try to accommodate people with young infants."
The mother, calling herself "Aggravating-Worth643" on Reddit, added, "I was delighted and accepted right away. The flight attendant helped me move my things and explained the situation to the other passenger" in that row.
"The passenger did not appreciate it at all," wrote the mother. "She started complaining to the flight attendant that she was planning to sleep on the flight, and that it would be impossible now. That she specifically chose this seat while checking [in] online because the row was empty," but now, it was going "to be a nightmare."
The woman said the flight attendant "simply explained that both my seats (old and new) were standard, that the woman only paid for her own seat and that [the airline's] policy is to try to accommodate young parents if possible."
The mother wrote about what happened next, "The woman told me that I should be ashamed to impose all this noise on people that are just trying to enjoy their flight. Especially since it wasn't even my seat and I didn't even pay for it."
The mother added, "Honestly, I'm really not good with confrontation. I usually end up either crying or apologizing, so I just ignored her all the way, as if she didn't speak at all. That got her even more angry, but she finally stopped complaining after a while."
"My son ended up crying only once, I got some stinky eye and some other rude comments — but all in all, the flight was way more comfortable for us this way, so I don't really regret switching seats."
She continued, "But I do wonder if I'm the [a--hole]. It's true that I didn't pay for that seat, and that it wasn't my originally assigned seat."
In an edit to her post, she clarified that her bag did "fit under the seat. It was there during takeoff and landing. It was on the floor the rest of the time for easy access."
She also noted, "My son was on my lap the whole flight (as per the flight attendant's demand). The extra seat was just extra space to feel less crowded and not bump elbows."
She also wrote as a point of clarification, "I'm overweight, yes, but not extremely so. I haven't lost all my pregnancy weight yet."
Her son, she wrote, had to be in her lap — "the flight attendant insisted on it when she offered me [the switched] seats. We aren't allowed to bring car seats with us. They go with luggage."
The woman also told others, "I can't afford to buy an extra seat just to have more space, as my son isn't allowed to sit there yet."
Fox News Digital reached out to a psychologist for insight into the matter while others on the platform weighed in with a bevy of reaction. In less than 24 hours, some 6,000 people reacted with over 1,000 posting comments about the issue.
The other with the baby did nothing wrong, wrote one of the top commenters on the post — garnering 11,000 "upvotes" for this reaction.
"You paid for a seat, the airline accommodated you and explained to the other passenger," wrote this top commenter. "The other passenger paid for her seat only, not the entire row."
The same person continued, "Sounds like [the] other passenger was an unpleasant person, which isn't your fault. If another mother with a young child did pay for the seats near her, I'd almost guarantee she would have complained still."
Another commenter agreed that the mother on Reddit did nothing wrong.
"The other woman was never guaranteed those 2 seats would stay empty — they were just empty at the time of her booking."
Another person said about the complaining passenger, "It was a 3-hour flight. Not a trip to New Zealand from New York. She'll get over it."
However, some others took issue with the mother's apparent size, attitude and behavior.
"You're a plus-size woman with a toddler and a big bag in front of you," one writer commented. "That impedes access for other people in your row. You're very inconsiderate of others and blocking the exit is not only a nuisance, but can be dangerous in [an] emergency."
The same writer added, "You can purchase a seat for your toddler, but you won't because it's too expensive. It does feel like you're hoping to get [an] extra seat for free. You should at least travel with luggage that fits under the seat or in the space above you."
An International Criminal Court prosecutor announced Monday that he has filed applications for arrest warrants against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders for allegedly committing "war crimes" during the conflict in Gaza.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement that based on evidence collected and examined by his office, he has "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant "bear criminal responsibility for ... war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine."
He said those alleged crimes include "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare" and "intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population."
Khan also said he is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh and its military commander Mohammed Dief.
He alleged that since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, the three are criminally responsible for "extermination" and "murder as a crime against humanity," taking hostages as a war crime and rape and other acts of sexual violence.
"During my own visit to Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as to the site of Supernova Music Festival in Re’im, I saw the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today," Khan said.
"Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness," he added. "These acts demand accountability."
Khan also said his office has found "reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel have been kept in inhumane conditions, and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape, while being held in captivity."
Israeli war cabinet member and opposition leader Benny Gantz blasted the ICC’s announcement Monday, saying "the prosecutor’s position to apply for arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generations."
"While Israel fights with one of the strictest moral codes in history, while complying with international law and boasting a robust independent judiciary – drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organization is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy," he added.
Khan said in his statement that "The independent judges of the International Criminal Court are the sole arbiters as to whether the necessary standard for the issuance of warrants of arrest has been met.
"Should they grant my applications and issue the requested warrants," he continued. "I will then work closely with the Registrar in all efforts to apprehend the named individuals."
Caitlin Clark may have gotten her true "Welcome to the WNBA" moment on Saturday during the Indiana Fever’s third straight loss of the season on the road against the New York Liberty.
Clark led the Fever with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting in what appeared to be her best game so far this year. However, in the first quarter, she got a taste of what’s to come while playing defense.
Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot came down the floor looking to drive. Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones came over to set a screen, so no matter which way Vandersloot wanted to drive, Clark was going to get picked.
Vandersloot went to her left and Clark ran right into the chest of the 6 feet, 4 inch reigning WNBA MVP, Stewart. Clark folded and hit the deck.
"The physicality is definitely up there. ... I'm easily pushed off screens," she said, via ESPN. "The game seems a little fast for me right now. The more I play and the more comfortable I get, it's going to slow down a little bit. It will be easier for me to make reads, see things develop."
Regardless of the speed of the game, Clark looked more comfortable on Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center.
She made four 3-pointers and though she was hit with eight turnovers, a lot of the turnovers were passes that had just gone off her teammates’ fingertips. Over time, the Fever will be expected to be more poised.
Indiana still needs to win.
The Fever have not won a regular-season game since Sept. 10 – the final game of last season.
Eleven people were hurt late Saturday after two women got into an argument that resulted in a mass shooting in a busy tourist area of Savannah, Georgia.
The argument between the women began in an unnamed establishment, before spilling over into Ellis Square in Savannah's historic district just before midnight, Police Chief Lenny Gunther said during a news conference. Ten of the 11 people hurt were hit by gunfire.
"One shot rang out. That triggered other individuals to shoot," Gunther said. "We had multiple individuals discharge their weapons to shoot at each other, which resulted in multiple people getting shot."
Investigators did not say what caused the 11th injury. Some victims were treated at the scene, others were taken to the hospital. All shooting victims are expected to recover.
The first two of Savannah's weekend shootings happened Friday. Each of those resulted in a non-life-threatening injury and an arrest. On Saturday, police answering a call about a home invasion found a dead juvenile at the home. Initial reports are that shots were fired after a resident confronted an armed intruder.
Another shooting was reported at a Savannah intersection on Saturday night that left one man dead and a juvenile injured.
Mayor Van Johnson said proliferation of guns was a factor in the shootings and that reasonable gun control laws are needed. He also stressed the need for gun owners to keep their weapons from being stolen and for people carrying guns to know how and when to use them.
"We have to insist on smart gun laws," Johnson said at a Sunday news conference. "And then, on the other end, we have to insist that people act responsibly with those weapons."
The mass shooting happened a week ahead of the tourist-heavy Memorial Day weekend. Gunther sought to assure people that police staffing would be sufficient to keep the public safe.
Ellis Square is in Savannah's historic district, an area popular among tourists and locals. It was developed in 2010 and is known for a large fountain and a life-sized statue of songwriter Johnny Mercer.
Two Democratic primaries for U.S. House seats in Oregon could help reveal whether the party’s voters are leaning more toward progressive or establishment factions in a critical presidential election year.
The state’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes much of liberal Portland, will have its first open Democratic primary since 1996 with the retirement of U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer.
Two candidates with similar platforms are leading in fundraising: Maxine Dexter, a doctor and two-term state representative, and Susheela Jayapal, a former county commissioner endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Jayapal is the sister of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
While outside money and claims of Republican meddling have marked the race, national Democrats can safely bet on holding the solidly blue district as they seek to overturn the GOP's thin majority in the House. Party leaders are more keenly eyeing the state’s 5th Congressional District, which will likely be home to one of the most competitive races in the country.
"This is one of the big swing districts nationally that both parties are really looking for to hold on to, or recapture, the House," Ben Gaskins, associate professor of political science at Lewis & Clark College, said of Oregon’s 5th District. "I think that the big question is, to what degree are the Democratic voters really going to prioritize electability?"
Eager to reclaim the 5th District after it was flipped by the GOP in 2022 for the first time in roughly 25 years, congressional Democrats are supporting Janelle Bynum. They see her as having a better chance of winning in November than Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the progressive who in the 2022 midterm primary ousted the Democratic moderate who long held the seat and then lost to Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election, Gaskins said.
"I think many Democrats are going to hold that against her," he said of McLeod-Skinner’s narrow 2022 defeat. "She had a chance. She lost."
Key Democrats have endorsed Bynum, including Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and three of the state’s U.S. representatives.
The U.S. House Democrats' fundraising arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, named Bynum to its "Red to Blue" program, noting Bynum previously defeated Chavez-DeRemer in legislative elections. The program provides organizational and financial support to Democrats running to flip GOP districts.
Meanwhile, a late flood of spending from a political action committee on behalf of McLeod-Skinner has raised questions about whether Republicans are trying to tilt the scales in favor of a more progressive candidate whom they see as easier to beat in a general election.
Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the campaign arm for House Republicans, said he had no knowledge of Republicans getting involved in the Democratic primary.
The boundaries of the 5th District were significantly redrawn following the 2020 census. It encompasses disparate regions spanning metro Portland and its wealthy and working-class suburbs, as well as rural agricultural and mountain communities and the fast-growing central Oregon city of Bend on the other side of the Cascade Range.
"I think candidates are trying to figure out exactly what the secret sauce is for this district, because there are just so many different interests here," said Chris Koski, a political science professor at Reed College in Portland.
McLeod-Skinner, an attorney who has served in multiple local governments, lives in central Oregon with her wife and pitches herself as someone who can bring together rural and urban voters. Her campaign website says that while attending high school in southern Oregon, she helped support her family "by mucking horse stalls and bucking hay." This is her third time running for Congress.
Bynum, from Washington, D.C., was elected to the Oregon House in 2016, representing the suburbs southeast of Portland. She has served on the chamber’s small business committee and is the owner of four McDonald’s franchises.
Both women studied engineering and have similar policy stances. They support abortion protections, lowering health care costs and tackling climate change.
As of late Friday, Bynum had outraised McLeod-Skinner by about $385,000. But much of the money in the race has been outside spending from super PACs. Such groups can’t contribute directly to campaigns, but can spend unlimited amounts of money on advertising for or against candidates.
A PAC called Mainstream Democrats has spent nearly $380,000 in support of Bynum and the same amount opposing McLeod-Skinner, federal campaign finance filings show.
Though both candidates have engineering degrees, the 314 Action Fund, which says it focuses on electing Democrats with science backgrounds to Congress, has spent more than $470,000 on ads and mailers in support of Bynum.
The super PAC also has invested heavily in Oregon’s 3rd District, spending nearly $2.2 million on ads supporting Dexter, a pulmonologist.
Another PAC, the recently created Voters for Responsive Government, has spent $2.4 million opposing Jayapal.
Jayapal and McLeod-Skinner have criticized what they call "dark money" flowing into the races.
Jayapal has suggested the 314 Action Fund's spending in the 3rd District is linked to "MAGA Republican mega-donors." Her campaign manager, Andrea Cervone, said in an email there has been "a growing trend across the country of billionaires and millionaires with a history of giving to MAGA Republicans" funneling money into Democratic primaries, but didn't provide a specific example of how the group is linked to such donors.
Cervone said the 314 Action Fund raised and spent much of its money in April, meaning the group won't have to disclose its donors until the next federal filing deadline on May 20, the day before the election.
314 Action Fund's president Shaughnessy Naughton said in an emailed statement that the group she founded has spent millions of dollars to "defeat MAGA Republicans."
"It is beyond the pale and an act of desperation for Susheela Jayapal’s campaign to make these false charges," she said.
In a statement this month in response to the comments about "dark money," Dexter condemned the outside spending on ads targeting her opponent: "I do not condone or support these negative ads in any way and remain committed to a positive conversation."
Dexter’s campaign also has been boosted recently by direct contributions from individuals. She reported raising more than $218,000 on a single day earlier this month, including from donors who previously donated to Republican candidates and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, federal filings show.
Jayapal touts herself as being the first candidate in the race to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
With the Democratic frontrunners in each race largely sharing policy platforms, voters may have to choose based on style. Dexter and Bynum highlight their legislative records, while Jayapal and McLeod-Skinner lean into their progressive endorsements, Gaskins said.
"That pragmatism versus idealism divide in the Democratic electorate, I think, will be the biggest way to distinguish them," Gaskins said. "Is it about taking the boldest progressive stance on the issues or emphasizing being able to get things done?"
Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller got the last laugh Sunday night after the Indiana Pacers defeated the hobbled New York Knicks in Game 7, 130-109.
Miller posted on Instagram that the Knicks’ win against the Pacers in Game 2, which saw Josh Hart troll the former sharpshooter and OG Anunoby go down with an injury, changed the series. The Pacers won two straight at home and then won the final two games in the series to eliminate New York.
"When the series CHANGED!!" Miller wrote. "Jalen Brunson you’re a true BALLER, been the best player in these playoffs, but you and your boys can all heal up together on some beautiful beaches in Cancun, please enjoy!! #PacersKnicksRivalryLives #GodDontLikeUgly."
The Knicks tried to win through their injuries. The team was already down Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson going into the series. By Game 2, the team saw Anunoby go down with a hamstring injury. Hart also suffered an abdominal injury.
In Game 7, Brunson fractured his left hand.
"I’m proud of what we were able to do this year and the way we fought," Brunson said afterward. "Obviously, the outcome is not what we wanted."
Anunoby played five minutes in Game 7 and scored but could not run up and down the floor. It was apparent from the tip.
"I was trying," Anunoby said. "I couldn’t really sprint, I couldn’t really jump, but I wanted to try my best."
Donte DiVincenzo led the Knicks with 39 points.
"There’s only so much you can overcome," teammate Donte DiVincenzo said. "But you can start from every single guy in this locker room, honestly, we’ll be here all day talking about each one of them, the way the guys stepped up this year, even in the playoffs … It’s not easy to do."
To rub salt in the wounds, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton wore a Miller-inspired sweatshirt. Miller, with his hands around his neck, was emblazoned across the outerwear.
He scored 26 points as Indiana shot 67.1% from the floor.
"I think it’s just the old-school way of thinking that you can’t play this fast in the playoffs, but I think opportunistically you can do it. I think if we’re able to get stops, of course we can," he said.
Iran's controversial President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials were confirmed dead on Monday after their helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country’s northwest, Iranian state media reported.
The death of Raisi, nicknamed the "Butcher of Tehran" for his oversight of mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, forced Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to install interim leadership for Iran's executive branch. An Israeli official denied to Reuters the country had any involvement in the deadly crash, saying, bluntly, "it wasn't us."
Iran for years has backed the terror group Hamas, currently engaged in its monthslong war with Israel.
Iranian State TV said earlier Monday that there was "no sign of life" at the crash site of the helicopter that was carrying 63-year-old Raisi, 60-year-old Abdollahian and other officials after it made a "hard landing" on Sunday.
The crash site was across a steep valley, according to state media, which gave no immediate cause for the crash.
As the sun rose on Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of roughly 1.25 miles, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand told state media. The officials had been missing for more than 12 hours when the helicopter was observed.
Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province when the helicopter made what state TV described as a "hard landing" near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, roughly 375 miles northwest of Tehran. State TV later said it crashed further east near the village of Uzi, although details remained contradictory.
The governor of the East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards were also aboard, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. One local government official described what happened as a "crash," while others referred to it as a "hard landing" or an "incident."
"The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog," Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma was disqualified Monday from standing in a national election next week because of a previous criminal conviction, a decision by the country's highest court that's bound to raise political tensions ahead of a pivotal vote.
The Constitutional Court said that a section of the constitution disqualifying people from standing for office if they've been sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the option of a fine does apply to the 82-year-old Zuma. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021 by the Constitutional Court for contempt for refusing to testify at a judicial inquiry into government corruption.
The case over whether that sentence disqualified Zuma from next Wednesday's election came about because he had no option to appeal the ruling by the apex court that sent him to prison.
He was initially disqualified by the Independent Electoral Committee that runs South Africa's elections before he won an appeal to the Electoral Court, which said that because he didn't have any appeal options against the contempt ruling, it doesn't apply in his situation.
The Constitutional Court overturned that on Monday. It said Zuma is not allowed to run for Parliament for five years from when his sentence was completed.
Zuma was South African president from 2009-2018, but resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations. He made a return to politics last year with a new party and has been fiercely critical of the ruling African National Congress party he once led.
The election is expected to be the toughest test for the ANC, which has been in government for 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule. The ruling party is in danger of losing its majority for the first time, which would likely force Africa's most advanced economy into a national coalition government for the first time.
Zuma's new MK Party is expected to erode some of the ANC's vote due to the former leader's popularity in some parts of the country of 62 million. Zuma was also in line to make a contentious return to Parliament six years after being forced to step down as president by the ANC he led because of allegations that there was widespread government graft during his time in office.
Zuma has also been charged with corruption in a separate case and is expected to go on trial next April. He has pleaded not guilty.
"The Original Raider," the team said. "The personification of consistency, Jim's influence on the American Football League and professional football as a whole cannot be overstated. His leadership and tenacity were a hallmark of the dominant Raider teams of the 1960s and 70s, and his ferocious work ethic and talent enabled him to start a remarkable 210 consecutive league games for the Oakland Raiders.
"Considered undersized when coming out of the University of Miami, Jim handled the first snap in franchise history and went on to be selected as the AFL's All-Star center for the entirety of the league's existence. One of only 20 players to play in every season of the American Football League, he was named the starting center on the AFL All-Time Team and was selected to the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team in 2019. Jim was known to many as ‘Mr. Raider,’ and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility."
Otto never missed a game because of injuries. He competed in 210 consecutive regular-season games and 308 straight total matchups despite having nine operations on his knees during his career. His right leg was amputated in 2007.
He was believed to have undergone 50 operations, most because of football-related injuries. The surgeries dealt with multiple joint replacements, arthritis and back and neck issues.
Otto also dealt with prostate cancer and two major infections after his career.
He was a 12-time Pro Bowler, a 10-time All-Pro and a one-time AFL champion. He played his final seasons with fellow Hall of Famers Gene Upshaw and Art Shell.
"Rip Jim Otto. Absolute Legend & Incredible Person," Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby wrote on X.
Otto is survived by his wife Sally, his son Jim Jr., daughter-in-law Leah and his 14 grandchildren.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on foreigners in central Afghanistan last week in which three Spanish citizens and three Afghans were killed.
Seven people were wounded in the attack on Friday in on Bamiyan province, a major tourist area, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the interior minister. He said seven suspects were arrested at the scene.
The Islamic State group issued statements on its Aamaq news agency late Sunday that said IS fighters attacked a bus carrying tourists and their guides. "The attack was in response to the IS leaders’ directions to target citizens of the European Union wherever they are found," it said.
Spain's Foreign Ministry said three Spaniards died and at least one more had been wounded. A Taliban official in Bamiyan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the four wounded foreigners were from Spain, Norway, Australia and Latvia.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media platform X that he was "overwhelmed" by the news.
Qani said that all those who were wounded have been transferred to capital of Kabul for treatment and they are stable condition.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan is a major Taliban rival and its militants have attacked schools, hospitals, mosques and minority Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
The Taliban is seeking to increase the number of tourists coming to the country. In 2021, there were 691 foreign tourists; in 2022, that figure rose to 2,300; and last year, it topped 7,000.
Bamiyan was the site of two massive Buddha statues carved into a cliff between the 4th and 6th century and which were destroyed by the Taliban at al-Qaida’s urging in early 2001.
Separately on Monday, a hand grenade exploded in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least one civilian and wounding three, the Kandahar police chief's office said.
Police were investigating the explosion near the road toward Kandahar airport, the statement said. No group has taken responsibility for the blast.
A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new rule from the Biden administration that would force gun dealers to carry out background checks and secure licenses when selling firearms at shows and other venues outside traditional gun stores.
The order from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo will remain in effect until June 2 and covers Texas and members of gun rights groups, including the Gun Owners of America. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, he said, "will not be afforded relief at this stage of litigation."
Kacsmaryk wrote that the new rule contradicted the language of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded the category of gun sellers required to obtain licenses, according to Reuters. He also blamed the rule for not letting people who buy or sell guns for personal protection from being eligible for a licensing requirement exemption given to those who buy or sell firearms for a "personal collection."
The judge noted that this means that "the statute's safe harbor provision provides no safe harbor at all for the majority of gun owners."
"I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. "The Biden Administration cannot unilaterally overturn Americans’ constitutional rights and nullify the Second Amendment."
"Despite Congress having recognized the legality of private firearms sales by non-dealers, the Biden Administration issued a new regulation that would subject hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in constitutionally protected activities," Paxton's office said.
President Biden has previously said the rule will "keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and felons" and that his administration "is going to continue to do everything we possibly can to save lives."
The administration predicted that the rule will force some 20,000 firearms dealers to start conducting background checks, on top of the 80,000 federally-registered dealers that were already doing so.
"This final rule does not infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights, and it will not negatively impact the many law-abiding licensed firearms dealers in our nation," Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Director Steve Dettelbach previously said. "They are already playing by the rules."
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
The NASCAR All-Star Race at the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina brought fireworks on and off the track on Sunday night.
Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got into a brawl in the garage area after the race. Stenhouse waited for Busch to get to the back after the No. 8 finished in 10th place in the race. The two were then seen exchanging words when Stenhouse threw a punch.
The two had to be separated as crews from both teams started to get after one another.
The rivalry started on the first lap of the 200-lap event. Busch and Stenhouse were among those riding three wide on the short track. Busch, on the outside, scraped the wall while Stenhouse was running in the middle. Busch then retaliated, hitting Stenhouse from behind and sending him into the wall.
"I’m tired of getting run over by everybody. But that’s what everybody does. Everybody runs over everybody to pass everybody," Busch told Fox Sports after the race.
Stenhouse waited for Busch, and that was when the fight occurred.
"I’m not sure why he was so mad," Stenhouse told Fox Sports. "I shoved it three-wide, but he hit the fence and kind of came off the wall and ran into me. I don’t know, when I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him.
"Definitely built up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about myself. I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to."
Joey Logano won the race and the $1 million prize. He led all but one of the laps.
"We were so fast," Logano said. "We came here before for testing and ran over 800 laps and really figured out what it was going to take to win the race."
Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, said in his inauguration speech Monday that he wants peace with China and urged it to stop its military threats and intimidation of the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory.
"I hope that China will face the reality of (Taiwan)’s existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation," Lai said after being sworn into office.
Lai pledged to "neither yield nor provoke" Beijing and said he sought peace in relations with China. But he emphasized the island democracy is determined to defend itself "in the face of the many threats and attempts at infiltration from China."
Lai’s party, the Democratic Progressive Party, doesn’t seek independence from China but maintains that Taiwan is already a sovereign nation.
The Chinese office in charge of Taiwan affairs criticized Lai’s inauguration speech as promoting "the fallacy of separatism," inciting confrontation and relying on foreign forces to seek independence.
"We will never tolerate or condone any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities," said Chen Binhua, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council.
"No matter how the situation on the island changes, no matter who is in power, it cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China ... and cannot stop the historical trend of the motherland’s eventual reunification," Chen said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Monday also announced sanctions against Boeing and two other defense companies for arms sales to Taiwan.
Lai, 64, takes over from Tsai Ing-wen, who led Taiwan through eight years of economic and social development despite the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s escalating military threats. Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and has been upping its threats to annex it by force if necessary.
Lai is seen as inheriting Tsai's progressive policies, including universal health care, backing for higher education and support for minority groups, including making Taiwan the first place in Asia to recognize same-sex marriages.
In his inauguration speech, Lai pledged to bolster Taiwan’s social safety net and help the island advance in fields such as artificial intelligence and green energy.
Lai, who was vice president during Tsai’s second term, came across as more of a firebrand earlier in his career. In 2017, he described himself as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan’s independence," drawing Beijing’s rebuke. He has since softened his stance and now supports maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and the possibility of talks with Beijing.
Thousands of people gathered in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei for the inauguration ceremony. Donning white celebratory hats, they watched the swearing-in on large screens, followed by a military march and colorful performances featuring folk dancers, opera performers and rappers. Military helicopters flew in formation, carrying Taiwan's flag.
Lai accepted congratulations from fellow politicians and delegations from the 12 nations that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, as well as politicians from the U.S., Japan and various European states.
Lai, also known by his English name William, has vowed to continue his predecessor’s push to maintain stability with China while beefing up Taiwan’s security through imports of military equipment from close partner the U.S., the expansion of the defense industry with the manufacture of submarines and aircraft, and the reinforcing of regional partnerships with unofficial allies such as the U.S., Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken congratulated Lai on his inauguration. "We look forward to working with President Lai and across Taiwan’s political spectrum to advance our shared interests and values, deepen our longstanding unofficial relationship, and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Blinken said in a statement from his office.
The U.S. doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan as a country but is bound by its own laws to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
Lai’s relatively conciliatory tone will come across as reassuring to foreign governments that may have been concerned about his past reputation as a firebrand, said Danny Russell, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
"There is virtually nothing that Lai could have said, short of ‘unconditional surrender,’ that would satisfy Beijing," he said.
Although Lai signaled he would maintain the overall direction of Tsai's policy regarding Beijing, he struck a more sovereignty-affirming tone in his speech, said Amanda Hsiao, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.
"This likely fits within Beijing's low expectations of Lai, so it won't necessarily change their response," Hsiao said. "China was always going to respond negatively to Lai."
During her tenure, Tsai oversaw a controversial pension and labor reform and extended the military conscription length to one year. She also kickstarted a military modernization drive.
Tsai’s leadership during the pandemic split public opinion, with most admiring Taiwan’s initial ability to keep the virus largely outside its borders but criticizing the lack of investment in rapid testing as the pandemic progressed.
Federal wildlife officials declared a rare lizard in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas an endangered species Friday, citing future energy development, sand mining and climate change as the biggest threats to its survival in one of the world’s most lucrative oil and natural gas basins.
"We have determined that the dunes sagebrush lizard is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. It concluded that the lizard already is "functionally extinct" across 47% of its range.
Much of the the 2.5-inch-long, spiny, light brown lizard's remaining habitat has been fragmented, preventing the species from finding mates beyond those already living close by, according to biologists.
"Even if there were no further expansion of the oil and gas or sand mining industry, the existing footprint of these operations will continue to negatively affect the dunes sagebrush lizard into the future," the service said in its final determination, published in the Federal Register.
The decision caps two decades of legal and regulatory skirmishes between the U.S. government, conservationists and the oil and gas industry. Environmentalists cheered the move, while industry leaders condemned it as a threat to future production of the fossil fuels.
The decision provides a "lifeline for survival" for a unique species whose "only fault has been occupying a habitat that the fossil fuel industry has been wanting to claw away from it," said Bryan Bird, the Southwest director for Defenders of Wildlife.
"The dunes sagebrush lizard spent far too long languishing in a Pandora’s box of political and administrative back and forth even as its population was in free-fall towards extinction," Bird said in a statement.
The Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association expressed disappointment, saying the determination flies in the face of available science and ignores longstanding state-sponsored conservation efforts across hundreds of thousands of acres and commitment of millions of dollars in both states.
"This listing will bring no additional benefit for the species and its habitat, yet could be detrimental to those living and working in the region," PBPA President Ben Shepperd and NMOGA President and CEO Missi Currier said in a joint statement, adding that they view it as a federal overreach that can harm communities.
Scientists say the lizards are found only in the Permian Basin, the second-smallest range of any North American lizard. The reptiles live in sand dunes and among shinnery oak, where they feed on insects and spiders and burrow into the sand for protection from extreme temperatures.
Environmentalists first petitioned for the species' protection in 2002, and in 2010 federal officials found that it was warranted. That prompted an outcry from some members of Congress and communities that rely on oil and gas development for jobs and tax revenue.
Several Republican lawmakers sent a letter to officials in the Obama administration asking to delay a final decision, and in 2012, federal officials decided against listing the dunes sagebrush lizard.
Then-U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at the time that the decision was based on the "best available science" and because of voluntary conservation agreements in place in New Mexico and Texas.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said in Friday's decision that such agreements "have provided, and continue to provide, many conservation benefits" for the lizard, but "based on the information we reviewed in our assessment, we conclude that the risk of extinction for the dunes sagebrush lizard is high despite these efforts."
Among other things, the network of roads will continue to restrict movement and facilitate direct mortality of dunes sagebrush lizards from traffic, it added, while industrial development "will continue to have edge effects on surrounding habitat and weaken the structure of the sand dune formations."
A Kansas City Star guest columnist wrote that the Kansas City Chiefs should replace three-time Super Bowl-winning kicker Harrison Butker with a woman because they did not like his commencement speech.
Peter Hamm specifically pointed to the part when Butker addressed the women in the audience at Benedictine College in Kansas. Butker said in his faith-speech he was able to speak to the school because his wife leaned into her vocation.
"I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me," he said. "But it cannot be overstated, that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
"She’s a primary educator to our children. She’s the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She's the person that knows me best at my core. And it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.
"I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true. But if you ask her today, if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, ‘heck no.’"
Because of that, Hamm wrote that Butker should lose his job and named a handful of female kickers who he claimed could replace him.
Hamm prefaced by writing there have been female kickers who have kicked in college – Willamette University’s Liz Heaston, who kicked two extra points in 1997; Ashley Martin, who made three extra points in a game in 2001 for Jacksonville State; Katie Hnida, who became the first woman to kick and score points in an NCAA Division 1-A (now FBS) game for New Mexico; and Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller who scored two extra points in 2020.
Hamm then implored the Chiefs to take a look at University of Manitoba kicker Maya Turner, who was 11-for-14 in six appearances. The Bisons play Canadian football in U Sports in Canada. Her longest make was 48 yards.
"She may end up ready to kick in the NFL. Is she as good a kicker as Butker, who has the second best all-time field goal success ratio? Not yet," Hamm wrote. "But she’s got three more years at the college level to keep getting better.
"Harrison Butker is not Patrick Mahomes. He’s a special teams player. That gives him less leverage with the team. They could trade him for a solid kicker, or they could make a statement by signing a woman to kick.
"Liz Heaston, Ashley Martin, Katie Hnida or Sarah Fuller might take a call. Maya Turner would likely give serious thought to an offer."
Thoughts about Butker’s commencement speech aside, the 2023 season was the best year he has had since he joined the Chiefs in the 2017 season.
He was 33-for-35 on field-goal attempts – good for 94.3% of his makes. He made every extra point he attempted. His longest in 2023 was 60 yards.
Butker also made four field goals in Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers, including a 57-yard field goal that set a Super Bowl record. He also tied the game with 3 seconds left with a 29-yard field goal.
He kicked the game-winner in Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles and nailed three extra points and a field goal in Super Bowl LIV.
Still, Hamm did not mention any of Butker’s moments that have helped Kansas City become one of the most dominant teams in the NFL. Rather, Hamm urged the Chiefs to look at the National Women’s Soccer League for a replacement.
"And the farm system for talent is rich. There are more than 300 players on the 14 teams in the National Women’s Soccer League. That’s more than 300 women who are professional ball kickers and don’t currently choose to be stay-at-home housewives. It would be delightful if one of them cost the Kansas City Chiefs kicker his job."
Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, finally rocketed into space 60 years later, flying with Jeff Bezos’ rocket company on Sunday.
Dwight was an Air Force pilot when President John F. Kennedy championed him as a candidate for NASA’s early astronaut corps. But he wasn’t picked for the 1963 class.
Dwight, now 90, went through a few minutes of weightlessness with five other passengers aboard the Blue Origin capsule as it skimmed space on a roughly 10-minute flight. He called it "a life changing experience."
"I thought I really didn't need this in my life," Dwight said shortly after exiting the capsule. "But, now, I need it in my life .... I am ecstatic."
The brief flight from West Texas made Dwight the new record-holder for oldest person in space — nearly two months older than "Star Trek" actor William Shatner was when he went up in 2021.
It was Blue Origin’s first crew launch in nearly two years. The company was grounded following a 2022 accident in which the booster came crashing down but the capsule full of experiments safely parachuted to the ground. Flights resumed last December, but with no one aboard. This was Blue Origin's seventh time flying space tourists.
Dwight, a sculptor from Denver, was joined by four business entrepreneurs from the U.S. and France and a retired accountant. Their ticket prices were not disclosed; Dwight’s seat was sponsored in part by the nonprofit Space for Humanity.
Dwight was among the potential astronauts the Air Force recommended to NASA. But he wasn't chosen for the 1963 class, which included eventual Gemini and Apollo astronauts, including Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. NASA didn’t select Black astronauts until 1978, and Guion Bluford became the first African American in space in 1983. Three years earlier, the Soviets launched the first Black astronaut, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, a Cuban of African descent.
After leaving the military in 1966, Dwight joined IBM and started a construction company before earning a master's degree in sculpture in the late 1970s. He's since dedicated himself to art. His sculptures focus on Black history and include memorials and monuments across the country. Several of his sculptures have flown into space.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R.-Fla., sparred with NBC host Kristen Welker over whether he would accept the results of the 2024 election "no matter what happens."
"No matter what happens? No! If it’s an unfair election, I think it’s going to be contested by each side," Rubio said.
Welker attempted to elicit a further response from the Florida Republican with versions of the same question, prompting Rubio to reply, "You’re asking the wrong person. The Democrats are the ones that have opposed every Republican victory since 2000. Every single one."
Welker went on to play a clip of Rubio certifying the 2020 election before questioning the senator on the public’s ability to be confident in this year’s election results. "Democracy is held together by people with confidence in the election, and their willingness to abide by its results," Rubio said in the 2021 clip.
The NBC host asked, "By your own definition, are Donald Trump’s claims undermining Americans’ confidence in democracy?"
"What undermines elections is when NBC News, and every major news outlet in the country in 2020, censored the Biden laptop story, which turned out to be true… You couldn’t even talk about it on social media, they would deplatform you," Rubio said.
Rubio’s sentiments echoed those of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott when interviewed on "Meet the Press" earlier this month.
"If everything’s honest, I’d gladly accept the results. If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country," Scott told NBC. "At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump."
Rubio, a potential vice presidential candidate for former President Trump, was also asked about his level of support for the former president’s plans to use the military to deport illegal migrants.
"We cannot absorb 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. They’re here illegally, what country on earth could tolerate that," he told Welker. "We’re going to have to do something dramatic to remove people from this country that are here illegally, especially people we know nothing about."
"This is not immigration, this is mass migration, this is an invasion of the country," Rubio added.
When President Biden said that Americans can "buy any kind of car they want," he failed to factor in new emissions standards his administration is putting in place that will reduce consumer choice, industry experts say.
During a speech delivered on Tuesday outside the Rose Garden, Biden focused on protecting U.S. jobs from unfair foreign trade practices and promised to not allow China to control the market for internal combustion engines or electric vehicles (EVs).
"I want to make this clear, notwithstanding what the other guy is saying – can buy any kind of car they want… but we're never going to allow China to unfairly control the market for these cars, period," he said, as "the other guy" appeared to be a reference to former President Trump, who made waves for predicting an auto industry "bloodbath" if Democrats continue their EV push.
Geoff Moody is senior vice president of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), a trade association representing companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil, Koch and others. He said that Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation "is functionally a ban on sales of most new gas cars by 2032."
"The policy is going to both limit the availability of new gas cars and push the cost of remaining gasoline-powered vehicles out of reach for most Americans," he said, adding that EPA compliance scenarios he has viewed project new internal-combustion-engine car sales to fall drastically from 84% at present to below 30% in 2032.
"The whole point of the rule is to push American drivers toward electric vehicles by limiting their other options," Moody said.
American Petroleum Institute executive Will Hupman echoed some of that sentiment, predicting that it could effectively eliminate most new gas-powered vehicles in the future.
In April, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. launched an effort to stymie the new restrictions via the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to make an expedited attempt to invalidate new agency rules.
Marshall told Fox News Digital on Thursday the president's comment sounded like a "political-showboating" response to such objections.
"Now that he’s facing backlash, Biden is trying to walk back his irresponsible EV mandates that drive American jobs and our auto-manufacturing overseas," Marshall said. "He hopes he can buy some political goodwill from the unions by flip-flopping on these tariffs while simultaneously stabbing them in the back with unrealistic goals of an all-electric transportation system."
Meanwhile, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who co-sponsored a similar effort, told Fox News Digital the president is either "being dishonest or he is unaware that his administration has been hijacked by far-left extremists trying to regulate combustion engines out of existence by finalizing regulations that amount to an EV mandate."
Sullivan, whose state has pushed back often against many Biden-era environmental rules, added that if Biden remains serious about a transition to electric vehicles, then he should reverse an administration move that restricted access to the Last Frontier's Ambler Mining District, where rare earth minerals required for EV batteries can be extracted.
"The United States desperately needs [those minerals] not only if the president wants companies to build more EVs, but for important defense projects," Sullivan said, arguing against continuing to import them instead.
While Biden's EPA's emissions standards do not constitute a blanket prohibition on internal combustion engines, automobile and fossil fuel trade organizations claim that to them, they may as well have.
Delving into the specifics of the new regulations, the AFPM wrote in a fact sheet that the average car tailpipe emission would have to be 85 grams per mile, which it described as unrealistic. It claimed that under a carbon credit-based system within the new rules, not every buyer who wants a new gas-powered car can get one if a dealer has not sold enough EVs.
When asked about Biden's comments and consumer choice concerns in regard to the new mandates, a spokesperson for General Motors said it is continuing to grow its electric vehicle fleet while retaining a broad suite of gas-powered options for customers.
The spokesperson also called it "challenging."
"The flatter curve approach will allow for the continued development of the EV market and the necessary support like infrastructure and supply chain. We are still awaiting final rules from the Department of Transportation on CAFE regulation[s] to fully understand how [they] will impact our portfolio of products."
The EPA pushed back on the criticisms and characterizations of its new standards, telling Fox News Digital the new rules actually expand consumer choice and pass on cost savings to drivers in the area of $62 billion worth of reduced yearly fuel and maintenance costs.
"By encouraging continued development of more efficient vehicles, EPA’s standards are also projected to save Americans on average about $6,000 over the lifetime of a new model year 2032 light-duty vehicle, compared to a vehicle meeting the 2026 standards, by accelerating adoption of technologies that reduce fuel and maintenance costs as well as pollution," an EPA spokesperson said. They denied the new regulations constitute a mandatory transition from internal combustion to electric power.
A White House spokesperson echoed much of the EPA's sentiment, telling Fox News Digital that Biden is "investing in a future that is made in America by American workers as we position the United States to lead the clean energy future." They credited the Inflation Reduction Act with making electric cars more affordable and claimed more American drivers are purchasing EV cars every day.
Several congressional Democrats who publicly voiced support for Biden's new regulations did not return requests for comment on the president's recent remarks.
A Minnesota couple in the midst of a "bureaucratic nightmare" amid a months-long stay in Brazil, where paperwork issues regarding their newborn son have prevented them from returning to the United States,is one step closer to being able to leave.
Chris and Cheri Phillips, of Cambridge, located 50 miles north of Minneapolis, visited the South American nation in February for what was supposed to be a two-week trip. The couple consulted with doctors before leaving and were encouraged to travel, as Cheri Phillips' due date was not until June 2.
Chris, who has a young daughter who lives in Brazil with her mother, visits the country at least three times each year. His wife usually accompanies him on at least one of those trips, they said.
On March 8, two days before they were slated to return home, Cheri Phillips began bleeding, and they went to the hospital. Several days later, Greyson Phillips was born through C-section. He spent 51 days in a neonatal intensive care unit before being discharged to his parents on May 3.
"While his health track has gone overall quite well, we are still stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare with regards to Brazilian documentation and American documentation," Chris Phillips told Fox News Digital from the Airbnb where the family is staying in the coastal city of Florianópolis. "The only reason we can't bring him home is because he doesn't have a Brazilian birth certificate, and we can't get him his American passport until he's got that birth certificate."
Despite the fight for their son's life, the fight to get him to the U.S. has proven to be an unexpected challenge. To leave the country, they needed a passport for Greyson, which requires a birth certificate. However, the local registry office, called a cartorio, refused to issue one because the passports for Chris and Cheri Phillips do not have the names of their parents on them, which is required in Brazil, they said.
Loved ones back in Minnesota sent the couple their individual birth certificates containing their parents' names and their marriage license. A court translator said the documents would still be denied because they lack an apostille, a little-known provision that certifies a document to be recognized by member nations of the 1961 Hague Convention, Chris Phillips said.
As their plight caught the attention of the Brazilian media, the cartorio "had a change of heart" and issued Greyson's birth certificate. The agency blamed the holdup on an employee who refused to comply with the request, Chris Phillips said over the weekend.
"No acknowledgement of wrongdoing. No admission of ignorance regarding a law of which they should have been fully aware," he said in a statement. "No apology for the 2+ months of unnecessary stress and mental anguish they had caused for Cheri and me."
"Supposedly, as we were told by somebody here, Brazil had passed a law in 2023 that excludes foreigners from needing to present official documents with apostles that contain a child's grandparents' names in order to process their Brazilian birth certificate," he said in a statement.
Getting American documentation was equally difficult. Getting the proper paperwork required Greyson's birth certificate and a trip to a U.S. consulate or embassy. The nearest facility is some 300 miles away in an area that has been heavily impacted by flooding.
Additionally, the newborn doesn't fit in a car seat, so driving was out of the question, Chris Phillips said. The couple contracted a local lawyer, but the court process has been slowed to a halt, likening the infant to a child without a country, they said.
"He (Greyson) does not exist officially on paper yet in any system," Chris Phillips said last week. "He has not officially been registered as they say in Brazil."
The couple also reached out to Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., for help to cut some of the red tape.
"I can only imagine the incredible stress that this family has had to endure, both in giving birth unexpectedly in Brazil and then having to overcome bureaucratic hurdles to come home," Smith said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "After calling on the Embassy in Brasilia to do more to help the family, we received the news that they will provide extra service to ensure the family does not have to travel to get a U.S. passport."
As of Sunday, the couple was working with the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia to produce a passport for the son.
"We will not begin to feel truly comfortable until we have that passport in hand. To be clear, we still have a long road ahead of us. But, at long last, at least we can see it," Chris said.
Aside from the stress of trying to navigate Brazil's legal system, the Phillips have had to deal with the mental and financial ramifications of their predicament.
"I don't speak Portuguese and not a lot of people here speak English," said Cheri Phillips, a first-time mother. "It's incredibly taxing to go through childbirth and having a child in the hospital when you can't directly talk to their care team."
The family has had to stay in several Airbnb properties, forcing them to move each time their reservation ends. Additionally, they have had to extend the contract for their rental car and adjust their flight home, which can come with significant costs. Their health insurance provider has so far covered their medical expense claims, Chris Phillips said.
Chris, a photographer and video producer for a pediatric health provider, has been working remotely, and Cheri will return to work virtually on a part-time basis next week.
"Getting him home, that's the goal now," he said. "By birth, he's is a Brazilian citizen. Being born to Americans, he has a right to be an American citizen, which he will be."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
National Rescue Dog Day is May 20 — and in honor of the special occasion, the husband-and-wife team of SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt, co-founders of the Godwinks brands and based in Massachusetts, shared an engaging story of personal hope and a dog's big heart with Fox News Digital.
It's among the stories included in a forthcoming book the couple are writing.
"We all need more light. We need more positivity. We need family and faith, hope and strength — that's what these stories are all about," the couple told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
They also said about the story at hand, "We can see why this one was destined to be a favorite family movie on Netflix — it begins with two main characters with their backs to the wall and ends with hope."
The couple are executive producers of the popular Hallmark "Godwink" movie series, and their first film for Netflix, "Rescued by Ruby," premiered as the network’s No. 1 family movie worldwide — recently ranking as the top "dog movie" of all time on Netflix.
Here, by special arrangement, is the story of a law enforcement officer and an incorrigible dog — or so everyone thought.
Rhode Island Trooper Dan O’Neil, struggling since childhood with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was facing his last chance to get into the canine unit after he was rejected for seven years in a row.
At the same time, a rambunctious rescue dog named Ruby — returned by seven different adoptive families and labeled "unmanageable," as well as having "legal liability" written into her record because of issues with nipping — was playfully romping through the shelter yard, oblivious to her fate.
Pat Inman, a trainer at the Providence Animal Shelter, had been desperate to find Ruby a home before the clock ran out. She had exhausted appeals to her boss to give her 24 more hours.
She'd also pleaded with her husband to let her bring the dog home.
But he put his foot down. "No more stray animals, Pat," he told her.
Inman felt heartsick. She’d grown to love Ruby.
Then, as these things tend to happen with divine alignment in life, the first "Godwink" unfolded at the 11th hour.
"Godwink means an event that seems like a coincidence, but you know it comes from a divine origin," Rushnell and DuArt previously told Fox News Digital. "We are all looking for hope, and we all have doubts … that someone is paying attention to us."
State Trooper O'Neil walked through the door of the animal shelter, asking if they had any German shepherds, knowing the breed to be curious and energetic.
Inman said no but introduced him to Ruby, a smart Australian shepherd/border collie pup.
The trooper and Ruby locked eyes. A secret communication was taking place.
"Do you think she could be a K-9 dog?" asked O'Neil.
"She could be anything," replied Inman, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time.
Minutes later, Ruby was leaving the shelter straining the leash of Officer Dan, as he was known, as Inman held her breath and attempted to stifle tears of joy.
But for anyone who thought the happy ending had just arrived and that everything would be a piece of cake — think again.
The next six months were grueling for Officer Dan. Ruby, it appeared, was incorrigible.
"She’s an absolute wreck," O’Neil told his wife, Melissa. "She hasn’t had a stable home for her first eight months of life and is in desperate need of love and stability."
It was nightfall when Officer Dan and Ruby were called to join the other K-9 partners and commence their search. Instantly, Ruby bolted into the darkness.
Officer Dan, running and trying to keep up, found Ruby at the bottom of a ravine.
She was curled up, trying to warm a boy with severe lacerations to the forehead and a faint pulse.
Ruby licked the boy’s face to open his breathing passages, filled with blood, as Officer Dan radioed the other first responders. He gave them GPS coordinates.
But soon they radioed that the coordinates were not working because they were in a ravine. So Officer Dan commanded Ruby to bark.
A voice crackled from the radio, "We hear Ruby. Keep her barking!"
Before long, the boy was placed on a stretcher and rushed back to a waiting ambulance.
Ruby settled into her spot in Officer Dan’s police vehicle, and in the dim light of his truck’s headlights, the officer greeted the parents who came out to thank him.
Ruby, meanwhile, was jumping up and down in the truck. She had caught the scent of her first love — Pat — from years before. The pair had a joyous reunion.
In March 2022, the Netflix "Godwink" movie based on this story, "Rescued by Ruby," premiered as the No. 1 family film in the world. By its first anniversary, the movie reached over 100 million viewers.
Sgt. Dan O’Neil, now the head of RISP K-9 Operations, reported that the number of young recruits who say they’ve been inspired to enlist in police academies because of "Rescued by Ruby" is extraordinary.
After the movie’s release, Ruby loved the celebrity attention and was honored in many ways. She won an American Humane Hero Dog for Search & Rescue — and weeks after the film premiered, she and Sgt. Dan were honored at Fenway Park for the Opening Day of Baseball 2022.
"She continued to work daily as my K-9 State Police partner until the very day she graduated to dog heaven at 11.5 years old," said Sgt. Dan.
"She showed us that we each can achieve great things no matter where we started out in life."
Ruby's story was first told nationally in SQuire Rushnell & Louise DuArt’s book "Dogwinks: True Stories of Dogs and the Blessings They Bring."