Author: Fox News

Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf was buried Tuesday in his family’s hometown, the southern port city of Karachi, a day after a special plane transported his body from the United Arab Emirates where he died on the weekend.

About 2,500 mourners — including Musharraf’s family and relatives, senior politicians and retired and serving military officials — attended the funeral at a military cemetery inside a high-security area in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.

Musharraf, who died at age 79, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 by ousting the elected government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose younger brother Shahbaz Sharif is now the country’s prime minister.

Amir Muqam, a senior leader from Sharif’s party, attended the funeral. Musharraf’s coffin was draped in the national flag in a sign of respect, though the ceremony was not a state funeral.

PLANE CARRYING DECEASED PAKISTANI EX-PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN KARACHI

Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and former army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, also attended.

“Gen. Pervez Musharraf always put the interests of Pakistan first, and he even put his life at risk by waging a war against militancy,” Moinuddin Haider, a retired army general, told reporters.

Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf gestures at a news conference on March 23, 2000, in Islamabad. Musharraf has died at the age of 79. His funeral was held on Tuesday. (Pervez Musharraf )

Several politicians and government officials also paid glowing tributes to Musharraf.

During his tenure as president, Musharraf made Pakistan a key ally of Washington in the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. That angered Pakistani and foreign militants who at least twice tried to assassinate him in the city of Rawalpindi in 2003, but he escaped unhurt.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TREASON

Musharraf lost his grip on power in 2008 when the party of former president Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan People’s Party, defeated his longtime political allies in parliamentary elections. Zardari later forced him to resign. The new government instigated a treason case against Musharraf — but allowed him to leave the country on bail to travel to Dubai in the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment while the proceedings were underway.

Musharraf remained in Dubai after being sentenced to death for treason at home in 2019, although the death penalty was later overturned by another court.

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However, Prime Minister Sharif’s government last year said Musharraf would not be arrested if his family wanted to bring him back home. But Musharraf’s doctors and his family said adequate medical treatment for him was unavailable in Pakistan.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick appeared on the “Let’s Go!” podcast Monday to reminisce with Tom Brady and the 20 years the two spent together, winning six Super Bowl titles.

Belichick lauded Brady and was thankful to get the chance to work with him for so long. New England selected Brady with the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe during the 2001 season and the rest is history.

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, #12, passes against the Denver Broncos in the first quarter of an NFL football game on Oct. 7, 2012, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

“Just the greatest player,” Belichick said. “The greatest career. A great, great person. It was such an opportunity and an honor for me to coach Tom. I guess it’s got to end at some point, you know, but it’s the greatest one ever. So, congratulations, Tom.”

Belichick explained he learned a lot from Brady when he was able to pick the quarterback’s mind during film sessions. He recalled at times when Brady would point things out to him, and he would think, “this guy sees everything.”

Belichick praised Brady’s ability to remember plays that happened from two years ago and the same situations he has been in over times during his career.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks on during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl XLII football game against the New York Giants at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 3, 2008 in Glendale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, file)

TOM BRADY OPENS HIMSELF UP TO RAZZING FROM FORMER NFL COLLEAGUES OVER UNDERWEAR SELFIE

“We all have decent memories, but to be able to process it that quickly in a matter of literally seconds and split seconds on the field or during a timeout or going back on the field with how much time’s left,” he explained on the podcast. “… Those are the things that I learned from Tom as a quarterback – was how to see the game as a quarterback instead of a coach.”

Belichick made clear that he and Brady had a “good relationship” despite the rumors of a rift between the two during the latter part of the quarterback’s time in Foxborough.

“We had a really good relationship, especially in the film room and talking football and all that, that I’ll always treasure and I learned so much from,” he said. “Because nobody sees the game better than Tom Brady sees it or saw it, and I was so lucky to learn from him and his vision. No other coach will get that experience. I mean, it was incredible.”

Tom Brady, #12, talks to New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, right, before a game against the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 24, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

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Brady announced last week that he was “retiring for good” after finishing up his 23rd season in the NFL.

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) released its first official images off the effort to recover debris from the downed Chinese spy balloon Monday night.

U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels deployed off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday after the U.S. shot down China’s surveillance craft. Divers and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are working to locate and recover pieces of the downed craft, which military officials say weighed thousands of pounds.

President Biden’s administration hopes to gain significant intelligence from the craft, which was allowed to cross the entire continental United States last week.

Once recovered, the debris is being transferred to the FBI facility in Quantico for analysis.

AIR FORCE WARNS CHINESE COMPANY’S NORTH DAKOTA MILL WOULD BE ‘SIGNIFICANT’ NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

US forces recover debris from a shot-down Chinese surveillance balloon.

U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships deployed divers to recover debris from the downed Chinese balloon.

A Coast Guard helicopter assists in recovery efforts after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon.

A US servicemember looks on during the recovery effort for the Chinese spy balloon.

NORTHCOM also released images of the F-22 fighter jet that took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to shoot down the balloon on Saturday.

Biden is said to have ordered the Chinese craft shot down on Wednesday, but the military advised holding off for safety purposes until the balloon was over open water.

NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck spoke to reporters in a press call on Monday and faced questions as to why the U.S. did not shoot down China’s surveillance craft as it crossed Alaska’s Aleutian Islands earlier in the week. VanHerck confirmed that NORAD had detected the craft before it entered Alaskan airspace, but said he “could not” take immediate action because the balloon did not pose a direct threat.

U.S. forces pull pieces of China’s surveillance balloon out of the ocean.

U.S. forces haul debris from China’s surveillance balloon onto a boat off the coast of South Carolina.

U.S. forces haul debris from China’s surveillance balloon onto a boat off the coast of South Carolina.

“The domain awareness was there as it approached Alaska. It was my assessment that this balloon did not present a physical military threat to North America,” VanHerck said Monday. “This is under my NORAD hat and therefore, I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent.”

CHINA SPY BALLOON SHOWS COUNTRY IS PREPARING CITIZENS FOR WAR THAT COULD COME ‘AT ANY POINT’

Reporters then pressed VanHerc on why the U.S. was so confident that it had limited the Chinese craft’s ability to gather information as it crossed the continental U.S. VanHerck says the military took precautions to cover all sensitive areas the craft flew over, but declined to go into specifics.

VanHerck also said officials assumed out of an abundance of caution there may be explosives aboard the craft meant to destroy it in the event of discovery or capture.

An F-22 fighter jet takes off from Langley Air Force Base to shoot down China’s spy balloon. (US NORTHCOM)

An F-22 fighter jet takes off from Langley Air Force Base to shoot down China’s spy balloon. (US NORTHCOM)

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Republicans on Capitol Hill have blasted Biden’s handling of the incident and are demanding to know further information about what intelligence the Chinese craft may have gathered during its journey across the U.S. 

President Biden will reference the Chinese surveillance craft that crossed the continental U.S. in his State of the Union address Tuesday, a senior administration official told Fox News.

The “reference” to the Chinese spy balloon that carried sensors and surveillance equipment is expected to be brief, though Fox News is told Biden is still making edits to the speech as of Tuesday.

US MILITARY CAUTIOUS THAT CHINESE SPY FLIGHT HAD ‘POTENTIAL FOR EXPLOSIVES TO DETONATE AND DESTROY’ BALLOON

A large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Saturday, Feb. 4. (Chad Fish via AP)

The surveillance flight first crossed Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28, but the North American Aerospace Defense Command did not take immediate action because the balloon was “not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent,” said Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck.

The air vessel was spotted on Feb. 1 over Montana, which is home to fields of nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base, then made its way across the continental U.S. before being shot down on Saturday. 

AIR FORCE WARNS CHINESE COMPANY’S NORTH DAKOTA MILL WOULD BE ‘SIGNIFICANT’ NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

President Biden salutes as he boards Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, on Feb. 4, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Republican lawmakers have harshly criticized Biden for waiting days to take the balloon down. The president said that he wanted to shoot the balloon down last Wednesday, but the military warned him it was not safe at that time. 

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A Coast Guard helicopter assists in recovery efforts after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Jerry Ireland)

A debris field about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters is now spread out across shallow waters six miles off the coast. The USS Carter Hall is on the scene categorizing debris, along with the USNS Pathfinder, a ship that is capable of conducting oceanographic, hydrographic and bathymetric surveys of the ocean floor. 

Fox News’ Paul Best contributed to this report.

Three migrants died and 16 others were rescued off the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday after a dinghy transporting them from the nearby coast of Turkey hit rocks in high winds, authorities said.

The coast guard said the three bodies were recovered off the eastern coast of the island, adding that a rescue effort involving two patrol boats, a helicopter and ground crews was underway to search for others possibly missing. 

GREECE’S MIGRATION MINISTER SAYS THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS ARRIVING IN THE COUNTRY HAS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY

A helicopter searches for migrants over the Aegean Sea near the northwestern island of Lesbos, Greece, on Feb. 7, 2023. Three migrants died and 16 were rescued off the Greek island of Lesbos after their dinghy crashed into rocks. (Greek Coast Guard via AP)

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None of the people on the dinghy had been given life jackets. The tragedy in the eastern Aegean Sea occurred two days after four children and a woman died when a boat carrying more than 40 migrants smashed into rocks on island of Leros.

A crew member remains missing and two others were rescued from crab boat that sank near Willapa Bay in southwest Washington on Sunday evening, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard on Twitter posted a video and said a helicopter crew from Astoria, Oregon, hoisted two people from a life raft into the helicopter during rough weather and large waves.

Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, a public affairs specialist for the Coast Guard 13th District In Seattle told The Seattle Times that Coast Guard teams were notified of the 46-foot Ethel May sinking by an emergency position-indicating radio beacon that began broadcasting a signal as the boat went down around 7:30 p.m.

OFFICIALS ADVISE EVACUATION OVER EXPLOSION CONCERNS AFTER TRAIN DERAILMENT IN OHIO

The Coast Guard watch in Warrenton, Oregon, was also notified of a 911 call made from the wife of one of the crabbers.

The Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene around 8:10 p.m. The two hoisted crew members had mild hypothermia and were taken to Willapa Harbor Hospital.

One person is still missing after a crab boat sank near Willapa Bay, Washington, on Sunday.

A search for the third crew member was suspended Monday evening, the Coast Guard said on Twitter.

During a 15-hour search, crews from the air, sea, and shore covered 290 square miles throughout Willapa Bay, the coastline, and offshore, according to the Coast Guard.

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Search crews found debris from the boat within Willapa Bay, and nearby waters in the Pacific. That indicates the vessel broke apart, according to a Coast Guard statement.

As of Monday evening, the names of the two survivors or the missing person had not been released.

Dungeness crab is the state’s most valuable commercial seafood harvest. The seasons have generated on average $47.92 million to crabbers in the past decade.

A man charged with attacking police with a machete near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve was transferred to U.S. custody and made his initial federal court appearance on Monday to face terrorism charges.

Trevor Thomas Bickford, handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, slowly shuffled into a Manhattan federal courtroom for an initial appearance. Charges in a federal complaint allege he tried to murder officers and employees of the U.S. government. A U.S. magistrate judge gave prosecutors two weeks to seek an indictment.

In a soft voice, Bickford answered routine questions from the judge before he was returned to a federal jail after the brief appearance.

NYC SEES SERIES OF UNRELATED SLASHINGS IN 3-HOUR SPAN IN WAKE OF NEW YEAR’S MACHETE ATTACK ON COPS

His court-appointed lawyer did not seek bail. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine, appeared in federal court Monday, accused of a New Year’s Eve machete attack on three New York City police officers.

Bickford, of Wells, Maine, was 19 when authorities said he attacked three police officers with a machete about two hours before the new year began.

NYC MACHETE ATTACK SUSPECT TREVOR BICKFORD HIT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES AFTER ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTING TO KILL COPS

He also faces charges in state court, where prosecutors said he shouted “Allahu akbar” in the New Year’s Eve attack before striking one officer in the head and trying to grab another officer’s gun. He was shot in the shoulder by police and was taken to a hospital to recover from his injuries.

Authorities have said he began studying radical Islamic ideology last summer before deciding in November to wage jihad against U.S. officials and officials of other governments he thought to be anti-Muslim.

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“Bickford intended to die in the attack, in an effort to achieve martyrdom,” the federal complaint said. “Bickford believed his attack was unsuccessful, because he did not kill any officers, and he did not die himself.”

The New York Times editorial board published three op-eds across the Obama, Trump, and Biden presidencies on “blue slips”, a Senate procedure that allows a Senator to block a president’s judicial nomination if the nominee is from his or her state. 

During the Obama administration, Republicans were in the minority in the Senate. The Times’ editorial board advocated for the blue slip mechanism to be abolished. Under the Trump presidency, when Democrats were in the minority in the Senate and struggling to block the President’s nominations, the Times spoke positively when Democrats used it. And now, under the Biden presidency, the Times is once again criticizing Republicans for using the procedure. 

In an editorial published Monday, titled “How to Stop a Senator From Blocking a Federal Judge”, the Times argued that Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., should use his power as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to unilaterally end the practice. 

“He could unilaterally end this blue-slip custom at any time without requiring any kind of vote or radically upending an important Senate practice, just as Republicans decided to end it for appellate-level judges in 2018,” the Times wrote.

WHITE HOUSE WON’T SAY IF BIDEN IS CONCERNED ABOUT POTENTIAL SPY FLIGHT INTEL IN BEIJING’S HANDS

The New York Times Building in Midtown Manhattan.  (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

The editors lamented that Republican Sen. Ron Johnson used the blue-slip rule to block one of Biden’s nominees and called it “an archaic Senate tradition”.

However, early in the Trump presidency, the editorial board praised Democrats’ use of the blue-slip rule as legitimate. 

“Now that Republicans control both the White House and Congress, top party officials, including Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, are itching to eliminate the last remaining tool the minority party has to influence a president’s picks for the federal courts — the so-called blue slip,” they wrote at the time.

HILLARY CLINTON PRIVATELY THINKS KAMALA HARRIS LACKS ‘POLITICAL INSTINCTS’ TO WIN A PRIMARY: REPORT

President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade with Judge Amy Coney Barrett after a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

They praised the procedure as “an incentive for moderation” and argued that Republicans who wanted to get rid of it were hypocritical because they supported it as a check against the Obama White House.

The piece was titled “A Hypocritical Battle Over Blue Slips”. In it, the editorial board did concede, “Still, the blue slip is no longer the answer.”

However, the editorial presented the practice in a much better light and criticized Republicans for considering abolishing it.

“Unlike their Republican counterparts, however, these Democrats provided a clear explanation for their opposition: The White House, they said, made no meaningful effort to consult with them before making nominations. Mr. Wyden and Mr. Merkley said Mr. Trump had completely bypassed Oregon’s well-established bipartisan selection committee,” the editorial board wrote. “These are fair complaints.”

“The Constitution gives the president the power to choose federal judges, but only with the ‘advice and consent’ of the Senate. In an earlier era of relative comity and good faith, the blue-slip tradition may have helped to ensure that advice was considered. But in this toxic, hyperpartisan age, there’s no simple way to force a president to listen,” they continued. “And that is not a minor matter. Any president, not least one who lost the popular vote by almost three million votes, should take account of the wishes and concerns of senators of the opposing party.”

President Biden at the IBM factory. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

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In 2014, the editors published a piece titled “The Senate’s Discourtesy to Judges.” In it, they slammed Republicans in Congress for using the tool as obstructionists and racists for using the tool. 

“Now they hide behind a procedure that allows them to block able nominees because they want one of their cronies to get the job, or don’t want liberals or minorities on the bench or are afraid that any appearance of collaboration would rile the Tea Party,” they wrote at the time.

Jon and Kate Gosselin’s twins are all grown up – and one of them is setting her boundaries with the public.

The Gosselin family first appeared on the TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” in 2007. Jon and Kate divorced in 2009 and the show was renamed “Kate Plus 8,” continuing without Jon.

On Saturday, daughter Mady posted a video on TikTok in response to the public’s interest in her life and the lives of her seven siblings, making it clear their private lives are no one’s business but their own. She explained her comments section is filled with people discussing her “childhood trauma,” her parents and more, saying all of it “is sending me over the edge.”

“Perpetuating the narrative that we are damaged or that we are crazy child stars or whatever you want to say is extremely harmful as myself and my siblings are going out into the world and will be functioning members of society with careers,” she said in the video. “There seems to be, like, a public consensus that if you’re in the public eye, your entire life belongs to the public and that is in no way true.”

The Gosselin family first appeared on the TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” in 2007. (Donna Svennevik / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

KATE GOSSELIN FOUND IN CONTEMPT FOR FILMING MINOR CHILDREN ON TLC SHOW WITHOUT PERMITS: REPORT 

The popular show followed the lives of Jon and Kate as they navigated the difficulties that come with raising twin daughters as well as sextuplets. In addition to Mady, they are parents to her twin, Cara, as well as sextuplets Joel, Collin, Aaden, Leah, Hannah and Alexis.

Regarding her six younger siblings, Mady assured her followers that “regardless of whatever narrative” is out there, they are all doing great. “They are all amazing people,” she said. “They are all smart, they are all kind, they’re driven students, they’re working hard, they’re funny, they’re stylish.”

“As upsetting as it is to hear this, you are not entitled to that information about their lives or about my life,” she continued. “What I share on social media is my choice, and you are not entitled to anything more than that. I’m sorry if that’s hard to hear, but that is a boundary that I have set for myself and for what I share on here about my family, and if you can’t respect it, then unfollow me, or I’ll block you.”

She then took the opportunity to remind everyone to approach the comments section with “decorum and kindness,” saying, “the internet should not be a free-for-all” where people feel free to “bully everyone” by saying things “you wouldn’t say right to my face.”

Mady reminded everyone to remain kind in the comments section and respect people’s privacy. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery)

“Yes, there is nothing stopping you from commenting these things except for yourself,” Mady said. “You should choose to be kind to people and respect their privacy on the Internet.”

In the caption of the TikTok video, Mady said she has “been getting hate mail” since she was 6 years old.

This isn’t the first time a Gosselin child has spoken out. In November 2022, Collin spoke with “Entertainment Tonight” about his strained relationship with his mother. He has lived with his father since Jon was granted temporary custody of him in 2018.

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Collin told the outlet that the pressure of his family being on a reality television show led to the estrangement with Kate.

Jon and Kate divorced in 2009 and the show was renamed “Kate Plus 8,” continuing without Jon. (Brad Barket / WireImage for Discovery Communications)

“I want to believe it was because of TV and what being in the public eye does to a family. I think it tore us apart,” he said. “It gave us less time to actually be together as a family, [and] more time to be in the public eye.”

Despite going through hard times in his upbringing, Collin remains positive as he enters the adult chapter of his life. He also hopes to continue to spread “kindness and love.”

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“My one message to everybody, to the world, in general, is just be kind to people,” he said. “It’s really not that hard, you know? Be kind, talk to people, hear other people’s stories, just spread kindness.”

Arguing against a lawsuit, Alabama’s attorney general contended that an inmate did not suffer unconstitutionally during a lethal injection that was called off last year when the execution team couldn’t establish an intravenous line despite repeated attempts.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Kenneth Eugene Smith seeking to prevent the state from making a second attempt to put him to death. The attorney general argued that repeatedly being pricked with a needle does not rise to the level of cruel and unusual punishment and that Smith did not suffer unconstitutional pain and mental anguish during the attempted execution.

“Allegations of pain related to difficulty achieving intravenous access do not amount to cruel and unusual punishment,” lawyers for the state wrote in the Monday court filing.

Smith was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Nov. 17 for the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett. Prison officials called off Smith’s execution for the night after they were unable to establish IV access.

NEARLY 80 AL INMATES RELEASED EARLY WITH ANKLE MONITORS UNDER A 2021 SENTENCING LAW

The Alabama attorney general is arguing against a lawsuit that an inmate didn’t suffer in an aborted lethal injection last year. 

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The failed execution was the second instance that year of Alabama being unable to carry out an execution because of difficulties connecting intravenous access and its third since 2018.

The problems led to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey seeking a pause in executions to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s capital punishment system.

The Alabama Supreme Court, at Ivey’s request, abolished the previous one-day timeframe to carry out a death sentence. Instead, the governor will set a window of time for the execution to be carried out. The prison system had blamed last-minute legal filings — combined with a midnight deadline to get the execution started — as a reason for calling off Smith’s execution.

Smith’s lawyers argued in the court filing that Smith was “subjected to ever-escalating levels of pain and torture” on the night of the “botched” execution. They argued prison staff strapped Smith to a death chamber gurney, despite a court order in place at the time blocking the execution from going forward, and later subjected him to numerous needle jabs, including in the neck and collarbone region