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San Diego Padres all-time home run king Nate Colbert dead at 76

January 6, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

All-time San Diego Padres home run leader Nate Colbert died on Thursday at the age of 76.

In a statement from the organization, Padres Chairman Peter Seidler said, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Padres Hall of Famer Nate Colbert. Our hearts go out to his wife, Kasey, and the entire Colbert family at this very difficult time.”

The Padres also confirmed the news on Twitter.

Colbert sits atop the Padres homer list with 163.

RED SOX, RAFAEL DEVERS AGREE TO MASSIVE EXTENSION: REPORTS

A first baseman, Colbert was an original member of the 1969 Padres expansion team.

In 1999, he was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural class.

XANDER BOGAERTS, PADRES AGREE TO AN 11-YEAR, $280 MILLION DEAL: REPORTS

Colbert also spent time with the Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos and Oakland Athletics over 10 seasons in the big leagues.

A three-time all-star, Colbert recorded 173 career home runs, to go along with 833 hits and a .243 batting average.

He also posted a lifetime on-base percentage of .322, to go along with 520 RBI.

Southwest starts on reputation repair after cancellations

January 6, 2023 Published by The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded.

CEO Robert Jordan said Thursday that Southwest has processed about 75% of the refund requests it has received. The airline has also returned most lost bags to their owners, and hired an outside firm to sift through requests for reimbursement of things like hotels and meals that stranded passengers paid out of their own pockets, he said.

The massive disruptions began Dec. 22 with a winter storm, and snowballed when Southwest’s ancient crew-scheduling technology was overwhelmed, leaving crews and planes out of position to operate flights. It took the airline eight days to recover.

Jordan said in a brief interview that Southwest is still studying what went wrong, and he doesn’t want to make changes in technology until that review is done. He expressed optimism but offered few specifics about avoiding a repeat meltdown.

Southwest is giving 25,000 frequent-flyer points to customers whose flights were canceled or significantly delayed between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2, and seems to be making progress on refunds, but executives concede it will take many weeks to process the reimbursement requests.

Danielle Zanin is still waiting to hear whether Southwest will cover the $1,995.36 that she spent during a four-day odyssey getting her family of four home to Illinois after their flight was canceled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even if she eventually gets the money, it may not be enough for her to try Southwest again.

“It would take a lot for the airline to prove to me that they can fix whatever technology they use to get flight crews and planes where they need to go. It’s just not worth the hassle that I went through,” Zanin said. She said she plans to go back to flying on American Airlines even if it costs more.

Southwest hopes that refunds, reimbursements and loyalty points will persuade people not to switch to other airlines, known in the industry as “booking away.”

“Book-away typically has a short half-life, perhaps as little as a month, given it appears from many accounts that Southwest is being very generous reimbursing not only flight but other out-of-pocket costs” and is serious about fixing the technological shortcomings that made the crisis worse, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in New York.

Retaining loyal customers is crucial if Southwest is to limit the financial damage of the meltdown. The company has yet to say how much money it lost because of the canceled flights — Jordan promised more information before Southwest reports quarterly results on Jan. 26.

Raymond James airline analyst Savanthi Syth estimated that the storm will cost Southwest about $585 million in lost revenue, plus higher expenses. Mann figures it’s between $500 million and $600 million in cash, vouchers and frequent-flyer points.

Airlines — including Southwest as recently as October 2021 — have recovered quickly from previous meltdowns, whether they were caused by bad weather, crew shortages, IT outages or other factors. Passenger numbers, if they declined at all, recovered quickly.

“The reputational damage is only as relevant as what consumers can do about it,” said Michael Mazzeo, who teaches strategy at Northwestern University’s business school and has examined airline competition. “In a lot of markets, there is little or no competition to Southwest. When there is no outlet for consumers, the damage is more limited.”

Southwest, American, United and Delta control about 80% of the domestic air-travel market. Southwest — it started 50 years ago as a low-cost competitor to big airlines but has gradually become much more like them — has a particularly outsized presence in some big states including California, Arizona and Texas.

Southwest remained relatively quiet for several days even after it became clear that it was struggling while other airlines recovered from the winter storm — and after it came under repeated criticism from consumers, media reports and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

As canceled flights piled up day after day, Southwest gave few updates and rejected requests for interviews with key executives. It posted a video apology by Jordan Dec. 27, followed a day later by a video with another executive. Company executives did not speak generally to the media until Dec. 29, when they announced that Southwest would resume normal operations the following day.

“The company was slow to come forward in terms of corporate PR communications until the government went after them, the (Transportation) secretary called the CEO directly and demanded they move fast to take care of those people,” said Larry Yu, a George Washington University professor who studies crisis management in the tourism industry. “Short-term, it’s big damage.”

But Yu also noted that Southwest has decades of reputation for relatively low fares and good service to fall back on. He praised the airline for promising refunds, reimbursements and frequent-flyer points.

“They have to do something to win back those customers,” Yu said. Now, he added, Southwest must make good on vows to improve its technology, “because you don’t want to equate low-cost with low-tech.”

Jordan said Southwest has good technology, but he said the airline will re-examine IT priorities once it better understands how the December failure unfolded.

The debacle has also focused attention on Southwest among lawmakers in Congress.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday that he will re-introduce a “passenger bill of rights,” which failed to become law in the last Congress.

“The Southwest debacle creates a moment when the forces in favor of this kind of consumer-protection measure could prevail,” he said in an interview.

The Senate Commerce Committee said this week it will hold hearings on the Southwest meltdown. Blumenthal said witnesses should include executives from Southwest and other airlines.

“This problem (of flight disruptions) is hardly limited to Southwest, it’s hardly the first meltdown in airline travel, and it’s hardly unforeseeable,” Blumenthal said. He said it was baffling why Southwest had not improved its crew-scheduling technology after it had failed during previous disruptions in the summer and fall of 2021.

Buttigieg has said repeatedly that his department is watching Southwest closely and will hold it accountable to treat customers fairly.

Consumer groups have given mixed grades to the Transportation Department’s oversight of airlines. They viewed the Trump administration as a low point, with few enforcement actions taken against airlines even in the face of record consumer complaints. The Biden administration fined Frontier Airlines and several foreign carriers last year for not quickly paying refunds to travelers whose flights were canceled during the early months of the pandemic, but advocates were disappointed that none of the four largest U.S. airlines were fined.

The Transportation Department has the burden of enforcing consumer-protection laws aimed at protecting airline travelers. Several consumer groups are urging Congress to let state officials and private parties sue airlines to enforce those laws — an effort that has been unsuccessful so far.

“The airlines are going to lobby hard to have as little regulation as possible, but with each passing meltdown it becomes more apparent that real change is needed,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy at the National Consumers League.

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Speaker debacle puts U.S. security 'at risk,' GOP lawmakers warn

January 6, 2023 Published by Politico

“We cannot let personal politics place the safety and security of the United States at risk,” they said.

The trio’s shot at the 20 conservative holdouts preventing McCarthy from taking the gavel comes as concerns mount among security-oriented lawmakers that they can’t do their work until a speaker is elected. Those complaints in the opening days of the new Congress include not being able to access classified information and an inability to begin committee work.

Until a speaker is elected, lawmakers cannot be sworn in. Committees won’t form, new Republican chairs won’t be confirmed, new members won’t be appointed to panels and subcommittee chairs won’t be named.

The Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs panels — chaired by Turner, Rogers and McCaul, respectively — feature prominently in the GOP agenda. The lawmakers reiterated they “strongly support” McCarthy as the fight heads into a third day.

“McCarthy’s Commitment to America agenda outlines a stronger approach to countering China, a plan to investigate the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and how a Republican majority will hold this administration accountable,” they said.

It’s the most high profile warning so far as McCarthy and his allies look to break a logjam on the House floor. But Democrats and Republicans tasked with oversight of the Pentagon and intelligence community have been sounding the alarm throughout the week about the impact of a drawn–out fight.

House GOP military veterans aired their concerns at a press conference on Wednesday.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said he and fellow Armed Services member Don Bacon (R-Neb.) were scheduled to meet with Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley in secure House facilities on Wednesday to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific region, but were barred from doing so.

“I’m informed by House security that, technically, I don’t have a clearance,” Gallagher told reporters. “I’m a member of the Intel Committee, I’m on the Armed Services Committee, and I can’t meet in the SCIF to conduct essential business.

“My point is we have work to do that we can’t do right now,” he added.

Lawmakers aren’t required to obtain security clearances, but are permitted access to sensitive information through their positions.

Gallagher has also been tapped by McCarthy to chair a select committee to assess the wide array of security and economic threats posed by China. The panel is a major pillar of the House GOP national security agenda, but a resolution establishing the committee can’t be considered until the House elects a speaker and organizes.

Intelligence Committee member Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) also complained that members of his panel “don’t have access” to their secure facilities or classified information.

“The secure facility that we work in every day when we’re here, we can’t go in there right now,” Wenstrup said. “We would get daily briefs. We’re in there all the time. And right now, we can’t be in there at all.”

The concerns are bipartisan. Incoming Armed Services ranking Democrat Adam Smith of Washington said the chaos on the House floor is “a problem” for committee work.

“We’re going to be without any committees for potentially weeks,” Smith told POLITICO.

It’s unclear how long McCarthy can sustain his bid. Though he has the backing of the majority of the GOP conference, the California Republican has flipped no votes in his favor in six ballots.

McCarthy may have made progress overnight with a series of concessions to conservatives, however, including allowing a lower threshold for forcing a vote to oust the speaker and granting seats on the House Rules Committee to members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.

His path to the speakership may include granting some coveted gavels to conservatives.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a top McCarthy opponent, is seeking an Armed Services subcommittee gavel, among other conservative lawmaker requests for committee spots. But Gaetz later said McCarthy solicited a list of committee assignments conservatives wanted and then leaked it to embarrass them. Gaetz has since said he will never back McCarthy.

But Rogers, the presumptive Armed Services chair, acted as an enforcer for McCarthy ahead of the floor battle. The Alabama Republican argued in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday before the speaker election that GOP members who vote against McCarthy should lose their committee assignments.

And Rogers dismissed the possibility of handing a subcommittee gavel to Gaetz on Wednesday, though the issue may now be moot.

“Everybody else has to go through the Steering Committee and make their case. … They want to skip all that,” Rogers told POLITICO. “And of course I’m going to tell one of my subcommittee chairs, ‘Yeah, I want you to step aside so I can reward Matt Gaetz with a chairmanship.’”

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Photos show Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupting again

January 6, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted again Thursday, with photos showing lava piling up inside its summit crater, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The eruption comes less than a month after its previous eruption ended.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected the lava glowing inside the Halemaumau crater at the volcano’s summit caldera through webcam images, indicating Kilauea had begun erupting.

The volcano’s summit is inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and is not near residential communities.

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes with its previous eruption lasting 16 months starting in September 2021.

ENDANGERED SEABIRD AT HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK CAUGHT ON CAMERA FOR FIRST TIME

Hawaii had two volcanoes erupting side by side last year, for about two weeks, when Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years.

The shared eruption lasted about two weeks starting Nov. 27, and both volcanoes stopped about the same time.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey raised an alert level for Kilauea after detecting signs that the volcano might erupt.

Capitol Police ramp up security ahead of protests planned on two-year anniversary of January 6 insurrection

January 6, 2023 Published by CNN

CNN
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The US Capitol Police is ramping up its security posture and monitoring online chatter about planned protests set to occur on Friday’s two-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Multiple sources tell CNN that USCP will have civil disturbance units on standby for several protests on the Capitol grounds that have permits and at the Supreme Court building.

Additionally, USCP is coordinating with law enforcement agencies in surrounding jurisdictions, including police departments from Maryland’s Montgomery County and Fairfax County in Virginia. Washington, DC, police will have civil disturbance units available on Friday as well.

USCP’s intelligence unit is monitoring protests on Capitol grounds planned by groups across the political spectrum, according to an internal document circulated December 27 and reviewed by CNN, including some who contend that rioters have been unjustly prosecuted and others who warn that American democracy was in peril the day of the riot.

The internal Capitol Police document suggested events at the Supreme Court and the Capitol grounds could draw hundreds of protesters throughout the day.

The Capitol Police unit also is monitoring for protesters to gather in front of the Supreme Court related to a longshot petition alleging the 2020 election was fraudulent. The case has been dismissed by lower courts for various reasons, including a lack of jurisdiction.

The US solicitor general declined to respond to the case, signaling a belief that it will not be seriously considered by the justices. The fact that the justices are considering the case on January 6 is only due to the timing of the DOJ’s decision last year to waive its response on November 23, automatically putting it on the list for this Friday.

The stepped-up posture comes out of an abundance of caution, sources tell CNN, and reflects what has become standard protocol for USCP in the wake of the deadly riot two years ago.

Over the past two years, USCP has overhauled its approach and drafted a common framework for First Amendment activity that could potentially turn volatile. Strategies the department now uses regularly include better coordination with partner agencies throughout the DC area, as well as standard tactical and medical operational planning.

USCP spokesman Tim Barber told CNN in a statement that the operational planning for Friday is based on intelligence.

“We now have tabletop exercises for command staff, we host inter-agency planning meetings, we have a defined incident command structure,” Barber said.

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China's new Covid surge is crippling the world's most important factories and biggest ports

January 6, 2023 Published by CNBC News

Workers test transformers at a workshop of Hebei Gaojing Electric Equipment Co LTD in an industrial park in Handan, North China’s Hebei province, Jan 3, 2023.

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

The surge in Covid-19 cases in China is impacting the completion of manufacturing orders, according to CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data.

Logistics managers are warning clients that because of the spike in infections, factories are unable to complete orders — even with U.S. manufacturing orders from China already down 40% due to an unrelenting demand collapse.

Orders for ocean bookings continue to be softer according to SONAR Data.

“With 1/2 or even 3/4 [of the] labor force being infected and not able to work, many China manufacturers can not operate properly but produce less than their optimal outputs,” Hong Kong-based shipping firm HLS wrote in a note to clients. “The container pickup, loading, and drayage (trucking) are also affected as all businesses are facing the impacts of COVID. We expect a very soft volume after the Lunar New Year because a lot of factories have slowed production due to the increasing infection, and have to cancel or delay the bookings for the 2^nd half of January and also early February.”

HLS also noted that “All indications that the Chinese cities are experiencing infection peaks is based on the surge of infected family members, friends, and colleagues, the long lines at the fever clinics at hospitals across the country.”

Three major ports across China are experiencing supply chain delivery problems because of Covid, according to the note.

For the Port of Shanghai, the world’s number one container port, the report warned that “Cancellations are increasing as many factories can’t operate properly due to a lot of workers getting infected with Covid.”

The same warning was also highlighted for the Port of Shenzhen, the fourth-largest container port in the world and the city that is home to Apple manufacturers. “The booking cancellation is increasing as many factories can’t operate properly due to a lot of workers getting invested with Covid,” the report said.

How dynamic Covid restrictions are impacting trade

Qingdao, the sixth-largest port in the world, is reported as having factories with only “1/4 labor force and can not ensure normal production.”

This data falls in direct contrast with reports from Chinese state media, which have looked to reassure the public that the outbreak is under control. The accuracy of data being released by the China CDC has come under increasing scrutiny around the world.

“Factory orders are down between 30%-40%, which you would think would help in the completion of the products,” said Alan Baer, CEO of OL USA. “This is not happening in some areas of the country which is troubling. Then you have to factor in the additional Covid surges after Chinese New Year. Q1 will be challenging.”

As a result of the Covid impact on trucking, MarineTraffic is seeing a slowdown in port productivity in Shanghai.

“While China has recently removed its zero-Covid restrictions, the congestion in Shanghai seems to have risen as MarineTraffic data shows that during the first week of 2023 that the average vessel TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) capacity waiting out of port limits was 321,989 TEUs, which is the highest amount recorded since April 2022,” said Alex Charvalias, Supply Chain In-Transit Visibility Lead at MarineTraffic. “Also, the congestion in Ningbo and Qingdao is rising as well, with 273,471 TEUs and 277,467 TEUs, respectively.

The record congestion was a result of the Covid lockdowns that started on March 28th. It took the city until mid-June to reopen after two failed attempts.

In prior outbreaks, the ports of Ningbo and Qingdao have been used as alternatives to avoid the Shanghai congestion. As a result of the logistics strategy, congestion can then follow. According to the HLS report, Ningbo was expected to have peak infections this week.

U.S. inventories could be impacted

Looking ahead at manufacturing orders and if there will be any increase in the near future, Baer told CNBC that “Transpacific to East Coast port volume will remain under pressure until companies reach a balance between existing inventory levels and their expected sales rate.”

Data from WarehouseQuote shows inventories are still at all-time highs.

“We are still seeing an extremely tight market with limited [third-party logistic] and industrial capacity nationwide,” said Jordan Brunk, chief marketing officer for WarehouseQuote. “We are continuing to see consistent increases in storage rates all over the U.S., with the exception of the southeast, which would indicate capacity is still tight across nearly all regions.”

CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data providers are artificial intelligence and predictive analytics company Everstream Analytics; global freight booking platform Freightos, creator of the Freightos Baltic Dry Index; logistics provider OL USA; supply chain intelligence platform FreightWaves; supply chain platform Blume Global; third-party logistics provider Orient Star Group; global maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic; maritime visibility data company Project44; maritime transport data company MDS Transmodal UK; ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform Xeneta; leading provider of research and analysis Sea-Intelligence ApS; Crane Worldwide Logistics; DHL Global Forwarding; freight logistics provider Seko Logistics; Planet, provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, and ITS Logistics provides port and rail drayage services in 22 coastal ports and 30 rail ramps throughout North America.

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[World] Jharkhand: India bans tourism at holy Jain site after protests

January 6, 2023 Published by

BBC News world

Getty Images

Image caption,

There have been countrywide protests against the decision

The Indian government has banned tourism activities at an important pilgrimage site for the Jain community.

Sammed Shikharji is located in an environmentally sensitive area atop Jharkhand state’s highest mountain.

The government has asked the state to ban activities that “defile the site”, like consumption of alcohol and non-vegetarian food.

The Jain community is a religious minority comprising around 4.5 million believers.

Devout Jains follow the tenets of their religion under the spiritual guidance of monks. These include detailed prescriptions for daily life, especially what to eat, what not to eat and when to eat.

The community fears that tourism to the pilgrimage site in Jharkhand will harm the sanctity of the area.

Members have been protesting against the state government’s move to turn the site into a tourist spot for some weeks.

In 2019, the environment ministry had approved tourism activities at Parasnath Hill – where the site is located – following the state government’s proposal.

On Thursday, it sent a letter to the state government stating that the site was important not just for the community but the entire nation.

It asked the state to immediately stop all “tourism and eco-tourism” activities at the site and to enforce all rules applicable to eco-sensitive zones.

This includes banning “loud music, the sale and consumption of intoxicants, defiling sites of religious and cultural significance” and activities that can harm the ecology of the area.

Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav tweeted that the federal government was committed to “preserving and protecting the rights of the Jain community over all their religious sites, including Sammed Shikhar”.

Matt Gaetz calls out Trump over support for McCarthy’s speaker bid

January 6, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he wouldn’t bet on his support to help Kevin McCarthy become House speaker under “almost any circumstance” as the 118th Congress is set to enter another day without any candidate reaching the 218-vote threshold.

“It is not the end of the world that we take a few extra days or maybe even a couple of weeks to sort this out,” he said Thursday on “The Ingraham Angle.”

Twenty GOP holdouts voted against McCarthy, changing their nominations from Reps.-elect Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to Byron Donalds, R-Fla., to Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

Gaetz nominated former President Donald Trump on the third day of voting, saying he would make “the House of Representatives great again.”

Host Laura Ingraham asked what other concessions McCarthy had to give or agree to for the Florida congressman-elect’s vote.

“I wouldn’t be betting on my vote for Kevin McCarthy under almost any circumstance,” he responded.

“So, it’s personal,” Ingraham said.

She added: “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say I’m a man of principle and I believe in X, Y and Z, but if he gives me X, Y and Z, I’m not going to vote for him.”

Gaetz pushed back, arguing he believes McCarthy is “the masthead of the lobby core” and resents the “extent to which [he] utilizes the lobbyists and the special interests to be able to dictate how political decisions are made, how policy decisions are made, and how leadership decisions are made.”

“Kevin McCarthy has been in the leadership for 14 years and he has sold shares of himself to special interests, to political action committees, and so that’s why I don’t think he is an appropriate choice. He also has no ideology.”

MCCARTHY SPOTTED IN HEATED DISCUSSION WITH GOP HOLDOUT AMID HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE GRIDLOCK

Ingraham questioned why Gaetz has not heeded Trump’s calls for the party to stop the gridlock and elect McCarthy as speaker.

“I love President Trump. I defended him a great deal in Congress, but HR wasn’t always his strong suit,” he explained.

Gaetz continued, saying he believes the 45th president is “wrong” to support McCarthy’s speakership bid.

“President Trump is wrong to the extent that he supports Kevin McCarthy. I’m going to support President Trump when he runs for re-election in 2024, but I’m not going to back him on this play.

Gaetz said if McCarthy drops out, he would like to see Jordan launch a campaign for speaker. However, he didn’t outright state whether he would support Jordan’s campaign if, in fact, he chose to run.

“We trust Jim Jordan. We have zero trust in Kevin McCarthy.”

Trump, Newsom, DeSantis? A look at who’s running, and who’s out of the 2024 presidential election

January 6, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Tuesday marked the start of the 118th Congress, and Americans are now shifting their focus to the 2024 race for the White House.

President Biden — the oldest person ever to hold the office of president — has not officially declared his candidacy in the 2024 presidential race, but past remarks from the president and those close to him suggest that he will seek a second term in the White House.

In November, Biden told reporters that it is his “intention” to run again and that his decision on whether he would seek re-election would come “early” in 2023.

As Biden mulls whether to seek re-election, his presidential predecessor, Donald Trump, along with a list of other Republicans, are already entered into the race or are considering making a run for the White House in 2024.

FOX NEWS POLL: AMERICANS SHOW LITTLE ENTHUSIASM FOR A BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH IN 2024

Former President Donald Trump, who served in the White House from 2017 to 2021, announced in mid-November that he would make a run for president for a third time.

In the 2020 election, Trump fell short to Biden, garnering 232 electoral votes compared to Biden’s 306 and more than 74 million votes compared to Biden’s more than 81 million.

Trump has largely blamed his loss in the 2020 presidential election on voter fraud and irregularities with the electoral process. After numerous legal battles, Trump is now ready to test the water again with voters.

On November 15, Trump announced his third presidential bid during a speech at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home after having teased a bid since leaving office in 2021.

“In order to make America great and glorious again. I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said at the time.

“But just as I promised in 2016, I am your voice. I am your voice,” he added. “The Washington establishment wants to silence us, but we will not let them do that. What we have built together over the past six years is the greatest movement in history because it is not about politics. It’s about our love for this great country, America, and we’re not going to let it fail.”

Kanye West, now known as Ye, has also stated he will run for president again in 2024.

The musician, who ran as an independent candidate in the 2020 presidential election, said in a video shared in late November that he would be running again, saying, “We’re moving toward the future.”

The video showed West among a slew of merchandise with “YE 24” printed on it. In the 2020 election, West received around 60,000 votes total in states where his name was on the ballot. Elsewhere, West requested to be entered as a write-in candidate.

In recent months, West, along with Trump, have been marred in controversy following their Mar-a-Lago dinner with Nick Fuentes, an antisemite and Holocaust denier. The dinner with Fuentes, which was reportedly unplanned, sparked backlash from several Republican lawmakers.

After narrowly winning election as Florida governor in 2018, Republican Ron DeSantis won by a landslide in the Sunshine State’s 2022 gubernatorial election.

DeSantis, who at age 44 is 32 years younger than Trump, won his first election as governor thanks to a major assist from the then-president. But he’s become a force of his own as he’s built a political brand that stretches from coast to coast.

Since taking office, DeSantis has witnessed his popularity soar among conservatives across the country. DeSantis has remained strong on numerous issues that conservatives prioritize, including immigration, spending, and efforts to push back against coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

While DeSantis routinely discounted talk of a 2024 White House bid as he stayed laser focused on his gubernatorial re-election last year, several prominent Republicans have pushed him to enter the race.

Ad spending tracked by FWIW, which was released late last month following the holiday season, showed DeSantis spent nearly $90,000 – more than any other Republican rumored to enter the race – on ads nationwide or that were targeted towards early voting states.

As DeSantis witnesses his poll numbers in 2024 Republican presidential polls start to rival Trump, and his fundraising prowess match that of the former president, Trump in recent months has targeted the Florida governor. And Trump has turned up the volume on his attacks on DeSantis in the days just before and after the midterms, and debuted a new nickname for the governor: “Ron DeSanctimonius.”

DeSantis has refused to take the bait, electing not to engage with Trump’s taunts.

A source in the governor’s wider political orbit told Fox News in Novemeber that an announcement from the governor wouldn’t happen until after Florida’s legislative session ends in May.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a rising star in the GOP, one of the party’s top fundraisers, and the only Black Republican in the Senate, easily cruised to re-election in November to what he has said will be his final six-year term in the Senate.

While Scott has expressed reluctance when asked about a 2024 presidential run, he raised eyebrows in November at his re-election victory celebration by telling the story of how he took his grandfather to the polls in 2012, and that his grandfather proudly voted for him as well as for Democratic President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president.

“I wish he had lived long enough to see perhaps another man of color elected President of the United States,” Scott said, adding “but this time let it be a Republican.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been mulling whether to toss his hat into the ring of contenders in the 2024 presidential race, but has not made an official decision.

In his recently released book, “So Help Me God,” Pence showcases successes of the Trump-Pence administration, but also spotlighted new criticisms of Trump.

The former vice president, as part of his efforts to campaign for Republicans seeking positions in the 2022 midterm elections, made numerous stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada – the first four states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Pence, a former congressman and Indiana governor, has been making the moves, such as building relationships in the early voting presidential primary and caucus states, that often precede the launch of an actual White House campaign.

“The fact that people are now getting to know me and my family, our faith, our conservative convictions better, has been a great source of encouragement as we think about the way forward and what our calling might be in the future,” Pence told Fox News Digital in December.

Much like Pence, former Trump-era Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has not announced his 2024 intention, has been a frequent visitor to the early voting states the past year and a half.

“Whether we’ll decide to get in the race and run for president, I can’t answer,” Pompeo, an Army officer stationed in Germany during the Cold War who was later elected to Congress from Kansas before serving as CIA director and America’s top diplomat during the Trump administration, told Fox News during a stop in New Hampshire in September.

Pompeo has also stated that Trump’s decision to enter the race will not have an impact on his decision, telling Fox News Digital in late November, “Who else decides to get in the race won’t impact our decision.”

“If you put yourself forward to be a candidate for President of the United States, you damn well better believe that you got the spine of steel the intellectual capability and the temerity to be the commander in chief for the most important country in the history of civilization. And if you believe that it shouldn’t matter who the heck gets in the race, if you’re the only one or if there’s 15 of you,” Pompeo said at the time.

Pompeo’s political action committee has gone up with ads in the early voting states, another sign he’s seriously mulling a White House bid. Pompeo, like DeSantis, has also been spending money to target voters nationwide or in early voting states. According to FWIW, Pompeo spent more than $21,000 to target specific voters over the Christmas holiday.

Term-limited Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, who will relinquish control of the state to incoming Democrat Gov. Wes Moore later this month, has been a frequent visitor to New Hampshire this year and has made stops in Iowa.

Last year, Hogan, a vocal Republican critic of Trump who touts that he’s a “commonsense conservative,” told Fox News that he believes “there are 10 people who want to be the next Donald Trump and I think there may be a different lane” for someone like him.

Hogan gathered with family, friends, supporters and donors from across the country in November, suggesting that he may be considering a 2024 White House run.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who served in her role to the United Nations during the first half of the Trump presidency, is another Trump administration alum who was very busy during the 2022 campaigning on behalf of fellow Republicans and making numerous stops in the early primary and caucus states.

Haley has demurred when asked if she’ll launch a presidential campaign, but reiterated last year that she will “figure it out.”

“But you know what I’ve said — I’ve never lost a race,” she added at the time. “I’m not going to start now. If there’s place for me, we’ll put a 100% in, and we’ll finish it.”

Haley said she would evaluate a possible 2024 Republican presidential run over the holidays, but has not made an official decision.

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin was a politician on demand on the campaign trail last year, helping fellow Republicans running in the midterms.

Youngkin energized Republicans nationwide when he was elected in 2021 as the first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing. Youngkin edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended towards the Democrats over the past decade.

Speaking to Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum in December, Youngkin repeatedly stressed that leading the Old Dominion is his top priority at the moment.

“Right now the possibility of me focusing on Virginia and delivering as a governor is 100%:,” he said. “That’s where my attention is. And I think that’s what Virginians expect from me. They elected me to lead change. They elected me to lead Virginia forward. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Though he insisted his focus is on Virginia, Youngkin added he is very humbled by hearing his name in presidential discussions.

“Two years ago, I was a private citizen who had just left my dream job,” he said. “40 years ago, I was washing dishes and taking out trash as a kid who needed a job. And to even have my name surfaced is so humbling.”

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who cruised to re-election in his Nov. 8 election by double digits, emphasized in November that a Trump 2024 announcement “does not clear the field.”

Last month, Sununu said he believes that Trump can not win election to the White House in 2024, even if he is the nominee. “I do not believe, and I think most people would agree, he’s just going to — not going to be able to close the deal in November of ’24,” Sununu told CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa.

Sununu, who hasn’t entirely ruled out a White House run of his own, argued that “anyone who wants to run is still going to run.”

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, first elected to represent the Golden State in 2018, was once rumored to be considering a run for the White House in 2024, posing an election challenge to Biden.

Newsom put those rumors to rest in November, reportedly telling POTUS himself that he is “all in” on Biden’s re-election.

In an interview with Politico, Newsom sought to tamp down speculation that he may run for the Democratic nomination after what the outlet said was “considerable” irritation from the White House at rumors he was plotting a run to oust Biden.

“I’ve told everyone in the White House, from the chief of staff to the first lady,” he said, saying his message is “I’m all in, count me in” on Biden’s re-election bid.

The 2024 presidential election is slated to be held on November 5, 2024.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Charles Creitz contributed to this article.

[Business] Taliban and China firm agree Afghanistan oil extraction deal

January 6, 2023 Published by

BBC News world

Getty Images

Image caption,

The deal would be the first oil extraction agreement with a foreign firm since the Taliban took power

Afghanistan’s Taliban government is to sign a contract with a Chinese firm to drill for oil in the country’s north.

It would be first major energy extraction agreement with a foreign firm since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.

The 25-year deal underscores China’s economic involvement in the region.

On Thursday Taliban officials said security forces had targeted Islamic State group militants who attacked a hotel used by Chinese businessmen.

Eight IS militants were killed and several more arrested, the Taliban said.

December’s attack on the Longan Hotel in Kabul saw at least three people killed and 18 more injured, including five Chinese citizens.

The oil extraction agreement would see Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company (CAPEIC) drilling for oil in the Amu Darya basin, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

“The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project between China and Afghanistan,” China’s ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu told a news conference in the capital Kabul.

A Chinese state-owned company is also in talks over the operation of a copper mine in the east of the country.

Foreign aid groups halt work after Taliban ban women The Taliban’s broken promises

Afghanistan is estimated to be sitting on natural resources – including natural gas, copper and rare earths – worth more than $1tn.

However, much of those reserves remain untapped due to decades of turmoil in the country.

Beijing has not formally recognised Afghanistan’s Taliban administration but it has significant interests in the country, which is at the centre of a region important to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Launched by Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI provides financing for emerging countries to build infrastructure like ports, roads and bridges.

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