US and UK Announce Sanctions Over China-Linked Hacks on Election Watchdog and Lawmakers

USA – Voice of America 

london — The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.’s election watchdog and lawmakers in both countries.

Officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.

The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers “has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration.”

The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that “hostile actors” had first been able to access its servers in 2021.

At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain.

In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has “served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations.”

It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors including defense, aerospace and energy.

The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhao, Ni, and five other hackers with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. It said they were part of a 14-year long cyber operation “targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses and political officials.”

“Today’s announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said.

British authorities did not name the company or the two individuals. But they said the two sanctioned individuals were involved in the operations of the Chinese cyber group APT31 — an abbreviation for “advanced persistent threat.” The group is also known as Zirconium or Hurricane Panda.

APT31 has previously been accused of targeting U.S. presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finland’s parliament, among others.

British cybersecurity officials said that Chinese government-affiliated hackers “conducted reconnaissance activity” against British parliamentarians who were critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.

Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been “subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time.” Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.

The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing’s growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said his government will summon China’s ambassador to account for its actions.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ahead of the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than “smear” others without factual basis.

“Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. “We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is “behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad” and is “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”

“It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing,” he said, without providing details.

China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a “challenge” — to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language.

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Russian Soyuz spacecraft with 3 astronauts docks at the International Space Station

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian spacecraft with three astronauts successfully docked Monday at the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus reached the space outpost after Saturday’s blastoff from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan that followed an aborted launch attempt two days earlier.

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Thursday’s attempted launch was halted by an automatic safety system about 20 seconds before the scheduled liftoff. Roscosmos and NASA said the crew wasn’t in danger during the aborted launch.

The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source.

The three astronauts join the station’s crew consisting of NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Russians Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin.

Dyson is on her third trip to the orbital complex, where she is set to spend six months before returning to Earth in September with Kononenko and Chub, who will complete a year-long mission on the space lab.

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Novitsky, who is making his fourth flight to the orbiting outpost, and Vasilevskaya, on her first space mission as her country’s first astronaut, will spend 12 days on the station and will return to Earth along with O’Hara.

The space station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the West amid tensions over Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. NASA and its partners hope to continue operating the orbiting outpost until 2030.

 

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Israel announces thwarting of massive Iranian operation to smuggle weapons to Palestinians

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Israel announced Monday that forces thwarted a massive Iranian operation aimed at smuggling advanced weaponry to Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said an investigation into known Hezbollah and Iranian operative Munir Makdah ultimately uncovered the smuggling scheme. Makdah had been working to recruit “agents in Judea and Samaria to carry out attacks,” the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement.

“In recent months, Iranian agents have been attempting to smuggle weapons, including advanced arms originating from Iran, into Judea and Samaria with the intention of carrying out terror acts against Israel,” the statement read.

“The operation was exposed and thwarted by the ISA and IDF, while investigating detained Palestinian operatives that had attempted terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Investigations revealed information about the current activities of Munir Makdah, a resident of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon who is of Palestinian descent, known for years as an operative of both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and continues to attempt to carry out attacks,” it continued.

NETANYAHU VOWS TO INVADE RAFAH REGARDLESS OF POTENTIAL CEASE-FIRE WITH HAMAS: ‘IT WILL HAPPEN’

“As part of the ISA operation against Munir Makdah, a significant amount of advanced weapons that had been smuggled into Judea and Samaria were seized,” the statement added.

ISRAELI STRIKES IN RAFAH LEAVES 31 PALESTINIANS DEAD AHEAD OF PLANNED GROUND INVASION

The confiscated cache included 2 BTB15 peripheral shrapnel charges, 5 Iranian anti-tank mines model YM-2 and 5 detonators, ⁠4 M203 grenade launchers, ⁠15 kg of C4 explosives, 10 kg of Semtex explosives, 13 shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, ⁠15 RPG launchers, ⁠16 RPG-7 rockets + explosives, 25 hand grenades, ⁠33 M4 rifles and 50 pistols, the Israeli agencies said.

The operation comes as Israel is looking to close out its campaign against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces significant pushback from the U.S. on a potential invasion of Rafah, the terror group’s southern stronghold.

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Israel says Rafah, a border city near Egypt, is Hamas’ final foothold in Gaza. President Biden’s administration has warned that an invasion would be a “huge mistake,” citing the massive civilian population in the area.

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While Netanyahu vowed that an offensive is imminent, he also agreed to send a delegation of officials to Washington to determine whether a compromise can be made. On Monday, he said he was canceling the delegation’s trip after the U.S. failed to veto a United Nations resolution demanding a cease-fire.

 

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TNT blast kills 2 Polish military engineers during training exercise

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Two Polish military engineers died on Monday following the detonation of TNT during a training exercise at a military facility in southern Poland, the defense minister said.

SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN 2022 IRELAND GAS STATION EXPLOSION THAT KILLED 10

Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that two sappers with a chemical regiment died in Solarnia in the southern region of Silesia.

“In these tragic moments, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the soldiers,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The deaths follow another training tragedy among Polish soldiers earlier this month. In that case, a military tracked vehicle ran over two soldiers during a drill at a test range in the northwestern town of Drawsko Pomorskie. Both soldiers died.

 

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee expects a school choice ‘revolution,’ with parental rights a key 2024 election issue

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says his state is joining what he views as a “revolution in America right now around school choice,” as a $400 million bill to overhaul public school achievement testing and implement universal school choice advances in the state legislature. 

Lee, who is also president of the Republican Governors Association this term, said the issue of school choice resonates nationally beyond just Tennessee during the 2024 presidential election year. 

The governor explained in an interview with Fox News Digital that school choice, to him, is “really about freedom,” noting how regarding matters of COVID-19 vaccines, books in public school libraries and classroom instruction, “parents on the left and right have very strong opinions about what that ought to look like.” 

“The only way to resolve those differences are [is] to give parents the choice so that they’re not resolved to live with whatever, you know, some teacher or some classroom or some library or some educational school district believes that they ought to be,” Lee said. “Most all of us Americans, not just elected officials, recognize that education is one of the top priorities when it comes to issues and what Americans care about.” 

TENNESSEE SENATE PASSES $2B BUSINESS TAX CUT IN BID TO DODGE LAWSUIT

“This is not a choice between school choice and public schools. We have a strong commitment in this state toward the improvement of our public school system. The vast majority of our kids are going to be educated in our public schools, even years after a choice initiative like our proposed legislation goes through,” the governor added, responding to criticism that the proposal would divert resources from Tennessee’s underfunded public schools. “We need to have the best public school systems. They need to be funded well. They need to be innovative and creative and part of the part of the legislation.” 

Lee said he’s observed an increased understanding among conservatives – but also from Americans more generally – that parents should be given the ability to impact what happens in their children’s education. He credited the pandemic, when remote learning gave parents insight into what gender and racial ideologies were included in public school curricula, as well as the resulting learning loss from keeping kids out of classrooms, as parents seek options to play catch-up several years later. 

“I do believe there is a push in this country, especially among conservatives, for understanding how important freedom is – freedom in education, freedom in health decisions, freedom in what we do for our employment,” he said. “We talk a lot about Tennessee being a place where people have access to opportunity and security and freedom. And as it relates to education, that is an Education Freedom Scholarship Act. And that’s what we are really hopeful passes in this state in the next few weeks.”  

Despite some objections from state Democrats, Lee’s proposal, known as House Bill 1183, advanced through the state House Government Operations Committee and was recommended to move forward to the state House Finance Subcommittee last week. As Lee enjoys a Republican super majority in both the Tennessee House and Senate, he said he expects a version of the legislation to pass after the final provisions are ironed out between chambers. 

The current version in the House would increase payment for teacher health insurance from 45% to 60% – a measure intended to help rural districts retain quality teachers, as well as provide a $75-per-student infrastructure payment toward school facilities and maintenance and increase state funding for students in small and sparsely populated school districts, The Tennessean reported. It also allows for teacher and principal evaluations and state-mandated student testing to happen less often. 

A corresponding version of the legislation in the state Senate, SB 0503, is estimated to cost about $250 million less than the House proposal. But the upper chamber’s version would primarily focus on creating the governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship program and opening inter-county school enrollment. It excludes the House bill’s provisions on teacher health insurance, evaluations and changes to testing requirements. 

As the governor noted, school choice initiatives passed in states like Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas last year and more recently in Wyoming and Alabama. It’s also gaining momentum in Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia, Lee said, and Florida and Indiana have multiple stages of school choice. Though it varies by state, Lee said they have the same premise that “the parent knows best.”  

TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE ANNOUNCING STATEWIDE SCHOOL CHOICE PROPOSAL: ‘THERE IS MORE WORK TO DO’

In states like Texas, Lee said, it has cost candidates elections to oppose school choice. 

Tennessee has one of the fastest-growing populations and one of the top-performing economies among all 50 states in recent years, Lee acknowledged, stating how the influx of families weighs in on school choice. 

“We need to give parents more choices. And when we do, children are going to have much more options to be successful. And at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about,” Lee said. “It’s not really political, even though it’s a very conservative issue. But hey, look at the states that have Democrat governors are passing that choice now as well, because Americans are beginning to believe that this is about children and the future of our country. And we ought to do everything we can to challenge the status quo and get it and get a better outcome.” 

Lee said he first proposed school choice legislation five years ago during his first legislative session that passed narrowly for a few of the state’s largest counties and has been working to expand it since. 

He announced the statewide initiative in November, an atypical move to provide more time before the start of legislative session for stakeholders and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to weigh in. Long before becoming governor, Lee said he did nonprofit work with an at-risk inner-city youth program. There he met one child whom he met with weekly for many years. 

Lee said the child, whose mother was in prison and who never knew his father, was failing every subject when he first met him. Over time, Lee said, the boy improved and Lee worked with the child and his grandmother to find him a charter school option outside of the neighborhood he grew up in. 

“The fact that it’s an election year and that Republican primary voters by an overwhelming margin approve of school choice, it impacts what’s happening. Legislators understand that they know their voters want this. I think that’s one of the reasons you see such a move toward it. It’s not just an ideological thought,” Lee said. “For me, it’s much more than that. It was a practical reality that I saw 15 years ago. But at the same time, it’s an issue that if you’re a representative, and you’re representing constituents, your constituents want choice.” 

Just short of the one-year anniversary of the March 27, 2023, shooting that killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Lee said that though this legislation does not focus on the issue, Tennessee “became sadly and tragically aware of just how important it is that we provide security for our schools, and our legislature responded, in a way that that has made our schools safer.”

“And I suspect public safety, and especially around kids in schools, that conversation should and will never stop in the state,” he added, noting how the state legislature passed a sweeping bipartisan school safety legislative package last year that provided funding for school resource officers in every school, and there have been continued add-ons that have strengthened school alarm systems. 

In the aftermath of the Covenant School bloodshed, the Biden White House backed three Democratic state lawmakers who became known as the Tennessee Three who joined demonstrators in interrupting a legislative session at the state Capitol to protest about gun control. 

One of those lawmakers expelled and reinstated amid last year’s controversy, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, has recently taken issue with a provision in the House’s version of the governor’s school choice proposal that would exclude non-U.S. citizens from the Education Freedom Scholarships voucher program, The Tennessean reported. 

Jones cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe that prohibits states from withholding school funding for educating children of illegal immigrants. Rep. Scott Cepicky R-Culleoka, said the bill would allow any student regardless of immigration status to enroll in any public school, but lawmakers can still set limiting factors on who can receive a “public benefit,” such as Lee’s voucher program.  

 

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee expects a school choice ‘revolution,’ with parental rights a key 2024 election issue

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says his state is joining what he views as a “revolution in America right now around school choice,” as a $400 million bill to overhaul public school achievement testing and implement universal school choice advances in the state legislature. 

Lee, who is also president of the Republican Governors Association this term, said the issue of school choice resonates nationally beyond just Tennessee during the 2024 presidential election year. 

The governor explained in an interview with Fox News Digital that school choice, to him, is “really about freedom,” noting how regarding matters of COVID-19 vaccines, books in public school libraries and classroom instruction, “parents on the left and right have very strong opinions about what that ought to look like.” 

“The only way to resolve those differences are [is] to give parents the choice so that they’re not resolved to live with whatever, you know, some teacher or some classroom or some library or some educational school district believes that they ought to be,” Lee said. “Most all of us Americans, not just elected officials, recognize that education is one of the top priorities when it comes to issues and what Americans care about.” 

TENNESSEE SENATE PASSES $2B BUSINESS TAX CUT IN BID TO DODGE LAWSUIT

“This is not a choice between school choice and public schools. We have a strong commitment in this state toward the improvement of our public school system. The vast majority of our kids are going to be educated in our public schools, even years after a choice initiative like our proposed legislation goes through,” the governor added, responding to criticism that the proposal would divert resources from Tennessee’s underfunded public schools. “We need to have the best public school systems. They need to be funded well. They need to be innovative and creative and part of the part of the legislation.” 

Lee said he’s observed an increased understanding among conservatives – but also from Americans more generally – that parents should be given the ability to impact what happens in their children’s education. He credited the pandemic, when remote learning gave parents insight into what gender and racial ideologies were included in public school curricula, as well as the resulting learning loss from keeping kids out of classrooms, as parents seek options to play catch-up several years later. 

“I do believe there is a push in this country, especially among conservatives, for understanding how important freedom is – freedom in education, freedom in health decisions, freedom in what we do for our employment,” he said. “We talk a lot about Tennessee being a place where people have access to opportunity and security and freedom. And as it relates to education, that is an Education Freedom Scholarship Act. And that’s what we are really hopeful passes in this state in the next few weeks.”  

Despite some objections from state Democrats, Lee’s proposal, known as House Bill 1183, advanced through the state House Government Operations Committee and was recommended to move forward to the state House Finance Subcommittee last week. As Lee enjoys a Republican super majority in both the Tennessee House and Senate, he said he expects a version of the legislation to pass after the final provisions are ironed out between chambers. 

The current version in the House would increase payment for teacher health insurance from 45% to 60% – a measure intended to help rural districts retain quality teachers, as well as provide a $75-per-student infrastructure payment toward school facilities and maintenance and increase state funding for students in small and sparsely populated school districts, The Tennessean reported. It also allows for teacher and principal evaluations and state-mandated student testing to happen less often. 

A corresponding version of the legislation in the state Senate, SB 0503, is estimated to cost about $250 million less than the House proposal. But the upper chamber’s version would primarily focus on creating the governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship program and opening inter-county school enrollment. It excludes the House bill’s provisions on teacher health insurance, evaluations and changes to testing requirements. 

As the governor noted, school choice initiatives passed in states like Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas last year and more recently in Wyoming and Alabama. It’s also gaining momentum in Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia, Lee said, and Florida and Indiana have multiple stages of school choice. Though it varies by state, Lee said they have the same premise that “the parent knows best.”  

TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE ANNOUNCING STATEWIDE SCHOOL CHOICE PROPOSAL: ‘THERE IS MORE WORK TO DO’

In states like Texas, Lee said, it has cost candidates elections to oppose school choice. 

Tennessee has one of the fastest-growing populations and one of the top-performing economies among all 50 states in recent years, Lee acknowledged, stating how the influx of families weighs in on school choice. 

“We need to give parents more choices. And when we do, children are going to have much more options to be successful. And at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about,” Lee said. “It’s not really political, even though it’s a very conservative issue. But hey, look at the states that have Democrat governors are passing that choice now as well, because Americans are beginning to believe that this is about children and the future of our country. And we ought to do everything we can to challenge the status quo and get it and get a better outcome.” 

Lee said he first proposed school choice legislation five years ago during his first legislative session that passed narrowly for a few of the state’s largest counties and has been working to expand it since. 

He announced the statewide initiative in November, an atypical move to provide more time before the start of legislative session for stakeholders and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to weigh in. Long before becoming governor, Lee said he did nonprofit work with an at-risk inner-city youth program. There he met one child whom he met with weekly for many years. 

Lee said the child, whose mother was in prison and who never knew his father, was failing every subject when he first met him. Over time, Lee said, the boy improved and Lee worked with the child and his grandmother to find him a charter school option outside of the neighborhood he grew up in. 

“The fact that it’s an election year and that Republican primary voters by an overwhelming margin approve of school choice, it impacts what’s happening. Legislators understand that they know their voters want this. I think that’s one of the reasons you see such a move toward it. It’s not just an ideological thought,” Lee said. “For me, it’s much more than that. It was a practical reality that I saw 15 years ago. But at the same time, it’s an issue that if you’re a representative, and you’re representing constituents, your constituents want choice.” 

Just short of the one-year anniversary of the March 27, 2023, shooting that killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Lee said that though this legislation does not focus on the issue, Tennessee “became sadly and tragically aware of just how important it is that we provide security for our schools, and our legislature responded, in a way that that has made our schools safer.”

“And I suspect public safety, and especially around kids in schools, that conversation should and will never stop in the state,” he added, noting how the state legislature passed a sweeping bipartisan school safety legislative package last year that provided funding for school resource officers in every school, and there have been continued add-ons that have strengthened school alarm systems. 

In the aftermath of the Covenant School bloodshed, the Biden White House backed three Democratic state lawmakers who became known as the Tennessee Three who joined demonstrators in interrupting a legislative session at the state Capitol to protest about gun control. 

One of those lawmakers expelled and reinstated amid last year’s controversy, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, has recently taken issue with a provision in the House’s version of the governor’s school choice proposal that would exclude non-U.S. citizens from the Education Freedom Scholarships voucher program, The Tennessean reported. 

Jones cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe that prohibits states from withholding school funding for educating children of illegal immigrants. Rep. Scott Cepicky R-Culleoka, said the bill would allow any student regardless of immigration status to enroll in any public school, but lawmakers can still set limiting factors on who can receive a “public benefit,” such as Lee’s voucher program.  

 

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Mexico’s president says Trump won’t build border wall: ‘It doesn’t work’

Just In News | The Hill 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he doesn’t believe former President Trump would follow through on his pledge to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border because of the two countries’ economic ties.

“Because we understood each other very well. We signed an economic, a commercial agreement that has been favorable for both peoples, for both nations. He knows it. And President Biden, the same,” he said in an interview released Sunday by CBS News’s “60 Minutes.”

When CBS reporter Sharyn Alfonsi asked López Obrador to respond to those who argue the wall “works,” he said a wall “doesn’t work,” adding he told then-President Trump the same during a phone call.

López Obrador said the two leaders agreed not to talk about the wall as they “were not going to agree” and the phone call was the only instance the two discussed it.

“That was the only time and I told him, ‘I am going to send you, Mr. President, some videos of tunnels from Tijuana up to San Diego, that passed right under U.S. Customs.’ He stayed quiet, and then he started laughing and told me, ‘I can’t win with you,'” López Obrador recalled.

Media reports circulated in 2019 that the Mexican president called the former president’s push for a border wall an internal matter and has since attempted to stay out of the discussions on the proposal.

In 2020, López Obrador — Mexico’s first leftist president in decades — said while he does not agree with Trump’s assertion the wall staved off COVID-19 transmission, he also would not publicly confront him over the claim.

López Obrador, at the time, asserted the relationship between the U.S. and his country was “very good” and emphasized the two nations “are not distant neighbors.”

The Mexican president also pushed back against Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) suggestion the U.S. could force Mexico to abide by U.S. immigration policy, CBS News reported.

“We are not a colony. We are not a protectorate of any foreign country. And we have a very good relationship with the government of the United States — but not one of subordination,” he said.

He also said President Biden has largely recognized Mexico’s sovereignty, asserting, “Every time I speak with President Biden, the first thing he says to me is that our relationship must be on an equal footing.”

The Mexican president did not hold back in his criticism of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), accusing the Lone Star State leader of “cheap politicking” with the U.S.-southern border.

Curbing the migrant influx into the U.S. is a central focus of Abbott’s gubernatorial term, and he has been in a standoff with the Biden administration for months over his handling of the situation.

The Hill reached out to Trump’s campaign and the offices of Johnson and Abbott for further comment.

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More than 130 abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria are returning home after weeks in captivity

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) — More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren rescued after more than two weeks in captivity arrived Monday in their home state in northwestern Nigeria ahead of their anticipated reunions with families, following the latest in a series of mass school abductions in the West African nation.

Six of the 137 students remain in hospital, and one staff member who was abducted along with the children died in captivity, military officials said.

ARMED GANGS IN NIGERIA ATTACK 2 VILLAGES, CAPTURE 100

The children were seized by motorcycle-riding gunmen at their school in the remote Kaduna state town of Kuriga on March 7, triggering a wide-ranging rescue operation. They were rescued Sunday by the military in a forest about 200 kilometers (more than 120 miles) to the north in neighboring Zamfara state, though authorities have provided no details of the rescue or said whether any suspected kidnappers were arrested.

The students, many of them below the age of 10, were brought Monday to the Kaduna State Government House with fresh haircuts and newly sewn clothes and footwear — their first change of clothing since their abduction.

The six children still in hospital will be made available “as soon as the doctors have certified them fit enough,” Maj. Gen. Mayirenso Saraso, a military chief in Kaduna, said while handing them over to the government.

School authorities originally had told the state government that a total of 287 students were kidnapped during the attack. However, Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani said only 137 are confirmed to have been seized.

“We are here today happily and celebrating the safe return of our children. They will soon be with their family and their parents,” Gov. Sani said.

Their parents were not available to receive them and authorities did not allow the schoolchildren to speak to reporters. The Associated Press could not reach families in Kuriga town, which does not have cellphone service.

But one parent on Sunday spoke of their sleepless nights as they waited for the return of the children.

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“We were traumatized throughout the absence of our children. Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water,” said Jubril Kuriga, whose 9-year-old daughter was among the children kidnapped.

At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since the 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants in Borno state’s Chibok village shocked the world. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the country’s conflict-battered northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travelers for ransom.

 

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Navy identifies US sailor who died after going overboard in Red Sea

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

A U.S. Navy sailor who military officials say was “lost overboard” in the Red Sea last week has been identified.

Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, 34, went overboard from the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason while conducting operations in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said on Saturday.

Aregbesola died in a “non-combat related incident,” the U.S. Department of Defense said, without providing further details. Military officials said the incident remains under investigation.

Aregbesola, of Miramar, Florida, joined the Navy in July 2020. He was assigned to the “Swamp Foxes” helicopter maritime strike squadron aboard USS Mason, which has been operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group since November.

US MILITARY SHOOTS DOWN HOUTHI DRONE OVER THE RED SEA

“Petty Officer Aregbesola fully embodied the selfless character and thoughtful warrior spirit of the United States Navy Sailor,” said Cmdr. Eric Kohut, HSM-74 commanding officer. “His outstanding performance prior to and during deployment went well beyond aircraft maintenance; he truly saw and valued every member of the ship/air team.”

US, COALITION FORICES DEFEAT HOUTHIS’ ‘LARGE-SCALE ATTACK’ IN RED SEA, SHOOT DOWN AT LEAST 28 DRONES

“He will continue on in the heart of every Swamp Fox and our brothers and sisters in the IKE Carrier Strike Group,” Kohut continued. “Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family.” 

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was initially deployed to the region to deter hostilities that sparked after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. 

The strike group has spent the last five months in the Red Sea defending against ballistic missiles and attack drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been targeting commercial shipping vessels in support of Hamas.

 

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Jordan, Comer threaten Garland with contempt over Hur materials

Just In News | The Hill 

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) are threatening to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he does not hand over materials pertaining to special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents.

The threat — as written in a letter to Garland on Monday that was obtained by The Hill — comes nearly one month after Jordan and Comer, along with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), issued the attorney general a subpoena asking for information related to Hur’s probe, including transcripts, notes, and video and audio files.

Jordan and Comer on Monday said Garland handed over an “insufficient production” of materials, and warned that they may move forward with contempt proceedings if he does not provide the rest of the information by April 8.

“The Committees expect you to produce all responsive materials no later than 12:00 p.m. on April 8, 2024. If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings,” the pair wrote.

The GOP chairs said they are still waiting for audio recordings of Hur’s interviews with Biden, and the transcript and audio recordings of the special counsel’s interviews with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter for Biden’s memoir. The Justice Department provided a transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden earlier this month.

“The February 27 subpoenas create a legal obligation on you to produce this material,” they wrote.

The letter notes that the Justice Department informed the committees earlier this month that it was conducting an “interagency review” for classified and confidential information.

Hur earlier this month appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, where he defended his report on Biden’s handling of classified documents and explained how he landed on his conclusions.

Hur found that Biden “willfully” retained classified documents but stopped short of filing charges against the president, sparking opposition from Republicans. He also prompted backlash from Democrats by describing Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

DEVELOPING.

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