INTERNACIONAL
Texas AG Ken Paxton announces run for US Senate

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle Tuesday night that he will run for the U.S. Senate.
The announcement comes as Paxton no longer faces the cloud of a federal corruption investigation that loomed over him as he rose up the ranks in the Republican Party.
The announcement by Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand, comes two weeks after Republican Sen. John Cornyn officially launched his re-election campaign as he bids for a fifth six-year term serving Texas in the Senate.
«It’s time for a change in Texas,» Paxton told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, before acknowledging Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas’ other Republican senator. «It’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.»
EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR DETAILS SURFACE IN HISTORIC IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas, June 22, 2017. On Tuesday, Paxton announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
On Sunday, Cornyn said he was looking forward to «the competition» amid rumors of Paxton’s candidacy.
«Ken Paxton is a fraud,» Cornyn’s campaign charged in a social media post after Paxton’s announcement. «He talks tough on crime and then lets crooked progressive Lina Hidalgo off the hook. He says his impeachment trial was a sham but he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions.»
TEXAS AG PAXTON ACQUITTED ON ALL IMPEACHMENT CHARGES: ‘THE TRUTH PREVAILED’
«He says he’s anti-woke but he funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to lawyers who celebrate DEI,» the post continued. «And Ken claims to be a man of faith but uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.»
Cornyn’s campaign noted that the incumbent senator has voted with Trump more than 95% of current senators. Trump and Texas need a «battle-tested conservative» who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, the campaign said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Fox News Digital)
The announcement from Paxton puts the gears in motion for what may be an extremely expensive and bruising GOP primary battle, pitting the remaining establishment and business factions of the Republican Party versus the ascendant MAGA wing.
«It sets the table for the most expensive primary in Texas. It will be a brutal battle,» veteran Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. Carney, the longtime top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, noted that the announcement by Paxton also «opens up the attorney general’s race. There will probably be a very competitive primary for that and we’re going to have a lot of musical chairs down ballot.»
Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., said «this is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal U.S. Senate primary in Texas history.»
«You have two candidates who are going to raise significant funds, who are in significant positions, who do not like each and have not liked each other, whose teams do not like each other and the stakes could not be higher,» he emphasized.
WILL DEMOCRATS ONCE AGAIN CHASE THE ‘GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’ IN NEXT YEAR’S SENATE RACE?
Paxton’s announcement was not a huge surprise, as he has long claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans and has accused the senator of not being an ally of Trump.
He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a «RINO,» a «Republican in name only» and an insult MAGA and «America First» Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP.
Paxton, who has been Texas’ top prosecutor since 2015, has regularly criticized his GOP rival, pointing to Cornyn’s position on a border wall and opposing Trump during the 2016 election.
Cornyn also previously came under criticism from conservatives after he helped push a bipartisan gun control bill after the 2022 mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at his primary night celebration, on March 1, 2022, in McKinney, Texas. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Paxton, for a couple of years, had flirted with a primary challenge against the 73-year-old Cornyn, a former state senator, former Texas Supreme Court justice, and former state attorney general, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
FACING POSSIBLE PRIMARY CHALLNGE FROM A TRUMP ALLY, LONGTIME TEXAS SENATOR ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION
«I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,» Paxton said in a September 2023 interview on the Fox News Channel. «Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy,» adding, «everything’s on the table for me.»
Fast-forward to earlier this year, and Paxton, at a county GOP meeting in Texas, told supporters that one of the things «we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.»
And in a Fox News Digital interview in January, Paxton acknowledged that he was «looking potentially at the U.S. Senate.»

Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at an event outside the Texas Statehouse, on Feb. 28, 2022 in Austin. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Cornyn, during the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, had said he would prefer that the GOP take a new direction, which angered Trump. But the senator endorsed Trump in late January of last year, after the then-former president won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.
Since Trump returned to the White House three months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president’s Cabinet nominees and agenda.
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And in the senator’s campaign launch video last month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump’s first term in office, «Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back.»
As he gears up for what will most certainly be his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
And Republican sources confirm to Fox News that Thune, as well as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, have personally asked Trump to back Cornyn.

Sen. John Cornyn speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The president’s grip on the GOP is stronger than ever and any endorsement Trump may make in the emerging Republican Senate primary in Texas would be extremely influential.
Making Cornyn’s path to renomination even more difficult is a possible Senate bid by Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston area district.
The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA star has made his case to the president’s political team, sources confirm to Fox News. Hunt’s argument is that he’s the only person who can win both a GOP primary and a general election, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.
An outside group supportive of Hunt is currently spending seven figures to run ads across the Lone Star State to increase the lawmaker’s name ID.
CORNYN’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPARKS QUESTIONS ON BOTH PARTY FLANKS AS DEMS CHASE ‘THE GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’

GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Some Republican operatives and strategists worry that a primary battle in Texas could cost up to $100 million, potentially diverting much-needed resources from other races.
While Paxton is very popular with the conservative base of the party, it’s not clear at this point what Trump will do regarding the race. And political strategists note that toppling Cornyn in a GOP primary will likely be a very expensive proposition, and it’s not clear if Paxton can raise the money needed for victory.
«This says two things. One, Paxton sees an opportunity. And two, him getting in this early shows he needs the maximum time possible to try to raise money,» Mackowiak said. He added that Paxton «has received some negative feedback on fundraising.»
Paxton grabbed national attention in 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn former President Joe Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in the Keystone State, and for speaking at the Trump rally near the White House that immediately preceded the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.
During Biden’s four years in the White House, Paxton took the administration to court numerous times.
While Paxton, who’s in his third four-year term as Texas attorney general, has long been a legal warrior in the MAGA movement, he also has plenty of personal political baggage.
Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges soon after taking office in 2015, and more recently came under investigation by the FBI over bribery and corruption allegations from former top staffers. And in 2022, he survived a bruising primary amid his many legal difficulties.
In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but he was later acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.
The charges in the long-running federal corruption probe were dropped during the final weeks of the Biden administration.
The attorney general also faced an investigation by the Texas State Bar for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
While Paxton for years has denied any wrongdoing and has survived his legal fights, he would likely continue to face tough optics and plenty of incoming fire over his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.

Colin Allred, last year’s Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, speaks at a campaign rally in Houston on Oct. 25. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
The eventual winner of next year’s GOP primary will be considered the favorite in the general election against whomever the Democrats nominate.
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Former Rep. Colin Allred has said he’ll decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign.
Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against Cruz.
Texas,Senate,US,Congress,Donald Trump,Elections,Politics
INTERNACIONAL
Los Angeles Mayor Bass says ‘hell yeah’ she regrets Ghana trip after wildfires ravaged city

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continued to express regret for her controversial Ghana trip ahead of the devastating fires earlier this year in a recent interview with Vice News.
«I was asked, ‘Do I regret going?’ Hell yeah. I mean, let me just do a comparison. If you are out of town and your kid or a member of your family gets sick or hurt, it doesn’t matter where you were or why you were there. You feel horrible,» Bass said in an interview with Vice News earlier this month.
«I’m really not trying to give excuses, but there was no way in the world I knew that the city was in danger when I left,» she later added. «Absolutely no way. And if you think about it through, if you take a step back, and because I did ask the chief when I came back, you know, like ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ and basically the response was ‘Because we have Santa Anas all the time and nobody expected hurricane-force winds.’»
The mayor faced intense scrutiny for the presidential delegation’s visit to Africa even though there were warnings of the fire ahead of time. The Los Angeles Times reported that her team was aware of the fire risk before her trip.
She ended up returning the day after the fires began ripping through Los Angeles neighborhoods, like the Pacific Palisades, where thousands of buildings were destroyed.
LA MAYOR RIPPED FOR INTERFERING WITH ICE RAID AT CRIME-RIDDEN LOCAL PARK: ‘FULL OF S—‘
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addressed her regret over her Ghana trip during the LA fires. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
«Well, I mean to be with honest with you. Well, I didn’t get briefed. That’s true. But I think that, again, people did not anticipate the historic wind. And it wasn’t just LA. It was the county too.»
«What typically happens is that if there’s going to be a big weather event, there are these briefings that happen and, uh, it’s either initiated by the fire department or the emergency department,» she said. «I was used to the fire chief calling me and telling me, you know, this is getting ready to happen. Come over. I need to brief you and all, you know, everything goes into motion. That didn’t happen in the county, meaning LA and LA County.»
On her flight back, she said she was on the phone almost the entire 12-hour flight back to the U.S. from Ghana.
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The aftermath of the fire in Pacific Palisades and along the Pacific Coast Highway. Officials said that at least 10 people were killed in all the Los Angeles fires, and 5,300 structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
«Well, they’re telling me what’s happening in the fire. We were preparing the emergency declaration. They were talking to the mayor, the council president who serves as acting mayor while I’m gone. I don’t remember if I talked to him or not then, but because there were just a lot of phone calls. Sometimes a lot of people. I think I even did a news interview, but all of that was while I was on the way home,» she said, noting that she had phone access on the plane because it was a military plane, and she did not realize that the Sky News, who she went viral for not answering his questions, was even on the flight.
Bass ousted Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley from her position in February, and Crowley unsuccessfully appealed her removal.
«Our firefighters support Chief Crowley because she stood up for the men and women of our department,» United Firefighters of Los Angeles City posted to X at the time.
In the interview, Bass claimed there were «lies told» about the budget and fire engines.
LOS ANGELES MAYOR SLASHES FIRE DEPARTMENT DEI BUREAU IN PROPOSED BUDGET MONTHS AFTER WOKE BACKLASH

Pali High School rests across the street from homes destroyed in the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
«Yes, there were broken fire engines. We find out later that those fire engines were there broken because they’re used for spare parts. But there were 40 fire engines that were idle because they didn’t have the staff that [Crowley] sent home. And the budget cut and I don’t I don’t know the reasons for it, and then the budget cut that never happened,» she added.
«Yes,» Crowley notably responded in an interview at the time of the fires when asked if city leadership «failed» her when it came to resources.
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«What we did when we did the budget was we put money aside for fire because we were in labor negotiations. If the budget was signed before then, but when the labor negotiations were done, we put it back in the budget. Which is a common thing. We’re doing that right now,» Bass said.
When asked about the after-action report for the fire, Bass said she would ‘look and see, but they should be about finished now.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Bass’ office and Crowley. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department, but they did not immediately comment.
INTERNACIONAL
Trump shrugs off France’s recognition of Palestine as Rubio, prominent Republicans blast move

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President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — a notably gentler response than the sharp condemnation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top Republicans, who blasted the move a day earlier.
«What he says doesn’t matter,» Trump told reporters at the White House. «He’s a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn’t carry weight.»
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce his intention for France to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next September.
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce France’s formal recognition of the Palestinian State at the United Nations General Assembly in September. (TERESA SUAREZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
ISRAELI OFFICIALS OBJECT TO EXPECTED UN SECURITY COUNCIL CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION
Macron cited the need for an «immediate ceasefire» as well as the release of all hostages and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza in his reasoning for France’s move. He also claimed that Hamas must be demilitarized and Gaza rebuilt in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas he shared on X.
«The French people want peace in the Middle East,» wrote Macron in the letter translated to English on X. «It is up to us, the French, together with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and our European and international partners, to demonstrate that it is possible.»
The letter claimed that «peace is possible» while Macron said he is working to convincing other partners to follow suit.
Recognition of Palestine remains largely symbolic as it does not automatically grant UN membership or full diplomatic ties. Around 150 out of 193 UN member states recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.
Trump’s words were much gentler than the strong rebukes by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Thursday.
Rubio called France’s recognition «reckless» and a «slap in the face» to victims of the October 7 Hamas attack shortly after Macron made the announcement on Thursday.
«The United States strongly rejects French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly,» Rubio wrote on X.
«This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.»

President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C. Trump on Friday dismissed Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
TRUMP ADMIN STANDS BY ISRAEL, REJECTS UN RESOLUTION BACKED BY UK AND FRANCE
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., joined Rubio in sounding off against Macron.
«The French government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state is curious and disturbing on multiple levels. I am certain this will embolden Hamas and make a ceasefire more difficult,» Graham wrote on X.
Graham also railed against what he said were the shortcomings of such a plan, asking a series of rhetorical questions paired with sarcasm.
«Who’s in charge? What are the borders and boundaries? What is the governance structure? Does Hamas stay involved politically or militarily? Is the West Bank and Gaza part of a single state? Are they allowed to have an army? Does the education system change?» Graham wrote
«Other than these few missing details, it seems like a foolproof plan!»
Cotton also blasted the moves as a «shameful endorsement of terrorists.»
«The best way for this conflict to end is to back Israel in its righteous mission of rescuing the hostages and defeating Hamas,» Cotton said.
Israeli officials responded swiftly and sharply to Macron on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials responded swiftly and sharply.
«We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 massacre,» Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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«Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.»
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin called the move «a black stain on France’s history and a direct boost to terrorism.»
He added: «The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, and even President Macron’s declaration will not change that.» Levin called for Israel to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, calling it «a just and historic response to the shameful decision by the President of France.»
INTERNACIONAL
Estados Unidos abatió a un importante líder del Estado Islámico en Siria

El Comando Central de Estados Unidos (Centcom) aseguró este viernes -en su cuenta de X- haber eliminado a “un importante líder” del Estado Islámico (ISIS por sus siglas en inglés), llamado Dhiya Zawba Muslih al Hardani, en un ataque en la mañana del viernes en la ciudad siria de Alepo.
El Centcom, responsable de las operaciones militares estadounidenses en la sensible región de Oriente Medio, no dio muchos detalles de la operación salvo el hecho de que junto al líder también fallecieron sus hijos adultos, Abdallah y Abd al Rahman, que igualmente militaban en el ISIS. Además, se informó que tres mujeres y tres niños que se encontraban con ellos resultaron ilesos.
Según el Centcom, los tres individuos que murieron en el operativo constituían una amenaza “tanto para las fuerzas estadounidenses, como para el nuevo gobierno sirio”.
No queda claro si la operación fue coordinada con el gobierno de Damasco o si fue decidida y ejecutada unilateralmente por Estados Unidos, que se reserva el derecho de actuación en el territorio sirio, área que el gobierno provisional de Ahmed Al Sharaa no consigue controlar en su totalidad.
El pasado abril, el Centcom anunció que retiraba de Siria a unos mil soldados, ante la nueva realidad que supone un gobierno aceptado por la comunidad internacional, pero mantendrá en el país a otros tantos soldados con el objetivo de “degradar la capacidad de atracción del EI y su operatividad regional y global”.

“Continuaremos persiguiendo sin descanso a los terroristas de ISIS dondequiera que estén. Los terroristas de ISIS no están seguros ni donde duermen, ni donde operan, ni donde se esconden. Junto a nuestros socios y aliados, el Comando Central de Estados Unidos está comprometido con la derrota duradera de los terroristas de ISIS que amenazan la región, a nuestros aliados y a nuestro país”, afirmó el general Michael Erik Kurilla, comandante del Comando Central de Estados Unidos tras la operación militar que tuvo lugar en la madrugada de hoy en al Bab, provincia de Alepo, en Siria.
Según las autoridades estadounidenses, una amenaza directa tanto para las fuerzas de Estados Unidos y la Coalición Internacional como para el nuevo gobierno sirio. CENTCOM detalló que la célula familiar mantenía actividades que ponían en riesgo la estabilidad regional y la seguridad de los aliados occidentales.
“Estos individuos de ISIS representaban una amenaza para las fuerzas estadounidenses y de la Coalición, así como para el nuevo Gobierno sirio”, señaló el comunicado oficial difundido por el organismo militar.
La incursión, que se desarrolló en las primeras horas del día, fue planificada con el objetivo de neutralizar a los líderes de la célula yihadista sin causar daños colaterales a la población civil.
De acuerdo con la información proporcionada por CENTCOM, en el lugar del operativo también se encontraban tres mujeres y tres menores de edad, quienes resultaron ilesos. La protección de los no combatientes fue, según la versión oficial, una prioridad durante la ejecución de la misión.
“Tres mujeres y tres niños también estaban en el objetivo y no resultaron heridos”, confirmó el parte militar.

La muerte de Dhiya’ Zawba Muslih al-Hardani y de sus hijos adultos representa un golpe significativo para la estructura de mando de ISIS en el norte de Siria. El grupo, que en el pasado llegó a controlar vastos territorios en Siria e Irak, ha visto mermada su capacidad operativa tras años de ofensivas militares lideradas por la Coalición Internacional.
Sin embargo, células dispersas y líderes locales continúan organizando ataques y manteniendo redes de apoyo en zonas rurales y urbanas, lo que obliga a mantener la presión militar y de inteligencia.
El general Michael Erik Kurilla subrayó la determinación de Estados Unidos y sus aliados para impedir el resurgimiento de ISIS en la región.
“Continuaremos persiguiendo sin descanso a los terroristas de ISIS dondequiera que estén”, reiteró el comandante, enfatizando la estrategia de acción preventiva y la cooperación internacional como pilares de la campaña antiterrorista. Esta declaración, recogida por CENTCOM, refleja la postura oficial de la administración estadounidense respecto a la amenaza persistente que representa el grupo yihadista.
(Con información de EFE)
Middle East,Civil Unrest,ALEPPO
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