INTERNACIONAL
Schumer, Democrats try to save face, blame GOP for possible government shutdown
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Congressional Democrats are trying to get on the same page and display a unified front after threatening to derail the government funding process.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., met behind closed doors Tuesday night, along with the top Democrats in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to plot a course forward in the forthcoming government funding fight.
SENATE WEATHERS DEM OPPOSITION, ADVANCES FIRST GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The meeting came after Democrats in the upper chamber overwhelmingly supported the first government funding bill to hit the Senate floor, one that would fund military construction and Veterans Affairs. Ahead of the vote, Senate Democrats had signaled they may vote against the bill and further obstruct the appropriations process because of highly partisan legislation rammed through the upper chamber by Senate Republicans.
«We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process,» Schumer said. «That’s how it’s always been done, successfully, and we believe that, however, the Republicans are making it extremely difficult to do that.»
The meeting just off the Senate floor was meant to get congressional Democrats on board with a messaging plan over the next weeks and months ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government.
CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FACE BRUISING BATTLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is seen after the Senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
It was also likely designed to prevent a repeat of the Democratic debacle in March, when Schumer broke with Jeffries and threatened to shutter the government before ultimately caving and providing Republicans the votes necessary to advance yet another government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution.
Republicans are quick to point out that when Schumer led the upper chamber, none of the House GOP’s spending bills made it to the floor — in Congress, the spending process begins in the lower chamber.
Since taking over earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has committed to returning to regular order, or passing each of the dozen spending bills to fund the government, and trying to get the appropriations process back to normal.
However, it’s a feat that hasn’t been successfully done in Washington since the late 1990s.
«Frankly, I think a lot of us around here think [this] is long overdue,» Thune said.
However, Democrats contend that their trust in Republicans is wearing thin after two major partisan bills, one being President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill,» and the other the president’s $9 billion clawback package, were pushed through the chamber without any Democratic input.
‘BAIT AND SWITCH’: SCHUMER WARNS OF BITTER FUNDING FIGHT OVER GOP CUTS PLAN
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Thune argued that Senate Democrats were using the rescissions package to shut down the appropriations process and effectively shut down the government.
In the Senate, most bills that come to the floor require at least 60 votes to smash through the filibuster, meaning that most legislation requires bipartisan support to some extent.
Earlier this year, the House GOP produced a partisan government funding extension that was a tough pill for Senate Democrats to swallow, but they still ultimately opted to vote for it. This time around, they’re demanding more involvement in the process.
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Jeffries said that congressional Democrats would play ball if the process was «bipartisan and bicameral in nature» and put the onus of a partial government shutdown at the feet of congressional Republicans.
«House Republicans are, in fact, marching us toward a possible government shutdown that will hurt the American people,» he said.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., threw the responsibility on Democrats over whether the government would shutter or stay open come the end of September.
«They’re gaming out how they can shut the government down,» Johnson told Bloomberg Government.
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A government-run health trust in the United Kingdom recently advertised a nursing role focused on supporting families involved in «close-relative marriage,» a practice that often involves first cousins and is linked to higher genetic risks for children due to shared inherited genes, according to health officials.
The full-time position, titled «Neonatal Nurse – Close Relative Marriage,» aims to support families through «informed reproductive decision-making,» according to a job posting from Britain’s public health system, the National Health Service (NHS).
The role has since closed.
«Newborn Services is pleased to announce an exciting brand-new job opportunity for an experienced Neonatal Nurse,» according to the official job description.
UK PRIME MINISTER SUGGESTS FORMER PRINCE ANDREW SHOULD TESTIFY IN EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION
Sign for the NHS National Health Service outside a pharmacy in London, United Kingdom. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Under the role, the nurse would «proactively work with at risk families practising close relative marriage to encourage a greater level of genetic testing and/or genetic awareness/literacy among families where consanguineous related disorders are present,» the description states. Consanguinity refers to relationships in which parents are biologically related, most commonly first cousins.
The posting also states the nurse would support the implementation of a national strategy at the local hospital level, help families make «informed choices in a culturally sensitive empowering way,» initiate «sensitive, appropriate conversations» about recessive genetic disorders, and «contribute to the reduction of health inequalities in infant and child mortality and morbidity.»
SPERM DONOR WITH HIDDEN CANCER GENE FATHERS NEARLY 200 KIDS, FAMILIES BLINDSIDED
While close-relative marriage is rare in most Western countries, it remains more common in parts of the Middle East and South Asia and within some immigrant communities in Britain, where the NHS has increasingly emphasized outreach, genetic counseling and risk awareness rather than discouraging the practice outright.
Cousin marriage is more prevalent among some communities in Britain, including those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, according to GB News.
The job posting also listed fluency in Urdu as a desirable skill, a language widely spoken among Pakistani communities in the U.K.
Medical researchers have long documented elevated genetic risks associated with close-relative relationships. A peer-reviewed study published in BMC Medical Genetics found that children born to consanguineous couples face a higher risk of congenital and genetic disorders, particularly autosomal recessive diseases, with the increased risk for children of first cousins estimated at 2% to 4% above the general population.
A sign welcomed visitors to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, England. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire via Getty Images)
The researchers stressed that the vast majority of children born to related parents are healthy, but noted that genetic risk can vary widely between families and may be significantly higher in a minority of cases, depending on shared inherited DNA. The study also found it is not currently possible to predict which couples face the highest risk.
Emma Schubart, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, warned that specialized NHS outreach risks normalizing close-relative relationships.
«The NHS’s creation of specialized nursing roles risks normalizing a practice that significantly elevates genetic risks, including a doubled likelihood of serious birth defects and heightened susceptibility to common diseases like type 2 diabetes,» Schubart told Fox News Digital in a statement. «For example, among British Pakistanis, a community where consanguinity rates remain high, individuals face 3–6 times the average UK risk of type 2 diabetes, with 5–18% of cases directly attributable to inbreeding. This translates to thousands of additional diabetes cases nationwide, placing undue strain on an already overburdened NHS.»
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The Union Jack is photographed against a partly-cloudy sky. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
According to GB News, recent NHS guidance has described concerns about genetic risks from cousin marriage as exaggerated, a characterization that has drawn criticism from campaigners who argue the approach risks normalizing a practice that places avoidable burdens on children and public health systems.
The role was advertised by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, one of the United Kingdom’s largest NHS trusts, which operates 10 hospitals across Greater Manchester and Trafford in northwest England, according to the trust’s website. The job posting also sought candidates who «value diversity and difference,» according to the advert.
Fox News Digital reached out to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust for comment.
united kingdom,europe,health
Gustavo Petro, presidente de Colombia, denunció este martes la existencia de un plan para asesinarlo. «Tengo que confesar que me mudo en dos días, escapándome de que me maten», dijo Petro, a tres meses de las elecciones presidenciales.
«Por eso anoche no pude llegar, no podía aterrizar donde teníamos que aterrizar. No me prendían las luces. Y a la mañana tampoco aterricé, porque temía que le iban a disparar al helicóptero, con mis hijos también», añadió.
«Entonces cogimos mar abierto cuatro horas, no llegué donde tenía que llegar, pero llegué. Vengo así…», siguió.
Las declaraciones de Petro tuvieron lugar en una reunión con ministros, transmitida en vivo, luego de la desaparición de la senadora indígena Aida Quilcué. Petro denunció su secuestro. La mujer apareció con vida horas más tarde.
También aseguró que ordenó retirar a un general de la policía. «Tiene una misión extraña para ponerme sustancias psicoactivas en el carro. Se allanó su casa, era para eso. Y tenía como misión la reunión con Trump», añadió, en referencia al esperado encuentro con el presidente de Estados Unidos, que se concretó la semana pasada después de meses de enfrentamiento público entre ambos.
«Eso me coloca en una situación de alarma. Y con esto, peor. Hay una acción para con órdenes de captura, incluso con el intento de poner a mi hijo preso a fines del año pasado», siguió Petro.
Los dichos de Petro ocurren en medio de una nueva ola de inseguridad política, cuyo último capítulo fue la desaparición de Aida Quilcué, cercana al presidente, y miembros de su equipo de seguridad. Aparecieron con vida horas más tarde.
No se sabía nada de ellos desde las 13.30 de este martes (hora local, 15.30 en Argentina), cuando fueron interceptados por otro auto.
La semana pasada atentaron contra la caravana de vehículos de Jairo Alberto Castellanos, senador en Arauca, región fronteriza con Venezuela. El político no viajaba en la camioneta, pero mataron a dos de sus guardaespaldas. El ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) se despegó del atentado: «No fue nuestro objetivo».
«Informamos a la opinión pública que la Senadora Aída Quilcué y su esquema de seguridad presuntamente han sido secuestrados en el tramo Inzá-Totoro, Cauca. Solicitamos la mayor colaboración sobre información de la integridad de la senadora y su esquema de seguridad», expresó el equipo de la dirigente en X.
Petro detalló que el vehículo en el que se movilizaba Quilcué fue interceptado por desconocidos a las 13:30 hora local (18:30 GMT) en el páramo de Totoró, en el Cauca, zona donde son particularmente fuertes las disidencias de las FARC.
«Es un grito de guerra contra todos los indígenas del Cauca y del país», añadió el mandatario en un consejo de ministros en Montería, capital del departamento caribeño de Córdoba, al comentar el secuestro de la senadora de la coalición oficialista Pacto Histórico.
El ministro de Defensa, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, aseguró que «toda la Fuerza Pública está en reacción y adelantando la búsqueda» de la senadora, que ganó el Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos en la categoría de Defensa a toda una vida en 2021, un año antes de asumir su escaño en el Congreso.
Luego, el ministro de Defensa confirmó su hallazgo con vida. «La guardia indígena informa que ya encontraron a nuestra senadora Aída Quilcué y sus escoltas. Todos están bien. Nuestra Fuerza Pública avanza a la zona. Una vez se tenga mayor información será comunicada», expresó en X.
La guardia indígena reporta que llegó al lugar y halló la camioneta donde viajaba la senadora @aida_quilcue, pero sin personas en el interior.
Se continúa la búsqueda.
Cualquier información llame al 147 o 165. pic.twitter.com/zjuANS1mzf
— Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez S. Orgullosamente Colombiano (@PedroSanchezCol) February 10, 2026
Quilcué afirma haber recibido múltiples amenazas a lo largo de su vida, incluyendo mensajes intimidatorios, atentados e incluso el asesinato de su esposo en 2008.
Justamente el 29 de octubre de 2022, Quilcué salió ilesa de un atentado luego de que su vehículo fuera atacado a tiros cuando se movilizaba por una vía rural del Cauca.
Posteriormente, el 20 de mayo de 2023, denunció un nuevo hecho de intimidación cuando hombres armados merodearon e intentaron ingresar a su vivienda también en una zona rural de Popayán, la capital departamental.
INTERNACIONAL
Dem senator fumes that GOP’s foreign funding claim ‘delegitimizes’ anger of anti-ICE agitators in US
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Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., lamented during a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday that allegations about foreign funding and coordination among anti-ICE agitators are «delegitimizing» people’s justified «anger» and «fear» caused by federal immigration officers.
Kim also called the questioning «dangerous» during the Tuesday hearing, which was about fraud and touched on concerns that foreign adversaries were financing anti-ICE efforts in the U.S. to create a strategic smokescreen meant to deter accountability away from their massive criminal fraud enterprises.
«People all over this country are frustrated and concerned and upset. They’re scared and they’re worried about things because they just saw two American citizens get killed in the street by federal agents,» Kim said Tuesday.
FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., arrives on the Senate subway in the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
«The idea that people would be saying that this type of anger and this type of of outrage – whether in New Jersey or in Minnesota – is being predominantly coordinated in this type of way,» he continued. «I just have to say it is delegitimizing the anger and the fear that people are facing right now … The way in which it’s been described … I just think is very dangerous right now. And I hope that we can still say and recognize that there are a lot of people, a lot of people that are furious right now and worried.»
The Senator’s arguments, such as that the violence from anti-ICE agitators stems from justified anger and that the questioning of how this violence is being organized «delegitimizes» protesting, have been frequently touted by Democrats in the past, and not just as it pertains to the ongoing anti-ICE sentiment.
During a separate congressional hearing in December, Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, described attacks against ICE agents – which are up 12,000%, according to the Trump administration – as the result of people «channeling [their] frustration.»
«You’re seeing an overwhelming frustration of the American people in this country that the lack of respect and regard for the rule of law from this administration, and in particular by this Secretary, is at a level we have never seen and violates all of the constitutional norms and all of the principles of legal fairness in this country,» Johnson said. «And you’re seeing that manifest itself in threats to law enforcement, in bubbling over, because people are frustrated, and they are channeling that frustration because the administration is not listening.»
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Representative Julie Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, speaks during a New Democrat Coalition news conference on health care at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in 2024, amid ongoing protests regarding the situation in Gaza and other civil unrest, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) described former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s calls for the FBI to investigate Gaza ceasefire protests for connections to Russia as «incredibly dangerous.»
«From Martin Luther King Jr. to Black Lives Matter protesters, the FBI has long used ‘foreign influence’ as an excuse to conduct illegal surveillance on Americans exercising free speech rights,» the ACLU said in a post on X in 2024.
Despite claims that foreign funding accusations act as a smokescreen to «legitimize» lawful First Amendment activity, Republican-aligned witnesses during the Tuesday hearing argued billionaires, including some with ties to foreign adversaries, such as Neville Roy Singham and Hansjorg Wyss, pumped $60 million into the agitation efforts aimed at disrupting federal immigration efforts.
As unrest escalates in Minneapolis, investigators are uncovering a network of far-left activist groups allegedly bankrolled by a wealthy U.S. expat in China with reported ties to Chinese Communist Party–aligned propaganda efforts. (Roberto Schmidt/ AFP via Getty Images; Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for V-Day)
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«It comes in the form of a check, a six-figure check,» said Government Accountability Institute VP Seamus Bruner. «We’ve built a database that contains hundreds of thousands of rows from grants from networks like the Soros Network, the Arabella funding network – as mentioned – the Neville Roy Singham funding network, many others, Tides, the Ford Foundation network, the Rockefeller Funding network, these massive NGOs that have billions of dollars to spend on all kinds of coordinated protest, or in this case, riot activity.»
us protests,hearings,democrats senate,minneapolis st paul,deportation,illegal immigrants
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