A pilots association jumped into the government shutdown fray Wednesday, calling on U.S. lawmakers to pass a «clean continuing resolution» and reopen the government, citing the mounting strain the shutdown has placed on airport employees. 

«Our air traffic controllers and the broader air traffic system are already operating under immense pressure — a government shutdown only compounds that stress and threatens the efficiency of our skies as we see the impact of reduced controller availability at facilities across the country,» Jody Reven, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, wrote in a Wednesday statement. 

«Likewise, TSA professionals continue to show up every day to safeguard the traveling public, even without pay. These men and women deserve our full support and the certainty of a paycheck,» he continued. 

The government shutdown has persisted since Oct. 1, when Senate lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement before a midnight deadline. The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. 

NOEM AIRS CLIP BLASTING DEMOCRATS FOR GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AT EVERY AIRPORT IN AMERICA

Democrats, however, have denied the claims and pinned blame for the shutdown on their Republican colleagues. 

The shutdown has led to delays at massive travel hubs such as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Newark, New Jersey, as air traffic controllers — who are employed by the Federal Aviation Administration — suffer staffing shortages. 

Reven’s statement comes as travelers gear up for holiday flights for Thanksgiving and Christmas, with a White House official telling Fox News Digital that as the shutdown continues, it «threatens to ruin the holidays.» The 2025 holiday season is expected to break travel records as Americans book trips at a higher pace than 2024, travel forecasters reported in October.

«There is no reason the Democrat shutdown should have ever happened, let alone last this long,» the official said. «But the longer it goes on, the more it threatens to ruin the holidays, not only for the Americans missing paychecks but also for every American that travels during the holidays.» 

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s press release specifically called on lawmakers to pass a budget as the nation’s entire National Airspace System depends on it. 

TRUMP’S WEEK IN REVIEW: SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWNS AND ARMED CARTEL CONFLICT

President Donald Trump said the government shutdown that took effect Oct. 1, 2025, will likely include mass layoffs and program cuts.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

«Pass a clean Continuing Resolution, return to Washington, and work in a bipartisan manner to address the challenges each side is so passionate about,» it stated. «Our National Airspace System, the workers that support it, and the traveling public depend on it.» 

When approached for comment on the statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers demanded Democrats «stop causing chaos.»

«Democrats say that every day of the shut down gets better and that they want to use suffering families as leverage to achieve their radical left-wing agenda — but the people they’re using as ‘leverage’ disagree,» Rogers said. «From pilots to flight attendants and air traffic controllers, their message is simple: the Democrats need to stop causing chaos and end the shutdown.» 

The Air Line Pilots Association, the world’s largest airline pilot union, also called on lawmakers to reopen the government earlier in October. 

«The job of keeping aviation safe and secure is tough on an easy day, but forcing them to do it without pay undermines the safety and security of our entire system,» Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement Oct. 15. «We are at a critical moment in aviation safety, and we need our leaders to be focused on the necessary infrastructure and staffing improvements.» 

WITH THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENING AIR TRAVEL, A GOP BILL SEEKS TO KEEP FLIGHTS RUNNING

President Donald Trump accused Senate Democrats of «holding the entire federal government hostage.» (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump accused Senate Democrats of «holding the entire federal government hostage» Tuesday while demanding the government reopen by passing a «clean, bipartisan CR.» 

«They are the obstructionists,» he said. «And the reason they’re doing it is because we’re doing so well. We’re doing well all over the world.» 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reached out to Trump to request a meeting to negotiate an end to the shutdown. 

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«Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,» Schumer said. «He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away.»

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report. 

El Parlamento israelí (Knéset) aprobó este miércoles, en una lectura preliminar con 25 votos a favor y 24 en contra, una propuesta para anexionar el territorio palestino ocupado de Cisjordania.

“El proyecto de ley para aplicar la soberanía a los territorios de Judea y Samaria (como llama Israel al territorio palestino) fue aprobado en lectura preliminar por una mayoría de 25 a favor y 24 en contra”, detalló la Knéset en su cuenta en X.

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Este primer paso precede a otras tres votaciones que serán necesarias en el Parlamento para convertir este proyecto en ley. El proyecto sostiene que “el Estado de Israel aplicará sus leyes y soberanía a las zonas de asentamiento en Judea y Samaria, para establecer el estatus de estas áreas como parte inseparable del Estado soberano de Israel”.

La iniciativa generó una fuerte condena de la Autoridad Nacional Palestina (ANP), que gobierna en algunas zonas del enclave, y del grupo islámico Hamas.

“Gran Israel”

El parlamentario Avio Maoz, líder del partido Noam, es el impulsor de esta ley. Durante la sesión parlamentaria, declaró que “el Señor, bendito sea, dio al pueblo de Israel la Tierra de Israel”, en una alusión al ‘Gran Israel’ que borra del mapa los territorios palestinos.

Esta votación preliminar coincide con la visita en Israel del vicepresidente de Estados Unidos, JD Vance, quien supervisa el plan del alto el fuego en Gaza junto al primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, y altos cargos militares.

“Ha llegado el momento de aplicar la soberanía plena sobre todos los territorios de Judea y Samaria (Cisjordania) la herencia de nuestros antepasados, y de promover acuerdos de paz a cambio de paz con nuestros vecinos desde una posición de fortaleza”, celebró en X el ministro de Finanzas, el ultraderechista y colono, Bezalel Smotrich.

El ministro de Seguridad Nacional, Itamar Ben Gvir, también de extrema derecha y colono, escribió en su cuenta de X: “¡Ha llegado el momento de la soberanía ahora!”.

Leé también: Israel aseguró que lanzó “153 toneladas de bombas” en Gaza y acusó a Hamas de incumplir el cese el fuego

Ambos ministros ya exigieron a mediados de septiembre al primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, la anexión de la Cisjordania en respuesta al reconocimiento del Estado palestino por parte de más de una decena de países, entre ellos Reino Unido, Canadá y Australia.

Palestina no cuenta con continuidad territorial, y mientras en Gaza gobernaba la rama política de Hamás, en Cisjordania permanece la Autoridad Nacional Palestina (ANP), encabezada por Mahmud Abás.

E la mayor parte de esta zona (la denominada Área C que equivale al 60 % del territorio). Israel posee tanto control militar como civil desde los Acuerdos de Oslo.

Además, existen cientos de puestos de control militares israelíes a lo largo de toda Cisjordania, y un sistema de permisos que no permite el libre movimiento de los palestinos entre ciudades.

Fuerte condena palestina

La organización islamista Hamas consideró que el proyecto de anexión es “nulo, sin valor e ilegítimo”.

“Afirmamos que los frenéticos intentos de la ocupación por anexionar las tierras de Cisjordania son nulos, sin valor e ilegítimos. No cambiarán el hecho de que Cisjordania es tierra palestina en virtud de la historia, el derecho internacional y la opinión consultiva emitida por la Corte Internacional de Justicia en 2024”, afirmó un comunicado.

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En tanto, el ministerio de Exteriores palestino aseguró que Israel “no tendrá ninguna soberanía” sobre Cisjordania. En un comunicado, difundido en su cuenta de X, reiteró que “la tierra palestina ocupada en Cisjordania, incluida Jerusalén, y la Franja de Gaza, constituyen una unidad geográfica única sobre la cual Israel no tiene soberanía, y que la soberanía pertenece exclusivamente al pueblo palestino”.

La Corte Internacional de Justicia emplaza a Israel

Por otra parte, la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ) advirtió que Israel “no fundamentó” los vínculos que asegura que la Agencia de Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados de Palestina en Oriente Próximo (UNRWA) tiene con Hamas y pidió al gobierno de Netanyahu cumplir con su “obligación” de “aceptar y facilitar los planes de ayuda” a Gaza proporcionados por la ONU. Según afirmó Israel no debe “usar el hambre” como “método de guerra”.

El tribunal consideró que el impedimento “sustancial” por parte de Israel al acceso de ayuda humanitaria a Gaza “durante un periodo significativo de tiempo” ha tenido “consecuencias catastróficas” para la población civil en la Franja.

“La población local de la Franja de Gaza ha sido abastecida de forma insuficiente. En tal situación, Israel, como potencia ocupante, tiene la obligación de aceptar y facilitar los planes de ayuda”, advirtió el presidente de la CIJ, el juez japonés Yuji Iwasawa, durante la lectura de la decisión del tribunal.

Israel tiene la obligación, añadió, de “garantizar las necesidades básicas” de la población local, incluidos los suministros esenciales para su supervivencia.

(Con información de EFE)

The U.S. military carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel, this time in the Eastern Pacific, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.

The strike Tuesday against a boat allegedly carrying drugs is the eighth conducted by the Trump administration. The previous seven happened in the Caribbean.  

«Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific. The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics,» Hegseth said.

«There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike,» he added.

3 KILLED IN US STRIKE ON COLOMBIAN ELN VESSEL SMUGGLING NARCOTICS, HEGSETH SAYS

Earlier this week, Hegseth announced that three alleged narco-terrorists were killed in a U.S. strike on a drug smuggling vessel affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army.

That «lethal kinetic strike» happened Friday in international waters at the direction of President Donald Trump, Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

«The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,» Hegseth wrote. «There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters.»

«All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike,» he added.

The suspect drug smuggling vessel is shown at left, moments before it was destroyed in a U.S. strike on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (X.com/SecWar)

Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) is a designated terrorist organization. Hegseth likened the Colombian rebel group to the al Qaeda terror group founded by Usama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

TRUMP GOES ALL-OUT AGAINST COLOMBIA’S PETRO AFTER CLAIMS DRUG STRIKE KILLED FISHERMAN: WHAT WE KNOW

The death toll from the Trump administration’s military campaign against suspected drug-smuggling vessels is at least 34. The operations began last month and are part of Trump’s broader effort to dismantle transnational cartels by force.

Last Thursday, the U.S. military carried out a strike on what Trump later called a «very large drug-carrying submarine» in the Caribbean, killing two suspected narco-terrorists and capturing two others alive.

The U.S. killed six alleged drug traffickers on a boat in international waters near Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced Oct. 14, 2025. (realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)

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A separate strike on Tuesday killed six suspected smugglers aboard a vessel off the coast of Venezuela.