INTERNACIONAL
Legal expert unleashes on Spanberger’s new executive order targeting ICE: ‘Political theater’
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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is directing state employees to demand proof of legal authority from federal immigration agents operating on state property, prompting pushback from a legal expert.
Specifically, in an executive order signed on Tuesday, Spanberger is asking state employees to get federal agents to produce a valid warrant on «property of the Commonwealth» and instructs them to «not permit» federal agents from using those areas as staging or processing locations.
The order would include polling sites.
Spanberger’s move continues Democratic efforts to test the boundaries between state and federal power, exploring what roadblocks they can legally create to taper Trump’s immigration crackdown methods.
SPANBERGER REFUSES TO HONOR ICE DETAINER IN MURDER CASE, ESCALATING SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP DHS
Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during a ceremonial bill signing event at Highland Springs High School in Richmond, Virginia, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Hans von Spakovsky, a constitutional scholar with Advancing American Freedom, believes Spanberger’s order is for show, and that she knows it’s an overreaching attempt to create requirements for agencies she has no power over.
«This is political theater,» Spakovsky said. «First of all, no warrant is required under federal immigration law to detain individuals.»
«And it is a completely unnecessary provision. There’s actually a provision in federal law that bans an officer of the Army or Navy or any other person in the civil service of the U.S. to be at polling places unless they’re there to cast a vote,» Spakovsky added.
He pointed to restrictions under 18 U.S.C. 592.
Spanberger first announced her executive order on Monday when she was asked about concerns over how Trump might use federal agents in upcoming elections.
«How concerned are you that he will send either the military or the National Guard or even ICE to polling places, and what can you do, if anything, to stop him?» Spanberger was asked at an event hosted by MS Now.
SLOTKIN PRESSES DHS PICK ON ICE AT POLLS, SAYS SHE CAN’T TRUST TRUMP TO ALLOW ‘FREE AND FAIR’ ELECTION
Virginia Gov. Abigail Davis Spanberger laughs during a ceremony in a court in Richmond, Virginia. (Mike Kropf-Pool/Getty Images)
«The reality is, throughout history, we have seen efforts at intimidating voters. My worry is we will continue to see those heightened,» Spanberger replied.
«I’ll be issuing guidance across public spaces, including polling places, of how Virginia state employees can react to federal agents who might be appearing at a location where the worry is that they’re principally there to intimidate or scare people,» Spanberger said.
Notably, Spanberger vetoed a separate bill that would have outright banned ICE from making detentions in hospitals, schools, courthouses and polling places without a judicial warrant or subpoena, stating that such a ban would likely invite a legal challenge.
«I veto House Bill 650, which would create unavoidable legal liability for security personnel and local law enforcement officers when assessing federal immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas,» Spanberger wrote.
Spanberger’s new executive order follows on the heels of states like New York and California that have pushed more direct state-level attempts to restrict federal immigration activity.
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is asking lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban ICE from entering schools, libraries, polling locations and homes without a judicial warrant.
Massachusetts tried something similar.
There, Gov. Maura Healey asked lawmakers in January to consider legislation that would keep ICE from entering courthouses, schools, childcare programs, hospitals and churches.
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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey urged private airlines to end contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg)
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Those state-level requirements lack the power to bind federal agencies or their operations.
Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin slammed Spanberger’s executivie order on Wednesday in a statement to Fox News Digital.
«No surprise: Governor Spanberger continues to put illegal alien criminals over her own constituents,» Mullin said.
immigration, abigail spanberger, virginia, illegal immigrants, elections state and local
INTERNACIONAL
Christian leaders hold emergency summit in Jerusalem to confront global rise in antisemitism
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JERUSALEM: The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) convened an emergency summit this week amid growing concern over the global rise in antisemitism following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023.
The three-day conference in the Israeli capital comes at a time when social media influencers are consistently pushing antisemitic hate to their millions of followers.
«Attacking the Jews means attacking the very roots of one’s own faith. It means fighting against the people who gave us the Bible. Jesus was Jewish,» ICEJ President Dr. Jürgen Bühler told Fox News Digital.
CANADA’S CARNEY PLEDGES ACTION ON ANTISEMITISM AMID BACKLASH OVER NEW ANTI-HATE COUNCIL MEMBERS
Christian leaders attend the ICEJ’s emergency summit on antisemitism on Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 at the Vert hotel in Jerusalem, Israel. (Amelie Botbol for Fox News Digital)
«If you don’t fight antisemitism, you are sawing off the branch you sit on. For the church to survive, we need to connect to our roots, fighting antisemitism needs to be at the forefront of every pastor and every leader around the world,» he added.
One of the central themes of the conference is Replacement Theology, a doctrine that holds the Church has replaced the Jewish people in God’s plan.
«The Bible is full of God’s eternal plan which includes the Jewish people. Paul’s statement in Romans 11 that ‘the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable’ relates to Israel. This is a doctrine that goes contrary to what the New and Old Testament are teaching and that’s why we need to have this conference,» Bühler said.
«One cannot deny the Jewishness of the Bible. The most frequent word in the Bible is the name of God and the second most used name is Israel. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he died in Jerusalem, resurrected in Jerusalem, rose to heaven from Jerusalem and he is coming back to Jerusalem. If you read the Bible it is so easy to see the connection to Israel,» he added.
HUCKABEE CONDEMNS EFFORTS TO ERASE JEWISH HISTORY TO THE HOLY LAND AS ‘ABSURD’
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee places a note in the Western Wall as Holy Week and Passover come to a close. (@USAmbIsrael/X)
Israel’s newly appointed Special Envoy to the Christian world, George Deek, addressed the meeting on Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are scheduled to attend the summit’s closing event on Thursday at the foreign ministry as keynote speakers.
In a recorded message broadcast at the summit, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked Christian leaders for mobilizing against antisemitism.
«We are witnessing a very disturbing surge of antisemitism all over the world. This is a major challenge for humanity. This is the age-old, perhaps the oldest plague in humanity, and we have to stand up together — thought leaders and religious leaders — and say, ‘No more,’ and teach people about the sources of this evil and how to counter antisemitism,» Herzog said.
«I believe that countering antisemitism requires a combination of three major elements: law enforcement, adjudication and education,» he said.
Vice President JD Vance, left, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog shake hands during a meeting at the presidential residence, in Jerusalem, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Leo Correa/AP)
«You, dear leaders, have a huge capability of fighting back, and I bless you. Truly, I bless you as the president of Israel for coming here and fighting back, for coming here and discussing how to fight back,» Herzog concluded.
Dr. Andrew J. Nolte, who launched Regent University’s Israel Institute in 2024, said students often repeat antisemitic claims, including the accusation that Jews killed Jesus.
«The answer from a Christian theological perspective is that we all killed Jesus, he died for our sins. There is a theological understanding of the guilt we bear for Jesus’s blood,» Nolte told Fox News Digital.
ISRAEL LOOKING FOR ‘SOLUTIONS’ TO OPEN CHRISTIAN SITES AFTER BARRING CHURCH LEADER ON PALM SUNDAY DUE TO WAR
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre dates back to the fourth century. (Archivio Università di Roma Sapienza)
While Israel has faced recent criticism over treatment of Christians – mostly at the hands of a few extremists – the country is seen as a beacon of freedom of religion in the Middle East.
As of December 2025, Israel’s Christian population stood at approximately 184,200 people, representing 1.9% of the country’s total population. The community grew by 0.7% over the previous year.
Arab Christians account for 78.7% of Israel’s Christian population and comprise 6.8% of the country’s overall Arab population.
Most Arab Christians reside in northern Israel. Among non-Arab Christians, 42% live in the Tel Aviv and Central districts, compared to 33.9% in the Northern and Haifa districts.
Christian pilgrims carrying wooden crosses walk through Jerusalem’s Old City towards the Holy Sepulcre church during the Orthodox Good Friday procession on May 3, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)
Nolte said that Christians in Israel hold prominent positions, noting that the provost of the University of Haifa is a Maronite Christian and that Christian communities in the country report relatively high income levels. He also said that, in most cases involving civil rights and religious freedom brought by Christians in Israel, the outcomes have been decided in their favor.
«If you are comparing Israel to any Muslim country in the Middle East, the status of Christians is much higher. As a Christian, you are better off here than anywhere else in the region,» he added.
CHRISTOPHER RUFO: THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND THE ANTISEMITIC INFLUENCER PROBLEM
Israeli Christians in Nazareth hold a Christmas parade on Dec. 24, 2025. (Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS-IL)
Christopher Kuehl, founder of Present Witness and co-host of the One New Man podcast, emphasized that biblical illiteracy among younger generations is fueling confusion about Israel.
He opened his remarks at the conference by citing a recent U.S. study on Gen Z’s alignment with biblical teachings and how closely their worldview corresponds with scripture, noting that only about 5% demonstrated strong adherence.
«Israel gets thrown into that ignorance, that biblical ignorance. Social media is what teaches children and Gen Z; they spend eight hours a day on it and go to church once a week for 20 minutes. How does one create a message in 20 minutes that will overcome spending eight hours on social media every day?» Kuehl told Fox News Digital.
FAITH UNDER FIRE: NETANYAHU CALLS OUT EFFORTS TO DIVIDE CHRISTIANS AND ISRAEL IN US
One Israeli pastor says one of the biggest challenges facing Israel’s Christian community is a low birth rate. Jesus King Church in Nazareth, Israel. (Photo: Pastor Saleem Shalash)
Pastor Matthew Earls joined the summit as part of Eagles’ Wings Ministries’ Israel Christian Nexus program, which focuses on young Christian leaders and gives them the opportunity to experience Israel early in their careers and build a well-rounded perspective.
«We want to teach biblical truth so that the church does not look completely different in the next generation,» Earls told Fox News Digital. «The greater mission is one of solidarity with the people of Israel, and of equipping people with talking points in the hope that dialogue can take place and lead to greater understanding, or at least mutual respect for one another’s positions,» he said.
Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, told Fox News Digital that Christians and Jews face many of the same challenges in defending their faith, history, and future, adding that those who reject Jews and Zionism also reject the Christian worldview because the two are aligned.
Orthodox Christians carry wooden crosses along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Orthodox Good Friday procession before Holy Saturday. (Saeed Qaq/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
«I’m here to share this message with Christian leaders who go back to their communities empowered with more knowledge, more energy, and different tools to fight this battle,» Roytman said.
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As part of its research, CAM has examined how social media algorithms amplify antisemitic content and conspiracy theories. «We discovered that the algorithms are trained to deliver engaging content that upsets people and keeps them hooked. Often, it is anti-establishment content and conspiracy theories that fuel antisemitism,» Roytman said.
More than 200 theologians, pastors and ministry leaders from over 30 countries are attending in person, alongside approximately 3,000 online participants.
anti semitism, christianity religion, gen z, israel
INTERNACIONAL
Descubren el cementerio de ballenas más grande y profundo del mundo en el océano Índico
A 7.000 metros bajo la superficie del océano Índico, un equipo internacional de científicos identificó el mayor y más profundo cementerio de ballenas conocido hasta ahora, con restos que abarcan desde ejemplares actuales hasta fósiles de hace 5,3 millones de años.
El descubrimiento, publicado en la revista Nature, reveló una concentración de osamentas nunca antes registrada, con una extensión de 1.200 kilómetros y una posible acumulación de hasta 10 millones de cadáveres. Esta necrópolis marina, ubicada en la fractura de Diamantina frente a las costas de Australia, transforma la imagen del fondo abisal al mostrarlo como un enclave rico en biodiversidad y clave para entender la evolución de los cetáceos.
La investigación localizó el cementerio en la fractura de Diamantina, al sureste del océano Índico, a profundidades que llegan hasta 7.001 metros.
La necrópolis se extiende a lo largo de 1.200 kilómetros y la densidad de restos es tan alta que, como explicó Xiaotong Peng, investigador principal: “Alcanza los 759,5 individuos por kilómetro cuadrado”.
El lugar, cerca de la costa occidental de Australia, no solo destaca por su extensión y profundidad inéditas, sino también porque en él se han identificado fósiles de especies aún existentes y otras ya extintas. Entre los restos sobresale un cráneo fosilizado de la ballena picuda Pterocetus benguelae, fechado en 5,3 millones de años, y otro de una nueva especie, Pterocetus diamantinae, descrita por primera vez gracias a este hallazgo.
Cuando una ballena muere en alta mar, su cuerpo puede flotar durante un tiempo y luego descender hasta el lecho oceánico, donde se convierte en el foco de un fenómeno conocido como “caída de ballena”. En limpio, esto es cuando los restos de un cetáceo sirven de sustento para una gran cantidad de organismos marinos, creando un “oasis” de vida en un entorno normalmente desprovisto de alimento.
Los investigadores detallaron que en la zona de Diamantina todavía existen al menos cinco “caídas de ballena” activas, con comunidades dominadas por gusanos devoradores de huesos, bivalvos quimiosintéticos y ofiuras, parientes de las estrellas de mar. “Muchas de estas especies podrían ser nuevas para la ciencia”, apuntó Giovanni Bianucci, paleontólogo de la Universidad de Pisa.
La magnitud de los hallazgos va más allá del número de restos. Los sedimentos y huesos acumulados en el fondo marino constituyen un archivo fósil excepcional que permite reconstruir millones de años de historia evolutiva de los cetáceos.
Las condiciones extremas de la fosa, con una topografía en forma de “V” y bajas tasas de sedimentación, favorecen la conservación de los esqueletos. Además, las gruesas incrustaciones de hierro y manganeso actúan como una coraza natural que protege los fósiles.
Este entorno, que durante millones de años ha funcionado como una trampa natural, favorece la acumulación de restos de ballenas.
Los científicos sospechan que la zona no solo es un corredor migratorio para los cetáceos, sino también un punto donde los riesgos fisiológicos de las inmersiones extremas aumentan la mortalidad natural, sobre todo entre las ballenas picudas, conocidas como zifios.
La muerte de cada ballena genera un ciclo de vida que puede sostener comunidades biológicas durante décadas.
En las inmersiones, el equipo científico observó cómo los huesos de los cetáceos se convierten en refugio para criaturas especializadas. Los cadáveres de ballenas en descomposición albergaban una gran diversidad de vida, incluyendo crustáceos, moluscos, gusanos que se alimentan de huesos y ofiuras. En algunos casos, los organismos encontrados resultan completamente desconocidos para la ciencia.
Los expertos calculan que este “supercorredor comunitario de restos de ballenas” puede representar un gran sumidero de carbono. La acumulación de millones de toneladas de material biológico implica un impacto relevante en los ciclos biogeoquímicos del océano profundo.
“El hallazgo demuestra que todavía estamos lejos de comprender la verdadera biodiversidad de nuestro planeta”, subrayó Bianucci. El descubrimiento abre la posibilidad de que existan otros yacimientos similares en sectores poco explorados del océano, capaces de revelar aspectos desconocidos de la vida marina en escalas de tiempo geológico.
Fotos: Nature
INTERNACIONAL
Missouri senator warns Dem immigration policies threaten Western civilization after scoring ICE funding win
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Democrats’ «suicidal empathy» on immigration will «destroy our country,» a Republican senator warned after his proposal targeting sanctuary city policies was included in the reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
In a Tuesday interview with Fox News Digital, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., argued that Democrats’ approach to immigration is also driven by political self-interest and not entirely by the desire for moral high-ground.
«There’s an electoral play here. It’s about raw power,» he said.
Schmitt’s provision, which was included in the House-passed funding package Tuesday, would provide $350 million for ICE agents to arrest criminal illegal immigrants after their release from state or local custody. It comes as law enforcement in sanctuary states and cities continue to refuse to cooperate with federal officials.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., blamed «leftists» for the rise in political violence while questioning FBI Director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16, 2025. Schmitt referenced the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and said, «Don’t give me this both sides bullshit!» while attributing most political violence in the U.S. to liberal politicians, groups and individuals. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Schmitt also warned that failing to deport illegal aliens is a threat to the West itself.
NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS
«I think it’s a very important time for Western civilization, honestly, to stand up and say, ‘no, we actually believe in sovereignty. We believe that a country can decide who can come and who has to go,’ and that this is our moment,» he said. «And the easiest of low-hanging fruit is to say that when you’re here illegally and you’ve committed a violent act, when you’re released from prison, we’re actually going to send you back home, and that’s what this legislation does.»
In sanctuary cities and states, officials often flout federal immigration law and refuse to coordinate with ICE to ensure criminal illegal aliens are deported after they’re freed, Schmitt explained.
«And I know that sounds crazy, but that’s the practical implication,» said Schmitt, adding that there were 18,000 such cases in 2025 alone.
ICE WARNS ILLINOIS IS RELEASING VIOLENT CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS DESPITE DETAINERS, RISKING PUBLIC SAFETY
«These violent rapists or other violent criminals are just being let loose into the community,» said Schmitt, who argued that being in the country illegally — even without committing a violent crime — is justification enough for deportation.
«But these sanctuary jurisdictions have decided that they would rather let these criminal illegal aliens back in the community than have them deported. That’s how inverted the morality is on all this,» he continued. «And so this sets to right that wrong. It says that these sanctuary jurisdictions… you don’t want to cooperate? Okay, well we’re going to have the resources to go do it on our own with ICE.»
Schmitt’s successful provision and the larger debate on the funding bill comes as criminal illegal aliens continue to make headlines. Just last week, four members of the barbaric Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang pleaded guilty to murdering two Americans by gunning them down in cold blood.
A man is arrested by ICE agents in Monassas, Virginia, on May 15, 2026. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
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Another illegal alien in California, accused of killing a two-month-old baby, grinned in court during a pretrial hearing on June 2.
Yet another illegal alien was sentenced at the end of May to 25 years in prison after raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in Missouri.
«I can’t explain why they wanted an open border,» Schmitt said of the opposition party. «I can’t explain why they don’t want criminals deported from this country. I can’t explain why they don’t want people denaturalized who have, you know, committed terrorist acts in this country.»
«That’s on them, but we’ve got a job to do, which is to make the American people more safe.»
An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed inside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2023. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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Schmitt noted that arresting criminal illegal aliens when they’re released from jail is also much safer than arresting them in immigration raids and operations, and expressed disbelief that such a policy has not yet been implemented.
«I can’t believe it hadn’t happened before, but I also don’t know that we’ve really been confronted with political leaders on the other side here who just don’t believe in the sovereignty of our country, and that’s kind of where we’re at. I mean, they wanted to defund ICE,» he told Fox News Digital.
«They don’t really want enforcement of our federal immigration laws, and I think the American people do.»
immigration, deportation, illegal immigrants, enforcement, sanctuary cities, politics, senate, congress
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