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SCOTUS allows Texas to use Trump-pushed redrawn congressional redistricting map favoring Republicans
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The Supreme Court signaled that Texas is likely to prevail in defending its new congressional map, faulting a lower court for misreading evidence and ignoring required legal inferences as the state races toward 2026 election deadlines.
In a brief order that keeps Gov. Greg Abbott’s redrawn districts in place for now, the court said the district court committed two major errors by failing to apply the presumption of legislative good faith when considering disputed evidence and by declining to draw a near-dispositive inference against challengers who offered no alternative map that met Texas’s partisan goals.
The stay is temporary while the merits proceed, yet Justice Elena Kagan warned in dissent that the ruling effectively locks in the contested boundaries for the 2026 midterms because of looming state deadlines.
«This Court’s eagerness to playact a district court here has serious consequences,» Kagan said. «The majority calls its ‘evaluation’ of this case ‘preliminary.’ The results, though, will be anything but.
DOJ BACKS TEXAS IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT OVER REPUBLICAN-DRAWN MAP
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote a letter Jan. 30 directing state agency heads to follow state and federal law surrounding gender issues. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
«This Court’s stay guarantees that Texas’s new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year’s elections for the House of Representatives. And this Court’s stay ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race,» Kagan continued. «And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution.»
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin condemned the ruling as a moral and legal failure that rewards partisan manipulation while undermining voters across Texas.
«Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to allow Texas Republicans’ rigged, racially gerrymandered maps to go into effect is wrong — both morally and legally,» Martin said.
«Once again, the Supreme Court gave Trump exactly what he wanted: a rigged map to help Republicans avoid accountability in the midterms for turning their backs on the American people. But it will backfire.
«Texas Democrats fought every step of the way against these unlawful, rigged congressional maps and sparked a national movement. Democrats are fighting back, responding in kind to even the playing field across the country. Republicans are about to be taught one valuable lesson: Don’t mess with Texas voters. The DNC stands committed to building power in Texas, no matter the maps in play, one election at a time.»
Texas House Democratic Leader Rep. Gene Wu said the Supreme Court not only failed Texas voters but American democracy.
ABBOTT SIGNS TEXAS REDISTRICTING MAP INTO LAW, SECURING MAJOR GOP VICTORY AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS
Republican State Sen. Phil King displays a map during a Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting public testimony hearing Aug. 7, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
«This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won’t protect minority communities even when the evidence is staring them in the face,» Wu said. «I’m angry about this ruling. Every Texan who testified against these maps should be angry. Every community that fought for generations to build political power and watched Republicans try to gerrymander it away should be angry.
«But anger without action is just noise, and Democrats are taking action to fight back: California passed Prop 50 and added five Democratic seats to offset Texas. Democrats are organized and fighting back in Illinois, New York, Virginia, and more,» he continued. «A nationwide movement is being built that says if Republicans want to play this game, Democrats will play it better.»
Abbott, though, celebrated the decision, saying «We won!»
«Texas is officially — and legally — more red,» he said. «The U.S. Supreme Court restored the redistricting maps passed by Texas that were based on constitutional principles and Supreme Court precedent. The new congressional districts better align our representation in Washington, D.C., with the values of our state. This is a victory for Texas voters, for common sense, and for the U.S. Constitution.»
The ruling arrives amid a broader, unprecedented national redistricting battle driven by President Donald Trump’s effort to fortify the GOP House majority heading into 2026, a campaign that began in Texas before rapidly spreading to other states.
TEXAS FILES EMERGENCY SUPREME COURT PETITION AFTER TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAP BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES
Gov. Greg Abbott Nov. 14, 2025, in Midlothian, Texas. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections, Trump in June first floated the idea of rare but not unheard of mid-decade congressional redistricting.
The mission was simple: Redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
Texas was Trump’s first target.
A month later, when asked by reporters about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, «Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.»
Abbott called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map. Democratic state lawmakers broke quorum for two weeks and fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill.
The legislature eventually passed the bill, and Abbott signed it into law in late August.
REAGAN-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES COLLEAGUES IN TEXAS MAP FIGHT
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night news conference at a California Democratic Party office Nov. 4, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)
But the new map immediately faced legal challenges, and the plight of the Texas lawmakers who fled the state energized Democrats across the country.
Among those jumping into the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
California voters a month ago overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.
That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw its maps.
But the fight has spread beyond Texas and California.
Right-tilting Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push. The legislature in red-leaning Indiana meets this week to try and pass redistricting, while Florida and Kansas are also mulling redrawing their maps.
«We must keep the Majority at all costs,» Trump wrote on social media last month.
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Illinois and Maryland, two blue states, and Virginia, where Democrats control the legislature, are also taking steps or seriously considering redistricting.
And in a blow to Republicans, a Utah district judge last month rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
donald trump,greg abbott,gavin newsom,texas,california,house of representatives,elections
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Congressional commission warns China’s Pacific infrastructure projects could pose a military threat
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FIRST ON FOX: Chinese-funded infrastructure projects across the Pacific Islands may appear civilian on the surface but could provide future military access for Beijing, senior members of a bipartisan congressional advisory commission warned in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
Senior members of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said runways, ports and other facilities financed by the People’s Republic of China are often «dual use» and part of a broader strategic pattern that blends economic investment with long-term security objectives.
«When you see a broader trend of militarization of the region… you see a lot of activities that suggest there are at least some security and military-related interests involved,» commission chair Randall Schriver said. «Even if it’s declared for civilian use… it is by its very character dual-use and could be used for military purposes.»
CHINA INFILTRATES KEY PACIFIC TERRITORY OF MICRONESIA WITH INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AS US URGED TO ACT
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Woleai runway project in Yap State. Representatives of a Chinese company hold a banner on stage. May, 2025. (Cleo Paskal)
Schriver warned that China’s investments in the Pacific should not be viewed in isolation. «We know that China is very ambitious. We know that even civilian infrastructure projects often have strings attached,» he said. «In many instances, those involve access for the Chinese military.»
Commission Vice Chair Michael Kuiken said Beijing frequently pairs infrastructure financing with financial leverage. «There’s a cycle of debt diplomacy here,» Kuiken said. «China loads these islands up with debt and then uses their position of weakness to gain access… to build runways, to do things with respect to ports.»
«It’s a cycle that we see over and over again,» he added, calling it «a flywheel of debt diplomacy. There’s a vicious rinse-and-repeat cycle here. And whether it’s Taiwan, Palau, Micronesia or the Solomon Islands, it is a playbook that the Chinese go back to every time.»
CHINA’S GLOBAL AGGRESSION CHECK: TAIWAN TENSIONS, MILITARY POSTURING, AND US RESPONSE IN 2025
Image shows an LRAD being tested in Guam, Dec. 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Angel Campbell)
US response came too slowly, commission says
Schriver acknowledged Washington was slow to recognize the security implications of China’s expansion in the region.
«In a word, yes,» he said when asked whether the U.S. reacted too slowly.
He noted the timing coincided with major U.S. military investments in Guam, even as Chinese projects advanced nearby. «While this was happening, the Chinese were making inroads in the Pacific Islands … with great proximity to Guam,» he said, describing the island as central to U.S. logistics and combat operations.
Asked what would signal a shift from civilian infrastructure to operational military use, Schriver said some warning indicators are already visible.
Chinese labourers work at a construction site. June 22, 2005. (Claro Cortes IV CC/CCK/Reuters)
«The practice of undersea cable cutting… has been very provocative,» he said, describing it as activity that could be tied to military contingencies.
He also warned that visible deployments of Chinese military aircraft to Pacific facilities would mark a major escalation, citing a pattern previously seen in the South China Sea.
US TURNS TO FINLAND TO CLOSE ARCTIC ‘ICEBREAKER GAP’ AS RUSSIA, CHINA EXPAND POLAR PRESENCE
The runway at Woleai in Yap State, part of a Chinese-backed infrastructure project in the Federated States of Micronesia. (Cleo Paskal)
«We’ve seen a particular pattern that wouldn’t surprise us at all to see in other parts of Oceania,» Schriver said.
Kuiken urged lawmakers to increase scrutiny and transparency. «The thing members can do most easily is just ask the intelligence community for imagery and for intelligence reports … raise the alarm, shine a light on it and expose the activities,» he said.
Kuiken also revealed the future hearing focused on undersea infrastructure and security risks in the region.
«Data is the lifeblood of the global economy these days,» he said. «Those cables are a vital source of information… and those are really quite aggressive actions and need to be exposed.»
Policy recommendations and next steps
The commission has proposed a broader U.S. response, including increased Coast Guard cooperation and expanded support for Pacific Island nations to strengthen resilience against security threats and economic pressure.
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Palau- October 6, 2015: Palau is an island in the Philippine Sea, Northern Pacific Ocean. (iStock)
Schriver referenced a «Pacific Island Security Initiative» recommendation aimed at combining economic, law enforcement and defense engagement.
Kuiken described the approach as «a layered cake.» «We want there to be a civilian aspect… a law enforcement piece… and a military piece,» he said. «You sort of need to do all of them in order to really be effective and really to combat the influence of the Chinese in this space.»
china,pacific,congress,national security,military
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Renunció un histórico político de Francia: su nombre aparece 673 veces en los documentos del caso Epstein
Un histórico político de Francia quedó en el centro de la polémica en Francia luego de que su nombre apareciera en los documentos sobre el caso Epstein. Se trata de Jack Lang, exministro de Cultura y de Educación, que tuvo que renunciar a la presidencia del Instituto del Mundo Árabe (IMA) en París. Si bien niega las acusaciones, se abrió una investigación judicial por sus supuestos vínculos con el financiero y delincuente sexual Jeffrey Epstein. Desde el Gobierno de Emmanuel Macron dijeron que la situación era «insostenible».
Lang, de 86 años, es una personalidad muy fuerte de la cultura de Francia y una de las personalidades de más alto perfil que aparecen en los documentos publicados por la justicia de Estados Unidos sobre Epstein.
El reconocido financiero neoyorquino fue condenado en 2008 por solicitar prostitución a una menor de edad. Lo encontraron muerto en prisión en 2019, cuando iba a ser juzgado por explotación sexual de mujeres, incluidas menores.
El Gobierno de Francia aceptó la renuncia de Lang y celebró la dimisión. «Ha tomado la única decisión posible, la única decisión deseable en esta situación. La situación era, a mi juicio, insostenible«, afirmó la portavoz, Maud Bregeon, en la emisora France Info.
El Instituto del Mundo Árabe, una institución cultural que también tiene un papel diplomático, está bajo la tutela del Ministerio de Exteriores.
Lang, que ocupaba la presidencia del IMA desde 2013, es una figura histórica del Partido Socialista francés, conocido por su labor como ministro de Cultura durante la presidencia de François Mitterrand en los años ochenta y noventa. Pero, desde la publicación de los documentos quedó bajo la mira, aunque él insiste en que es inocente de cualquier delito.
Su abogado, Laurent Merlet, declaró a la cadena BFM TV que su cliente estaba «muy triste» por dejar el IMA pero que «no permitirá que las calumnias ganen terreno».
El viernes, la Fiscalía francesa anunció la apertura de una investigación preliminar contra él y su hija, Caroline Lang, por «blanqueo de capitales procedentes de fraude fiscal agravado» debido a sus presuntos vínculos financieros con Epstein.
Previo a la dimisión, Jack Lang se defendió públicamente: «Acusaciones infundadas»
Antes de darse a conocer su renuncia, Lang había declarado a la agencia AFP que las acusaciones en su contra eran «infundadas» y se mostró favorable a la investigación de la Justicia.
«Aportará mucha luz sobre las acusaciones que cuestionan mi probidad y mi honor», afirmó Lang, cuyo nombre aparece al menos 673 veces en los documentos que fueron publicados recientemente.
El ahora exfuncionario negó cualquier irregularidad y asegura que solo recurrió a Epstein en su condición de filántropo.
El pasado lunes había sido su hija Caroline la que había renunciado a la presidencia de un sindicato de productores de cine, tras las revelaciones sobre una sociedad offshore que había fundado en 2016 junto con el propio Epstein.
Caroline Lang también estaba apuntada por la justicia ya que figuraba en el testamento de Epstein como beneficiaria de cinco millones de dólares, según el medio de investigación, Mediapart.
Sin embargo, la mera mención de Lang dentro de los archivos no implica irregularidad alguna. Según el diario Le Monde y Mediapart ningún documento publicado por el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos sugiere que Lang o su hija estuvieran implicados en los delitos sexuales en los que era investigado Epstein.
Jack Lang es muy recordado en Francia por impulsar la Fiesta de la Música («Fête de la Musique»), una gran celebración en la calle que persiste hasta hoy y que otros países copiaron.
También supervisó grandes proyectos de arquitectura moderna, como la construcción de la Pirámide del Louvre y la Ópera de la Bastilla.
Tras la desclasificación de los documentos Epstein, la presión pública sobre Lang aumentó a lo largo de la semana pese a su insistencia en que «no había cometido ninguna falta y en que desconocía el comportamiento delictivo de Epstein».
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Super Bowl Sunday: Here are some of the political, social commercials you can expect during the big game
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One of the most anticipated parts of Super Bowl Sunday is not necessarily the game, it’s the commercials throughout the big game.
Hundreds-of-millions in advertising revenue will hit the airwaves Sunday night, but not everyone is trying to get you to buy something. Viewers can expect to see anti-hate ads, ads that focus on Christianity, and ads supporting political candidates that want viewers to buy in to their political views.
A 30-second spot during this year’s game costs around $8 to $10 million.
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY MENUS ARE CHANGING; PARTY HOSTS SERVE UP SURPRISES THIS YEAR
U.S. President Donald Trumpholds up a football presented to Trump during a presentation ceremony for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the Navy Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House April 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Commander-in-Chief Trophy is awarded to the winner of the American college football series among the teams of the U.S. Military Academy (Army Black Knights), the U.S. Naval Academy (Navy Midshipmen), and the U.S. Air Force Academy (Air Force Falcons). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
1. Pro-Trump group commercial touting Trump Accounts
A pro-Trump nonprofit, Invest America, bought time during the pre-game broadcast to promote the president’s new tax-free «Trump Accounts,» which were established in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as tax-free savings accounts for American children, many of which will be seeded with $1,000 from the federal government. Children will be able to use the funds from these accounts for things like education expenses, or down payments on a new home.
The ad will feature children talking about the importance of investing.
«It’s gonna get a lot of attention. All your viewers, watch the Super Bowl right after the national anthem, we’re gonna have a big rollout,» Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month on a local Midwest radio station.
2. Another anti-hate ad from Robert Kraft
New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s nonprofit the Blue Square Alliance, which was formerly called the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, will have another advertisement this year against antisemitism. His group has been buying ad spots at the Super Bowl since at least 2022 to promote anti-Jewish hate messages. Last year, the group’s ad featured appearances from celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
This year’s advertisement will focus on antisemitism among younger people, particularly those in schools. The ad encourages supporters to post an image of a blank blue square, resembling a sticky note, to illustrate their support against Jewish hate.
3. Michigan gubernatorial candidate’s «anti-halftime» ad
A Republican candidate running to be Michigan’s next governor, Perry Johnson, has been sponsoring ads running from several days before the game up until Sunday evening, according to the candidate’s campaign. The advertisement, which will only be seen in select Michigan TV markets, urges folks to turn the channel during the Bad Bunny halftime show and tune into the halftime show being produced by the late-Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Bad Bunny’s selection by the NFL has created a political stir, with critics calling him anti-American.
ANTI-TRUMP PERFORMERS LITTER SUPER BOWL LX IN CALIFORNIA
«Join me in changing the channel during halftime to Turning Point’s ‘All American Halftime Show’ for some great American entertainment during America’s game,» Johnson’s ad encourages viewers.
An advertisement for Super Bowl halftime performance by musical performer Bad Bunny. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
4. Senate candidates’ campaign ads
Viewers in Maine and Texas will see advertising from the political campaigns of incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Democrat challenger to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, James Talarico, who is a state senator in Texas.
Collins’ campaign ad was purchased on her behalf by One Nation, a nonprofit tied to the Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PAC for Senate Republicans. They are coughing up about $5.5 million for a several-months-long ad buy planned to focus on the Maine viewing market.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, on July 24, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
According to the local Portland Press, her 30-second ad features stock clips of firefighters while discussing Collins’ efforts to pass legislation banning «forever chemicals» linked to cancer. «Call Senator Collins and thank her for protecting Maine’s first responders,» a narrator concludes the advertisement, according to a version reportedly shared on YouTube.
Talarico, who reportedly spent more than $100,000 from his campaign to air his ad, according to local reports, shared his advertisement on social media. Talarico focuses on slamming billionaires and ethics, particularly related to campaign finance and congressional stock trading.
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«Millionaires don’t just influence politicians, they own them. That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC money. That’s why I fought to cap campaign contributions,» Talarico says in his ad. «In the Senate I’ll ban billionaires from making unlimited, secret donations. I’ll stop members of Congress from trading stocks. And I’ll raise taxes on those at the top to fund tax cuts for the rest of us.»
5. He Gets Us ad
The pro-Christian ad campaign that launched in 2022 with help from the family behind Hobby Lobby has been criticized over the years as its commercials have become a talking point following past Super Bowls. The campaign’s ads have typically focused on social conflicts and it plans to unveil yet another ad during this year’s game.
This year’s message touches on wealth, image, insecurity, digital addiction, fame and other pressures in life, rather than social conflicts, similar to ads they have done during past Super Bowls, according to pre-releases of the ad ahead of the game.
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Natalie Weber contó toda la verdad del coqueteo de Sabrina Rojas a Mauro Icardi en un boliche: “Yo sé lo que pasó esa noche y te puedo decir que Sabrina no fue”
