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Soros-linked dark money network fuels Virginia redistricting push backed by national Democrats
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Virginians for Fair Elections, a main group fighting to get Virginia voters to approve a ballot referendum that will allow the state to redraw its congressional maps, has been pumped with millions in cash from a web of George Soros-backed dark money groups and top Democratic Party officials.
The money the group has garnered ahead of Tuesday’s vote, which is poised to allow Democrats in the House of Representatives to potentially take four seats from Republicans going into the midterms, also comes from leading Democratic Party figures and organizations like Nancy Pelosi and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Other left-wing juggernauts pumping money into the Democratic Party’s redistricting effort in Virginia include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which once championed the adoption of «independent redistricting commissions,» national green energy group the League of Conservation Voters, and the U.S. House of Representatives campaign arm for the Democratic Party, according to a Fox News Digital review of state campaign finance records and records from the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), which tracks public spending in Virginia.
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«Dark money is flooding into Virginia,» GOP strategist Matt Gorman told Fox News Digital. «Democrats talked all about the cost of living during the campaign, but all they did once in office was raise taxes and rig elections. It’ll be the same elsewhere across the country in 2026 too.»
A woman casts her vote at a polling place in Burke, Fairfax County, Virginia, in 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)
Fox News Digital reported in March that the left-wing group fighting to redraw Virginia’s maps raised more than $38 million, according to VPAP’s donation totals based on state campaign finance records. As of right before the mid-April referendum vote, just a handful of weeks later, that total ballooned to more than $64 million.
In 2026, the largest giver to Virginians for Fair Elections was House Majority Forward, the nonprofit counterpart of House Democrats’ House Majority PAC, which has donated over $38 million, records show.
Meanwhile, entities directly tied to Soros, or that obtained significant funding which can be traced back to the billionaire Democrat megadonor, come in second and third in terms of total giving to the group, per VPAP’s accounting of donation totals.
One of those groups, the Fund for Policy Reform Inc, was founded by Soros. The other, titled The Fairness Project, has been funded by groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund and the Tides Foundation, which Soros has given significant funding to.
George Soros pictured on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2020. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Another one of the top donors to the left’s Virginians for Fair Elections is American Opportunity Action, described as «a pure pass-through entity» by Parker Thayer, a dark money expert from the conservative Capital Research Center. The group is so new that it does not even appear to have any 990s filed with the IRS but is still one of Virginians for Fair Elections’ top donors, according to VPAP and state campaign finance records.
Top Democratic Party members of Congress from outside Virginia, including Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and Katherine Clark, D-Mass., also donated tens-of-thousands of dollars, according to a review of state campaign finance records. Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s leadership PAC donated $100,000 as well, while the Democratic Party of Virginia put up just shy of a million dollars, per VPAP’s accounting.
Meanwhile, a group founded by Obama wingman Eric Holder, who previously championed «independent redistricting commissions,» provided a more than $10,000 in-kind contribution to the left-wing redistricting group, state election filings show. The League of Conservation Voters, and the Soros-backed MoveOn.org were also among Virginians for Fair Election’s top donors. In terms of labor union support, SEIU gave half-a-million, while AFT gave $100,000.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the other top donors pumping thousands or millions into the redistricting battle, but did not receive a response ahead of publication.
«No one wanted to take this action, but in a democracy, we can’t let entire states rig their congressional maps just to bend to the will of one person,» Alexis Magnan-Callaway, a spokesperson for The Fairness Project, told Fox News Digital in March.
«We have to respond. This amendment is a temporary, one-time exception that gives Virginia voters a voice and meets the needs of the current moment, while ensuring Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting process will resume after the 2030 census,» she continued. «This isn’t about favoring one party over another. This is about restoring fairness across the board by temporarily changing Virginia’s congressional districts.»
A main group in Virginia opposing the redistricting effort led by Democrats, Virginians For Fair Maps, raised a little over $3 million at the time of Fox News Digital’s late March report. However, the right-wing redistricting group in Virginia appears to have gained some ground since then as well, albeit still far behind the left’s Virginians for Fair Elections funding totals.
As of just before the referendum vote Tuesday, the anti-redistricting referendum group raised its fundraising total to nearly $20 million, with most of that money coming from a group by the same name that is also a significant donor to the Virginia Republican Party.
Other donations to the group come from a series of several much smaller donors, such as $50,000 from the National Shooting Sports Foundation and $100,000 from a wealthy D.C.-area real-estate investor, who donates primarily to GOP campaigns. That investor is the top individual donor at $100,000 out of just a handful of individual contributions, according to VPAP.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has reportedly given more than $500,000 in efforts against the redistricting measure, per reporting from the Virginia Scope. He also has been a leading voice in Virginia holding events to campaign against the measure despite no longer being in office.
Wealthy tech entrepreneur and Republican donor Peter Thiel has reportedly donated to Justice for Democracy PAC, which has been part of the anti-redistricting effort alongside Virginians for Fair Maps as well.
virginia, democratic party, george soros, banking finance, politics, state and local
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H5N1 bird flu confirmed in Australia for the first time, meaning virus has now reached every continent
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The first case of H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in Australia, meaning the virus has now found its way to every continent.
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the virus was found in a single seabird, a brown skua, near Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia, in Cape Le Grand National Park.
Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said it was «responding as part of a nationally coordinated plan with the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and stakeholders across [Western Australia] to reduce the impact of this disease.»
The outbreak in the U.S. has left millions of birds dead and has caused grocery store hikes and shortages, most notably with eggs.
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The first case of H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in Australia, meaning the virus has now found its way to every continent. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
The spread to humans is rare.
«We all knew we couldn’t be bird flu-free forever,» Australia’s federal Agricultural Secretary Julie Collins said in a press conference on Saturday.
Jackie Jarvis, Western Australia’s agricultural minister, said in a press conference on Friday: «As a result of WA’s established early detection system, appropriate action was taken, including isolating the bird and collecting samples for testing.»
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She added, «this shows that Australia’s and Western Australia’s preparedness measures have worked. We are pleased to see the surveillance, and reporting system working as intended, with the bird reported through to DPIRD for further investigation.»
A brown skua stands on a mossy stone on Macquarie Island, Sub Antarctic, administered by Tasmania, Australia. (Auscape/Universal Images Group)
By Saturday, Jarvis said further testing confirmed the strain that she said was consistent with bird flu found in the remote Australian territories of Heard Island and McDonald Islands near Antarctica, which devastated the wildlife there.
Last year, around 13,000 of a population of 17,000 elephant seal pups died there in just a few months after being exposed.
The outbreak in the U.S. has left millions of birds dead and has caused grocery store hikes and shortages, most notably with eggs. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The islands are wildlife sanctuaries.
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«Importantly, there have been no detections in poultry and there is no evidence of mass mortality,» Jarvis said of the mainland case.
A second case of another migratory bird is also suspected near Esperance.
Reuters contributed to this report.
bird flu, infectious disease, australia, outbreaks, birds, health, world
INTERNACIONAL
La ayuda humanitaria de Estados Unidos se reparte a cuentagotas por Cuba ante la falta de combustible en la isla
La ayuda humanitaria estadounidense llega a Cuba a través de Cáritas, organización sin fines de lucro católica que actúa como vínculo entre Washington y La Habana, en respuesta al paso del huracán Melissa en 2025 y que, hasta el día de hoy, representa un alivio tangible en un contexto de escasez que afecta a los cubanos.
Después de recibir un paquete con arroz, frijoles y productos de higiene, Teodardo Debardet cruza lentamente el barrio de Hongolosongo en su bicicleta adaptada. El paquete de suministros que recibió Debardet es parte de la distribución de casi la totalidad de los USD 3 millones enviados a principios de año, una fracción de los USD 9 millones prometidos.
En esta pequeña comunidad de Santiago de Cuba, muchos habitantes aún no han conseguido reparar los techos destruidos por el ciclón. Menos de la mitad de las casas tienen electricidad y el acceso al agua corriente es un privilegio para unos pocos.
El huracán Melissa golpeó la isla con vientos de 195 km/h en octubre de 2025, y dejó a su paso a muchas familias sin techo y destruyó servicios básicos. La situación se agrava por el bloqueo petrolero y el endurecimiento de las sanciones económicas.
Washington propuso recientemente una ayuda adicional de USD 100 millones para Cuba: USD 60 millones serían canalizados a través de Cáritas, y el resto por otras organizaciones no gubernamentales. Sin embargo, el régimen cubano aún no ha confirmado si aceptará esta nueva oferta.
En respuesta a la propuesta, el dictador Miguel Díaz-Canel expresó que levantar el embargo estadounidense sería, en sus palabras, “más útil que el envío de ayuda humanitaria”.
La distribución de los paquetes enfrenta retos logísticos importantes. “Se nos hace un poquito difícil porque tenemos que buscar transporte, conseguir combustible, ver quién nos puede acercar hasta allá”, explica Katia Simón, responsable de Cáritas en El Cobre.
Cuando escasean la gasolina y el diésel, los envíos se realizan en carretas de bueyes. La llegada de los lotes, acompañados en ocasiones por consultas médicas, sesiones de peluquería y actividades recreativas para niños, es recibida con gratitud.
Las dificultades para transportar y entregar la ayuda humanitaria persisten en toda la región oeste de Cuba. El desabastecimiento de combustible obliga a buscar alternativas rudimentarias y ralentiza la llegada de insumos básicos para los damnificados. A pesar de las carencias, la asistencia internacional permite paliar algunas necesidades esenciales de las comunidades más aisladas.
“Recibimos muy bien esta ayuda venga de donde venga (…) si es del pueblo de Estados Unidos, está bien”, afirmó Osmany Vedey, de 63 años, reflejando el sentir de muchos vecinos, en diálogo con AFP. Tras el desastre natural, la ayuda internacional llegó también desde organismos como la ONU, la Unión Europea, China, México y Venezuela. Naciones Unicdas continúa su programa de asistencia, aunque enfrenta los mismos obstáculos logísticos para alcanzar a los damnificados.
La falta de combustible también afecta al transporte en la isla. Cuba enfrenta una parálisis casi total del transporte interprovincial tras la entrada en vigor de restricciones severas el jueves. Millones de personas se ven obligadas a depender de los limitados asientos disponibles en trenes y autobuses estatales, reservados únicamente para emergencias médicas, funerales u otras situaciones críticas.
A partir de ahora, los trenes que enlazan La Habana con ciudades del este solo circularán cada 16 días, cuando antes ofrecían tres frecuencias semanales. El servicio de autobuses estatales, que anteriormente realizaba viajes diarios entre la capital y otras provincias, quedará reducido a entre una y tres salidas semanales.
La escasez dejó vacías las estaciones de servicio y convirtió la movilidad cotidiana en un desafío para la población de 9,6 millones de habitantes. Muchos recurren al uso de bicicletas ante la disminución del transporte público.
Los pasajeros que necesiten viajar deberán solicitar sus pasajes con al menos una semana de antelación y se aplicará un sistema de prioridades. El viceministro de Transporte, Luis Ladrón de Guevara, precisó que no será necesario gestionar permisos especiales para realizar estos desplazamientos.
(Con información de AFP)
Business,International Relations,Corporate Events,Diplomacy / Foreign Policy,South America / Central America
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Biden scores temporary court victory as Trump-appointed judge delays release of Hur investigation materials
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Former President Joe Biden has won another three weeks to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts tied to special counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents investigation after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction while a federal appeals court reviews his challenge.
The recordings stem from Biden’s interviews with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir, «Promise Me, Dad.»
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, on Friday issued an injunction pending appeal that prevents the Justice Department from releasing the materials while the D.C. Circuit considers the case. The order came just hours after Friedrich denied Biden’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the release altogether.
The legal battle could determine whether Americans ever hear the recordings that helped shape Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents. The audio has been the subject of intense scrutiny because Hur raised questions about Biden’s memory in explaining why he declined to bring charges against Biden for mishandling classified documents.
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Although the Justice Department previously released audio from Biden’s interviews with Hur, the recordings at the center of the current legal battle involve separate conversations between Biden and Zwonitzer.
Hur’s 2024 report repeatedly referenced Biden’s recorded conversations with Zwonitzer. The special counsel described some exchanges as «painfully slow» and said Biden at times struggled to recall events and relay information, observations that fueled scrutiny of the Biden’s cognitive abilities during an election year.
Former President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd during a fundraising event with the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Columbia Museum of Art on Feb. 27, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
The Heritage Foundation and its Oversight Project director, Mike Howell, have spent more than two years seeking the recordings and transcripts through FOIA requests.
Heritage Foundation officials have argued the public has a strong interest in reviewing the materials referenced throughout Hur’s report, particularly because the special counsel relied on the recordings in explaining his decision not to pursue criminal charges.
Biden has been fighting to keep the potentially embarrassing recordings under wraps.
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After Friedrich denied Biden’s motion for a preliminary injunction Friday, Biden’s legal team immediately sought emergency relief to preserve the status quo while appealing the decision.
In an emergency filing, Biden’s attorneys argued that disclosure would effectively end the case before appellate judges could review the legal questions involved. They maintained that once the recordings are released, any privacy protections would be permanently lost, and the appeal would become largely moot.
Former special counsel Robert K. Hur testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., March 12, 2024. Hur investigated President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and published a report with conclusions about Biden’s memory. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The filing also stressed that the FOIA litigation has already been pending for more than two years and argued there was no urgent public need requiring immediate disclosure of conversations that occurred roughly a decade ago between Biden and his ghostwriter. Biden’s attorneys noted that the former president is now a private citizen who neither holds nor is seeking public office.
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The Justice Department initially withheld the recordings and much of the transcript material under several FOIA exemptions. Earlier this year, however, the department reversed course and determined the records could be released with redactions after concluding that significant public interest existed in understanding evidence relied upon by Hur during his investigation.
After the Justice Department announced plans to release the recordings, Biden filed suit in May to stop the disclosure, claiming the audiotapes contain private conversations that should remain protected from public release and, if released, would be in violation of the Privacy Act.
President Joe Biden speaks during an official transition event to thank Ron Klain for his work and to welcome successor Jeff Zients. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
His legal team argued that the department’s decision violates the Privacy Act and constitutes arbitrary agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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Leading Biden’s legal effort is Amy Jeffress, a partner at Washington-based law firm Hecker Fink and a former Justice Department national security official. Jeffress has served as the primary attorney advancing Biden’s challenge to the release of the materials and signed the recent emergency filing seeking to prevent disclosure while the appeal proceeds.
Jeffress has also drawn attention because she is married to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee who recently ruled against the Trump administration in a high-profile dispute involving the Kennedy Center. Cooper’s ruling prompted criticism from some Trump allies and conservative commentators who pointed to the judge’s family connection to Biden’s attorney, suggesting a conflict of interest may be at play in Cooper’s work.
in court, joe biden, how justice happens, appeals, trials
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