Anti-sacrilege bill introduced in Punjab Assembly
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News18
2 hours ago
- News18
'If There Was A Smoking Gun...': Trump Questions Why Democrats Did 'Nothing' On Epstein Files
Donald Trump accused Democrats of withholding Jeffrey Epstein evidence. US President Donald Trump lashed out at Democrats, accusing them of sitting on Jeffrey Epstein-related evidence during their time in power. The remarks came hours before House Republicans narrowly passed Donald Trump's $9 billion rescissions package- marking a significant rollback in government spending and further cementing partisan tensions on Capitol Hill. 'If there was a 'smoking gun' on Epstein, why didn't the Dems, who controlled the 'files' for four years, and had Garland and Comey in charge, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!" Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, referring to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director James Comey. He added, 'They controlled the files, and they came up empty. That tells you everything." The US President's remarks follow a contentious back-and-forth over the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related materials, which have gained renewed attention after the Justice Department concluded this month that there was no credible 'client list" found in the files and no evidence of blackmail against prominent individuals. The investigation into the late financier's alleged sex trafficking ring led to the release of some documents- including flight logs- but withheld others deemed too sensitive, including material described as child sexual abuse content. Who Is Jeffrey Epstein? Jeffrey Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender who was accused of running a vast sex trafficking operation involving underage girls and powerful global figures. He was first convicted in 2008 on charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor but served only 13 months in a controversial plea deal. In 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested again on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy. He died by suicide in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
'No honey, no trap': Maharashtra CM Fadnavis dismisses Opposition's claims
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday strongly rejected Opposition's claim about a honeytrap scandal involving 72 officials and some ministers of the state, saying 'there is no honey and no trap". Speaking in the Assembly, he asked the opposition and Congress legislator Nana Patole to come with concrete proof and solid information to corner the government. He reiterated that there was no honeytrap scandal. CM Fadnavis said that a complaint was filed by a woman against deputy collector in Nashik but the complainant has thereafter withdrawn it. Referring to Patole's repeated reference about the Hotel owner allegedly involved in hatching the trap and blackmail the victims, CM Fadnavis displayed a 'relevant paper' in the House, saying that the hotel owner in question is a local Congress unit chief. He thereby put the ball in the Congress party's court. CM Fadnavis said that Maharashtra is cultured state and there is no threat to it. 'However, those who are poisoning the atmosphere need to be controlled." Earlier, Patole on Wednesday and Thursday raked up the Honeytrap scandal issue in the state assembly. CM's statement denying honey trap scandal was in the wake of Speaker's directive. Patole raised the Honeytrap scandal targeting Maharashtra's high ranking officers and politicians and displayed a pen drive. Patole, who is a former assembly Speaker, did not stop there but said he is ready to show the content in the pen drive to the government. Patole warned that it would be detrimental to the state if the confidential and sensitive information has been leaked during the Honeytrap scandal. 'Through honey trap, important documents of the state are in the hands of anti-social elements. I do not want to defame anyone. But the government is not serious about all this. The government is not ready to give even a simple statement,' he said. 'More than 72 officials and some ministers of the state have been caught in the net of honeytrap. Confidential information is being collected from the honeytrappers. Also, some officials have been blackmailed and have thought of extreme things like suicide. The government is not ready to say anything on this. That is why I raised this issue in the Legislative Assembly," said Patole. He also expressed serious displeasure over state government's reluctance to make statement explaining what action has been taken in this case. He brought to the Speaker's notice that despite his directive the government has not made any statement on Thursday. Patole urged the Speaker to give strong directives to immediately make a statement. NCP-SP legislator Jayant Patil had said that the Nashik honey trap case is a serious one. He also demanded that the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister make statements on all these cases.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
US House passes Trump plan to cut $9bn from foreign aid, public broadcasting
The House gave final approval to President Donald Trump's request to claw back about USD 9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday as Republicans intensified their efforts to target institutions and programmes they view as bloated or out of step with their agenda. The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress, and the White House suggested it won't be the last. Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the cuts, yet supported them anyway, wary of crossing Trump or upsetting his agenda. The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature. 'We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step,' said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Opponents voiced concerns not only about the programmes targeted, but about Congress ceding its spending powers to the executive branch as investments approved on a bipartisan basis were being subsequently cancelled on party-line votes. They said previous rescission efforts had at least some bipartisan buy-in and described the Republican package as unprecedented. No Democrats supported the measure when it passed the Senate, 51-48, in the early morning hours Thursday. Final passage in the House was delayed for several hours as Republicans wrestled with their response to Democrats' push for a vote on the release of Jeffrey Epstein files. The package cancels about USD 1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and nearly USD 8 billion for a variety of foreign aid programmes, many designed to help countries where drought, disease and political unrest endure. The effort to claw back a sliver of federal spending came just weeks after Republicans also muscled through Trump's tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic support. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that measure will increase the US debt by about USD 3.3 trillion over the coming decade. 'No one is buying the the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending,' said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. A heavy blow to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting The cancellation of USD 1.1 billion for the CPB represents the full amount it is due to receive during the next two budget years. The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense. The corporation distributes more than two-thirds of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to support national programming. Democrats were unsuccessful in restoring the funding in the Senate. Lawmakers with large rural constituencies voiced particular concern about what the cuts to public broadcasting could mean for some local public stations in their state. Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the stations are 'not just your news — it is your tsunami alert, it is your landslide alert, it is your volcano alert.' As the Senate debated the bill Tuesday, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the remote Alaska Peninsula, triggering tsunami warnings on local public broadcasting stations that advised people to get to higher ground. Sen Mike Rounds, R-S D, said he secured a deal from the White House that some money administered by the Interior Department would be re-purposed to subsidise Native American public radio stations in about a dozen states. But Kate Riley, president and CEO of America's Public Television Stations, a network of locally owned and operated stations, said that deal was 'at best a short-term, half-measure that will still result in cuts and reduced service at the stations it purports to save.' Among the foreign aid cuts are USD 800 million for a programme that provides emergency shelter, water and family reunification for refugees and USD 496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts. There also is a USD 4.15 billion cut for programmes that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations. Democrats argued that the Republican administration's animus toward foreign aid programmes would hurt America's standing in the world and create a vacuum for China to fill. 'This is not an America first bill. It's a China first bill because of the void that's being created all across the world,' Jeffries said. The White House argued that many of the cuts would incentivise other nations to step up and do more to respond to humanitarian crises and that the rescissions best served the American taxpayer. 'The money that we're clawing back in this rescissions package is the people's money. We ought not to forget that,' said Rep Virginia Foxx, R-N C, chair of the House Rules Committee. After objections from several Republicans, Senate GOP leaders took out a USD 400 million cut to PEPFAR, a politically popular programme to combat HIV/AIDS that is credited with saving millions of lives since its creation under Republican President George W Bush. Looking ahead to future spending fights Democrats say the bill upends a legislative process that typically requires lawmakers from both parties to work together to fund the nation's priorities. Triggered by the official rescissions request from the White House, the legislation only needed a simple majority vote to advance in the Senate instead of the 60 votes usually required to break a filibuster. That meant Republicans could use their 53-47 majority to pass it along party lines. Two Republican senators, Murkowski and Sen Susan Collins of Maine, joined with Democrats in voting against the bill, though a few other Republicans also raised concerns about the process. 'Let's not make a habit of this,' said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who voted for the bill but said he was wary that the White House wasn't providing enough information on what exactly will be cut. Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the imminent successful passage of the rescissions shows 'enthusiasm' for getting the nation's fiscal situation under control. 'We're happy to go to great lengths to get this thing done,' he said during a breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. In response to questions about the relatively small size of the cuts — USD 9 billion — Vought said that was because 'I knew it would be hard' to pass in Congress. Vought said another rescissions package is 'likely to come soon.'
