Big Take: What's Next for Iran, Israel and the US
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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Democratic Texas lawmaker spent night on state House floor after refusing GOP demand for law enforcement escort
Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier spent the night on the Texas House floor in protest after refusing a Republican demand to be placed under the watch of the state Department of Public Safety. When Texas House Democrats returned to the Capitol in Austin on Monday, after having fled the state earlier this month in order to prevent a vote on a controversial Republican redistricting plan, House Speaker Dustin Burrows put constraints on their movements. Burrows announced that the Democrats could only leave the House floor if they received written permission and agreed to be under law enforcement escort until the chamber reconvenes on Wednesday morning. The Democrats who skipped out on previous attempts to meet quorum for a special session to approve the redrawn congressional maps will have an around-the-clock DPS escort to ensure their presence when the House convenes Wednesday, a legislative aide told CNN. Democrats had fled to blue states — including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — as they faced civil arrest warrants pushed by GOP officials in Texas to force them back into the House chamber. The majority of the Democrats complied with the law enforcement escort, showing reporters what they called 'permission slips' they received to leave the House floor and pointing to the officers escorting them around the Capitol. But Collier refused to enter into that agreement and has been confined to the House floor since returning. She can only leave the floor to return to her office under the watch of a law enforcement officer, an aide said, and cannot leave the state Capitol unless she agrees to outside supervision. State Reps. Gene Wu and Vince Perez plan to stay on the House floor with her overnight, the aide said. Wu posted a photo on X detailing some of their snacks for the long stretch ahead - dried peaches, freeze dried grapes, popcorn and ramen. 'My constituents sent me to Austin to protect their voices and rights,' said Collier. 'I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts. My community is majority-minority, and they expect me to stand up for their representation. When I press that button to vote, I know these maps will harm my constituents — I won't just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination.' Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke celebrated Collier's protest on Monday, writing on social media, 'A true hero, refusing to submit, fighting these fascists by herself if she has to. We are with you Nicole!' The Texas House established a quorum Monday afternoon, for the first time since most members of the Democratic minority fled the state 15 days earlier to prevent it from having the two-thirds quorum necessary to advance new congressional maps aimed at creating five more Republican-leaning seats ahead of next year's midterm elections. Early in their boycott, Burrows had signed civil arrest warrants for those Democrats. But DPS officers could not carry out those warrants because the Democrats were out of state. At President Donald Trump's urging, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans who control the state House and Senate launched the effort to redraw the state's congressional districts mid-decade — a break from most states' typical practice of redistricting once a decade, after the completion of the US Census. It's part of the party's effort to hold onto its narrow House majority in next year's midterm elections — one that also includes lobbying GOP officials in Indiana and Missouri to change their maps to turn Democratic-held seats into favorable ground for Republicans, and could see the party add more GOP-leaning seats in Ohio, which is required by state law to redistrict. The Texas effort has set off a nationwide gerrymandering arms race. In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed retribution, proposing a measure that would trigger new maps that could help Democrats pick up five more seats in the state — but only if Texas moves forward with its redistricting plan. This story and headline have been updated with additional details.
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nexstar Media Group buying Tegna in deal worth $6.2 billion
Nexstar Media Group is buying broadcast rival Tegna for $6.2 billion, which will help strengthen its local news offerings. The transaction, if approved, will bring together two major players in U.S. television and the country's local news landscape. Nexstar oversees more than 200 owned and partner stations in 116 markets nationwide today and also runs networks like The CW and NewsNation. Meanwhile, Tegna owns 64 news stations across 51 markets. 'The initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration offer local broadcasters the opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field, and compete more effectively with the Big Tech and legacy Big Media companies that have unchecked reach and vast financial resources," Nexstar Chairman and CEO Perry Sook said in a statement on Tuesday. 'We believe Tegna represents the best option for Nexstar to act on this opportunity.' Nexstar said Tuesday that the deal will also help it give advertisers a bigger variety of local and national broadcast and digital advertising options. Nexstar will pay $22 in cash for each share of Tegna's outstanding stock. The deal could potentially help kick off even further consolidation in America's broadcast industry. Nexstar, founded in 1996, has itself grow substantially with acquisitions over the latest two decades, becoming the biggest operator of local TV stations in the U.S. after it purchased Tribune Media back in 2019. Nexstar's purchase of Tegna also arrives amid wider regulatory shifts. Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman the Federal Communications Commission, which will need to give the transaction the green light, has long advocated for loosening industry restrictions. On Aug. 7, the FCC announced that it would be repealing 98 broadcast rules and requirements that it identified as 'obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary.' Some of those rules date back nearly 50 years, the FCC said, and apply to 'old technology that is no longer used." Carr maintained that such provisions no longer serve public interest. In late July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit also vacated the FCC's 'top four' rule, which has long prohibited ownership of more than one of the top four stations in a single market. The ruling is still subject to a monthslong assessment by the FCC, but could significantly clear the way for future mergers in the industry. In company earnings calls held in early August, before Tegna and Nexstar publicly confirmed merger talks, both Tegna CEO Michael Steib and Nexstar's Sook pointed directly to this ruling, and applauded Carr's deregulation agenda as a whole. 'We believe that deregulation is necessary, important and coming,' Steib said in Tegna's Aug. 7 call, noting that local broadcasters are 'up against big tech competitors who have absolutely no encumbrances in how they compete." Beyond their core broadcast TV businesses, both Nexstar and Tegna also boast digital news, mobile app and streaming offerings, all of which have played key roles for the industry as consumers change the way they consume news and other entertainment. Broadcast TV has been hit particularly hard by 'cord-cutting,' with more and more households trading their cable or satellite subscriptions into content they can get via the internet. The deal is expected to close by the second half of 2026. It still needs approval from Tegna shareholders. Shares of Nexstar jumped 7.6% in premarket trading, and Tegna's rose 4.3%. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Killing of aid workers surges to record high during Gaza war, UN says
GENEVA (Reuters) -Aid worker killings rose nearly a third to almost 400 last year, the most deadly year since records began in 1997, and the conflict in Gaza is continuing to cause high death rates for humanitarian staff in 2025, U.N. and other data showed. In 2024, 383 aid workers were killed, nearly half of them in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, the U.N. said on Tuesday, citing a database. "Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy," said Tom Fletcher, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in a statement. So far this year, 265 aid workers have been killed, according to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database, a U.S-funded platform that compiles reports on major security incidents affecting aid workers. Of those, 173 were in Gaza in Israel's near two-year offensive against Hamas militants, launched after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attacks by Hamas-led militants, the provisional data showed. This year, 36 aid workers have so far been killed in Sudan and three in Ukraine, the database showed. In one incident in Gaza that drew international condemnation, 15 emergency and aid workers were killed by Israeli fire in three separate shootings in March, before being buried in a shallow grave. Israel's military said in April that the incidents resulted from an "operational misunderstanding" and a "breach of orders". There had been "several professional failures" and a commander would be dismissed, it said. Aid workers enjoy protection under international humanitarian law but experts cite few precedents for such cases going to trial, with concerns about ensuring future access for aid groups and difficulty proving intent cited as impediments. "It is catastrophic, and the trend is going in right the opposite direction of what it should," said Jens Laerke, U.N. humanitarian office spokesperson.
