Latest news with #FoxDigital
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army reveals 2-phase plan to remove service members with gender dysphoria
The Army on Wednesday said it is approaching its second phase of separation with service members experiencing gender dysphoria, an initiative that follows the Trump administration's directive of prioritizing military excellence and readiness. A new memo issued by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll and obtained by Fox News Digital outlines two phases in the separation process, the first of which will be completed at the beginning of June. The first phase, which ends June 6, allows service members who have been diagnosed with or have a history of gender dysphoria to identify themselves and volunteer to separate from the military branch, an Army spokesperson told Fox Digital. Pentagon Ceases Gender Transition Treatments As It Moves To Boot Trans Troops Once a service member notifies an immediate commander, that commander will then notify a superior, initiating the separation process. Soldiers who reached a threshold for years of service qualify for voluntary separation pay or double the pay a service member would get by separating from the Army for various reasons, the spokesperson said. Read On The Fox News App Hegseth Bans Future Trans Soldiers, Makes Sweeping Changes For Current Ones However, they will not qualify for separation pay if they have not reached the years of service, if there is pending administrative action against them or if they are facing Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) code infractions. In the case of pending administrative action against them, their discharge may also not be honorable. The Army said those who volunteer for separation, but do not qualify, will still be separated and afforded benefits; they will only forfeit the additional separation pay, according to the spokesperson. After the June 6 deadline for voluntary separation, the Army will enter the involuntary separation phase. In the second phase, "there will be means of identifying those who did not want to self-identify," the spokesperson said. Hegseth Orders Deadline For Trans Service Members To Leave Military: 'Out At The Dod' The spokesperson said soldiers' records, prior to the new policy, reflected service members' sex at birth. Once they are identified, a separation process will begin. Transgender Sailors, Marines Offered Benefits To Voluntarily Leave Service Or Face Being Kicked Out "Regardless of potential outcome, every service member will be treated with dignity and respect, however this shakes out," the spokesperson said. Driscoll's guidance comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 27, "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heeded Trump's executive order with a memo outlining what the Department of Defense needed to do to article source: Army reveals 2-phase plan to remove service members with gender dysphoria
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
US one step closer to ‘100%' deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA
The U.S. and Mexico are one step closer to permanently ending a sewage crisis spewing from across the border into waters off the coast of San Diego, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin announced. "This week, EPA transmitted to Mexico a proposed '100% solution' that would PERMANENTLY END the decades-old crisis of raw sewage flowing in to the U.S. from Mexico. Next, technical groups from both nations will be meeting to work through the details necessary to hopefully reach an urgent agreement," Zeldin posted to X on Friday. Zeldin visited San Diego last month, where he announced talks with his government counterparts in Mexico to end the decades-long issue. The problem, blamed on outdated wastewater infrastructure, has persisted for decades, but has spiraled in recent years as Tijuana's population skyrocketed. The sewage water has not only threatened San Diego's massive tourism industry and local residents, but also poses a national security risk as it pollutes the waters where U.S. Navy SEAL members and candidates train, Fox Digital previously reported. Epa Chief Zeldin Launches Talks With Mexico To End Sewage Hitting San Diego, Navy Seals: 'Out Of Patience' The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command is headquartered in San Diego and is where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. Read On The Fox News App In February, the Department of Defense's inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 that were attributed to the contaminated water. Veterans who spoke to Fox News Digital in April described the contaminated water as a national security crisis. "This is a huge national crisis," Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum, who was sickened by the water when he was working through SEAL training in 2008, told Fox Digital in a Zoom interview last month. "Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego; the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you've got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it's a major issue." Epa Chief Takes On Mexican 'Sewage Crisis' Flowing Into Us Waters Where Navy Seals Train Zeldin said last month that he and his counterparts in Mexico had launched good-faith talks to update infrastructure and water management facilities, adding that he zeroed in on the "specifics," including drafting a "comprehensive list of everything that we believe with full confidence is going to end the crisis" on both the U.S. side of the border and Mexico's. "Now, if you don't do all of the other projects and all you do is clean up the current contamination, that feel-good moment will last about a day," Zeldin said during a press conference in San Diego last month. "We have to stop the flow in. Mexico needs to fulfill its part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused." Mexico Is Poisoning Southern California In A Border Crisis Almost No One Knows About"We need Mexico to not just commit to all the projects that will stop the flow, but in order to actually finish this project, they're going to need to commit to that final cleanup," he added. Zeldin first addressed the sewage problem in March before previewing the trip to take on the issue. "I was just briefed that Mexico is dumping large amounts of raw sewage into the Tijuana River, and it's now seeping into the U.S.," he posted to X on March 8. "This is unacceptable. Mexico MUST honor its commitments to control this pollution and sewage!" Local leaders have been sounding the alarm on the sewage problem. Imperial Beach's Mayor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter to Zeldin in March describing how the raw sewage has sparked one of "America's most horrendous environmental and public health disasters," as billions of gallons have polluted the Pacific Ocean since 2023 alone. Mexican Sewage Gushing Into Navy Seal Training Waters Is Us' 'Next Camp Lejeune,' Vets Warn "The toxic sewage coming across the border from Mexico into South San Diego County is among America's most horrendous environmental and public health disasters," Aguirre's March 3 letter to Zeldin, published online, reads. "Since 2023, over 31 billion gallons of raw sewage, polluted stormwater and trash have flowed across the Mexican border, down the Tijuana River, through the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach and into the Pacific Ocean." "Our residents, are getting ill due to polluted air," the letter continued. "Workers, including Navy Seals training in the area, have been sickened on the job by waterborne and aerosolized diseases. Many homeowners have been forced to place air quality monitors on their property so they know whether or not it's safe to go outside. And the economic impact is profound, with the sewage crisis hurting area tourism, maritime industry jobs and local property values." San Diego is one of the nation's top cities for tourism – behind other national treasures such as New York City, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. – attracting roughly 32 million tourists to the city in 2024, the San Diego Tourism Authority previously reported. San Diego Suburb Faces 'Sewage Crisis' From Local Beach During his visit to San Diego last month, Zeldin vowed to bring an end to the issue as Californians run out of patience with the crisis. "The Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this… for decades, are out of patience," Zeldin said at a Tuesday press conference in San Diego. "There's no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere." "So we are all out of patience," he continued. "There's a very limited opportunity. We're in good faith, both on the American side and also on the Mexican side, what's being communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve this situation."Original article source: US one step closer to '100%' deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump to meet with American ballerina freed from Russian prison
President Donald Trump will host a Russian-American ballerina at the White House on Monday, roughly a month after the Trump administration secured her release from a Russian prison, Fox News Digital has learned. Ksenia Karelina, a former ballerina, was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony in 2024 for treason. The 33-year-old was released and returned to the U.S. on April 10 through a U.S.-Russian prison swap, Fox Digital previously reported. "Mr. Trump, I'm so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for [the] American government. And I never felt more blessed to be American, and I'm so, so happy to get home," Karelina said in a video posted by Trump deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka on April 11 upon her return to the U.S. A White House official confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that Karelina will visit the White House on Monday afternoon. Russian-american Ballerina Ksenia Karelina Released In Prisoner Swap With Moscow Karelina, who is a U.S. citizen, was born in Russia and had been living and working in Los Angeles at the time of her arrest. She was visiting her family in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2024 when Russia's Federal Security Service – the country's top security agency – inspected her phone and found she donated about $50 to a U.S.-based charity that works to aid Ukraine, Fox Digital previously reported. Read On The Fox News App American Ballerina Accused Of Spying Stands Trial In Moscow For $51 Ukraine Donation She was initially detained for "petty hooliganism," but the charge was later upgraded to treason as Russian officials claimed she raised money for the Ukrainian army and took part in actions that supported Ukraine while in the U.S. Karelina was returned to the U.S. in exchange for the U.S. releasing Arthur Petrov, a dual German Russian citizen who was accused of exporting sensitive U.S. electronics to the Russian military. He was arrested in 2023 and charged with crimes such as conspiracy and violating export controls, Reuters previously reported. American Ballerina Left Out Of Russia Prisoner Swap Pleads Guilty To Treason Karelina's family celebrated her release last month, with her former stepmother Eleonra Srebroski telling Fox News at the time that she was "euphoric" over the prisoner swap while praising Trump for the release. "My spirit is high. We are extremely happy. This is beyond any emotion…This is healing," Srebroski said. "We were putting a lot of hope in the Trump administration, and we knew she would be next after Marc Fogel. We support Trump even more." Karelina's boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, told the New York Post upon her release in April that the couple was eager to meet Trump and thank him. "We really need to thank him personally. When the time's right, she'd love to meet him and I would love to shake his hand for bringing back the love of my life. And I'm not into politics," Van Heerden told the outlet at the time. "I was begging the Biden administration for a whole year to bring Ksenia back. About seven months I realized that's not going to happen. They're not going to do it for me. I had faith and I truly believed when President Trump came into power, he could do it and he did it," he added. Karelina's release follows the Trump administration striking another prisoner swap deal with Russia in February that saw the release of U.S. citizen and teacher Marc Fogel, who had been in Russian custody since 2021 when he was arrested for possession of marijuana at an article source: Trump to meet with American ballerina freed from Russian prison
Fox News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump to meet with American ballerina freed from Russian prison
President Donald Trump will host an American Russian ballerina at the White House on Monday, roughly a month after the Trump administration secured her release from a Russian prison, Fox News Digital has learned. Ksenia Karelina, a former ballerina, was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony in 2024 for treason. The 33-year-old was released and returned to the U.S. on April 10 through a U.S.-Russian prison swap, Fox Digital previously reported. "Mr. Trump, I'm so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for [the] American government. And I never felt more blessed to be American, and I'm so, so happy to get home," Karelina said in a video posted by Trump deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka on April 11 upon her return to the U.S. A White House official confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that Karelina will visit the White House on Monday afternoon. Karelina, who is a U.S. citizen, was born in Russia and had been living and working in Los Angeles at the time of her arrest. She was visiting her family in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2024 when Russia's Federal Security Service – the country's top security agency – inspected her phone and found she donated about $50 to a U.S.-based charity that works to aid Ukraine, Fox Digital previously reported. She was initially detained for "petty hooliganism," but the charge was later upgraded to treason as Russian officials claimed she raised money for the Ukrainian army and took part in actions that supported Ukraine while in the U.S. Karelina was returned to the U.S. in exchange for the U.S. releasing Arthur Petrov, a dual German Russian citizen who was accused of exporting sensitive U.S. electronics to the Russian military. He was arrested in 2023 and charged with crimes such as conspiracy and violating export controls, Reuters previously reported. Karelina's family celebrated her release last month, with her former stepmother Eleonra Srebroski telling Fox News at the time that she was "euphoric" over the prisoner swap while praising Trump for the release. "My spirit is high. We are extremely happy. This is beyond any emotion…This is healing," Srebroski said. "We were putting a lot of hope in the Trump administration, and we knew she would be next after Marc Fogel. We support Trump even more." Karelina's boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, told the New York Post upon her release in April that the couple was eager to meet Trump and thank him. "We really need to thank him personally. When the time's right, she'd love to meet him and I would love to shake his hand for bringing back the love of my life. And I'm not into politics," Van Heerden told the outlet at the time. "I was begging the Biden administration for a whole year to bring Ksenia back. About seven months I realized that's not going to happen. They're not going to do it for me. I had faith and I truly believed when President Trump came into power, he could do it and he did it," he added. Karelina's release follows the Trump administration striking another prisoner swap deal with Russia in February that saw the release of U.S. citizen and teacher Marc Fogel, who had been in Russian custody since 2021 when he was arrested for possession of marijuana at an airport.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trump to ease auto tariffs as he celebrates 100th day with Michigan rally
President Donald Trump will sign a proclamation later Tuesday aboard Air Force One that will soften auto tariffs, senior White House officials confirmed. Senior administration officials said Tuesday during a call with the media that the current 25% tariff leveled on imported cars will remain intact but that other similar tariffs, such as tariffs on steel and aluminum, will not stack on top of the 25% auto tariff. The announcement comes on Trump's 100th day back in the Oval Office, which he will celebrate at a Michigan rally near Detroit — the U.S.' former auto manufacturing capital. Additionally, domestic auto manufacturers that finish building cars in the U.S. will receive an offset for automobile part tariffs equal to 3.75% of the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of a manufacturer's U.S. production for the next 12 months and 2.5% of U.S. production for year following. The figures were calculated to reflect the tariff that would be owed when a 25% duty tax is applied to 15% of the value of a U.S.-assembled car, Fox Digital learned. Trump To Reduce Impact Of Auto Tariffs As Industry Makes Effort To Return Manufacturing To Us: 'Major Victory' The 25% tariff on certain auto parts is set to take effect May 3, with administration officials explaining that auto manufacturers can use the offset credits against the tariff on auto parts. The administration stressed that the offset plan is not a rebate. Read On The Fox News App Trump's Tariffs Could Drive Up Auto Repair Costs, Experts Say "A part comes into the country and it gets tariffed," a senior Commerce Department official said Tuesday. "And the auto manufacturers say, 'Look, I sold a car, I have a credit. I have an offset amount of $1,600. Please use that $1,600 tariff offset amount against this particular part.' So it will not cost the government any money whatsoever. It is basically allowing them to bring 15% foreign parts and put that in their cars." No 'Buyers' Remorse': Veteran Uaw Member On Impacts President Trump's Tariffs Could Have On The Auto Industry The plan intends to allow all domestic auto manufacturers "to grow their plants, to grow their employment, and to build more factories in America," according to senior Commerce Department officials, by building in a two-year time frame to amp up the U.S. supply chain for the auto industry, according to senior administration officials. The White House detailed that under the plan, if a car manufacturer builds a vehicle with 85% U.S. parts or parts made under the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, they will effectively not owe tariffs. All other autos and auto parts imported to the U.S. will face 25% article source: Trump to ease auto tariffs as he celebrates 100th day with Michigan rally
