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Jewish students fear climate of antisemitism on campus stoked by Israel-Hamas war

Up and down the United Kingdom, parents have been packing their cars with bedding, crockery and much more as they hold back the tears and drive their children to university.

But the usual concerns about how they will fend for themselves have taken on an added dimension for some.

As a new academic year begins, many Jewish students and their families are apprehensive about a worsening climate of antisemitism on British campuses after Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel last year, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

The latest report from the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that protects the UK Jewish community, revealed a 465% increase in reported antisemitic incidents in higher-education settings in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2023.

In total, 96 university-related incidents were reported to the CST, compared with 17 in 2023. There were reports of assaults, threats, damage or desecration and abusive behavior, both in person and online.

Another mother, who also asked to remain anonymous and did not want to identify the university concerned, said: “We’ve told our daughter not to wear any jewelry that shows her Jewish identity because we don’t believe it’s safe for her to do so.”

That would not have “crossed our minds before October 7,” she added. “So many people are now so unashamedly vocal and confident in expressing their antisemitism that it fills us with the deepest fear that our child could be exposed to this on campus without our protection.”

These are not merely over-anxious parents. In February, the University of Leeds’ Hillel House – the center for Jewish life on campus – was daubed with antisemitic graffiti. In a separate incident, the Jewish chaplain there was targeted with death threats after it emerged that he was an IDF reservist.

“The idea was that all you need to defend against antisemitism is a table and a couple of Jewish students willing to have a conversation,” he explained.

There were “positive conversations,” said Gil, but on one occasion the table was vandalized. Nevertheless, he and his peers continued to present a Jewish front on campus, despite growing anti-Israel demonstrations.

“The things being said transitioned from an anti-Zionist agenda to antisemitic comments,” he said, giving one example of Zionists being compared to “judenrats” – councils of Jews appointed by the Nazis to implement their antisemitic agenda.

Gil said the defacing of Hillel House was the “biggest shock,” as well as the abuse leveled at the chaplain, who has since stepped down.

“It was a very difficult time and a lot of Jewish students started to become scared. People weren’t wearing their magen david (Star of David) on campus or going to campus as often.”

“As a university, we’re committed to supporting free speech within the law, which means tolerating a wide range of views while respecting the rights of others,” the spokesperson said.

“Antisemitism, Islamophobia, abuse, or harassment of any kind is not acceptable. The university does not support any views or actions which seek to exclude or make Jewish, Muslim or any other people unwelcome on campus.”

Universities have long been a “crucible for different types of politics, including extremist politics,” with people from different backgrounds “coming together in a close-knit community,” according to Dave Rich, CST’s director of policy.

Rich described the uptick in antisemitism as “entirely predictable,” as the organization’s data, collected over the last four decades, shows antisemitism rises when trouble flares in Israel. Yet the last year has been “much worse” than ever before, he said.

“Some of this comes from ignorance and some comes from more hardline extremist groups. It only ever involves a minority of students, but the problem is it can affect the atmosphere for everybody.”

He said pro-Palestinian encampments on UK campuses were smaller than in the United States and largely peaceful, though often accompanied by “very noisy protests and banners and chanting about genocide” which many Jewish students find unsettling.

“Most students aren’t involved in this and there’s always a balance to be struck between the right to protest and free speech and the right of everyone else to go about their daily lives without disruption,” he said.

The level of antisemitism was “unprecedented – quantitatively and qualitatively,” he said, adding: “I’d never experienced anything like it in my 10 years at Oxford.

“For me, one of the things that was most difficult and would have been unfathomable before October 7, were the calls for intifada (uprising). It was extremist language that became almost normalized overnight.”

‘We are very worried’

Britain is not the only European country experiencing these tensions on campus and on the streets.

She said the situation has been particularly bad in Western European countries including France, Germany and the Netherlands.

In France, where religion is generally kept separate from academic settings, a government study published in June noted a steep increase in antisemitic acts on campuses since October 7, with 67 instances recorded – twice as many as were registered in the 2022-2023 academic year. The real figure was likely higher, the report noted.

Reports to EUJS have included many cases of harassment – both verbal and physical – Hallali said, and it has recently been informed of a particularly unsettling potential development.

“We have some information about student organizations on campus planning to celebrate the one-year anniversary of October 7,” she said. “It’s very problematic because the universities are not planning on doing anything as of now. So, we are pushing (for action) and our national unions will be ready to react, but we are very worried.”

The antisemitism experienced on university campuses has been mirrored too by rising incidents in wider society.

“Jewish students ask themselves a painful question every day: whether there’s still a future for Jewish life on European campuses and whether there’s still a future for Jewish life in Europe,” said Hallali.

“When contacted about their responsibility to provide a safe environment for Jewish students and faculty, the university administration said we could use an ‘alternative entrance,’” she said. “Jewish students were basically told to use a back door.”

Laitinen said the suggestion that students use alternative entrances in order to avoid the encampment “was not in reference to representatives of any particular faith” and that the university cannot by law keep a record of students’ religious beliefs. “Again, campus safety is of utmost concern to us, and this applies to everyone.”

Mental health impact

Bleak as the situation appears, Rosenfeld is keen to point out a silver lining – Jewish students strengthening their own ties.

“The community of Jewish students in Oxford has never been stronger and it’s a really vibrant place to be,” he said.

Sami Berkoff, president of the UK Union of Jewish Students (UJS), said the pattern has been replicated across the country, with her organization having boosted its membership by 2,000 students this year.

“It’s really a want for a ‘Jewish space’ where you feel at home, where you feel seen and heard and you’re talking to people with shared experiences,” said Berkoff.

“It’s a kind of breather where you aren’t having to discuss the conflict if you don’t want to.”

A “hotline” set up by the UJS to support students during the Israel-Hamas war has been inundated with calls, Berkoff added, with many students saying their mental health has been affected. UJS has had more than 1,000 calls to the hotline since it was set up on October 8 last year.

Last week, Berkoff and other Jewish students met with the UK’s newly appointed solicitor general, Sarah Sackman, who won a seat in Parliament in July, and shared their feelings about antisemitism on campus and perceived inaction from the authorities.

According to a news release from the Union of Jewish Students, Sackman told the students the government was “actively considering” how best to tackle support for groups like Hamas on campus and beyond.

“I’m confident we’ll see changes and we’re seeing the need for changes from universities,” said Berkoff, adding that UJS is running antisemitism awareness training for thousands of university employees, student bodies and societies.

“The ultimate goal is to make sure Jewish student life isn’t just surviving and plodding along, but really thriving on campus. You can wear a kippah on campus, you can wear a Star of David and you can be proud to do that.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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New miniature scanner could revolutionise diagnosis of diseases like cancer, diabetes and arthritis

A breakthrough in miniaturising a type of scanner that uses laser light, rather than harmful X-rays, to see beneath our skin in unprecedented detail may help revolutionise medical imaging, according to a team of researchers in the UK.

The device, developed by scientists at University College London (UCL), is particularly effective at imaging blood vessels, making it a fundamentally new tool for diagnosing and managing diseases like arthritis, diabetes and some cancers.

It uses a technique called Photoaccoustic Tomography (PAT) that uses laser light, and the ultrasound waves it triggers in certain tissues, to piece together a three-dimensional image of our biology in real-time.

The technique was pioneered more than 20 years ago, but previous versions required several seconds or minutes to record an image.

The team at UCL have reduced that time to a second or less.

They hope their breakthrough will lead to a hand-held scanner for routine use in clinics that avoids the use of harmful X-rays or multi-million pound imaging tools like MRI.

“These technical advances make the system suitable for clinical use for the first time, allowing us to look at aspects of human biology and disease that we haven’t been able to before,” said Professor Paul Beard, a medical physicist at UCL who contributed to the research.

The speed at which the scanner can take images allows the device to see processes like blood-flow in real time.

“This speed avoids motion-induced blurring, providing highly-detailed images of a quality that no other scanner can provide,” said Prof Beard.

“It also means that rather than taking five minutes or longer, images can be acquired in real time, making it possible to visualise dynamic physiological events.”

A trial of the scanner involving patients with early-stage diabetes revealed new insights about low blood flow to their feet – one of the most painful and hard to treat aspects of the condition.

“Until now we haven’t been able to see exactly what is happening to cause this damage or characterise how it develops,” said Andrew Plumb, one of the study authors and associate professor of medical imaging at UCL.

“In one of our patients, we could see smooth, uniform vessels in the left foot and deformed, squiggly vessels in the same region of the right foot, indicative of problems that may lead to tissue damage in future.”

The hope is a PAT-scanner could also improve the diagnosis and treatment cancer.

Cancer tumours often have a high density of small blood vessels that don’t show up well using other imaging techniques.

“Photoacoustic imaging could be used to help cancer surgeons better distinguish tumour tissue from normal tissue by visualising the blood vessels in the tumour, helping to ensure all of the tumour is removed during surgery and minimising the risk of recurrence,” said Dr Nam Huynh from UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering who helped develop the scanner.

The UCL team say more work is needed with a larger group of patients to demonstrate the potential of the technology before it is ready to be developed into a device for routine use in clinics.

This post appeared first on sky.com

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Mount Everest is getting taller – now scientists think they know why

Mount Everest has grown by around 15 to 50 metres in the last 89,000 years, and it’s increasing every year. Now, scientists say that’s because the mountain’s water system captured a river.

When the Arun River joined with another nearby river, the new path created the deep Arun Gorge near Everest.

Now, the river network about 46 miles from the mountain is carving away at the substantial gorge, causing the nearby mountain to rise up by as much as two millimetres a year.

“Mount Everest is a remarkable mountain of myth and legend and it’s still growing,” said PhD student Adam Smith, of UCL Earth Sciences, who co-authored the report.

“Our research shows that as the nearby river system cuts deeper, the loss of material is causing the mountain to spring further upwards.”

The tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest is 8,849 metres high, and rises about 250 metres above the next tallest peak in the Himalayas.

Today, the Arun River, and the gorge it has created, runs through the mountainous region to the east of Everest and merges downstream with the larger Koshi river system.

Adventurers heading to Everest’s famous base camp will often cross parts of the Koshi on their route.

Over millennia, the river Arun has washed away billions of tonnes of earth and sediment along its banks, creating the deep gorge.

As the huge amount of sediment has been moved away, the land has become lighter and the Earth’s crust has pushed up slowly, leading to Everest’s growth spurt – it’s a process called isostatic rebound, write the study’s authors.

The huge amount of upwards pressure under the crust of the Earth in that area now slightly outweighs the downwards force of gravity.

Everest’s towering height has led to the “interesting” river system in the area, according to the report’s co-author Dr Jin-Gen Dai at UCL Earth Sciences.

“The upstream Arun river flows east at high altitude with a flat valley,” he said.

“It then abruptly turns south as the Koshi river, dropping in elevation and becoming steeper.

“This unique topography, indicative of an unsteady state, likely relates to Everest’s extreme height.”

The growth spurt is not unique to Everest, and also affects neighbouring mountains including Lhotse and Makalu, the world’s fourth and fifth highest peaks respectively.

This post appeared first on sky.com

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Swift coal transition from country that started Industrial Revolution will be watched closely

Turbines at the UK’s last coal-fired power station have turned for the last time – a milestone in Britain’s transition to zero-carbon power and the end of Britain’s 142-year history of burning coal for electricity.

The closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant outside Nottingham makes the UK the first major economy, and first G7 member, to completely phase out coal – no less significant for a country that was home to the world’s first coal-fired power plant, built in 1882.

“Today’s closure at Ratcliffe marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country,” Michael Shanks, the minister for energy, said.

“We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.”

When Ratcliffe began operating in 1967 nearly 400,000 people were employed in the coal industry.

Ratcliffe’s was one of the UK’s largest coal plants capable of generating 2 gigawatts of electricity – enough power for all the homes in the East Midlands.

Its closure was on the cards since 2015 when the government announced the phase-out of coal for electricity – the most polluting source of power – by 2025.

But that makes it no less hard for those who’ve devoted their careers working there to keep the lights on.

“It’s an emotional day for me as well as for the team,” Peter O’Grady, Ratcliffe’s plant manager, said.

“When I started my career 36 years ago, none of us imagined a future without coal generation in our lifetimes.

While the science of climate change was established by then, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that policies were introduced to actively phase out coal.

Colossal carbon footprint

Ratcliffe was the first and only coal-fired power plant to be later equipped with advanced “scrubbing” technology to remove nitrogen oxide and sulphur pollutants billowing from its chimneys.

But there was no affordable solution to the planet-warming carbon dioxide it and other coal plants produced.

Since the furnace of the world’s first coal-fired power plant was lit in Victorian London, the UK has burned an estimated 4.6bn tonnes of coal for electricity and pumped about 10.4bn tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

That is more CO2 than most countries have ever produced from all sources, not just coal electricity, according to analysis by Carbon Brief.

Advance to cleaner power

The UK’s rapid adoption of coal accounts for its colossal carbon footprint, but its transition to cleaner power has been even faster.

“This is the final chapter of a remarkably swift transition from the country that started the Industrial Revolution,” Phil MacDonald, managing director of energy think tank Ember, said.

In 2012, coal still supplied nearly 40% of our electricity.

New policies and financial incentives for cleaner energy sources accelerated coal’s decline. Its share of generation dropped to 7% by 2017 and about 2% since 2020.

Yet despite an urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide, global demand for coal is still rising, particularly in Asia.

“It is not enough to not build new coal plants, we have to find ways to push existing coal plants into early retirement,” Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said.

But a rapid transition away from fossil fuels isn’t just about moving away from coal, which, according to the IEA still provides income for 50 million people worldwide.

It involves affordable and secure alternatives and replacing coal’s role in heavy industry much of which has now left the UK.

Other countries may look to the UK for lessons in ending a love affair with coal – but our planned transition to entirely zero-carbon electricity will be watched even more closely.

This post appeared first on sky.com

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Hamas leader killed in Lebanon was UN employee, agency confirms

A U.N. human rights group confirmed Hamas’ leader in Lebanon, who was recently killed by Israeli strikes, was their employee. 

Fateh Sherif was killed Monday in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with his wife and children.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) noted that Sherif had been on suspension with the organization since March but had not been fired. 

‘Fateh Al Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March and was undergoing an investigation following allegations that UNRWA received about his political activities,’ an UNRWA spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

At the time, his suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by teachers in Lebanon. 

‘Sherif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives. He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons,’ the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) said in a joint statement. 

‘He led the Hamas terrorist organization’s force build-up efforts in Lebanon and operated to advance Hamas’ interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily.’

Israel alleges UNRWA is overrun with terrorist sympathizers, a claim the agency denies. 

Sherif was the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass and head of the UNRWA teachers’ union, which has around 2,000 teachers. 

‘Through that position, and as principal of a large UNRWA school, he was able to recruit operatives, and to brainwash generations of Palestinians to engage in terrorism,’ Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told Fox News Digital. 

Neuer and his organization had long pushed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini to fire Sherif and said they provided both with a dossier proving his involvement in Hamas. 

‘Everyone at UNRWA knew. Yet they refused to act,’ Neuer said. 

‘Even as school principal al-Sharif openly incited terrorism on social media for over a decade, UNRWA did nothing. They failed to fire or even condemn their school principal for being a Hamas terror chief. Only this year, when there was intense scrutiny of UNRWA, did they finally slap him on the wrist with a suspension – while for months insisting that they were conducting ‘an investigation.’’

The Sherif killing unfolded as another terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said three of its leaders were killed in an airstrike that hit the upper floor of an apartment building in Beirut, according to Reuters. 

Israeli officials said Monday they will ‘continue to operate against anyone who poses a threat to the civilians of the State of Israel.’ 

Israel over the past few days has expanded its attacks on Iran-backed militant groups in the region, also killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike over the weekend.

While it weighs a full-on ground offensive, the IDF has been launching small special forces operations in southern Lebanon. 

A reported Israeli airstrike hit central Beirut, the first strike at the heart of the capital since 2006, in an escalation of the bombing that local officials say has killed more than 1,000 in Lebanon. 

Iran has vowed Israel’s ‘criminal acts’ would not go unanswered, while President Biden has insisted all-out war in the Middle East ‘must be avoided.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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FLASHBACK: Walz doubled down on support for government-run health care during gubernatorial campaign

Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who is currently running to be the next vice president of the United States, once said in a gubernatorial debate that he supports ‘single-payer health care,’ also known as ‘Medicare-for-all.’

‘I think that’s probably the path where we end up,’ Walz said in a 2018 debate while running for governor when asked, ‘Are you for single-payer?’

‘And I say that because, be very clear about this, there were no protections for preexisting conditions before the ACA,’ Walz continued. ‘A vote for the ACA was the first time in this nation’s history we had those protections and making sure people have that protection, making sure they were covered, and then making sure we were focused on preventative care, people were finally getting that under the ACA, we started to see health outcomes improve and that’s the real key to driving down insurance premium prices.’

Walz went on to say ‘let’s be very clear’ that there is ‘no market in health care.’

‘Because markets by nature would be a failure if someone didn’t have it, there’s not going to be, you cannot simply shrink a pool to the sickest people and say that’s where we are going to manage them when they’re in crisis. That’s not the way to go about this. The way to go about this is making sure everybody has that preventative care, making sure everybody has that access on the front end, you start to drive down prices. The ACA did that.’

Walz’s opponent, Republican Jeff Johnson, then pressed Walz on the issue.

‘I’m not sure what your answer was. Do you support single-payer health care?’

‘Yes,’ Walz said. ‘That was the answer I just gave you.’

Johnson interjected, ‘Are you for it?’

‘Yes,’ Walz said. ‘I’m going to push for not paying twice as much as any other industrialized nation. Getting half for it. I’m making sure that the 14 top nations that get the best returns at the least cost make sure you cut out that piece that is simply payer getting between people and their doctors.’

When Johnson countered that ‘single-payer’ means ‘everybody loses their insurance’ and ‘forced on to one government plan,’ Walz countered, ‘We can do better.’

The comments from Walz come under the backdrop of Vice President Kamala Harris supporting ‘Medicare-for-all’ when she ran for president in 2019. However, in August, her campaign claimed she will not push the subject of single-payer or ‘Medicare-for-all’ during the campaign.

In 2019, Fox News spoke to Harris in the hallways of Capitol Hill, asking about her plans for providing health care.

‘How important is it to your health care plan to get rid of private insurance companies? Because there is some confusion about that,’ Peter Doocy asked Harris on Jan. 30, 2019.

‘I’m glad you asked. Yeah. So, the bottom line and the most important is that everyone have access to health care,’ Harris said. ‘That is the goal. That is the purpose for me supporting the policy of ‘Medicare-for-all.’

‘If Congress votes in a way that reflects the values and desires of the American people, then Congress will vote for a policy that gives everyone access to health care,’ she later said.

Her proposed solution was to provide ‘Medicare-for-all’ because ‘Medicare works’ and ‘it’s popular.’

”Medicare-for-all’ will cover all medically necessary services, including emergency room visits, doctor visits, vision, dental, hearing aids, mental health, and substance-use disorder treatment, and comprehensive reproductive health care services,’ Harris wrote. ‘It will also allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Peter Doocy contributed reporting.

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Pentagon plans to shrink US ‘footprint’ in Iraq, but declines to say by how much

The Pentagon has finalized plans to wrap up the U.S.-led mission to fight ISIS by next year, with many U.S. troops leaving the bases they have occupied for much of the past two decades. 

The Biden administration insists their plan is not to fully pull out of the nation but declined to say how many of the 2,500 troops currently stationed in Iraq will remain. 

‘I think it’s fair to say that, you know, our footprint is going to be changing within the country,’ Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday.

The Iraqi government announced earlier this month it had reached a deal with the Biden administration to remove most U.S. troops from its nation over the next two years. 

U.S. officials disputed characterizations of the plan as a withdrawal, prompting confusion about what the American presence there would look like over the coming months. 

‘I’d like to emphasize that this is an evolution of the military mission in Iraq,’ a senior Biden administration official said. 

The current mission is now set to end by September 2025. 

The notion of pulling troops out of Iraq has prompted concerns about a lack of support for the 900 troops currently stationed in Syria. 

‘Not only will it undercut the fight against ISIS, but more importantly, in the effort to restrain Iran, forces in Iraq — particularly in the Kurdish north — are very important. We need Iraq forces in order to support our troops in northeast Syria,’ Ambassador James Jeffrey, former presidential envoy to the coalition to combat ISIS in Iraq, told Fox News Digital. 

‘We have a very effective ally there, the Kurds, the Syrian Kurds, that we want to not abandon,’ he went on, adding that a U.S. withdrawal would allow space for Russia and Iran to tighten their grip on the nation. 

‘​​At the end of the day, it’s a decision of the Iraqi Government, and if the Iraqi government is being pressured by the Iranians, just as they were in 2011, and want us out, then we have no choice.’

Tehran and its influence have infiltrated the Iraqi government in a way that some say means a U.S. presence indirectly benefits Iran. 

‘With the current Iraqi government heavily influenced by Iranian-backed Shia factions, including the Popular Mobilization Front, maintaining U.S. troops doesn’t effectively counterbalance Iran. In fact, our resources end up indirectly benefiting those aligned with Iranian interests, making this a misguided strategy,’ director of Concerned Veterans for America and Iraq War veteran Jason Beardsley told Fox News Digital.

‘ISIS may be a challenge, but it’s a challenge that the government of Iraq should be handling themselves.’

Baghdad and Washington have ‘reached an understanding’ that U.S. forces in Syria will be supported from a presence on the Iraqi side of the border through at least September 2026. 

U.S. Central Command announced over the weekend that forces in Syria had conducted two targeted strikes in Syria that killed 37 terrorists, including leaders of ISIS and Huras al-Din, an al Qaeda affiliate. 

U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan have come under increased attacks since the eruption of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza nearly a year ago. 

Three U.S. troops were killed by a drone attack in January at a U.S. base in Jordan supporting operations in Syria. 

American forces have responded with periodic airstrikes in response, such as in July near Baghdad, which have drawn sharp rebuke from the Iraqi public. 

Last month, seven U.S. troops were wounded in an operation to target ISIS in western Iraq. 

At the same time, troops are planning to depart Iraq, elsewhere in the Middle East the U.S. military presence is growing. U.S. officials announced Monday a ‘few thousand’ more troops would be added to the roughly 40,000 service members deployed in the region. 

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Power outage doesn’t slow down Vance prep for Tuesday’s VP debate with Walz

– Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance didn’t let a power outage derail his preparations for Tuesday’s debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s running mate.

A source familiar with the senator’s debate prep tells Fox News Digital that over the last month, former President Trump’s running mate took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team.

For those not familiar with the term, a murder board is a group of people who ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate.

According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City.

Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers.

Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, said last week in a Fox News Digital interview that ‘it’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.’

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor. ‘I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side,’ he said.

And Emmer, taking a shot at his fellow Minnesotan, argued ‘the hardest part of playing Walz… is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.’

Former President Trump, asked Monday if he’s given his running mate any advice, told reporters, ‘No, he doesn’t need it.’

But he added that he and Vance have ‘been speaking a little bit back and forth’ and that he thought the senator was in ‘good shape.’

Part of the Trump campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz.

‘Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,’ Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday.

Vance, his family, and top aides and advisers arrived in New York City on the eve of the debate.

Fox News confirmed that Vance will speak to a conference of major Republican donors Monday evening in Manhattan.

According to a source familiar with the GOP vice presidential nominee’s plans, Vance will address the American Opportunity Alliance behind closed doors. That’s a network of major GOP contributors that includes billionaire investors/mega donors such as Paul Singer, Ken Griffin and Warren Stephens. The development was first reported by the New York Times.

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Comer subpoenas DHS for records relating to Walz’s alleged ties to Chinese Communist Party

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for records related to Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Comer, R-Ky., who announced last month that his committee launched an investigation into those alleged ‘longstanding’ ties, is seeking records including intelligence reports, documents, and communications from Homeland Security. 

Fox News Digital reviewed the subpoena, directed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

The subpoena comes after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports, that allegedly contain information regarding Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP. 

‘The committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,’ Comer wrote in the subpoena cover letter to Mayorkas. 

The non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat is titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,’ and allegedly contains information relevant to Comer’s probe. 

House Oversight Committee officials told Fox News Digital that information regarding Walz and China have been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents under the control of DHS. 

‘Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation,’ Comer wrote. ‘The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.’ 

Comer is subpoenaing Mayorkas for all documents and communications in the Microsoft Teams group chat from July 1, 2024, to present, as well as any uploaded or embedded attachments and documents referring to or relating to Walz or his gubernatorial office or staff. 

Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes from November 2023 to present related to Walz. 

Comer, last month, revealed that Walz has ‘engaged and partnered with’ Chinese entities, making him ‘susceptible’ to the CCP’s strategy of ‘elite capture,’ which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to ‘influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.’ 

Comer has pointed to reports that Walz, while working as a teacher in the 1990s, organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students. The costs were reportedly ‘paid by the Chinese government.’ 

Comer is investigating Walz’s 1994-created private company named ‘Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,’ which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was led by Walz. 

The company reportedly ‘dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.’ 

Comer said Walz has traveled to China an estimated ’30 times.’ 

‘In its investigation, the Committee has highlighted the importance of U.S. officials being cognizant of CCP political and psychological warfare efforts that seek to threaten national security,’ Comer said last month. 

Comer then pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, noting he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a ‘long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.’ 

‘At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,’ Comer said last month upon launching the investigation, noting that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.

‘Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’’ Comer said. 

Comer said Walz himself has ‘admitted that he does not ‘fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.’’ 

‘Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,’ Comer wrote. 

Comer also pointed to a March 2024 meeting Walz had with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss ‘China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.’

Comer, in his letter to Mayorkas Monday, said his committee’s investigation of the CCP began long before Walz became the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and said it is focused on understanding ‘the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture.’ 

‘In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,’ Comer wrote. ‘Along those lines, the Committee is currently considering legislative solutions to ameliorate deficiencies it already has identified among government agencies’ strategies to combat CCP political warfare.’ 

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Politics

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to how the VP debate is sometimes more memorable than the presidential debates

It’s doubtful that this week’s debate between Vice Presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance will command quite the same attention as the debate between the nominees: Vice President Harris and former President Trump. But historically, tilts between the running mates are often more pugilistic. A lot feistier. More fun to watch. And sometimes, more memorable.

It’s hard to say why the undercard can be more intriguing than the main event. But first round playoff games in hockey are often better matches than the Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve long asserted that the American League and National League Championship Series is generally more competitive baseball than what you experience during the World Series.

Perhaps it has something to do with the vice presidential candidates introducing themselves to the audience. They simply aren’t as well known.

‘Who am I? Why am I here?,’ quipped late Rear Admiral James Stockdale when independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot tapped him as his 1992 running mate.

Stockdale’s folksy line immediately drew laughter and applause from the crowd gathered that night in Atlanta.

‘I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider,’ said Stockdale from his lectern wedged between future President Clinton’s running mate, then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Vice President Dan Quayle.

While Gore and Quayle quarreled, their verbal fusillades caromed back and forth in front of Stockdale. He was mostly a mute bystander. At one point, trying to get in a word edgewise, Stockdale abruptly blurted that he felt like he was in the ‘middle of a Ping-Pong’ match.

Later in the debate, moderator Hal Bruno of ABC News asked if mudslinging tactics were ‘necessary’ in the campaign. Stockdale replied he didn’t hear the question.

‘I didn’t have my hearing aid turned on. Tell me again,’ Stockdale requested of Bruno, again triggering howls from the audience.

Sometimes the VP candidates must feel each other out.

‘The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight,’ said then-Vice President Dick Cheney to former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., then John Kerry’s running mate at the 2004 VP debate.

Running mates sometimes try to appear more down-to-Earth than those at the top of the ticket.

‘Nice to meet ya,’ declared former Alaska Governor and 2008 VP nominee Sarah Palin (R) as she shook the hand of then-Senator Biden on stage in St. Louis. ‘Can I call you Joe?’

‘You can call me Joe,’ responded the future president with a smile.

Mr. Biden tried to exude an ‘aw, shucks,’ lunchpail personae in the 2012 VP debate. He deployed lay language when trading barbs with GOP VP nominee and future House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

‘When we look weak, our adversaries are more willing to test us. They’re more brazen in their attacks,’ said Ryan.

‘With all due respect, that’s a bunch of a malarkey,’ countered the future President.

Palin tried the same thing, using phrases like ‘doggone it’ and winking at the audience not once, but four times, to punctuate her responses.

Vice Presidential debates are often stocked with wry humor.

‘If you won’t use any football stories, I won’t tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement,’ promised then-Vice President Gore during his debate with GOP VP nominee Jack Kemp in 1996.

Gore was known for his views on global warming and environmental policy. A former congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Kemp also starred at quarterback for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills in the American Football League before it merged with the NFL.

A lot of people would pay to be a fly on the wall during some of the debate prep. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has been playing Walz during the sessions with Vance. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has portrayed Vance during his rehearsals with Walz.

But you don’t even have to be a fly on the wall for these debates. Sometimes a fly just shows up – and lands on the head of former Vice President Mike Pence. Such was the case when Pence debated Vice President Harris four years ago in Salt Lake City.

But Vice Presidential debates do grow testy.

Besides the fly, many best remember the 2020 Harris/Pence debate for the Vice President repeatedly declaring ‘I’m speaking,’ beseeching Pence to wait his turn.

Viewers also remember Pence and Democratic VP nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., talking all over one another during their 2016 debate.

In the first televised VP debate in Houston in 1976, GOP Vice Presidential nominee and future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., depicted World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam were ‘Democrat wars.’ He then added that ‘the pardon of Richard Nixon is behind us. Watergate’s behind us.’

‘I think Sen. Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight,’ responded future Vice President and then-Sen. Walter Mondale, D-Minn.

And future President George H.W. Bush drew the ire of female voters when he appeared to speak condescendingly to 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., – the first woman to ever appear on a major party ticket.

‘Let me help you Miss Ferraro about the difference between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon,’ said Bush.

‘Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy,’ shot back Ferraro.

The congresswoman noted she had served nearly six years in the House by that point.

But one zinger from a Vice Presidential debate is without question one of the best lines in the history of American politics.

During the 1988 campaign, the press corps and some in the public jeered at Quayle as Bush 41’s running mate. His youthful looks and frequent verbal faux pas made Quayle seem unprepared for the job. Quayle was 41 years old at the time. But he had already served nearly eight years in the Senate and four in the House. To compensate, Quayle often spun his youth in the same way that late President ‘Jack Kennedy’ captured the imagination of Americans.

Compared to Quayle, 1988 Vice Presidential nominee and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Tex., presented himself as poised, stately and steady. Bentsen and his handlers were well aware of Quayle’s ‘Jack Kennedy’ comparisons. And so during the debate in Omaha, Neb., Bentsen waited for Quayle to bait his own trap.

‘I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of Vice President of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency,’ said Quayle.

Bentsen pounced.

‘I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,’ said Bentsen.

The auditorium erupted into hales of applause and shouts.

Quayle stewed, staring daggers at his Senate colleague.

‘That was really uncalled for, Senator,’ fumed Quayle.

Bentsen’s line has echoed for decades, lampooned on everything from Saturday Night Live to 30 Rock.

Just one historic footnote. JFK and Bentsen never served together in the Senate. But they were members of the House during the same period in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Running mates have two responsibilities. They must demonstrate that they’re ready to step into the main job. And they aren’t supposed to overshadow the actual nominee. Yet with vice presidential debates, the one-liners often do just that.

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