Red state wins ‘landmark’ $24 billion judgment against China in COVID lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Missouri in the state’s $24 billion lawsuit against China’s Communist Party that accused it of hoarding protective supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a landmark victory for Missouri and the United States in the fight to hold China accountable for unleashing COVID-19 on the world,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement.
“China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation. We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”
Bailey’s office said the judgment was six times larger than the previous largest judgment in the state’s history.
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Judge Stephen Limbaugh said in his ruling that the “Court finds that Missouri has provided evidence satisfactory to the Court to establish each Defendant’s liability to Missouri under Count IV of Plaintiff’s Complaint. The Court therefore enters a judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $24,488,825,457.00, plus postjudgment interest.”
The People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Government of Hubei Province, the People’s Government of Wuhan City, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were all named as defendants in the lawsuit.
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Bailey also wrote on X Friday, “Hey China, You owe Missouri $24 BILLION. I just won a judgment in court. Pay up — or we start seizing assets and farmland.”
The ruling comes five years after former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued China for “obstructing the production, purchase, and export of critical medical equipment, including PPE, during the pandemic,” Bailey’s office wrote.
A court of appeals ruled in Missouri’s favor in January, overturning a lower court ruling that threw out the lawsuit.
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The appeals court ruled, however, that the lawsuit must be limited to accusations of supply hoarding after the lawsuit previously accused China of hiding information about the origins of the pandemic.
President Donald Trump squelched rumors of a cabinet meeting clash on Friday, telling a reporter he was a “troublemaker” for bringing it up.
Reporting from The New York Times suggested that on Thursday, Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk went after Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a cabinet meeting for not firing enough people in USAID, an agency over which the latter has purview.
Rubio, according to The Times, angrily responded that the over 1,500 State Department officials who took the Trump buyouts should be considered layoffs.
After Trump signed an executive order to create the White House Task Force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Oval Office Friday, NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez tried to ask about Musk and Rubio.
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“Some details have come out about your cabinet meeting with Elon Musk, and some clashes potentially between Secretary Rubio,” he began.
Trump interrupted, responding that a clash never happened.
“No clash. I was there — you’re just a troublemaker,” Trump said. “And you’re not supposed to be asking that question, because we’re talking about the World Cup.”
“Elon gets along great with Marco, and they’re both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash,” Trump added. As Gutierrez continued speaking, Trump asked which outlet he was with.
“NBC,” Gutierrez said.
“Ugh, no wonder,” Trump said, turning away. “That’s enough. NBC.”
TRUMP SAYS MSNBC’S NICOLE WALLACE, RACHEL MADDOW SHOULD RESIGN FOR COMMENTS ON 13-YEAR-OLD CANCER SURVIVOR
Trump has called out other reporters similarly in the last few weeks.
On Thursday, Trump called on MSNBC hosts Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow to resign for comments they made about DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor, who was honored during Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
A few weeks prior, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that former President Joe Biden is “a friend of CNN.”
“That’s why nobody watches CNN anymore, because they have no credibility,” Trump added.
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Convicted double murderer executed by method not used in US for 15 years
A South Carolina man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001 was executed by firing squad early Friday evening – a method used for the first time in 15 years in the U.S.
Brad Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. after being shot by three volunteer prison employees at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, according to the Associated Press.
Sigmon, who previously admitted to killing the couple because his ex-girlfriend refused to get back to him, was blindfolded and strapped to a chair with a target on his chest.
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The executioners, armed with rifles about 15 feet away, fired bullets into his heart.
The volunteers all fired at the same time through openings in a wall, according to the AP. A dozen witnesses, seated in a room separated from the chamber by bullet-resistant glass, could not see the executioners.
Just a few hours before the death sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency motion to suspend the execution because of South Carolina’s policies surrounding secretive lethal injection details.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson signed off on the action, despite pleas from his lawyers to commute the death sentence to life in prison.
Sigmon’s attorneys argued he was a model prisoner and the killings occurred while he was struggling with severe mental illness.
He chose to die by firing squad, citing fears about the electric chair and lethal injection, according to his representation.
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The double murderer’s last meal was three buckets of original recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken from KFC, his attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, told WYFF4.
He reportedly ordered more than one bucket so “he could share with the guys he’s incarcerated with on death row,” King told the outlet.
Sigmon said he killed victims Gladys Larke, 59, and David Larke, 62, after they evicted him from a trailer they owned.
He then unsuccessfully kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Armstrong, who jumped out of his moving car as he shot at her, prosecutors said.
“My intention was to kill her and then myself,” Sigmon said in a confession typed out by a detective after his arrest. “That was my intention all along. If I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her. And I knew it got to the point where I couldn’t have her.”
Armstrong told USA Today this week Sigmon “should answer for what he’s done,” noting his actions ripped her family apart.
The murdered parents of five missed the births of multiple grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Armstrong, who doesn’t believe in the death penalty, said she would not attend the execution.
Her son, Ricky Sims, told the Greenville News he would be there, wearing a pair of boots that were the last gift his grandparents ever gave him.
“He’s going to pay for what he’s done,” Sims told the outlet. “He took away two people who would have done anything for their family. They were the rock of our family … They didn’t deserve it.”
Executions in South Carolina resumed in September, when the state – once one of the leaders in executions – ended a 13-year halt in administering the death penalty.
It is one of just five states that authorize the use of firing squads in certain circumstances.
Only three inmates, all in Utah, have been killed by firing squad in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Ronnie Gardner was the last prisoner to be executed by firing squad in 2010.
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Twenty-five executions were carried out in the U.S. last year. Five have already been carried out in 2025, per the Death Penalty Information Center.
King did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Illegal immigrant who served as top AOC aide reportedly self-deports to Colombia
An illegal immigrant who once served as an aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has reportedly self-deported to Colombia, praising the “freedom of movement” in the South American nation after working in Congress despite being in the country illegally.
Diego de la Vega was born in Ecuador and immigrated to the United States as a 7-year-old in 2001 on a visitor’s visa that he overstayed, Migrant Insider reported.
The news raises thorny questions about his employment status for the Queens-based congresswoman.
“It’s bittersweet. I hadn’t left the country in 23 years — from age seven to age 30,” de la Vega told Migrant Insider. “Now, I can’t go back to the U.S. It feels like exile. It’s a very permanent move. But my wife and I are confident we made the right decision. And, after some time, it’s been a real pleasure to be here.
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“It feels surreal to not be illegalized anymore. I don’t have to live in the shadows or constantly worry about paperwork,” he added. “That freedom of movement is incredibly satisfying.”
De la Vega became politically active after the failure of the Dream Act in 2010, when the legislation fell just five votes short in the Senate.
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After working for an immigrant rights group, he served as communications director for Robert Rodriguez, then a member of the New York State Assembly, who currently serves as president and CEO of the New York State Dormitory Authority, according to his LinkedIn page.
In 2021, de la Vega was hired by Ocasio-Cortez’s re-election campaign and eventually became her deputy communications director.
“Diego is amazing,” Ocasio-Cortez told the news outlet. “We love him.”
De la Vega worked for Ocasio-Cortez despite not being a U.S. citizen. DACA recipients are barred from paid positions in congressional offices.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the congresswoman’s office.
“We were always honest with voters in New York City,” de la Vega said of working with Ocasio-Cortez. “We didn’t dumb it down or tell them what they wanted to hear. We engaged with them honestly. We listened, then explained that Alexandria was fighting for reform, but Republicans were blocking it.”
He noted that he became frustrated with how the immigration movement was going.
“Protections are going away, regardless of who is in the White House. The strategy hasn’t adapted to the modern era,” he said. “Biden had a trifecta — the House, Senate and White House, but dropped the ball.”
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As a child, de la Vega said he lived in fear but said he had a good childhood in New York. He said he may not be able to return to the U.S. “for many years” but that “it feels fulfilling to be home.”
Noem says ICE raid leakers identified, will be prosecuted for putting ‘lives in jeopardy’
Two people within the Department of Homeland Security have been accused of disclosing DHS operations amid the Trump administration’s mass-deportation plans, Secretary Kristi Noem said.
In a video exclusively provided to Fox News, Noem is seen giving an update on the matter.
“We have identified two leakers of information here at the Department of Homeland Security who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy,” she said. “We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.”
“We’re going to continue to do all that we can to keep America safe,” she added.
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The names of the two alleged leakers were not disclosed.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that they are expected to face charges.
“We are preparing to refer these perpetrators to the DOJ for felony prosecutions,” she said. “These individuals face up to 10 years in federal prison. We will find and root out all leakers. They will face prison time, and we will get justice for the American people.”
Earlier this week, Noem said her agency wasn’t deterred by leaks after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid was leaked ahead of time. The leaks drew anger from ICE, with one official telling Fox they feared the result of an ICE agent being killed.
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Previous leaks to the news media have involved raids in Los Angeles and Aurora, Colorado.
Last month, Border czar Tom Homan said the administration was closing in on the individual responsible for the leak of the Aurora raid.
Noem had pointed the finger at the FBI.
“The FBI is so corrupt,” Noem wrote on X. “We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.”
In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on “Fox Report,” where she discussed immigration enforcement and was asked about leaks originating within the government.
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“Well, you know, if anyone leaks anything, people don’t understand that it jeopardizes the lives of our great men and women in law enforcement, and if you leaked it, we will find out who you are, and we will come after you,” Bondi said. “It’s not going to stop our mission. It’s not going to stop the president’s mission to make America safe again.”
Raiders reportedly land star quarterback in blockbuster trade with Seahawks
The Las Vegas Raiders have their new quarterback, and it’s someone head coach Pete Carroll is familiar with.
Geno Smith has been traded by the Seattle Seahawks to the Raiders in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick, according to multiple reports.
Las Vegas was always expected to add a quarterback this offseason after releasing Gardner Minshew and having quarterback troubles the past couple seasons with Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O’Connell in the mix.
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Instead of signing a free agent or waiting for the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders made a blockbuster deal with the Seahawks, a team seemingly looking to shake up its own roster, to land the veteran signal-caller.
The Raiders, who have the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, may still take a quarterback.
Smith only has one more year left on his contract, and ESPN reports the trade was done without an extension in place, meaning Smith would become a free agent in 2026.
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While the deal hasn’t been made official yet, Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby, who just became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history with a new extension in Las Vegas, shared his thoughts on the news.
There’s also a reunion in “Sin City,” as new head coach Pete Carroll and Smith get back together.
When Smith joined the Seahawks in 2020, Carroll was in his 11th season leading Seattle. Carroll oversaw Smith’s career-altering campaign in 2022, when he was a Pro Bowler throwing for a career-high 4,282 yards with 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The season cemented Smith’s spot as the team’s starting quarterback, and he’s held that role the past two seasons. Carroll, though, was let go after the 2023 season and was out of coaching in 2024.
The 73-year-old was brought back to the NFL by the Raiders.
The Seahawks, a team that released veteran receiver Tyler Lockett and has DK Metcalf requesting a trade, appear to be tearing things down by letting their franchise quarterback walk.
The Seahawks will immediately be a contender for free agent quarterbacks like Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers and others searching for a new team.
Smith led the Seahawks to his best regular-season record since being named starter, going 10-7 in 2024. Despite those efforts, with Mike Macdonald as the team’s new head coach, the Seahawks missed the playoffs.
Despite a roller-coaster ride, Smith reset his career-high in passing yards, throwing for 4,320, also a franchise record. He threw for 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Despite just one playoff appearance in Seattle as a starter — a loss in the wild-card round in 2022 — Smith has proven he can get the job done in clutch moments. He led the Seahawks to four game-winning drives, and that ties him with Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes with nine over the past two seasons.
Smith and Carroll hope he can drop that interception number heading into 2025. It was the third most in the NFL last season.
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Macdonald consistently backed Smith despite questions about his future with the franchise, including last month when he said, “Geno’s our quarterback. I don’t understand the conversation. It’s pretty obvious this guy is a heck of a quarterback.”
But a shocking trade has gone down, altering both franchises heading into the new league year, which kicks off March 12, when free agents are officially allowed to sign with teams they’ve talked to during the legal tampering period beginning March 10.
Fetterman’s stern warning to his own party after unleashing on ‘unhinged petulance’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. — who, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s address before a joint session of Congress, accused his own party of “a sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance” — issued a tweet on Friday in which he once again called out Democrats.
“#TheResistance,” he wrote, going on to list, “Snub a 13 year-old cancer survivor,” “Joint Address Protest Paddle Bonanza” and “Bizarre ‘Pick Your Fighter’ videos.”
“Hold our beer: Government Shutdown!” he continued, cautioning, “Never, never, never vote for a shutdown—ever.”
FETTERMAN DISMAYED BY DEMS DISSING ‘TOUCHING MOMENT’ AT TRUMP SPEECH
Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office to request a comment from the lawmaker on Friday, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Trump honored 13-year-old DJ Daniel during the address this week, noting that Daniel, who wants to become a police officer, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018.
“I am asking our new Secret Service Director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service,” Trump told the young man.
It was a “touching moment,” Fetterman told Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital earlier this week.
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During the president’s speech, some lawmakers held up signs with messages including “FALSE,” “SAVE MEDICAID,” “PROTECT VETERANS” and “MUSK STEALS.”
A viral video posted this week by social media influencer Sulhee Jessica Woo features Woo and several Democratic congresswomen posing in fighting stances, like video game characters — text on screen at the beginning of the video reads, “CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER.”
The video has been widely mocked, including by the White House. “Democrats Not Be Cringe Challenge. Level: Impossible,” the White House’s “Rapid Response 47” X account quipped.
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Fetterman’s post featured a screenshot of a Politico headline that read, “Senate Democrats’ impending choice: Shutdown or surrender.”
President Donald Trump has been advocating for using a continuing resolution to avert an approaching government shutdown. “I am working with the GREAT House Republicans on a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until September to give us some needed time to work on our Agenda,” he noted in a Truth Social post.
Getting enough votes to move a continuing resolution through the Senate will require some Democratic support.
“I’m never going to be a part of any vote that shuts the government down,” Fetterman said, according to Politico. “The fact that anyone on our side would even rattle those sabers, that’s bulls—,” he reportedly declared. “To think I’m going to burn the village down to save it, that’s bonkers.”
Singer addresses her ‘drunk’ National Anthem performance, rehab stint
Country music singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress broke her silence for the first time on Thursday, nearly a year after she admitted herself to rehab following her admission that she had been “drunk” during her controversial national anthem performance at the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby.
Andress, 33, appeared on “The Viall Files” podcast this week to discuss the fallout from her performance and what transpired just before she took the field at Globe Life Field in Arlington in mid-July.
“That day started as a very – what seemed like a normal day,” Andress recalled. “At that point, like that day, I knew that I was drinking, but I was really loving the numbing feeling that I was having, and so I just didn’t stop.”
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The four-time Grammy nominee explained that a recent split with her first manager and a breakup had prompted her to begin drinking excessively in the months leading up to her performance. She admitted that in her state at the time, she had been unaware of the crowd and fan reaction at home and had believed that she had “kind of nailed it.”
“It wasn’t until I woke up the next day where I was like ‘OK, this is so unlike me. This is not OK. I need help,’” Andress said. “I didn’t realize how much the video was going viral, because I had never experienced anything like that.”
Andress later admitted in a statement she shared on social media that she had been “drunk” while singing the national anthem. She said on Thursday that she had shared the statement while on plane to rehab.
INGRID ANDRESS ADMITS SHE WAS ‘DRUNK’ DURING MLB HOME RUN DERBY NATIONAL ANTHEM PERFORMANCE, CHECKS INTO REHAB
“I’m not gonna bulls— y’all, I was drunk last night,” her statement read. “I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition. I’ll let y’all know how rehab is, I hear it’s super fun.”
Andress said on Thursday that she had received an overwhelming amount of hatred and felt like “America’s punching bag.” She joked that because of the political climate at the time, she took some solace in knowing that she could at least unify people on one thing.
“I will say, at the time, politics was really bubbling, and I just feel like there was a lot of angst in general during that time. So, if anything, I feel like – I’m fine with being America’s punching bag, because for one moment, everybody was united in the fact that that was awful. So I feel like I united America in a way.”
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Last month, Andress had the opportunity to redeem herself and performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at an NHL game in Colorado. She also released a new single earlier this week.
She said on Thursday that after her stint in rehab and time with her family at home in Colorado, she felt ready to return.
“I spent a lot of time with family, and then I was like, ‘I think it’s time to re-emerge.’”
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