President Trump rules out using force to get Greenland, insists on control
President Donald Trump declared from Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday that the U.S. is the only nation that is in the position to control and secure Greenland.
“All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland,” Trump said Wednesday from his speech at the World Economic Forum. “Where we’ve already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians and others in World War II, we gave it back to them.”
Trump added that he does not want to use force as he pressures NATO allies on Greenland.
“We never asked for anything,” Trump said of the U.S. working with NATO. “And we never got anything. We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that. Okay, now everyone say, ‘oh good.’ That’s probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
DAVOS BRACES FOR TRUMP AMID TENSIONS OVER NATO, GREENLAND AND GLOBAL DEFENSE
Greenland — the world’s largest island — sits in the Arctic and governs its own domestic affairs while remaining within the Kingdom of Denmark.
The president said he has “tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark,” but that the U.S. must control the island from a national security standpoint.
“And the fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States, with a great power much greater than people even understand,” he said.
The White House has reiterated that Trump views Greenland as a national security priority, and officials have not ruled out the use of the U.S. military as the administration weighs options for acquiring the territory.
Trump was asked Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, how far he would go to Greenland, responding with a terse “you’ll find out” response.
The president described Greenland as a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory that’s sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China. He pushed back that the U.S. is not seeking to acquire Greenland for its rare earths, but due to its location from a national security standpoint.
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “That’s our territory. It is, therefore, a core national security interest of the United States of America.”
Trump said securing Greenland would only strengthen NATO.
“This would not be a threat to NATO,” he said. “This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance. The NATO alliance. The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO. I want to tell you that. And when you think about it, nobody can dispute it. We give so much, and we get so little in return. And I’ve been a critic of NATO for many years, and yet I’ve done more to help NATO than any other president by far, than any other person. You wouldn’t have NATO if I didn’t get involved.”
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The president argued that U.S. control of Greenland would strengthen security for both the United States and Europe, framing the territory as a strategic necessity rather than a real-estate acquisition. “The European Union needs us to have it, and they know that,” he said, before pivoting to other topics.
Greenland has long carried outsized military importance in the Arctic. During the Cold War, the island sat along the shortest air and missile routes between North America and the Soviet Union. The U.S. expanded operations at the air base now known as Pituffik Space Base, using the site for early-warning radar and surveillance designed to detect incoming bombers and missiles.
“Now our country and the world face much greater risks than it did ever before. Because of missiles, because of nuclear, because of weapons, of warfare that I can’t even talk about,” Trump continued of Greenland.
In more recent years, renewed U.S. interest has been tied to intensifying great-power competition in the Arctic. Officials and analysts have pointed to China’s effort to widen its regional footprint.
Trump underscored that the U.S. is “stronger” than ever and is in the position to finalize a Greenland deal following “two centuries” of previous presidents reportedly trying to do the same.
“For two centuries they’ve been trying to do it. They should have kept it after World War II, but they had a different president. That’s all right. People think differently. Much more necessary now than it was at that time. However, in 2019, Denmark said that they would spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defenses. But as you know, they spent less than 1% of that amount. 1% is no sign of Denmark there,” the president continued.
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Trump first publicly raised the idea of acquiring Greenland in 2019. The Arctic’s geography makes it a key corridor for long-range threats from major adversaries, elevating Greenland’s value as a location for sensors and tracking systems intended to protect North America.
Trump put European allies on notice to reach a deal on the island by Feb. 1 or face consequences. Goods from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom will face a 10% tariff if no deal is reached by February, with the taxes increasing to 25% by June 1 if there is no deal.
European leaders at Davos largely treated Trump’s Greenland-linked tariff threats as economic coercion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for example, said Greenland is “non-negotiable” and that the EU would show “full solidarity” with Greenland.
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“In politics as in business: a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” von der Leyen added, referring to a trade deal the U.S. inked with the EU over the summer.
Education Dept joins fraud fight after $1 billion college student aid scheme uncovered
EXCLUSIVE: A top Trump administration Education Department official exposed a pair of blue states that he says are among the worst for federal student aid fraud as officials crack down on scammers who are exploiting the taxpayer-funded programs.
In 2025, the Department of Education said it prevented $1 billion of fraud in the aid programs. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said these schemes are not only a waste of taxpayer money, but also disproportionately affect low-income students trying to pay for their education.
We talked about California being certainly a hub of fraud, waste and abuse, but we also see Minnesota, for example,” Kent told Fox News Digital. “You know, one of the things that has been brought to light over the course of the last couple of weeks is the enormous amount of fraud, waste and abuse under the governor’s leadership there, and this is something that the federal Department of Education had lifted up and highlighted months ago
“And to kind of put that into perspective, that’s 1,700 Pell Grants for low-income students that that money could have gone toward,” Kent continued. “So when we think about limited resources, we think about taking away these things that low-income and middle-income students really need in order to get in and through their educational journey.”
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During a 12-month period between 2024 and 2025, scammers stole at least $10 million in federal financial aid from community colleges in California. According to one report, 34% of applications to community colleges in the state last year were likely fake.
Kent explained that in many cases, “ghost students” are to blame.
“What we see often in terms of financial aid fraud are what we call ghost students, and these are students who really never intend to enroll in post-secondary education,” he said. “They never intend to take classes and to graduate. They enroll for the sole purpose of defrauding the federal student aid program.”
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Kent said that these “ghost students” simply sign up for the courses, obtain financial aid, show up to class once or twice, and then pocket the money, never to return to the classroom. This scam, according to Kent, could be proliferated with the use of AI, which can allow swindlers to enroll in many different college programs at once. Some of the thieves are Americans, while others steal from abroad.
In order to combat the fraud, Kent said that the Trump administration is employing a very simple strategy, for starters: checking identification.
“And so, over the summer, we implemented very strict fraud controls on the FAFSA, the form that students use to apply for federal student aid, including mandatory identification checks for first-time student aid applicants, to ensure that every applicant is a real student and not a ghost student or an AI bot.”
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He said it was “inconceivable” that the Biden administration hadn’t required that safeguard.
“And so we’re very excited that, you know, we are able to prevent a substantial amount of fraud from walking out the door,” he said.
Kent also noted that sometimes, colleges will turn a blind eye to federal student aid fraud, saying they benefit from the funding too.
“So, we’re also holding institutions accountable for understanding that if fraud is on your campus, you should know about it and you should be putting your own fraud detection efforts in place,” he said. “Affordability is a critical component of the Trump administration’s agenda, and one part of that is making sure that taxpayer resources are going to individuals, to families that deserve them. And criminals do not deserve this money.”
“So we’re going to do everything that we can under the secretary’s leadership to ensure that we’re going after bad guys, and we’re going to capture them, and we’re going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
Keith Hovis is a spokesperson for the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE).
He explained that FAFSA verification — that is, checking to make sure accurate information is provided on the federal student aid form — is done at the federal level and by colleges. His office has nothing to do with such oversight.
“Financial aid staff at each college — be it a Minnesota college or other state college — review the FAFSA, verify following US DOE procedure, and then put together a financial aid package,” he said. “If the student receives Federal funds, the school submits that to the Feds who then distribute/release funds if all requirements are met.”
The OHE is only involved in the distribution of state-level financial aid. He also said it would be “inappropriate and ill-informed” to comment on federal fraud without seeing the data supporting the claim.
He referred Fox News Digital back to the federal government.
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A spokesperson for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office said it is actively working to prevent fraud, including “identity verification measures using the State’s mobile driver’s license system and ID.me that are deployed as part of the statewide college application to enable students to confirm their identity.”
They are also using an AI tool called LightLeap as part of their effort, saying that it helps spot fraud fast by using cross-campus data and eases staff workload while improving enrollment accuracy.
“The Chancellor’s Office has also begun shifting the statewide application system to require mandatory identity verification using primarily the Department of Motor Vehicles mobile driver’s license process, with ID.me and in-person verification options available as well,” the spokesperson said.
Self-deportation page becomes top destination as DHS website traffic soars
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed record website traffic to the agency’s official site, with one of the most visited pages on the site including information on self-deportation through the CBP Home App.
DHS reported a 68.49% increase in traffic from 2024. The department reports that its website received 102 million page views last year and 67 million unique visitors — an increase from 40 million page views in 2024.
“Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS celebrated one of the most consequential periods of action and reform in American history in 2025,” a spokesperson from DHS told Fox News Digital in a statement. “From delivering the most secure border ever and removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens, to fixing disaster response and ushering in a golden age of travel, DHS will continue to build upon this success and innovate to find ways to deliver for the American people.”
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The agency is also planning to launch a new website that will enhance transparency about DHS and ease navigation.
“This redesigned website is another example of that commitment to innovation and being the most transparent administration in American history,” the spokesperson added.
The CPB Home App is a mobile application that allows users who are in the U.S. illegally to self-deport. The app launched last March under the second Trump administration.
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DHS has reported that tens of thousands of illegal migrants have used the app to self-deport. The agency also pays a $1,000 stipend to individuals who successfully self-deport, as well as “financial and travel assistance to facilitate travel back to their home country.”
The agency has rolled out several new features as a means of communicating with the public, including the “Worst of the Worst” website, which highlights the most dangerous illegal migrants that the agency apprehends.
The “Worst of the Worst” site includes rapists, murderers, child predators and other illegal migrants who were convicted or faced charges in the U.S.
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The new look and record traffic to the website comes as the agency touted historic numbers in the first year of the second Trump administration.
“In President Trump’s first year back in office, nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 675,000 deportations,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
The agency says that U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) apprehensions over the past 12 months were the lowest in USBP history, and the total number of apprehensions over the past year were less than the average monthly apprehensions during the Biden administration.
“In the last year, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has also been cut by more than half compared to the same period in 2024,” Noem added. “The U.S. Coast Guard alone seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans.”
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“Meanwhile, we have saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion here at DHS,” Noem continued.
The agency looks ahead to the next calendar year with new initiatives as well as the continued efforts to deport illegal migrants, which includes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services enforcing a “new rule to prioritize the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens.”
James Comer’s message to Dems revealed before critical Clinton contempt vote
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is calling for bipartisanship on a key vote that could lead to former President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton facing criminal charges.
Comer will ask Democrats to join Republicans in teeing up House-wide votes on holding the Clintons in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, after both defied subpoenas to appear for his committee’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein.
“The Committee does not take this action lightly. But subpoenas are not mere suggestions; they carry the force of law and require compliance,” Comer will say, according to an excerpt obtained by Fox News Digital. “Former President Clinton and Secretary Clinton were legally required to appear for depositions before this Committee. They refused.”
Comer’s statement will also argue the committee “acted in good faith” in trying to schedule the depositions but that “actions have consequences.”
TOP GOP CHAIR ISSUES STARK WARNING TO CLINTONS IF THEY DEFY DEPOSITIONS IN EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION
“We’ve offered flexibility on scheduling. The response we received was not cooperation, but defiance, marked by repeated delays, excuses, and obstruction,” Comer will say. “Today, the Clintons must be held accountable for their actions. And Democrats must support these measures, or they will be exposed as hypocrites.”
The committee is meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to mark up a pair of reports on holding the Clintons in contempt.
If they pass — which they are expected to do, largely along party lines — it will pave the way for the full House to vote on whether to refer the Clintons to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution.
“We must do what is necessary to uphold Congress’s investigative authority, which is imperative to the legislative process,” Comer will say. “And we are doing so to demonstrate to the American people that justice is applied equally to everyone, regardless of position, pedigree, or prestige.”
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A contempt of Congress conviction is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to one year in jail.
Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, associates of President Donald Trump, were each found guilty of the charge after defying subpoenas sent by the now-defunct House select committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The Clintons were two of 10 people Comer subpoenaed over the summer as part of the Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein. But despite the initial bipartisan push, the investigation has fallen into partisan infighting as both sides accuse the other of politicizing the probe at the expense of Epstein’s victims.
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Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, accused Comer of hypocrisy in trying to hold the Clintons accountable while not pushing harder to enforce the subpoena aimed at forcing the DOJ to release all of its Epstein files, which it has not yet done.
“I think it’s incredibly hypocritical for James Comer to go out and try to hold in contempt his political enemies while [Attorney General Pam Bondi] is actively breaking the law, and he refuses to hold her in contempt,” Garcia told MS NOW last week.
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Comer also issued a statement on Tuesday stating that he rejected an offer from Bill Clinton’s lawyer for himself and Garcia to sit down with the former president in New York, for an interview without an “official transcript.”
“The House Oversight Committee rejects the Clintons’ unreasonable demands and will move forward with contempt resolutions on Wednesday due to their continued defiance of lawful subpoenas,” Comer said.
Super Bowl champion reveals extended hospital stay after falling into coma
Osi Umenyiora, a former New York Giants star and two-time Super Bowl champion, revealed a harrowing health battle that left him in a coma for several days.
Umenyiora returned to “The Breakdown” on the NFL UK & Ireland YouTube and said he went “through some real adversity.”
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“I was in the hospital for almost a month,” he said. “I was in a coma for five days, had some extensive surgery. I was in a really, really bad place. And I find out right then and there who actually loved me because there were some people who showed up every single day. There were some people who came to see me when I was in a coma. There were some people who traveled from all across the world to come see me when I was at my lowest points.”
Umenyiora said his co-host Jason Bell was with him through the entire process. He said he “could feel the love” from Bell.
“This man right here was by my side,” he said of Bell. “I remember when I got up and I saw him for the first time, I just started crying because I could feel the love.
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“So don’t you ever mistake what we got going on up here for something that’s not real because this is real, and I love you, J-Bell. I really, really appreciate everything you did. They told me that when I heard your voice, my heart rate started to spike, which was absolutely incredible.”
Umenyiora didn’t delve into the specifics of his health issue.
The former NFL defensive end played 11 years in the NFL between the Giants and the Atlanta Falcons. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and was on the Giants’ teams that stunned the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI.
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He had 85 sacks in 161 career games.
Valerie Bertinelli fired by diet company after gaining weight beyond ‘impossible’ size 4
Valerie Bertinelli opened up about being fired as the spokesperson for a diet company because she regained weight after initially losing 50 pounds.
On Jan. 14, the 65-year-old actress made an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” and took part in the show’s “Memory Bank” segment in which Barrymore and her guests are presented with photos from pivotal moments in their lives, leading them to recount the stories and emotions behind the images.
During the segment, Barrymore, her co-anchor Ross Matthews and Bertinelli reacted to a photo of the “Hot in Cleveland” star, who was seen smiling while wearing a white floral sheath dress at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2012.
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“Look at you, Val! God, you’re so beautiful,” Barrymore said. “You look stunning.”
“And I felt so horrified,” Bertinelli said.
Bertinelli explained that in the years leading up her Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony, she had publicly chronicled her weight loss efforts while representing an unnamed diet company.
“I had started a diet program and then became their spokesperson in 2007, and I had lost 50 pounds,” she recalled. “And then life started to get the better of me, and I wasn’t taking care of my mental and emotional health, so the weight started to come back on.”
“And this was the last year, I believe, that I was with this diet company,” Bertinelli continued. “And they fired me, eventually said, ‘We can’t keep going with you because you’re gaining weight again.'”
The “One Day at a Time” actress noted that the dress she was pictured in was a size 12.
“I remember thinking, ‘But size 12’s not that big!’” Bertinelli recalled. “But I had gotten down to a size 4 — which was way too small for me and impossible for me to maintain.”
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“And I’ve been up and down, but pretty much, basically, this weight my whole life that I am right now, and I’m a size 10 now,” she continued. “And I would’ve been horrified then being on the diet program being a size 10.”
Bertinelli became emotional as she described how her priorities and view of her self-worth had changed since that time.
“Right now, it’s about my mental and emotional health,” she said. “My mental and emotional health — even though I’m getting teary-eyed — is so strong right now.”
“I’m so strong and firm in who I am and, no matter what people throw at me, I know who I am, and I know what kind of person I am, and it doesn’t matter how much I weigh,” Bertinelli continued.
“What matters is who I am, how I treat people. Period!” she emphasized as the audience clapped and cheered.
Bertinelli went on to say that she still owns the dress from the photo.
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“And it fits me just fine,” the former Food Network star said. “It’s a little less snug than it is there, but I just — if anything, it doesn’t matter what size we are. What is our heart? How do we treat people? Period!”
“Preach, Val,” Matthews said.
“I hope that we’ve also come some distance between just saying skinny and fat as opposed to like, what is healthy for you,” Barrymore said.
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“You’re right!” Bertinelli told her. “What is healthy for you? What is healthy mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically?”
“I’m figuring that out,” Barrymore admitted.
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Bertinelli has previously expressed that she does not “like diet culture“ and is more focused on making sure she eats enough protein, carbs, fat and fiber.
In a February 2024 Instagram post, Bertinelli revealed that she no longer weighs herself.
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The actress shared two throwback photos of herself in a bikini, writing, “This is a 150lb body on a 5’4 frame. I don’t weigh myself anymore because this is considered overweight by whose standards I don’t know.”
She added that the standards are “stupid and I believed them for far too long. I now, finally, know that I am a kind, considerate, funny, thoughtful woman. So please remember, who you are and what your character is, should never be overshadowed by what size you are or how much you weigh. You are enough. Just the way you are. F— ‘em.”
Massive great white shark returns to Florida waters after epic year-long Atlantic journey
The Atlantic’s largest recorded male great white shark has returned to Florida waters just one year after being tagged.
After traveling as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the 14-foot, 1,700-pound shark known as “Contender” has resurfaced in warmer coastal waters, researchers said.
The shark was named in honor of the Contender Boats company. Scientists are closely monitoring the timing of the shark’s return, as it may coincide with great white shark mating activity, according to news agency SWNS.
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Chris Fischer, founder of OCEARCH, a U.S.-based marine research group that monitors shark movements globally, said researchers hope to gain new insight into the largely unknown reproductive habits of great white sharks.
“Of the few clues we have, it seems like we need to be paying attention to the late winter and early spring area,” Fischer told SWNS.
Contender was tagged off the Florida-Georgia border on Jan. 17, 2025 — marking one year of tracking his movements by researchers.
Using satellite tags, OCEARCH follows shark movements across thousands of miles and through international waters.
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“The SPOT tag deployed on Contender will provide valuable, real-time data for approximately five years, helping us track his movements and understand his migration patterns,” OCEARCH stated on its website.
The shark has made one of the longest recorded migrations by a great white in the Atlantic.
Contender was recorded off the coasts of New Jersey and Canada, as well as near Jacksonville, SWNS noted.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Contender was miles from Nantucket, Massachusetts, in the summer of 2025.
He was also near Cape Hatteras, off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
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Other great white sharks tracked by the research team include Breton and Goodall.
Researchers will be watching to see if Contender comes into contact with other sharks during this time.
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“Most importantly, will there be other mature male white sharks like Bretton and mature female white sharks like Goodall and others that are in that similar region at the same time?” Fischer said.
The months ahead, he said, will be critical in assessing whether Contender’s movements are related to mating behavior.
To learn more about great white reproduction, scientists use not just satellite tracking but blood sampling and hormone analysis.
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“We all have our eyes on him over the next 60 to 90 days,” Fischer said.
Gov cracks down on soaring utility costs, signs immediate action during inauguration
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who was sworn in on Tuesday, signed her first executive orders before she finished her inauguration speech.
“So, right now, yes, before I even finish this speech, I am going to sign my first in a series of executive orders to declare a State of Emergency on Utility Costs,” Sherrill told the crowd.
The first executive order directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to consider pausing or adjusting proceedings on proposed utility rate increases. It also calls for NJBPU to conduct a review of utility business models and requires the use of existing funds to offset electricity supply increases expected in 2026.
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“The current cost of electricity has reached the point of crisis for many residents and families, and requires bold action to provide short-term relief and medium and long-term strategies and reforms to improve our energy system,” the order reads.
The second order directs state agencies and regulators to fast-track new power generation, including solar, battery storage and nuclear, while cutting permitting and interconnection delays that slow projects and drive up prices.
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It warns that without the “swift addition of new generation or a slowdown in demand growth,” the grid’s reliability could be threatened during peak periods, potentially forcing providers to restrict power use. The order says that practice, known as “load shedding,” can include blackouts and brownouts and “could jeopardize public health, safety, and welfare.”
The two orders follow Sherrill’s campaign promise to declare a state of emergency on utility costs. Together, the orders aim to provide short-term relief while laying out longer-term strategies to address rising energy costs that she has said are making life in New Jersey too expensive.
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“In the Navy, I learned that you have to lead, follow, or get out of the way — and I promised the people of New Jersey that I would be on a mission to deliver starting Day One. That’s why I’m beginning my term as governor by taking immediate action to deliver on some of the key issues impacting New Jerseyans,” Sherrill said in a statement released by her office.
The orders on utility costs were part of a series of six orders that Sherrill signed upon entering office.
The third order established a code of ethics for the administration, the fourth establishes the Office of the Chief Operating Officer within the Office of the Governor, the fifth establishes a Cross-Agency Permitting Team within the newly created Office of the COO and the sixth order moves to protect children online, focusing on mental health.
Armed militias fire heavy machine guns through Tehran streets in deadly night attacks
Gunfire echoed through Tehran Tuesday as heavily armed militias were deployed across the Iranian capital, transforming some districts into fortified zones under intense security.
Video footage showed bursts of automatic weapons after dark as government buildings, state media sites and major intersections were reportedly placed under guard, with armored pickups and masked fighters patrolling the streets in Toyotas.
The trucks were mounted with heavy machine guns and were moving in convoys with weapons firing into the darkness as armed men shouted commands.
In the video, large-caliber guns can be heard rattling as vehicles maneuver through urban streets.
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“There has been a deployment of dozens of Toyotas mounted with heavy machine guns (DShK) and other heavy weapons in Tehran,” Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital.
“They are reportedly being used by elements linked to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF),” he said.
“Their commander speaks in Farsi, and these fighters are Iraqi Hashd al-Sha’bi, Popular Mobilization Force and Hezbollah fighters who have joined the IRGC. The IRGC are their commanders, and you can hear them shouting in Farsi.”
According to Safavi, the Iranian regime has increasingly relied on foreign proxy forces to maintain control of the capital.
“The regime has brought in at least 5,000 foreign elements now from Iraq and Hezbollah to control Tehran,” he explained.
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“They are guarding the government buildings and the state radio and TV and are using heavy machine guns, which are Russian-made and 50 caliber.”
Safavi added that “at night, there are fierce clashes that are ongoing as well as running street battles between the protesters and the special unit forces.”
The footage emerged as the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported what it described as Day 24 of nationwide protests marked by a continued communications blackout.
“The number of confirmed deaths has reached 4,519, while the number of deaths still under investigation stands at 9,049,” the agency said, adding that at least 5,811 people have been seriously injured and 26,314 arrested.
HRANA reports also described an overwhelming security presence, particularly with law enforcement, the IRGC, Basij units and plainclothes agents after nightfall, creating what the group called an atmosphere of deterrence and fear.
The first protests began Dec. 28 and rapidly spread nationwide, driven by economic grievances and opposition to clerical rule.
IRAN ACCUSED OF KILLING 16,500 IN SWEEPING ‘GENOCIDE’ CRACKDOWN: REPORT
Demonstrations have persisted despite mass arrests, lethal force and internet shutdowns.
“Sometimes the protesters hold their ground to the gunfire, ammunition and volleys of tear gas,” Safavi said.
He alleged that IRGC units attacked a hospital in Gorgan, killing wounded patients, stationing snipers on rooftops and firing into surrounding areas.
“They then took around 76 bodies to a warehouse and are refusing to hand them over to families because the forces want to bury them in secret,” he claimed.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly blamed foreign enemies for unrest while backing the IRGC’s response.
President Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that continued assassination threats from leaders in Tehran would trigger overwhelming retaliation.
“Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up,” Trump told NewsNation.
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NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi rejected the notion that external military action could topple the regime.
“A foreign war cannot bring down this regime,” she said in a statement. “What is required is an organized nationwide resistance rooted in active, combat-ready forces inside Iran’s cities to defeat one of the most brutal and repressive apparatuses in the world today — the IRGC.”