Politics
Ukrainian brothers — former world boxing champs — ready to fight Russian troops
Each received a number of world heavyweight boxing championships, identified for clean footwork and fierce jabs. One by no means confronted a knockdown within the ring. The opposite was undefeated for a decade.
Now, after Corridor of Fame boxing careers, Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko are once more on the world stage, united in Ukraine’s combat towards Russia’s invasion.
Within the days for the reason that assault started on their dwelling nation, each have stated they plan to take up arms to defend towards the Russian army because it strikes nearer to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
On Friday, volunteer fighters patrolled the streets of Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians to face up and defend their nation. The message got here as Russian airstrikes started to bombard the capital metropolis.
“Our army is right here, our civil servants are right here defending our independence and our state, and we imply to maintain it that manner,” Zelensky stated.
For a lot of Friday, harrowing photos of Ukrainians lined as much as obtain army weapons flooded social media, together with photos of residents making Molotov cocktails.
Vitali Klitschko, 50, who since his retirement from boxing in 2013 has served as mayor of Kyiv, stated in an interview on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” that he would keep and combat.
“I don’t have one other selection. I’ve to do this. I’ll be combating,” he stated. “It’s already a bloody struggle.”
Final month, Wladimir Klitschko, 45, enlisted in Ukraine’s military reserve in Kyiv.
“Now, the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] is utilizing struggle rhetoric … he makes it clear that he desires to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its folks,” Wladimir wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. “Phrases are adopted by missiles and tanks. Destruction and loss of life come across us. … We are going to defend ourselves with all our would possibly and combat for freedom and democracy.”
The brothers have usually spoken publicly about politics. For years, even earlier than his official boxing retirement after being a heavyweight champion in three completely different a long time, Vitali Klitschko had political ambitions, regardless of shedding municipal elections in Kyiv.
At 6-feet-7 and 250 kilos, Vitali, with a boxing report of 45-2 that features 41 knockouts, received the 2014 Kyiv mayoral contest and has served within the place since. It’s the identical 12 months Russia invaded japanese Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
In that point, he’s been a staunch supporter of Ukraine distancing itself from Russia and creating stronger relationships with the European Union and NATO. He’s additionally criticized Putin over time.
“Our japanese neighbor just isn’t pleased with our determination to change into a part of the European household,” Vitali Klitschko advised Britain’s Channel 4 Information final month. “We don’t wish to return to the us. We had been in the us and we see our future as a part of a European household. Mr. Putin disagrees. They’ve an thought to rebuild the Soviet Union, however we don’t wish to return to the us. We see our future as a free democracy.”
Tom Loeffler, who runs the Klitschko brothers’ firm, K2 Promotions, stated he talked with Wladimir on Thursday. The previous fighter, who retired in 2017 with a 64-5 skilled report, was hunkered down in Kyiv and prepared to withstand the invasion from Russian forces, Loeffler stated.
“I really feel helpless,” stated Loeffler, who is predicated in Los Angeles. “Who would have ever thought we might once more see struggle in Europe? That is one thing none of us anticipated.”
Loeffler stated he’s been capable of stay in communication with each males.
“We’re all simply praying they make it via this,” he stated. “All of us should stand with Ukraine.”
In latest days, Loeffler, who has visited Ukraine dozens of occasions over time, stated he’s thought again to good occasions all of them shared in Los Angeles.
How all Vitali Klitschko’s youngsters had been born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Heart in Los Angeles. How they’d prepare by working alongside Venice Seaside. The 2003 heavyweight battle between Vitali and Lennox Lewis at Staples Heart. Lewis received after Vitali’s eye had change into too severely broken to proceed. Even so, on the time the combat was stopped Vitali was successful on the judges’ scorecards.
Now, Loeffler stated, he desires the U.S. to do extra to help the Ukrainian folks.
“The sanctions have to be harder,” he stated. “The world is watching and we should assist.”
Politics
Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Texas has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration into the Lone Star State.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the ruling on X, saying President Biden was “wrong to cut our razor wire.”
“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” the Republican leader wrote.
Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Texas to pursue a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of trespassing without having to remove the fencing.
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It also reversed a federal judge’s November 2023 refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to Texas as the state resisted federal efforts to remove fencing along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee during the president-elect’s first term, wrote for Wednesday’s majority that Texas was trying only to safeguard its own property, not “regulate” U.S. Border Patrol, and was likely to succeed in its trespass claims.
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Duncan said the federal government waived its sovereign immunity and rejected its concerns that a ruling by Texas would impede the enforcement of immigration law and undermine the government’s relationship with Mexico.
He said the public interest “supports clear protections for property rights from government intrusion and control” and ensuring that federal immigration law enforcement does not “unnecessarily intrude into the rights of countless property owners.”
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling a “huge win for Texas.”
“The Biden Administration has been enjoined from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s border fencing,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We sued immediately when the federal government was observed destroying fences to let illegal aliens enter, and we’ve fought every step of the way for Texas sovereignty and security.”
The White House has been locked in legal battles with Texas and other states that have tried to deter illegal immigration.
In May, the full 5th Circuit heard arguments in a separate case between Texas and the White House over whether the state can keep a 1,000-foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande.
The appeals court is also reviewing a judge’s order blocking a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people in the country illegally.
Politics
Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) secured a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a former boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court filings that he had bombarded her, as well as her family and colleagues, with hundreds of messages that she described as “persistent abuse and harassment.”
Porter, 50, alleged in a filing with Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, was contacting her and her family with such frequency that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.”
Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday barring Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until a mid-December court hearing. He also barred Willis from communicating about Porter with her current and former colleagues.
In the court filing, Porter said that Willis had been hospitalized twice since late 2022 on involuntary psychiatric holds and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other drugs.
She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and struggles with addiction seemed to have gotten worse since she asked him in August to move out of her Irvine home. She said she sought the court order after his threats to her family and colleagues “escalated in both their frequency and intensity.”
“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.
Willis declined to comment. He will have an opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.
Porter is leaving the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in the 2026 governor’s race in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.
The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications among Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages that Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and to her political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The filing also included messages between herself and Willis’ siblings as they discussed trying to help him during his psychiatric holds and while he was staying in a sober-living facility.
Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move out, he had sent her more than 1,000 text messages and emails, including texting her 82 times in one 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on Nov. 12 before she blocked his number.
Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend had “already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious risk to [her] career and personal reputation.”
The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he had visited Porter’s son at college in Iowa and told him that he would “bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces.”
Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with child protective services.
One of Porter’s congressional staff members received a text message from Willis saying he would “punish the f—” out of him if he did not agree to “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ attorneys, according to a screenshot included in the court document.
Willis previously made the news in 2021, when he was arrested after a fight that broke out at a Porter town hall at a park in Irvine.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
Politics
Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats
Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to news of death threats against Trump nominees on Wednesday and said he now takes the death threats he has previously received seriously.
“I have not taken this serious up to this point,” Homan told Fox News anchor Gillian Turner on “The Story” on Wednesday, referring to previous death threats made against him and his family.
“Now that I know what’s happened in the last 24 hours. I will take it a little more serious. But look, I’ve been dealing with this. When I was the ICE director in the first administration, I had numerous death threats. I had a security detail with me all the time. Even after I retired, death threats continued and even after I retired as the ICE Director. I had U.S. Marshals protection for a long time to protect me and my family.”
Homan explained that what “doesn’t help” the situation is the “negative press” around Trump.
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“I’m not in the cabinet, but, you know, I’ve read numerous hit pieces. I mean, you know, I’m a racist and, you know, I’m the father of family separation, all this other stuff. So the hate media doesn’t help at all because there are some nuts out there. They’ll take advantage. So that doesn’t help.”
Homan’s comments come shortly after Fox News Digital first reported that nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” prompting a “swift” law enforcement response.
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The “attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’” according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.”
Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted.
Threats were also made against Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz’s family.
Homan told Fox News that he is “not going to be intimidated by these people” and “I’m not going to let them silence me.”
“What I’ve learned today I’ll start taking a little more serious.”
Homan added that he believes “we need to have a strong response once we find out is behind all this.”
“It’s illegal to threaten someone’s life. And we need to follow through with that.”
The threats on Tuesday night came mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
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