Southeast
Students from war-torn countries find safe haven in the US, compete in a national rocketry competition
On a humid cloudy day an hour outside the nation’s capital in The Plains, Virginia, teams of middle school students reached for the stars by competing in the American Rocketry Challenge, the world’s largest student rocket building competition.
The contest is sponsored by the Defense Department, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and top U.S. defense contractors.
A total of 922 teams from all over the country applied, but only the top 100 teams were chosen to travel to Virginia to compete. The objective for each team was to build a rocket and launch it as high as possible while carrying an egg and landing without the egg breaking.
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One team from Francis Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia, had already overcome the odds before stepping onto the field to launch their rocket. The group of students was not born in the United States. Their families fled their homes in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Turkey and Ukraine. Their teachers recruited them to join the school’s rocketry club in part to help them learn English and adjust to life in America.
Artem, 12, came to the U.S. from Ukraine with his mother after Russia invaded in February 2024. Artem was scared by the snipers and tanks outside their apartment building. Now, while his countrymen use artillery and drones to fight the Russian military, Artem is designing rockets. Artem loves using his creativity and has found a home in his school’s art department. He helped design the team’s rocket.
Yosra and her little brother. Yosra tells Fox News she wants to be a lawyer and work for the U.S. government when she grows up. (Yosra’s family)
“When we needed to put the motor in, the motor didn’t fit, so we needed to make the space bigger. I was doing all that,” Artem told Fox News.
Farhan, 13, fled Afghanistan with his father, mother, grandfather and sister three years ago during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal when the Taliban took control. Now, he is focused on studying physics and wants to be a pilot.
“I’m really happy that we made it all the way to here. I’m proud of us and my team. We accomplished a lot,” Farhan said in an interview.
What he did not talk about was his journey to get to the United States.
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Farhan’s father worked with the U.S. government for years before the country fell to the Taliban and asked not to be named to protect his family still in Afghanistan. Fearing for his family’s safety, he scrambled to get Farhan’s family to the airport.
It involved a two-day journey on foot in the scorching heat and being repeatedly beaten by the Taliban. When they reached Abbey Gate, a U.S. Marine on the perimeter watching the crowd recognized Farhan’s father, having worked with him before. The Marine ushered his family into the airport. They were greeted warmly by a young female Marine who just days later was killed in the Abbey Gate bombing along with 12 U.S. service members.
Farhan’s family made it to safety on a U.S. military plane and eventually were brought to the United States. Now, Farhan says, when he grows up, he wants to be a pilot.
Farhan and his family on board a U.S. military plane leaving Kabul (Fox was asked to blur the faces of Farhan’s family to protect their identity). (Farhan’s family )
“Our country had been taken over, and it wasn’t safe anymore. So we had to move,” Farhan said.
Yosra is another student on the team whose family also fled Afghanistan in August 2021. She wants to be a lawyer and work for the U.S. government when she grows up. But, right now, she loves building rockets, something the Taliban would never have allowed if she had stayed in Afghanistan.
“It feels like I’m free. Like I could do, like I could get anywhere I want. … I wouldn’t be able to dare even speak English if I was there. I mean, not even go to school. So, like, it feels nice. I feel proud,” Yosra said.
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On Aug. 27, Babur left Afghanistan with his family when he was just 10 years old. His father worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military, which is how the family was able to come to the United States. Babur loves studying science and space. He said he wants to work in the aerospace industry when he grows up.
“I’m thankful because I’m independent, and I have a lot of opportunities to do here. Programs like right now, rocketry club,” Babur said.
On hand to observe the students’ successful launch was NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who represented his Pittsburgh high school at the same competition in 2003. Hoburg has spent 186 days in space and just returned last September from piloting the SpaceX mission to the International Space Station.
Babur and his father are pictured outside Francis Hammond Middle School. (Babur’s family)
“I’m really passionate about students being able to get their hands dirty and build things, experiment, maybe fail once in a while, find out that flights don’t go perfectly,” Hoburg told Fox News.
After launching 847 feet in the air, the team’s rocket landed in a bush on descent. Anxious to see whether their egg had survived, the students sprinted to the bush in an effort to get it out. After arguing among themselves, they decided to wait impatiently as a competition official came to remove the rocket and its parachute from the bush.
The egg survived, and the students came in 50th place.
Even though they didn’t win, Farhan is proud of what his team accomplished. He said he wants to continue to make his family proud.
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“We’re going to make our country and them proud,” Farhan said. “We’re going to pay back everything they did for us.”
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Southeast
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially charged incident
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A member of Congress was allegedly assaulted Friday evening while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., wrote on X on Saturday: “Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face.”
Frost added that the suspect “was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off.”
Frost said the man had been arrested and that he wasn’t hurt in the incident.
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Rep. Maxwell Frost, D, Fla., said he was assaulted Friday evening while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. ( Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn Civic Action)
“Thank you to the venue security and Park City PD for assistance on this incident,” he added.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to the news on X: writing, “I am horrified by the attack on Congressman Maxwell Frost. Grateful that he is okay, but appalled that this terrifying assault took place. The perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted.”
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Jeffries continued: “Hate and political violence has no place in our country, and the entire House Democratic Caucus family stands with Maxwell.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost attending a Sundance Film Festival event on Friday. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images for The Creative Coalition)
The alleged assault took place at a party hosted by the CAA talent party at the High West Saloon, which the suspect crashed, according to Variety.
The suspect was allegedly bragging in the bathroom about being “White” before punching Frost in the face, the outlet reported.
He has yet to be identified.
The Sundance Film Festival is held in Park City, Utah, every January. (David Becker/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Park City Police Department for comment.
The 29-year-old congressman was first elected to serve in Florida’s 10th district in 2022.
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Southeast
College soccer star, girlfriend dead as illegal immigrant’s record ignites lawmaker fury statewide
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Lawmakers are voicing outrage as family and friends mourn a college soccer player and his girlfriend who were killed in a DUI crash allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant.
The case is reigniting debate over immigration enforcement and whether failures in the system contributed to the deaths of Fletcher Harris, 20, and Skylar Provenza, 19.
Prosecutors say Juan Alvarado Aguilar, 37, was driving under the influence when his vehicle slammed into the couple’s car on Friday, Jan. 16, killing them both and devastating their families and community. As mourners gather to say goodbye to Provenza and Harris, whose funeral was held Thursday, lawmakers are pointing to Aguilar’s immigration status and alleged criminal history as evidence of broader public safety failures they say demand immediate action.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Harris said the case highlights what he described as the deadly consequences of sanctuary policies and failures to enforce immigration laws. Harris argued the couple’s deaths were preventable and blamed state and local leadership for allowing the suspect to remain in the country and on the road.
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A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Harris, 20, was killed in a car crash on Jan. 16, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
“Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza—two bright young lives full of promise—were brutally taken in a head-on crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien with a prior DUI who never should have been on our roads,” Harris said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is the deadly cost of North Carolina’s sanctuary policies and radical Democrat refusal to enforce the law.”
Harris also questioned the lack of public response, suggesting the reaction would be far different in other cases.
“Where’s the outrage? Where are the protests? If this were any other tragedy, the streets would be filled—but when criminal aliens kill Americans, the silence from the Left is deafening.”
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A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
Authorities say the deadly crash occurred just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 16 in Rowan County, North Carolina, when a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Aguilar crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the car carrying Harris and Provenza. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said officers noted a strong odor of alcohol and that Aguilar appeared unsteady on his feet when he was arrested.
Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Aguilar had a prior driving-while-impaired charge from 2020 that was dismissed by a district attorney, a procedural move that has drawn renewed scrutiny following the deadly crash. Prosecutors also told the court that Aguilar had two prior failures to appear, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has been placed on him.
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Juan Alvarado Aguilar is shown in a booking photo released by authorities. Police said Aguilar, 37, was identified as the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado involved in a DUI crash that killed two people. (Rowan County Sheriff’s Office)
Aguilar now faces two counts of felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and other charges, and is being held on a bond of more than $5 million.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall said the deaths hit close to home and blamed what he described as failures in federal immigration enforcement.
“I think it’s a failure of policy, and it’s a failure under the Biden administration, where essentially he allowed open borders,” Hall said. He argued that Democrats have taken the position that “no one should be deported, even those who are committing serious crimes,” adding that the suspect had previously been charged with DWI before the fatal crash.
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Hall pushed back against claims that North Carolina is a sanctuary state, pointing to legislative action taken in recent years to require cooperation with federal immigration authorities. He said that prior to 2018, all sheriffs in the state worked with ICE, but that changed after several Democratic sheriffs stopped honoring ICE detainers.
Republican lawmakers responded by passing legislation mandating cooperation with ICE, bills that were initially vetoed by then-Gov. Roy Cooper before lawmakers overrode the vetoes.
“So in this state right now, when somebody is charged with a crime, and they’re here illegally and ICE wants to take custody of that person, the local county sheriff has to do that,” Hall said.
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Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza are shown in a photo taken before their deaths. The two were killed in a DUI crash, according to authorities. (Instagram/ skylar_provenza)
Hall argued that enforcement later broke down at the federal level, despite state laws remaining in place, saying ICE under the Biden administration often failed to take custody of illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
He said stronger coordination between state and federal authorities is critical to preventing similar tragedies, crediting renewed enforcement efforts under the Trump administration and emphasizing the need for continued cooperation.
Reflecting on the victims, Hall said lawmakers are focused on preventing future losses.
“Know that we’re fighting very hard to make sure this never happens to anyone again,” he said.
Harris was a standout student-athlete at Catawba College, where he played soccer and made the dean’s list. Provenza had just graduated in Esthetics from Dermacademy and was set to start her career at Datre Hair Co., according to her obituary.
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In a Facebook post, Provenza’s mother urged the public to reject hatred and honor the couple’s lives with love.
“Remember them. Remember love. Remember justice, and the Lord’s plan will prevail,” she wrote. “Hate will never bring them back. While my heart is broken, I pray for this world that we live in. Evil never wins, but love always will.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the North Carolina Democratic Party for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southeast
Florida attorney general demands nursing board revoke license of nurse who wished injury on Karoline Leavitt
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Florida attorney general James Uthmeier is calling for the Florida Board of Nursing to revoke the license of a woman after she said she hoped White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers a severe injury in childbirth.
“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“It’s evil,” he added. “The Florida Board of Nursing must take action to keep this person away from patients permanently.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is expecting her second child this year. (Andrew Harnik)
In a video posted on TikTok, Lexie Lawler, a former labor and delivery nurse at Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, said, “As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth degree tear.”
She continued with explicit language, saying she hoped Leavitt would suffer a permanent injury during childbirth.
“I hope you f——- rip from bow to stern and never s— normally again, you c—,” she said.
In December, Leavitt announced that she and her husband Nick are expecting a baby girl due in May, who will join their first son, Niko, born in July 2024.
Lawler was subsequently fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
The hospital told Fox News Digital that her comments “do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals,” but Lawler has since defended her remarks in another video, and appeared to reference an unrelated shooting in Minnesota while responding to criticism over her comments.
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“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically-driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“So they just murdered a man in Minnesota, they murdered a man in Minnesota, and you mother——- are coming after me because I used bad language? F— you. I’m on the right side of this. F— you.”
A “GoFundMe” has been set up for Lawler which has raised nearly $5,000 with a goal of $14,000.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Florida Board of Nursing and Lawler for comment.
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A GoFundMe has been set up for Lawler which has raised over $4,000 with a goal of $14,000. (Photo illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
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