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House Democrat lashes out when grilled on whether socialist victories would threaten Dem unity

2026-06-26 5:01pm EDT / Fox News

Rep John Larson, D-Conn., expressed confidence Jeffries can manage ideological tension inside the caucus

By Alec Schemmel, Chad Pergram, Fox News

Published June 26, 2026 5:01pm EDT | Updated June 26, 2026 5:58pm EDT

WATCH: House Dem clashes with Fox reporter over socialist candidates’ threat to Jeffries speakership

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., got into a heated exchange with Fox News’ Chad Pergram over whether the DSA-affiliated candidates who won in New York City’s primaries could create headaches for House Democrats and a possible Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.

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Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., clashed with Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill while being pressed on whether Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates who won New York primaries this week could threaten Democratic unity and complicate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ path to the speakership.

The exchange came after several socialist candidates won Democratic nominations in New York City this week, fueling questions about whether the party’s left flank could complicate Democrats’ messaging and create new headaches for Jeffries if Democrats win back control of the House.

Larson defended New York voters’ right to choose their nominees and repeatedly expressed confidence that Jeffries, D-N.Y., could manage any new ideological tension inside the House Democratic Caucus, while also saying he opposes antisemitism and agreeing that some DSA positions are not very American.

“Isn’t it going to create hassles here on Capitol Hill? For Jeffries?” Larson was asked.

SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP

WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 5: Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., arrives for the House Ways and Means Committee “Hearing with the IRS Whistleblowers: Hunter Biden Investigation Obstruction in Their Own Words” in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“ The voters of New York make up their own mind. We don’t control voters of New York. In America, in a free Democratic-Republic, people get to choose their elective representatives,” Larson shot back. “The people of New York have made a decision. The people in Wyoming make decisions too, the people in other states make decisions. That’s the way democracy works.”

Pressed on whether DSA-affiliated candidates coming to Capitol Hill would create division and dissension inside the House Democratic Caucus, Larson said Jeffries will “bring everybody together,” arguing he has been able to adequately handle numerous challenges thus far and will do so again with anymore that come his way.

“Hakeem Jeffries is the greatest leader that we can have, because he will bring everybody together, as he has with the 11 separate, different caucuses and more in the Democratic caucus already,” Larson responded.

Larson was then pressed on whether the DSA-backed candidates could present a new kind of challenge for Jeffries, particularly as he tries to become Speaker.

DNC CHAIR DOWNPLAYS SOCIALIST–MODERATE RIFT AS MAMDANI’S RISE HAS SOME DEMS RATTLED

“There was some argument out there that, you know, if this was Nancy Pelosi some years ago at the height of her powers, she’d be able to finesse this — he’s never been Speaker,” Pergram posited to Larson.

“Well, she wasn’t Speaker for a long time either, but she became Speaker and she did an outstanding job. Jeffries is going to be an outstanding Speaker because of his ability to bring people together,” Larson said back.

“Is there any backlash in the caucus about — and again, these are folks from New York, [Jeffries] is from New York, right? Schumer’s from New York — that this could undercut some of them. If others in the party think that these folks are going to drag them too far to the left?” Pergram continued to press.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES CONFRONTED ON ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ CHANTS FOLLOWING NY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST VICTORIES

Rep. John Larson-D, Conn, and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, greet fans as they walk to their seats at RFK stadium during the annual congressional baseball game one year in D.C.(Philip Scott Andrews/Roll Call/Getty Images)

“Hakeem Jeffries will be the Speaker of the House, plain and simple,” Larson shot back. “And why? Because he’s demonstrated his leadership and he’s held the most diverse caucus ever assembled in the history of the world together.And that’s what he’s great at, and that’s what it’ll continue to do.”

Larson was also pressed on whether Democrats would distance themselves from candidates or groups accused of holding antisemitic views.

“Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” Pergram asked.

“The people in New York chose the candidates they did,” Larson replied.

When pressed again, Larson said, “Am I against antisemitism? If that’s your question,” making clear he opposed antisemitism while continuing to argue that voters had the right to choose their nominees.

DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER SLAMS MAMDANI, SAYS PARTY SHOULD HAVE ‘ZERO PATIENCE’ FOR ‘INTIFADA’ RHETORIC

Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King’s Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The exchange continued as Larson was grilled on the DSA statement that he said called for eliminating the Senate and having the House choose the president and the Supreme Court.

“That’s the DSA,” Larson said. “The people of New York decide who their elected officials are. The people of Connecticut decide who their elected officials are.”

Asked whether that sounded radical, Larson said, “A lot of people sound radical to me. Radical on the left. Radical on the right. What’s your point?”

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“Should you stand out and argue against saying, ‘Hey, we shouldn’t have people, you know, throw out the Senate. Eliminate the Senate? That’s not very American,” Pergram proposed back.

“I don’t think that’s very American either,” Larson said before he disengaged and took questions from another reporter.

Alec Schemmel is a Politics Reporter for Fox News Digital who is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but now resides in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore Metro Area.

Trump ramps up attacks on Democrats as ‘godless Communists’ ahead of November’s midterms

2026-06-26T22:35:54.500Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/26/politics/trump-communists-democrats-attack

President Donald Trump on Friday seized on the electoral success of several democratic socialist candidates to ramp up his attacks on the Democratic Party, claiming it was being taken over by “godless Communists” who pose an existential threat to the nation.

The heated rhetoric marked the latest bid by Trump to portray Democrats as political extremists ahead of November’s midterms — even though portrayals of even the party’s most liberal candidates as “communists” are far from reality.

“These are hard core, godless Communists,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier on Friday, an accusation he repeated during remarks to a gathering of social conservatives. “This is the Greatest Threat to our Country since its Founding 250 years ago!”

The president’s stepped up bid to label Democrats as communists follows New York’s Democratic primary earlier this week, which saw voters in three deep blue districts select self-identified democratic socialists as their candidates for Congress.

Those primary wins came on the heels of New York’s election of another democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, for mayor. Democrats could send still more to Congress by the time November’s races are set, with hopefuls on the ballot in several states across the country.

It’s a movement that appears set to push the Democratic Party further to the left. Yet the tenets of socialism — much less democratic socialism — are still far removed from the communist ideology that Trump has loudly, and inaccurately, portrayed as a rising threat.

The democratic socialists rising within the Democratic Party are advocating for major policy changes within the US’ already established capitalist system, chiefly through a significant bolstering of the social safety net. That includes directing greater public funding toward guaranteeing health care for all citizens, providing far more in housing assistance and relying on the government to a much greater degree to lift peoples’ quality of life.

The main tradeoff for those benefits is higher taxes, especially on the wealthy, which democratic socialists contend is necessary to ensure a more balanced and equal society.

That’s a view that has raised the ire of Republicans, and even factions within the Democratic Party, who are opposed to such change — or believe that it’s more prudent to make change incrementally.

Yet even that aggressive platform is far from what would typically be defined as communism, which envisions a government-less, class-less society where resources are distributed evenly no matter how hard or well any individuals work. Implementing such an ideology would first require effectively dismantling capitalism — a step that no leading Democrats see as preferable or feasible.

Those clear differences between democratic socialism and communism aren’t likely to deter Trump, whose party faces an uphill battle in retaining full control of Congress. On Friday, speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s 2026 Policy Conference, he warned that Democrats’ “communist” policies would lead to societal collapse — and possibly even violence.

“I’m sorry to say, but assassination is a big deal for them,” he said, speaking at the same Washington, DC, hotel where earlier this year a gunman who authorities say was attempting to kill him was subdued. “They’re animals in many cases.”

The president also cast the struggle against communism in religious terms, referencing violence against Christians in Nigeria and warning of dire consequences domestically.

“They will close your churches in this country. They go communist, and they’re trying to. They will kill your people, and that’s what they’re about. They want to end religion,” he said.

It was a sharp contrast compared to his evaluation just days earlier of the leader of an actual communist country: China’s Xi Jinping.

“He’s a very smart man,” Trump told Axios in an interview published last week. “You don’t get to those levels where you are running a country, even if it was a small country, you have something special.”

Trump tries out midterms message that focuses on ‘communists’

June 26, 2026 at 4:34 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

The president, responding to democratic socialist victories in New York, used similar language throughout the 2024 campaign.

President Donald Trump speaks during a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference Friday in Washington. (Tyler M. Andrews/The Washington Post)

By Isaac Arnsdorf and Natalie Allison

President Donald Trump denounced Democrats as communists after self-described democratic socialists won primaries in New York this week, previewing a new emphasis for his campaigning in this year’s midterms.

伊朗革命卫队称打击区内美军据点 回应美军新一轮袭击

2026年6月27日 07:51 / 联合早报

一艘悬挂新加坡国旗的集装箱船6月24日穿越霍尔木兹海峡时遭到袭击，美军26日袭击伊朗目标作为回应。 （路透社示意图）

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队星期六（6月27日）说，打击区内美军军事据点，以回应美国对伊朗发起的新一轮袭击。

路透社报道，伊朗革命卫队并没有透露打击目标的具体细节。

伊朗半官方媒体“学生通讯社”（ISNA）早前刊登一份据称来自革命卫队的声明，称伊朗革命卫队对美国的还击将“迅速且果断”，但这则声明随后被删除。

美国总统特朗普26日指责伊朗袭击穿越霍尔木兹海峡的货船，违反了停火协议，美军随后对伊朗发动空袭。

美国中央司令部说，美军26日对伊朗发动袭击，以回应前一天伊朗袭击一艘穿越霍尔木兹海峡的商船。美军袭击目标是伊朗的导弹和无人机储存设施以及沿海雷达站。目前尚不清楚此次袭击造成的损失程度。

一艘悬挂新加坡国旗的集装箱船长丽轮（Ever Lovely）24日在阿曼湾遭到袭击，这似乎是自德黑兰与华盛顿上周签署初步和平协议以来，已知的第一起伊朗针对商船的袭击。联合国国际海事组织（IMO）随后宣布暂停在霍尔木兹海峡疏散滞留船舶的行动。长丽轮为台湾长荣海运公司旗下集装箱船。

Pete Buttigieg says he was separated from his children after false report was phoned in

June 26, 2026 / 5:43 PM EDT / CBS News

Former presidential candidate and Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday his family was targeted by a false report to Child Protective Services that led to 24 hours of confusion and separation from his 4-year-old twins overnight.

Michigan State Police said in a statement that the police and Child Protective Services “determined the report was false,” and condemned false reports to law enforcement. Buttigieg lamented the psychological stress to him, his husband, Chasten, and their twins. Swatting attempts — false calls intended to sic law enforcement on a target’s home — have become increasingly common for political and public figures.

Several days ago, Buttigieg said Friday in a post on Substack, a team from Child Protective Services showed up to his house and said an allegation had been leveled against him concerning the twins, whom the couple adopted in 2021.

“I was bewildered and troubled, but tried to stay calm,” Buttigieg wrote. “I’m used to any number of falsehoods, attacks, and serious problems being thrown my way. What I didn’t understand was what could have led to this kind of visit. Then, the CPS worker told me something that made my stomach turn: I was not to be alone around the children, at least until the interview took place the next day. They asked if I had relatives nearby or could perhaps stay at a hotel for the night.”

Buttigieg said he and his husband, Chasten, were left in the dark about the allegations as they agreed to send the children to their grandparents’ home overnight.

“The 24 hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life. I tried to get my head around the idea that I had been accused of something so serious that I couldn’t be alone around my own children, and had consented to have them interviewed by strangers, without my knowing where the accusation had come from or even what it contained,” he wrote.

After local authorities probed the situation and spoke to the twins, an officer explained what the allegation was during Buttigieg’s formal interview.

“An anonymous caller had contacted CPS,” Buttigieg said. “The caller said that he had spoken to a woman who claimed to have met me at a conference several years ago in Alabama, where she said I told her that I had committed unspeakable violent crimes, and the caller believed my children were still at risk. That was all.”

Buttigieg — who called the authorities who visited his home “courteous and professional” — said he told the police officer he had never been to the town where the accuser claimed to have met him.

“Then the officer made clear that he believed this was politically motivated, and said it would not be referred to a prosecutor. Nothing in the forensic interview with the children, which was conducted by trained personnel, had led to concerns,” the former presidential candidate continued. “After the officer spoke, the CPS worker likewise indicated she had not found anything to substantiate the allegation, though her process would take a bit longer to be formally completed.”

In a statement to CBS News, the Michigan State Police said it received an “anonymous report” this week, and the law enforcement agency and Child Protective Services “responded and determined the report was false.”

“False reports are dangerous and divert law enforcement officers and Child Protective Services workers from responding to legitimate emergencies and protecting vulnerable children and families,” the Michigan State Police added.

Buttigieg lamented the motivation behind the false report, adding it’s “not lost on me that this happened soon after we shared photos of our family on social media for Father’s Day,” and during pride month.

“I am a reasonable man,” Buttigieg wrote. “I try to keep as calm and low-key as possible. But I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this. They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is. They don’t know how politics works. They don’t know about hate.”

Trump says he will repair National Mall reflecting pool after July 4

June 26, 2026 7:16 PM UTC / Reuters

By Steve Holland

June 26, 2026 7:16 PM UTC Updated 13 mins ago

Construction continues at Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C., U.S., June 25, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Friday he ​would repair the National Mall reflecting ‌pool after July 4, as the landmark remains under heightened security and surveillance amid ongoing ​controversy over its renovation and emerging ​maintenance problems.

The reflecting pool, located between ⁠the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington ​Monument, was the subject of a roughly $14 ​million Trump-directed renovation that aimed to restore and recolor the basin ahead of the nation’s 250th ​anniversary, but has since drawn scrutiny ​after reports of algae growth, peeling surface material and ‌visible ⁠deterioration just weeks after completion.

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Trump has blamed dark-of-night saboteurs for the issues with the project. While no evidence has ​emerged to ​support ⁠Trump’s claim that a vandal cut a 350-foot (107-meter) gash in the ​pool, a National Park Service ​official said ⁠in a sworn court statement late on Wednesday that on June 9, U.S. Park ⁠Police ​examined apparent intentional damage ​to the pool.

Reporting By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; ​editing by Michelle Nichols and Sanjev Miglani

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Federal arson case in Los Angeles’ deadly Palisades fire ends in mistrial

2026-06-26 / Reuters

LOS ANGELES, June 26 (Reuters) – A federal judge declared a mistrial on Friday in the arson case ​brought against the man accused of deliberately setting a blaze that grew into one of the deadliest, most destructive wildfires ever in Los Angeles, but prosecutors vowed to retry the suspect.

All three felony counts leveled against ‌Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, were dismissed after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal, and unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the charges.

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The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, swiftly announced his office would seek to renew its case against Rinderknecht, a former Uber driver of dual U.S.-French citizenship who once lived in the fire zone.

“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire. We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain ​guilty verdicts on all charged counts,” Essayli said in a statement posted on X.

Rinderknecht has been jailed since his arrest in Florida in October 2025, and U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang ordered him to remain in custody ​pending a mid-July status conference in the case. A re-trial date was tentatively set for October 19.

Defense lawyer Steve Haney told reporters outside the downtown LA courthouse that his ⁠client was innocent and would win an even more favorable result in a second trial.

“Ten to two (for not guilty) is an overwhelming message from the jury that the government failed and did not have enough evidence to prove their case,” Haney ​said, ruling out the possibility of a plea agreement to settle the case.

“Absolutely no deal. They’re not going to offer one. We’re not going to have any conversations. He didn’t do it,” Haney said.

TRIAL FEATURED COMPETING NARRATIVES

The mistrial capped a high-profile, three-week trial ​in which prosecutors branded Rinderknecht a malcontent loner who channeled the rage he felt toward the rich and society at large into an act of arson.

The defense countered by suggesting Rinderknecht was made a scapegoat for the failings of the fire department. Defense attorneys disputed the official origin story of a conflagration that killed 12 people and laid waste to the upscale seaside enclave of Pacific Palisades.

He had pleaded not guilty to all charges in October’s three-count indictment: destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and burning timber on public land.

Rinderknecht ​declined to testify in his own defense during the trial. He would face a penalty of up to 45 years in prison if found guilty as charged.

Jurors informed the judge in a note on Thursday that they were stalemated after 13 hours of deliberations, the ​Los Angeles City News Service and other local news media reported.

The judge sent the jurors home for the night, then declared a mistrial on Friday morning after jurors insisted again that they were deadlocked.

FIRE RANKED AMONG CALIFORNIA’S DEADLIEST

Rinderknecht was accused of starting a brush fire that ‌was suppressed relatively ⁠quickly but kept smoldering underground beneath dense scrub before re-igniting six days later, on January 7. Fierce winds whipped the blaze into the devastating Palisades fire.

Nearly 7,000 homes and other structures went up in flames, with property losses estimated at $150 billion.

The disaster coincided with another catastrophic wind-driven wildfire, apparently sparked by a downed power line, which erupted on January 7 in Eaton Canyon about 30 miles inland, killing 19 people and ravaging the suburban Los Angeles community of Altadena.

Rinderknecht was the only person criminally charged in connection with either of the two blazes, which together rank as the deadliest wildfire calamity in Los Angeles County history, surpassing the 29 lives lost in the Griffith Park fire of 1933.

DEFENSE POINTED TO FIREWORKS

Haney, the defense lawyer, sought to convince jurors that the hilltop New Year’s ​Day blaze near a trail at the edge of Santa ​Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was triggered by holiday ⁠fireworks, not Rinderknecht. Haney also argued that the massive Palisades fire was a separate arson fire perpetrated by someone other than his client.

The prosecution case had hinged on arson investigators’ official determination that the Palisades catastrophe sprang from a “holdover fire” — a blaze that keeps burning at low intensity below the soil line after it is presumed extinguished.

In this case, prosecutors said, the fire ​originally set by Rinderknecht continued smoldering in a thicket of roots beneath the surface, undetected for nearly a week, before hurricane-force Santa Ana winds fanned the flames back above ​ground.

Security camera footage and geolocation data ⁠from Rinderknecht’s own cellphone established he was the only person in the vicinity of the fire when it erupted shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, according to prosecutors.

‘SOCIETAL REVENGE’

Rinderknecht told investigators under questioning prior to his arrest that he was walking alone in the area at the time the fire began and may have smoked a cigarette or two in a nearby clearing, but he denied setting any fire, according to trial testimony cited by CNS.

In terms of motive, prosecutors cast Rinderknecht as a malcontent resentful of the ⁠wealthy and driven ​to channel his quest for “societal revenge” and anger over failed relationships and financial struggles into an act of arson.

Jurors listened to a recording from ​portions of a rambling interview Rinderknecht gave to arson investigators in which he blamed corporate executives for an “unbalanced” system, telling the agents, “this is what I disrupted.”

Testimony also pointed to a fixation with fire, including images in a French-language rap music video that prosecutors said Rinderknecht repeatedly watched depicting the singer setting things ​ablaze, and footage Rinderknecht took with his cellphone of the New Year’s fire while it was burning.

Reporting by Matt Silverstein in Los Angeles; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Portland, Oregon; Editing by Kevin Buckland, Matthew Lewis and David Gregorio

Utah judge finds prosecutor in contempt of court in Kirk case

June 26, 2026 4:28 PM UTC / Updated 3 hours ago / Reuters

Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard attends a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, at the 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, U.S., June 12, 2026. Francisco Kjolseth/Pool via REUTERS

June 26 (Reuters) – A Utah judge on Friday found a prosecutor violated court rules with comments he made to a media ​outlet about the presumed guilt of Tyler Robinson, the ‌man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

District Court Judge Tony Graf ordered measures to prevent the comments by Utah County prosecutor Christopher Ballard from ​tainting potential jurors should the case go to trial.

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But Graf ​rejected a request by defense lawyers that he penalize ⁠the prosecution for Ballard’s comments by blocking them from seeking ​the death penalty for Robinson.

Ballard spoke to media outlets regarding speculation ​that test results of a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body could exonerate Robinson. The test of the fragment gave “inconclusive” results that the bullet was fired ​from a rifle that Robinson’s DNA was allegedly found on.

Graf ​ruled that Ballard was in “civil contempt” of court rules regarding communication with media ‌when ⁠he told news site TMZ that, irrespective of the test results, prosecutors had ample evidence to prove Robinson was guilty.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Robinson should he be convicted of Kirk’s ​murder on September ​10, 2025.

Robinson, 23, ⁠was studying to be an electrician at the time of the shooting. He is accused of ​firing a single round from a rooftop, striking Kirk ​as ⁠he debated with students at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Kirk was credited with mobilizing young voters who helped President Donald Trump win the ⁠2024 ​election. His assassination on stage in front ​of thousands of people was a shocking display of rising political violence in the ​U.S.

blob:https://www.reuters.com/6834a03f-4bef-4aba-bfe9-27b8537c9831

Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by David Gregorio

US CDC raises Ebola outbreak response to highest level

2026-06-26 17:19:42 / Reuters

A sign sits outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Megan Varner//File Photo

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. CDC raised its response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic ​Republic of Congo to its highest level on Friday, but said the risk ‌of the disease spreading in the United States remained low.

The move, reserved for the most severe health crises, signals growing concern over the rare strain’s rapid spread.

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The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has infected over ​1,200 people in Congo, including 321 deaths, and 20 cases in neighboring Uganda, ​reaching the highest first-month total of any episode of the disease, the ⁠World Health Organization said this week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its emergency ​activation to Level 1, its most severe designation, which is reserved for critical emergencies and assigns ​the largest number of staff possible to work the response.

Previous Level 1 responses include Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2009-2010 swine flu outbreak, the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the 2016-2017 Zika virus ​outbreak.

The CDC has deployed 19 staff members overseas so far to assist its country ​teams with the response on the ground, Dr. Satish Pillai, the incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response, ‌said ⁠in a briefing.

They are assisting over 125 people already on the ground as part of the CDC’s Congo and Uganda country offices, and the health ministries in both countries with data analysis, exit screenings at airports, laboratory support, and training, he said.

The CDC is also ​providing financial resources to ​partners on the ⁠ground and has trained 25 local field epidemiologists who can operate in areas that its staff cannot access, Pillai said.

The agency said ​last week it would make available $107 million in emergency funding to strengthen ​its response ⁠efforts.

The White House is seeking more than $1.4 billion in new funds from Congress to address the widening outbreak, including $800 million for a quarantine center in Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus, ⁠a Trump ​administration official told Reuters on Thursday.

The U.S. is sending ​doses of an experimental Ebola treatment to Africa and preparing to deploy 2,500 diagnostic tests to help contain the ​outbreak, health officials said on Friday.

Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Caroline Humer and Sanjeev Miglani

US judge won’t immediately dismiss criminal charges against India’s Adani

2026-06-26 18:18 UTC / Reuters

By Luc Cohen

June 26, 2026 6:18 PM UTC Updated 7 mins ago

[1/2]Indian billionaire Gautam Adani attends the 51st Gems and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, India, November 30, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

• Judge gives prosecutors until July 13 to ​justify dismissal
• Justice Department said last month it would no longer pursue ‌the prosecution
• Adani’s lawyer argued case was beyond the reach of US law

NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ordered the Justice Department on Friday to justify its decision ​to drop criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, declining to ​rule immediately on Adani’s lawyers’ request earlier in the week ⁠to formally dismiss the case.

Adani was charged in 2024 with agreeing to ​bribe Indian government officials so a subsidiary of his Adani Group could win ​approval to develop a solar plant, and then misleading U.S. investors by providing reassuring information about his company’s anti-corruption practices.

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Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing.

The Justice Department said last ​month it would no longer pursue the prosecution. Adani’s lawyers asked Brooklyn-based ​U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis on Wednesday to formally dismiss the case.

In a written ruling ‌published ⁠to the court docket, Garaufis said federal prosecutors’ notice that they would abandon the case did not sufficiently explain their decision and gave them a July 13 deadline to submit more information.

“The Government’s terse, bland and conclusory statement ​affords the court neither ​a sufficient ⁠basis to reach any conclusion, nor the opportunity to conduct any analysis of the Government’s request for dismissal,” Garaufis ​wrote.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office, which brought ​the charges, ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Robert Giuffra, a lawyer for Adani, referred to the letter he wrote to Garaufis on Wednesday, arguing the ⁠case ​should be dismissed because it was beyond the ​reach of U.S. law and because prosecutors would be unable to prove the alleged bribery in ​India.

Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul, Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.