NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Good morning and welcome to Fox News’ morning newsletter, Fox News First. And here’s what you need to know to start your day …TOP 31. NBA star blasts NYC’s Mamdani as ‘mayor playing president’ 2. Iran rejects talks as Trump pauses 2-week bombing campaign3. GOP rep calls to ‘clean house’ at the SmithsonianMAJOR HEADLINES CROWD PANIC — Multiple people dead after gunfire breaks out at Seattle festival. Continue reading … THE INTENT TEST — Mother accused of strangling 3 kids heads to trial with one question looming. Continue reading … VANISHING ACT — Couple said their missing baby was a hoax, but police say evidence tells another story. Continue reading …ISLAND MYSTERY — Search enters fifth day after North Carolina woman vanishes during Caribbean getaway. Continue reading … FULL THROTTLE — Haitian TPS clock runs out as ICE gears up for a sweeping enforcement crackdown. Continue reading …–POLITICS FULL DISCLOSURE — Inside Fauci’s private diary: What he privately wrote about Trump, TV personalities and celebrities. Continue reading … AMERICA FIRST? — House Republican says the Iran war has ‘significantly weakened’ America. Continue reading …FULL DISCLOSURE — From ‘a bit of a loose…

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — U.S. President Donald Trump is still holding off approval of a $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, a potential military rival to Beijing. He pulled back in May after meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who opposes U.S. military aid to Taiwan.But on July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that includes $500 million in Foreign Military Financing for Taiwan, one in a chain of Pacific Rim allies that U.S. officials have long seen as a buffer against Chinese military expansion.While the half-billion-dollar allocation in the 2027 fiscal year appropriations bill does not commit money to a particular arms package, analysts say it’s a sign that the Republican Party-dominated Congress values the defense of Taiwan in case China ever attacks with its larger armed forces, and that Washington intends to fulfill at least older arms purchase deals.“This $500 million Foreign Military Funding demonstrates that Congress has not reduced its security support for Taiwan following the Trump-Xi meeting and reflects Congress’s desire to avoid long-term constraints on military aid to Taiwan due to White House negotiations with China through appropriations and delivery requirements,” said Huang Chung-ting, associate research fellow with the Institute for…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky argued Sunday that the war with Iran has “weakened” the United States.”The U.S. has been significantly weakened by the war with Iran,” the congressman wrote in a Sunday post on X.”This administration depleted our missile defenses, drained our oil reserves, sacrificed our men & women, inflated the price of consumer goods, increased our debt, and neglected our domestic needs…” he continued, adding, “all for Israel.”Some parts of Massie’s criticism align with publicly reported effects of the conflict. The Energy Department authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while news reports and congressional spending measures have pointed to heavy demand for U.S. missile-defense systems and billions of dollars in additional defense funding. His broader assertion that the United States has been “significantly weakened” is a political judgment.HOUSE REPUBLICAN THOMAS MASSIE SUGGESTS OBAMACARE COULD NOW BE LABELED ‘TRUMPCARE’ Fox News Digital reached out to the White House early on Monday morning to request a comment.Massie, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 13 years, lost the May Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to President Donald Trump-backed…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! These days, nobody does it better than Japan — especially from an American alliance perspective. From standing up to Chinese and Russian aggression to securing reliable supply chains, Japan and America are working together better, and with more urgency to coordinate and cooperate, than any other alliance around the world. In fact, Japan has pushed all its chips into the middle of the table to make an enormous existential bet on America. It’s time to say out loud what policymakers already acknowledge behind closed doors: for the United States, Japan has become the new special relationship in the world’s most important region.Americans will always have a unique fondness for the United Kingdom where our history, values, and the bond of shared bloodshed, alongside family ties, will keep us forever close. And our intelligence relationship, which has no parallel in the world, will continue to make our alliance enormously beneficial to both Washington and London. However, in terms of pure military and economic value, the UK alliance provides far less than Japan. Given London’s recent economic pandering to Beijing, it has also become a far less reliable ally across the Indo-Pacific.Geography matters. Japan,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! An elderly man reportedly died Thursday after suffering a medical emergency on a popular hiking trail in California’s Sequoia National Park.The victim was identified as 79-year-old John Francis Oliver of Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said, according to Your Central Valley.Oliver was found along the General Sherman Tree Trail, a one-mile path that leads to the world’s largest living tree, the General Sherman Tree, according to the outlet, citing the National Park Service (NPS).First responders rendered emergency medical aid to Oliver at the scene, but the man was eventually pronounced dead in the park, according to SFGATE.CAUSE OF DEATH REVEALED FOR BIG SUR HIKER WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND NAKED ON REMOTE CALIFORNIA TRAIL The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office declined to release additional details about what led to the medical emergency or the circumstances surrounding Oliver’s death “out of respect for the family,” SFGATE reported.The man’s cause of death has also not yet been determined.PARK VISITORS FACE FLOOD DANGER OUT WEST WHILE SEVERE STORMS RIP THROUGH NY, NJ The incident came as temperatures in the region climbed into the upper 90s, according to the National Weather…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A circus performer was airlifted to a hospital after his colleague missed her target and hit him in the neck with an arrow while performing in New York, according to authorities.The incident happened as Edwin Cuervo Rangel, 38, and Ana Daza Tavera, 42, were performing at the Orange County Fair in the town of Wallkill at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, New York State Police said in a press release.Cuervo Rangel and Daza Tavera are married, according to News 12.The two performers from Wisconsin were doing a stunt when Daza Tavera shot an arrow at a foam target that Cuervo Rangel was holding, according to police.TOURIST DIES AT LUXURY RESORT AFTER COBRA FROM SNAKE SHOW CLIMBS UP PANTS, BITES HIM: POLICE The arrow struck and injured Cuervo Rangel, police said.Cuervo Rangel was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center in stable condition.No other injuries were reported.A ringmaster for the traveling show company, Circus Murcia, later said the arrow hit Cuervo Rangel in his neck.”Well, last night, unfortunately, when she shot the crossbow, it caught him in his neck,” Circus Murcia Ringmaster Benjamin Jackson told News 12.LOUISIANA WOMAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER ROPE SWING MISHAP ON CRUISE…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Florida couple accused of claiming their missing infant never existed has been arrested in North Carolina after a yearlong investigation into the child’s presumed death.Leon Alejandro Jr., 21, and Samantha Feliz, 20, both of Hollywood, Florida, were arrested Wednesday in Rockingham, North Carolina, where investigators say they fled while Hollywood police investigated the disappearance of their infant.The pair were taken into custody by investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service and booked into the Richmond County Jail on fugitive of justice warrants. They are being held without bond pending extradition to Florida.Hollywood police began investigating the case in early 2025 after learning Feliz allegedly gave birth sometime between Dec. 6, 2024, and Jan. 5, 2025, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.DNA FROM SODA BOTTLE ALLEGEDLY LINKS MASSACHUSETTS WOMAN TO 1985 MURDER OF ‘BABY BOY DOE’ Authorities said the birth was concealed and happened somewhere other than a hospital.Investigators said family members saw the couple with the baby during the child’s first month of life. After that, authorities said, the infant was never seen again.According to an arrest warrant obtained by WPLG, investigators believe the child,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Two suspects were taken into custody after two people were killed and multiple others were wounded Sunday in a mass shooting at the Seattle Center, according to Mayor Katie Wilson and police.Wilson called the shooting “an act of horrific violence.””Impacted families are living through the worst moment of their lives, and an entire community is trying to understand how a gathering built around culture, connection, and joy ended in gunfire,” Wilson said in a statement. “No one should have to weigh the risk of being shot before attending an event, gathering with friends, or experiencing their city.”Police and emergency crews began arriving at the center shortly after 6 p.m. The venue was hosting the Bite of Seattle food festival over the weekend.MULTIPLE INJURED AFTER FLOATPLANE MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING, CATCHES FIRE OFF WASHINGTON COAST “Please avoid the area,” Seattle Police wrote on X.The Seattle Fire Department said two people were pronounced dead at the scene after attempting life-saving procedures.Three other victims, including a 2-year-old, were transported to a hospital in stable condition, while a fourth victim was taken to the hospital in serious condition.A fifth victim with minor injuries declined to be transported…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Katy Perry blasted the White House for using her hit 2010 song “Firework” in a TikTok video without her permission, years after the pop star sold the majority of her music catalog in a reported $225 million deal.On Thursday, the White House TikTok account shared a video featuring black and white footage of recent military strikes on Iranian targets, timed to the “boom, boom, boom” lyric from “Firework.””Iran has been warned,” the caption read, along with a firework emoji.POP STAR OLIVIA RODRIGO FELT ‘ENRAGED’ AFTER ICE USED HER HIT SONG, BRANDS AGENCY ‘BARBARIC’In an X, formerly Twitter, post that she shared on Saturday, the 41-year-old pop star condemned the inclusion of her song in the clip.”I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes,” Perry wrote. “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.” “I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” she continued. “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A federal judge last week drew a sharp line around President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, ruling the broadcaster can probe how Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech was understood by the public — but cannot relitigate the riot at the U.S. Capitol itself.The ruling was handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett as the BBC faces continued scrutiny over a 2024 “Panorama” documentary about Trump’s speech on Jan. 6.The documentary — titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” — was subsequently labeled as misleading by critics who noticed it omitted Trump’s call for supporters to protest peacefully at the Capitol. The documentary stitched together remarks Trump made nearly an hour apart during his address that made it appear as if he had told his supporters to “fight like hell” down at the Capitol — the comments were actually out of context — shortly before the Capitol riot that day. “All of the impressions that were received by President Trump’s statements on Jan 6 are at issue,” Lett said at the hearing, according to reports. “The full relitigation of Jan. 6 is not at issue.”TRUMP, BBC AGREE ON MEDIATOR FOR $10…