Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied China’s claim the Golden Dome would turn space into a "war zone."

"All we care about is protecting the homeland," Hegseth told Fox News Digital while departing from a trip to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

President Donald Trump has said for a long time defense of the homeland is critical to his "America First" policy, and the Golden Dome is a generational investment. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning claimed this week the Golden Dome has a "strong offensive nature and violates the principle of peaceful use in the Outer Space Treaty."

CHINA ACCUSES US OF 'TURNING SPACE INTO A WARZONE' WITH TRUMP'S GOLDEN DOME MISSILE DEFENSE PROJECT

"The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race and shake the international security and arms control system," Mao said. "We urge the U.S. to give up developing and deploying global anti-missile system."

Trump, alongside Hegseth, released some details about the project earlier in the week, explaining there's an ambitious plan to complete the missile defense shield in three years for $125 billion. 

Hegseth also responded to pushback over his decision to kick off a monthly Christian prayer service at the Pentagon, which sparked a debate over religious freedom and the separation of church and state. 

"We’ve said it very publicly, and we’ve said it very proudly. Appealing to heaven, to God, is a longstanding tradition in our military," Hegseth said, adding that George Washington got on bended knee alongside his continental Army forces. 

"I appeal to Jesus Christ for that protection, to speak that word and be open and willing to talk about it at the Pentagon. If they want to criticize that, they’re on the wrong side," he said. 

His remarks came after he addressed the 82nd Airborne Division of Army paratroopers during "All-American Week." 

There, he celebrated the name change of the North Carolina base from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg.

"It is Fort Bragg again," Hegseth said to cheers from the crowd. 

"Nothing wrong with Fort Liberty. Give me liberty or give me death. I love it," Hegseth said. "But give me Fort Bragg every day of the week." 

He also addressed critics who said he didn’t have the strategic experience to serve as secretary of defense, and took a shot at the media. 

"Our friends in the fake news media are here," Hegseth said. "Some of them said, ‘Critics might say you can't choose an Army major to be the secretary of defense. It has to be, well, one of our many distinguished generals or congressmen or business leaders or corporate leaders.’

TRUMP, HEGSETH ANNOUNCE 'GOLDEN DOME,' A ‘GAME CHANGER’ TO PROTECT AMERICAN HOMELAND

"One of the critiques was we need somebody that can think strategically, big picture. We can't have a guy who thinks like the troops, to which I say ‘Hell, yeah, we can have a guy that thinks like the troops.’"

He told a crowd of Army paratroopers, "I've been in that formation, loosening my knees, taking a deep breath, gazing over the horizon, sweating and wondering what time it is, but I can't move my arm. I've been in your boots — not yours. The 101st is not the 82nd. I'll admit that on a day like today. Not quite your boots or your beret, but close." 

Hegseth announced an increase in jump pay for paratroopers to more cheers from the crowd. 

Hazardous duty incentive pay, known as "jump pay" for Army troopers who jump out of airplanes, will increase from $150 a month to $200. 

Jump masters, the senior paratroopers who train and lead jump operations, will see their pay increase from $150 to $300. 

"Here’s to our paratroopers, our jumpmasters, who do the difficult things in difficult places that most Americans can never imagine," Hegseth said.

Since 2006, the Army has maintained 56,756 paid parachutist positions, according to Gen. Gregory Anderson, head of the 18th Airborne Corps. That number will decrease by 20,000, allowing for the increase in pay for those who do maintain their jump status.

Limited aircraft ability and resources has meant a "degradation in proficiency," Anderson told reporters. "The goal has to be really good quality over quantity."

Former President Joe Biden's decision to run for re-election divided longtime Democratic advisors, a new book about Biden's cognitive decline and his administration's alleged cover-up revealed. 

Biden's former Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, shut down former President Barack Obama advisor David Axelrod for repeatedly calling Biden's age an issue. 

"The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue," Axelrod told The New York Times. 

Soon after the Times' story was published in June 2022, Klain called Axelrod fuming, CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson revealed in their book, "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again."

BIDEN STRUGGLED TO FILM 2024 CAMPAIGN VIDEOS AMID DECLINING HEALTH, NEW BOOK CLAIMS: 'THE MAN COULD NOT SPEAK'

"Who's going to beat Trump? President Biden is the only one who has done it. You better have a lot of certainty about a different candidate before you say the president should step aside. The future of the country depends on it!" Klain told Axelrod on the phone, according to Thompson and Tapper. 

FOX NEWS' PETER DOOCY REVEALS HISTORY OF QUESTIONING BIDEN'S MENTAL FITNESS

Klain believed it was "sloppy thinking" that anyone other than Biden could beat Trump, the journalists said in the book. 

But Axelrod, like most Americans, worried about the first octogenarian president's age and his ability to serve four more years. 

The chief strategist for Obama's back-to-back winning campaigns, Axelrod was one of the last advisers to meet with Biden before Obama chose him as his running mate in 2008. Axelrod told Tapper and Thompson that they didn't expect Biden to run for president at 73 and eventually discouraged Biden from running for president in 2015. 

They certainly didn't expect Biden to run for president at 77. 

After Axelrod made some friendly comments about Biden to a reporter in 2018, Biden invited him to his rental home in Virginia, according to the book. 

"He was stunned by how much Biden had aged," Tapper and Thompson wrote.

Axelrod told Biden that age would be an issue for his campaign but encouraged him to lean on his experience and wisdom, the journalists said. 

Axelrod's apprehension about Biden's age only grew, and when it came time for Biden to make a decision about his re-election, he knew Biden shouldn't run in 2024. The longtime political advisor told Tapper and Thompson he wished someone in the White House had "come to their senses and [convinced] Biden and his family that this just wasn't tenable."

Pointing to unfavorable battleground polls from 2023, Axelrod encouraged Biden to drop out of the race in a series of social media posts. He said the "stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore."

"Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it's in HIS best interest or the country's?" Axelrod questioned on social media. 

Klain fired back, this time for the public to see: "Man who called Biden ‘Mr Magoo’ in Aug 2019 is still at it," in reference to Axelrod's comments following the 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate. 

An excerpt from the book reads: "In response to Axelrod's 2023 post, Biden called Axelrod a ‘prick’ – a private insult until someone leaked it to Jonathan Martin of Politico. Axelrod received confidential messages of agreement from prominent Democrats who remained silent, they explained, because they were resigned to Biden's candidacy and did not want to weaken him as a looming rematch with Trump approached."

Fox News Digital has written extensively, dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign, about Biden's cognitive decline and his inner circle’s role in covering it up.

"There is nothing in this book that shows Joe Biden failed to do his job, as the authors have alleged, nor did they prove their allegation that there was a cover-up or conspiracy," a Biden spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Nowhere do they show that our national security was threatened or where the president wasn’t otherwise engaged in the important matters of the presidency. In fact, Joe Biden was an effective president who led our country with empathy and skill."

It follows reports that Sir Keir Starmer had informed his cabinet of his intention to abolish the limit.

Lancashire's new councillors start their jobs, after the party's big wins in this month's local elections.

The Supreme Court heard a case this month centered on President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end so-called birthright citizenship, in one of the most closely watched and potentially impactful cases heard by the court in recent years.  

Though the case itself was used largely as a means of challenging lower court powers to issue so-called universal or nationwide injunctions, justices on the high court did inquire about the merits of the order itself, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," which Trump signed on the first day of his second White House term.

The order, which was slated to take force Feb. 20, directed all U.S. agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants or children born to mothers living in the country on a temporary visa, if the father is not a permanent resident or U.S. citizen.

Despite the Supreme Court’s focus on universal injunctions in hearing the case, deep and unyielding concerns persist about Trump’s attempt to undo more than 100 years of legal precedent. 

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

The ACLU included in its lawsuit the story of one couple from Indonesia but living in New Hampshire whom they said would be affected by the order.

"They arrived in 2023, applied for asylum, and their application awaits review," ACLU attorneys said of the couple. "The mom-to-be is in her third trimester. 

"Under this executive order, their baby would be considered an undocumented noncitizen and could be denied basic health care and nutrition, putting the newborn at grave risk at such a vulnerable stage of life," they added.

And such problems would persist throughout their lives, lawyers for the group noted. These persons would not be able to obtain necessary identification, such as drivers' licenses, and would not be able to vote, hold some jobs or serve on juries.

Though Trump had spoken in detail in his first term and on the campaign trail about wanting to end birthright citizenship, his executive order sent shockwaves through the nation. It was met by a wave of lawsuits from Democrat-led states and immigrants’ rights groups. 

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

One lawsuit, brought by 18 Democratic attorneys general, warned that ending birthright citizenship would strip hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children of their citizenship as the result of a circumstance completely outside a child’s control.

Statistics also bear this out. Roughly 150,000 children are born annually in the U.S. to parents of noncitizens.  If the order were to take force as Trump envisioned, experts warned the impact would be catastrophic.

​​"President Trump's attempt to unilaterally end birthright citizenship is a flagrant violation of our Constitution," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who joined 17 other Democrat-led states in suing to block the order, said earlier this year.

TRUMP FACES ANOTHER DEPORTATION SETBACK WITH 4TH CIRCUIT APPEALS COURT

"For more than 150 years, our country has followed the same basic rule: Babies who are born in this country are American citizens," Platkin added.

More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants' rights groups sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship prior to the Supreme Court's decision to take up the case, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and "unprecedented."

To date, no court has sided with the Trump administration in upholding the executive order.

President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized foreign countries for paying "nothing" toward the education of their citizens who are attending college at Harvard and other U.S. institutions.

This comes amid the fight between the Trump administration and Harvard for its plans to revoke the university's ability to enroll foreign students.

"Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to," Trump wrote early Sunday morning on Truth Social. "Nobody told us that!"

JUDGE TEMPORARILY PAUSES TRUMP MOVE TO CANCEL HARVARD STUDENT VISA POLICY AFTER LAWSUIT

"We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming," he continued. "We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!"

On Friday, a judge temporarily blocked the administration from canceling Harvard's student visa program after the university filed a lawsuit against the federal government.

Harvard argued that the policy would affect more than 7,000 visa holders — nearly a quarter of the student body — and that the administration's effort is a "blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act," according to its court filing.

"It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students," Harvard wrote in its complaint.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM TERMINATING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' LEGAL STATUS 

The Department of Homeland Security moved to terminate Harvard's visa program after the university allegedly failed to provide extensive behavioral records of student visa holders the agency had requested.

The records sought include any footage of protest activity involving student visa holders, even if it's not criminal, and the disciplinary records of all student visa holders in the past five years. 

Requested records also include footage or documentation of illegal, dangerous or violent activity by student visa holders, any records of threats or the deprivation of rights of other students or university personnel.

Harvard called the new policy "pernicious" and accused the administration of departing from "decades of settled practice" and coming "without rational explanation." The university also said the policy was "carried out abruptly without any of the robust procedures the government has established to prevent just this type of upheaval to thousands of students’ lives."

At least a dozen Harvard students have had their student visas revoked over campus protest activity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before Congress on Tuesday that the administration has probably revoked thousands already and would "proudly" revoke more.

The administration has already frozen close to $3 billion in federal funding to the university, largely dedicated to research, over claims that Harvard has not adequately responded to alleged campus antisemitism in protests and has not moved to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

The Texas House gave initial approval on Saturday to a bill that would require sheriffs to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by serving federal immigration warrants at local jails.

Senate Bill 8 received preliminary approval with an 89-50 vote in the lower chamber after GOP state Rep. David Spiller, a sponsor of the legislation, amended the bill so it applies to all counties rather than just counties with populations over 100,000 as was the case in the original version, according to FOX 7 and The Texas Tribune.

"This bill is not immigration reform," Spiller said Saturday. "This bill is the strongest border security bill — indirectly — that we could have this session."

ALLEGED HUMAN SMUGGLERS ARRESTED IN TEXAS AFTER HIDING INSIDE HOLLOWED HAY BALES

The measure needs another House vote before it can return to the Senate, where the upper chamber must agree to the changes or both chambers must straighten out their differences before the bill can be sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

"Gov. Abbott has made it clear that cities and counties across Texas must fully cooperate with the federal government efforts to arrest, jail, and deport illegal immigrants," Abbott’s Deputy Press Secretary Eduardo Leal said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. "The Governor will review this legislation, as he does with any legislation sent to his desk that helps achieve that goal."

Under the bill, sheriffs would be required to request partnerships with ICE, known as 287(g) agreements.

The agreements allow ICE to authorize local authorities to perform certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails, including allowing local law enforcement to question inmates about their immigration status and serve administrative warrants.

Local officers could also be authorized by ICE to question people about their immigration status during "routine police duties," including DUI checkpoints, through a model the Trump administration has revived after it stopped being used over allegations that it led to racial profiling.

The bill would also allow the Texas attorney general to sue sheriffs who do not adhere to the agreement. Sheriffs would need to at least enter the "warrant service" agreement. They can choose to enter into other agreements to meet the requirement.

Additionally, the proposal would offer grants to sheriffs to help offset the costs of participating that are not reimbursed by the federal government.

TEXAS LAWMAKERS SEEK TO GET FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR BIDEN-ERA BORDER CONTROL EXPENSES

As of Friday, 72 Texas law enforcement agencies had signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, according to data published by ICE. Another four sheriff’s offices had pending agreements.

Roughly 20% of the agreements in place between Texas law enforcement agencies and ICE were for the "task force model," which extends immigration authorities to officers performing routine police duties.

The legislation, filed by GOP state Sen. Charles Schwertner, could help the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, but immigrants’ rights advocates say the requirement would lead to racial profiling of black and brown people and prompt fear among undocumented Texans who may be reluctant to report a crime or seek help from authorities who are collaborating with ICE, according to The Texas Tribune.

The British ship is diverted to the port of Boulogne after being stopped by a French patrol boat.

Some MPs are calling on the chancellor to raise taxes on the wealthy instead of cutting welfare.

Lucy Connolly lost her appeal against her race-hate jail sentence, but is free speech under threat?

The first service under new public ownership was partially operated by a rail replacement bus.

The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said the increase was "derisory".

Reform UK also plans to scrap the two-child benefit policy, as part of plans to outflank the government.

The UK, France and Canada condemned the expanded Israeli military operation in Gaza this week.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that a federal court order requiring the U.S. government to maintain custody of deportees on a flight meant for South Sudan will cause "significant and irreparable harm to U.S. foreign policy." 

The Trump administration late Friday filed two court documents after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts said the deportation flight violated his previous April injunction that allows deportees time to challenge an order to be sent to a country other than their own. 

"This Department of Justice believes that this situation urgently requires judicial intervention to restore President Trump’s full Article II authority to conduct foreign policy," a U.S. Department of Justice official told Fox News Digital.

Rubio noted the order has already complicated U.S. diplomacy with Libya, South Sudan and Djibouti and presents a serious threat to the president’s Article II authority to conduct foreign policy. 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO TRACK DEPORTED IMMIGRANTS TO SOUTH SUDAN

Rubio said in his filing that the court’s orders had "already interfered with quiet diplomatic efforts and exacerbated internal political and security divisions" in Libya. 

The order also threatens to "derail efforts to quietly rebuild a productive working relationship with Juba," the capital of South Sudan, he said. 

Rubio said before the court’s intervention that the South Sudan government had refused to accept a South Sudanese national but had since "taken steps to work more cooperatively with the U.S. government." 

DHS EXPOSES CRIMES BY MIGRANTS DEPORTED TO SOUTH SUDAN AS JUDGE THREATENS TO ORDER THEIR RETURN

Thirdly, Rubio said the order "causes harm" in Djibouti, which is "strategically located in the Horn of Africa" with the only U.S. military base on the African continent. 

The deportees are being temporarily held at a U.S. Naval base in Djibouti. 

In the second filing, the administration asked the court to "reconsider" its order and "highly burdensome requirements."

"Because of this Court’s Orders, [the U.S. government is] currently detaining dangerous criminals in a sensitive location without clear knowledge of when, how, or where this Court will tolerate their release," the filing said.

JUDICIAL HALT OF DEPORTATION FLIGHTS PUTS US FOREIGN POLICY AT RISK, CAREER STATE DEPT OFFICIAL CLAIMS

"This development has put impermissible, burdensome constraints on the President’s ability to carry out his Article II powers, including his powers to command the military, manage relations with foreign nations, and execute our nation’s immigration authorities." 

The deportees "enjoyed the benefit of full process under the laws of the United States and were lawfully removed from the country," the filing claimed, calling for a stay if not a reconsideration of the order. 

"These criminal aliens needed only state that they had a fear of removal to South Sudan to receive the other procedures required by the Court’s April 18, 2025 injunction," the administration wrote. "The aliens did not do so. Therefore, DHS attempted to remove these aliens — who have committed the most reprehensible violations of our nation’s laws — to a place where they no longer pose a threat to the United States." 

The flight left from Texas earlier this week with eight migrants from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico and South Sudan. 

Murphy issued the ruling Tuesday night after lawyers for the immigrants from Myanmar and Vietnam accused the Trump administration of illegally deporting their clients to third-party countries. They argue there is a court order blocking such removals.

Murphy's ruling said the government must "maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful."

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Rubio announced in April that the U.S. would revoke visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and no others would be issued, attributing the change to "the failure of South Sudan's transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner," according to a statement posted on X at the time. 

The U.S. has third-party deportation agreements with a handful of countries, the most prominent being El Salvador, which has accepted hundreds of Venezuelan deportees from the Trump administration.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

The plans form part of a drive to boost housebuilding in England to 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

The former PM's wife says the family is "totally smitten" by their daughter, Poppy.

The Tory leader says her party "could look at changes" but insists there are "difficulties".

Under the deal, the UK will lease back the Diego Garcia military base from Mauritius.

As the chancellor prepares to set government budgets for future years, who are likely winners and losers?