Hezbollah militants and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) exchanged rockets Tuesday after a White House senior adviser visited Beirut in a diplomatic effort to quell ongoing clashes. 

The IDF said rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel in the areas of Manara and Kiryat Shmona. In retaliation, IDF fighter jets struck Taybeh, a town in southern Lebanon, which – according to the IDF – was being used as a Hezbollah launch pad to carry out strikes on the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona. 

The IDF also said it struck a Hezbollah anti-tank missile launch post in the village of Aarab El Louaizeh from which launches were carried out on Kiryat Shmona.

And earlier in the day, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound in the area of Dibbine as well as terrorist infrastructure in Ayta ash Shab, another village in southern Lebanon. 

Lebanon’s Civil Defense and Hezbollah’s Islamic Health unit said first responders pulled the bodies of Hassan Hussein, his wife Rwaida Mostafa, and their 25-year-old son from the rubble of a house that was targeted in the airstrikes. 

Civil Defense responders were searching for more bodies.

The strikes took place a day after White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein visited Lebanese political and military officials in Beirut in an effort to de-escalate ongoing clashes along the border. 

Clashes with Lebanon have escalated in recent weeks, amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas. Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli troops along the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson will host the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich – who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia for nearly a year – at President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Johnson’s office confirmed that Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich would be the speaker’s special guests.

‘I’m honored to host Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich for the State of the Union address,’ Johnson said in a statement.

By hosting Evan’s parents, Congress will shine a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son,’ he said.

The Republican speaker of the House said that the Biden administration ‘must bring Evan home.’

‘The United States must always stand for freedom of the press around the world, especially in places like Russia, where it is under assault,’ Johnson said. ‘The Administration must bring Evan home.’

Gershkovich’s parents have previously pleaded with the Biden administration to bring their son home.

‘We had President Biden’s promise to do whatever it takes, to bring Evan back. He also told us that he relates to us as a parent, he feels our pain, and his words are in my ears every single day. But it’s been 250 days and Evan is not here,’ his mother, Ella Milman, told Steve Doocy on ‘FOX & Friends’ in December 2023.

‘The efforts to do whatever it takes hasn’t been done,’ Milman said. 

March 29 is the one-year anniversary of Gershkovich’s arrest by Russian authorities on charges of espionage.

Gershkovich was detained March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy. 

The U.S. has long asserted that Russia’s allegation is ridiculous, as have his colleagues, who describe the American-born son of Soviet immigrants as a diligent reporter who is being used as a political pawn due to his high profile.

The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government vehemently denied the espionage allegations against Gershkovich and have called for his immediate release. 

His arrest was seen as a brazen violation of press freedom that not only poses widespread consequences for journalism and the media, but for governments and democracies everywhere, and part of a wider journalism crackdown by the autocratic Russian Federation.

‘He is definitely not a spy. That is an outrage. He is a reporter, he was there doing his job,’ Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Democrat New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was charged by federal prosecutors with obstruction of justice in yet another superseding indictment unsealed on Tuesday relating to a multiyear alleged bribery scheme involving the Egypt and Qatar governments.

The 18-page indictment is wrapped into Menendez’s existing charges already against him and his co-defendants — including his wife, Nadine — for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.

The indictment comes after co-defendant Jose Uribe accepted a plea deal and agreed to cooperate last week. The charges on Tuesday also alleged Menendez committed conspiracy, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and wire fraud.

Prosecutors also state in the new indictment that Menendez instructed his lawyers to inform the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in 2022 about his awareness of businessman Wael Hana issuing a payment exceeding $23,000 for Nadine’s home mortgage and the money that Uribe contributed for her new luxury vehicle.

Menendez also allegedly advised his attorneys to disclose to the prosecuting office that he later discovered the funds were actually loans, when ‘In truth and in fact, and as Menendez well knew,’ the mortgage and car payments were made prior to 2022 ‘and they were not loans, but bribe payments,’ prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s indictment.

Menendez is also accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023.

Menendez, along with his wife and three New Jersey businessmen – Hana, Uribe and Fred Daibes – were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23. Hana, Daibes, Nadine and Menendez have pleaded not guilty.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Menendez’s office and his wife’s lawyer for comment.

Michelle Obama will not launch a bid for the White House amid rumors that the former first lady was eyeing a presidential run, according to her office.

‘As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,’ Crystal Carson, the director of communications for Obama’s office, said in a statement provided to ITK on Tuesday.

Obama supports President Biden and Vice President Harris, her office said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Obama’s communication team. 

Rumors of Obama’s candidacy came as questions about Biden’s mental capacity continue to swirl. The rumors began to circulate after some Republicans floated the idea that she could replace Biden on the November ballot. 

Some political commentators said the former first lady has the best chance of beating former President Trump, who is the leading candidate to secure the GOP presidential nomination. 

Biden is struggling with low poll numbers amid concerns from Republicans and some Democrats about his age and ability to lead the country. 

In 2019, Obama said there was ‘zero chance’ she would run for president. 

‘Just between us, and the readers of this magazine — there’s zero chance,’ Obama told Amtrak’s magazine The National. ‘There are so many ways to improve this country and build a better world, and I keep doing plenty of them, from working with young people to helping families lead healthier lives. But sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office will never be one of them. It’s just not for me.’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is unveiling a new bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue COVID-19 vaccine makers over adverse health effects allegedly caused by the shot.

The Let Injured Americans Be Legally Empowered (LIABLE) Act is aimed at wiping away COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers’ statutory protections, opening them up to civil lawsuits.

A summary of the bill obtained by Fox News Digital said, ‘The LIABLE Act will allow Americans who took vaccines that were misleadingly promoted and forced onto many Americans via federal mandates to pursue civil litigation for their injuries. These vaccines were given emergency use authorization unilaterally and did not go through the normal FDA approval process.’

Currently, manufacturers and health care providers responsible for distributing COVID-19 vaccines are mostly immune from civil lawsuits, even if those seeking money damages have medical proof of their vaccine-related injuries.

That’s because the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act of 2005 limits liability for the manufacturing, development and distribution of medical countermeasures related to a public health emergency.

The PREP Act also created the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which has a one-year statute of limitations and only provides compensation in the event of death or serious injury. According to Roy, CICP has compensated people just 11 times despite thousands of claims lodged.

‘Millions of Americans were forced to take a COVID-19 shot out of fear of losing their livelihoods and under false pretenses,’ Roy told Fox News Digital. ‘Many have faced injury from the vaccine, but few have been afforded…recourse. To date, a mere 11 injury claims have been paid out despite nearly 700 million doses of the vaccine having been administered.’

Despite the public health emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic expiring last May, PREP Act liability protections for the vaccine are expected to mostly last through the end of this year, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. 

Roy’s LIABLE Act would allow Americans claiming to be injured from the vaccine to retroactively sue manufacturers despite the aforementioned protections.

While credited with saving countless lives during the pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine has also been blamed by critics for side effects such as blood clots, strokes and even sudden death. 

Many of these cases still require further study, but it’s a trend that’s alarmed Republican lawmakers who have long said mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is a violation of Americans’ right to privacy.

Andrew Powaleny, PhRMA spokesperson, criticized the bill in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘COVID-19 has been a reminder of why we need safe and effective vaccines. All vaccines, including those for COVID-19, are subject to a rigorous safety and efficacy review process and post-market monitoring. By upending the existing liability framework manufacturers rely upon to provide predictable vaccine development, our ability to address future public health threats will be at risk,’ he said.

Roy has led the charge against those vaccine mandates, including leading efforts to roll back COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the U.S. military.

His latest bill has at least a dozen House GOP co-sponsors.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wants President Biden to increase tariffs on any imported energy components from China, a week after he introduced another bill that would hike tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports.

‘President Biden’s climate agenda undermines U.S. energy independence and will make us more reliant on China,’ Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘We can’t afford energy policies that enrich our greatest adversary at the expense of American workers here at home. It’s time to declare our energy independence from China—and we can start by raising tariffs on China’s green energy sector.’

Tariffs are taxes or duties imposed by a government on imported or exported goods.

Hawley will introduce a new bill on Tuesday called the Declaring Our Energy Independence from China Act. It would require the president to apply additional tariffs on all battery components, solar energy components and wind energy components imported from China at a 25% rate. 

The president could increase the rate by 5% annually for the next five years, peaking at 50%, according to the bill.

Since former President Trump’s term, the average U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports remain at approximately 19.3%, according to an estimate from the nonprofit research group Peterson Institute for International Economics. 

The bill would also require a report on subsidies China provided to its battery, solar and wind energy sectors over the past 15 years, including direct fund transfers, tax breaks and preferential access to resources.

Last year, Biden halted tariffs on solar imports for two years. A bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolution was passed to end the pause, but the president vetoed it.

Biden also introduced mandates to transition American manufacturers and workers toward electric vehicles (EVs), targeting two-thirds of all U.S. automobiles to be EVs by 2032. 

According to a U.S. Department of Defense report last summer, China controls most renewable energy equipment production and material supply chains.

Hawley is not the only one concerned about China dominating the U.S. energy industry. In January, a group of bipartisan senators sent a letter to Biden urging him to increase tariffs on Chinese imported solar panels. 

‘By 2026, China will have enough capacity to meet annual global demand for the next ten years,’ Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Jon Osoff, D-Ga., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio wrote. ‘This capacity is an existential threat to the U.S. solar industry and American energy security.’

Last week, Hawley proposed a bill to boost the current 2.5% tariff on vehicles to 100%, effectively increasing the overall tariff on all Chinese automobile imports from 27.5% to 125%.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Hawley’s bill.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell could endorse former President Donald Trump in the 2024 race as one of his last major actions before leaving leadership.

McConnell’s office and Trump’s presidential campaign have been in talks over a possible endorsement, as well as a strategy to unite Republicans just eight months away from the November election, according to The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with the situation.

McConnell is currently the highest-ranking Republican in Congress who has yet to back the former president’s bid to return to the White House.

Any potential endorsement comes as Trump is competing with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to win the Republican nomination, and as both candidates compete for a whopping 854 delegates at stake on Super Tuesday, March 5.

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Trump campaign and McConnell’s Senate office but did not immediately receive a response.

McConnell, who turned 82 last month, announced on Wednesday that he would step down as Republican leader and would pursue ‘life’s next chapter.’

‘One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,’ he said on the Senate floor. ‘So I stand before you today… to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.’

‘I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm which they have become accustomed,’ McConnell added.

The decision is likely to set up a leadership election for the GOP conference that could determine the future of the Republican Party in the Senate – and how it could deal with Trump should he defeat President Biden in their November rematch.

McConnell’s potential endorsement comes after he vehemently criticized Trump and called him ‘morally responsible’ for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Following the riot, key Republicans, including McConnell, strongly suggested the party was done with the former president.

In a scathing speech, McConnell said Trump incited the insurrection at the Capitol and blamed him for the ‘entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe’ and ‘wild myths’ about the election. The Senate leader ultimately did not vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges.

Despite their differences, endorsements matter to Trump and the two unifying with their bumpy past could help Republicans unite up-and-down the ballot in a must-win election.

McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader, will formally leave the Senate when his term ends in January 2027.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Calling it ‘one on a huge list of priorities,’ Rep. Jamie Raskin, D., Md., announced that he will be reintroducing a prior bill with Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., to disqualify not just former President Donald Trump but a large number of Republicans from taking office.

The alternative, it appears, is unthinkable: allowing the public to choose their next president and representatives in Congress. It appears that the last thing Democrats want is for the unanimous decision to actually lead to an outbreak of democracy. Where the Court expressly warned of ‘chaos’ in elections, Raskin and others appear eager to be agents of chaos in Congress.

Soon after the decision, Raskin went on CNN to assure people that he and his colleagues would not stand by and allow the right to vote to be restored to citizens in the upcoming election. He pledged to reintroduce a prior bill that would declare Jan. 6 an ‘insurrection’ and that those involved ‘engaged in insurrection.’

I previously wrote about these ‘ballot cleansing’ efforts because it would not just disqualify Trump but potentially dozens of sitting Republican members of Congress. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., sought to bar 126 members of Congress under the same theory. Similar legislation offered by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., to disqualify members got 63 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

Raskin’s participation in this effort is crushingly ironic. In 2016, he sought to block certification of the 2016 election under the very same law as violent protests were occurring before the inauguration.

The prior bills were sweeping and included members who did not engage in any violent acts (no member has been charged with such violence or even incitement) but merely opposed certification).

Raskin recently offered a particularly Orwellian argument for the disqualification of Trump and his colleagues in Congress: ‘If you think about it, of all of the forms of disqualification that we have, the one that disqualifies people for engaging in insurrection is the most democratic because it’s the one where people choose themselves to be disqualified.’

In other words, preventing voters from voting is ‘the most democratic’ because these people choose to oppose certification… as he did in 2016.

After the ruling, Raskin added the curious claim that the justices ‘didn’t exactly disagree with [the disqualification theory]. They just said that they’re not the ones to figure it out. It’s not going to be a matter for judicial resolution under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, but it’s up to Congress to enforce it.’

That was sharply different from the pre-decision Raskin who insisted that there was no real question legally and that the case before the justices was ‘their opportunity to behave like real Supreme Court justices.’

Well, they did act as ‘real Supreme Court justices’ by unanimously opposing what the court described as the ‘chaos’ that would unfold with such state disqualification efforts. Raskin, however, is seeking a new avenue for chaos through Congress.

Raskin’s statement is also bizarre in claiming that somehow the justices agreed with him and the others pushing disqualification. No one, not even the Trump team, questioned that Congress could act to bar people from office. It is expressly stated in the Constitution. It is not an ‘argument’ but a fact.

Of course, the Democrats would need to craft the legislation correctly to satisfy the standard and secure the support of both houses. Neither appears likely at this point.

However, Raskin is succeeding in one respect. He and his colleagues have bulldozed any moral high ground after Jan. 6. Most of us condemned the riot on that day as a desecration of our constitutional process. Yet, the Democrats have responded with the most anti-democratic efforts to prevent voters from exercising their rights in the upcoming election.

For these members, citizens cannot be trusted with this power as Trump tops national polls as the leading choice for the presidency.  It is the constitutional version of the Big Gulp law, voters, like consumers, have to be protected against their own unhealthy choices.

Raskin has continued to accuse the nine justices of being cowards in not supporting ballot cleansing. He told CNN that the court ‘doesn’t like the ultimate and inescapable implications of just enforcing the Constitution, as written.’ In other words, all nine justices, including the three liberals justices, are disregarding clear constitutional mandates to protect Trump.

It is the same delusional view echoed by other liberals who were enraged by the decision. Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann declared that ‘the Supreme Court has betrayed democracy. Its members including Jackson, Kagan and Sotomayor have proved themselves inept at reading comprehension. And collectively the ‘court’ has shown itself to be corrupt and illegitimate. It must be dissolved.’

After all, nothing says democracy like ballot cleansing and dissolving courts before a national election.

With the resumption of efforts to disqualify Republicans from running on ballots, Raskin and his colleagues seem to be channeling the spirit of former Mayor Richard Daley in the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.

With allegations of abuse by the police in cracking down on protests, Daley declared ‘the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.’ With Democrats preparing to return to Chicago for their convention this year, Raskin and others appear to be responding to the court that ‘the party isn’t there to create chaos, the party is there to preserve chaos.’

This column was first published on the author’s blog, Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks