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New Ebola outbreak leaves 65 dead as officials warn of cross-border spread

Fri, 15 May 2026 21:12:45 -0400

Africa’s top public health agency confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo on Friday after 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases were recorded in the country’s remote Ituri province.

Health officials are now investigating whether the outbreak involves the Ebola Zaire strain — the deadliest and most well-known version of the virus — or a different variant, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Neighboring Uganda also confirmed one Ebola-related death involving a Congolese man whose case officials said was imported from Congo.

The outbreak has been concentrated in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones in eastern Congo, an area near the borders of Uganda and South Sudan that officials warned could become a regional transmission risk because of mining-related travel, weak infrastructure and ongoing insecurity.

EBOLA OUTBREAK REPORTED IN AFRICAN COUNTRY — HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Ebola is a highly contagious and often fatal disease spread through bodily fluids including blood, vomit and semen. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and internal bleeding.

The Africa CDC said only four of the deaths have so far been laboratory confirmed, while testing and sequencing efforts continue to determine the exact strain involved in the outbreak.

Initial tests suggested the outbreak may not involve the Ebola Zaire strain, which was responsible for Congo’s devastating 2018-2020 epidemic that killed more than 1,000 people.

UGANDA STARTS CLINICAL TRIAL OF VACCINE FOR SUDAN STRAIN OF EBOLA AMID NEW OUTBREAK

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it sent a response team to the region last week to help local officials investigate the outbreak and collect samples.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Congo has a "strong track record" responding to Ebola outbreaks and announced the agency is releasing $500,000 in emergency funding to support containment efforts.

Health authorities said Congo has stockpiles of Ebola treatments and approximately 2,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, though officials cautioned the vaccine is only effective against the Ebola Zaire strain and not against Sudan or Bundibugyo variants.

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This marks Congo’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

Lebanon accuses Iran of inserting IRGC terrorists into country 'under guise of diplomatic activity'

Fri, 15 May 2026 17:14:22 -0400

The Lebanese government filed a sharply worded complaint with the United Nations arguing that the Islamic Republic of Iran has abused diplomatic immunity by refusing to recall its ambassador after Beirut demanded his expulsion and to stop alleged terrorist activities on its soil, according to a recently surfaced letter from late April.

The disclosure of the letter, which is reportedly a precedent-setting move by Lebanon, comes amid a second day of talks in Washington between Israel and Lebanon to normalize relations (the countries are in a state of war) and dismantle the Iranian-regime-backed Hezbollah terrorist movement in Lebanon.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday that "The United States facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon have resumed today and are ongoing. The atmosphere of talks has been very positive, even exceeding expectations."

FAMILY OF AMERICAN HOSTAGE TORTURED IN LEBANON WINS LANDMARK CASE AGAINST IRAN

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote on X on Friday that "On May 14 and 15, the United States hosted two days of highly-productive talks between Israel and Lebanon. The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress. The State Department will reconvene the political track of negotiations on June 2 and June 3."

He added that, "In addition, a security track will be launched at the Pentagon on May 29 with military delegations from both countries. We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border."

As the sides report back to their capitals, the potentially game-changing letter in which Lebanese ambassador to the U.N. Ahmad Arafa, slammed Iran for inserting alleged terrorists from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) into Lebanon "under the guise of diplomatic activity," has given hope to critics of Iran and Hezbollah.

Arafa said, according to the letter, that Iran committed "unlawful acts in blatant defiance of the decisions of the Government of Lebanon." He continued, "This Iranian conduct constitutes direct and blatant interference in the internal affairs of Lebanon and drags the country into a war it did not choose to become involved in."

The U.S. and the European Union have classified the IRGC as a terrorist entity.

The letter took the Iranian Ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, to task for "blatant interference" in Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s U.N. letter, Beirut argued that Iran is violating the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and interfering in Lebanon’s state of affairs.

IDF SOLDIERS ACCUSE UN PEACEKEEPERS OF ENABLING HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS AMID INCREASING CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS

When asked about the details of the letter, a spokesperson for Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S. declined to comment. The spokesperson also declined to weigh in on the current talks with Israel in Washington.

Walid Phares, a leading U.S. expert on Lebanon and the Mideast, told Fox News Digital that "Many have considered the Lebanese memo to the U.N. as the start of the Lebanese government change of attitude towards Iran and a sign of escalation by Beirut. While the tone of the letter and its narrative make people feel that there is a government resistance to Iran and Hezbollah reality is still lesser."

He added that "The subject of the last quarrel is a legal change of status regarding the presence of Iranians on Lebanese soil. The Lebanese government has decided not to grant Iranians, government, and private citizens an automatic visa waiver, which upset Iran and Hezbollah. Besides, Tehran is furious at the fact that the Lebanese government has not been helpful in dealing with the elimination of a number of IRGC members killed in Lebanon by Israel. Tehran blames the foreign ministry of Lebanon, particularly foreign minister Youssef Raggi, for the ‘lessening of solidarity with Iran."'

According to Phares, "Raggi represents a Lebanese Christian bloc in the parliament, who is not sympathetic to the regime. However, the actual talks in D.C. are designed by the Lebanese government to show the Trump administration that the ‘state wants to talk’ but not to reach an agreement that would trigger Hezbollah's wrath. The leaders of the Lebanese state are not yet where the U.S. and Israel expect them to be."

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A regional official well-versed in the U.N. dispute told Fox News Digital that Lebanon "argued that Iran had not given the Lebanese foreign ministry the list of all Iranians and the details about their place of stay. And that’s why Israel targeted that hotel in Lebanon in which six were killed, which is true."

The official said that "Iran had not told the foreign ministry of Lebanon about those six people."

Mother recounts horrors of brutal Chinese detention camp where infant son died

Fri, 15 May 2026 15:29:49 -0400

At first, Mihrigul Tursun speaks with remarkable control.

Sitting in Washington in a neatly pressed blue suit, the 35-year-old Uyghur mother answers questions softly, almost cautiously. But once the memories begin, they arrive all at once, in vivid and painful detail, as though the years separating her from China’s detention system no longer exist.

The story pours out of her in relentless detail, one memory collapsing into another: the underground cells, the interrogations, the women screaming at night, the smell of overcrowded prison rooms, the body of her infant son lying motionless in her arms as she desperately tried to warm him back to life.

For Tursun, the horror is not something she remembers. It is something she says she continues to live with every day.

WOMAN WHO SPENT 7 YEARS IN CHINESE PRISON DESCRIBES TORTURE, SURVEILLANCE AND LOSS OF HER HUSBAND

And always, there is fear.

Not fear for herself, exactly. That, she suggests, stopped mattering long ago.

The fear is for the family members she believes remain vulnerable inside China because she chose to publicly describe what happened to her, only because of her faith.

Her story unfolds as President Donald Trump visits China this week for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with trade, security and regional tensions dominating headlines. But for Tursun, China is not an abstract geopolitical rival. It is the country she says destroyed her family, shattered her health and left psychological wounds she still struggles to survive every day.

She says she speaks publicly because too few people who survived China’s detention system are able, or willing, to tell the world what they saw.

"People think this only happened in history," she said. "But it is still happening."

ELITE US COLLEGES LINKED TO CHINESE SURVEILLANCE LABS DRIVING UYGHUR ‘GENOCIDE,’ STUDY WARNS

Tursun was born in Xinjiang, the far western region China officially calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, home to millions of Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority with their own language and culture. For years, human rights groups, researchers and former detainees have accused Beijing of carrying out mass detention, forced labor, political indoctrination and severe religious repression against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

China denies the allegations, describing the facilities as vocational training centers aimed at combating extremism and terrorism.

Tursun says her own relationship with the Chinese state began long before the camps.

SURVIVOR OF CHINA'S CULTURAL REVOLUTION WARNS AGAINST LETTING 600,000 CHINESE STUDENTS STUDY AT US COLLEGES

At age 10, she said, she was sent by the government to study inside China in Mandarin-language schools designed to assimilate Uyghur children into mainstream Chinese society.

"They educate us as Chinese mind," she said.

Years later, she moved to Egypt to study business administration. There, she married an Egyptian man and gave birth to triplets in 2015: two boys and a girl.

The children were only two months old when her parents urged her to return to China so they could meet their grandchildren and help care for them.

Tursun resisted at first. The babies were too young to travel, she told them. But her mother insisted it was urgent.

On May 12, 2015, she boarded a flight to China carrying the newborns.

She says the nightmare began almost immediately after landing in Beijing.

At the airport, two people approached and offered to help carry the babies through border control. Moments later, she said, they identified themselves as police officers.

"They say, ‘Keep silent. Follow us,’" she recalled.

TRUMP PLEDGES TO RAISE DETAINED PASTOR'S CASE WITH XI JINPING DURING BEIJING VISIT AS FAMILY PLEADS FOR HELP

Tursun said officers separated her from the children and interrogated her for hours about her time in Egypt, asking whether she had participated in political activities or anti-Chinese events. She repeatedly asked to see her babies, explaining they needed to be breastfed.

Instead, she says officers placed a black hood over her head, handcuffed her and transferred her to detention in Xinjiang.

There, she says, interrogations and torture began.

Weeks later, authorities temporarily released her after informing her that one of her children was sick. Escorted by police to a hospital in Urumqi, she found her surviving son and daughter separated on different floors, connected to oxygen tubes.

The next day, doctors handed her paperwork to sign.

At the top, she said, were the words: "Death certification."

The document bore the name of her infant son. "They say, ‘This is your son,’" she recalled softly.

Doctors refused to explain what had happened, she said. Because she was considered a political suspect, she says no one would answer her questions.

For three days, she kept her son’s body with her at her parents’ home under constant police surveillance.

As Muslims, the family wanted to bring the child to a mosque and bury him according to religious tradition, she said, but authorities would not allow anyone to see the body.

"The body stayed with me three days," she said. "I try to give him warmth. I try to let him wake up."

He never opened his eyes again, she says as tears filled her eyes.

Following her son’s burial, she says authorities expelled her family from their home and detained her again. Between 2015 and 2018, she was transferred between multiple prisons and detention facilities where she endured psychological abuse, interrogations and torture.

REPORT DETAILS RISING PRESSURE ON UNDERGROUND CATHOLICS AS CHINA DENIES CRACKDOWN

One memory still haunts her more than any other.

During an interrogation, she says officers mocked her faith after she told them God would punish them for what they were doing.

"Chinese Communist Party is God," she recalled them saying. "Xi Jinping is God."

Then, she said, officers shaved her hair and applied electric shocks to her head until she lost consciousness.

Tursun also described what she says were systematic medical examinations performed on detainees, including blood tests and organ screenings. Similar allegations from former detainees have fueled longstanding accusations by activists and researchers that Chinese authorities harvested organs from prisoners of conscience, claims Beijing has repeatedly denied.

Inside one detention facility, she says more than 60 women were packed into a small cell under constant surveillance. Some had not seen sunlight for more than a year, she claimed.

CHINESE UNDERGROUND CHURCH PASTOR, FATHER OF US CITIZENS, DETAINED BY AUTHORITIES, FAMILY SAYS

Many of the women were educated professionals: teachers, doctors, neighbors she recognized from outside prison.

Others were barely more than children.

She recalled one 17-year-old Uyghur girl from a remote village who had never traveled outside her hometown and asked basic questions about the outside world, like how people can fit inside airplanes.

Weeks later, Tursun says, guards took the teenager away. When she returned, she appeared bloodied and severely traumatized. She was sexually attacked.

Two months later, the girl died. Tursun broke into tears. "No one care about that."

She says guards dragged the girl’s body away "like trash."

Eventually, her husband was able to locate her and the children, and after the Egyptian authorities intervened, she was allowed to leave China — after both of them signed to never talk about their experience.

Today, Tursun lives in the United States with her surviving children after eventually receiving refuge following congressional testimony in 2018 about her experiences in China.

In many ways, she is among the fortunate few.

Her children are alive. They are safe. They are growing up in America rather than under constant state surveillance in Xinjiang.

But survival, she says, is not the same thing as healing.

Her physical health remains fragile. So does her mental health. She says trauma follows her constantly, affecting her sleep, her memory and even ordinary daily routines.

"There is no one hour I forget," she said.

CHINA FORMALLY ARRESTS 18 LEADERS OF UNDERGROUND ZION CHURCH AMID RELIGIOUS CRACKDOWN

Sometimes, she admitted quietly, she no longer wants to continue living.

It is her children, she says, who keep her going. And the obligation she feels toward the women she left behind.

The women whose faces she still remembers. The women she watched deteriorate inside the camps. The women she says died there. That obligation, she says, is stronger than fear.

Former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, who interviewed Tursun for his recent book on religious persecution in China, believes stories like hers expose what he describes as the Chinese Communist Party’s deepest insecurity.

"This is the issue they fear the most: religious freedom," Brownback said during an interview in Washington as Trump arrived in Beijing.

"President Trump, you’re the president that’s done more on religious freedom than any modern president… You need to take this message to President Xi Jinping and his crushing of religion in China."

"Our fight is not with the Chinese people," he added. "It’s with the party."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the Chinese government protects "freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law" and argued that people of all ethnic groups in China enjoy religious freedom. Liu pointed to official figures showing nearly 200 million religious believers in China, along with more than 380,000 clerical personnel, approximately 5,500 religious groups and more than 140,000 registered places of worship.

Liu said Beijing regulates religious affairs involving "national interests and the public interest" while opposing what it describes as illegal or criminal activities carried out under the guise of religion. He also accused foreign countries and media outlets of interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of religious freedom and urged journalists to "respect the facts" and stop what he described as "attacking and smearing" China’s religious policies and religious freedom record.

As the interview ended, Tursun gathered herself slowly before stepping back out into the streets of Washington.

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To strangers passing by, she looked like any other young mother moving through the city.

Only she carries memories most people cannot imagine.

Ship seized off coast of UAE near Strait of Hormuz may have been 'floating armory': report

Thu, 14 May 2026 14:35:22 -0400

A ship was seized off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday morning, the British military reported.

The ship was boarded and "taken by unauthorized personnel" while it was roughly 38 nautical miles northeast of the United Arab Emirates’ oil export terminal Fujairah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported Thursday.

UKMTO spotted the ship heading toward Iranian territorial waters after the seizure, it reported Thursday.

British authorities did not release information on who the ship belonged to or who seized it. Despite the lack of official corroboration, the BBC reported that the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan was seized in the Strait on Thursday.

CARGO SHIP ATTACKED BY SMALL CRAFT NEAR STRAIT OF HORMUZ, UK MARITIME AGENCY SAYS

Citing the risk-management company Vanguard, the BBC reported that the ship's operators told Vanguard that the Hui Chuan was operating as a "floating armory" for ships in the Strait to defend themselves from pirates.

At least two other ships have already been seized in the Strait of Hormuz since February.

IRAN SAYS ITS SMALL SUBS DEPLOYED TO STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS EXPERT EXPLAINS THREAT: ‘VULNERABLE TO DETECTION’

In April, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and the Epaminondes ships in the Strait.

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Fox News Digital contacted UKMTO and Vanguard for further information but did not immediately receive a response.

Non-Jewish professor says he was fired for calling out Hamas supporters in online post

Thu, 14 May 2026 11:11:08 -0400

A non-Jewish Canadian professor says he was fired from his university for defending Israel in a social media post as antisemitism exploded across Canada following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Paul Finlayson told Fox News Digital that he lost his job at Canada’s University of Guelph-Humber after taking a strong stance online about the massacre and kidnapping of Israelis and foreigners — including Americans and Canadians.

Finlayson responded in November of 2023 to a LinkedIn message from an overseas educator who he said was "calling for the eradication of Israel." Though the author later deleted his post and all corresponding comments, the National Post quoted from Finlayson’s response in a December 2023 article.

"If you say ‘from the River to the Sea’, you’re a Nazi," Finlayson wrote. "I’m not neutral. I stand with Israel. I stand against antisemites who want nothing but dead Jews: who take millions from their education and health care budgets and spend it on making war…You stand with Palestine means you stand with Hitler. You don’t want peace, you want dead Jews…They murdered 1,400 innocents and took 250 hostages and the people celebrated rapist monsters as heroes."

RECORD ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN CANADA FUEL CRITICISM OF CARNEY GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

Since the post, Finlayson says he has faced a targeted campaign against him which has affected his professional standing and job prospects.

Finlayson said that students at the school found his LinkedIn reply before the post's author erased the thread, leading to outcry. While meeting with a student in his office on Nov. 27, Finlayson said an administrator waited outside, eventually presenting him with a suspension letter.

A copy of the suspension letter, provided by Finlayson, cites "inappropriate online comments" and places the professor "on leave pending the outcome of the investigation." It directed Finlayson not to contact "any of your departmental staff or students or broader members of the [university]."

Finlayson said he was "very well-liked" by students, who ranked him among the highest in the business department faculty. He said that rumors about the accusations against him destroyed his academic reputation, which included formulating courses and writing textbooks.

"My trial has been by defamation, and it continues by defamation," Finlayson said of the "Kafkaesque" situation that ensued.

FEDERAL PROBE CLAIMS UNIVERSITIES ARE 'LEGITIMIZING AND AMPLIFYING ANTISEMITISM'

He says that his union, OPSEU Local 562, refused to represent him. The union did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Finlayson was officially fired by the university in July 2025. He provided a copy of his termination letter, which stated that after a "formal complaint of discrimination and harassment," an investigator found that his "conduct violated the Ontario Human Rights Code and Humber’s Human Rights and Harassment Policy, and that [he] engaged in reprisal under both of those instruments."

The Humber harassment policy states that "anyone who attempts Reprisal or threatens Reprisal against a person who initiates a complaint or participates in proceedings under this Policy may be subject to disciplinary action."

The same policy says that "Humber upholds and supports the right to equal treatment without Discrimination" based on prohibited grounds, which include antisemitism.

CANADA’S ANTISEMITISM ENVOY RESIGNS, CITING EXHAUSTION AMID HATE SURGE

The University of Guelph-Humber did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about Finlayson’s suspension, investigation and firing, and about whether anti-Israel posts shared by its students and a professor at the University violate the Humber Human Rights and Harassment Policy.

The University of Guelph’s "UofGforPalestine" Instagram page, which presents itself as the account of "students, staff, and faculty who stand in solidarity with Palestine," has shared posts with the inverted red triangle that Hamas uses to mark targets. Like the U.S., Canada designates Hamas as a terror group.

In November 2024, the group shared photos on its Instagram account of a guillotine that "appeared on a walking path" in Guelph, which featured photos of the heads of Canadian, American and Israeli leaders coated in red paint. Though purported to be an "anonymous submission," the post notes its "message" as "Death to empire, death to colonialism and imperialism, death to the war machine."

A University of Guelph-Humber professor whom Finlayson believes brought the case against him has posted inflammatory rhetoric on his own LinkedIn account, calling Israel a "terrorist state," and stating that the world "cannot have both" peace and Israel.

The professor did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

While Finlayson lost his position, elsewhere in Canada, activism led to starkly different circumstances for three staffers at York University, who were among 11 individuals charged with "hate-motivated mischief" in Nov 2023 for plastering a bookstore with photos accusing a Jewish CEO of genocide, and splashing the store with red paint, as reported by the National Post.

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Though they were initially suspended from the school, at least two staff members appear to have current profiles on the York University website. One, a professor, most recently taught courses at the school in the Winter 2026 semester. York University did not respond to requests for comment about its restoration of staff members’ roles.

Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, antisemitism has exploded in Canada. In April, B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights released a report showing that 6,800 antisemitic incidents took place in the country in 2025, representing a 9.4% increase over 2024. On average, this represented 18.6 incidents a day and was the "highest volume" the group has recorded since it began tracking incidents.

Hamas used sexual violence 'deliberately and systematically' on Oct 7, commission report finds

Thu, 14 May 2026 09:46:04 -0400

WARNING: This article includes graphic and disturbing accounts from the October 7 massacre in Israel.

Hamas and its Palestinian collaborators used sexual and gender-based violence "deliberately and systematically" as an inherent part of a wider strategy of the 2023 massacres in southern Israel, according to a report released Tuesday by the Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes Against Women and Children.

The Israeli nonprofit said its investigation documented evidence of abuse at multiple sites during the Oct. 7 terror invasion, including the Nova Music Festival, kibbutzim near the Gaza border, Israel Defense Forces bases, among hostages in captivity and in the condition of recovered bodies showing signs consistent with sexual violence.

According to the report, investigators identified at least 13 recurring forms of abuse, including rape, sexual torture, shootings directed at victims’ genital areas and abuse carried out after death.

ISRAEL'S QUEST FOR JUSTICE EXPOSES HAMAS' SYSTEMATIC SEXUAL VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN DURING OCTOBER 7 MASSACRE

Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, founder and chair of the Civil Commission and a principal co-author of the report, told Fox News Digital that the greatest challenge in compiling the findings was the team’s repeated exposure to graphic material and the trauma associated with reviewing it on a regular basis.

"We had to not only collect materials, but also review and analyze it alongside forensic experts while witnessing human suffering at its worst," Elkayam-Levy said. "What motivated us was the denial, the hesitation and the questioning. We wanted to ensure that the world knows what happened to the victims.

"For us, it is a final act of justice for the victims," she added.

The report also detailed cases in which sexual violence was inflicted in front of or involving family members, including one incident in which relatives were allegedly forced to carry out acts on each other.

FREED HOSTAGE ROM BRASLAVSKI DETAILS ABUSE, STARVATION DURING 738 DAYS IN GAZA CAPTIVITY

It further accused Hamas and allied perpetrators of using videos, digital platforms and social media as tools to magnify psychological harm, spread fear and publicize the attacks, including by distributing sexualized material.

Elkayam-Levy said she hopes the findings will not remain confined to academics, human rights organizations or activists, but will also be studied by counterterrorism and national security experts to better understand and confront such atrocities.

"We cannot prevent what we do not fully understand," Elkayam-Levy said. "No single prosecution could ever capture the full magnitude of these crimes in the way this report does. It is therefore critical that policymakers, decision-makers, members of Congress and senators find ways to formally recognize these findings and hold hearings so we can begin addressing this issue. We want the findings of this report to receive formal institutional recognition."

The report, Elkayam-Levy noted, underscores that victims of the Oct. 7 atrocities came from 52 countries, highlighting the global scope and impact of the attack.

Witness testimony cited in the report included an account of a woman being sexually assaulted before being beheaded. Another witness described seeing a woman dragged from a vehicle, pinned against a wall, repeatedly raped and then stabbed, with the assault allegedly continuing after her death.

In another case, a witness described discovering the body of a man whose genitals had been severed, lying beside the body of a woman holding them, in what the report described as an apparent effort to degrade and humiliate the victims.

JEWISH DEM LAWMAKER PANS NY TIMES, SUGGESTS PAPER ON 'HAMAS' PAYROLL' FOR PALESTINIAN PRISONER DOG RAPE REPORT

Investigators said some female victims were found naked or partially unclothed, with evidence of severe mutilation and objects including grenades, nails and household tools inserted into their bodies. The report also cited gunshot wounds, cuts and burn injuries concentrated on intimate areas.

The report said some female bodies brought to morgues showed broken pelvises or legs, bloodied underwear and additional trauma to the abdomen or groin.

Former hostages, both women and men, have also testified to rape, sexual torture and other forms of abuse during abduction or captivity, according to the report. It said some female captives reported sexual assaults while receiving treatment in Gaza hospitals for injuries sustained during the attacks.

Male hostages likewise described sexual abuse while in captivity, including assaults in showers and incidents carried out under armed threat while victims were naked, the report said. One former hostage recounted being sexually assaulted when a captor forcibly rubbed his genitals against the victim’s anus.

Last month, former hostage Rom Braslavski recounted the abuse he said he endured during captivity in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

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"They would hit me with whatever they had on hand. I underwent severe torture, bondage and sexual abuse. Everything they could do to me, they did. My body is still covered in scars. After four months of torture, I was clinically dead, rolling my eyes and passing out. They decided to stop the violence and brought doctors to treat me with injections and gave me food again," he said.

The report said sexual and gender-based violence was "widespread and systematic" and constituted an "integral component" of both the Oct. 7 attacks and the subsequent treatment of captives, while calling the prosecution of such crimes an "urgent" priority to be pursued through international accountability mechanisms.

Among its recommendations, the commission called for targeted sanctions against individuals and entities accused of carrying out or materially supporting the Oct. 7 attack and its aftermath. It also urged action against what it described as denial, minimization or politicization of the sexual crimes committed during the massacre and in captivity.

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"The Commission further recommends that Israel adopt a comprehensive gender strategy within its prosecutorial framework and establish a specialized chamber or panel of judges dedicated to the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes committed on October 7th and during captivity," the report said.

Elkayam-Levy said the report has received widespread international attention, including front-page coverage in U.S. and global media outlets. "We feel the discussion has shifted from questioning whether these crimes occurred to examining their consequences," she said. "There is now a substantial legal evidentiary foundation preserved in a secure archive that cannot be denied."

Trump pledges to raise detained pastor's case with Xi Jinping during Beijing visit as family pleads for help

Thu, 14 May 2026 06:00:15 -0400

Five weeks before the birth of her third child, Grace Drexel sat in Washington speaking about her father, the grandfather her children barely know, and the hope that President Donald Trump might help bring him home.

Her father, Pastor Ezra Jin, has spent the past seven months detained in China alongside dozens of other Christian leaders in what advocates describe as one of the largest crackdowns on an underground Protestant church in recent years.

Now, as Trump visits Beijing for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Drexel says her family is clinging to a rare moment of hope after Trump publicly pledged to raise Pastor Jin’s imprisonment directly with Xi.

PRESIDENT TRUMP MUST PUT AMERICAN HOSTAGES FIRST IN HIGH-STAKES BEIJING SUMMIT

"I’ll bring it up," Trump told a reporter when asked whether he planned to discuss the detained pastor during the trip.

"It’s such a tremendous honor," Drexel told Fox News Digital. "To have one of the most powerful men in the world know my father by name and mention his case to General Secretary Xi Jinping."

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital, "There is no greater champion for religious freedom around the world than President Trump."

For Drexel, this could end years of suffering. Her family has been separated for almost a decade — her mother and younger brothers fled China in 2018 after authorities shut down Zion Church’s physical sanctuary in Beijing, fearing they could become collateral targets in the growing crackdown on Christians.

Pastor Jin chose to stay behind with his community.

"My father actually had many opportunities to apply for a green card," Drexel said. "He felt the calling for China."

Drexel herself has not seen her father in person since 2020.

CHINA FORMALLY ARRESTS 18 LEADERS OF UNDERGROUND ZION CHURCH AMID RELIGIOUS CRACKDOWN

Now pregnant with her third child, she says all she wants is for her father to finally reunite with his family.

"We would really, really love for our children to also experience and learn from their Grandpa," she said.

Drexel described her father not as a political dissident, but as a pastor whose only mission was to remain faithful to Christianity outside Communist Party control.

"My father is a pastor in China and like Christians everywhere, he believed that the church should only have one God and serve one God," she told Fox News Digital.

She described Zion Church as independent from government oversight and deeply rooted in Scripture and community service.

REPORT DETAILS RISING PRESSURE ON UNDERGROUND CATHOLICS AS CHINA DENIES CRACKDOWN

"We helped with the society and the community around us, love our neighbors, and to love God," she said.

But beyond the role of pastor, Drexel says she simply knew her father as a gentle man devoted to those around him.

"Ultimately, I know my father as just a very gentle and kind man," she said. "He is not very confrontational generally. He just loved everyone around him."

"He never even criticized anyone, including his children, much as we were growing up," she added.

Drexel tearfully said that relatives learned that her father had been handcuffed, his head shaved, and that he was struggling to receive medication while in detention.

"And this kind and gentle man is now in prison," she said. "All because he was just leading a church."

The crackdown against Zion Church began years before Pastor Jin’s arrest.

According to Drexel, the pressure intensified around 2016 and 2017 after Xi Jinping rewrote China’s religious regulations and formally advanced the policy known as the "Sinicization" of religion, an effort critics say forces religious groups to align with Communist Party ideology.

Around that time, Zion Church became one of many churches targeted by the authorities.

Initially, Drexel says government officials demanded the church install facial-recognition cameras inside the sanctuary to monitor worshipers.

TRUMP CHAMPIONS JESUS' 'MIRACULOUS RESURRECTION' IN PALM SUNDAY MESSAGE VOWING TO 'DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH'

"We told them all our services are public. You can come and view anytime," she said. "But we didn’t feel that we wanted to put an extra amount of surveillance or control on our congregation."

After the church refused, Drexel says authorities installed surveillance cameras in the building’s lobby instead and began systematically targeting church members.

"Each and every member who came on Sunday [was] being harassed," she said. Some worshipers lost jobs, others were forced out of apartments, while some families were threatened through their children’s education and even their parents’ retirement benefits.

"It was all possible under the Chinese Communist Party if they wanted you to stop doing something," she said.

Authorities eventually confiscated the church’s property and shut down its physical worship space. Pastor Jin then moved services online and into smaller home gatherings, which led authorities to later accuse church leaders of the "illegal use of information networks" because of those online and decentralized worship activities.

But she says her father’s case is only one piece of a much larger crackdown unfolding across China.

CRUZ LEADS SENATE PUSH TO HOLD CHINA ACCOUNTABLE FOR BEIJING CHURCH CRACKDOWN

"There are so many pastors and church leaders and churches being persecuted in China actively today," she added. "We know that there are hundreds of pastors that are currently in prison or are in detention."

"This is a very critical period in China," Drexel said. "And it’s very disheartening and very scary for many Christians in China."

The broader persecution campaign against Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners is also documented in "China’s War on Faith," the recently released book by former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

Brownback profiles believers imprisoned, tortured, and surveilled for practicing religion outside state-approved institutions and argues that the Chinese Communist Party increasingly sees independent faith itself as a threat to Party authority.

For Drexel, Trump’s decision to publicly mention her father’s name represents more than diplomacy.

"We hope that as the two leaders are meeting together that they will both have a softening of the hearts and will release my father and allow him to come to the U.S.," she said.

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What Xi wants from Trump as Beijing seeks leverage in high-stakes summit

Thu, 14 May 2026 05:00:16 -0400

President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a moment when both Washington and Beijing are trying to stabilize one of the world’s most consequential rivalries without giving ground on deeper strategic disputes.

The two-day visit marks Trump’s first trip to China since 2017 and comes amid mounting tensions over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the fallout from the war with Iran. While the White House is framing the summit as an opportunity for new economic agreements and "rebalancing" the U.S.–China relationship, analysts say Beijing’s priorities are far broader and more long-term.

"Trump arrives seeking headline deals and visible momentum ahead of the midterms," wrote Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Xi is playing a longer game, focused on strategic patience rather than substantive compromise."

TRUMP HEADS TO BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI TALKS AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTH

Topics expected to be discussed during the summit include trade, aerospace, agriculture and energy agreements, and the creation of a U.S.–China Board of Trade and Board of Investment, according to the White House.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump’s goal is to "deliver more good deals on behalf of our country" while safeguarding U.S. national security.

Trump participated in a welcome ceremony and bilateral meeting with Xi Thursday morning local time in Beijing, followed by a tour of the Temple of Heaven alongside the Chinese leader and a state banquet later.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said Beijing views the summit as an opportunity to stabilize ties between the world’s two largest economies.

"Heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China–U.S. relations," Liu said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We welcome President Trump’s state visit to China. China stands ready to work with the U.S. to expand cooperation and manage differences in the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit, and provide more stability and certainty for a transforming and volatile world."

For Xi, analysts say, the top priority likely is avoiding further escalation with Washington while buying time for China’s slowing economy, as it continues to struggle with weak domestic demand, deflationary pressure and industrial overcapacity.

A recent report by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission warned that Beijing is doubling down on state-led industrial policy despite mounting structural weaknesses in the Chinese economy.

The commission said China is increasingly operating a "two-speed" economy, where much of the broader economy stagnates while sectors prioritized by the Chinese Communist Party receive massive state support and continue expanding beyond market demand.

The report also warned of a new "China Shock 2.0," arguing Beijing’s excess industrial capacity and record trade surplus are disrupting global markets while increasing foreign dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains in sectors ranging from batteries and pharmaceuticals to semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

"Chinese policy seeks simultaneously to reduce China’s reliance on foreign technology while increasing the world’s dependence on China," the commission noted in its findings.

TRUMP TO CONFRONT XI AT HIGH-STAKES SUMMIT OVER CHINA BACKING FOR IRAN, RUSSIA

At the same time, Xi is entering the talks with leverage stemming from the ongoing Iran crisis and global energy disruptions.

Trump has faced growing domestic pressure over rising energy prices tied to instability in the Middle East and shipping threats near the Strait of Hormuz. Beijing, meanwhile, remains one of Iran’s largest oil customers and maintains political ties with Tehran.

Susan Thornton, former acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during Trump’s first term, said during a recent Stanford University Asia-Pacific Research Center interview that expectations for major breakthroughs should remain low despite the summit’s symbolism.

"The primary value lies in the act of meeting itself," Thornton said.

She suggested Beijing may see a strategic advantage in America’s renewed focus on the Middle East. While China has made nominal peace proposals, it has not stepped up as a mediator.

"It seems like they are kind of hanging back and waiting to see what will happen," Thornton said, arguing that from Beijing’s perspective, a U.S. entanglement in the Middle East may serve as a useful distraction, diverting Washington’s attention and pressure away from China.

One area where the two sides could announce tangible progress is agriculture.

The White House is pushing Beijing for expanded purchases of U.S. farm products ahead of the summit, according to a Reuters report published Tuesday, particularly soybeans and grains.

But traders and analysts told Reuters that China’s appetite for major new soybean commitments may be limited due to weak domestic demand and cheaper alternatives from Brazil. Instead, markets are watching for potential agreements involving corn, sorghum, wheat, beef and poultry, sectors viewed as less politically contentious in the broader U.S.–China relationship.

More than a dozen U.S. business executives, including leaders from agricultural giant Cargill, are accompanying Trump during the visit.

PRESIDENT TRUMP MUST PUT AMERICAN HOSTAGES FIRST IN HIGH-STAKES BEIJING SUMMIT

Despite the focus on trade and geopolitical tensions, survivors of China’s religious persecution are urging the administration not to sideline Beijing’s crackdown on religious groups and dissidents.

Ahead of the summit, Trump publicly pledged to raise the case of imprisoned Chinese pastor Ezra Jin following advocacy efforts by his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, who has accused Beijing of persecuting Christians.

Former U.S. officials told Fox News Digital they are skeptical human rights concerns will play a central role during a summit primarily focused on lowering tensions and stabilizing economic ties between the two powers.

Taiwan and technology restrictions are also expected to loom over the talks. Beijing continues to oppose U.S. arms sales and support for Taiwan, while Washington has tightened export controls targeting China’s advanced semiconductor and AI sectors.

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Still, despite the escalating rivalry, neither Washington nor Beijing appears eager for a direct confrontation.

For Trump, the summit offers an opportunity to showcase economic wins and diplomatic engagement ahead of the 2026 midterms.

For Xi, analysts say, the goal is far more measured: preserve stability, avoid confrontation and continue positioning China for a prolonged strategic competition with the United States.

Iran says its small subs deployed to Strait of Hormuz as expert explains threat: ‘Vulnerable to detection’

Wed, 13 May 2026 21:58:58 -0400

Iran says it has deployed small submarines to act as an "invisible guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz amid a series of rejected peace deals between Tehran and the U.S., according to reports.

The deployment claim came as analysts said that although the Iranian Ghadir-class mini-subs could threaten U.S. naval forces, the vessels’ limited range, firepower and endurance would blunt any real strategic impact.

The submarine deployment was highlighted by Bloomberg and first reported by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, commander of Iran’s navy, said that his forces deployed its light submarine, referred to as the "dolphins of the Persian Gulf," according to the Iranian state media outlet.

IRAN TURNS TO PUTIN AS US TALKS COLLAPSE, HORMUZ STANDOFF THREATENS GLOBAL OIL FLOW

It also comes as Tehran seeks to reinforce its control over the strait, now defining it as a far larger zone, Reuters reported.

"Time would be limited, probably a couple of days at the most," defense analyst Tom Shugart told Fox News Digital about the Iranian vessel deployment.

The retired U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer also said the small diesel-electric submarines face fundamental operational constraints.

IRAN HOLDS WORLD ENERGY HOSTAGE WITH 'NIGHTMARE' STRAIT OF HORMUZ SEA MINES, FORMER CENTCOM OFFICIAL WARNS

"If they run their diesel engines to snorkel and recharge batteries, that could generate sound that could be detected," Shugart said.

"Their snorkel mast projecting from the water could be detected by radars on patrol aircraft or helicopters," Shugart added.

The submarines are said to be designed for shallow waters like the Strait of Hormuz and can operate quietly for limited periods on battery power.

"While they may be able to sit on the bottom for a while and operate somewhat quietly on their batteries for a while, they have no air-independent propulsion system (AIP) like more modern diesel-electric submarines," Shugart said before adding that they’ll, "eventually have to come up and snorkel. This will make them more vulnerable to detection and destruction."

INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL

The IRGC Navy is said to be the sole operator of this class of submarine, all of which serve in the Southern Fleet.

"Any remaining Ghadirs, if they exist and are actually deployed, may be able to lay mines and may be able to threaten merchant ships," Shugart warned.

"But I don’t see them as a serious threat to U.S. Navy warships — and certainly not to U.S. submarines," he said.

"But I can say for sure that I wouldn’t want to go out on one in the current environment."

HORMUZ CHOKE POINT PERSISTS AS IRAN HALTS OIL TRAFFIC DESPITE TRUMP CEASEFIRE

The U.S. Navy confirmed May 10 that a U.S. Navy Ohio-class nuclear-armed submarine had arrived in Gibraltar.

"The port visit demonstrates U.S. capability, flexibility and continuing commitment to its NATO allies," U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs said in a statement.

"Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines are undetectable launch platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, providing the U.S. with its most survivable leg of the nuclear triad," it added.

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Meanwhile, Shugart’s remarks came as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, with commercial tanker traffic largely choked off amid ongoing military activity and the continued U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

The United Arab Emirates and South Korea reported new strikes on stranded vessels Wednesday, while the IRGC increased its fast-attack craft activity, according to reports.

President Donald Trump has maintained Iran’s navy is "completely obliterated."

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Trump faces split among retired US commanders over whether to resume Iran strikes

Wed, 13 May 2026 06:00:03 -0400

President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran is on "massive life support," as retired U.S. commanders and national security experts are increasingly split whether Washington should resume military operations against Tehran or avoid what critics warn could become another prolonged Middle East conflict.

"I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support," Trump told reporters Monday. "Where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.’"

Trump also dismissed Iran’s latest response to a proposed agreement as "a piece of garbage," amid reports the White House is reviewing military options should negotiations collapse.

Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser under Trump, said he believes Iran’s leadership is unlikely to make the concessions Trump considers necessary for a deal.

WHITE HOUSE WARNS IRAN AGAINST BALKING AT DEAL: TRUMP READY TO 'UNLEASH HELL'

"I think the Iranian leadership and IRGC are unwilling to make the kind of concessions that President Trump thinks are at the minimum," McMaster told Fox News Digital, referring to Iran's hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"President Trump always wants a deal," he added. "But he's not going to sign up for a bad deal."

The emerging debate now centers on a core question facing Washington: whether additional military pressure could force Iran to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions, or whether renewed strikes would deepen a regional conflict without producing decisive results.

Retired Vice Adm. Mark Fox, former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said he believes the current ceasefire and diplomatic track are unlikely to force Iran to back down.

"I really cannot envision anything other than a full return to combat operations," Fox told Fox News Digital. "The only thing that they will respond to, I think ultimately, is force."

Fox argued the U.S. military remains capable of reopening and securing commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz despite ongoing Iranian threats against vessels transiting the waterway.

HORMUZ CHOKE POINT PERSISTS AS IRAN HALTS OIL TRAFFIC DESPITE TRUMP CEASEFIRE

"This is a militarily obtainable objective," he said, outlining a strategy involving guided missile destroyers, attack helicopters, drones and expanded aerial surveillance to create a protected maritime corridor through the Strait.

Fox acknowledged the U.S. Navy is smaller than it was during the 1980s tanker wars, but argued American forces still possess the capability to secure the chokepoint if Washington commits enough naval assets and persistent monitoring operations.

"It’s not easy," Fox said. "But the geography is fixed."

He described a possible strategy that would rely on destroyers, drones and attack aircraft to create what he called an "unblinking eye" over the strait, allowing U.S. forces to identify and neutralize Iranian speedboats, drones and anti-shipping threats before they can strike commercial vessels.

Fox also warned against allowing Iran to preserve leverage over Hormuz while continuing to advance its missile and nuclear programs.

"If not now, when?" he said. "If they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it."

EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S NUCLEAR DOUBLE-TALK DESIGNED TO BUY TIME, UNDERMINE US PRESSURE

Fox, who also signed onto a recent policy paper by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, echoed the report’s argument that Iran is using negotiations to buy time while preserving its military capabilities.

The paper was authored by several retired senior U.S. military officials and national security experts, including retired Gen. Chuck Wald, former deputy commander of U.S. European Command and retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward, former deputy commander of CENTCOM, argued the current ceasefire and diplomatic track "cannot reliably compel Iran" to meet U.S. demands and warned Tehran was seeking to "drag out talks, erode U.S. resolve, and use the time to strengthen itself."

The report called for expanded military operations targeting Iran’s maritime capabilities, missile infrastructure and internal coercive apparatus while avoiding broad attacks on civilian infrastructure that could trigger wider regional escalation.

But not everyone agrees that renewed military action would produce a better outcome.

Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a senior fellow at Defense Priorities and longtime critic of expanded U.S. military interventions, warned that calls to "finish the job" ignore the realities exposed during the recent fighting.

"To ‘finish the job,’ as they say, is irrational," Davis told Fox News Digital. "It’s illogical, and it violates any kind of military principle."

KEITH KELLOGG URGES US TO 'FINISH THE JOB' AGAINST IRAN BY SEIZING ISLANDS, STRANGLING ECONOMY

Davis argued that despite thousands of strikes and weeks of fighting, Iran retained significant missile and maritime capabilities.

"We couldn't knock them out with 14,000 targets hit," he said. "Why does anybody think that going back another time is going to have a different result?"

He described Iran’s geography, dispersed missile infrastructure and asymmetric naval tactics as creating what he called "a militarily unsolvable problem."

"The only thing left is a diplomatic outcome," Davis said.

The disagreement reflects a broader divide emerging in Washington as officials weigh what comes next if negotiations fail.

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Supporters of renewed military action argue Iran is weaker than it has been in decades and that stopping now risks allowing Tehran to regroup, rebuild its missile arsenal and preserve leverage over one of the world’s most important energy choke points.

Critics counter that even extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes failed to fundamentally break the regime’s control or eliminate its military capabilities, raising the risk that further escalation could drag the United States into another drawn-out regional conflict with uncertain results.

Islamabad denies sheltering Iran jets, Trump praises Pakistan's mediation as 'absolutely great'

Tue, 12 May 2026 19:56:33 -0400

Pakistan rejected reports Tuesday that it allowed Iranian aircraft to use its airfields amid tensions with the United States—claims suggesting the move could have shielded the planes from potential airstrikes—even as Islamabad positioned itself as a high-profile mediator between the two sides.

According to the report May 11, Tehran was also said to have possibly sent a civilian aircraft to Afghanistan during the conflict.

Pakistan said Tuesday the CBS report was "misleading and sensationalized. Such speculative narratives appear aimed at undermining ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"Following the ceasefire and during the initial round of the Islamabad Talks, a number of aircraft from Iran and the United States arrived in Pakistan to facilitate the movement of diplomatic personnel, security teams, and administrative staff associated with the talks process," the ministry said before clarifying that "some aircraft and support personnel remained temporarily in Pakistan in anticipation of subsequent rounds of engagement."

JD VANCE RETURNS TO WASHINGTON AFTER 16 HOURS OF IRAN PEACE TALKS COLLAPSE IN PAKISTAN

The alleged Iranian asset movements had also suggested there was an effort by Iran to conceal some of its remaining aerial assets as Pakistan worked behind the scenes to broker a ceasefire between Iran and the United States.

President Donald Trump also confirmed Tuesday he was satisfied with the mediation work carried out by Pakistan, telling reporters ahead of his trip to China that they were "great."

"I think the Pakistanis have been great. The field marshal and the prime minister of Pakistan have been absolutely great," Trump clarified.

In April, Pakistan had emerged as a key mediator in efforts to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis and the regional conflict.

Islamabad hosted senior delegations for talks on April 11–12 after helping secure a temporary two-week ceasefire.

IRAN COVERTLY REPOSITIONS STRIKE DRONES AMID RUSSIA DRILLS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, EXPERT SAYS

Pakistan’s position was unique, given its geographic proximity to Iran and its longstanding strategic partnership with the United States.

Mediation efforts were led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Officials told CBS that, days after Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran in early April, Tehran sent multiple aircraft to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan.

Nur Khan Airbase, located near Rawalpindi, is said to be a key installation of the Pakistan Air Force and serves as a major logistical and operational hub.

Among the aircraft reportedly moved there was an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the outlet said.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES 'PROJECT FREEDOM,' IRAN THREATENS ATTACKS, PAKISTAN ANNOUNCES US RELEASE OF SEIZED CARGO SHIP

Despite initial progress between the U.S. and Iran, talks in Islamabad on April 11 ultimately collapsed.

However, Pakistani leadership said it felt optimistic. "We are very optimistic that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.

Trump also praised Pakistan’s mediating role again, stating on May 7, "Pakistan has been fantastic. And its leaders have been fantastic—the marshal and the prime minister."

As part of the next response, Trump also launched "Project Freedom" to guide vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and to help free up shipping.

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Trump's initiative to help thousands of stranded crew lasted 48 hours, with the president later acknowledging that it was halted "at the request of Pakistan and other countries," including Saudi Arabia, to avoid jeopardizing ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. said Monday that if Pakistan did shelter Iranian aircraft during mediation then it would force a complete reassessment of Pakistan’s role.

"If this reporting is accurate, it would require a complete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as mediator between Iran, the United States and other parties. Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defense officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true," Graham said in a post shared on X.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Government of Pakistan, The White House and U.S. Central Command for comment.

Taiwan watches Trump-Xi meeting for signs China will test US resolve

Tue, 12 May 2026 18:00:16 -0400

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan: President Donald Trump’s meetings with communist China’s supreme leader Xi Jinping in Beijing will be keenly watched here in Taiwan, from the presidential office to military command centers and semiconductor company boardrooms. The key question many are asking is whether Trump negotiates with China from a position of strength, or leaves Taiwan exposed?

The de facto independent nation of 23 million people has spent decades living under threat from the Chinese Communist Party, which claims Taiwan as its territory despite never having ruled it for even a day.

Observers here warn that Xi may try to offer Trump a deal: cooperation on tariffs, fentanyl, U.S. business access, or global flashpoints like Iran and Ukraine in exchange for Trump accepting a larger Chinese role in Taiwan’s future.

CHINA ORDERS FIRMS TO IGNORE US IRAN SANCTIONS, DARING US TO ENFORCE CRACKDOWN

Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu recently told Bloomberg News, "What we are the most afraid is to put Taiwan on the menu of the talk between Xi Jinping and President Trump."

Huang Kwei-bo, a professor in National Chengchi University’s Department of Diplomacy, told Fox News Digital that Taiwan shouldn't assume nothing will change. "Taiwan shouldn't rule out the possibility that the United States and mainland China could reach an understanding behind the scenes, agreeing to reduce arms sales to Taiwan, or become less active in helping us meaningfully participate in international space," he said.

In comments on Monday, President Trump acknowledged China’s dislike of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and said the topic would be "one of the many things I'll be talking about."

CHINA LAUNCHES LARGEST MILITARY DRILLS OFF TAIWAN IN 8 MONTHS WITH LIVE-FIRE EXERCISES CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Over the past week, more than 50 communist Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

Those numbers are not a dramatic new escalation. In Taiwan, they are increasingly seen as part of a new normal: a sustained pressure campaign that falls short of war but keeps Taiwan’s military on alert. China also intentionally damages the undersea cables that connect Taiwan to the internet, hacks into Taiwan’s computer systems daily, and floods social media with content that praises the communist party.

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is a major concern for Washington. The island is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, the dominant producer of the world’s most advanced semiconductors. Those chips are used in smartphones, cars, artificial intelligence systems and U.S. defense technology. Any conflict or blockade that cuts Taiwan off from global markets would ripple through American factories, consumers, technology companies and military planning.

However, as the leaders of the two nations most closely intertwined with Taiwan's future meet, there is no outward sense of panic here.

"Most people here are not obsessed with China every day," Audrey Chiang, who runs a tourist souvenir shop in Kaohsiung, told Fox News Digital. Chiang has a son who is just a few years away from serving one year as a military conscript, a 2024 response to China’s invasion threats. "We go to work. We worry about the next big test at our kids’ school. We complain about traffic. But everyone knows things can change very quickly."

Taiwan’s legislature on May 8 passed a near US$25 billion supplemental defense spending bill, meant in part to signal to Washington that Taipei isn’t simply depending on America to protect itself. But the package was smaller than the almost US$40 billion requested by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s administration.

Taipei-based American political analyst, Ross Darrell Feingold, told Fox News Digital that many in Taiwan assume that the U.S., and possibly Japan, will come to the island’s defense in the event of a war. "Going back to the Cold War when the U.S. had a treaty obligation to defend Taiwan, and even after the treaty was abrogated, the consistent assumption is that the U.S. president will send in the military to save Taiwan. More recently, there is a growing assumption Japan will do so as well. But Taiwan still must do what is necessary to prove to its partners that Taiwan’s own people will be on the front line," he said.

CHINA PROMISES 'COUNTERMEASURES' TO US ARMS SALE TO TAIWAN

Taiwan’s main political parties have major differences in their approaches to China, but broadly support U.S. arms purchases and agree that Beijing is a threat to democratic Taiwan.

Chinese officials insist Taiwan’s status is an "internal affair." Taiwan’s elected government rejects that, and so do most Taiwanese, who see Taiwan’s future as something only they should decide.

National Pingtung University Associate Professor Paul Lee is among those who think Xi Jinping is going to push the U.S. president hard on Taiwan. Speaking by phone, he told Fox News Digital that "Xi Jinping almost certainly wants one clear change from the U.S., he’ll want Trump to say the United States ‘opposes Taiwan independence’ rather than the language it uses now that is closer to ‘does not support Taiwan independence.’ To be frank, I don’t think President Trump sees Taiwan as that important – except as the producer of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, and as a source of some revenue from weapons sales." Lee notes that the difference between "doesn’t support" and "opposes" may not seem like much for Trump, but for Xi, it would be viewed as a major victory."

For Taiwan’s ruling party, and anyone in Taiwan who supports moves by Lai and his predecessor to establish at home and abroad that Taiwan is not part of China, such a change in language would come as a blow as it implies that the U.S. does not agree with the people of Taiwan having the right to self-determination on their future, Lee explained, and he said Xi Jinping wouldn’t be satisfied with Trump simply saying a few sentences.

"Trump has roughly three years left on his second term, and Xi will want to ensure the ‘oppose independence’ language translates into a new framework with new rules such as not letting Taiwan President Lai transit through the U.S., as one example. Xi knows U.S. presidents come and go, so the goal is to create a tacit agreement that Taiwan is in the Chinese sphere of influence, he said.

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Lee said China has been patiently waiting for an opportune moment, and the war in Iran, tariffs and other issues facing President Trump is presenting exactly that.

Lee said Taiwan’s government and academic community will closely scrutinize the official translations of what the two sides "agree" on. "Put simply," Lee said, "if Xi Jinping agrees to help make things easier for Trump, Xi will not be satisfied with cryptically worded official press releases. He will want to see the beginning of a new U.S.-China framework for dealing with Taiwan."

Inside the Christian border town in Lebanon that says it survived by defying Hezbollah

Tue, 12 May 2026 17:39:48 -0400

The church bells still ring in Rmeish on the Lebanon-Israel border.

While much of southern Lebanon has suffered destruction during the war between Israel and the terror group Hezbollah, the predominantly Christian border town close to Israel remained largely untouched. Churches are still standing. Homes remain intact. Residents say the village avoided Israeli strikes because locals refused to allow Hezbollah fighters to operate from inside the town.

"There was more than one attempt for them to come to the outskirts or the entrance of the village to launch rockets from there," one resident told Jusoor News. "The young men of Rmeish confronted them and prevented them from entering."

"That led to the protection of Rmeish from any Israeli attacks," the resident said. "The Israelis do not target aimlessly. They target launch sites."

HEZBOLLAH DISARMAMENT DEADLOCK RISKS CIVIL WAR, ANALYSTS SAY, AS US PREPARES FOR ISRAEL–LEBANON TALKS

The account offers a rare public glimpse into open resistance to Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon, where criticism of the Iranian-backed terrorist group is often met with accusations of treason or collaboration with Israel.

Tarek, a Christian social activist from Rmeish who spoke by phone with Fox News Digital, said residents of the town have long-faced pressure because they refused to align with Hezbollah.

"After 2000, when Israel left, we were always labeled as collaborators of Israel," Tarek said. "We suffered a lot from this stigma."

He said Hezbollah supporters accused the town of cooperating with Israel simply because it escaped the destruction seen in neighboring villages.

The interviews come as the Trump administration brokers talks between Israel and Lebanon aimed at stabilizing the border and addressing Hezbollah’s military presence in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem recently rejected any discussion about disarming the group, while U.S. officials continue pushing to strengthen the Lebanese state over the armed terror group.

Tarek argued Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon cannot be separated from Iran.

"The Lebanese government has been ruled by Hezbollah for almost 36 years," he told Fox News Digital. "They are deeply entrenched in all arms of the government, security, army and institutions."

"If the president or prime minister says they want peace, Hezbollah will resist that," he added.

Tarek said weakening Iran is the key to weakening Hezbollah.

IRAN COULD ‘ACTIVATE’ HEZBOLLAH IF US TARGETS REGIME, TRUMP’S INNER CIRCLE TO DECIDE: EXPERT

"It’s about cutting the head of the octopus, which is the Iranian regime," he said. "Once you cut the head, Hezbollah will no longer function."

Another resident said many in the town increasingly believe "Hezbollah’s project is an Iranian project, not a Lebanese one."

Another woman from the village described living surrounded by war while trying to keep the town outside the fighting.

‘WAR FOLLOWED US’: A SYRIAN FAMILY FLED BEIRUT AFTER ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT TO FACE REPRESSION, BOMBING AT HOME

"We are in the middle, and the war surrounds us from all sides," she said. "This makes us live in a state of fear, anxiety, insecurity and instability."

A man from the village said residents had endured decades of wars that they have nothing to do with.

"We decided to remain steadfast," he said. "Where would we go?"

An older resident said his family has suffered from violence along the border since the 1970s.

"We are tired of wars," he said. "We want nothing but peace."

Despite accusations from Hezbollah supporters, residents insisted they do not regret standing up to the terrorist group.

"All accusations of treason are rejected," one resident said. "The people of Rmeish want to live safely on their land."

Another resident added: "Just because I don’t believe in your project doesn’t mean I’m a traitor."

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Ahed Al Hendi, a senior fellow at the Center for Peace Communications, told Fox News Digital that, "The defiance shown by Christians in southern Lebanon reflects a major shift in the country’s internal dynamics. For more than two decades, many Christians living near the border suffered under Hezbollah’s dominance, yet were stigmatized and often afraid to speak openly against it."

"Today," Al Hendi added, "with the changing balance of power, they are increasingly confronting Hezbollah publicly and speaking out against what they see as its tyranny."

Trump administration rejects UN migration declaration, says 'mass migration was never safe'

Mon, 11 May 2026 21:36:58 -0400

The U.S. State Department ‌announced on Monday that it refused to back an International Migration Review Forum "progress" declaration, accusing the U.N. of efforts to "advocate and facilitate replacement immigration in the United States and across the broader West."

The U.S. did not participate in the second International Migration Review Forum, held May 5–8 at U.N. Headquarters in New York, and will not support the declaration, the department said in a statement on Monday.

The forum is the U.N.’s main global platform for member states to review implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, according to the U.N. Network on Migration. The 2026 forum was scheduled to produce an intergovernmentally agreed "Progress Declaration."

President Donald Trump ended U.S. participation in the U.N. process to develop the Global Compact for Migration during his first term in 2017, and now the State Department says the federal government will again affirm its opposition.

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The Global Compact was adopted in 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the process. The U.N. and International Organization for Migration describe the compact as a cooperative framework intended to improve migration governance across countries.

"As Secretary Rubio said, opening our doors to mass migration was a grave mistake that threatens the cohesion of our societies and the future of our peoples," the department's statement reads. "In recent years, Americans witnessed first-hand how mass immigration laid waste to our communities: crime and chaos at the border, states of emergency in major cities, and billions of taxpayer dollars funneled towards hotels, plane tickets, cell phones and cash cards for migrants."

"Much of this was driven by UN agencies and their partners, which did not just facilitate the invasion of our country, but proceeded to redistribute our own people’s wealth and resources to millions of foreigners from the worst corners of the world," it continued.

The department argued there was nothing safe, orderly or regular about any of this, adding that the costs "were borne primarily by working Americans forced to compete for scarce jobs, housing, and social services."

"The UN has little to say about them," the department wrote.

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"President Trump is focused on the interests of Americans, not foreigners or globalist bureaucrats," the statement reads. "The United States will not support a process that imposes, overtly or by stealth, guidelines, standards, or commitments that constrain the American people’s sovereign, democratic right to make decisions in the best interests of our country."

The department concluded its statement by saying its goal is not to "manage" migration, but to "foster remigration."

In a thread on X also announcing the move to object to the declaration, the department said UN agencies "systematically facilitated mass migration into America and Europe, even as citizens of these nations called for restrictions on migration." It added that U.N. materials related to the Global Compact call for expanding regular migration pathways and reference "regularization" of migrants.

The International Organization for Migration says the forum is held every four years for countries to review progress and shape next steps on migration policy. IOM, which coordinates the U.N. Network on Migration, says the network includes 39 U.N. agencies working to support countries on migration issues.

The department alleged that "UN agencies – working with the NGOs they fund – established a migration corridor through Central America and to the U.S. border," the post reads. "As the American people suffered under an unprecedented wave of mass migration, the UN was on the ground pipelining migrants to our southern border."

"After facilitating mass migration to the United States, UN agencies condemned the deportation of illegal immigrants," the post continued. "While the United Kingdom faced unprecedented illegal boat crossings, UN agencies condemned plans for deportations. UN officials lobbied aviation regulators to prevent the deportation of migrants – an appalling violation of the UK’s national sovereignty."

The U.N. Network on Migration describes the compact as "non-legally binding." A U.N.-hosted text of the compact also says it respects states’ sovereign right to determine their national migration policies and to distinguish between regular and irregular migration status.

The declaration itself says the Global Compact is a cooperative framework and acknowledges that no state can address migration alone, while also upholding the sovereignty of states.

The department pushed back on the compact’s framing of migration as "safe, orderly and regular."

"For the citizens of Western nations, mass migration was never safe. It introduced new security threats, imposed financial strains, and undermined the cohesion of our societies," it wrote.

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"The United States will not legitimize global compacts that enable mass migration into America or Western nations," the post added.

U.N. materials frame the compact as a cooperative framework for issues that often cross borders, including labor migration, border management, migrant protections and development. U.N. agencies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, describe the IMRF as a state-led review process with participation from relevant stakeholders.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.N. for comment.

Macron takes the stage uninvited at Africa summit to scold crowd for 'total lack of respect'

Mon, 11 May 2026 17:58:56 -0400

French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a firestorm of criticism after he interrupted a youth-focused session at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on Monday, publicly scolding attendees for talking over speakers and calling the disruption "a total lack of respect."

Video from the event showed Macron rising from his seat and walking onto the stage during the "Africa Forward: Creation in Motion" session, which featured artists and young entrepreneurs speaking about culture and innovation.

"Excuse me, everybody. Hey, hey, hey," Macron told the audience. "I’m sorry, guys. But it’s impossible to speak about culture, to have people like that super inspired, coming here, making a speech with such a noise."

"So this is a total lack of respect," he continued. "I suggest if you want to have bilateral or speak about somebody else, I mean something else, you have bilateral rooms, or you go outside. If you want to stay here, we listen to the people, and we’re playing the same game."

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Macron was immediately criticized for his uninvited remarks on social media. A former member of Parliament from Zimbabwe, Fadzayi Mahere, called the French leader out on X. "Respectfully @EmmanuelMacron I don’t believe that it’s courteous or appropriate for you to come onto our Continent and talk down at people like this. They are not your kids. Don’t be condescending. Imagine if a guest of the state did the same in your country? Would it fly? I don’t think so."

Another post from a Kenyan-Canadian lawyer with 3.1 million followers announced, "Africans don’t need @EmmanuelMacron’s permission to speak in Africa," said Dr. Miguna Miguna, who in January announced he was running for the Kenyan presidency in 2027, according to local reports.

A report published Monday by Modern Ghana, the interruption carried a symbolic irony, as Macron had traveled to Kenya to promote what Paris describes as a more equal and respectful partnership with African nations, moving away from what critics have long viewed as a paternalistic post-colonial model.

The incident took place during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, where more than 30 African leaders, business executives and young entrepreneurs gathered for discussions focused on economic development, innovation and cooperation between Africa and Europe.

Kenya’s Standard Media reported that the exchange "cast an unusual shadow" over the summit, noting that some civil society groups characterized the two-day summit as a "reengineering of imperialism."

The moment underscored the balancing act facing Macron as France attempts to redefine its relationship with Africa following years of political tensions and military withdrawals from several West African countries.

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Earlier Monday, Macron told students at the University of Nairobi that "Africa is succeeding" and argued the continent needs investment to strengthen its sovereignty rather than dependence on development aid, according to Modern Ghana’s report by Mustapha Bature Sallama. The report also noted Macron acknowledged France’s own financial constraints during the remarks.

Macron has increasingly emphasized partnerships with African youth, entrepreneurs and cultural leaders as Paris recalibrates its Africa strategy amid growing competition from Russia, China and Turkey for influence across the continent.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Xi's anti-corruption crackdown sentences former Chinese defense ministers to death

Mon, 11 May 2026 17:44:16 -0400

Two former Chinese defense ministers have been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, in one of the most severe punishments handed down to senior military officials in recent years.

Reuters reported that Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu received the suspended death sentences on May 7 following graft convictions by China’s military court, according to state media.

The ruling underscores the depth of President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign within the armed forces, the outlet said.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Wei was convicted of accepting bribes, while Li was found guilty of both accepting and offering bribes, based on court documents.

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Both men were also stripped of their political rights for life and ordered to forfeit all personal property.

Under Chinese law, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve is typically commuted to life imprisonment if the individual does not commit further crimes during the suspension period.

In this case, the penalties will be reduced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or further commutation after the reprieve period ends.

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Wei Fenghe, 72, served as China’s defense minister from 2018 to 2023, while Li Shangfu, 68, held the post for only a few months as his successor.

Both men were former state councillors and members of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military leadership body chaired by Xi.

They also previously led the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, a key branch established in 2015 as part of Xi’s sweeping military reforms.

The Rocket Force oversees China’s nuclear arsenal as well as its conventional missile systems, making it one of the most strategically significant arms of the military.

The sentences signal an escalation in Xi’s campaign to root out corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a drive that has targeted senior officials since he took power in 2012.

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The crackdown intensified in 2023, when investigations reached the Rocket Force and other elite units.

Both Wei and Li were expelled from the ruling Communist Party in June 2024.

Singapore-based security scholar James Char told Reuters the sentences were the harshest imposed on members of the Central Military Commission in recent history.

"That Wei and Li have been commuted to life imprisonment without parole or commutation underlines the severity of their offences," he said.

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The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, had previously warned that the ongoing purges could be weakening China’s military command structure.

The organization said the campaign may have created disruptions that could affect the readiness of the country’s rapidly modernizing armed forces.

Iran regime power players may eye Russia in Assad-style escape as US talks falter: expert

Mon, 11 May 2026 17:09:12 -0400

The apparent collapse of high-stakes U.S.-Iran negotiations has intensified fears that senior figures inside Tehran’s leadership could flee to Russia, seeking refuge to "continue their insurgency and undermine any new regime," an analyst warns.

The breakdown in talks comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also told CBS’ "60 Minutes" that toppling Iran’s regime could now even be a realistic outcome.

Netanyahu noted that any collapse would dismantle the "scaffolding" of Tehran's global terror proxy network, also potentially ending Hezbollah's influence in the region.

"The whole scaffolding of the terrorist proxy network that Iran built collapses if the regime in Iran collapses," Netanyahu said.

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"I think you can’t predict when that will happen. Is it possible? Yes. Is it guaranteed? No," he warned.

With diplomatic options perhaps exhausted and the regime's stability in question, an expert suggests the exit strategy any leadership may be eyeing might be similar to that of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who fled Syria in 2024.

"If the situation deteriorates further, some senior figures could potentially follow a path like Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle and seek refuge in Russia," Middle East expert Saeid Golkar told Fox News Digital.

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Golkar, a senior adviser at United Against Nuclear Iran, noted that flight destinations would likely depend on rank.

While top commanders like Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf might head to Moscow, lower-ranking figures would more likely seek shelter in Iraq or Afghanistan, where the IRGC maintains operational connections, he clarified.

"For the most senior figures, Russia would probably be the most likely destination, again as we saw with Bashar al-Assad," Golkar said, noting many officials have already moved wealth into "financial networks outside Iran."

The current crisis started following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier in 2026 during the onset of Operation Epic Fury.

While his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named successor, reports continue to indicate he was severely injured in the strikes and has been absent from recent negotiations.

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Golkar explained that the "invisible state," or Bayt-e Rahbari, was designed to survive decapitation, while the ideological cost of fleeing for leaders would be high.

"Inside the regime’s ideological culture, leaving the country during the collapse would look like desertion," Golkar noted.

However, as military fractures deepen and succession remains uncertain, the "Assad model" of seeking Russian protection appears increasingly attractive to those at the top.

Mojtaba, however, is "either dead or in bad condition that he cannot send any video or voice message," Golkar added.

"If he had died from his injuries, there was no clear natural successor. He was the continuation of the regime."

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"Still, the system was designed for continuity during a crisis," Golkar said, adding that the goal is to "make sure the regime could survive even if formal institutions were damaged, leaders were killed, or civilian government stopped functioning."

"I would describe it as a regime designed not just to govern, but always to try and survive decapitation," Golkar added.

Starmer on the brink: UK PM fights for survival as party takes beating in local elections

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:59:56 -0400

U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was battling to save his position Monday, refusing to step aside despite mounting pressure from within his own party and a wave of resignations among close aides.

Resignation calls intensified after more than 70 Labor MPs publicly urged the Labor leader to quit, while several parliamentary aides stepped down in protest, according to reports.

The growing rebellion comes at a critical moment for Starmer, whose authority has been shaken by political and economic setbacks.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, the immediate trigger was the crushing defeats in local election results on May 8, which saw Labor lose hundreds of council seats across England, surrender long-held ground in Wales and fall behind rivals in Scotland.

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A recent YouGov poll also found that around half of Britons believe Starmer should step down.

At the same time, rising U.K. borrowing costs have added to concerns about the government’s economic and public service policies and not easing living costs.

Starmer was also hurt by his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, the Associated Press reported.

In Scotland, Labor's difficulties were laid bare as John Swinney secured a decisive victory, dealing a further blow to Starmer’s authority.

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The result drew attention from President Donald Trump, who publicly congratulated Swinney and appeared to take a swipe at Starmer.

Trump and Starmer’s relationship had become strained, with the president saying, "This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with," blasting the U.K. leader’s reluctance to let U.S. warplanes use its bases after the start of the war against Iran.

Meanwhile, Starmer struck a defiant tone in what has been termed a "reset" speech on Monday, insisting he would not resign.

"I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did," he said.

Sam Carlin, one of the MPs calling for change, said Starmer was "not the right person" to revive the struggling party.

"As a result, I join Labor colleagues from across the United Kingdom in urging the prime minister to step down for the sake of our movement and the people we serve," he said.

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"We have made so much progress, but if we remain on our current course, it will not last."

Former minister Catherine West led efforts to formalize the challenge, calling for a timetable to elect a new leader as early as September.

Three figures are seen as frontrunners to succeed Starmer.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would need to return to Parliament to mount a bid, while Angela Rayner continues to contend with the fallout from past tax issues.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is viewed as a more immediate contender.

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Under Labor rules, a leadership contest can be triggered if sufficient backing coalesces behind a challenger, typically through nominations from MPs and affiliated groups.

If Starmer were to resign, the party would move into a formal contest period, culminating in a vote among members.

Remains recovered of US soldier who went missing in military exercises in Morocco, 2nd soldier still missing

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:53:17 -0400

The remains of a U.S. Army officer who went missing during military exercises in Morocco were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, while the search continues for a second missing soldier, according to military officials.

The remains of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, of Richmond, Virginia, were recovered Saturday, U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced Sunday. Key, a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, was one of two U.S. soldiers who reportedly fell from a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike near the Cap Draa Training Area on May 2.

A Moroccan military search team found Key in the water along the shoreline at about 8:55 a.m. local time Saturday, roughly one mile from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean, the Army said.

"Today, we mourn the loss of 1st Lt. Kendrick Key, whose remains were recovered in Morocco," Brig. Gen. Curtis King, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. "Our hearts are with his Family, friends, teammates, and all who knew and served alongside him. The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command Family is grieving, and we will continue to support one another and 1st Lt. Key’s Family as we honor his life and service."

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Key and the second soldier were reported missing on May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise hosted across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal.

The two were reported missing around 9 p.m. near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a terrain featuring mountains, desert and semi-desert plains, the Moroccan military said.

The disappearance of the two soldiers led to a search-and-rescue mission involving more than 600 personnel from the U.S., Morocco and other military partners. Ships, helicopters and drones were deployed as part of this operation.

Search efforts will continue for the second missing soldier.

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A U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the military exercises ended on Friday to provide command and control and to support the ongoing search and rescue mission.

Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, according to the Army.

His decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School the following year as an Air Defense Artillery officer. He later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Key is survived by his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law.

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African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise that began in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, with more than 5,600 civilian and military personnel from more than 40 nations.

For more than 20 years, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed, and two others injured during an MV-22 Osprey crash near Cap Draa while participating in Exercise African Lion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Massive 11,000-carat ruby believed to be second-largest ever found in conflict-ridden country

Sun, 10 May 2026 22:10:58 -0400

A massive ruby unearthed in Burma is being hailed as the second-largest ever discovered in the conflict-ridden country.

The ruby weighs about 11,000 carats — about 4.8 pounds — and was unearthed near Mogok in the Mandalay region, the center of Burma’s gem industry and an area affected by ongoing conflict, according to The Associated Press, citing state media.

The stone was found in mid-April, shortly after the country’s traditional New Year celebrations.

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Although it is roughly half the size of a 21,450-carat ruby discovered in 1996, experts say the new find could be more valuable because of its higher quality, the outlet reported.

It has a purplish-red color with slight yellow tones, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface.

Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing and his cabinet have already inspected the stone in the country's capital of Naypyidaw.

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Burma produces up to 90% of the world’s rubies, mostly from Mogok and nearby Mong Hsu.

The gem trade — both legal and illegal — is a major source of income in the country.

However, rights groups, including Global Witness, have long urged jewelers to avoid buying Burmese gemstones, saying the trade helps fund the country's military governments, according to The Associated Press.

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Gem mining also finances ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy, contributing to Burma’s long-running conflicts.

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The mining regions remain unstable.

Mogok was seized in July 2024 by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group. Control later returned to the military under a ceasefire deal brokered by China late last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Second suspected oil slick near Iran raises fears of major disaster in vital global oil corridor

Sun, 10 May 2026 19:23:15 -0400

A second suspected oil slick has been detected near Iran’s Kharg Island export hub, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward AI, heightening fears of an environmental disaster as a larger spill identified May 8 continues drifting toward Saudi Arabian waters.

The suspected new slick comes as U.N. officials warned Sunday that oil spills in the region could trigger an environmental catastrophe amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis.

"Another possible oil spill was detected today at 11 a.m. local time," Windward told Fox News Digital. The approximate visible area, according to the firm, was between 12 to 20 square kilometers.

Tehran has pointed to foreign vessels, but maritime experts say the main slick — estimated at tens of thousands of barrels and covering about 65 square kilometers, according to the U.N. University Institute for Water, Environment and Health — is more likely linked to aging infrastructure, pipeline ruptures or a "war mode" environment that has threatened the waterway since February.

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"We should worry about the cause of the slick and monitor things carefully to see if there are new developments," U.N. official Dr. Kaveh Madani told Fox News Digital.

"If this slick gets bigger, we should be seriously worried about there being a leakage of aging infrastructure," Madani said, adding the slick was "moving away toward the southwest of the island."

"We just have to see how it moves and if it gets closer to the centers of population. If it does, desalination operations also must be halted. The risk is low right now," he said.

Madani also noted the slick is near a zone with a heavy concentration of pipelines and energy infrastructure.

"Keeping these infrastructure systems healthy and operational has been very hard for the Iranians even in peacetime due to sanctions," he said, warning that amid conflict, a "major accident is very likely."

Water circulation in the Persian Gulf is slow, meaning pollution can persist for extended periods, he added.

"We saw similar instances during the Gulf wars and the Iran-Iraq War, with these things impacting coastal communities, the fishing industry, marine life and even the intake of desalination plants," he said.

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The larger spill, visible in satellite images as a gray-and-white slick, was first detected west of Kharg Island, Windward AI reported May 8, and has been steadily moving.

"It is believed to be crude rather than bunker fuel and unlikely to have come from a ship, possibly originating from pipeline issues or a failed ship-to-ship transfer," the firm said.

The spill could pass through Qatar’s exclusive economic zone within about four days, with possible landfall near Al Mirfa in the United Arab Emirates in roughly 13 days, according to Windward.

The incident comes as Washington ramps up "Economic Fury," tightening sanctions and increasing its naval presence near the Strait of Hormuz to curb Iran’s oil exports.

Since Iran closed the strait in late February following the outbreak of hostilities, tankers have bottlenecked across the region as the vital oil chokepoint remains largely shut.

"We also know that there are many tankers in the area, so there is a chance of an accidental spill," Madani said.

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"As long as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is there and the region is in a war mode, the environment would not be a priority, but monitoring the behavior of tankers would not be trivial," he said.

Meanwhile, Jafar Pourkabgani, a lawmaker representing Bushehr province, claimed the slick was caused by "oil residue and ballast water waste from European tankers" discharged into the sea.

"This claim is false and part of the enemy’s psychological operation," he wrote on X, referring to allegations Iran released oil due to full storage tanks.

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Iran’s Oil Terminals Company also denied reports of a leak near Kharg Island, according to Reuters.

The company’s chief executive said Sunday that inspections found no evidence of leaks from storage tanks, pipelines, loading facilities or nearby tankers.

China’s undersea cable threat raises $10T fears as Trump-Xi talks loom

Sun, 10 May 2026 18:05:51 -0400

The U.S. economy is under threat from adversaries like China targeting undersea cables with the ability to "inflict devastating economic chaos almost at will," a former U.S. intelligence official warned Sunday.

These cables carry 99% of global data and support up to $10 trillion in daily financial transactions, according to reports.

Andrew Badger, chief strategy officer at Coalition Systems, a defense tech startup, spoke as President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for talks expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan.

Taiwan, a flashpoint in U.S.-China tensions, has reported about 30 subsea cable incidents in recent years, including one in which Chinese vessels allegedly severed cables and cut communications for months.

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"America depends on the fragile nervous system of subsea cables for modern life," Badger, a former Pentagon official and author, told Fox News Digital before warning that U.S. adversaries "seek to turn the bottom of the ocean into a battlefield."

"The asymmetric threat — China and Russia are devoting far more resources to attacking undersea infrastructure than the U.S. or its allies are to defending it," Badger said.

"They've identified one of our greatest vulnerabilities, and we haven't caught up. A coordinated strike on American undersea infrastructure could fundamentally disrupt our way of life — the internet, banking, energy markets and military communications all run through these cables. The dollar cost is almost incalculable, and the real damage would be the chaos and political instability that would follow," he said.

Badger’s remarks came after Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., alongside Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., introduced the bipartisan Strategic Subsea Cables Act of 2026 in April.

The legislation is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure.

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"Undersea cables are important for a variety of reasons. They carry 99% of the world’s internet traffic. They also support $10 trillion in financial transactions each and every day," Barrasso said in a statement.

In April, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed a successful deep-sea mission testing an advanced "electro-hydrostatic actuator," a device capable of slicing through armored submarine cables at depths of 3,500 meters, according to reports.

Similar suspicious disruptions have been reported in Europe and elsewhere, raising concerns about coordinated "gray-zone" operations designed to probe Western responses while remaining below the threshold of open conflict.

"This is hybrid warfare in its purest form, designed to weaken the adversary below the threshold of declared war," Badger said, noting that incidents such as anchors dragging across the seabed can provide plausible deniability.

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"Cables give Beijing and Moscow the ability to inflict devastating economic chaos almost at will," Badger warned. "This gives both nations tremendous strategic leverage over the U.S."

China could also potentially target American undersea cables as a deterrent to U.S. engagement in Taiwan, according to Badger.

"Beijing could simultaneously target cables landing in the U.S., not to win militarily, but with the goal of breaking the American public's will to intervene in Taiwan," he said.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, while the U.S. — Taiwan’s largest unofficial ally — supplies weapons under a law requiring it to help the island defend itself.

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The Taiwan Strait is also a critical artery for the artificial intelligence revolution’s most essential resources.

Anniki Mikelsaar of the Oxford Internet Institute said growth in AI’s use means "rising capacity requirements on submarine cables. Not all recent cable damage incidents can be attributed to foreign adversaries: the ICPC estimates 150 to 200 cable breaks occur per year around the globe, most of them accidents," she said.

From London synagogues to New York preschools — antisemitic attacks escalating on both sides of the Atlantic

Sun, 10 May 2026 16:27:57 -0400

Thousands rallied in London Sunday, alarmed by the massive increase in violent attacks against the country's Jewish population. Marchers made clear their anger towards the British government's inaction.

Speaking a few days before the rally, U.K. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch told Fox News Digital, "Zero tolerance for antisemitism means treating this epidemic of violence as a genuine national emergency." Badenoch has called for stronger enforcement, including deporting foreign preachers who are spreading hate in mosques and other institutions. "Antisemites will not be welcomed or tolerated. Britain has been a haven for Jews for centuries. It must remain so."

Her warning comes as the United Kingdom raised its national terrorism threat level to "severe," the second-highest classification, meaning an attack is considered highly likely. The move reflects what security officials describe as a worsening threat environment amid a spike in antisemitic incidents, arson attacks and targeted violence.

EVEN BEFORE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL HATE CHANTS, UK JEWS WARNED OF ALARMING RISE IN ANTISEMITISM

"There’s an unholy alliance of the hard Left and Islamist extremists behind some of the spread of antisemitism," Badenoch warned. "What do people think chants such as ‘from the river to the sea’ or ‘globalize the intifada’ mean if they do not mean the erasure of the world’s only Jewish state and violence against Jews everywhere?"

British security officials have long noted that Islamist extremism remains one of the United Kingdom’s primary terror threats, with MI5 warning that radicalization networks and extremist ideology continue to pose serious risks.

Jewish leaders and analysts say expressions of support for terrorist groups such as Hamas, combined with public glorification of violence, have contributed to an environment in which anti-Jewish hostility is becoming increasingly normalized.

Despite mounting criticism over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s handling of antisemitism as incidents continue to reach new highs across the U.K., Starmer, speaking at the No10 Tackling Antisemitism Forum last week, said: "Our Jewish communities [are] feeling frightened, angry and asking whether this country, their home, is safe for them."

He added: "In recent months, as antisemitic incidents have risen, we have acted decisively to strengthen the safety of Jewish communities," announcing an additional £25 million in funding for increased patrols and enhanced security to prevent serious harm before it occurs." Despite those assurances, critics say the response is still falling short, warning that Jewish communities remain exposed and the situation is continuing to escalate.

Jonathan Sacerdoti, a London-based commentator and writer, told Fox News Digital that authorities have demonstrated the ability to deploy large scale policing when necessary, but many Jewish residents are questioning whether that same urgency is being applied to protecting them.

"Considering they’re able to police massive anti-Israel protests every two weeks for the last two and a half years," Sacerdoti said, "they ought to be able to do the same to protect Jews."

He added that security funding alone cannot solve what he sees as a deeper problem.

ANTISEMITISM IS BECOMING 'NORMAL,' WITH JEWISH TEENS PAYING THE PRICE

"Jews should not need a volunteer security organization," he said. "The state should protect us itself."

For many Jewish families across the United Kingdom, the impact is no longer abstract. It is being felt in everyday life.

Rabbi Albert Chait, senior rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation in Leeds, said one of the most troubling signs is how normalized constant security has become for Jewish children.

"You know what the worst thing is, in my opinion?" Chait said. "The fact that my children do not ask why there is police outside their school. They do not question why there is paid security on the gate and on the street. They do not even question it because that is just normal day to day activity."

ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE ESCALATES AS DEADLY WEAPON ATTACKS SURGE IN 2025: REPORT

According to the Community Security Trust, antisemitic incidents in Britain reached approximately 3,700 in 2025, among the highest totals on record, prompting increased funding for security at synagogues, schools and Jewish institutions.

As Britain confronts what many are increasingly describing as a national crisis, similar warning signs are becoming more visible in the United States.

This past week in Queens, New York, multiple Jewish homes, a synagogue and a Jewish community center housing a preschool were vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic graffiti, raising alarm among residents.

From swastikas scrawled in school bathrooms and subway stations to antisemitic graffiti targeting synagogues and Jewish institutions, symbols of hate are appearing with growing visibility in everyday American life.

"One of the sites houses a pre-K program, where young children, their families and staff were greeted with swastikas and other hateful vandalism," Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York told Jewish Insider. "This is not normal, and we need city leaders to act now."

For many observers, the parallels are difficult to ignore.

What Britain is experiencing, rising antisemitic violence, normalized hostility, and ongoing debates over ideology and enforcement, is no longer confined overseas.

It is increasingly being reflected in American communities.

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And as the crisis unfolds, Badenoch’s warning carries implications far beyond the United Kingdom.

"I have never seen the level of racism, discrimination, intimidation and attacks that have been directed at the Jewish community," she said. "If other minority communities were facing similar levels of violence, there would be a national emergency."

Woman who spent 7 years in Chinese prison describes torture, surveillance and loss of her husband

Sun, 10 May 2026 10:16:54 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: Wang Chunyan held a photograph toward the camera, her hands trembling slightly as she pointed to each of the 21 smiling faces: a husband and wife, a university lecturer, a young engineer, friends she met in prison.

Some died in detention, she said. Others after years of abuse. Others disappeared into China’s vast security system and never returned the same. "More than 25 of my friends have died in this persecution. I only have photos of 21 of them," Chunyan said, her voice breaking.

For more than two decades, the 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner said, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) systematically dismantled her life, stripping away the business she had built, the home she once shared with her family and, eventually, seven years of her life in prison.

But the hardest thing for her, is that she believes it took her husband too. "My beloved husband died due to the persecution," Chunyan claimed during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

REPORT DETAILS RISING PRESSURE ON UNDERGROUND CATHOLICS AS CHINA DENIES CRACKDOWN

Her account comes as President Donald Trump prepares to travel to China next week for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with trade, security and regional tensions expected to dominate the agenda. Yet behind the geopolitical rivalry lies another conflict: Beijing’s decades-long campaign against religious and spiritual groups the Communist Party views as threats to its authority.

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback believes Wang’s story reflects a much broader struggle unfolding inside China. "Either the world changes China or China will change the world," Brownback told Fox News Digital.

Brownback recently chronicled Chunyan’s story and the experiences of other survivors in his book China’s War on Faith, arguing that personal testimony can often reveal the reality of persecution more powerfully than statistics alone. "Stories are more powerful than data," he said.

The book examines what Brownback describes as an increasingly sophisticated system of surveillance and repression targeting Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong practitioners. He argues the Chinese Communist Party views independent faith communities as a direct threat to its authority.

"They fear religious freedom more than anything else. More than our aircraft carriers, more than our nuclear weapons, more than anything else because they think it is the biggest threat to the regime."

CRUZ LEADS SENATE PUSH TO HOLD CHINA ACCOUNTABLE FOR BEIJING CHURCH CRACKDOWN

Chunyan story started in the late 1990s, when she suffered from severe insomnia, sometimes sleeping only two or three hours a night. Then her older sister introduced her to Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice ,she says, is centered on meditation exercises and teachings rooted in "truthfulness, compassion and tolerance."

The movement spread rapidly across China during the 1990s, attracting tens of millions of followers before Beijing banned it in 1999, portraying it as a threat to Communist Party control.

Chunyan says Falun Gong helped improve her "physical condition." She said, "My business was booming. My family was happy. My life was perfect."

Chunyan became convinced the practice had saved her life. She owned a successful company selling chemical production equipment and had become wealthy by Chinese standards, but after the crackdown began she felt compelled to publicly defend Falun Gong against what she believed were government lies.

She bought a printing press and began distributing leaflets. Soon afterward, she said, surveillance followed everywhere.

"The buildings where I worked were under constant surveillance," Chunyan recalled. "I left to escape and was afraid to come home."

GRAHAM FAMILY RESPONDS TO GLOBAL CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS WITH $1.3M DEFENSE FUND AND URGENT CALL TO ACTION

For years, she lived in hiding, using prepaid calling cards and public telephones to secretly arrange meetings with her husband, Yu Yefu, in restaurants, coffee shops and hotels across the city. The two tried, briefly, to maintain some sense of normalcy.

Yu himself never practiced Falun Gong, but police repeatedly pressured him to reveal where his wife was hiding. He never did. Then, in 2002, Wang stopped hearing from him.

When she finally returned home, she found him unconscious. Doctors could not save him. "He protected me," she said in tears.

He was 49 years old when he died. Their daughter was still in college.

The devastation spread through the family afterward, Chunyan said. Her mother-in-law stopped eating and later became paralyzed. Her father-in-law died from grief. Her sisters were also imprisoned and tortured.

Then came Chunyan’s own imprisonment.

WATCHDOG HIGHLIGHTS NATIONS WHERE CHRISTIANS FACE PERSECUTION AROUND THE GLOBE

She described years of forced labor, sleep deprivation and physical abuse. At one point, she said, the torture became so severe that she fainted three times in a single day.

One memory still haunts her most. Shortly before her release from prison, Wang said authorities conducted unexplained blood tests and medical examinations. At the time, fellow inmates told her the government was simply checking on Falun Gong prisoners before release. Only later, after learning about allegations of forced organ harvesting involving detained Falun Gong practitioners, did she begin to fear why the testing may have happened. "I was horrified," Chunyan said.

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Today, Chunyan lives in the United States, having left China in 2013 and eventually making her way through Thailand before arriving in America in 2015.

Yet decades later, the losses remain immediate to her.

"There are millions of families in China like ours," Chunyan wants the world to know, "Persecuted by the CCP."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu rejected the allegations and defended Beijing’s actions against Falun Gong. "The aforementioned remarks are nothing but malicious fabrications and sensational lies," Liu said. "Falun Gong is a cult organization that is anti-humanity, anti-science and anti-society. It is hostile toward religion, endangers the public, and serves as a malignant tumor within society." Liu argued that "the Chinese government outlawed the Falun Gong cult in accordance with the law, thereby safeguarding the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the vast majority of the Chinese people."

North Korea updates constitution to require automatic nuclear strike if Kim Jong Un is assassinated: report

Sat, 09 May 2026 23:56:24 -0400

North Korea has updated its constitution to require a retaliatory nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong Un is assassinated, according to a report.

The Telegraph reported the change comes amid heightened global tensions following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other officials during a recent conflict.

Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran as part of a coordinated U.S.-Israeli military operation earlier this year, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The constitutional revision was approved during a session of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, which opened March 22 in Pyongyang, the outlet said.

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South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) briefed senior government officials this week on the update, according to the report.

The revised policy outlines procedures for retaliatory action if North Korea’s leadership is incapacitated or killed.

"If the command-and-control system over the state’s nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces’ attacks … a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately," the updated provision states.

KIM JONG UN CALLS SOUTH KOREA ‘MOST HOSTILE ENEMY,’ SAYS NORTH COULD ‘COMPLETELY DESTROY’ IT

Reuters previously reported that North Korea revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering South Korea and remove references to reunification, reflecting Kim’s push to formally treat the two Koreas as separate states.

That marked the first time North Korea included a territorial clause in its constitution.

Last month, Kim pledged to further strengthen the country’s nuclear capabilities while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he has called the "most hostile" state.

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Kim has also accused the United States of "state terrorism and aggression," and signaled North Korea could take a more active role in opposition to Washington amid rising global tensions.

Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.