World News

Hungary will vote against a United Nations resolution commemorating the 1995 genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, arguing that it would inflame tensions in the Balkan country and the surrounding region.

Péter Szijjártó was hosting Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, where Szijjártó accused the U.N., as well as the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, of taking steps to destabilize the country that was devastated in the 1992-1995 war.

During that conflict, more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb troops in Srebrenica, an eastern Bosnian enclave. The victims’ remains were dumped in mass graves and later reburied to hide evidence of atrocities.

US WARNS BOSNIAN SERBS AGAINST CELEBRATION OF CONTROVERSIAL SELF-PROCLAIMED HOLIDAY

On Wednesday, Szijjártó said Hungary would vote against the planned U.N. resolution on the genocide — which he called the "Srebrenica tragedy" — because it "intentionally or unintentionally would demonize the entire Serbian nation."

"We believe that international political actors should end the escalation of tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, end the threat of sanctions and end the violent interference in its internal affairs," Szijjártó said.

The U.N. resolution is supported by Bosniak politicians in Bosnia along with a number of European countries and the United States. Proposed by Germany and Rwanda, it would designate 11 July as the "International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica."

Bosnian Serbs and neighboring Serbia have strongly opposed it, saying it would brand the Serbs as a "genocidal nation." The Serbs are supported by Russia and China.

International courts in The Hague, Netherlands, have branded the crime in Srebrenica a genocide, Europe’s first since World War II. Bosnian Serb top army officers and political leaders also have been convicted of genocide by U.N. judges.

Dodik, the Bosnian Serb separatist leader of the Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, has denied that the massacre in Srebrenica was a genocide. He was placed under U.S. sanctions in 2022 that accused him of "corrupt activities" that threaten to destabilize the region and undermine a U.S.-brokered peace accord from more than 25 years ago.

On Wednesday, Dodik said the Serbian side "does not dispute that a terrible crime took place in Srebrenica," but that the U.N. resolution would "destabilize the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the extent of completely paralyzing any possible relations." He thanked Szijjártó for taking a position against it.

In a post on X on Wednesday, head of the Srebrenica Memorial Center Emir Suljagić called Hungary's position "a deeply troubling stance that cannot be ignored." He blamed the country's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, for aligning Hungary "with forces of denial and revisionism, undermining international efforts to acknowledge and learn from this tragedy."

"Orbán’s opposition to the resolution on Srebrenica can be seen as part of a broader pattern of rejecting international consensus on human rights issues," Suljagić wrote. "By refusing to acknowledge the genocide, Hungary under Orbán is sending a dangerous message that historical truths can be conveniently ignored for political expediency."

A massive manhunt was underway in France on Wednesday after an armed gang ambushed a prison convoy and freed a gangster known as "The Fly," killing two guards.

Hundreds of police officers have been deployed to northern France in search of the fugitive Mohamed Amra, who escaped Tuesday when gunmen laid in wait for a prison van transporting him, ramming a car into it before opening fire on the guards. 

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said "unprecedented' efforts were underway to apprehend Amra and the gang, with 450 officers participating in the manhunt. The minister expressed hope that the fugitive and assailants would be caught "in the coming days." 

"The means employed are considerable," he told RTL radio, according to the Associated Press. "We are progressing a lot."

GERMAN COURT CONVICTS PROMINENT FAR-RIGHT POLITICIAN FOR USING NAZI SLOGAN, IMPOSES A FINE

The attack appeared to have been carefully prepared. The convoy was transporting Amra back to jail in the Normandy town of Évreux after a hearing with an investigator in Rouen when it was ambushed on the A154 freeway.

The prison van and another prison escort vehicle had just gone through a toll booth on the freeway when the van was rammed head-on by a car. The Paris prosecutor's office told the Associated Press the car had been stolen and had gone through the toll booth a few minutes ahead of the prison convoy and then waited there.

Another car trailed behind the convoy and appeared to box it in. Gunmen jumped out of the vehicles and opened fire on the prison van, the prosecutors' office said. 

The armed gang then fled with Amra.

NOTORIOUS PEOPLE SMUGGLER WANTED IN EUROPE ARRESTED IN NORTHERN IRAQ 

Two officers were killed in the ambush. One was a 52-year-old captain in the prison service, a father of two with over three decades of experience, prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. The other was a 34-year-old married father-to-be, she said.

Known as "The Fly," Amra is a 30-year-old from northern France. Police sources told Reuters the fugitive is involved with drug trafficking. 

According to prosecutors, Amra had been convicted of burglary by a court in Évreux  on May 10 and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison. He had also been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death, officials said. 

The violent attack has shocked France. Prison workers held moments of silence across the country Wednesay in honor of the officers who were killed.

4 DOMINICANS ARE ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING WILDLIFE AND THROWING 113 BIRDS OVERBOARD TO THEIR DEATHS

Opposition leaders criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government, saying the country has gone too soft on drug crime and is headed towards endemic gang violence, like in Mexico.

"We're on a path to Mexicanisation," Bruno Retailleau, leader of the main centre-right opposition party in the French senate, said in a radio interview. "Prisons are sieves. Dealers run their drug trafficking businesses from jail."

Tuesday's attack came on the same day that France's Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning the country faced a "tipping point" from rising violence. 

The report suggested that French policy makers create a new agency similar to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat drug crime, with a $3.8 billion annual budget. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Pakistan’s military said it successfully test-fired Wednesday a short-range, indigenously developed rocket system meant to boost its ability to deter any offensive action from archenemy and neighbor India.

According to a military statement, the Fatah-II Guided Rocket System has a range of 240 miles. 

It also has a state-of-the-art navigation system, unique trajectory, and maneuverable features.

PAKISTAN, US DISCUSS HOW TO TACKLE THE REGIONAL SECURITY THREAT POSED BY IS GROUP AND LOCAL TALIBAN

It can engage targets with high precision and defeat any missile defense system, it said and added that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the military congratulated the scientists and engineers behind the rocket system, as well as troops who ensured a successful launch.

Pakistan’s military often test-fires home-developed cruise missiles and weapons in an effort to showcase its ability to counter any threat from India.

The two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars against each other since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

The government of Georgia wants to put the country back in time to its old Soviet Union days, and it signed a controversial new "foreign agents" law that many believe will end Georgia’s young democracy.

Tens of thousands of angry protesters took to the streets of Tbilisi and other cities across Georgia to voice opposition to the new law and were met with a heavy response from Georgian riot police. Estimates vary, but nearly 200,000 people were out in the street on Saturday, a staggering show of force in a country of only 3.7 million people.

The capitol has been on edge as angry protesters remain outside the parliament building banging against barricades and smashing barriers that surround the Parliament. Violent clashes between police and protesters continue. 

FORMER SOVIET REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA SEES RULING PARTY CAVE TO MASSIVE STREET PROTESTS AS IT SEEKS CLOSER EU TIES

In a show of bipartisan support for Georgia’s struggle for democracy, a group of senators led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH., and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, condemned the law in a joint statement, calling it "a dark day for Georgian democracy."

The law requires citizens, non-governmental organizations, media outlets and other civil society organizations that receive over 20% in funding from abroad to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Ministry. The law will impose significant burdens and penalties that many human rights organizations believe will marginalize and discredit opposition voices and have a chilling effect on free speech.

It "threatens fundamental rights in the country," according to Human Rights Watch.

The proponents of the law claim it will eliminate foreign interference in Georgia’s domestic affairs. Its detractors say it is modeled on a Russian piece of legislation that is also used to crack down on dissent.

"The law will allow them to start a witch hunt against all who do not share their position and oligarchic way of governance," former Georgia Minister of Defense Tinatin Khidasheli told Fox News Digital.

Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and who is on the ground in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital that the law will threaten Georgia’s European aspirations and democratic development.

"It serves as a powerful tool for the government to crack down on civil liberties and freedom of speech," she said.

ZELENSKYY WARNS RUSSIA WANTS TO CAUSE 'EXPLOSION' IN THE BALKANS

Seskuria said that many rightly feel the government will weaponize the law and silence dissent. The law's provisions are antithetical to EU values, and it is clear that Georgia will be unable to advance on its European integration path while the law is on the books.

"The law would serve Russian interests who want to see Georgia move away from Western allies," Seskuria added.

The Georgian Dream ruling party and the bill’s sponsors made clear in public statements, according to Human Rights Watch, that the law will target critics of the government, the LGBT community and almost any dissent regarded as unacceptable by the ruling government. 

The passage comes after weeks of heated debate within the Georgian Parliament, with physical clashes taking place between supporters and opponents of the law. Civil society has been active and mobilizing in opposition to the bill for weeks while it was being debated. The law eventually passed the legislature by an overwhelming 84 votes in favor and only 30 votes against. 

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE PEDDLING ADDS TO FEARS AFTER ELECTION OF UNTESTED PRESIDENT IN EUROPEAN NATION

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is staunchly pro-EU and pro-West, vowed to veto the law, but the Parliament can override her veto with a simple majority, neutralizing the effectively symbolic president and assuring it will become law.

Parliament attempted to pass an identical law in 2023 but was met with equally large mass protests, and lawmakers eventually caved to public sentiment, and withdrew the bill.

Since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgians have strong aspirations to join the EU, with polls showing up to 83% of Georgians in support. Tbilisi formally applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and was granted candidate status in December 2023. While pro-European sentiment remains strong among the people, the ruling party is seen by many as sympathetic towards Russia and a roadblock to the Georgian people’s ambitions to join the EU.

"Russia’s war in Ukraine is not about Ukraine only. Putin is an idealogue who wants to shatter the rules-based order, and he has a long-term vision, which we now witness in Georgia," Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. 

Stradner said Putin’s proxies are watching Georgia and making calculated moves, including the Serbian entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a similar law on foreign agents will be discussed in parliament next week.

"It will put the West on the defensive and further erode democracy. This is the result of Western appeasement," Stradner warned.

"Make no mistake: if Russia via its proxies win in Georgia, next on Putin’s authoritarian menu are Moldova and the Balkans," Stradner added.

Despite Georgia’s long odds, former Minister of Defense Khidasheli echoes the sentiment in the streets and will remain optimistic.

"We will win this fight and get Georgia back on its EU and NATO path, but it will be a long and difficult fight," she said.

A suspect has been taken into custody Wednesday after Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting, reports say.

The shooting happened in Handlova, about 90 miles northeast of the capital of Bratislava.

"Utterly shocked by today's brutal attack on Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in strongest possible terms," Slovakia President Zuzana Čaputová wrote on X.

"I wish him [a] lot of strength in this critical moment and early recovery. My thoughts are also with his family and close ones," she added.

Deputy speaker of parliament Lubos Blaha confirmed the incident during a session of Parliament and adjourned it until further notice, the Slovak TASR news agency said.

The incident took place in front of the local House of Culture, where Fico came to meet with supporters. Police sealed off the scene.

Images taken from the area showed a male individual being detained by authorities and Fico being rushed into a vehicle.

The motive for the shooting is unclear.

The Government Office of the Slovak Republic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Israeli forces ramped up operations in both northern Gaza and the eastern outskirts of Rafah, targeting terrorist infrastructure and a Hamas training camp.

The IDF operations involved airstrikes on roughly 80 terrorist targets, "including military compounds, weapons storage facilities, missile launchers, observation posts, and additional terrorist infrastructure," Israel said.

The operations in eastern Rafah saw Israeli soldiers engage in close-quarters combat with Hamas terrorists at one of the group's training grounds. IDF soldiers there recovered a trove of Israeli military equipment and vehicles, which Hamas had used to simulate fighting against Israeli forces.

Images from the training ground show that Hamas had even acquired an Israeli Merkava main battle tank.

ANTI-ISRAEL TEEN, 16, ARRESTED FOR DEFACING WWI MEMORIAL AFTER FATHER TURNS HIMSELF IN: REPORT

The IDF operations in northern Gaza targeted terrorist cells in the Jabaliya refugee camp, including airstrikes on one cell that had fired rockets onto the Israeli city of Sderot on Tuesday.

BIDEN UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER THREAT TO ISRAEL’S OFFENSIVE AID: ‘PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES’

The operations come as Israel tests the limits of President Biden's demand that Israeli forces not conduct an invasion of Rafah. Biden vowed last week that the U.S. would withhold weapons shipments to Israel if it moved forward with a full-scale operation in the city.

Rafah plays host to roughly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, most of whom fled northern Gaza. Israel, however, says the city is also the final major stronghold for Hamas in the region.

REPORTS OF BIDEN WHITE HOUSE KEEPING ‘SENSITIVE’ HAMAS INTEL FROM ISRAEL DRAWS OUTRAGE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that an invasion of Rafah will take place at some point. He has yet to publicly address Biden's red line on the issue.

Biden's administration offered to share intelligence on Hamas leadership with Israel in exchange for restraint in Rafah earlier this week, according to a Washington Post report.

The intelligence the U.S. offered reportedly would allow Israel to better pinpoint Hamas leaders hidden in tunnels around the city, making it possible for the Israeli military to engage in a more precise campaign that could avoid the devastation seen in other areas of Gaza throughout the conflict.

Switzerland’s top criminal court on Wednesday convicted a former interior minister of Gambia for crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 20 years over his role in repression committed by the west African country’s security forces under its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said.

Prosecutors had been seeking a life sentence for Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s interior minister from 2006 to 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh, TRIAL International said.

The Federal Criminal Court in the southern town of Bellinzona ruled that Sonko's crimes — including homicide, torture and false imprisonment — amounted to crimes against humanity. However, they did not rise to "aggravated" cases that could have brought the maximum penalty of life behind bars, according to several lawyers who attended the trial.

SENEGAL'S OPPOSITION LEADER OUSMANE SONKO TO ADDRESS SUPPORTERS AFTER MONTHS IN PRISON

The trial, which began in January, was hailed by advocacy groups as a watershed application of the principle of "universal jurisdiction," which allows for the prosecution of serious crimes committed abroad.

Activists and legal experts say the verdict could send a message to Jammeh, who fled Gambia and remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea.

Sonko, who was in the courtroom for Wednesday's reading of the verdict, offered little reaction when a translation was read out in English, said TRIAL International's legal adviser Benoit Meystre, who also attended the proceedings.

Sonko applied for asylum in Switzerland in November 2016 and was arrested two months later. The Swiss attorney general’s office said his indictment, filed a year ago, covered alleged crimes during 16 years under Jammeh, whose rule was marked by arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings.

TOP SENEGALESE OPPOSITION LEADER FREED FROM JAIL AS ELECTION NEARS

Sonko was accused of supporting, participating in and failing to stop attacks against opponents in Gambia, an English-speaking West African country surrounded by neighboring Senegal. The crimes included killings, torture, rape and numerous unlawful detentions, prosecutors said.

"This unprecedented conviction based on universal jurisdiction in Europe is the confirmation that no one is above the reach of justice," Meystre said in a text message. "Even the most powerful figures can be brought to account for their participation in mass atrocities."

Madi MK Ceesay, an award-winning journalist who was once arrested under Sonko's orders and who testified in the trial, told The Associated Press the proceedings showed that "no matter what, the long arm of justice can always catch the perpetrator."

Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer who attended the trial, said Sonko's conviction was a pivotal step toward justice for Jammeh’s victims.

"The long arm of the law is catching up with Yahya Jammeh’s accomplices all around the world, and hopefully will soon catch up with Jammeh himself," he said.

Sonko was convicted of homicide, torture and false imprisonment as crimes against humanity, while rape charges against him were dropped, Brody wrote on X.

Outside the courtroom, Olimatou Sonko, the defendant’s daughter, told Swiss public broadcaster SRF "it isn’t fair" that the full proceedings of the trial weren’t translated to English from German, which her father doesn’t understand.

Philip Grant, executive director at TRIAL International, which filed the Swiss case against Ousman Sonko before his arrest, said he was the highest-level former official ever to be put on trial in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Sonko, who joined the Gambian military in 1988, was appointed commander of the State Guard in 2003, a position in which he was responsible for Jammeh’s security, Swiss prosecutors said. He was made inspector general of the Gambian police in 2005.

He was removed as interior minister in September 2016, a few months before the end of Jammeh’s government, and left Gambia to seek asylum in Europe.

Ousman Sonko is not to be confused with leading politician Ousmane Sonko in Senegal, who spells his first name slightly differently.

Jammeh seized control in a 1994 coup. He lost Gambia’s 2016 presidential election but refused to concede defeat to Adama Barrow, and ultimately fled amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.

"The verdict against Ousman Sonko is a milestone in the fight against impunity and a historic success for universal jurisdiction in Switzerland and Europe," Amnesty Switzerland wrote on X. "Even former ministers can be prosecuted! Victims and their families finally see justice."

French President Emmanuel Macron is considering imposing state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia to curb spiraling violence, the presidency said Wednesday.

At least three people were killed and four others, including a gendarme, were seriously injured, according to officials in the territory and French media reports on Wednesday. More than 130 people have been arrested and more than 300 have been injured since Monday, when protests over a constitutional reform pushed by Paris turned violent in the archipelago, which has long sought independence.

Speaking at parliament, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who attended a two-hour meeting with top ministers at the Elysee, said the aim of the state of emergency would be "to restore order in the shortest time possible."

CURFEW IMPOSED IN NEW CALEDONIA FOLLOWING 'HIGH-INTENSITY' VIOLENT UNREST TRIGGERED BY VOTING REFORMS

A decree on the methods to impose the state of emergency is to be presented to the French Cabinet on Wednesday afternoon.

In a statement, Macron emphasized the need for a resumption of political dialogue and asked the prime minister and the minister of the interior and overseas territories to invite New Caledonian delegations to Paris.

"All violence is intolerable and will be the subject of a relentless response to ensure the return of order," the statement said.

There have been decades of tensions on the archipelago between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France.

FRANCE'S MACRON HOSTS CHINA'S XI IN PYRENEES FOR PRIVATE MEETINGS

French Minister of Interior and Overseas Territories Gérald Darmanin said that 100 gendarmes were evacuated during violence overnight following "an attack on their station with an ax and live ammunition."

"Calm must absolutely be restored," Darmanin said in an interview with French broadcaster RTL.

On Tuesday, the French Interior Ministry sent police reinforcements to New Caledonia, which long served as a prison colony and now hosts a French military base.

About 1,000 gendarmes and 700 police officers have been deployed and a dozen professionals from a specialized police intervention and riot control unit have also been mobilized, the territory’s top French official, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, said at a news conference in New Caledonia.

The territory's political parties appealed for "calm and reason" with people who support independence and those who want the island to remain part of France.

"We have to continue to live together," the rival parties said in a joint statement on Wednesday. "Only with dialogue and resilience (we will) get through this situation."

Two people were killed and three seriously injured in the unrest overnight, Le Franc said in an interview with France Info broadcaster. A fourth person, a member of the gendarmes, was also seriously injured near the southern town of Plum, according to France Info. He was evacuated in critical condition to the medical unit of the Pacific Marine Infantry Regiment, French broadcaster BFM reported.

Le Franc warned that if calm isn't restored, there will be "many deaths" in the area of the capital, Noumea, where protests over the voting rights turned violent on Tuesday.

Local authorities extended a curfew until Thursday morning.

Clashes between police and protesters have continued in and around Noumea despite the curfew and a ban on gatherings. Schools have been closed "until further notice" and the main airport, La Tontoura, "remains closed to commercial flights," Le Franc said.

"The situation is not serious, it is very serious," Le Franc said. "We have entered a dangerous spiral, a deadly spiral."

He said some residents of the capital have formed "self-defense groups" to protect their homes and businesses.

The unrest started on Monday with a protest over France’s efforts to expand voter lists that would benefit pro-France politicians on New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanak people, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.

Early Wednesday, France’s National Assembly adopted a constitutional revision reforming the electoral body in the territory in a 351-153 vote.

Pro-independence representatives appealed to supporters for calm and condemned the vote in the National Assembly, France’s most influential house of parliament.

Macron also appealed for calm after the vote and condemned "unworthy violence" in a letter to Caledonian representatives and political parties.

He called on all local politicians to engage in dialogue and submit suggestions for changes to the bill. Macron said he would convene the Congress, a joint session of lawmakers from both houses of the French parliament, by the end of June to amend the constitution and make it law in the absence of a meaningful dialogue with local representatives.

The bill would allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections. People of European descent in New Caledonia distinguish between descendants of colonizers and descendants of the many prisoners sent to the territory by force. The vast archipelago of about 270,000 people east of Australia is 10 time zones ahead of Paris.

New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.

A peace deal between rival factions was reached in 1988. A decade later, France promised to grant New Caledonia political power and broad autonomy and hold up to three successive referendums.

The three referendums were organized between 2018 to 2021 and a majority of voters chose to remain part of France instead of backing independence. The pro-independence Kanak people rejected the results of the last referendum in 2021, which they boycotted because it was held at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A welding operation sparked a huge fire in February at a water park that was under construction at one of Sweden’s biggest amusement centers, causing the death of one person, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

"When welding the water slide, a fire started which then spread to the rest of the building. The fire spread quickly and caused great destruction," the Goteborgs-Posten newspaper said, quoting a police report.

The blaze destroyed a large part of the Oceana water park that was scheduled to open this summer in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. 

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT WATER PARK UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT POPULAR SWEDISH THEME PARK

Officers were only able to enter the site days later and found a dead person there.

The fire at the popular Liseberg amusement complex spread over several water slides and the pool area of the water park.

A nearby hotel and office facilities had to be evacuated. Sixteen were slightly injured.

Huge throngs of protesters blocked streets in the capital of Georgia and milled angrily outside the parliament building after lawmakers on Tuesday approved a "foreign influence" bill that critics call a Russian-style threat to free speech and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

Soon after the 84-30 vote, a crowd of protesters in front of parliament tried to break metal barriers near the building. At least 13 people were arrested and Georgian news reports showed one with severe cuts and bruises on his head.

The protests expanded after nightfall, with thousands of demonstrators marching to Heroes Square about two kilometers from the parliament and blocking off the streets that converge on the square.

GEORGIA POLICE ARREST DOZENS PROTESTING 'RUSSIAN LAW'

The bill requires media and nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

The government says the bill is needed to stem what it deems as harmful foreign actors trying to destabilize politics in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people.

The opposition has denounced the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin.

European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday that if Georgians "want to join the EU, they have to respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the democratic principles."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. was "deeply troubled" by the legislation, which she said "runs counter to democratic values and would move Georgia further away from the values of the European Union. And let’s not forget also NATO."

Enacting the law "will compel us to fundamentally reassess our relationship with Georgia," she added.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Affairs James O'Brien met Tuesday with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and told journalists that "if the law goes forward out of conformity with EU norms, and there’s undermining of democracy here and there’s violence against peaceful protesters, then we will see restrictions coming from the United States."

The bill is nearly identical to one that the governing Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests. Renewed demonstrations have rocked Georgia for weeks, with demonstrators scuffling with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, has vowed to veto the bill, but Georgian Dream has a majority sufficient to override it. Zourabichvili has 14 days to act.

Over the weekend, thousands poured into the streets of the capital, Tbilisi.

Inside parliament, the debate was interrupted by a brawl. Georgian Dream lawmaker Dimitry Samkharadze was seen charging toward Levan Khabeishvili, head of the main opposition party United National Movement, after he accused Samkharadze of organizing mobs to beat up opposition supporters.

In a speech Tuesday, Georgian Dream lawmaker Archil Talakvadze accused "the radical and anti-national political opposition united by political vendetta" of using the protests for their own political purpose and "hoping for events to take a radical turn."

Ana Tsitlidze of the United National Movement said the protests showed how unified Georgia was "in fighting for its European future."

Another prominent opposition figure, Giorgi Vashadze, asserted that the Georgian Dream party "is completely outside the constitution, outside the law, and they are betraying our country’s European future."

A fire early at a marina in northwestern Croatia early Wednesday destroyed 22 boats and caused huge damage but no injuries.

An investigation was underway to determine what caused the fire at the marina in Medulin, a small town on the Istrian peninsula that's popular with tourists in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea.

Photos showed boats in the marina burning in a raging blaze. Local media said some owners jumped into the sea to escape as firefighters rushed to separate the boats still untouched by the fire.

CROATIA'S CONSERVATIVE PLENKOVIC APPOINTED PM-DESIGNATE FOR THIRD TERM IN A ROW

The fire was brought under control. Authorities said they put up barriers in the sea to stop any environmental damage.

Croatia is a top European tourism destination and a favorite spot for sailing.

It all started with nifty leg movements, strong steps backwards and forwards, paced to Brazilian funk music. Then it adopted moves from break dancing, samba, capoeira, frevo — whatever was around.

The passinho, a dance style created in the 2000s by kids in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, was declared in March to be an "intangible cultural heritage" by legislators in the state of Rio, bringing recognition to a cultural expression born in the sprawling working-class neighborhoods.

The creators of passinho were young kids with plenty of flexibility — and no joint problems. They started trying out new moves at home and then showing them off at funk parties in their communities and, crucially, sharing them on the internet.

PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE EXPERIENCE NIGERIAN DANCING, FASHION WHILE VISITING CHARITIES

In the early days of social media, youngsters uploaded videos of their latest feats to Orkut and YouTube, and the style started spreading to other favelas. A competitive scene was born, and youths copied and learned from the best dancers, leading them to innovate further and strive to stay on top.

"Passinho in my life is the basis of everything I have," dancer and choreographer Walcir de Oliveira, 23, said in an interview. "It's where I manage to earn my livelihood, and I can show people my joy and blow off steam, you understand? It's where I feel happy, good."

Brazilian producer Julio Ludemir helped capture this spirit and discover talents by organizing "passinho battles" in the early 2010s. At these events, youths took turns showing off their steps before a jury that selected the winners.

The "Out of Doors" festival at New York’s Lincoln Center staged one such duel in 2014, giving a U.S. audience a taste of the vigorous steps. Passinho breached the borders of favelas and disconnected from funk parties that are often associated with crime. Dancers started appearing on mainstream TV and earned the spotlight during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Ludemir describes the style as an expression of Brazilian "antropofagia," the modernist concept of cannibalizing elements from other cultures in order to produce something new.

"Passinho is a dance that absorbs references from all dances. It’s a crossing of the cultural influences absorbed by kids from the periphery as they were connecting with the world through social media in internet cafes," he said.

Dancing also became a means for youths to move seamlessly between communities controlled by rival drug gangs. It offered you men from favelas a new way out, besides falling into a life of crime or the all-too-common pipe dream of becoming a soccer star.

Passinho was declared state heritage by Rio’s legislative assembly through a law proposed by Rio state legislator Veronica Lima. It passed unanimously and was sanctioned March 7. In a statement, Lima said it was important to help "decriminalize funk and artistic expressions of youths" from favelas.

Ludemir says the heritage recognition is sure to consolidate the first generation of passinho dancers as an inspiration for favelas youths.

Among them are Pablo Henrique Goncalves, a dancer known as Pablinho Fantástico, who won a passinho battle back in 2014 and later created a boy group called OZCrias, with four dancers born and raised like him in Rocinha, Rio’s largest favela. The group earns money performing in festivals, events, theaters and TV shows, and they welcomed the heritage recognition.

Another dance group is Passinho Carioca in the Penha complex of favelas on the other side of the city. One of its directors, Nayara Costa, said in an interview that she came from a family where everyone got into drug trafficking. Passinho saved her from that fate, and now she uses it to help youngsters — plus teach anyone else interested in learning.

"Today I give classes to people who are in their sixties; passinho is for everyone," said Costa, 23. "Passinho, in the same way that it changed my life, is still going to change the lives of others."

Thailand’s prime minister on Wednesday offered his condolences to the family of a young activist who died in detention after a monthslong hunger strike, amid a public debate on the country’s justice system.

Netiporn "Bung" Sanesangkhom, 28, died on Tuesday after suffering cardiac arrest while she was being detained at Bangkok’s Central Women’s Correctional Institution on charges that included defaming the monarchy. She had been on a hunger strike to protest the revocation of her bail in January.

Her death has prompted calls for reviewing a judicial process that allows people accused of politically-motivated, nonviolent offenses to be held for extended periods ahead of trial.

MASSIVE CHEMICAL STORAGE TANK IN THAILAND CATCHES FIRE, 1 DEAD, 4 INJURED

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters that Netiporn’s death was a loss that no one wanted, and said he has ordered the Justice Ministry to investigate.

Officials from the Corrections Department said during a press conference on Wednesday that while Netiporn appeared fatigued following her prolonged hunger strike, she had been well and there was no sign that she would develop such critical conditions, and that they had done everything to try to save her life.

They also said the activist had already resumed eating, but refused to take other supplements that could help her body take nutrients better after fasting for so long. They declined to speculate on the possible cause of death until the autopsy results are released.

An autopsy was carried out on Wednesday morning and the initial results are expected on Thursday, said Netiporn’s lawyer Kritsadang Nutcharat. But Kritsadang told reporters that he doesn’t believe the Corrections Department's version of events.

"She died in your arms. If she had been well, she wouldn’t have died," he said, adding that the public should focus on the fact that Netiporn died while being detained, not whether she had been eating.

Netiporn was a member of the activist group Thaluwang, loosely translated as "breaking through the palace." Its members are known for aggressive campaigns demanding reform of the monarchy and abolition of the law that makes it illegal to defame members of the royal family.

Until recent years, criticism of Thailand's monarchy was taboo, and insulting or defaming key royal family members remains punishable by up to 15 years in prison under a law usually referred to as Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code.

But student-led pro-democracy protests began to challenge that taboo in 2020, openly criticizing the monarchy. That led to vigorous prosecutions under what was previously a little-used law. Critics say the law is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent.

Netiporn was one of more than 270 activists, many university students, charged under the royal defamation law following those protests. Their supporters say that the authorities have violated their rights by holding them in prolonged pretrial detention and denying their release on bail.

She was originally detained in May 2022, and released on bail in August 2022 after a previous hunger strike. She was rearrested in January for breaking the terms of her bail by participating in a political rally in 2023.

Netiporn was facing several charges stemming from political activities, including two charges of defaming the monarchy. Both involved conducting polls in public spaces in 2022 to ask people’s opinions about the royal family, according to the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said they had requested bail 45 times for 27 political prisoners from January to April. None of those requests were granted, it said.

Another activist who is facing lese mejeste charges and had been detained several times, Panusaya "Rung" Sitthijirawattanakul, expressed disappointment in Srettha’s government, which took office in August following an election that ended nearly a decade of military rule.

"Before the election, they said that after they became a government they would ask the court to release political prisoners, and they would amend Article 112," she said during a candlelight vigil for Netiporn on Tuesday night, "None of that ever came true."

When asked about growing calls for young political detainees to be released, Prime Minister Srettha said "I believe the Justice Minister has heard these calls. It is under consideration and there will be discussions regarding all processes of justice. Everyone must be treated fairly."

The U.N.’s human rights office in Southeast Asia, in a Tuesday post on the social network X, said it was "deeply disturbed" by Netiporn’s death and called for a transparent investigation. It also emphasized that freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights.

Kritsadang, the lawyer, also called for the prime minister to take serious action on problems in the system of justice before making an official visit to France and Italy this week, noting the government’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council’s for the 2025-2027 term.

Netiporn’s funeral service will be held at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok from Thursday to Sunday, the Thaluwang group said.

Singapore’s deputy leader Lawrence Wong is set to be sworn in Wednesday as the nation’s fourth prime minister in a carefully planned political succession designed to ensure continuity and stability in the Asian financial hub.

A U.S.-trained economist, Wong, 51, succeeds Lee Hsien Loong, 72, who stepped down after two decades at the helm. Lee’s resignation marked the end of a family dynasty led by his father Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s charismatic first leader who built the colonial trading outpost into a business-friendly, affluent country during 31 years in office.

Wong, a civil servant turned politician, came to prominence while coordinating Singapore’s successful fight against COVID-19. But he wasn’t the first choice for the top job.

SINGAPORE PM TO STEP DOWN AFTER 2 DECADES, HANDING POWER TO HIS DEPUTY

Heng Swee Keat, a former central bank chief and education minister, was the anointed successor but he withdrew his nomination in 2021. Wong was then picked by the ruling People’s Action Party in 2022 to fill the vacuum and quickly promoted to deputy prime minister.

"I will certainly strive to be a leader who is strong, kind and decisive. And I will do my best to build a Singapore where everyone can realize their full potential," Wong said on social media earlier this month.

Wong's ascension to the top has been meticulously crafted by the PAP — one of the world’s longest-serving political parties and known for its clean and effective governance — and will not change the dynamics in the tiny nation of some 6 million people.

Wong has retained the Cabinet and held onto his finance portfolio as he prepares for his first big test in general elections due by 2025 but widely expected to be called this year. Before taking office, he promoted Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong as one of two deputy premiers. The other deputy is Heng.

SINGAPORE'S OUTGOING PM TO STAY ON AS SENIOR MINISTER, HIS SUCCESSOR SAYS

Lee will stay on as a senior minister, a path taken by all former premiers.

While victory in the election is assured, Wong must clinch a stronger win after the PAP suffered a setback in 2020 polls over voters' rising discontent with the government.

Singapore under Lee's rule flourished into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but it also became one of the most expensive cities to live in. The PAP has also been criticized for tight government control and a government-knows-best stance, media censorship and the use of oppressive laws against dissidents.

Issues like widening income disparity, increasingly unaffordable housing, overcrowding caused by immigration and restrictions on free speech are often used as fodder by the opposition and have loosened the PAP's grip on power.

"One-party dominance in Singapore is weakening but the challenge for the PAP leadership is to slow down the process," said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University.

Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia political expert, said Lee "will be remembered for steering Singapore quietly and successfully through turbulent waters from the 2008-2009 financial crisis and COVID-19. He helped to build resilience in Singapore. ... (But) Singapore has become a more complex society, with more open demands, making the task of governing (for Wong) more challenging."

Wong was born seven years after Singapore separated from Malaysia and gained independence in 1965. His father was a migrant from China and his mother was a teacher. Unlike many senior PAP leaders, he didn't have a privileged background. Observers have said this could help him connect better with the common citizen.

Wong earned a scholarship to study in the U.S., later obtaining a masters' degree in economics from the University of Michigan and another masters' degree in public administration from Harvard University. He spent years in public service including as a principal private secretary to Lee before entering politics in 2011. He has handled the defense, education, communications, culture, community and youth portfolios.

Like Lee, Wong is active on social media. Married with no children, he doesn't reveal much about his private life but has offered glimpses into his interests in music and dogs, and he is a fan of tennis star Roger Federer. He often posts videos of himself playing guitar.

Wong has launched a Forward Singapore plan to let Singaporeans have a say in how to develop a more balanced, vibrant and inclusive agenda for the next generation. Wong often speaks in a flat tone and may not appear charismatic, but he is widely seen as a reliable and accessible leader.

"We can expect his leadership to be more consultative ... one that will emphasize the team concept wherein his key lieutenants will be prominent," said law professor Tan.

Tan said Wong's immediate priorities will be to address issues including the rising cost of living, housing affordability and job security. "Bread-and-butter issues remain vital even for a prosperous country, partly because of Singapore’s innate vulnerabilities," he said.

In foreign policy, Tan said Wong needs to navigate the "Sino-American power rivalry in which Southeast Asia has become a proxy theater of the contest." Singapore, like some of its neighbors, has stayed neutral but it may be forced later to choose sides on a variety of issues, he said.

Russia claims its military shot down 10 U.S.-supplied missiles on Wednesday as the United States’ top diplomat is in Ukraine shoring up America’s support for the country.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses detected 10 ATACMS missiles that were allegedly targeting Crimea early Wednesday and shot them down over the Black Sea, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.

Sevastopol Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed the missiles were shot down near the Belbek air base, saying some of the missile fragments fell into residential areas. They caused no casualties, according to Razvozhayev.

Ukraine has launched a series of drone and missile attacks on various targets across Russia, including oil refineries and fuel depots, over recent months amid its attempt to fend off its larger neighbor.

BLINKEN MAKES UNANNOUNCED DIPLOMATIC TRIP TO UKRAINE AFTER CONGRESS APPROVES $60B IN MILITARY AID

Blinken, who arrived Tuesday, visited Ukraine on an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure the country amid its war with Russia.

In a statement released after Blinken's arrival, the State Department said the diplomat was scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Following Blinken’s meeting with Zelenskyy, the State Department said the two "discussed recent battlefield updates and the importance of newly-arrived U.S. security assistance to helping repel Russian attacks."

"They also discussed long-term security arrangements and ongoing work to ensure Ukraine can thrive economically. Secretary Blinken reiterated the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and our commitment to Ukraine’s recovery," the statement added.

Ukraine's attacks this week come as Russian troops continue a massive offensive in northeast Ukraine that began last week, the most significant border incursion since the invasion began.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who won re-election earlier this month, continues his invasion of Ukraine that started in Feb. 2022, despite international pressure to end it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

JOHANNESBURG - With two West African countries in the sprawling Sahel region leaning heavily toward Moscow, telling U.S. forces battling Islamist terror activity to get out and letting Russian mercenary forces in, leading GOP Senators have struck out against the Biden administration’s foreign policy, with one calling it a "disaster."

"President Biden’s foreign policy has been a disaster on every continent, and Africa is no exception," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.

The senator continued, "While the Russians and Chinese are working overtime to oust the U.S. from a region that will soon be home to a quarter of the earth’s population, the Biden Administration continues to fumble the ball and weaken our nation’s strategic interests with our African partners."

Scott added, "It’s crystal clear that the outcome of the November election will have massive consequences, not only on whether Americans continue putting up with Bidenomics and the rising costs of getting gas and groceries, but on our nation’s diminishing global standing as well."

US TO PULL TROOPS FROM CHAD AND NIGER AS THE AFRICAN NATIONS QUESTION ITS COUNTERTERRORISM ROLE

Niger’s military junta has told 1,000 U.S. military service members and contractors to leave town – while permitting Russian Wagner mercenaries to move onto the same airbase housing American personnel. Some of the 100 U.S. service members in Chad have also been told to get out. 

Particularly in West Africa, Russia is gaining influence, often claimed at America’s expense.

The head of the U.S. Africa Command, Marine Corps Gen. Michael E. Langley, stated recently that terrorism is shattering African lives and plants "the seeds of violent extremism and Russian exploitation across entire regions of the continent."

Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho., told Fox News Digital, "The U.S. isn't fighting for influence in Africa, but despite its efforts, Russia isn't winning over most Africans." Risch, ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added, "Simplifying the current situation in this way gives too much credit to Russia and other bad actors who are exploiting economic, political, and security challenges for their own gain. Despite this administration's soaring rhetoric about its successes in Africa, the continent is not a top foreign policy focus – the administration's actions, budgets, and policies demonstrate that."

He continued, "The U.S. has the power to swiftly reverse the current trend of African nations favoring anti-Western views. By taking stronger policy actions in partnership with the African people, we can make a significant and immediate impact, and reverse these trends."

"America has now effectively been pushed out of Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, making more room for Russia and China," Senate Minority Leader Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told the Senate on May 2.  "The administration behaves more like an ostrich than a superpower for two years."

RUSSIA AND US JOCKEY FOR SUPPORT ACROSS AFRICA

Looking at the 54 countries which make up the African continent, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital "Secretary Blinken has been clear about the United States’ commitment to deepen and expand our partnerships between the United States and African countries, institutions, and people.  The United States' strategy towards Africa is based on the belief that democracy and good governance, development, and stability are inter-linked. Together with our regional partners, we are committed to working with African countries to promote democracy, foster sustainable development, combat terrorism, and enhance security." 

"We remain concerned by the increase in violence and worsening humanitarian trends across the Sahel region. The only long-term solution to the scourge of terrorism is delivering good governance based on the rule of law, respect for human rights, and promotion of social cohesion. Overreliance on military-only approaches to instability and insufficient efforts to protect civilians from human rights abuses and violations, will only further entrench structural drivers of instability."

Washington has declared publicly that it will pull forces out of Niger, but the 1,000 personnel are still there, with a State Department spokesperson telling Fox News Digital last week that officials "are engaged in frank discussions with the authorities in Niger." 

During Tuesday's State Department briefing, spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that in discussions with Niger's new government (CNSP), "We have not been able to come to an understanding that would allow the United States to maintain its military presence in Niger, and we’re currently working with the CNSP to withdraw U.S. forces in an orderly and responsible fashion." 

The U.S. troops are being used as "pawns" by Washington, in order to try and get military and medivac overflight permission in Niger, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., claimed in statements provided by his office to Fox News Digital. "Today, more than a thousand personnel have not been sufficiently resupplied since March following the coup."

CHAD'S MILITARY LEADER WINS DISPUTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Gaetz continued, "Biden has two choices: resupply our troops or bring them home ASAP. The notion that we are allowing third world thugs - who we trained - to dictate terms on the well-being of American troops is a furtherance of the Biden foreign policy disgrace." 

Controversy is also next door in Chad, with the military junta there saying they want the U.S. military out of their country. Washington has had around 100 personnel fighting terrorism stationed there. Some were pulled out during last week’s presidential elections, but sources suggest this withdrawal is "temporary."

Enter the Kremlin. Niger has, in contrast, welcomed up to 100 military personnel thought to be mercenaries from the Wagner group to set up shop for operations out of a hangar on the same airbase 101 housing U.S. personnel. 

The potential departure of U.S. forces from Niger and Chad is "a win for Putin," said Rebekah Koffler, strategic military intelligence analyst and Foreign Affairs Consultant for Fox News Digital. "Any military hardware that’s left will be picked up by the Russians who are always on the hunt for U.S. weapons dropped on the battlefield or abandoned at military bases. Those combat systems will be acquired, inspected, and either reverse engineered or countermeasures will be built within Russian weapons systems to mitigate the effectiveness of U.S. arms."

"The United States clearly faces challenges in maintaining its position in West Africa," Gustavo de Carvalho, senior researcher for African Governance and Diplomacy at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told Fox News Digital. "But it is somehow a chicken and an egg dilemma. Are Russia and China actively working to replace the West, or is the West losing influence while China and Russia fill the gap?

"In the West African case," de Carvalho added. "I believe this is more a case of the West losing influence and Russia filling a specific security demand gap. The relationship between Western countries and Sahelian governments became so fractured recently that Russia took advantage of the void left behind."

Koffler said Russia’s strategic goals are clear. "To expand its footprint in Africa, in order to outcompete the U.S. there, reduce the US/Western influence and to compete with China. It’s part of Putin’s vision of a ‘multipolar world.’" 

The Kremlin, Koffler added, has a "clever" diplomatic goal too, with it trying to get more African countries to vote in support of Russia at the U.N. "Africa has a big voting block within the United Nations," Koffler said. "So Moscow wants to predispose those governments towards Russia’s policy agenda, so they can vote in Russia’s interests, not Western interests. Many African countries already feel that their voices in international organizations are not heard. And Russia capitalizes on those anti-Western sentiments."

JIHADIST AND NUCLEAR THREAT AS AFRICAN COUNTRY TELLS US TO LEAVE AMID RUSSIAN AND IRANIAN GAINS

De Carvalho agreed that Africa is becoming higher on the agenda of priorities for Russian foreign policy. "They have so far been able to exploit years of reduced interest in Africa by Western Countries, including the U.S., benefiting from the fact that Western narratives and motivations are increasingly seen with distrust."

Enter China. Koffler declared this week, "From the economic standpoint, the U.S. is not losing the battle for Africa to Russia, but it is losing it to China." Koffler claimed China, with its belt and road trade initiative, has $254 billion worth of trade with Africa annually, whereas the U.S. has $64 billion, and Russia only $18 billion.

De Carvalho stressed that China’s aims are not military, but "it is essential to note that China’s presence does not necessarily equate to dominance. China tends to be more interested in securing financial benefits and market access, rather than using its influence as a direct tool for Western containment."

De Carvalho pointed out that he believes Washington needs to change its focus – not what it sees, but how it sees it. He said, "If the U.S. wants to increase its influence, it needs to approach Africa on its own merits, not solely as a means to counter the role of China and Russia. Africa has a long history of being used as a proxy in global disputes, and a narrative that reinforces that is indeed counterproductive. And that’s a challenge the U.S. needs to address."

"To address its own declining position, the US Administration should focus on building more genuine partnerships with African nations, prioritizing investments, economic development, security cooperation, and addressing shared challenges such as climate change and public health. They should engage with African countries as partners, not vehicles or proxies. But for that to happen, it would require a change in the narrative, approaches and action, making the continent a direct focus, not a terrain for geopolitical disputes."

The U.S. military has completed the construction of a hulking metal pier that is expected to be jabbed into a beach in northern Gaza in the coming days, officials said.

Completing the massive makeshift structure — approximately 1,500-ft long or the length of five U.S. football fields — is the first step in the Biden administration's two-month-long, $320 million gamble to open a sea route to get humanitarian aid through the eastern Mediterranean and into Gaza, where Israel continues to wage war with the Hamas terror group.

The construction of the new floating pier and causeway is risky for President Biden and the Pentagon as aid delivery teams face unknown dangers and uncertainties as they attempt to work around the challenges of getting aid into Gaza through the Rafah border.

"In the coming days, you can expect to see this effort underway. And we are confident that we will be able to, working with our NGO partners, ensure that aid can be delivered," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Tuesday, noting humanitarian groups were ready for the first shipments through the new U.S. maritime route.

REPUBLICAN SAYS BIDEN HAS 'STRENGTHENED' HAMAS BY WITHHOLDING AID FROM ISRAEL: 'COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT'

The administration’s effort to open the additional sea route comes as the intensifying war between Israel and Hamas has neared the land crossings in Rafah.

Scott Paul, an associate director of the Oxfam humanitarian organization, described the sea route as "a solution for a problem that doesn't exist" because land crossings could bring in all the needed aid, he said.

Paul suggested the amount of aid that is allowed to be delivered into Gaza is dependent on Israeli officials allowing it. Some officials have expressed concerns the aid could fall into the hands of Hamas, the very terrorists that Israel is seeking to eliminate from the Palestinian territory.

UN REVISES GAZA DEATH TOLL, ALMOST 50% LESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILLED THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

"Like all of the land crossings, it comes down to the consent of the government of Israel," Paul said. "If Israel is comfortable with allowing the maritime corridor to function ... then it will work in a limited way. And if they don't, it won't. Which is why it's a very, very expensive alternative."

Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Tuesday that the country had enabled the entrance of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza and would continue to do so.

Falk accused Hamas of disrupting aid distribution by hijacking and attacking convoys.

The Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday that it will keep acting in line with international law to distribute aid to Gaza. It also has previously said there are no limits on aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to Biden to allow in more aid and safeguard those workers.

Anastasia Moran, an associate director for the International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian group, said truckloads of aid entering Gaza increased by 13% last month.

The Israel-Hamas war has been particularly lethal to Palestinian civilians residing in Gaza with Palestinian health officials estimating more than 35,000 have been killed. Israeli officials estimate the number of deceased civilians is approximately 16,000 civilians. A U.N report from May 8 found the number of women and children killed so far in the war to be just under 13,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hundreds of residents in four neighborhoods in the southern end of Canada’s oil sand hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, were ordered to evacuate with a wildfire threatening the community, authorities said Tuesday.

The Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo said residents in Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace needed to leave by 4 p.m.

CANADA BATTLES WORST-EVER WILDFIRE SEASON, AS NORTH AMERICA ENGULFED IN SMOKE

An emergency evacuation warning remained in place for the rest of Fort McMurray and surrounding areas.

The rural municipality said the residents in the four neighborhoods were being ordered out to clear room for crews to fight the fire, which had moved to within 13 kilometers (8 miles) of the city.

Fort McMurray has a population of about 68,000, and a wildfire there in 2016 destroyed 2,400 homes and forced more than 80,000 people to flee.

"It’s very important for me to know that this fire activity is very different than the 2016 Horse River wildfire. We have an abundance of resources and we are well positioned to respond to this situation," Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz said.

Suzy Gerendi, who runs the dessert shop in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, said she was already packed up when the evacuation order came down. Gerendi lived in Beacon Hill when fire overtook it in 2016.

She immediately began the drive towards Edmonton, Alberta with her three dogs.

"It’s very, very dark and orange," Gerendi said. "It brings up some memories and it’s not a good feeling."

Residents were also dealing with heavy smoke and ash.

"It’s dark. The smoke is everywhere," said resident Else Hoko.

Hoko picked up her two sons from school in Abasand after receiving the evacuation order. She had also fled in 2016.

"I’m so stressed," she said, adding that she’s praying for rain.

The Beacon Hill and Abasand neighborhoods saw serious losses in 2016.

The current fire has grown to about 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles) and remains out of control.

Josee St. Onge, an Alberta Wildfire information officer, said wind is pushing the fire toward the community.

She said crews have been pulled from the fire line for safety reasons, and air tankers and helicopters continue to drop water and retardant on the "active edges."

"Unfortunately, these are not favorable winds for us, and the fire will continue to advance towards the town until we see a wind shift," she said.

In the northeast of the neighboring province of British Columbia, areas subject to mandatory evacuation increased, with the latest order Monday for Doig River First Nation and the Peace River Regional District as a fire threatened nearby.

Forecasts on Tuesday called for wind that could blow a growing wildfire closer to Fort Nelson. Emergency workers had been phoning as many of the estimated 50 residents still in town and urging them to go.

The British Columbia Wildfire Service said the blaze had grown to 84 square kilometers (32 miles). On Monday, it was about 53 square kilometers (21 miles) in size. A photo by the service shows the billowing blaze spreading in a vast wooded area.

The community of about 4,700 and the neighboring Fort Nelson First Nation have been under an evacuation order since Friday.

Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Mayor Rob Fraser said one drawback of the evacuation is the challenge for essential staff, including firefighters, to find food.

"This is really going to be weather dependent, and so far the weather has been holding with us," Fraser said of the wildfire in a video posted to Facebook.

In 2023, Canada experienced a record number of wildfires that caused choking smoke in parts of the U.S. and forced more than 235,000 Canadians to evacuate their communities. At least four firefighters died.

Several wildfires are burning across western Canada.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree appointing a new government, including replacement of the defense minister with a former deputy prime minister who is an economics expert with no military background.

When Putin was inaugurated for a new six-year term on May 7, the government submitted its resignation in line with Russian law. Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister three days later, which was quickly approved by the lower house of parliament.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PUTIN AS RUSSIAN STRONGMAN BEGINS NEW SIX-YEAR TERM

On Sunday, he signed a decree moving Sergei Shoigu from his post as defense minister to head of the national security council. Putin also nominated deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov to take Shoigu's place.

Putin also proposed names for some Cabinet members to return to their posts and Mishustin submitted names for several new ministers, all of which were approved by the parliament.

Shoigu has been widely seen as a key figure in Putin’s decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine. Russia had expected the operation to quickly overwhelm Ukraine’s much smaller and less-equipped army and for Ukrainians to broadly welcome Russian troops.

Instead, the conflict galvanized Ukraine to mount an intense defense, dealing the Russian army humiliating blows, including the retreat from an attempt to take the capital, Kyiv, and a counteroffensive that drove Moscow’s forces out of the Kharkiv region.

Shoigu also was shadowed by the arrest last month of deputy defense minister Timur Ivanov on charges of accepting huge bribes.

The decree by Putin largely retains the previous Cabinet, but names new energy, sports, transport, industry and agriculture ministers.

Argentina’s monthly inflation rate eased sharply to a single-digit rate in April for the first time in half a year, data released Tuesday showed, a closely watched indicator that bolsters President Javier Milei’s severe austerity program aimed at fixing the country’s troubled economy.

Prices rose at a rate of 8.8% last month, the Argentine government statistics agency reported, down from a monthly rate of 11% in March and well below a peak of 25% last December, when Milei became president with a mission to combat Argentina’s dizzying inflation, among the highest in the world.

ARGENTINA WILL GET NEXT INSTALLMENT OF BAILOUT AS IMF PRAISES MILEI'S AUSTERITY POLICIES

"Inflation is being pulverized," Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson, posted on social media platform X after the announcement. "Its death certificate is being signed."

Although praised by the International Monetary Fund and cheered by market watchers, Milei’s cost-cutting and deregulation campaign has, at least in the short term, squeezed families whose money has plummeted in value while the cost of nearly everything has skyrocketed. Annual inflation, the statistics agency reported Tuesday, climbed slightly to 289.4%.

"People are in pain," said 23-year-old Augustin Perez, a supermarket worker in the suburbs of Buenos Aires who said his rent had soared by 90% since Milei deregulated the real estate market and his electricity bill had nearly tripled since the government slashed subsidies. "They say things are getting better, but how? I don’t understand."

Milei’s social media feed in recent weeks has become a stream of good economic news: Argentine bonds posting some of the best gains among emerging markets, officials celebrating its first quarterly surplus since 2008 and the IMF announcing Monday it would release another $800 million loan — a symbolic vote of confidence in Milei’s overhaul.

"The important thing is to score goals now," Milei said at an event Tuesday honoring former President Carlos Menem, a divisive figure whose success driving hyperinflation down to single digits through free-market policies Milei repeatedly references. "We are beating inflation."

Even so, some experts warn that falling inflation isn’t necessarily an economic victory — rather the symptom of a painful recession. The IMF expects Argentina’s gross domestic product to shrink by 2.8% this year.

"You’ve had a massive collapse in private spending, which explains why consumption has dropped dramatically and why inflation is also falling," said Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who studies emerging markets. "People are worse off than they were before. That leads them to spend less."

Signs of an economic slowdown are everywhere in Buenos Aires — the lines snaking outside discounted groceries, the empty seats in the city’s typically booming restaurants, the growing strikes and protests.

At an open-air market in the capital's Liniers neighborhood, Lidia Pacheco makes a beeline for the garbage dump. Several times a week, the 45-year-old mother of four rummages through the pungent pile to salvage the tomatoes with the least mold.

"This place saves me," Pacheco said. Sky-high prices have forced her to stick to worn-out clothes and shoes and change her diet to the point of giving up yerba mate, Argentina’s ubiquitous national drink brewed from bitter leaves. "Whatever I earn from selling clothes goes to eating," she said.

Argentina's retail sales in the first quarter of 2024 fell nearly 20% compared to the year before, a clip comparable to that of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. The consumption of beef — an Argentine classic — dropped to its lowest level in three decades this quarter, the government reported, prompting panicked editorials about a crisis in Argentina's national psyche.

"Now I buy pork and chicken instead," said Leonardo Buono, 51-year-old hospital worker. "It’s an intense shock, this economic adjustment."

Milei, a self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" and former TV personality, warned his policies would hurt at first.

He campaigned brandishing a chainsaw to symbolize all the cutting he would do to Argentina’s bloated state, a dramatic change from successive left-leaning Peronist governments that ran vast budget deficits financed by printing money.

Promising the pain would pay off, he slashed spending on everything from construction and cultural centers to education and energy subsidies, from soup kitchens and social programs to pensions and public companies. He has also devalued the Argentine peso by 54%, helping close the chasm between the peso’s official and black-market exchange rates but also fueling inflation.

Inflation in the first four months of 2024 surged by 65%, the government statistics agency reported Tuesday. Prices in shops and restaurants have reached levels similar to those in the U.S. and Europe.

But Argentine wages have remained stagnant or declined, with the monthly minimum wage for regulated workers just $264 as of this month, with workers in the informal economy often paid less.

Today that sum can buy scarcely more than a few nice meals at Don Julio, a famous Buenos Aires steakhouse. Nearly 60% of the country’s 46 million people now live in poverty, a 20-year high, according to a study in January by Argentina’s Catholic University.

Even as discontent appears to rise, the president’s approval ratings have remained high, around 50%, according to a survey this month by Argentine consulting firm Circuitos — possibly a result of Milei’s success blaming his predecessors for the crisis.

"It’s not his fault, it’s the Peronists who ruined the country, and Milei is trying to do his best," said Rainer Silva, a Venezuelan taxi driver who fled his own country’s economic collapse for Argentina five years ago. "He’s like Trump, everyone’s against him."

Argentina’s powerful trade unions and leftist political parties have pushed back against Milei with weekly street protests, but haven’t managed to galvanize a broad swath of society.

That could change — last week, a massive protest against budget cuts to public universities visibly hit a nerve, drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

"The current situation is completely unsustainable," said de Bolle, the economy expert.