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Russian authorities arrested two soldiers who had been on a drunken killing spree in the Moscow-occupied part of Kherson, according to reports. 

"They killed residents and burned their houses if they were refused alcohol," Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported. 

Alexander Kaygorodtsev, 36, and Alexander Osipov, 34, were detained on April 24 on suspicion of murder. The pair, members of the 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division, admitted to killing at least five people and told investigators they had hidden the bodies of additional victims, including the head of the village of Abrikosovka, where the killings occurred.

The victims included a 65-year-old and a woman the duo shot in the stomach before burning her house. They proceeded to "disfigure" some victims, including breaking open their skulls. They used grenades and fire to hide the evidence of their crimes by trying to destroy the bodies and the crime scenes.  

UKRAINE LAWMAKER, 34, FIGHTS FOR KHARKIV IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

Their victims included other Russian servicemen, making their motives even more puzzling for investigators. They shot one victim, Lyubov Tymchak, because she told them they could not find an empty house to commandeer.

Russian Telegram channel Astra reported that no charges had been officially opened against the two soldiers, but another report claimed that the pair would face an investigation from the 126th Military Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee, according to East2West.

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER SAYS US MILITARY AID PACKAGE WILL ‘SERVE’ ITS PURPOSE

Kaygorodtzev was previously convicted of murder and participation in drug trafficking, serving a five-year sentence with another six-month suspended sentence. If convicted of the new murders, he will face life in prison. 

Ukrainian outlet The New Voice of Ukraine argued that killings were part of "ongoing violence and turmoil" within the Russian-occupied regions of the country. Reports have covered a number of crimes committed against the Ukrainian residents of the Russian-occupied zones, including alleged attacks on the LGBTQ+ population in the city of Kherson. 

RUSSIAN JOURNALIST DETAINED FOR POSTS CRITICIZING THE MILITARY, LAWYER SAYS

A report from human rights NGO watchdog Projector — in partnership with OutRight International — detailed attacks on LGBTQ+ residents of the city between March and September 2023, during which time the group claims some Russian forces deliberately targeted queer residents.

Projector claimed that many survivors of these crimes have rarely contacted law enforcement over fears that they would not receive support. 

In February, the bruised and possibly executed corpse of a Ukrainian Orthodox priest was found in the streets of Kalanchak, also in the Kherson region. The priest, Father Stepan, was found with what the outlet described as a possible bullet wound to the head. 

Russian forces had detained him two days earlier, and the local bishop claimed that the troops had tortured the priest to death, according to Forum 18, a Norwegian news agency. 

The Office of the Prime Minister of Israel on Friday flatly rejected the disinformation campaign waged by the terrorist movement Hamas that the Jewish State was involved in any misconduct regarding a mass grave found at a battle site located on a hospital compound in Gaza.

"Hamas libels know no limits. It's sad to see how many news organizations are still so quick to copy and paste Hamas's lies for clickbait. The IDF will continue to target Hamas while avoiding civilian casualties with precision likely to have never been seen in the history of warfare," Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman told Fox News Digital.

Middle East expert Tom Gross told Fox News Digital that "Hamas has a long track record of fabricating the truth that puts even Al-Qaeda or Isis to shame. And yet, the supposedly responsible media — in particular, CNN on this occasion — repeat Hamas lies almost unquestioningly."

Gross added, "Even the BBC was not caught out on this occasion, but it seems CNN was all too eager to give credence to the latest Hamas blood libel against the Jewish state. When historians come to examine why there has been such a sharp increase in antisemitism in America this year, they may well examine the role of some media in encouraging it."

UN, HUMAN RIGHTS, MEDIA GROUPS RELY ON HAMAS DEATH TOLL IN 'SYSTEMATIC DECEPTION': EXPERT

The Hamas-run Civil Defense agency in Gaza said on Tuesday that Palestinian health workers uncovered nearly 340 bodies of people allegedly killed and buried by Israeli forces at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

When asked about the Hamas officials who claimed that the presence of hundreds of bodies in mass graves at the hospital compound in Khan Younis, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday, "The allegations are troubling, they are disturbing, we take them very seriously, and we’re continuing to press the Government of Israel for more information. It’s our understanding the IDF has spoken to some of this publicly; they have stated that in search of Israeli hostages, they have uncovered graves in the area where Palestinians had previously been buried."

Israeli army spokesman Major Nadav Shoshani wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "Misinformation is circulating regarding a mass grave that was discovered at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. The grave in question was dug — by Gazans — a few months ago." 

BIDEN ADMIN CONTINUES PUSH FOR 2-STATE SOLUTION AS CRITICS WARN: 'EFFORTS REPEATEDLY FAIL'

He continued: "This fact is corroborated by social media documentation uploaded by Gazans at the time of the burial, as seen in the video below. Any attempt to blame Israel for burying civilians in mass graves is categorically false and a mere example of a disinformation campaign aimed at delegitimizing Israel."

Prominent American statisticians have argued that Hamas has fabricated death toll counts in the Gaza Strip to garner support among Western countries to end Israel’s campaign to root out the jihadi terrorist network. Hamas fails to distinguish between its terrorist combatants and civilians in its wars against Israel, military and statistical experts have long argued.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters about the mass grave, "We want answers," adding,"We want to see this thoroughly and transparently investigated." Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 and slaughtered 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans.

Hospitals are protected institutions during war under international law. However, the medical centers in the Gaza Strip have frequently been turned into de facto military installations by Hamas to wage war against Israel. Hospitals lose their protected rights when they are converted into military sites. Hamas uses medical compounds to hold hostages. 

Hamas currently has over 100 hostages, including Americans, in its captivity. The Hamas-held hostages are believed to be in Rafah, the main stronghold of Hamas battalions. 

ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU SAYS ‘ANTISEMITIC MOBS’ HAVE TAKEN OVER AMERICA’S ‘LEADING UNIVERSITIES’

Omri Ceren, the national security advisor for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), wrote on X about some of the mainstream reporting about the mass grave: "This is just something Hamas made up and CNN is amplifying it. I haven't even seen a defense of it. It's just CNN amplifying a thing that Hamas made up and then moving on."

The Times of Israel reported, in response to the Hamas accusation that Israel is to blame for the mass grave, that the "evidence has suggested this is false, with the bodies having previously been buried at that same location by Palestinians amid the fighting between Israeli forces and terror operatives in the area."

The UN’s controversial  human rights chief, Volker Türk, said he was "horrified" by reports of mass graves at the Gaza hospitals — Shifa medical compound in Gaza City and Nasser Hospital.

In January, Israel’s mission in Geneva, Switzerland, took Türk’s office to task for failing to call for the release of hostages in Gaza on the 100th day since the start of the war.

"Not one word demanding the release of the hostages held in Gaza. A call for a ceasefire, without demanding the release of our hostages and the disarming of Hamas, is a call for terrorism to win," wrote Israeli diplomats on X.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is located in Geneva.

Fox News Digital press queries to the IDF and the State Department were not immediately answered.

Iran and its proxies have actively lauded the anti-Israel protests at American universities, claiming the movement represents organic grassroots "changes in the attitudes" of the public, according to experts. 

"These are the mainstream, most important news agencies or websites inside Iran that are covering this," Dr. Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior advisor on Iran at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. 

"They are covering it very religiously, and as you can guess, they definitely back that," he said, referring to the widespread protests on American college campuses. 

Several Ivy League universities, including Columbia University, Harvard University and Yale University, have faced growing anti-Israel protests that have intensified over the past week. Columbia adopted hybrid learning on its main campus over fears of safety due to the protests. 

POLICE AT PRINCETON POP-UP ENCAMPMENT ARREST TWO AS ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS SWEEP UNIVERSITIES

The unrest has spread to other universities, such as the University of Texas at Austin, where an anti-Israel demonstration devolved into arrests as the Austin Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety tried to maintain order. These protests have received considerable attention in Iran, with officials and news outlets intensely covering them and using them as supposed evidence of growing anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed support for those speaking ill of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also said the law enforcement response to the ongoing protests, and subsequent mass arrests, has them "deeply worried and disgusted." 

In translated articles that Ghasseminejad posted in a thread on social media platform X, Iranian media has highlighted the Ivy League demonstrations, claiming that they have inspired "other students across the country to stage sit-ins in support of the residents of Gaza, chanting slogans." 

"According to images and reports from universities like 'Yale' and 'Harvard,' students have gathered on these campuses to condemn the genocide committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza and demand that academic associations sever ties with the Zionist regime," an article by Iranian newspaper Kayhan stated. 

COLUMBIA STUDENT DESCRIBES CAMPUS FEAR, ANTI-ISRAEL SIGNS SUPPORTING TERRORISTS WHO ‘PUT BABIES IN AN OVEN’

"Harvard students carried a large banner stating: 'Stop the genocide in Gaza,’" the article continued. "Interestingly, while carrying the Palestinian flag around the campuses and wearing keffiyehs around their necks, students chanted against the crimes of the Zionist regime and the U.S. government's support for these crimes."

A broadcast from Iranian news network Al-Alam glorified the protests as evidence of "the emergence of broad changes in the attitudes of the American public and, particularly, the youth towards the policies of their government and its unconditional support for the Zionist regime." 

"These changes are gradually having an impact on the approaches of these universities – which for years have been a source of power for this regime through promoting its lobbying in America," the report claimed.

Ghasseminejad was born in Iran but left the country in 2008 after he was abducted and confined – with a suspended sentence – for his student activism. He noted that some Middle Eastern outlets cover the unrest several times a day, every day, and are "closely following it." 

HAMAS WOULD LAY DOWN ARMS IF AN INDEPENDENT PALESTINIAN STATE IS ESTABLISHED, MILITANT GROUP SAYS

Some leaders of Iranian proxies, such as Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, have stressed in recent speeches how important the anti-Israel demonstrations have been in the U.S., according to Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in Washington.

In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Stalinsky wrote that Nasrallah on March 13 had lauded the "very influential" protests and argued that "we should salute them" for their campaign of "uncommitted" protest votes against President Biden. 

Nasrallah called the protest votes "the most important means of pressure on the Biden administration" to affect a change in U.S. policy. 

"It is no coincidence that official statements by Hamas and major jihadist groups about the protests are nearly identical," Stalinsky wrote. "The statements seem like talking points for pressuring U.S. and Western decision makers. They appear to be working."

USC CLOSES CAMPUS ‘UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE’ FOLLOWING ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST, 93 ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING

Stalinsky particularly raised concerns over the way student groups have organized to create a deliberate campaign to appear to be grassroots but have taken cues from the likes of Khaled Barakat, a former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member, who hosted a "Resistance 101" course with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest student group. 

During a video call with the student group, Barakat discussed his "friends in Islamic Jihad" and invoked the "strategic vision" of Iran while his wife urged students to explicitly endorse the actions of armed groups, according to The Jerusalem Post. 

"He speaks to, frequently, Hezbollah, Al-Manar TV, which is … it’s illegal for it to air in the U.S., it used to be available on satellite, but it’s now blocked," Stalinsky told Fox News Digital. The Hezbollah leader did an interview on March 30 to talk about western support for Palestinians against Israel, and said "the vast majority of young Americans and Canadians … support armed resistance," Stalinsky added. 

Stalinsky also noted that Barakat discussed the way that curriculum has influenced student thought, with professors pushing specific views that highlight more sympathetic angles that push students toward activism. 

"I have a masters in Middle East studies, but … it’s not learning about the Middle East" that causes the problem, he argued. "It’s about who’s teaching about the Middle East." 

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He pointed to the prevalence of Students for Justice in Palestine, which preys on the notion that university students should engage in activism. But the agitators also show "a lot of ignorance," with some having admitted over the past six months that they sometimes don’t know what they’re protesting. 

"They are part of instigating [the protests]," Stalinsky said. "It wasn’t just like some students were watching the news on Columbia, and they decided to [do] this."

FIRST ON FOX - A close ally to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Fox News Digital that criticism against her for abandoning policies on illegal migration and other issues is unfounded.  

Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Edmondo Cirielli told Fox News Digital, "Giorgia Meloni hasn't changed, Europe has changed." Cirielli is the co-founder and national coordinator of Meloni's party, the Fratelli D'Italia Party.

He said Italy is inspiring the European Union president to follow its strong conservative stances.

MELONI'S SHIFT FROM ANTI-GLOBALIST TO PRO-EUROPE, BIDEN BUDDY INFURIATES BASE: 'WILL NOT VOTE FOR HER ANYMORE'

He said that the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen is paying attention to Italy's policies and "is listening to Italy's reasons. Italy has always wanted nations to be stronger in Europe and is leading the rest of the European Union on this. Von der Leyen herself is accompanying Meloni in her action against illegal immigration. They have already intervened in Egypt and Tunisia. We will soon do it in Libya too."

He added "among other things, there are European elections in a few months and the conservative party led by Giorgia Meloni, the European Conservative Party led by Giorgia Meloni, will give a new direction to this Europe. And the European Parliament itself, the European People's Party itself, will have to take into account the problems that exist today and that Giorgia Meloni identified during her electoral campaign." 

Birth rates in Italy have dropped to a record low in 2023 with a 15th consecutive annual decline. In 2023, Italy recorded 379,000 births, a 3.6% decline from 2022. 

Cirielli said the problem does not only concern Italy, but concerns all of Western Europe. In its 2024 budget, Italy earmarked around 1 billion Euros (approximately $1.1 billion) for several measures aimed at addressing Italy's demographic crisis. 

"We are implementing a series of policies aimed at supporting births, birth rates and young couples, both on an economic and financial level, and this is obviously also a social phenomenon. It's about changing your mindset and understanding that life is an opportunity and a joy for everyone," the deputy foreign minister said.

The journey from North Africa to Italy has become one of the busiest migration routes with data showing migrant arrivals jumping 50% in 2023 from the previous year.

Cirielli accompanied Prime Minister Meloni last week on her fourth visit to Tunisia in a year when they signed new accords as part of Italy’s "Mattei Plan" for Africa. 

"We are faced with an epochal fact that does not only concern Italy," said Cirielli.

MORE THAN 63,000 MIGRANTS HAVE DIED OR GONE MISSING SINCE 2014, UN AGENCY REPORTS

The Mattei Plan seeks to tackle education and training, agriculture, health, water and energy development while aiming to make Italy an energy hub to transport natural gas supplies from Africa to the rest of Europe.

"We are intervening, first of all, with agreements with North African countries to prevent the departures from these coasts, but above all, we are trying to come to the places of origin of the migration. They are trying to help development and at the same time also provide legal channels of migration. Because the real problem is not migration itself and rather it is the criminal organizations that are behind the trafficking of migrants which is creating a new slave trade."

He added, "This globalization is becoming very powerful on a financial level, exploiting this trafficking and in this way destabilizing Africa, becoming criminal organizations that launder this money from international trafficking, funneling it into drugs, armaments and also to often support the causes of terrorist organizations."

Under Italy’s rotating stewardship, the G-7 foreign ministers met last week on the Italian resort island of Capri with calls for new sanctions against Iran over its attack against Israel.

"Italy, with the presidency of the G-7, has condemned Iran's action and knows well that Iran is carrying out a destabilizing action in the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East, but it is equally true that we do not need an escalation… Israel's bombing of a consular office, the diplomatic headquarters, was also a risky act. On the other hand, all of the G-7 noted that Iran's response was a response, this time a balanced, moderate response compared to the episode itself."

Cirielli added "It was understood that the Iranian government does not want an escalation and therefore everyone agrees, in the G-7, at the invitation following the lead of Biden and Giorgia Meloni and neighbors who are close and ready to support,Israel, especially Israel's right to defend itself and Israel's right to exist. But we must carry forward a de-escalation and prevent a regional war from erupting from this issue in Gaza."

In December, Italy withdrew from China’s Belt and Road Initiative which intended to rebuild the Silk Road to connect China with Asia and Europe by expanding China’s infrastructure spending on roads and shipping routes. 

Cirielli says the move to withdraw is not an interruption between the relationship of Italy and China but in the best interest of Italian trade.

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"It was a mistake by the Conte Government and the center-left governments that preceded us to make a political agreement because this seemed inconsistent with the alliance of the North Atlantic Treaty and also with the European Union…we terminated this agreement at the natural deadline and are establishing a new economic-social partnership, as like France and Germany have known. Therefore, there is not an interruption of relations, but a different modulation based on ancient, thousand-year-old relations almost only between the Italic peoples and the Chinese peoples, based absolutely on good dialogue, on profitable trade for both." 

The "Opposition had said that it is not wrong to have diplomatic relations or economic relations with China, it is wrong to have a political relationship that is underlying the agreement launched by China towards the world," he concluded. 

Sudanese paramilitary forces are encircling the only capital they haven’t captured in the western Darfur region, the United Nations said Friday, warning that an attack would have "devastating consequences" for the city's 800,000 inhabitants.

At the same time, the U.N. said, the rival Sudanese Armed Forces "appear to be positioning themselves."

SUDAN CONFLICT SPREADS TO KEY HUMANITARIAN SAFE HAVEN

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres again called on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and government forces to refrain from fighting in the North Darfur area around its capital, El Fasher, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The year-old war in Sudan between rival generals from the paramilitary and government forces who are vying for power has sparked "a crisis of epic proportions," U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said last Friday. It has been fueled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to flout U.N. sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict, she said, stressing that "This is illegal, it is immoral, and it must stop."

The U.N. humanitarian office said Friday that escalating tensions and clashes around El Fasher over the last two weeks have already resulted in the displacement of 40,000 people, as well as a number of civilian casualties.

"The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to El Fasher," the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs known as OCHA, said.

According to humanitarian officials, El Fasher is an important location to reach other parts of the vast Darfur region, including for aid shipments from neighboring Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan on Sudan’s northeast coast.

"Currently, more than a dozen trucks with life-saving supplies for 122,000 people are stranded in Ad Dabbah in neighboring Northern State, as they cannot move onward to El Fasher due to insecurity and lack of guarantees for safe passage," OCHA said.

Dujarric said the secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is engaging with the rival parties to de-escalate tensions, which are reported to have dramatically escalated.

OCHA also said it’s "imperative that the parties allow safe passage for civilians to leave El Fasher for safer areas."

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region.

The U.N.’s DiCarlo painted a dire picture of the war’s impact — over 14,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, looming famine with 25 million people in need of life-saving assistance, and over 8.6 million forced to flee their homes.

During the war, the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces have carried out brutal attacks in Darfur on ethnic African civilians, especially the ethnic Masalit, and have taken control of most of the vast region – with El Fasher its newest target.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African.

That legacy appears to have returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, saying in late January there are grounds to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces were formed from Janjaweed fighters by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

A young killer whale that was trapped for more than a month in a lagoon on Vancouver Island swam past a bottleneck at high tide early Friday, reaching an inlet that could take it to the open sea, officials said.

The Ehattesaht and Nuchatlaht First Nations said in a statement that a team monitoring the 2-year-old calf saw it swim past the area where its mother had died, pass under a bridge and head down the inlet "all on her own."

ORCA CALF STRANDED IN CANADIAN LAGOON TO BE AIRLIFTED AND REUNITED WITH FAMILY, RESCUERS SAY

The young orca still must leave the Little Espinosa Inlet to reach open ocean.

The calf had been stuck in the tidal lagoon near the British Columbia village of Zeballos about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Victoria since March 23, when its pregnant mother became trapped at low tide and died on a rocky beach.

"Today the community of Zeballos and people everywhere are waking up to some incredible news and what can only be described as pride for strength this little orca has shown," Chief Simon John said in a release.

Officials said they hoped that once the whale reaches the open sea, it calls will be heard by its orca family.

John said officials and nation members were putting protective measures in place to ensure the whale has no contact with people or boats.

"Every opportunity needs to be afforded to have her back with her family with as little human interaction as possible," he said.

An attempt in mid-April to free the whale involved using a net to corral her into a large fabric sling in shallow waters. The whale managed to dodge a 50-person rescue team that was using boats, divers and sophisticated underwater detection equipment.

In another effort, a woman tried to coax the whale out of the lagoon by playing her violin during high tide.

A Belarusian hacker activist group claims to have infiltrated the network of the country’s main KGB security agency and accessed personnel files of over 8,600 employees of the organization, which still goes under its Soviet name.

The authorities have not commented on the claim, but the website of the Belarusian KGB was opening with an empty page on Friday that said it was "in the process of development".

Seeking to back up its claim, the Belarusian Cyber-Partisans group published a list of the website's administrators, its database and server logs on its page in the messaging app Telegram.

BELARUS SAYS IT THWARTED ATTEMPTED LITHUANIAN DRONE STRIKES; VILNIUS REBUFFS CLAIMS

Group coordinator Yuliana Shametavets told The Associated Press from New York that the attack on the KGB "was a response" to the agency's chief Ivan Tertel, who publicly accused the group this week of plotting attacks on the country's critical infrastructure, including a nuclear power plant.

"The KGB is carrying out the largest political repressions in the history of the country and must answer for it," said Shametavets. "We work to save the lives of Belarusians, and not to destroy them, like the repressive Belarusian special services do."

Shametavets said the group was able to access the KGB's network "several years ago" and has been trying to hack its website and database ever since. Once it succeeded, she said Cyber-Partisans was able to download personal files of more than 8,600 KGB employees. да нет

Based on that data, Cyber-Partisans launched a chat bot on Telegram that would allow Belarusians to identify KGB operatives by uploading their photos.

"We want to show that in the digital world it is impossible to hide information, and the truth about political repressions will surface, and those who carried them out will be punished," Shametavets said.

Last week, Cyber-Partisans claimed infiltrating computers at the country’s largest fertilizer plant to pressure the government to release political prisoners. The state-run Grodno Azot plant has made no comment on the claim but its website has been unavailable since April 17.

Grodno Azot, with about 7,500 employees, is a key producer in the country, which relies heavily on chemical industries.

Belarus, a close ally of Russia, was rocked by mass protests after an election in 2020 that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term in office — a vote that was denounced by the West and the opposition as fraudulent. Authorities responded by arresting more than 35,000 people and brutally beating thousands of them. Many top opposition figures were arrested and given long prison terms, while others fled abroad.

The country's oldest and most prominent rights group Viasna says nearly 1,400 people are political prisoners in Belarus, including its founder and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

Cyber-Partisans have carried out several large-scale attacks on Belarusian state media in the last four years, and in 2022 hacked Belarusian Railways three times, hijacking control over its traffic lights and control system and paralyzing transit of the Russian military equipment into Ukraine via Belarus.

"We're telling the Belarusian authorities that if they don't stop political repressions, it will get worse," Shametavets said. "We will continue the attacks in order to inflict that maximum harm of the Lukashenko regime."

Iranian-backed Houthis rebels have claimed responsibility for a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone crash off the coast of Yemen on Thursday, Fox News confirmed on Friday. 

Thursday's crash is the fourth remotely piloted drone brought down by Iranian-proxy groups since November, costing the U.S. government upwards of $120 million. 

It is also the third time Houthi rebels have brought down a U.S. MQ-9 drone.

SHIP COMES UNDER ATTACK OFF COAST OF YEMEN AS HOUTHI REBEL CAMPAIGN APPEARS TO GAIN NEW SPEED

Last fall, the Houthis released video of a reaper drone the rebels shot down on Nov. 8, one day after Hamas' unprovoked attack on Israel. 

The rebels also brought down a second MQ-9 earlier this year, and another Iranian-proxy group brought one down in Iraq in January. 

MQ-9 Reapers are primarily used to collect intelligence, but can also be armed with Hellfire missiles. They have a wingspan of 66 feet and cost about $30 million.

Unlike other Iranian-proxy groups, the Houthis continue to launch attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. They have launched 131 attacks to date, according to a U.S. defense official.

YEMEN'S HOUTHI REBELS CONTINUE TO LAUNCH ATTACKS DESPITE MONTH OF US-LED AIRSTRIKES

On Thursday, Houthis also attacked a ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, officials said.

The attack came after the U.S. military said early Thursday that an allied warship shot down a Houthi missile targeting a vessel the day before near the same area. 

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The Houthis also claimed responsibility for Wednesday's assault, which comes after a period of relatively few rebel attacks on shipping in the region over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online.

The pro-Palestinian protest kicked off a day of drama at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, which counts President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.

ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AT COLUMBIA ISSUE DEFIANT ULTIMATUM, END ‘NEGOTIATIONS’ WITH SCHOOL

Protesters first occupied a central campus building and blocked its entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and a bicycle. They also gathered at the building’s windows, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, and hung out Palestinian flags and placards.

Later Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.

As night fell, a dwindling group of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to budge, ignoring police orders to evacuate the street and warnings of possible arrests. Eventually, demonstrators came out of the building, carrying a large Palestinian flag, to cheers from the protesters who had been supporting them outside. They then started to stream peacefully away from the area, watched by police.

Among protester demands was that Sciences Po sever ties with Israeli schools. In an email to students, Sciences Po administrator Jean Bassères pledged to hold a townhall meeting in the coming week and to suspend some disciplinary proceedings against students. In return, students "committed to no longer disrupting courses, examinations and all other activities of the institution," the email said.

The Gaza war is sharply divisive in France, which has the largest populations of Muslims and Jews in western Europe. France initially sought to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations after Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. Antisemitism has surged.

On Wednesday evening, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters had also occupied a Sciences Po amphitheater. Most agreed to leave after discussions with management but a small group of students remained. They were removed by police later that night, according to French media reports.

The university administration closed all university buildings and moved classes online Friday. It said in a statement it "strongly condemns these student actions which prevent the proper functioning of the institution and penalize Sciences Po students, teachers and employees."

Louise, a protester, said the students' actions were inspired by similar demonstrations at New York's Columbia University and other U.S. campuses.

"But our solidarity remains first and foremost with the Palestinian people," she said. She spoke on condition that only her first name be used over concerns of repercussions.

Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war have been digging in at Columbia University, one of a number of demonstrations roiling campuses from California to Connecticut.

Hundreds of students and even some professors have been arrested across the U.S., sometimes amid struggles with police.
 

An aspiring challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán renewed his calls for change Friday as he led a protest of several thousand people demanding a more robust child protection system and the resignation of Orbán's government.

The demonstrators gathered outside Hungary's Interior Ministry in Budapest and called for its head, Sándor Pintér, to step down over what they see as his failure to prevent the sexual abuse of children in state-run institutions, a crime which has led to political upheaval in Hungary in recent months.

HUNGARY PM ORBÁN BLASTS 'WESTERN WORLD,' CALLS FOR TRUMP VICTORY

Peter Magyar, a 43-year-old lawyer who has emerged as a new voice of opposition to Hungary's right-wing government, took aim at Orbán's portrayal of himself as a defender of families and traditional values, and called for genuine reforms to address child welfare.

"We have a government that claims to be family friendly. It is a government that pretends to be Christian. A government that lies about being child-friendly. A government that lies about being pro-peace," Magyar told the crowd. "The opposite is true. They lie in the morning, they lie at night, they lie everywhere they can."

The demonstration was the latest in a series of large anti-government protests that Magyar has mobilized in recent weeks, and comes as the political newcomer is campaigning for European Union elections this June with his new party, Respect and Freedom (TISZA). He has called for Orbán and his government to step down, and vowed to represent a third option for Hungarians disillusioned by both Orbán's 14 years of governance and Hungary's fragmented and ineffectual opposition parties.

A one-time insider within Orbán's Fidesz party and the ex-husband of former justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga, Magyar shot to prominence when he publicly accused the government of corruption and cronyism following a child sexual abuse scandal that led to the resignations in February of the president and justice minister.

The scandal erupted after it was revealed that the former president, Katalin Novák, had issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted of trying to cover up child sexual abuse in a rural youth home. The case went to the heart of Orbán's image as a Christian conservative who protects families and children from what he calls "LGBTQ propaganda."

Magyar on Friday said that Hungary's child protection policies, which have been criticized for conflating homosexuality with pedophilia and abridging the rights of sexual minorities, have allowed abuses to go on unpunished, and demanded that Orbán apologize to the survivors of abuse in the orphanage.

Hungary's government has dismissed Magyar as an opportunist seeking a new career after he lost several positions in state companies following his divorce with the former justice minister. But his message has had wide appeal, and opinion polls showed that his new party is likely to gain seats in the European Parliament in June elections.

László Horváth Etele, one of the demonstrators on Friday, said he sees Magyar as capable not only of mounting a real challenge to Orbán, but of disrupting the opposition parties that have been unable to unseat him in 14 years.

"To be able to defeat the currently reigning government, this opposition needs to be changed. The current Hungarian opposition was only able to deliver a two-thirds majority for Fidesz," he said. "I think that whoever loses so many times in a row should leave the field and give his place to new challengers who may have a chance."

A shark attacked a British tourist on Friday in the southeastern Caribbean, prompting the government of Trinidad & Tobago to close seven beaches and a marine park. The man was hospitalized in an intensive care unit following the attack, officials said.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FACING 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY' AFTER MAJOR COASTAL OIL SPILL

The closure included beaches along the northwestern coast of the island of Tobago. The attack occurred at Turtle Beach along Great Courland Bay.

The government said in a statement that shark sightings were reported in the Grafton area and the Buccoo Reef Marine Park. Officials said the closures will allow the Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries to investigate the incident and "neutralize the shark threat, if possible."

Shark attacks are rare. Last year, there were 69 unprovoked attacks and 22 provoked bites worldwide, along with 14 fatalities, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

Mariia Mentseva is a face of the war in Ukraine.

At just 34 years old and a member of Ukraine’s parliament, her formal tasks include looking into ways Ukraine can integrate into the rest of Europe’s institutions.

But, what really has gotten her attention are her posts about her hometown, Kharkiv. It has a population of 1.3 million people, just 20 miles from the northeast border with Russia.    

From the beginning, Putin has wanted to take it over. In 2022, Ukrainians pushed them back. 

However, in recent months, Russian attacks have grown furious, knocking out residential areas, power infrastructure, even the city’s huge TV tower.

KEY NATO ALLY SHOCKS WITH ITS 'SINGLE LARGEST' PLEDGE TO UKRAINE: 'THEY NEED OUR SUPPORT'

Moscow, in fact, made clear it has wanted to turn Kharkiv into a demilitariized zone so it would not threaten Russia.

Critics said Moscow has tried to turn Kharkiv into Aleppo, the Syrian rebel stronghold Russia flattened in its support of Assad in Damascus.

Mentseva regularly has posted shots of damage, rescue and relief efforts in Kharkiv, branding Russian efforts "genocidal actions." 

She generally has exuded hope, especially for the recent package of U.S. military aid for Ukraine which would benefit her home area. 

The package, Mentseva said, "will serve the purpose for sure."

Basically, for the time being at least, it will keep the city alive. 

Guatemalan prosecutors raided the offices of the charity Save the Children on Thursday, citing a complaint alleging the violation of migrant children’s rights.

Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche said in a video to the media that the complaint filed by an unidentified foreigner had raised serious concerns because it involved allegations of abuse of children.

PROSECUTORS IN GUATEMALA ASK COURT TO LIFT PRESIDENT-ELECT'S IMMUNITY; OAS CITES 'COUP ATTEMPT'

The raid came a week after the secretary general of Guatemala's Public Ministry, Ángel Pineda, wrote a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asking for support in addressing allegations that Save the Children and other aid groups "could be participating in child trafficking operations."

Curruchiche said the raid was intended to search for any documents that might support the accusations. The prosecutor’s office did not say whether Paxton responded to the request.

Curruchiche and Pineda have been accused of trying to undermine the country’s democracy by participating in a failed effort to prevent anti-corruption President Bernardo Arévalo from taking power as well as hindering the anti-corruption fight in the Central American nation. Those efforts have led to more than 40 countries sanctioning them, including the United States and the European Union.

The raid comes amid historic levels of migration to the United States, in which Guatemala has been both a country that people migrate from and a transit route that they use on their way north.

Save the Children, which is dedicated to caring for children in crisis zones, has been working in Guatemala since 1976. It did not comment on Thursday's raid, but it issued a statement last week indicating it was aware of the allegations saying it has no evidence the allegations are true.

"We take the allegations of children's safety and misconduct very seriously and have independent investigative mechanisms in place to investigate thoroughly," the charity's statement said. "We have no evidence to validate such allegations and we continue to work hard to provide humanitarian assistance to migrant children and their families under strict safety and protection standards."

A Mexican film won the top prize Friday at the Moscow International Film Festival, which took place as major Western studios boycott the Russian market and as Russia's war in Ukraine grinds into its third year.

"Shame," a film by director Miguel Salgado and co-produced by Mexico and Qatar, was the most highly awarded film at the festival which began in 1935 and which has been held annually since 1999. This year’s edition included more than 240 films from 56 countries.

RUSSIAN COURT FINES TV PRESENTER WHO THREW 'ALMOST NAKED' PARTY OVER HER CALLS FOR PEACE

In his victory speech, Salgado hailed the festival as one of the most important in the world, adding that he was pleased to see his film, a thriller, being shown so widely and that it was a "great gift" to see so many people moved by it.

Festival program director Ivan Kudryavtsev told state news agency ITAR-Tass that more than half the entries this year came from countries whose governments are considered unfriendly to Russia.

After Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, major studios in the United States and many European countries halted distribution of their films to Russia. The cutoff was a significant blow to Russian movie theaters. Before the conflict started, the country's cinemas received about 70% of their revenue from Hollywood films, according to news reports.

The festival program included several smaller films from the United States, including "Hundreds of Beavers," billed as a supernatural tale of a 19th Century fur trapper’s battle with the animals, and "Enter the Clones of Bruce" about the exploitation films that followed the death of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

Movies from other countries opposing the war in Ukraine include Romania, France, Italy and Germany.

The head of the jury for the festival’s main award, the Golden St. George, was Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, from NATO member Iceland, whose "Children of Nature" is the only Icelandic film ever nominated for an Academy Award.

Burkina Faso suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio stations for their coverage of a report by Human Rights Watch on a mass killing of civilians carried out by the country's armed forces.

Burkina Faso's communication spokesperson, Tonssira Myrian Corine Sanou, said late Thursday that both radio stations would be suspended for two weeks, and warned other media networks to avoid reporting on the story.

According to the report published by Human Rights Watch on Thursday, the army killed 223 civilians, including 56 children, in villages accused of cooperating with militants. The report was widely covered by the international media, including the Associated Press.

BURKINA FASO'S MILITARY MASSACRED MORE THAN 200 CIVILIANS, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SAYS

Burkina Faso, a once-peaceful nation, has been ravaged by violence that has pitted jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces. Both sides have targeted civilians caught in the middle, displacing more than 2 million people, of which over half are children. Most attacks go unpunished and unreported in a nation run by a repressive leadership that silences perceived dissidents.

Earlier in April, the AP verified accounts of a Nov. 5 army attack on another village that killed at least 70 people. The details were similar — the army blamed the villagers for cooperating with militants and massacred them, even babies.

"VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to fully and fairly cover activities in the country," the network said in a news article reporting on its suspension.

The BBC didn't respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, the United Nations called on Burkina Faso to reverse the suspension of the two international broadcasters.

"Restrictions on media freedom and civic space must stop immediately. Freedom of expression including the right of access to information is crucial in any society, and even more so in the context of the transition in Burkina Faso," it said in a statement.

In the same statement, the U.N. said it had received additional reports that large numbers of civilians, including children, had been killed in several villages in the Yatenga and Soum provinces of northern Burkina Faso. The AP couldn't immediately verify those reports.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso since jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and IS first hit the West African nation nine years ago, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit group.

Burkina Faso experienced two coups in 2022. Since seizing power in September 2022, the junta led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré has promised to beat back militants. But violence has only worsened, analysts say. Around half of Burkina Faso’s territory remains outside of government control.

Frustrated with a lack of progress over years of Western military assistance, the junta has severed military ties with former colonial ruler France and turned to Russia instead for security support.

Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel for talks Friday seeking to push through a cease-fire agreement with Hamas and avert an Israeli offensive on Gaza’s town of Rafah — on the border with Egypt — which it warned could ruin regional stability, officials said.

Egypt’s top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, led the delegation and planned to discuss with Israel a "new vision" for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, an Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the mission freely.

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS HEARD SHOUTING ‘WE ARE HAMAS,’ ‘LONG LIVE HAMAS’ AMID COLUMBIA U DEMONSTRATIONS

As the war drags on and casualties mount, there has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease fire.

Friday’s talks focused at first on a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza "with minimum restrictions," the Egyptian official said.

The official said mediators are working on a compromise that will answer most of both parties’ main demands, then lead to continued negotiations with the goal of a larger deal to end the war. A Western diplomat in Cairo said that Egypt's intensified efforts for a cease-fire aim to avert a Rafah offensive. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the developments.

Hamas has said it will not back down from its demands for a permanent cease-fire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops, both of which Israel has rejected. Israel says it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and that it will retain a security presence in Gaza afterwards.

In a statement Friday, Hamas said it is open to any "ideas or suggestions" that take into consideration the needs of the Palestinian people such as an end Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, the return of displaced people to their homes and an Israeli withdrawal.

Both Israeli and Egyptian officials confirmed the Egyptian delegation had arrived in Tel Aviv. Later, the Egyptian official said meetings had concluded and that there was an agreement to work out a draft deal, but he did not elaborate.

Overnight, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group fired anti-tank missiles and artillery shells at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed border area, killing an Israeli civilian.

Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed the convoy shortly before midnight Thursday, destroying two vehicles. The Israeli military said the ambush wounded an Israeli civilian doing infrastructure work, and that he later died of his wounds.

Low-intensity fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border has repeatedly threatened to boil over as Israel has targeted senior Hezbollah militants in recent months.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border. On the Israeli side, the cross-border fighting has killed 10 civilians and 12 soldiers, while in Lebanon, more than 350 people have been killed, including 50 civilians and 271 Hezbollah members.

Meanwhile, Israel has been conducting near-daily raids on Rafah, a town where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge after fleeing fighting elsewhere in the territory.

The Israeli military has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles in southern Israel close to Rafah, in apparent preparations for an invasion.

Rafah also abuts the Gaza-Egypt border. The Egyptian official said that Kamel, who heads Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, planned to make clear in Friday's talks that Egypt "will not tolerate" an Israeli deployment of troops along that border. Egypt has said an attack on Rafah would violate the decades-old peace deal between Egypt and Israel.

The official said Egypt shared intelligence with the United States and European countries showing that a Rafah offensive would inflame the entire region.

On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi cautioned that an Israeli attack on Rafah would have "catastrophic consequences on the humanitarian situation in the strip, as well as the regional peace and security."

El-Sissi’s comments came in a phone call with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands, the Egyptian leader’s office said.

Illustrating the pressures facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the far-right flank of his government, his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, scoffed on the social media platform X about the Egyptian attempts to bring about a cease-fire.

"The Egyptian proposal arrived because Hamas is afraid of a Rafah operation," he wrote. "Rafah now!"

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 people as hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, around two-thirds of them children and women.

The ministry said Friday that the bodies of 51 more people killed in Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

Israel has reported at least 260 of its soldiers killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza.

Pope Francis is taking his call for artificial intelligence to be developed and used according to ethical lines to the Group of 7 industrialized nations.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Friday that Francis had accepted her invitation to attend the G7 Summit in Puglia in June. The Vatican confirmed the news.

VATICAN SAYS GENDER THEORY, SURROGACY VIOLATE HUMAN DIGNITY IN ETHICS DOCUMENT

Meloni, who currently heads the G7, is hosting the June 13-15 summit of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States.

In a video statement Friday, Meloni said Francis would be the first pontiff to attend a G7 summit and would participate in the session devoted to artificial intelligence.

"I am convinced that the presence of His Holiness will make a decisive contribution to the definition of a regulatory, ethical and cultural framework for artificial intelligence," Meloni said.

Francis has called for an international treaty to ensure AI is developed and used ethically and devoted his annual peace message this year to the topic.

Artificial intelligence has captured world attention thanks to advances by cutting-edge systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT that have dazzled users with the ability to produce human-like text, photos and songs. But the technology has also raised fears about the risks the rapidly developing technology poses to jobs, privacy and copyright protection and even human life itself.

The Vatican’s bioethics think tank, the Pontifical Academy for Life, has also led a campaign to engage big tech corporations, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations to pledge to uphold a set of standards in the ethical development and use of AI, with Cisco Systems the latest signatory just this week.

At the recently concluded G7 foreign ministers' meeting held last weekend in Capri, Italy, ministers flagged the risks to cybersecurity posed by AI and acknowledged the "importance of advancing our efforts to ensure safe, secure and trustworthy AI, which is humancentric and human rights-based."

Flooding and heavy rains in Kenya have killed at least 70 people since mid-March, a government spokesperson said Friday, twice as many as were reported earlier this week.

The East African country has seen weeks of heavy rains and severe flooding in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as well as in the country's western and central regions.

AT LEAST 13 DEAD, 15,000 DISPLACED AS FLOODS WASH OVER KENYA

Kenya's government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura on Friday refuted claims that hundreds of people have died in the ongoing flooding and said the official tally now stands at 70.

Five bodies were retrieved Friday from a river in Makueni county, east of the country, after a lorry they were traveling in was swept off a submerged bridge, local station Citizen TV reported. Another 11 were rescued.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said Friday at a news briefing that the government had set aside 4 billion Kenya shillings ($29 million) for emergency relief efforts, but did not provide further details.

More than 130,000 people are currently affected with thousands of houses washed away and others flooded. Some 64 public schools in the capital were flooded and had to shut down. Roads and bridges have been damaged or destroyed.

The Kenya Meteorological Department on Friday issued a heavy rainfall advisory for the weekend and urged residents to be vigilant.

Other East African countries have reported flooding, with 155 people reported to have died in neighboring Tanzania and more than 200,000 people affected in Burundi.

The Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte was in Turkey on Friday, seeking support from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the Dutch official's bid for the position of NATO secretary general.

Incumbent NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister who has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014, is nearing the end of his term. His mandate had been extended several times as the alliance needed to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

TURKEY'S ERDOGAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AFTER SHOCK ELECTION LOSSES EXPERT SAYS

NATO members Turkey and Hungary had earlier expressed reservations about Rutte’s candidacy. During his friday visit, Rutte spoke at a joint news conference with Erdogan.

The southern wing of NATO "needs Turkey and its leadership," Rutte said, describing Ankara as a very influential actor in the region and a geopolitical power.

Erdogan made no commitments on who Turkey would support or say what Ankara's position was.

"No one should have any doubt that we will make our decision within the framework of strategic wisdom and equity," Erdogan said.

He added that an ideal candidate for the post of NATO chief would "ensure solidarity within the alliance and order among the allies" and also "prioritize the preservation of NATO’s essential position in ensuring Euro-Atlantic security."

However, at the end of the news conference, Erdogan wished Rutte success and smiled at him. The exchange also drew a smile from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

NATO officials and envoys want the nomination for Stoltenberg's successor wrapped up by the end of April, before competition for top European Union jobs begins in earnest around the June 6-9 elections. They are also keen to avoid having the potentially divisive issue mar the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July.

NATO chiefs are responsible for chairing meetings and guiding sometimes delicate consultations among member countries. They also are tasked with speaking on behalf of all member nations with one voice.

Thousands of Spanish journalists came out Friday in support of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his wife following Sánchez’s announcement that he was considering his future as premier after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations.

Sánchez, who is to announce his future Monday, blamed the judicial probe on "spurious" attacks by right and far-right opponents in the media and political parties.

SPANISH PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SÁNCHEZ WEIGHING RESIGNATION AFTER WIFE TARGETED BY JUDICIAL PROBE

In support, several thousand journalists and writers signed an online manifesto saying, "the attack by the media and judicial extreme right against the wife of the President of the Government is a new attempt to subvert the popular will expressed at the polls through illicit means."

It criticized what it called a "campaign of hoaxes, falsehoods and harassment" against members of the last two leftist coalition governments, saying they were coordinated and financed by right-wing political parties, aligned media, businesses and judiciary members.

The legal complaint against Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, was filed by a far-right legal platform that says Gómez used her position to influence business deals.

The group, Manos Limpias, or "Clean Hands," acknowledged that the complaint was based on newspaper articles. Spanish prosecutors say it should be thrown out.

"The undersigned journalists invite civil society to join this manifesto and to mobilize on social networks and in the streets against this anti-democratic outrage," Friday’s manifesto read.

"Governments are chosen and changed at the polls and in Parliament," it continued, before ending with the call of "No to the judicial and media coup. No to the mud machine."

The right-of center opposition Popular Party, however, said Sánchez’s behavior was a pathetic ploy to try to win support in upcoming regional and European elections.

Sánchez’s supporters plan a demonstration in support of Sánchez in Madrid on Saturday.