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UNITED NATIONS — The Democratic Republic of Congo does not view growing American involvement in its critical minerals industry as a contest with China, the country’s foreign minister told Fox News Digital, arguing that Kinshasa needs multiple partners to transform its vast natural wealth into prosperity for its people.

"I don’t like talking about competition. I like talking about complementarity," Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said in an exclusive interview at the United Nations.

"A country as big as the USA, but also a country as big as the DRC and as big as China, they do not develop just with one single partner," she added. "They develop with different partnerships that respond to different needs and that bring different expertise to the table."

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The comments come as the Trump administration seeks to increase American access to Congo’s copper, cobalt, lithium, gold and other strategic resources, while reducing U.S. reliance on mineral supply chains dominated by China.

A strategic partnership signed by Washington and Kinshasa Dec. 4, 2025, calls for increased economic cooperation, investment and the development of secure and transparent critical-mineral supply chains. The agreement accompanied a broader regional framework linking economic integration to efforts to end decades of conflict between Congo and Rwanda.

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A separate arrangement involving DR Congo’s state mining company Gécamines and commodities trader Mercuria could give U.S. buyers priority access to some copper and cobalt supplies, Reuters reported Dec. 5, 2025. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation also expressed interest in taking a strategic stake in the partnership.

Kayikwamba Wagner said relations between the U.S. and DR Congo were taking "a more concrete shape" based on mutual economic interests.

She said Kinshasa welcomed "more U.S. interests in the DRC" that could help the country turn its mineral wealth into "tangible transformations for the lives of Congolese," while also delivering benefits to American partners.

Speaking separately at a high-level U.N. meeting on critical minerals Tuesday, Kayikwamba Wagner warned that the global shift toward clean energy must not reproduce an economic model in which raw materials leave Africa while processing, technology and most of the profits remain elsewhere.

"The global energy transition must not become another extractive transition," she said. "If it merely replaces one form of dependency with another, it will have fallen short of its promise."

She called for foreign partnerships to support local processing, infrastructure, technology transfers, research, industrialization and access to financing — not simply secure supplies of raw materials.

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The minerals push is closely connected to the U.S.-mediated peace process between the DRC and Rwanda. The countries initially signed a peace agreement in Washington June 27, 2025, before presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame reaffirmed the deal and signed related economic agreements on Dec. 4. The framework was intended both to reduce fighting and attract Western investment to a region rich in cobalt, copper, tantalum and other minerals.

Kayikwamba Wagner acknowledged that the agreement had not ended the violence but said Washington’s willingness to impose consequences for violations showed that the process remained meaningful.

"This is a 30-year conflict we’re dealing with," she said. "It’s not going to happen overnight."

She praised the administration for sanctioning the Rwanda Defense Force and senior Rwandan officials over what the Treasury Department described as their support for the M23 rebel group. Treasury said in March that the RDF had supported, trained and fought alongside M23 as it seized territory and strategic mining locations in eastern Congo. Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting M23.

"I find it encouraging to see that we have with us a partner that is not willing to give up at the first obstacle," Kayikwamba Wagner said.

She was in New York as the DRC, which holds the Security Council presidency for July, elevated the connection between natural resources, armed conflict and sexual violence.

Kayikwamba Wagner said rape and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence had risen sharply in areas held by M23 and Rwandan forces, affecting women and girls as well as men and boys.

Victims in occupied areas, she said, often lack access to courts, healthcare or other avenues for redress.

"This is also one of the reasons why we continue to be mobilized against this illegal occupation of eastern DRC," she said, arguing that restoring state authority was essential to providing survivors with justice and medical care.

In her U.N. remarks, she cited the Rubaya mining area, which is under M23 control and supplies a significant share of global tantalum demand. She said U.N. experts estimated that at least 1,400 tons of coltan were smuggled into Rwanda during the first year after the mines were seized, generating approximately $800,000 per month for the armed group.

The Treasury Department imposed additional sanctions on June 25 against a network it accused of working with M23 to smuggle minerals from eastern Congo into Rwanda, saying the action was intended to support the Washington peace framework and improve transparency in regional mineral supply chains.

Iran has reportedly instructed Yemen’s Houthi terrorists to prepare to close a critical Red Sea gateway if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure, Reuters reported, a threat experts warn could sharply disrupt global shipping even if the group cannot completely seal the waterway.

"This threat should be taken seriously," Nadwa Al-Dawsari of the Middle East Institute told Fox News Digital. "With recent escalation and U.S. strikes on Iran, Tehran has already signaled that the Bab al-Mandab could become part of its response."

Three sources told Reuters on Thursday that Iran’s leadership had discussed using the Houthis to shut the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and recently conveyed the request to the group. A source close to the Houthis said missiles and drones had been deployed near the waterway and that the group was awaiting an order to begin attacking shipping.

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Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British ambassador to Yemen and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned in a recent Fox News Digital report that a full resumption of the Houthi maritime campaign could trigger wider fighting.

"It will be interesting if the Houthis do go all in, and resume their campaign against Red Sea shipping with full intensity," Fitton-Brown said. "This will draw international anger and likely result in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Sana’a and Hodeida."

"There is potential for a general escalation if this happens, albeit one in which the allies have a clear military advantage," he added. 

Al-Dawsari said the Houthis have continued developing the weapons needed to threaten the narrow shipping corridor despite largely refraining from maritime attacks over the past year.

"While the Houthis have largely refrained from attacking shipping for about a year, they have continued to advance their maritime capabilities, including missiles, drones and sea mines," she said. "They may not be able to fully close the strait, but they could significantly disrupt shipping and raise costs and risks for commercial traffic."

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But the group would not necessarily need to physically control the waterway. Its previous missile and drone campaign demonstrated that repeated attacks — or even a credible threat of them — can push major shipping companies to reroute vessels around Africa, driving up insurance, fuel and freight costs.

The Bab el-Mandeb connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s most important maritime choke points. The consequences of renewed attacks would be especially severe because Iran has already disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, historically the principal route for roughly one-fifth of global energy supplies.

A substantial volume of Gulf oil has consequently been redirected through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Reuters reported that the Bab el-Mandeb route now carries approximately 7% of global energy supplies and that Saudi Arabia has shifted about 70% of its energy exports through Yanbu.

The reported instructions also raise new questions about how much control Tehran exercises over major Houthi military decisions. 

"Any decision to escalate in the Bab al-Mandab would be strategic and tied more to the interests of Iran and the Axis of Resistance than to Houthi interests alone," Al-Dawsari said. "Decisions of this magnitude are likely coordinated through the Axis’ joint operations room under IRGC oversight."

A source close to the Houthis claimed representatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Yemen would control the timing of any move against the strait, Reuters reported.

The latest warning follows earlier Houthi threats against maritime traffic. In the June 12 report, Fox News Digital reported that the group had announced a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships in the Red Sea and declared them "legitimate targets."

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A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that the actions of Iran and the Houthis were "unacceptable" and "dangerous," warning that they could inflame regional tensions and further disrupt global supply chains.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has "repeatedly condemned" Houthis attacks against ships in the Red Sea and called on all parties Thursday to avoid further escalation, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, told Fox News Digital.

"Any disruptions or attacks would endanger the safety and security of seafarers, freedom of navigation and the stability of global supply chains and have a negative impact on the economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen and beyond," Dujarric said. "The Secretary-General underscores that U.N. Security Council Resolution 2722 (2024) must be fully respected in its entirety," he said on the resolution condemning at least two dozen Houthis attacks on commercial vessels since November 2023 and demanding an immediate end to the attacks. 

The emerging threat has also renewed scrutiny of the Iranian weapons networks that helped build the Houthis’ missile and drone arsenal.

Amr Al-Bidh, foreign affairs chief of the Southern Arabian Transitional Council, said that the reported threat also exposed broader failures in the handling of Yemen’s security crisis. "The fact that individuals convicted of trafficking Iranian weapons to the Houthis and leading terrorist operations are now being released under a U.N.-brokered deal only underscores how poorly the Yemen crisis is being managed," he said, "the main beneficiary of this vacuum is Iran, as seen in its credible threat to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait."

In a July 15 letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the Southern Arabian Transitional Council formerly known as the Southern Transitional Council, a southern Yemeni separatist movement that seeks greater autonomy or independence for the territory of the former South Yemen, warned U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg that a U.N.-facilitated detainee agreement may include people the council says were convicted of assisting Iranian weapons transfers to the Houthis.

An annex identifies individuals the council alleges were members of a cell that smuggled drones, aviation fuel and heavy and medium weapons from Iran to Sanaa.

The Office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen said it received the letter only after the agreement had already been signed and stressed that it does not determine which detainees are released.

"We have received the letter after the agreement was signed," spokesperson Ismini Palla told Fox News Digital. "The United Nations – as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – do not decide who is released and who remains in detention. Our role is limited to mediating the negotiations and ICRC leads on the implementation of the release operation."

Palla added that "the names of those released are proposed and agreed between the parties under the framework of the Stockholm Agreement on prisoners’ exchange of 2018."

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and the Iranian Mission to the United Nations on the latest developments.

Fox News' Paul Tilsley and Reuters contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Many African economies are accelerating – booming – since the Trump Administration shifted policy focus from aid to trade, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital.

In some African countries, doom was forecast when the Trump administration severely cut back USAID funding, but instead there’s been unprecedented economic growth, credited to the Commercial Diplomacy Strategy, introduced at the beginning of President Trump’s second term.

Now, "nine of the 20 fastest-growing economies (in the world) are in Africa," Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs Frank Garcia told Fox News Digital.

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Garcia added, "African economies are responding positively to the shift from aid to trade. In 2025, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased by 23% to $22.6 billion. And continue to grow this year."

When the Administration cut USAID by 83% early last year, "The predictions were catastrophic: economies heavily dependent on foreign donors—from Ethiopia to South Sudan and Malawi — were expected to collapse. Instead, something quite different happened," Anna Mahjar-Barducci, Project Director at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital.

"The African continent proved far more resilient than expected, citing Ethiopia, which revised its 2026 growth forecasts upward despite the funding cuts," Mahjar-Barducci continued. "According to projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow between 4.3% and 4.6% in 2026, outpacing Asia as a whole, whose growth is forecast at around 4.1%. Growth is propelled by massive hydroelectric investments, construction, mining and expanding coffee exports."

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"This is no minor detail," she continued. "For decades, we were told that without international aid Africa would collapse. Now that aid is genuinely drying up, much of the continent is not only avoiding collapse —i t is accelerating. This is precisely the argument that a long-standing school of African economic thought, now more relevant than ever, has advanced for years: aid is not the solution. In many cases, it is part of the problem."

Assistant Secretary Garcia explained how the strategy works:" We see this economic acceleration in Africa. In order to best capitalize on it, the United States is focused on driving private investment, sustainable growth in terms of partnership and treating African nations not as aid recipients, but as capable commercial partners."

He added "Our embassies (in Africa) work directly with the private sector to identify the policies, laws, and regulations constraining U.S. trade and investment. We then work with partner governments to develop practical reforms, identify the officials responsible for implementing them and determine where technical assistance may support implementation."

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It's a strategy that appears to be working, with Garcia adding, "The Bureau of African Affairs has worked on 37 commercial transactions that have closed since the beginning of the (current) Trump Administration, representing $25.67 billion in total value, with more still being reported. Embassies across the continent are actively working to close hundreds more. Top sectors include Energy 24%, ICT 19%, Critical Minerals and Mining 11%, Aerospace 8%, Agriculture 8%, Infrastructure 8%."

Mahjar-Barducci criticized the way USAID worked, telling Fox News Digital," When aid flows to governments rather than markets, it tends to finance projects designed in Brussels, Rome, or Washington which are not responding to the actual needs of local economies. Poverty cannot be overcome by treating people as permanent recipients of charity. Poverty can be reduced by recognizing people as entrepreneurs, workers and economic partners capable of building their own prosperity."

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Trade, rather than aid works, Mahjar-Barducci claimed. "The Trump administration's more transactional approach to aid — access to critical minerals, or to citizens' health data, in exchange for funding — should not be dismissed as merely cynical. Unconditional transfers have long been the deeper flaw in the traditional aid model: money with no strings attached removes any incentive for a recipient government to reform and often entrenches the same officials responsible for the underlying poverty."

Enter the America First Global Health Strategy. A senior State Department official told Fox News Digital this week that the administration "has signed 34 bilateral global health Memoranda of Understanding(MOU) representing more than $24 billion in new health funding, including more than $14.3 billion in U.S. assistance, alongside more than $9.6 billion in co-investment from recipient countries."

"24 of these MOUs were signed with sub-Saharan African countries," the official continued. "These new bilateral MOUs are designed to continue life-saving care, build resilient healthcare systems, reduce dependency on American taxpayers and strengthen country ownership."

The administration has also decided to cut funding for a U.S. anti-AIDS program known as PEPFAR. Africa has been hit hard by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. UNAIDS, the United Nations program that deals with the virus, reports that South Africa has the highest infection rate in the world. 

But the State Department official Fox News Digital spoke with says South Africa must take some of the blame for cutting help to its own people. "The United States has decided to initiate a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa, following South Africa’s failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests by the administration. The United States communicated to [the] South African government multiple times at many levels that PEPFAR funding would be terminated if they failed to address President Trump’s concerns."

"PEPFAR was never intended to be permanent," the official added. "Its success is measured by countries' ability to sustain and build upon these gains. South Africa is a middle-income country and is more than capable of supporting its own health programs."

Fox News Digital reached out to the South African government, but received no response.

President Donald Trump said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, even as Moscow warned Wednesday that Western troops deployed to enforce any eventual peace deal would become Russian military targets.

"I say, ‘Vladimir, it’s time for you to stop. It’s time for this war to end,’" Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst in an interview released Tuesday. 

Trump said he believed Putin was "ready to make a deal" to end the fighting.

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Meanwhile, fighting continued across Ukraine and Russian-occupied territory. 

The intensifying drone war has forced both militaries to search for additional ways to intercept unmanned aircraft, sometimes using weapons designed decades before modern drones emerged.

A video supplied by East2West shows a Russian soldier apparently losing control of a Soviet-era YakB-12.7 rotary machine gun mounted on an improvised ground platform.

The weapon begins spinning violently, dragging the service member around before throwing him several yards from the mounting. Another soldier ducks as the gun swings in his direction. 

East2West reported that no one was injured, though Fox News Digital has not independently verified the location, date or circumstances of the footage.

The four-barrel machine gun was originally developed for use aboard the Soviet-designed Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter. Russian forces have reportedly attempted to repurpose such weapons as ground-based defenses against Ukrainian drones, East2West news reported.

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On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said any multinational force deployed by Ukraine’s allies after a ceasefire would be unacceptable to Moscow.

"We would regard such units as legitimate military targets," Zakharova said, according to a Reuters report published Wednesday.

Members of the Western "coalition of the willing" reaffirmed at a meeting in Paris this week that they intend to deploy a multinational force after hostilities end. The proposed force would seek to reassure Ukraine and help Kyiv rebuild its military.

Ukraine’s military said Wednesday that its forces struck the Balaklava thermal power station in Russian-occupied Crimea, a facility that accounts for nearly half of the peninsula’s electricity generation, according to Reuters. 

Russia, meanwhile, launched another major drone and missile attack against Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, killing three people, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said. He said civilian, industrial and port infrastructure had been targeted during five consecutive days of Russian attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Wednesday that Ukraine expects to develop the technical capability to manufacture missiles for U.S.-made Patriot air-defense systems by the end of 2026.

Reuters contributed to this story.

U.S. troops unloaded what Fox News Digital is told was China's only aid flight sent to Venezuela so far as the country continues to reel from last month's back-to-back earthquakes.

Photos provided by the U.S. government show an Air China plane landing at Simón Bolívar Airport July 6, nearly two weeks after the quakes hit on June 24.

The supplies from the Chinese government were then taken off the aircraft by U.S. soldiers, who have been leading the disaster response and aid distribution efforts.

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In the photos provided to Fox News Digital, U.S. service members lifted large packages out of shipping containers, using large vehicles to move and organize pallets on the tarmac and loading boxes into trucks for transport.

"Secretary Rubio promised the Trump administration's response to the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela would be big, fast and effective. We continue to deliver on that commitment," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"While some countries say they'll deliver aid — weeks after natural disasters occur — America shows up, unloads the aid and ensures that assistance reaches the hands of those who truly need it thanks to our close coordination with the Department of War and the great public-private partnerships our Department has spearheaded."

The U.S. has moved more than 1.5 million pounds of assistance into Venezuela since the earthquakes struck June 24, according to the State Department.

A big part of that was repairing Simón Bolívar Airport, which sits just outside the capital city of Caracas after its runways were seriously damaged in the natural disaster.

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"The U.S. military was able to repair that airfield and get it up and running to allow for C-17 and other large aircraft to land there. And that’s very important as we continue to obviously get international relief supplies in," a senior State Department official told reporters in late June.

One runway is operational at the airport, and one of the first American flights into the airport was carrying forklifts to help get supplies unloaded off future flights, according to the State Department official.

Florida-based Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), one of the leading nonprofits gathering and sending aid to Venezuela, said it aims to deliver 100,000 boxes of supplies monthly for the next three to six months, according to The Associated Press.

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According to GEM's website, it has shipped nearly 1 million pounds of aid. This includes over 38,000 hygiene kits, more than 27,000 tents and tarps and 48 generators.

GEM founder and President Michael Capponi told the AP delivering aid to Venezuela now is a "whole different animal" compared to when he tried to send supplies during the reign of Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro, who was captured and deposed during a U.S.-led raid Jan. 3, did not allow Capponi into the country.

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"We land a private plane. It gets unloaded by U.S. soldiers. It goes in a truck we pay for and to a warehouse that we completely control. It doesn’t touch the hands of the Venezuelan government," he said.

The State Department said July 9 that the U.S. government has committed more than $386 million in financial assistance to Venezuela flowing through trusted partner groups. 

The Chinese foreign minister announced in late June a $14.72 million commitment for financial and material aid to Venezuela, according to Chinese state-run media.

Nearly two weeks after the earthquakes struck, Chinese state media reported about what they called the first batch of aid arriving at Simón Bolívar International Airport on July 6. State media said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil and Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Lan Hu received the shipment, said to include tents and generators, at the airport.

In late June, the U.S. also mobilized more than 300 search and rescue personnel throughout the country. 

The Miami Herald reported last week that those teams left after they "completed their mission."

As of Tuesday, 4,734 people have died from the earthquakes, according to figures released by the Venezuelan government, cited by Reuters. Additionally, there are at least 16,740 people injured, while nearly 18,000 people are homeless.

The earthquakes have destroyed 190 buildings and damaged over 850, Venezuelan officials told the AP.

Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor who has frequently criticized President Donald Trump, is poised to become the United Kingdom's next prime minister after emerging as the only candidate to replace outgoing Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Burnham, 56, received nominations from 322 of Labour’s 403 Members of Parliament on the first day of the leadership process, far surpassing the 81 required to enter the contest and leaving potential rivals with virtually no path to qualify. He is expected to be formally confirmed as Labour leader Friday and appointed prime minister by King Charles III on Monday, July 20, following Starmer’s resignation.

Britain’s parliamentary system allows the governing party to replace its leader — and therefore the prime minister — without holding a national election. The next nationwide election does not have to be held until 2029.

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Burnham’s rapid path to Downing Street is drawing criticism from political opponents and foreign-policy analysts who say he has not faced the scrutiny that would normally accompany either a competitive party leadership race or a general-election campaign.

"Andy Burnham is the least scrutinized incoming U.K. Prime Minister of recent times," Alan Mendoza, executive director of the London-based Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.

"He has faced neither a general election nor an internal party leadership debate in order to establish his positions for wider consumption," Mendoza said. "He wasn’t even a candidate at the last General Election."

Burnham did, however, win 54.8% of the vote in June’s Makerfield parliamentary by-election, defeating Reform UK’s candidate and returning to the House of Commons after nearly a decade away. Before returning to Parliament, he had been directly elected mayor of Greater Manchester three times.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage argued in a previous interview with Fox News Digital that Burnham should seek a new national mandate.

"The public are tired of the game of musical chairs that’s been taking place in 10 Downing Street over the last decade," Farage said.

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"Mr. Burnham will come in, he will have no mandate," he added. "I don’t even know what his policies are. Literally, I don’t. So I think for all of those reasons, there ought to be a general election and a fresh mandate."

Farage made the comments before resigning his parliamentary seat this month to trigger an Aug. 13 by-election in Clacton, where he plans to run again. Farage said he wanted voters to judge him amid parliamentary scrutiny over allegations involving gifts from wealthy supporters. He has denied wrongdoing. Police are separately investigating donations made to Reform UK, but no arrests have been announced.

Burnham grew up in north-west England between Liverpool and Manchester. The son of a British Telecom engineer and a receptionist, he joined the Labour Party as a teenager, studied at Cambridge University and was first elected to Parliament in 2001, according to The Associated Press.

He rose through Labour’s ranks during the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and served in several senior positions, including as culture secretary and health secretary.

Burnham ran unsuccessfully for the Labour leadership in 2010 and again in 2015. He left Parliament in 2017 after winning election as mayor of Greater Manchester, a regional position he used to build a national political profile.

As mayor, Burnham promoted greater regional control over transportation and public services. His administration brought Greater Manchester’s fragmented bus system under public control as part of the Bee Network, a regional transportation project that became one of his signature achievements.

He also became closely associated with the campaign for accountability over the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, in which 97 Liverpool soccer fans were killed. Burnham supported victims’ families in their long-running effort to expose police failures and rebut false accusations originally directed at supporters.

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Burnham has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump, accusing him of contributing to global instability while warning that Britain risks importing the polarization of American politics. In a 2025 interview with The London Economic, Burnham compared Trump’s return to office to the turmoil caused in Britain by former Prime Minister Liz Truss. 

"The instability that Liz Truss brought to Britain, I think Trump is bringing to the U.S. and the world," Burnham said, in the interview. He also described several of Trump’s decisions, including his approach to the Russia-Ukraine war, as "out of order."

Burnham’s criticism of Trump dates back to the president’s first election in 2016. After Trump’s victory, Burnham described some of his rhetoric as "deeply troubling," but argued that politicians on the left should examine why working-class voters had turned to him rather than simply blaming the electorate. "We have to look closer to home," Burnham said, according to The Guardian.

His language became sharper following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. As the attack unfolded, Burnham wrote on X that "any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now". More recently, during his Makerfield parliamentary campaign, Burnham warned that Britain was moving toward "the politics of the United States of America," which he described as "a polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don’t work together anymore."

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Despite those attacks, Burnham has stopped short of advocating a rupture with Washington. According to TIME, he supported Starmer’s effort to maintain a working relationship with Trump, while arguing that Britain must be prepared to disagree with the United States. "Obviously, the relationship is important to the U.K., but not to the point where we just go along with anything they say," Burnham said. 

Trump has already responded dismissively to the likely incoming British leader. Asked in June what he knew about Burnham, Trump said, "I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town." Trump added that he had heard Burnham was "extremely liberal" and suggested that he would oppose expanded North Sea oil drilling, before declaring that "the UK is dying," according ton Reuters.

Burnham is generally regarded as being to the left of Starmer. He has said he wants to take what he calls "Manchesterism" nationwide, describing an approach that places "people and place before party" and transfers greater attention and authority from London to regions that have historically received less investment.

He has emphasized infrastructure, housing, transportation and regional economic development, while arguing against what he calls "trickle-down economics." The Associated Press reported that his priorities have also included vocational education, youth employment, lower energy bills and cheaper rail travel.

Mendoza said that Burnham’s past positions and recent statements suggest he would move the British government further to the left.

"What we can be certain of is that he will be looking to impose a fairly radical left-wing agenda for the country based on his past beliefs and recent pronouncements," Mendoza said.

"In no particular order, these include introduction of wealth taxes, changes to the electoral system, a vast expansion of social housing and attacks on hitherto allies of the U.K. like Israel."

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Burnham has sought to counter concerns about his limited recent national-security experience. He has pledged continuity in Britain’s commitments to NATO, its nuclear deterrent, the United States and Ukraine, according to the Associated Press. He has also called for Britain to rebuild its military capabilities and domestic defense industry in response to what he described as an increasingly dangerous international environment.

On the war in Gaza, Burnham has criticized Labour’s earlier response and argued that the party was too slow to call for a ceasefire. The Associated Press reported that he has raised the possibility of additional sanctions and trade restrictions involving goods linked to Israeli settlements. Burnham has also condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel.

Burnham has not served in Britain’s national government since 2010 and spent almost a decade outside Parliament, meaning his record is far more developed on domestic and regional policy than on current foreign-policy and national-security questions.

Burnham would not be required to call an immediate general election. Labour won a large parliamentary majority under Starmer in July 2024, allowing the party to remain in power until 2029 unless Burnham decides to seek an earlier mandate.

Mendoza predicted that Burnham could attempt to capitalize on the momentum surrounding his arrival at Downing Street.

"As he is never likelier to be more popular than on day one of his Premiership, we should also be on the watch for his calling of an early General Election in order to capitalize on this unique moment," Mendoza said.

Burnham would inherit an economy facing weak growth, pressure on public finances, strained health and welfare services and continuing concern over the cost of living.

He would also become Britain’s seventh prime minister in just over a decade, reflecting the rapid political turnover at Downing Street since the country’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

American mother Jamey Carney was remembered at her funeral as a devoted parent who had built a happy life in Ireland before her life was violently cut short.

Carney, 43, a New York native who moved to Ireland in 2021 with her teenage daughter, was violently beaten and suffocated in her home in Killarney, County Kerry, last week. A Jordanian failed asylum seeker who was living in Ireland and was romantically involved with Carney was arrested in relation to the case in his home country after fleeing Ireland via Istanbul after her death, according to Irish media.

Mourners gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Killarney to pay their final respects during a service celebrating Carney's life. The service was livestreamed, allowing friends and family around the world to join in mourning before a private cremation.

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"Today we don't dwell on Jamey's death, but we dwell on her life," Fr. Kieran O'Brien told mourners.

During the service, O'Brien reflected on Carney's life growing up in New York alongside her sister, Devon, before recalling her "big decision" to move to Killarney—a choice he described as "the best decision of her life."

He said she and her daughter, Michaela, had found a place they proudly called home, with Michaela settling into school and becoming actively involved in Irish sports.

The priest described Carney as a woman whose "joy radiated" from her, saying she had built a close circle of friends after moving to Killarney and found happiness in simple things. He recalled her love of country music, travel, shopping, going to concerts and spending time with friends.

"She was happy in life and she was happy with life because life was good to her," he said.

"But her real love in life was you, Michaela," he added, addressing Carney's daughter.

"We thank God for Jamey's life, remembering at all times her joy, and the ray of sunshine that she brought to all of your lives," he added.

Family members carried a series of personal items to the altar celebrating Carney's life, including photographs of her daughter, Michaela, and her dog, Penny. A cowboy hat symbolizing her love of country music, the passports she and Michaela used to start their new life together in Ireland and an angel statue were also brought forward.

A framed photograph of Carney rested atop her coffin, which was positioned before the altar and draped in a white pall.

As Carney's coffin departed St. Mary's Cathedral following the funeral mass, young members of Dr. Crokes GAA Club formed a guard of honor outside the church. Carney's grieving sister, Devon, wearing a Kerry GAA jersey and clutching a sunflower, was distraught as family members gathered around the hearse.

The service centered on celebrating Carney's life, her family and the community she built in Ireland rather than the disturbing circumstances surrounding her death and subsequent murder investigation.

Detectives believe Carney was killed around 11 p.m. Monday, roughly 14 hours before her 13-year-old daughter discovered her body at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. By then, the man had traveled roughly 200 miles by bus to Dublin Airport and boarded a flight to Istanbul, according to the Irish Independent.

Irish police have yet to publicly identify the person they want to question in the investigation or release his name, photograph or any physical description.

Irish police confirmed to Fox News Digital they were aware "of the arrest of a male in Jordan by the Jordanian authorities," but did not identify the man or confirm he was the person of interest in the investigation. Police also confirmed they "have not made any request to the Jordanian authorities for the arrest of any person at this time."

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MIGRANT WHO FLED IRELAND AFTER AMERICAN MOTHER'S MURDER IS ARRESTED IN JORDAN

Irish media have widely identified the man as the person of interest in the investigation, though Irish police have not publicly confirmed his identity.

Ireland does not have an extradition treaty with Jordan, where the man is being detained, according to the Irish Independent.

Fox News Digital asked Irish police and Ireland's Department of Justice to confirm reports that the man had previously been refused asylum while appealing that decision. Neither agency confirmed the reports.

The man had been living in state-run accommodation for asylum seekers in Killarney before spending increasing amounts of time at Carney's home after they became romantically involved, according to the Irish Mirror.

He first arrived in the United Kingdom before traveling through Northern Ireland and eventually settling in County Kerry, according to the Irish Mirror.

His social media accounts contain posts from the United Kingdom and Turkey in recent years.

Meanwhile, the FBI told Fox News Digital it stands ready to assist Irish authorities if requested.

"Through our Legal Attaché in London, we have strong, established relationships and stand ready to assist in any way that the Irish government may request," the FBI said in a statement.

The State Department told Fox News Digital it is providing consular assistance to the family.

Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, recently introduced "pro-Semitism," an educational vision centered on celebrating Jewish contributions to America alongside the continued fight against antisemitism.

Kaploun underlined his new push by saying, "the Jewish people are more than the hatred that defines us." His remarks came during America's 250th Birthday Shabbat Dinner, where government officials, Jewish leaders, educators and community members gathered to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary.

The evening also served as the launch of the J250 Initiative, a landmark educational project dedicated to advancing public understanding of the profound, foundational role Jewish Americans have played in the American story.

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The launch comes as the FBI's most recent annual hate crime data shows anti-Jewish incidents reached their highest level since the bureau began tracking the statistics in 1991.

According to the FBI's 2024 Hate Crime Statistics, law enforcement agencies reported 1,938 anti-Jewish hate crime incidents. Although Jews comprise roughly 2% of the U.S. population, they were the targets of nearly 69% of all religion-based hate crimes reported nationwide. Organizers say that while antisemitism must continue to be confronted, educating Americans about Jewish contributions offers another powerful way to combat prejudice.

The J250 Initiative reflects what organizers describe as a shift away from a defensive, reactive approach to combating antisemitism and toward an inspiring, proactive celebration of Jewish contributions throughout American history. They say rather than allowing Jewish identity to be viewed primarily through the lens of persecution, the project highlights what organizers call the nation's "Jewish American Golden Age" by celebrating generations of Jewish patriots, entrepreneurs, scientists, physicians, public servants, soldiers, philanthropists and civic leaders whose contributions have helped shape and strengthen the fabric of the republic since its founding.

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The core mission of J250 is to uncover overlooked stories from the American Revolution through modern American history.

Among the first individuals to be featured are Haym Salomon, the Revolutionary War financier whose support helped sustain Gen. George Washington's army; Francis Salvador, widely recognized as the first Jewish American to die fighting for American independence; and Continental Army officer Solomon Bush. Organizers say these are only a few of the 250 stories that demonstrate the enduring impact Jewish Americans have had on the nation's history and development.

The initiative also highlights more recent Jewish Americans whose contributions helped shape the nation's culture, science, medicine and public life.

As a Jewish immigrant, Irving Berlin arrived in the United States as a child after fleeing persecution and went on to become one of America's most celebrated composers and songwriters. His classics, including "God Bless America," "White Christmas" and "There's No Business Like Show Business,: helped shape the soundtrack of the nation and remain woven into America's cultural identity.

The project also recognizes American Jewish physician Dr. Jonas Salk, whose development of the first successful polio vaccine stands among the greatest medical breakthroughs in history. His discovery saved millions of lives and transformed public health. By choosing not to patent the vaccine, he ensured it could be widely distributed, protecting generations of children from polio worldwide.

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Another featured Jewish American is baseball legend Sandy Koufax, who rose to become one of the greatest pitchers in history, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to multiple World Series championships and earning three Cy Young Awards. At the height of his career in 1965, Koufax chose to sit out Game 1 of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, a decision that became one of the defining moments in American sports. His decision inspired generations of athletes and became a lasting symbol of integrity, conviction and the freedom to live one's values.

"As I said in my Senate confirmation hearing, education is the best way to combat antisemitism," Kaploun told Fox News Digital, "Teaching the world about the greatest Jewish contributors to American history gives people the knowledge to counter those who spread hate and lies about the American Jewish community."

The initiative also includes a Jewish American Heritage curriculum, a national social media campaign and a student scholarship competition encouraging young Americans to explore Jewish history through the broader American story.

"Jewish Americans have helped build the America we love today, from the battlefields of the Revolution to the frontiers of modern science," said Arie Lipnick, co-founder of The J250 Foundation. "It is only by renewing these foundational lessons that we can ensure the promise of America burns brightly for the next 250 years."

Kaploun also reflected on his family's immigration to the United States. "My great-great-grandfather immigrated from Galicia in the 1880s. My great-grandfather immigrated to the United States in 1913," he said. "They could have never dreamed that their great or great-great grandson would one day be hosting America's Birthday Shabbat Dinner. But that is exactly the American dream."

He said America's founding ideals of religious liberty, freedom of speech and equal opportunity created an environment in which generations of immigrants, including Jewish Americans, could contribute to the nation's success while remaining faithful to their heritage.

Physician and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson echoed the evening's themes of unity, gratitude and hope.

"I love America as I love Israel," Adelson told attendees. "We need to hope, we need to love each other. Maybe the next generation will be better and better."

Her remarks reinforced the initiative's message of fostering greater understanding, mutual respect and optimism for the future.

For organizers, J250 represents more than a historical project. It is an effort to ensure that Jewish history in America is not defined solely through the lens of antisemitism, but through the lens of patriotism, service, sacrifice, innovation, civic leadership and nation-building. The organizers say they hope to reclaim stories that have too often been overlooked and inspire a deeper appreciation for the role Jewish Americans have played in shaping the country over the past 250 years.

"If these last 250 years demanded we create the word 'antisemitism,'" Kaploun said, "let these next 250 years lead us to create a new word in its stead: ‘pro-semitism.’ Being proud to be Jewish, educating the world and respecting one another. That is what it means to be pro-semitic."

EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is laying out its clearest blueprint yet for what comes after decades of traditional U.S. foreign aid, arguing that private investment, trade and American business — not taxpayer-funded assistance — should become America's primary engine for development abroad.

At a U.S. Mission to the United Nations "Trade Over Aid" forum in New York Monday, Ambassador Mike Waltz, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the administration is "completely reforming how we do aid" by moving away from taxpayer-funded programs and toward private-sector-led development.

"For too many years, the United States and other countries have poured billions and billions of dollars into these aid programs and got very little in return," Waltz said. "You go to these forums at the United Nations and at development agencies around the world, and you never find the private sector. You find NGOs and academics and governments, but you don’t find the creators of growth and the creators of jobs."

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Waltz said the new model is designed to "create jobs, to create business for American companies in line with America First," while also raising living standards abroad and reducing instability that can fuel terrorism and poverty.

The administration moved to dismantle USAID in 2025, arguing the agency was inefficient and too often disconnected from U.S. foreign policy. Asked directly whether "Trade Over Aid" is replacing USAID, Waltz said USAID’s functions had been folded into the State Department as part of a broader efficiency effort, but insisted the initiative is about something larger than one agency.

"What we’re doing, this isn’t about USAID or what replaces it," Waltz said. "That was an efficient effort to get our aid to serve our foreign policy, not the other way around. But what I think is more important is how do we help American businesses and how do (we) help create jobs around the world and reduce dependency."

The stakes are immediate: with USAID reorganized under the State Department and aid budgets under pressure, the Trump administration is trying to show that it has a replacement model for how the U.S. helps poorer and fragile countries. The answer it is pitching is not more traditional aid, but more private capital, more trade, more deals for American companies and fewer open-ended taxpayer commitments.

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The forum brought together representatives from dozens of countries, U.N. agencies, international financial institutions and major private-sector players, including Microsoft, Google, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, Walmart, Mastercard, Meta and others.

Czech Environment Minister Igor Cerveny, who attended the forum, said the idea resonated with his country’s own post-communist experience. 

After communism, he said, the Czech Republic had to rebuild through work, business, industry and innovation rather than dependency.

"If you work on your economy, on your industry, on your society, on nature as well, probably two, three, five years later, (you will) be in a better position," Cerveny told Fox News Digital. "You have your own money. You are not now the slave of (asking). You are now the master of your destiny."

Cerveny said trade gives countries an "opportunity to cooperate" rather than forcing them to return again and again with the same request: "Please give me some money."

Ambassador Dan Negrea, who is spearheading the initiative in the U.S. Mission, told Fox News Digital that shrinking aid budgets around the world make a new model necessary.

"We need to think differently about how we help developing countries in an environment in which, in the United States, we are indebted and we cannot continue to spend money on helping other countries the way we used to," Negrea said. "Development aid is going down not only in the U.S., but in countries around the world."

Negrea said the initiative has received less resistance from developing countries than from traditional donor nations. 

"Interestingly, there is less pushback from countries receiving aid than from some donor countries that like to continue in this attitude of charity, being magnanimous to other countries," he told Fox News Digital. "For years and years and for decades, many developing countries are saying that they want to end this status of recipient of charity and move to a much more dignified relationship of partners and development."

But some leaders from developing countries also warn that trade cannot replace aid overnight, especially in emergency settings. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Francophonie, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, told Fox News Digital that aid remains critical in crises such as the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC.

"Aid sometimes can transform dramatically a situation," she said. "This is not something you can change overnight with trade. But yes, over a long term, trade is the pathway to create greater growth, greater economic prosperity, and therefore also more equal relationships between countries."

Kayikwamba Wagner added that the shift must be "adapted to circumstances" and not be "too abrupt."

The initiative already has drawn 46 countries, and launched a digital library with 63 capacity-building offers from private companies, governments, NGOs, philanthropies, academic institutions and international organizations.

But when pressed on what those offers have produced so far, Negrea acknowledged the initiative is still in its early stages. The library was inaugurated last week, he said, and the goal now is to turn offers into concrete outcomes.

"We want to see more deliverables," Negrea said. "We want to see actual transactions that were done. We want to see countries using the digital library to see usable capacity building offers coming from around the world. So we want to help without the cost to the U.S. taxpayers, but at the same time creating opportunities for American companies."

The central challenge facing the effort is whether private capital will go where aid has traditionally been most needed: fragile countries with weak institutions, unreliable infrastructure, corruption, conflict or markets too risky for major investors.

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Waltz argued that is exactly where institutions such as the U.N. Development Program, the World Bank and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation can play a role.

"When we talk to organizations like J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and others, they’re saying, we want to invest hundreds of millions into these industries abroad, but they need better laws, they need better arbitration," Waltz said. "We need to know that we can get our money out for our investors here in the United States."

He said the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and U.S. contributions to the World Bank can provide "risk insurance and guarantees" for investments in riskier markets, including critical minerals projects needed by the U.S. technology sector.

"It is incredibly risky," Waltz said. "Sometimes these capital providers like on Wall Street and in New York are only going to go to the safest place. Sometimes it makes sense, for example, as we’re looking for critical minerals for our tech industry, to go into risky places, but they need a little help."

The strongest note of caution came not from critics outside the room, but from inside the forum itself.

Alexander De Croo, the former Belgian prime minister who now leads United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said trade and aid should not be treated as enemies. 

"Trade is a destination, but development is how we get to that destination," De Croo said. "Markets do not build themselves. They have to be built."

De Croo said investment flows when rules are predictable, institutions are trusted and workers have the skills to seize opportunity. He described UNDP’s role as helping countries build those foundations. "There is no country over the past decades that has successfully developed without a strong private sector and without trade being a big part of that," he said.

Christopher Sharrock, Microsoft’s vice president for United Nations and international organizations, also warned that aid still has a role that markets cannot fully replace.

"Aid does do an essential job and it does a job that possibly nothing else can do," Sharrock said, pointing to vaccination campaigns, famine response and natural disasters as areas where assistance remains critical.

For the Trump administration, "Trade Over Aid" is being pitched as a more disciplined, America First answer to development: fewer handouts, more deals, less dependency, more jobs for American companies and foreign partners alike.

But the test will be whether it can deliver not only in countries already ready for investment, but in the hardest places — the places where aid has long filled the gap because markets would not.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines storm ashore as helicopters thunder overhead, Navy warships and fighter jets establish overwhelming air and sea superiority, and commanders issue one final warning to Iranian forces: surrender or be overrun.

That is how military experts envision the opening hours of a potential U.S. operation to seize Iran's Kharg Island—the tiny but strategically vital island that handles roughly 90% of the Islamic Republic's crude oil exports and has become the centerpiece of Washington's economic pressure campaign against Tehran.

The scenario was thrust back into the spotlight Tuesday after President Donald Trump declined to rule out taking the island. "I can't say that to you because if I did, it would be foolish," Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst during an exclusive interview on ‘Special Report’ when asked directly whether he planned to seize Kharg island. He added that previous U.S. strikes intentionally avoided the island's oil facilities because they are "a chunk of the world economy."

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"There are a lot of ways to skin this cat," Vice Adm. (Ret.) Robert Harward, former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

Harward explained a Marine Expeditionary Unit could conduct an amphibious assault while U.S. naval and air forces establish complete control over the battlespace, giving Iranian defenders an opportunity to surrender before major fighting begins. The goal, he said, would not simply be to capture the island but to preserve the oil infrastructure that could one day serve a post-Islamic Republic government.

"The real objective at the end of the day is to minimize risk," said Harward. "Not only to your own forces, but to the people you're coming in contact with," while also limiting damage to facilities that could eventually be handed over to "a government of Iran that is focused on supporting its people, as opposed to proliferating the Islamic Revolution."

Trump's remarks echoed Harward's assessment that preserving Kharg's oil facilities would likely be a key military objective. Trump said he had instructed U.S. forces during previous strikes to "hit everything, but the oil," explaining that damaging the export terminal could have significant consequences for the global economy.

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But military experts say capturing Kharg may be the easiest part of the mission.

Located just 16 miles off Iran's Gulf coast, the eight-square-mile island sits well within range of Iranian missiles, drones and shore-based anti-ship weapons. While analysts believe U.S. forces could likely seize the island within hours, holding it against sustained retaliation from the nearby mainland could require a far larger and longer military commitment—raising the risk of direct war with Iran itself.

Kharg's strategic importance predates Iran's modern oil industry. British forces briefly occupied the island during confrontations with Persia over Herat in 1838 and again during the Anglo-Persian War in 1856, using its location near the Iranian coast to apply pressure on Tehran. Nearly a century later, Iran selected Kharg as a deep-water oil terminal because its sheltered waters could accommodate large tankers. Construction began in the late 1950s, and the terminal entered service in 1960, transforming the island into the principal outlet for Iranian crude.

"Everybody talks about seizing Kharg," Nicholas Carl, assistant director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital. "Iran has spent decades investing in denial capabilities designed specifically to keep U.S. forces away from its shores." Those capabilities include anti-ship cruise missiles, drones, naval mines and hundreds of fast attack craft designed to overwhelm superior naval forces.

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Military planners have long viewed Iran's anti-access strategy as one of the most sophisticated in the Middle East. Rather than matching the U.S. Navy ship for ship, Tehran has invested heavily in asymmetric weapons intended to make any amphibious assault costly.

Harward, a former member of the National Security Council and current member of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America's Iran Policy Project, acknowledged that once American forces were on Kharg, the primary danger would shift from conventional naval combat to missile and drone attacks launched from the nearby mainland.

"Iran doesn't really have air power," Harward said. "The concern is whether they launch missiles and drones at the island with U.S. forces on the ground. That's the biggest risk."

Harward said the viability of the operation would ultimately depend on intelligence about the number and disposition of Iranian forces, whether they had prepared booby traps or improvised explosive devices, and how Tehran might respond once American troops were ashore.

Still, he argued, such retaliation would come at a price for Tehran.

"If they start striking Kharg itself, they become accountable for damaging their own economic lifeline," he said.

The challenge illustrates the distinction between tactical success and strategic success. Seizing an eight-square-mile island is one military problem. Defending it against sustained attacks only a short distance from Iranian territory is another.

Harward suggested Washington still has several options short of launching an amphibious assault.

With the U.S.-led blockade, reinforced Tuesday, already constraining Iran's oil exports, he argued that additional economic pressure could target overland transportation routes, border crossings and air traffic instead of committing ground troops.

"There is still a lot you could do to enhance the economic challenges to Iran," Harward said. "Synchronizing military, economic and political pressure is really the strategy."

Some strategists have also questioned whether Kharg is the most valuable military objective.

Mark Fox, a retired Vice Admiral and a former commander of the 5th Fleet, previously told Fox News Digital that Kharg is fundamentally an oil terminal rather than a military fortress. Instead, he argued, smaller islands such as Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa—disputed islands near the Strait of Hormuz—could present more manageable military objectives while creating a significant strategic dilemma for Tehran because of their location along one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

For Harward, however, the larger question extends beyond any single island.

"I think the only real end state to ensure long-term stability and security in the region is a government of Iran that renounces the Islamic Revolution and focuses on the Iranian people," he said. That would require ending Tehran's nuclear ambitions, halting support for proxy groups, protecting freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and ending the regime's domestic repression.

Whether Washington ever decides to seize Kharg, military planners agree on one point: Capturing Iran's economic lifeline would likely be measured in hours, but successfully holding it—and managing the regional escalation that could follow — would be a far longer and more complex campaign.

The Justice Department and FBI have a new communist financier in their crosshairs for alleged financial crimes: James "Fergie" Cox Chambers Jr., the estranged bad-boy heir to the Cox cable empire.

On Friday, Spanish police detained Chambers on the luxury island of Ibiza, in response to an international arrest warrant, according to sources. Chambers is allegedly wanted for money laundering and providing support to Hamas, following years of financing anti-Israel and anti-West organizations and protests. The transnational network he helped fund and support is kicking in to cast him as a victim of the Trump administration's "fascism," while critics are cheering the arrest as long overdue.

A spokesman for Spain's Balearic Islands police branch, which includes Ibiza in its jurisdiction, told Fox News Digital that a U.S. citizen was arrested on charges tied to an international arrest warrant Friday under an international arrest warrant seeking his extradition to the United States. The spokesman did not confirm the identity of the citizen, but sources told Fox News Digital that the individual is Chambers.

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The police spokesman added that the individual is being held at the central jail in Ibiza pending a judicial decision that will be conducted by videoconference. Supporters now plan a "Free Fergie Chambers" protest on Tuesday at 7 p.m. outside the prison in Ibiza, demonstrating against "DEL FASCISMO DE TRUMP," or the "TRUMP'S FASCISM IN PERSECUTING DEFENDERS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE."

A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. Chambers and his representatives couldn't be reached for comment.

A convert to Islam, Chambers represents the fusion of socialist and communist activists with Islamist interests that seek the destruction of the West, free enterprise and the state of Israel and the rise of political Islam, communism and a new Palestinian state.

Chambers' ideological comrades leaked news of the detention to trusted colleagues on far-left media platforms – some of which Chambers funds – and his communist, socialist and Islamist comrades are flooding social media to frame the narrative around the arrest as the Trump administration unfairly targeting Chambers.

The arrest is a significant move by the Trump administration as it targets far-left financiers allegedly engaged in supporting political violence. In this case, as in other investigations, federal authorities are following the money and investigating potential tax and financial crimes.

FBI Co-Deputy Director Chris Raia recently told Fox News Digital that investigators at the FBI's Joint Mission Center have identified subjects tied to financing violent protest activity and have been building prosecutable cases.

Like Neville Roy Singham, the American tech tycoon accused of financing communist and far-left nonprofit organizations from his base in Shanghai, China, Chambers has made a name for himself as a financial backer of anti-Israel and anti-American causes around the world. As reported exclusively at Fox News Digital, the Justice Department has launched a grand jury investigation into Singham for alleged money laundering and other financial improprieties. It is currently prosecuting the Southern Poverty Law Center for alleged money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud.

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Chambers was born in 1985 in Brooklyn as James Cox Chambers Jr. to his father, James Cox Chambers, and mother, actress Lauren Hamilton. He is the great-grandson of James M. Cox, a former Ohio governor, 1920 Democratic presidential nominee and founder of the media company that became Cox Enterprises. Forbes estimates the Cox family empire is worth about $27 billion.

Chambers is now the estranged heir of Cox Enterprises, walking away from the family company in 2023 with a payout estimated at about $250 million after a falling out with his family over the company's support for Atlanta's controversial public safety training center, known by critics as "Cop City." In April, a grand jury indicted three alleged Antifa-linked protesters accused of throwing firebombs at the general contractor of the Atlanta police training center.

Chambers openly redirected his fortune into communist collectives, bail and legal underwriting and groups engaged in hard-edged protest and property disruption.

Raised mostly in Brooklyn after his parents divorced, Chambers attended Saint Ann's School and later enrolled at Bard College but didn't graduate. He briefly worked for a Cox Enterprises subsidiary before operating gyms in Georgia and later became increasingly involved in left-wing activism following the anti-police protests in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 and the demonstrations in Standing Rock, S.D., in 2016 against an oil pipeline.

Around 2019, Chambers established the "Berkshire Communists" collective in Alford, Mass., in a wealthy corner of western Massachusetts, where he built a commune, operated the Berkshire People's Gym and launched a publication called "Combat Liberalism."

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Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, Chambers became one of the most prominent financial backers of "Palestine Action," later renamed "Unity of Fields," while also funding legal defense efforts for activists involved in anti-Israel demonstrations and direct-action campaigns in the United Kingdom and the U.S.

He praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as a "moment of hope and inspiration," told Mother Jones that "the most important thing for the prosperity of humanity is the destruction of the US" and said, "I chant death to America every day."

Local and national reporting place him behind the "Stop Cop City" opposition, bail after occupations and protests against Elbit Systems, a company that provides services to Israel, in Merrimack, N.H., and the U.K., and ongoing legal support for networks in the U.S. and U.K. led by the controversial "Palestine Action."

After Alford, Mass., shut his Berkshire People's Gym for zoning violations and law-enforcement scrutiny intensified, Chambers relocated to Tunis, in the North African nation of Tunisia.

In early February 2024, Chambers was photographed in his newly adopted city of Tunis in the North African nation of Tunisia, framing his narrative as a pious Muslim convert, with a red-and-white Palestinian kefiyyeh scarf draped over his shoulders, a black Muslim prayer cap on his head and a small beard on his face, a tradition that follows the sunnah, or practice, of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

The photo shoot included images of Chambers in Muslim prayer, at one point with his hands on his chest and at another point in "ruku" position, bent forward with his hands on his knees, staring at a point of concentration in front of him. In other shots, he walked by a local mosque, sat behind the wheel of a car with orange and green Muslim prayer beads, called "tazbi," hanging on the rearview mirror. A pair of decorative boxing gloves with "RUSSIA" across the wrists, positioned on a red-and-white kefiyyeh spread along the dashboard.

Unconventional for traditional Muslims, who don't often have dogs as pets because of a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that bars dogs as pets in the home, Chambers also was photographed smoking a cigarette and walking on the beach with two small dogs who look like bulldogs. He also wore tattoos, including a sickle-and-barbells on his left hand.

By May 2026, his social media posts placed him in Ireland. This month, the self-declared communist vacationed among the wealthy in Ibiza, is now sitting in prison.

JERUSALEM, Israel: U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Tuesday accused Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., of lying about consulting the American Embassy regarding his visit to the Biblical heartland of Israel.

Khanna visited the West Bank last week when he said his group was aggressively detained by Israeli settlers. Critics slammed his tour as political showmanship to advance a potential presidential campaign.

Huckabee took to X to reject the account of Khanna and his delegation, writing: "The left-wing activist who set up this stunt says ‘The embassy is involved.’ That is NOT TRUE. We did NOT know a member of Congress was coming. We would have said don't go to restricted zone. As FACTS come out, it's not helping the desired narrative. Not ‘held at gunpoint."’ 

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Speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, the California lawmaker said that he was detained by Israeli settlers for seventy-five minutes on Wednesday while visiting the West Bank (also known by its Biblical names Judea and Samaria). Khanna claimed, "We had informed the Israeli embassy."

When asked about Ambassador Huckabee’s X post asserting the embassy did not know about his visit, he said "That is just false. He was misinformed."

Khanna responded to Huckabee on X, stating "Ambassador, we have always had a relationship of mutual respect despite political differences. The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has now clarified it was not a restricted zone and Israeli papers have confirmed this. Deputy Chief of Mission David Brownstein in our embassy did a superb job in getting us out. We are safe because of him. Please thank him. We obviously notified our Embassy and Israel's embassy about the trip given we were in constant touch with David."

Khanna said the "violent settlers who detained us need to be prosecuted and the IDF officers who furthered that detention need to be investigated. There were these extremist settlers who parked their car in front of our van denying us exit — there was only one road — they brandished an M4 gun and kicked our tires."

Eitan Fischberger, an Israeli Mideast analyst, posted footage on X that he said debunked Khanna’s claims that he was violently detained. Fischberger wrote:" I encourage everyone to watch footage of Ro Khanna's supposedly violent ‘detainment,’ which was released by the crazed activists on his own team. What a glorious self-own."

Fox News Digital sent a follow-up press query to Khanna about the video footage. He said the post by Fischberger is "false" and provided his X post with video footage. He wrote:" When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention. They made a huge mistake." https://x.com/rokhanna/status/2075934812334915801?s=46

Khanna told Fox News that, "I told the Israeli government that I wanted to go on a Palestinian-led trip to the West Bank because I'd been [on] three trips to Israel. I had gotten Israel's perspective, and that this trip I was going to go to the West Bank for a Palestinian-led look for three days. They knew that. And the point is that just because an American politician wants to get the side of Palestinians that does not give Israel the right to have violent settlers detain Americans with a passport that gives Israel the right to have IDF detain us. It's not just me."

Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital Khanna’s visit "appeared to be a publicity stunt in advance of his expected run for president in 2028. Let’s be honest, this was a publicity stunt."

The Mideast expert Diker added that "Khanna’s 72-hour visit to several PLO- PA [Palestine Liberation Organization-Palestinian Authority] villages in Judea and Samaria was carried out without any security or diplomatic coordination with Israel either of these is the embassy in Washington or the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, or security forces in a particularly dangerous visit: his history of pro-Palestinian activism, and anti-Israel activism is well known."

Diker claimed that, "Khanna had publicly endorsed a Palestinian state following the Oct. 7 Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas massacre aligning with pro-Hamas, pro BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanction campaign against Israel] groups such as American Muslims for Palestine."

Hamas’ invasion of Israel on 10/7 resulted in the terrorist organization’s mass murder of over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

Khanna is also under fire from a fellow Democrat.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ., wrote on X that "What’s appalling is that Ro ignored requests to meet 10/7 survivors and hostages, or to visit sites of the 10/7 terrorist attacks. Instead, riding the anti-Zionist wave, he used the trip as a presidential campaign cameo."

When Fox News Digital asked about Gottheimer’s criticism, including not meeting with 10/7 survivors, he said, "The purpose of this trip was a Palestinian-led tour through the West Bank."

KAMALA HARRIS DROPS BIGGEST HINT YET ON 2028 WHITE HOUSE RUN

He noted that "I have been to Israel three times and met with hostage families."

In response to Gottheimer’s accusation that he used the visit as a "presidential campaign cameo," Khanna said "I do not know what he was talking about."

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, posted a lengthy response on X with respect to Khanna’s allegations that he was detained and his reported defamations of the Jewish state.

Leiter wrote, "Congressman Khanna was offered to coordinate his visit with the State of Israel — this goes beyond notifying of his presence in the country. He was offered in-depth coordination of his schedule to avoid misunderstandings, and he chose to ignore that offer. He also chose not to coordinate his visit with the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem."

Leiter added "To add insult to injury - the Congressman used this instance as an opportunity to tout ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ libels to the press, propelling himself to the center of yet another anti-Israel media frenzy. The facts don't lie — this was a cheap, anticipated provocation, that could, and should have been avoided….I’d be happy to host Congressman Khanna at our embassy for an in-depth conversation on his grievances regarding Israel."

Khanna told Fox News Digital that his office contacted Ambassador Leiter’s office after he offered to meet with the him. The congressman referred to his X post to Leiter. "…I am happy to take you up on your offer to meet because I want to turn this incident into something constructive for ordinary people in Palestine," he wrote.

When asked about Leiter accusation that Khanna is defaming the Jewish state, Khanna said, "That’s what I believe happened and that’s what the U.N. believed happened."

Khanna said: "I want to be clear that I unequivocally reject Hamas terrorism and believe Israel has a right to exist. Hamas charter that calls for the destruction of Israel is appalling and why they are a terrorist group." When pressed if Hamas’ invasion on 10/7 was genocidal and if the Hamas Charter is a genocidal document because it calls for the extermination of Jews and Israel, Khanna said it is "violent antisemitism," and he repeatedly termed Hamas a terrorist organization but declined to call it a genocidal group.

ISRAEL SLAMS UN REPORT AS 'POLITICAL BLOOD LIBEL' FOR ALLEGING DELIBERATE TARGETING OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

Khanna also told Fox News Digital that he believes the Islamic Republic of Iran, which finances Hamas, is a state-sponsor of terrorism.

An IDF spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that "The initial inquiry indicates that IDF soldiers were dispatched to the Khirbet Zanuta area in the Judea Brigade following reports that foreign nationals had entered an area that was believed to be a closed military zone. At the same time, an additional report was received regarding a road being blocked by Israeli civilians."

The IDF spokesperson continued that "Upon arriving at the scene, the soldiers distanced the Israeli civilians away from the area and waited for confirmation that there was no security concern regarding the foreign nationals present at the location, and awaited confirmation that the area was not, in fact, a closed military zone. The convoy was then allowed to continue on its way. This process lasted several minutes. It should be emphasized that, throughout the incident, there was no physical confrontation or violence between those involved, and no such allegations were reported."

According to the IDF spokesperson, "The armed individual present at the scene was an IDF soldier who was on leave. The matter is under review, and the soldier will be addressed accordingly. It should also be noted that the visit had not been coordinated with the IDF in advance. We emphasize that prior coordination of diplomatic visits is intended to prevent incidents of this nature. Such coordination is particularly important in areas where there is a risk of security-related incidents. The required conduct when interacting with diplomats will be further clarified and reinforced."

The Press Service of Israel(TPS-IL) conducted an investigation of the public row. An Israeli security official told TPS-IL that Khanna’s delegation did not coordinate its arrival in advance. "They did not coordinate the visit," the official said. "Usually, advance notice is received." According to the official, visits by foreign lawmakers and other prominent delegations to sensitive areas of Judea and Samaria are generally coordinated with Israeli authorities. Such coordination allows authorities to assess access restrictions, security conditions and logistical arrangements. The official said Israeli civilian security personnel arrived and blocked the delegation before troops intervened. "Settlers arrived, blocked them, the army dispersed them and that was basically the end of the incident," the official said.

The source added that security forces sought to resolve the obstruction quickly after learning that the vehicles had been blocked.

Diker sees the 2028 Presidential election cycle as the magnet for attracting some candidates to Israel with their alleged anti-Israel personal agendas.

Diker said "The point here is that U.S. presidential politics, on the left flank of the Democratic party, now exploits what can be called Israel- cancellation, or the inversion of legitimacy between Hamas – PLO and Israel as part of the unresolved Palestinian question as a major national issue for the American people, not the Islamic Republic of Iran and its global terror proxies, and it’s interruption of global oil shipping, kidnapping the global economy, nor is the issue the ongoing Russia, Ukraine situation, the Chinese communist parties infiltration of technology and other assets in the West or the Islamic infiltration of America."

ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER: "Fire, fire, fire!" shouts a member of Kibbutz Bror Hayil’s local security squad, pointing his weapon at a fellow participant acting as a terrorist. The kibbutz is located adjacent to the Gaza border, from where thousands of Hamas-led Palestinians invaded Israel and massacred some 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023.

The exercise, attended by Fox News Digital, was the eighth training session conducted by Magen48 in partnership with the Israel Defense Forces — a full-scale drill involving the local civilian defense squad designed to prepare southern Israeli communities for scenarios similar to Oct. 7.

One of the scenarios simulated terrorists infiltrating the kibbutz kindergarten. With IDF forces en route, the civil defense squad had to respond while accounting for the presence of children, limited visibility and the need to neutralize the attackers while ensuring a safe evacuation. During the exercise, a simulated grenade detonated, injuring one member of the civil defense squad in the leg, while the others succeeded in neutralizing the terrorists.

HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL

In earlier sessions, participants learned to operate weapons from behind cover while sitting, lying down, standing and moving. They are also trained to work in pairs and larger groups while developing communication skills. The exercises grew increasingly complex, with teams conducting drills inside buildings and responding to continuous emergency alerts.

Because the exercise took place inside a civilian community, no live ammunition was used. All weapons and equipment were secured to prevent accidental discharge. Residents were notified in advance of the drill.

Among the 47 participants were IDF soldiers and medical personnel from the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.

Magen48 instructor T., who could not reveal his full name for security reasons, said the Bror Hayil program initially presented significant challenges.

"The civil defense squad was made up of soldiers who had served in special forces alongside others who had never held combat roles in the military. Some were issued weapons they had never used during their service. Training begins with weapons familiarization, covering the basics of firearm operation and how to manipulate the weapon’s safety mechanisms," he said.

One lesson drawn from Oct. 7 was that many members of civilian security squads responded alone. "Whoever ran alone was not able to fend off terrorists," T. said, explaining that the training emphasizes locating another squad member before engaging whenever possible.

"The idea behind this project is to establish a unified operational language, so that if an incident occurs, nearby communities can join the response and coordinate effectively," he said.

ISRAEL FORTIFIES BORDER WITH JORDAN AS IRAN SEEKS NEW TERROR PATH

"The idea is that they are able to manage the event until forces arrive, then hand over control in an orderly manner while continuing to work together. They know the kibbutz, they work well as teams and they have undergone high-quality training that sharpened their skills."

Magen48, established in July 2024 and named for the 48 first responders killed on Oct. 7, has trained 1,500 civilians to respond to life-threatening emergencies, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and resources to contend with scenarios such as terrorist attacks, medical emergencies and fires.

Counterterrorism expert Ehud Dribben, who has 30 years of experience in the field, co-founded the organization with Ari Briggs and Mike Aron. As the three began planning to create a training facility, the IDF approached them to develop a program providing each of the 67 Gaza Envelope communities with 12 full training days annually. To date, Magen48 has conducted more than 550 training sessions.

The training exercise began with the community command center issuing an alert about eight terrorists infiltrating the kibbutz, prompting members of the civil defense squad to mobilize to their assigned defensive positions.

Briggs and Dribben designed the exercise around five key locations where the defense squad would ultimately need to concentrate its forces. Response times are measured, and every step — from alerting residents to engaging the terrorists and evacuating casualties — is closely monitored.

"The reports that emerged after Oct. 7 showed that civilian first responders were incredibly brave. They were prepared to do anything to protect their families, friends and communities, but they were not trained adequately and lacked the equipment they needed," Briggs said.

"Strong, well-trained civilian response teams don’t just improve security — they help bring communities back together, strengthen resilience and ensure these towns grow and have an amazing future," he added.

Retired British Col. Richard Kemp, who observed the training exercises, said the primary objective is to prevent another Oct. 7.

"I was in the British army for 30 years, so I understand the importance of defense and security for a country like Israel," he told Fox News Digital. "If you know that your enemy has a capability of any sort to endanger you, you have to be ready to deal with that capability through the kind of work that Magen48 is doing."

Kemp called the drill one of the most complex exercises he had witnessed.

"It’s really important that these drills take place to give the local community confidence that its security is a top priority and that forces are doing everything they can to prepare for another terrorist attack like the one we saw on Oct. 7," he said.

The U.S.-designated terrorist Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen condemned Saudi Arabia for allegedly targeting the Sanna airport with airstrikes, sparking a possible new front with Iran’s terror-proxy.

While the Houthis agreed to a 2022 truce with the Saudi-led coalition that opposes its rule, the Houthis have frequently disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea since they joined Hamas following its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The latest flare up of military strikes could lead to a resumption of war between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks "blatant aggression" and said they had ended a period of de-escalation. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered. The Houthis threatened to strike King Khalid Airport in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Iran's Press TV reported on its X account that, "Iran condemns Saudi attack on Sana'a airport as breach of law, Yemen sovereignty."

US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

The official slogan of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) is: "God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam."

Earlier on Monday, the government's defense ministry said the runway ⁠at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. An armed forces spokesman later said the aircraft had landed at Houthi-controlled ​Hodeidah airport.

Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi geopolitical analyst, told Fox News Digital, "The Iranian-backed Houthi militia is now in a desperate position, attempting to demonstrate its usefulness to its Iranian masters amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war."

He said, "This is an action taken by Yemen’s legitimate government in response to the violation of its airspace and sovereignty. It was not carried out by Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Yemeni forces struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport after the terrorist Houthi militia defied international law by allowing unauthorized Iranian flights into Yemen, despite measures intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives."

According to Al-Ansari, "The Houthis know that these flights can land normally if they follow the agreed-upon route through a Jordanian airport, for inspection purposes. The Houthis are currently at one of their weakest points, particularly after Yemen’s legitimate government consolidated effective authority over 80% of the country’s territory. This is a marked departure from the past, when the legitimate government was fragmented between two rival camps."

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR WARNS IRAN'S GRIP ON LEBANON IS A 'WARNING SIGN' FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Lebanon and other Sunni Gulf countries have expressed concerns about the Iranian regime's plan to establish a so-called "Shiite crescent" that stretches from Iran to Lebanon and includes such terrorist proxies as the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Ansari noted that "By confronting the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government is not only defending its own sovereignty; it is helping safeguard the region and the wider world from Iran’s network of terrorist proxies."

Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that, "The Houthis’ warning that the strike on Sana’a airport ‘will not go unanswered’ should be taken seriously. But the significance of the incident extends well beyond the prospect of retaliation.

She said, "The dispute was never really about civilian aviation or simply returning a Houthi delegation from Tehran. The Yemeni government had agreed to facilitate the delegation’s return aboard a Yemenia aircraft. The issue was the Iranian aircraft itself."

She added that "By proceeding with the Mahan Air flight despite Yemeni objections and ensuring that it reached Houthi-controlled Yemen anyway, Iran and the Houthis were sending a political message: Tehran intends to normalize direct and public ties with Houthi-controlled Yemen and is willing to challenge the restrictions that have governed access to the country since 2015."

The U.S. government sanctioned Mahan Air for its role in supplying weapons and technology to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah. 

Al-Dawsari said, "What we are increasingly seeing is a pattern in which Iran and its proxies create facts on the ground, betting that regional and international actors have little appetite for escalation and will eventually adjust to them. We have seen the same approach in the Strait of Hormuz."

She said, "The episode also highlights the Houthis’ growing importance within Iran’s regional network. While other members of the Axis of Resistance have been weakened in recent years, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s most capable and strategically important partners, particularly in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa."

According to Reuters, the Saudi ​government's communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.

Muhammad Al-Farah, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, wrote on Telegram, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), that the alleged Saudi attack will lead to the Bab al-Mandab Strait joining the Strait of Hormuz with respect to disruption and possible closure. As a result, the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the attacks give the Houthis a reason to "strike back and liberate Yemen from occupation."

Fox News Digital sent press queries to the State Department.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A controversial United Nations agency is being investigated by U.S. officials for alleged ties to terrorism. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the U.N. organization for Palestinian refugees, has more than 1,500 employees being probed for links to terrorism.

U.S. officials have increasingly called on U.N. member states to defund UNRWA after decades of concerns about its school materials promoting terror, the presence of Hamas tunnels beneath UNRWA schools and charges that staff members participated in the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 against Israel.

US URGES DONORS TO ABANDON UNRWA FUNDING AS UN DEFENDS AGENCY'S MISSION

While the U.N. conducted its own UNRWA investigation in 2024 through the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) following claims that 19 UNRWA employees were part of the Oct. 7. attacks, OIOS found insufficient evidence to support the participation of 10 employees. For the remaining nine, UNRWA terminated their contracts.

As the USAID Office of the Inspector General, a law enforcement agency separate from USAID, continues to investigate 1,500 UNRWA employees, it recently announced that it had referred a total of 108 current or former UNRWA staff to the State Department for suspension or exclusion from working with organizations that receive U.S. funds. Those members were found to be involved in the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, or were members of terrorist groups.

A U.S. diplomatic official briefed by USAID OIG investigators confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least 1,500 current or former UNRWA employees are under investigation for ties to foreign terrorist organizations in Gaza.

A senior U.S. official who spoke with Fox News Digital said that the USAID OIG investigation "smartly picked up where the U.N. failed" by looking beyond Oct. 7 participation. The official said the USAID OIG investigation is "critical, as U.S. taxpayers should never fund the salaries of aid workers that are members of a foreign terrorist organization." 

The senior official told Fox News Digital, "USAID OIG’s investigation is helping prevent terrorists from criss-crossing across aid organizations that have received or are seeking U.S. or Board of Peace funding."

Hamas was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 1997 by the State Department, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group (SDGT) in 2001.

HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL

In the press release describing its effort, the USAID OIG said that individuals referred for debarment included "UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors and medical professionals."

They included two deputy school principals, one of whom served as a Hamas deputy company commander and another of whom was a squad leader. USAID OIG additionally referred a teacher with "expertise as a sniper for Hamas," and one who tracked explosive device assignments. Another referred individual was a school principal assigned to a Hamas military manufacturing unit. Under his school, there were "three anti-tank positions and a tunnel shaft."

In the case of Oct. 7 involvement, the USAID OIG specifically mentioned a teacher ordered "to bring two anti-tank missiles to a prescribed location during the Oct. 7 terror attacks," and a deputy school principal charged with communications.

TRUMP-BACKED BOARD OF PEACE, ISRAEL 'WILL TAKE ACTION' IF HAMAS REMAINS OUT OF COMPLIANCE: NETANYAHU ADVISOR

The USAID OIG stated that it expects to make further referrals to the State Department in addition to "potential criminal referrals to the Department of Justice."

As a result of its investigations, the State Department has banned Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa from any future work with U.S. government entities. An UNRWA school principal, Mousa was working with the Hamas East Jabaliya Battalion and "coordinated communications with other suspected Hamas members during the Oct. 7 attacks," the USAID OIG report explains.

In response to Fox News Digital’s questions about whether it will blacklist other identified UNRWA employees, a State Department spokesperson said that "it is no surprise that another 100 UNWRA employees were determined to be involved in the barbaric Oct. 7 attack. President Trump and Secretary Rubio have affirmed time and time again that no State Department funding will be provided to UNWRA, which has been totally infiltrated by Hamas and terrorist sympathizers."

On July 1, the Board of Peace posted on X that UNRWA "has no place in the new Gaza."

An official briefed on developments with the Board of Peace told Fox News Digital that the USAID OIG’s investigations are "quite concerning to us."

The official explained that "we can’t really have an institution operating inside of Gaza where they're purportedly delivering aid and services to two million people but also allegedly participating in and supporting terrorism. That is anathema to creating a safe and prosperous Gaza for Gazans." Moving forward without UNRWA will require being "responsible and deliberate in terms of how we transition those services over to ensure there are no gaps in critical aid delivery, whether it's health services, vaccinations, food, or other goods."

Last month, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) posted about the infiltration of UNRWA on X, saying, "It is time for the United States to take action to address this growing problem and the systemic radicalization in UNRWA facilities." Risch said he would work with the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. "to root out the terrorist links at the U.N."

The U.S. Representative for United Nations Management and Reform, Ambassador Jeff Bartos, told a U.N. meeting in June on UNRWA funding, that it was time "to break this cycle."

"This year, you have the choice to stop underwriting an organization that has become a subsidiary of Hamas, whose employees took part in one of the most barbaric terrorist attacks in human history on Oct. 7, 2023," Bartos said. "This year, you have the choice to give the Palestinian people living in Gaza the opportunity to find durable solutions and prosper, instead of subjecting them to endless cycles of dependency and forever refugeehood."

Hamas' theft of aid is continuing to cause harm in Gaza. While not calling out Hamas by name, on Sunday, the U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov released a statement strongly condemning the "obstruction of humanitarian operations in Gaza by the de facto authorities." He noted that the previous day, "armed personnel affiliated with the de facto authorities forcibly entered the Abu Rashid food distribution point in Jabalia," and additionally "entered a [World Food Programme] warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies."

Alakbarov said the incidents "are not isolated" and "reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations."

Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA for comment.

The United Kingdom on Monday blamed an Iran-linked proxy group for a string of antisemitic arson attacks targeting British Jewish sites, prompting the government to ban Tehran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and impose sweeping new powers to crack down on foreign-backed sabotage.

British officials said the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR) publicly claimed responsibility for seven attacks this year targeting Jewish and Israeli-linked locations, as well as a Persian-language media outlet critical of Iran's government. According to the U.K. government, members of the IRGC's elite Qods Force were "almost certainly" directing the group's operations across Europe.

The attacks included fires at synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and other Jewish community sites in London. No injuries were reported.

DESANTIS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO USE NEW STATE LAW TO TARGET DOZENS OF ALLEGED TERRORIST GROUPS

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new measures send a clear message to foreign adversaries seeking to sow violence.

"We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets," Starmer said. "Anyone acting on behalf of those who threaten our national security should be in no doubt that there is no place for you in Britain."

If Parliament approves the designations later this week, anyone carrying out acts of sabotage — including arson — on behalf of the IRGC, IMCR or Russia's GRU Volunteer Corps could face life imprisonment. Supporting or assisting the groups could carry prison sentences of up to 14 years.

The British government said the new authorities, created under the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026, will make it easier for prosecutors to secure convictions because they will no longer have to prove a direct foreign government connection in every case.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood accused both Tehran and Moscow of relying on criminal proxies to conduct hostile operations inside the United Kingdom.

"Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores," Mahmood said. "I have rapidly designated three groups so those working for them will be tracked down and put behind bars."

ISRAEL FORTIFIES BORDER WITH JORDAN AS IRAN SEEKS NEW TERROR PATH

The government said IMCR emerged online earlier this year and has also claimed responsibility for attacks on synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands. British intelligence officials say Iran-backed proxy groups have increasingly recruited members of criminal organizations to carry out sabotage, intimidation and physical attacks across Europe, often targeting Jewish communities and Iranian dissidents.

According to the U.K., MI5 identified at least 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots against individuals in Britain over the past year. The government has already sanctioned more than 550 Iranian-linked individuals and entities and has pledged £250 million ($334,662,500) over three years to strengthen security for Jewish communities, including increased protection for synagogues, schools and community centers.

Britain also designated Russia's GRU Volunteer Corps, saying the group acts as a proxy for Russian military intelligence by recruiting individuals online to conduct sabotage, arson and other hostile operations.

The crackdown comes just weeks after two Romanian men were sentenced to prison for stabbing a journalist working for a Persian-language television station in London, an attack a British judge said was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.

Iran did not immediately comment on Monday's announcement, according to The Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukraine's wartime government is getting another shake-up after Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down Sunday, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he has offered her a "new, important" role as he reshapes his administration during the ongoing war with Russia.

Svyrydenko announced her resignation in a statement on social media, saying she was "proud to have had the honor of leading the government during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine's modern history." She said she had discussed "next steps" with Zelenskyy, but did not disclose what her next position would be.

"I remain ready to serve the Ukrainian state and carry out every task aimed at strengthening Ukraine's position, defending our national interests and bringing a just peace closer," Svyrydenko wrote.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN DON BACON SAYS HE WANTS 'PARIAH STATE' RUSSIA BOOTED FROM UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Zelenskyy, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, framed the move as part of a broader shift in Ukraine's governing strategy.

"Ukraine is changing its political strategy," Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post, adding that he had offered Svyrydenko the chance to lead "a new, important area" in Ukraine's relations with a key international partner.

The Ukrainian president said each major area of foreign policy would be assigned to an experienced official responsible for carrying out agreements reached with foreign leaders and advancing the interests of the Ukrainian people. He also announced planned changes to the country's top law enforcement leadership, though he did not immediately provide additional details.

18 HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEFY TRUMP TO PASS UKRAINE AID PACKAGE HEADED FOR VETO FIGHT

The reshuffle marks the fourth major reorganization of Zelenskyy's government since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reflecting the president's repeated efforts to inject new momentum into his wartime administration.

Svyrydenko, who previously served as Ukraine's economy minister, was appointed prime minister in July 2025 at age 39 after playing a key role in negotiating a minerals agreement between Ukraine and the United States. The deal was widely viewed as a way to strengthen U.S. economic interests in Ukraine while reinforcing Washington's long-term commitment to the country's security.

Following the announcement, Zelenskyy met with several senior officials, including Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, signaling that additional changes to his government could be forthcoming.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Four Americans were reportedly caught in a fiery multi-vehicle crash in Mexico that left at least 10 people dead and about 10 others injured. 

The massive pileup happened Sunday after a tractor-trailer crashed into multiple vehicles on a highway in the western state of Jalisco, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit. 

While the agency reported 10 deaths, Mexico's Army, Air Force and National Guard said nine people were killed.

Jalisco Civil Protection told Reuters that four Americans suffered minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital.

EIGHT BELIEVED DEAD AFTER B-52 CRASHES SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FROM EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE

"Four patients in minor condition, all U.S. citizens, were transferred to the Arboledas Hospital in Guadalajara by a private ambulance from the highway," Jalisco Civil Protection said.

Reuters reported that two of those killed were minors.

Another two of the injured were identified as National Guard members who suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital in Guadalajara, according to Reuters. 

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show several vehicles engulfed in flames along the highway connecting Guadalajara and Tepic, sending multiple plumes of black smoke into the air. 

MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A 'DEVASTATING LOSS,' COMPANY SAYS

According to Mexican officials, the crash happened when a tractor-trailer apparently suffered a brake failure and slammed into a line of vehicles that had stopped because of an earlier accident. 

"According to initial reports, a trailer reportedly suffered a failure in its braking system and ended up crashing into several vehicles that were stopped due to a prior incident," Mexico's Army, Air Force and National Guard said in a post on X. 

POPULAR FLORIDA SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER KILLED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING WHILE INSIDE LUXURY SUV

The initial accident reportedly involved a rear-end collision between two tractor-trailers. As emergency crews responded, a third tractor-trailer crashed into the scene, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit. 

"As a result of this second impact, three private vehicles and two tractor-trailer trucks were completely destroyed by the fire," the authorities said. "Additionally, two other private vehicles and an official Dodge Charger unit belonging to the National Guard sustained material damage. "

Firefighters later extinguished the blaze, officials said. 

Local outlet El Financiero reported that the driver of the tractor-trailer was detained by the National Guard. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

A massive fire ripped through a Bangkok pub early Monday, killing at least 27 people and injuring several others as patrons tried to flee the smoke-filled venue, officials said.

The blaze was reported around midnight at the Na Ladprao pub in the northern part of Thailand’s capital, The Associated Press reported, citing rescuers.

Video shared by first responders showed flames pouring from the front of the building and thick black smoke billowing into the sky as people scrambled to escape. 

NEARLY 100 MONKEYS ESCAPE ENCLOSURE, INVADE NEIGHBORHOODS AS OFFICIALS SCRAMBLE TO RECAPTURE THEM

Firefighters brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes, according to The Associated Press.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said at the scene that 27 people were killed and that several injured victims were taken to a hospital.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

AT LEAST 34 DEAD AFTER TOURIST BOAT CAPSIZES DURING VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM IN VIETNAM

A musician performing at the pub told Anutin he saw smoke coming from a circuit breaker near the stage shortly before the power went out, the prime minister said. 

Moments later, an explosion was heard, and thick smoke spread through the venue, The Associated Press reported.

Many of the victims were located in restrooms at the back of the pub, Anutin said.

PILOT DEAD, 13 INJURED AFTER SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO TOWERING SKYSCRAPER

Photos from the aftermath showed heavy damage inside the building.

Deadly nightlife fires have struck Thailand in the past. In 2022, a fire at a music pub in eastern Thailand killed 14 people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A migrant wanted in connection with the brutal murder of an American mother in Ireland was in the country despite having his asylum application rejected, according to Irish media.

The man, described by Irish police as a "person of interest," was in the process of appealing the asylum decision and was allowed to remain in the country when Jamey Carney, 43, was beaten and suffocated in her home in Killarney, County Kerry, the Irish Mirror reported.

Despite his status, the outlet said he was still in the possession of his passport and left Ireland on a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, before Carney’s body was discovered Tuesday, triggering an international manhunt and a murder investigation.

It is unclear when his asylum application was refused or why it was denied. Irish police have refused to name the man.

AMERICAN MOTHER MURDERED IN IRISH TOURIST TOWN AS INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT TARGETS ALLEGED ASYLUM SEEKER

The reports are likely to intensify scrutiny of Ireland’s asylum system and why the man remained in the country after reportedly being denied asylum.

The Irish Mirror reported the Jordanian national had arrived in Ireland in 2024 and been living in a state-run migrant shelter in the idyllic town before spending increasing amounts of time at Carney’s home after they became romantically involved.

He first arrived in the United Kingdom before traveling through Northern Ireland and eventually settling in County Kerry, according to the Irish Mirror.

His social media accounts contain posts from the United Kingdom and Turkey in recent years.

Carney’s social media profiles described her as a "New Yorker in Ireland" and showed her with a man she identified as her partner and writing that they were a "mixed couple." Multiple Irish media outlets have identified the man as the person police are seeking, though Irish police have not publicly confirmed his identity or reported immigration status.

Fox News Digital asked Irish police and the Department of Justice to confirm reports that he had been refused asylum and was appealing that decision. Neither agency confirmed the reports.

HERE'S WHY IRELAND IS AT BOILING POINT OVER MASS IMMIGRATION

Detectives believe Carney died around 11 p.m. Monday, roughly 14 hours before her body was discovered, according to The Irish Independent.

Her body was found on Tuesday at around 1:30 p.m. local time by her 13-year-old daughter.

By that time, the man had boarded a flight to Istanbul having traveled 200 miles by bus to Dublin Airport.

Despite the manhunt entering its sixth day, police have yet to name or provide any details about the person on the run, drawing criticism on both sides of the Atlantic. Irish police said that investigators are working with international law enforcement partners as the murder investigation continues.

Detectives issued alerts to airports, ports, train stations and bus stations within just over an hour of Carney’s body being discovered, The Irish Independent reported. However, by then, the man had already left Ireland.

According to the Irish Mirror, investigators now fear he may already have traveled onward to his home country of Jordan, which does not have an extradition treaty with Ireland.

A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital the search is expected to be difficult because the man had a significant head start before investigators were alerted to Carney’s death.

Carney, a New York native, moved to Ireland in 2021 and has family living in the Killarney area.

The State Department told Fox News Digital it was providing consular assistance to the victim's family.