World News

A wild video out of the U.K. shows two neighbors fighting over gardening tools, and one man left with a wound to his head that needed to be glued shut, according to local reports. 

A pair of neighbors, ​​Dean Nicholas and Paul Benton, got into a fight outside their homes in the Ashby Close cul-de-sac in Northamptonshire in 2021, which resulted in Nicholas landing in court years later, according to the Mirror.

Video captured by another neighbor shows Nicholas and Benton standing outside in their neighborhood in July 2021, before Nicholas allegedly threw a pair of pruning clippers at Benton’s head. 

"You're f---ing mad," Nicholas shouted at Benton as he held the clippers and another pair of gardening shears, the Mirror reported. 

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"Calm down. I can’t believe you’ve just done that," Benton responds after Nicholas launched the clippers at Benton’s head. 

Nicholas is seen heading back to his home before turning around to continue yelling at Benton. 

"You came out here f---ing with that thing," Benton said, referring to a gardening tool Nicholas was holding. "You almost gave me a f---ing heart attack, man."

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"I was taking it into my back garden," Nicholas responded. 

Prosecutors said the incident unfolded after Benton was in his garden and noticed Nicholas was sitting in his car and called him over. 

"Mr. Benton noticed the defendant sitting in his car. He beckoned him over. There have been some issues before that have angered the defendant. The defendant went into his front door and picked up a large metal bar of about a metre in length," prosecutor Jonathan Stone said, according to the Mirror. 

Stone said that Nicholas also picked up a pair of pruning clippers, later allegedly throwing them at Benton’s head. 

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"He then picked up some secateurs and threw them at the complainant's head. He was shouting at the complainant and accused him of attacking him. The complainant was heard saying he just wanted to go back into his garden," Stone said. 

Benton said the injury to his head required doctors at Kettering General Hospital to glue the wound. 

"It’s fair to say they’re not friends, but there’ve been no further incidents," Nicholas’ attorney said, according to SWNS. 

Nicholas appeared in court this month, where he denied inflicting bodily harm but was found guilty. He was sentenced to 45 weeks in prison, and the judge noted he had a "good chance" of rehabilitation following the incident. 

Nicholas was also ordered to pay Benton £280, or roughly $356, in compensation.

TOKYO — Japan continues to increase defense spending in response to increased threats from China and North Korea. 

Over the past month, Japan has faced increased Chinese aggression toward Japanese territory and yet another North Korean missile launch into the Sea of Japan. 

Cognizant of the challenges it faces, Japan has pushed forward to bolster its national security through increased defense spending, engaging in closer cooperation with the U.S. and South Korea and eliminating a ban on lethal weapons exports.

"China is conducting broad spectrum, total warfare and information warfare against a number of countries, but Japan consumes a lot of Chinese resources and attention." Lance Gatling of Nexial Research told Fox News Digital. Gatling is a retired U.S. Army Japan strategic planner and former U.S. Department of Defense liaison officer to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff Office.

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Adding to the regional tensions, China announced it is ramping up its territorial claims over the Japanese Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Senkaku Islands are a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea that China lays claim to. Aside from providing natural resources, their location is considered strategically important.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea responded to China's recent moves to occupy the territory in a joint statement following the inaugural trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

The joint statement said, in part, "Recalling the publicly announced positions of the three countries regarding the recent dangerous and escalatory behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims by the PRC in the East China Sea, they strongly reiterated their firm commitment to international law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight, as reflected in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and they opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion anywhere in the waters of the Indo-Pacific."

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Gatling noted some other ways China is antagonizing Japan. 

"You can see their efforts in intimidating Japanese companies doing business in China," Gatling said. 

He mentioned, as an example, "China’s arrest, trial and conviction of a long-term Japanese pharmaceutical company Japanese citizen executive without explanation, as well as its threatening to limit exports of rare earth materials such as gallium and lithium, critical to Japan's manufacturers of semiconductors, electric motors/drives, etc."

Gatling spoke of "increased numbers and intensity of Chinese incursions into Japan's exclusive economic zone, particularly by commercial fishing boats escorted by Chinese Coast Guard or Fisheries patrol vessels around the contested Senkaku Islands."

China is also linking cooperation or military pressure against the Philippines to cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Force and Ministry of Defense. They are increasing the scale and frequency of bilateral Chinese-Russian military operations in the waters adjacent to and surrounding Japan, including the transit of international straits between Japanese islands with large, integrated naval and aviation assets."

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In addition to increasing its defense budget in response to these threats, Japan is expanding its defense capabilities through stronger military ties with friends and allies. Japan agreed to a missile data-sharing and military training program with the United States and South Korea.

China is not the only player sounding alarm bells for Japan. North Korea, whose foreign policy interests often align with China, is also on Japan’s radar.

Fox News Digital recently reported that China is bolstering its relations with North Korea in a multifaceted way, calling 2024 the "year of DPRK-China friendship." "DPRK" is an abbreviation of "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the official name of the North Korean state. 

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"North Korea cannot turn on its lights, cannot feed its people, cannot trade with the world, yet it has the ability to produce high-technology military equipment using computer chips and components that can only come from one country — China," Jonathan Bass of energy consultant InfraGlobal Partners told Fox News Digital.

Last month, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile 250 kilometers northwest of Okushiri Island in Hokkaido, Japan, according to Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Shingo Miyake. In a press conference Dec. 18, Miyake said the missile likely had a range of 15,000 kilometers, making it able to reach the United States.

Following the missile launch, the Pentagon and its Japanese and South Korean counterparts "announced that they have fully activated a real-time missile warning data sharing mechanism and jointly established a multi-year trilateral exercise plan."

The Pentagon statement noted, "The three countries will continue to build upon their cooperation to respond to regional challenges and ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific and beyond."

Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida strongly condemned the missile launch, saying, "This sort of missile launch is not only a clear violation of U.N. security resolutions but also a threat to peace and stability in the region."

Gatling told Fox News Digital the missile data-sharing program is an important step in defense cooperation between the three nations, and it could help protect the U.S. from a missile attack. He explained how shared data from South Korea could be used not only to protect Japan but also the mainland United States from a potential attack.

"Both Japan and South Korea take missile defense very seriously. Unfortunately, heretofore Japan and South Korea's military cooperation has been very limited," Gatling said. 

He noted that arguments over historic incidents between the two nations have, in part, been a barrier to cooperation but that North Korea’s increased missile and nuclear capabilities have given cause for the two nations to work together.

"North Korean ballistic missile capabilities in types of mobile medium and long-range ballistic missiles can now reach all of the Korean peninsula, all of Japan's scattered islands, U.S. military bases in the Pacific and, lately, even the continental United States," Gatling explained. 

"When coupled with its demonstrated capability of producing and exploding nuclear devices, the concern is that eventually North Korea will master or procure the technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads to fit in one or more of the range of ballistic missiles they have and have tested."

Gatling warned that China and Russia strategically take advantage of North Korea’s aggression. 

"While North Korean propaganda states that it develops all this technology on its own, it is clear that North Korea gets advanced technology and necessary materials and equipment from China and Russia and smuggles critical material despite United Nations sanctions. It is clear China and Russia take advantage of North Korean antagonism against South, Japan and the U.S. to draw resources and attention away from their own capabilities."

Fox News' Emily Robertson contributed to this report.

With the World Economic Forum starting in Monday, business executives, celebrities, billionaires and government officials will likely be hit with the usual hypocrisy criticisms seen in years past.

The conference, which begins on Jan. 15 and concludes on Jan. 19, will take place at WEF's headquarters in Davos, Switzerland.

In 2023, global elitists were slammed for their "ultra-polluting" jets as they discussed the climate crisis.

"Europe is experiencing the warmest January days ever recorded and communities around the world are grappling with extreme weather events supercharged by the climate crisis," Klara Maria Schenk, a campaigner for environmental group Greenpeace International, said in a statement ahead of the conference. 

"Meanwhile, the rich and powerful flock to Davos in ultra-polluting, socially inequitable private jets to discuss climate and inequality behind closed doors," she continued.

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According to WEF's website, one topic the conference will cover is how world leaders can work towards a "carbon-neutral and nature-positive world by 2050 while providing affordable, secure and inclusive access to energy, food and water."

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Private jet travel is by far the most carbon-intensive mode of transportation. 

They are about 10 times more carbon-intensive than commercial planes and 50 times more carbon-intensive than trains, according to a 2021 report from the group Transport & Environment.

Such studies have determined that between 1,000-1,500 private jets traveled to all the surrounding airports near Davos during past WEF summits. 

In 2019, WEF responded to criticism, acknowledging that attendees had taken about 500 jets to the summit that year, but said attendees were "taking the environmental impact of their travel more seriously."

"We have been offering incentives to participants to use public transport for some years," WEF said in a statement in January 2019. "We also ask that they share planes if they have to use them; something that has been gaining popularity in recent years."

WEF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.

World leaders congratulated Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for a historic third presidential term even as President Biden warned that the U.S. will not endorse independence for the island.

"We do not support independence," Biden told reporters when asked for comment on DPP candidate William Lai’s victory over the rival Koumintang (KMT) party following Saturday’s election. 

Lai, who also goes by his Chinese name, Ching-te, declared victory after a tightly contested election saw him beat KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih, the mayor of New Taipei City. Beijing had not declared a clear preference for any candidate, but Chinese officials framed Lai as "dangerous." 

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Atony Blinken posted on social media platform X congratulating Lai as well as "the Taiwan people for participating in free and fair elections and demonstrating the strength of their democratic system." 

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House members, including Indo-Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Young Kim, R-Calif., and Ranking Member Ami Bera, R-Calif., along with Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, R-N.Y., issued congratulations to Lai and praised Taiwan for "another milestone." 

"We condemn Beijing’s attempts to influence the elections through disinformation and military pressure and applaud the people of Taiwan for upholding democratic ideals," the House members wrote in a statement. "We look forward to working with President-elect Lai and Vice President-elect Hsiao to enhance the U.S.-Taiwan economic, cultural, and defense relationship."

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British Foreign Minister David Cameron offered his "warm congratulations" to Lai and urged China and Taiwan to continue working on efforts to "resolve differences peacefully through constructive dialogue," The Independent reported. 

"The elections today are a testament to Taiwan’s vibrant democracy," Cameron said in his statement. 

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Japan congratulated Taiwan for the "smooth implementation" of its presidential election, and Lai for his victory, promising to "work toward further deepening cooperation and exchanges between Japan and Taiwan, based on its position to maintain working relationship on the non-governmental basis." 

"We expect that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, thereby contributing to the peace and stability in the region," the statement said. 

The Beijing Taiwan Affairs Office issued a harsh statement that claimed the DPP "cannot represent the mainstream public opinion on the island" and "will not impede the inevitable trend of China’s reunification." 

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The European Union did not mention or directly congratulate Lai on his victory, simply referring to the need for "peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" as "key to regional and global security and prosperity." 

"The European Union welcomes the elections held in Taiwan on 13 January, and congratulates all the voters who participated in this democratic exercise," the EU wrote in a statement released Saturday. 

The Israeli Defense Forces released a statement Saturday claiming that Hamas leaders are helping to orchestrate terror attacks worldwide as part of a larger campaign against Western powers.

The IDF published the report alongside a diagram outlining Hamas commanders linked to suspected terrorist operations in the European Union.

"Orders from the organization's management, the purchase of drones, and the use of crime elements — this is how senior members of the terrorist organization Hamas promoted attacks against innocent people around the world," the IDF wrote.

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"Thanks to combined inter-organizational forces in Israel and abroad, a comprehensive and in-depth picture of Hamas's terrorist activities has been revealed," the Saturday statement said. 

Gathered intelligence includes "details of areas of action, targets for attacks and those involved in implementing the activity – from Hamas commanders in Lebanon to the last attackers in the operational infrastructure, as well as information on the intention to attack the Israeli Embassy in Sweden, the acquisition of UAVs and the use of elements from criminal organizations in Europe."

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"The terrorist organization Hamas works to promote attacks against targets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe under the command of the organization's senior leadership," the report claims. "On December 14, 2023, the security and enforcement authorities in Denmark and Germany announced the extensive arrest of suspects in Europe who have since been subject to legal proceedings."

The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — in conjunction with German and Danish law enforcement — revealed last month the details of an operation that arrested multiple individuals in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands accused of plotting terrorist attacks.

Security officials in Denmark announced the arrest of seven "terrorist operatives" connected to Hamas accused of planning an attack on European soil.

German officials reported the arrest of three Hamas members within their own borders and one in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

A Serbian man executed in front of his family last week in Brazil has now been identified as a hitman wanted by Interpol for multiple contract killings.

"Investigations showed that he lived here clandestinely and under a false Slovenian name," the lead officer on the investigation, Luiz Ricardo Lara Dias Jr., told reporters on Friday.

Dias Jr. said that Interpol wanted Darko for nearly a decade and that police believe his murder may be related to his criminal past.

Local police this week identified the victim as Darko Geisler, 43, after consulting with the Slovenian consulate in São Paulo based on the passport found on the victim — only to learn that the passport did not belong to him, but to a Slovenian citizen who lost it in 2017. 

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Reverse-searching for Geisler’s photos online helped police identify him as a Serbian hitman wanted in Montenegro for multiple homicides and possession of weapons and explosives, Jam Press reported. Montenegrin authorities confirmed that Geisler was a contract killer. 

Police now believe that Geisler had lived in Brazil for nine years, hiding his identity after he fled Montenegro for Bosnia following the execution of a man at a prison gate on Christmas Day in 2014. He disappeared after that, resurfacing now that he has met his end. 

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After settling in Brazil, Geisler met his future spouse in 2015 or 2016 and moved to Santos. His wife claimed she had no idea about his true identity. 

People close to the couple told local outlet Folha de S.Paulo says the truth about Geisler’s past doesn’t line up with the man they knew: Geisler used to take his son to school and mingle with the other parents from the neighborhood, despite speaking little Portuguese.

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Another neighbor said that Geisler often played games with his son in the street and that he often visited the local bakery with his family. He would visit daily to pick up cigarettes, and he told everyone he worked as a carpenter. 

He claimed that his family received money from a business he owned back in his "home country" of Slovenia. 

Geisler met his end while with his family. CCTV footage showed Geisler with his wife and son, aged three-and-a-half, as they returned home and were stowing their bikes when a gunman ran across the road and shot Geisler at point-blank range. 

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The killer wore a mask and gloves and fled the scene in a black car, leaving no traces. His identity is still unknown. A neighbor who heard the gunshots and Geisler’s wife screaming called the Military Police and emergency services, and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Brazilian police continue to search for Geisler’s killer. Authorities believe his criminal past may have played a role in his death, and police in Brazil and Montenegro will work together to get to the bottom of the mystery. 

Scientists in Iceland have come up with an ambitious plan to drill into a volcano's magma chamber to source an abundant amount of clean, super-hot geothermal energy.

The project, which would be a scientific first if successful, would see boreholes drilled about 1.3 miles down through the earth’s crust at a volcano known as Krafla, located in the northeast of Iceland. 

With over 200 volcanoes, Iceland is already a leader in geothermal energy where heat or hot water vapor is extracted and separated into liquid water and steam. The steam is then run through turbines that produce electricity used to power and heat its many greenhouses, used for its high levels of local food production, as well as for heating. Around 90% of homes in Iceland are heated by geothermal energy, according to Energy Transition, a green energy website.

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However, geothermal energy is cooler than steam at fossil fuel power plants, about 482°F and 842°F, respectively, and so tapping into the magma chamber could unleash a far powerful energy supply and boost the nation’s overall energy stock. 

"It's quite inefficient at those low temperatures, so there's an interest in trying to develop super-hot geothermal," John Eichelberger, a volcanologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told New Scientist. 

"The purpose of producing energy from near magma super-hot geothermal is that these wells are up to an order of magnitude more powerful in terms of producing energy than conventional wells," project manager Björn Þór Guðmundsson, told the Daily Mail. 

"We can drill one well instead of 10 for the same power output."

The project, being undertaken by Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT), an Icelandic magma research organization, will build on a 2009 effort to drill close to one of the Krafla magma chambers by a team from a nearby power plant that has churned out geothermal energy from the volcano since the 1970s.

The intent with that project was only to get near to the chamber to explore geothermal energy options, but the chamber was not as deep down as expected, and the project accidentally broke through into the magma vault.

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The drill struck magma and corroded the steel in the casings of the well as the 842°F heat destroyed the well. KMT scientists are working on materials that will be able to withstand the scorching heat in the upcoming project.

The project crucially confirmed that drilling into a magma chamber doesn't cause the volcano to erupt, according to New Scientist. 

"One of the main goals of KMT is to develop wells with the right materials that can withstand these conditions," Guðmundsson told the Daily Mail.

Krafla is one of the country’s most explosive volcanoes, having gone off approximately 29 times since the country was first settled, although its last eruption was back in 1984. The volcano that erupted in December was near the fishing town of Grindavik, in the southwestern portion of Iceland.

"Tapping superheated or supercritical steam from adjacent the heat source could boost energy transport to the surface by an order of magnitude and efficiency of conversion to electricity by 3.5 times," scientists for KMT wrote in a 2018 paper.

"When combined with the advantages of continuous operation (bed load), absence of need to transport either fuel or waste, limited carbon emission, and advances in long-distance HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) power transmission, geothermal energy could change the electrical energy game completely."

The project will also help KMT scientists to monitor the magma chamber by applying censors that would take pressure readings, which could improve forecasts of eruptions. 

Other experiments later in the decade could be injecting fluids into the chamber to alter the pressure and temperature, and measure the results, according to the Daily Mail. 

"The project is driven by the need to understand magmatic systems, to improve volcano monitoring strategies, and to develop next-generation, high-enthalpy geothermal energy," scientists for KMT wrote in a 2018 paper. 

"Monitoring the temperature profile in the roof of a magma chamber will reveal actual heat flux from magma to hydrothermal system, and unprecedented observation that will test both the promise and sustainability of Super Hot Geothermal Systems (SHGS). SHGS are systems which are more than 662°F," scientists added.

Ukraine's top spy chief promised more intense offensives on Russian-occupied territory in Crimea soon, claiming that the Russian military has proved weaker than expected.

Kyrylo Budanov, who serves as chief of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Directorate of Intelligence, said that 2024 will see much greater efforts to reclaim territory in Crimea.

"In 2023, the first Ukrainian incursions took place in temporarily occupied Crimea," Budanov said in an interview with French outlet Le Monde. "And this is just the beginning."

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Budanov acknowledged the two countries' mutual inability to make substantive land gains as both are dug into trenches on the front lines.

"The very intensive use of attack drones has made both Russian and Ukrainian offensives impossible," he said of the territorial stalemate, adding that "another factor has been the density of minefields, unprecedented since World War II."

The spy chief also took a swipe at the Russian military's strength, saying that the continued struggle of the Ukrainian defending forces has shown the Russian Armed Forces to be less effective than previously believed.

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"A certain Russian paradox surprised me. Everyone thought that Moscow had a strong army and a weak economy. It turns out that the opposite is true," Budanov said.

He continued, "The economy may be weak, but the country is not starving, far from it. It could even last quite a long time at this rate."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not consider a cease-fire with Russia, claiming it would only help the invading military bolster its power. 

Zelenskyy made the comments during a visit to Estonia meant to raise support for continued funding of the war effort. 

"A pause on the Ukrainian battlefield will not mean a pause in the war," Zelenskyy said.

"A pause would play into [Russia’s] hands," he added. "It might crush us afterward."

A huge fire tore through an online retailer's warehouse in St. Petersburg in Russia on Saturday with video showing intense flames and thick black smoke rising high into the clear morning sky.

Nearly 300 firefighters and dozens of fire engines, as well as helicopters, battled to put out the blaze, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said, as workers inside desperately ran to safety.

The warehouse's owner, Wildberries, said in a statement that all its staff had been evacuated and there were no injuries.

However, media outlet Baza reported on its Telegram channel that there were two people hospitalized as workers initially struggled to escape the quickly moving fire. The warehouse is located in the Pushkin district, south of St. Petersburg, the country's second city.

Russian media, cited by Nexta, reported that the damage from the fire may amount to 11 billion rubles, or around $122 million.

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According to preliminary data reported by Baza, the first alarm went off at the warehouse around 4:20 a.m. 

Baza posted a video showing a frantic scene inside the warehouse where a large number of employees were trying to squeeze through narrow doors to escape the inferno.

The fire extinguishing system did not work when the fire began to flare up on shelves that contained household chemicals, the outlet reported, citing a worker. Many jumped from the second and third floors directly onto the concrete, because there was a strong crush at the emergency exit.

"According to workers, they did not know where to run when the fire occurred, so they rushed around the warehouse in horror. There were so many people that they were still continuing to descend from the third floor when the fire was already approaching the first," the report said.

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As the fire engulfed most of the premises, fireworks stored in the warehouse began to explode inside the building, according to Baza.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the massive blaze, which spread to cover 70,000 square meters, or around 75,000 square feet. The fire was rated as a category five, the most serious. Officials said that firefighters had succeeded in halting it from spreading further. 

The state-run news agency Tass, cited by Newsweek, reported that the cause of the fire was a malfunction of electrical wiring and that emergency services said that the fire alarm had been turned off due to repeated false alarms.

However, Newsweek reported that a source in the ministry told Russian news outlet RBC that arson was being investigated following a brawl that had taken place near the warehouse on Wednesday evening. An employee from Azerbaijan was hospitalized with stab wounds, and a Tajik citizen was also injured. Russian security forces then raided the warehouse.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

A journalist who took aim at Russian officials and promised to release details of "gigantic corruption" was found dead near a roadside over the weekend, but the circumstances of his death remain shrouded in mystery. 

"It will be almost impossible to determine whether foul play was involved Rybin’s death or whether he died of heart disease as some Russian media outlets claim," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin's Playbook," told Fox News Digital. 

Alexander Rybin, 39, was found near a highway some 130 miles outside the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where he had spent time reporting on the Russian invasion. The official cause of death was that he died from "cardiomyopathy" after an autopsy, The Sun reported, citing Russian state media. 

Some outlets have described Rybin as a pro-Kremlin journalist, but in the last few weeks of his life he had grown highly critical of officials in the region. He blamed rampant corruption for the slow rebuilding of the city and Donetsk region. 

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In one of his last reports, Rybin reported that Mariupol had "gigantic money" and "gigantic opportunities for corruption."

According to a translation from The Sun, Rybin explained that his "personal impression" — which he tried to stress was not an accusation of any kind — "is that there is a gigantic corruption going on in Mariupol, which the Russian army occupied with heavy fighting in spring 2022." 

"The year 2023, in my opinion, is in no way easier for the residents of Mariupol than what was happening in 2022, unfortunately," he said, promising to deliver more details on the corruption, this time broadcasting from left-wing online platform Rabkor, according to The Times of India. 

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Koffler noted that "scores of Russian journalists" have ended up dead "in mysterious circumstances" after criticizing the Russian regime or Putin directly. 

"What we also know for a fact is that the so-called ‘wet affairs,’ a term used for targeted assassinations, is a tradecraft of Russian intelligence used to eliminate the opponents of the regime," Koffler explained. "We also know that these operatives are extremely skilled at making their victim’s death look natural."

"Whether Rybin was such a victim of a targeted assassination will likely remain a mystery," she argued. 

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Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, tied Rybin’s death to his claims of corruption and tried to link it to Russian officials in the city. 

Rybin’s death followed the mysterious death of Zoya Konovalova, the Kuban propaganda channel chief editor, who was found dead of suspected poisoning. 

Reports of Rybin’s death stressed the fact that his bank cards and valuables remained undisturbed following his death. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Rostov Region stated that the death did not show any criminal signs. 

JERUSALEM — South Africa’s use of the top United Nations court to charge Israel with genocide sparked an angry response Friday from the Jewish state’s U.N. ambassador, who said the legal process aided Hamas, "the Nazis of our time."

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., issued a response to the hearing at the U.N.'s International Court of Justice in the Netherlands that will rule on Israel’s military campaign against the jihadi movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

"The proceedings in The Hague demonstrate how the U.N. and its institutions have become weapons in service of terrorist organizations," Erdan said. "The use of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide against the Jewish state and in service of the Nazis of our time, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, proves that there is no moral low that the U.N. has not descended to."

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Sinwar and Haniyeh are two of the Hamas Palestinian leaders who allegedly mobilized thousands of Hamas terrorists to invade Israel Oct. 7, resulting in the murder of 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans. Hamas kidnapped over 240 people.

"The U.N. is the one who should sit on trial in The Hague for turning a blind eye, and thereby serving as an accomplice, to the digging of terror tunnels in Gaza, in the use of international aid for the production of missiles and rockets and in the education of hatred and murder," Erdan said. 

"If there is even one iota of reason and morality left in the U.N., then the despicable prosecution by the terror-supporting South Africa should be thrown into the dustbin of history in the coming days."

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

South Africa, which has shown great sympathy and support for Hamas over the years, filed the legal case at the International Court of Justice. Israel got a boost on Friday with a statement from the German government against South Africa.

South Africa has alleged Israel's military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. The convention defines genocide as acts such as killings "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

On Friday, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Israel was "defending itself" after the "inhuman" attacks by Hamas. 

"The German government decisively and expressly rejects the accusation of genocide brought against Israel before the International Court of Justice. The accusation has no basis in fact," said Hebestreit.

"In light of German history and the crimes against humanity of the Shoah, the German government is particularly committed to the [U.N.] Genocide Convention." 

STORIES OF TORTURE, TORMENT REVEALED BY ISRAELI CHILDREN KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS

The word Shoah is used by Israel to describe Germany’s destruction of European Jewry during World War II, resulting in the mass murder of 6 million Jews. The U.N. Genocide Convention was signed in 1948, after the Holocaust.

Hebestreit stressed that the Convention is a "central instrument" under international law to stop a new Holocaust. 

"We stand firmly against a political instrumentalization" of the Convention, he noted. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., took South Africa to task Wednesday. 

"And now South Africa … bringing that kind of trial," Fetterman said. "Maybe South Africa ought to sit this one out when they’re talking about criticizing the behavior of another nation. Sit out."

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party hosted three Hamas officials in South Africa in December. A senior Hamas representative based in Iran was also present. 

The U.S. has classified Hamas a foreign terrorist organization. Hamas’ sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been designated by the U.S. State Department as the world’s worst international state sponsor of terrorism.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai has emerged victorious after a tightly contested presidential election as the island’s next leader, Fox News Digital confirms.

"The results are in, and Taiwan’s voters stood up to China and all its war talk of recent weeks," Gordon Chang, Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow and China expert, told Fox News Digital. "Free people, living just a hundred miles from the menacing Chinese state, refused to be intimidated." 

Lai, defeated his rival, New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih of the Koumintang (KMT) party, by just over 7% of the vote after Hou conceded at 8 p.m. local time. Taiwan saw around 69% of voters turnout for the election this year - less than the impressive 75% seen in the 2020 election, which saw 13.6 million people turn out to vote, but more than the 66% that turned out for the 2016 election, according to the Taipei Times. 

The victory marks DPP's third successive win over KMT for the first time since Taiwan began democratic elections over 30 years ago - the first time a party has done so, with parties retaining control for no more than 8 years before switching places as voter sentiment swayed between the two major parties. 

CHINA THREAT LOOMS LARGE AS TAIWAN VOTES IN PIVOTAL ELECTION: 'CHOICE BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE'

"The voters broke a pattern that has held since the first democratic elections in Taiwan in 1996," Chang said. "The Democratic Progressive Party, the pro-Taiwan party, and the pro-China Kuomintang Party, have traded the presidency every eight years."

"Beijing insists the people of Taiwan are "Chinese." By voting for Lai, they have now loudly declared they are Taiwanese."

Fox News Digital spoke to one woman in the city of Kaohsiung who flew from California to vote in the election. The woman said she voted for Lai for his policy of making the country independent was "good for the people." She also dismissed the main opposition candidate from the KMT for being too close to China, saying it would be "dangerous" for the country.

Lai held a slender lead going into the final weeks of the election: The last polling, released more than 10 days before the vote, had him averaging five points ahead of Hou, with some polls showing them separated by just one point. 

BIDEN TO SEND DELEGATION TO TAIWAN DAYS AFTER ELECTION IN MOVE LIKELY TO ANGER CHINA

Early results however saw Lai take a comfortable lead of around 43.27% compared to Hou's 34.01% after just about 10% of polling places had reported. The lead narrowed slightly as results continued to trickle in, but not by enough for KMT to have a realistic chance at victory.

Hou, joined by major KMT party figures, spoke to his supporters after 87% of the vote had been counted and it became clear that the path to victory had closed. Hou congratulated Lai and declared that all must work together for the good of Taiwan as he thanked voters for their support. Third-party TPP candidate, former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je, conceded shortly after Hou did. 

Beijing did not indicate which candidate in the field it supported, but analysts identified Hou as the most likely candidate, with his party historically more friendly to the mainland. Chinese officials also went to great lengths to frame the vote as a choice between "war and peace," with Lai pitched as a separationist who would lead Taiwan to conflict. 

DPP's lead in the most recent election proved the tightest win since KMT last took victory in 2012's presidential election, winning that contest by around just 6 points. The two successive elections saw DPP win back and retain control of the government with double-digit support. 

TAIWAN APOLOGIZES AFTER EMERGENCY ALERT MISTRANSLATION LED TO ‘MISSILE’ WARNING FOR CHINESE SATELLITE LAUNCH

Third-party TPP's roughly 3.3 million votes is the largest number a third-party candidate has won since the 2000 presidential election.

In another historic first, DPP's vice-presidential candidate, former Taiwanese Representative to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim, is the first mixed-race candidate to hold the position. Hsiao mother is American mother.

Heino Klinck, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and military attaché to China, previously told Fox News Digital that the election would likely play out fairly straightforwardly. 

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Instead, Klinck warned that China would more likely retaliate during the months leading up to Lai’s inauguration with military drills and surveillance pressure to try and influence Lai’s posturing ahead of his tone-setting inaugural speech.

"Now, the world should ask itself this: Why, after this election, should the rest of us be afraid of that aggressor, Xi Jinping?" Chang argued. "It is now time for the United States to support free people who insist on governing themselves."

North Korea appears to have ceased operations of a radio station suspected of sending coded messages to its spies in the South.

Radio Pyongyang — also known as Voice of Korea — is a station known for broadcasting both entertainment programming and spoken lists of numbers that experts assert contain messages for agents abroad.

Supreme leader Kim Jong Un reportedly halted the function of Radio Pyongyang following a decision to reorganize inter-Korea affairs at a meeting of the Workers' Party last month.

NORTH KOREA OPENS BORDER TO TOURISTS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE PANDEMIC

The radio station's website has also apparently been retired, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The station traces its history back to 1945 when it inaugurated the airwaves with the post-WWII victory speech of Kim Il Sung. 

North Korean officials suspended the program in 2000, then resumed it in 2016.

SUSPECT IN SOUTH KOREAN POLITICIAN'S STABBING APOLOGIZES AS VICTIM LEAVES HOSPITAL IN GOOD HEALTH

International cooperation between the North and South has broken down in recent weeks after the Kim regime's military fired a series of artillery barrages into the buffer zones between the countries, ostensibly for combat drills.

The regime reportedly held a meeting planning the slow wind-down of civilian exchange with the southern neighbor.

South Korean intelligence estimates approximately 260 shells were fired into the area earlier this month. The South Korean Defense Ministry reportedly fired approximately 400 rounds in response to the provocation.

Kim said last month that his regime "would by no means unilaterally bring a great event by the overwhelming strength in the Korean peninsula, but we have no intention of avoiding a war as well."

Turkey carried out a series of airstrikes in neighboring Iraq and Syria on Saturday, according to its defense ministry. The strikes come as the U.S and other countries launched separate strikes in Yemen on Friday and Saturday.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, aircraft struck Kurdish militant targets in Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil in northern Iraq. The strikes were in response to an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq that left nine Turkish soldiers dead.

The defense ministry said fighter jets destroyed caves, bunkers, shelters and oil facilities "to eliminate terrorist attacks against our people and security forces ... and to ensure our border security." The statement said "many" militants were "neutralized." It did not specify any attacks in Syria.

The targets were affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned Kurdish separatist group that maintains bases in northern Iraq, the ministry said. The PKK is considered a terror organization by the United States and other Turkish allies in Europe.

BLINKEN MEETS WITH TURKEY'S ERDOGAN AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS ESCALATE

Local news organizations reported the strikes took place in a different area from where the base was attacked on Friday.

The Iraqi news website Rudaw, based in Erbil, reported that the base attacked on Friday was located on Mount Zap in Amedi district, approximately 10 miles from the Turkish border.

Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu said a senior PKK militant was "neutralized" in Iraq, some 100 miles inside the Turkey-Iraq border.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said Friday night’s attack on the military base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, left five soldiers dead. Four additional soldiers died later of critical injuries. Fifteen militants were also killed during the assault, the ministry said.

CHINA SAYS US STRIKES IN YEMEN 'UNLIKELY' TO REACH DESIRED GOALS: 'CONTRADICTORY AND IRRESPONSIBLE'

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed his condolences for the deaths of the Turkish soldiers on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"We will fight to the end against the PKK terrorist organization within and outside our borders," he wrote. Turkey often launches strikes against targets it believes to be affiliated with the PKK.

Previously, Turkish officials said PKK-affiliated militants tried to break into a Turkish base in northern Iraq three weeks ago. The attack left six Turkish soldiers dead. The following day, six more Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes.

The Turkish military responded to the attacks by launching airstrikes and land assaults that left dozens of Kurdish militants dead, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said at the time.

Tensions throughout the Middle East have escalated since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

China is pushing back on the United States and the multilateral coalition that are launching strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, suggesting such operations are further escalation from the Israel-Hamas war. He also said they were "unlikely" to achieve their desired outcome of preventing the rebel group from attacking maritime vessels in the Red Sea.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said Saturday that the two strikes in Yemen on Friday, Jan. 12, and Saturday, Jan. 13, were "regrettable" and only "causing infrastructure damage and civilian deaths." He also accused the U.S. of being "contradictory and irresponsible."

"It's regrettable to see some countries blatantly carry out military operations against Yemen, causing infrastructure damage and civilian deaths, as well as increasing security risks at Red Sea waters. This will not help protect the safety and navigation freedom of commercial ships. On the contrary, military operations will hinder political progress in Yemen," Zhang said. "It is highly unlikely that desired goals can be accomplished through such military measures."

He added: "The escalation of tensions in the Red Sea is one of the ripple effects stemming from the Palestine-Israel conflict. Hoping the conflict in Gaza will not spill over while passively indulging it to drag on is a naive illusion. It is contradictory and irresponsible to incite military confrontations and exacerbate tensions while simultaneously calling for an end to further spillover effects."

CENTCOM RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER LATEST HOUTHI ATTACK IN YEMEN: 'DESIGNED TO DEGRADE THE HOUTHI’S ABILITY'

Zhang’s remarks come after the U.S. launched a singular strike on Saturday, hitting a Houthi-controlled radar facility in Yemen.

U.S. Central Command said the "follow-on action" early Saturday was carried out by the Navy destroyer USS Carney, which used Tomahawk land attack missiles. It was the second strike in two days against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

IRAN, RUSSIA, SLAM US-UK JOINT STRIKES ON YEMEN’S HOUTHIS, WARN OF ‘INSTABILITY IN THE REGION’

"At 3:45 a.m. (Sana’a time) on Jan 13., U.S. forces conducted a strike against a Houthi radar site in Yemen," CENTCOM said on X.

On Friday, the U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — conducted "multilateral coalition strikes" in Yemen, using over 150 munitions to hit more than 60 targets.

Both strikes came in retaliation for dozens of Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea over recent months.

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.

U.S. Central Command said "follow-on action" early Saturday local time against a Houthi radar site was conducted by the Navy destroyer USS Carney using Tomahawk land attack missiles. It was the second strike in two days against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"At 3:45 a.m. (Sana’a time) on Jan 13., U.S. forces conducted a strike against a Houthi radar site in Yemen," CENTCOM said on X.

It added: "This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels."

The strike followed "multilateral coalition strikes" by the U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — which hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets on Friday, Jan. 12.

US CARRIES OUT ADDITIONAL STRIKE IN YEMEN, OFFICIAL SAYS

Friday’s early morning multilateral coalition strikes "targeted radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites for one way attack unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles," CENTCOM said on X.

Both the initial retaliation and Saturday’s singular strike on the radar facility came after Houthi rebels have launched missiles and carried out attacks over several months on commercial shipping and trade vessels in the Red Sea.

CENTCOM said the Houthi rebels have attacked or attempted to harass vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at least 28 times since Nov. 19, 2023.

CENTCOM RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER HOUTHI ATTACK IN YEMEN: 'ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS ACTIONS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED'

These attacks include the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles.

"These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden," the statement continued.

On Thursday, CENTCOM said dozens of countries have been impacted by the Houthi harassment.

"We hold the Houthi militants and their destabilizing Iranian sponsors responsible for the illegal, indiscriminate, and reckless attacks on international shipping that have impacted 55 nations so far, including endangering the lives of hundreds of mariners, including the United States," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander.

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"Their illegal and dangerous actions will not be tolerated, and they will be held accountable," Kurilla added.

President Biden has warned that the Houthis could face further strikes. 

Two U.S Navy sailors were reported missing while conducting operations Thursday off the coast of Somalia, the U.S. Central Command said.

Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing, the statement said.

Officials said that the two sailors were reported missing on Thursday evening.

The brief statement gave no additional information about what the pair had been doing when they went missing.

IRAN, RUSSIA SLAM US-UK JOINT STRIKES ON YEMEN’S HOUTHIS, WARN OF ‘INSTABILITY IN THE REGION’ 

CENTCOM said that the sailors were forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet (C5F) area of operations and supported a "wide variety of missions."

"Out of respect for the families affected, we will not release further information at this time," the statement said.

The U.S. has an estimated 450 military personnel in Somalia after President Biden reversed his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces. 

US CARROES OUT ADDITIONAL STRIKE IN YEMEN, OFFICIALS SAY

The U.S. provides military assistance in the East African country as it continues to battle, what the U.S. has called, "the largest and most deadly al-Qaida network in the world."

In 2022, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared "total war" on the thousands of al-Shabab extremists who for more than a decade have controlled parts of the country and carried out devastating attacks while exploiting clan divisions and extorting millions of dollars a year in their quest to impose an Islamic state.

The U.S. supports Somali forces and a multinational African Union force with drone strikes, intelligence and training.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The United States was carrying out an addition strike in Yemen early Saturday, Fox News has learned. 

The strike came after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis fired a ballistic missile into international shipping lanes Friday. The strike was launched towards a single target at a radar facility used by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, a U.S. official told Fox News. 

The second round of strikes occurred after the United States and Britain carried out a series of airstrikes on military locations belonging to Houthis in Yemen early Friday in response to the militant group's ongoing attacks on vessels traveling through the Red Sea. 

There were attacks on more than a dozen Houthi targets by air, surface, and subsurface platforms. The attacks were carried out with support from Australia, the Netherlands, Bahrain, and Canada. The United Kingdom contributed aircraft. 

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates. 

Police in Puerto Rico captured a rhesus macaque monkey on Friday that was being chased by a crowd of people at a public housing complex near the U.S. territory’s north coast.

The monkey was found injured and exhausted in the laundry room of an apartment within the Beautiful View complex in the coastal city of Arecibo, said Officer Joel Vidot Soto, who captured the animal.

"I rescue dogs and cats in general," he told The Associated Press, adding that it was his first time capturing a monkey.

FEDS INDICT 3 FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING ON PUERTO RICO WETLANDS

Vidot, who works at the animal welfare and protection police unit in Arecibo, said that he carries equipment in his patrol car to capture any type of animal, but that none of it was necessary on Friday.

"The monkey was being chased by some 25 people with cameras and video cameras," he said, adding that it was agitated but tired by the time he arrived.

Police shared pictures that show Vidot cradling the monkey, which had a catchpole around its neck for safety and was clutching the officer’s right hand as they emerged from the apartment.

Vidot said the monkey had an open wound on its back right paw that was still bleeding.

"That’s what has me a bit worried," he said, adding that he doesn’t differentiate between a monkey and other animals that he has previously rescued. "It’s still a life that must be protected, that must be cared for."

Vidot said that he took the injured monkey to the detention center of exotic animals run by Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources.

Rhesus macaques are native to south, central and southeast Asia, but they have been found across Puerto Rico, where they are believed to be descendants from escapees from research projects. It's rare to find them in urban areas.

One monkey in particular caught the attention of many after it was spotted in a eucalyptus tree along a busy street in the capital of San Juan in November 2021. The monkey vanished before officials were able to catch it.

Hundreds of rhesus monkeys also roam free on Cayo Santiago, a tiny island off Puerto Rico’s southeast coast that is home to a research field station.

Macaques are omnivores, live between 20 to 40 years in captivity and share more than 90% of their DNA sequence with humans.

Widespread floods in the Republic of Congo have pushed hundreds of thousands of people to be in urgent need of assistance, said the United Nations Friday.

Unusually heavy rainfall has caused nine of the countries 12 departments to be affected with floods damaging health facilities and schools and submerging farmland, said the World Health Organization in a statement. More than 330,000 people have been impacted.

WINTER STORM HAMMERS EAST COAST, LEAVES HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER

"WHO is committed to supporting the government to ramp up emergency response to save lives and ensure access to critical basic services," said Lucien Manga, a representative in the Republic of Congo for the organization.

The rainfall is twice the average of what was recorded between 2022 and 2023 and the floods have destroyed or damaged 34 health facilities, 120 schools and more than 64, 000 houses, it said.

The flooding occurred along Congo’s riverbanks around the Ubangi River with the United Nations warning it could lead to the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and impede access to healthcare.

River levels are at an all time high and it’s likely the waters will not recede in the immediate future, said government spokesman Thierry Moungalla. Since flooding began some two weeks ago it has killed at least 17 people, he said.

While flooding is not rare in Congo, residents in the capital, Brazzaville said they haven’t seen anything like this in decades.

"Not even the floods of 1961 were on the scale we’re seeing in Brazzaville today," said Antoine Okandza. The 78-year-old said his house was washed away by the water.

The government said it was giving more than $3 million to an emergency fund for disaster relief.