World News

France will soon deliver 78 howitzers to Ukraine to meet Kyiv's urgent needs, defense minister says

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 3:20 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France will soon be able to deliver 78 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine and will boost its supply of shells to meet Kyiv's urgent needs for ammunition to fight Russia's two-year invasion, the defense minister said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said at a news conference that an agreement was reached among France, Ukraine and Denmark to finance the Caesar self-propelled 155 mm howitzers, which will enable France to "quickly deliver" them.

KYIV ENDURES A THIRD BOMBARDMENT IN 5 DAYS AS RUSSIA STEPS UP TARGETING OF UKRAINIAN CITIES

France has also set a goal to deliver 80,000 shells for 155 mm guns to Ukraine this year — up from 30,000 delivered since the beginning of the war in February 2022, he said.

In addition, Lecornu said, France is participating in an effort to identify available stocks of powder and ammunition that could be bought from countries outside the European Union, a plan initiated by the Czech Republic to further support Kyiv.

Under the plan, the Czechs seek to obtain 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine. Czech leaders previously said the first shells should be delivered to Ukraine no later than June. At least 18 countries have joined the initiative, according to officials in Prague.

Earlier this month, Germany, France and Poland vowed to procure more weapons for Kyiv and step up production of military equipment, promising that Ukraine can rely on the trio of European powers as it tries to overcome a shortage of military resources.

Lecornu argued European countries should reduce their reliance on the U.S. to ensure the continent's security. He said he expects the issue to be a campaign topic ahead of June's European elections.

"We know that part of Europe's security agenda should from now on fall on Europeans," Lecornu said. "That's an absolute necessity."

"To me ... it's not right that the U.S. taxpayer should have to pay so much for the Europeans' security," he said.

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Lecornu's comments come as many in Europe have raised concerns that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House would weaken the NATO alliance, after his remarks threatening not to come to the defense of allies in the event of an attack by Russia.

Even if President Joe Biden stays in office, EU leaders worry that the long, slow U.S. pivot to Asia to focus on an ever-more assertive China will pick up speed and increasingly leave Europe to take care of its own security. U.S. efforts to get new funds to arm Ukraine have stalled in Congress.

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Farmers seal off streets, throw beets, spray manure at police in protest outside of European Union HQ

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 2:29 PM EDT

Farmers threw beets and sprayed manure at police on Tuesday as hundreds of tractors again sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the 27-member bloc.

The farmers are protesting what they see as excessive red tape and unfair trading practices as well as increased environmental measures and cheap imports from Ukraine. "Let us make a living from our profession," read one billboard on a tractor blocking a main thoroughfare littered with hay, potatoes, eggs and manure.

EU PLAN TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE IS SHELVED FOLLOWING FARMER PROTESTS ACROSS EUROPE

As the protests turned into violence, police used tear gas and water cannons to keep farmers and some 250 tractors at bay, even as the ministers met to push through measures meant to calm the crisis. Authorities asked commuters to stay out of Brussels and work from home as much as possible.

With protests taking place from Finland to Greece, Poland and Ireland, the farmers have already won concessions from EU and national authorities, from a loosening of controls on farms to a weakening of pesticide and environmental rules.

A major EU plan to better protect nature in the 27-nation bloc and fight climate change was indefinitely postponed Monday, underscoring how the protests have had a deep influence on politics.

"In order to have a strong Europe, there is a need for a strong agriculture. So we are here to remind them that their farmers should be a priority," said Belgian farmer Yolin Targé. "We have to deal with a lot of administrative tasks. We have to deal with a lot environmental restrictions. We are in favor of doing our best for the environment, but still, agriculture should be a priority."

EU member states on Tuesday gave their provisional blessing to proposals that amount to weakening or cutting rules in areas like crop rotation, soil cover protection and tillage methods. Small farmers, representing about two-thirds of the workforce and the most active in the protest movement, will be exempt from some controls and penalties.

The EU parliament is expected to decide on the proposals in late April.

Environmentalists and climate activists say the change in EU policies under the pressure of farmers is regrettable. They say the short-term concessions will come to haunt the bloc in a generation when climate change will hit the continent even harder.

Politically, the bloc has moved to the right over the past year. The plight of farmers has become a rallying cry for populists and conservatives who claim EU climate and farm policies are little more than bureaucratic bungling from elitist politicians who have lost any feeling for soil and land.

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Airstrikes in Syria kill an Iranian adviser and a member of a World Health Organization team

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 1:59 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — A series of airstrikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday killed more than a dozen people, including an Iranian military adviser and a team member working for the World Health Organization, officials and reports said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrikes in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.

UN APPEALS FOR $4 BILLION IN AID AS SYRIAN HUMANITARIAN CRISIS DEEPENS

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes killed 15 people including an Iranian adviser with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, two of his bodyguards as well as nine Iraqi fighters from an Iran-backed group and two Syrians working with the Iranians. It added that a Syrian engineer was also killed.

Iran’s state news agency confirmed that a Revolutionary Guard member was killed in Syria.

Dama Post, a pro-government media outlet in Syria, said the strikes targeted the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour that carries the same name, and the towns of Mayadeen and Boukamal. It said 20 people, including women and children, were among the dead.

The World Health Organization said one of its team members, engineer Emad Shehab, was killed in one of the strikes that hit his building. It said Shehab, 42, served as a WHO focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the province since 2022.

There was no claim of responsibility for the strikes. Israel frequently launches strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria but rarely acknowledges them.

In neighboring Lebanon, state-run National News Agency reported an Israeli airstrike on the northeastern village of Zboud in the region of Hermel. It said the strike hit a mountainous area, without giving details or whether there were casualties.

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel’s air force struck a military complex used by Hezbollah’s aerial unit in Zboud. He said the strike hit several buildings and an airstrip.

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Adraee said that strike was in retaliation for Hezbollah firing rockets at Mount Meron air traffic control base in northern Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah said its fighters fired missiles toward the base in Mount Meron in retaliation for an airstrike on east Lebanon on Sunday that killed a Syrian citizen. Later in the day, Hezbollah said it fired more than 50 rockets on an Israeli command center in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the strike on Zboud.

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Nigeria sentences Chinese national to death for girlfriend's murder

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 1:56 PM EDT

A Nigerian court on Tuesday sentenced a Chinese national to death after finding him guilty of killing his girlfriend, a government official told The Associated Press, vowing to recommend execution if he unsuccessfully appeals the ruling.

Frank Geng-Quangrong was convicted by a local court in northern Nigeria’s economic hub of Kano state, Kano Justice Commissioner Haruna Dederi said. Geng-Quangrong had pleaded not guilty.

"This is a signal that whoever is coming to a society should be prepared to comply with the extant laws of that society," Dederi said.

MORE THAN 130 ABDUCTED SCHOOLCHILDREN IN NIGERIA ARE RETURNING HOME AFTER WEEKS IN CAPTIVITY

Death sentences for capital offenses are common in Nigeria and sometimes involve foreigners. A Danish man in 2022 was sentenced to die by hanging for killing his wife and daughter.

However, executions rarely occur as they require approvals by state governors. Only two warrants for death sentences have been signed since 1999, according to Inibehe Effiong, a Nigerian human rights lawyer.

Geng-Quangrong was accused of stabbing his girlfriend, 22-year-old Ummukulsum Sani, in September 2022 at a Kano residence. Local media quoted him as saying he stabbed her in self-defense.

He has up to three months to appeal his sentence at Nigeria’s Court of Appeal.

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British court rules Julian Assange extradition on pause until US guarantees no death penalty: report

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 1:29 PM EDT

A British court on Tuesday ruled that the U.S. cannot extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges unless American officials assure that he will not face the death penalty for his alleged crimes. 

"If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing," Judge Victoria Sharp said. "If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal."

Judges Sharp and Jeremy Johnson argued that the U.S. must afford Assange, a 52-year-old Australian national, "the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed." 

The judges rejected most of Assange’s appeals – six of nine he lodged, including allegations that his prosecution is political. The judges dismissed his claim, saying that while he "acted out of political conviction… it does not follow, however, that the request for his extradition is made on account of his political views." 

CONGRESSMAN EVACUATES 10 AMERICANS FROM CRIME-RAVAGED HAITI, SLAMS BIDEN FOR ‘PATTERN OF ABANDONMENT’

"Extradition would result in him being lawfully in the custody of the United States authorities, and the reasons (if they can be called that) for rendition or kidnap or assassination then fall away," the ruling said, also avoiding concerns about an alleged CIA plot to kidnap or kill Assange while he remained hunkered down in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange faces 17 counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public, as well as one charge alleging conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. If extradited, Assange would stand trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could face up to 175 years in a maximum security prison if convicted. 

The charges were brought by the Trump administration's Justice Department over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

CHINESE GOVERNMENT-LINKED HACKERS ALLEGEDLY TARGETED NEW ZEALAND IN 2021, SECURITY MINISTER SAYS

The information detailed alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, as well as instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition.

The Obama administration in 2013 decided not to indict Assange over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of classified cables because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the same materials.

President Obama also commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses to seven years in January 2017, and Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year.

But the Justice Department under President Trump later moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and the Biden administration has continued to pursue his prosecution.

JAPAN'S CABINET APPROVES PLAN TO DEVELOP, SELL NEXT-GENERATION FIGHTER

A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions. Higher courts overturned that decision after getting assurances from the U.S. about his treatment.

No publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act until Assange, and many press freedom groups have said his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent intended to criminalize journalism.

Stella Assange, wife of Julian, called her husband a "political prisoner" and demanded the Biden administration to outright drop the "shameful" case against him.

"This case will determine if he lives or dies, essentially," she told the BBC. 

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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US and Cyprus to formalize collaboration against financial crimes

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 12:12 PM EDT

The United States and Cyprus said Tuesday they’re formalizing their collaboration in fighting money laundering, sanctions evasion and other financial crimes with an agreement offering Cypriot law enforcement authorities U.S. expertise.

CYPRUS FREEZES $1.3B IN RUSSIAN-OWNED ASSETS

The FBI and Cypriot police will sign an agreement in the coming days that includes the U.S. Department of Justice offering help to "proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases involving financial crimes" in Cyprus, according to a joint statement.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides last year invited FBI and Justice Department officials to assist with investigations into allegations that Cypriot financial service providers had helped Russian oligarchs skirt international sanctions.

Although Cyprus has insisted it has abided by international sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has targeted several Cypriot-based companies, lawyers and accountants for allegedly assisting in dodging the sanctions.

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Austrian police criticized after accepting gifts from Russian Embassy on country's election day

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 11:57 AM EDT

Austrian police officers who provided security around the Russian Embassy on the day of that country's presidential election were given small presents as they left, Vienna police said Tuesday. Police were told to reject such gifts in the future.

Receiving the gifts from the Russians — paper bags containing low-value items such as calendars and boxes of chocolates — didn't constitute misconduct under the service law for Austrian civil servants, the Vienna police department said in an email responding to questions about local media's reporting on the issue.

But it "leaves an unwanted impression that does not do justice to the professional approach of the officers at the scene," the department added. This, it said, was pointed out to officers and they were instructed to "reject in a friendly but firm way such courtesies, even if only of a low value, in the future."

AUSTRIA ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO EU MEMBERSHIP FOR UKRAINE WEEKS AFTER PUTIN MEETING

Russians living abroad stood in line to vote at Russian embassies and consulates in several European cities on March 17, the last day of the highly orchestrated presidential election that gave Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

A few days earlier, the Austrian government had announced that it was ordering two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Vienna to leave the country, and an official said the expulsions were related to spying activities.

Vienna police were posted to protect the embassy on March 17. The police department said that officers were in contact with embassy employees and occasionally entered the building.

The Austria Press Agency reported that, after the last voters left the embassy that evening, at least six officers from the police and another department followed, at least three of them carrying gift bags with a Russian emblem. According to the report, one officer said police went in and out of the building to use the toilets.

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Bulgarian authorities seize $6.8M worth of cocaine hidden in banana shipment from Ecuador

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 11:29 AM EDT

Bulgarian customs officials confiscated about 370 pounds of cocaine from a ship transporting bananas from Ecuador, prosecutors said Tuesday.

District prosecutor Georgi Chinev said the drugs were hidden in a fruit container on the cargo ship Madison 2, which also made a stopover in Malta. He valued the cocaine at $6.8 million.

According to the head of the customs agency, Petya Bankova, it was the largest drug seizure at the port of Burgas.

AUTHORITIES ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVER SUBMARINE CONTAINING 4 TONS OF COCAINE WHILE SEARCHING FOR MISSING FISHERMAN

She said the drugs were stashed in 150 packages hidden behind a factory-made wall in one of the fruit containers. The ship left the port after unloading the cargo, Bankova said.

An investigation has been launched into the intended recipients of the cocaine, who could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted on drug trafficking charges.

Bulgaria, which has taken steps in recent years against drug trafficking, is considered a transit point for cocaine from Latin America on the smuggling route to Western Europe.

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Hong Kong prisoners jailed for national security crimes unlikely to get early release, leader says

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 11:27 AM EDT

Hong Kong's leader said Tuesday that prisoners convicted for serious national security crimes would not likely be granted early release under the tightened rules of a new national security law, signaling a hardening government stance against jailed political activists.

Chief Executive John Lee said the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance stipulates that people found guilty of endangering national security must not be granted remission unless the commissioner of correctional services believes the move would not be a national security risk. This also applies to inmates who received sentences before the new law was introduced last Saturday, Lee said.

Previously, inmates could have their prison sentences reduced by up to one-third for good conduct under the city’s prison rules, provided they were serving terms longer than one month.

HONG KONG LAWMAKERS UNANIMOUSLY PASS CONTROVERSIAL SECURITY LAW, GRANTING GOVERNMENT POWER TO CURB DISSENT

At a weekly press briefing, Lee urged residents not to defy the law.

"We need to make sure everyone understands that if someone was convicted of serious national security offenses, normally there would not be remission of sentence," he said.

Lee's comments came after local media, including the South China Morning Post, reported that the early release of activist Ma Chun-man, which had been scheduled for Monday, was blocked under the new national security law. The remission had been granted due to his good conduct and the blockage was the first of its kind, according to the reports, which cited unnamed sources.

Ma's friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of government retribution, told The Associated Press that the release date of Ma had been pushed back due to the new law.

The revised practice is expected to affect other activists who are jailed or undergoing trials under a similar sweeping security law imposed by Beijing four years ago to quell massive anti-government protests in 2019.

Ma was serving a five-year term for inciting secession under the 2020 security law. He was convicted in 2021 for repeatedly advocating for Hong Kong's independence.

At the press briefing, Lee did not confirm Ma's case when asked about it but said the commissioner handles cases in accordance with the law. He said anyone who disagrees with the commissioner's handling of a case can seek to resolve the matter through legal means.

In an emailed response to the AP, the correctional services department refused to comment on individual cases. But it said the commissioner would consider all relevant factors, including inmates' statements, on a case-by-case basis to ensure all cases are handled fairly.

The new national security law was unanimously passed in an expedited legislative process last week, deepening worries over a further erosion of the city's freedoms. Western governments, including the United States, have criticized the legislation.

As of Tuesday, authorities have not announced any arrests under the new law, which they say balances security with safeguarding rights and freedoms. They also say the legislation was needed to keep the city safe against "potential sabotage" and "undercurrents that try to create troubles."

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India's police detain dozens of protesters demanding release of opposition leader

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 10:43 AM EDT

Indian police detained dozens of opposition protesters Tuesday to stop them from marching to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to demand the release of their leader and top elected official of New Delhi arrested last week in a bribery case.

Nearly 300 supporters of Arvind Kejriwal gathered at India’s Parliament House to begin their march. Policemen, some in riot gear, surrounded the protesters and detained some.

"Long Live Kejriwal" protesters chanted while being dragged and bundled into buses and driven away by the police. They are likely to be released later in the day.

SUPPORTERS OF INDIA'S OPPOSITION LEADER FLOCK TO CAPITAL IN PROTEST OF HIS ARREST

"This is a dictatorship. If someone is doing good for the public of Delhi, why arrest such a person?" Rubina Parveen, a protester, told The Associated Press. "Our voices are muzzled. The public is very angry ... If a good leader is sent to jail, then what will happen to the common public? she said.

Authorities have since banned the assembly of four or more people in the area that houses almost all key government buildings.

Kejriwal, one of the country’s most consequential politicians of the past decade and a top rival of Modi's, was arrested on March 21. He and his Aaam Admi Party, or Common Man’s Party, are accused of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.

The party denied the accusations, saying they are fabricated by the federal agency, controlled by Modi’s government.

Kejriwal’s AAP is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA, the main challenger to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the coming election.

Hundreds of Kejriwal’s supporters have been holding protests since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, the federal agency that probes economic offenses.

Kejriwal was taken into custody for seven days following a court order on Friday. His party said he would remain Delhi’s chief minister as it takes the case to court.

The federal agency accused Kejriwal of being the "kingpin and key conspirator" in the liquor bribery case. Kejriwal has refuted the allegations and accused the directorate of "manipulating investigative agencies for political motives".

In the lead-up to the general election, starting April 19, India’s opposition parties have accused the government of misusing its power to harass and weaken its political opponents, pointing to a spree of raids, arrests and corruption investigations against key opposition figures.

Meanwhile, some probes against former opposition leaders who later defected to Modi’s BJP have been dropped.

BJP denies targeting the opposition and says law enforcement agencies act independently.

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Taliban vows to publicly stone women to death in direct message to Western democracies

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 10:40 AM EDT

In a direct message to Western democracies, the Taliban’s supreme leader over the weekend said his government would officially re-implement the practice of stoning women to death for adultery.

"You say it’s a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death," Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada said in a voice message aired on Taliban-controlled state media, according to a translation by The Telegraph.

"But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery," he said. "We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public."

LIFE UNDER TALIBAN RULE ONE YEAR LATER: WOMEN AND GIRLS STRUGGLE UNDER OPPRESSIVE POLICIES

The comments are the strongest confirmation of the Taliban’s intent to re-implement the harsh policies from its previous rule in the 1990s, though reports have shown that it never fully ceased its extreme abuse against women, including in a deadly 2015 video that depicted a 19-year-old woman crammed into a hole surrounded by men who threw stones at her head with increasing force. 

The execution was reportedly carried out after the woman allegedly had premarital sex with her fiancé, who in turn received lashes, reported Radio Free Europe. 

Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 capital punishments and public executions have resumed, though it is unclear if any women have yet to be stoned under the new Taliban-run state. 

According to a U.N. report in May 2023, 175 individuals had been sentenced to various punishments and 37 people had been sentenced to stoning. Over 100 people had been sentenced to "crimes against God" such as lashings, while another four had been sentenced to having walls knocked down on them.

IN THE ROOM WITH THE TALIBAN: WORDS FROM ONE OF THE ONLY FEMALE REPORTERS LEFT IN AFGHANISTAN

It is unclear how many of those sentenced are women or when the punishments will be carried out. 

The United Nations and the international community have repeatedly called on the Taliban to respect human rights, particularly women’s rights, which have been stripped since the terrorist group’s takeover. 

Akhundzada responded to international condemnation over the weekend and said, "These are all against your democracy, but we will continue doing it. We both say we defend human rights – we do it as God’s representative and you as the devil’s."

The mullah said women’s rights were against the Taliban’s extreme interpretation of Islam.

"Do women want the rights that Westerners are talking about? They are against sharia and clerics’ opinions, the clerics who toppled Western democracy," he said.

Akhundzada vowed to continue opposing democratic values and women’s rights.

"I told the Mujahedin that we tell the Westerners that we fought against you for 20 years and we will fight 20 and even more years against you," he said. "It did not finish [when you left]. It does not mean we would now just sit and drink tea. We will bring sharia to this land."

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7 soldiers in Chad killed in explosion blamed on Boko Haram extremists

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 10:20 AM EDT

An explosive device detonated and killed seven soldiers in Chad during a patrol in the country's west near Lake Chad, the government says.

The interim president, Mahamat Deby Itno, announced the deaths Monday on social media. Chadian authorities said they suspected Boko Haram extremists from Nigeria were behind the attack, renewing concerns about an escalation of violence near the border.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education and seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria's northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad. More than 36,000 people have been killed, mainly in Nigeria, according to the United Nations.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS LOOMS IN CHAD AS REFUGEE CAMPS FACE FUNDING SHORTFALL

Violence has returned to the Lake Chad area after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques and churches have reopened and humanitarian organizations have returned.

But there are concerns that a Boko Haram resurgence in Chad could affect the presidential election in May.

Deby Itno seized power after his father, who ran the country for more than three decades, was killed fighting rebels in 2021. The election is part of the country's political transition.

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Israeli delegation leaves Qatar negotiations after Hamas rejects latest hostage release proposal

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 9:39 AM EDT

An Israeli delegation departed negotiation talks in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after Hamas yet again rejected terms for a hostage release deal.

While Israel says some of its delegates remain in Doha, the majority of its officials have left the negotiations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office condemned Hamas in a Tuesday statement, saying the terrorist organization was making unrealistic demands.

"Hamas's position clearly proves that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal and is an unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council's decision," Netanyahu's office said.

"Hamas once again rejected any American compromise proposal and reiterated its extreme demands: an immediate end to the war, a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, and remaining in power so that it could repeat the massacre of October 7 again and again, as it had promised to do," the statement continued.

ISRAEL LAUDS CONGRESS' BLOW TO UN AGENCY WITH ALLEGED HAMAS TIES AS INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE

"Israel will not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas. It will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: to release all the abductees, to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," it added.

WHY MIDEAST NEIGHBORS WON'T OFFER REFUGE TO PALESTINIANS STUCK IN GAZA WAR ZONE

The development comes as Israel appears poised to launch an invasion of Rafah, a Gaza city bordering Egypt that serves both as a refugee camp and Hamas' final foothold in the region.

The plans have been a point of major friction between Netanyahu and President Biden's administration, which has repeatedly warned that an invasion would be a "huge mistake."

SCHUMER'S ANTI-NETANYAHU SPEECH STRENGTHENS BIBI IN ISRAEL'S WAR TO DEFEAT HAMAS

The Biden administration chose not to block a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza on Monday. That led Netanyahu to also cancel an Israeli delegation's trip to Washington. The visit was intended to determine whether a compromise could be reached regarding Rafah.

Netanyahu has vowed that the offensive will take place with or without U.S. support, arguing it is necessary for the goal of fully dismantling Hamas.

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Japan's Cabinet approves plan to develop, sell next-generation fighter

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 9:21 AM EDT

Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security.

The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow co-produced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

JAPAN'S PM OFFERED TO MEET WITH KIM JONG UN 'AS SOON AS POSSIBLE,' NORTH KOREA SAYS

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the changes are necessary given Japan's security environment, but stressed that Japan's pacifist principles remain unchanged.

"In order to achieve a fighter aircraft that meets the necessary performance and to avoid jeopardizing the defense of Japan, it is necessary to transfer finished products from Japan to countries other than partner countries," Hayashi told reporters, adding that Tokyo will follow a strict approval process for jet sales. "We have clearly demonstrated that we will continue to adhere to our basic philosophy as a peaceful nation," he said.

Japan has long restricted arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, but has rapidly taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions, especially from nearby China.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it coproduces to other countries for the first time.

Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.

Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. for deployment in 2035. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program or GCAP, is based in the U.K.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer advanced capabilities Japan needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

Because of its wartime past as aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense. The country long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Opponents have criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without providing an explanation to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars.

The government also assured that the revised guideline for the time being only applies to the jet and that it would require Cabinet approval to do so. Potential purchasers will be also limited to the 15 countries that Japan has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals with.

Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.

In 2014, Japan began to export some nonlethal military supplies, and in a latest move last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sales of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take on a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Exports would also help boost Japan’s defense industry, which historically has catered only to the country’s Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Despite its effort over the past decade, the industry has still struggled to draw customers.

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Chinese government-linked hackers allegedly targeted New Zealand in 2021, security minister says

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 9:13 AM EDT

Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealand's Parliament in 2021, the country's security minister said Tuesday.

New Zealand's allegation comes a day after American and British authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations and pro-democracy activists, as well as the U.K.’s election watchdog.

"The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable," Judith Collins, the defense minister responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, said in a statement.

CHINESE HACKERS HAD ACCESS TO US INFRASTRUCTURE FOR 'AT LEAST 5 YEARS' BEFORE DISCOVERY

Collins said the agency had also established links between a state-sponsored entity linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary entities in New Zealand.

The bureau's National Cyber Security Centre "completed a robust technical assessment" following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC (China) state-sponsored group known as APT40," Collins said.

"Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organizations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network," she added.

Collins said New Zealand will not follow the U.S. and U.K. in sanctioning China because New Zealand does not have a law allowing such penalties, nor were there plans to introduce legislation.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed New Zealand’s concerns had been conveyed to Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong.

"Foreign interference of this nature is unacceptable, and we have urged China to refrain from such activity in future," Peters said in a statement Tuesday. "New Zealand will continue to speak out — consistently and predictably — where we see concerning behaviors like this."

Peters met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on March 18, and said the countries share a "significant and complex relationship."

"We cooperate with China in some areas for mutual benefit," he said. "At the same time, we have also been consistent and clear that we will speak out on issues of concern."

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian dismissed the allegations as "typical political manipulation" concocted by the U.S. and U.K., with whom it is in conflict over issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and a wide range of trade disputes.

"For some time, the U.S., for geopolitical purposes, has encouraged the Five Eyes Alliance, the world’s largest intelligence organization dominated by the U.S., to fabricate and disseminate all kinds of disinformation about threats posed by Chinese hackers," Lin said at a daily briefing Tuesday, citing the alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and U.S. to collect and share sensitive information.

Categories: World News

Multiple obstacles impede the UN's goal to triple renewable energy by 2030

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 9:12 AM EDT

The world's governments have agreed they want to triple renewable energy by 2030, a goal laid out at the U.N. climate summit in December.

But right now, the post-pandemic global economy is throwing up obstacles that will need to be overcome if the goal is going to be met.

Here are the big hurdles to solar, wind and other renewable energy projects:

EU PLAN TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE IS SHELVED FOLLOWING FARMER PROTESTS ACROSS EUROPE

Central banks in Europe and the U.S. have raised interest rates to combat inflation. That hits renewables harder than it does investment in fossil fuel projects.

Renewables have much higher up-front costs to build wind farms, solar arrays and more, and that borrowing costs money. After that, operating costs are negligible since the wind and sun are free, of course — but high interest rates have made it harder to get new projects off the ground.

In many cases, the answer is raising the agreed price of the electricity flowing to the grid to cover the added costs.

Everything costs more these days — not just food and rent, but the electric cables, power turbines, construction materials and services needed to build wind or solar installations. One exception: solar panels have plunged in price due to massive Chinese production.

Order backlogs and supply delays are growing because there are shortages of skilled engineers, raw materials and a lack of manufacturing capacity for complex machinery needed for renewable energy projects.

An order for a new wind turbine or a transformer to connect to the grid can take months or longer to arrive than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

So-called NIMBY syndrome remains an issue in many places. Germany's southern region of Bavaria, for example, is known for resisting the noise and appearance of wind turbines in its scenic landscape.

Installations have lagged in Bavaria and other regions despite the German government's push for more renewable energy after losing affordable Russian natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories.

Low-income countries have long faced much higher borrowing costs than the richer parts of the globe because government subsidies or other credit guarantees are uncertain.

The result is that the same solar park if built today costs twice as much in Ghana as it would in the U.S. because of interest rates alone, according to Todd Moss, a former State Department official who heads the Energy for Growth Hub in Washington.

Categories: World News

More than 63,000 migrants have died or gone missing since 2014, UN agency reports

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

More than a decade ago, the death of 600 migrants and refugees in two Mediterranean shipwrecks near Italian shores shocked the world and prompted the U.N. migration agency to start recording the number of people who died or went missing as they fled conflict, persecution or poverty to other countries.

Governments around the world have repeatedly pledged to save migrants' lives and fight smugglers while tightening borders. Yet 10 years on, a report by the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project published Tuesday shows the world is no safer for people on the move.

On the contrary, migrant deaths have soared.

MORE THAN 8,500 MIGRANTS DIED WORLDWIDE IN 2023, UN AGENCY REPORTS

Since tracking began in 2014, more than 63,000 have died or are missing and presumed dead, according to the Missing Migrants Project, with 2023 the deadliest year yet.

"The figures are quite alarming," Jorge Galindo, a spokesperson at IOM's Global Data Institute, told The Associated Press. "We see that 10 years on, people continue to lose their lives in search of a better one."

The report says the deaths are "likely only a fraction of the actual number of lives lost worldwide" because of the difficulty in obtaining and verifying information. For example, on the Atlantic route from Africa's west coast to Spain's Canary Islands, entire boats have reportedly vanished in what are known as "invisible shipwrecks." Similarly, countless deaths in the Sahara desert are believed to go unreported.

Even when deaths are recorded, more than two-thirds of the victims remain unidentified. That can be due to lack of information and resources, or simply because identifying dead migrants is not considered a priority.

3 KILLED, SEVERAL MISSING AFTER INCIDENT INVOLVING MIGRANT BOAT OFF SOUTHEASTERN SPAIN

Experts have called the growing number of unidentified migrants around the world a crisis comparable to mass casualties seen in wartime.

Behind each nameless death is a family facing "the psychological, social, economic and legal impacts of unresolved disappearances," a painful phenomenon known as "ambiguous loss," the report says.

"Governments need to work together with civil society to make sure that the families that are left behind, not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones, can have better access to the remains of people who have died," Galindo said.

Of the victims whose nationalities were known to IOM, one in three died while fleeing countries in conflict.

Nearly 60% of the deaths recorded by the IOM in the last decade were related to drowning. The Mediterranean Sea is the world's largest migrant grave with more than 28,000 deaths recorded in the last decade. Thousands of drownings have also been recorded on the U.S.-Mexico border, in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Aden and increasingly in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea where desperate Rohingya refugees are embarking on overcrowded boats.

"Search and rescue capacities to assist migrants at sea must be strengthened, in line with international law and the principle of humanity," the report says.

Currently on the Mediterranean "the large majority of search and rescue is done by nongovernmental organizations," Galindo said.

When the Missing Migrants Project began in 2014, European sentiment was more sympathetic to the plight of migrants, and the Italian government had launched "Mare Nostrum," a major search-and-rescue mission that saved thousands of lives.

But the solidarity didn't last, and European search and rescue missions were progressively cut back after fears that they would encourage smugglers to launch even more people on cheaper and deadlier boats. That's when NGOs stepped in.

Their help has not always been welcomed. In Italy and Greece, they have faced increasing bureaucratic and legal obstacles.

Following the 2015-2016 migration crisis, the European Union began outsourcing border control and sea rescues to North African countries to "save lives" while also keeping migrants from reaching European shores.

The controversial partnerships have been criticized by human rights advocates, particularly the one with Libya. EU-trained and funded Libyan coast guards have been linked to human traffickers exploiting migrants who are intercepted and brought back to squalid detention centers. A U.N.-backed group of experts has found that the abuses committed against migrants on the Mediterranean and in Libya may amount to crimes against humanity.

Despite the rise of border walls and heightened surveillance worldwide, smugglers always seem to find lucrative alternatives, leading migrants and refugees on longer and more perilous routes.

"There’s an absence of safe migration options," Galindo said. "And this needs to change."

Categories: World News

6 killed, including 5 Chinese nationals, in northwest Pakistan suicide attack, police say

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 8:54 AM EDT

A suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle Tuesday, killing five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver, police and government officials said.

The attack happened in Shangla, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police chief Bakhat Zahir said. He added that the five killed were construction workers and engineers heading to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province borders Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks there in recent years.

2 CHILDREN DEAD AFTER IRAN BOMBS PAKISTANI SITES IT CLAIMS WERE MILITANT OUTPOSTS

Authorities said the bodies were transported to a nearby hospital, and that security forces started a massive search in the area to look for accomplices. Police also launched an investigation into the attack.

Tuesday’s attack came less than a week after Pakistani security forces killed eight Baluchistan Liberation Army militants who opened fire on a convoy carrying Chinese citizens outside the Chinese-funded Gwadar port in the volatile southwestern Baluchistan province.

The BLA wants independence from the central government in Islamabad.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday and offered condolences to the families of the deceased. He wrote: "The enemy has targeted Chinese citizens who are the friends of Pakistan," without elaborating who he was referring to. He also vowed to "deal with an iron hand" those responsible, and expressed hope the attack wouldn't negatively impact Pakistani-Chinese relations.

Naqvi also visited China's embassy in the capital, Islamabad, where he briefed the Chinese ambassador, Jiang Zaidong, about the attack, promising a full investigation, according to the ministry of interior.

Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Shangla on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which includes a multitude of mega projects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.

The CPEC, also known as the One Road Project, is a lifeline for Pakistan’s cash-strapped government, currently facing one of the worst economic crises. It is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global endeavor aimed at reconstituting the Silk Road and linking China to all corners of Asia.

Chinese laborers working on CPEC-related projects in Pakistan have come under attack in recent years.

In July 2021, at least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a bus carrying several Chinese and Pakistani engineers and laborers, prompting the Chinese companies to suspend work at the time.

Since then, Pakistan has beefed up security on CPEC-related projects.

Categories: World News

Malaysia convenience store owners charged over allegedly offensive socks that angered Muslims

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 7:43 AM EDT

The owners of a Malaysian convenience store chain and one of its suppliers were charged Tuesday with offending the religious feelings of Muslims after socks printed with the word "Allah" were found for sale on its shelves.

Chai Kee Kan, founder and chairman of the KK Mart Group, the country's second-large chain of convenience stores, and his wife Loh Siew Mui, a company director, pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberately wounding the religious feelings of Muslims. The company has blamed its supplier for sending products the company had not agreed to stock.

Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where Muslims account for two-thirds of a population of 34 million, with large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. Allah is an Arabic word for God, and many Malaysian Muslims found it offensive to associate the word with feet.

TEACHERS STAGE WALKOUT AFTER MUSLIM STUDENTS ‘OFFENDED’ OVER RENAISSANCE PAINTING SPARK SAFETY CONCERNS

"The word ‘Allah’ is highly esteemed in the eyes of Muslims," Minister for Religious Affairs Mohamad Na’im Mokhtar was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency earlier this month. "Allah is our creator and the act of putting Allah at our feet is an insult."

Alwani Ghazali, a senior Islamic lecturer at Malaya University, told radio station BFM that it's demeaning because feet are associated with a "lowly status."

"Socks stink, do you agree? Are you happy to smell your socks after using them all day?" she said. "As a Muslim, I think it’s inappropriate and (the issue) is a big deal."

The founder of the supplier that provided the socks, Xin Jian Chang, as well as his wife and daughter who are directors were also charged with abetting the offence. Xin Jian Chang has said the socks were imported from China as part of a large shipment and apologized for being careless in their inspection.

If found guilty, all five defendants face up to a year in jail, a fine or both.

KK Mart is a major 24-hour chain, with 810 stores domestically and some 5,000 employees. It also has outlets in Nepal and India. Chai has said the socks were put on its shelves by Xin Jian Chang, which rented shelf space in its outlets. Only 14 pairs of "Allah" socks were found on the shelves at three KK Mart outlets, he added.

KK Mart has sued Xin Jian Chang for "sabotage" over losses and damage to the chain's reputation, reportedly claiming that it didn't agree to stock socks from the supplier.

But a Malay political party in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition has called repeatedly for a boycott of KK Mart, while Malaysia's new king, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, has called for stern action over the issue, warning that it could disrupt racial harmony. Two people deemed to have made insensitive comments online over the issue have also been charged, sentenced to jail and fined for insulting Islam.

Anwar has called for firm action but also urged the public not to make too much of the issue and to move on.

KK Mart has also reportedly said it had to cancel a planned listing on the Malaysian bourse due to the crisis.

Categories: World News

Russia again extends detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after a year behind bars

Fox World News - Mar 26, 2024 6:36 AM EDT

A Russian court on Tuesday again extended the detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was arrested a year ago on what the U.S. decries as bogus espionage charges. 

Moscow court officials said Gershkovich will remain in custody until at least June 30. The 32-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested and detained on March 29, 2023 while on a reporting trip and has been behind bars ever since.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Categories: World News

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