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The U.S. provided assurances requested by the British High Court in London that could allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges.

The High Court ruled last month that if the U.S. failed to provide assurances, Assange would be allowed to make an appeal challenging his extradition over WikiLeaks' publication of classified U.S. military documents 14 years ago.

Lawyers for the U.S. were asked to provide assurances that Assange could seek a First Amendment right to free speech during a trial in the U.S. and that the Australian publisher would not face new charges which could result in him being sentenced to the death penalty. 

These guarantees were submitted by Tuesday's deadline, setting up a May 20 hearing in front of the British court to determine if Assange can be extradited. If the court rules in favor of extradition, Assange's only remaining option would be at the European Court of Human Rights.

BRITISH COURT RULES JULIAN ASSANGE EXTRADITION ON PAUSE UNTIL US GUARANTEES NO DEATH PENALTY

According to the document filed by the U.S., Assange, 52, "will have the ability to raise and seek to rely upon at trial the rights and protections given under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States." But, the document admits, a decision on the "applicability of the First Amendment is exclusively within the purview of the U.S. courts."

The document, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital, also alleges that the death penalty will not be sought or imposed.

"These assurances are binding on any and all present or subsequent individuals to whom authority has been delegated to decide the matters," the document read.

Lawyers for Assange have previously described any assurances as meaningless, saying they do not believe they can rely on those guarantees if their client does face extradition.

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

A U.K. district court judge had 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.

BIDEN CONSIDERS AUSTRALIA'S PLEA TO DROP PROSECUTION OF WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE

Assange's family said they do not feel any comfort after learning of the U.S. assurances on Tuesday, with his wife Stella saying in a statement that the U.S. has limited itself to "blatant weasel words" and that the "diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future — his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism."

Gabriel Shipton, Assange's brother, told Fox News Digital: "This diplomatic note is another grim milestone in the persecution of Julian Assange."

"We are now counting down to May 20th when the UK courts will decide whether this political note from the U.S. embassy in London is enough to order Julian’s extradition," Shipton said.

The assurances come after U.S. President Biden said last week he is considering a request from Australia to drop the charges against Assange.

"With President Biden last week saying he is considering Australia’s request to have the charges dropped, it’s time to shut this prosecution down and let Julian be reunited with his family," Shipton said.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment to Fox News Digital about the guarantees.

Last month, when the British court asked the U.S. to provide assurances, it rejected most of Assange’s appeals — six of nine he lodged, including allegations of a political prosecution and concerns about an alleged CIA plot under the Trump administration to kidnap or kill Assange while he remained hunkered down in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange has been held at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped.

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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.

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.

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.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The artist representing Israel at this year's Venice Biennale in Italy, along with its curators, said Tuesday they will not open the Israeli pavilion until a cease-fire and hostage deal are reached in Israel’s months-long war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  

A sign on the window of the Israeli pavilion posted Tuesday and written in English reads: "The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a cease-fire and hostage release agreement is reached."

In a statement, artist Ruth Patir, said she and the curators wanted to show solidarity with the families of the hostages "and the large community in Israel who is calling for change."

"As an artist and educator, I firmly object to cultural boycott, but I have a significant difficulty in presenting a project that speaks about the vulnerability of life in a time of unfathomed disregard for it," Patir said in the statement.

JEWISH ORGANIZATION LEADER SAYS ISRAEL WILL BE PROTECTED BY GOD, DESPITE ATTACKS BY IRAN OR ITS PROXIES

Israel is among 88 national participants in the 60th Venice Biennale, which runs from April 20-Nov. 24. The Israeli pavilion was built in 1952 as a permanent representation of Israel inside the Giardini, the original venue of the world's oldest contemporary art show and the site of 29 national pavilions. Other nations show in the nearby Arsenale or at venues throughout the city.

But even before the statement, curators and critics had signed an open letter calling on the Biennale to exclude the Israeli national pavilion from this year's show to protest Israel's war in Gaza. Those opposed to Israel's presence had also vowed to protest on-site.

Italy's culture minister had firmly backed Israel's participation, and the fair was opening amid unusually heightened security.

The national pavilions at Venice are independent of the main show, and each nation decides its own show, which may or may not play into the curator's vision. Patir’s Israeli exhibit was titled "(M)otherland." 

The curators of the Israeli pavilion, Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit, said they were delaying the opening of the exhibit because of the "horrific war that is raging in Gaza," but that they hoped the conditions would change, so the exhibit could open for public view.

"There is no end in sight, only the promise of more pain, loss, and devastation. The exhibition is up and the pavilion is waiting to be opened," they said. For now, a video work made by Patir can be seen through the pavilion window.

The (M)otherland exhibit was set to run from Saturday, April 20, through Sunday, November 24. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, lashed out at the country’s feuding parties and their foreign backers at a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday and then confirmed he had submitted his resignation.

The former Senegalese minister and U.N. diplomat, who has held the job for 18 months, said he had done his best to get the five key political actors in Libya to resolve contested issues over electoral laws and form a unified government to lead the country to long-delayed elections.

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But Bathily said his attempts "were met with stubborn resistance, unreasonable expectations and indifference to the interests of the Libyan people." And he warned that these entrenched positions, reinforced by "a divided regional and global landscape," may push Libya and the region to further instability and insecurity.

The U.N. envoy, clearly frustrated, also warned that oil-rich Libya "has become the playground for fierce rivalry among regional and international actors motivated by geopolitical, political and economic interests as well as competition extending beyond Libya and related to its neighborhood." And he accused these actors of undermining U.N. efforts.

Bathily did not inform the Security Council either at the open meeting or the closed session that followed that he had submitted his resignation, council diplomats said. But afterward, in response to a question from a reporter, he said, "Yes, I did tender my resignation to the secretary-general," he said, without giving any reasons.

Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.

The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on Dec. 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah — who led a transitional government in the capital of Tripoli — to step down.

In response, Libya’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, but suspended him in May 2023. The powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter continues to hold sway in the east.

For years, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia backed Hifter while the Tripoli-based militaries enjoyed the support of Turkey, Qatar and Italy, especially during Hifter’s unsuccessful offensive to take the capital in 2019.

Libya’s strategic location on the Mediterranean, and the political chaos, have made the country a major route for African migrants trying to get to Europe and human smugglers. The Islamic State and other extremist groups also exploited the chaos and while some are in prison in Libya they remain a threat, especially from its restive western and southern borders where these groups have gained support.

Over the last month, Bathily said, the situation in Libya has deteriorated as a result of two major factors.

The first is "the lack of political will and good faith by the major Libyan actors who are comfortable with the current stalemate, which has been going on in Libya since 2011," he said.

The second is the ongoing scramble for Libya’s territory that has made it a battleground for different foreign actors and Libyan armed groups, he said.

Bathily pointed to initiatives in recent months, whose objective, even if not declared, is "to disrupt the U.N.-led process" to form a unified government.

He singled out a meeting in Cairo on March 10 where three key political players reportedly reached an agreement that the U.N. was not part of, and that wasn’t supported by the other parties that were not invited.

"Unilateral, parallel and uncoordinated initiatives contribute to unnecessary complications and to the consolidation of the status quo," he said, and as long as these continue "there is no way we can move forward."

Bathily stressed that "the unity of the international community is key to resolving the Libya crisis."

He said the Security Council, which authorized the 2011 NATO intervention, must demonstrate unity and "compel" Libyan and regional "stakeholders" to back the U.N.’s efforts to unite Libya through a political dialogue.

The Security Council also has "a moral responsibility" to end the crisis by telling everybody – the "so-called national leaders" in power today and their foreign backers – to let the Libyan people have the opportunity to chart a new course through elections and rebuild the country, Bathily said.

Libya is the richest country in the region and has the resources to be prosperous, stable and peaceful – without regional or international intervention, he said.

Bathily also stressed that peace and stability in Libya is critical for the stability of neighboring western Sahel and the wider region.

"More than ever, the renewed and coordinated commitment among regional and international actors is imperative," he told the council.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of his country’s embassy and consulates in Ecuador on Tuesday in solidarity with Mexico in its protest over a raid by Ecuadorian authorities on the Mexican embassy in Quito.

Venezuela also "fully supports" Mexico's request to have the United Nations suspend Ecuador from the world body, Maduro said during a virtual meeting of the leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa ordered authorities to raid the Mexican diplomatic outpost April 5 to arrest the country's former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who was holed up at the embassy since December. Mexico granted him asylum hours before the raid.

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The extraordinarily unusual use of force drew immediate condemnation from governments around the world, because diplomatic premises are considered foreign soil and "inviolable" under the Vienna treaties.

Noboa has said he authorized the raid "to protect national security." He argued that Glas was wanted for his criminal convictions for corruption and not political reasons, and accused Mexico of violating the Vienna treaties by granting asylum to someone convicted of "very serious crimes."

Mexico immediately expressed its outrage over the raid, severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador and recalled its diplomatic mission.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday before the meeting of the regional body that Mexico wants Ecuador’s temporary expulsion from the United Nations until it apologizes and admits that it violated Mexico’s sovereignty in the embassy raid.

"It was a very serious affair," López Obrador said.

Mexico had hoped to use the CELAC meeting to rally a unified front to advance its case both at the U.N. and before the International Court of Justice.

Maduro said he has ordered all diplomatic personnel back to Venezuela "until international law is expressly restored in Ecuador."

"Venezuela fully supports Mexico’s proposal to expel Ecuador from the United Nations organization until it apologizes to the international community and restores the situation to its original legal status," Maduro said.

Maduro said that Glas, who is now being held at a maximum-security prison in the port city of Guayaquil, "must be returned to the Mexican embassy and have his political asylum recognized."

Noboa drew additional criticism Tuesday for not appearing at the virtual gathering of regional leaders. He posted an Instagram video promoting improvements to law enforcement infrastructure and another one announcing an emergency declaration covering the country's electricity sector amid hours-long power outages in Quito.

"He should have shown up and assumed responsibility for himself in front of Ecuador, in front of Latin America, in front of the Caribbean, in front of the world and he has not shown his face," Maduro said. "I can say from Venezuela that he has gone into hiding and the people of Ecuador should know it."

Mexico’s embassy in Quito appeared already closed Tuesday afternoon. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Venezuela’s announcement.

Under Maduro’s 11-year presidency, more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their home country, and most have settled elsewhere in Latin America and in the Caribbean. Ecuador has the sixth largest concentration of Venezuelan migrants.

Ecuadorian officials and nongovernmental organizations that assist migrants estimate that 475,000 Venezuelans live in Ecuador. Of those more than 231,000 live permanently and legally there, according to Ecuador’s 2023 census.

An Algerian journalist was expelled from the country after flying in from France and not being allowed to leave the airport as journalists continue to face challenges reporting in Algeria.

Farid Alilat, a writer for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique, wrote on Facebook that he spent 11 hours in police custody on Saturday at the airport before being boarded onto a plane and sent to France, where he has a residency permit.

Alilat said he regularly takes flights from Paris to Algiers to report on Algeria, where he has for years been a well-known journalist due to his work for French-language daily newspapers including Liberté, which was shuttered in 2022 amid financial problems and scuffles with the government and Algeria's state-owned oil company, both of which are major advertisers for the country's newspapers.

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In a lengthy post in which he wrote of his deportation as if he were reporting on it, Alilat alleged that police officers on the tarmac in Algiers told him that they were acting on orders "from above."

He said he was interrogated about his travels, who he has met with and about Jeune Afrique, which Algerian authorities believe favors their neighbor and regional rival, Morocco.

"I completely understand that my articles are a source of irritation. I am a free journalist. I cover the news of my country as a free and independent journalist," Alilat wrote, noting that he was not given any verbal or written explanation for his expulsion.

He wrote that he had never previously heard of any issues from law enforcement or the courts in Algeria regarding his articles, including during a reporting trip in December 2023.

In a statement posted on X, Reporters Without Borders called Alilat's expulsion "an unacceptable obstacle to press freedom."

Few Algerian media outlets reported on Alilat's expulsion and few politicians commented on it. Former Communications Minister Abdelaziz Rahabi called it "a measure from another era that serves neither the people nor the government."

"No one can be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter their own country," he wrote on Facebook.

The episode is the latest instance of Algeria's government restricting journalists from reporting in Algeria and comes while high-profile journalists, including editors Ihsane El Kadi and Mustapha Benjama remain in prison on charges related to using foreign funds to finance journalism and disrupting public order.

The government, however, has also resumed granting authorizations to journalists starting new media outlets or television shows and last year passed a law enshrining new protections for journalists.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador on Tuesday began to ration electricity in the country's main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power.

The power cuts were announced on Monday night by the ministry of energy, which said in a statement that it would review its decision on Wednesday night.

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"We urge Ecuadorians to cut their electricity consumption in this critical week," the statement read. "And consider that each kilowatt and each drop of water that are not consumed will help us face this reality."

The power cuts in Ecuador come days after dry weather forced Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá to ration water as its reservoirs reached record lows, threatening local supplies of tap water.

Precipitation has diminished in Ecuador and Colombia this year due to warming temperatures in the south Pacific Ocean, which can cause floods along South America’s west coast but can also generate intense droughts in the Andean valleys, where many of Ecuador’s and Colombia’s main cities are located.

In Colombia, where hydroelectric plants are also struggling, officials said on Tuesday that they are considering awarding tax credits to companies that reduce their electricity consumption.

During the first week of April Colombia suspended electricity exports to Ecuador in an attempt to save energy for domestic needs. Colombia gets around 70% of its electricity from hydroelectric plants.

On Tuesday newspapers around Ecuador published schedules for power cuts in cities that included Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil, where most homes and many businesses were left without power for three hours.

Ecuador had also experienced power cuts, related to droughts in October, January and February.

Karen Verduga, the owner of a restaurant with six employees in Quito, said that she was afraid some of her frozen meats and vegetables would decompose if the current round of power cuts continues.

She said that her workers could not use blenders to make soups and sauces. Instead they were preparing food manually for several hours. "We’ve been forced to do things the old fashioned way," Verduga said.

Some merchants said the power cuts provided them with opportunities.

Oriannis Arcano, a saleswoman at a small candle shop, said that the blackouts have helped to boost her sales. Yet, she said the blackouts presented problems for her business because "most people want to pay with cards" that don’t work when there’s no electricity.

During an event in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, President Daniel Noboa said that some power plants in the country had been "sabotaged" by his political rivals. Ecuador is set to hold a referendum Sunday where some of Noboa's security policies will be voted on, including a proposal to legalize the extradition of drug traffickers and other dangerous criminals.

Noboa did not provide any evidence of the alleged acts of sabotage, but said investigations will be launched. He also wrote a message on X, formerly Twitter, asking Ecuador’s energy minister to resign.

"Threats to our country require strong decisions," Noboa wrote in the message where he also said that the nation's government will subsidize electricity bills in April. "The people of Ecuador cannot pay for the corruption and inefficiency of a few miserable" officials.

Brazilian police investigating the grim discovery of a boat full of corpses say the dead were likely African migrants from Mali and Mauritania.

Fishermen off Brazil's northern coastal state of Pará found the boat adrift Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil's Federal police said in a statement late Monday it had recovered nine dead in total.

"Documents and objects found near the bodies indicate that the victims were migrants from the African continent, from the region of Mauritania and Mali," the statement read. Police added that other nationalities could be among the deceased.

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The roughly 39-foot-long white and blue canoe-shaped boat found in Brazil shares the same characteristics of Mauritanian fishing pirogues frequently used by West African migrants and refugees fleeing to Spain’s Canary Islands, suggesting Brazil was probably not their destination.

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the European Union territory is one of the most dangerous in the world. Boats that miss their destination can be swept away by Atlantic trade winds and currents from east to west, drifting for months. Migrants aboard often die of dehydration and malnutrition. Others have also been known to jump into the ocean out of desperation.

An Associated Press investigation published last year revealed that in 2021, at least seven boats from northwest Africa had been found in the Caribbean and Brazil, all carrying dead bodies.

A 500% spike in migration from the northwest coast of Africa to Spain this year has alarmed European authorities. Despite a 210 million euro deal signed in February between the European Union and Mauritania, the majority of departures have taken place from the West African nation.

While more than 13,000 migrants have reached the Canaries so far in 2024, according to Spain's interior ministry, hundreds others have been reported missing. In Mauritania, families have even set up a "national commission" charged with looking for the disappeared migrants. They have been following news of the boat found in Brazil anxiously, according to families who contacted AP.

Brazilian federal police say they are still working to identify the bodies and the cause of death, a difficult task given the advanced state of decomposition they were found in.

Residents of a small Russian city were startled after a small river suddenly turned bright green recently, according to local reports. 

Locals are calling for tests amid toxic pollution fears in the waterway in Penza, located 400 miles southeast of Moscow. 

"A poisonous green creek on Gagarin Street worries residents of Penza," the Mash media outlet reported. "The local administration is already studying the liquid."

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Footage shows bright-green water flowing amid a snow-covered landscape. 

The river was hit by a sewage overflow in 2020, but the water never turned green, the news outlet said. 

The All-Russia People's Front, a political coalition started in 2011 by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has been looking for violators of environmental regulations, the report said. 

The likely cause was an "accident," Mash reported. The Moskovsky Komsomolets media outlet reported that the cause of the sudden coloration was due to "industrial dumping."

Penza is home to 17 manufacturing plants, including some that make items for the nuclear power industry, radio and communications equipment, and automated management systems.

"The reason for such metamorphoses is not some amazing spring phenomenon in which water takes on different colors, but industrial waste dumped into the city’s reservoirs," a local report said. 

No further details on the green waste were disclosed.

Days after hundreds of missiles and drones were launched at Israel, members of the Jewish community are speaking out, saying Iranian leaders are cowards who hide behind proxies, adding that "almighty God" will protect those who live in the Holy Land.

Iran’s brazen and unprecedented attack on Israel late Saturday involved drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Only seven ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, causing minor damage to an air base. Israeli and U.S. forces shot down the rest with help from British, French and Jordanian forces.

Aish CEO Rabbi Steven Burg spoke with Fox News Digital about Iran’s attack.

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"Iran attacked. Iran has been attacking the Western world and Israel for so long, from so many places," the former New York native said. "They just use proxies, because frankly, they’re cowards. And I think for them to kind of come out from behind the rock and throw all those missiles at Israel, I think people were a little surprised…but I think it’s a paper tiger. I think what turned out is they don’t quite have the ability that everyone thought they had."

Aish HaTorah, according to the organization’s website, was started in Jerusalem in 1974, with a goal to provide outreach to and revitalize the Jewish people by giving them an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Burg spoke from Israel's capital city, Jerusalem, on Monday. As the only democracy in the region, he said, there are a "tremendous" number of shared values between Israel and the United States.

On the flip side, the U.S. and other allies told Israel not to retaliate, which Burg said is tough, because if any of those countries were to get attacked, he did not believe they would react the same way.

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"To say that, ‘OK, you know, you took a shot in the chin. Just be thankful that you didn’t hit the canvas,’ I think Israel probably will have to hit back at some point, and then I think there’s a real question of who our real allies are going to be in the long term," Burg said. "There's no doubt that Israel must respond, because that's the way it works in the Middle East. You know, when they hit you, and you don't hit back, they just think they can keep bullying you and keep doing this. So there have to be consequences."

In order to hit back, he explained, Israel will likely be smart about it and not be pushed into anything.

"They’re going to do it at their own time," he said.

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Jews have been bullied and attacked throughout history. Aside from Iran's attack over the weekend, Israel was attacked by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, while also sparking an anti-Israel movement at U.S. universities, targeting Jewish students.

Burg said he thinks one of the things that disappointed Israel and the Jewish community as a whole is what is going on across campuses in the U.S.

As a New Yorker, Burg said he remembers when al Qaeda terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11, an attack led by Osama bin Laden that killed thousands of Americans.

Now, more than 20 years later, Burg said he sees a concerning trend of videos on TikTok glorifying bin Laden.

"We’re watching these protests, we’re watching the campuses, saying it’s really time for the average American who loves freedom, who loves his country, to stand up, because when they talk about, you know, death to Israel, they’re really saying death to America, death to, really, western values," Burg said, adding it was time to start saying America and Israel are great countries, and that democracy is a great way to live. "We have to stand for freedom, and I think that’s so important, for all of us to be together and to really make sure that society as a whole, continues in a free and thriving way."

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The people in Israel could easily live in fear, especially after the Oct. 7 attacks became the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

Burg said the attack "was big," adding that over a thousand civilians were killed while many others were kidnapped.

The situation created a lot of nervousness among its citizens, as well as a lot of tension.

But what the attack also did was bring the country together, he said, creating a sense of need to get the people who were kidnapped back to Israel.

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"I think at this point, there’s such resiliency to understand that this is good versus evil," Burg said. "I think there’s an understanding that this is the right fight."

There is also an understanding that Israel will not be surprised again, he said, and the people of Israel know how to hit back.

"This is the Holy Land. There is a certain sense and a certain deep, deep belief in God, that God is there to protect us and help us on our journey," Burg added. "We’ve been picked on and bullied. It’s just our story."

Despite these attacks, people in Israel are preparing to celebrate Passover to honor the story of Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt.

"We get together to talk about how, over 3,000 years ago in Egypt, we were enslaved. We were forced to build the pyramids. And then God sent Moses to save us and bring us out of slavery," Burg said. "If anything, the Passover holiday is about good triumphing over evil.

"We have an understanding that as long as we're moral, just ethical, as long as we move forward in the right way, then we're going to thrive. And all those nations throughout the years that, you know, tortured us and beat us up, they're all gone. And yet we're still here in our homeland that we've been in for 3500 years," he added. "So, I think that there's a really uplifting of spirit and soul, with this holiday and, I think if anything, we're just going to come out stronger."

Ultimately, the message Burg sent was that countries can continue to attack Jews, no matter where they are, God will protect them.

Iran’s government, he said, is not the government the people of Iran want — they want freedom.

Burg continued to say people in Iran want to express themselves as they have been oppressed for so long.

"We have to take a really strong stand, and hope and give a little push, and watch this government fall, and watch the beautiful people of Iran take over and create peace with the rest of the world," he said.

A United Nations-backed gathering raised pledges of almost $630 million for Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis on Tuesday but fell short of the $1 billion sought to help feed and support millions of people facing conflict and climate change in Africa's second most populous country.

The United States, Ethiopia's leading humanitarian donor, warned that its resources are "increasingly stretched." The U.K., the second-largest donor, said Ethiopia risks being "overshadowed by other humanitarian crises globally."

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Donors also called on the Ethiopian government to ensure aid is delivered without interference and reaches those in need. Last year, the U.S Agency for International Development for months suspended all food aid to Ethiopia after an internal investigation found donated food intended for millions of hungry people was being diverted on a "widespread" scale.

Ethiopia faces a number of conflicts. The two-year conflict in the northern Tigray region, which ended with a peace deal in November 2022, left most of the region's population of 6 million relying on humanitarian help.

Donors urged Ethiopia to ensure the full implementation of the peace agreement and peacefully resolve ongoing conflicts in its Amhara and Oromia regions.

The U.S. noted the killing of nine aid workers in the Amhara region since April of last year and urged the Ethiopian government do more to protect them.

Humanitarian organizations said low funding had forced most of them to scale down life-saving operations.

"The pledges you have made here today will prove essential to support the chronically underfunded humanitarian system," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

A leading Republican senator is demanding the U.S. cancel the visa reportedly given to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian to attend a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting this week after Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend. 

"As the host country of the United Nations, the United States has historically granted visas to diplomats from both allies and adversaries: However, the United States holds the authority to deny visas to diplomats for security, terrorism, or foreign policy reasons," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., wrote in a letter submitted to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

"I strongly believe that denying Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian’s entry to the United States is necessary and consistent with the precedent set by President Obama and President Trump," Lankford stressed.

"Not only does Amirabdollahian have irrefutable ties to Hamas terrorists who are currently holding 133 hostages, including five Americans, but Iran’s irresponsible strikes and continued threats have jeopardized Israel’s security," he wrote. "I urge the administration to take swift action and deny Amirabdollahian’s entry to the United States."

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Lankford noted that this week marks the anniversary of Hezbollah's bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon - which killed 63 people, including 52 Lebanese and American Embassy employees - saying, "Hosting a senior member of the IRGC on the 41st anniversary of Hezbollah’s terrorist attack would be an insult to the victims and their families."

A U.N. diplomatic source confirmed to Fox News Digital that the Iranian foreign minister would attend the meeting, even as the State Department and United Nations continued to dodge questions about his visa.

"Visa records are confidential as a matter of law," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a briefing on Tuesday, saying he could not speak to any individual cases. 

"We do take our obligation as the host nation of the United Nations quite seriously, and that includes allowing diplomats from other countries – even countries with whom we have significant disagreements – to attend U.N. meetings and U.N. functions," Miller said.

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Miller noted the U.S. does "have the ability to restrict and, in fact, severely restrict the movements of certain diplomats while they’re in New York for legitimate U.N. meetings."

"Should the foreign minister of Iran attend this meeting at the United Nations, I would not expect to see him at very many locations outside the United Nations," Miller added. He clarified that the foreign minister is not in the U.S. yet, and he said he could not speak to what restrictions Amirabdollahian would face during his potential visit. 

"I would not expect to see him snapping selfies from the top of the Empire State Building, should he travel to New York to attend this meeting," Miller quipped, dodging more specific questions. 

Miller called Iran’s attack a "clearly escalatory" action that requires consistent efforts to reduce tensions in the region and "maintain as much calm as possible." 

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Iran on Saturday night launched hundreds of drones and a mixture of cruise and ballistic missiles in retaliation for strike against its diplomatic mission in Damascus, or, as some reports have stated, an IRGC compound next to the mission. Israel never took credit for the strike, but other countries, including the United States, attributed the attack to the Jewish state. 

Arabian Peninsula news outlet Amwaj Media first reported on Amirabdollahian’s plan to travel New York City for the Apr. 18 U.N. Security Council meeting, which will focus on Palestinians. The report also claimed that Tehran may agree to pull back from further action if Washington can broker a ceasefire deal for Gaza. 

The State Department, in a separate response to Fox News Digital, reiterated the U.S. obligations under the U.N. Headquarters agreement but noted it did so "irrespective of our continued concerns about Iran’s destabilizing activities and support for terrorism." 

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, told Fox News Digital that "it is important that all member states be able to have a place to meet and discuss global problems."

"The Secretary-General does not have the authority to regulate which individuals are chosen by member states," Dujarric added. "That being said, the Secretary-General has been extremely clear in his condemnation of the Iranian missile strikes against Israel."

The Iranian Mission to the United Nations did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. 

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in India killed at least 29 suspected Maoist rebels in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, authorities said, three days ahead of the start of a national election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term.

According to a statement, police launched a raid after a tipoff about the presence of Maoists in the Kanker district. Three members of the security forces were wounded in the gunfight, after which police seized several weapons.

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Indian soldiers have been battling Maoist rebels across several central and northern states since 1967, when the militants — also known as Naxalites — began fighting to demand more jobs, land and wealth from natural resources for the country’s poor indigenous communities.

Indian government says the insurgents, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, pose the country’s most serious internal security threat.

The rebels are active in several parts of India, especially in Chhattisgarh, one of the country's poorest states despite its vast mineral wealth, and often attack government troops and officials.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah vowed to eliminate insurgency from the state and described it as the "biggest enemy of development, peace and bright future of youth."

"We are determined to free the country from the scourge of Naxalism," Shah wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian police shut down a gathering of far-right politicians and supporters on Tuesday, citing concerns about public order, while attendees protested curbs on free speech and vowed to find another venue for Day 2.

The annual National Conservative conference, held this year in Brussels, comes ahead of Europe-wide elections. As campaigning for the June 6-9 event heats up, mainstream parties fear that disenchanted voters might turn to the people at NatCon 2024.

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"This is what we’re up against. We’re up against a new form of evil ideology," Nigel Farage, the man credited with taking Britain out of the European Union, told the gathering of a few hundred stridently nationalist and fundamentalist Christian politicians and think-tankers.

Anti-migrant sentiment featured in a number of speeches. Some targeted what they saw as the follies of climate policy, "narco-socialism" or "woke indoctrination," often with sharp opposition to multinational organizations like the EU.

Lashing out at the bloc’s treaties, and the pledge in the preamble of the founding EU texts to an "ever-closer Union" among the 27 member countries, Polish lawmaker Ryszard Legutko said it all makes "medieval monks look almost like intellectual anarchists."

Surveys suggest that mainstream political parties are likely to retain power after the June elections, but quite possibly with a reduced majority.

Belgian police quietly shut down the conference by barring attendees from re-entering the venue if they dared to leave. A dozen or so officers blocked the main entrance. It was the third venue for the gathering after the owners of two other locations shied away when anti-fascist protesters vowed to disrupt proceedings.

This year’s NatCon, organized by the conservative U.S. think tank the Edmund Burke Foundation, was held under the banner of "National Conservatism, Preserving the Nation-State in Europe."

French far-right figurehead Eric Zemmour was scheduled to criticize the EU’s new migrant and asylum rules but was turned away by police. Suella Braverman, who served as U.K. home secretary for just over a month in 2022 before being fired, railed for 27 minutes against the European Court of Human Rights.

Politicians and former leaders from Spain, Poland and the Netherlands were also on the agenda. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was due to speak on Wednesday.

"I guess they couldn’t take free speech any longer," Orban posted on the social media platform X. "The last time they wanted to silence me with the police was when the Communists set them on me in ’88. We didn’t give up then and we will not give up this time either!"

Speakers summoned the grand ideas of figures like the Pope, Homer, Dostoyevsky, Leo Strauss, Tocqueville and Gramsci. English was the common language, spattered with classical Latin. Modern liberal democracy was likened to a form of "neo-Marxist authoritarianism."

Mostly though, those who could speak before the gathering was shut down for the day focused on their "enemies" among the mainstream political parties.

"We have to know our enemies are in panic and they show it every day," said EU lawmaker Hermann Tertsch, from Spain’s far-right Vox party. "The enemy knows their time is running out."

As Brussels police warned that the conference's time was limited, too, Edmund Burke Foundation Chairman Yoram Hazony invited participants to stay as long as they dared.

"The new democracy works in mysterious ways. Your goal as someone in the new democracy is to prevent the other guy from speaking," Hazony said.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s highest criminal court reported a new development Thursday in the elusive quest for justice in the deadliest attack in the country's history — the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center headquarters — concluding Iran had planned the attack and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group had executed the plans.

In a ruling obtained by The Associated Press, Argentina’s Court of Cassation deemed Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, responsible for the bombing in Buenos Aires that leveled the community center, killing 85 people, wounding 300 and devastating Latin America's biggest Jewish community. The court said the attack came in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal with Tehran.

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Alleging Iran’s "political and strategic" role in the bombing, the Argentine court paved the way for victims' families to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. In the past three decades, Iran has not turned over citizens convicted in Argentina. Interpol red notices to law enforcement agencies around the world have led nowhere.

"The significance of these grave human rights violations for the international community as a whole invokes a state’s duty to provide judicial protection," the ruling said, declaring the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association community center a "crime against humanity."

The court decision came as no shock. Argentina’s judiciary has long maintained Iran was behind the attack, chilling relations between the countries — particularly after the collapse of a joint investigation. Iran has denied involvement. A spokesperson for Hezbollah, Israel’s archenemy on its northern border, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What some said they found shocking, rather, was the court’s failure to provide concrete evidence of Iran’s direct involvement or shed new light on the case after 30 years of setbacks and scandals.

"I would never rule Iran out, it’s certainly on the list of suspects, but let’s do something specific to rule it in," said Joe Goldman, who co-authored a book about the winding investigations into the Jewish community center attack as well as bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed more than 20 people in 1992. "That would be a serious investigation that we haven't seen."

The court singled out top Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with nuclear technology in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions were based on confidential intelligence reports.

In light of the court ruling, Israel asked Argentina to declare the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Friday that he reached out to his counterpart in Argentina, Diana Mondino, to deliver the request. The two spoke late Thursday, Katz said.

Past inquiries into the bombings have turned up indictments, not just against Iranian officials but also two former Argentine presidents. In 2015, the chief prosecutor in the case was mysteriously found dead in his bathroom the day before he was to go public with claims that top Argentine officials had conspired with Iran to cover up responsibility for the bombing. Over the years, witnesses have been threatened and bribed.

On Thursday, the Court of Cassation reduced by two years the six-year sentence of an Argentine judge accused of paying a witness $400,000, and upheld other sentences against former prosecutors.

Thursday’s ruling comes just months ahead of the event’s 30th anniversary. Even as the case has stalled for years, Argentine authorities have timed big announcements to coincide with anniversaries of the bloody attack. When marking 25 years since the attack, Argentina designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and froze the group’s financial assets.

Representatives from Argentina’s Jewish community, home to some 230,000 Jews, praised Thursday’s court ruling as "historic, unique in Argentina."

"It’s politically opportune," added Jorge Knoblovits, the president of Argentina’s umbrella Jewish organization, pointing to renewed scrutiny of Iran’s support for militant groups following Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

But for the relatives of those killed in the bombings, the ruling was just a grim reminder of their anguish as the case remains open.

"We hope one day complete justice and truth will come," said Memoria Activa, an association of families of victims of the attack. "And that these judges will stop profiting from our dead."

At least eight people from one family have died after their homemade boat sank in central Mozambique, state media reported Tuesday.

Monday's sinking on a tributary of the Zambezi River in Sofala province came days after nearly 100 people, many of them children, died in one of the country’s worst shipwrecks.

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State-run Radio Mozambique said two people survived Tuesday and two were missing, citing Nobre dos Santos, administrator of the district where the latest sinking occurred.

The southern African country’s public broadcaster attributed the accident to "excess weight and bad weather."

Many areas of Mozambique, a gas-rich country that is among the world’s poorest nations, are accessible only by boats, which are often overcrowded.

President Filipe Nyusi last week declared three days of mourning after the April 8 disaster, when a ferry overcrowded with residents reportedly fleeing a feared cholera outbreak capsized off Mozambique's northern coast, killing at least 98 people.

A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire from the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables.

Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said it was "touching" to see how many people lent their hand "to save art treasures and iconic images from the burning building." One man jumped off his bicycle on his way to work to help in the effort.

Brian Mikkelsen, chief of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which is headquartered in the Old Stock Exchange, and his staff were seen scrolling through a binder with photos of paintings to be saved. They were carried to the nearby parliament and Danish National Archives, around the corner from the burning building.

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"We have been able to rescue a lot," a visibly moved Mikkelsen told reporters. "It is a national disaster."

He also took part in saving paintings and other valuables from the flames, and said they had to use tools including a crowbar to remove them.

The fire began Tuesday morning in the copper roof of the Old Stock Exchange, or Boersen, and spread to much of the building and the roof, parts of which also collapsed, and destroyed the building's interior, said firefighter spokesman Jakob Vedsted Andersen.

"The fire is still not under control," Vedsted Andersen said, adding that half the building was destroyed and collapsed. He said that there was no risk of the blaze spreading to other buildings. Firefighters said they expect to be at the scene for the next 24 hours.

Tommy Laursen of the Copenhagen police said it was too early to say what caused the fire and that they would be able to enter the building in "a few days."

Firefighters who reportedly pumped water from the nearby canal were seen spraying water through the doorway of the Old Stock Exchange’s gilded hall that is used for gala dinners, conferences, parties and other events and where many of the paintings hung.

The building, which is situated next to the Christiansborg Palace where the parliament sits, is a popular tourist attraction and has been photographed millions of times. Its distinctive spire, in the shape of the tails of four dragons twined together, reached a height of 184 feet.

Huge billows of smoke rose over downtown Copenhagen and people were seen rushing inside the building to save paintings. The plume could be seen from southern Sweden, which is separated by a narrow waterway.

Ambulances were at the scene but there were no reports of casualties. A spokesman for the company working on renovating the building said the carpenters who worked on the roof had all come out.

Up to 90 members of an army unit were also deployed from a nearby base to cordon off the area and "secure valuables," Denmark's armed forces said.

King Frederik wrote on Instagram that "they woke up to a sad sight" of "an important part of our architectural heritage" being destroyed by the flames.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen wrote that "irreplaceable cultural heritage" and "a piece of Danish history is on fire."

"It hurts to see," Frederiksen wrote on Instagram.

The building and the spire had been encased in scaffolding, which later collapsed in the fire. The roof, masonry, sandstone and spire of Boersen — built in 1615 and considered a leading example of Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark — was being renovated, said the Chamber of Commerce, which moved into the building after Copenhagen's stock exchange left in 1974. The chamber owns the building.

The adjacent Christiansborg Palace has burned down on several occasions, and most recently in 1990 a fire broke out in an annex of the Danish parliament, known as Proviantgaarden. However, the Old Stock Exchange survived unscathed.

That annex, which lies in the block behind the Old Stock Exchange, was evacuated as a precaution, as were different ministries in the street behind the burning building.

Police said on the social media platform X that a main road in Copenhagen was closed and people should expect the area to be cordoned off for some time. Several bus lines were rerouted and Danish media reported huge traffic jams in the surrounding area.

Queen Margrethe, who turned 84 Tuesday, toned down the celebrations because of the fire, broadcaster TV2 said. A band with the Royal Life Guard was to play for the former monarch outside the Fredensborg Castle, where she is staying for the spring and summer, but that had been canceled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin joined international calls for cool heads in the Middle East as tensions remain high following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend. 

"Vladimir Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region," the Kremlin said in a readout of a call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, according to a translation by The Moscow Times.  

"Ebrahim Raisi noted that Iran's actions were forced and limited in nature: At the same time, he stressed Tehran's disinterest in further escalation of tensions," the Kremlin added. "Both sides stated that the root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict." 

"In this regard, the principled approaches of Russia and Iran in favor of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, easing the difficult humanitarian situation, and creating conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis were confirmed," the Kremlin concluded, adding that the call discussed "in detail" the airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus.

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On Saturday night, Iran launched hundreds of drones and a mixture of cruise and ballistic missiles in retaliation for strikes against its diplomatic mission, or, as other reports claim, an adjoining Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound in Damascus. 

The strike killed seven IRGC members, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior commander of the forces since the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

Israel never took credit for the strike, but other countries, including the United States, attributed the attack to the Jewish state. 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly wanted to retaliate directly, but he changed his plans after President Biden told him to "take the win" and stressed the U.S. would not support any direct response to Iran’s strike. Instead, Israel struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon. 

However, Israel continued to stress a desire and intent to retaliate against Iran, with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant telling U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday that Israel had no choice but to respond. 

The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi added on Monday that "Israel is considering next steps" and that "the launch of so many missiles and drones to Israeli territory will be answered with retaliation," Axios reported. 

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The insistence on retaliation, despite pressure from Israel’s closest and arguably most vital ally to do otherwise, continues to worry the international community. 

"The Middle East is on the brink," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told a Security Council meeting called on Sunday in response to the strikes. "The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate." 

Biden has continued to increase his pursuit of a ceasefire deal, telling Iraq’s prime minister that the U.S. is "committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent the conflict from spreading beyond what it already has."

"The United States is committed to Israel’s security," the president said, according to a readout of the phone call. White House national security communications spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the president is "certainly not looking for a war with Iran, and I am confident that Prime Minister Netanyahu is aware of the president’s concerns." 

Reuters contributed to this report.

The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds.

But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000.

Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ambitions amid ongoing security threats. Then, on March 24, France raised its security readiness to the highest level after a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

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French President Emmanuel Macron says the ceremony could be shifted instead to the national stadium at Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.

Security and transportation are the biggest concerns heading into the Paris Games, which run from July 26-Aug. 11.

Here is an overview of preparations:

The Olympic Village and the bio-based Aquatics Centre are in proximity to Stade de France. The 5,000-seat aquatics venue made predominantly of wood connects to the national stadium via a footbridge.

While the village and the aquatics center in the poor, run-down area both leave a legacy for the future, the Games are steeped in history across the 35 venues.

Equestrian riders will gallop on the grounds of the royal Palace of Versailles, where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette once held lavish banquets.

B-boys and B-girls cutting improbable shapes, BMX freestylers launching into gravity-defying moves, skaters flipping boards and 3-on-3 basketball players facing off will provide a youthful vibe at an urban park at Place de la Concorde, a prominent location in France’s gory past.

It is where Louis XVI died by guillotine in 1793 and where French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre met the same fate a year later. It's also been home to the Luxor Obelisk for nearly 200 years.

The Grand Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900, hosts fencing and taekwondo, while the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in the northwest suburb of Colombes is another link to the past: It was the main venue for the 1924 Paris Games. This time it holds field hockey matches.

The Parc des Princes soccer stadium, home to Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé, is one of seven stadiums around the country hosting matches. France fans hope Mbappé will play for Les Bleus.

Beach volleyball takes place near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, while tennis, naturally, is at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal has made history with his record 14 Grand Slam titles at one tournament, also packs a punch as the venue for boxing.

Surfers won't be in Paris, however, but rather nearly 10,000 miles away in Teahupo’o, a coastal village in Tahiti, and they will sleep on a cruise ship docked at the French Polynesian island.

Breezy Marseille hosts the sailing events.

Around 9 million of the 10 million available tickets have been sold, organizers said, with 63% of buyers from France. The top 10-selling sports in order: soccer, track and field, basketball, rugby sevens, volleyball, handball, beach volleyball, field hockey, tennis and water polo.

The Paris Games' organizing committee will put an additional 250,000 tickets up for sale on April 17 to mark the 100 days to go.

Tickets are on sale via the official platform, with a sliding barometer allowing buyers to choose a price ranging from $26 to $2,900 — the highest price for watching the opening ceremony, the first to be held outside of a usual stadium setting.

Remaining hospitality packages for soccer matches and the women's basketball quarterfinals begin $269, and they start at $404 for the men's basketball game between the United States and South Sudan in Lille — one hour from Paris by train — on July 31.

Regular tickets for the U.S. women's gold medal-game rematch against Japan on July 29 range from $54 to $216.

Want to watch the BMX freestyle finals? Regular tickets are sold out.

But fans can still get tickets for the men's 200 meters and women's 400 meter hurdles finals on Aug. 8 at Stade de France with tickets that day priced at 295 euros, 525 euros and 980 euros.

Around 30,000 police officers are expected to be deployed each day, with 45,000 working the opening ceremony.

With its own resources stretched thin, France has asked 46 countries to help provide about 2,200 extra officers, many of whom will be armed. The French Defense Ministry also has asked foreign nations for a small number of military personnel, including sniffer dogs.

Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Games’ organizing committee, said there will be unprecedented security measures.

"France has never deployed so many means for security," he said. "I have faith that the security services in our country will make the Games safe."

Cameras will be increased around the city, but facial recognition will not be used.

So far, 120 chiefs of state have confirmed they will attend the opening ceremony. Holding it outside a stadium means greater exposure for athletes paraded on 84 boats on the Seine along a 3.7-mile route toward the Eiffel Tower, with 20,000 people living in apartments having views of the ceremony. Behind multiple security cordons, paying spectators will watch from the lower embankments while upper embankments are free for those with invitations.

An area around the Seine is expected to be closed to traffic a week before the parade and airspace will be closed on the night of the ceremony, France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.

Swedish swimmer Victor Johansson will not attend the ceremony because it's the day before the 400-meter freestyle, but is confident it is safe.

"I don’t have any worries at all," Johansson said. "I think they’ve taken all the precautionary actions to make it safe and fun for everyone involved."

Driving in congested Paris can be hellish at the best of times, let alone during a major international event.

Some of the 2.1 million people living within the city limits plan to flee Paris for two-plus weeks while motorists are angered by a proposal that would require them to apply online for a QR code to access traffic-restricted zones.

There's also the threat of train strikes to take into account.

The CGT public servants union has announced plans to strike during the Olympics, which could mean many transport workers walking out.

Transport operators are gearing up to carry between 600,000 to 800,000 Olympic visitors per day. An ad campaign on billboards called "Anticipate the Games" directs people to a website instructing them how to lessen the impact.

National rail giant SNCF has blocked sales of tickets for July 26 to and from three major stations all very near the Seine: Gare de Lyon — France’s biggest station for main line trains — Paris-Bercy and Austerlitz. Some other smaller stations will also close.

Subway tickets will rise from $2.30 to $4.30 for a single ticket and a book of 10 tickets from $18.30 to $34.60.

Tourists opting for a Paris 2024 pass pay $17 per day or $76 weekly, a far cry from the free public transport once envisaged. And an express train running from Paris’ main international airport, Charles de Gaulle, to the center of the city in 20 minutes has been shelved until 2027.

But a newly extended Metro service on Line 14 is expected to be ready in June, carrying people from Paris’ second airport, Orly, to an Olympic hub that includes the village, national stadium and aquatics center.

The Olympic Village will house more than 14,000 athletes and officials, with apartments holding a maximum of eight people.

Fans and tourists, however, have been subjected to an increase in hotel and Airbnb prices.

The Paris region has France’s greatest concentration of hotel accommodation, with 160,000 rooms. Adding rental accommodations, campsites and other options, the region has around 260,000 rooms for the Olympics.

Although some hotels tripled prices, competition from Airbnbs forced them to backpedal. Average prices for a one-night stay dropped from about $825 to $565 — still far higher than the average price last July of $220.

A Muslim student who wanted to pray during lunchtime lost a court fight Tuesday against a strict London school that had banned prayer on campus.

A High Court judge said the female student had accepted when she enrolled in the school that she would be subject to religious restrictions.

"She knew that the school is secular and her own evidence is that her mother wished her to go there because it was known to be strict," Justice Thomas Linden wrote in an 83-page ruling. "Long before the prayer ritual policy was introduced, she and her friends believed that prayer was not permitted at school and she therefore made up for missed prayers when she got home."

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The fight was over a rule put in place last year by the Michaela Community School after a small group of students who began praying in the schoolyard caused divisions at the school that spread to the community and led to a bomb threat. A Black teacher, who had confronted the praying students, was accused of "disgusting, Islamophobic behavior" and subjected to racist abuse in an online petition.

The high-performing secular school in the Wembley area imposes a rigid set of rules and discipline on its diverse body of students, half of whom are Muslim.

The Muslim girl, with her mother's help, sued the school for "the kind of discrimination which makes religious minorities feel alienated from society."

The girl, who cannot be named by court order, said she wanted to pray over lunch break during a period of fall and winter when the height of the sun requires performing one of Islam's five daily prayer rituals at that time of day. She sued the school over the policy, claiming it violated her religious freedom and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The school argued that any interference the ban had on the girl's religious rights was justified because the prayer ritual conflicted with its strict rules and it was impractical to accommodate other students who wanted to pray. The school noted that Islam allows the prayer to be performed later in the day and said the student could transfer to a school that allowed prayer.

The judge said the larger purpose of the ban on prayer — to promote the school's ethos of integrating pupils from different faiths, cultures and ethnic backgrounds while minimizing social distinctions — outweighed its adverse impact on Muslim students.

Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, who calls herself Britain’s strictest headmistress, said the ruling was a victory for all schools.

"A school should be free to do what is right for the pupils it serves," she said in a statement. "Schools should not be forced by one child and her mother to change its approach simply because they have decided they don’t like something at the school."

The student and her mother said through their lawyers that they were upset with the ruling.

"Even though I lost, I still feel that I did the right thing in seeking to challenge the ban," the girl said. "I tried my best and was true to myself and my religion."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens global security, in an apparent call for China to apply greater pressure on its neighbor and close strategic partner to resolve the conflict.

Scholz also said the use of nuclear weapons in the two-year-old war should not even be threatened, according to a German government transcript of his brief remarks at the start of a meeting with Xi in the Chinese capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that his government is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, his latest such threat since invading Ukraine.

GERMANY AND POLAND RULE OUT SENDING TROOPS TO UKRAINE AS TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA ESCALATE

Russia’s actions "violate a principle of the United Nations Charter, the principle of the inviolability of national borders," Scholz said.

China has refused to criticize the invasion. While the government says it is not sending military aid to Moscow, it has provided an economic lifeline that has helped it cope with sanctions from the West. A U.S. intelligence report last week found Beijing has increased equipment sales to Moscow to indirectly boost its war effort against Ukraine.

A Chinese statement said the two leaders noted that China and Germany stand committed to the U.N. Charter and oppose the use of nuclear weapons.

"China encourages and supports all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and supports the holding in due course of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans," the Chinese statement said.

GERMAN LAWMAKERS REJECT OPPOSITION CALL TO SEND TAURUS LONG-RANGE CRUISE MISSILES TO UKRAINE

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Scholz said he had asked Xi to use his influence with Russia.

"China’s word carries weight in Russia. So I asked President Xi to bear upon Russia so that Putin finally breaks off his insane campaign, withdraws his troops and ends this terrible war," he wrote.

On trade, Xi told Scholz that their two countries should stay vigilant against the rise of protectionism and take an objective view of the issue of manufacturing capacity, according to the statement.

Scholz had called for fair competition in trade while warning about dumping and overproduction during a talk to Chinese college students on Monday in the financial hub of Shanghai, where German companies have major investments.

His visit has underscored trade-related tensions as the European Union and the United States complain that China is competing unfairly through the use of tariffs, intellectual property theft and political interference.

Meeting later Tuesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Scholz called for concrete improvement in market access, fair competition, intellectual property protection and the legal system.

In order for German companies to continue operating in China, "they need the right conditions," he said.

The European Union is mulling tariffs to protect its producers against cheaper Chinese electrical vehicle imports, which some fear will flood the European market.

Scholz began his three-day China trip on Sunday in the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business executives visited a partially German-funded company and other sites in the vast city, which is a production base for China’s auto and other industries.

He was expected to depart Tuesday night to return to Berlin.

Despite the political and trade frictions, China was Germany’s top trading partner for the eighth straight year in 2023, with 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion) in goods and services exchanged between the sides, slightly more than what Germany traded with the U.S. but a 15.5% contraction from the year before.

This is Scholz’s second trip to China since he became chancellor in late 2021. It is his first visit since the German government last year presented its China strategy, which met with criticism from Beijing. Li, the Chinese premier, visited Berlin in June.