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A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are urging Hungary to immediately ratify Sweden's application to join NATO, saying patience with the Central European country is "wearing thin" as it continues to delay its approval for the Nordic nation.

Hungary is the only country in the 31-nation military alliance that hasn't yet backed Sweden's membership bid, and frustration has mounted within NATO as Budapest has repeatedly pushed back a vote on ratification for more than a year.

In a joint statement released Thursday, U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, called on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to "advance Sweden’s accession protocols to NATO without further delay," and said continuing to hold up the process would harm Budapest's relations with its allies.

NATO CHIEF URGES US LAWMAKERS TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING UKRAINE, WARNS BEIJING IS WATCHING

"Despite its numerous prior public commitments, Hungary is the last remaining NATO member to have not ratified Sweden’s bid and both time and patience are wearing thin. Hungary’s inaction risks irrevocably damaging its relationship with the United States and with NATO," the senators wrote.

Orbán, a staunch nationalist that has led Hungary since 2010, has long promised that his country wouldn't be the last NATO member to approve Sweden's application. But as Turkey's parliament voted to back Stockholm's bid in January, attention has shifted to Budapest as NATO members seek to expand the alliance amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A vote on the protocols for Sweden’s NATO accession hasn’t yet appeared on the Hungarian parliament’s agenda, and the matter is unlikely to go before lawmakers until at least late February when the parliament reconvenes.

In a separate statement, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised the prospect of imposing sanctions on Hungary for its conduct, and called Orbán "the least reliable member of NATO."

Cardin said that the Biden administration should examine whether Hungary should continue to participate in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows passport holders from 41 countries to enter the United States for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days.

He also said that "given the level of corruption" in Hungary, the U.S. should examine initiating sanctions against Hungarians under the Global Magnitsky Act, a program that allows Washington to sanction foreign individuals for human rights and corruption violations.

Cardin said he was "grateful" that the European Union on Thursday approved a $54 billion aid package to Ukraine, but noted that it had only done so by overcoming a veto by Orbán that had threatened to derail the funding.

Orbán had opposed financing the aid through the EU's common budget, but ultimately consented to the measure under pressure from other leaders in the 27-nation bloc.

Speaking in an interview with state radio on Friday, Orbán, seen by his critics as the Kremlin's closest EU ally, cast doubt on Ukraine's ability to defeat Russia's invasion.

"Westerners still think that time is on our side, that the longer the war lasts, the more Ukraine’s military situation will improve. I think the opposite is true," he said. "I think that time is on the side of the Russians, and the longer the war lasts, the more people will die, and the balance of power will not change in Ukraine’s favor. Then why do we continue the war?"

North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un reasserted his goal that the military step up "war preparations" on Friday, state media said.

The comment came as he toured a shipyard in Nampho bolstering his country’s navy and as his military conducted weapons tests by firing cruise missiles into the sea.

Kim has ramped up his country’s industrial efforts in recent months with the goal of building a nuclear-armed navy to counter what he perceives as threats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

The navy "presents itself as the most important issue in reliably defending the maritime sovereignty of the country and stepping up the war preparations," Kim said during an inspection of the naval facility, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

NORTH KOREA FIRES MULTIPLE CRUISE MISSILES IN 3RD TEST WITHIN A WEEK, SOUTH KOREA SAYS

According to the Korean news agency, the warships being constructed in Nampho are related to a five-year military development plan set during a ruling party congress in early 2021. It did not specify the types of warships being built.

At the shipyard, Kim ordered workers to "unconditionally" complete the efforts within the timeframe of the plan that runs through 2025, KCNA said.

Kim previously revealed an extensive wish list of advanced military assets, which included nuclear-powered submarines and the ability to launch nuclear missiles from underwater.

NORTH KOREA NOW USING AI IN NUCLEAR PROGRAM: REPORT

Kim Inae, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said it was the first time the ministry was aware of the North Korean dictator conducting a military inspection in Nampho.

"By making military threats routine, North Korea is trying to create a sense of insecurity among South Korean people to undermine trust in their government and to attract international attention to build an atmosphere in which its demands must be accepted to resolve the crisis on the Korean Peninsula," she said

The comments were reported hours before North Korea’s military launched several projectiles into its western sea.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the U.S. and South Korean militaries confirmed the launch of multiple missiles and said they were analyzing the specific number of projectiles and would provide an assessment of their flights.

The launches were North Korea’s fourth round of cruise missile tests in 2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday will launch the first bipartisan caucus on Burma to pressure U.S. administrations to act on the crisis in the Southeast Asian country since the military staged a coup three years ago, according to a statement.

Republican Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Democrat Betty McCollum of Minnesota will chair the Congressional Burma Caucus, which the statement from the two lawmakers said was intended to bolster congressional support for the fight for democracy and human rights in the country also known as Myanmar.

Burma's military seized power three years ago on Thursday, detaining democratic leaders including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sparking a youth-led pro-democracy uprising that morphed into an armed resistance movement after a lethal crackdown.

BURMESE RESISTANCE OUTLINES PLAN FOR PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER FROM MILITARY JUNTA

"The humanitarian crisis in Burma has risen to a level that urgently needs attention from congressional leaders," said the lawmakers' statement, shared with Reuters ahead of an announcement on Thursday.

The caucus was expected to have at least 30 lawmakers as initial members, according to Kristiana Kuqi of Campaign for a New Myanmar, an advocacy group that helped set up the caucus, in part to keep a sustained focus on Burma as issues like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and U.S. rivalry with China, dominate discussion in Washington.

"The more engaged we have Congress and congressional staff ... the more we're able to push the needle" on Burma, Kuqi said.

Advocates want the Biden administration to give more support to anti-coup forces in Burma after Congress last year passed legislation allowing the U.S. government to provide them with non-lethal support, and to form an advisory group to decide what to do with roughly $1 billion in Burma assets frozen by the U.S. government after the coup.

Washington on Wednesday announced new sanctions on companies and individuals with ties to the military aimed at the fuel used to conduct aerial bombings that have often targeted civilians, as well as the military's ability to produce arms.

Norway's most powerful storm in more than three decades ripped off roofs, heightened avalanche risks, canceled flights and cut power as it raged in parts of the Scandinavian country Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds brought gusts of up to 112 miles per hour in some places. A new national wind speed record of 121.7 miles per hour was recorded locally early Thursday on the island of Soemma, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said.

Near Laerdal, a small, picturesque town northeast of Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city, a bus with 14 passengers was blown off a road, though no injuries were reported, police said.

NORWAY BRACES FOR MOST POWERFUL STORM SINCE 1990S

Some areas flooded, and airlines and ferry operators suspended service. There were scattered reports of closed schools, roads, tunnels and bridges because of strong wind, rain and snow. An estimated 12,000 households were without power.

Hurricane-strength gusts were also reported overnight in Sweden. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute issued a red warning, its highest alert, for the western part of the Norrbottens district, which borders Norway. Local media reported that schools shut down in the Swedish town of Kiruna.

The storm, named Ingunn by Norwegian meteorologists, landed in central Norway on Wednesday afternoon before moving north Thursday. The Meteorological Institute issued a red warning for the Arctic region and several avalanche warnings.

Windows were blown out in a hotel in Bodoe, a town in Nordland district, police said, adding that downtown Bodoe was later sealed off because "there is a danger to life and health."

The University Hospital of North Norway said part of a roof was damaged at its branch on Norway’s largest island, Hinnoeya. Photos in Norwegian media showed a helicopter landing pad littered with debris.

"Roof tiles are flying everywhere throughout the town and visibility is poor," Harstad town spokesperson Øivind Arvola told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Local police confirmed debris was flying around.

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, known as NVE, issued its highest avalanche warnings for most of southern and central Norway for the coming days. The agency also warned of a considerable risk for landslides, mudslides and flash floods for the same period.

Bjørnar Gaasvik, a police spokesperson in the Troendelag region, told Norwegian news agency NTB that the public safety agency received between 40 and 50 reports overnight from people affected by the storm and more were expected Thursday.

Sigmund Clementz of IF insurance told Norwegian newspaper VG that it was too early to estimate the cost of the storm damage.

To the south in Denmark, the Storebaelt bridge linking two major Danish islands was closed to vehicles with light trailers because of strong winds.

The storm hit the same area as a 1992 New Year’s hurricane, one of the strongest storms in Norway’s history, the newspaper VG said.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — More than 2,300 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti from October to December last year, a nearly 10% increase compared with the previous quarter, according to a new U.N. report released Thursday.

The number of killings alone spiked to more than 1,600 during the period, with officials blaming the vacuum created by the death of a powerful gang leader known as Andrice Isca for unleashing territorial fights in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince that killed and injured nearly 270 people over roughly two weeks in late November. Isca has also been identified as Iskar Andrice and Iscar Andris.

GANG VIOLENCE IS SURGING TO UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS IN HAITI, UN ENVOY SAYS

Authorities said fights occurred within a powerful gang federation known as G-9 Family and Allies, which also targeted an opposition gang coalition called G-Pep.

"In addition to the loss of human life, the humanitarian toll of the clashes was disastrous: over 1,000 people were forced to abandon their homes and take refuge in nearby areas," stated the report by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH.

Officials said at least 262 gang members died in the last quarter, but noted the losses were barely felt given that "the ease of recruitment among the poor populations living under their control enabled them to rapidly replenish their ranks."

The report also found that nearly 700 people were kidnapped from October to December, an increase of nearly 20% compared with the previous quarter.

"No social category has been spared: from street vendors and farmers…to high-level professionals, including doctors and civil servants," according to the report.

Gangs also continue to rape women and girls, sometimes recording themselves and posting the videos on social media "with a view to humiliate their victims," the report stated.

Children continue to be targeted by gangs, with more than 50 killed in the last quarter, including a 10-year-old who encountered members of the Grand Ravine gang.

"After questioning the boy, they accused him of being a police informant and executed him on the spot," the report said.

Overall, more than 310,000 people have been left homeless in Haiti because of gang violence, including some 170,000 children, according to UNICEF. In addition, more than 8,400 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti overall last year, more than double the number reported in 2022.

BINUH recommended in its report that the international community accelerate the deployment of a foreign armed force, but it’s unlikely one would arrive soon in Haiti, which first requested the force more than a year ago.

Last week, a court in Kenya barred the U.N.-backed deployment of police officers to Haiti, saying it was unconstitutional.

Authorities have found alive a Roman Catholic cardinal who disappeared this week in western Panama near the border with Costa Rica, church officials said Thursday, hours after confirming the cleric's disappearance.

Panama's Episcopal Conference said in a statement Thursday afternoon that Spanish Cardinal José Luis Lacunza had been found after last being seen Tuesday. They did not immediately provide details.

AUTHORITIES SEARCH FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC CARDINAL MISSING IN PANAMA

Prosecutors in the state of Chiriqui had said earlier in the day that they opened an investigation. Lacunza, 79, is the bishop for the David archdiocese in Chiriqui.

The archdiocese confirmed in a statement that Lacunza had not been seen since Tuesday afternoon and said it had reported his disappearance to authorities.

Panama's interim attorney general, Javier Caraballo, told reporters in Panama City that investigators were travelling from the capital to Chiriqui to conduct interviews.

Lacunza is the only Catholic cardinal in Panama.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Mass street protests intensified Thursday across Slovakia against a plan by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to amend the country's penal code and eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with major crime and corruption.

Thousands were rallying as the protests spread to 31 cities and towns across the country, up from two dozens last week. Rallies also took place abroad, where Slovaks live, such as the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Norway, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg, organizers said.

THOUSANDS TAKE TO STREETS IN SLOVAKIA IN NATIONWIDE ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS

The plan approved by Fico’s coalition government includes abolishing the special prosecutors’ office, which handles crimes such as graft, organized crime and extremism. Those cases would be taken over by prosecutors in regional offices, which have not handled such cases for 20 years.

The planned changes also include a reduction in punishments for corruption and some other crimes, including the possibility of suspended sentences, and a significant shortening of the statute of limitations.

Parliament is currently debating the draft but the ruling coalition has approved a fast-track parliamentary procedure to approve the changes and limit time for discussion. The vote may come as early as next week.

"Slovakia will become a haven for criminals," Richard Sulík, head of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity party, told the crowd at the central SNP square in the capital of Bratislava.

"Mafia, mafia," people chanted. "Fico is evil," read one of the banners held by people.

"We will stop them if we stay united," said Michal Šimečka, who heads the liberal Progressive Slovakia, the strongest opposition party,

President Zuzana Čaputová sharply criticized the proposed changes and said she is willing to challenge the legislation before the Constitutional Court.

Some European Union institutions have questioned the Slovak proposals. Fico returned to power for the fourth time after his scandal-tainted leftist party won the Sept. 30 parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and an anti-American platform.

A number of people linked to Fico's party — the scandal-tainted leftist Smer, or Direction — face prosecution in corruption scandals.

Fico’s critics worry his return could lead Slovakia to abandon its pro-Western course and instead follow the direction similar to that of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Fox News has obtained footage of a speedboat full of suspected illegal immigrants landing on a beach in California on Tuesday and then fleeing into a wealthy seaside village.

The video, which was taken by a local resident who was in the water at the time, shows a white-colored speedboat dashing up toward Marine Street beach in La Jolla, about 10 miles north of downtown San Diego.

The group of around eight men can then be seen jumping off the boat and storming the beach. They run up through the beach and scatter into the village, leaving the boat abandoned in the water. 

ILLEGAL MIGRANT FLIPS MIDDLE FINGERS AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ATTACKING NYPD IN TIMES SQUARE

Jack Enright, the resident who shot the footage, told Fox News’ Bill Melugin that he was in the water and saw the speedboat whiz past him.

"I was taking photos of the waves on my GoPro in the water when all of a sudden I saw a boat flooring it right at me toward the beach," Enright said. 

"I moved slightly south and began recording. The boat then beached itself and eight or so people ran off the boat."

"At that point, I was a bit worried they may be armed and kept a distance [and] continued to record."

It is unclear if the migrants were ever caught.

CURTIS SLIWA SLAMS NYC MAYOR FOR SHOCKING MIGRANT ATTACK ON NYPD

La Jolla is home to Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, who bought a mansion there for $20.8 million in 2019, according to NBC. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, previously lived in La Jolla but sold his mansion there in 2021 for $23.5 million, according to The San Diego Tribune.

The beach is about 23 miles north of the southern border, although migrants are increasingly using boats to evade authorities, with San Diego becoming an ever more popular landing spot.  

A separate video posted online last week showed another boat full of about 20 migrants land on a beach in La Jolla before they eventually fled the scene.

From September through November, U.S. border authorities have dropped off more than 42,000 people on San Diego County streets with no direction or assistance, The San Diego Tribune reported, citing county officials.

Those figures do not take into consideration the suspected illegal migrants like the ones seen in the videos. 

The large majority of illegal crossings at the southern border are now happening in Arizona and California as a shift away from Texas continues, Melugin reports. 

CBP sources told him there were 5,240 Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the southern border Wednesday, 3,854 of them (73.5%) were in Arizona and California.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Two gunmen took seven hostages at a factory owned by U.S. company Procter & Gamble in northwest Turkey on Thursday, according to media reports, apparently in protest of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Turkish media published an image of one of the purported suspects inside the factory, a man wearing what appeared to be a rudimentary explosives belt and holding a handgun.

2 ISIS MEMBERS REPORTEDLY DETAINED AFTER TURKISH CHURCH ATTACK KILLS 1

Private news agency DHA said the suspects entered the main building of the facility in Gebze in the province of Kocaeli, at around 3 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) and took seven members of the staff hostage.

It claimed the suspects’ actions were to highlight the loss of life in the Palestinian enclave. Some 27,000 have been killed in Israel’s military operation since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

Ismet Zihni said his wife Suheyla was among the hostages. Speaking from near the factory, he told DHA that he had called her. "She answered ‘We’ve been taken hostage, we’re fine’ and she hung up," he said.

Police sealed off surrounding roads at the factory and were said to be trying to negotiate with the hostage-takers.

P&G’s head office in Cincinnati confirmed an ongoing incident. A spokesperson said: "The safety of P&G people and our partners is our top priority. Earlier today, we evacuated our Gebze facility and are working with local authorities to resolve an urgent security situation."

P&G Turkey employs 700 people at three sites in Istanbul and Kocaeli, according to the company’s website. It produces cleaning and hygiene brands such as Ariel washing powder and Oral B toothpaste.

Public feeling against Israel and its main ally the U.S. has risen in Turkey since the conflict began, with regular protests in support of the Palestinian people in major cities and calls for an immediate cease-fire.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been particularly outspoken, referring to Israeli "war crimes" and comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara issued a warning in November about demonstrations "critical of U.S. foreign policy" and calls for boycotts of U.S. businesses. The advice followed protests and attacks on outlets such as McDonald’s and Starbucks over the conflict in Gaza.

The photograph of the suspect carried in the Turkish media shows him with a black-and-white Arabic headscarf covering his face. He is standing next to a graffitied wall showing the Turkish and Palestinian flags with the slogan "The gates will open. Either musalla or death for Gaza." A musalla is an open prayer area for Muslims, usually used for funeral rites.

DHA also published a photograph of some of the hostages celebrating a birthday. It reported that the staff had brought a cake into work for one of their colleagues and the hostage-takers allowed them to celebrate.

PANAMA CITY (AP) — A Roman Catholic cardinal disappeared this week in western Panama near the border with Costa Rica and investigators are searching for the missing cleric, authorities announced Thursday.

PANAMA'S HIGH COURT DECLARES MINING CONTRACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL. HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Prosecutors in the state of Chiriqui said they opened an investigation Wednesday, a day after Spanish Cardinal José Luis Lacunza was last seen. Lacunza, 79, is the bishop for the David archdiocese in Chiriqui.

The archdiocese confirmed in a statement that Lacunza had not been seen since Tuesday afternoon and said it had reported his disappearance to authorities.

Panama's interim attorney general, Javier Caraballo, told reporters in Panama City that investigators were travelling from the capital to Chiriqui to conduct interviews.

Lacunza is the only Catholic cardinal in Panama.

Moroccan authorities arrested 30 people this week in the city of Fes on multiple charges as part of a wide-ranging case involving blackmail, threats and trafficking of newborn babies.

SPANISH GOVERNMENT UNLAWFULLY SENT CHILD MIGRANTS BACK TO MOROCCO, TOP COURT RULES

The North African country's state-run news agency, MAP, reported on Wednesday that the suspects — including law enforcement agents, doctors, nurses and other health professionals — were arrested earlier this week. They are accused of working with unwed mothers to sell babies to families wishing to adopt.

Their scheme, the report said, also involved blackmail, fraud and theft of medications that are not sold without a prescription. Some suspects are accused of helping facilitate abortions, which are illegal outside of emergencies in Morocco.

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen on Thursday launched three separate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. 

Around 5 a.m., U.S. Central Command forces shot down a drone over the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries. 

Later Thursday, CENTCOM forces destroyed a Houthi explosive uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) in the Red Sea. U.S. forces identified the USV heading toward the international shipping lane and determined it presented an "imminent threat" to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region, CENTCOM said. 

CENTCOM said the strike resulted in "significant secondary explosions." There were no injuries or damage reported. 

Later that afternoon, two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward a Liberian-flagged, Bermuda-owned cargo ship. The missiles landed in the water without hitting the ship. There were no injuries or damage reported to the vessel. 

Iran-backed Houthi militants, stationed in Yemen, have for months been firing upon commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea. The militants say the attacks are in support of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Thursday represented the 42nd, 43rd, and 44th such attacks since November 19th.

IRAN MANUFACTURED THE DRONE THAT KILLED 3 US SOLDIERS IN JORDAN, US OFFICIAL SAYS

The latest strikes come just days after three U.S. soldiers were killed in Jordan. The Biden administration has blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah. 

Earlier this month, two U.S. Navy SEALs, went missing during a mission in the Red Sea and have since been declared dead. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday it's time to further disable Iran-backed militias like the Houthis that have struck at U.S. forces and ships in the Middle East. He said the U.S. is preparing to take significant action in response to the soldiers’ deaths. 

EU MUST DO MORE TO STOP RED SEA ATTACKS, SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER: ‘JUST STRIKING THE HOUTHIS WON’T DO ENOUGH'

For days the U.S. has hinted strikes are imminent. The threat of retaliation for Sunday's deaths has driven some militant groups to say they were stopping hostilities. But the latest strikes by Houthi rebels cast doubt on those claims. 

"At this point, it's time to take away even more capability than we've taken in the past," Austin said Thursday in his first press conference since he was hospitalized on Jan. 1 due to complications from prostate cancer treatment.

Previous U.S. strikes have not deterred the attacks. Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, Iranian-backed militant groups have struck U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria at least 166 times with rockets, missiles, and one-way attack drones, drawing about a half-dozen U.S. counterstrikes on militant facilities in both countries. The U.S. military also has carried out airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

While Iran has denied involvement, Austin said Thursday that "how much Iran knew or didn't know, we don't know. But it really doesn't matter because Iran sponsors these groups."

The Pentagon has the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the region, along with at least a half dozen other major U.S. warships, U.S. Air Force fighter jets and radar aircraft. It has already been regularly using those assets to conduct strikes and defend ships.

Police and student protesters clashed in the center of the Greek capital on Thursday after a demonstration against government plans to allow private universities.

Demonstrators in Athens attacked police cordons, set fire to trash dumpsters and threw stones at riot police near parliament and later during clashes along the capital’s narrow streets. Police responded with tear gas and made several arrests.

The center-right government wants to legalize privately-run universities in a bill that is due to go before parliament this month, arguing that the reform would prevent skilled people from leaving the country and make higher education more relevant to the labor market.

GREEK COUPLE ARRESTED AFTER ARSENAL OF EXPLOSIVES, 29 GUNS FOUND INSIDE HOME

But the plan has sparked several protests, including an ongoing campaign to occupy university buildings in protest, which has disrupted classes and forced some academic authorities to reschedule upcoming exams.

In the northern city of Thessaloniki late Thursday, police joined by officers from a special forces unit entered the grounds of the city's public university where protesters had occupied the principal's office.

The protesters left the building peacefully, but scuffles broke out between police and a crowd gathered outside.

Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged university administrators to seek police assistance to counter what he described as "illegal actions" by student protesters.

"It is as if 10 people got together and took a vote to rob the grocery store next door," he said in a radio interview earlier this week.

Opponents of the reforms argue that the changes would undermine state universities and ultimately limit access to higher education for people from low-income families.

The left-wing main opposition party, Syriza, said that the university bill would be a "tombstone" for public education, noting that Greece doesn't have any fee-paying public universities unlike many other European countries.

A smaller Socialist opposition party says that it's seeking stronger guarantees to ensure that the nonprofit status of the new universities comes with strong protections.

Protests were held Thursday in several Greek cities and more were planned for next week.

Austrian prosecutors are appealing a court's recent decision to move Josef Fritzl, dubbed the "monster of Amstetten," who held his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven of her children, to regular prison.

The decision came down last week, when a court ruled that Fritzl, 88, could be transferred from a psychiatric ward to a regular prison, reportedly marking the first step of his expected parole bid.

Ferdinand Schuster, a spokesperson for the state court in Krems, on Thursday confirmed via broadcaster ORF that a Vienna court will now have to decide whether Fritzl may be transferred to regular prison after prosecutors challenged last week's ruling, according to the Austria Press Agency.

Austrian law allows prisoners sentenced to life in prison to apply for parole after serving 15 years, which Fritzl will reach in March, since he was initially sentenced in 2009.

‘MONSTER’ WHO FATHERED HIS DAUGHTER'S 7 CHILDREN IN CAPTIVITY SMIRKS DURING PRISON MOVE IN PUSH FOR FREEDOM

"In summary, the court has come to the conclusion that it is indeed the case that he is no longer dangerous," Fritzl's lawyer, Astrid Wagner, told The Associated Press of the court's decision last week.

JOSEF FRITZL, WHO RAPED DAUGHTER AND KEPT HER CAPTIVE FOR 24 YEARS, COULD MOVE TO REGULAR PRISON

Fritzl reportedly has dementia, and a psychiatric evaluation suggested that he does not pose any future threats to the public. Thursday's court decision overturned a 2022 ruling rejecting Fritzl's request to be moved to a regular prison. 

In 1984, Fritzl kidnapped his 18-year-old daughter, Elisabeth, and kept her locked in a sound-proof basement in their Amstetten home, where he fathered seven of her children over more than two decades.

CELLAR WHERE JOSEF FRITZL HELD DAUGHTER AND FATHERED HER CHILDREN TO BE FILLED WITH CEMENT

She was found in 2008 after 24 years of captivity and brutal abuse in the windowless basement. Elisabeth's mother was apparently oblivious to her daughter's captivity in her own home, according to Austrian authorities.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

When asked about her whereabouts, Fritzl would reportedly say she had run away. In 2008, authorities charged Fritzl with incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and negligent homicide after he had killed one of the sons he had fathered with his captive daughter soon after the baby was born.

The court agreed to move Fritzl into a regular prison upon the condition that he undergo psychotherapy and psychiatric evaluations over a 10-year probation period, the Austria Press Agency reported.

In a 2009 statement, the St. Poelten provincial prosecutors’ office said that Fritzl had "forced Elisabeth into slave-like conditions . . . shut her away in the cellar and made her totally dependent on him, forcing her into sexual acts and treating her as if she was his own property," according to Reuters.

Prosecutors also alleged that Fritzl had threatened to kill Elisabeth and gas their children to death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke defiantly about her mission outside court Thursday on the first day of her trial for refusing to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year.

Thunberg, 21, was among more than two dozen protesters arrested on Oct. 17 after preventing access to a hotel during the Energy Intelligence Forum, attended by some of the industry’s top executives.

GRETA THUNBERG INTERRUPTED AT CLIMATE PROTEST AFTER CHANGING THE TOPIC TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

"Even though we are the ones standing here ... climate, environmental and human rights activists all over the world are being prosecuted, sometimes convicted, and given legal penalties for acting in line with science," she said. "We must remember who the real enemy is. What are we defending? Who are our laws meant to protect?"

The Swedish environmentalist, who inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change, and four other protesters are in the middle of a two-day trial in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on a charge of breaching a section of the Public Order Act that allows police to impose limits on public assemblies. She and four Fossil Free London protesters have pleaded not guilty.

Thunberg and other climate protesters have accused fossil fuel companies of deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in order to make more profit. They also oppose the U.K. government’s recent approval of drilling for oil in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland.

Thunberg sat in court in a black T-shirt and black pants, taking notes as a police officer testified about efforts to disperse demonstrators who had blocked several exits and entrances for hours outside the luxury InterContinental Hotel in central London.

"It seemed like a very deliberate attempt ... to prevent access to the hotel for most delegates and the guests," Superintendent Matthew Cox said. "People were really restricted from having access to the hotel."

Cox said protesters were lighting colorful flares and drummers were creating a deafening din outside the hotel as some demonstrators sat on the ground and others rappelled from the roof of the hotel. When officers began arresting people, other protesters quickly took their places, leading to a "perpetual cycle" that found police running out of officers to make arrests.

The protest had gone on for about five hours when police issued an order for demonstrators to move to an adjacent street, Cox said.

Thunberg was outside the front entrance of the hotel when she was given a final warning she would be arrested if she didn't comply, prosecutor Luke Staton said. She said she intended to stay where she was.

If convicted, the protesters could receive fines of up to 2,500 pounds ($3,170).

Outside the courthouse before the trial began, protesters held signs saying "Make Polluters Pay," and "Climate protest is not a crime."

Thunberg rose to prominence after staging weekly protests outside the Swedish Parliament starting in 2018.

Last summer, she was fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police and blocking traffic during an environmental protest at an oil facility. She had already been fined for the same offense previously in Sweden.

A Conservative lawmaker in Britain said Thursday he will step down when an election is called later this year because of abuse and death threats he says are linked to his support for Israel.

Mike Freer said an arson attack on his office in December was the "final straw."

He told the BBC that when people go into politics, "we kind of sign up for it, we take it on the chin. … But it’s not fair on our families."

UK TO BAN DISPOSABLE VAPES, RESTRICT FLAVORED E-CIGARETTES 'SPECIFICALLY MARKETED' TO KIDS: 'WE MUST ACT'

Freer represents the London constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, which has a large Jewish population.

Freer said he had received death threats from a group called Muslims Against Crusades and began wearing a stab-proof vest after learning his office had been staked out by Ali Harbi Ali, an Islamic State group supporter who stabbed Conservative lawmaker David Amess to death in 2021.

Amess was the second British lawmaker murdered in the past decade. Labour legislator Jo Cox was killed in 2016 by a far-right attacker.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson, Max Blain, said the abuse and threats aimed at Freer were "an attack on British democracy."

House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle urged lawmakers to set an example and "turn down the heat" of their often-fiery debates.

"People reflect how we treat each other, and that’s why I want us to have a nicer politics within the House," Hoyle told Sky News.

A man and a woman appeared in court on Thursday over an arson attack on Freer’s office. They are scheduled to stand trial later this year. Police say they are not treating it as a hate crime.

A Chinese father and his mistress have been executed by authorities in China after he threw his children out of a high-rise apartment window to their deaths in 2020, reports say. 

Zhang Bo, the father, and Ye Chengchen were found guilty of committing premeditated murder following a review of their case by the Supreme People’s Court, according to the state-run China Daily newspaper. 

It reported that the pair viewed the children as an obstacle to their relationship and staged an "accidental" fall in Chongqing in November 2020, resulting in the deaths of the two-year-old girl and one-year-old boy. 

The children fell from the 15th floor of a residential building in the city, according to the AFP. 

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The news agency reported that Ye had started an affair with Zhang and had been unaware at first that he was married and had children. 

She then encouraged him to kill the children, arguing that they would be a "burden on their future life together," the AFP quoted a statement from the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court as saying. 

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The same court issued a death sentence for the pair in December 2021, which ultimately was carried out Wednesday following a series of appeals, according to China Daily. 

In its decision to uphold the death penalty, the Supreme People's Court ruled that the motive for the killings was despicable and deserving of a severe punishment. 

A Brazilian man who feasted on one of the most poisonous fishes in the world has died after spending five weeks in hospital fighting for his life, according to reports.

Magno Sergio Gomes, 46, and his friend ate a toxic pufferfish – known to be 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide – over Christmas after receiving the fish as a present, according to Newsflash via the New York Post. 

Gomes, a father of three, and his pal gutted the fish, removed its liver and then boiled it and ate it with lemon juice in Aracruz, Espirito Santa, in eastern Brazil.

'MOST VENOMOUS' FISH IN WORLD DISCOVERED IN POPULAR SWIMMING SPOT PROMPTS WARNING FROM BEACHGOER

However, less than an hour later, both Magno and his friend fell seriously ill, his heartbroken sister Myrian Lopes told Newsflash, adding that her brother had never cleaned a pufferfish before.

"Magno started to feel numb in his mouth, then he went with his wife to the hospital, driving his car," Lopes said, according to Newsflash.

"When he got there, his mouth was even more numb, and he felt sick. Soon after, he had a cardiac arrest that lasted eight minutes."

Lopes said that Gomes was intubated and put on life support but never recovered. He died on Jan. 27. 

"The doctors told our family that he died from poisoning, which had quickly traveled to his head," Lopes said.

"Three days after being admitted, he had several seizures, which greatly affected his brain, leaving little chance of recovery."

Lopes said her brother's friend survived the ordeal but is having trouble with his legs. It was not clear if the friend was the same pal who gifted Gomes the pufferfish.

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Pufferfish are extremely dangerous to eat since they contain the deadly toxins tetrodotoxin (TTX) and/or saxitoxin, which can cause severe illness and death, according to the FDA.

"These are central nervous system toxins and are more deadly than cyanide," the FDA states on its website.

"Symptoms start within 20 minutes to two hours after eating the toxic fish. Initial symptoms include tingling of the lips and mouth, followed by dizziness, tingling in the extremities, problems with speaking, balance, muscle weakness and paralysis, vomiting, and diarrhea. In severe intoxications, death can result from respiratory paralysis."

The toxins are found in the livers, gonads, skin and intestines of pufferfish.

Pufferfish are considered the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the golden poison frog. Pufferfish are also known as puffer, bok, blowfish, globefish, swellfish, balloonfish or sea squab, according to the FDA. 

Despite the dangers of eating pufferfish, they are considered a delicacy in Japan, where they are known as fugu. Expert Japanese fugu chefs learn to safely chop out parts of the fish that contain TTX. 

The fish is also popular in China and Korea.

Due to the potential health hazard, commercial importation of pufferfish into the U.S. is heavily restricted while personal importation is prohibited, according to the FDA.

There is enough TTX in one pufferfish to kill 30 humans. 

Gomes’ sister said she does not know where the fish her brother ingested came from, or whether it was caught or farmed, according to Newsflash. 

Brazil is reportedly home to 20 species of pufferfish. It is unclear what type of pufferfish Gomes ate.

A United Kingdom citizen was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to procure a high-powered microwave system and counter-drone system from the United States to Iran, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said Saber Fakih, 48, conspired with Bader Fakih, 43, of Canada, Altaf Faquih, 72, of the United Arab Emirates, and Alireza Taghavi, 48, of Iran, to export and attempt to export an industrial microwave system (IMS) and counter-drone system to Iran.

"The potential military uses of the IMS could include high-power microwave-based directed-energy weapon systems. The counter-drone system, which has both commercial and military uses, can be used to stop, identify, redirect, land or take total control of a target unmanned aerial vehicle," the attorney’s office said.

Graves argued that Saber Fakih posed a significant risk to national security when he conspired to procure the systems to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Graves also said his actions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions regulations.

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After serving his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ordered Saber Fakih to serve three years of supervised release.

During the government’s investigation, it found Saber Fakih and his co-conspirators attempted to export the systems to Iran in 2017 and 2018. In a plea agreement. Saber Fakih admitted he was the primary liaison between the Iranian purchaser and the U.S.-based seller of the IMS.

IRAN VOWS TO 'DECISIVELY RESPOND' TO ANY US ATTACKS: 'NO THREAT WILL BE LEFT UNANSWERED'

Saber Fakih also said he was instrumental in placing a bid with the Massachusetts vendor, overseeing an inspection of the machine, and corresponding with the vendor on Taghavi’s behalf. He also admitted to fully knowing it was ultimately destined for Iran, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In connection with the same scheme, the U.S. separately charged a co-conspirator, Iranian national Jalal Rohollahnejad, 46, with smuggling, wire fraud and related offenses.

Rohollahnejad facilitated the sending of approximately $450,000 from Iran to the UAE, where Faquih was to then convert the sum into U.S. dollars. Faquih then wire transferred the money to Bader Fakih in Canada. Bader Fakih then transferred the money to the U.S.

Saber Fakih and Bader Fakih also conspired to purchase two counter-drone systems worth nearly $1 million from a Maryland-based company on behalf of Taghavi.

The U.S. issued an extradition request and Saber Fakih was arrested in the United Kingdom in February 2021.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, HSI’s Baltimore Field Office, and the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice's National Security Division’s Counterespionage and Export Control Section.

Authorities searched for migrants missing off Puerto Rico’s northwest coast Thursday after a crowded boat capsized, killing at least two people.

Puerto Rico police said officers rescued 20 occupants of the boat that capsized Wednesday near the coastal town of Quebradillas. 

Two of them were hospitalized for unspecified reasons.

FEDS DETAIN 48 HAITIAN MIGRANTS ON UNINHABITED ISLAND OFF PUERTO RICAN COAST

It wasn’t immediately clear how many people the boat carried when it turned over or from where they departed, although the vast majority of migrants who try to reach Puerto Rico are from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The number of people traveling to the U.S. territory from the Dominican Republic on rickety and crowded vessels has increased as Haiti struggles with a spike in gang violence and deepening poverty.

HAITIAN MIGRANTS FOUND DEAD IN WATERS OFF PUERTO RICO, DOZENS MORE FOUND SAFE ON UNINHABITED ISLAND

Crossing the 92-mile Mona Passage, a strait between the island of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico is treacherous, with dozens of migrants reported drowned in recent years. , The Dominican Republic and Haiti share Hispaniola.