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British officials say the names and bank details of thousands of serving British soldiers, sailors and air force members have been exposed in a data breach at a payroll system.

The Ministry of Defense said Defense Secretary Grant Shapps would make a statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon "setting out the multi-point plan to support and protect personnel."

The ministry would not comment on a Sky News report that Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out the cyberattack.

US SAYS JACK TEIXEIRA, AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMAN WHO LEAKED CLASSIFIED MILITARY INFORMATION, TO PLEAD GUILTY

Cabinet Minister Mel Stride told Sky that "we are not saying that at this precise moment."

British media reported that the government will blame "hostile and malign actors" but will not name the country it believes is responsible.

The breach occurred at a third-party payroll system holding bank details of all serving armed forces personnel and some veterans. In a few cases, addresses may also have been exposed.

So far, investigators have found no evidence that data have been removed.

In March, Britain and the United States alleged that hackers linked to the Chinese government had targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the U.K.’s election watchdog in a campaign of "malicious" cyberattacks. The two countries imposed sanctions on several individuals and the U.S. charged seven alleged hackers, all believed to be living in China.

Rescue teams worked through the night searching for dozens of construction workers buried for more than 12 hours under the rubble of concrete after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa.

Authorities said early Tuesday that the death toll had risen to five, while 49 workers remained buried in the mangled wreckage of the building, which collapsed on Monday afternoon. Authorities said a further 21 workers had been rescued from the rubble and taken to various hospitals, with at least 11 of them suffering severe injuries.

The collapse happened in the city of George, about 250 miles east of Cape Town on South Africa's south coast.

BUILDING FIRE THAT KILLED 76 IN SOUTH AFRICA WAS CAUSED BY BUILDING NEGLIGENCE, REPORT SAYS

More than 100 emergency personnel and other responders were on the scene, using sniffer dogs to try to locate workers, some of whom were trapped under huge slabs of concrete that fell on them when the five-story building came down.

Large cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were brought to the site to help with the rescue effort and tall spotlights were erected to allow search and rescue personnel to work through the night.

Rescuers made contact with 11 workers trapped in the rubble and were hopeful of bringing them out, said Colin Deiner, the chief director of the provincial Western Cape Disaster Management and Fire and Rescue Services. He said some of them were talking to rescuers but couldn't move because they had limbs trapped under concrete.

"It's a very tough operation," said Deiner, who was at the scene. "There's a lot of concrete ... so we think it will still take quite a while. The search operation will continue all day. We've got a lot of people on the scene but it's really, really hard work."

"So many people trapped in a building like that is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You literally have to break through the concrete and cut through the reinforcing."

There were 75 workers on the construction site when the building collapsed, the George municipality said. It said three teams of rescuers were working at separate sites around the collapsed building where they believed construction workers were likely to be.

Family and friends of the workers gathered at the nearby municipal offices.

"Our thoughts are with the families and all those affected who continue to wait on word of their loved ones," George Executive Mayor Leon Van Wyk said.

Authorities were investigating what caused the tragedy and a case was opened by police, but there was no immediate information on why the building suddenly collapsed. CCTV footage from a nearby home showed the concrete structure and metal scaffolding around it come crashing down at 2.09 p.m. on Monday afternoon, causing a plume of dust to rise over the neighborhood.

People came streaming out of other buildings after the collapse, with some of them screaming and shouting.

Marco Ferreira, a local representative of the Gift of the Givers nongovernmental organization, was at the site with a team to offer support and food and drink to the rescuers on Monday. Gift of the Givers is a charity that often helps during disasters in South Africa. It also provided three sniffer dogs and handlers to help with the search, Ferreira said.

"The situation at this stage is still very much in the rescue stages," Ferreira told the eNCA TV news channel. "We don’t know, it’s probably going to carry on for days. There are some cranes there to help lift some concrete. But it’s not a pretty sight."

The provincial Western Cape government sent Deiner, the head of its disaster response unit, from Cape Town to George to oversee the rescue operation and Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, the head of the provincial government, was also at the scene.

Winde said the provincial government had also sent extra resources to assist.

"All the necessary support has been offered to emergency personnel to expedite their response. At the moment, officials are focused on saving lives. This is our top priority at this stage," Winde said in a statement.

The national government was being briefed on the rescue operation, Winde said.

Anti-Israel riots have spread to the Netherlands.

In the early Tuesday morning hours, police arrested more than 120 people at an encampment erected at the University of Amsterdam. The sweeping arrest comes as demonstrations calling for the death of America and Israel have roiled campuses in the U.S. and now Europe.

Police in the Dutch capital said the protests turned violent and that their action was "necessary to restore order" in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Officers used batons and shields as they moved into the demonstration, beating some of the protesters and pulling down tents, video from the scene aired by national broadcaster NOS showed. Police also used a mechanical digger to rip down barricades.

BIDEN DONORS FUNDING GROUPS BEHIND ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: REPORT

There were no reported injuries.

On Monday, the European agitators copied the template of those at elite U.S. colleges and universities as they formed barricades from wooden pallets and bicycles, NOS reported.

Photos from the Amsterdam campus showed the agitators had erected tents, displayed anti-Israel banners and had gathered containers of food.

More and more people joined the demonstrators, who ultimately occupied a section of the university. They urged Amsterdam universities to break academic ties with Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza and the rising civilian death toll.

ALLEGED VIOLENT COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATOR IS PRIVILEGED HEIR TO MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD EMPIRE: REPORT

Police intervened after scuffles broke out on the campus Monday night between two rival groups.

Officers gave repeated orders for the protesters to leave, which they said went ignored, so they cleared the makeshift camp.

"The protest in this form created a very unsafe situation, partly due to the barricades that prevented emergency services from entering the site. In the event of a disaster, the activists themselves could possibly become stuck on the site," police said.

Police said the campus remained calm on Tuesday after the crowd was dispersed.

Campuses in France and the United Kingdom have also seen demonstrations in recent days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health released an infographic on April 24 through social media site Telegram indicating that it lacked identifying data for more than 10,000 of the 34,183 so-called martyrs who had been killed in the 200 days following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Despite growing concerns over the Ministry of Health’s figures, the Biden administration continues to cite the ministry's data with no reference to its origin. In October, President Biden claimed that he had "no confidence" in Ministry of Health figures. In his March, State of the Union address, Biden shared the ministry’s data with a global audience without referencing its origin, noting that "more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are not Hamas."

David Adesnik, senior fellow and director of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the incompleteness of data entries for 10,152 victims in an earlier April 21 data set should be "a flashing red light" for onlookers who have previously trusted ministry calculations of the death toll in Gaza.

Adesnik has called on the Biden administration to "ask the intelligence community to evaluate the data’s sources and accuracy" prior to citing Ministry of Health figures in the future.

WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERS ACCEPTING SOME PALESTINIANS FROM GAZA AS REFUGEES AMID ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

Adesnik explained that until the end of March, the Ministry of Health grouped victims of alleged "Israeli aggression" into two categories. In one category were the victims whose deaths have been reported by the Gazan hospital system. This category also includes thousands of deaths registered by family members who believe their loved ones’ bodies remain buried under rubble, or are otherwise inaccessible. For victims in this category, the ministry says it can provide names, identification numbers, ages and genders of the deceased. 

The second category were victims whose deaths were reported through what the ministry referred to as "reliable media sources." Adesnik says the Ministry of Health has "never specified what the sources are, or how they determine if the information in these sources is credible. And of course, Gaza doesn’t have independent media," he added. These entries lack at least one of five categories of identifying information: an identification number, full name, gender, birthdate, or date of death. Adesnik says there is no clarification of what information is lacking that renders entries incomplete.

He noted that the proportion of deaths reported through media sources has increased from about 30% in December to nearly 80% in the first quarter of 2024. There are irregularities in the death toll reported through media sources, like the gender breakdown of victims, which he says is "so skewed that it is almost hard to believe."

If one combines both categories of victims, he says, it appears that around 70% of victims are women and children, as Hamas has claimed. Utilizing only the first category of individuals, whose records the health ministry labels as "complete," about 60% of victims are women and children. 

Adesnik referenced the work of economist Michael Spagat, a longtime proponent of the accuracy of the Ministry of Health’s data. Spagat recently found 3,407 records within the data set of supposedly complete records that have been duplicated, have missing or invalid identification numbers, or lack an age for the deceased. When these records are removed from the first category’s count, Spagat found that 53.3% of victims were women and children. 

BIDEN USE OF HAMAS DEATH COUNT CHALLENGED BY PROMINENT STATISTICIAN, SAYS NUMBERS ‘AREN’T ACCURATE’ 

In its April 21 update, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health shifted its moniker for the second category of deaths, no longer referring to them as having been collated through media sources, but rather as sources that lack complete data. "It’s just a relabeling," Adesnik said. 

Adesnik has sounded the alarm about multiple other irregularities in the the numbers. He previously reported for FDD that the ministry’s death toll vacillates on occasion. He told Fox News Digital that additional aspects of the ministry’s reporting have yet to be verified, including whether it truly differentiates between naturally-occurring deaths among Palestinians, and deaths that occur due to violence.

Adesnik also questions whether the ministry counts deaths from misfired Palestinian rockets, such as the rocket that hit Al-Ahli Arab hospital on Oct. 16, in its toll. The Times of Israel reported in November that the Israel Defense Forces estimated 12% of Palestinian rockets landed in Gaza.

Adesnik also encouraged closer scrutiny of children in Hamas’ death figures, explaining that many Hamas fighters are under the age of 18. "If you look at the gender breakdown of people who died under the age of 18, you can see the teenagers have a surplus of men," he explained. 

Gabriel Epstein, a research assistant at The Washington Institute’s Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, reported in January the "many reasons to treat Gaza Ministry of Health and [Government Media Office] fatality numbers with skepticism," including their underreporting of male deaths. By March 26, Epstein noted that "discrepancies in official Palestinian counts and their growing reliance on questionable data" have ensured the ministry’s "numbers themselves have lost any claim to validity."

REPUBLICANS ACCUSE BIDEN OF PUTTING ‘MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL’ THAN HAMAS AMID COLLEGE RIOTS

In response to questions about whether the State Department is looking into the sources of Ministry of Health death data for the more than 10,000 victims for whom the ministry lacks essential identifying information, a spokesperson said the department is not able to independently assess actions in Gaza. The spokesperson noted that thousands of civilians, and a significant number of children, have been killed in Gaza. "Every one of those losses is a tragedy, whether it’s the number that has been released from Gaza or whether it’s some other number, every one of them is a tragedy, and we mourn the loss of every one of those civilians."

The stakes in getting the numbers correct are high. As Epstein explained in his January report, "although thousands of Palestinian noncombatants, including military-age males, have undoubtedly been killed in the Hamas-initiated conflict, the world must also recognize that the group has manipulated and exploited civilian fatality claims for its strategic benefit, in an attempt to truncate Israel’s air and ground operations and stir international outrage. The international media and NGOs have repeated such claims without proper scrutiny and in turn validated and reinforced Hamas propaganda efforts." 

Another gap in Ministry of Health death counts is the lack of differentiation between military and civilian casualties. Terrorist casualty rates are disputed. In February, a Hamas official told Reuters that the group had lost around 6,000 of its estimated fighters. The IDF estimated they had killed double that amount, or 12,000. By late March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that 13,000 Hamas terrorists had been killed. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the IDF and to Hamas leadership for comment about the Ministry of Health’s incomplete records, and for an updated count of the losses that Hamas has incurred on the battlefield. Neither responded.

Even utilizing Ministry of Health data, the ratio of civilian to militant deaths demonstrates significant Israeli efforts to minimize casualties, according to information that John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, recently shared on the social media platform X. 

Based on the ministry’s estimate that 34,000 have died in the war and the IDF’s claim it has killed 13,000 Hamas fighters, Spencer calculated a 1 to 1.5 or 1.6 ratio of combatant to civilian deaths in Gaza. He compared this to the 1 to 2.5 combatant to civilian death rate "when U.S.-led Iraqi Security Force killed 10,000 civilians to destroy 4,000 ISIS" between 2016 and 2017 during the Battle of Mosul, and the 1 to 6 combatant to civilian death rate when "the American military killed 100,000 civilians to destroy 17,000 Japanese defenders" at the 1945 Battle of Manila. 

Spencer also described the numerous methods that Israel has employed to protect the civilian population of Gaza, including but not limited to evacuating civilians before beginning ground invasions, providing safe routes and humanitarian zones for evacuations, notifying civilians of combat areas with flyers, direct phone calls and text messages, imposing use of force restrictions, and using legal advisers in their targeting process. 

In sum, Spencer explained that "all available evidence shows that Israel has followed the laws of war, legal obligations, best practices in civilian harm mitigation and still found a way to reduce civilian casualties to historically low levels." 

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Tuesday that it has gained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing.

The IDF released a statement saying its forces began a "precise counterterrorism operation" in eastern Rafah.

Acting upon intelligence showing the area was being used for "terrorist purposes," IDF troops obtained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing, the statement said.

Intelligence gathered by the IDF and the Israel Securities Authority prompted the operation aimed at killing Hamas terrorists and dismantling "Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah."

ISRAEL BEGINS 'TARGETED' STRIKES AGAINST HAMAS IN RAFAH

Before the operation, the IDF urged residents in eastern Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, where the IDF facilitated the expansion of field hospitals and tents, and increased water, food and medical supplies. International organizations working in the area were also encouraged to temporarily evacuate before the operation began.

"Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing," the IDF said. "On Sunday, mortars were fired from the area of the Rafah Crossing toward the area of the Kerem Shalom Crossing."

Four IDF soldiers were killed during the operation and several others were injured after the mortars were fired.

ISRAEL URGES PALESTINIANS TO EVACUATE RAFAH AHEAD OF EXPECTED GROUND OPERATION IN HAMAS STRONGHOLD

"Furthermore, as part of the operational activity, IDF ground troops and [Israeli Air Force] fighter jets struck and eliminated Hamas terror targets in the Rafah area, including military structures, underground infrastructure, and additional terrorist infrastructure from which Hamas operated in the Rafah area," the IDF said.

Since the operation began, about 20 Hamas terrorists have been killed and three operational tunnel shafts have been found. No injuries were reported, the IDF said.

The IDF said ground troops are "continuing to operate against Hamas terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the area of the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah."

There is no timeline for how long the operation will last and it is unclear if the crossing is open for humanitarian aid.

Fox News' Yonat Friling contributed to this report.

A Russian journalist who has worked for both state-funded and independent media was detained Monday and faces charges of justifying terrorism through posts on the Telegram messaging app, her lawyer said.

The detention of Nadezhda Kevorkova comes amid an intensifying crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and critics of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kevorkova is expected to appear in court Tuesday, her lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov said on Telegram. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

US ARMY SOLDIER DETAINED IN RUSSIA, CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT: OFFICIALS

Akhilgov said the charges involve two posts, one in 2018 and the other in 2021.

The post in 2018 republished an article written by another journalist about the 2005 attack by Islamic militants on the city of Nalchik in southern Russia in which 139 people were killed, including 94 militants, the lawyer said. The 2021 post concerned the Taliban, but Akhilgov did not detail about what was in that post.

Kevorkova's work has appeared in the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the Kremlin-funded satellite TV channel RT, among other media.

Two Russian journalists were arrested last week on charges of extremism for allegedly working with a group founded by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, is awaiting trial on espionage charges. Both Gershkovich and his employer have vehemently denied the charges.

Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 while on a reporting trip and has spent over a year in jail. Authorities have not detailed what, if any, evidence they have to support the espionage charges.

Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in October and charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent."

Journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, arrested two years ago and serving a 25-year sentence on a treason conviction for statements against the Ukraine war, on Monday was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in The Washington Post.

A multi-story apartment building under construction collapsed Monday in a coastal city in South Africa, killing two construction workers and leaving 53 trapped under the rubble, authorities said.

An additional 20 workers were pulled from the mangled wreckage of the building and were being treated for injuries at various hospitals, city authorities said.

The building collapse happened just after 2 p.m. in the city of George, about 250 miles east of Cape Town on South Africa’s south coast.

40 WORKERS TRAPPED AFTER BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION REPORTEDLY COLLAPSES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Hours later, more than 100 emergency personnel were at the site and were likely to work through the night, using sniffer dogs to try and locate survivors, some of whom were feared buried under huge slabs of concrete.

Cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were being sent to help with the rescue effort, the George municipality said, while more emergency responders were being brought in from nearby towns and cities. They were expected to reach the site at about midnight.

There were 75 workers at the building site when it collapsed, and family and friends were gathered at the nearby municipal offices waiting for news, the municipality said.

Authorities were investigating what caused the tragedy and a case was opened by police, but there was no immediate information on why the building suddenly collapsed.

Marco Ferreira, a local representative of the Gift of the Givers non-governmental organization, was at the site with a team to offer support and food and drink to the rescuers. Gift of the Givers is a charity that often helps during disasters in South Africa. It had also provided three sniffer dogs and handlers to help with the search, Ferreira said.

"The situation at this stage is still very much in the rescue stages," Ferreira told the eNCA TV news channel. "We don’t know, it’s probably going to carry on for days. There are some cranes there to help lift some concrete. But it’s not a pretty sight."

Authorities didn't immediately provide details of the injuries sustained by the workers who were taken to hospitals, but South African media reported that a number of them had suffered serious injuries. The two workers who died were declared dead after being admitted to hospitals, the George municipality said.

"Our thoughts are with the families and all those affected who continue to wait on word of their loved ones," George Executive Mayor Leon Van Wyk said.

The provincial Western Cape government said it was closely monitoring the situation and had sent resources to assist with the emergency response.

"All the necessary support has been offered to emergency personnel to expedite their response. At the moment, officials are focused on saving lives. This is our top priority at this stage," Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, the head of the provincial government, said in a statement.

The national government was being briefed on the rescue operation, Winde said.

Jordan on Monday stationed two helicopters in Cyprus to help the Mediterranean island nation combat potential forest fires until it can lease firefighting aircraft of its own for the summer fire season.

Cypriot Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou said the Cypriot government considers firefighting and prevention a national security matter and is also moving to purchase 10 aircraft for that reason.

GREECE BOLSTERS FIREFIGHTING ARSENAL TO COPE WITH COUNTRY'S GROWING HEAT RISK

Panayiotou welcomed the 18 Royal Jordanian Air Force technical staff, crew and pilots who will "stand shoulder to shoulder with us in aerial firefighting." The Cypriot government will cover the Jordanian mission’s expenses through its deployment. It was unclear how long that will be.

The minister said the Jordanian crews will undergo immediate training to adapt to local conditions and will become operationally ready in the next few days.

The Jordanian helicopters will bolster a fleet of at least three other aircraft from Cyprus’ police and National Guard, including a helicopter from two military bases that Britain maintains on the island, that will be on round-the-clock call.

The Jordanian deployment comes after a Cypriot proposal to set up a regional fire fighting hub in Cyprus from which aircraft and other technology could be dispatched to help put out fires in neighboring countries. Two years ago, Jordan’s King Abdullah II replied by offering to station firefighting aircraft in Cyprus through the summer fire season.

Cyprus, Greece, Jordan and Israel have often assisted each other in recent years by sending firefighting teams, gear and aircraft to help combat massive wildfires.

A powerful ethnic minority armed group battling Burma's army in the country's west claimed Monday to have taken hundreds of government soldiers prisoner when it captured a major command post.

The Arakan Army, the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, has been on the offensive against army outposts in the western state of Rakhine — its home ground — for about six months.

The group said in a video statement posted on the Telegram messaging app that soldiers belonging to the military government’s Operational Command No. 15 headquarters in Rakhine’s Buthidaung township surrendered after a siege.

ETHNIC KAREN GUERRILLA FIGHTERS WITHDRAW FROM BURMESE BORDER TOWN ARMY LOST 2 WEEKS AGO

Buthidaung is about 240 miles southwest of Mandalay, Burma's second-largest city.

The reported capture of the base could not be independently confirmed. Burma's military government made no immediate comment, and the spokesperson of the Arakan Army did not respond to questions sent by The Associated Press.

The fight in Rakhine is part of the nationwide conflict in Burma that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.

Despite its advantages in arms and manpower, Burma's army has been on the defensive since October, when an alliance of three ethnic rebel groups launched an offensive in the country’s northeast.

The video released by the Arakan Army was described as having been made Saturday. It shows Arakan Army fighters guarding men in military uniforms and civilian clothes, some injured, as they walk through a field and down a roadside accompanied by women and children — families of soldiers often live at their posts.

A caption accompanying the video says it shows the deputy commander of the group and his troops after a "final assault in which (they) faced total defeat and surrendered."

The video does not specify the total number of captured soldiers and their family members, but in one part about 300 men can be seen sitting in rows in an open field.

In a statement released Sunday, the Arakan Army said it captured the command post Thursday after attacking it for two weeks. It claimed another army post was seized the next day, along with others over the past two months.

The attackers captured "weapons, ammunition, military equipment and surrendered prisoners of war," the statement said.

Some parts of the video released Monday show young men who appear to be members of the Muslim Rohingya minority.

Burma's military has been accused of filling its depleted ranks with Rohingya men in Rakhine under the recently activated conscription law. The army has lost personnel to casualties, surrender and defections while facing increasingly tough opposition on the battlefield.

The Rohingya were the targets of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign incorporating rape and murder that saw an estimated 740,000 flee to neighboring Bangladesh as their villages were burned down by the army in 2017.

Ethnic Rakhine nationalists aligned with the Arakan Army were also among the persecutors of the Rohingya minority, but now the Arakan Army and the Rohingya are uneasy allies in opposition to the military government.

The Arakan Army, which seeks autonomy from Burma's central government, is part of an alliance of ethnic minority armies that launched an offensive in October and gained strategic territory in Burma's northeast bordering China.

Its success was seen as a major defeat for the military government, and boosted the morale of restive ethnic minorities as well as the pro-democracy resistance.

On Sunday, the Kachin Independence Army, another major ethnic armed group, claimed to have captured Sumprabum, a township in the northern state of Kachin.

As the world commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day, a new report highlights the lingering disease of antisemitism around the world. 

The Annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report, published by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), indicates an increase of dozens of percentage points in the number of antisemitic incidents in Western countries between 2022 and 2023. 

Antisemitic incidents spiked dramatically after Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel and killed around 1,200 people and took around 240 others hostage. But the trend was already well underway in the first nine months of 2023, according to the report.  

The report’s authors write that Oct. 7 "helped spread a fire that was already out of control." 

HAMAS SAYS THEY APPROVE FRAMEWORK FOR CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

In total, the ADL recorded more than 7,500 incidents in the U.S. in 2023 – up from nearly 3,700 incidents in 2022. Applying a broader definition, the report recorded nearly 8,900 incidents. 

ISRAEL SAYS IT'S CONDUCTING ‘TARGETED’ STRIKES AGAINST HAMAS IN RAFAH

Similar trends were seen across other western countries with significant Jewish population. France, for instance, saw incidents increase from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023. Germany saw incidents increase from 2,639 to 3,614 over the same time period. 

The report’s release comes on the heels of weeks of nationwide campus protests over Israel’s now seven-month war in Gaza, that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Protesters insist that their message is aimed at the state of Israel, but many Jewish students on campuses have said these demonstrations have leaned into incidents of outright antisemitism. 

President Biden addressed the ongoing protests last week, decrying both antisemitism and Islamophobia as forms of hate speech. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), meanwhile, has recorded a similar spike in incidents of "Anti-Muslim Hate." The group recorded more than 8,061 complaints nationwide in 2023 – the highest number it ever recorded in its 30-year history. Nearly half of those were in the final three months of 2023. 

Those figures represented a 56% increase over 2022. CAIR has blamed this spike in Islamophobia on the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza after October 2023. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece.

Turkey formally converted The Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in Turkish, into a mosque in 2020, soon after it similarly turned Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer.

Both conversions drew praise from Muslim faithful but criticism from Greece and other countries who had urged Turkey to protect the important Byzantine-era monuments. Both are listed as U.N. World Heritage Sites.

TURKEY CARRIES OUT NEW AIRSTRIKES IN NORTHERN IRAQ, KILLING 16 KURDISH MILITANTS

Like Hagia Sophia, which was a church for centuries and then a mosque for centuries more, the Chora had operated as a museum for decades before it was ordered turned into a mosque. The Chora’s formal launch as a mosque, however, was delayed as the structure then underwent restoration.

Erdoğan on Monday remotely presided over a ceremony marking the opening of the Chora — as well as other recently-restored structures — from a conference hall at his palace complex in Ankara.

"May it bring good fortune," Erdoğan said during the televised event.

Musa Tombul was among the first worshippers to pray inside.

"I have been waiting for its opening for four years," he told the state-run Anadolu Agency. "I was honored to pray in such a place."

"We thank God for showing us these days," Anadolu quoted another worshiper, Haydar Senbahar, as saying. "Hopefully, we will come here from time to time and perform our prayers."

The church, situated near Istanbul’s ancient city walls, is famed for its elaborate mosaics and frescoes. It dates to the fourth century, although the edifice took on its current form in the 11th-12th centuries.

The structure served as a mosque during Ottoman rule before being transformed into a museum in 1945.

Greece had criticized the Turkish government’s decision to turn it back into a mosque, accusing Ankara of "insulting the character" of another World Heritage Site.

The decisions to transform Hagia Sophia and the Chora back into mosques were seen as moves geared to consolidate the conservative and religious support base of Erdoğan’s ruling party amid an economic downturn.

In 2020, Erdoğan joined hundreds of worshipers for the first Muslim prayers in Hagia Sophia in 86 years, brushing aside international criticism and calls for the monument to be kept as a museum. As many as 350,000 took part in the prayers outside the structure.

Scotland's former deputy first minister was poised to become its third leader in just over a year after taking the helm of the troubled Scottish National Party on Monday.

John Swinney, who led the SNP two decades ago, was the only candidate to replace First Minister Humza Yousaf as the leader of the party.

SCOTTISH LEADER SAYS HE WON'T RESIGN AMID FALLOUT OF DECISION TO END POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT

The SNP has been in turmoil since long-serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon abruptly stepped down last year during a campaign finance investigation that eventually led to criminal charges against her husband.

Swinney, 60, who joined the party at age 15, will try to bring stability to the SNP as it fights efforts by opponents to weaken it going into U.K.-wide parliamentary elections expected later this year.

"The polarization of politics does not serve our country well," Swinney said as he was named party leader. "I will reach out to everyone willing to join with us in good faith and seek compromises that serve our nation well. We need to stop shouting at each other and talk. More than that, actually, we need to listen. As first minister, I will do exactly that."

Yousaf announced his resignation last week after a political miscalculation in which he booted the Green Party from the ruling coalition of Scotland’s semiautonomous government. The SNP is one seat short of a majority in the local parliament with 63 of the 128 voting seats, so it needs to partner with at least one opposition party.

The pro-independence SNP was weakened by the campaign finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, but was ultimately brought down by Yousaf’s decision to oust the Greens because of differences over climate change goals. Yousaf was unable to persuade other parties to back his minority government in Scotland’s parliament.

Facing the prospect of two no-confidence votes that had been scheduled, Yousaf quit rather than be forced out.

Yousaf will remain first minister until his replacement is elected. Swinney is likely to be elected to that position later this week.

Swinney thanked Yousaf for serving with "grace and dignity," and said that his "moral leadership on the issue of Gaza has been a light in very dark times."

Yousaf won a bruising campaign to take over the party after Sturgeon, who was first minister for eight years, resigned unexpectedly in February 2023.

About a month later, Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, who was the party's chief executive, was arrested as police investigated how 600,000 pounds ($750,000) earmarked for a Scottish independence campaign was spent.

Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, the party’s former treasurer, were later arrested and questioned in the inquiry, but they were released without being charged with a crime. Murrell was charged last month with embezzlement.

Swinney had served as Sturgeon's deputy first minister during her tenure as Scotland's leader, but stepped down when she left office.

Conservative leader Douglas Ross said that Swinney’s past makes him unlikely to bring the change that Scotland needs.

"John Swinney was joined at the hip with the disgraced Nicola Sturgeon and his fingerprints are all over her numerous policy failures and cover-ups," Ross said.

Swinney pledged to lead a center-left government focused on the economy, jobs, the cost of living, the National Health Service, schools, public services and the "climate crisis."

Swinney said that he would make his case to persuade people of the need for Scottish independence, which voters rejected in 2014. He cited Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis, which he blamed on U.K. politicians in London, as being bad for Scotland.

"They demonstrate why Scotland needs to have independence to make our own decisions and create our best future," he said. "If someone is an independence supporter in Scotland and they want Scotland to be independent, there’s only one political party that will ever deliver and that’s the Scottish National Party."

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar echoed Ross' remarks, saying that the "SNP is offering more of the same."

"John Swinney has been at the heart of this incompetent government for 17 years and at the heart of the SNP for 40 years," Sarwar said. "John Swinney’s record is one of failure."

Polish prosecutors opened an investigation Monday after a Polish judge fled to the autocratic state of Belarus and asked for protection there.

The National Prosecutor’s Office said it is looking into suspicions that the judge was acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.

According to Belarus state media, Judge Tomasz Szmydt told journalists in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, that he was forced to leave Poland due to disagreements with the current authorities.

EXILED BELARUS OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS SHE HASN’T HEARD FROM HER IMPRISONED HUSBAND FOR OVER 400 DAYS

The pro-European Union government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk took power in December vowing to restore democratic norms after eight years of rule by the right-wing Law and Justice party.

Law and Justice, in power from 2015 to 2023, carried out a series of changes to the judicial system that gave the party more power over the courts and judicial bodies, eroding the democratic separation of powers. That led to a dispute with the European Union — one that the EU only closed on Monday.

Szmydt, a judge at the provincial administrative court in Warsaw, gained notoriety in 2019 when he and his then wife engaged in an online smear campaign against judges critical of the judicial changes made by Law and Justice.

Szmydt reportedly appealed to Belarus' longtime leader, Alexander Lukashenko, for his protection, saying he considers Belarus a "country with great potential" led by a "very wise leader" and a place where "you can live peacefully."

A U.S. Army soldier was detained in Vladivostok, Russia, last Thursday and has been charged with criminal misconduct, according to officials.

RUSSIAN SUSPECT IN $4B BITCOIN FRAUD PLEADS PARTIALLY GUILTY IN US

"The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith said. "The Army notified his family, and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia."

Smith was unable to provide any additional information due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has begun conducting what it describes as "targeted strikes" against Hamas operatives in eastern Rafah, a city located in the southern Gaza Strip where more than 1 million civilians from other parts of Gaza are sheltering. 

Per the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the War Cabinet has unanimously decided that Israel would continue exerting "military pressure" on Hamas in Rafah to promote the release of hostages and the other goals of the war." 

ISRAEL URGES PALESTINIANS TO EVACUATE RAFAH AHEAD OF EXPECTED GROUND OPERATION IN HAMAS STRONGHOLD

Israel announced earlier Monday it was ordering around 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating from Rafah, following a statement from Hamas that it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a cease-fire to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel in Gaza.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that although the Hamas proposal is far from Israel's necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation of working-class mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday that the military would hold drills involving tactical nuclear weapons — the first time such an exercise has been publicly announced by Moscow.

A look at tactical nuclear weapons and the part they play in the Kremlin's political messaging.

Unlike nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles that can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful and can have a yield as small as about 1 kiloton. The U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II was 15 kilotons.

PUTIN'S INAUGURATION: FRANCE WILL SEND DIPLOMAT, GERMANY AND BALTIC STATES WILL NOT

Such battlefield nuclear weapons — aerial bombs, warheads for short-range missiles or artillery munitions — can be very compact. Their small size allows them to be discreetly carried on a truck or plane.

Unlike strategic weapons, which have been subject to arms control agreements between Moscow and Washington, tactical weapons never have been limited by any such pacts, and Russia hasn’t released their numbers or any other specifics related to them.

Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly reminded Western nations about Moscow’s nuclear might in a bid to discourage them from increasing military support to Kyiv.

Early on in the war, Putin frequently referenced Moscow’s nuclear arsenal by vowing repeatedly to use "all means" necessary to protect Russia. But he later toned down his statements as Ukraine's offensive last summer failed to reach its goals and Russia scored more gains on the battlefield.

Moscow's defense doctrine envisages a nuclear response to an atomic strike or even an attack with conventional weapons that "threaten the very existence of the Russian state." That vague wording has led some pro-Kremlin Russian experts to urge Putin to sharpen it to force the West to take the warnings more seriously.

Putin said last fall that he sees no reason for such a change.

"There is no situation in which anything would threaten Russian statehood and the existence of the Russian state," he said. "I think that no person of sober mind and clear memory could have an idea to use nuclear weapons against Russia."

Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons into the territory of Belarus, an ally that neighbors Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, had long urged Moscow to station nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and served as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine.

Both Putin and Lukashenko said that nuclear weapons deployment to Belarus was intended to counter perceived Western threats. Last year, Putin specifically linked the move to the U.K. government’s decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium.

Neither leader said how many were moved — only that Soviet-era facilities in the country were readied to accommodate them, and that Belarusian pilots and missile crews were trained to use them. The weapons have remained under Russian military control.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 673-mile border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly, if Moscow decides to use them. It has also extended Russia’s capability to target several NATO allies in Eastern and Central Europe.

France and the European Commission on Monday told China's President Xi Jinping that they wanted him to use his influence on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, while underscoring that the European Union would not waver in its support for Kyiv.

President Emmanuel Macron is hosting the Chinese leader in his first visit to Europe in five years and held talks with him and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris as they sought to show a united front on issues ranging from trade to Ukraine.

China has strengthened trade and military ties with Russia in recent years as the U.S. and its allies imposed sanctions on both countries, especially on Moscow since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

PUTIN'S INAUGURATION: FRANCE WILL SEND DIPLOMAT, GERMANY AND BALTIC STATES WILL NOT

China-Russian trade hit a record of $240.1 billion in 2023, up 26.3% from a year earlier, Chinese customs data shows. Chinese shipments to Russia jumped 46.9% in 2023 while imports from Russia rose 13%.

Beyond the financial ties, Western powers have been especially worried that Beijing could provide weapons to Moscow and circumvent existing sanctions on materials that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

"We count on China to use all its influence on Russia to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," von der Leyen told reporters after a trilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Macron said coordination with China on Ukraine was "absolutely decisive."

Fighting on Ukraine's eastern front has worsened in recent weeks as Kyiv's troops await crucial U.S. and European military aid to beat back a Russian advance.

The two European leaders were keen to underline to Xi that despite Ukraine's current difficulties, they were determined to continue backing it and that Beijing needed to realize that the conflict was likely to last, with Western powers not ready to abandon Kyiv, diplomatic sources said.

Western powers have been trying for more than a year to convince China not to give Russia military support.

The diplomatic sources said Xi had been clear that Beijing did not intend to supply weapons to Moscow and that it was ready to look into the issue of dual-usage materials that enabled Russia's war effort.

They said they would now have to see whether commitments turned into actions. The EU is currently discussing possible sanctions against some Chinese firms.

Xi was quoted by Chinese state media as saying all parties wished to see an early ceasefire, a return of peace in Europe and to avoid any further escalation.

"China did not create the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party to it," state media quoted Xi as saying. "All along, China has been working vigorously to facilitate talks for peace."

Russian President Vladmir Putin is expected to travel to China later in May in what could be his first overseas trip of his new presidential term.

China's National Health Commission said it was investigating a hospital in the southwest megacity of Chongqing for its alleged involvement in surrogacy, which is illegal in China, after wide circulation of the issue on social media.

The incident comes after a series of official investigations last year related to the issuance of fake birth certificates at a time when China is trying to boost its birth rate.

Chongqing Angel Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital has been cooperating with illegal surrogacy agencies, a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo said on Sunday.

CHINESE 'RENT-A-WOMB' INDUSTRY USING AMERICAN SURROGATES IS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: HERITAGE RESEARCHER

Surrogate mothers would use forged ID cards to give birth in the hospital and forged birth certificates would be made after the babies were born, according to the post, made by a user called Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as a volunteer fighting child trafficking.

A team had been set up to investigate and verify the situation, the local Chongqing health committee said in a statement on its website on Sunday in response to the post.

"Once verified, it (the hospital) will be dealt with seriously in accordance with laws and regulations."

Chongqing Angel Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

The Weibo post on the hospital was one of the top trending items on Monday, drawing hundreds of comments.

"This industry always seems to have existed," said one comment by a user called Wensheng. Another user called XJ said: "This is an industrial chain, not something that can be accomplished by one person."

China said last year it would "severely crack down" on illegal activities related to the use of assisted reproductive technologies such as the buying or selling of sperm or eggs and surrogacy.

It suspended a hospital and judicial institute in Wuhan in November after they were accused of surrogacy and issuing fake paternity results.

Birth certificates are required in China for obtaining household registration and are necessary for vaccinations, medical insurance enrollment and application for a social security card.

Turkey has carried out a new round of airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in neighboring Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said Monday.

Warplanes struck suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the regions of Hakurk, Metina and Gara in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, according to the statement.

The airstrikes reportedly killed 16 militants, including some commanders, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from the PKK, a banned separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s.

TURKISH PRESIDENT MAKES FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO IRAQ IN OVER A DECADE

The ministry said it was determined to "rescue Turkey from this problem."

The latest airstrikes came weeks after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid his first visit to Iraq in 12 years, seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in the fight against the militants. Erdogan had previously announced a major operation against the PKK for this summer with the aim of "permanently" eradicating the threat it poses.

The PKK, labelled a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives since it began in 1984.

Baghdad has long alleged that Turkish actions in Iraq against the PKK violate its sovereignty, but it appears to be acquiescing to Ankara’s latest operations.

In March, after a meeting between the Iraqi and Turkish foreign ministers, Baghdad announced that the Iraqi National Security Council had issued a ban on the PKK, although it stopped short of designating it as a terrorist organization.

France will send its ambassador to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his next six-year term in office on Tuesday, a French diplomatic source said on Monday, in contrast with Germany which said it would not be represented.

Paris' decision suggests a potential split in the Western camp with several countries, including the Baltic states, vehemently opposed to giving Putin any form of legitimacy and potentially undermining Ukraine in its war with Russia after Moscow launched an invasion more than two years ago.

Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide, cementing his already tight grip on power, in Russia's presidential election, held in March just weeks after Putin's most prominent opponent Alexei Navalny died in jail. Western governments condemned the re-election as unfair and undemocratic.

FRENCH CYBERWARRIORS READY TO TEST THEIR DEFENSE AGAINST HACKERS AND MALWARE DURING THE OLYMPICS

"France will be represented by its ambassador to Russia," a French diplomatic source said.

The source said Paris had previously condemned the context of repression in which the election was held, depriving voters of a real choice, as well as the organization of elections in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, which France considers a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.

Franco-Russian relations have deteriorated in recent months as Paris has increased its support for Ukraine. Just last week President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine saying if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines it would be legitimate to consider it if Kyiv requested the support.

Germany said it would not send a representative to Putin's inauguration. The Baltic states, which no longer have envoys in Moscow, have also categorically ruled out attending the inauguration.

Two European diplomats said they did not expect the United States to send an envoy to the inauguration, although Washington has not made a public announcement.

"We believe that the isolation of Russia, and especially of its criminal leader, must be continued," Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said. "Participation in Putin's inauguration is not acceptable for Lithuania. Our priority remains support for Ukraine and its people fighting against Russian aggression."