World News
Nicki Minaj praised for spotlighting Christian persecution in Nigeria: 'Body count is just too high to ignore'
Rap star Nicki Minaj is garnering praise for using her platform to shed light on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Ahead of Minaj's scheduled appearance at the United Nations with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, Knox Thames, a human rights lawyer, thanked the rapper for the attention that she and other stars, like Bill Maher, have brought to the issue.
"The challenges in Nigeria have been happening for decades, and they've largely been ignored. So I welcome these unsuspecting allies shining a light on this," Thames said of the celebrities.
Thames, who served as a State Department special advisor for religious minorities under former President George W. Bush, former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, said that in Nigeria, "the body count is just too high to ignore." While he would not say definitively that what is happening in Nigeria is a genocide, he said it is something that must be addressed.
"This question of, ‘is there a Christian genocide happening?’ It's a legal question. Genocide is defined by international law, and scholars will debate that. But what's undeniable is that in the last 20 years, thousands of Christians have been killed, and the body count is just too high to ignore," Thames said.
Trump announced in late October that he was designating Nigeria as a "country of particular concern," citing the widespread killings of Christians in the West African nation.
"Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Oct. 31. "The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!"
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Following the announcement, Minaj said the president's statement made her "feel a deep sense of gratitude."
"Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other," Minaj wrote.
On Tuesday, Minaj will address the United Nations on the issue of the persecution of Nigerian Christians.
Waltz, who said he was a fan of the rapper, said on X, "I'm grateful she's leveraging her massive platform to spotlight the atrocities against Christians in Nigeria, and I look forward to standing with her as we discuss the steps the President and his administration are taking to end the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters."
Minaj replied, "Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for granted. It means more than you know. The Barbz and I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose."
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
NATO member accuses Russian intelligence of railway line 'sabotage'
A spokesperson for Poland's special services minister accused Russian intelligence Tuesday of orchestrating a railway blast that destroyed a key track on a route used to deliver aid to Ukraine.
Jacek Dobrzyński told reporters that "everything indicates" Russian intelligence was behind the sabotage of Polish railways.
"The fact is that everything indicates that this — we can already confidently call it a terrorist attack — was initiated by special services from the East," said Dobrzyński.
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An explosion destroyed a section of track on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line, while another stretch farther south was damaged in what authorities are investigating as a possible act of sabotage.
Dobrzyński said the investigations into both incidents were still ongoing. "I cannot say what stage the officers are [at] or [what they are] currently working on and what threads they are connecting or what threads they are analyzing," he explained.
"The Russian services would very much want to have this information: where our officers are or in which direction they are heading."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the blast on the Warsaw-Lublin line an "unprecedented act of sabotage."
"The explosion of an explosive device destroyed the railway track. Emergency services and the prosecutor's office are working at the scene. On the same route, closer to Lublin, damage has also been identified," Tusk wrote Monday on X, vowing to find the perpetrators.
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The government’s National Security Committee convened Tuesday with military commanders, intelligence chiefs and the president’s representative in attendance to discuss the incidents.
Poland's accusation comes amid recent security incidents in Eastern Europe, following airspace incursions in September that saw Russian drones enter Poland and three MiG-31 fighter jets cross into Estonia before being intercepted by NATO aircraft.
Armed attackers in Nigeria kidnap 25 girls from boarding school
Gunmen kidnapped 25 girls from a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State and killed at least one staffer, authorities said Monday.
The schoolgirls were taken around 4 a.m., and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident.
Police spokesperson Nafi'u Abubakar Kotarkoshi told The Associated Press the gunmen had "sophisticated weapons" and exchanged fire with guards before abducting the girls.
"A combined team is currently combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation aimed at recovering the abducted students and arresting the perpetrators," he said, adding that one person was killed and another was injured.
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Abdulkarim Abdullahi Maga, a resident who said his daughter and granddaughter were abducted in the raid, told the AP that the attackers entered the school with motorcycles.
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"They first went straight to the teacher’s house and killed him before killing the guard," said Maga.
The latest abductions come amid a string of mass kidnappings in northern Nigeria in recent years.
In 2024, 280 students were abducted from a school in Kaduna State and at least 200 others, mostly internally displaced women and children, were abducted in Borno State while reportedly searching for firewood, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a Chibok secondary school in 2014 by Boko Haram militants, sparking international outrage and a #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
RAPPER NIKKI MINAJ AND UN AMBASSADOR JOIN VOICES AGAINST CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN NIGERIA
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W. Va., asked for prayers for the kidnapped schoolgirls and called on the Nigerian government to do more to end the "rampant violence."
Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to meet at White House amid diplomatic shifts in region
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives in Washington on Tuesday for his first White House visit in seven years, marking a pivotal moment to rebuild U.S.-Saudi ties and strengthen a partnership that remains central to American security and energy interests.
Ahead of the meeting, a group of 9/11 survivors, first responders and victims’ families urged President Donald Trump to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged role in the 2001 attacks. This follows a United States federal district court judge, George B. Daniels, ruling against Saudi Arabia's efforts to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by the families of 9/11 victims, which alleged the country was party to the attacks.
The visit comes as Trump has publicly confirmed the United States will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, telling reporters on Monday, "I will say that we will be doing that. We’ll be selling the F-35s," a move that immediately places Israel’s qualitative military edge and the region’s future defense architecture at the center of the conversation.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that "President Trump looks forward to welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud to the White House, where the two leaders will participate in an official working visit. Thanks to our Dealmaker-in-Chief, the United States secured $600 billion in historic investments during the President’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and Americans can expect more good deals for our country spanning technology, manufacturing, critical minerals, defense, and more."
A senior administration official, speaking on background, told Fox News Digital that the expected agreements will include a multibillion-dollar investment in America’s AI infrastructure, enhanced cooperation on civil nuclear energy and defense sales aimed at strengthening defense cooperation between the two countries.
The official added that the visit will also focus on the fulfillment of the Saudis’ $600 billion investment pledge through dozens of targeted investments across key U.S. sectors.
In Saudi Arabia, the visit is being seen as historic. Aziz Alghashian, a lecturer in international relations at Naif Arab University in Riyadh, said there is "a lot of excitement. The Saudis have said they’re not isolated in the region… this is back through open doors and the front door again." He said the moment reflects a broader shift in how Saudis understand their country’s place in the world. According to Alghashian, Trump’s repeatedly warm comments about the crown prince and the kingdom also contribute to a sense that Riyadh is re-entering Washington on strong footing.
The visit by MBS will be his first White House appearance since the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence assessed he approved, a charge he denies.
Jacob Olidort, director for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital that "Saudi Arabia is one of the top partners of ours in the region," calling the trip "well overdue, a reset of relations."
At the heart of the visit is the emerging U.S.-Saudi security pact. Alghashian described its purpose in three words: "elevate, facilitate and consolidate."
In his view, the agreement is meant "to elevate the Saudi-American relationship," transforming it from what he called a "strategic partnership" into a more formalized security alignment. Although not a full treaty, which Riyadh had previously pursued, the pact would still represent the most significant upgrade to the relationship in decades. He said the shift also has a domestic political rationale in Washington, arguing that being included in an "alliance" category "helps make Saudi Arabia become more of a bipartisan issue, and not just necessarily a Trump legacy."
Alghashian added that Saudi Arabia wants to finalize as much as possible now. "The Saudis… feel urgency to get as much as they can from the Trump administration before these deals get complicated in the next administration," he said.
That urgency extends to nuclear cooperation, where Saudi Arabia has made clear that while China and South Korea exist as alternatives, its preference is for an American program. "Saudi Arabia really wants American nuclear cooperation because it adds more security," he said, adding that Riyadh will not "wait forever" if conditions become overly restrictive but sees the current U.S. posture as an opening.
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Olidort said Saudi Arabia has been "very categorical" in what it expects in a changed Middle East: a defense pact and movement on Palestinian statehood. He recalled hearing a senior Saudi official say recently that "there will be no regional integration without Palestinian statehood," a line that reflects the kingdom’s long-standing public position that recognition of Israel will only come after a credible pathway to a Palestinian state is in place.
Still, Olidort said full Saudi-Israel normalization may not be necessary at this moment for U.S. priorities to advance. He said normalization "doesn’t need to be the immediate priority" and suggested that "an upgraded deepening of cooperation, but short of full normalization," could be possible if both sides see value in closer security integration.
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That perspective is particularly relevant given the war in Gaza and Riyadh’s position on reconstruction. As Alghashian noted, Saudi Arabia has said it "will not do reconstruction unless Hamas is gone and Israel withdraws," a stance that places the kingdom at odds with any rushed postwar plan and, in his view, leaves the region "in no man’s land."
Trump’s decision to approve F-35 sales to Saudi Arabia adds another layer. Saudi Arabia has formally requested up to 48 of the fifth-generation jets, making it the largest potential F-35 buyer outside NATO and the first Arab state after the United Arab Emirates to receive them. The move would test Washington’s commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge.
Olidort, however, argued that the sale does not automatically threaten Israel’s superiority. "I don’t know that it will mean Israel losing air superiority," he said, noting that Israel’s defense and aerospace sectors are "world-class" and that the sale could "potentially deepen collaboration between Israel and Saudi Arabia and make each of our partners… more effective."
Beyond defense, the visit is also anchored in technology. Saudi Arabia is pushing for access to advanced American AI chips and positioning itself as a global data and energy hub.
Olidort framed the issue bluntly, saying AI cooperation with Saudi Arabia is a strategic priority for Washington because "the United States is in ‘a race’ with China" and cautioning that "if we don’t get there, then we will be in a China-dominated AI space." That view reflects the broader U.S. assessment that the future of artificial intelligence — from data-center capacity to semiconductor access — is inseparable from great-power competition.
Fox News' Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
UK officials recommend yoga and 'climate cafés' to combat 'eco-anxiety'
Britons' anxiety about climate change plays a big role in many mental health struggles among the country's youth and can trigger guilt about having children, a new report has claimed.
The report by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also suggests that yoga and visiting "climate cafés" could help stave off this "eco-anxiety" and build emotional resilience in times of change.
"An awareness of climate and environmental change can also lead to emotional or psychological responses, such as eco-anxiety," it reads, defining the term as distress caused by the threat of climate change.
The authors also reference "solastalgia," which is the sorrow people feel when their familiar environments are degraded by environmental change.
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According to the UKHSA, reactions like this are not irrational but are natural responses to a destabilized world.
The data shown in the report, the Climate change and mental health: thematic assessment, also indicates that many young Britons are struggling with the psychological weight of environmental collapse.
For example, nearly 40 percent of survey respondents said that climate change made them hesitant to have children, citing fears about future safety, resources and quality of life.
"There is evidence that eco-anxiety is influencing reproductive choices for some individuals, as 39% of UK survey respondents described that climate change made them feel hesitant to have children due to concerns over the children’s future quality of life," the report states.
In response to these findings, the UKHSA went on to recommend activities that promote community connection and resilience.
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"Participating in group and community-based activities, including yoga, citizen science, and climate cafés, was associated with reduced psychological distress," the report notes.
The report has not escaped criticism, with Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, accusing the UK government of institutionalizing climate hysteria.
"The UK’s embrace of fringe terms like ‘eco-anxiety’ and ‘solastalgia’ shows how deeply climate propaganda has seeped into official policy," he told the National Review.
Isaac argues that these are not legitimate medical conditions but rather the result of fear-driven messaging that makes people feel guilty about prosperity and family life.
"No climate café or government program will solve a mental health crisis created by the Left’s own apocalyptic narrative," he added.
Similarly, Bill Gates, also took a step away from climate alarmism and said he thinks climate change and global warming are both issues that "will not lead to humanity’s demise."
Despite the controversy, the UKHSA maintains that addressing the psychological effects of climate change is essential to public health.
Russian drone strikes tanker in Ukraine’s Odesa after Zelenskyy closes US gas deal
A suspected Russian drone attack in Ukraine saw a Turkish tanker hit in the Odesa region Monday, setting the vessel on fire and prompting evacuations across the Danube river in Romania.
The strike happened a day after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signed a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through the area.
On his visit to Greece, he finalized the agreement for U.S. LNG to flow to Odesa via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis starting in January.
Per the Associated Press, the MT Orinda, carrying liquefied petroleum gas, was hit as it was being offloaded at Izmail port, according to Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs. All 16 crew members were evacuated.
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Footage from across the river in Romania, where residents were told to leave their homes, showed the ship engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the sky over the river Danube.
Izmail lies on the Black Sea estuary and is one of Ukraine’s most important trade hubs.
The strike came amid renewed Russian attacks targeting the Odesa region’s energy and port infrastructure.
According to reports, regional military head Oleh Kiper said drones caused multiple fires and damaged several civilian vessels.
Following the blast, Romanian authorities ordered the evacuation of residents from the villages of Plauru and Ceatalchioi in Tulcea County, directly across the river from Izmail.
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Romania’s Defense Ministry also said radar systems had tracked several aerial targets during the night but had found no incursions into Romanian airspace.
The country issued multiple alerts in recent months as Russian strikes near the border intensified.
A statement from the Ministry of National Defense said the "Russian Federation’s forces attacked areas in Ukraine located in the vicinity of the river border with Romania on the night of Sunday, November 16th, to Monday, November 17th."
"The Ministry of National Defense radar monitoring and surveillance systems detected and tracked targets that evolved in the Ukrainian airspace, in the proximity of Tulcea County," the statement said.
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"MoND notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, with regard to the establishment of alert measures for the population in the north of the county (Izmail area)."
The Danube corridor has also become more important to Ukraine’s export network since Russia withdrew from the U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Deal in 2023.
Attacks on the area also raised security concerns for NATO with the alliance reacting by expanding air-defense operations under its Eastern Sentry initiative.
Zelenskyy's U.S. gas deal aims to secure Ukraine’s winter energy needs as Russia continues to bombard power infrastructure across the country.
Miss Israel says she's getting death threats after viral Miss Universe video controversy with Miss Palestine
Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz says she has been bombarded with death and rape threats after she claims a potentially edited video went viral showing her glaring at Miss Palestine during a Miss Universe competition.
The 27-year-old spoke about how the abuse began within hours of the video circulating online and as people began to think she had given Nadeen Ayoub a dirty look on stage during the pageant in Bangkok, Thailand.
"I don't know if that footage was edited or not, but it was definitely at least edited and cropped and clipped together in a way that made it look like I was the only one that was looking that way," she told Fox News Digital.
"My social media got swarmed with hate comments and just these clips from this video that looked like I was standing right next to her.
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"I first thought it was AI or something, then I realized that it just came from a different camera that had a very distorted perspective."
Shiraz maintained she expected that she would "get a lot of hate and heightened scrutiny just for being the representative from Israel, but this should not cause Hitler comments and not cause death threats."
"And that's exactly what I've been receiving," she said, before describing the harassment as graphic and disturbing.
"This has been to the point of, I want to rape and kill you or, I hope that you end up like one of the hostages that got raped and shot in the head," she said.
"I've gotten, ‘die you dirty Jew.’ I don't want to be too graphic, and it's jarring."
"I was hoping that I would be able to have a productive dialogue with Miss Palestine, maybe even take some photos together and show the world that we can be an example for peace," she added.
Shiraz, who studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed an MBA, previously worked in Israel’s tech sector and founded her own startup before entering pageantry.
"I realized that I am very passionate about advocacy," she said. "I got heavily involved in the Jewish community and Israel advocacy on campus, and it occurred to me that a cultural stage such as this one could give Israel a human voice and when we’re generally only seen through a political lens," she added.
The controversy in Bangkok also came after Ayoub posted several photos from the event online after a show.
"She had also posted eight photos in which I was visible in all of them," Shiraz recalled.
"They were obviously not good pictures of me, and ones where I was looking in that direction, or what seemed to be that direction.
"I had asked her to take it down, and she took down only one or two of the photos, but not all of them."
"During the competition I had realized that there was a specific cameraman that was centered right on her, and I was right behind her," she said. "I had also realized that that cameraman was only pointing at her, and therefore myself, and they seemed to have some kind of communication between them, which was striking to me."
Despite the abuse, Shiraz remains determined. "It is very, very tough to be Jewish and Israeli in this day and age, no matter what we do, we will get hate for it," she said.
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"It only reinforces to me that what I'm doing right now is important and that I shouldn't get distracted, just motivated."
The 74th Miss Universe competition, featuring 121 contestants, continues in Thailand, with the grand final set for Friday, Nov. 21.
"I'm very passionate about representing Israel and, after this competition, hope to pivot from my background to turn to advocating for Israel and for good causes into my life's work," she said. "I come out and put my best foot forward every day, and sometimes it feels like, no matter what I do, it just will not be sufficient, you know, to get me into certain people's hearts… But of course, it won't stop me from putting my best foot forward."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Miss Palestine for comment.
Two men caught with 81 monkeys stuffed in bags and meth in wildlife smuggling ring, authorities say
Two men suspected of being part of an international wildlife smuggling ring were caught with 81 monkeys and methamphetamine in Thailand over the weekend near the country's border with Cambodia, authorities said.
Thai rangers stopped a vehicle on Friday in the Sa Kaeo province, where the monkeys were found stuffed into blue net bags.
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The two suspects allegedly admitted to being involved in a trafficking ring moving macaques from Thailand into Cambodia, the 12th Ranger Forces Regiment said in a Facebook post.
Authorities took possession of the unspecified amount of drugs and the monkeys.
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Thailand is a major transit point for wildlife smugglers, who often sell endangered animals for markets in China and parts of Southeast Asia.
In May 2025, a man was arrested in Thailand on suspicion of smuggling two baby orangutans into the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said at the time.
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The 47-year-old suspect was arrested at a gas station as he was allegedly preparing to hand the animals over to a buyer.
Pope Leo XIV calls out Christian persecution amid latest massacre of civilians in African nation
Pope Leo XIV called out the latest attack against Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), calling attention to what he described as a growing global pattern of violence against the faithful.
"In various parts of the world, Christians suffer discrimination and persecution. I think especially of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries from which we frequently hear of attacks on communities and places of worship. … I accompany in prayer the families of Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where in recent days there has been a massacre of civilians. Let us pray that all violence may cease and that believers may work together for the common good," the pope wrote in a statement published on his official X page.
His message came as authorities in the DRC confirmed that at least 17 people were killed, according to The Associated Press, when fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, a militant group aligned with the Islamic State, stormed a church-run hospital in the village of Byambwe, North Kivu.
The attackers entered the diocesan health center late Friday night, killing patients in their beds and setting the facility ablaze. Col. Alain Kiwewa, the local administrator, told the Associated Press that "women who were breastfeeding were brutally slaughtered and found with their throats slit in their hospital beds," adding that 11 women and six men were killed.
Vatican News described the scene as "a terrorist attack on civilians," citing accounts from survivors and clergy. Rev. Giovanni Piumatti, an Italian missionary who served more than five decades in the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, told the publication that militants looted medical supplies, set fire to the hospital and destroyed 27 nearby homes.
"This is a typical ADF attack," he said in the Vatican News interview. He added that the ADF fighters "kill mothers as they are breastfeeding their babies," describing a pattern of brutality that he said has become common in the region.
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The ADF, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, has repeatedly targeted Christians, churches and religious facilities across eastern Congo.
An Aug. 6, 2025, Human Rights Watch report said the Allied Democratic Forces "killed more than 40 people, including several children, with guns and machetes during a nighttime church gathering" in Komanda, Ituri province, and noted that in recent years the group has been "implicated in scores of killings and abductions" across eastern Congo.
Vatican News reported that the hospital was operated by the Little Sisters of the Presentation, who provide maternal care and basic surgical services in a region with few functioning medical facilities. Several newborns are believed to have been kidnapped in the attack, according to the Associated Press.
Piumatti condemned what he called the "shameful silence" of the international community, saying that economic interests in North Kivu’s mineral-rich territory have allowed armed groups to flourish.
The Byambwe massacre is the latest in a series of Islamist-linked attacks on the continent, adding new urgency to the pope’s call for global attention to Christian persecution and protection of vulnerable communities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
UN staff in Haiti told to stay off streets after gang coalition flexes muscle, US Marines face gunfire
Threats from Haitian gangs reportedly prompted the United Nations (U.N.) and foreign embassies to advise staff to stay off the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince Monday.
U.N. security directed staff to work remotely and restrict travel in the West region, while Haiti’s National Police canceled all personnel leave until further notice, according to The Miami Herald.
Mathias Gillmann, a spokesperson with the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti, confirmed to Fox News Digital in an email that staff were asked to work from home for the day.
Public threats from a powerful Haitian gang leader began circulating on social media in recent days following weekend security operations from the Haitian National Police, the Armed Forces of Haiti and the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), a multinational mission, authorized by the U.N. Security Council.
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Jimmy Chérizier, widely known as "Barbecue," appeared in a video shared Sunday by an independent Haitian media outlet, urging people to stay home on Nov. 17 so they wouldn’t "be a victim," according to a brief translation of his remarks.
"Those who don't need to, do not go out into the streets. Leave the streets to 'Viv Ansanm' and the police so that we can confront them," "Barbecue" is quoted as saying, according to HaitiLibre, an independent Haitian news site based in Port-au-Prince.
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Viv Ansanm is a Haitian gang coalition that was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and Foreign Terrorist Organization in May.
It was formed in September 2023 through an alliance between the two main gang factions operating in Port-au-Prince, G-9 and G-Pép.
The GSF said in an X post on Sunday that, together with specialized units from the Haitian National Police and the Armed Forces of Haiti, it carried out a security operation against the leadership and members of the 400 Mawozo gang that led to the deaths of several gang members.
The Friday operation resulted in the seizure of multiple weapons, including an M50-caliber Barrett rifle, six assault rifles and three pistols, they said.
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"This operation sends a clear and unequivocal message: the era of unchecked gang dominance is over. Haiti’s security institutions are mobilizing all available capabilities; on land, at sea, and in the air, to restore peace, protect communities, and ensure that every Haitian can exercise their basic human rights without fear of violence," read a statement from GSF. "Joint intelligence-driven operations and continuous security patrols will persist until these criminal groups are decisively defeated."
GSF said a Haitian National Police helicopter providing aerial support during the operation was forced to make an emergency landing due to a mechanical malfunction.
The team on board was evacuated by ground units, who came under heavy gang fire while conducting the rescue.
On Thursday, U.S. Marines protecting the American Embassy in Haiti exchanged gunfire with suspected gang members. No service members were injured in the incident.
Auction of Holocaust-related items in Germany called off amid outcry
Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski announced that an auction of items connected to the Holocaust has been called off.
The planned auction had been connected with the Felzmann auction house in Germany.
"I spoke with the German Foreign Minister @JoWadephul regarding the planned auction in Neuss of items from the time of German terror during the Second World War. We agreed that such a scandal must be prevented," Sikorski noted in a Polish-language post on X, according to a translation.
"Thank you, minister @JoWadephul, for the information that the offensive auction of Holocaust artifacts has now been cancelled. Respect for victims requires the dignity of silence, not the din of commerce," he noted in an English-language post.
Nazi Germany's horrific mass murder of Jews during World War II represents a major point in 20th century world history. Items that would have been up for auction included letters written by prisoners in concentration camps, as well as Gestapo index cards and other perpetrator documents, The Associated Press reported, citing German news agency dpa.
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There had been pushback against the plan for the auction.
For example, the Fritz Bauer Institute strongly objected to the Holocaust-related auction in a press release.
"The Fritz Bauer Institute protests against the planned auction by the Felzmann auction house and fundamentally opposes any commercial trade in documents relating to Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. No business should be conducted with such documents," a German-language press release declared, according to a translation.
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"For victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust survivors, this auction is a cynical and shameless undertaking that leaves them outraged and speechless," Christoph Heubner of The International Auschwitz Committee declared in a statement, according to the AP. "We urge those responsible at the Felzmann auction house to show some basic decency and cancel the auction," he had noted in the statement, according to the outlet.
Ukrainian major urges US to send Tomahawks as clashes with Russian forces intensify
FIRST ON FOX: As intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops continues on the eastern frontline in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, a senior Ukrainian commander involved in the fighting there has appealed to the Trump administration for Tomahawk missiles.
Maj. Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of the 225th Battalion in northern Ukraine, is holding the line and hoping for more U.S. support. "The main thing that we need is long-range missiles," Shyriaiev exclusively told Fox News Digital from an undisclosed location in the northeastern Sumy region of Ukraine’s front lines.
"This war is the biggest war in the world since World War II," Major Shyriaiev said. Ukraine’s fight, he stressed, is not just to free itself from Russian aggression.
Moscow has sought to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In fending off Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is looking to fulfill their 30-year hope of gaining complete independence from Moscow’s grip.
"For the last 300 years, our confrontation, that is, the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia, has been our chance to gain independence. And I am sure that we will win this war," Shyriaiev said.
U.S. long-range Tomahawk missiles would provide a useful option for Ukrainian forces to hold back Russian advances and get a better bargaining position to negotiate an end to the war.
"Bolstering Kyiv's long-range strike capabilities can help the Ukrainians impose greater costs on Moscow and undermine Russian offensive operations. Ultimately, this will provide Ukraine and the United States greater leverage to achieve peace," John Hardie, deputy director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Russia Program, told Fox News Digital.
President Donald Trump at one point hinted he might send Ukraine long-range missiles.
"If this war doesn’t get settled, I may send Tomahawks," Trump said in October when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House.
In a reversal of this sentiment, the president pulled back and told reporters aboard Air Force One on Nov. 2nd that the U.S. would not be sending Ukraine Tomahawk missiles for now.
Tomahawks have a range of about 1,550 miles, far enough to strike Russian territory. The long-range, subsonic cruise missiles are used to penetrate deep inside enemy territory and are launched from U. S. Navy surface ships and U.S. Navy submarines. Ukraine, for its war effort and lack of a navy, would need ground-based launchers.
So far in over three years of war, the U.S. during the Biden administration feared sending offensive weapons would be seen as an escalatory move by Putin. The Russian president even warned President Trump in a recent phone call against sending such weapons.
TRUMP WARNS RUSSIA: US HAS WORLD'S GREATEST NUCLEAR SUBMARINE 'RIGHT OFF THEIR SHORES'
Even if the U.S. doesn’t provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, Major Shyriaiev is resolute in the Ukrainian army’s ability to fend off the Russians.
"I am confident that our armed forces will continue to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty regardless of the type and number of weapons we receive. While I believe that Ukraine would greatly benefit from the distribution of Tomahawk missiles, given the proven precision capability of these weapons, we know there is a lot going on at the political level, and we will defend our nation with all the tools at our disposal," Shyriaiev said.
Shyriaiev is holed up in Sumy, a strategically important oblast that borders Russia, and has been the centerpiece of Ukrainian counteroffensives this fall.
While Russia continues to make steady but slow progress on the battlefield, Ukraine has stalled Russian advances in Sumy. Reclaiming territory held by Russia in Sumy will bolster Ukraine’s position in any negotiation to end the war, a key priority for President Trump.
Shyriaiev described Russia’s tactics across the front lines as meat assaults, possessing enough manpower to overwhelm Ukraine’s much smaller forces, equating the method of throwing Russian soldiers into a meat grinder, and it is achieving some successes.
Even if Russia succeeds in taking Pokrovsk, the major stressed that Russia will suffer heavy losses along the way.
"Every larger town or smaller city will be a serious battle to take, and the Russians will be losing a large number of manpower here in Pokrovsk. So Pokrovsk is one of those places where they will lose a lot of troops and their combat capability will suffer seriously from that," Shyriaiev said.
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