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Italian authorities shut down an anonymous online effort that asked the public to report the locations of Israeli tourists, Italian Jews and businesses believed to have ties to Zionism, drawing condemnation from senior government officials and Jewish leaders who compared the initiative to fascist-era persecution.

"I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews," Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, said after the Google form began circulating on social media and messaging platforms.

The questionnaire said it was intended to "map Zionist tourism," property purchases and what it described as "Zionist neo-colonization" in Italy, according to reports. It asked users to identify Jews, Israelis and people believed to be connected to Zionism at hotels, vacation rentals, businesses and other public places.

ISRAEL, JEWS TARGETED WORLDWIDE AS WELL-FUNDED LEFTIST, ISLAMIST GROUPS JOIN FOR ‘NAKBA 78’ PROTESTS

"The online mapping of so-called 'Zionist tourism,' rightly denounced by the president of the Jewish Community of Milan, Walker Meghnagi, is an aberrant initiative, in direct violation of fundamental human rights and the constitutional principles on which our nation is founded," Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa wrote in a statement, as translated to English.

"No form of cataloguing of persons on the basis of their religious belief or their connection with Israel is acceptable or justifiable. Behind all this lies a profound anti-Semitism that must be unanimously, firmly, and determinedly rejected," he added. "We cannot remain motionless in the face of such serious facts that recall the ghosts of the past. To the Jewish Community all my closeness."

The form was removed following the intervention of Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, Italy’s national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism, according to Italian and Israeli media reports.

'NOT ON OUR WATCH': GLOBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT LEADERS UNITE IN POLAND AGAINST HATE

"This form is intended to record cases of Zionist tourism, property purchases, and, more generally, Zionist neo-colonization in Italy," the questionnaire stated.

It said the information collected would be received by the Global Sumud Movement, an activist network associated with flotilla efforts to reach the Gaza Strip, and would remain confidential. Respondents were asked to provide sources so the reports could be verified and used to coordinate unspecified "initiatives."

The Global Sumud Movement denied commissioning the form or knowing about it before the controversy erupted, according to The Jerusalem Post.

"Zionism is one of the issues we work on, but we do not hunt Jews, and we know nothing about this questionnaire," the group told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "We did not commission it and had not even seen it before it was taken offline."

EXILED MUSLIM SCHOLAR WARNS FAR-LEFT–ISLAMIST ALLIANCE BEHIND ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ECHOES IRAN’S RISE

The organization said it learned about the questionnaire through news reports and reserved the right to take further action, including issuing a formal statement.

According to La Repubblica, later sections of the form asked respondents to name locations where Jewish or Israeli visitors had been seen and to indicate whether local organizations or activist groups were already "managing the phenomenon."

Meghnagi warned that collecting and circulating such information could encourage extremists to target Jews and Israelis.

"What is happening today shows that there are unbalanced individuals out there, and if this kind of message spreads widely enough, you are certain to find someone willing to act on it," he said. "For this reason, mapping where Jews are is extremely serious."

Alessandro Morelli, an Italian deputy secretary of state, ripped the form as "abhorrent" and said those responsible should not go unpunished.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran on Wednesday of flying members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into Yemen, saying Tehran’s actions helped ignite a renewed confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

"They decided to send direct flights from Tehran into Yemen, carrying IRGC elements and others into the country," Rubio told reporters. "And the Saudis responded to it."

Rubio did not identify the flights, specify how many IRGC personnel were allegedly transported or provide evidence supporting the allegation.

RUBIO SAYS US REMAINS OPEN TO IRAN TALKS BUT WARNS THERE 'WILL BE CONSEQUENCES'

He made the remarks while attending an annual gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers in Manila, Philippines, where the U.S.-Iran conflict and threats to international shipping were among the central security concerns.

The Houthis have declared a blockade targeting Saudi-linked vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, threatening to widen the conflict and disrupt another critical global trade route.

The rebels say they are targeting ships connected to Saudi Arabia or traveling to and from the kingdom’s Red Sea ports in retaliation for Saudi restrictions on Yemen and a recent attack on the airport in the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa.

IRAN-BACKED TERROR PROXY HOUTHIS THREATEN FRESH ATTACKS AFTER YEMEN AIRPORT STRIKE

The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the airport attack, which they said was intended to stop a flight carrying Houthi leaders home from Iran. Rubio disputed that account and alleged that Tehran was using direct flights to transport IRGC personnel and others into Yemen.

The Houthis later launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport, marking one of the most serious confrontations between the two sides in years.

Rubio said U.S. officials had spoken repeatedly with Saudi officials during the past week about the Houthi threat.

IRAN CALLS ON HOUTHIS TO PREPARE TO CUT OFF RED SEA GATEWAY — CAN THE TERROR GROUP DO IT?

"Anything that restricts shipping through the Red Sea would be problematic for the same reasons that the Strait of Hormuz is problematic," Rubio said. "So we’re watching that closely."

Saudi Arabia’s military has vowed to keep Bab el-Mandeb open and respond firmly to Houthi threats against commercial vessels using the waterway.

The narrow strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and serves as a major shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal. Around 12% of global trade and roughly one-quarter of worldwide container traffic normally pass through the route.

Its importance has grown as the U.S.-Iran conflict has sharply curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on Red Sea export routes to transport oil to international markets.

The Houthi-run SABA news agency claimed six vessels had altered course after receiving warnings from the group, a claim that could not be independently verified.

The Houthis say the blockade is limited to Saudi-linked shipping. During their earlier campaign connected to the war in Gaza, however, the rebels attacked more than 100 vessels, including ships with little or no apparent connection to Israel.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the latest Houthi threat had not materialized.

"So far, it hasn’t happened," Trump told reporters. "I think that if there is something like that, we’ll just have to take care of business."

Rubio’s accusation came as the U.S. military carried out an 11th consecutive night of strikes against targets in Iran. U.S. Central Command said the latest targets included aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.

Speaking to Southeast Asian leaders, Rubio also warned that allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz, collect tolls and attack ships that refused to comply would set a dangerous precedent for international waterways around the world.

"If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and, if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region," Rubio said.

Rubio said Iran’s support for the Houthis reflects a broader pattern of backing armed groups across the Middle East.

"The Houthis, Hezbollah, the militias in Iraq, Hamas — this is what Iran spends its money on," Rubio said. "It’s not on its people. It’s on supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing actors in the region."

The "Return to October" exhibition offers an immersive reconstruction of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, combining video with declassified Israel Defense Forces intelligence and planning materials recovered in the Gaza Strip that reveal how the Palestinian terrorist group planned and carried out its cross-border assault.

The 600-square-meter exhibition was assembled by the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC), a nonprofit dedicated to commemorating fallen members of Israel's intelligence community.

The exhibition features vehicles used in the attack, a film on the abduction of Israeli hostages, a mock Hamas tunnel, and excerpts from the Israel Defense Forces' 47-minute compilation of raw footage from the assault.

INSIDE ISRAEL'S MISSION TO TRAIN CIVILIANS TO STOP THE NEXT OCT 7-LIKE TERROR ATTACK

"The main conclusion of this exhibition is that Hamas prepared this terror invasion over a long period in a highly organized and professional manner. It gathered extensive intelligence over many years, and visitors can see examples of that intelligence-gathering effort throughout the exhibition," Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Institute for the Research of the Methodology of Intelligence at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, told Fox News Digital.

Kuperwasser said the exhibition's most significant feature is its collection of documents seized by the IDF in Gaza that Hamas sought to keep hidden. Among them are materials indicating that Hezbollah chose not to fully join the Oct. 7 attack out of concern that Israel would respond with a major offensive. The documents also shed light on the relationship between Hamas and Iran, including the extent of Tehran's involvement.

"The most important lesson is that Israel's enemies are constantly planning large-scale terrorist attacks. They seek to wipe us off the map, and if you become complacent and assume they are not preparing such attacks, you are mistaken," he said.

ISRAEL'S MILITARY ELIMINATES HAMAS TERRORIST WHO HELPED ABDUCT AMERICAN-ISRAELI HOSTAGE, 3 OTHERS

The exhibition's first room features a map marking 114 points where terrorists breached the border into Israel on Oct. 7. Red circles identify the communities that were attacked, while a dotted red line traces where the attackers were ultimately stopped. According to the exhibition, about 4,300 Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist operatives entered Israel at the start of the assault, followed by another 1,500 to 1,700 Gazans described as "uninvolved civilians."

Displayed in the room are Egyptian, North Korean, Russian, Chinese and Iranian-made weapons, alongside arms supplied to Hamas by Hezbollah.

The tour guide Eyal, whose last name could not be disclosed, displayed a kidnapping kit containing handcuffs, electric shock devices and syringes intended to sedate hostages, alongside what he described as a "spiritual kit" containing a miniature Quran and a fatwa, or religious ruling, calling for the killing of Israelis.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROBES UNRWA OVER ALLEGED EMPLOYMENT OF 1,500 TERRORISTS

Another display features military gear belonging to former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as a handwritten document recovered by the IDF from the European Hospital in Gaza.

"Here, he instructs Hamas terrorists to attack the Zionists, burn villages, kill and kidnap people, humiliate soldiers, and document everything using GoPro cameras for social media," Eyal said.

The document also states that Sinwar hoped Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and Arab citizens of Israel would join the assault.

Also on display are aerial photographs that Hamas used to map Kibbutz Be’eri, identifying individual homes, the armory and the security chief’s residence; an operational plan dated Oct. 6 that was shared only with Hamas commanders to prevent leaks; and a booklet translating Arabic phrases into Hebrew.

The exhibition also highlights Hamas education and incitement. Shelves display books recovered from Gaza, including copies of Mein Kampf found in schools, while photographs show children posing with weapons after attending Hamas summer camps.

"It begins in childhood," Eyal told Fox News Digital.

Another room focuses on Hamas’s exploitation of journalists and UNRWA for terrorist purposes, featuring displays that organizers say show 60% of reporters killed in Gaza were Hamas members or affiliated with the organization, a photograph of a UNRWA school allegedly used as a combat headquarters, and a map of Israel labeling towns and cities with Arabic names.

A garage-like room displays a white Toyota pickup truck and motorcycles used in the terror assault.

"We found that 153 pickup trucks and 350 motorcycles entered Israel that day. Many of these Toyotas were imported into Gaza through Ashdod Port in Israel," Eyal said.

Another room shows excerpts from the IDF’s 47-minute compilation of raw footage from the attacks. Many journalists chose not to watch because of the graphic content, while some who remained in the room left in tears.

Toward the end, a corridor displays the names and photographs, in alphabetical order, of the 1,224 people killed during the attacks, including soldiers, police officers, civilians, Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Druze.

"When we fail in our mission, this is the situation we arrive at," Eyal said.

The final room features footage of Israeli hostages reuniting with their families and concludes with an optimistic painting depicting a flourishing southern Israel.

JOHANNESBURG: A Nigerian Pastor highlighted by President Trump on social media, says that nine members of his family have been killed. The minister is an outspoken critic of the killing of Christians by radicalized Muslim members of the Fulani militia.

Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo now says that the same militia has issued a death threat against him. Dachomo, is the regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nations, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

The State Department and a leading U.S. non-profit Christian organization have demanded the Nigerian government take more action to stop what the State Department described to Fox News Digital as "a shocking level of violence against Christians".

AMERICANS TRAVEL TO PAKISTAN TO FREE CHRISTIANS TRAPPED IN MODERN-DAY SLAVERY: 'GOD'S HAND WAS IN IT'

Multiple sources reported nine of his extended family were killed in an attack on their family compound in the Riyom district of Plateau State on July 12. A two-month-old baby is said to be among those killed. The attackers were allegedly looking for Dachomo, reportedly asking as they arrived "where is the father of this house?" adding, "Today, you will learn a hard lesson", before opening fire indiscriminately.

This past week, he posted on X "A few days ago, Fulani herdsmen sent a threatening letter to me and to members of my church. It’s message was terrifying. They vowed to attack me and kill me soon, just as they killed nine of my relatives."

The pastor continued, "I know what it means to stand before grieving families whose only crime was refusing to deny Jesus Christ."

PASTOR FREED FROM CHINESE PRISON AFTER TRUMP RAISED HIS CASE WITH XI JINPING

"Now they say I will be next. But I ask the world, what is my crime?" he posted. "Is my crime that I tell the stories of persecuted Christians in Nigeria, so the world will not forget them?"

"The Islamist Fulani ethnic militia hate Pastor Ezekiel and targeted him because he is waking up Christians to the reality of what they are facing," Judd Saul, founder of Equipping the Persecuted, a nonprofit, told Fox News Digital. Saul’s organization works to end religious persecution in Nigeria, specifically aiming to end radical Islamist violence against Christians.

By the end of 2025, Dachomo said he had to conduct over 70 mass burials of Christians. The burials have continued this year, with the post highlighted by President Trump showing the Pastor presiding over the funeral of some 20 believers.

CHRISTIAN FARMING COMMUNITIES UNDER SIEGE AS US REPORT NAMES FULANI MILITANTS NIGERIA'S DEADLIEST THREAT

Saul believes the killing will continue, saying "Equipping the Persecuted have documented overwhelming evidence that the Islamist Fulani ethnic militia are responsible for the vast majority of killings of Christians in Nigeria. Within the last week alone, over 40 Christians have been killed, and we have been warning that there are major attacks about to occur within the next few days."

Islamic Fulani militias are by far the deadliest persecutors of Christians in Nigeria, according to a six-year study conducted by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) just published. The study found that the network of Fulani militias is responsible for four times more civilian deaths than the two prominent Islamic terror organizations, Boko Haram, and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) combined. Boko Haram was previously allied to Al Qaeda, and ISWAP is currently linked to ISIS.

The ORFA report shows that terror-related violence killed 79,323 people from 2019 to September 2025 in Nigeria. This equates to 36 people a day. Islamic Fulani accounted for 44% of the deaths — far more than the 12% that Boko Haram and ISWAP killed combined.

Referring to the killings of Dachomo’s family, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "We have seen reports of the killing of nine Christians in Plateau State in Nigeria. There remains a shocking level of violence against Christians in the Middle Belt committed by Fulani Ethnic Militia."

"The United States offers its sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of those who lost their lives," the spokesperson continued, "We unequivocally condemn this heinous act. We urge the Nigerian authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable and take specific steps that will improve security for Christians."

The spokesperson added, "During meetings with Nigerian officials in Abuja July 13–15, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, and the accompanying U.S. delegation stressed the United States’ grave concern regarding the violence Christians face in Nigeria and the need for concrete action. As President Trump has made clear, the United States will continue to work with the Government of Nigeria to protect Christians and advance religious freedom in Nigeria."

The Trump administration has carried out a series of air strikes in Nigeria, aimed at stopping the killing of Christians. However, these have all been in the north of the country, and specifically against Boko Haram, and ISWAP Islamists. There has been no reported targeting of Fulani groups operating in the coutry’s Middle Belt.

On this, Equipping the Persecuted’s Saul added, "We want the Trump Administration to put laser focus on the Middle Belt of Nigeria, and the Fulani ethnic militia."

Dachomo told Fox News Digital, "We ask President Trump to stop the Fulani terrorists from killing our people in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and surrounding regions. These attacks against Christian communities have been going on for years and must be stopped. We need the United States to stand with us."

In an X post, the Pastor pleaded to the President of Nigeria: "Tinubu, I am begging you in the name of Jesus, stop Islamic agenda. Muslim(s), they want to finish us. Christian(s) wake up, open your eyes."

Quoting from the Bible Psalm 118:6, he added, "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?"

He concluded, "They may threaten my life, but they cannot silence the truth. They may kill the messenger, but they cannot kill the message."

Contacted by Fox News Digital, Rabiu Ibrahim, spokesperson at the Nigerian Ministry of Information and National Orientation, offered condolences to the Rev. Dachomo but responded to the pastor’s accusations by saying, "The Government rejects attempts to portray the nation’s security crisis as a conflict between faiths. Such narratives oversimplify a complicated situation and risk serving the interests of criminal groups who seek to exploit existing fault lines, create fear and undermine national cohesion."
 

Ibrahim continued, "The unfortunate incident involving Rev. Dachomo’s family is being treated with the seriousness that every loss of Nigerian life deserves. However, allegations regarding the identity, motivation and affiliation of perpetrators must be subjected to proper investigation and established through credible security findings. Nigeria’s security agencies remain committed to thoroughly investigating all attacks and bringing perpetrators to justice, regardless of their identity or background."

Elements of the Trump administration are again debating whether the United States should support the downfall of Iran’s government as the war intensifies again, according to a recent analysis. 

The analysis, published Monday by Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman, says the discussion reportedly includes efforts to encourage an internal uprising and the possible revival of proposals to support armed Iranian opposition groups, including Kurdish factions that have fought Iran for decades.

The question has gained urgency as the United States resumes strikes against Iranian military targets and officials debate whether continued pressure should remain narrowly focused on maritime security or evolve into a broader effort to weaken the Islamic Republic from within.

Such a shift would present President Donald Trump with a consequential choice: continue using military and economic pressure to force Iranian concessions, or adopt the far more ambitious objective of helping Iranians remove the Islamic Republic from power.

IRAN REQUESTS TALKS WITH US AS WHITE HOUSE WARNS 'VIOLENCE WILL BE MET WITH VIOLENCE'

Trump, however, signaled Tuesday that he has not closed the door on diplomacy, saying Iran is seeking talks behind the scenes.

"They want to meet desperately to try and end it because they’re getting decimated," Trump told reporters during a Tuesday press conference.

Asked what talks were possible, Trump said: "They want to desperately meet. And until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest…" 

"Honestly, they haven't seen anything yet. We've been nice," the president added.

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Trump’s comments suggest that military pressure and diplomacy remain intertwined, even as questions grow over whether some administration officials favor a broader strategy aimed at weakening or ultimately replacing Iran’s leadership.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the military command responsible for American operations across the Middle East, said Monday that it struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air-defense systems as part of an effort to reduce Iran’s ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The current military mission remains focused on protecting global shipping, Secretary of State Marco Rubio similarly said Sunday. 

"The only reason why the U.S. is conducting strikes is against assets of Iran that are being used to attack global commercial shipping," Rubio told reporters Sunday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. "That’s what the objective of this mission is. That’s what it continues to be."

Experts say the distinction between weakening the regime and making its collapse a formal military objective is critical.

"Collapsing the regime remains a long-term goal using all forms of national power, but it doesn’t appear to be a military objective right now," Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, told Fox News Digital. "This is Project Freedom — it’s focused on securing the Strait of Hormuz, and any escalation is likely tied to that mission."

Goldberg said some high-value targets, including nuclear facilities such as Pickaxe Mountain, could be treated as exceptions because of their strategic importance. Pickaxe Mountain is a deeply buried and largely uninspected complex near Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility that U.S. and Israeli officials suspect could be connected to Iran’s nuclear program. 

But, he argued that most current U.S. operations are designed to advance maritime security rather than trigger a broader campaign to topple the government. 

STEVE FORBES URGES TRUMP TO KEEP THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ OPEN AT ALL COSTS

"Where this gets confusing is when Central Command targets assets that are necessary for the Hormuz mission but could still provoke wider escalation, like dual-use infrastructure or certain leadership figures," Goldberg said. "That doesn’t mean the U.S. wouldn’t welcome the regime’s collapse, but that outcome is more likely to come through economic pressure, covert action and targeted decapitations over time."

Any move toward regime change would immediately raise questions about who could replace Iran’s rulers and whether Washington could support a political transition without becoming responsible for another prolonged Middle Eastern conflict.

One proposal reportedly discussed earlier in the war involved assisting Iranian Kurdish groups operating near the Iraqi border. Trump was open to supporting armed factions willing to fight Iran’s government, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal in March. 

The administration had contacted Kurdish leaders about possible assistance, The Washington Post separately reported. 

Such groups could provide Washington with partners on the ground without the deployment of U.S. forces. But they remain divided, militarily constrained and vulnerable to retaliation against their bases and supporters in neighboring Iraq.

The central question is whether those groups are now positioned to exploit perceived weakness inside Iran or whether increased fighting amounts to another round of limited clashes.

Majeed Gly, president of the American Kurdish Committee, said recent clashes involving Kurdish groups indicate a change in how some opposition forces perceive the regime’s strength. He cautioned that the violence should not be mistaken for a full-scale uprising, but said it should not be dismissed as routine border fighting.

"What I’m hearing is, this is not business as usual," Gly told Fox News Digital earlier in July. "This is not like periodic clashes on the border. This is operations, and it seems to be deep inside."

"What has changed is the perception of weakness of Iran," Gly added. "They are less afraid of the regime."

The broader Iranian opposition remains fragmented among monarchists, ethnic movements, secular activists, left-wing organizations and other groups that disagree over leadership and the structure of a future government.

That leaves the administration confronting the same problem that has complicated previous attempts to encourage political change in Iran: widespread opposition to the Islamic Republic does not necessarily translate into a unified movement capable of replacing it.

Italian authorities seized roughly 1,700 pounds of cocaine hidden among pallets of bananas at a major port, officials said Tuesday.

The drugs were divided into 650 packages and "skillfully concealed" inside a refrigerated shipping container that arrived at the port of Vado Ligure from one of Ecuador’s main ports, according to Italy’s Guardia di Finanza.

A field test conducted during the inspection determined the substance was "extremely pure cocaine," officials said.

BORDER OFFICERS CRACK OPEN CABBAGE SHIPMENT HIDING MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR SECRET AT TEXAS BORDER

Authorities said the bust was one of the largest anti-drug operations carried out at the port in recent years. 

The shipment could have generated an estimated 250 million euros, or nearly $290 million, if it had reached the street market.

MASSIVE MEXICO-CALIFORNIA BORDER BUSTS UNCOVER EYE-POPPING AMOUNT OF DRUGS: 'REMAIN VIGILANT'

The seizure followed an extensive analysis of commercial shipping routes linking South America with Vado Ligure, an important gateway for goods entering Europe — and an "attractive" target for international drug traffickers, according to officials.

"The operation forms part of an ongoing and targeted effort to combat the international trafficking of narcotics, including efforts to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population, who are often exposed to the harmful effects of this type of criminal activity," Guardia di Finanza said.

JEANINE PIRRO CALLS OUT 'DIRTBAGS' AFTER 14 CHARGED IN ALLEGED COCAINE RING OPERATING FEET FROM A SCHOOLYARD

The seizure comes weeks after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered more than 1,100 pounds of cocaine hidden in a commercial tractor-trailer carrying cabbage at the Pharr Port of Entry in Texas.

A canine inspection and nonintrusive imaging scan alerted officers to the concealed load, CBP said. A physical search of the trailer uncovered 477 packages containing 1,173 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of nearly $10.8 million.

Fox News Digital's Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

Canada on Tuesday called off a joint celebration with the United States to mark the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, following renewed tariff threats from President Donald Trump.

The bridge — which connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario — was named after legendary Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe who played for the Detroit Red Wings, symbolizing the longstanding relationship between the two countries.

Trump on Monday announced plans to impose a 50% tariff on certain Canadian imports, citing what officials called trade discrimination against American companies in the dairy, auto and alcohol industries. The White House said Canada’s policies gave foreign competitors an unfair advantage.

"In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event ​between the two countries," Jenna Ghassabeh, a spokesperson for Canadian ​Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, told Reuters in a statement.

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL BLOCK US-CANADA BRIDGE UNLESS CANADA NEGOTIATES ON TRADE

The bridge was scheduled to open to traffic next Monday, and American and Canadian officials were expected to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens previously told local media, according to Reuters.

Ghassabeh confirmed to Reuters that the bridge will still open next week, but the celebration will be held only "among Canadians."

CANADIAN PM CARNEY FIRES BACK AT TRUMP OVER CLAIM THAT 'CANADA LIVES BECAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES'

The multibillion-bridge project has faced multiple setbacks amid strained relations between the United States and Canada.

In February, Trump threatened to block the project after accusing Canada of unfair trade practices and criticizing its relationship with China. He cited Ontario’s removal of U.S. alcohol products from its liquor store shelves as an example of what he described as unfair treatment.

The bridge opening was later cleared to proceed after the U.S. and Canada reached a deal on how tolls would be charged to drivers earlier this month.

The new bridge is expected to ease traffic on the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, the largest commercial border crossing between the two countries, which also connects Detroit and Windsor.

The port of entry handled $126 billion in trade carried by commercial trucks in 2023, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump’s allies are warning that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s appointment of Ed Miliband as foreign secretary could strain the U.S.-U.K. relationship, citing Miliband’s history of attacking Trump and his support for net-zero energy policies.

Burnham appointed Miliband Monday, replacing Yvette Cooper and completing a remarkable political comeback for the former Labour Party leader. Miliband led Labour from 2010 until the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election and most recently served as energy security and net-zero secretary under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The appointment makes Miliband Britain’s top diplomat and a principal counterpart to Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a time when Burnham is seeking to preserve close ties with Washington. Burnham spoke with Trump shortly after becoming prime minister and reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral relationship, according to Reuters.

ANDY BURNHAM TAKES OVER AS UK PRIME MINISTER, CALLS FOR 'NEW POLITICAL MODEL'

The Daily Telegraph reported that Trump administration officials had warned Burnham’s team against giving Miliband a senior role. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House chief strategist and a political ally of the president, told the newspaper that the administration viewed Miliband’s appointment as "very injurious" to the special relationship. Bannon does not hold an administration position, and the White House has not publicly confirmed that such a warning was delivered.

The London Times separately reported before the appointment that the administration had signaled opposition to Miliband and was even more concerned about the prospect of him becoming foreign secretary. That reporting was not attributed to a named administration official.

Miliband has previously condemned Trump in unusually personal terms.

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During Trump’s first presidential campaign, Miliband described him as a "racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper." The comment resurfaced after Trump won the 2024 election, when BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay questioned Miliband about how he would work with the incoming president.

"How are you going to build a relationship with someone you described in the past as a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper?" Kay asked during the Nov. 12, 2024, interview.

"I’ve said some things in the past," Miliband responded. "My job now as a government minister is to work with people."

The differences extend beyond Miliband’s rhetoric about Trump. As energy secretary, Miliband became the public face of the Labour government’s net-zero agenda and its opposition to issuing new licenses for North Sea oil and gas exploration. Trump and members of his administration have pushed Britain to increase domestic fossil-fuel production.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation and a former foreign policy aide to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told Fox News Digital Miliband’s appointment was a "disastrous" decision.

"I think the appointment of Ed Miliband as U.K. foreign secretary is disastrous for Britain," Gardiner said in an interview Tuesday. "It’s a demonstration of a real lack of strategic thinking on the part of Andy Burnham.

"Ed Miliband is no friend of the United States," Gardiner continued. "He has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. Miliband is also widely viewed by U.S. conservatives as the architect of the whole net-zero agenda, which is viewed as completely poisonous by the U.S. administration."

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Gardiner called the appointment a "very high-risk move" that "makes no sense."

"Burnham is already off to a very bad start with this appointment," he said. "I’m in no doubt there will be very significant tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Burnham, and Miliband’s appointment is quite possibly the worst appointment that Burnham could make as foreign secretary."

As he delivered his first remarks following the appointment, Miliband mentioned his family’s experience as Holocaust survivors.

"It’s the honor of my life, being asked by the prime minister to be the foreign secretary of our country," Miliband said in a statement Tuesday. "My parents came here, Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazis and, for them, Britain provided sanctuary and a beacon of hope in the fight against fascism.

"At a time when the values of democracy, the rule of law and freedom are under threat as never before, I will carry that spirit, their spirit, into my work as foreign secretary," he said. "And now I’m going to go and get on with the task."

Miliband also pledged to nurture Britain’s "strong, enduring and essential alliance" with the United States while deepening its strategic relationship with the European Union, according to the Financial Times.

His appointment has also raised concerns among some British Jewish and pro-Israel commentators.

Stephen Pollard, a former editor and current columnist for The Jewish Chronicle, argued in an opinion piece published Tuesday that Miliband’s record as Labour leader, including changes to party leadership rules that preceded Jeremy Corbyn’s rise, should concern British Jews and supporters of Israel. Pollard predicted that the Burnham government would pursue additional sanctions against Israel with the support of a Jewish foreign secretary.

The Burnham government had not announced additional sanctions against Israel as of Tuesday.

Conservative Member of Parliament Priti Patel separately criticized Burnham and Miliband over plans to proceed with the Chagos Islands agreement.

"Burnham and Miliband are wrong to press ahead with Labour’s appalling Chagos Surrender," Patel wrote on X, arguing that the agreement would transfer British territory and cost taxpayers £35 billion (approximately $47 billion.)

"Once again, the same old Labour Party is undermining our national security and making Britain weaker on the international stage," she added.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said he spoke with Burnham shortly after he took office, calling the conversation "very good." Trump added that he and Burnham plan to meet in the "not too distant future" to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The White House, State Department, Miliband’s office and Burnham’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Fox News' Bonny Chu contributed to this article.

Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega said the Central American country would no longer hold elections, further closing off any potential path for the opposition to challenge the government he leads with his wife, Rosario Murillo.

Ortega, Nicaragua’s longest-serving leader, has remained in power since 2007 after previously governing during the 1980s. His current presidential term is scheduled to run through 2027.

"There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power," Ortega said.

He delivered the remarks Sunday during a speech commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which Ortega participated in the overthrow of the US-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.

TRUMP ADMIN BACKS BOLIVIA STATE OF EMERGENCY AS LEFTIST EX-LEADER'S LOYALISTS FRACTURE NATION

The declaration appeared to eliminate the possibility of a future electoral challenge as Ortega and Murillo continue consolidating control over the country’s political institutions.

"The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over — never again," Ortega declared.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.

The Trump administration has described the Ortega-Murillo government as a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on members of the government and their allies. The State Department has also enacted visa restrictions targeting more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members.

"The United States stands with the Nicaraguan people who, like Rivera, aspire to see a free Nicaragua," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in June.

TRUMP EXPANDS CUBA SANCTIONS BEYOND US COMPANIES IN MAJOR CRACKDOWN ON FOREIGN ENABLERS

The Biden administration previously said Ortega illegitimately awarded himself another term following Nicaragua’s disputed 2021 presidential election.

Authorities arrested presidential candidates, opposition figures, business leaders and journalists ahead of that vote as the government intensified its criminalization of dissent.

Ortega and Murillo further expanded their authority through sweeping constitutional changes that took effect in 2025. The reforms extended the presidential term from five years to six and elevated Murillo from vice president to "co-president."

The changes also placed Nicaragua’s legislative, judicial and electoral institutions under the authority of the presidency, according to United Nations experts.

Ortega and Murillo now exercise control over nearly every branch of the government, including the armed forces, police and judiciary.

Ortega had already effectively eliminated meaningful electoral competition during elections in 2011, 2016 and 2021, Salvador Marenco, coordinator of the Costa Rica-based Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, told Reuters.

Many prominent opposition leaders have been imprisoned, forced into exile or stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship, while opposition parties and independent civic organizations have lost their legal status.

A United Nations group of experts has accused the Ortega-Murillo government of systematically violating human rights as part of a campaign to eliminate criticism and preserve its hold on power. The experts said some alleged violations may amount to crimes against humanity.

The government launched a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in 2018. More than 300 people were killed during the unrest, according to international human rights groups.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia, of Mexico, was sentenced on Monday to life in a U.S. prison and ordered to forfeit $15 billion in drug trafficking profits, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said that while he had no choice but to give a life sentence since the charges carried a mandatory term of life imprisonment, he believed it was the right punishment.

"The almost unimaginable amount of drugs attributable to him and the number of murders that we can document is enough to justify Congress's decision to make this a mandatory life sentence," the judge said.

He is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced by a U.S. judge since fellow Sinaloa leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.

ICE RENEWS HUNT FOR EL CHAPO'S ;AST TWO FUGITIVE SONS WITH MASSIVE REWARD

Garcia, 76, agreed to plead guilty in August 2025 to multiple charges, including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise, after the DOJ said it would not pursue the death penalty.

He was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman's sons, after their plane landed in the U.S. Guzman Lopez has since pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including drug trafficking and a July 2024 kidnapping.

Joseph Nocella, a federal prosecutor, told reporters after Garcia's sentencing that Guzman Lopez had admitted to kidnapping Garcia in an attempt to secure leniency and credit from U.S. law enforcement.

"The United States made perfectly clear that we do not condone kidnapping and that he would receive no credit," Nocella said.

Guzman Lopez has not yet been sentenced.

Garcia told the court during his sentencing on Monday that he took responsibility for the harm he had caused.

"No one wins in a war like this. To the next generation, I say, choose a different path," he said.

US CHARGES MEXICAN GOVERNOR, TOP OFFICIALS IN CARTEL CONSPIRACY AS MEXICO FIRES BACK OVER PROOF

Cogan suggested that Garcia be placed in a facility where he would receive adequate medical care since he was suffering from several progressive health ailments.

"Ismael Zambada Garcia spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities to make billions of dollars in profit and ordering the murders of anyone who stood in his way. Today, that chapter closes for good," Nocella said in a statement.

"He will spend the rest of his life in a U.S. prison, exactly where he belongs," he added. This sentence was made possible by the tireless bilateral cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement, who refused to let El Mayo's years of evading justice become a permanent state of affairs. We hope that today's sentence brings some measure of justice to the countless victims of the Sinaloa Cartel's narcotics trafficking and violence."

Reuters contributed to this report.

UNITED NATIONS — Europe risks destroying its industrial base unless its leaders retreat from aggressive climate policies and respond to voters demanding economic results, Czech Environment Minister Igor Červený warned in an interview with Fox News Digital.

"If we don’t change the course, we will probably crush the industry," Červený said during his first visit to the United Nations (U.N.), where he addressed the U.N. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Červený pointed to the pressure facing European manufacturers, particularly the automotive sector, and warned that companies were increasingly moving production abroad.

The debate comes as Europe faces mounting pressure to revive its economy while maintaining ambitious climate targets. The discussion is increasingly relevant for the United States, Europe's largest trading partner, as Washington and Brussels navigate disagreements over energy policy, industrial competitiveness and the pace of the global transition away from fossil fuels.

TRUMP’S REINDUSTRIALIZATION AGENDA FACES ITS BIGGEST HURDLE — AMERICANS

"If you look at the market at this moment, mostly in European countries, there is a very bad situation," he said. "We see many companies leave our territory and leave for China or another place in the world."

Without those companies, he said, European governments would lose both tax revenue and jobs.

Červený argued that European governments must find a "win-win" approach that protects the environment without undermining industry and employment.

TRUMP'S EPA CHIEF PUSHES BACK ON CLIMATE SKEPTICS BEING LABELED 'SCIENCE DENIERS'

"We have to be very careful about this and be very reasonable and try to find some solution for both sides," he said. "If you look from a higher perspective at European countries, most of them provided only the green ideology. And I think this is a bad way."

Červený said resistance to the current approach was spreading beyond the Czech Republic, citing Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany and some Scandinavian countries.

The Czech Republic has been among several European governments pressing Brussels to ease parts of the Green Deal, including by delaying the bloc’s new carbon market for buildings and road transport and seeking changes to emissions-trading rules that Prague argues are raising energy costs and weakening industrial competitiveness.

TRUMP CELEBRATES AFTER UN CLIMATE COMMITTEE MOVES AWAY FROM ITS MOST EXTREME GLOBAL WARMING SCENARIO

Červený’s warning stood in contrast to the position presented by European Commissioner for Environment Jessika Roswall during the ministerial segment of the U.N. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York on July 13. The annual forum, convened under the U.N. Economic and Social Council, brings governments together to review progress toward the organization’s global development goals.

Roswall, speaking on behalf of the European Union and its member states, said the bloc remained committed to the 2030 Agenda, a U.N. framework adopted in 2015 that sets 17 goals covering issues including poverty, health, clean energy, infrastructure and environmental protection to be pursued by 2030. She warned that progress was being undermined by conflict, inequality and the "triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss."

She called for accelerated climate action, greater investment in renewable energy and low-carbon technologies, and support for a broader green transition.

"The challenge is not the lack of ideas, but the lack of speed," she said. "So let’s speed up together."

In his exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Červený also praised President Donald Trump for strengthening European politicians who favor a less regulatory approach.

"I’m glad that Mr. Donald Trump is president again, because this changed many things also in European countries," he said, adding that the United States gives smaller countries such as the Czech Republic a stronger partner in debates in Brussels.

Červený said Europe does not need to abandon sustainability, but should pursue it gradually and in cooperation with industry.

"We have to change the course," he said, "because we don’t want to lose our industry, our economy, our benefits for society and the environment as well."

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain behind bars for now after appearing in federal court in Miami Monday, where they formally began fighting the United Kingdom's bid to extradite the controversial brothers on dozens of charges, including rape and human trafficking.

During the brief hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis informed the brothers they were being held on a provisional arrest warrant from the U.K. and that extradition proceedings were already underway. 

The judge later scheduled a status hearing for July 27 as the brothers prepare to challenge both the extradition request and whether they should remain in custody while the case moves forward.

Attorney Joseph McBride told reporters that the brothers are innocent and said he does not expect them to be released.

FBI BRINGS ALLEGED CHINA-LINKED HACKER TO US IN RARE EXTRADITION AS PATEL DEFENDS ITALY TRIP

"There will be a series of hearings," McBride said of the extradition process.

Andrew and Tristan Tate appeared wearing gray jail uniforms and shackles and each responded, "Yes, your honor," when Judge Louis advised them of their rights. 

The judge also explained that the proceeding was an extradition matter, not a criminal trial, and that the brothers would not be required to attend every hearing.

The brothers were arrested in Miami over the weekend after British authorities announced 38 additional charges involving four additional alleged victims.

Andrew Tate, 39, faces seven additional rape counts, as well as charges related to sex trafficking and indecent images of a child. Tristan Tate, 38, faces charges including two rape counts and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.

British police said the new allegations bring the total number of charges against the brothers to 59. The alleged offenses are said to have occurred between July 2010 and August 2017.

"We have decided to prosecute Andrew and Tristan Tate for further offenses including rape, arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and offences relating to indecent images of a child," Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said.

DOCTOR INDICTED ON 81 NEW SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES IN CASE INVOLVING DOZENS OF VICTIMS

The Tate brothers, who hold dual U.S. and British citizenship, have denied wrongdoing.

They also face separate criminal proceedings in Romania, where authorities have been investigating them since December 2022.

"I want to make it clear there is no place for male violence against women and girls in our society and we will continue to work tirelessly to support victims and investigate all reports made to us," said assistant chief constable Karena Thomas, lead for Britain's Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit.

FORMER PRINCE ANDREW UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT WITH WOMAN AT ROYAL ASCOT

The brothers have built a large online following promoting their views on masculinity and wealth, while Andrew Tate has previously described himself as a misogynist.

Andrew Tate is additionally due to face a civil trial in Britain brought by four women who accuse him of physical and sexual abuse.

The four claimants, who have been granted anonymity, allege Tate subjected them to physical or sexual violence between 2013 and 2015. Two say they were in an intimate relationship with Tate, while two worked for his online webcam business.

Andrew Tate denies those allegations. In his written defense, his lawyers said the claims are false and that all sexual activity was consensual.

Fox News' Andre Tinoco and Reuters contributed to this report.

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate are due in federal court in Miami as British authorities seek to extradite the controversial pair to face dozens of charges, including rape and human trafficking.

Attorney Joseph McBride told reporters that the brothers are innocent and said he does not expect them to be released after being scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. ET on Monday.

"There will be a series of hearings," McBride said of the extradition process.

The brothers were arrested in Miami over the weekend after British authorities announced 38 additional charges involving four additional alleged victims.

FBI BRINGS ALLEGED CHINA-LINKED HACKER TO US IN RARE EXTRADITION AS PATEL DEFENDS ITALY TRIP

Andrew Tate, 39, faces seven additional rape counts, as well as charges related to sex trafficking and indecent images of a child. Tristan Tate, 38, faces charges including two rape counts and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.

British police said the new allegations bring the total number of charges against the brothers to 59. The alleged offenses are said to have occurred between July 2010 and August 2017.

"We have decided to prosecute Andrew and Tristan Tate for further offenses including rape, arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and offences relating to indecent images of a child," Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said.

DOCTOR INDICTED ON 81 NEW SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES IN CASE INVOLVING DOZENS OF VICTIMS

The Tate brothers, who hold dual U.S. and British citizenship, have denied wrongdoing.

They also face separate criminal proceedings in Romania, where authorities have been investigating them since December 2022.

"I want to make it clear there is no place for male violence against women and girls in our society and we will continue to work tirelessly to support victims and investigate all reports made to us," said assistant chief constable Karena Thomas, lead for Britain's Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit.

FORMER PRINCE ANDREW UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT WITH WOMAN AT ROYAL ASCOT

The brothers have built a large online following promoting their views on masculinity and wealth, while Andrew Tate has previously described himself as a misogynist.

Andrew Tate is additionally due to face a civil trial in Britain brought by four women who accuse him of physical and sexual abuse.

The four claimants, who have been granted anonymity, allege Tate subjected them to physical or sexual violence between 2013 and 2015. Two say they were in an intimate relationship with Tate, while two worked for his online webcam business.

Andrew Tate denies those allegations. In his written defense, his lawyers said the claims are false and that all sexual activity was consensual.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the war against Moscow and the surrounding region overnight, striking an oil depot and logistics facilities more than 250 miles from the Ukrainian border, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 400 Ukrainian drones were launched toward the Moscow region between Sunday evening and early Monday, including 85 that were destroyed while approaching the Russian capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry separately claimed that its forces intercepted 381 drones across Russian regions, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

The Russian claims could not be independently verified by Fox News Digital.

At least 10 people were wounded in the Moscow region, including three Chinese nationals, according to regional authorities cited by Reuters. Seven of the injuries were reported in Domodedovo, Russia, where officials said a residential building was struck and a fire broke out at an industrial park near one of Moscow’s main airports.

The scale and reach of the operation suggest Ukraine is moving beyond occasional symbolic attacks on Moscow and building a sustained campaign against the infrastructure that supports Russia’s war. 

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

By simultaneously targeting oil facilities, transportation networks and logistics hubs hundreds of miles from the front, Kyiv is seeking to disrupt the flow of fuel and supplies to Russian forces, reduce revenue available to the Kremlin and force Moscow to divert air-defense systems away from the battlefield. 

Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries had doubled since the beginning of 2026, Reuters reported, contributing to refinery shutdowns and reduced production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces targeted logistics facilities and an oil depot in the Moscow region.

"Our long-range sanctions have produced results against logistics facilities and an oil depot," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that the targets were more than 400 kilometers (roughly 250 miles) from Ukraine’s border. "We are responding, justly, to every Russian strike against our cities and communities."

Wildberries, a company known as "Russia’s Amazon," said its logistics center in the Podolsk district of Russia was temporarily evacuated as a precaution before resuming normal operations, East2West News reported. Ukraine has accused the company of selling supplies used by the Russian military.

RUSSIA UNLEASHES NEARLY 600 MISSILES AND DRONES ON KYIV IN DEADLIEST STRIKE SINCE MAY

Ksenia Svetlova, associate fellow at Chatham House policy institute based in London, argued that the disruption caused by strikes on fuel infrastructure and companies such as Wildberries is unlikely, by itself, to change President Vladimir Putin’s approach to the war.

"The hardship of the Russian citizen who suffers because of fuel shortages, the strike on a Wildberries warehouse, or forced recruitment does not interest him," Svetlova said. "The war machine is operating at full force, and he has neither the desire nor the ability to stop it."

Svetlova said Putin remains reluctant to announce another mass mobilization after large numbers of young Russians fled the country during the Kremlin’s previous call-up. At the same time, she said, Russia’s military still needs additional troops after recruiting heavily from its prison population and is increasingly pressuring ordinary civilians accused of relatively minor offenses to sign military contracts.

The sweeping Ukrainian operation followed one of Russia’s largest ballistic missile attacks of the war against Kyiv. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 41 missiles of various types in the overnight barrage, which killed at least one person and wounded 16, Reuters reported Sunday.

The Russian attack also spread into the Black Sea, where a Russian missile attack on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Golden Leo killed 10 people near Odesa, Reuters reported Monday.

'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

Ukrainian officials said the vessel, which was carrying corn, was struck by three cruise missiles and caught fire. Nine crew members and a Ukrainian maritime pilot were killed, while eight other crew members were rescued. The ship’s crew included Indian and Syrian nationals, according to Reuters.

The escalation comes as Zelenskyy faces growing domestic pressure over his removal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a 35-year-old reformer credited with expanding Ukraine’s drone capabilities and seeking to modernize military procurement and management. Fedorov’s supporters viewed him as a rare official willing to challenge entrenched practices, improve oversight of defense spending and push a technology-centered approach to the war.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered following Fedorov’s dismissal, demanding his reinstatement and the removal of commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Protesters have accused Syrskyi of resisting modernization and retaining a rigid command structure that they say contributes to high troop losses. Syrskyi has defended his wartime record and called for unity.

Fedorov publicly accused Syrskyi of blocking his initiatives and sabotaging his work. Zelenskyy said their relationship had deteriorated so badly that the two could no longer work together, but provided little additional explanation for removing Fedorov.

Zelenskyy indicated Monday that consultations over Ukraine’s military leadership were continuing, saying he had spoken with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi about ensuring that the experience of every branch of Ukraine’s defense forces was applied in a coordinated manner. He did not announce any decision on Syrskyi’s future.

Reuters contributed to this report.

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham assumed power Monday morning, vowing to move authority away from London as his new government confronts economic strain, political instability and potential friction with Washington.

"We will change politics, to make it more collaborative, more about problem-solving than point scoring," Burnham said outside 10 Downing Street. "And we will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land, so that they can do more.

"And, in doing more, build a new economy where we put life's essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again – reindustrializing Britain, using public procurement to back British industry."

WHO IS ANDY BURNHAM? THE TRUMP CRITIC SET TO BECOME THE UK'S NEXT PRIME MINISTER

Burnham, 56, was greeted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, London, on Monday before his swearing-in and first remarks. King Charles formally requested that Burnham form a new administration, and Burnham accepted.

"I have just come from Buckingham Palace, where I have accepted His Majesty the King's invitation to form a government," Burnham's brief introduction began. "{And in doing so, I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last 10 years to walk up this street: The seventh prime minister since 2016, making this a moment for reflection and new resolution. 

"It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge. Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge to make politics work, to make it work better," he said. "I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you and I want to be honest with you: We have not been good enough and we need to be better. We will be."

Burnham called for sweeping political and economic changes, stating that "Britain took some wrong turns" in the 1980s.

"We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years," he said. "A new political model and a new economic model."

Outgoing Keir Starmer officially submitted his resignation and passed "the baton" in remarks outside 10 Downing Street.

"As I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success," Starmer said. "He has my full support.

"For all the focus on individuals, politics will always be a team sport and the changes we have delivered for our country and our party belong to everyone who has fought for them. I thank them again today, and I thank the British people for the opportunity to serve.

"I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER FACES POTENTIAL LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE FROM NEWLY-ELECTED ANDY BURNHAM

Burnham's relationship with Washington could provide an early foreign-policy test. He has repeatedly criticized Trump, comparing the instability surrounding the president’s return to office with the turmoil under former British Prime Minister Liz Truss and warning against importing what he called America’s polarized political culture.

He has maintained that the U.S.-U.K. relationship remains important, though, pledging continuity on NATO, Britain’s nuclear deterrent and support for Ukraine.

Trump previously dismissed Burnham as the former "mayor of a town" and said he had heard the incoming British leader was "extremely liberal." Reform UK has also challenged Burnham’s mandate, arguing that he should call a general election after reaching Downing Street without facing either a competitive Labor leadership contest or a nationwide vote.

KEIR STARMER REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING STEPPING DOWN AS PM AND COULD ANNOUNCE TIMETABLE FOR DEPARTURE

Burnham succeeds Starmer after becoming Labor leader unopposed Friday. He enters office without a new national vote under Britain’s parliamentary system, which allows the governing party to change leaders midterm. The next general election is not required until 2029, though Burnham could call one earlier.

At the center of his agenda is what he calls "Manchesterism" — an effort to give cities and regions greater authority over transportation, housing, infrastructure and economic development. He has paired that approach with what he describes as "business-friendly socialism," combining greater public control of essential services with cooperation between government and private industry.

STARMER IN 'SEISMIC' CRISIS, UK DEFENSE CHIEF QUITS BEFORE HIGH-STAKES TRUMP NATO SUMMIT

Burnham's arrival at Downing Street caps a decade-long political comeback. After losing his second Labor leadership contest in 2015, Burnham left national politics and built a new power base in Greater Manchester, where nine years as mayor earned him the nickname "King of the North" and a reputation as an effective communicator willing to challenge the government in London.

"I will work to build a new politics; the country is crying out for it," he said Friday. "People are looking for us to deliver, and we will."

Reuters and Fox News' Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

Steve Forbes says the United States must double down on efforts to topple the Tehran regime, arguing that free passage through the Strait of Hormuz should remain a non-negotiable American imperative.

As the U.S. struck targets in Iran for a ninth consecutive day on Sunday, pressure on the Tehran regime continued to build. Speaking at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes and former presidential candidate recently sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss Iran and the Trump administration's foreign policy.

STEVE FORBES BACKS TRUMP'S MT. RUSHMORE WARNING ON COMMUNISM: 'HE'S RIGHT'

"Going back to Thomas Jefferson, a core foreign policy plank of the United States is freedom of the seas. Freedom of navigation got us into another war with Great Britain, the War of 1812," Forbes said.

"So we've been doing it for over two centuries. The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, just as the South China Sea is an international waterway. And so we must keep that open. 

"No tolls, no restrictions, all ships of commerce should have free passage through it unmolested."

Forbes said that with proper application of air power, boots on the ground wouldn't be needed, but he would not discard that as an option, bringing the example of the engagement with the Barbary pirates, which brought freedom of navigation to the Mediterranean following the completion of the First Barbary War of 1805.

TWO US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN IRANIAN STRIKES ON JORDAN, CENTCOM SAYS

"If we do things right in the air, that won't be necessary. But as we demonstrated with the Barbary pirates, sometimes you do need hand-to-hand combat. But again, with our great military and the great Israeli military, we should be able to bring this evil regime down and enable the elements in the Iranian army that want change to feel we're not going to pull the rug out from under them with another fake ceasefire. That we keep hammering away at this evil regime."

Ultimately, Forbes said freedom of navigation should be an international red line:

"So the key thing is if you don't enforce these key principles of freedom of navigation, liberty, you're going to lose them. Ronald Reagan was right. Others have made the same observation. You have to preserve liberty each and every generation."

Forbes said that the time for diplomacy with Tehran has passed, and encouraged the Trump administration to ratchet up the pressure, while also praising a recent decision on Ukraine policy.

"Get Iran done with. No more fake ceasefires. Get rid of that evil regime. By the way, I'm delighted that he's saying he's going to give licensing for Patriot missiles to Ukraine. That'll bring a good result there."

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent is reiterating his call for the withdrawal of US forces from the Middle East amid the ongoing war with Iran.

"Get our troops out now before we suffer a mass casualty attack. Break the escalation trap. Trump still has the political strength at home to declare victory & have it resonate, that ability will be lost if we suffer more casualties. Now is the time to leave, immediately," he wrote Sunday on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Monday.

US SERVICE MEMBER KILLED IN IRAQ AS TROOPS RECOVER UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS IN JORDAN: CENTCOM

Kent made the comments while sharing a post from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

"Yesterday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the passing of two U.S. service members and the missing status of one in Jordan following an Iranian attack on July 17. After a thorough search, U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today. An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing," CENTCOM noted in part of a statement on Sunday.

"Separately, a U.S. service member in northern Iraq was killed in action July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury," the statement noted.

EX-COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL JOE KENT ENDORSES GOP SENATE PRIMARY CHALLENGER AS TRUMP BACKS LINDSEY GRAHAM

Kent quit the counterterrorism government post earlier this year, citing his opposition to the Iran war.

In part of his resignation letter he asserted, "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

EX-COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF WARNS OF 'MAJOR PROBLEM' THAT COULD FORCE US 'BACK INTO THE WAR ON IRAN'S TERMS'

In a portion of a Saturday post on X he wrote, "We restore order by ending the conflict on our terms: deprive Iran of military targets to strike by removing our troops, bases, & naval forces from the area. Our bases in the region are liabilities & relics of the past—abandoning them is not retreat, it’s strategic adaptation to modern warfare. This move removes Iran’s primary justification for disrupting shipping in the SOH and for attacking its neighbors. We can then offer the carrot: sanctions relief in exchange for freedom of navigation in the SOH."

The Islamic State is quietly rebuilding as the United States prepares to complete its withdrawal from Iraq, raising fears the terror group could exploit a security vacuum, a regional security expert warned Sunday.

With U.S. forces leaving by Sept. 30 and as Baghdad tries to rein in Iran-backed militias, Iraq could also be entering its most dangerous period since ISIS seized Mosul in 2014, according to counterterrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed.

"ISIS is waiting actively in the gaps, as it historically always has," Mohammed, author and researcher with the George Washington University Program on Extremism, told Fox News Digital.

US SERVICE MEMBER KILLED IN IRAQ AS TROOPS RECOVER UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS IN JORDAN: CENTCOM

"The question is not whether American forces leave Iraq in September; that timetable is set. The question is what leaves with them."

"The militias claim the ISIS threat in order to keep their weapons, while ISIS recruits from the grievances that the militias create," Mohammed explained.

"That is exactly the dynamic that hollowed out Mosul before 2014, when the city was caught between a sectarian security apparatus and the insurgency it fed."

After preparing for years, ISIS captured Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad, over a decade ago. Iraqi security forces collapsed and fled the city.

The group built underground networks through assassinations, extortion, intimidation and infiltration before launching its offensive. ISIS seized U.S.-made weapons and hundreds of millions of dollars before leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the group's self-proclaimed caliphate.

At the time, Mohammed launched "Mosul Eye," a blog that secretly documented life under ISIS rule, exposing its operations and offering intelligence to U.S. forces.

TRUMP ADMIN WARNS IRAQ OVER IRAN TERROR PROXIES AS US REPORTEDLY BLOCKS CASH PAYMENTS

Mohammed’s story is chronicled in Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War Against ISIS, out July 21 from Skyhorse Publishing, with a foreword by Pope Francis and an introduction by retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, went on to recapture Mosul in July 2017. When the U.S. combat mission ended in 2021, ISIS continued operating in parts of Iraq and Syria.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has said it will continue working to dismantle ISIS networks and prevent the terror group's resurgence.

But, citing Iraqi intelligence estimates, Mohammed said the number of ISIS fighters in neighboring Syria has increased from around 2,000 to as many as 10,000 since the collapse of Bashar Assad's government in 2024.

Mohammed also said the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, an umbrella organization integrated into Iraq's security forces, was never disbanded after ISIS's territorial defeat.

He estimated the force has about 238,000 members, receives billions of dollars in government funding and includes factions with close ties to Iran that operate outside the Iraqi government's direct control.

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Now Baghdad is trying to bring armed factions, including Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, under full state control.

"Sept. 30 is not one deadline; it is two," Mohammed said, referring to the simultaneous U.S. withdrawal and the domestic disarmament push.

"The militias and ISIS are not separate stories; they are deeply interdependent. Each actively justifies the other. Both forces thrive in the unstable spaces the central state cannot hold."

The U.S. withdrawal also follows a 2024 U.S.-Iraq agreement that envisioned ending the mission in Iraq by 2025 while continuing support for anti-ISIS operations in Syria through September 2026. Mohammed warned against repeating past complacency.

"Mosul did not fall in 2014 because ISIS was strong. It fell because everything that would have detected its strength—presence, attention, honest reporting from the ground—had been withdrawn in the years before, while the world's eyes were elsewhere."

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Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s White House meeting July 14, where it was announced remaining U.S. troops would leave Iraq, drew condemnation from Tehran.

According to Iran International, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei , called al-Zaidi's trip "regrettable" and claimed it damaged Iraq's dignity.

Mohammed said Iran's influence inside Iraq is important to Tehran after U.S. strikes degraded parts of its proxy network.

"Iran's strategic calculation matters more now than at any point in a decade because Iraq is essentially what Iran has left," Mohammed said. "So the regime's real fear is not resurgence. It is irrelevance."

Tehran fears an Iraq where the government successfully disarms the militias, U.S. forces leave on Baghdad's terms rather than Iran's, and no active security crisis remains to justify armed groups operating outside full state control, he said.

"That said, what happens across the wider region after September will not be decided by anyone's stated intentions or diplomatic promises," Mohammed added.

"I have seen what a city pays when that judgment is wrong. Whether ISIS grows large enough to frighten Iran, or stays just large enough to serve it, will be one of the defining questions of the year after the withdrawal," he warned.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Tehran has spent decades preparing for — and welcoming — a U.S. ground invasion, a senior Iranian official has claimed, as fresh explosions rocked the region on the eighth day of renewed U.S.-Iran strikes.

Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian American academic identified as a regime "mouthpiece," also boasted that Tehran had just launched a "new missile" while decentralizing and burying its arsenal deep underground to withstand sustained American air campaigns.

"The Americans are planning an invasion. I'm not saying it will necessarily happen. I'm not saying it will necessarily happen in the next few days. But they have plans for an invasion," Marandi, a former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team, said in an interview with political analyst Glenn Diesen.

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"Whether they carry them out or not, we'll see. But the Iranians, as you pointed out, the focus of Iranian strikes is on Bahrain and Kuwait, and that's because that's where most American assets have been placed for a ground invasion," Diesen said.

Marandi’s comments came as the conflict expanded across western and southern Iran in the run-up to Saturday.

Iran also launched missile and drone salvos targeting U.S.-linked facilities in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Jordanian officials confirmed they intercepted 10 missiles early Saturday, while authorities in Kuwait reported casualties and severe damage to a domestic power and desalination plant.

In response, U.S. airstrikes struck bridges, a key road tunnel, surveillance outposts and reinforced underground weapons storage facilities.

Multiple explosions also rocked the city of Khorramabad in Iran's Lorestan province. Iranian state media claimed the blasts were caused by U.S. missiles launched from regional bases in Kuwait, according to reports.

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Khorramabad houses the Imam Ali Missile Base, one of Tehran's primary underground silo facilities engineered to store and deploy liquid-fueled Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles, according to Washington’s Nuclear Threat Initiative.

The complex was damaged by Israeli airstrikes during the 2025 campaign targeting Tehran's military and nuclear infrastructure.

Marandi also detailed what he described as a resilient, subterranean network central to Tehran's military strategy.

"When Iran wants to fire missiles or drones, they don't put them inside buildings or in piles somewhere. They take out whatever they need," Marandi said. "They fire them, and then they go back to their bases, or they take out different missiles and drones, spread them out in different areas, put them apart from one another so that the Americans cannot bomb them in large numbers."

He added: "Everything has been spread out in Iran and placed underground."

The latest escalation between the U.S. and Iran ended a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a 60-day ceasefire and facilitate nuclear talks.

The key issue has centered on control of the Strait of Hormuz, with the strategic waterway turning into the conflict's main battleground.

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President Donald Trump ordered renewed airstrikes within weeks of the truce, or MOU, being implemented, and on July 14, he floated the possibility of launching a ground campaign.

According to Marandi, Iran's military command is actively counting on a ground scenario and has since introduced a new weapon to the theater.

"Iran has that advantage, and of course, it has been accumulating missiles and drones for decades now, and it is doing so even now," Marandi claimed.

"They, I think, last night introduced a new missile to the war," he said of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG).

"The Iranians are hitting very hard, and they are prepared for a land war. They've been preparing for decades."

Marandi concluded by claiming that Tehran views a U.S. ground operation as the most direct path to ending the conflict on its own terms.

"The Iranians — we discussed this during the 40-day war before on your show — when I said that the Iranians actually want the Americans to carry out a land invasion, and the same is true now, because they felt that if there was a land invasion, they would win," he told Diesen.

A U.S. service member was killed Saturday during an operation involving explosive remnants from a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday. 

A second U.S. service member was also wounded in the incident, officials said. 

The announcement came as CENTCOM confirmed unidentified remains were found Sunday during the search for a U.S. service member reported missing in Jordan following a separate Iranian attack on Friday. 

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According to officials, the incident in Iraq happened after U.S. forces recovered a downed Iranian drone and began handling the explosive material left behind. 

"A U.S. service member in northern Iraq was killed in action July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone," CENTCOM wrote in a post on X. 

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The military did not immediately release further details about the incident, but said the other service member injured in the operation is receiving medical treatment. 

In Jordan, officials said the unidentified remains recovered Sunday will also undergo an examination to determine their identity. 

"After a thorough search, U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today," CENTCOM said. "An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing."

Friday's Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed two U.S. service members, CENTCOM previously said. 

Four American service members were also medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals, officials said. They have since been discharged. 

"CENTCOM is withholding additional information, including the identities of the missing and fallen warriors, out of respect for the families during the notification process," the agency said. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.