Quote:ISLAMABAD — The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on at least two ships in the waters near Oman Saturday, shortly before Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz was once again closed.

Two IRGC gunboats approached an Indian-flagged tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of the Gulf country around 1 p.m. local time — and opened fire unprovoked, the tanker’s master reported, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization.

Soon after, another Indian-flagged container ship in the same area was hit by an “unknown projectile,” which reportedly caused damage to some of the containers.

The UKMTO said the incident is under investigation.

The attacks came as the US was weighing plans to board and seize Tehran-linked oil tankers worldwide in an effort to choke Iran’s economy, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Behind the scenes, US officials say the Pentagon is preparing to intercept and take control of commercial vessels tied to Iran — potentially far beyond the Middle East, the outlet reported.

The strategy is aimed at squeezing Tehran’s economy — with the hope it forces the Iranian regime to reopen the strait and bend in nuclear talks, according to the report.

But the acts of aggression on Saturday led numerous ships to back out of the strait, tracking data from Marine Traffic shows.
A third commercial ship also reported a “splash” 3 nautical miles east of Oman, though it did not sustain any damage, according to the UKMTO.

Quote:The burial site of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has yet to be determined as Iranian officials weigh safety concerns for such a massive funeral turnout, while one security expert claims the delay is due to Tehran being too chicken.

Khamenei, 86, was assassinated in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28 that launched the Iran war with the remains of the terror-supporting cleric still unburied, breaking with established tradition.

The last days-long state funeral for his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 saw millions of Iranians flooding the streets of Tehran in mourning — but similar displays for Khamenei were largely absent during weeks of crippling airstrikes across Iran that took many of the regime’s top leaders.

Tehran is in no position to hold such an elaborate memorial service as the war sits in an uneasy truce, Behnam Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Post.

“Simply put, the regime is too afraid and too weak to roll the dice,” he said.

The cocktail of reasons to avoid a ceremony include the risk of potential Israeli airstrikes, nationalist counter-rallies similar to the nationwide uprisings earlier this year, and the regime’s need to explain the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and the new supreme leader who has not been seen in public since his appointment.

“It speaks volumes that the turnout for the funeral of the regime’s founding father in 1989 was such a massive affair, and yet one generation later his successor is still not able to have a funeral well over a month after his passing,” Taleblu continued.

“The Islamic Republic likes to talk a big game about owning the streets, but a 50-day internet blackout tells you all you need to know. The regime fears the consequences of the truth getting out.”

Now, Iranian officials are considering the remote, northeastern city of Mashhad as a potential burial site, according to state media Fars, The Australian reported.

Mashhad — on the border of Turkmenistan and far removed from Israel — is Khamenei’s hometown and serves both practical and symbolic purposes.

Quote:Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces will continue holding territory inside Southern Lebanon as part of efforts to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities, even as a ten-day ceasefire remains in effect.

“The IDF holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured,” Katz said in remarks released on Friday.

“The ground maneuver into Lebanon and the strikes against Hezbollah throughout the country achieved many gains, but the mission has not yet been completed.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ten-day truce on Thursday following calls between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of each country.

According to Katz, more than 1,700 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed during Israel’s military campaign—more than double the number slain during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

He said Israel has established a security zone extending roughly ten kilometers from the border, stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the Mount Hermon region, designed to prevent infiltration and direct anti-tank fire on northern communities.

“The security zone has been cleared of terrorists and weapons and will continue to be cleared of terror infrastructure,” Katz said, adding that areas between the security zone and the Litani River remain under Israeli fire control but have not yet been fully demilitarized.

Quote:ISLAMABAD — Major hotels are sold out for reservations this week and some transportation and other services have shut down in and near Pakistan’s capital city on Sunday, as the world waits in hope for a successful second round of peace talks between Iran and the US to take place.

Islamabad Police on Sunday announced that traffic routes had been altered in preparation for the arrival of unnamed official delegations — with the city shutting down all streets near where the last round of in-person peace talks took place last weekend.

“Due to the arrival of foreign delegations in Islamabad, Red Zone and Extended Red Zone will remain completely closed for all kinds of traffic,” it said in a post to X. “Citizens are advised to use alternate routes and cooperate with traffic police to ensure smooth flow and security.”

Neither the US or Iran — nor mediator Pakistan — have publicly confirmed that Washington and Tehran will again meet for further peace talks to end the seven-week-long war, but the signs of an impending gathering are stacking up.

All rooms at Islamabad’s luxury Movenpick, which hosted hundreds of local and international journalists during last weekend’s talks, had no rooms available in the coming days. And the city’s Serena Hotel — home to the US-Iran negotiations — is no longer taking reservations.

Additionally, current guests at the Serena and Marriott Hotel in Islamabad were asked to find alternative accommodations beginning Sunday night.

What’s more, the city of Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi announced on Sunday that they were shutting down some forms of transportation for the foreseeable future.

“Heavy transport and public transport in the city are being suspended until further orders,” Islamabad’s district administration announced in a post to X. “Citizens are earnestly requested to cooperate with the security agencies. Thank you.”

Quote:Iran has said it would not participate in a second round of peace talks in Pakistan with the US this week due to America’s demands and ongoing naval blockade in the Gulf.

“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” the IRNA state-run outlet said.
The statement comes just hours after President Trump told The Post that the peace talks were restarting this week in Pakistan.

While Trump told The Post that US negotiators, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, were heading to Islamabad on Monday, Pakistani mediators have not confirmed the meeting.

The Islamic republic’s refusal to attend the talks highlights the ongoing tension between Tehran and Washington as the cease-fire is set to expire this week.

President Trump had warned Tehran to accept his terms for a peace deal, give up its nuclear materials, and open up the Strait of Hormuz, with the commander in chief renewing his threats to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

Quote:WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday.

The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president.

“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump boasted on Truth Social.

“Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” the president added. “The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”

The seizure of the Iran-flagged vessel comes as Trump is pushing to lock down a peace deal with Iran before the two-week cease-fire wraps up on Tuesday.

Trump told The Post earlier in the day, Sunday, that his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan for the talks.

The White House confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will lead discussions.

But a top Iranian official has said that Tehran won’t partake in the talks, citing concerns that US demands are too tough.

Quote:LONDON — British police said they are investigating possible Iran links to a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets ‌in London, which the UK chief rabbi said showed a sustained campaign of violence against the Jewish community was gathering momentum.

After the latest attack, at Kenton United Synagogue in the Harrow area of the city shortly after midnight, the third such incident in a week, UK counter-terrorism police said they were heading up investigations into the incidents.

A pro-Iranian government group, which says it is also behind a spate of attacks across Europe on US, Israeli and Jewish targets, has said it was responsible.

“As the conflict in the Middle East continues to evolve, counter-terrorism policing and our partners remain alive to the threat of Iranian ⁠hostile activity in the UK,” Vicki Evans, Britain’s senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, told reporters.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves.”

‘Sustained campaign of violence’

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Kenton fire, which did not cause any significant damage, was the third “cowardly” attack on Jewish sites in the British capital in less than a week.

“A sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum,” Mirvis said on X. “Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society.”

Quote:Twisted Hamas terrorists are sexually exploiting women in Gaza, bribing slain members’ desperate widows and young moms with food in exchange for sex, according to residents in the Palestinian enclave.

Harrowing interviews from the Gaza Strip reveal the scope of the rampant sexual abuse by the Iran-backed terrorists as they target vulnerable women trying to feed their families.

“It’s being done by all their employees and members, as though it’s an organization set up for sexual harassment, psychological abuse and harassing young women,” a woman told Jusoor News.

Women said the Hamas members are specifically targeting people who reached out to them in desperation, such as widows, recent divorcees and young or single mothers, promising them even simple things such as rice and sugar in exchange for sex.

“A guy will say, ‘Come, we have a relief package for you.’ He represents an Islamic organization, a movement whose name I won’t mention, but it is a political organization,” a woman told the outlet.

” ‘If you come with me and do so and so, I’ll give you so and so,’ ” Hamas members allegedly tell their victims.

And the women, who have no life experience, end up getting exploited.”

A man who claimed to be with Hamas recalled how the wife of a friend reached out directly to his commander for help before she was taken advantaged of.

“His behavior is disgraceful,” the government employee told Jusoor. “We investigated the matter and found her in a tent in the Gharabli area where a bunch of Qassam members were taking advantage of her.

“We informed the leadership, but they told us we had to keep silent about it,” he said.

Quote:They’re going to need a bigger boat!

Greta Thunberg’s freedom flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona Sunday for another anti-Israel voyage to Gaza, has been rocked by scandal after one of its woke leaders was accused of “sexual misconduct” with at least three volunteers.

“A senior leader within the flotilla — a member of the steering committee, the highest governing body of the organization — engaged in sexual relations with multiple activists while on the boat heading to Gaza. Not one person. Not two. Three different individuals,” claimed Palestinian group Heart of Falastin in a social media post earlier this week.
“To do it on the boat, while heading to a nation undergoing genocide, with volunteers who are under your authority . . . is a clear violation of ethics and power.”

One Brazilian group named the alleged horndog as activist Thiago Avila, in an X post unearthed by media watchdog Honest Reporting and shared with The Post.

“On a ship carrying humanitarian aid, a Brazilian shows up with his d–k swinging and the only thing he manages to do is f–k and get arrested,” Anti Esquerda Esquerda Club, a group that describes itself as criticizing the left from the left, wrote on X Tuesday, pointing the finger at Avila — and referring to the Israeli Navy intercepting the flotilla and taking activists into custody.

Avila, 39, sailed to Gaza in June aboard the 12-person Madleen, where he was pictured in many chummy poses with fellow activist Thunberg — arms around each other’s shoulders and looking gleefully at one another — before they were eventually detained by Israeli forces and deported.

He joined the larger 500-activist Global Sumud Flotilla convoy in September, during which infighting among senior leadership led Thunberg to step down from the steering committee and off the main boat. The activist was then seen dragging her suitcase along a Tunisian dock to transfer to a different ship.

That tumultuous trip also saw her vessel’s radio hacked to pump songs from the Swedish pop group ABBA on full blast in a clear troll at Thunberg.

At the time, Thunberg’s decision to step down stemmed from frustration that leadership was spending too much time bickering about “internal affairs” and was not focusing enough on Gaza, according to Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, which had a correspondent on board.

Quote:A Russian drone breached Romania's airspace during an overnight bombardment targeting Ukraine, the NATO nation's defense ministry has said.

Russian drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets took place overnight Thursday, the ministry said. It added that Romanian air defenses monitored two air targets in the border area in Romania's Tulcea county.

"One of the targets entered the airspace of our country, the radar contact with it being lost 16 km southeast of Chilia Veche over an uninhabited area," the ministry said, according to a translation.

Newsweek has contacted the Romanian and Russian defense ministries for comment.

The air alert started at just after midnight Friday and ended at 2.48 a.m. A team has been sent to the area to investigate. 

“We strongly condemn the actions of the Russian Federation that endanger regional security, constituting a serious violation of the norms of international law,” the defense ministry statement added.

During the war in neighboring Ukraine, Romania has repeatedly scrambled its fighter jets in response to drone and missile threats posed by Russia, testing NATO's collective defense agreement, Article 5.

Tulcea is across the border from the Ukrainian port of Izmail which has been a focus for Russian drone attacks. On Wednesday, Romania’s Defense Ministry said that two of its F-16 aircraft were scrambled after Russian drones had attacked civilian and infrastructure targets in the county.

The drones were detected near Valcove around 2:30 a.m. local time. While they did not enter Romanian airspace,  the aircraft were scrambled from the 86th Air Base in Fetesti, and air defense systems were switched to firing positions. 

The previous day, Romanian fighter jets had been scrambled when emergency alerts were triggered for northern parts of Tulcea.

In 2025, Romania's lawmakers passed a law to allow the shooting down of drones that breach its airspace. In March, Ukraine and Romania announced they would work together to produce drones together in Romania in an EU-funded project worth 200 million euros.

Quote:Several of Russia's high-profile influencers have spoken out against the country's top officials, a rare stream of criticism that still sought to steer clear of directly condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Victoria Bonya, a Russian beauty influencer now living in Monaco, posted a lengthy video on Monday which she captioned as an "appeal" to Putin "from all concerned Russians."

She said issues in the country were going unaddressed, like flooding in southeastern Russia, environmental pollution and limited access to the internet on top of clampdowns on social media.

“The people are afraid of you, artists are afraid, governors are afraid," Bonya said, comparing Russia's population to a "coiled spring."
"One day, that coiled spring will shoot out," she said.

Russian authorities have tightened controls on messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Telegram, while forcing Russian users of platforms like Instagram to log in via virtual private networks (VPNs).

But some human rights experts have said many Russian residents do not know how to access VPNs, while the authorities have pushed state-run alternatives more susceptible to surveillance.

Information crackdowns have come hand-in-hand with worsening economic conditions and failed peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year.

The war has put increasing pressure on Russia's economy, the focus on pumping out military equipment eating away at government spending in other areas closer to home for Russia's residents.

More than 1.3 million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in early 2022, according to Ukraine's military.

“War fatigue is really starting to set in," Andrei Kolesnikov, a Russian political scientist, told The Guardian. "It is beginning to click in people’s minds that everything that is happening is a consequence of the war."

Quote:Bulgaria's pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has swept to victory in the country's eighth parliamentary election in five years, with an exit poll showing his center-left Progressive Bulgaria coalition capturing 39.2 percent of the vote.

The result gives Radev a commanding lead over the outgoing center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov, which is projected to receive just 15.1 percent, but the margin may not be enough to govern alone — setting up yet another potentially fractious coalition process in a country that has struggled with political deadlock for years.

The vote came just one week after Hungarian voters ousted Viktor Orbán, another European leader seen as friendly to Moscow, marking a potential shift in Russian influence across the continent.

Why It Matters

Radev's victory could bring to power a leader who has consistently opposed funneling military support to Ukraine despite Bulgaria's membership in both the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Unlike most other NATO and EU leaders, Radev has favored reopening talks with Russia as a path out of the conflict and has said he will "develop practical relations with Russia based on mutual respect and equal treatment." Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly clashed with Radev over military backing, including a tense 2023 meeting where cameras were asked to leave the room.

The result comes one week after Orbán — who maintained close ties with both the Kremlin and President Donald Trump, and repeatedly blocked financial support for Kyiv — was unseated by center-right challenger Péter Magyar. That outcome was widely seen as a blow to Russian interests in Europe. Radev's win complicates that narrative, potentially replacing one pro-Russian European voice with another.

Quote:Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s war machine is losing an astounding $100 million a day as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes on the country’s oil infrastructure — dealing a staggering financial blow to the Kremlin.

A series of recent attacks on key transport routes have slashed Moscow’s oil shipments by roughly 880,000 barrels a day, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Saturday.

“Step by step, the enemy’s oil and logistics system is losing its ability to ensure uninterrupted exports,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.
“The result of this work is already tangible at the front — the enemy has fewer resources and more opportunities for our units,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.

Russia exports an estimated 6.6 million barrels of oil a day — so the dent made represents roughly 13% of its exports.

Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Russian oil refineries overnight into Saturday, hitting four important sites.

Fire raged at the Novokuybyshevsk and Syzran oil refineries in the Samara region, as well as at an oil terminal in Leningrad and the Tikhoretsk oil pumping station in Krasnodar Krai, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.

Ukrainian drones also hit oil storage sites in the occupied Mariupol region.

Quote:At least six people were killed and more than a dozen hurt in a mass shooting in Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities killing the suspect – who had barricaded himself inside a supermarket.

Bullets flew in the Ukrainian capital’s Holosiivskyi district, a central urban area, where four civilians were slain on the street, with one more killed inside the market where the suspect, identified as a 58-year-old Russian native, took hostages with an automatic weapon. The sixth victim was injured inside the market and died later at a hospital.

“He took hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He shot dead four more people right on the street, and one more woman passed away in a hospital due to sustained injuries,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.

The Mayor of Kyiv revealed the shooter was killed by cops during the supermarket-standoff.

“The shooter in Kyiv was liquidated during the ‌arrest,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app Saturday.

“Special forces of the…national police stormed the store where the attacker was. ⁠He took people hostage and shot at a policeman during his detention. Before ⁠that, negotiators tried to contact him,” the statement concluded.

The weapon was registered and purchased legally, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukrainian officials.

Fourteen victims were being treated at area hospitals, with that number expected to rise, according to Zelenskyy.

Quote:Moscow is criminalizing the American dream — blacklisting more than a dozen elite US universities and making it illegal for Russians to so much as contact them.

In a sweeping crackdown, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s office has branded 19 top American schools as “undesirable” and turned what used to be a dream — studying abroad — into a legal nightmare, according to the Moscow Times.

The latest target of the Russian Undesirable Organizations law, which was signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May 2015, is Stanford University, which was added to the Kremlin hate list on April 7. The school joins Tufts University and earlier additions like UC Berkeley, George Washington University, and Yale University.

The hostility stems from Russian officials who claim the universities — once symbols of prestige where Russian students routinely came and went on exchange programs — are part of a broader campaign to limit foreign influence in its academic and civic space.

Critics argue this legal framework is being used to deter engagement with global academia and isolate Russian scholars from international networks, according to MSN.

“Yale University was recognized as an undesirable organization at my request,” lawmaker Andrei Lugovoy said on the Russian state television show Evening With Vladimir Solovyov. “Nothing like this has happened before. And we believe it is the right thing to do.”

The prosecutor’s office paid special attention to Yale’s School of Global Affairs, which the Russians claim conducts “training opposition leaders of foreign countries.”

Quote:Five people were wounded in a mass shooting near the University of Iowa campus after a large brawl that broke out early Sunday, police confirmed — as they shared a photo of five “persons of interest” in the carnage.

“One victim is in critical condition and the other four victims are in stable condition,” Iowa City Public Safety said in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.
The posting includes a picture of five young men, and cops are asking for the public’s help in finding and identifying them.

“Anyone with information on the people pictured here are asked to contact Detective Cade Burma at cburma@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5275.”

Police were responding to a fight at the Pedestrian Mall in Iowa City around 1:45 a.m. involving as many as 100 people when gunshots rang out.

Dramatic video of the melee shared on social media showed dozens of people crowded around a group of men throwing haymakers at each other.

The brawl took place in a popular bar area that is just one block from some parts of the Big Ten campus.

Quote:Eight children including a baby were killed in a mass shooting in Louisiana on Sunday morning when a crazed gunman opened fire at three different homes.

The murdered victims ranged in age from 1 to 14, and at least some of them were “descendants” of the gunman, who was eventually killed by officers, Shreveport Police Department spokesman Christopher Bordelon said at a briefing.

Seven of the slain kids were found dead in one house — while the eighth appeared to have futilely tried to escape off the roof on the back of the house, Bordelon said.

Two women also were shot in the head during the killer’s rampage, with one suffering life-threatening injuries. One of the women is believed to have been in a relationship with the suspect, according to Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith.

“We have three crime scenes just here in Shreveport. One of them is incredibly gruesome in nature,” Bordelon said.

“I know that some of the suspect’s children resided there. I’m not sure if at one point in time he lived there.”
There were audible gasps as Bordelon revealed the ages of the deceased.

The crime scenes in Shreveport were described as “extensive” and spanned two homes on the same street and a third on a nearby street.

After the shootings, the gunman carjacked a vehicle and tried to escape by fleeing to neighboring Bossier City, where he had a connection to a home, but was killed by pursuing cops, according to authorities.

Quote:One person was killed and three others including a young teen wounded in a wild New Jersey shootout that left victims sprawled in the street near a 13-year-old girl’s weekend birthday party.

The violence started around 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Paterson — as party-goers were about to sing, “Happy Birthday” in the birthday girl’s back yard, witnesses said.

Kids screamed and hit the deck as the automatic gunfire broke out near the intersection of East 29th Street and 10th Avenue, leaving people splayed in the street, according to ABC.

The kids reportedly first thought the gunshots were fireworks until they heard sirens, and bystanders were in a state of panic as first responders rendered aid to those in the line of fire.

“Just hearing it — iit was scary to witness, to hear,” the unidentified birthay girl told the outlet. “Especially on my birthday. Like, a time I’m trying to play with my friends, get together.”

She said a friend at the party witnessed the shooting first-hand.

“He was going to the bodega. He went running back, but he had seen two people come out of a car and then shoot, but it was like an automatic gun,” she said.

No details were given on the dead person or the wounded victims, except for authorities noting one of those hurt is a young teen.

Quote:Hundreds of animal rights activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.

It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles southwest of the capital city of Madison.

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, in a video statement, said between 300 and 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers.

He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.

“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.

Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.

Some protesters did get through the fence, but they were unable to get into the facility where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.

Quote:Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson linked the restaurant industry to “slavery” Wednesday as he defended his push to eliminate the tipped wage, doubling down after surviving a City Council effort to block the policy.

Johnson’s remarks came after the Chicago City Council failed to override his veto of a measure that would have halted the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage for tipped workers — a policy set to raise base pay to the full minimum wage by 2028 that is opposed by restaurant owners who warn it could drive up prices and cut jobs.

He called on Chicagoans to “challenge city council not to do stuff like take wages away from Black and Brown people,” saying that most workers in the service industry who rely on tips are minorities.

“You just watched the entire city council, in transparency, try to take wages away from the very people who are part of an industry that has its ties to slavery is hiding from that,” Johnson said. “I am boldly declaring that we need reparations in this city, and that’s why I’m funding it.”

City aldermen voted last month to end the wage increase for tipped workers, but Johnson vetoed it.

Restaurant owners and associations have pushed back on the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage, saying it will shrink their already tight profit margins.

Chicago’s City Council failed to meet the 34-vote requirement to overturn the phaseout.

Johnson’s comments came in response to a question from a person who claimed that Johnson’s Reparations Task Force was not in compliance with Illinois state law, which mandates that all public bodies hold public meetings.

Quote:A converted hotel next to a Chinatown playground is still housing violent sex offenders a full 10 months after The Post blew the whistle — and now a second Manhattan shelter is doing the same thing.

At least two registered sex offenders exposed in a July 5 report — including a level 3 offender, the highest risk — are still calling the former Hotel MB building at 61 Chrystie St. home near the Hester Street Playground, while a third only left because he was sent back to prison time and is now on parole.

Now another Big Apple neighborhood is facing the same fears for local parents, with a half dozen sex offenders holed up at a shelter at 197 Bowery, around the corner from the Rivington Street Playground.

“Our society has become deaf to things that matters,” a 40-year-old mom who lives near the playground with her disabled 4-year-old daughter. “It’s like putting fresh, raw, bleeding meat in front of a shark.

“When I see a child alone in the park when I’m leaving, I tell them to leave because I’d cry if I see it in the news that something happened and I did nothing,” said the woman, who identified herself as EJ.

The Post found at least five level 2 offenders registered at the Bowery building, including Marco Cepeda, who was convicted of sodomizing an 11-year-old boy, and Devereaux Davis, who was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl.

Quote:WASHINGTON — The son of right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson has left Vice President JD Vance’s press team to set up his own political consulting firm amid escalating tensions between his father and President Trump.

Buckley Carlson, a 20-something who had served as Vance’s deputy press secretary since the start of the second Trump administration, is joining a group of several White House alumni departing for the private sector.

While such moves can be typical in presidential administrations, Buckley’s departure comes against the backdrop of a growing rift between Trump, 79, and Tucker, 56, once an avid backer.

Trump wrote in a screed against Tucker earlier this month, “Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!”

Trump jabbed at Tucker again on Truth Social on Friday, linking to a story about CNN data guru Harry Enten suggesting the president was winning the feud in the public eye and writing, “Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated.”

Tucker has publicly railed against the Trump administration for months, all while largely refraining from mentioning the president by name.

Instead, he blamed the president’s allies such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his grievances, including the war in Iran. Tucker privately lobbied Trump against going to war.

Trump for his part had occasionally swiped at Tucker, calling him “kooky,” among other insults, after the latter dinged the Operation Midnight Hammer attacks on Iran.

Quote:A California judge has ruled Sable Offshore Corp. — the company Donald Trump is using to give the state an oil lifeline — did not have the authority to restart its operations.

Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court said a state injunction on the gas giant is still in place, blocking its operations from restarting and handing a win to environmental groups and California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“A California court just confirmed what we have said all along: Trump and his Big Oil donors are not above the law,” Newsom said in a statement.

Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.
The order invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, stemming from concerns of limited oil supply from the US war with Iran.

In response to the order, Sable Offshore resumed operations near Santa Barbara at its Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline.

The pipeline was shuttered in 2015 after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean.

The Santa Ynez pipeline restart “marks a 15% increase in California’s in-state oil production, which will replace almost 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude oil each month,” according to the Department of Energy.

Environmentalists and anti-Trump Democrats furiously claimed that Trump’s order was “illegal” and that any restart needed approval by state regulators. They sought the temporary injunction, granted in February.

Sable Offshore argued that Trump’s order under the Defense Production Act bypassed the court injunction. Geck in Friday’s ruling disagreed.

“Every day that oil’s flowing through these pipelines means that Sable is in violation of the court’s preliminary injunction order,” Talia Nimmer, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Santa Barbara Independent.

Quote:Rep. Nancy Mace is calling for a reckoning in the halls of Congress following the resignation of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.

She accused the political establishment of shielding predators to protect their own power and introduced a resolution to stop it.

Mace joined “Saturday in America” to discuss the resolution she put forward for the House Ethics Committee to release its records on sexual harassment by lawmakers.

“I think there should be an avalanche of resignations,” Mace said, adding, “I want every single predator that’s in Congress now to be forced to resign. I don’t care how long it takes. If we can do it fast, let’s do it now, regardless of party.”

Mace’s renewed action comes after Swalwell resigned from Congress and ended his California gubernatorial bid earlier this month following multiple sexual misconduct allegations.

At least five women have accused him of misconduct, including Lonna Drewes, who alleges he drugged and raped her in a hotel room in 2018.

Since the allegations surfaced, some journalists and political operatives have said Swalwell’s behavior was widely known on Capitol Hill.

Mace said she wants to end the culture of silence on both sides of the political aisle.

“Both parties decided that they would vote against revealing the sexual harassment records of their own party,” Mace said of a previous vote that failed on the issue.

Quote:A United Airlines Flight heading to LaGuardia was hastily diverted to Pittsburgh after pilots feared there was a “potential bomb” on board.

United Flight 2092 was heading to The Empire State from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport early Saturday when the pilots heard a beeping noise and decided to divert the flight, according to audio of the flight crew’s conversation posted to liveatc.com.

“We are going to have to start treating this as a potential bomb… we are going to need to go and start a diversion and get things settled. It’s a beeping noise, sequential, one beep per second,” a crew member said.

The plane landed at Pittsburgh International Airport at 11:45 a.m., WCVB reported.

The Boeing 737‘s 159 passengers and 6 crew members exited the plane safely via slides and no injuries were reported, a United representative told The Post in a statement.

A firetruck and ambulance greeted the airplane as emergency officials helped the passengers and crew exit, and were seen leaving after everyone was successfully escorted.

The Pittsburgh FBI bomb technicians and Special Agents, local police and the Allegheny County bomb squad were on scene investigating, WCVB reported.

The Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad told the outlet its Explosive Ordinance Disposal team and bomb sniifing dogs conducted a sweep which had “negative results” for bombs.

“Our EOD team and K9s conducted a sweep of the aircraft, passengers and luggage with negative results,” the department told the outlet.

Quote:Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons submitted his resignation letter to Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin Thursday, writing that he will stay on through May 31 to assist the transition process, Fox News has confirmed.

According to a source, Lyons said in his letter he wants to spend more time with his family, including his sons, who are "reaching a pivotal point in their lives," and that it's been a privilege to serve under President Donald Trump.

"Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists and gang members from American communities," Mullin said in a statement.

"He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer."

Lyons has overseen roughly 584,000 ICE deportations since President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term last year.

He has served with ICE for 20 years and was previously in special forces in the U.S. Air Force.

"We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector. His last day is May 31, 2026," Mullin concluded.

In a statement to Fox News, Trump border czar Tom Homan praised Lyons' selflessness in serving as director.

"Todd has served selflessly as a highly respected and effective acting Director of U.S. ICE," Homan said. "Under his leadership, ICE achieved a record number of removals in the first year of this Administration, despite unprecedented challenges, delivering on the President’s promise to deport illegal aliens who have no right to be in the U.S., especially those that are public safety risks or pose a threat to our national security.

"I commend him for a distinguished law enforcement career and the countless contributions he has made to protect our country and advance its interests."

Quote:U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons submitted a letter of resignation to the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday. The announcement followed his testimony before the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security regarding the ICE budget, where he announced the bust of Chinese illegal aliens allegedly involved in the largest gift card fraud scheme in history.

In a letter revealed by the New York Times, Lyons cited family issues as his reason for resigning. He said leading the agency he served for 20 years a “tremendous honor.”

“My sons are both reaching a pivotal point in their lives, and my wife and I wish to spend as much time as possible with them,” Lyons wrote in his resignation letter. “This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded to the resignation, calling Lyons a “great leader of ICE and a key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities.”

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan called Lyons a selfless servant who achieved a “record number of removals in the first year of the administration,” according to a post on X by Fox News’ Bill Melugin.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller added, “Todd is a phenomenal patriot and dedicated leader who has been at the center of President Trump’s historic efforts to secure our homeland and reverse the Democrats’ sinister border invasion.”

His resignation came hours after his testimony before the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security, where he disclosed that his ICE Homeland Security Investigations team broke the largest gift card fraud case in history. He said the scheme was carried out by transnational gangs within the Chinese Communist Party who entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration. He said the money was sent back to military units in China, according to a post on the White House Rapid Response 47 team’s social media account.

Breitbart News reported extensively on the success of ICE in rounding up the worst of the worst criminal aliens during Lyons’ tenure as director. Lyons led the arrest and removal of violent criminal illegal aliens, the U.S. efforts to combat Mexican and Venezuelan drug cartels and criminal gangs, and the fight against sanctuary city policies that make the country less safe.

Lyons will continue to serve as director of ICE through the end of May.

Quote:An international fugitive was arrested in Dubai this week following a years-long manhunt.

Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of one of Ireland’s biggest criminal gangs, the Kinahan cartel, was arrested on organized crime charges on Wednesday in a covert operation involving Irish and United Arab Emirates authorities.

The 48-year-old alleged crime boss is expected to face charges in Ireland related to a gangland feud between the Kinahan cartel and the Hutch gang that has left 18 people dead since 2015.

Dubai police didn’t name Kinahan, saying they had “arrested an Irish fugitive for his alleged role in an organized criminal group involved in international crimes in his home country.”

He was identified by Irish media outlets on Friday.

Ireland’s national police force, the Garda Síochána, said an Irish man in his 40s was arrested under a warrant from the Irish courts.

“An Garda Síochána has been steadfast in our determination that we would pursue those allegedly involved in serious Organized Criminal activity, wherever they go,” the police said in a statement, according to The Irish Star.

Quote:A French paratrooper was killed and three of his fellow peacekeepers wounded in a suspected Hezbollah ambush in southern Lebanon Saturday — less than two days into a fragile 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.

A unit that included Staff Sgt. Florian Montorio of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was on a UN mission to clear explosives on a route toward an isolated UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) post in the village of Ghanduriyah when they were attacked at close range.

Montorio was gunned down in a portion of the country that had been cut off due to ongoing skirmishes between Israeli military and Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorists.

“He was caught in an ambush by an armed group at very close range,” French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said on X.

“Immediately hit by a direct shot from a light weapon, he was pulled back under fire by his comrades, who were unable to resuscitate him.”

Three other French peacekeepers were injured, two of them seriously, according to the UNIFIL.

All four soldiers ambushed wore blue helmets and were working under the banner of the United Nations.

The attack — which Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned — came after a temporary truce was reached Thursday between Israel and Lebanon to halt fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah terrorists that reignited following the start of the Iran war.

French President Emmanuel Macron mourned the loss of Montorio and demanded retribution against the Iran-backed terror group.

“The nation bows with respect and extends its support to the families of our soldiers and to all our military personnel engaged for peace in Lebanon,” Macron posted on X.

Quote:A glamorous Iranian businesswoman with a US green card was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly trafficking arms on behalf of Tehran.

Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was taken into custody on Saturday night and charged with brokering deals for Iranian drones, bombs, and millions of rounds of ammunition bound for Sudan, according to the office of the US Attorney for the Central District of California.

Mafi had allegedly conducted the arms deals while in close contact with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which provided instruction and funds for her to open a business in the US to operate out of, according to court records.

“She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday, announcing the arrest.

Mafi posted glam pics of herself traveling the world — including posing in a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz roadster.

Mafi, who left Iran in 2013 and became a permanent resident of the US in 2016 under the Obama administration, allegedly used an Oman-registered company, Atlas International Business, to broker weapons deals as recently as 2025, according to court records.

Among the sales was a contract for more than $70 million for Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones from Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

The drones, along with 55,000 bomb fuses, were transferred in deals with the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, which has been fighting in a bloody civil war since 2023.

Iran has been repeatedly accused of violating a United Nations arms embargo amid the Sudanese civil war, with its drones spotted in use by the government forces.

The civil war has claimed between 61,000 to hundreds of thousands of lives as it enters its fourth year, with the UN’s fact-finding mission identifying the recent mass deaths in Darfur as having the “hallmarks of genocide.”

The conflict has also displaced nearly nine million people, making it one of the worst displacement crises on the planet.

Quote:Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader has effectively taken control of Tehran’s military and negotiation team over the weekend, analysts said.

IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and members of his inner circle have allegedly taken charge of the Islamic Republic, as evident by Iran’s attacks on ships trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s refusal to join peace talks with the US this week, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said.

The sudden hardline shift also shows that more moderate members of Iran’s leadership, including Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi, have been sidelined.

Araghchi had initially agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend after reaching a consensus with the Trump administration, but the IRGC demanded it remain shut in the face of the American blockade on Iranian ports.

Vahidi reportedly received the backing of Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary and an IRGC veteran, to control the strait — further cementing Vahidi’s grip on Iran.

The IRCG’s fast attack ships remain Iran’s main form of naval force in the key waterway after US-Israeli airstrikes sank more than 150 vessels of Tehran’s conventional navy during the war.

Iran had attacked at least three ships trying to get through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, signaling that the oil chokepoint remains closed off as hundreds of ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.

Vahidi and Zolghadr’s alliance goes beyond the military blockade, with the IRGC commander tapping his ally to join the Iranian delegation earlier this month.

Zolghadr was specifically sent to make sure the delegation was following the IRGC’s commands and those of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who ascended to replace his father at the insistence of the Islamic Guard.

“Zolghadr sent a complaint to senior IRGC leaders, almost certainly including Vahidi, that Araghchi had surpassed his mandate during the negotiations by expressing flexibility regarding Iran’s support for the Axis of Resistance,” the ISW said of the initial peace talks.

Quote:ISLAMABAD — After Iran claimed it had refused to attend a second round of peace talks on Sunday, Tehran is now “willing for a second round” of negotiations — and its bluster so far is mere posturing for the best deal possible, Pakistani sources exclusively told The Post on Monday.

Iran on Sunday had publicly said it would not participate in the next round of US-brokered talks in Pakistan, accusing Washington of making “excessive demands,” shifting positions and continuing a naval blockade it views as a violation of the fragile cease-fire, according to prior reporting.

“Current hard stance is posturing to extract maximum advantage when second round happens,” the person said, citing takeaways from discussions with the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman. However, Iran still had not yet decided whether it would attend as of Monday afternoon local time, the source said.

“For now, no decision has been taken about whether we will have a second round,” the source said. “Whenever we have a decision, we will share details.”

Islamabad remains trusted as mediator by both US and Iranian officials.

“Pakistan remains the sole trustworthy mediator, which means process is on and Islamabad will be the venue whenever a final decision is taken,” the source said.

The uncertainty comes as President Trump told The Post on Sunday that the US would soon restart negotiations, dispatching top representatives — including special envoy Steve Witkoff — to the region, even as tensions remain high and the cease-fire nears expiration.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials also forcefully pushed back on a Reuters report that claimed Islamabad’s Field Marshal Asim Munir urged Trump to abandon the US blockade on Iranian ports to advance negotiations.

“No security source has given any input to any news agency, including Reuters,” a source told The Post. “This is classic misinformation and fake reporting.”

The Reuters report had suggested Trump was considering the proposal after speaking with Munir, underscoring the sensitivity surrounding Pakistan’s role as a mediator in the high-stakes talks.

Quote:A Los Angeles dad grieving the death of his teenage nephew in Iran says he received a personal letter from President Donald Trump offering condolences — and a promise to stand with the Iranian people.

Majid Moghadasi, an Iranian American living in Woodland Hills, told The Post his nephew, Erfan Faraji, was killed on Jan. 8 during anti-government protests that rocked the Islamic Republic.

His death, just two days after his 18th birthday, came as the regime killed up to 36,500 in a January crackdown.

Estimates vary from 7,000 to 36,000 killed in the regime’s January crackdown on the unrest.

Two days after learning of the teen’s death, Moghadasi said he reached out directly to the White House, pleading for help.

Moghadasi’s deeply personal plea described how his nephew was fatally shot in the streets of Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, just for taking part in protests.

“He was an innocent teenager with dreams and a future ahead of him. His only act was standing up against injustice,” Moghadasi wrote, adding that Iranian authorities had responded to demonstrations “not with dialogue, but with live ammunition.”

He urged Trump to continue taking a firm stand against the Iran.

Just days later on Jan. 13. Trump wrote back that he and First Lady were “devastated” by the loss.

“Erfan will be held in my heart, and I promise never to forget or forgive the terrible events that took him from us,” the letter reads.

“Please know that my Administration will always stand with the Iranian people in their quest for freedom and democracy.”

The president also vowed then that efforts were underway then to hold Iran’s leadership accountable, writing that his administration was “working diligently to ensure that the Ayatollah and his murderous regime are brought to justice.”

Quote:ISLAMABAD — President Trump said he is willing to meet with senior Iranian leaders if a breakthrough is reached — as he brushed off the regime’s threats to boycott the latest round of peace talks.

“I have no problem meeting them,” Trump told The Post Monday. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people, but I have no problem meeting them.”

Trump’s willingness to meet with Tehran underscores the urgency surrounding the negotiations as the US-Iran cease-fire is set to expire Wednesday evening Washington time, per the president’s latest deadline.

Trump signaled that Iran must come to the table for serious discussion — just hours after Tehran claimed it would not be meeting the American delegation in Islamabad.

“We’re supposed to have the talks,” Trump said in a brief interview, brushing aside doubts about whether negotiations would fall apart. “So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games.”

The president confirmed that Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and adviser Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, are set to head to Islamabad to prepare for the meetings.

“They’re heading over now,” Trump said.

The delegation is set to arrive Wednesday, sources told CNN, putting into question how the end of the cease-fire will play out up against the deadline.

Trump said it was “highly unlikely” for the cease-fire to be extended, noting that he expects the fighting to resume if no deal is made by then, Bloomberg reported.

Quote:US stocks fell and oil prices surged Monday as tensions over the Iran war heated up again, after President Trump announced the US Navy had seized an Iranian cargo vessel and Tehran sent mixed signals on resuming talks.

The Nasdaq fell 0.3%, snapping its 13-day winning streak , while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat. The S&P 500 edged down 0.2%.

Brent crude oil prices jumped 5.6% to settle at $95.48 and West Texas Intermediate rose 6.9% to $89.61. National average gasoline prices dipped slightly to $4.04 a gallon – still over 30% higher than prices before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February.

Traders feared rising tensions in the Middle East after Trump on Sunday announced that the US Navy had blown “a hole in the engineroom” of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to skirt the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian ship “is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

In a post earlier Sunday, Trump said Iran had fired bullets in the strait at foreign vessels, calling it “A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!”

“Oil likely has further upside in the near term given the scale of disruption through Hormuz, but…the market still sees this as a temporary shock rather than a permanent shortage,” Esther Sholes, senior macro analyst for Take Profit Trader, told The Post.

“While supply could partially recover within weeks if the Strait reopens, a full normalization would take months and depends on a durable ceasefire and the return of insurers and shippers.”

After Iran refused to join another round of peace talks in Pakistan, Trump reiterated his threat to bomb the nation’s power plants and bridges, which critics have claimed would constitute a war crime.

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post he “will not be rushed” to end the Iran war on its 52nd day — and lashed out at Democrats and Republicans trying to force him to end the conflict.

“How bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?” Trump said in a phone interview.

“As a negotiator — and I am a great negotiator — how bad is it, when you have people from your own country trying to reach a deal?” he fumed.

“They are helping the other side. The other side has nothing, they have no cards, but they are using this to delay. When [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer was in, he was in Afghanistan for so long.”

“I have only been in this for five weeks. I will not be rushed,” he said.

Trump from the onset predicted a rapid conclusion and last week said Iran privately agreed to core US demands that Tehran abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and relinquish an estimated 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium — despite less conciliatory Iranian public statements.

The president last week blockaded Iran’s ports following an unsuccessful first round of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan — with a second round expected to start as early as this week.

Trump said one day after the joint US-Israeli attack began on Feb. 28 that he expected the war to last “four weeks or so.”

The War Powers Resolution of 1973, which the White House argues is unconstitutional, says the president must receive congressional approval for conflicts lasting longer than 60 days.

Some of Trump’s Republican allies in Congress say he needs to wrap up the campaign — which over the weekend featured Marines capturing an Iranian tanker that tried to break through the US blockade.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said last week that the “clock is ticking” and that “I hope that we are arriving at an exit strategy here to bring this to a close to preserve our security interests and bring down the cost of gasoline.”

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post he has two questions for Pope Leo XIV about his opposition to the Iran war — after the pontiff continued to voice opposition.

“Why does the pope think it is fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and to kill 42,000 unarmed protesters?” Trump said in an early morning interview.

The president expressed irritation at criticism coming from the American-born pope, stressing his case for the war as a two-week cease-fire nears its end on Wednesday.

“This is one of the most important wars. I said to the pope you can’t allow them to have a nuclear weapon because they will use it and millions of people will be dead, including Italians and Catholics around the world,” Trump said.

“And you can’t allow a country to kill 42,000 unarmed protesters, many of which were young people who they hanged from a crane in a public square.”
The Vatican press office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Trump argues that he’s serving the long-term cause of peace by crippling Iran’s military power and nuclear enrichment, and he has bristled for weeks at the Roman Catholic leader’s rebukes.

Leo has called for an end to the “madness of war” and denounced “arrogant” leaders who wage armed conflict.

God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them,” the pope said in a Palm Sunday mass on March 29.

Trump, in turn, has called the pope naive and “terrible for foreign policy.”

The pope opposed the conflict as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth invoked Christianity in support of the US military.

Quote:US Marines took command of the Iranian-flagged vessel that tried to break the US blockade in the Gulf on Sunday, dramatic new video shows.

Footage released by US Central Command shows the moment Marines aboard the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship took off to board the Iranian Touska, which was caught trying to enter the Arabian Sea.

The Marines are seen departing on a helicopter, with a cut showing the aircraft hovering over the Touska as the troops descended onto the ship and took control.

“The Marines rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel, April 19, after guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) disabled Touska’s propulsion when the commercial ship failed to comply with repeated warnings from US forces over a six-hour period,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

President Trump hailed the interception and enforcement of the blockade on Iran’s ports, saying the Spruance blew a hole in the Touska’s engine room to halt the ship in the Gulf of Oman.

“Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” the president said on Sunday. “The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”

The incident marked the first time the US had taken custody of an Iranian tanker after establishing the blockade last Monday.

Iran slammed the move as a clear violation of the cease-fire, which Trump said is to expire Wednesday night, describing the seizure of the boat as an “act of aggression.”

Quote:The Iranian ship that President Donald Trump said has been captured by U.S. Marines has made many visits to Chinese ports, according to analysis of shipping data by Newsweek.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on Monday to the seizure of the Iranian-flagged cargo ship the Touska.

"We hope all relevant parties will adopt a responsible attitude, abide by the ceasefire agreement, avoid escalating tensions or intensifying contradictions," spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. 

The action comes days after Trump announced a naval blockade of Iranian ports, which he said would stay in place until there was a deal between the U.S. and Iran over unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.

"Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room," Trump said of the capture of the Touska on Truth Social, adding that U.S. Marines had custody of the vessel, which was under U.S. Treasury sanctions.

Touska’s Links To China

The Touska is owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, Iran’s national maritime carrier. 

The International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, assigns an IMO number to each vessel, which it retains throughout its service life even as its owners change its name. The Touska’s IMO is 9773301. It was formerly known as the Adalia and the Sahand.

Since its inclusion in 2019 on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list, the Touska has made multiple trips to Chinese ports, according to a Newsweek review of historical movement data.

The Touska most recently departed Iranian waters on February 22 via the port of Shahid Rajaee and transited the Strait of Malacca in early March before calling at Zhuhai port in southern China on March 9.

Quote:California oil output is climbing — even as Sable Offshore battles to keep its pipeline restart alive.

The company announced it is accelerating output across its California sites as new wells come online Monday, with a third platform set to begin operations later this year.

Shares rose 3.7% in premarket trading, according to Offshore Engineer.

The push follows last month’s restart of oil flows through the pipeline system linking the Santa Ynez offshore platforms to California refineries — a move now at the center of a legal standoff.

Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court said last week a state injunction on the gas giant was still in place, blocking it from restarting and handing a win to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The oil giant vowed to fight the “show-cause” process in court next month and pointed out that the president had given it the green light to reopen.

Despite the ongoing battle, production is already on the rise. Forty wells on Platform Harmony and Platform Heritage are now active, each churning out around 750 barrels of oil daily.

Once all 74 wells are operational, output is expected to average roughly 700 barrels per day per well, the outlet reported.

And another boost is on the way, Platform Hondo is expected to begin production in June 2026, with output projected at about 10,000 barrels per day — lifting volumes from the Santa Ynez Unit.

Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.

Quote:(FOX40.COM) — Two California men pleaded guilty this week to H-1B visa fraud after claiming foreign workers would get jobs at the University of California.

Sampath Rajidi and Sreedhar Mada, both 51-year-old Dublin residents, submitted their pleas Thursday, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced. Both were charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Between June 2020 and January 2023, Rajidi and Mada submitted fraudulent H-1B visa petitions for “numerous beneficiaries,” prosecutors said. H-1B visas are given to foreign workers who are in specialized professions.

At the time, Mada served as chief information officer of Davis-based University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Officials said Mada could not hire H-1B workers for his department without additional authorization.

Rajidi falsely claimed on the applications that recipients would work at the University of California, and Mada’s status as a UC supervisor lent credibility to those fraudulent claims.

“In reality, both defendants were aware that the positions listed on the petitions did not exist,” officials said in a news release.

The Mada and Rajidi instead turned to other employers, suggesting they hire the H-1B visa recipients. As a result, prosecutors say the pair “gained an unfair advantage” over other firms, depleting the total number of H-1B visas available to competitors.

Rajidi and Mada are set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on July 30.

The University of California was informed of the investigation in 2024, a spokesperson for the office of the university president said. The university initiated its own internal review, determined Mada violated school policy and “took appropriate corrective action.”

“This matter involves the actions of a single individual acting outside the scope of University policy and authority,” the UC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “There is no finding of, or information suggesting, broader institutional misconduct. The university’s oversight processes functioned as intended by identifying the issue, enabling a thorough investigation, and ensuring prompt corrective action.”

Quote:Emergency officials responded Monday after a small plane crashed in a parking lot in the San Fernando Valley community of Pacoima, California.

The aircraft came down around 11:10 a.m. near Ralston Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard, landing upside down in the parking lot of an O’Reilly Auto Parts store, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told Newsweek. Aerial footage posted by NBC Los Angeles showed the plane inverted among parked vehicles. High‑voltage power lines were also reported damaged in the crash.

A fire department spokesperson told Newsweek the male pilot was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not immediately known. KTLA reported the pilot was 70-years-old. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that a Cessna 172 crashed in Pacoima around 11:20 a.m. and that the pilot was the sole occupant. The agency said it will investigate.

San Fernando Valley Crash: What to Know

The crash occurred in an area surrounded by several airports that serve general aviation traffic in the San Fernando Valley.

The site in Pacoima is just north of Whiteman Airport, a small general‑aviation facility frequently used for flight training and private aircraft. Van Nuys Airport, one of the busiest general‑aviation airports in the country, is about 4 to 5 miles southwest, while Hollywood Burbank Airport, which handles commercial passenger flights, is about 5 to 8 miles to the south.

“Our thoughts are with the pilot, who was taken to the hospital after today’s accident," the Whiteman Airport Coalition said in a statement. "We are grateful that no one else was injured and that first responders moved quickly to secure the scene. Based on initial reports, a single-engine Cessna operating near Whiteman Airport struck power lines and landed in a nearby commercial parking lot. The aircraft is owned by Vista Aviation at Whiteman Airport and was being rented by the pilot at the time of the incident."

The statement continued: "This accident is now under investigation by the appropriate local and federal authorities. It’s important that the facts are allowed to come forward before any conclusions are drawn.”

Authorities often note the proximity of these airports as part of early investigations while determining a flight’s origin and intended destination.

Quote:When one former Keyport, NJ, resident started keeping tabs on all the cancer diagnoses on and around his childhood street, the numbers were “freaking snowballing.”

In recent interviews with NJ.com, Rusty Morris, 46, recounted how he’d collected the names of so many neighbors that he eventually created a map, marking the houses with red Xs for the sick.

His parents’ house had an X, for his father’s prostate cancer. A house down the street had two Xs, for his uncle and his uncle’s wife.

In total, Morris placed 28 Xs just on First Street, where he grew up, and 41 throughout the borough of Keyport in Central Jersey, about 30 miles south of Newark.

Speaking to the outlet about the map, Alexis Mraz, associate professor at the College of New Jersey’s Department of Public Health, said it looked like a “crazy high percentage [of cancer patients].”

“That looks insane,” she said.

While doctors, local civil servants, state and federal officials and residents can’t say definitively what’s behind the cancer cases and whether they’re connected, many point to the nearby dump that was closed in 1979 — and that it has been oozing carcinogenic chemicals into the surrounding air, water and soil for at least 50 years, per local reports and multiple environmental assessments.

Because of potential toxic exposures, it’s very possible that Morris’ map is an undercount.

“There are likely more cancer cases,” Mraz said. “I think it’s definitely worth looking into.”

NJ.com reporters cite multiple medical experts from around the country who agree that the site needs more — and urgent — study, and that there’s mounting evidence of a potential “cancer cluster.”

The 50-acre plot that eventually became a landfill started in the early 20th century as a small aircraft hub, and bears this legacy in its current name: Aeromarine Industrial Park. In 1962, it transitioned into a dumping site, until it was shut down.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned from her position on Monday amid an internal misconduct probe, making her the third cabinet official to depart the Trump administration this year, sources told The Post.

Chavez-DeRemer, 58, will follow four other staffers out of the Department of Labor who were all investigated and resigned amid the Office of Inspector General’s sprawling inquiry.

Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling will replace her as acting secretary. NOTUS first reported on the secretary’s exit.

White House spokesman Steven Cheung announced minutes after the report that Chavez-DeRemer “will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector.”

“She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives,” Cheung posted on X.

Chavez-DeRemer in a statement on X said she was “looking forward to what the future has in store” and that it “has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime.”

President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March, and Attorney General Pam Bondi the following month, making her the most recent victim of the cabinet shake-up.

Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito had been expected to conclude the DOL investigation in the coming weeks, sources noted.

President Trump had already fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March, and Attorney General Pam Bondi the following month. 

Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito had been expected to conclude his Labor Department investigation in the coming weeks.

The Post first exposed a whistleblower complaint filed against the labor secretary in January that alleged she drank in the office during work hours, created a hostile work environment with her top aides and was pursuing an extramarital affair with her security guard.

The complaint also claimed she committed “travel fraud” by having those aides — chief of staff Jihun Han and deputy Rebecca Wright — “make up” official trips to destinations where she could spend time with family or friends on the taxpayers’ dime.
...
Her husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, was also accused by female staffers of sexual assault, but prosecutors declined to bring charges in late February for the alleged incidents inside DOL headquarters in Washington, DC.

According to the DC Metropolitan Police Department report filed in late January, a female DOL staffer cited “sexual contact against her will.”

DeRemer’s attorney James Bell said his client “categorically, unequivocally, and emphatically denies each and every one of the allegations.” He was still barred from entering department headquarters at the time of his wife’s resignation.

Quote:The maniac who slaughtered seven of his children and one of their cousins in Louisiana on Sunday was set to do battle with his estranged wife in divorce court Monday.

Stress-riddled Army vet Shamar Elkins, 31, called his mom, Mahelia Elkins, and stepdad Marcus Jackson on Easter Sunday to tell them that his wife of two years, Shaneiqua Pugh, had filed for divorce — chillingly adding that he wanted to kill himself and was drowning in “dark thoughts,” the New York Times reported.

Jackson said he told his despondent stepson that he could overcome problems if he stood tough.

Elkins replied grimly, “Some people don’t come back from their demons,” Jackson recalled to the outlet.

The killer then ended up shooting the eight children execution-style Sunday morning. He also turned his gun on Pugh, who was hit several times in the head and stomach, and the woman believed to be his girlfriend, Christina Snow, who was shot in the head. Kin identified Snow as the girlfriend, KSLA reported.

Pugh was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, officials said. Snow also was severely wounded.

Elkins had two previous convictions: for driving while intoxicated in 2016 and for the illegal use of weapons in 2019, the outlet said.

In March 2019, a police report detailed that the National Guard vet pulled a .9mm handgun from his waistband and shot at a vehicle five times after a driver pulled a handgun on him — with one of Elkins’ bullets being discovered near a school where children were playing.

He also had a history of alluding to mental-health struggles and marriage woes on Facebook.

“Dear God, Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions. When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘It does not belong to me,’ in the name of Jesus,” Elkins wrote April 9.

Quote:D4vd could face the death penalty after gruesome details emerged when the singer was charged with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas — more than seven months after the teen’s dismembered body was found in a Tesla linked to him.

D4vd, real name David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances — lying in wait, murder of a witness to an investigation and murder for financial gain — in an announcement made by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Monday.

He’s also charged with lewd and lascivious sexual acts with an individual under 14 years old, and mutilating the human remains of a body.

The special circumstance of murder of a witness to an investigation is because Rivas was a witness in the lewd-and-lascivious investigation. Officials say the murder for financial gain circumstance was added because they believe D4vd thought allegations of sexual relations with a minor could derail his music career.

He faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or even the death penalty — which will be determined later.

Evidence against D4vd includes witness testimony and documents, according to Hochman. He also asked other witnesses to come forward during a press conference Monday. Hochman said there is digital, physical and forensic evidence that investigators have also gathered.

The charges come just a few days after the singer was taken into custody at his Hollywood Hills home by the LAPD’s robbery-homicide division Thursday. He was being held without bail.

“We came to the home with a probable cause arrest warrant for him,” LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division commanding officer Capt. Scot M. Williams confirmed to The California Post on the scene.

Exclusive footage obtained by The California Post showed the performer in cuffs and surrounded by LAPD officers as he was escorted away from his Hollywood hideout.

Quote:The top House Oversight Committee Republican, James Comer, said Monday that the growing group of missing or dead scientists was a national security threat that lawmakers were taking seriously.

Speaking to Fox News, Comer, a Kentucky Representative, suggested a lack of shared information between agencies had left missing links between the cases, which have drawn more scrutiny and speculation in recent weeks. The group of 11 people worked in a variety of fields, including national security, pharmaceuticals, and anti-gravity technology.

“It does appear that there’s a high possibility that something sinister is taking place here,” Comer told Fox News. "It's very unlikely that this is a coincidence. Congress is very concerned about this. Our committee is making this one of our priorities now because we view this as a national security threat."

11 Missing, Dead Scientists: Who Are They?

On Thursday, the growing list of deaths or disappearances of U.S. experts in advanced space, defense and nuclear fields in recent years was called “pretty serious stuff” by President Donald Trump, who added that he hoped the series was "a coincidence."

Among the missing are retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, last seen February 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and aerospace engineer Monica Reza, who disappeared in June while hiking in California. Both have been cited by online sleuths as part of a pattern, though officials have not linked the cases.

Below is the list of workers with ties to advanced research whose disappearances or deaths have attracted public interest.

Amy Eskridge—Scientist reportedly researching anti-gravity technology.
Died: 2022.

Michael David Hicks—Research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; worked on the DART Project and Deep Space 1 mission.
Died: July 2023.

Frank Maiwald—Principal researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Died: July 2024.

Anthony Chavez—Former employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Missing since: May 2025.

Monica Reza—Director of Materials Processing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Missing since: June 2025.

Melissa Casias—Administrative worker at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Missing since: June 2025.

Steven Garcia—Government contractor at a New Mexico facility for the Kansas City National Security Campus.
Missing since: August 2025.

Nuno Loureiro—Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Died: December 2025.

Carl Grillmair—Caltech astrophysicist who worked on NASA’s NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor missions.
Died: February 2026.

William "Neil" McCasland—Retired U.S. Air Force major general.
Missing since: February 27, 2026.

Jason Thomas—Pharmaceutical researcher.
Found dead: March 2026.

Quote:A retired FBI agent said there is not a “conspiracy” behind a series of people in the science-based industry who have died or gone missing in the past four years.

“This isn't some large scale conspiracy to take off people who work/worked in science-based industry,” Jennifer Coffindaffer wrote on X. 

Coffindaffer told Newsweek that these are “standalone incidents.”

“I see no strings between them, other than they had similar scientific occupations, that’s it,” she said.

FBI Director Says Agency Will Investigate: What To Know

FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News that the agency is investigating the deaths and disappearances of multiple scientists that have attracted widespread attention and online speculation. Officials have not confirmed any links among the recent cases.

“These missing and killed scientists and former professional members of the Department of Energy vary in wide range, and we're working most importantly with our state and local partners who have the jurisdiction on each of these cases, whether they be a homicide or a missing person's case, they have the evidence. What we're going to do is collectively pull it all into one place," Patel said.

He said the agency will then “look for connections on whether there are connections to classified access, access to classified information and or foreign actors, and then we will produce that information to the White House and the world because it's of such great public importance."

President Donald Trump has described the incidents as “pretty serious stuff” and said he hoped the cases are “a coincidence.” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, told Fox News that it is seeking information on the matter from the FBI, NASA, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Quote:An armed man opened fire on tourists at the Teotihuacán pyramids outside Mexico City on Monday, killing one and wounding six before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mexican authorities said. The shooting unfolded shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time at the Pyramid of the Moon, one of the site's most iconic structures.

The tourist killed was from Canada. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media that the shooting would be investigated and that she had been in contact with the Canadian Embassy.

Why It Matters

Teotihuacán drew more than 1.8 million international visitors last year, making it one of Mexico's most significant archaeological and tourist destinations. The attack raises fresh concerns about safety at Mexican tourist sites, which millions of Americans and other foreign nationals visit annually. The site had previously conducted security scans at entry points but had discontinued the practice in recent years—a cessation likely to draw scrutiny in the aftermath of the shooting.

What To Know

The gunman opened fire from atop the pyramid's platform as dozens of tourists were visiting, according to a tour guide who witnessed the shooting and spoke to the Associated Press. Some visitors threw themselves to the ground while others fled down the pyramid's steps; a separate group lay motionless on the platform to avoid being targeted. Four people were wounded by gunshots and two others were injured from falls during the chaos.

The victims include Colombian, Russian and Canadian nationals. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand confirmed on X that one Canadian was killed and another wounded, saying her thoughts were with their family and loved ones. Police officers stationed within the ruins were first to respond, followed by a National Guard unit. Authorities later recovered a gun, a knife and ammunition at the scene.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a security alert Monday confirming it was aware of the shooting and noting that local authorities had secured the area and that all injured victims were receiving medical care. The embassy urged any Americans who were in the vicinity and unharmed to contact friends and family, follow the directions of local authorities, and call 911 in case of emergency. Americans requiring assistance can contact the U.S. Embassy at (55)-2579-2000 from Mexico or 011-52-(55)-2579-2000 from the United States or reach the State Department's Consular Affairs line at 1-888-407-4747.

Quote:A disgraced high school teacher is on trial in the UK for allegedly repeatedly sexually and physically abusing a 13-month-old he was in the process of adopting before smothering the baby to death.

Jamie Varley, 37, and his 32-year-old partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, were charged in the July 2023 death of little Preston Davey, who was described by prosecutors as a “perfectly healthy boy” before meeting the couple, BBC reported.

Preston was first placed in the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley in April 2023 when he was just shy of 10 months old.

The couple, hailing from the coastal town of Blackpool, appeared to be “in a seemingly stable and loving relationship” when they were trusted with Preston, according to Prosecutor Peter Wright.

Wright grimly noted that they turned out to be “wholly unsuited to the role of adoptive parents,” which was only revealed when “it was too late” to save Preston.

Preston was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in late July 2023, just over three months into his stay with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, while suffering from cardiac arrest.

He was pronounced dead within the hour. An autopsy, though, revealed his injuries were far more extensive than the cardiac episode.

Preston’s cause of death was linked to acute upper airways obstruction as a result of smothering. He had also sustained 40 traumatic injuries, including 30 external bruises and a fractured arm, Wright said.

He added that bruises on his thighs, later reviewed by medical experts, were “consistent with a slap with an open hand.” Others on his forehead aligned “with a gripping of the little boy’s head,” as reported by The Guardian.

A speedy investigation led authorities to Varley, who was charged with Preston’s murder.

The morning Preston died, Varley captured multiple images and videos of the visibly abused 13-month-old showing clear signs of respiratory distress while lying on a bed, Wright claimed, as reported by BBC.

Quote:A young woman who started vaping at the age of 15 has been given just 18 months to live — after being diagnosed with lung cancer in her early 20s.

Kayley Boda, 22, of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, was engaging in heavy vaping on a regular basis when she started coughing up a brown substance with “grainy bits” in it in January 2025, news agency SWNS reported.

The retail assistant said doctors turned her away eight times, telling her she had a chest infection — until she began coughing up blood.   

After seven biopsies, Boda was diagnosed with lung cancer. She underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy — and in February 2026, got the all-clear, the same source reported.

Two months later, though, doctors said the cancer had come back in the pleural lining. Now she’s been given 18 months to live.

The young woman has now issued a warning to others to be aware of the dangers of vaping.

Boda said she smoked a bit as a young teenager. She took up vaping after that.

Then, “a few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus,” as SWNS reported.

“Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection…. Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-ray and found a shadow on my lung,” she added.

“They told me they were 99% sure, [since I was] so young, that it wasn’t cancer, so not to worry about it. When I got the results back, and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal.”

Boda said she was “very naive” before her diagnosis and thought that “something like this would never happen to me.”

She said that she had surgery to remove half of her right lung.

Quote:British police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a weekend arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London, as Jewish leaders express concern about a wave of incidents targeting their community.

Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of London’s Metropolitan Police Service on Monday said officers arrested two young men, aged 19 and 17, overnight in relation to the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in the borough of Harrow.

The department has made 15 arrests related to six attacks on Jewish targets and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government that occurred over the past few weeks, he said in an interview with the BBC.

One “serious line of inquiry” is that Iran is hiring local criminals to carry out these attacks amid tensions in the Middle East, including the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, Jukes said.

“We’ve seen a pattern with other actors of thugs for hire, people taking cash that looks like quick and easy money,” Jukes said. “This is part of the modern hybrid war fought by proxies.”

In the most recent incident, a bottle containing a flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the Harrow synagogue on Saturday night, causing smoke damage, police said.

Counterterrorism police are investigating the series of incidents, which began on March 23 when an arson attack destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in north London.

Police on Friday closed Kensington Gardens, a central London park visited by thousands of tourists and local residents every day, after a group that Israel has linked to Iran posted a video claiming Israel’s nearby London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances.

Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the park as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

Quote:A groom-to-be auctioned off his vintage Pokémon card collection in hopes it would reel in a couple hundred bucks — but wound up selling for enough to cover his entire dream wedding.

Andrew Braund, a teaching assistant in England, and his fiancée Rachel Moseley have spent months tirelessly planning their picture-perfect wedding.

Braund, 37, dusted off his old Pokémon card collection and explored selling it to help ease the financial burden of the bash.

He estimated it would be worth a measly £500, or $673, which would’ve been accurate, were it not for three rogue Charizard cards.

Charizard is a popular fire type from the first generation of Pokémon whose cards sell for anywhere from a couple hundred to tens of thousands of dollars a piece.

“When my friend told me how much the Charizard cards might be worth, I got quite lightheaded. I almost had a panic attack, quite frankly,” Braund told the Daily Journal.

All three of the cards were from the 2003 “Skyridge” series, hailed as one of the best ever produced in the company’s 30-year history. The holographic Charizard is the unofficial “chase” card and, in a perfect condition, can sell for upwards of $40,000.

Braund had the cards graded by PSA, a professional authenticating company. One holographic Charizard was somehow rated a nine, despite decades of poor storage, and sold for a whopping $21,250.

Another near-mint of the same card sold for $16,250. The third, a reverse-holographic Charizard from the same series, sold for $3,500, the outlet reported.

Each sold for at least $1,000 more than originally estimated, raking in a a potluck that crept over $40,000.

Braund was eager to part with the cards, noting that they had “the lowest sentimental value” compared to the favorites from his collection.

“The ones I loved as a kid look worn from being in my pockets all the time,” he said.

Quote:The German company that owns Lufthansa Airlines and other European carriers said Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on jet fuel.

The Lufthansa Group said the cancellation of less profitable routes, focused largely on its hub airports in the German cities of Frankfurt and Munich, would save the equivalent of approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel.

The company last week shut down one of its regional subsidiaries, CityLine, to cut costs. It said a “planned consolidation” within its European network also would involve Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and ITA Airways, and hubs in Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.

The price of jet fuel has more than doubled in some markets since late February, when the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Airlines are particularly vulnerable to fuel price shocks because jet fuel typically accounts for one of their largest operating expenses.

For travelers, that is already translating into fewer flight options on some routes and higher fees and fares heading into the peak summer season, with many airlines raising checked bag fees or adding fuel surcharges.

Fighting around the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway off Iran’s coast where a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes, has disrupted fuel prices and supplies around the world.

The head of the International Energy Agency estimated on April 16 that Europe had about 6 weeks’ worth of jet fuel remaining and said airlines would start to cut routes from their schedules without more. The European Union’s top energy official is also warning that the energy crisis sparked by the war could impact prices for months “or maybe even years” to come.

“This is not a short-term, small increase in prices,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said Wednesday.

Jørgensen said the war is costing Europe around 500 million euros ($600 million) each day.

Quote:Iran has threatened to reveal “new cards” if the cease-fire isn’t extended and conflict restarts, while President Trump warned “lots of bombs” will start going off if there’s no peace deal.

Mohammed-Bagher Ghalibaf, the Islamic Republic’s parliamentary speaker, said Monday the country has “prepared” during the truce — before lashing out at Trump, who renewed his threat to blitz Iranian infrastructure if talks are unsuccessful.

“Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the cease-fire, seeks to turn this negotiating table — in his own imagination — into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering,” Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in Islamabad last week, wrote on X.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

Iran hasn’t publicly confirmed if it is sending a team of negotiators to Islamabad, Pakistan, for peace talks with the US — but has reportedly told regional mediators that a delegation will be heading to the Pakistani capital, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, blasted Washington on calls with his Pakistani and Russian counterparts after US forces seized the cargo vessel Touska.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported a delegation from Tehran would only attend talks if the US met certain preconditions.

But the clock is ticking, with Trump telling Bloomberg the cease-fire will end “Wednesday evening Washington time.”

Trump said it’s “highly unlikely” the cease-fire will be extended if there’s no agreement.

The commander-in-chief told PBS Monday, “Then lots of bombs start going off” in response to a question asking about the next steps in a no-deal scenario.

Trump reiterated that Iran cannot have the capability to develop a nuclear weapon.

“No nuclear weapons. Very simple,” he said.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, who has drawn 2028 presidential buzz, sparked a firestorm for bizarrely applauding a disputed report that more than two dozen Iranian vessels have slipped through the ongoing US blockade.

“Awesome,” Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X Monday in response to a report from the shipping journal Lloyd’s List claiming that at least 26 so-called “shadow fleet” vessels had eluded the American shipping siege.

In response to the blowback, Murphy insisted he was merely being sarcastic.

“Ok Twitter, I can’t believe I need to clarify this but obviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome,'” Murphy posted on X.

“As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately. My tweet was something called ‘sarcasm.'”

Murphy later grumbled to a reporter that “I just have to be more careful about sarcasm on Twitter” in the future.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell denied the Lloyd’s List report as “false” and slammed Murphy’s comment as “shameful” in a social media response.

At least one Democratic staffer agreed that Murphy had gone too far, telling The Post: “Stupid sarcasm over life or death issues is beneath a senator.”

“Was it sarcasm? Certainly,” the staffer insisted. “But when so many on the far-left have been openly cheering for the Iranian regime (see Calla Walsh), and when Murphy has shown a willingness to play to the far-left when it suits him politically, Republicans can hardly be blamed for taking him at his word.

“If a Republican had posted something like this in reverse, you bet your ass Dems would be hitting them for it.”

Murphy, 52, who has been a staunch critic of the war in Iran, has repeatedly bashed the US on the world stage over recent weeks. He trekked to Spain last week to claim the US is facing “the most significant threat to American democracy since the Civil War.”

Quote:Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was fired Wednesday after months of feuding with his Pentagon bosses, particularly over his handling of President Trump’s “Golden Fleet” shipbuilding initiative.

Tensions between Phelan, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy War Secretary Stephen Feinberg had been simmering for months, according to the New York Times and a Republican source.

Phelan didn’t get along with Pentagon brass and his management and leadership style was “incongruent” with Hegseth and Feinberg, one GOP source familiar with the fired Navy secretary’s standing at the Pentagon told The Post.

“The administration really wanted to accelerate the shipbuilding program because of the president’s agenda … and the secretary seemed incapable of accomplishing those goals, and he wasn’t well-liked,” the source said. “When you combine incompetence with arrogance, it usually doesn’t end well.”

Feinberg had been gradually diverting responsibility for the major project away from Phelan, the New York Times reported.

The secretary had also butted heads with Hung Cao, the under secretary who is now set to replace him, officials told the outlet.

Phelan is leaving, effective immediately, and Cao will become Acting Secretary of the Navy, the Pentagon said Wednesday. No reason was given for his departure.

“Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

A senior administration official told The Post that Trump and Hegseth both agreed it was time to replace Phelan.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth agreed new leadership at the Navy is needed,” the official said. “Secretary Hegseth informed John Phelan of this news prior to it being made public.”

Phelan addressed the Navy’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday and spoke to reporters about his plans to ramp up shipbuilding in the service.

“One of the things we are going to do in our contracting is if you beat schedule, you’re going to get a bonus, but you’re going to share it with the workers,” Phelan said.

Phelan is one of the country’s top art collectors and ran a massive private investment firm.

Quote:The War Department has released video of American troops intercepting a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean overnight.

The ship, M/T Tifani, had departed the Sri Lankan port of Galle on Saturday and was bound for Singapore while carrying Iranian oil, according to the Pentagon and tracking website VesselFinder.

The Pentagon said on X the boarding took place “without incident” and did not say whether any cargo was seized.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran—anywhere they operate,” the statement read.

“International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain.”

Video showed the Navy SEALs landing on the Botswana-flagged tanker via helicopter and taking control of the vessel and stationing it in the Bay of Bengal.

The White House will ultimately decide what to do with the sanctioned vessel and the oil its carrying, military officials told The New York Times.

The operation comes after US Marines disabled and seized the Touska Iranian cargo ship on Sunday after it tried to evade the American blockade in the Gulf of Oman.

Quote:Anti-Iranian regime dissidents have been exposing regime-backed professors across the US, but recently the progressive Change.org platform has been deleting petitions they set up to call for them to face justice, they claim.

The Alliance Against the Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) said Change.org last week blocked a petition against Sina Azodi, whom it accuses of being a pro-regime professor at George Washington University, and who has been promoting a book he wrote on Iran’s nuclear program.

The group is calling on the university to conduct “an independent and transparent review” of Azodi’s work and recent comments.

“This is a man who stated in a BBC interview that the regime has the right to use coercive power to silence protestors and who has documented ties to NIAC, the de-facto lobby of the Islamic Republic in America, spreading regime-sourced propaganda on US soil,” said Ehsan Nouri of the University of Virginia in an X post last week, referring to lobbying group the National Iranian American Council. Azodi is scheduled to speak at the university on April 27.

Neither Azodi nor Change.org returned a request for comment.

Removing the petition against Azodi is the third time Change.org has taken down one of AAIRIA’s petitions, the group claims.

But a spokeswoman for the company said that the petitions have not been removed but are currently under review by their attorneys.

“Change.org is an open platform where people can make their voices heard. We maintain Community Guidelines that prohibit misinformation, defamation, and content that could harm individuals,” she told The Post. “When complaints are filed about content on our platform, we are obligated to review them — a standard process applied consistently across all petitions.”

Earlier this year, the company that started in 2007 as a grassroots site for social activism removed a petition demanding the firing of Leila Khatami, a professor of mathematics at Union College in Schenectady and daughter of Iran’s former President Mohammad Khatami.

Quote:President Trump rejected calls to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — warning there would never be a deal with Iran “unless we blow up the rest of their country, their leaders included.”

The commander-in-chief said Iran only proclaims it’s closed the waterway to “save face” as he issued the fiery threat Tuesday night — just hours after announcing that the cease-fire had been extended.

“Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face.’

“People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately.’ But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!”

In a subsequent post, Trump claimed the Iranian regime is “collapsing financially” and it’s “starving for cash.”

“Military and Police complaining that they are not getting paid. SOS!!!” he wrote.

Tehran has not responded to Trump’s latest threat, but Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the blockade violates the cease-fire — and the war of words appears to be on the rise.

“Blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire. Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation,” he wrote on X.

He then vowed Iran knows “how to defend its interests and how to resist bullying.”

Quote:Three container ships were hit by Iranian gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, hours after President Trump announced he was indefinitely extending a cease-fire with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian state TV also reported that two of the vessels had been seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while semiofficial news agencies reported the third vessel was “stranded” on the Iranian coast.

The captured ships were identified as the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and the Epaminodes. The third vessel was identified as the Euphoria.

Confirmation from non-Iranian sources that the ships had been seized was not immediately available.

The IRGC said in a statement the ships “allegedly operated without authorization, repeatedly violated regulations, manipulated navigational aid systems and sought to covertly exit the Strait of Hormuz, endangering maritime security.”

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Wednesday that Iran will no longer execute eight women after he pleaded Tuesday for their freedom — calling it “very good news” in a social media post.

“I have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request, as President of the United States, and terminated the planned execution.”
The announcement came hours after Trump extended a two-week cease-fire with Iran as US negotiators await Tehran’s reply to the latest American offer to end the nearly two-month conflict.

Iran’s judiciary denied that the eight women were ever set for execution, claiming that “Trump was misled once again by fake news” and that “some of them have been released, while others face charges that, if convictions are upheld, would at most result in imprisonment.”

Iran’s claim is contested. One of the women, Bita Hemmati, was sentenced to death for allegedly being part of a group that threw objects onto Iranian forces during protests in January, human rights groups said.

Her case was reported last week by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center.

Hemmati and four men were convicted of “participation in protest gatherings on January 8 and 9, 2026,” including “chanting protest slogans,” “throwing objects including bottles, concrete blocks, and incendiary materials from rooftops,” and “destruction of public property,” the activist news agency said.

However, two of the eight — Golnaz Naraghi, 37, and Venus Hosseininejad, 28, — have been out on bail since late March, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization.

Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad, who lives in the US, publicized the cases of the eight women, tweeting their names and photos and specifying which four were believed to be sentenced to death.

Quote:ISLAMABAD — “Good news” about a second round of talks between the US and Iran may be coming as soon as Friday, President Trump and Pakistani sources told The Post on Wednesday.

Sources in Islamabad touted positive mediation efforts with Tehran, renewing the possibility of more peace talks within the next “36 to 72 hours.” Asked about this possible breakthrough by The Post, Trump, in a text message, said: “It’s possible! President DJT.”

The incremental update comes a day after the US president announced he would extend the current cease-fire with Iran until its divided leadership can come up with “a unified proposal.”

“I have … directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he said in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday.

In the hours since, Islamabad has continued working its diplomatic channels with Iran, and the time period was based on an assessment of that work, a Pakistani source said.

“The ceasefire is holding despite heightened rhetoric, indicating positive intent on both sides,” the source said. “No military escalation from either side.”

“Pakistan remains the key mediator,” the person added.

But without a deal — or even talks — Trump continues to weigh more military options and has kept his blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

The region remains flush with a military presence so high that experts have said it’s the largest group of forces the US has ever amassed since the 2003 ground invasion of Iraq — and there are still more assets en route.

The USS Boxer and its 4,500-person amphibious group reached the Indo-Pacific region on Saturday, with plans to continue on to assist with the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to the San Diego Herald-Tribune.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials continue to threaten that their fingers are on the “trigger” to escalate the conflict back into a shooting war, with warnings that they’ll fire not just on US assets, but on regional allies in Gulf states — which could bring on an ever larger, longer war.

Quote:The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in ‌Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday.

Washington has imposed a blockade on Iran’s trade by sea while Iran has fired on ships to prevent them sailing through the Strait of Hormuz waterway at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf. Nearly two months after the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran, there is little sign of peace talks resuming during an uneasy ceasefire.

The closure of the strait has disrupted supply of a fifth of the ⁠world’s oil and gas supplies, and caused a global energy crisis. U.S. forces have seized an Iranian cargo ship and an oil tanker in recent days. Iran said it had captured two container ships seeking to exit the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after firing on them and another vessel, its first seizures since the war began.

The U.S. has diverted at least three more Iranian-flagged oil tankers in recent days, according to two US and Indian shipping sources and two separate Western maritime security source who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the interceptions.

One of the vessels was the Iranian-flagged Deep Sea supertanker, which was part loaded with crude and last seen on its public tracking transponder off Malaysia’s coast a week ago, according to the sources and ship tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform.

The smaller Iranian-flagged Sevin, which ‌had a ⁠maximum capacity of 1 million barrels and was carrying 65% of its load, was also intercepted. The vessel was last seen off Malaysia’s coast a month ago, ship tracking data showed.

The Iranian-flagged supertanker Dorena was also intercepted, fully loaded with 2 million barrels of crude, and last seen off the coast of southern India three days ago, according to the sources and ship tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform.

The U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday in a post on X that the Dorena ⁠has been under the escort of a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean after attempting to violate the blockade.

U.S. forces may have intercepted the Iranian-flagged Derya tanker, shipping sources said. The vessel failed to discharge its cargo of Iranian oil in India before a U.S. waiver on Iranian crude purchases expired on Sunday. That vessel was ⁠last seen off India’s western coast on Friday, according to MarineTraffic data.

U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that since the start of its blockade against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports, U.S. forces had directed 29 vessels to turn around or return to port.

Quote:Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman blasted his own party on Tuesday, accusing Democrats and the American media of undermining U.S. efforts to topple the Iranian regime.

“Iran must be so excited by the American media and the Democratic Party,” Fetterman said on “Hannity.”

“It’s like, as long as we can hang on… more and more people continue to vote against the Trump administration.”

Fetterman’s remarks come as Democrats ramp up a pressure campaign to check the president’s authority and bring the Trump administration’s action against the Mideast adversary to a close.

The Pennsylvania Democrat has repeatedly broken with his party on Israel and the Iran war, arguing that Washington must remain focused on preventing the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“I’m the only Democrat effectively left in Congress to support Epic Fury,” Fetterman said.

“It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten, on the Democratic side, that the real enemy, the real threat, the real danger is Iran and its proxies too.”

He noted the approaching 60-day deadline to terminate unauthorized military action under the War Powers Resolution.

“Why can we be this close and allow them to acquire a nuclear bomb?” he asked.

“That’s my real concern, andI don’t ever want to be on the wrong side of history to say, ‘I’m going to walk away from it…’ I’ve supported it [the operation] the entire time, and I don’t know where the votes are going to be. If it takes two or three on the Republican side, I don’t know, but I’m going to say where my vote is, because I’m firmly on the side of Israel, I’m firmly on this side of [opposing Iran].”

He proceeded to criticize members of the left for neglecting to mention eight Iranian women allegedly slated to be executed at the hands of the regime

“People on the left aren’t talking about that. Why aren’t they protesting that Iran’s about to hang women in Iran? They are the evil regime…” he said.

“We are at a very important inflection point in the Middle East,” he continued.

“That’s why I’m going to continue to support this, because Iran can’t ever acquire a nuclear bomb. That’s not a radical idea for the Democratic Party… Until you’re… [willing] to even do anything about it, then those are empty words. We should be firmly on this side to hold Iran fully accountable.”

Quote:The son of an ex-Iranian diplomat has gone viral for flaunting his lavish lifestyle as he boarded a private jet with his gal pal bound for Ibiza on Tuesday.

Influencer and expat Sasha Sobhani, whose father, Ahmad Sobhani, is the former Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, was filmed getting into the jet as he celebrated the upcoming Ibiza 2026 opening weekend.

“Thank God for all these blessings,” the 38-year-old said after smooching his partner, Spanish model Laura Neimas, and kicking back on a couch inside the luxurious aircraft.

Sobhani, who is wanted in Iran for alleged money laundering and running illegal gambling websites, has often stirred the pot on social media with photos and videos highlighting his extravagant expat life in Spain, where he moved to in 2019.

The influencer, who boasts nearly 4 million Instagram followers, routinely posts photos of himself surrounded by scantily clad women, alcohol and luxury sports cars as he celebrates his fortune since denouncing the Iranian regime.

Sobhani, whose real name is Mohammad-Reza, had enjoyed a life of luxury under his father, with his decadent lifestyle gaining him followers on the “Rich Kids of Tehran,” Instagram account, which followed the lives of the capital city’s wealthy young elite.

The influencer claimed that his lifestyle choices made him a prime target for the regime, which arrested him and sentenced him to prison for his alleged financial crimes, which he denied.

“I criticize the regime, the lack of freedom they have, I teach them how I live and tell them that they too could live like this,” he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in 2021 after Iran asked Spain to extradite him.

Sobhani has avoided being sent back, arguing that he was at risk of torture under the theocratic regime.

Inside Iran, Sobhani has been criticized as a poster child for the errors of Iran’s elite who cater to their children’s every whims while the rest of the nation suffers under a collapsing economy and repressive rule.

Quote:It’s the charge of the not-so-light brigade.

A band of ramshackle Russian forces were recently caught sneaking through Ukrainian lines — but drones quickly caught the crew and eliminated them, shocking footage shows.

The troop of mounted soldiers was intercepted on a roadway in the Donetsk region, with Ukrainian soldiers suspecting they were riding horses in an effort to go undetected, RadioFreeEurope reported.

But the stealth mission didn’t pan out — with footage from a Ukrainian drone capturing the moment the Russians were ambushed.

The soldiers were seen cowering from the drone as it zeroed in, while attempting to ride away as the killing machine hunted them down.
A screen the drone was being operated from ominously read “bomb armed.”

“You feel sorry for the horses,” a Ukrainian drone operator told RadioFreeEurope. “Really sorry.”

The Ukrainians suspected the horses stealth-attempts because their drones had encountered Russians creatively trying to pass through the same corridor in recent weeks — employing obvious attempts to be quieter each time.

“Last week seven motorcyclists were driving along,” the Ukrainian soldier said.

“They were destroyed. There were four-wheelers, too. They realized we detected them from the noise of their engines, so they tried electric four wheelers. That didn’t work either.”

Drones have played a critical role defending against Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Quote:NATO fighter jets scrambled on Tuesday to intercept Russian military aircraft, including long-range bombers, that flew near alliance airspace over the Baltic Sea, an incident that underscores persistent tensions with Moscow along NATO's eastern flank.

According to NATO and French military officials, Russian long‑range bombers and escort fighters were detected flying over international waters near NATO airspace. Fighter jets from several alliance members, including France, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Denmark and Romania, were launched to identify and monitor the aircraft.

The Russian formation included two Tu‑22M3 supersonic bombers accompanied by roughly 10 fighter jets, including Su‑30 and Su‑35 aircraft, officials said. French Rafale fighters were dispatched from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania as part of NATO’s long‑running Baltic Air Policing mission.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry, NATO and the Pentagon via email on Tuesday afternoon for comment.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the flight was scheduled and took place entirely over neutral waters, adding that Russian military aircraft routinely conduct long‑range missions over the Baltic and other regions in accordance with international airspace rules.

NATO frequently intercepts Russian aircraft operating near alliance airspace, saying many of the planes do not transmit identification signals or communicate with air traffic controllers. The alliance says such intercepts are defensive and intended to ensure safety and situational awareness.

The Baltic Air Policing mission has been in place since 2004, when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined NATO, and has intensified since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Why the Baltic Sea Is One of NATO’s Most Sensitive Front Lines

NATO’s decision to use fighter jets to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea this week underscores the growing strain along the alliance’s northern and eastern frontiers as Europe continues to grapple with the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Baltic region—bordering Russia and the heavily militarized enclave of Kaliningrad—has emerged as one of NATO’s most sensitive flashpoints. Member states, including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have repeatedly warned that Russian air and naval activity near their borders has intensified since Moscow launched its full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

This week’s incident follows a familiar pattern but carries heightened significance amid broader security pressures facing Europe. Russia’s war has pushed NATO to reinforce its eastern flank, expand troop deployments and accelerate defense spending, while Sweden and Finland’s recent accession has further shifted the region’s strategic balance.

European leaders say the air policing missions are defensive and routine, but acknowledge the risk of miscalculation as military activity rises on both sides. With no clear end to the Ukraine conflict in sight, the Baltic Sea remains a key arena where tensions between Russia and NATO play out in real time—often just miles from alliance airspace.

Quote:Republicans are voicing their opposition—some vehemently—to a potential deal involving the Trump administration rescuing Spirit Airlines in a reported $500 million bailout, according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump said on CNBC this week that “Spirit’s in trouble and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs,” adding, “And maybe the federal government should help that one out,” the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Spirit’s finances have been strained by surging jet-fuel prices linked to the war in Iran and a second bankruptcy filing in less than a year, AP added.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas—a prominent Trump loyalist—took to X over the possible federal bailout, saying, "This is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea. The TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program] corporate bailouts were a huge mistake & the government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline (that the Biden admin killed)."

White House spokesman Kush Desai responded to Newsweek via email on Wednesday night, saying, “Spirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline’s merger with JetBlue. The Trump administration continues to monitor the situation and overall health of the U.S. aviation industry that millions of Americans rely on every day for essential travel and their livelihoods.”

Spirit Airlines declined to comment about the potential deal when reached by Newsweek via email on Wednesday night, a spokesperson said, adding that the airline is operating as normal and that guests can continue booking tickets and using credits and points like usual.

Quote:Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ invitations to “F around and find out” on redistricting efforts in Florida, the next possible battleground in a nationwide struggle to gain partisan advantages from congressional district maps.

“Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign,” DeSantis said.

“I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing.”

“There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries everywhere around this state.”

His comments follow remarks from Jeffries on Wednesday morning.

“Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out. If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummy-mander … the electoral tide is turning in Florida,” Jeffries said.

The standoff demonstrates both parties’ resolve to double down on gerrymandering as a strategy central to winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the upcoming 2026 midterms.

Since President Donald Trump urged state lawmakers to expand the GOP’s 217-213 majority by eliminating five Democratic seats in Texas, states including North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, New York and Georgia have followed suit.

Most recently, voters in Virginia approved a redistricting effort spearheaded by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, to turn her party’s 6-5 advantage in the Commonwealth into a 10-1 majority by extending Republican-leaning districts into Democratic strongholds.

Florida is developing plans to be next.

With a Republican trifecta and eight Democratic-held districts to carve up, DeSantis has called a special session this week to explore the Sunshine State’s options.

“Today, I announced that I will be convening a special session of the Legislature focused on redistricting to ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state,” DeSantis said in his January announcement, citing changing demographics in the state.

Florida’s state constitution forbids individual districts from being drawn “with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.”

Quote:Representative Sheila Cherfilus‑McCormick resigned from Congress Tuesday just hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to consider sanctions against her over findings of misconduct.

The Florida Democrat's exit abruptly halted a rare ethics process that could have led to expulsion and comes amid heightened congressional scrutiny of lawmaker behavior.

Once her resignation formally takes effect, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is required to issue a writ of election setting the dates for a special primary, if needed, and a special general election to choose her successor, according to federal law and Florida statutes.

Why Did Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Resign from Congress?

Cherfilus‑McCormick resigned from Congress on Tuesday as the House Ethics Committee prepared to consider formal sanctions against her over findings that she violated campaign finance laws and other House rules. In a statement posted on social media, the Florida Democrat criticized the ethics process as unfair, saying the committee denied her and her newly retained attorney enough time to prepare a defense.

“Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away,” she wrote, resigning just hours before the panel was expected to recommend possible punishment, including expulsion.

The committee previously concluded that Cherfilus‑McCormick committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, largely tied to allegations that she used millions of dollars from her family’s health care business to finance her congressional campaign. She is also facing separate federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing roughly $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds and using some of the money for personal expenses, charges she has pleaded not guilty to.

Republicans had already called for her expulsion, a rare and severe step that requires a two‑thirds vote of the House, a threshold that lawmakers were expected to debate before her resignation ended the proceedings.

Republican Representative Greg Steube of Florida posted on X, "UPDATE: Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has RESIGNED from Congress. With minutes to spare before Ethics voted to recommend expulsion. This is a victory for our institution and the great state of Florida. Thank you to everyone who stayed involved and kept the pressure on. Now it’s on the DOJ to put her in prison."

Quote:The death of Representative David Scott, an 80‑year‑old Georgia Democrat and the first Black lawmaker to lead the House Agriculture Committee, marks another significant loss for a party already grappling with a string of mid‑Congress vacancies. Scott, who had been seeking a 13th term despite mounting questions about his health and growing primary pressure, was long regarded as a key voice on farm and food‑aid policy and a prominent member of the Blue Dog coalition.

His death prompted tributes from Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who called him a “trailblazer” and praised his decades of service to Georgia. House Speaker Mike Johnson said colleagues were “deeply saddened” by the news. In a statement, Johnson noted Scott’s more than two decades of service to Georgia’s 13th District and his long career in public life, offering prayers for Alfredia Scott, their two daughters, and the congressman’s grandchildren as they mourn.

List of Lawmakers Who Have Died Since 2024 Election

Scott’s passing also adds to a striking pattern that has emerged since the 2024 election: a series of deaths among sitting Democratic lawmakers. In the last two and a half years, seven members of Congress have died in office, all of them Democrats. That list includes:

• Representative David Scott of Georgia
  
• Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia
  
• Representative Raúl Grijalva of Arizona
  
• Representative Sylvester Turner of Texas
  
• Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey
  
• Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas
  
• Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey
  

While some analysts note that Democrats tend to be older on average than Republicans—a FiscalNote analysis found House Democrats were six years older than their GOP counterparts in the last Congress—the cluster of losses has intensified internal debates about age, succession planning, and committee leadership.

Those conversations have been simmering within the party for years, but they accelerated after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race, which reignited concerns about gerontocracy. Scott himself was replaced as the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee in 2024 as the party sought to elevate younger members.

Who Was David Scott?

Scott spent more than two decades in Congress as one of Georgia’s most influential Democrats, building a career that blended legislative longevity, deep ties to agricultural policy, and a personal story rooted in the rural South. Born in Aynor, South Carolina, and raised partly in Florida, Scott rose from modest beginnings to earn degrees from Florida A&M University and the Wharton School before launching a small advertising business in Atlanta. His political career began in the Georgia Legislature, where he served for nearly 30 years across both chambers before winning election to the newly created 13th Congressional District in 2002.

Quote:Two University of South Florida doctoral students from Bangladesh vanished nearly a week ago, with relatives calling their out-of-character disappearance “suspicious.”

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27 and believed to be dating, were last seen in the Tampa area on the morning of April 16, according to the University of Florida Police Department.

Limon, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at 9 a.m. at his Tampa residence, police said.

Bristy, who was studying chemical engineering, disappeared roughly one hour later after she was last seen at the Natural and Environmental Sciences Building on the university’s campus, according to cops.

Limon and Bristy were reported missing after a family friend told university police that they couldn’t get in touch with either of them. Both of their phones have also been turned off.

The students are believed to be in a relationship and had recently discussed getting married, Fox13 reported.

Police, meanwhile, confirmed the pair are not in ICE custody, the outlet reported.

Family members described each of them as dedicated students who rarely missed a class — raising alarm bells that their disappearance could be “suspicious.”

“He is a very responsible and punctual person, and that’s why the situation is so unpredictable and unusual to us … like, and very suspicious,” Zubaer Ahmed, Limon’s younger brother in Bangladesh, told the outlet.

“We’re in deep pain and [a] devastating situation.”

Ahmed said he spoke to Limon last Monday, when his brother told him he had been busy working on his thesis — researching how to use AI to study Florida’s shrinking wetlands.

Quote:WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that a grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center for making fraudulent payments of millions of dollars to members of the Ku Klux Klan and other neo-Nazi organizations.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference that the 11-count indictment filed in an Alabama federal court alleged the left-wing nonprofit had in the past decade paid at least $3 million to eight members of the far-right groups.

One leader of the 2017 Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, Va., received roughly $270,000 over an eight-year period. Neither that person nor others were identified in the 14-page indictment.

Another embedded in a neo-Nazi organization was paid $1 million to steal 25 boxes of the hate group’s documents

Others had affiliations with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, the Nationalist Socialist Party of American Nazis and the Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club.

Earlier Tuesday, SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said in a statement that his group was being targeted for “prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.”

Starting in the 1980s, the SPLC began using informants who had infiltrated various groups.

But Blanche said in the press conference that the nonprofit never informed law enforcement that it was “paying off the Klu Klux Klan” or other extremist groups.

Several of the informants were also being paid while simultaneously being featured in SPLC publications — including on its public-facing “Extremist File” webpage — as members of the hate groups.

Prosecutors alleged in the indictment that the informants, or “field sources,” were also “engaged in the active promotion of racist groups.”

Quote:‘Storage Wars’ star Darrell Sheets was snapped in a photo smiling allegedly just hours before his sudden death.

The photo, which was obtained by TMZ, showed Sheets at his Lake Havasu, Arizona, antique shop on Tuesday, posing with two people and appearing to be in good spirits. A witness told the outlet that he was “upbeat and friendly.”

The reality star died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and his body was discovered at around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to the Lake Havasu Police Department. He was 67 years old.

Sheets was on the long-running reality show — which follows professional buyers who bid on repossessed, abandoned storage units in California — from 2010 until 2023.

Sheets’ “Storage Wars” rival Brandi Passante shared an emotional tribute to him on Wednesday, saying that she had known him a long time and was “at a loss for words.”

She added that she had “unfortunately lost a parent and a brother to similar situations.”

“I’m just so very sorry, to hear the circumstances of his passing,” she wrote, noting that those who are similarly struggling can reach out for help as they aren’t alone.

Fellow “Storage Wars” star Rene Nezhoda had a more pointed message, saying in an Instagram video Wednesday that he believed cyberbullying played a part in Sheets’ death.

“He had this guy, like, really, really tormenting him lately and cyberbullying [him],” Nezhoda stated.

“Darrell has been posting a lot about the guy that’s been cyberbullying him and tormenting him, and I really hope [law enforcement] look into that guy and it’s just not a pass,” he continued.

Quote:A California pedophile who raped his underage stepdaughter and got her pregnant was ordered to remain behind bars — after he was previously recommended for early parole under a law supported by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Israel Ceja, 63, was set to walk free from San Quentin State Prison under Newsom’s elderly parole law granting freedom to older convicts, after a two-person panel from the state Board of Parole Hearings in January recommended early release from his 139-year sentence.

One of parole commissioners at the hearing who approved Ceja’s parole even acknowledged that the pedophile was still attracted to young girls, but said his sick thoughts could be overcome by prayer.

Ceja was the latest in a string of sickos set for early parole under the controversial 2020 legislation loosened by Newsom, prompting protests from victims and law enforcement officials.

During Ceja’s January hearing, Parole Commissioner Neil Schneider mentioned the inmate’s plan to relocate to Mexico after his release, calling his intentions “authentic” and “very real,” according to Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.

Schneider also noted Ceja’s admission that he is attracted to young girls, saying it is something that could be managed with prayer, Reisig said.

Schneider couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, while a spokeswoman for Gov. Newsom declined to comment on the case.

At a press conference to protest Ceja’s parole last week, victim Roxanne Cruz, 42, tearfully begged the parole board not to release her tormentor.

“It’s not just little girls that he likes. He doesn’t care. He’ll go after little boys,” Cruz said.

“I’m just afraid that this time, he won’t get caught,” she added. “Because he won’t leave me alive.”

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office last month fired off a letter to the governor, urging him to reverse the parole panel’s decision to let Ceja walk.

Quote:Police are seeking a 17-year-old on attempted murder charges following a shooting early Sunday in a nightlife district near the University of Iowa campus, authorities said Wednesday.

Five people were treated for gunshot wounds, including three University of Iowa students. One woman remained in critical condition Wednesday after sustaining a life-threatening injury to her head, Iowa City Police Chief Dustin Liston said.

Officials said an arrest warrant was issued for the 17-year-old who was allegedly engaged in the fight, adding that reports indicate as many as 40 people may have been involved. Officers had been dispatched to the fight and arrived within 45 seconds, Liston said.

After walking away from the other participants, the suspect allegedly fired six times into the crowded pedestrian area, Liston said. Iowa City’s downtown pedestrian mall is lined with shops, bars and restaurants.

The minor from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will initially be charged as an adult, as is required by Iowa law for forcible felony charges against an individual aged 16 or older, said Rachel Zimmermann Smith, Johnson County attorney.

The charges, which include five counts of attempted murder, will be brought when the suspect is apprehended, she said.

Liston said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected. About three dozen search warrants have already been executed.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to hold those responsible fully accountable,” he said, adding that anyone with information on the incident or the suspect are encouraged to come forward.

The five victims were not “targets of the shooting,” Liston said. “We have no reason to believe they were otherwise affiliated with the fight that preceded the shooting.”

Quote:A Mexican national who voted illegally in US elections and falsely claimed to be a citizen has been convicted and could face removal under federal immigration law.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jose Ceballos-Armendariz, a lawful permanent resident who has held a green card since 1990, pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly election conduct following prosecution by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

Officials said Ceballos-Armendariz unlawfully voted multiple times and falsely claimed US citizenship on voter registration forms, including a 1999 application in which he affirmed he was a citizen of the United States.

He later applied for US citizenship in February 2025. DHS said he falsely stated on that application that he had never claimed to be a US citizen.

Under federal immigration law, false claims to US citizenship can make a noncitizen removable, though DHS has not detailed any potential action in this case.

“This alien has now been convicted of illegally voting in American elections, voting in American elections,” DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. “The SAVE program is a critical tool for state and local governments to safeguard the integrity of elections across the country.”

Records provided by DHS and reviewed by Fox News Digital show Ceballos-Armendariz checked “yes” when asked if he was a US citizen on a Kansas voter registration form and signed to affirm the information was true.

On his naturalization application, however, he marked “no” when asked whether he had ever claimed to be a US citizen despite his prior voter registration.

DHS said Ceballos-Armendariz also has a prior criminal conviction, having been found guilty of battery in 1995.

President Donald Trump has made election integrity a central focus of his administration, with officials pointing to enforcement actions like this case as part of broader efforts to prevent noncitizens from participating in US elections.

Quote:An invasive hornet with striking similarities to the “murder hornet” has several southern states on alert, as experts warn its spread could devastate honeybees and other essential pollinators as the threatening insect develops a deadly reputation of its own.

The yellow-legged hornet has drawn comparisons to the northern giant hornet—better known as the “murder hornet”—because of its appetite for native insects and its natural ability to significantly harm biodiversity and agricultural pollination.

Since its arrival on U.S. soil several years ago, there have been reports of yellow-legged hornet colonies in Georgia and South Carolina – with numerous states in the South taking measures to slow the spread of the threatening insect.

Yellow-legged hornets emerge in early spring and steadily build their numbers through summer into the fall — prompting officials to warn that now is the time to stay alert.

The threat, experts say, is very real – with one study suggesting the invasive hornet can kill 50 honey bees a day – with the ability to decimate entire hives.

“If allowed in the United States, these invasive pests could threaten populations of honey bees – some of which are already endangered – and other native pollinators,” the South Carolina Forestry Commission said.

A North American detection of a yellow-legged hornet colony was first discovered in Savannah, Georgia, in 2023 – though the dangerous insect had developed a reputation around the world long before then.

Native to Asia, the yellow-legged hornet, also known as the Asian hornet, has spread across the world through cargo, taking a devastating toll on honey bees in Europe beginning in the 2010s, before arriving on U.S. soil.

The dangerous insect is known to leave piles of headless bees at hive entrances.

Honey bees are essential to U.S. agriculture, pollinating key crops such as almonds, cherries and blueberries, among many other fruits, and contributing over $20 billion annually.

Already struggling pollinator populations would be under serious threat in the event the yellow-legged hornet becomes established in the U.S. – that’s exactly why several states in the South are mapping the threat and urging the public to keep their eyes out.

First impacts

In Georgia, the Department of Agriculture is proactively working to get the word out about the invasive species they’ve been grappling with for three years as queens emerge from overwintering.

Since 2023, a plant protection team from the Georgia Department of Agriculture has been actively tracking, trapping and working to eradicate the invasive yellow-legged hornet from the state.

Quote:An RAF cadet has been suspended after he said Islam poses the greatest security threat to the UK while taking part in a training exercise.

He made the comment during a question-and-answer session in which he and other cadets were asked about dangers to British security.

It led to him being kicked off the officer-training course, pending an investigation.

Britain has responded to more than 20 plots backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran since 2022 and the Government has said the threat from the country to the UK is ‘persistent and unacceptable’.

The air force has launched a probe into the young cadet’s remarks at RAF Cranwell, where the next generation of officers are trained.

Retired rear admiral Chris Parry last night accused the air force of shutting down the ‘critical thinking’ of new officers around controversial issues and said the cadet should be reinstated.

‘If I’d asked that question and got that answer I would have also asked the cadet to expand on his thinking and got some critical thinking going rather than suspend him,’ he said.

‘Clearly Islamic extremism is the issue and not Islam, but how are young people expected to develop critical thinking around these complex issues if they are shut down in this way?

‘This is the fault of a system that is training its young people but not allowing them to express themselves and develop their thoughts.

'Any mature educational establishment should do just that.’

The cadet was taking part in a 24-week Modular Initial Officers Training course at the training academy at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire, just before Easter.

He and 50 other students were asked to give presentations, during which they answered questions about the biggest security threat to the UK.

An RAF spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an alleged incident of inappropriate behaviour involving a cadet at RAF Cranwell.

'An investigation is ongoing, we are unable to comment further.’

Rear admiral Perry also said: ‘If this cadet had answered “the far-Right” I doubt he would have been suspended.

'We know that Islam is not a threat, rather it is extremist elements, and this appears to have been a missed opportunity to discuss that for fear of causing offence.’

Quote:A sick Nigerian migrant was caught trying to cook a cat on a makeshift fire at a children’s playground in Italy.

Shocking pictures show the man, who is holding a stick, poking at the flames and crouching over the dead animal near a multicolored slide at a play area in Sarzana, northern Italy, last Tuesday.

Locals reported the shocking scenes to cops — and the man could only tell them he was hungry, Italian outlet Città della Spezia reported.

The fire was already out by the time police arrived.

The migrant was arrested, but cops couldn’t determine if he had killed the animal or if it was already dead when he cooked it.

He avoided animal cruelty charges, a decision that disgusted Mayor Cristina Ponzanelli, who expressed horror at the “cruel and inhumane” act.

“How is it possible that people who demonstrate a disregard for the fundamental rules of civil co-existence can continue to roam freely throughout Italy without real consequences?” the mayor asked.

“This is no longer acceptable.”

Quote:A priceless golden helmet dating back 2,500 years was returned to Romania on Tuesday after the national heirloom was stolen from a Dutch museum where it was on loan last year.

The ornate Cotofenesti helmet and three golden bracelets — some of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization — were taken from the Drents Museum in January 2025 in a raid which shocked the art world and devastated Romanian authorities.

But after 14 months of investigations, diplomatic tensions, and three suspects in an ongoing trial, most of the artifacts arrived at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport on Tuesday from where authorities transported them under guard to Bucharest’s National History Museum. They were displayed in a glass cabinet, flanked by masked, armed guards.

Cornel Constantin Ilie, the museum’s interim director, said that the artifacts have been returned “not as simple patrimony items, but as relics of our historical memory, as the legacy of a civilization that continues to define us.”

“For us, this is a moment of joy, but also of contemplation,” he said. “For months, we have lived with the fear that part of our past could be lost forever. Today we can say that an essential part of this treasure has returned.”

Robert van Langh, the Drents Museum director, described the recovery and return of the relics as “an emotional moment for all involved,” and acknowledged “the grief, the anger and now the relief have naturally been even greater” in Romania than in the Netherlands.

“Romanian national heritage has returned home,” he said. “The impact of this robbery was already significant in the Netherlands, but here it must have been truly unparalleled … The police and judicial authorities of both countries have done extraordinary work.”

Quote:China says it is "gravely concerned" after Japan scrapped a long-standing ban on lethal weapons exports in response to what Tokyo called a worsening security environment.

Japan is making "dangerous moves," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told reporters on Tuesday.

Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said the country would lift the restrictions to help prevent the "outbreak of conflicts" and safeguard its own security by working with other nations, opening the door for deadly weapons sales with 17 countries sharing defense agreements with Japan.

"In an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone, and partner countries that support each other in terms of defense equipment are necessary," Takaichi said.

Since World War II, Japan has stuck to a pacifist policy, but has become increasingly concerned about China's military build-up, tensions over Taiwan and persistent North Korean nuclear and missile tests.

Tokyo's relations with Beijing have plummeted to their worst point in decades over suggestions that Japan could defend Taiwan if China attacked the island. Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway part of China, while Taipei has asserted its independence.

Although President Donald Trump's administration had said it wanted to turn its attention to the Indo-Pacific and China, the U.S.'s scorn of many of its traditional allies has forced European countries, and countries across Asia relying on the U.S. for their security, to rethink their defense strategies.

The U.S. has also pulled assets from across the globe to the Middle East for its ongoing war against Iran, thought to include interceptor missiles from the Indo-Pacific that would be key for shooting down incoming ballistic missiles from North Korea or China.

Until now, Japanese defense exports had been limited to search-and-rescue equipment, transportation, surveillance and products to detect and neutralize mines.

But China has railed against what it has called "Japanese militarism," stopping its exports of products that could be used for military purposes to Japan earlier this year.

Beijing has also discouraged its citizens from traveling to Japan, a popular tourist destination, with pointed warnings designed to slash income generated by visitors to the country.

Quote:Two US Embassy officials killed in a car crash in Mexico following a daring raid on a secret drug lab were working for the CIA at the time, according to security officials.

The pair, who haven’t been named, were killed along with two Mexican officials when their car plunged 600 feet off a cliff and burst into flames early on Sunday morning, the Washington Post reported, citing sources familiar with the incident.

Their vehicle was part of a convoy of six navigating the narrow mountainous roads in northern Mexico’s Chihuahua state as they returned from an operation to shut down a clandestine drug laboratory.

It skidded off the road and plunged down a ravine before exploding, according to Mexican officials.

The two CIA officials were working alongside Mexican authorities as part of the agency’s expanded and more aggressive role in counternarcotics under President Trump, according to the sources.

They supervised but did not participate directly in the Mexican raid on the lab, described as “perhaps one of the largest ever located” by Chihuahua’s attorney general, César Jáuregui Moreno.

Mexico’s left-wing President, Claudia Sheinbaum, claimed in a statement that she was “unaware of any direct collaboration between the state of Chihuahua and personnel from the US Embassy in Mexico.”

“The relationship is federal, not state. They must have authorization from the federal government for this collaboration, which necessarily takes place at the state level, as established by the Constitution,” she added.

The CIA has yet to comment publicly on the news or confirm the deaths of two agents.

The US Ambassador to Mexico confirmed the news in a social media post on Sunday.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two US Embassy personnel, the Director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI), and an AEI officer in this accident.” Ambassador Ronald Johnson — who worked for the CIA for 20 years — wrote on X.

“This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and US officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities,” he added.

Quote:The gunman who killed a tourist and wounded several others at Mexico’s famous Teotihuacan ruins on Monday may have purposefully planned the date of the horrific terror attack for sickening reasons.

April 20, while widely celebrated innocently as “4/20” among marijuana enthusiasts, also has a much darker history — marking the date of the notorious Columbine High School massacre and what would have been the birthday of Germany’s genocidal Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The shooter, 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramirez, was reportedly a Nazi sympathizer who was seen in photos making the Heil Hitler salute, prosecutors told Mexican outlet Telediario.

He also appeared obsessed with mass shooters, and left at the scene a bizarre AI-generated framed photo of him standing beside Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two friends who shot up the Colorado high school on April 20, 1999.

Harris and Klebold killed 13 classmates and one teacher before they each killed themselves.

Ramirez, a Mexican national, appears to have been a member of a dark online subculture known as the True Crime Community, which glorifies school shootings, especially Columbine, according to the outlet.

In the fake image with the Columbine shooters, he wears a shirt with the phrase “Disconnect & Self-Destruct,” which is reportedly associated with the community.

The TCC movement bases much of its aesthetic on the 1999 attackers and multiple mass shootings around the world have been tied to the group.

Ramirez also appears to have been a Nazi sympathizer after police say they found images of Jasso performing the Nazi salute, which he’d been known to do since he was a teenager, Telediario reported.

In Monday’s attack, he started shooting tourists from halfway up the Temple of the Moon — a nearly 2,000-year-old structure and popular tourist attraction that was once used for ritual human sacrifice — just after 11:30 a.m.

Videos of the attack posted on social media show Ramirez, wearing a black mask and carrying a handgun, pacing around the platform as trapped hostages lie face-down on the stone. At one point, he begins shooting at them, the chilling footage shows.

he killed one Canadian woman, police later confirmed.

Witnesses said he was carrying a digital tablet and shouting, although it’s not clear what he was saying.

He appeared to have been shot during a gunfire exchange with federal police before he took his own life, according to Milenio.

Quote:The Hitler-obsessed gunman who murdered a Canadian tourist and wounded 13 others at an ancient Mexican temple apparently was trying to recreate the gory rituals of the ancient people who built it nearly 2,000 years ago.

“Don’t move, or I’ll sacrifice you,” Julio César Jasso, 27, could be heard shouting in a video taken by one of his hostages, who huddled on the platform on the 140-foot-tall Pyramid of the Moon in the ruined city of Teotihuacan Monday.

Teotihuacan — once the grandest civilization in the Americas before its collapse around 600 CE — began building the Moon Pyramid around 100 CE, in honor of the city’s namesake goddess of water and fertility.

Over the centuries, new temples were built on top of the old, with treasure, animals and foreign captives interred in each layer of earth and stone.

Archaeologists have unearthed skeletons with their hands apparently bound behind their backs, who were decapitated or had spear wounds.

Chemical signatures suggest these victims were brought in from far-flung reaches of Central America.

Teotihuacan was believed by the people who inhabited it to be the birthplace of time itself, where the gods sacrificed themselves to create the sun and moon and set them in motion.

“[Human sacrifice] kept the cycles of creation going, and the debt to the gods paid. People were helping to keep the sun rising,” said David Carballo, an archaeologist at Boston University who helped excavate parts of the pyramid.

But if the Moon Pyramid ran with blood — as Jasso may have envisioned — it happened a long, long time ago — centuries before the Aztecs settled in Teotihuacan around 1300 C.E.

The Aztecs revered the city as a sacred place, but there is no evidence they sacrificed people there, Carballo said.

Not that the Aztecs didn’t make blood offerings of their own in other parts of their civilization — in fact, they kicked it up a notch.

“The Aztecs seem to have taken it to a militarized level. They had this incentive system where you had no credit for killing someone on the battlefield. You were supposed to take people captive,” Carballo said.

Quote:The crazed Nazi-sympathizing gunman who killed a Canadian tourist and injured 13 others after opening fire from atop a pyramid at Mexico’s Teotihuacán ruins plotted the attack for two months – and studied an image of the tourist hotspot that was in his hotel room.

Julio César Jasso sent text messages in February, asking about staying in a hotel room between April 8 and 20, and the distance to what he described as the “Holy City,” Mexican outlet Telediario reported.

Jasso inquired about the availability of a single room at Hotel Villa Meztli – located three miles from Teotihuacán – during a conversation with hotel bosses on Feb. 17.

“What I’m interested in knowing is exactly where this is, and how far away it is from the Holy City,” he wrote in Spanish.

The total cost of his room was 7800 pesos ($451), but Jasso had to pay 50% of that total to reserve the vacancy.

He told hotel management that the room would be booked under the name “Julio Cesar Ramirez” and sent proof of his bank transfer.

The alleged shooter messaged the hotel one week before arriving to make sure everything was in order for his stay and to confirm he could pay his balance in-person.

He stayed in a 4×4 room that had a picture depicting the scene looking out from the Pyramid of the Moon – the pyramid which he scaled – before unleashing a hail of bullets.

Investigators said he would study the picture, plotting the scene of the shooting.

Officials also discovered warped notes in the room where he penned thoughts about being superior.

Jasso visited the tourist attraction several times before Monday’s shooting, Milenio reported.

He was armed with a 1968 Smith & Wesson firearm and there were 58 rounds of unused ammunition, according to the outlet.

Chilling footage has since surfaced showing Jasso pacing back and forth, loading his gun on a platform on the ruins — once used for human sacrifice.

Witness Laura Torres told local media she saw Jasso shooting from “up on top of the pyramid” before saying “there were a lot of people, he had people as hostages.”

Quote:A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot dead in her luxury apartment — with her mother-in-law eyed as the prime suspect, according to reports.

Carolina Flores Gomez, 27, was found with a gunshot wound to the head last Thursday in her apartment in one of Mexico City’s wealthiest neighborhoods, Mexican outlet Reporte Indigo reported.

Authorities believe Gomez, the Miss Teen Universe for northern Mexico’s Baja California state in 2017, was killed a day before they were alerted, raising suspicion as to why her husband, Alejandro Gomez, took so long to raise the alarm.

They believe he was home at the time of the murder — along with his mom, Erika Maria, who is the prime suspect, according to the reports.

Building staff did not report hearing gunshots or unusual activity at the high-end residential complex in Polanco, a district known for its wealth and security. Forensic teams have since combed the apartment for evidence.

Baja California governor Marina del Pilar Avila is among those calling for an urgent investigation.

“No crime against a woman should go unpunished. Our thoughts are with her family during this devastating time,” Avila told reporters.

Campaigners are demanding the death be treated as femicide, with the case sparking fresh outrage over violence against women in Mexico.

Approximately 10 women a day are murdered in Mexico, with only 1% resulting in sentencing, according to official statistics.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Accused White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman Cole Allen sent a chilling anti-President Trump manifesto to his family just before opening fire — calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and revealing he was hell-bent on killing Trump administration officials, The Post has learned.

Allen described his “targets” as including “Administration officials (not including [FBI Director Kash] Patel)… prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest” in the unhinged missive that went out about 10 minutes before the shooting Saturday night, two US officials said.

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Allen wrote, apparently referring to the president.
“In order to minimize casualties, I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls),” he wrote before disturbingly admitting he was willing to kill everyone in the room if it meant getting to his targets.

“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Allen referred to his Christian faith several times in the document within a list of “rebuttals” to imagined objections to his actions. He also made mention of hot-button political issues like the Trump administration’s strikes on Venezuelan drug boats and the detention of illegal migrants.

“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial,” Allen wrote in the deranged document, which a relative provided to police, officials said.

“I’m not a schoolkid blown up, or a child starved, or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said investigators believe he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, via Chicago, which he speculated could have been an attempt to avoid the scrutiny associated with air travel.

Quote:The deranged teacher who allegedly opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with the intent to kill as many members of the Trump administration as possible posted countless anti-Trump screeds on his social media before the attack.

Cole Allen, a 31-year-old CalTech grad from California, posted and reposted on BlueSky ad nauseam — apparently preferring the alternative platform over X, as he branded its owner Elon Musk a “Hitlerian figure.”

The account had the handle “Coldforce” — the same moniker Allen signed in his manifesto obtained by The Post.

Allen frequently condemned the Trump administration across his 1,000+ posts, with his complaints seemingly heating up when the US support for Ukraine waned.

He wrote that Vice President JD Vance is “a piece of sh-t” for bragging about ditching Ukraine during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia on April 14.

Allen boosted several fundraisers for Ukrainian brigades and students in need of supplies on his account.

In another post, he described President Trump as “a sociopathic mob boss” solely based on references in the Epstein files.

Then, on April 8, the day the US reached a temporary ceasefire agreement with Iran, Allen claimed the deal was a surrender where Trump jumped ship.

“Trump is literally one of those villains that if you beat his ass hard enough, he’ll join your team. Don’t really have any other insights to this, it’s not really actionable cause no way schumer just canes him into acting his age, but, like, it would probably literally work on him,” he wrote.

Allen also went off when Trump shared an AI-generated photo of himself dressed like Jesus Christ.

Allen, a self-proclaimed Protestant Christian, shared several reposts calling out the Trump administration’s Christian hypocrisy and suggesting many members should be categorized as “satanic idolators.”

“i’m not sure that you can work for this admin and be *any flavor of genuine christian believer* and see trump post something like this [Trump as Jesus] without understanding, at some level, deep down, that you are f–king damned, even if you’ll never admit it to anyone,” one repost read.

Allen echoed similar beliefs in his manifesto that he sent to his friends and family before Saturday’s foiled attack. While reflecting on how Christians are called to forgive others, he claimed that the Trump administration is past the point of redemption.

Quote:The attempted attack during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner has surprised many who knew the shooter, including his former professor.

According to his LinkedIn, Californian gunmen Cole Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Later, he earned a master’s degree in computer science from the California State University Dominguez Hills last May.

There were no signs Allen would commit such an act of violence, according to Bin Tang, a computer science professor at CSU Dominguez Hills.

“He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions,” Tang said.

“Soft-spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news,” he added.

A 2017 television news story resurfaced on social media showing Allen in his senior year of college being interviewed. In the clip, Allen had developed a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

The 31-year-old man from Torrance was also involved in education in other ways. He reportedly worked for C2 Education, a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to high school students.

Some of the students expressed shock at the news.

“He seemed like a completely average guy,” high school senior Max Harris, who said he was tutored by Allen, told the New York Times. “Like, I never would have expected anything like this from a guy like him.”

Allen sent a chilling anti-President Trump manifesto to his family just before opening fire — calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and revealing he was hell-bent on killing Trump administration officials.

He rushed through a security checkpoint before being tackled by security officials and is currently being detained.

Quote:The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter assembled his arsenal from two California stores in the months and years before the attack.

Cole Allen purchased a Maverick 12-gauge pump-action shotgun from Turner’s Outdoorsman in Torrance last August and a Armscor semi-automatic pistol from CAP Tactical Firearms in Lawndale in October 2023.

Allen was charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon after allegedly trying to storm the banquet in DC last night.

Agents revealed he was carrying a shotgun, a pistol and knives on him when he was taken down by officers just yards from President Trump.

Authorities also revealed Sunday he stored the weapons at his parents’ house in Torrance and regularly trained at a shooting range.

Turner’s Outdoorsman, which is near the suspect’s family home, bills itself as “Texas Freedom, California style” on its website.

It is a general outdoors store selling fishing gear, clothing and accessories — but also sells a wide range of pistols, rifles and shotguns.

It is managed by Jesse Sanchez, but the wider company is ran by CEO Bryan Harris. When Turner’s was asked by The Post if Allen bought a gun at the store and what protocols were conducted an employee responded they were “Unable to confirm or deny that information” and referred questions to their corporate office.

Meanwhile the pistol was bought from CAP Tactical Firearms, a family-run store run by Bill Mullen out of Lawndale.

Mullen, who established the store 10 years ago, sells rifles, handguns, ammo, tactical gear, knives, and shotguns at the modest looking store on Hawthorne Ave.

He told an LA website in 2017 he was fighting the stigma of firearms. “It is sometimes hard to remind people that not everyone who owns a firearm is a criminal,” he said.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Duck, cover, and grab the wine!

A woman was caught on camera blissfully snatching bottles of wine during the chaotic aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

While throngs of reporters and other guests fled the Washington Hilton ballroom, an unknown blonde woman wearing posh black fur went straight for a table to stockpile booze.

Because the shooting took place early on during the salad portion of the marquee dinner, there was an abundance of wine left abandoned at tables across the ballroom.

The woman’s identity is not immediately clear, and it’s not apparent whether she was a journalist or some other guest.

Footage of the wine grab quickly went viral. But netizens were torn whether snatching the wine was in poor taste given what could’ve been a tragic evening if the shooter wasn’t stopped, or a fiscally prudent move given the high price tag of the swanky dinner.

“So, there you have press members STEALING wine bottles: this is who the press is! Repugnant!” one user wrote, showing a video of the wine-loving attendee.

So, there you have press members STEALING wine bottles: this is who the press is!
Repugnant! pic.twitter.com/IlLlmdciXV

— TeslaBoomerPapa (@TeslaBoomerPapa) April 26, 2026
“How shameless, after the shooting incident, journalists are stealing liquor bottles in the same hall where President Donald Trump was also present,” a different user fumed.

“How is this stealing? They were placed on the tables for dinner. They were meant to be consumed. Everything was already paid for,” another poster wrote in defense of the pilfering.

“Bro they paid $350+ a plate and the night got canceled early, free wine tax refund is fair game,” a user named Bullz wrote.

Other attendees were similarly caught exiting the ballroom with bottles of wine after chaos engulfed the marquee DC dinner.

Quote:Two men are believed to be behind the mass shooting near the Indiana University campus in Bloomington that left nine people injured — including five young women hit by bullets or fragments, police said Sunday.

Just before the violence erupted at a celebration over the “Little 500” college cycling race on the city’s popular strip of Kirkwood Avenue, a fight had broken out between two women in front of a Five Guys restaurant, Bloomington Police Chief Mike Diekhoff told reporters.

During the confrontation, two male suspects pulled out their handguns and fired in the dense crowd at around 12:25 a.m., with five women injured by the gunfire and bullet fragments, Diekhoff said.

The two women involved in the fight were not injured, and the motives of the male shooters remain unclear, authorities said.

The other people injured were hurt during the ensuing stampede, officials said.

No students were injured, officials said, adding that the victims were all from out of town.

The injured were identified as a 17-year-old who was hit by fragments in her foot and ankle, an 18-year-old struck in the ankle and shin, a 21-year-old hit in her shin and thighs and a 22-year-old with embedded fragments in the back of her thigh.

A 20-year-old victim suffered a direct gunshot that traveled through her body from her abdomen to her armpit, but it remains unclear which way the bullet entered and exited, Diekhoff noted.

One of the victims remained in the hospital under stable condition, with the rest treated and released Sunday, officials said.

Quote:The head of OpenAI has written a letter apologizing that his company didn’t alert law enforcement about the online behavior of a person who shot and killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

In the letter posted Friday, Sam Altman expressed his deepest condolences to the entire community.

“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June,” Altman said.

“While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”

The letter, dated Thursday, appeared on B.C. Premier David Eby’s social media and also on the local news website Tumbler RidgeLines on Friday.

On Feb. 10, police say an 18-year-old alleged shooter, identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed her 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett Jacobs, in their northern British Columbia home before heading to the nearby Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire, killing five children and an educator before killing herself.

Twenty-five people were also injured in the attack.

After the shootings, OpenAI came forward to say that last June the company identified Van Rootselaar’s account using abuse detection efforts for “furtherance of violent activities.”

The San Francisco technology company said it considered whether to refer the account to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but determined at the time that the account activity didn’t meet a threshold for referral to law enforcement. OpenAI banned the account in June for violating its usage policy.

At the time, Eby said it “looks like” OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent the mass shooting.

In his letter, Altman said he had spoken with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and Eby and they “conveyed the anger, sadness and concern” felt in the community. It was agreed a public apology was warranted but time was needed for the community to grieve.

“I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire community,” Altman said. “No one should ever have to endure a tragedy like this. I cannot imagine anything worse in this world than losing a child.

“My heart remains with the victims.”

Quote:A Virginia transgender substitute teacher was arrested for allegedly plotting a chilling “murder spree” at a local school — and bragging online about having a disturbing hit list.

Hadyn Dollery, 19, was busted on school grounds Monday after posting threatening messages on Discord targeting John Champe High School in Stone Ridge, about 40 miles west of Washington, DC, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and multiple outlets.

Police said a tip on the department’s Safe2Talk app exposed the suspect’s sinister online posts.

The accused would-be attacker allegedly unleashed threats against family and friends on the messaging app, including disturbing talks of a mass killing at the school, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Loudon Times-Mirror.

The warped teen, of Chantilly, also claimed to have a “kill list,’ the complaint said.

Dollery worked as a “non-licensed” substitute teacher for the 2025-26 school year but was later scrubbed from the district’s list after being thrown behind bars, the outlet reported.

The long-haired suspect, seen grinning in their mugshot, was charged with threats of bodily harm and is now being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, cops said.

The deranged teen — who identifies as a trans woman — was booked as a male and is reportedly being housed alone, WJLA reported.

Dollery is due back in court on May 26.

Quote:A former North Carolina cop — once awarded “police officer of the month” — allegedly plotted to gun down black people at a Louisiana festival, authorities said.

Christopher Gillum, of Chapel Hill, was wanted in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, for making “terroristic threats” and tracked by authorities to a hotel in Florida where he was arrested Wednesday night, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Gillum had allegedly been “heading to do a mass shooting at a large festival in Louisiana,” when he was found with roughly 200 rounds of ammunition and a handgun in his hotel room on Scenic Highway 98, cops said.

Though authorities didn’t identify the festival Gillum planned to attack, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which routinely attracts hundreds of thousands of patrons, was slated to begin Thursday.

The ex-cop family’s had reported him missing on Tuesday — telling police he had a gun and “expressed recent threats to harm black people,” according to a bulletin from Burlington police and Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.

But Gillum fled North Carolina before paperwork could be prepared to involuntarily commit him to psychiatric treatment, Lyons said.

He was eventually stopped by police in Okaloosa County on Wednesday, but did not “present any grounds for involuntary commitment or criminal charges,” according to police, who let Gillum drive away while telling officers he was headed to “New Orleans.”

Quote:The mother of three of the eight children massacred by deranged Army veteran dad Shamar Elkins in Louisiana still has a bullet lodged in her head and is struggling with her memory — sometimes believing her kids are still alive, according to a relative.

Christina Snow, the girlfriend of 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, was shot in the face early Sunday when the former National Guardsman went on a shooting rampage at two nearby homes in Shreveport.

Three of Snow’s children she shared with Elkins — Braylon Snow, 5, Khedarrion Snow, 6, and Sariahh Snow, 11 — were killed in their home.

Elkins fired a bullet through Snow’s nose which is lodged in her head, and doctors aren’t ready to risk surgery, according to her cousin Jamarckus Snow.

The mom is now dealing with heartbreaking memory loss about the fate of her kids.

“One day, she’ll remember they’re dead. I heard yesterday she woke up and was like, ‘I got to get my kids ready for school.’ She’ll lose memory of what happened,” he told NBC News.

“One day, she’ll know, and the next day, she’s thinking her kids is still there.”

Elkins fatally shot his seven children — the three he shared with Snow and his four daughters with his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh: Jayla Elkins, 3, Shayla Elkins, 5, Kayla Pugh, 6, and Layla Pugh, 7.

He also killed Mar’Kaydon Pugh, 10, the son of his wife’s sister, who was staying at their house.

Quote:Four men were shot and wounded by gunfire inside a notorious Queens nightclub with a track record of gun violence, cops said.

Bullets turned the dance floor inside Amadeus nightclub in Elmhurst into a bloodbath around 3:40 a.m. on Sunday, according to the NYPD.

When cops arrived, they found two 28-year-old men who’d been hit by gunfire – one who had been grazed in the head and another struck in the face, police said.

The two were taken to Elmhurst Hospital by EMS, where they were in stable condition, according to authorities.

Investigators later found two other victims who had been victims of the violence – a 25-year-old man at Elmhurst Hospital with wounds to his abdomen and arm and a 24-year-old man at Kings County Hospital with a wound to his arm.

Those two were also listed in stable condition, according to authorities.

The nightclub is no stranger to shootings, having been the site of gun violence the past few years.

A dispute inside the club became violent and led to a shooting that killed a 19-year-old man and wounded a 31-year-old woman in 2023, cops said.

And just last year, three people were wounded inside a Rolls Royce waiting just outside the club after a gunman started shooting up the car, police said.

Amadeus did not respond to The Post’s request for inquiry at time of publication.

City Council members Phil Wong and Shekar Krishnan issued a joint statement saying they were “deeply troubled by the shooting.”

Quote:This is not the way to save a buck.

A roadkill deer was found inside a Chinese restaurant’s freezer — and this isn’t the lo mein joint’s first time running afoul of health code violations, according to reports.

The nauseating discovery was made after a Facebook user accused staff at China Queen in Louisiana of skinning a dead animal in the back outside their restaurant in a now-deleted post on Wednesday, April 22, KALB 5 reported.

Local police officers responded to the eatery and were shown a picture of a male restaurant employee with blood on his hands by a witness, the Pineville Police Department told The Post in a statement.

They later found a deer carcass inside the Chinese restaurant’s freezer, stored next to other food.

The worker told police he found the deer carcass on the side of the road around 10:00 a.m. and intended to turn it into soup.

“Officers on scene were unable to determine whether the meat was intended for personal consumption or for service to restaurant patrons,” officials told the outlet.

The incident has spurred investigations from both the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

“While the consumption of deer is common in Louisiana, state law prohibits the possession of roadkill without prior authorization from law enforcement. Additionally, improper handling and storage of wild game can pose serious public health risks due to rapid bacterial growth,” a Pinveville Police Department spokesperson said.

Quote:A Queens doctor convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting seven women at a NYC hospital and his home — and filming the attacks — also groped a patient on life support, The Post has learned.

The 47-year-old woman, identified as “victim 2” in the case of the monster molestor, was on her death bed at New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in May 2022 when Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng recorded himself grabbing her breasts and genitals, according to court papers.

The sicko doc pleaded guilty in June to four counts of first-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and was sentenced in August to 24 years behind bars.

“He recorded himself sexually assaulting the woman who was unconscious on a ventilator and a feeding tube and nearing the end of her life,” said lawyer Nicholas Liakas, whose namesake firm sued the Flushing hospital in 2023 on behalf of four of Cheng’s victims.

After she died, the family decided not to move forward with a lawsuit out of a desire for privacy, Liakas said.

But his firm continues to demand accountability from the hospital and for a larger investigation into the scope of the crimes.

One of the victims was a 19-year-old at the hospital for gallbladder removal, who was allegedly groped by Cheng in June 2021 after he snuck into her pediatric-ward room, according to hospital documents referenced in court records and provided by the firm.

Security footage showed “an individual in blue scrubs . . . entering the unit,” according to the records. He told the patient he was a stomach doctor and injected her IV with something, the documents said. Cheng also recorded that attack, the documents showed.

Cheng was in the room for 19 minutes. The teenager woke up feeling like “someone was twisting and pulling in her lower abdomen” and “doesn’t remember what happened to her,” according to the records.

“They did their own lineup in the hospital and they didn’t call the police,” Liakas’ law partner, Cassandra Rohme, alleged. “They covered it up.”

The teen and her mother didn’t even learn she was sexually assaulted until they were called to appear at the Queens District Attorney’s Office in April 2024.

The law firm is demanding New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital notify all of Cheng’s patients that they may be victims.

The attorneys also want an investigation into where Cheng got the drugs he used to sedate his victims — accusing him of using “contaminated syringes diverted from other patients on his victims to render them unconscious,” according to a letter the lawyers sent asking a judge to reject Cheng’s plea agreement.

Quote:A California winery owned by Representative Ilhan Omar's husband was shut down weeks after Congressional Republicans demanded answers about the reported wealth of the Minnesota Democrat's family.

Omar, a member of the Squad of progressive Democrats and a political lightning rod, filed a 2024 financial disclosure that put her family assets at between $6 million and $30 million, a surge from the previous year that—at the top of that range—would have placed her among the wealthiest Democrats in the House.

At the heart of the wealth was a Santa Rosa, California-based winery, eStCru LLC, which was co-owned by Omar’s husband Tim Mynett. California business records show the winery shut down on April 4, two months after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer wrote to Mynett asking for financial records.

In March, Omar revised the filing—a common practice among members of Congress—and downgraded the assets to $0 and the joint assets with her husband to under $100,000. The amended filing also shows that the congresswoman held $15,001 to $50,000 in student loan debt. Omar’s representatives blamed the discrepancy on "incomplete information from Mr. Mynett’s businesses' accountants in good faith and deference to professional judgment."

"The amended disclosure confirms what we've said all along: the Congresswoman is not a millionaire," Jacklyn Rogers, a spokesperson for Omar, told Newsweek. Rogers added that the original filing listed the assets without their respective liabilities and "significantly overstated" Mynett's net worth.

A representative for eStCru told the New York Post in February that the winery was no longer operational, and, according to the California Secretary of State's business registry portal, it was terminated on April 4.

Quote:President Trump claimed Sunday that Iran’s oil infrastructure could explode in about three days because of mechanical issues exacerbated by the US blockade on its vessels.

“When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth,” Trump told Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”

“It’s something that happens where it just explodes. And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.”

Experts have warned that Iran could be forced to shut down its oil fields as early as April 29 because of the US naval blockade, risking long-term damage to its crude production.

That’s because Tehran is effectively running out of storage space after it had been forced to divert its oil to onshore tanks, which can only hold so much, since its exports have been halted.

Both the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute and  Energy Aspects, a UK-based fuel analyst firm, estimated that Iran’s storage space will be up in the coming week.

“Once the tanks are filled, Iran would have to shut down its oil fields, which risks long-term damage to the fields,” said Annika Ganzeveld, the Middle East portfolio manager for the AEI’s Critical Threats Project, previously to The Post.

Sudden and long-term halts at oil-production plants risk permanent damage to a fuel reservoir and make it increasingly difficult to restart operations and reach the same level of output as before.

Such a situation would serve as a major blow to Tehran’s already weakened economy.

Quote:ISLAMABAD — Iran’s foreign minister was back in Islamabad on Sunday reportedly hoping to work on a peace plan — while President Trump said his top aides will only participate by phone at this point because Pakistan is too far to go to again.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did the quick turnaround after leaving Pakistan’s capital without meeting with US officials Saturday, a move that prompted Trump to then swiftly cancel American negotiators’ intended trip to Islamabad.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to leave for Pakistan’s capital Saturday before being called off.

Trump on Sunday doubled down on his refusal to send the US negotiators back to Islamabad, telling Fox News that the 18-hour trip is too far to travel if Iran continues to refuse his nuclear demands.

“Great respect for Pakistan, because they’ve been terrific. They’ve really tried, and they’ll stay involved, but we’re going to do it by telephone, so if they want, they can call us,” Trump said of Tehran.

“But again, they know what has to be in the agreement. Very simple: they cannot have a nuclear weapon — otherwise there’s no reason to meet,” he said.

Iran has previously been willing to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons in deals, but the major hang-up is what to do with the remaining enriched uranium in Iran, Pakistani sources said.

Quote:Prince Harry called on the US to “honor its international treaty obligations” to Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Thursday.

The Duke of Sussex — who famously fled the royal family to live with wife Meagan Meghan in California — said America had an obligation to help stop Moscow’s invasion after Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for assurances from the US, UK and Russia.

“This is a moment for American leadership. A moment for America to show that it can honor its international treaty obligations,” Harry said.

“Not out of charity, but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability,” the prince added.

The address was made as part of Harry’s announced visit to the Ukrainian capital, with the king’s second son set to attend a Kyiv security conference during the two-day trip.

Harry said the US, in particular, had a “singular role in this story,” given its role in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and its military might.

The former British royal, who has visited Ukraine in the past, said he returned to Kyiv on Thursday to highlight the struggles of the war as much of the world’s attention has shifted to the conflict in the Middle East.

“I am not here as a politician,” he told members of the Kyiv Security Forum. “I am here as a soldier who understands service, as a humanitarian who has seen the human cost of conflict, and as a friend of Ukraine who believes the world must not grow used to this war or numb to its consequences.

“Because what is happening here is not simply a war about territory,” he added. “It is a war about values. About sovereignty. About whether the principles that underpin our shared democracy still hold meaning.”

Harry also touted Ukraine as a “country bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank” at a time of heightened Russian aggression. 

As part of his two-day trip to Ukraine, Harry is expected to visit the de-mining HALO Trust charity that was supported by his late mother, Princess Diana.

Quote:The European Union has approved a long-awaited $105 billion loan to Kyiv and new sanctions against Russia on Thursday — extending a lifeline that will alow Ukraine to continue to pay for the war and government operations.

The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s needs for the next two years, and it came after economists warned that the nation would run out of money by June if the EU failed to distribute the funds.

“This package will strengthen our army, make Ukraine more resilient, and enable us to fulfill our social obligations to Ukrainians, as set out in law,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said as he arrived in Cyprus, where he was set to meet with EU leaders.

“During meetings in Cyprus, we will also discuss with partners further sanctions pressure on Russia over this war,” he added. “The 20th package has been unblocked, and it must be followed by other sanctions steps.”

Half of the $105 billion will be disbursed to Ukraine this year, with the second half going out in 2027.

Zelensky suggested that the first half of the loan could become available as early as May.

The majority of the loan will be spent on Ukraine’s military budget, with about $20 billion going to Kyiv’s general budget, which handles civilian needs like health and education.

Ukraine is also looking to rebuild its battered energy grid and civilian infrastructure before the next winter, which will likely be a target for Moscow in the future, Zelensky said.

The approval of the loan had been delayed by months due to a veto by EU member and Russian-ally Hungary, whose Prime Minister Victor Orbán suffered a “painful” election loss earlier this month.

Quote:A Russian drone attack overnight on Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa killed an elderly married ‌couple and wounded more than a dozen others, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.

The strike wrecked two two-storey buildings and hit another two-storey one where ⁠two people died, emergency services said.

It also wrecked apartments in a three-storey building, triggering fire, they said.

“A married couple, both aged 75, were killed in a night-time attack,” Serhiy Lysak, the head of the local military ‌administration, ⁠said on Telegram.

Lysak said that 15 people were injured in the attack, while emergency services put the number of injured ⁠at 14.

He added that eight of those injured in the attack were treated in hospital.

Lysak ⁠posted photos of a building engulfed by fire, and another one ⁠with a gaping hole on its side, and emergency crews working inside.

Quote:At least 10 people were killed and 73 wounded across Ukraine in devastating attacks over the past day, as the war-torn country faced one of Russia’s largest bombing campaigns of the war.

Russian forces fired 47 missiles and 619 drones overnight into Saturday — including about 400 Shahed-type “kamikaze” drones, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

The strikes caused “considerable destruction” on the frontline city of Dnipro, which was hit by three waves of attacks.

Explosions were first heard around 3:30 a.m. local time, and the first barrage lasted “for more than 10 hours,” according to Dnipro Gov. Oleksandr Hanzha.

Roofs of apartment buildings collapsed from the deafening blasts, entire floors were ripped to pieces and nearly 1,500 windows were left shattered, according to local officials.

Overnight, 27 houses, two kindergartens and a medical clinic were destroyed, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said.

A thick column of black smoke rose into the skyline, towering over the city Saturday morning. 

As firefighters pulled four dead bodies from under the rubble, the city was hit by a double-tap strike, killing four more people during the daytime hours.

Two police officers were among those injured in the second strike, and the deputy mayor, other city officials and first responders were “almost killed,” according to Filatov.

Quote:It might have been mummy’s favorite bedtime story.

Archaeologists found part of Homer’s “The Iliad” stuffed inside a 1,600-year-old mummy’s abdomen — a surprising and first-of-its-kind find, experts said.

Researchers from the University of Barcelona said a papyrus fragment written in Greek was discovered during an excavation of a Roman Empire-era Egyptian tomb.

The fragment includes a section of Book Two of the ancient epic, which details the legendary Trojan War, the university said.

The fragment names the famous catalog of ships used against the city of Troy, likely placed inside the mummy’s abdomen during embalming, university researchers detailed.

The discovery, first announced this month, was uncovered by university researchers between November and December 2025 — and is the first time in recorded history that a Greek literary text has been found incorporated into a mummification ritual, scientists said.

The University of Barcelona’s Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission had previously documented Greek papyri tucked inside mummies in similar positions, but the text was always magical or ritualistic, according to researchers.

“It is worth noting that, since the late 19th century, a huge number of papyri have been discovered at Oxyrhynchus, including Greek literary texts of great importance,” said Professor Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, who helped lead the research campaign.

“But the real novelty is finding a literary papyrus in a funerary context,” Adiego added.

The male mummy was discovered inside Tomb 65 at the Al-Bahnasa necropolis, the site of ancient Oxyrhynchus, which sits roughly 190 miles south of Cairo.