News of the World
Yesterday, 10:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 8 hours ago by kyonides.
Edit Reason: Added Trump-Russia Collusion Report Hoax
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USA
Quote:A bombshell new CIA review of the Obama administration’s spy agencies’ assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump was deliberately corrupted by then-CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who were “excessively involved” in its drafting, and rushed its completion in a “chaotic,” “atypical” and “markedly unconventional” process that raised questions of a “potential political motive.”
Further, Brennan’s decision to include the discredited Steele dossier, over the objections of the CIA’s most senior Russia experts, “undermined the credibility” of the assessment.
The “Tradecraft Review of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment [ICA] on Russian Election Interference” was conducted by career professionals at the CIA’s Directorate of Analysis and was commissioned by CIA Director John Ratcliffe in May.
The “lessons-learned review” found that, on December 6, 2016, six weeks before his presidency ended, Barack Obama ordered the assessment, which concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin “aspired” to help Trump win the election.
The review identified “multiple procedural anomalies” that undermined the credibility of the ICA, including “a highly compressed production timeline, stringent compartmentation, and excessive involvement of agency heads.”
It also questioned the exclusion of key intelligence agencies and said media leaks may have influenced analysts to conform to a false narrative of Trump-Russia collusion.
“The rushed timeline to publish both classified and unclassified versions before the presidential transition raised questions about a potential political motive behind the White House tasking and timeline.”
The review found that Brennan directed the compilation of the ICA, and that his, Comey’s and Clapper’s “direct engagement in the ICA’s development was highly unusual in both scope and intensity” and ”risked stifling analytic debate.”
Brennan handpicked the CIA analysts to compile the ICA and involved only the ODNI, CIA, FBI and NSA, excluding 13 of the then-17 intelligence agencies.
He sidelined the National Intelligence Council and forced the inclusion of the discredited Steele dossier despite objections of the authors and senior CIA Russia experts, so as to push a false narrative that Russia secured Trump’s 2016 victory.
“This was Obama, Comey, Clapper and Brennan deciding ‘We’re going to screw Trump,’” said Ratcliffe in an exclusive interview.
“It was, ‘We’re going to create this and put the imprimatur of an IC assessment in a way that nobody can question it.’ They stamped it as Russian collusion and then classified it so nobody could see it.
“This led to Mueller [special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry, which concluded after two years that there was no Trump-Russia collusion]. It put the seal of approval of the intelligence community that Russia was helping Trump and that the Steele dossier was the scandal of our lifetime. It ate up the first two years of his [Trump’s first] presidency.
“You see how Brennan and Clapper and Comey manipulated [and] silenced all the career professionals and railroaded the process.”
Quote:The city has quietly turned a former hotel into a taxpayer-funded den for child predators and other sex offenders — located less than 250 feet from a playground, The Post has learned.
At least five level 2 and level 3 sex offenders — the worst of the worst, including one monster who had sex with a 7-year-old — are living in a homeless shelter at 61 Chrystie St., 243 feet from the Hester Street Playground in Chinatown.
“There’s so much wrong with this, I don’t even know where to begin,” said resident Brian Chin, the father of a 4-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl who he no longer allows on that playground.
“Finding out that the city has secretly been putting child predators into an all-expenses paid hotel overlooking the children’s park, on the taxpayers dime, it verges on being almost unbelievable,” said the irate dad, a neighborhood activist who researched the hotel and discovered the city was placing sex offenders there.
“The sheer amount of sex offenders concentrated in that one hotel, the fact that they’re free to roam around, and that it’s literally situated directly across from the kids park and the local high school, it’s appalling.”
State law prohibits level 2 and 3 sex offenders, who are considered at medium and high risk of reoffending, from living within 1,320 feet — or a quarter mile — of playgrounds, schools, parks and childcare facilities.
“We don’t even know how many level 1 sex offenders are living there because they’re not listed [in the state sex-offender registry],” Chin said of the lowest level predators.
The shelter was once a boutique hotel called Hotel MB and before that a Comfort Inn. It was converted into a homeless facility in the summer of 2021, according to reports online. It is not clear when the city began moving in the sex offenders or how many of them live at the site. The Post has reached out to city officials.
The shelter is run by a Bronx-based non-profit called the Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs Inc. (NAICA), which has pocketed nearly $1.3 billion in city contracts the past decade, records show.
Quote:A Jewish advocacy group slammed Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for posting a “sick” video mocking Hannukah and “cosplaying Jews.”
The mayoral front-runner shared a video on his X account last year from the Geeta Brothers Duet Group, showing two men wearing wigs dancing behind a menorah, playing with dreidels and celebrating with Punjabi-style music.
“Zohran Mamdani posts Indian men cosplaying Jews, spinning dreidels and lighting the menorah,” pro-Jewish group Stop Antisemitism wrote in a post to X Saturday, which included the controversial song.
“Our holidays and traditions are sacred and not for your comedic pleasure _ZohranKMamdani — this is sick.”
Mamdani, 33, shared the campy song called “Hey Hannukah” during last year’s Festival of Lights.
“Happy 3rd night of Hanukkah from Astoria and Long Island City,” the Queens lawmaker wrote on X at the time.
The video is from the 2015 parody album “Punjabi Christmas Album Hits” from the Geeta Brothers — a side project of Sikh-Canadian musician and comedian Jus Reign.
Mamdani shared a similar video from the same comedy group on Christmas Eve 2024.
“Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from Astoria and Long Island City,” the self-described “nepo-baby” wrote, sharing a video for the song “Jingle Bells,” in which the performers wear similar wigs.
The tone-deaf post is not the only reason Jewish New Yorkers are outraged over the rise of the socialist pol.
Quote:An F-16 U.S. fighter jet on Saturday intercepted a general aviation aircraft that violated a temporary restriction of the airspace over U.S. President Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the U.S military said in a statement.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the incident, which occurred around 2:39 p.m. (1839 GMT), marked the fifth unauthorized incursion of the restricted airspace on Saturday. A spokesperson confirmed the jet was an F-16.
NORAD aircraft conducted a so-called headbutt maneuver to get the civilian pilot’s attention and the aircraft was safely escorted out of the area, NORAD said in a statement.
The White House had no immediate comment on the incident. NORAD has reported multiple similar incidents in recent weeks, and is urging general aviation pilots to check all notifications before taking off in the area.
Quote:Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk announced Saturday he’s launching a new political party — the latest salvo fired in his ongoing feud with President Trump.
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” Musk said on his X social media platform, referring to an online poll he created a day earlier.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Musk did not offers details on how he’d form the new America Party, but it would be a complex process, with the rules to get on ballots varying in each state. The effort could also face legal challenges.
Peeved by Republicans’ passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Musk declared on X Friday that “Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!”
Of Musk’s 1.2 million followers who voted, 65.4% backed creating an “America Party” and 34.6% shot the idea down.
Quote:Los Angeles officials announced on Tuesday that over 40 individuals have been slapped with new charges stemming from violent riots against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts last month.
Of the charges, prosecutors pointed to a 17-year-old juvenile accused of attempted murder, two separate instances of protesters allegedly assaulting Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department horses and a man accused of injuring a police officer with a flagpole, LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a press release.
"The large-scale protests may have ended for now, but our work has not," Hochman said.
One of the suspects, a 17-year-old juvenile, is charged with one felony count of attempted murder, assault upon a peace officer, vandalism and two misdemeanor counts of rioting, according to officials.
Another protester, identified as 37-year-old Patrick Munoz, is accused of jabbing a flagpole at an officer as they attempted to break up a gathering outside a local hotel on June 11. If convicted, Munoz could spend up to nine years and two months in prison.
Munoz's attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Additionally, prosecutors allege 49-year-old Robert Amaya approached a family as they were leaving a protest on June 10, and subsequently pulled out a knife while approaching an 11-year-old girl and making stabbing motions at her. Amaya is charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and faces up to 13 years in state prison if convicted.
Fox News Digital was unable to immediately locate an attorney representing Amaya.
Quote:Immigration and Customs Enforcement clapped back at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after she suggested that federal immigration authorities "go home."
"We would like for the ICE raids to stop. We would like the array of federal officials or civilians dressed as federal officials to go home," she said at a news conference on Tuesday held in response to the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the city’s sanctuary policies.
When asked if there could be a deal made between ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, she doubled down.
"I don’t know if there’s a deal to be made. Like I told you, the deal that needs to be made is for them to go home," the Democrat said.
ICE directly responded, noting that they will continue their operations in the city and in the region.
"ICE isn't going anywhere and will continue to do what Mayor Bass has utterly failed to do – protect the citizens of Los Angeles. If she wants distance from federal law enforcement, I'm sure there is an upcoming diplomatic trip to Ghana," Emily Covington, assistant director, ICE Office of Public Affairs, said in a statement to Fox News.
The comment hearkened back to the mayor’s controversial visit to the African country earlier this year, which she visited to attend the country’s presidential inauguration.
She returned from the trip as fires were ripping through the city of Los Angeles, which destroyed significant portions of the beach-side community of Pacific Palisades.
The National Weather Service warned about the fire risk before she left on the trip, and the Los Angeles Times reported that her staff were aware that fires were possible. Bass later expressed regret over the trip, saying it was a mistake to travel at the time.
"Absolutely it is, and I think that I have to demonstrate that every day by showing what we're doing, what is working, what are the challenges," Bass said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles in February.
Quote:Multiple people were arrested in Los Angeles on Friday as anti-ICE demonstrators clashed with law enforcement and the U.S. military after weeks of protests against deportations and ICE raids, police said.
Los Angeles police said there were "multiple arrests today during several different demonstrations" downtown.
"Most were peaceful, but once again, as the evening approached, outside agitators began to cause issues," the department wrote on X.
Earlier in the night, police wrote that demonstrators were "confronting Federal Protective Security Personnel and National Guard members."
"Less Lethal munitions have been deployed by Federal authorities," police wrote, adding that they may cause pain and discomfort.
In response to the anti-ICE protests that began last month, the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles, despite opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Demonstrators met up for the protest on Friday at around 9:30 a.m. outside City Hall on Spring Street and took a 1.5-mile route through downtown, according to local outlet KCAL.
Police said the group dispersed shortly after the incident commander authorized a dispersal order for the area on Friday night, according to a post at 7:17 p.m. local time.
Officers from the Department of Homeland Security had declared the protest an unlawful assembly, independent journalist Anthony Cabassa wrote on X, adding that Marines and federal agents were using riot gear while ordering the crowd to disperse.
Quote:Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Thursday night, President Donald Trump announced that the military flight team that launched the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be honored at the White House on Independence Day.
Trump said that he took issue with early media reports suggesting that the strikes on Iran only partially damaged the targets because he considered it an insult to the "great" American military members who executed the mission.
"Remember when CNN said it wasn't obliterated? It was maybe damaged or damaged badly, but obliterated is too strong a word. No, it was obliterated. That's now been proven," said Trump.
"They were trying to demean me by saying that, but they were really demeaning those great pilots and people and mechanics that got those planes over there and were able to shoot from high up in the air, going very, very fast, with potentially a lot of things being shot at them, and hit every single one," he said. "They're trying to demean me, but to me, they were demeaning them. And they got out of the plane, and they said, ‘What? We hit every single target.’ They know better than anybody."
"These people did one of the greatest military hits and maneuvers in the history of our country, and I want them to be appreciated for it," the president went on. "So, they're coming. They're coming to the White House tomorrow night."
"They're going to be in Washington tomorrow at the White House, and we're going to be celebrating."
Trump said the White House will host not only the pilots, but the entire flight crew, including "the people that flew the other planes" and "the mechanics that had these planes going for 37 hours without a stop."
"China, Russia, they were all watching. Everybody was watching," he said. "We have the greatest equipment anywhere in the world. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world, and we have the strongest military anywhere in the world."
Quote:The Trump administration is taking a "zero tolerance" approach to attacks on law enforcement after a Texas police officer was shot outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.
The message came after similar incidents in other cities amid backlash against President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agency.
An Alvarado, Texas, police officer was shot Friday night near the Prairieland Detention Facility, authorities said.
"We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the [US Attorney offices] and our law enforcement partners," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on X.
"The Department [of Justice] has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible," he added.
In Alvarado, a suburb of Fort Worth, several suspects were arrested after an officer with the Alvarado Police Department was shot at around 11 p.m. while responding to reports of a suspicious person, FOX Dallas reported.
When the officer tried making contact with the person, shots were fired and the officer was struck in the neck.
The officer was flown to a Fort Worth hospital for treatment and was later released.
Several armed suspects fled but were arrested with the help of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and other authorities, the news station reported.
Quote:FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino fired back at The New York Times Saturday for writing a "poorly thought-out hit piece" that criticized changes to the federal law enforcement agency under the Trump administration.
The Times' opinion piece, published earlier that day and titled "Trump’s Politicized FBI Has Made Americans Less Safe," accused President Donald Trump of redesigning the FBI to serve his own political goals, including through hiring loyalists, attempting to prevent investigations into his allies and by intimidating his political opponents.
"Mr. Trump’s playbook for the FBI is plain to see," The New York Times’ Editorial Board wrote. "He is turning it into an enforcement agency for MAGA’s priorities. Among his many efforts to weaken American democracy and amass more power for himself, his politicization of the F.B.I. is one of the most blatant.
"Mr. Trump’s politicization of the FBI has left it less able to combat terrorism, foreign espionage, biosecurity threats, organized crime, online scams, white-collar crime, drug trafficking and more."
Bongino took to X to counter the news organization's claims with statistics he says demonstrate the FBI's heightened focus on violent crime and illegal immigration "is working."
FBI initiatives like "Summer Heat," which serves to remove criminals from the streets, have resulted in the murder rate trending to be its lowest in U.S. history. Around 14,000 violent criminals have been arrested — up 62% from the same time last year — in addition to more than 800 violent child predators and 140 human traffickers. FBI agents also locked up over 50 foreign intelligence operatives for spying and smuggling harmful substances into the U.S., Bongino said in the post.
"We locked up one of the most dangerous gang leaders in the county, and we dismantled gang operations in nearly every corner of the country, including the largest TDA gang takedown ever," Bongino wrote. "We locked up 3 of the "Top-Ten" most wanted FBI targets, and we’re closing in on another."
Over the last few months, the FBI has also seized 22% more illicit drugs than in the same period last year, including more than 97,000 pounds of cocaine, over 7,000 pounds of meth and more than 2,500 pounds of fentanyl, he wrote.
Quote:Eight criminal illegal aliens were deported to South Sudan on Independence Day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Saturday, after what it called "weeks of delays by activist judges" that left ICE officers stranded and at risk.
"These sickos were finally deported to South Sudan on Independence Day," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
"After weeks of delays by activist judges that put our law enforcement in danger, ICE deported these eight barbaric criminal illegal aliens who are so heinous even their own countries will not accept them."
The deportation effort had been blocked by a series of lower court rulings, which the Supreme Court overturned July 3, granting the Trump administration’s motion to enforce its third-country removal policy. The eight men had been held in Djibouti as legal challenges played out.
According to DHS, the eight men had extensive and violent criminal histories.
Enrique Arias-Hierro, a Cuban national, was convicted of homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer. Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, also from Cuba, was convicted of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon, battery, larceny and drug trafficking.
Thongxay Nilakout, a Laotian national, was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life in prison.
Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, from Mexico, was convicted of second-degree murder and also sentenced to life confinement.
Dian Peter Domach, a South Sudanese national, had convictions for robbery, multiple gun offenses and driving under the influence.
Kyaw Mya of Burma was convicted of lascivious acts with a child under the age of 12 and served part of a 10-year sentence.
Nyo Myint, also from Burma, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault involving a mentally and physically incapacitated victim and faced additional charges of aggravated assault.
Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese national, was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault and sentenced to 22 years.
Quote:Officials on Saturday confirmed at least 43 people are dead and more than 27 young girls remain missing after a devastating flood swept through Kerr County, Texas.
Five young girls who were staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls private Christian retreat in Hunt, Texas, have been confirmed dead.
Anne Hunt confirmed to Fox News Digital that her daughter, Janie, was one of the campers killed in the flood. A Voice for the Voiceless, a nonprofit that advocates for "the missing, voiceless and crime victims," identified Renee Smajstrla as another deceased camper.
Family members identified best friends Lila Bonner and Eloise Peck as the most recent cabinmates found dead, according to a report from FOX 4 Dallas. They had both recently finished second grade at Bradfield Elementary.
A fifth camper has been confirmed to be deceased. However, her family asked that her name not be released.
Of the 43 people killed in Kerr County, officials said at least 28 were adults and 15 were children.
Five of the adults remain unidentified, and three of the children remain unidentified, authorities said.
As of Saturday, Kerr County officials confirmed 27 campers remain missing. There were 750 attendees at the camp when the flood hit.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said "nobody saw this coming," and it broke his heart seeing "many of the body bags" at local funeral homes.
One of the deaths has been confirmed as Heart O' the Hills camp director and co-owner Jane Ragsdale.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, shared photos Saturday of the damage to Heart O' the Hills, taken during a helicopter tour following the flood.
Buildings and trees appeared to be either completely washed away, or reduced to rubble.
Quote:US job growth outpaced expectations in June, signaling continued strength in the labor market and diminishing the likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the US economy added 147,000 jobs in June, beating the 110,000 gain forecast by economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, down from 4.2% in May.
According to the Labor Department’s report, health care remained a strong contributor to job growth, consistent with its historic resilience across economic cycles.
State and local governments also boosted hiring, helping offset a decline of 7,000 jobs in federal government employment. In total, government employment rose by 73,000 jobs.
Revisions to prior months also showed stronger hiring than previously reported. April and May job gains were revised upward by a combined 16,000 jobs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted Thursday’s strong jobs numbers, writing on X: “For the FOURTH month in a row, jobs numbers have beat market expectations with nearly 150,000 good jobs created in June.”
“American-born workers have accounted for ALL of the job gains since President Trump took office and wages continue to rise. The economy is BOOMING again and it will only get better when the One, Big Beautiful Bill is passed and implemented!”
The administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants has helped reverse the trend under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, that had seen foreign-born workers contribute roughly as much or more to overall employment and labor force growth than those born in the US.
Since February — the first full month of Trump’s second term — through June, employment among those born here rose by 2.1 million, while employment among foreign-born workers dropped by more than half a million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s the largest February-through-June slide in foreign-born employment since at least the first year of Democrat Barack Obama’s presidency.
Quote:The ringleader of a $30 million scam network that preyed on seniors across a staggering 46 states has finally been arrested and now faces decades in prison for the alleged fraud.
Gareth West of Canada was taken in custody Friday for the scamming ring, in which callers phoned the older Americans, pretending they were their grandchildren who had been arrested or hurt and were desperate for cash, according to the Economic Times.
The worried elders were pressured to act fast and not tell other family members about the dire situation.
The scammers would then connect the victims to phony lawyers or bail agents and facilitate getting the money, even using ride-share services or couriers, the outlet reported.
West, who was taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the request of US officials, hired dozens of people to help him with the intricate scam, with operated from call centers in the Montreal area and spoofed American phone numbers.
Under the guise of being a successful Montreal real estate developer, West allegedly used the money he racked up from the scams for his high-end lifestyle that included luxury cars, properties and travel.
In all, 23 people who were part of the scam had been arrested in the months before the RCMP, working with US Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS and provincial police, were able to nab West, authorities said.
He faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and can face up to 40 years in federal prison.
CANADA
Quote:Air cargo shipment volume from Asia has declined by double digits since the US cancelled a tax-free exemption for low-value packages from China early in May, trade groups and analysts said.
Air cargo demand from Asia to North America declined 10.7% in May versus the same month a year earlier, showed data from the International Air Transport Association, illustrating “the dampening effect of shifting US trade policies,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh said in a report published on Monday.
Shipments valued under $800 – often sent by air to US customers of low-cost e-commerce platforms such as Shein and PDD’s Temu – fall under the so-called de minimis, or too-small-to-matter, tax exemption.
Since May 2, however, such shipments sent from China and Hong Kong have been taxed at a rate initially as high as 145% before settling to as low as 30% after a mid-May trade detente between the US and China.
The pair continue to negotiate on trade, with the US relaxing export restrictions on software, ethane and aerospace to China this week, ahead of July 9 when the US plans to re-impose a range of steep tariffs targeting multiple countries.
The volume of low-value e-commerce shipments from China to the United States in May saw a particularly steep decline, industry experts said.
Such shipments fell 43% in May from the previous month, showed estimates from air cargo consultancy Aevean, but rose to other main export markets including Europe and South-East Asia.
It is not clear whether such dramatic declines will continue, said Aevean Managing Director Marco Bloemen, given businesses had anticipated the de minimis halt and because the tariff rate was lowered mid-month.
LATIN AMERICA
Quote:Authorities in northern Mexico uncovered more than 300 corpses abandoned on the floor of a private crematorium Sunday, citing sheer neglect as the primary cause of the gruesome find.
“Preliminarily we have 381 bodies that were deposited irregularly in the crematorium, which were not cremated,” Eloy Garcia, communications coordinator of the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office, told AFP.
Garcia said that the corpses were “stacked” on top of one another at random through various rooms with no clear system or order in the building housing the crematorium in Ciudad Juarez, which is just over 10 miles south of El Paso, Texas.
He added that the bodies were largely “just thrown like that, indiscriminately, one on top of the other, on the floor.”
To make matters stranger, all of the bodies were embalmed like they would typically be for a funeral or long-distance transport. Authorities estimated some had been lying there for up to two years.
Questioning kin of the deceased were given “other material” in lieu of ashes, Garcia said. It is unclear what exactly those items were.
Authorities didn’t specify if the corpses in repose belonged to any victims of criminal violence.
Garcia surmised that the “carelessness and irresponsibility” of the crematorium’s owners came down to an underestimation of their “daily cremation capacity.”
Quote:A protest by hundreds against gentrification and mass tourism that began peacefully Friday in Mexico City neighborhoods popular with tourists turned violent when a small number of people began smashing storefronts and harassing foreigners.
Masked protesters smashed through the windows and looted high-end businesses in the touristic areas of Condesa and Roma, and screamed at tourists in the area. Graffiti on glass shattered glass being smashed through with rocks read: “get out of Mexico.” Protesters held signs reading “gringos, stop stealing our home” and demanding local legislation to better regulate tourism levels and stricter housing laws.
Marchers then continued on to protest outside the U.S. Embassy and chanted inside the city’s metro system. Police reinforcements gathered outside the Embassy building as police sirens rung out in the city center Friday evening.
It marked a violent end to a more peaceful march throughout the day calling out against masses of mostly American tourists who have flooded into Mexico’s capital in recent years.
Tension had been mounting in the city since U.S. “digital nomads” flocked to Mexico City in 2020, many to escape coronavirus lockdowns in the U.S. or to take advantage of cheaper rent prices in the Latin American city.
Since then, rents have soared and locals have increasingly gotten pushed out of their neighborhoods, particularly areas like Condesa and Roma, lush areas packed with coffee shops and restaurants.
Michelle Castro, a 19-year-old college student, was among the flocks of people protesting. She said that she’s from the city’s working class city center, and that she’s watched slowly as apartment buildings have been turned into housing for tourists.
“Mexico City is going through a transformation,” she said. “There are a lot of foreigners, namely Americans, coming to live here. Many say it’s xenophobia, but it’s not. It’s just that so many foreigners come here, rents are skyrocketing because of Airbnb. Rents are so high that some people can’t even pay anymore.”
The Mexico City protest follows others in European cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Rome against mass tourism.
Quote:Haiti’s criminal gangs have exerted “near-total control” over the capital, as escalating violence pushes the Caribbean nation “closer to the brink,” senior U.N. officials warned Wednesday.
Gangs control an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince, Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told the U.N. Security Council. Waly noted that gangs are expanding into previously peaceful areas.
“Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence, has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents,” she said. “And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported.”
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca informed the council that “the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince” and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond is “pushing the situation closer to the brink.”
“Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario,” he warned.
Gangs have gained power since President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021, previously controlling 85% of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.
A new U.N. report covering last October through February highlights that gangs have exploited political turmoil and Haiti’s disorganized security response, saying competing political ambitions and corruption allegations within transitional governing bodies have hindered action.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for US military support Friday after speaking on the phone with President Trump following one of the heaviest Russian drone attacks on Kyiv.
Zelensky, who was thrown out of the White House in February for allegedly being ungrateful during a meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, lost access to new shipments of some American-made defensive weapons Tuesday, with the Pentagon saying its stocks were running too low.
“I had a very important and fruitful conversation with [Trump],” Zelensky posted on X, expressly offering his thanks for about $185 billion in US taxpayer resources to fend off Russia’s more than three-year-old invasion.
“We — in Ukraine — are grateful for all the support provided. It helps us protect lives, safeguard our freedom and independence. We have achieved a lot together with America and we support all efforts to stop the killings and restore just, lasting, and dignified peace.”
Zelensky went on: “A noble agreement for peace is needed. Today we discussed the current situation, including Russian airstrikes and the broader frontline developments. President Trump is very well informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine.”
The 47-year-old went on that the discussion included “opportunities in air defense and [we] agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies” and “had a detailed conversation about defense industry capabilities and joint production.”
Quote:Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles on Friday in the largest aerial attack of the three-year war — just hours after President Trump admitted he was “disappointed” with his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A total of 539 drones and 11 missiles were fired at Kyiv over the seven-hour onslaught — killing at least one and injuring 26 others, including a child, Ukrainian officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke with Trump later Friday about boosting Ukraine’s air defenses amid Russia’s escalating attacks, ripped the latest barrage as “deliberately massive and cynical.”
“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Zelensky said on X.
“Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror,” he added, as he called for increased pressure on Russia to change its “dumb, destructive behavior.”
During the onslaught, blasts lit up the sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed. Footage on social media showed locals running for shelter, including in underground metro stations, as the detonations rang out.
The attack damaged roughly 40 apartment blocks, passenger railway infrastructure, five schools and kindergartens, cafes and cars in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts, officials said.
“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha added. “One of the worst so far.”
The latest strikes unfolded just hours before Zelensky said he’d had a “very important and productive” call with Trump during which they agreed to work on increasing Kyiv’s capability to “defend the sky” as Russian attacks escalate.
Quote:Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
“The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons,” he told Reuters.
“This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia’s use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread.”
Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency confirmed the findings, saying in a statement that it had obtained the evidence alongside its Dutch counterparts. Reuters was first to report on the intelligence.
The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed “our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations.”
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the use of banned chemical substances by either side in the Ukraine war.
The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One, in May last year.
Quote:Ukraine inflicted significant damage on a Russian airbase Saturday, amid Moscow’s continued drone attacks on Kyiv, which killed at least one person overnight — part of a prolific Russian assault that has seemed to dash any hopes of a truce in the war.
Ukrainian forces struck the Borisoglebsk airbase in Russia’s Voronezh region near the Ukrainian border, hitting a depot containing glide bombs, a training aircraft and “possibly other aircraft,” the military said.
The calculated strike targeted fighter jets Russia regularly uses in its air strikes, in an effort to put a dent in the Kremlin’s military capabilities, according to Ukrainian officials.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry said it reported no casualties and claimed no damage.
Last month, Kyiv destroyed more than 40 Russian planes stationed at several of the Kremlin’s airfields in a surprise drone attack.
Meanwhile, Moscow fired 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force posted on Telegram.
Most of the attacks were aimed at the city of Starokostiantyniv, an important military hub in western Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region. The army said it was able to neutralize 292 of the incoming Russian drones.
But some also struck cities in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where firefighters were seen battling enormous blazes.
A 55-year-old woman was killed, and 15 other civilians were injured, including two children, according to Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
Syniehubov said Russia used Iranian-made Shahed — so-called “kamikaze” drones — in the attack, a powerful autonomous weapon designed to attack ground targets from a distance, before being destroyed.
Ukrainian officials have warned of ramped up production of the Iranian weapon in recent days.
Quote:Kyiv struck a landmark deal with Denmark Friday that paves the way for Ukrainian companies to jointly produce weapons on Danish soil.
It marks the first time Kyiv will open military production facilities overseas as it looks to fend off escalating Russian aggression in its war with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.
Denmark is investing $5 million in the venture, aimed at supporting Ukrainian defense startups, Strategic Industries Minister Herman Smetanin wrote on Facebook following the signing ceremony in Copenhagen.
Increasing its weapons manufacturer in allied countries helps Ukraine strengthen its defense capabilities and build stronger supply chains, after having relied heavily on foreign military aid in its more than-three-year war with Moscow.
The historic deal also comes after the US halted weapon shipments to Ukraine on Tuesday over concerns with its own dwindling stockpile.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal “important decision.”
“Our first agreement on weapons production for Ukraine in Europe. Coproduction between Ukraine and Denmark. This is paramount both in terms of security and investment,” he wrote on X.
The deal comes amid renewed Russian aerial offensives aimed at capturing more Ukrainian land, leaving Kyiv’s short-handed defenses under severe strain — Moscow’s missiles and drones battered Ukrainian cities this week.
The Denmark deal is part of a broader focus by Kyiv to internationalize its arms production.
Zelensky reached another major deal earlier this week that pairs Ukraine with a private US drone company, just as the Pentagon halted weapon shipments to Ukraine on Tuesday over concerns with its own dwindling stockpile.
Quote:North Korea is set to ship off 30,000 more troops to help Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tripling the number of soldiers it has given Moscow, Kyiv’s intelligence network warned.
After sending nearly 12,000 soldiers to help Russia regain the Kursk region earlier this year, Pyongyang is planning to bolster its presence along the frontlines in the coming months to enable “large-scale offensive operations,” CNN reported.
The Russian Ministry of Defense allegedly touted that it is fully capable of providing training and the “needed equipment, weapons and ammunition” to get the Pyongyang soldiers to the frontlines as quickly as possible, according to Ukraine’s assessment.
The warning coincides with the arrival of a large ship and cargo aircraft at North Korea’s Sunan airport, both of which are linked to last year’s deployment of troops to Russia, according to CNN.
The assessment and report mirrors South Korea’s warning last week that Pyongyang was primed to deploy additional troops and weapons to Russia in July or August.
Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Russia was prepping for a large-scale assault against Ukraine within the next two months, with Moscow set to use thousands of North Korean fighters to make it possible.
It matches warnings for independent analysts and experts who have warned that summer would mark a new push for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after months of stagnation.
The assault may come near the Sumy region, where Ukraine’s counter-invasion headquarters were based during the takeover of Kursk last summer.
Ukraine’s top military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi revealed last week that Moscow was amassing about 50,000 troops along the border with Sumy, where Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to establish a security buffer zone.
Quote:Beijing cannot afford to see Russia lose the Ukraine war, because it needs America focused on Moscow and Kyiv — and away from the Pacific, China’s top diplomat told his EU counterpart, according to a new report.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi allegedly shocked European officials at a Brussels meeting Wednesday when he dropped all pretenses and said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a blessing for China, sources told the South China Morning Post.
Wang touted the three-year war for keeping the US focused on Ukraine, claiming that if the war were to end, Washington would start putting its full attention in the Pacific and could enter into conflict with China.
The admission from one of Beijing’s top officials, which was not included in either nation’s summary of the meeting, came after the EU accused China of assisting in Russia’s war effort.
The South China Morning Post — Hong Kong’s daily newspaper, which is owned by the Alibaba Group — reported the comments.
Kaja Kallas, EU’s high representative for foreign policy, called on China “to immediately cease all material support that sustains Russia’s military industrial complex” and support peace in the Ukraine, according to a statement released by the bloc.
The official also “highlighted the serious threat Chinese companies’ support for Russia’s illegal war poses to European security.”
Beijing maintains that it has not provided any military support to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, but EU officials claim Chinese companies have given Moscow many of the necessary components needed to build the drones and weapons used in the war.
China was one of the nations that failed to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with President Xi Jinping standing as an ally of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
While Xi has never publicly called for Beijing to support Russia’s war effort, the Chinese leader has previously said their partnership has “no limits” and blamed the invasion on western aggression.
Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels also saw the EU demand that China end restrictions on rare earth mineral exports, which Europe warned could endanger the global supply chain.
EUROPE
Quote:Archaeologists recently found an artifact-filled Viking-era burial site in Denmark — revealing treasures that once belonged to an elite family.
The discovery was announced by Moesgaard Museum (MOMU), a regional Danish museum, in a June statement.
The graveyard was found in the village of Lisbjerg, located north of the major Danish city of Aarhus.
Archaeologists found 30 graves containing a vast number of burial gifts, including beads and coins.
Ceramics were also found at the site, along with gold thread, scissors and “an unusual casket with beads,” officials said.
The site also retained the bones and teeth of the deceased.
In a statement translated from Danish to English, officials noted the graves “contain a number of spectacular items that may indicate connections to the Danish royal power.”
They added, “Aarhus was one of Denmark’s most important and oldest cities during the Viking era, serving as a center for the king and international trade … Aros and Lisbjerg were closely connected by the old main road, which ran from the Viking city to the manor.”
One discovery of particular interest was a silver-plated oak casket that likely belonged to a high-status woman.
The grave contained a brooch, needle and a filigree bead, made by twisting fine threads of metal into ornate designs.
Mads Ravn, head of local cultural heritage at MOMU, said the grave site is “very likely” connected to a Viking-era manor less than a mile away.
He noted, “The items we have found in the graves tell us that those buried were people of high status – it could be the very family from the manor that is buried here.”
Kasper H. Andersen, a historian at MOMU, said the recent finds are “part of a series of previous remarkable discoveries in the Aarhus area.”
He added, “Together, they paint a picture of an aristocratic environment linked to royal power, which was part of the Vikings’ extensive and dynamic world.”
The Viking Age lasted from roughly 800 AD to 1050 AD.
Quote:Archaeologists recently unearthed a hoard of early medieval treasures on the banks of an inlet in northern Germany, all thanks to a metal detectorist.
The State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH) announced the discovery in a press release in late May.
The hoard, dating back roughly 1,000 years, was found on the shores of the Schlei, an inlet in the Baltic Sea. Officials said that the area is near “the once-significant Viking-era trading post of Haithabu.”
The hoard was originally flagged by a metal detectorist named Arjen Spiesswinkel, who reported his finds to the ALSH.
“A targeted follow-up search with additional detectorists helped narrow down the location of the find,” the ALSH said in a statement.
“Subsequently, a systematic excavation by the ALSH, together with volunteer helpers, recovered the objects.”
Pictures show focused volunteers digging through the soil in search of the treasure hoard, which consisted of over 200 artifacts.
“In this case, the hoard includes around 200 objects, mostly made of silver, hacksilver, fragments of Arabic coins (dirhams), bar pieces and jewelry,” the statement noted.
Officials added, “Particularly noteworthy is a delicate cross pendant – an early testament to the beginning of Christianization in the region.”
“Particularly noteworthy is a delicate cross pendant – an early testament to the beginning of Christianization in the region.”
The ALSH also noted that hoard finds typically consist of “buried or submerged objects that were either hidden to protect them from others or laid down as offerings.”
A ceramic shard and a whetstone were also found at the site, which officials believe may be “possible indications of a previously unknown settlement.”
“The finds offer fascinating insights into the history of the 10th century, a time of trade, cultural exchange, and religious transformation,” the statement concluded.
The Viking Age lasted from roughly 800 A.D. to 1050 A.D., meaning that the hoard dates back to the later part of the era.
The discovery comes as many recent Viking-related finds have been uncovered across Europe.
In Sweden, officials recently announced the discovery of a Viking grave with “Christian overtones” on the outskirts of Linköping.
Quote:Prince Harald von Hohenzollern has died suddenly at the age of 63 — just days before his wife was due to give birth to their first child.
The German aristocrat died from cardiac arrest in Windhoek, Namibia, where he had been on a work trip to the diamond industry.
Herald’s wife, Princess Josefa von Hohenzollern — who is currently running for re-election as mayor of Leonberg in Baden-Württemberg — announced the sad news on social media.
“Dear fellow citizens of Leonberg, today I am writing with a heavy heart,” Josefa, 51, wrote on Instagram.
“My beloved husband Harald V. Hohenzollern died quite unexpectedly of a sudden cardiac death. This loss hits me very deep.”
“I need time to grieve, say goodbye and be there for our unborn child. That’s why I will be stepping back from campaigning and social media in the coming days,” she went on.
The pair had tied the knot in September 2024. Their first child is due to be born in the coming days.
Quote:About 40% of flights were canceled Friday at all Paris airports, and tens of thousands of passengers were rearranging plans at the height of the summer travel season because of a strike by French air traffic controllers seeking better working conditions.
Disruptions started hitting airports around France on Thursday and intensified on Friday.
The national civil aviation authority asked airlines to cancel 40% of flights on Friday at Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais airports serving Paris, half of flights in Nice, and 30% of flights in Marseille, Lyon, and some other cities.
Despite the preventive cancellations, the authority warned in a statement that ″disruptions and long delays are to be expected at all French airports.”
Ryanair was among the airlines that announced widespread disruptions, saying in a statement it canceled more than 400 flights affecting 70,000 passengers.
The company said the strike affects all its flights over French airspace, as well as traffic in and out of French airports, and urged the European Union to reform air traffic rules.
One of the two unions leading the strike, UNSA-ICNA, said in a statement that there are not enough employees to handle surging air travel and that inflation is eating away at salaries.
The unions are also protesting new reform measures aiming to more tightly monitor their work, prompted by a near-collision at the Bordeaux airport.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called the union demands — and their decision to strike just as French schools close for the summer and many families head on vacation — ″unacceptable.″
MIDDLE EAST
Quote:President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to discuss the state of Iran’s nuclear program when the Israeli prime minister visits the White House Monday.
Iran is continuing its uranium enrichment program, one of Tehran’s top officials said this week, despite US airstrikes having devastated the country’s nuclear facilities and assassinted at least a dozen of its leading nuclear scientists, one of Tehran’s top officials said.
“Our policy has not changed on enrichment,” Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview with NBC on Thursday.
Takht-Ravanchi said Iran is still open to diplomacy, but needs assurances the US would not conduct military strikes while talks are ongoing.
In an act of defiance, Tehran has officially suspended its decades-long collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The UN nuclear watchdog said Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from the Islamic Republic.
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently — although he admitted Iran could restart it at a different location.
“I would say it’s set back permanently,” Trump said, adding that Iranian officials did want to meet with him. “I would think they’d have to start at a different location.
“And if they did start, it would be a problem.”
The Pentagon meanwhile said Iran’s nuclear program has been set back “closer to two years.”
Israel launched its military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites three weeks ago. A fragile cease-fire stands between the two countries following the 12-day war.
Israel also decimated Iran with its own military strikes on June 13, and a fragile US-brokered cease-fire remains intact between the two countries following the 12-day war.
Quote:Hamas accepted the framework of a hostage-release cease-fire proposal that would include negotiations with Israel bolstered by US involvement to reach a permanent end to the war, according to reports.
The 60-day cease-fire proposal, crafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and officials from Egypt and Qatar, includes the exchange of 30 deceased and 10 living hostages for a higher number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, officials familiar with the plan told The Wall Street Journal.
It also includes a timeline for the releases, with eight living hostages promised on the first day and two more on Day 50 — and the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza.
If signed by the warring sides, it’s expected that President Trump would announce the deal, according to the report.
A Palestinian official had signaled Friday that Hamas’ response to the proposal was expected to be positive, according to the Associated Press.
And a copy of the proposal seen by the Journal shows its nearly identical to the same cease-fire deal proposed months ago.
Humanitarian aid will also flow more quickly into the war-torn areas of Gaza under its terms.
The development came as Gaza continues to face deadly starvation and outright famine on top of frequent Israeli airstrikes.
The UN’s human rights office has recorded hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the past month who were trying to obtain aid.
Negotiations were largely stagnant for months as Israel refused to commit to a firm end to the war and continued to push further into the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it currently controls 65% of Gaza, as fighting intensified and senior Hamas commander Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Quote:Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a U.S.-backed Gaza cease-fire proposal in a “positive spirit”, a few days after U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the cease-fire proposal.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Quote:Two US aid workers were wounded in a “targeted terrorist attack” by Hamas at a food distribution site Saturday morning in southern Gaza.
The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said two terrorists ran into a crowd of civilians at an aid center in Khan Younis, and tossed Iranian-made grenades at the workers, who were “highly decorated American veterans.”
“Hamas has openly threatened GHF workers, put bounties on their heads, and murdered 12 of our Palestinian staff. Now they’ve made good on their threat to target Americans,” the relief organization claimed on X.
“For weeks, we warned this would happen. . . . Today, Hamas followed through by attacking American veterans with grenades as they delivered food.”
The workers targeted Saturday are receiving medical treatment and in stable condition, the GHF said.
No other aid workers or civilians were harmed in the terror group’s attack, the group added.
The Israeli military has also accused what it called “terrorist organizations” of sabotaging aid distribution in Gaza.
The privately run foundation, which began distributing aid in May and has the backing of the Trump administration, employs private US military contractors.
Quote:In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the regime appears to be turning inward — escalating repression with chilling speed.
According to Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, the Islamic Republic is accelerating toward what he said is a “North Korea-style model of isolation and control.”
“We’re witnessing a kind of domestic isolation that will have major consequences for the Iranian people,” Aarabi told Fox News Digital.
“The regime has always been totalitarian, but the level of suppression now is unprecedented. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
A source inside Iran confirmed to Fox News Digital that “the repression has become terrifying.”
Aarabi, who maintains direct lines of contact in Iran, described a country under siege by its own rulers.
In Tehran, he described how citizens are stopped at random, their phones confiscated and searched.
“If you have content deemed pro-Israel or mocking the regime, you disappear,” he said.
“People are now leaving their phones at home or deleting everything before they step outside.”
This new wave of paranoia and fear, he explained, mirrors tactics seen in North Korea — where citizens vanish without explanation and information is tightly controlled.
During the recent conflict, Iran’s leadership imposed a total internet blackout to isolate the population, blocking Israeli evacuation alerts, and pushed propaganda that framed Israel as targeting civilians indiscriminately.
“It was a perverse objective,” Aarabi said, adding, “They deliberately cut communications to instill fear and manipulate public perception. For four days, not a single message went through. Even Israeli evacuation alerts didn’t reach their targets.”
The regime’s aim, he said, was twofold: to keep people off the streets and erode the surprising bond that had formed between Iranians and Israelis.
“At the start of the war, many Iranians welcomed the strikes,” Aarabi noted.
Quote:Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura.
Khamenei’s absence during the war suggested the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters, had been in seclusion in a bunker — something not acknowledged by state media.
State TV in Iran showed him waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered and sat at a mosque next to his office and residence in the capital, Tehran.
There was no immediate report on any public statement made. Iranian officials such as the parliament speaker were present. Such events are always held under heavy security.
After the US inserted itself into the war by bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran, US President Donald Trump sent warnings via social media to the 86-year-old Khamenei that the US knew where he was but had no plans to kill him, “at least for now.”
On June 26, shortly after a ceasefire began, Khamenei made his first public statement in days, saying in a prerecorded statement that Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by striking a US air base in Qatar, and warning against further attacks by the US or Israel on Iran.
Trump replied, in remarks to reporters and on social media: “Look, you’re a man of great faith. A man who’s highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell.”
Iran has acknowledged the deaths of more than 900 people in the war, as well as thousands of injured.
It also has confirmed serious damage to its nuclear facilities, and has denied access to them for inspectors with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Quote:Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman secretly met with President Donald Trump and other key officials in the White House on Thursday to discuss de-escalation efforts with Iran, multiple sources confirmed with Fox News.
Khalid, also known as KBS, is the younger brother of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Multiple sources told Fox News Channel's chief political anchor Bret Baier about the meeting.
According to sources, the talks included discussions about de-escalation with Iran and getting to the negotiating table.
The talks were also reportedly about ending the war in Gaza and negotiating the release of the remaining hostages – whether dead or alive – and about working toward peace in the Middle East.
Although the talks were not exclusively about the possibility of normalization with Israel, sources said the conversation dealt with steps that needed to occur to get there.
Sources also said, "there was progress and optimism on all fronts."
The Saudis are in the process of finalizing a defense and trade deal with the U.S., and the message shared between the two allies, sources added, is that they see eye-to-eye on all issues.
The meeting comes days after Trump said other nations have suggested they would like to join the Abraham Accords amid recent Middle East shakeups that saw Israel and the U.S. inhibit Iran's nuclear ambitions during what has been dubbed the "12-Day War."
The Abraham Accords, which sought to normalize relations between Israel, Sunni Gulf States and North African countries, was signed at the White House during the first Trump administration in September 2020.
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on June 25 that expanding the accords is one of the president's "key objectives" and predicted that the administration will have some "big announcements" on countries coming into the accords soon.
INTERNATIONAL
Quote:Critics slammed the United Nations for rewarding a controversial anti-Israel Commission of Inquiry with four new positions worth up to three-quarters of a million dollars, even as the world body undergoes a severe cash crisis.
"When it comes to spending money for the spread of antisemitism, the U.N. doesn't have a spending limit," Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital.
On June 4, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (COI), led by South African Navi Pillay, announced four new job openings for senior-level positions in Geneva. These include two P-2 level associate interpreters, one higher-level P-3 level human rights officer, and a still more senior P-4 level human rights officer.
Combined, their salaries will range from $530,000 to $704,000, based on salary scales released by the U.N. and its location-based salary multiplier (set at .814 for Swiss employees), published in a document supplied to Fox News Digital by a diplomatic source.
These salaries do not include other senior-level U.N. employee benefits, including dependent costs, housing allowances or relocation fees.
Bayefsky asked why the U.N.’s "belt-tightening exercise … applies to all kinds of urgent matters but exempts the COI, which has simultaneously gone on a spending-spree."
"The COI was created to destroy the Jewish state and is now conducting itself accordingly." She said its latest report, issued in June, is "totally unhinged" and "claims Israelis are like Nazis engaged in ‘extermination’ of the Palestinians, refers to those ‘extremist Jews,’ denies biblical history, [and] fuels antisemitism by claiming Jews defile Muslim holy sites."
A spokesperson from the U.N. Human Rights Office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about the Commission’s findings.
Pillay and the COI have come under fire previously for anti-Israel sentiment. In January 2022, 42 Republicans and Democrats in Congress signed an open letter calling for the U.S. to defund the COI. The Representatives expressed concern that "Chairwoman Navi Pillay, while serving as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, repeatedly and unjustly accused Israel of committing war crimes." They stated that while she condemned Israel, Pillay "reportedly said nothing at all about egregious human rights abuses in dozens of other countries which, unlike Israel, received the worst, ‘Not Free’ rating from the respected Freedom House."
In October 2023, a representative from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva said before the Third Committee of the U.N. that the U.S. "remains deeply concerned about the scope and nature of the open-ended Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021. The COI demonstrates a particular bias against Israel in subjecting it to a unique mechanism that does not exist for any other U.N. Member State."
Quote:Bumpy landing.
An American teen is accused of going off course and landing in Antarctica without permission as he attempts to become the youngest pilot to fly to all seven continents.
Ethan Guo, a 19-year-old aviator from Memphis, was detained and charged with submitting a false flight plan before traversing towards the South Pole on June 28, the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Prosecutor’s Office.
Guo is aiming to raise $1 million for cancer research with his high-flying campaign across the globe.
Guo, the only person aboard the Cessna 182Q, took off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport in Punta Arenas, Chile, with plans to fly over the southern Chile port city but diverted course and headed to Antarctica.
“The accused provided false information to the aeronautical authority. He submitted a flight plan indicating that he was going to fly over the city of Punta Arenas,” Regional Prosecutor Cristian Crisosto Rifo said in a video to X.
“However, he continued on his way to Antarctica without any information or authorization, landing at the Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctic territory,” Rifo said.
The base is located on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands off the coast of mainland Antarctica in the Southern Ocean.
Guo’s unannounced arrival was considered a danger to the airspace around Antarctica and the Magallanes region.
The Asian-American teen was apprehended after his landing and charged by authorities at the research base.
“The accused not only violated the Aeronautical Code but also multiple national and international regulations regarding routes to Antarctica and access to the white continent,” Rifo added.
Rifo applauded the Chilean Navy for its “impeccable work” taking in the teen and protecting the Antarctic region.
Guo’s attorney Karina Ulloa claims the teen began experiencing complications while flying and ended up in Antarctica.
“While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” Ulloa told CNN, “He was conducting an exploratory flight to see if he could follow this route or not.”
The teen is being held on the Antarctic island until he is permitted to return to Chile on a commercial flight back to Punta Arenas, CNN Español reported.
Weather conditions have prohibited flights from taking off and landing on the island.
Once back in South America, Guo faces a 90-day investigation and will be forced to remain in Chile throughout the period.
Quote:El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has refuted claims made by US deportee and alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who said he was beaten and psychologically tortured while imprisoned in the Central American country.
Bukele denied Abrego Garcia’s allegations in a Thursday post on X in which he included photos and videos of the prisoner in a detention cell, where he appeared to live a vacation lifestyle in custody — seemingly contradicting the claims in his bombastic legal filing.
“Apparently, anything a criminal claims is accepted as truth by the mainstream media and the crumbling Western judiciary,” Bukele wrote.
“But the man wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight. In fact, photos show he gained weight while in detention,” the president argued in the post.
“If he’d been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture? Why would he gain weight? Why are there no bruises, or even dark circles under his eyes?”
The video shared in the post shows a montage of Abrego Garcia partaking in a number of leisure activities including chess, reading, exercising, gardening, and soccer.
Apparent security footage from inside his cell shows a small bed, a gallon jug of clean water, a fan, and a nicely sized television mounted on the wall.
At one point in the video, Abrego Garcia adoringly looks at a parakeet that has landed on his finger.
Quote:An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South’s military said Friday.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the military demarcation line and conducted a “guiding operation” before taking the person into custody Thursday night.
It said authorities plan to investigate the border crossing and did not immediately say whether they view the incident as a defection attempt.
The Joint Chiefs said it notified the U.S.-led United Nations Command about the incident and had not detected any immediate signs of unusual military activity by the North.
According to the Joint Chiefs, a South Korean military team approached the unarmed North Korean man after detecting him and, after identifying themselves as South Korean troops, guided him safely out of the mine-strewn Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.
Border tensions have flared in recent months as the two Koreas traded Cold War-style psychological warfare, with North Korea sending thousands of trash-filled balloons toward the South and South Korea blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda through loudspeakers.
Since taking office last month, South Korea’s new liberal President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rebuild trust with North Korea, halting the frontline loudspeaker broadcasts and moving to ban activists from flying balloons carrying propaganda leaflets across the border.
In April, South Korean troops fired warning shots to repel about 10 North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military demarcation line.
The South’s military said the soldiers returned to North Korean territory without incident and that the North didn’t return fire.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
