News of the World
4 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 2 hours ago by kyonides.
Edit Reason: Added Article on Iran & Qatar
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Charlie Kirk's Assassin Arrested!
Quote:President Trump announced early Friday that a suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination was turned in by his father — with the suspect identified as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah student who allegedly wrote “Hey fascist! Catch!” on a bullet.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” during a live interview at the cable giant’s Manhattan studio, saying he’d heard just minutes before his 8 a.m. interview.
“Somebody who was very close to him turned him in,” the president said, then revealing it was the suspect’s dad, Matt, who relayed it through “a minister who was involved with law enforcement.”
“I hope he’s going to be found guilty, and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did — Charlie Kirk was the finest person and he didn’t deserve this.”
Trump did not name the suspect, but he was later confirmed to be Robinson, an ID first confirmed by The Post.
“We got him,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced, with the arrest at 10 p.m. Thursday some 33 hours after father of two Kirk, 31, was gunned down at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Tyler was turned in by his dad, who confronted him after seeing photos of the killer — with the son saying he would rather kill himself then hand himself in, sources told The Post.
Discord chats with his roommate also showed him discussing a rifle hidden in a towel near where it was found soon after Kirk’s assassination.
Bullets had hateful scrawls on them, including, “If you read this, you are gay LMAO” — and “Hey fascist! Catch!” aimed at the conservative debater.
Another featured the words “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,” referencing a popular Italian anti-fascist song, Cox said.
Robinson had been admitted to Utah State University — about 200 miles from UVU, where Kirk was murdered — on a $32,000 Presidential Scholarship as a pre-engineering major, with his family filming him reading his acceptance letter.
However, he was only “a student at USU for one semester in 2021 [fall] and then took a leave of absence,” a rep said, without elaborating on why he dropped out.
He was a current student at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah, where he was a third-year student in the electrical-apprenticeship program.
Robinson has two younger brothers and his parents, Matt and Amber, have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts.
The family lives in a suburb of the city of St. George in southern Utah, about a 3 1/2 hour drive south of the Utah Valley University campus where Robinson is accused of assassinating Kirk, 31, with a single shot from an elevated position about 200 yards from the tent where he was speaking.
USA
Quote:Comcast’s top brass slammed MSNBC’s coverage of the killing of conservative activist Charlier Kirk — including “insensitive” and “inappropriate” remarks by analyst Matthew Dowd, who was fired on Thursday.
The memo, which was signed by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh and Mark Lazarus, CEO of Versant — the spinoff company that includes MSNBC — was circulated to Comcast and NBCUniversal staff on Friday.
“You may have seen that MSNBC recently ended its association with a contributor who made an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event,” the memo said.
“That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better.”
The execs added that staffers must “maintain a respectful exchange of ideas” even if they do not agree with the late Kirk’s political views.
They added that “something essential has fractured in our public discourse,” and that their company has a “responsibility to help mend it.”
Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday at an event at Utah Valley College, prompting a media frenzy and manhunt for the conservative activist’s killer.
During MSNBC’s live coverage of the shooting, anchor Katy Tur asked Dowd about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens.”
Dowd answered: “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.
“You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
The analyst’s remarks sparked outrage online and prompted MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler to issue an apology on Thursday and fire Dowd, whose comments she called “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
Comcast — and other major media companies — have been under fire for biased coverage by President Trump and his administration.
On “Fox & Friends” on Friday, Trump commented on the firing of Dowd and MSNBC’s coverage.
Quote:What a horror.
“Misery” author Stephen King has been slammed as “a horrible, evil, twisted liar” and “more monstrous” than any of his characters for attacking Charlie Kirk’s memory soon after the father of two was assassinated.
King, 77, was forced to delete his post and apologize — repeatedly — after sparking fury with his response to a heartfelt tribute to the murdered ally of President Trump.
“He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin’,” the famous horror author wrote in response to Fox News’ Jesse Watters labeling Kirk “not a controversial or polarizing figure” but “a PATRIOT.”
King’s reply sparked revulsion, with many pointing out that Kirk repeatedly said gay people should be welcome in the conservative movement.
“You are a horrible, evil, twisted liar. No, he did not,” US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on X in response to the post, branding King “dishonest and full of hate.”
Kirk’s close friend Dave Rubin told King he was “more monstrous than any of the characters you ever came up with.”
“Charlie was never anything but kind to me and my husband,” Rubin wrote. “We broke bread many times, and he never treated us with anything other than respect. He even came to our house not too long ago and plot twist, didn’t throw rocks at us. Write about that sometime, you hack.”
Many shared a call for Kirk’s family to “sue Stephen King for defamation over this heinously false accusation” — saying “he’s crossed a line” — while Laura Ingraham called King “a sad, bitter man.”
Quote:The mystery bearded man who appeared to be celebrating in the crowd moments after Charlie Kirk was shot claimed he wasn’t cheering the horrifying violence, but shouting “USA” to create a “distraction” that might help “save lives.”
A man going by David on X, who claims to be the person seen in the viral video filmed at the Utah Valley University event, posted a two-minute statement in which he attempts to explain himself.
“When I heard a sharp crack at first I thought it might have been fireworks or a disruptive prank,” the man says, appearing to be wearing the same tan-colored backwards cap as the man apparently celebrating in the video.
“I looked up to the horizon for smoke. When none appeared, I realized it must have been a firearm,” he said in a monotone voice, his eyes seeming to dart back and forth as if reading the statement as he stumbled over some of the words.
He said based on a friend’s reaction he “believed Charlie had been gravely injured,” and “instinctively checked the security team’s movement” before rising to his feet.
“I stood and shouted ‘USA,’ not as a provocation, but to project strength, encourage others, and create a distraction that might help calm panic or even save lives.”
He claims he was only minimally familiar with Kirk‘s content, but said he “would never wish to celebrate harm to anyone.”
A short time later, he posted a rambling follow-up video, calling himself “the happiest person you ever met in your entire life” and claiming to be sick of “my soldiers, including Charlie, dying so you guys can mock each other,” he said staring straight into the camera. “Mock, mock, mock.”
Quote:President Trump announced Friday that Memphis would be the next city to get a federal policing surge — and the second following Washington, DC — after a successful FBI task force collared more than 500 violent criminals earlier this year.
Tennessee’s second-largest metropolis, with a population of around 611,000 people, recorded 297 murders last year and has the nation’s highest violent crime rate among cities with at least 250,000 inhabitants.
According to FBI data, Memphis authorities tracked 2,501 violent crimes for every 100,000 residents in 2024.
“We’re going to Memphis. [It is] deeply troubled and the mayor is happy. The Democrat mayor [Paul Young] is happy. And the [Republican] Governor [Bill Lee] is happy,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.”
“Deeply troubled — we’re going to fix that, just like we did Washington. I would have preferred going to Chicago.”
At a news conference later Friday, Young insisted that while his city was high on too many “bad lists,” “I did not ask for the National Guard and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime.”
The mayor added that any federal presence should examine the “root source of violent crime,” claiming a need for mental health services, jobs and housing help.
“I’m grateful for the President’s unwavering support and commitment to providing every resource necessary to serve Memphians,” Lee said in a statement. “Memphis remains on a path to greatness, and we are not going to let anything hold them back.”
Trump said the move was pitched to him by a friend who is a railroad executive and on the board of Memphis-based shipping giant FedEx.
“He said, ‘When I walk one block to my hotel, they won’t allow me to do it. They put me in an armored vehicle with bulletproof glass to take me one block.’ He said, ‘It’s so terrible.’”
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) told The Post Friday that the federal surge was the culmination of talks with Memphis business leaders — but also with Young, Lee, FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi dating back to November 2024.
On July 21, the FBI launched Operation Viper to curb violent crime in Memphis with the help of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Lee also deployed 150 state troopers to the city and made $200 million in funding available.
Quote:The man accused in the politically motivated assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband insisted to The Post this week the murders had nothing to do with President Trump or abortion — but stopped short of saying what allegedly drove him to kill.
“You are fishing and I can’t talk about my case…I’ll say it didn’t involve either the Trump stuff or pro life,” Vance Boelter wrote this week from a cell inside Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, about 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
“I am pro-life personaly [sic] but it wasn’t those,” he said, using the jail’s internal messaging system. “I will just say there is a lot of information that will come out in future that people will look at and judge for themselves that goes back 24 months before the 14th. If the gov ever let’s [sic] it get out.”
The Post’s communication with Boelter, 57, included messages and two separate, 20-minute video visits Friday — and were his first public comments, outside of brief court hearings, since his arrest for the murders of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their Brooklyn Park home around 3:30 a.m. on June 14.
He’s also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their Champlin home during the sick spree.
Boelter harped on a handwritten, one-and-a-half page letter left in an abandoned SUV at the crime scene that was addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, saying critical elements were kept from the public.
“Can I ask what you heard as an outside person about the note that the alleged person — I’ll say alleged person — left in that car, did you hear anything about that?” demanded Boelter, who was wearing a yellow, jail-issued jumpsuit, and spoke with a thick Minnesotan accent.
In the letter, which has not been released publicly, Boelter reportedly claimed he had been secretly trained by the US Military and was asked by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to perform the killings, so that the 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate could run for Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s seat.
“Certain details of that letter were leaked out that probably painted one kind of a picture, but a lot more important details that were in that letter were not leaked out,” Boelter said during the second televisit Friday, refusing to elaborate, only saying the details pertained to “things that were going on in Minnesota.”
Quote:The maniac who allegedly slaughtered an elderly Queens couple inside their own home coldly admitted to the horrifying crime, while also bizarrely claiming he molested them.
“I’ll admit it. I killed them,” repeat criminal Jamel McGriff told police after his Wednesday arrest, according to prosecutors.
“I don’t give a f–k. I killed them. I burnt the n—as. I molested them,” he said.
McGriff’s chilling admission was captured on bodycam footage when he was finally busted — two days after he allegedly tortured Frank and Maureen Olton inside their Bellerose home and went on a shopping spree on their dime.
Wearing a white painter’s outfit, McGriff, 42, blithely stared ahead as prosecutors recounted the “horrifying and shocking” details of the sickening crime to a packed Queens courtroom Thursday night.
Among the tragic new revelations were that 77-year-old Maureen Olton was still alive when McGriff allegedly set fire to the couple’s home on Monday.
Neighbors told The Post that the older woman was bound to her wheelchair.
Her body was “unrecognizable” from the burns, Assistant District Attorney John Esposito told the court, adding that she suffered thermal burns, a fractured larynx — a possible sign of strangulation — and “soot in her trachea.”
Frank Olton, 76, had been tied to a pole in the basement before he was stabbed several times, killing him.
Prosecutors said McGriff set fire to the slain man’s chest before igniting an inferno upstairs.
The sadistic killer — who was inside the home for about five hours — allegedly then went straight to Macy’s and bought $500 worth of clothing on the couple’s credit card, while registering a bonus points card in his own name. He also pawned off two of their cellphones for cash, Esposito said.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Former Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted to House lawmakers Friday she saw no signs of diminished mental acuity from the 46th president — but acknowledged she got guidance on what to say about his condition from top White House officials.
Over nearly six hours of testimony, Jean-Pierre claimed — incredibly — that “she did not see a change in Biden’s competency from 2009 to 2025,” according to a source familiar with the interview by the House Oversight Committee.
While the ex-White House spokesperson acknowledged Biden, now 82, was “not the same speaker he was when she met him,” Jean-Pierre couldn’t attribute a reason for the “speaking change,” the source added.
Jean-Pierre — who has since departed the Democratic Party and is writing a tell-all book about the “broken” administration she served — infamously accused The Post and other outlets in June 2024 of promoting “cheap fakes” by reporting on video footage of Biden wandering away and looking confused during events with world leaders and former President Barack Obama.
The ex-press secretary told her interrogators Friday the “cheap fakes” line was added to the binder she used at every White House briefing — but she does not know who specifically put it in there, per the person familiar with the interview.
In addition, Jean-Pierre acknowledged that talking points were given to her by “various advisers, but those relating to President Biden’s health and mental acuity were handled exclusively at the senior level,” the source went on.
A former Biden White House colleague confirmed to The Post that key aides, such as senior advisers Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon, would coordinate talking points about Biden’s health — but added that few alums of the previous administration were interested in Jean-Pierre’s testimony.
“Biden people are completely ignoring her,” this person claimed, adding that response was “not a good look for the most public-facing person from the last administration, especially when she’s hawking a book.”
“If she would like to forget being a Democrat, then we would like to forget her,” the former aide concluded.
Jean-Pierre, 51, was viewed as incompetent by many West Wing compatriots, including senior Biden aides led by Dunn who attempted unsuccessfully to coax her to leave the White House in late 2023.
A second former Biden White House aide ridiculed Jean-Pierre’s testimony, telling The Post: “I would like to ask her if she has a mind of her own — she just did what was on the paper? No critical thinking.”
The press secretary generally dispensed little information at her regular briefings, and it’s unclear what new details she might spill in her forthcoming book “Independent,” due out Oct. 21.
Jean-Pierre “would not elaborate on her book when asked about its contents,” a source close to the grilling told The Post.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Ukraine set fire to Russia’s largest oil terminal and two tankers overnight Friday in its largest drone attack against the Kremlin in months.
The port of Primorsk, which has the ability to load about one million barrels of crude oil per day, was for the first time in its war forced to suspend loadings, two industry sources and Ukraine’s military told Reuters.
There was no reported oil spillage, but two vessels were set ablaze, including one with the capacity to carry 700,000 barrels of oil.
Operations at the northwestern port were suspended in the aftermath of the overnight attack. It is not clear if they have since resumed, though the fires had been extinguished.
Oil prices surged in the aftermath of the attack — with the US West Texas Intermediate crude gaining 56 cents, or 0.9%, to $62.93 per barrel.
“Those attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have room to drag down Russian crude and refined product exports,” Security Service of Ukraine analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
It is the first time a Russian port has been forced to cease operations, despite previous drone strikes on the oil trade in recent months.
Ukraine has been increasingly targeting Russia’s crude oil production terminals and vessels in recent months in an effort to cut the Kremlin off from its main source of revenue by limiting its export abilities.
Kyiv hopes that the move will force negotiations to end the war between the two nations.
The overnight Friday attack is the First on the Primorsk port, a flagship terminal, loading about 1 million barrels per day, as well as 300,000 barrels of diesel.
Russia claims to have intercepted 221 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Meanwhile, at least two civilians were killed in Ukraine’s Sumy region when a Russian glide bomb struck a village near the border.
The Kremlin said on Friday there was a pause in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Quote:Prince Harry has made a surprising pit-stop in Kyiv, Ukraine, on his way back to the US following a fleeting four-day visit to the UK.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, flew into Poland Friday morning before boarding a train to the Ukrainian capital for a quick visit as part of his work for the Invictus Games.
The visit to Kyiv marks Harry’s first and comes just days after Russia had pounded the city with its largest air strike since the war started in February 2022.
“I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK,” the “Spare” author said Friday as he arrived in the war-torn capital.
The duke pledged to do “everything possible” to help thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and service personnel injured in the ongoing, escalating conflict.
“We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process,” he went on.
“We can continue to humanize the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitized to what has been going on.”
The Invictus Games founder is expected to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War where he will meet hundreds of veterans.
Harry — who was invited to Ukraine by Olga Rudnieva, who fronts the Superhumans Trauma Center in Lviv — will also speak with the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko.
Quote:Russia’s incursion into Poland’s airspace was a deliberate test of NATO’s defense systems and a warning to the West to end its aid for Ukraine, an expert on the conflict said.
While Moscow claims that it did not intentionally deploy drones into Poland on Wednesday, the sheer scope of the incident indicates that it was a coordinated Russian operation, said Christina Harward, an analyst for the Institute for the Study of War think tank.
“Given the number of drones that violated Polish airspace overnight, this was likely a deliberate Russian incursion,” she told The Post.
“We have seen limited drone and missile incursions into Poland and other states that neighbor Ukraine throughout the war, but nothing of this scale,” she added.
At least 19 projectiles were detected flying into Poland on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, prompting the country and its NATO allies to scramble their jets and shoot down some of the drones, officials said.
While most of the projectiles were shot down or crashed near the border with Ukraine, at least two unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, were located more than 100 miles into Poland.
The incident gave Moscow an insight into not only how Warsaw operates, but how NATO might react in the face of an immediate attack on one of its member states, Harward said.
“Russia was trying to gauge their defensive capabilities, reaction times, command structures, and interoperability,” she added.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius surmised the same thing, slamming the incident as a deliberate act meant to test the West.
Harward warned that, along with testing the West’s defenses, the incursion will also be exploited by Russia in the coming days to threaten Europe as a whole, given the EU’s stance on aiding Ukraine.
Quote:A bipartisan group of senators rolled out legislation Thursday to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over its barbarous mass abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children during its ongoing invasion.
Should the bill become law, Russia will join Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria on the list of US-designated terror states as part of a campaign to make Moscow’s economy “radioactive” on the world stage.
“This is what terrorists do. They rape, they murder, they kidnap,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) declared. “If Russia doesn’t want to be a state sponsor of terrorism under US law, return the children.”
Graham was joined by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in pitching the bill.
Russia has been accused by Ukraine and international watchdogs of kidnapping nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children from their homes and putting some of them up for adoption, with the apparent intent of raising them to be Russian.
Some of the kids reportedly have been sent to military camps and taught to wage war against the country of their birth.
Save Ukraine, a non-governmental organization, has sounded the alarm over a Russian adoption database or “catalog” of nearly 294 Ukrainian children in which users can sort them by eye color, age, number of siblings and other factors.
Ukrainian officials believe that more than 19,500 children have been abducted by the Russians.
MIDDLE EAST
Quote:An Iranian lawmaker on Thursday called for Qatar to expel U.S. forces and allow Iran's Revolutionary Guards to deploy missiles on its territory, a move aimed at countering Israel that could escalate regional tensions.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department and the Iranian and Qatari foreign ministries for comment.
Why It Matters
On Tuesday, an Israeli strike in Doha killed a Qatari security officer and several Hamas members. Iran has accused the U.S. of complicity in the attack, putting Qatar in a precarious position. The situation underscores ongoing friction in the Middle East, where a U.S. military presence, Israeli operations and Iranian influence intersect—raising the risk of broader conflict.
Tehran's statement on Thursday signals its growing willingness to push military influence deeper into the Persian Gulf.
What To Know
Iranian lawmaker Mojtaba Zarei made the remarks on X, directly addressing the ruler of Qatar, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
"I propose that the U.S. Army, accomplice of Israel, be expelled from Qatar, and that the Revolutionary Guard aerospace force deploy Fattah hypersonic missiles on your soil to defend your sovereignty," he wrote in Farsi.
Zarei added that the emir "should request support from the Revolutionary Guard aerospace force to station in Qatar." The call effectively urges Qatar to allow Iranian missile deployment on its territory as a counterbalance to the Israeli and American presence.
Iran Accuses U.S. of Complicity
Iran's armed forces said the Israeli strike could not have occurred without U.S. backing, accusing Washington of supporting "the Zionist regime's crimes."
Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, has emphasized Tehran's commitment to the Gulf, saying, "The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will never hesitate to support our Qatari brothers."
U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel acted independently, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel took "full responsibility" for the operation.
Qatar-Iran Relations
Qatar hosts the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American facility in the Middle East, which has long been a point of tension with Tehran.
In June, during the 12-day Israel-Iran war, Iran launched a missile strike on Al Udeid in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Qatar's air defense systems successfully intercepted most of the missiles, and no casualties were reported. Iran had notified Qatar in advance of the strike.
The current exchange highlights Qatar's delicate balancing act, maintaining strong U.S. ties while cultivating relations with Iran. Zarei's missile proposal signals Tehran's willingness to assert military influence in the region despite the U.S. presence.
Quote:Israel “killed any hope” of securing a cease-fire deal to free the remaining hostages being held in Gaza after it attacked Hamas’ negotiating team in Doha, Qatar’s prime minister said on Thursday.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of torpedoing months of work Doha has spent mediating the conflict in Gaza, warning that Tuesday’s attack against Hamas’ leadership threatens the lives of the remaining 20 living hostages.
“I was meeting one of the hostages’ families the morning of the attack,” al Thani told CNN in an interview late Wednesday. “They are counting on this [ceasefire] mediation. They have no other hope for that.”
“I think that what Netanyahu has done, he just killed any hope for those hostages,” he added.
Qatar, which serves as a key US ally in the Middle East, has led the cease-fire talks with Hamas, often working with Egypt to put together proposals to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home.
Qatari officials said Al Thani had met with the Hamas delegation team just a day before the attack in Doha to discuss the latest proposal from President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Israel, however, has long maintained that Qatar cannot serve as mediators to the conflict given that Hamas’ leadership is based inside the country, accusing Doha of keeping the terror group safe and financing their activities.
While Trump has called Netanyahu and Al Thani to de-escalate the conflict, promising that such an attack will never happen again, the Israeli prime minister doubled down on his threats to Qatar on Thursday.
“I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice,” Netanyahu said. “Because if you don’t, we will.”
Al Thani, who has vowed to retaliate over the attack in Qatar’s capital, was in New York attending a UN Security Council meeting over the Israeli strike.
Quote:A rare cross was recently uncovered in the United Arab Emirates, shedding light on Christian history during the early Islamic era.
The discovery, made at Sir Bani Yas Island in the Persian Gulf, was announced by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism in August.
The island contains a variety of luxury resorts and wildlife reserves. Though remote, Sir Bani Yas Island is still accessible via water taxis or private planes.
Officials noted in a release that the discovery was part of the first excavation on the island in 30 years. The cross was linked to a local Christian monastery built between the 7th and 8th centuries.
Officials described the artifact as “molded on a plaster plaque, an object believed to have been used by monks for spiritual contemplation.”
A picture of the find shows that the plaque had shattered over time before archaeologists reconstructed it.
The monastery was part of a large complex that included a church and a place where “senior monks retreated for periods of contemplation and ascetic seclusion,” according to officials.
“The style of the cross shows similarities with finds from Iraq and Kuwait, and is linked to the Church of the East, which has origins in ancient Iraq,” the statement added.
Christianity spread through the Arabian Peninsula between 300 and 500 A.D. After the Arab conquests, Christians and Muslims coexisted in modern-day Abu Dhabi.
The monastery was “peacefully abandoned” before 800 A.D., according to officials.
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chair of the culture and tourism department, called the discovery “a powerful testament to the UAE’s profound and enduring values of coexistence and cultural openness.”
He added, “It stirs within us a deep sense of pride and honor and reminds us that peaceful coexistence is not a modern construct, but a principle woven into the very fabric of our region’s history.”
Officials added that the Sir Bani Yas church and monastery site is open to the public, offering Christian tourists a chance to connect with their religious history.
"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.
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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
