News of the World
04-12-2026, 05:27 AM
Quote:ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Vice President JD Vance said the US and Iran failed to strike a peace deal to end the six-week war rocking the Middle East, blaming Tehran’s refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions — leaving uncertainty over whether fighting will resume.
Vance delivered the quick-hit update after 21 hours of grueling negotiations in Pakistan, noting meaningful discussions were held with Iran but none that brokered a deal on terms laid out by the US.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” Vance told reporters in Islamabad.
“And I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. They have chosen not to accept our terms. So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement.”
He said a major sticking point was Iran’s refusal to agree to not develop a nuclear weapon or even seeking the tools to build one, insisting the US needed an “affirmative commitment” on the issue.
“That is the core goal of the president of the United States,” he added. “And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
Throughout the hours-long talks, very few details were made available — leaving the world to speculate about what would come from the past six weeks of war.
For weeks, the two sides have been far apart on negotiations, with the Iranians demanding total sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the right to enrich uranium, no limits on their ballistic missiles program and reparations for infrastructure damaged in the war.
The Trump administration’s top priorities are to reopen the strait to allow oil to again flow freely and crushing Iran’s nuclear enrichment program to stop them from building a nuclear bomb.
“We were quite accommodating,” Vance said, adding that President Trump told him to “make your best effort” to strike a deal “in good faith.”
“We did that, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to make any headway. We leave here with a very simple protocol, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
The vice president said he was in “constant communication” with Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the all-night talks, saying they spoke about a dozen times.
MIDDLE EAST WAR
Quote:A maniac reportedly attacked a US war plane with a hatchet at a major civilian airport in Ireland Saturday, causing extensive damage at a controversial stopover site for American military.
He snuck into restricted space at Shannon Airport in County Clare, where the US Air Force’s $75 million C130 Hercules military transport aircraft was parked, local outlet The Journal reported.
The lunatic — in his 40s but yet to be identified — climbed onto the wing of the plane and started hacking away at the wing and the fuselage, causing extensive damage, according to GB News.
The shocking attack caused the airport to close for just under 30 minutes, before police from the Garda Síochána arrested the man.
The C-130 Hercules is a transport aircraft that is used in a wide range of military situations.
One of the models was shot down in Iran and crashed in Kuwait on April 5 during a rescue mission for the pilots of the downed F-15E.
Shannon Airport has been the site of regularly held demonstrations demanding the Irish government inspect US military planes for weapons destined for Israel, the outlet reported.
US military aircraft have used the airport as a refueling and transit stopover since the Iraq War era — a practice that has long infuriated Irish anti-war activists who argue it violates Ireland’s constitutional neutrality.
Quote:Israeli authorities arrested a 22-year-old Haifa resident for his involvement in an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate a high-ranking Israeli official, with the intended target believed to be former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, reports say.
Ami Gaydarov, 22, was arrested last month on suspicion that he was working with an Iranian agent to gather intelligence and build a bomb for use in a terror plot against a high-ranking Israeli official. Gaydarov was unaware of the target's identity. A gag order on his arrest was recently lifted, allowing Israeli media outlets to report on the case.
Authorities said Gaydarov first made contact with his Iranian handler in August 2025 and was paid roughly $23,000 — most of it in cryptocurrency — to carry out tasks in preparation for the assassination plot.
Gaydarov allegedly rented an apartment in the city's downtown area to serve as a laboratory for the bombs.
"To facilitate the contacts with his handlers, Gaidarov purchased dedicated phones and rented an apartment in Haifa where he produced the explosive substance, while documenting his activities in videos and photos that were sent to his handler as proof of compliance," the Israeli police force said.
In connection with the plot, Israeli authorities have also arrested three other suspects, including Sergey Leibman and Edward Shovtiuk. The fourth suspect has not been named. Authorities said indictments for the four suspects should occur in the "coming days."
The terror plot was uncovered as part of Israel's "Operation Roaring Lion," a major military campaign launched against Iran on February 28, coinciding with the start of the war with Iran.
The arrest of the four men comes as Israeli authorities have won more than 40 indictments against more than 60 defendants working on behalf of the Iranian government. Just two months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that the citizenship of Israelis convicted of espionage for Iran be stripped of their citizenship.
Quote:Israel said it wiped out the Hezbollah chief’s top secretary in targeted strikes on Lebanon overnight — as it ramped up attacks Thursday despite the risk of throwing President Trump’s Iran war cease-fire into turmoil.
Ali Youssef Kharshi, the secretary and nephew of Hezbollah honcho Naim Qassem, was killed in Beirut amid the fresh wave of bombings, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also confirmed the strike while vowing such attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah proxies across Lebanon would continue with “force, precision and determination.”
“In Beirut, we eliminated Ali Youssef Kharshi, the personal secretary of Hezbollah terror organization Secretary-General Naim Qassem and one of the people closest to him,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“At the same time, overnight, the IDF struck a series of terror infrastructures in southern Lebanon: crossings used to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers, as well as weapons depots, launchers, and Hezbollah headquarters.”
“Our message is clear: Whoever acts against Israeli civilians — will be struck,” he added.
The fresh onslaught came after Israel launched its largest-ever blitz on Lebanon on Wednesday, striking 100 targets in 10 minutes and killing more than 250 people, according to Lebanese officials.
The airstrikes unfolded just hours after Trump unveiled the cease-fire with Iran and amid a disagreement over whether it included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel, as well as Trump, have insisted Lebanon is excluded from the truce — despite Iran arguing it was explicitly part of the deal.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Spain moved to reopen its embassy in Tehran on Thursday after criticisms from President Trump of NATO nations that have opposed his war against Iran.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said he’d instructed his country’s ambassador to Iran to return to the embassy post “to join in this effort for peace from every possible quarter, including from the Iranian capital itself,” Reuters reported.
The move comes as the US and Iran reached a two-week cease-fire in the conflict that has been tested by subsequent Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
“Yesterday we saw how Israel, flouting the cease-fire and in violation of international law, dropped hundreds of bombs on Lebanon,” Albares also said Thursday.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters Wednesday that Israel had agreed “to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful” — but fresh strikes in Beirut on Thursday took out Ali Youssef Kharshi, the secretary and nephew of Hezbollah honcho Naim Qassem.
Spain has been a staunch opponent of the US-Israeli military actions against Iran — and declined to let American forces use any of its bases in the Middle East.
France and the UK have also discouraged the US from conducting strikes on Iran at any of their regional bases.
Trump has criticized the NATO allies for not helping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a critical chokepoint in the Persian Gulf for commercial shipping that Iran shut down at the start of the war — and is rumored to be considering a plan to punish the nations for declining to assist the US in the war with Iran.
The plan would pull US troops out of NATO countries that hampered or failed to help in Operation Epic Fury, Trump administration officials told the Wall Street Journal.
Quote:China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran in the next few weeks, according to a report citing sources with knowledge of US intelligence.
The move would be “provocative,” according to CNN, considering China played a major role in brokering the fragile cease-fire deal between Iran and the US earlier this week.
Beijing is working to route shipments through third countries to hide the backroom trade — which involves shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs, multiple US intelligence sources told CNN.
The weapons — which use heat-seeking guidance to lock onto an aircraft’s engine or exhaust — posed a major threat to the US military during the six-week war, with one nearly taking out a F/A-18 Super Hornet last week.
The F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran last week was targeted by a “handheld shoulder missile, [a] heat-seeking missile,” Trump said Monday, though it’s not clear whether it had been provided by China.
Chinese companies have also continued to sell sanctioned technology to Iran that would help the country build weapons and enhance its navigation systems, the sources alleged.
China, however, denied the claims, with a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington telling CNN, “China has never provided weapons to any party to the conflict; the information in question is untrue.”
“As a responsible major country, China consistently fulfills its international obligations. We urge the U.S. side to refrain from making baseless allegations, maliciously drawing connections, and engaging in sensationalism; we hope that relevant parties will do more to help de-escalate tensions,” the spokesperson said.
The trade wouldn’t be the first time China was accused of supplying Iran with weapons in the recent war.
Quote:President Trump threatened “big problems” for China Saturday if they deliver air defense systems to Tehran while the US is locked in a war with Iran.
“If China does that, China is gonna have big problems, OK?” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
US intelligence sources have said that the People’s Republic was planning to send shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs to Tehran through third parties over the next few weeks in an attempt to hide the shady weapons transfer, according to CNN.
The munitions use heat-seeking guidance to lock onto an aircraft’s engine or exhaust, and were a major obstacle during the six-week war in Iran — with one nearly taking out an F/A-18 Super Hornet last week.
The American F-15 fighter jet shot down by Iran on April 3 was hit by a “handheld shoulder missile, [a] heat-seeking missile,” according to Trump.
China has denied the reports, with its embassy telling The Times of Israel that claims they are planning to arm Tehran with defense weapons are “entirely fabricated.”
“As a responsible major country, China always abides by international law and its international obligations, and never provides weapons to any party to the conflict,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
“China firmly rejects the circulation of speculative, misleading, and false information targeting China.”
Beijing has been accused of aiding the Islamic Republic in intelligence during the Iran war, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claiming that the two countries — along with Russia — are engaged in “close cooperation.”
“Russia and China are our strategy partners, and we have had close cooperation in the past, which is still continues [sic], and that includes military cooperation as well,” Araghchi told MS Now.
Quote:Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is badly disfigured and has lost a leg, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters.
Khamenei, 56, was severely wounded in the Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.
These mark the first detailed accounts to emerge about his condition in the six weeks since.
The younger Khamenei — who’s rumored to be gay and impotent — looks so bad that he’s only taking meetings on the phone, according to sources.
He is also believed to have lost a leg, a source familiar with US intelligence said, while recovering from the devastating attack on his father’s compound in central Tehran that also wiped dozens of top regime military leaders.
Mjotaba Khamenei, 56, is still “mentally sharp,” according to the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity, putting to bed the mystery about who’s been in charge of Iran since Ali Khamenei was blown up.
The new leader has been meeting with senior Islamic Republic regime officials by audio conferencing. He’s also been part of the decision making on negotiating with Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, two of the sources said.
Since he rose to power following his father’s assassination, the younger Khamenei has only issued two written statements — no one has so much as heard his voice or seen him, leaving many Iranians to speculate whether he was even alive.
The wife of Khamenei was among other members of his family also killed in the Israeli strike.
There have been no official statements from the regime on the extent of Khamenei’s injuries, but a newsreader on state television recently described him as a “janbaz,” a term used for disabled war veterans.
The latest accounts of his condition confirm what White House officials had suspected for weeks.
“Iran has plenty of cameras and voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters at a briefing March 13.
“The new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.”
Images of the supreme leader could be released within a month or two — and he might even appear in public then if his health and security situation allow, one of the people close to Khamenei’s circle said.
Quote:Lebanon’s prime minister canceled a planned upcoming trip to Washington amid threats from Iran and Israeli strikes that continue to batter his country.
“In light of the current internal circumstances … I have decided to postpone my trip to the United Nations and the United States,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam posted on X Saturday.
Salam was expected to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the first bilateral visit from a senior Lebanese official to the US since President Trump returned to office, Axios reported.
His announcement comes after Tehran warned Lebanon of “security risks” should they sideline Hezbollah in their upcoming direct talks with Israel, which are set to be held in Washington.
“Mr. Nawaf Salam must know that ignoring the unparalleled role of the resistance and the heroic Hezbollah will expose Lebanon to irreparable security risks,” an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said, according to the Times of Israel.
Pro-Hezbollah protesters demonstrated in Beirut Saturday, burning portraits of Salam and denouncing him as a “Zionist” while carrying the terrorist group’s flag.
Israel has continued to pound Hezbollah inside Lebanon despite Iran’s insistence that a cease-fire between the terrorist group and the Jewish state be reached as a necessary precondition for peace talks with the US.
At least 14 were killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon Friday, with the overall death toll climbing to 1,950, according to Lebanese officials.
Separate from Salam’s canceled visit, ambassadors from Lebanon and Israel are set to meet in Washington Tuesday to discuss a peace deal between the two countries, though Jewish state has ruled out any cease-fire with Hezbollah as part of the talks.
It is unclear if Salam’s announcement will have any impact on those fragile talks.
Quote:A vile nurse who was fired after she went on an unhinged antisemitic rant in Times Square once traveled to Iran and bashed the US as the “most criminal, evil entity on the planet.”
Clad in a headscarf, Jennifer Koonings rambled about New York City’s potholes while praising the “beauty” of Iran in the July 17, 2025 clip posted to the X account of the Sobh Festival, which is organized by the Iranian state media.
Koonings, 35, made the trip nearly a month after the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites in Isfahan and Fordow.
The nurse went on to trash her home country while glossing over the horrific crimes of the Iranian regime, which killed at least 35,000 of its own protesting citizens in January.
“Living in the United States we’re constantly inundated with negative messaging and propaganda about places like Iran and how evil they are… I live in New York City and the roads are terrible, we have potholes… we have crumbling bridges, crumbling infrastructure, no public services,” she said in the footage.
Koonings was fired from Manhattan-based Inspire Mental Health Services this week, after she posted multiple hateful videos to Instagram of her screaming antisemitic invective at strangers in Times Square that she believed to be Israeli.
“Baby killers! Baby killers!” she screamed at a group of at least three men sitting beneath the statue of composer George M. Cohan in Times Square.
Koonings has claimed she was fired in 2024 from her gig as a sexual assault forensic examiner at Mount Sinai Hospital, after she made social media posts denying heinous rapes and sexual assaults by Hamas during the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Mount Sinai did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
She claimed the New York District Attorney’s office had her canned because, they said, they were unable to use her as an expert witness in cases due to her beliefs.
Quote:Secretary of State Marco Rubio has yanked the green cards of three more Iranian nationals tied to Tehran who were living it up in the US – a week after the arrest of the niece and grandniece of the late Iranian terror mastermind, Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
ICE agents nabbed Seyed Eissa Hashemi, his psychology professor wife, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son this week as federal officials plan to remove them from the US, citing their connections to a notorious figure from the Iran hostage crisis, the State Department announced Saturday.
Eissa Hashemi, 43, is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, known as “Screaming Mary” for her role as the twisted propaganda mouthpiece for terrorists who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The Post reported last week that Hashemi has been living the good life in Los Angeles.
Ebtekar “crafted propaganda falsely showing the humane treatment of the hostages, arranging staged interviews in which the American hostages were pressured to describe their treatment in positive terms – even as they were being held in solitary confinement, blindfolded and starved, and subjected to physical and psychological terror, including beatings and mock executions,” according to the State Department.
The mouthpiece married a hostage taker and took on senior roles with the post-1979 Islamic regime, current members of which were engaged in talks with the US in Pakistan Saturday to bring an end to the Iran war.
Hashemi is currently an adjunct associate professor teaching at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
He graduated from the University of Tehran in 2006 then reportedly moved to the US in 2010 and pursued his PhD in organizational leadership from The Chicago School.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, the niece of the terror mastermind and former Quds Force leader Soleimani, was being held in an ICE detention center in Texas following her arrest at her California home April 3.
Soleimani’s grandnice, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, had been flaunting her luxe LA lifestyle and glam outfitson her social media accounts.
US Navy ships cross Strait of Hormuz for first time since war started — as Iran threatens US vessels
Quote:US Navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the start of the war — as Iran threatened to attack any US vessels that entered the strait.
“Several” American military vessels crossed the channel Saturday in a move that “was not coordinated with Iran,” Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported, citing intelligence officials.
At least two were US Navy guided-missile destroyers, according to reports.
President Trump seemingly confirmed the opening of the passage in a Truth Social post that claimed Iran was “LOSING, and LOSING BIG!”
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves,” Trump wrote.
“Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Trump reiterated the sentiment in a follow-up post, saying: “The United States has completely destroyed Iran’s Military, including their entire Navy and Air Force, and everything else. Their Leadership is DEAD! The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and the empty ships are rushing to the United States to ‘load up.'”
The assertion serves as a massive message to Iran as it continues to demand sovereignty over the strait as a condition to end the war.
Tehran justified its threat to target the ships, saying the US was moving a destroyer toward Iran in a “possible cease-fire violation,” according to a report.
The fast-moving developments unfolded as US and Iranian officials met for negotiations Saturday in Pakistan.
Iranian officials reportedly warned Pakistani mediators that “if the vessel continues to move, it will be targeted within 30 minutes, and the Iranian-American negotiations will suffer,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Khabar Network, according to Fars News Agency.
Quote:US Navy destroyers began clearing a “new passage” through the Strait of Hormuz Saturday –marking the first time American ships crossed the channel since the start of the war.
The USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy set off on the mission to establish an open route so that minesweepers could later clear sea mines laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as Vice President Vance and other delegates embarked on peace talks in Pakistan.
“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command, said.
The two guided-missile destroyers were only establishing the route for minesweepers — and sending a message to Iran that the US will reopen the vital trade corridor by any means.
The broader mission will involve underwater drones and additional US forces in the coming days, according to Cooper.
Iran responded to the voyage by issuing a violent threat, claiming the US was moving the ships toward Iran in a “possible cease-fire violation,” according to a report.
The fast-moving developments unfolded as US and Iranian officials met for negotiations Saturday in Pakistan.
Iranian officials reportedly warned Pakistani mediators that “if the vessel continues to move, it will be targeted within 30 minutes, and the Iranian-American negotiations will suffer,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Khabar Network, according to Fars News Agency.
According to the official, Iranian armed forces immediately reacted to the armed destroyer that was moving from the port of Fujairah to the Strait of Hormuz.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:A temporary weekend truce between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter quickly unraveled Saturday, with both sides accusing each other of attacks.
Russia claimed Ukraine struck a gas station in the city of Lgov in the border region of Kursk, injuring three people including a one-year-old child who was hit in the head by shrapnel, and the child’s mother.
“This cowardly strike by the enemy took place shortly after 4 p.m. — after the declared Easter ceasefire had already gone into effect,” slammed Alexander Khinshtein, the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, on Telegram.
“It serves as stark proof that these Ukrainian subhumans hold nothing sacred.”
Ukraine has not released an immediate statement about the claims, but Kyiv also slammed Moscow for breaching the Easter truce — something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been pushing for.
Russia violated the ceasefire more than 400 times, firing drones and artillery, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed.
Combat also occurred along the frontlines.
“The cease-fire is not being observed by the Russian side,” said Serhii Kolesnychenko, a communications officer for Ukraine’s 148th Separate Artillery Brigade.
A similar truce also unraveled during Easter last year, when both sides accused the other of hundreds of violations.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky had expressed hope that the weekend truce would lead to a more permanent peace.
“Easter should be a time of silence and safety. A ceasefire on Easter could also become the beginning of real movement toward peace – our side has made the corresponding proposal,” Zelensky wrote on X Saturday morning, before the cease-fire was shattered.
Russian strongman Vladimir Putin agreed Thursday to the 32-hour truce proposed by Zelensky a week earlier – and meant to last from 4 p.m. local time Saturday to midnight on Sunday — halting the four-year war temporarily.
USA
Quote:Fox News has learned Vice President JD Vance’s new anti-fraud task force has identified nearly $6.3 billion in government contracts that are going to potentially fraudulent businesses, marking a major milestone in the Trump administration's mission to slash wasteful spending contributing to the national debt.
The task force and General Services Administration are beginning to send out letters to nearly 400 businesses with government contracts that they believe could be fraudulent, as first reported by the Daily Caller. The businesses will have 30 days to prove to the task force that they have a physical address and are legitimate.
A Vance spokesperson told Fox News the task force "will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for fraud."
"If fraudsters are robbing hardworking Americans of their tax dollars and services, we will find them," the spokesperson said.
The announcement comes less than a month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the team, led by Vance as chairman.
The unit's mission is to target what the administration described as widespread exploitation of the American safety net by "illegal aliens, criminals, foreign gangs, bureaucrats," and non-governmental organizations.
The executive order argued certain states have embraced loopholes, allowing people to self-certify for benefits, including housing, food and medical care, while refusing to implement basic fraud controls.
The order specifically highlights Minnesota as a primary example of "staggering fraud and waste," citing an alleged $250 million scam by nonprofit Feeding Our Future, rampant Medicaid fraud, and a massive childcare fraud ring involving Somali immigrants accused of funneling stolen taxpayer funds to an African terror group.
The administration noted Minnesota and 20 other states previously sued the federal government to block basic eligibility reviews for food stamp enrollees.
Along with Vance, task force participants include Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller.
Quote:In December 2020, a birth tourism ring was busted on Long Island that proves, according to many conservatives, that this is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed by the current administration’s push for immigration enforcement. Prosecutors on the case revealed that over 100 pregnant women from Turkey came to the U.S. to give birth to babies to ensure they were granted U.S. citizenship.
Along with ensuring their children had citizenship, the women also took full advantage of the Medicaid system, pilfering millions of taxpayer dollars in the process. An employee in Smithtown is the one who helped blow the lid off the scheme by noticing an odd pattern of birth certificates. There were five babies from one household at the same time.
This led to an investigation that exposed an international fraud scheme, an alleged birth tourism ring that had been operating in Long Island for almost three years. Eastern District Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme stated that “The defendants fraudulently facilitated the births in the United States of approximately 119 Turkish children, and those children now hold birthright U.S. citizenship.”
According to a report from CBS News, the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to any child born on U.S. soil; however, officials say in this case, the leaders of the ring in Turkey actually advertised their intent, saying, “If you believe your baby should be born in the USA and become an American citizen, you are in the right place.”
The part of this that is believed to be illegal are the lies told in order to obtain travel visas and fraudulent Medicaid claims for babies and mothers who stayed at seven birth houses located across Suffolk County. Prosecutors say these women paid up to $10,000 each for accommodations and free health care provided by U.S. taxpayers.
“They are doing it on the backs of taxpayers. They’re milking the Medicaid system,” Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini went on to say. The report then said that a total of six people were arrested and subsequently charged with money laundering and $2 million in Medicaid fraud. At the time, President Donald Trump, then serving his first term, was made aware of the threat posed by birth tourism and took action.
“It is estimated that over 30,000 childbirths occurred in the United States last year alone in connection with this practice,” Christopher Lau of the Department of Homeland Security explained. Prosecutors working the case said the arrests aren’t about stopping immigration, but those who are trying to play the system. “The desire to have a child born in the United States is understandable, but the methods and means employed by these criminals are both unlawful and completely unacceptable,” DuCharme told the media.
Quote:A Columbia University psychiatry professor allegedly romanced a frail, retired Wall Streeter — then swindled him of $1.3 million so she could buy a home in Greece, his family claimed in a lawsuit.
Frank Watrous Hamilton III, then 72, was “vulnerable” after suffering a 2018 stroke “which had a debilitating effect on his mental and physical health,” his son said in Manhattan Supreme Court papers.
It’s unclear how he met Maria Karayiorgou, a professor emerita of psychiatry at the Ivy, but Hamilton’s son alleged the “accomplished psychiatrist” should have realized the Florida resident “was a frail, vulnerable, and disoriented, elderly man,” before launching into an intimate relationship when they met in 2021 or 2022.
“Dr. Karayiorgou was embedding herself into Hamilton’s life to take advantage of Hamilton’s impaired state, earn his trust, and manipulate him, with the goal being to take his assets for her benefit,” the family alleged in the lawsuit.
Hamilton, a father of two, had a nearly 50-year career on Wall Street and served as an executive at the financial services firm Promontory Interfinancial Network, which later became known as IntraFi.
The alleged age-gap honey trap saw Karayiorgou, then 57, flying from New York to Florida to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Easter, and both of their birthdays with her love interest, the family claimed.
During several of these social gatherings, Hamilton referred to Karayiorgou as his fiancée or wife, according to the allegations.
While she whispered sweet nothings, the alleged golddigger had her sights set on a house in Athens, Greece, persistently requesting, pressuring and guilt-tripping Hamilton into footing the bill, the family contended.
After just a few months of love-bombing, Hamilton wired her $100,000 on April 4, 2022 and then $1.2 million on May 18, 2022 for the $1.3 million pad in Athens, Greece, they claimed in legal papers.
Quote:DNA evidence has linked two of the teenagers charged in the shooting death of a University of Massachusetts student who was working as a congressional intern in Washington, DC, last summer, prosecutors alleged
Government attorneys told Washington, DC, Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson during a Friday status hearing that testing on shell casings recovered at the scene produced an “overwhelming statistical match” to Jailen Lucas, and that DNA also ties Kelvin Thomas to the shooting.
The two suspects, who were both 17 at the time of the shooting, are charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed in the killing of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts.
Two rounds of DNA testing have been completed, prosecutors said, and additional expert testimony is expected at trial on DNA analysis, ballistics and fingerprint evidence.
Tarpinian-Jachym, a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was shot June 30, near the intersection of 7th and M Street NW in Washington.
He was spending the summer in Washington as a congressional intern for Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican from Kansas.
Two rounds of DNA testing have been completed, prosecutors said, and additional expert testimony is expected at trial on DNA analysis, ballistics and fingerprint evidence.
Tarpinian-Jachym, a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was shot June 30, near the intersection of 7th and M Street NW in Washington.
Quote:Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., was forced to make an emergency landing Friday after experiencing in-flight engine failure while piloting a plane.
According to Sheehy’s chief of staff, Mike Berg, the senator was conducting a routine flight training exercise that he completes twice a year.
“This afternoon, Sen. Sheehy was engaged in a routine flight training exercise which he completes twice a year,” Berg said in a statement. “The aircraft experienced a mechanical engine failure.”
Berg said Sheehy and his co-pilot made an emergency landing in a field.
“Neither pilot was injured,” he added.
The plane landed in a field in Ennis, Montana, according to KBZK.
The outlet reported that Sheehy is an FAA-certified commercial pilot and certified flight instructor.
Reached for comment, Sheehy’s office referred Fox News Digital to Berg’s statement.
Quote:The Department of Homeland Security has told all furloughed employees to return to work despite the ongoing partial government shutdown, according to a notice sent to employees on Friday.
The recall notice said that all currently furloughed employees are to return to duty on their next regularly scheduled workday, which for most will be Monday.
The notice mentioned an April 3 memo published by the White House in which President Trump signed an emergency order to pay every DHS employee the equivalent compensation and benefits lost during the partial shutdown of the agency.
A Trump administration official separately confirmed that DHS has told all employees to return to work and that Trump’s directive from last week orders that they be paid.
A partial government shutdown has been ongoing for nearly two months. Most DHS employees are deemed “essential,” which means that they are required to work during a shutdown. DHS has 270,000 employees.
Lawmakers in Congress are yet to agree to a fiscal 2026 funding measure for DHS.
Democrats have been critical of Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially his use of agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of DHS.
Trump’s crackdown has been condemned by rights groups who say it violates due process and free speech and also creates an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.
Trump has defended his actions by saying they aim to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.
There was particular scrutiny of ICE after federal agents fatally shot two US citizens earlier this year in Minnesota.
Quote:President Trump attended UFC 327 Saturday night and was met with cheers from the Miami MMA crowd as he entered the arena.
Trump entered the Kaseya Center just after 9 p.m. and greeted high-profile attendees, including UFC announcer and podcaster Joe Rogan, as he made his way to his seat.
The commander in chief attended the UFC match as peace with Iran talks dragged on for over 17 hours in Pakistan in a bid to end the six-week war that has rocked the Middle East.
Quote:A U.S. appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling, calling it an unnecessary and improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members.
They argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether as a hobby or for personal consumption including, in one instance, to create an apple-pie-vodka recipe.
The ban was part of a law passed during Reconstruction in July 1868, in part to thwart liquor tax evasion, and subjected violators to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones said the ban actually reduced tax revenue by preventing distilling in the first place, unlike laws that regulated the manufacture and labeling of distilled spirits on which the government could collect taxes.
She also said that under the government’s logic, Congress could criminalize virtually any in-home activity that might escape notice from tax collectors, including remote work and home-based businesses.
“Without any limiting principle, the government’s theory would violate this court’s obligation to read the Constitution carefully to avoid creating a general federal authority akin to the police power,” Jones wrote.
The U.S. Department of Justice had no immediate comment.
Another defendant, the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Devin Watkins, a lawyer representing the Hobby Distillers Association, in an interview called the ruling an important decision about the limits of federal power.
Andrew Grossman, who argued the nonprofit’s appeal, called the decision “an important victory for individual liberty” that lets the plaintiffs “pursue their passion to distill fine beverages in their homes.”
“I look forward to sampling their output,” he said.
Quote:The New York State Board of Elections lacks key safeguards to prevent voter fraud and refuses to remedy the situation ahead of November’s midterm races, an election integrity watchdog says.
The nonpartisan Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections sent the agency a letter late last year documenting violations it believes the agency committed that could potentially affect voting results throughout the Democratic-controlled state.
RITE is now joining forces with Rep. Claudia Tenney, an upstate Republican, to demand the BOE turn over records and data that could potentially identify additional flaws in the state’s voter registration system after the board refused to correct most of the alleged violations.
“Your lack of a response is troubling and disregards the need to ensure public trust that New York is maintaining accurate voter rolls as required by federal law,” they wrote in a letter to the board this week obtained by Fox News Digital.
Both warned they’ll take the board to court to enforce compliance with federal election laws if it refuses to meet their May deadline.
The state’s 26 congressional races are up for grabs this November. Although most races won’t be competitive or decided in the primaries, Democrats expected to pour plenty of money into trying to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. His seat representing Hudson Valley is considered among the most competitive nationwide.
Dems are also expected to spend great resources trying to protect vulnerable seats held by Democratic Reps. including Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen in Nassau County.
RITE alleges state voter registration forms have two errors that violate the Help America Vote Act.
Quote:A woke Virginia prosecutor whose radical ideology will take center stage at an upcoming congressional hearing once called deporting illegal immigrants “a perversion of justice.”
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who is under fire for letting a pair of admitted migrant murderers walk away with just five years in prison this month, made the comments when he was running for office in 2019.
He took office on a campaign of reducing some criminal penalties and reducing cash bail. A line on Descano’s website at the time, which is still igniting controversy, said: “If two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County.”
Critics bashed the comments as the twisted byproduct of four years of open border policies under the Biden Administration
“Deportation isn’t a perversion of justice; it is justice,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told The Post.
“Democrats like Steve Descano are doing everything they can to carry on Joe Biden’s legacy of lawlessness.
“Republicans should explore every possible avenue to hold Soros-backed district attorneys accountable for giving criminal illegal aliens a free pass to wreak havoc on American citizens,” she added, referring to lefty Democratic kingmaker George Soros.
Descano’s campaign received from two Soros funded groups, the Justice and Public Safety PAC and the New Virginia Majority PAC, received $628,000 and $114,000, according to state records.
House Republicans are bringing Descano in to testify for a hearing set for May 14 titled: “Fairfax County, Virginia: The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary Policies.”
Quote:A criminal slashed three elderly people with a machete — while calling himself “Lucifer” — in an unprovoked attack and was fatally shot by cops at Grand Central Terminal Saturday morning, police said.
An 85-year-old man suffered a deep cut across his head, and a 65-year-old man suffered cuts on his head on the 4, 5, 6 subway platform at the iconic station at 9:50 a.m., police said. A 70-year-old woman was slashed in the shoulder, cops said.
Blood-soaked white gauze was wrapped around one victim’s head, photos from the scene show. The slasher was also seen being carried away on a gurney.
Two NYPD detectives, who were working overtime to provide transit security, confronted the 44-year-old, identified as Anthony Griffin, and told him to drop the machete.
“From the top of the stairs, they observed the individual on the platform, and they immediately ordered him to drop the knife,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference at the scene. “The individual was armed with a large knife described as a machete and was behaving erratically, repeatedly stating that he was Lucifer.”
Griffin refused to comply “with at least 20 orders to drop the knife,” she said.
Officers also “attempted to deescalate” and offer assistance, saying “We are going to get you help,” Tisch told reporters.
But Griffin advanced toward them with the blade extended, she said.
“One officer discharged his firearm striking the perpetrator twice,” Tisch said.
The victims were taken to local hospitals in stable condition, cops said.
Quote:The NYPD detectives who stopped a lunatic who attacked three people at Grand Central Terminal with a machete on Saturday were working overtime as a part of a crime-fighting initiative.
But sources say department-wide OT cuts are eating into extra subway shifts.
The NYPD disputed this. “The NYPD authorizes 5,000 hours of overtime a day in the subway system,” said a spokesperson. “That has been the case for more than a year, since January 2025. It has not been cut by even a single hour since then.”
But a longtime cop told The Post department-wide OT “has been getting cut back for the last year and a half. They’re minimum-manning a lot of these subway stations because there’s a certain [overtime] cap that they don’t want you to go over,” the source said. “If you go over that cap, [NYPD brass] will bury the commanding officer.”
The NYPD began cracking down on overtime under ex-Mayor Eric Adams, seeing a $1.1 billion drop-off last fiscal year compared to fiscal 2024. Cuts have gotten deeper under soft-on-crime Mayor Mamdani, who campaigned on eliminating the NYPD’s OT budget.
New rules that went into effect on Jan. 1 slashed the number of overtime hours cops can work in half, The Post has reported. And detectives are now limited to 40 hours of total OT a month.
As for extra transit details, sources told The Post that detectives are now limited to “no more than two transit details” a month. They used to be able to work four to six OT shifts underground.
Quote:Rep. Eric Swalwell’s attorney claimed a Democrat conspiracy was behind sexual misconduct allegations against his client.
Most senior Californian Democrats have pulled their endorsement of the 45-year-old congressman, including LA mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Adam Schiff.
Speaking on behalf of Swalwell, attorney Elias Dabaie told CNN he suspected the reason they pulled their support was coordinated to bury Swalwell and consolidate the vote around one Democrat, potentially Rep. Katie Porter.
“The notion that all these people pulled their support — I suspect that there are political machinations behind the scenes explaining why the Democratic Party has decided to try to consolidate the vote in order to make sure that a Democratic candidate makes it past the primary,” he said.
”So I’m not surprised.”
Dabaie also said he was unsure when Swalwell would return to the campaign trail.
“That’s not clear,” Swalwell attorney Elias Dabaie told CNN Friday night. “He’s taking time with his family right now, and that’s a decision for him to make.”
The candidate cancelled his next campaign event scheduled for Thursday in Palm Springs after the allegations drew extensive backlash from other Democrats. He’s called the allegations, which originate “false.”
Dabaie echoed Swalwell’s sentiment in the interview.
“Let me start by telling you that we take these allegations very seriously,” he said.
“The Congressman categorically denies any misconduct took place, and we intend to vindicate his rights in court.”
He noted that Swalwell did “take accountability for potential lapses in judgment, but again, categorically denies any wrongdoing.”
Quote:The Manhattan district attorney's office announced Saturday it has opened an investigation into Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell over an alleged 2024 sexual assault, as more than a dozen of his own staffers broke ranks to publicly support his accusers—and prominent Democrats continue to abandon his campaign for California governor.
Swalwell has denied all allegations, with his attorney, Elias Dabaie, saying in an email to Newsweek on Friday the accusations are "baseless" and appear to be "a coordinated effort to undermine his candidacy."
Why It Matters
The DA's announcement marks a significant legal escalation in an already catastrophic stretch for Swalwell's political future. With mail ballots set to go out next month ahead of California's June 2 primary, the allegations have thrown the state's wide-open gubernatorial race into chaos at a critical moment.
Swalwell had been among the leading Democrats vying to succeed outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom—and one of the frontrunners in a crowded field whose collapse could have broader implications for the party's chances in November.
What To Know
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday that a former staffer accused Swalwell of sexually assaulting her twice—once in 2019 while she worked for him, and again in 2024 following a charity gala in New York—saying she was too intoxicated to consent in both instances. She told the paper she did not go to the police because she feared she would not be believed. The Chronicle reviewed text messages related to the alleged 2024 incident and spoke to people she had confided in.
CNN separately reported the same woman's allegations, along with additional claims from several other women that Swalwell sent them inappropriate sexual messages.
The Manhattan DA's office confirmed Saturday it was investigating the alleged 2024 New York incident and urged anyone with knowledge to contact its special victims division.
More than a dozen unnamed staffers from Swalwell's congressional office and campaign released an unsigned statement Saturday, first reported by Politico, expressing support for the accusers and distancing themselves from the congressman.
"As leaders of teams working for Eric Swalwell, we're horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN," the statement read. "We stand with our former colleague, and the other women who have come forward. The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those serving in public office and betrays the trust of all Californians." The staffers clarified that colleagues remaining during a transition period should not be seen as endorsing Swalwell, citing a responsibility to junior staff who cannot immediately forfeit their income and benefits.
At least four senior campaign aides departed Friday. Swalwell also suspended fundraising through ActBlue; a platform spokesperson confirmed the campaign itself deactivated the page. On Tuesday—just days before the allegations surfaced—Swalwell told reporters at a Sacramento campaign event that he had never had a sexual relationship with a staff member or intern.
Dabaie said in an email to Newsweek on Friday: "We learned from press outlets that there are multiple allegations made against the Congressman. We believe those allegations are baseless and continue to seek the truth. We also want to understand why these allegations would suddenly arise on the eve of an election against the frontrunner in what appears to be a coordinated effort to undermine his candidacy."
Quote:Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell — a frontrunner in the California governor’s race — has been accused of violating immigration and employment law to keep his illegal live-in Brazilian nanny in the country, according to a pair of recently filed complaints.
When his South American babysitter’s temporary work authorization was about to expire in 2022, he and wife Brittany Swalwell lied to the feds to keep Amanda Barbosa working for them, a new complaint filed Tuesday with the Department of Labor claimed.
Another complaint, filed to the Department of Homeland security in February and previously unreported, accuses Swalwell of paying the nanny under the table with campaign funds for a period of two years when she didn’t hold valid work authorization.
“Barbosa appears in numerous social media photos with the Swalwell family throughout 2023 and 2024, indicating continued close association and ongoing childcare responsibilities despite the absence of known lawful work authorization,” the complaint to DHS, dated Feb. 16, alleged.
The embattled California gubernatorial hopeful first hired Barbosa, 33, in the fall of 2021 to look after his three children.
Barbosa had come to the US from Rio de Janeiro in January 2021 on an au pair visa. She was paid $3,914 in campaign funds that year, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by The Post.
She continued working for the Golden State politician as a live-in nanny the next year, receiving $46,930 in campaign funds in 2022, FEC records show.
With her au pair visa coming to an end in December 2022, Swalwell began the process of sponsoring her for a green card, according to a permanent labor certification application reviewed by The Post.
While that drawn out process played out, she enrolled at community college, according to her LinkedIn, and under student visa rules, wasn’t allowed to work off campus.
But that doesn’t appear to have stopped Swalwell, whose other international fumbles have included the infamous Fang Fang affair.
Social media photos from her since-deleted Facebook account show Barbosa caring for the kids at a variety of family events over the next two years, even being so bold as posting photos at the annual White House picnic in 2023 and 2024, where she’s holding up the youngest child, then two, in her arms while sporting a blue sundress.
In another snap, on Halloween in 2024, she’s taking the kids trick or treating while wearing a Brazil soccer shirt.
Her LinkedIn page, also deleted since the allegations, said she worked as a private childcare provider continuously from 2021 to present, according to a screenshot included in the complaints.
Quote:A North Carolina maniac was arrested Friday after allegedly stabbing a US Marine to death during a massive caught-on-camera street brawl that put local cops under heavy scrutiny, authorities said.
Davy Spencer, 47, was slapped with charges of second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill after fatally knifing 21-year-old Daniel Montano when a large fight erupted in downtown Wilmington around 2 a.m. last Sunday, according to the Wilmington Police Department.
Montano, a lance corporal stationed at Camp Lejeune about 70 miles away, was one of two stabbed.
The department came under fire for its response to the deadly melee after disturbing footage surfaced online showing the slain Marine hunched over in a pool of blood as cops tried to break up the fight.
The viral clip showed multiple men brawling in the street as Wilmington cops arrived and pepper-sprayed them – but seconds later, the camera cuts to the sidewalk, where a dying Montano is seen slumped over desperately pointing to his neck as officers rush over to help.
As cops fumbled to find a way to help him, a bystander rushed in, tore off his shirt, wrapped it around the victim’s neck, and applied pressure in a frantic attempt to stop the bleeding.
Montano, along with the other stabbing victim, was rushed to a local hospital, but he later succumbed to his injuries.
The service member, a California native, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines Regiment at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, according to his devastated sister Evelyn.
“He was not only dedicated to his country, but also deeply loved by his family,” she wrote on a fundraiser page set up to help their family cover funeral and memorial costs.
“To us, he was more than a Marine – he was a son, a brother, and someone who brought so much light into our lives.”
Quote:The latest propaganda campaign from a radical New York City-based pro-North Korea nonprofit bizarrely pitches the Hermit Kingdom as a utopia where housing is free.
“Is your rent due? Not in North Korea,” Nodutdol’s April 1 Instagram post boasts to its 42,000 followers, alongside an idyllic picture of children happily playing in the snow in front of a modern, residential apartment building that looks strikingly American-style.
Nodutdol, a Midtown-based group whose name means stepping stone in Korean, has worked to radicalize American leftists into supporting North Korea through their mutual hatred of “US imperialism.”
The social media post goes on to slam US capitalism for “manufacturing a housing crisis at home.”
“Things don’t have to be this way, and socialist countries are proof of that,” it says before showing images of 163,000 recently built housing units in capital Pyongyang and rural areas across the country.
But in reality, housing in the land of dictator Kim Jong Un is built by the state and allocated based on job, status and loyalty to the regime — with organizations like Human Rights Watch finding that “the North Korean government systematically violates…the right to adequate standard of living.”
While military and party officials — including Ri Chun Hi, the country’s most prolific state propaganda anchor, known as “the pink lady,” who received a luxury home in 2022 — are granted preferential housing, ordinary people typically get the bottom of the barrel, with decrepit homes that often lack electricity.
Construction tends to be rushed for political optics, leaving people living in unfinished or unsafe buildings, and deadly apartment collapses have occasionally made the news despite tight media control — such as the 2014 collapse of a 23-story building in Pyongyang, which killed more than 160 people.
The propaganda campaign seemed too much even for some of Nodutdol’s supporters.
Quote:A former Northern California sheriff lieutenant and the owner of a fireworks company have been arrested and charged with murder following last year’s horrific explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in Yolo county that killed seven people.
During a press conference, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on April 3, a grand jury indicted a total of eight people on a host of charges including five people who were charged with second degree murder, in connection with the massive explosion in rural Esparto last July.
The people who were arrested included former Yolo County Sheriff Lt. Sam Machado, his wife Tammy Machado and the founder and CEO of the illegal fireworks company Devastating Pyrotechnics Kenneth Chee, from the Bay Area.
Chee was arrested in Florida while he was at Disneyworld with his family, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The former Lt. and Chee, along with three other people face seven murder charges each, one for each of the victims who were killed in the deadly explosion, authorities said.
The operations manager for the fireworks company, Jack Lee, was arrested as well, in connection to the blast that leveled the building and forced evacuations in the area, per local reports at the time.
Thursday’s multiple arrests around the country was the culmination of a massive year-long investigation that spanned across the state and country, the DA explained.
Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Clara Nabity said that the “grand jury alleged a decade-long conspiracy which turned the property of a former sheriff’s Lt. (Machado) into the Northern California hub for an illegal enterprise that imports and sells illegal explosives on the black market.”
“This is not a case just about fireworks,” Nabity said. “They are devices that have so much more explosive fireworks than the law allows that they can’t be considered fireworks. “
She added, “They are explosives, but they were designed and packaged for consumer sales under private levels.”
Nabity said the indictment also alleges that Machado used “his role as a trusted lieutenant to help shield the conspiracy as it expanded.”
Quote:A shooting broke out inside a New Jersey Chick-fil-A on Saturday night, leaving multiple people injured as police continue to investigate, according to a report.
The horror unfolded just before 9 p.m. at the fast food chain’s Route 22 location in Union, which Union County Police has since been locked down, with some workers reportedly still inside as cops probe the scene, WABC reported.
It’s unclear how many people were shot, whether there are any casualties or what sparked the shooting.
EUROPE
Quote:A naked 9-year-old French boy was rescued after his twisted dad allegedly locked him in a van for nearly two years – with the horror uncovered when a neighbor reported chilling sounds coming from the vehicle.
French cops on Monday found the child curled in a “fetal position” under a blanket on a pile of trash near human waste after a neighbor reported “sounds of a child” coming from the van parked near their home in Hagenbach, close to the Swiss and German borders, according to local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz.
Heitz said the unidentified boy, now hospitalized, was severely malnourished and unable to walk after being kept seated since November 2024, when his father allegedly locked him away.
Authorities arrested the deranged father, who bizarrely claimed he imprisoned the child inside his utility van to “protect him,” claiming his partner wanted to send the then-7-year-old to a psychiatric hospital.
The boy – who was a good student with no history of psychiatric issues – told investigators he had “big difficulties” with his father’s partner and believed his dad “had no choice” but to lock him away, the Mulhouse Public prosecutor said.
The child also said he hadn’t taken a shower since 2024.
The father, who was not identified, has been hit with preliminary kidnapping charges and other offenses and remains in police custody.
The man’s partner claimed she had no knowledge the boy was trapped in the van, but was cuffed and slapped with preliminary charges, including failing to help a minor in danger, Heitz said.
Quote:Archaeologists have uncovered ancient skeletons beneath a school site in France — all buried in an unusual seated position.
The discovery was announced by Inrap, France’s national institution for preventive archaeology, in a press release in March.
The skeletons were found on the grounds of the Josephine Baker school complex in Dijon, roughly 195 miles southeast of Paris.
The campus serves students from preschool through elementary school.
The graves date to the Gallic period in France, a time when Celtic tribes known as the Gauls lived in the region.
The Gallic period lasted from the fifth century B.C. to 50 B.C., when Julius Caesar conquered the area.
Inrap first found similar Gallic burials at the site in 2024.
While excavators found 13 graves two years ago, they discovered “five to six” new graves during the most recent excavation — three of which formed a second, parallel line.
Pictures of the site show archaeologists working as sections of ground are carefully excavated into circular pits, with skeletons positioned inside.
Inrap said the new graves were “seated at the bottom of the pit, [their] backs against the eastern wall, facing west,” according to a translated release.
“Their arms rest along the torso, with hands near the pelvis or femurs,” the release described.
“Their legs are tightly flexed, often asymmetrically.”
Adding to the mystery, archaeologists found no personal items or grave offerings, other than a black stone armband dated to the third century B.C.
Archaeologists have released few details about the site, but noted that the graves found in 2024 showed “signs of unhealed violence.”
Quote:Conservationists are celebrating the birth of giant otter triplets at a UK zoo – bringing fresh hope that one of the world’s most endangered species can be saved from extinction.
The adorable trio of pups is the first of their kind to be born at Chester Zoo in several years as part of an international conservation effort to boost numbers.
Their arrival to first-time parents Bonita and Manu is being heralded as a rare boost for the endangered marine animals, with fewer than 5,000 thought to survive in the wild in South America.
The youngsters have remained tucked away in their cosy holt with mum feeding them regularly until they more than tripled in size and were able to enjoy their first swimming lessons.
Following their first health check-up with the zoo’s veterinary team, it has now revealed the sex of the pups to be two males and a female, with names yet to be chosen.
Rachael Boatwright, assistant team manager of carnivores at the zoo, said: “The arrival of these three giant otter pups is a hugely special moment and marks the first time the species has been born here in seven years.
“The pups recently had their very first health check-up at eight weeks old, where they were weighed and had their heart, teeth, and overall condition assessed by the zoo’s vets.
“We’re delighted to confirm that all three are healthy and thriving – and that we have two males and one female pup.
ASIA
Quote:North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday in its second launch event in two days, South Korea’s military said, hours after a senior North Korean official released crude insults against Seoul’s hopes for warmer relations.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles lifted off from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area and flew about 150 miles each in a direction toward the North’s eastern waters. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea under a solid military alliance with the United States.
Seoul later said North Korea fired an additional ballistic missile toward its eastern waters without giving further details.
The South Korean military said it had also detected the launch of an unidentified projectile around North Korea’s capital region Tuesday. It said South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing details of Tuesday’s launch.
South Korean media reported the previous projectile, also likely a ballistic missile, disappeared from South Korean military radars after displaying an abnormal development in the initial launch stage. This indicated the launch ended in a failure, according to the reports.
The back-to-back launches came after North Korea made it clear that it has no intentions of improving ties with South Korea, whose liberal government has steadfastly expressed its hopes to restore long-dormant dialogue.
On Tuesday night, Jang Kum Chol, first vice minister at Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, said South Korea would always remain the North’s “most hostile enemy state.” He derided South Korea as “world-startling fools” engaged in wishful thinking over a recent statement by Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
After South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over alleged civilian drone flights into North Korea, Kim Yo Jong late Monday praised him for what she called honesty and courage, but reiterated a threat to retaliate if such flights recur.
Quote:TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) – Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure against the island, even as Beijing presses a message of peace and cooperation in meetings with Taiwan’s opposition leader.
China’s tactics are all the more unnerving for the Taipei government, given the opposition continues to stymie a defense spending rise that Washington has pushed for. The buildup also comes at a time when the US is focused on the conflict in the Middle East and President Donald Trump is readying for a May meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.
“China is continuously and persistently expanding its military capabilities, and the military threat it poses to us is becoming increasingly severe,” Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told lawmakers on Thursday amid anger among the ruling party over the decision by members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to skip talks on stalled defense spending.
Taiwan has to show its determination to defend itself to the US and other like-minded partners, he added.
“But the most frightening scenario is — if all of our international allies were to question whether we have such resolve, what would we face? I cannot imagine it.”
China views Taiwan as one of its provinces and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
Two Taiwanese security officials told Reuters that China has deployed nearly 100 naval and coast guard vessels in and around the South and East China Seas this week. One official said China usually deploys around 50-60 ships in the region, so the increase in the past weeks was “very rare,” especially because this time of year is not usually busy for Chinese naval drills.
A second highlighted the timing of the increased presence, coming with Washington focused on Iran, and as Taiwan’s opposition leader visits China.
Meeting KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, Xi said people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait want peace and cooperation, but added China will “absolutely not tolerate” independence for Taiwan.
The KMT says there is “no connection whatsoever” between Cheng’s trip and government defense spending plans.
A ‘NEW NORMAL’ FROM CHINA?
China’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The number of vessels was corroborated by separate intelligence reports reviewed by Reuters, which showed a notable increase in Chinese vessels over the last few weeks, from nearly 70 at the end of March to nearly 100 this week.
"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
