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Portuguese food is both unique and diverse. There is something for every palate on the menu, with offerings for seafood fans and meat lovers. 

Portuguese cuisine is full of bold flavors. Many Portuguese recipes call for potatoes, garlic, onions and rice. 

If you don't have a trip to Portugal in the books, no worries. Portuguese food is made in restaurants and bakeries all around the United States. 

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If you're feeling up to the task, you can also create popular Portuguese dishes right in your own kitchen. 

Below are a few popular bites to try. 

Bacalhau, or salted cod, is one of the most popular foods in Portugal. 

Bacalhau à brás is one way the fish is served. 

Shredded cod is used in bacalhau à brás, and is mixed with chopped onion, fried potatoes, thinly chopped and scrambled egg, according to Food & Wine. 

This dish is traditionally topped with parsley and olives.

Another popular seafood dish in Portugal is polvo à lagareiro, which is octopus with olive oil and potatoes. 

This dish is a simple one, but the challenge comes with cooking the octopus to perfection. 

The ideal texture is soft, rather than rubbery, according to Portugal.com. 

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In this dish, the octopus is baked with olive oil and plenty of garlic, served with smashed, seasoned potatoes on the side. 

Arroz de pato, or duck rice, is another dish made with few ingredients but is still packed with flavor. 

The shredded duck in this dish is served over rice alongside Chouriço, Portuguese sausage.

When making this dish at home, don't dump the stock from the duck. You can use it to add flavor to your rice. 

Arroz de pato is typically served on special occasions like Sunday dinner or holidays like Christmas and New Year's.

Sardinhas assadas, grilled sardines, may look a bit intimidating to first-timers, but it's a beloved Portuguese dish. 

The dish can be found in Portugal year round, but it is especially popular in Lisbon during the Feast of St. Anthony, Food & Wine notes. 

The sardines are grilled after being marinaded in olive oil, lemon, garlic and other seasonings. 

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The grilled sardines are often served on a piece of toasted bread. 

If you love seafood, this dish is packed with it. 

This stew is made with an abundance of seafood, including fresh fish, clams and shrimp. 

White wine, olive oil, potatoes, onion, garlic and tomatoes are other prominent ingredients in the popular dish. 

Closing out the list is a delicious sweet treat.

This pastry has a flaky outside with a sweet custard in the center. 

The custard is made using milk, cornstarch, vanilla bean, sugar and egg yolks, according to All Recipes. 

A sprinkle of cinnamon often tops the pastry, and it is commonly paired with a cup of coffee. 

Harrowing new video released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shows the condition of the tunnels in which the troops found six hostages who had been executed by Hamas terrorists last month.

"We have also distributed this footage in English, and I have briefed the international media, so that the whole world can see and remember the evil of Hamas and understand the cruelty with which it treats the hostages," IDF Spokesperson RADM. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing earlier this week. 

"Even at this moment, our hearts are first and foremost with the families of the hostages, and we share in their immense grief and sorrow," Hagari added. "We continue and will continue to exert every effort, every effort to bring the hostages home alive, and as quickly as possible."

The IDF in late-August retrieved six bodies of deceased Israeli hostages in a rescue operation. The bodies included that of American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had made numerous public appeals for his safe return, including speeches at the Democratic National Convention. 

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Goldberg-Polin, along with Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat and Almog Sarusi, were executed by Hamas terrorists on Aug. 29 before Israeli forces reached them, the IDF reported. 

The new footage shows Hagari as he moves through the tunnels, showing how cramped, dark and terrifying the entire scene truly was. The passageway runs under Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood. 

The footage reveals garbage littered throughout the tunnel, as well as scattered clothing and some bloodstains. The troops also found several weeks' worth of food and equipment they believe the Hamas terrorists had used to survive along with the hostages.

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The tunnel, located about 60 feet underground, runs approximately 400 feet and is not tall enough to stand upright without bending over, according to The Times of Israel. 

Israeli forces would go on to destroy a reported eight miles of underground routes and have neutralized roughly 80% of all Hamas tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, the IDF said this week. 

"We are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the murder as thoroughly as possible," Hagari said. "Once the investigation is complete, we will firstly, firstly present the findings to the families and then to the public."

"The troops operating in the field acted responsibly and cautiously, above and below ground," Hagari continued. "In recent weeks, they have eliminated many terrorists above ground, including the commander of the Tel al-Sultan Battalion and the chain of command of the battalion.

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"We did not have intelligence information that would allow us to carry out a hostage rescue operation, and we did not know the precise location of the hostages in the tunnel that was located," Hagari added. "They were murdered before we reached the location."

Hagari also mentioned that the IDF has initiated an investigation into how the names of the six hostages leaked before they were recovered from the tunnel, calling the breach "a very serious incident that firstly hurt the families . . . and also compromised the security of the troops operating in the field." 

Israeli forces continue to conduct operations in the Tel al-Sultan area, located in the south-western portion of Gaza and just north of the Philadelphi Corridor, where tunnels continue to be located and destroyed. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report. 

LONDON - Britain is facing a free speech crisis as the new left-wing government, overzealous police and courts crackdown on freedom of expression. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the leader of the ruling Labour Party, and his government of barely two months have been accused of rolling back free speech protections on safety grounds and failing to root out selective enforcement of laws.

"Every Brit fundamentally has the right to free speech, but for several years now, we’ve seen a growing trend," Lois McLatchie Miller, Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) U.K., told Fox News Digital. "It’s only now becoming widely recognized that certain groups, depending on their beliefs, seem to have their free speech curtailed much more easily than others with different viewpoints."

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Widespread riots in the streets of England last month and a heavy-handed approach in response to the social unrest reignited the debate about free speech. 

The U.K. has been grappling with harsh policing of online speech for years. In 2019, ex-police officer Harry Miller was investigated over social media posts deemed transphobic for questioning whether transgender women were real women. Miller’s posts were recorded by the police as a "non-crime hate incident," prompting him to challenge the designation in court. In 2020, the U.K. court ruled in Miller’s favor but stopped short of changing the guidelines that allow police to pursue people over comments made online.

During a speech to parliament, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage complained of the double standards in applying the law evenly. Farage wrote on X "Establishment MPs can heckle me all they like, but the British people are angry that we are living through a two-tier policing and justice system."

Last month, the government issued a direct reminder of such laws and warned its citizens to be mindful of posting content deemed offensive and threatening with imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service posted a warning to social media platform X, which was amplified by the government’s official social media accounts, warning citizens, "Think before you post!"

"Content that incites violence or hatred isn't just harmful – it can be illegal," the agency wrote. "The CPS takes online violence seriously and will prosecute when the legal test is met. Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences." The post added: "The British government is cracking down on people who share social media posts about the U.K. riots that it judges are 'likely to start racial hatred.'"

The government simultaneously began working on measures to force social media companies to suppress perceived "fake news" and legal content deemed harmful, to avoid fueling social unrest. The new measures would expand the scope of Britain’s Online Safety Act by targeting and making social media companies liable for "legal but harmful" content.

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan encouraged the Stammer government to swiftly implement changes to the online safety law, saying that currently, "it’s not fit for purpose."

"I think very swiftly the government has realized there needs to be amendments to the Online Safety Act," Khan said in an interview with the Guardian. "I think what the government should do very quickly is check if it is fit for purpose. I think it’s not fit for purpose."

But concerns over free speech in the U.K. extend beyond online, with double standards applied to different viewpoints and political protests.

Last weekend, two pro-Israel counter-protesters, Mark Birbeck and Niyak Ghorbani, carrying a "Hamas is terrorist" sign, were arrested during the pro-Hamas march in London on suspicion of breach of peace. The counter-protesters’ presence allegedly led to the march being paused, and they were arrested following a struggle with police officers. 

Ghorbani is a well-known anti-Hamas Iranian dissident whom London’s Metropolitan Police tried to ban from attending future anti-Israel protests as part of his bail conditions after he was arrested for opposing the protests. A court rebuked the force and ruled in April that such bail conditions were neither proportionate nor necessary. The moniker ‘Two-tier Kier’ is how some on social media have responded to the new prime minister's policies. 

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"On one hand, we see groups like environmental protesters, such as Stop Oil activists, or pro-Palestinian, and even in some cases, pro-Hamas protesters being given a wide berth to express their beliefs, sometimes using very violent language," Lois said. "Yet, when we consider different types of protests, for example, Christians going out to pray near places of worship, they often face much stricter restrictions."

For example, Dia Moodley, a Christian pastor who occasionally engages in street evangelism, was forced to sue the local police after the force forbade him from "passing comments on any other religion or comparing them to Christianity" and "passing comments on beliefs held by Atheists or those who believe in evolution." Moodley won in court earlier this year, and the police admitted that the restrictions on free speech imposed on Moodley were "disproportionate."

Adam Smith-Connor, a Christian military veteran, meanwhile, is set to appear in court next week after being fined and criminally prosecuted over praying silently near an abortion facility. Local authorities alleged that Smith-Connor’s silent prayer violated the so-called "buffer zone," a designated area where individuals are allowed to express approval or disapproval of abortion.

"Silent prayer is not, and can never be, a crime. Yet, the prosecution of Adam Smith-Connor – who served in Afghanistan to uphold fundamental freedoms for everyone – shows an authoritarian move towards ‘thought-policing’ in the U.K. This isn't 1984, but 2024. And yet, the determination of the state to clamp down hard on even silent Christian beliefs – while protecting the free expression of others with different views – is clearly exposed," said McLatchie Miller.

Yet, there is a growing backlash against the government’s anti-free speech stance, particularly the decision to pause the implementation and potentially scrap entirely the free speech law in higher education over safety concerns. 

Over 600 academics and intellectuals, including seven Nobel laureates, signed a letter urging the government to reconsider the decision to shelve the law, the Times of London reported. The law was a flagship policy passed by the previous Conservative government to protect students' and academics’ free speech rights on campus.

"The decision to halt [the act] appears to reflect the view, widespread among opponents, that there is no ‘free speech problem’ in U.K. universities. Nothing could be more false. Hundreds of academics and students have been hounded, censured, silenced or even sacked over the last 20 years for the expression of legal opinions," the letter read.

Five years ago, 30-year-old Sam Goodwin entered Syria from Iraq as part of a years-long quest to visit every country in the world. 

His visit to war-torn Syria, country 181 of 193 for the St. Louis native, would be quick. Goodwin stayed in Qamishli, a city on the Turkey-Syria border, which he believed was under the control of the U.S.-backed Kurds.

After checking into the Asia Hotel and grabbing a bite to eat, he waited until it was time to meet the friend of a local fixer who would show him around northeastern Syria.

As he was walking down the street to meet his guide at a nearby restaurant, Goodwin decided to call his mother, Ann, on FaceTime near a statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad - the late father of Bashar al-Assad, the country’s current president - to show her some of the landscape. 

A man in a military uniform called out to him, and instinctively, Goodwin explained that he wasn’t taking pictures; he was simply speaking with his mother. 

That was the last thing Ann heard before the phone shut off, and it would be the last conversation she’d have with her son until his release from Syria’s prison system 62 days later.

Goodwin spoke with Fox News Digital ahead of the release of his book "Saving Sam The True Story of an American's Disappearance in Syria and His Family's Extraordinary Fight to Bring Him Home."

"I was taken into the basement of a facility that I now know is called Syria's Military Intelligence [Branch] number 215, a facility notoriously known for housing political prisoners, and I was held here in solitary confinement for 27 days. The only human interaction I had was for a few seconds in the morning and evening when the guards brought bread and boiled potatoes and water," he said.

Goodwin, a former Division I collegiate hockey player, told Fox News Digital he had leaned on a number of things, including his Catholic faith and his world travels, to help him get through his imprisonment in Branch 215 and Adra Prison.

"I leaned on a belief that I had a purpose in life and a desire to see family and friends again. In that cell, though truly at rock bottom, I found strength by leaning into gratitude, which is a bit paradoxical, controlling the things that I could control and recognizing that this uncertain time is an opportunity for growth," he explained. "And that's what I learned, and that's what I try to communicate today, having been put in a tough situation."

He added that he doesn’t have much information as to why he was detained and is still looking for answers. 

"Northeast Syria is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces by and large, but there are still a few Assad regime presences that are there," said Andrew Tabler, the Martin J. Gross senior fellow at the Washington Institute.

"Those are areas that you want to steer clear of, because if you get stopped at those checkpoints, and you're an American citizen, you could be detained for a variety of reasons."

Goodwin said he was blindfolded and interrogated for hours by a man who spoke perfect English. The man threatened to hand him over to ISIS if he would not confess to being a spy.

On his 27th day in solitary confinement, Goodwin was transferred to another large prison building before being taken to Adra, a prison on the outskirts of Damascus, a few days later.

"The other inmates at Adra became friends. We cooked and shared food together. They taught me Arabic. I taught them English. There was a prison basketball court, and I taught several of them how to play knockout. One of them even smuggled a note out of the prison on my behalf, a note that successfully navigated a game of geopolitical telephone and made it to my father back here in the United States. These men truly risked their [lives] to help save mine and were this remarkable display of humanity," he recalled.

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"These men reinforced some of the most significant things that I've learned through my travels. For example, never judge people by the actions of their government. I have learned that people who have the least often give the most. Something I found to be true in all corners of the world."

"I'll never forget, about two weeks into that second month, one of the inmates came to me and I said to him, I said, everybody here is being so nice to me. . . . And he said to me, Sam, in Syria, all the good people are here in prison, because all the bad people are outside putting us in here. And that was a very sobering comment to hear," he continued.

Goodwin's family worked with the FBI, the CIA, the State Department, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Vatican envoys, Middle East experts and more to bring him home. 

The family even wrote a letter to Pope Francis, asking him to help with efforts to secure their son’s release. 

Joseph Abbas, the uncle of Goodwin’s sister’s friend and former college roommate, reached out to an old friend - General Abbas Ibrahim - who was appointed as the head of Lebanon’s General Security Directorate in 2011, to help with the case.

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General Ibrahim traveled to Syria and met with Ali Mamlouk, a close security aide and adviser to President Assad, to explain that Goodwin wasn’t a spy; he was simply a tourist.

After months of prayers, meetings and phone calls, Goodwin’s release had been secured, and he was driven to Lebanon, where he saw his parents, who had flown in to meet him, for the first time in two months.

"The true heroes of this story are my family. The fact that they were able to reach a head of state on the other side of the world in seemingly several different ways is extraordinary, and it's humbling. And I'm still struggling to figure out how to characterize the way that I feel about that," he told Fox News Digital. 

"On one hand, I think it's an unforgettable story that includes a travel journey to every country in the world, high-stakes diplomacy, heads of state, celebrities. But on the other hand, and I think more importantly, it's also about what we all learn through this experience."

Three American citizens have been sentenced to death in Congo after being convicted on charges of participating in a coup attempt, with one telling a court that his father — who led the failed effort — "had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders." 

A lawyer representing 21-year-olds Marcel Malanga and Tyler Thompson Jr. and 36-year-old Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, is now planning to appeal the verdict following the botched attack orchestrated by Malanga’s father, Christian Malanga, in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. 

"We have seen that a military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced a number of defendants, including U.S. citizens, to death for alleged involvement in the May 19th attacks against the government," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Friday. "We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court's decision. Embassy staff have been attending these proceedings ... We'll continue to attend the proceedings and follow the developments closely." 

When asked if he thought the court process was fair, Miller responded, "I don't want to pass judgment on the proceedings so far, because we are still in the middle of the legal process." 

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Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt, including Christian Malanga, who was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said. 

Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, told a court during the case that his father had forced him and his high school friend to take part in the attack, according to The Associated Press. 

"Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders," Marcel Malanga reportedly said. 

Other members of the ragtag militia recounted similar threats from the elder Malanga, and some described being duped into believing they were working for a volunteer organization, the AP adds. Marcel's mother, Brittney Sawyer, maintains that her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile. 

FLASHBACK: CONGO HASN’T ALLOWED US ACCESS TO AMERICANS ARRESTED IN COUP ATTEMPT, EMBASSY SAYS 

Thompson Jr. flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a free vacation, and Zalman-Polun is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company. 

Thompson’s family says he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism and didn’t even plan to enter Congo. He and the Malangas were meant to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, told the AP. 

"We urge all who have supported Tyler and the family throughout this process to write to your congressmen and request their assistance in bringing him home," their lawyer in Utah, Skye Lazaro, said to the news agency, adding that the family is heartbroken over the verdict. 

Sen. Mike Lee and a spokesperson for Sen. Mitt Romney said they are both engaged with the State Department over the matter. 

In addition to the three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian were sentenced to death after being convicted of participating in the plot, along with 27 others. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday a raid which resulted in the death of 14 ISIS terror operatives in Western Iraq.

Of the 14 operatives, four were ISIS leaders: Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, Abu Hammam, Abu-‘Ali al-Tunisi, and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi.

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The raid occurred on August 29 and was conducted in partnership with Iraqi Security Forces.

According to CENTCOM, the responsibilities of the four ISIS leaders who were killed involved military and technical operations in Iraq.

"This operation targeted ISIS leaders and served to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond," read CENTCOM's statement.

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ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, "is a Salafi-jihadist group that has conducted and inspired terrorist attacks worldwide, resulting in thousands killed or injured" according to the Department of National Intelligence.

ISIS' current leader is Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took the role in February 2022.

"CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS, who continues to threaten the United States, our allies and partners, and regional stability," said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, Commander, U.S. Central Command.

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CENTCOM did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

A long-term study of Havana Syndrome patients was shut down after a National Institute of Health (NIH) internal review board found participants who reported being pressured to join the research. The study had until now not found evidence linking the participants to the same symptoms and brain injuries. The internal investigation that halted the study was prompted by complaints from the participants about unethical practices.

This comes after the intelligence community released an interim report last year concluding a foreign adversary is "very unlikely" to be behind the symptoms hundreds of U.S. intelligence officers are experiencing, despite qualifying for U.S. government funded treatment of their brain injuries. 

In a statement to Fox News an NIH spokesperson stated, "In March 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiated an investigation in response to concerns from participants who were evaluated as part of a study on Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI), the results of which were published in the journal JAMA. The investigation was conducted by the NIH Office of Intramural Research and the NIH Research Compliance Review Committee, an Institutional Review Board (IRB) within the NIH. The NIH investigation found that regulatory and NIH policy requirements for informed consent were not met due to coercion, although not on the part of NIH researchers."

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The statement continued, "Given the role of voluntary consent as a fundamental pillar of the ethical conduct of research, NIH has stopped the study out of an abundance of caution. In NIH’s assessment, these investigative findings do not impact the conclusions of the study. NIH has shared this update with both participants and JAMA."

A former CIA officer, who goes by Adam to protect his identity, was not shocked that the study was shut down.

"The way the study was conducted, at best, was dishonest and, at worst, wades into the criminal side of the scale," Adam said.

Adam is Havana Syndrome's Patient Zero because he was the first to experience the severe sensory phenomena that hundreds of other U.S. government workers have experienced while stationed overseas in places like Havana and Moscow, even China. Adam described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.

STUDENTS FROM WAR-TORN COUNTRIES FIND SAFE HAVEN IN THE US, COMPETE IN A NATIONAL ROCKETRY COMPETITION

Active-duty service members, spies, FBI agents, diplomats and even children and pets have experienced this debilitating sensation that patients believe is caused by a pulsed energy weapon. 334 Americans have qualified to get treatment for Havana Syndrome in specialized military health facilities, according to a study released by the U.S. government accountability office earlier this year.

Adam, who was first attacked in December 2016 in his bedroom in Havana described hearing a loud sound penetrating his room. "Kind of like someone was taking a pencil and bouncing it off your eardrum… Eventually I started blacking out," Adam said.

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS RESHAPING MODERN WARFARE

Patients, like Adam, who participated in the NIH study raised concerns the CIA was including patients who didn't really qualify as Havana Syndrome patients, watering down the data being analyzed by NIH researchers. Meanwhile, also pressuring those who needed treatment at Walter Reed to participate in the NIH study in order to get treatment at Walter Reed.

"It became pretty clear quite quickly that something was amiss and how it was being handled and how patients were being filtered… the CIA dictated who would go. NIH often complained to us behind the scenes that the CIA was not providing adequate, matched control groups, and they flooded in a whole litany of people that likely weren't connected or had other medical issues that really muddied the water," Adam said, accusing the NIH of working with the CIA.

The CIA is cooperating.

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"We cannot comment on whether any CIA officers participated in the study. However, we take any claim of coercion, or perceived coercion, extremely seriously and fully cooperated with NIH’s review of this matter, and have offered access to any information requested," a CIA official told Fox News in a statement noting that the "CIA Inspector General has been made aware of the NIH findings and prior related allegations." 

Havana Syndrome victims now want to pressure the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to retract the two articles published last spring using early data from the NIH study that concluded there were no significant MRI-detectable evidence of brain injury among the group of participants compared with a group of matched control participants.

A long-term study of Havana Syndrome patients was shut down after a National Institute of Health (NIH) internal review board found the mishandling of medical data and participants who reported being pressured to join the research. The study had until now not found evidence linking the participants to the same symptoms and brain injuries. The internal investigation that halted the study was prompted by complaints from the participants about unethical practices.

This comes after the intelligence community released an interim report last year concluding a foreign adversary is "very unlikely" to be behind the symptoms hundreds of U.S. intelligence officers are experiencing, despite qualifying for U.S. government funded treatment of their brain injuries. 

ROCKETS LAUNCHED AT US FORCES STATIONED AT AIN AL-ASAD AIRBASE IN IRAQ

"The NIH investigation found that regulatory and NIH policy requirements for informed consent were not met due to coercion, although not on the part of NIH researchers," an NIH spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News.

A former CIA officer, who goes by Adam to protect his identity, was not shocked that the study was shut down.

"The way the study was conducted, at best, was dishonest and, at worst, wades into the criminal side of the scale," Adam said.

Adam is Havana Syndrome's Patient Zero because he was the first to experience the severe sensory phenomena that hundreds of other U.S. government workers have experienced while stationed overseas in places like Havana and Moscow, even China. Adam described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.

STUDENTS FROM WAR-TORN COUNTRIES FIND SAFE HAVEN IN THE US, COMPETE IN A NATIONAL ROCKETRY COMPETITION

Active-duty service members, spies, FBI agents, diplomats and even children and pets have experienced this debilitating sensation that patients believe is caused by a pulsed energy weapon. 334 Americans have qualified to get treatment for Havana Syndrome in specialized military health facilities, according to a study released by the U.S. government accountability office earlier this year.

Adam, who was first attacked in December 2016 in his bedroom in Havana described hearing a loud sound penetrating his room. "Kind of like someone was taking a pencil and bouncing it off your eardrum… Eventually I started blacking out," Adam said.

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS RESHAPING MODERN WARFARE

Patients, like Adam, who participated in the NIH study raised concerns the CIA was including patients who didn't really qualify as Havana Syndrome patients, watering down the data being analyzed by NIH researchers. Meanwhile, also pressuring those who needed treatment at Walter Reed to participate in the NIH study in order to get treatment at Walter Reed.

"It became pretty clear quite quickly that something was amiss and how it was being handled and how patients were being filtered… the CIA dictated who would go. NIH often complained to us behind the scenes that the CIA was not providing adequate, matched control groups, and they flooded in a whole litany of people that likely weren't connected or had other medical issues that really muddied the water," Adam said, accusing the NIH of working with the CIA.

The CIA is cooperating.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"We cannot comment on whether any CIA officers participated in the study. However, we take any claim of coercion, or perceived coercion, extremely seriously and fully cooperated with NIH’s review of this matter, and have offered access to any information requested," a CIA official told Fox News in a statement noting that the "CIA Inspector General has been made aware of the NIH findings and prior related allegations." 

Havana Syndrome victims now want to pressure the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to retract the two articles published last spring using early data from the NIH study that concluded there were no significant MRI-detectable evidence of brain injury among the group of participants compared with a group of matched control participants.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday said its troops had "dismantled" Hamas' Rafah brigade on the Philadelphi Corridor as they look to eliminate cross-border tunnels into Egypt. 

In a press release the IDF said its troops in the 162nd Division had conducted "precise, intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area over the last few months" and "eliminated over 2,000 terrorists."

Israeli forces destroyed a reported 8 miles of underground routes and have neutralized roughly 80% of all Hamas' tunnels on the strategic security corridor, which runs alongside the border with Egypt. 

HEZBOLLAH RELIES ON 'SOPHISTICATED' TUNNEL SYSTEM BACKED BY IRAN, NORTH KOREA IN FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL

The Rafah brigade was considered one of Hamas’ last remaining strongholds, according to the Times of Israel.

Israeli forces continue to conduct operations in the Tel al-Sultan area, located in the south-western portion of Gaza and just north of the Philadelphi Corridor, where tunnels continue to be located and destroyed. 

The IDF said that during an operation in the Tel A-Sultan area, first launched a couple of weeks ago, Commander of the Tel al-Sultan Battalion Mahmoud Hamdan had been killed along with 250 other Hamas terrorists. 

The Philadelphi Corridor has become a major point of contention as the U.S. looks to establish a cease-fire agreement with the aid of Qatar and Egypt, between Israel and Hamas. 

IRAN THREATENS 'NIGHTMARE' FOR ISRAEL AS UN WATCHDOG WARNS TEHRAN NUCLEAR PROGRAMS RUNS UNCHECKED

But any negotiations appear to have reached an impasse as Hamas has suggested that it will not agree to any cease-fire terms so long as Israeli forces remain in the security corridor in Gaza. Similarly, Jerusalem has rejected any calls for it to vacate the corridor, citing security concerns stemming from not only existing Hamas terrorists in Gaza, but also threats posed from the Sinai Peninsula. 

Securing the release of all hostages taken by the Hamas terrorist group also remains a top issue for Israel, as officials like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned that there are mounting concerns that hostages could be smuggled out of Gaza through the Sinai Peninsula and into the hands of the Iranians. 

Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division, told the Times of Israel that his troops had located 203 separate but interconnected tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor, nine of which crossed over the border with Egypt. 

The commander also noted that all nine tunnels had been made inoperable prior to the discovery by IDF soldiers, either by Egyptian or Hamas forces. 

The remaining tunnels that have not yet been destroyed are currently being investigated and will be neutralized once all searches of the tunnels are complete. 

Australian officials have proposed new laws targeting online disinformation, with critics slamming the measures as potential over-policing and a potential crackdown on "difference of opinion."

"Misinformation legislation introduced into federal parliament today represents a chilling assault on every Australian’s right to free speech. The new Bill broadens provisions to censor speech, which even the government’s fatally flawed first draft did not include," John Storey, the Director of Law and Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs, told Sky News. 

Storey called the proposed laws "the single biggest attack on freedom of speech in Australia’s peacetime history." 

Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduced the plan on Thursday, telling parliament that the laws aimed to combat misinformation and disinformation. Rowland labeled such issues a "serious threat" to the "safety and well-being" of Australia.

INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT UNDERWAY FOR MAN ACCUSED OF COMMITTING ‘MOST COWARDLY’ CRIME

The laws would penalize companies for enabling misinformation with fines of up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation, requiring tech companies to set codes of conduct specifically to tackle misinformation through an approved regulator. 

The laws would also introduce a punishment of up to seven years in jail for doxxing someone – the term for when an individual either publicly reveals private information about another person online or uses that information for exploitation – and parents can sue for "serious invasions of privacy" related to their children, The Guardian reported. 

The government scrapped a previous version of the laws after facing widespread condemnation, and the Free Speech Union of Australia argued that the new laws failed to address "key issues" raised from the first effort "despite the outpouring of public concern." 

JUDGE HANDS TRANSGENDER WOMAN WIN AGAINST FEMALE-ONLY APP IN LANDMARK CASE

The new laws have drawn similar ire from across the media landscape, with Elon Musk calling the Australian government "fascists" in a terse tweet about the topic. Labor Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones countered by calling Musk’s comment "crackpot stuff" and insisting that the issue was a matter of "sovereignty." 

"Whether it’s the Australian government or any other government around the world, we assert our right to pass laws which will keep Australians safe – safe from scammers, safe from criminals," Jones said in response.

Storey, in a statement released last year when the government made clear its intention to press on with developing these penalties for alleged misinformation, called the effort "disingenuous," arguing that the government sought to "conflate the protection of Australians … with the federal government’s plan to empower bureaucrats in Canberra with the right to determine what is the official truth." 

"The federal government is cravenly using heightened concerns about current tensions in parts of our community, and the fears of parents and others about harmful online content, as a trojan horse to push forward laws that will in practice impose political censorship," Storey said. 

‘HISTORIC BREAKTHROUGH’: US DITCHES DEFENSE TRADE RESTRICTIONS WITH TOP ALLIES TO COUNTER CHINA

Officials have argued that the country faces a foreign threat through the influence peddled through social media platforms, and they have concerns over how it will impact the upcoming federal election, due to be held within the next year, according to The Economic Times. 

However, the government did loosen its stance on a few measures, such as narrowing the scope of what will count as "verifiable … false, misleading or deceptive" information and "reasonably likely to cause harm," as well as excluding "reasonable dissemination of content for any academic, artistic, scientific or religious purpose."

The issue came into sharp focus during the referendum on the Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, which would have altered the Australian Constitution to recognize Indigenous Australians in the document. The measure ultimately failed, but the noise around the vote included alleged spread of misinformation that posed a significant concern for officials. 

One example included the claim that the body developing the referendum would be able to seize property or land, should it pass, or that people would need to pay rent to Indigenous people if the measure were to pass, The New York Times reported. 

Just under 50 Ukrainian soldiers were released into their nation's custody in a prisoner swap with Russia this week.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the latest swap on Friday, stating that 49 Ukrainians were brought home via the swap mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

"Another return of our people — something we always wait for and work tirelessly to achieve," the Ukrainian president said.

BIDEN ADMIN FACES MOUNTING PRESSURE TO ALLOW UKRAINE TO STRIKE INSIDER RUSSIA WITH US MISSILES

Zelenskyy specifically thanked the Ukrainian military units responsible for the continued capture of Russian soldiers, stating that these victories are what allowed the nation to demand swaps.

"All our warriors who capture Russian occupiers, and all our services that neutralize Russian saboteurs and collaborators, bring closer the liberation of our people," Zelenskyy said. "We must bring home every single one of our people, both military and civilian."

Prisoners released this week included both military personnel and civilians. It was the second swap since Ukraine began taking territory in the Kursk region of Russia, where most of their own prisoners are captured.

DONALD TRUMP CLAIMS THAT UKRAINE WAR IS 'DYING TO BE SETTLED': WE'RE PLAYING WITH WORLD WAR III'

Neither Ukraine nor Russia have acknowledged how many captured Russians were traded for the 49 Ukrainian prisoners.

The citizens' release comes as Ukraine begs the United States for clearance to fire American missiles into Moscow.

President Biden is facing mounting pressure to lift the ban on Ukraine using U.S. weapons to strike deep inside Russia and appeared to admit on Tuesday that his administration is moving in that direction.

"We’re working that out right now," he said when asked by reporters whether he would allow Ukraine to use the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to target sites inside Russia. Support for lifting the ban has come from all sides.

A group of high-level House Republicans wrote to the president this week arguing that such restrictions "have hampered Ukraine’s ability to defeat Russia’s war of aggression and have given the Kremlin’s forces a sanctuary from which it can attack Ukraine with impunity."

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Iran is enlisting members of the Hells Angels biker gang and other criminal enterprises as part of their efforts to attack and silence dissidents living in Europe and on American soil, a new report has revealed. 

The shadowy operations being orchestrated by high-level units within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Ministry of Intelligence have targeted a former Iranian military officer living in Maryland, an Iranian-American activist and journalist based in New York City and an exiled reporter in London, according to The Washington Post. 

"We’re not dealing with the usual suspects," Matt Jukes, who is the head of counterterrorism policing in the United Kingdom, told the newspaper. "What we’ve got is a hostile state actor that sees the battlefield as being without border and individuals in London every bit as legitimate as targets as if [they were] in Iran." 

The report cites data from the Washington Institute linking Iran to 88 violent plots over the last five years, including assassination and abduction attempts. Officials in the U.K. reportedly have tracked more than 16 plots alone over the last two years. 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PREPARING CRIMINAL CHARGES IN IRAN HACK TARGETING TRUMP 

In one of the plots, Naji Sharifi Zindashti, an alleged Iran-based heroin trafficking kingpin, worked out a $350,000 contract with two Hells Angels biker gang members in Canada to kill an Iranian defector and his wife who had been living under different identities in Maryland. 

Citing a U.S. indictment earlier this year, The Washington Post reports that one of the biker gang members told the other through encrypted messaging to "make sure I hit this guy in the head with ATLEAST half the clip," and that "we gotta erase his head from his torso." 

U.S. officials reportedly described the defector as a former-IRGC officer turned informant for the CIA. 

Court records identified one of the Hells Angels members as Damion Ryan, 43, who has a criminal record in Canada and has gone by the aliases of "Berserker" and "Mr. Wolf," while the other was 29-year-old Adam Pearson, who fled Canada for Minneapolis to escape murder charges, according to The Washington Post. 

An indictment viewed by the newspaper stated the pair signed onto the plot in March 2021 and received an initial $20,000 payment to cover travel expenses. However, the plot ultimately fizzled out the same month Belgian and Dutch security forces cracked the encrypted messaging service that they were using to communicate and arrested dozens of alleged drug traffickers in Europe, including other Hells Angels members, the newspaper adds. 

JOURNALIST MASIH ALINEJAD DETAILS IRAN’S ALLEGED PLOT TO KILL HER 

Pearson reportedly then was arrested by FBI agents in Minnesota and sent back to Canada, while Ryan was busted in Ottawa in February 2022 during a home raid that allegedly uncovered a cache of weapons and nearly $100,000 in cash. 

In another plot traced back to the Hells Angels, Iran employed a member of the gang to bomb a synagogue in Essen, Germany, the newspaper says. 

Then in March this year, exiled Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati – who runs the London-based Iran International news channel, which is banned in Iran – was stabbed four times outside his home in the capital of the U.K., despite extensive efforts by police to protect him, The Washington Post reports. 

BLINKEN CONFIRMS IRAN SUPPLYING RUSSIA WITH SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES 

That ambush allegedly was carried out by hired criminals who then cleared airport security checks and fled to Eastern Europe, where they have been identified but remain free, the newspaper says. 

Last year, the Justice Department also charged three men in an Iran-backed kidnapping and assassination plot against Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who was targeted in New York City for speaking out against the regime’s human rights abuses. 

A gunman who showed up at her home in Brooklyn in July 2022 was part of a Russian mob network and criminal organization called "Thieves in Law," according to The Washington Post. 

Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the country having any involvement in the plots, telling the newspaper "The Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intent nor the plan to engage in assassination or abduction operations, whether in the West or any other country." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week issued an ominous warning against the U.S. and its NATO allies and said they risk being "at war" with Moscow if Ukraine is allowed to use long-range weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. and NATO for months to remove any and all restrictions they have on Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons and permit it to hit military targets deep in Russia. 

But Putin on Thursday drew a red line and said, "This will mean that NATO countries, the U.S. and European countries are at war with Russia." 

BIDEN ADMIN FACES MOUNTING PRESSURE TO ALLOW UKRAINE TO STRIKE INSIDE RUSSIA WITH US MISSILES

"And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us," he added, according to a translation posted by NBC News. 

The comments were issued one day ahead of talks at the White House where President Biden will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss lifting the current strike bans on Friday.

Putin did not lay out what actions Russia would take against the West should Washington and London lift their strike restrictions, but the Kremlin chief has long relied on escalated rhetoric in his war strategy to deter Western aid for Ukraine. 

Since the onslaught of the war, Putin has warned NATO against supplying Kyiv with lethal aid, and at nearly every step of the way he has warned the war could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders – a strategy that one expert says has achieved its intended effect on Washington. 

UKRAINE HITS MOSCOW IN LARGEST DRONE STRIKE SINCE WAR BEGAN

"Putin's war in Ukraine has been a massive failure – hundreds of thousands of casualties, a brain drain, a million Russians have fled, Sweden and Finland are now NATO members, the list goes on," former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital. "The only thing he succeeded at is rhetorical nuclear brinkmanship and other threats, trying to induce the Biden administration not to give Ukraine what they need, when they need it, to defend themselves."

Hoffman said Putin’s remarks were likely tailored to President Biden and his administration, which has repeatedly been slow to send Ukraine sorely needed defense equipment like tanks, F-16s and long-range ATACMS missiles before then reversing course and eventually agreeing to send the top weaponry.

"He makes these threats because he knows they work," Hoffman argued. "We shouldn't be micromanaging how [Ukrainians] conduct their war. 

"Just give them the weapons. They have every lawful right to defend themselves," he added. 

Defense officials on both sides of the aisle have argued it behooves the U.S. and NATO to arm Kyiv in its war against Russia, as many believe Putin will not stop with his deadly ambitions in Europe if he gains a win in Ukraine. 

It remains to be seen whether Putin will actually escalate the war beyond Russia and Ukraine’s borders, should Biden and Starmer agree on Friday to lift strike bans. 

Though White House national security communications advisor John Kirby told reporters Friday not to expect any announcement regarding the strike bans. 

"I wouldn't be looking for an announcement today, about the long range strike capabilities," he said. "There's no change to our policy with respect to that."

Russian officials have been drawing "red lines" since 2022, along with issuing warnings that the U.S. would become "a party to the conflict" by providing Ukraine with defensive aid. 

Starmer responded to Putin’s apparent threat while aboard his flight to D.C. on Thursday and told a reporter for The Guardian, "Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defense."

Police in London have arrested and charged two men with burglary after the well-known Banksy artwork "Girl with Balloon" was swiped during a smash-and-grab raid at a gallery. 

Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, remain in police custody Friday following the incident at the Grove Gallery that unfolded around 11 p.m. Sunday night, according to the Metropolitan Police. 

"A Banksy painting entitled 'Girl with Balloon' was the only item stolen. This has now been recovered and will be returned to the gallery," police said in a statement. 

Surveillance camera footage showed a masked man smashing a glass door before dashing in and taking the picture from a wall. The artwork -- which is one of several versions of a stenciled image of a child reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon – is valued in court documents at $355,000, The Associated Press reports. 

WHO IS BANKSY? THE ENGLAND-BASED STREET ARTIST’S WORK IS WELL-KNOWN, BUT HIS IDENTITY IS A MYSTERY 

Originally stenciled on a wall in East London, the picture has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images. 

Another version partially self-destructed during a 2018 auction, passing through a shredder hidden in its frame just after it was purchased for $1.4 million at Sotheby’s. The self-shredded work, retitled "Love is in the Bin," sold for what was $25.4 million in 2021, according to the AP. 

FANS OF ELUSIVE ARTIST BELIEVE BANKSY HAS COMPLETED WEEKLONG SERIES OF ARTWORK WITH GORILLA SILHOUETTE 

Bansky, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. 

Metropolitan Police say both suspects appeared in court on Thursday and will make another appearance on Oct. 9. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

China this week chose not to sign onto an international "blueprint" agreed to by some 60 nations, including the U.S., that looked to establish guardrails when employing artificial intelligence (AI) for military use. 

More than 90 nations attended the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit hosted in South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, though roughly a third of the attendees did not support the nonbinding proposal.

AI expert Arthur Herman, senior fellow and director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative with the Hudson Institute, told Fox News Digital that the fact some 30 nations opted out of this important development in the race to develop AI is not necessarily cause for concern, though in Beijing’s case it is likely because of its general opposition to signing multilateral agreements.

MASTERING 'THE ART OF BRAINWASHING,' CHINA INTENSIFIES AI CENSORSHIP

"What it boils down to … is China is always wary of any kind of international agreement in which it has not been the architect or involved in creating and organizing how that agreement is going to be shaped and implemented," he said. "I think the Chinese see all of these efforts, all of these multilateral endeavors, as ways in which to try and constrain and limit China's ability to use AI to enhance its military edge."

Herman explained that the summit, and the blueprint agreed to by some five dozen nations, is an attempt to safeguard the expanding technology surrounding AI by ensuring there is always "human control" over the systems in place, particularly as it relates to military and defense matters.

"The algorithms that drive defense systems and weapons systems depend a lot on how fast they can go," he said. "[They] move quickly to gather information and data that you then can speed back to command and control so they can then make the decision.

"The speed with which AI moves … that's hugely important on the battlefield," he added. "If the decision that the AI-driven system is making involves taking a human life, then you want it to be one in which it's a human being that makes the final call about a decision of that sort."

Nations leading in AI development, like the U.S., have said maintaining a human element in serious battlefield decisions is hugely important to avoid mistaken casualties and prevent a machine-driven conflict.

ARMY PUSHES 2 NEW STRATEGIES TO SAFEGUARD TROOPS UNDER 500-DAY AI IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The summit, which was co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom, was the second of its kind after more than 60 nations attended the first meeting last year held in the Dutch capital.

It remains unclear why China, along with some 30 other countries, opted not to agree to the building blocks that look to set up AI safeguards, particularly after Beijing backed a similar "call to action" during the summit last year. 

When pressed for details of the summit during a Wednesday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that upon invitation, China sent a delegation to the summit where it "elaborated on China’s principles of AI governance."

Mao pointed to the "Global Initiative for AI Governance" put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in October that she said "gives a systemic view on China’s governance propositions."

The spokesperson did not say why China did not back the nonbinding blueprint introduced during the REAIM summit this week but added that "China will remain open and constructive in working with other parties and deliver more tangibly for humanity through AI development."

Herman warned that while nations like the U.S. and its allies will look to establish multilateral agreements for safeguarding AI practices in military use, they are unlikely to do much in the way of deterring adversarial nations like China, Russia and Iran from developing malign technologies.

"When you're talking about nuclear proliferation or missile technology, the best restraint is deterrence," the AI expert explained. "You force those who are determined to push ahead with the use of AI – even to the point of basically using AI as kind of [a] automatic kill mechanism, because they see it in their interest to do so – the way in which you constrain them is by making it clear, if you develop weapons like that, we can use them against you in the same way.

"You don't count on their sense of altruism or high ethical standards to restrain them, that’s not how that works," Herman added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Universities around the world have extensive histories. Fez, Morocco, is where you can find the school recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest higher learning institution in the world. 

The University of al-Qarawiyyin is widely recognized as the oldest university in the world.

Founded as a mosque in 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri, it was later added to Morocco's university system in 1963. 

THE OLDEST CHURCH IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES LIES IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

The female founder and her sister Mariam used the fortune passed down to them after their father died to create Al-Karaouine Mosque and University complex, according to the BBC. 

The complex where the school is located is made up of a mosque, university and library, according to the source. 

The school centers around education in Arabic language and Islamic literature. The school's curriculum also includes teachings in science, mathematics and foreign language. 

Another school often recognized for its lengthy existence is the University of Bologna in Italy, which has been cited as the oldest continually operating university by several sources. 

THE GREAT BASIN BRISTLECONE PINE, DATING BACK ALMOST 5,000 YEARS, IS WORLD'S OLDEST TREE

This university was established in 1088 and has remained operational. 

The public university is the oldest in Europe, according to Guinness World Records. 

The university has been a place of learning for many famous alumni, including the astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus, who enrolled at the university in 1497. 

In the 2022-23 school year, there were 96,984 students enrolled at the University of Bologna, which included 8,526 international students. 

THIS CONNECTICUT AMUSEMENT PARK IS THE OLDEST IN THE UNITED STATES

The school is made up of 31 departments, including architecture, engineering, economics, legal studies, mathematics, pharmacy and veterinary medical sciences. 

The University of Oxford is also a school known for its long history. The founding of this university came a few years after the establishment of the University of Bologna. 

It's believed that teaching at Oxford, in some form, dates back to 1096, though the university's website acknowledges that there is no clear date of origin. 

The University of Oxford in England is considered to be the oldest university in the English-speaking world. 

Even though the university's earliest days can be dated back to around 1096, the educational institution's popularity began to increase in 1167, when Henry II banned English students from studying at the University of Paris, according to Oxford's website. 

As for the oldest university in the United States, that title goes to Harvard University, which was founded Oct. 28, 1636. The Ivy League school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The acceptance rate at the university is 3%. 

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) special forces raided an Iranian weapons facility in Syria shortly before a series of strikes in the region, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens of others, according to reports.

Initial reports did not indicate that any Israeli troops had been on the ground during the operation, but The Times of Israel cited opposition Syrian TV revealing that Israeli helicopters hovered over the ground while special forces descended by rope.

The IDF special forces clashed with forces on the ground, killing a number of Syrians and capturing up to four Iranians. The U.S.-owned Arabic-language Al Hurra network noted that the intensity of the raids and the death toll were "unusual."

The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the attack as "blatant aggression," saying nearby residential areas had "material damage." 

HARRIS' SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIAN STATE REWARDS TERRORISM, EXPERTS WARN

Syria claimed that the strike hit a scientific research center, but the opposition reported that the facilities belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dedicated to developing ballistic missiles and drones.

The nature of the facility remains in contention, however. Western officials have long asserted the facility serves as a weapons manufacturing plant that produces chemical weapons like sarin gas. Syrian authorities have denied these allegations and maintain the facility is purely a scientific research center. 

Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the attack happened at around 11:20 p.m. local time but added few details about the facilities. But regional intelligence sources said a major military research center for chemical weapons near Masyaf had been hit several times, Reuters reported. 

HEZBOLLAH RELIES ON ‘SOPHISTICATED’ TUNNEL SYSTEM BACKED BY IRAN, NORTH KOREA IN FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL

A senior regional military source close to Iran and Syria denied the accounts, maintaining the facility was purely for research purposes.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Tehran strongly condemned the "criminal attack" in Syria.

"We do not confirm what was reported by media outlets linked to the Zionist regime (Israel) about an attack on an Iranian center or a center under Iran's protection," he said during a news conference in response to a question about the attack.

Researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis claimed on social media platform X that the IDF first hit roads leading to the facility, and special forces entered the facility and extracted equipment and documents before destroying it and withdrawing. 

IDF UNINTENTIONALLY KILLED TURKISH AMERICAN CITIZEN DURING RIOT, ISRAEL CONFIRMS

Koulouriotis added that the facility had provided logistical support for Hezbollah and its activities in Lebanon, which marks the raid as a significant counterstrike against the terrorist group, which has attacked Israel since Oct. 7. 

Israel and Hezbollah have maintained a slow but deliberate exchange of attacks over the intervening months. The IDF in late August launched heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah positions across Lebanon as a preemptive strike, claiming Hezbollah had prepared to attack Israeli territory. 

Israel also holds Hezbollah responsible for a missile strike in July that killed a dozen children and teens. It responded with a strike that hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Archaeologists in Malaysia spent more than a year investigating an area that will soon be underwater. Since their search began, more than 70,000 artifacts have been unearthed, including skeletal remains in prehistoric burials that are believed to date back 16,000 years.

Excavation of the site started in March 2022 and wrapped up in October 2023, according to the government-owned Bernama news agency in Malaysia, per Live Science. 

The area investigated included caves in Malaysia's Nenggiri Valley. The site is planned to be flooded in a few short years with the construction of a hydroelectric power plant.

MOM, SON DIG UP ANCIENT OBJECT OFTEN FOUND NEAR BURIAL GROUNDS WHILE GARDENING

Artifacts found in the area included stone tools, pottery and stone ornaments, according to the source. 

Zuliskandar Ramli, an archaeologist at the National University of Malaysia, told Live Science that 16 individuals were found buried in 13 limestone caves at four sites.

Fifteen of the 16 skeletons were in a "fully flexed" position, which signals a pre-Neolithic burial, according to Ramli, per Live Science. 

VOLUNTEER DURING ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION FINDS ‘REMARKABLE’ PIECE OF JEWELRY IN SCOTLAND

The outlier of the group was in an extended position. Dating of the sedimentary layers in the cave pointed to that particular skeleton being from the Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago, per the source. 

Among the ancient finds was a complete human skeleton in Gua Keledung Kecil, thought to be between 14,000 and 16,000 years old. 

"This is the most complete and oldest skeleton in a fully flexed position found in the country," Ramli told Live Science.

Many of the items found in the area were grave goods, according to Ramli, per Live Science. Those items were ones purposefully buried with the dead. 

Skeletons unearthed around the world can often tell larger stories with further research and investigation. 

For example, skeletal remains found in the ruins of ancient Pompeii in Italy, which were announced in a press release in August, offered chilling details about the last moments of those whose remains were found.

"We know the woman was between 35 and 45 years of age, and the man was much younger, between 15 and 20 years of age," Sophie Hay, an archaeologist with the park previously told Fox News Digital in an email. "We do not know the relationship between them nor their social status."

"The woman had on her person a purse and probably a small casket both filled with precious and valuable objects such as gold, silver and bronze coins, small engraved gemstones, some pendants, and a pair of gold and pearl earrings," Hays further explained.

"We know the objects had a monetary value, but we will never know what sentimental value they may have had for her, nor even if they belonged to her. The items must have represented something in the moments of chaos and terror that she thought would be important to take, whether for their monetary value or, especially in the case of the jewelry, personal belongings that meant something to her," she concluded.

As for the area studied by archaeologists in Malaysia's Nenggiri Valley, the construction of a hydroelectric power plant is expected to reach completion by mid-2027.

Russia and China this week engaged in the largest military drills in some 30 years after they launched joint naval and air exercises spanning both hemispheres on Tuesday, a report by Reuters confirmed. 

The Russian defense ministry said the week-long war games will include 90,000 troops, 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, along with 120 planes and helicopters spread across the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas.

The exercises, dubbed "Ocean 24," coincided with meetings in Brussels between the U.S. and the European Union in which the issue of security in the Indo-Pacific, as well as China’s support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, were addressed. 

US MUST EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN FACE OF RUSSIA AND CHINA THREAT, WARNS TOP OBAMA DEFENSE ADVISER

The U.S. accused Beijing of crossing a line and providing "very substantial" support to Russia after more than two and half years of war and sanctions that are said to have begun taking a toll on its military stockpiles.

"These are not dual-use capabilities," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters, according to Politico EU, in reference to the latest material supplies China provided Russia. "These are basically being applied directly to the Russian war machine."

"These are component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine," he added. "We're seeing efforts at the highest levels of both governments to try to both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration.

"Most of these activities have been driven underground," Campbell warned. 

A statement by the State Department following the U.S.-EU meeting accused China of helping Russia to evade sanctions and called on Beijing to "act in support of international law" – including in its attempts to push through any peace proposals. 

UKRAINE'S FATAL F-16 CRASH SHOULD SCARE RUSSIA AND CHINA

China has repeatedly denied its involvement in Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and has pushed for a peace deal to end the conflict. 

But a six-part peace proposal put forward by China and Brazil in May was unequivocally rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles on Thursday that the plan lacked respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

"You either support the war, or you don't support the war. If you don't support it, then help us stop Russia," he said, according to a report by the Kyiv Independent. 

"Just give up our land, forget that they are killing our people? What is the compromise in that?" he questioned. "That's why I think it's destructive. It's just a political statement."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he was once again open to the idea of engaging in peace talks with Ukraine so long as a nation like China, Brazil or India acted as a mediator – a condition Zelenskyy is unlikely to agree on given Moscow's ties to both Brazil and China. 

Moscow and Beijing have become increasingly united against the U.S. and its Western allies following the invasion of Ukraine, which solidified geopolitical divisions between authoritarian leaders and democratic nations. 

But it is not only China that has been aiding Russia in an effort to boost the burgeoning alliance. 

Campbell on Tuesday reportedly said Moscow has also begun sharing some of its closely guarded military secrets by giving China access to submarine, missile and other sensitive technologies. 

"The capabilities that Russia is providing is support in areas where previously they had been frankly reluctant to engage directly with China," Campbell said. "We are concerned about a particular number of military arenas where there appears to be some determination to provide China with greater support."

U.S. officials have warned that China will pose an even greater threat in the Indo-Pacific and to nations like Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea should it "receive greater engagement from Russia in perfecting certain military capabilities."

Some countries have pledged to donate doses of mpox vaccines to combat an outbreak of the disease in Africa, after the World Health Organization declared it a global public health emergency in August for the second time in two years.

Such donations are meant to address the huge inequity that left African nations with no access to the shots used during the global outbreak in 2022.

Below is a list of countries that have promised to donate doses they hold, made by Denmark's Bavarian Nordic or Japan's KM Biologics:

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Canada will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses, a government spokesperson said on Sep. 12. The number of doses to be donated depends on the receiving countries' capacity for storage and administration.

France will donate 100,000 doses based on "locally identified needs", its health ministry said on the Q&A section of its website, last updated on Sept. 6.

Germany will donate 100,000 doses from its military stocks to help contain the outbreak in the short term, a government spokesperson said on Aug. 26.

Democratic Republic of Congo's government has asked Japan to donate at least 2 million vaccine doses, a senior official at Africa's top public health body and a Congolese official said on Aug. 27. Japan's government had earlier said Congo had requested doses without specifying the number.

Spain will donate 500,000 doses, or 20% of its stockpile, its health ministry said on Aug. 27. It has also urged the European Commission to propose that all EU member states donate 20% of their respective stock of the vaccine.

The U.S. State Department said on Aug. 22 it would donate 50,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic's vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with financial support for the rollout.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said on Aug. 27 it would donate 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria.

The EU, which has a joint procurement contract with Bavarian Nordic to buy vaccines for donations, has pledged to share 215,000 doses to affected African countries. It also urged its members to coordinate their donations rather than do them individually.

The bloc's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) in August agreed to procure 175,420 doses of Bavarian's vaccine and donate them to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while the Danish company will donate an additional 40,000 doses.