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French rescue officials said Tuesday they found the bodies of two Italian and two South Korean climbers close to the peak of Mont Blanc on the French side after they went missing over the weekend in bad weather.

The Chamonix-Mont Blanc search and rescue team found the two pairs of climbers at an altitude of more than 15,400 feet on the Alps’ highest peak. 

They died of hypothermia, rescue officials said.

CLIMBER FOUND DEAD ON ALASKA'S DENALI, THE HIGHEST PEAK IN NORTH AMERICA

The unaccompanied climbers had alerted rescuers on Saturday afternoon, but weather conditions continued to deteriorate, preventing rescuers from reaching their location from the ground or by helicopter.

Two other Korean climbers were successfully rescued on Sunday morning at an altitude of more than 13,400 feet after rescuers deployed a highly complex operation.

French authorities have opened an investigation.

JERUSALEM — Vice President Harris’ endorsement of a Palestinian state during and prior to her debate with former President Trump would further destabilize the Middle East and bring about additional terrorism, according to Israeli and American experts.

During Tuesday's presidential debate on ABC, the Democrat presidential candidate reiterated her support for a two-state solution: "I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates … to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve."

The two-state solution means an independent Palestinian state on Israel’s borders that encompasses the West Bank territory (known in Israel by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria) and the Gaza Strip. Biden faced intense criticism in February for ignoring the outbreak of Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria while singling out Israeli residents of the region for sanctions.

WITNESS TO TERRORISM: HOW HAMAS RADICALIZED PALESTINIANS FOR THEIR GENOCIDAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, told Fox News Digital, "After Oct. 7th, the two-state became a dead letter. A Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan will destabilize both countries and bring only additional terror and misery."

Friedman, who authored the new book, "One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," added, "Vice President Harris should stop parroting failed theories and trying to force a square peg into a round hole. She should empower Israel to reach a just and workable solution on its own and not interfere in matters where she is neither competent nor well-informed."

In early September, Friedman blasted Biden on Fox News' "Your World" for creating rifts within Israeli society.

Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander and spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, "The so-called two-state solution may have been possible to implement 31 years ago, but four straight Palestinian rejections of Israeli peace offers have made it clear that the current Palestinian leadership does not aspire to end the conflict and achieve peace. Palestinian rejectionism has also eroded the political support for the peace process in Israel, since it has become abundantly clear that the Palestinian leadership does not seek peace."

EXTREMISTS RISE IN NEW PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY GOVERNMENT AS BIDEN THREATENS ISRAEL OVER GAZA WAR

According to Conricus, "Polling of the Palestinian population in Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas shows clear popular Palestinian support for Hamas, signaling that the Palestinian population supports the genocidal vision of annihilating Israel through jihad, as demonstrated by Hamas on Oct. 7. Global leaders would do well to listen to the two parties to the conflict to understand how the situation has changed and adapt diplomatic solutions to current possibilities. And whatever the outcome of the Oct. 7 war that Hamas waged against Israel, giving Hamas the ultimate prize of statehood would be devastating for regional stability and peace and for American global standing. Terror must not be awarded with statehood."

Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state and Democrat strategist, told Fox News Digital, "The two-state solution is on life support right now, but just because this is a difficult moment to envision a peaceful endgame between Israel and the Palestinians that’s rooted in diplomatic compromise, that does not mean it should not be the goal. After all, Israel fought multiple existential wars with Egypt and then, only years after the Yom Kippur War, concluded a peace deal that has held and provided Israel with deep security along its southern border for more than four decades. That is what a two-state solution is all about: Ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in a manner that provides stability and security for the long haul."

NETANYAHU HITS BACK OVER GLOBAL PRESSURE TO MAKE CEASE-FIRE CONCESSSIONS, SAYS DEMANDS ARE ‘IMMORAL’, ‘INSANE’

Rubin, who is a longtime Jewish community activist, added, "We have seen it achieved with Arab states. There is no reason that it can’t be done with the Palestinians as long as the political will is there, extremism is rooted out and security arrangements are solid. So, for Vice President Harris to make this a priority is an inherently pro-Israel position, one that seeks to provide Israel with the long-term security and stability that it still clearly does not have."

In late August, Harris noted her endorsement of a Palestinian state in an interview with CNN. She said, "I remain committed since I’ve been on Oct. 8 to what we must do to work toward a two-state solution where Israel is secure and in equal measure the Palestinians have security and self-determination and dignity."

ZIONISM EXPLAINED FROM ITS BIBLICAL ORIGINS TO THE REBIRTH OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL

The Harris campaign did not respond to multiple Fox News Digital press queries.

Harris and Biden have provided significant funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is led by Mahmoud Abbas. The PA president is considered by some to be a moderate when compared to the Iranian regime-backed Hamas leadership. Abbas, however, supports stipends for convicted Palestinian terrorists and their families regarding the infamous "pay for slay" system that might mean the PA compensates Hamas terrorists.

Fox News Digital reported in November that many of the newly released convicted Palestinian terrorists who were part of a swap that secured the freedom of some Israeli and foreign hostages held by the terrorist movement Hamas could receive U.S. funds via the PA.

Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli-based organization researching Palestinian society, told Fox News Digital at the time, "The American and European funding boosts the Palestinian Authority budget by $600 million. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists and the family members of the martyrs, and the amount comes to $300 million a year."

Last month, Abbas, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute, told the Turkish Parliament that "America is the plague, and the plague is America" and "We implement Shari'a law: victory or martyrdom."

The 88-year-old Abbas, who has clung to power since he took over the presidency of the PA in 2008, has been embroiled in antisemitism and Holocaust-distortion scandals over the years.

In 2022, Fox News Digital reported that Abbas delivered a tirade against Israel in Berlin, where the Holocaust – the mass extermination of European Jewry – was organized, claiming the Jewish state carried out "50 holocausts."

An ancient jar is back on display at a museum in Israel nearly two weeks after a 4-year-old visitor accidentally smashed it late last month.

The jar dated back to the Bronze Age, between 2200 and 1500 B.C. — predating the time of Kings David and Solomon — and it was totally intact, making it a rare find and a valuable artifact.

While on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, the pint-sized visitor pulled on the artifact to see what was inside, and that caused it to fall over and shatter into pieces.

The Associated Press reported that Alex Geller, the boy’s father, described his son — the youngest of three — as exceptionally curious. When Geller heard the crash, he confessed, the first thought to race through his head was, "Please let that not be my child."

BOY ACCIDENTALLY DESTROYS 3,500-YEAR-OLD ARTIFACT IN ISRAELI MUSEUM

The museum immediately appointed a specialist to restore the jar so it could be returned to its spot near the front entrance of the museum.

On Wednesday, the jar was back on display after being pieced together and restored.

ISRAEL OPENS TOMBS FROM ANCIENT ROME TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME: ‘WONDERFUL PAINTINGS’

Oftentimes, when archaeologists piece together artifacts, they face the daunting task of sifting through piles of shards of multiple objects.

But in this case, the repairs were expected to be fairly simple because the pieces were from a single and complete jar, museum restoration expert Roee Shair said.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNSEAL 2,000-YEAR-OLD TOMB, FIND MUMMY IN 'EXCELLENT STATE'

Using 3D technology, hi-resolution videos and special glue, experts were able to reconstruct the large jar.

A few pieces were missing, and the gluing process left a few hairline cracks, but the impressive size of the jar remains.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER UNDERWATER MOSAIC BELIEVED TO DATE BACK TO ROMAN EMPIRE

The only major difference now is there is a new sign near the jar that reads, "Please don’t touch."

Now that it is back on display, museum director Inbal Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the incident into a teachable moment and invited the Geller family back for a special hands-on visit to illustrate the restoration process.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Malaysian authorities rescued more than 400 children and teenagers on Wednesday suspected of being sexually abused at charity homes run by a prominent Islamic business organisation with links to a banned religious sect, the top police official said.

Police arrested 171 adults, including 'ustazs' or Islamic religious teachers, during coordinated raids on 20 premises across two Malaysian states, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said.

MALAYSIA SEEKS STRONG TIES WITH US BUT NOT 'PHOBIA' OF CHINA, PM SAYS

Those rescued included 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between one and 17, after reports were filed this month that alleged neglect, abuse, sexual harassment and molestation, Razarudin told a press conference. He did not say who wrote the reports.

The homes were all run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), Razarudin said.

GISB, a Malaysian firm involved in businesses ranging from supermarkets to laundromats, operates in multiple countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia and Thailand, according to its website.

GISB did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the sexual abuse allegations.

In a statement, GISB denied separate social media reports that it had exploited and used children as workers, saying the company would not engage in any illegal activity and that it would cooperate with authorities to resolve the issue.

Razarudin said preliminary police investigations had found that the rescued minors were children of Malaysian GISB employees, who were sent to the homes shortly after they were born, before being subjected to multiple forms of abuse.

The victims were allegedly sodomised by adult guardians and later taught to sodomise other children at the homes, he said.

GISB has been linked to the now-defunct Malaysia-based Al-Arqam religious sect, which was banned by the government in 1994. GISB has acknowledged the link but now describes itself as an Islamic conglomerate based on Muslim practices.

The firm previously made headlines for its controversial views on marriage, including encouraging polygamy among Muslims and establishing the Obedient Wives' Club, a group that had called on women to submit to their husbands "like prostitutes".

Razarudin said some children at the homes who protested or misbehaved had hot spoons pressed on their arms, creating injuries, while others were molested under the pretext of carrying out medical treatment according to Islamic teachings.

"The children and religious sentiments were also used to gain public sympathy and raise funds for the organisation," he said, referring to GISB.

"What we have seen is the indoctrination of children using religious tools in a harmful way."

The children will be sent for health screening and documentation, Razarudin said, adding that the case was being investigated under laws covering sexual offences against children and human trafficking.

Alberto Fujimori, whose decade-long presidency began with triumphs righting Peru’s economy and defeating a brutal insurgency only to end in a disgrace of autocratic excess that later sent him to prison, has died. He was 86.

His death Wednesday in the capital, Lima, was announced by his daughter Keiko Fujimori in a post on X.

He had been pardoned in December from his convictions for corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people. His daughter said in July that he was planning to run for Peru’s presidency for the fourth time in 2026.

Fujimori, who governed with an increasingly authoritarian hand in 1990-2000, was pardoned in December from his convictions for corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people. His daughter said in July that he was planning to run for Peru’s presidency for the fourth time in 2026.

The former university president and mathematics professor was the consummate political outsider when he emerged from obscurity to win Peru’s 1990 election over writer Mario Vargas Llosa. Over a tumultuous political career, he repeatedly made risky, go-for-broke decisions that alternately earned him adoration and reproach.

He took over a country ravaged by runaway inflation and guerrilla violence, mending the economy with bold actions including mass privatizations of state industries. Defeating fanatical Shining Path rebels took a little longer but also won him broad-based support.

His presidency, however, collapsed just as dramatically.

After briefly shutting down Congress and elbowing himself into a controversial third term, he fled the country in disgrace in 2000 when leaked videotapes showed his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, bribing lawmakers. The president went to Japan, the land of his parents, and famously faxed in his resignation.

He stunned supporters and foes alike five years later when he landed in neighboring Chile, where he was arrested and then extradited to Peru. He had hoped to run for Peru’s presidency in 2006, but instead wound up in court facing charges of abuse of power.

The high-stakes political gambler would lose miserably. He became the first former president in the world to be tried and convicted in his own country for human rights violations. He was not found to have personally ordered the 25 death-squad killings for which he was convicted, but he was deemed responsible because the crimes were committed in his government’s name.

His 25-year sentence did not stop Fujimori from seeking political revindication, which he planned from a prison built in a police academy on the outskirts of Lima, the capital.

His congresswoman daughter Keiko tried in 2011 to restore the family dynasty by running for the presidency but was narrowly defeated in a runoff. She ran again in 2016 and 2021, when she lost by just 44,000 votes after a campaign in which she promised to free her father.

Fujimori told The Associated Press in 2000, seven months before his fall from power, that he viewed political rivals as chess pieces to be outmaneuvered with cool detachment.

"In Latin America, I am a special case," he said. "I have had a special formation within an Oriental environment of discipline and perseverance."

Fujimori’s presidency was, in fact, a brash display of outright authoritarianism, known locally as "caudillismo," in a region shakily stepping away from dictatorships toward democracy.

He is survived by his four children. The oldest, Keiko, became first lady in 1996 when his father divorced his mother, Susana Higuchi, in a bitter battle in which she accused Fujimori of having her tortured. The youngest child, Kenji, was elected a congressman.

Fujimori was born July 28, 1938, Peruvian Independence Day, and his immigrant parents picked cotton until they could open a tailor’s shop in downtown Lima.

He earned a degree in agricultural engineering in 1956, and then studied in France and the United States, where he received a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.

In 1984 he became rector of the Agricultural University in Lima, and six years later, he ran for president without ever having held political office, billing himself as a clean alternative to Peru’s corrupt, discredited political class.

He played on the Peruvian stereotype of the honest, hard-working Asian, and raised hopes in an economically distressed nation by arguing that he would attract Japanese aid and technology.

He soared from 6 percent in the polls a month before the 1990 election to finish second out of nine in the balloting. He went on to beat Vargas Llosa in a runoff.

The victory, he later said, came from the same frustration that fueled the Shining Path.

"My government is the product of rejection, of being fed up with Peru because of the frivolity, corruption and nonfunctioning of the traditional political class and the bureaucracy," he said.

Once in office, Fujimori’s tough talk and hands-on style at first won him only plaudits, as car bombings still ripped through the capital and annual inflation approached 8,000 percent.

He applied the same economic shock therapy that Vargas Llosa had advocated but he had argued against in the campaign.

Privatizing state-owned industries, Fujimori slashed public spending and attracted record foreign investment.

Known affectionately as "El chino," due to his Asian ancestry, Fujimori often donned peasant garb to visit jungle Indigenous communities and highland farmers, while delivering electricity and drinking water to dirt-poor villages. That distinguished him from the patrician, white politicians who typically lacked his commoner’s touch.

Fujimori also gave Peru’s security forces free rein to take on the Shining Path.

In September 1992, police captured rebel leader Abimael Guzmán. Deservedly or not, Fujimori took credit.

Perhaps his most famous calculation came in April 1997 when he sent U.S.-trained commandos into the Japanese ambassador’s residence where 14 leftist Tupac Amaru rebels had held 72 hostages for months.

Only one hostage was killed. All the hostage-takers, however, were killed, allegedly on Montesinos’ orders.

Taking power just years after much of the region had shed dictatorships, the former university professor ultimately represented a step back. He developed growing a taste for power and resorted to increasingly anti-democratic means to amass more of it.

In April 1992, he shut down Congress and the courts, accusing them of shackling his efforts to defeat the Shining Path and spur economic reforms.

International pressure forced him to call elections for an assembly to replace the Congress. The new legislative body, dominated by his supporters, changed Peru’s constitution to allow the president to serve two consecutive five-year terms. Fujimori was swept back into office in 1995, after a brief border war with Ecuador, in an election landslide.

Human rights advocates at home and abroad blasted him for pushing through a general amnesty law forgiving human rights abuses committed by security forces during Peru’s "anti-subversive" campaign between 1980 and 1995.

The conflict would claim nearly 70,000 lives, a truth commission found, with the military responsible for more than a third of the deaths. Journalists and businessmen were kidnapped, students disappeared and at least 2,000 highland peasant women were forcibly sterilized.

In 1996, Fujimori’s majority bloc in Congress put him on the path for a third term when it approved a law that determined his first five years as president didn’t count because the new constitution was not yet in place when he was elected.

A year later, Fujimori’s Congress fired three Constitutional Tribunal judges who tried to overturn the legislation, and his foes accused him of imposing a democratically elected dictatorship.

By then, almost daily revelations were showing the monumental scale of corruption around Fujimori. About 1,500 people connected to his government were prosecuted on corruption and other charges, including eight former Cabinet ministers, three former military commanders, an attorney general and a former chief of the Supreme Court.

The accusations against Fujimori led to years of legal wrangling. In December, Peru’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a humanitarian pardon granted to Fujimori on Christmas Eve in 2017 by then-President Pablo Kuczynski. Wearing a face mask and getting supplemental oxygen, Fujimori walked out of the prison door and got in a sport utility vehicle driven by his daughter-in-law.

The last time he was seen in public was on Sept. 4, leaving a private hospital in a wheelchair. He told the press that he had undergone a CT scan and when asked if his presidential candidacy was still going ahead, he smiled and said "We’ll see, we’ll see.

Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday his party plans to put forward a no-confidence motion "at the earliest possible opportunity" in hopes of bringing down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

Poilievre called on New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh to support the motion and trigger an election.

"Will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?" Poilievre said at a news conference in Ottawa. "It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP."

Singh refused to say if his party would support the Conservatives.

CANADA LAUNCHES SUDDEN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN AMID PUBLIC PRESSURE: REPORT

"I’ve said on any vote we will look at the vote and we’ll make our decision," Singh said during a party caucus meeting in Montreal. "We’ll make a determination of what is in the best interests of Canadians. Unlike Pierre Poilievre who wants to play games, we actually want to get things done for Canadians."

Singh shrugged off Poilievre’s demand for an answer before two byelections Monday.

"I say directly to Pierre Poilievre I’m not going to listen to you," said Singh.

Just last week the NDP withdrew from a supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau's minority Liberal government that helped keep it in power. The deal, reached in 2022, meant the NDP would support the federal government on no-confidence votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities.

"We made a decision that we can no longer continue the agreement," Singh said Wednesday. "Now we’re back in a standard minority government where we’re going to make a decision based on every vote that is in front of us."

The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 2025.

The Liberals currently have 154 seats in the 338 Canadian House of Commons. The Conservates hold 119 and the NDP 24. The Bloc Québécois, a party based only in Quebec and is devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has 32 seats.

Canada’s Parliament is schedule to resume sitting Monday.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has said his party is willing to support the government if the Liberals agree on issues like increased support for seniors and granting Quebec more powers in immigration matters.

Most polls show the Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals with the NDP sitting third. Trudeau is also very unpopular among many voters.

Speaking at a caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., Trudeau was asked about comments from Alexandra Mendes, a Quebec Liberal MP, who said in a French-language interview that many of her constituents believe he should step down as party leader.

"In a democracy people we have all sorts or different perspectives and that’s important that we have that, including in the Liberal Party," he said. "The reality is, all of us are focused on what to do to make sure that Canadians are being supported and are feeling confident over the future."

Trudeau said his government will continue to introduce programs that help Canadians like dental care for seniors and childcare.

In June, the Liberals suffered a major upset in a byelection losing a seat in Toronto the party had held for three decades.

Two more byelections will be held Monday in Montreal and Winnipeg.

Trudeau was asked if those elections would be a referendum on his leadership.

"All byelections are very important," he said. "It’s a moment where voters can actually show they are worried. But at the same time, they can show their ambition for the future."

Poilievre also attacked Trudeau for appointing Mark Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, to act as chair on a task force on economic growth.

Poilievre called Carney an unelected "phantom finance minister."

"If you are going to be pulling the strings, you should be on the floor of the house of Commons," he said.

The wrecks of explosives-laden Nazi ships sunk in the River Danube during World War Two have emerged near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo, after a drought in July and August that saw the river's water level drop.

Four vessels dating from before 1950 have also come to light in Hungary's Danube-Drava National Park near Mohacs, where the Danube's water level stood at only 1.5 metres on Tuesday (September 10) the lingering effect of severe heat waves and persistent drought in July and August.

SUNKEN GERMAN WORLD WAR II SHIPS REVEALED WITH DANUBE RIVER AT RECORD LOW

The vessels revealed in Prahovo were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, destroying the ships themselves. The wrecks can hamper river traffic during low water levels.

Strewn across the riverbed, some of the ships still have turrets, command bridges, broken masts and twisted hulls, while others lie mostly submerged under sand banks.

Endre Sztellik, a guard at the Danube-Drava national park said of one of the ships in Hungary "we still don't know what this is exactly. What is visible and is an unfortunate fact is that the wreck is diminishing as people are interested in it and parts of it are going missing."

The Danube stood at 1.17 metres (3.8 feet) in Budapest on Tuesday, which compares with an all-time record low of around 0.4 metres registered in October 2018. During floods the Danube rises well above 6 metres.

"Eastern Europe is experiencing critical drought conditions that are affecting crops and vegetation," the European climate service Copernicus said on its website in its latest drought report published earlier this month.

Long-awaited rainfall set in on Monday (September 9) which is expected to raise Danube levels to around three metres at Mohacs by the weekend, with the river likely to submerge the shipwrecks again.

Former President Trump touted his foreign policy credentials during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, name-checking the strong relationships he built with leaders of rival nations and allies alike during his term, most notably Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the "strongman" of Europe.

"He’s a tough person, smart prime minister of Hungary," Trump said, adding that Orban insisted "you need Trump back as president" because "they were afraid of him." 

"China was afraid, and I don’t like to use the word afraid, but I’m just quoting him," Trump said. "China was afraid of him. He said Russia was afraid of him."

"Look, Viktor Orban said it: He said the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president," Trump added.

ON 9/11 ANNIVERSARY AFGHAN OPPOSITION LEADER WARNS COUNTRY ONCE AGAIN A ‘SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS’

Trump also responded to Vice President Harris’ claim that he "admires dictators, wants to be a dictator on day one" and he "exchanged love letters with Kim Jong Un" by noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had endorsed her last week and said he hoped she wins "because what he’s gotten away with is absolutely incredible."

Trump said Russia's invasion of Ukraine would never have happened during his time in office, noting that he knew Putin "very well."

Trump then blasted Biden for how he hurt the XL pipeline and handed Russia a win with "the biggest pipeline in the world" running into Germany and Europe as a whole.

Trump has repeatedly compared his foreign policy record to that of the Biden administration, roping in Harris as part of that policy, and noted the more interventionist approach he took, using force as deterrence against Iran and meeting with Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ensure stability in regions faced with uncertainty.

INTERNATIONAL PRESS REACTS TO TRUMP-HARRIS DEBATE AS WORLD WATCHES ON

Trump and Orban enjoyed a rosy relationship during the Trump administration, often pictured together smiling and shaking hands in sharp contrast to the more demure meetings between Orban and Biden.

Orban made headlines over the summer when he prematurely ditched a high-level NATO summit in Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump in Florida at a time when Biden faced questions about his fitness for office and in seeking a second term. Orban was seeking a cease-fire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, having met separately with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We continued the peace mission in Mar-a-Lago," Orban wrote on his official social media account on X after the meeting. "President @realDonaldTrump has proved during his presidency that he is a man of peace. He will do it again!"

"It was an honour to visit President @realDonaldTrump at Mar-a-Lago today," he wrote in a separate post that labeled the visit "Peace mission 5.0." "We discussed ways to make peace. The good news of the day: he’s going to solve it!"

UKRAINE HITS MOSCOW IN LARGEST DRONE STRIKE SINCE WAR BEGAN

Orban, who assumed the role of president of the European Union as part of a six-month rotational leadership scheme, joked at the time that Hungary would "make Europe great again" and warned that "the next American president will not be the same president who is today."

He told other leaders at the formal NATO dinner that allies who still thought Biden could win the upcoming presidential election "were like people on the Titanic playing violins as the ship went down," the Financial Times reported.

During a visit to the U.S. in March, Orban visited with Trump, not Biden, when trying to court potential foreign policy in the U.S. He also spoke at a panel with the leader of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Vietnam's capital of Hanoi evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen Red River as its waters rose to a 20-year high, flooding streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered the country's north, killing at least 179 people.

Asia's most powerful typhoon this year, Yagi brought gales and heavy rain as it moved westwards after landfall on Saturday, causing the collapse of a bridge this week while it scythed through provinces along the Red River, the area's biggest.

NGUYEN PHU TRONG, VIETNAM'S TOP COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER, DEAD AT 80

"My home is now part of the river," said Nguyen Van Hung, 56, who lives in a neighbourhood on the banks of the Red River.

Across the country, the typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods have killed 179 people while 145 were missing, the government estimated.

Vietnam's state-run power utility EVN said on Wednesday it had cut off power from some flooded parts of the capital due to safety concerns.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said in a statement that the Red River was at its highest in two decades and that more rain was expected over the next two days.

Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents of low-lying areas have been evacuated, the government and state media said.

Nearer the city centre, charity Blue Dragon Children's Foundation evacuated its office on Tuesday, after authorities warned of flood risks.

"People were moving frantically, moving their motorbikes, relocating items," said spokesperson Carlota Torres Lliro, expressing concern for dozens of children and families living in makeshift houses by the river.

EVN said on Wednesday it had stopped discharging water from Hoa Binh hydropower dam, the second largest in northern Vietnam, into Red River tributary, the Da River, to reduce water flows.

Vietnamese authorities also raised concerns on Wednesday about Chinese hydropower plants releasing water into another Red River tributary, the Lo River, known in China as Panlongjiang, with Beijing saying the two countries were cooperating on flood prevention.

BLOW TO FACTORIES

Yagi wreaked havoc on many factories and flooded warehouses in coastal export-oriented industrial hubs east of Hanoi, forcing closures, with some only expected to resume full operations after weeks, executives said.

The disruptions threaten global supply chains as Vietnam hosts large operations of multinationals that ship mostly to the United States, Europe and other developed nations.

Elsewhere, in provinces north of the capital, landslides triggered by heavy floods killed dozens.

"My house's first floor is completely under the water," said Nguyen Duc Tam, a 40-year-old resident of Thai Nguyen, a city about 60 km (37 miles) from Hanoi.

"Now we have no fresh water and electricity," he said.

Another resident, Hoang Hai Luan, 30, said he had not experienced such flooding in more than 20 years in the area.

"My belongings and possibly those of many others are completely lost."

Among the factories located on the outskirts of the city of about 400,000, is a large facility for Samsung Electronics, which ships about half of its smartphones worldwide from Vietnam.

There were no signs of flooding at the facility on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.

It was not only Americans tuning into the U.S. presidential debate Tuesday night as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off for the first time.

The results of the November election are expected to have resounding consequences for U.S. policy abroad, and the international community has been paying close attention following President Biden’s drop from the race this July.

The reactions by the international press to the Tuesday night debate drew stark comparisons from Trump’s first debate, which largely focused on heightened concerns surrounding Biden's cognitive abilities.

This time, though, Trump’s performance was in their crosshairs. 

KAMALA HARRIS, DONALD TRUMP DEBATE PROMPTS MAJOR ENDORSEMENT, FOX NEWS INVITATION FOR A 2ND FACE-OFF

The U.K. press, notoriously divided along party lines, reflected critical evaluations of how Trump performed under pressure from former prosecutor Harris, who was determined to have successfully achieved what so many of Trump’s opponents have been unable to – she flustered him.

Three of the right-leaning Telegraph’s leading stories on the debate suggested Harris came out on top, with one headline reading "Harris puts Trump on defensive in fiery showdown," while another report described Trump’s performance as "furious" and "rambled."

In analyzing the champion of the debate, the report concluded that Harris "made [Trump] look ridiculous."

"It is difficult to crown Harris the victor of a political debate in which she said so little about her own platform. But her attack strategy won her the night. Trump fell for it: hook line and sinker," the report added. 

The Times of London, generally considered a conservative-leaning newspaper, reported that Trump "struggled" through the debate, while another report criticized that he "leaned" into his base rather than going after moderate voters after they claimed he brought up a debunked claim that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were "eating the pets" of residents.

A third report on the Times’ homepage read, "Strong night for Harris gets better with Taylor Swift endorsement."

The Sun had more divided takeaways of the night with one report claiming Trump "ripped into Harris" while another highlighted a politics expert who called Trump's debate talking points "Nonsense" and also highlighted his "meltdown over 'migrants eating pets'."

TRUMP-HARRIS DEBATE: BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON HIGH-STAKES FACE-OFF: ‘FELL INTO THE TRAP’

The French press gave the win to Harris, with Le Monde, the nation’s top publication, leading with a headline that read "Harris, on offense, wins debate against Trump."

L’Express, a Paris-based magazine described as center-right, also argued Trump was on the defensive Tuesday night in its report titled, "‘Kamala Harris has started to bang on Trump’ - the debate seen by the foreign press."

The leading story on the publicly funded news outlet Deutsche Welle was headed by, "Harris puts Trump on defensive in fiery debate" and claimed pollsters showed Harris "narrowly won" over Trump. 

Though the report also noted the debate is unlikely to have an impact on U.S. voters – a sentiment broadly expressed in reporting across the U.S. as well.

Russian state-owned media TASS did not have any mention of the U.S. debate on its homepage.

While state-run news agency RIA Novosti lightly covered the debate, with one report headlined "Trump is doomed."

A second report pointed to a response issued by the German Foreign Office following comments made by Trump during his closing remarks that criticized Berlin’s push toward clean energy.

The report included a response by the ministry posted to X, which said, "Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables. And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest. 

"PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs," the ministry added in an apparent jab at Trump’s previous debate comments. 

HUGE MAJORITY OF DEBATE WATCHERS SAY HARRIS TOOK HOME THE VICTORY, CNN POLL FINDS

In Ukraine – where the results of the 2024 election are expected to have a significant impact given Trump’s previous comments suggesting he will not continue to militarily support Kyiv – reports focused on the combative exchange between Trump and Harris. 

The Kyiv Independent honed in on Trump’s claims that he will have the war "settled" before even taking up the top job if elected this November – though he has refused to detail how he will accomplish this. 

The report did not name a winner or a loser, though it pointed out the two engaged in a bitter clash over the issue of Russia’s invasion and highlighted Trump’s refusal to say whether he wants Ukraine to come out on top.

Israeli publications appeared to have more heavily covered the debate, though both candidates spent little time discussing the war between Israel and Hamas, and Harris was largely deemed the frontrunner.

One report by Israel Hayom, a right-leaning outlet, said Harris was "exuding confidence and control" and accused Trump of appearing "self-absorbed rather than voter-focused."

The report said there was no clear "knockout" winner, but added the debate "was a genuine rhetorical slugfest in which Harris successfully exploited Trump's weak spots and knocked him off balance."

The Jerusalem Post, also deemed to have conservative tendencies in its reporting, described the debate as "predictable" but noted Trump's "apocalyptic prediction" that Israel would cease to exist under a Harris presidency was a "reach" and "oddly depriv[ed] the Jewish state of any agency or capacity to survive."

North Korea is promising to refine its weapons development and strengthen its nuclear capabilities. 

Supreme leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Monday at a state event celebrating the country's 76th anniversary.

"The obvious conclusion is that the nuclear force of the DPRK and the posture capable of properly using it for ensuring the state's right to security in any time should be more thoroughly perfected," the dictator said.

ELTON JOHN SPEAKS OUT ON TRUMP'S 'ROCKET MAN' NICKNAME FOR KIM JONG UN: 'HILARIOUS'

"DPRK" is an abbreviation for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Jong Un warned that the United States' increased involvement in the region has forced the regime to pursue more powerful weapons as a deterrence mechanism.

"The DPRK will steadily strengthen its nuclear force capable of fully coping with any threatening acts imposed by its nuclear-armed rival states and redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state, including the nuclear force, fully ready for combat," the supreme leader said.

NORTH KOREA'S KIM JONG UN REPORTEDLY ORDERED DOZENS OF OFFICIALS EXECUTED AFTER DEADLY FLOODS

North Korea has sought to both augment its self-defense capabilities and strengthen its regional alliances against the United States.

The 14th Supreme People's Assembly, the unicameral legislative body of the country, amended the national constitution last year to enshrine nuclear weaponization as a core principle.

Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, affirming the two nations' shared history and commitment to mutual defensive support.

Li Hongzhong, a high-ranking official within the Chinese Communist Party, traveled to North Korea in July for a similar goodwill visit.

The Russia-China-North Korea triad's increasing cooperation against Western interests has made their alliance a significant consideration for U.S. and NATO officials.

Three years since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and 23 years since the 9/11 terror attacks that led to the U.S. invasion, Afghanistan finds itself in a worse position now than it was on that fateful day.

"This country has become once again a safe haven for terrorism. It will become a battlefield once again," Afghan National Resistance Front (NRF) leader Ahmad Massoud told Fox News Digital in a rare interview.

According to Massoud, the threat emanating from Afghanistan is much greater today than it was on 9/11, and the U.S. failed to achieve its number one objective of rooting out terrorists when it hastily pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021.

The threat of terrorism from Afghanistan has spread from the U.S. to Europe and recently to Russia. It is just a matter of time, Massoud fears, for it to reach America’s shores again.

"I know for a fact the time will come," Massoud said.

3 YEARS AFTER US WITHDRAWAL, AFGHAN RESISTANCE STILL IGNORED BY US, WEST

Massoud is not giving up on his vision of a free and democratic Afghanistan despite the odds, and he believes that Americans and Afghans hold intimate bonds over shared values of fighting for freedom against terrorists.

"I feel very much the same feeling with all those victims of 9/11 and the people of the United States and Afghanistan are very much connected to each other because those attacks were carried out by the same team, those who attacked Americans on 9/11 killed my father," Massoud said.

Twenty-three years later and four U.S. presidential administrations since, Afghans live under the same threat of Islamic extremism and with the same pain and oppression as they did on 9/11.

Almost immediately after the Taliban regained power, anti-Taliban forces quickly fled to Afghanistan's northern Panjshir Valley and announced their opposition to the new regime. 

Massoud, the leader of the NRF, vowed to continue the fight against the Taliban.

"I didn’t want to leave my people alone in the hands of evil," Massoud told Fox News Digital.

Massoud is the son of Afghan resistance hero Ahmad Shah Massoud. The younger Massoud was only 12 years old when his father was assassinated by al Qaeda two days before the 9/11 terror attacks. Shah Massoud was integral to the rebels who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and became a leading figure in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance that resisted the Taliban’s reign from 1996 to 2001.

As a young boy growing up in war-ravaged Afghanistan, it was not clear at the time that he would follow in the same footsteps as his legendary rebel father.

WITH TALIBAN VICTORY, AFGHANISTAN COULD BECOME THE 'SECOND SCHOOL OF JIHADISM'

"My father never wanted me to walk in the same path," Massoud recounted.

His father did not want him becoming a rebel leader because of the pain that it causes, Massoud remembered, and the enormous pressure and the high expectations it has is unbearable.

Massoud is not doing this for his late father or because he is his son.

"I'm just doing it because I'm madly in love with my people, and I cannot see them in this situation."

As the years and memories of that sunny, cloudless and traumatic Tuesday morning in September fade away, Massoud is trying to remind America and the world not to forget about the threat from terrorism in Afghanistan.

"Today, al Qaeda is much stronger and entrenched in Afghanistan than it has ever been," the resistance leader said.

9/11 FAMILIES CALL ON TRUMP, HARRIS TO OPPOSE US-SAUDI DEAL UNTIL KINGDOM ADMITS INVOLVEMENT IN TERROR ATTACK

The 2020 Doha Agreement negotiated under former President Donald Trump laid the groundwork for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces in exchange for a pledge from the Taliban to prevent any terrorist organization from using Afghan soil to threaten or attack the United States or its allies.

Taliban spokespersons made assurances that they would not allow any terror group to plan an attack from Afghan territory. Although it is true that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have yet to stage any attacks on the U.S. or its allies, groups like al Qaeda still operate within Afghanistan and have deeply rooted ties with the Taliban.

Numerous United Nations reports note that since their return to power, relations with al Qaeda remain close, and the group that carried out the 9/11 terror attacks is "strategically patient, cooperating with other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and prioritizing its ongoing relationship with the Taliban."

Al Qaeda operates at least eight training camps across Afghanistan but does so covertly in order to create the image that the Taliban is adhering to the Doha Agreement, according to U.N. monitoring.

AFGHAN CHARITY EDUCATING GIRLS AMID TALIBAN SCHOOL BAN

While the U.S. was negotiating with the Taliban, Massoud knew all along they were not negotiating in good faith.

"It is going to fail, and it will also show the world the true face of the Taliban," Massoud said.

The leader of the NRF said the international community believed the lies of the Taliban that they had fundamentally changed from the group that previously ruled Afghanistan prior to 9/11. 

"Women have been degraded to nothing but property of men and education has been completely destroyed by the Taliban," Massoud said angrily. 

The elder Massoud, according to his son, warned against an international presence in Afghanistan, saying that the U.S. came to him and proposed operating military bases in the country and to help jointly fight against terrorism.

Shah Massoud was very clear in his vision.

"My father said boots on the ground in Afghanistan will never work," Massoud recounts his father saying. "We fought against the invasion of the Russians. And really, he did not want the presence of another foreign force in Afghanistan," he added.

The U.S. did not heed these warnings when they went into Afghanistan.

Massoud wants to continue his father’s policy of no foreign troops on Afghan soil and wants to fight terrorism with his own forces based in the country. What he is looking for is the logistical and financial support to carry on the fight.

RETIRED GENERALS DEFEND HARRIS, BLAME TRUMP ON AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: REPORT

"We indeed need help and support from the world," Massoud said, but he also understands the frustration in the United States over "forever wars" and respects U.S. policy opposing further wars. The U.S.-Afghan relationship should continue its efforts to fight terrorism, Massoud believes, and that Afghans should not feel betrayed while the same group that killed Americans and Afghans is in power.

Three years later, and with the Taliban cementing their power, the U.S.-Afghan partnership that emerged after 9/11 remains nonexistent.

"We are on our own and there is no external support."

Massoud believes if the U.S. and international community throw their support behind the NRF, it could make a huge difference.

"Even the slightest of external support, you would see the liberation of a big chunk of Afghanistan. Because the people are very much against the Taliban, the slightest bit of hope and the slightest of opportunities for the people of Afghanistan, and we would see a crack in the armor of the Taliban," he explained.

Massoud did not mince words when talking about U.S. policy and was critical of the period immediately after 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan when the War on Terror expanded to Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s regime.

"The expansion of this war to Iraq completely diverted attention from Afghanistan and Afghanistan for a while [was] the second priority." Massoud argued that more attention was needed to help build Afghan institutions and make the new government more stable and therefore harder to overthrow.  

TALIBAN ARRESTING WOMEN FOR 'BAD HIJAB' AS REPORT SAYS VIOLENCE AND DETENTIONS CONTINUE TO RISE

Massoud was also critical of early U.S. strategy, including the endeavor to create an Afghan army in the image of the U.S. armed forces.

"We did not have American resources or American technology. It was a recipe for disaster."

Massoud also said that the U.S.’ conflicting strategies of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency over the years failed to fully defeat the Taliban and create a stable Afghan government.

"It means that, unfortunately, the Afghans could not make the Americans understand that these strategies don’t work in Afghanistan, and they failed to come up with a proper strategy."

However critical Massoud is of American and international leadership and strategy in Afghanistan, he still placed 70% to 80% of the blame on the Afghan leadership and their flawed thinking that the U.S. and coalition partners would remain in Afghanistan forever like on the Korean Peninsula. The false sense of security did not allow Afghan leaders to focus on national trust, and corruption and criminality ran rampant.

"Unfortunately, the inside political game and personal agendas and not having the capability to see that this situation could never last very long, or that it was not a forever perk," hurt Afghanistan’s ability to fight terrorism threats it faced or build a stable democracy.

"They missed all of those opportunities," Massoud said.

The resistance leader is not unaware of the complicated nature of international politics and realizes that many conflicts are currently raging on, which require U.S. attention and resources.

"There's a fatigue in the U.S. and the West, and they have been stretched from Ukraine to Taiwan to Gaza. So that stress is also another factor for them not to actually pay attention to Afghanistan," Massoud lamented. 

Officials are investigating why a concrete bridge partially collapsed in eastern Germany early Wednesday, disrupting a major traffic artery in Dresden and interrupting the heating system for a city nicknamed "Florence on the Elbe" for its Baroque architecture.

No one was injured when a section of the Carola Bridge fell into the Elbe River, the Dresden fire department said on its website. Police are treating the collapse as an accident, because there are no signs of foul play, according to German news agency dpa.

The bridge dates back to East Germany's formerly communist era, dpa reported, and officials at the scene said that chlorine corrosion from the time could have contributed to Wednesday's collapse.

GUNMAN AT ISRAELI CONSULATE KILLED BY GERMAN POLICE ON ANNIVERSARY OF MUNICH OLYMPICS MASSACRE

The emergency closure of the entire bridge snarled travel for the city's tram system, as well as motorists, pedestrians and cyclists who use the span to travel between Dresden's Old Town and New Town. Boat traffic is also halted, affecting cargo ships and tourism sightseeing vessels.

Crews were alerted shortly after 3 a.m. and are concerned more of the bridge — one of several crossings over the Elbe — could collapse in the coming hours.

The last tram crossed the span just 18 minutes before the collapse, dpa reported. The section that fell was scheduled to be renovated next year, while other parts only reopened in March after months of construction.

Pipes that are part of the city's heating system were also damaged.

"In addition, due to the bursting of two large district heating pipes, we have the problem that the supply of hot water has come to a complete standstill in the entire federal state capital of Dresden," fire department spokesman Michael Klahre told reporters.

Dresden is about 100 miles south of Berlin.

During a dig at Burghead fort in Scotland, a volunteer spent weeks digging with no finds. That all changed after 30 days of searching when John Ralph discovered a Pictish ring at the site. 

"The dig was my fifth dig of the season. I had dug for more than 30 days and had found very little of interest," Ralph told Fox News Digital in an email. When he finally found something, Ralph described his emotions as a mix of "relief, disbelief and happiness." 

"Once I found out what I had found, I felt lucky and privileged to have found something so important," Ralph said. 

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

Ralph's find turned out to be an ancient Pictish ring that had been at the site, untouched, for more than a thousand years, according to a Sept. 4 news release from the University of Aberdeen. The ring takes a shape similar to that of a kite with a red-colored detail at its center. 

Picts were ancient people who lived in what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland, according to Britannica. Much of their history is unknown with little evidence left behind about their presence, according to the University of Aberdeen. 

Professor Gordon Noble has led excavations of Burghead over the last three years. Ralph, a former engineer and graduate of the University of Aberdeen, became a volunteer at one of the digs after seeing a post on Facebook seeking out individuals to assist. 

"I always had an interest in archaeology and having recently retired and coming out of COVID, I was looking for something interesting to do," Ralph said. "I saw a call on Facebook for volunteers for the dig at Burghead, and since it was the town I was raised in and my sister stays there, I just thought, ‘Why not?’"

VALUE OF ANCIENT STONE UNEARTHED IN GARDEN BY GEOGRAPHY TEACHER RECENTLY REVEALED

Noble considered Ralph's find "truly remarkable," per the news release. 

"There are very few Pictish rings which have ever been discovered and those we do know about usually come from hoards which were placed in the ground deliberately for safekeeping in some way," Noble said, per the press release. "We certainly weren’t expecting to find something like this lying around the floor of what was once a house but that had appeared of low significance so, in typical fashion, we had left work on it until the final day of the dig."

Now, the ring is in the custody of the National Museum of Scotland's Post-excavation Service, where research is being done to learn more about the ancient find. 

"We will now look at the ring, evidence of buildings and other artifacts to consider whether the ring was crafted on the site and who such an important piece of jewelry might have been made for," Noble said, according to the press release. 

As for Ralph, he has learned a lot from his time volunteering at archaeological digs, including the challenging physical work that leads to making these discoveries, which isn't always as easy as it may be portrayed. 

"Pictures of archaeologists gently trowelling at the ground can give an impression of easy work, but in truth some aspects of a dig are like extreme gardening and can be physically demanding," Ralph told Fox News Digital. "You are also required to be vigilant for changes of ground patterns, features and artifacts; so a good workout physically and mentally."

A Bengal tiger that had been on the loose for nearly a week after escaping from a zoo in Mexico has been safely captured, Reynosa city officials confirmed. 

Reynosa Mayor Carlos Peña Ortiz announced in a press release that the 220-pound tiger was caught overnight Tuesday in the city of Los Longoria, a Mexican border community across from Granjeño, Texas.

"The feline was caught without injuries thanks to the joint work of the Environmental Directorate and [Civil Protection and Firefighters Reynosa] who set a trap last night," Peña Ortiz said on Facebook.

Officials said after an extensive search and various attacks reported on other nearby animals, authorities placed three cages in the area of the tiger's sighting so they could complete the capture without causing harm to any animals. 

MASSIVE 1,300-POUND ESCAPED BULL CAUSES HIGHWAY CRASH BEFORE CHARGING POLICE OFFICERS: ‘SIGNIFICANT THREAT’

Several government agencies had been working with the Quinta La Fauna zoo, which reported the tiger had escaped Sept. 4.

The city reported that zoo officials noticed the tiger was not in her cage around 8:30 that morning, and the mesh on the cage was destroyed, according to a news release by Mexican officials.

SHOCKING VIDEO CAPTURES MOMENT BULL LEAPS OVER FENCE AT RODEO, INJURING 4 SPECTATORS

Over the weekend, there were several social media posts of reported sightings of the tiger north of the border, especially near Mission, Texas. However, none were confirmed by law enforcement, according to Border Report. 

Officials in South Texas had been worried the tiger would swim across the Rio Grande and cross the border into the U.S.

TWO ESCAPED TIGERS RECAPTURED IN GEORGIA AFTER TORNADO DAMAGES ENCLOSURES AT ANIMAL SAFARI, OFFICIALS SAY

Tigers can swim up to seven miles per day, and the Rio Grande is only about 50 yards across at that location. However, reports indicate the tiger never left Mexico.

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"The Quinta La Fauna Zoo, in Reynosa, can no longer protect the specimen that escaped from its facilities, so it will be transferred to the Tamatán Zoo, in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas," city officials said. 

City officials added that Tamatán has the appropriate facilities and personnel to protect the animal. 

The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. by al Qaeda jihadists changed the future of security for not only Washington, but for nations on every inhabited continent worldwide — sparking the Global War on Terror that continues to this day.

More than 20 years have passed since 19 hijackers boarded four commercial flights and crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and an empty field in Pennsylvania after passengers on United Airlines flight 93 thwarted what is believed to have been an attempt to strike either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. 

The plan, outlined by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, killed 2,977 victims 23 years ago in what remains the largest terrorist attack in history and set in motion a global fight against extremism.

But despite the end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and declared defeat over Islamic terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and the Islamic State, experts warn the threat posed by extremist groups remains acute to this day.

TOP GENERAL IN FIGHT AGAINST THE TALIBAN SAYS AFGHANISTAN HAS ONCE AGAIN BECOME A ‘CRUCIBLE OF TERRORISM’

"The threat has evolved," Bill Roggio, senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. "It's certainly much more difficult to launch a 9/11 style attack, but there's much more opportunity for jihadists from both al Qaeda and the Islamic State to launch individual attacks, such as we've witnessed over the last decade and a half particularly. 

 "Prior to 9/11, al Qaeda was operating openly in Afghanistan and on cellular level, in dozens of countries. And now there are safe havens and battlefields with 10s of 1000s of fighters that exist throughout the world," he added.

The 2024 Global Terrorism Index released by the Institute for Economics & Peace in February analyzed the effects of terrorism over the previous year and found that deaths from terrorism increased by 22% from 2022 and "are now at their highest level since 2017."

The jump in terrorist-related deaths last year, which does include the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, are still 23% lower than at the global peak seen in 2015, though the Institute only began releasing the GTI report over a decade into the Global War on Terror in 2012.

While attacks by terrorist groups are once again on the rise and there is immense terrorist activity in the Middle East with the war between Israel and Hamas, Iran’s vigorous backing of terrorist groups like Hezbollah, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and subsequent safe haven granted to al Qaeda, and continuous ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria against coalition forces, the Middle East is no longer the "epicenter" of terrorist activity.

"The epicentre of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa into sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated largely in the Sahel region. This region now accounts for almost half of all deaths from terrorism globally," the GTI report found, noting that deaths from terrorism in the Sahel grew by 38% in 2023 from 2022.

Complex security and humanitarian crises driven by poor regional leadership and immense economic hardship have created a vacuum in places like Burkina Faso — which alone accounted for nearly a quarter of all terrorism related deaths globally, as over 1,900 people were killed in 258 reported incidents last year.

2023 marked the first time since the Institute began releasing the GTI report over a decade ago that a country other than Afghanistan or Iraq was listed at the top of the index as the nation most impacted by terrorism in 2023.

3 YEARS AFTER US WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN, ISRAEL LOOKS TO LESSONS LEARNED FROM WAR ON TERROR

The State Department assesses that ISIS-Sahel and JNIM, an al Qaeda affiliate, are the most active terrorist groups in Burkino Faso, with JNIM having taken credit for the majority of claimed attacks in the country. 

Though Burkina Faso was also ranked among the nations globally where attacks were not attributed to any specific group — a trend most seen in areas where ISIS operates.

Charles Lister, Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute (MEI), explained ISIS is one of the first terrorist organizations ever to routinely not claim credit for its attack in a "clear attempt to conceal its activities from the international community."

ISIS was declared defeated in December 2018 by Donald Trump, but experts have been sounding the alarm that the terrorist group is continuing to grow and expand its influence globally.

"We inflicted at best…an operational or tactical defeat. We did not inflict a strategic defeat on the Islamic State," Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Nagata, former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) and an MEI Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security, said during an event hosted by MEI on Tuesday. 

"The evidence for our failure to inflict a strategic defeat of the Islamic State is best demonstrated by the fact we now have ISIS franchises stretching all the way from the western coast of Africa to the entire area of South Asia," he added. "No other terrorist group, in my experience, has ever been able to build a global network of that size, sophistication, capable of using modern technology to conduct terrorist activities." 

ISIS THREAT RISING IN SYRIA, IRAQ AS US MILITARY WARNS TERROR ATTACKS COULD DOUBLE IN 2024

Attacks by IS and its affiliates accounted for 14% of all attacks worldwide last year according to the GTI report — a figure it also noted was likely much higher in reality.

"[ISIS] has managed to tap into local conflicts and ungoverned spaces in a way that we’ve never seen al Qaeda succeed," Lister, a senior fellow with MEI told reporters this week. "I think that’s real cause for concern."

ISIS, like other Islamic terrorist organizations including al Qaeda, has the strategic aim of collecting territory for the purpose of establishing a caliphate — a governing system based on strict interpretations of Sharia law. 

Though despite its expansion outside the Middle East, the nation most affected by the Islamic State is still Syria, where U.S. and coalition forces continue to combat the terrorist network. 

The U.S., in coordination with allied forces in Iraq and Syria, have engaged in some 200 operations against ISIS this year alone, the majority of which have been carried out in Iraq. 

Though despite the upswing in anti-ISIS missions in Iraq, the Pentagon this week confirmed it is in discussions with Iraqi officials over the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces by September 2025.

Currently, there are some 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq that work with Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish security forces to carry out the Defeat ISIS Mission, along with another 900 U.S. forces in Syria.

But security experts are deeply concerned over how this withdrawal could negatively affect the mission in Syria — an area where the U.S. and coalition forces already have a more difficult time countering ISIS efforts, in part due to Iran-backed militias.

"That will have a knock-on effect on our ability to operate in Syria. It will likely mean we will leave Syria, and then we've got a whole lot of things to worry about," warned Lister.

The expert warned the only way to combat ISIS is to work with a coalition of nations to collect better intelligence and work against the terrorist group.

But ultimately, Nagata warned ISIS will remain until nations figure out a way to address deeper socio-economic and human rights-based issues.

"The hardest thing about dealing with a terrorist group, particularly one as gifted as the Islamic State, is defeating their idea, and that is not something that you do with a rifle or a hand grenade or a missile strike," he said. "We could tactically defeat them until the cows come home, and it won't solve the problem," he said.

Ukraine on Tuesday hit the Moscow region in series of drone strikes that killed one woman, destroyed dozens of homes and forced some 50 flights to be rerouted from the Russian capital, reporting by Reuters confirmed. 

The attack on Moscow was reportedly the largest drone strike levied by Kyiv at Russia since the war began more than two and half years ago. 

Russia, which has heavily relied on drones and missiles in its assault against Ukraine and routinely pummels Kyiv with a barrage of aerial assaults, said it destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region along with another 124 across eight other regions.

BLINKEN CONFIRMS IRAN SUPPLYING RUSSIA WITH SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested the attacks levied at the Russian capital, which has a population of some 21 million, were not legitimate military targets.

"There is no way that nighttime strikes on residential neighborhoods can be associated with military action," he told reporters. "The Kyiv regime continues to demonstrate its nature. 

"They are our enemies and we must continue the special military operation to protect ourselves from such actions," he said, perpetuating the term used by Moscow to describe its invasion of Ukraine. 

Kyiv has not yet commented on the overnight strike, but reportedly said Russia attacked it with some 46 drones, 38 of them destroyed by Ukrainian defenses. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he will travel to Ukraine along with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to meet with their Ukrainian counterpart and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later this week.

"It’s a critical moment to what is an intense, all-fighting season," Blinken told reporters. "With Russia continuing to escalate its aggression – aggression against civilians, against critical infrastructure, and, of course, against Ukrainian forces – we see it ramping up its attacks on cities, people, in particular, targeting the energy infrastructure."

Blinken pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "playbook" for weaponizing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid the cold winter months, as he has done the last two years, and said this upcoming trip reflects the U.S. and NATO’s commitment to ensuring Ukraine can defend itself against Russian attacks. 

ROMANIA AND LATVIA CONFIRM INCURSIONS BY RUSSIAN DRONES INTO NATO AIRSPACE

It is unclear what specifically will be addressed during the Blinken-Lammy visit this week, though Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal echoed concerns addressed by the U.S. secretary of state on Tuesday and said some 85% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is protected against anticipated Russian attacks, reported the Kyiv Independent. 

Ukrainians across the country, including in Kyiv, have been living with intermittent blackouts for months following Russia’s intense campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in March – during which a reported 80% of thermal generating capacity of the nation’s largest private energy company, DTEK, was damaged or destroyed.

Energy officials in June were sounding the alarm that Ukrainians may only have access to electricity for as little as six hours a day during this upcoming winter, depending on how much of the grid can be repaired. 

Shmyhal on Tuesday did not specify how much of the grid has been restored or what lengths of power outages Ukrainians may be forced to endure this winter. 

Instead, he highlighted the efforts being made to secure Ukraine’s energy industry and said the Ukrainian government had allocated some $461 million to protect energy facilities while an additional $315 million had been provided by foreign allies. 

A geography teacher in Coventry, England, found an ancient stone while weeding his garden in 2020, but the digging didn't stop from there. The finding of the stone led the teacher and researchers down a path of discovery, seeking the true value of the find.

Graham Senior found a sandstone measuring 4 inches long in his garden while weeding in 2020. The sandstone featured deeply carved parallel lines on its surface. 

"It caught my eye as I was clearing an overgrown part of the garden," Senior said in a statement per Live Science. "At first, I thought it was some kind of calendar." 

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

As it turns out, the parallel lines carved into its surface was ogham, an ancient written language native to Ireland. 

"Finding out later it was an ogham stone and over 1,600 years old was incredible," Senior said, per the source. 

Senior first reached out to the Portable Antiquities Scheme to report what he had found. 

"This is an amazing find. The beauty of the Portable Antiquities Scheme is that people are finding stuff that keeps rewriting our history," said Teresa Gilmore, archaeologist and finds liaison officer for Staffordshire and West Midlands based at Birmingham Museums, per the Irish Times.

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"This particular find has given us a new insight into early medieval activity in Coventry, which we still need to make sense of. Each find like this helps in filling in our jigsaw puzzle and gives us a bit more information," she continued. 

Archaeologists are still unsure about how the stone got to the garden in Coventry. 

"There's a lot of possibilities as to why it came over," Gilmore said, per Live Science. "This is one of the things about some of the amazing finds that turn up; they often create more questions than answers."

The stone was later brought to Katherine Forsyth, from the University of Glasgow in early 2024, who translated part of the script. 

She translated the script into the name: "Mael Dumcail." 

Senior has donated the stone to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry. The artifact will be part of the Collecting Coventry exhibition until April 2025. 

"We might never know how Mael lost the stone and how it ended up in a garden in Coventry, but I hope future research will reveal more," Herbert museum curator Ali Wells said in a statement, per Live Science. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday confirmed that Iran has supplied Russia with short-range ballistic missiles and "will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine."

"The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, while dedicating new missiles it's receiving from Iran [for] closer range targets," Blinken said while speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a trip to London.

Blinken vowed Tehran would face repercussions for the transfer of ballistic weapons and said the U.S. would be announcing additional sanctions on Iran later on Tuesday. 

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"There will be significant economic consequences for Iran's actions," he said, adding that European allies were expected to announce their own sanction-based actions against Tehran shortly.

Reports first surfaced on Monday showing that the European Union and its allied partners had received "credible" information that Moscow was receiving the top weaponry from its Middle Eastern ally despite warnings from the U.S. and NATO. 

"This development and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threatens European security and demonstrates how Iran's decentralized influence reaches far beyond the Middle East," Blinken said. 

The secretary said Russia and Iran continue to share information in areas of major geopolitical concern, including on nuclear development and space-based technology. 

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The nuclear watchdog for the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Monday warned that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program unchecked for the last three and half years and increased its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium to levels of 60% purity – just shy of weapons-grade uranium, which is achieved with 90% purity levels. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he urged new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian – who has expressed an interest in working with Western nations to alleviate sanctions for Iran – to meet with him in the "not to distant future" to establish a "constructive dialogue."

However, Blinken on Tuesday warned that aiding Russia in its deadly war against Ukraine will have crippling consequences for Tehran.

"Iran's new president and foreign minister have repeatedly said that they want to restore engagement with Europe," Blinken told reporters Tuesday. "They want to receive sanctions relief. Destabilizing actions like these will achieve exactly the opposite."

According to Reuters' reporting, Germany, France and the U.K. have "strongly condemned" Iran's supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, though no specific sanctions have been announced.

Almost half the population of East Timor gathered this week for an outdoor mass held by Pope Francis.

The pontiff held East Timor's first papal mass on Monday with over 600,000 worshipers in attendance — a jaw-dropping turn-out for a country with a population of approximately 1.3 million.

"May the faith, which has enlightened and sustained you in the past, continue to inspire your present and future," Pope Francis told the gathered crowds. "May your faith be your culture, may it inspire principles, projects and choices in conformity with the Gospel".

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Officials sometimes refer to East Timor as the second-most Catholic country in the world, beside Vatican City — a claim that's more serious than in jest.

Over 97% of the East Timorese people are Catholic and the faith is a foundational bedrock of the national culture.

The pope's arrival in East Timor on Monday marked the first papal visit to the intensely Catholic country since it became independent of Indonesia in 2002.

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Pope St. John Paul II visited the region in 1999 to support the Catholic population during their struggle for independence. 

Activists at the time faced violent suppression and persecution from Indonesian authorities — the pope's visit marked a major shift in global attention towards the plight of the Timorese.

During his Monday visit, Pope Francis praised the Timorese people for their high birthrate and increasingly youthful population — an average of almost seven children per mother.

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"I wish for you peace, that you keep having many children, and that your smile continues to your children," Pope Francis said during the mass.

Pope Francis's stop in East Timor is part of his ongoing apostolic journey across four countries between Sept. 2 and Sept. 13.

The pontiff has already completed his visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Following his departure from East Timor, the Holy Father is headed to Singapore for the final leg of his apostolic journey.

This is the 45th apostolic journey of Pope Francis' reign. His pontificate has been defined by the Holy See's outreach to Catholics in regions normally outside the attention of the Catholic leadership.

His trip to Indonesia, the largest population of Muslims in the world, was undertaken for the benefit of just 3% of Indonesians who are members of the Catholic Church.

The largest papal event by sheer attendance ever recorded was Pope Francis' 2015 mass in Manila, which drew between six million and seven million worshipers.