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Two Latvian nationals legally living in the United Kingdom were arrested under Section 4 of Britain's National Security Act of 2023 Thursday after allegedly breaching a perimeter fence at RAF Molesworth, a sensitive British military base housing critical U.S. and NATO intelligence operations, Reuters reported.

The arrests triggered a major counterterrorism investigation into the security breach at the strategic installation, which serves as a central intelligence hub supporting American military commanders across Europe and Africa.

The base is also undergoing a $556.5 million expansion centered on the Joint Intelligence Analysis Complex (JIAC), a location designed to consolidate 20 intelligence facilities and accommodate more than 1,000 personnel, according to reports.

IRAN UNDER SCRUTINY AFTER PLOT FOILED NEAR UK BASE USED BY US MILITARY

The suspects, ages 32 and 36, were discovered inside the base around 2 a.m. Thursday after an extensive security sweep.

Ministry of Defense Police officers conducting routine patrols first raised the alarm around 10 p.m. Wednesday after finding an abandoned vehicle near the perimeter.

Bomb disposal specialists cleared the vehicle before armed officers discovered a fence breach and located the men inside.

Initially detained on suspicion of trespass and criminal damage, both men were arrested again under the National Security Act for allegedly entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom. They remain in custody as counterterrorism detectives execute search warrants at two residential properties in nearby Peterborough.

Managed by the U.S. Air Force's 423rd Air Base Group, RAF Molesworth is a nonflying installation dedicated to joint intelligence and command operations.

It houses intelligence elements for U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command and the NATO Intelligence Fusion Centre.

During World War II, the airfield was used by the U.S. 15th Bombardment Squadron. In 1973, the airfield was officially deactivated before transitioning into its current role as an intelligence center.

Construction on the JIAC broke ground April 12, 2024, with onsite work beginning that spring. The facility is scheduled for completion in summer 2028.

FOILED TERROR PLOT AT BOMBER BASE SIGNALS WIDER THREAT TO US MILITARY INSTALLATIONS: EXPERT

A 2024 Defense Department release described the base development as part of the department's overall European Infrastructure Consolidation efforts.

"It will combine 20 facilities and over 1,000 DIA personnel into one location. Among others, it will host members of the NATO Intelligence Fusion Centre, Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Air Force elements in a cross-agency, multi-mission collaboration."

At the time, Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Suzanne White said the facility would enable "the U.S. and allies’ shared mission of ‘outpacing our strategic competitors and addressing threats together wherever they may arise.’"

The Defense Department designed the project with a two-stage procurement strategy, allowing stakeholder agencies to provide feedback and streamline scheduling requirements.

Following the intrusion, U.S. European Command praised the swift British response.

US PULLS ALL BOMBERS FROM KEY UK BASE AFTER SUSPECTED IRAN-LINKED TERROR PLOT

"While we assess the global security posture, U.S. forces remain at the highest state of readiness," the command said in a statement.

"We would also express our gratitude to the UK for the close partnership with U.S. forces on matters of security."

British counterterrorism officials cautioned against drawing premature conclusions about possible espionage or terrorist motives.

"We're very aware of the recent heightened interest and concern around military sites," Counterterrorism Policing London commander Helen Flanagan said.

Flanagan added that investigators have not established a connection between the Molesworth breach and recent security concerns at RAF Fairford, another British base used by U.S. strategic bombers.

"We are keeping an open mind at this stage and inquiries are very much ongoing," she said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon and the CIA for comment.

The death of an 87-year-old woman who was evicted from her longtime home has intensified a political crisis in Spain, where nationwide protests over soaring housing costs have helped force an early election.

María del Carmen Abascal, known as "Maricarmen," died Wednesday after being hospitalized following her eviction from a Madrid apartment where she had lived for seven decades, according to The Associated Press.

Her death came just days after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election for Nov. 29 following his government's failure to pass emergency housing measures through Parliament.

The controversy has put renewed pressure on Sánchez's Socialist Party as Spain grapples with widespread frustration over rising rents and housing affordability.

SPANISH OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS PRIME MINISTER A ‘TRAITOR’ OVER CEUTA MIGRANT CRISIS

At the center of the uproar was Abascal's Sept. 23 eviction, which drew national attention after images showed the elderly woman, who used a wheelchair, being carried from her apartment on a stretcher.

Police had cordoned off the street and removed demonstrators who attempted to stop the eviction.

The images sparked demonstrations in Madrid and other Spanish cities, turning Abascal into a symbol of the country's housing crisis.

The real estate company responsible for her eviction had sought to rent the apartment at a substantially higher price, according to the AP.

ANGRY LOCALS BLOCK FAMOUS BEACH AS MASS TOURISM PROTESTS ESCALATE AT VACATION HOT SPOT

Facing mounting public pressure, the company eventually agreed to allow Abascal to return to her home. She died before she could move back.

Her cause of death has not been disclosed.

Following news of her death, demonstrators gathered outside Spain's Parliament and in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, where some observed a minute of silence.

Protesters also chanted, "Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!"

TENS OF THOUSANDS FLOOD STREETS TO PROTEST SPAIN BORDER CRISIS

Sánchez offered condolences in a statement on X.

"All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones," he wrote. "A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace."

Conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also expressed condolences and urged political leaders not to use the woman's death for political gain.

"No campaign, no party, no use for political advantage," he wrote. "When faced with the death of a person, we must only show respect."

Abascal's eviction and death have become a rallying point for housing activists demanding changes to Spain's rental policies as the country prepares for its November election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

An Iranian anti-regime protester was hanged at dawn Oct. 5 inside Isfahan Central Prison, just hours after marrying his imprisoned fiancée over a jail phone line, The Times reported Thursday.

Alireza Sepahi, 25, was executed alongside co-defendant Alireza Raisi after being sentenced to death in the anti-government demonstrations at Isfahan’s Alikhani Square Jan. 8., according to Human Rights Iran.

Sepahi and his bride, student activist Mahshad Keshani, 22, knew and loved each other before being arrested during anti-regime demonstrations, the report said.

IRAN HANGS 2 PROTESTERS IN PUBLIC, CROWD CRIES 'DISHONORABLE' AS SECURITY FIRES TEAR GAS

Keshani, who is serving a five-year sentence, pushed for an informal wedding Sunday as fears mounted that Sepahi’s execution was imminent after a final family summons.

The couple exchanged vows over the phone from inside Isfahan prison, joined by their fathers.

Human rights lawyer Amirsalar Davoudi facilitated the ceremony by reading the vows for the fathers to bless.

Keshani’s family gave a copy of the Quran, a saffron rock candy and a single red rose as a traditional dowry.

"It was Mahshad’s idea," Davoudi told The Times. "Even now, I wonder how one young woman can possess such courage."

IRAN TO EXECUTE FIRST FEMALE PROTESTER TIED TO ANTI-REGIME UNREST

Davoudi recalled warning Keshani about the permanent nature of the decision. 

"I told her, ‘My dear, you understand that this cannot simply be undone?’" Davoudi said. 

"She said, ‘Mr Davoudi, I love Alireza.’"

When Davoudi presented the proposal to Sepahi, the young man broke down in tears. 

"Alireza was crying, and something deeply painful and beautiful happened. Even the prison officers began to cry," Davoudi said.

The ceremony held no formal authority to halt the execution. Sepahi had previously survived a scheduled hanging in July after suffering a heart attack on his way to the gallows. Authorities then rescheduled the execution after he regained consciousness.

On Monday morning, hours after the vows were spoken, Sepahi was hanged.

IRAN'S REGIME CAME FOR TEENAGE TWINS. THEIR FATE OFFERS A GLIMPSE OF TEHRAN'S WIDENING DEATH CAMPAIGN

He is among seven defendants executed in the Alikhani Square case, in which 12 men were accused in the deaths of four security personnel.

After the hanging, Sepahi’s family was reportedly prevented by authorities from burying their son in his hometown.

Davoudi condemned the Iranian regime's actions. 

"I do not know how to come to terms with this," Davoudi said.

"The regime is taking revenge on innocent young people for the humiliation it has suffered internationally."

Human rights groups report Keshani remains in custody, facing additional security charges.

This came as Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), urged U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to take immediate international action to halt executions and the killing of protesters in Iran, citing thousands of executions and decades of impunity for human rights abuses. 

In a letter ahead of World Day Against the Death Penalty on Oct. 10, Rajavi called for international accountability, independent investigations and diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran to end the executions.

The mother of Darya Shipilova, the 28-year-old Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East worker whose death has sparked global public health concerns, pushed back against reports her daughter was infected after she broke a test tube.

Svetlana Shipilova, who is a medical professional, told the Russian outlet Glubina she does not believe the account circulating regarding her daughter's demise, according to The Telegraph.

"I know the truth," she reportedly said. "I’m having to fend off stupid acquaintances who believed all this. The clever ones didn’t believe it, of course.

RUSSIAN BIO-LEAK SECRECY FOLLOWS CHERNOBYL PLAYBOOK, EX-CIA OFFICER WARNS

"Not even all medical professionals understand it’s impossible to break a test tube like that," she added. "Even if you fling it at the wall. Only an amateur could say something like that.

"Even hypothetically, you simply can’t spill what’s inside or break the tube. They’re that well protected." 

She also asserted to reporters, "They simply let my daughter die."

TRUMP RESPONDS TO CONCERNS OVER SUSPECTED PLAGUE CASE IN RUSSIA, SAYING US 'WILLING TO HELP'

Russian public health agency Rospotrebnadzor has said the woman died of "pneumonia of unknown origin" and that "extensive" testing uncovered no evidence the individual's illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted during remarks Wednesday that "we don’t yet have the full picture of this event, and we are not able to conduct a full risk assessment."

RUSSIAN RESEARCHER'S MYSTERY DEATH COULD BE 'FAR WORSE' THAN THE PLAGUE, FORMER SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL WARNS

"CDC is aware of and closely monitoring reports of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia that resulted in a death," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in part of a post Tuesday on X.

"We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

A 15-year-old boy wielding a knife and wearing a helmet-mounted camera attacked a Polish primary school he used to attend, allegedly killing one employee and wounding two others in the country's second school stabbing in two days.

Authorities are investigating whether the attacks are connected to an online challenge encouraging teenagers to kill as many people as possible.

Police said a 37-year-old woman who worked as a caretaker died in the Thursday morning attack at the school in Leszczydol-Nowiny, northeast of Warsaw.

The school's head teacher, Krzysztof Ochmanski, was injured while subduing the teenager, officials said. Ochmanski told a radio station he heard a scream and ran into a hallway.

MOTHER ACCUSED OF TRYING TO KILL DAUGHTERS IN FREEWAY CRASH AND KNIFE ATTACK AS SOLDIERS STEP IN

"He wounded me with the blade of a rather long knife — he had three knives on him — and hit me with the handle," Ochmanski told the public broadcaster Polskie Radio RDC. "By then, I had managed to restrain him."

The day before the latest attack, a 19-year-old allegedly wounded 10 people, including himself, at a school in Ostroleka, which is in northeastern Poland.

Also this week, police arrested a 17-year-old in Sierpc in north-central Poland after authorities suspected he was planning a similar attack, Reuters reported.

AMERICAN YOUTH RADICALIZED ONLINE, BUSTED IN SUSPECTED TERROR PLOTS AFTER HATING COUNTRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

"We fear a grim copycat phenomenon," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told an emergency meeting, according to Reuters. "We are facing an extraordinary situation. ... For the first time, we are dealing with a killer who wore a helmet-mounted camera, intending to film the knife attack."

Tusk ordered police to visit schools every day to discourage further violence.

Nikola, the 18-year-old sister of a boy at the school that was attacked Thursday, told Reuters there were rumors about the social media challenge that the police are now investigating.

"I mean, I didn't know if it was even real — I still don't know if it's true, actually — because it sounds so unreal, so terrifying, just like something out of a movie: some kind of challenge to kill as many people as possible," she said.

Christian community leaders and influencers from around the world gathered in Jerusalem Wednesday for an international memorial marking Oct. 7 as part of the Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit.

The event also included Jewish leaders, released hostages, bereaved families, wounded Israelis, ambassadors and diplomatic representatives to commemorate the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

"Oct. 7 is the worst day in Israel’s history, a day of hopelessness," Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital.

ON OCT 7, CHRISTIANS MUST REMEMBER AND STAND WITH ISRAEL

"People talk a lot about the more than 1,200 people killed that day, but not enough about the more than 70,000 who lost their homes and loved ones. You have a nation going through unspeakable pain, not only because of Oct. 7, but also because of the feeling that they are alone and that the world has turned against them," Evans added.

"What I’m sharing on Oct. 7 is this: ‘You’re wrong. The world is standing with you,’" he continued. "You see the faces, languages and songs of people from around the world united to comfort you and stand with you. It’s not political. It’s for the Jewish people: You are not alone. We’re with you. We love you."

CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS TAKE ON ANTI-ISRAEL ‘PROPAGANDA’ FROM BIBLICAL HEARTLAND

Hosted by actor and influencer Nathaniel Buzolic and reporter Erin Molan, Wednesday’s event in the Israeli capital was broadcast live on dozens of television networks around the world.

"When other minority or groups suffer, there tends to be some sort of acknowledgment of that suffering, but when it comes to Jewish suffering, particularly at the hands of radical Islamists, there is not only silence but also denial and an attempt to downgrade the atrocities we witnessed, and we really have witnessed atrocities not just on Oct. 7 but in the continuation of that," Buzolic told Fox News Digital.

Buzolic said supporting Israel is a moral imperative given what he described as efforts to destroy the country. He argued that the hostility toward Israel is rooted in a radical Islamist ideology that rejects peace and coexistence not only with the Jewish state, but also with Western societies more broadly.

Released hostages Agam Berger, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Bar Kupershtein and Evyatar David attended the event, along with Bar’s grandfather, Holocaust survivor Michael Kupershtein. Sylvan Adams, president of the World Jewish Congress Israel and a full partner in the event, also participated.

ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE REACHES DEADLIEST LEVEL SINCE 1994, NEW GLOBAL REPORT FINDS

Earlier in the day, participants visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance center.

The Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit is being held for the second consecutive year and brings together over 1,000 participants from 122 countries.

"The alliance is very strong. The vast majority of Zionists in the world are not Jewish; they are Bible-believing Christians," Evans told Fox News Digital. "The Christian Zionists worldwide don’t necessarily agree on the politics, but they agree on the people. They are uniting with the people of Israel."

The delegation includes many young people as part of an effort to reach a generation that Evans said had been "poisoned" by countries such as Qatar at universities, as well as by artificial intelligence.

The summit, held in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, opened Tuesday with an event on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. Evans said the site, which is associated with Jesus and his ascension, holds particular significance for participants and serves as a symbol of their faith.

Israel’s Special Envoy to the Christian World George Deek said he was proud of the sustained support Israel has received from Jewish and Christian communities abroad since Oct. 7, 2023.

LOST CITY WHERE JESUS PERFORMED MIRACLES HAS FINALLY BEEN IDENTIFIED, EXPERT SAYS

"The arrival of Christian leaders carries a powerful message that Israel does not stand alone. They have come to bear witness, meet people whose lives were shattered on Oct. 7 and carry their stories back to communities around the world," Deek told Fox News Digital.

Deek said the bond between Israel and the Christian world has been built on "truth, courage and sheer determination" to confront antisemitism and other forms of hatred wherever they arise.

"This visit is a testament to the strength of the bond between Israel and Christian communities despite attempts by various groups, including paid actors and anti-Israel organizations, to drive a wedge between them," he added.

Deek said the special relationship between Christians and Jews rests on three foundations: a shared biblical heritage; a commitment to ensuring Jews can live free from antisemitism and fear and the right of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere to live without intimidation.

"The future of the Jews in Israel and the future of Christians are connected because we have a shared history. We share the same historical land, the same values, kings and prophets, and we have to stand together, especially when it comes to this warfare against the soul of Christians, trying to drive them away from Israel," Deek told Fox News Digital.

Influencer Oli London first visited Israel six weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, traveling to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where residents were killed and kidnapped and homes were burned during the massacre.

"I felt it was so important to come back to honor the memory of the victims, advocate for those still suffering from trauma, raise awareness of their suffering and take part in mass prayers," London told Fox News Digital.

SIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER

"I think it’s also important to show Christians the holy sites in Israel. I’m visiting the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Olives, the Garden Tomb and other biblical sites to encourage Christians to return because Israel has had a difficult time over the past few years," he continued.

London also praised the resilience of the Jewish people and addressed rising antisemitism around the world since Oct. 7.

"Sadly, many people are either staying silent or jumping on the bandwagon of the anti-Israel trend, fueling hatred and bringing out antisemitic views in many people. Jewish people need support and need to know they are loved and supported by so many Christians," he said.

On Thursday, members of the delegation will visit the Nova music festival site, where one of the central massacres of Oct. 7 took place, and meet with released hostages Romi Gonen, Elkana Bohbot and Noa Argamani, who were abducted from the festival. On Friday, the delegation will visit the ancient site of Shiloh in Samaria for a special tour and prayer event.

Hooman Khalili, who is participating in the summit, was born in Iran and has been an outspoken supporter of Israel. He said he has visited the country 17 times over 21 months to create "Woman, Life, Freedom" murals.

"I was invited and saw it as an opportunity to share with American pastors the work I have been doing to show the world how Israel and the Jewish people support women and the people of Iran," he told Fox News Digital.

"This is one of those opportunities to come and pray for the land and the State of Israel, connect with other Christians and people who share my beliefs and values."

UNITED NATIONS — Three years after the worst massacre in Israel’s history, Eliya Cohen — who survived 505 days in Hamas captivity — took the stage at the United Nations alongside his newlywed wife, Ziv Abud, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre, and tried to explain to some of the world’s top diplomats what he had endured.

"They didn't let me change clothes or to get a shower, even to eat or to drink," he said. "They chained me with heavy iron chains by my leg," Cohen said during an emotional discussion moderated by Dr. Phil McGraw at Israel’s U.N. commemoration Tuesday.

He said lights were kept on to prevent the hostages from sleeping and that captors would enter repeatedly during the night screaming in an effort to frighten them. Cohen said they were not permitted to use a restroom and that at times survival felt almost impossible.

FREED HOSTAGE ROM BRASLAVSKI DETAILS ABUSE, STARVATION DURING 738 DAYS IN GAZA CAPTIVITY

But he described repeatedly forcing his mind away from the violence and toward the possibility of returning home.

"Don't think about the violence. Don't think about the torture. Don't think about everything," Cohen recalled telling himself. "Just continue, stay strong. And maybe one day, you will come back home to your family."

Cohen was among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, when about 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel in their homes and in the Nova Music festival. It was the deadliest single day in Israel’s history. He personally lost 48 people he knew that day.

His wife, Ziv, carried a different piece of the same story.

Abud and Cohen had arrived at the Nova festival shortly before dawn with her 19-year-old nephew Amit and his girlfriend Karin. When the attack began, they eventually took refuge in a roadside bomb shelter that Cohen said was designed for roughly eight people but became packed with 29.

HAMAS USED SEXUAL VIOLENCE 'DELIBERATELY AND SYSTEMATICALLY' ON OCT 7, COMMISSION REPORT FINDS

Abud told the audience that more than 40 terrorists later attacked the shelter with grenades and gunfire. One man inside repeatedly grabbed grenades and threw them back outside before he was killed, she said.

As the attack continued, Cohen covered Abud with bodies — an act that saved her life.

"I lost my consciousness. Eliya was kidnapped," Abud said. "And after seven hours, I woke up in the shelter. I found myself in a pile of bodies."

She paused, fighting back the tears. "It wasn't even bodies. It was body parts."

Abud said she then saw that Amit and Karin had been killed. "I needed to sit with the bodies for seven more hours," she said. She was eventually rescued, one of seven survivors from the shelter.

"We were four people that went to the festival from the same house," Abud said, "And I'm the only one that came back home that night."

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE COUNTERS HASAN PIKER’S UT AUSTIN EVENT WITH HER STORY OF SURVIVAL

For 505 days, she campaigned for Cohen’s return without knowing whether the man she loved would ever come home. Cohen, meanwhile, said he believed while in captivity that Abud had been killed.

The couple married weeks before Tuesday’s ceremony.

"But now he's here," Abud said. "And I can look forward to the future after we got married."

She said she hoped the years ahead would include "kids and family because we are here and we survived. And we need to live a normal life," she said.

Another Oct. 7 survivor who addressed the diplomats was Oriya Berlin, a young Israeli visual intelligence observer who had arrived at a base in the Gaza border area just two days before the attack.

Berlin said she woke on the morning of Oct. 7 believing she was hearing a thunderstorm.

"Outside, thousands of missiles were raining down with a single objective: to destroy my life and the lives of my friends," she said.

Berlin and four other soldiers ran barefoot and in pajamas into a small shelter. They were unarmed. She said the women initially believed the incursion would resemble scenarios they had studied during training — a small squad that Israeli forces could quickly contain.

Seconds later, she said, they heard vehicles and gunfire. Berlin described roughly 60 heavily armed terrorists attacking the base. At one point, she said, a message appeared in the unit’s WhatsApp group telling soldiers to shout "IDF" in Hebrew so Israeli troops could find them. The broken Hebrew immediately raised suspicions that a terrorist had taken a soldier’s phone.

They remained silent.

Berlin said they then heard another group shouting for soldiers to identify themselves, followed by a burst of gunfire and silence.

Ten hours after the attack began, she said, special forces finally reached them.

THE SENATE HAS REMEMBERED AMERICA’S OCTOBER 7TH VICTIMS. NOW IT’S TIME TO HEAL

Berlin said that after learning how many of her friends had been murdered or kidnapped, she could not remain at home. Although she was offered the opportunity to leave military service, Berlin said she refused and returned as an observer for another six months before later moving into the IDF Public Diplomacy Office.

"I wanted the world to see that the IDF is not just an intimidating military force on a television screen," she said. "It was also a 5'2" fake blonde girl like me who simply wanted to protect her home, her family, and her friends."

She said she has since spoken before audiences ranging from international organizations to high school students who told her "I was wasting their time because of their deep-seated anti-Israel hostility." "But I stayed," Berlin said. "I spoke because the truth demands a voice."

Berlin said her decision to continue speaking was rooted in the friends who did not survive.

Before the ceremony, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz met privately with Cohen and Abud, asking Cohen how he was feeling physically and telling the couple how good it was to see them "healthy and alive."

Minutes later, from the stage, Waltz became visibly emotional as he recounted a part of Cohen’s captivity that he said he had been unable to get out of his mind.

Waltz said that on the night before Cohen’s release, Hamas tried to make him record a propaganda video claiming he had been treated well. "He refused," Waltz said. "He held firm. He said no."

Waltz said Hamas again tried to turn Cohen’s release into propaganda the following day, placing him before cameras and instructing him to raise his hands.

"He refused again," Waltz said. "Eliya, we salute you. I salute you," Waltz continued. "You are a proud, strong Jew. You're undefeated, man" he said with his voice breaking.

The hostage crisis stretched over two years and several rounds of negotiations, releases and rescue operations. Waltz told Fox News Digital after Tuesday’s ceremony that he wanted the commemoration to acknowledge both the loss of Oct. 7 and how much had changed since.

"October 7th, 2023, was their 9/11, was their Pearl Harbor," Waltz said. "More Jews were brutally massacred that day than any day since the Holocaust."

ISRAELI OCTOBER 7 SURVIVORS CONQUER TRAUMA ALONGSIDE LEGENDARY ROCK ICONS IN POWERFUL NEW DOCUMENTARY

He said it was important "to recognize the loss" and "hear directly from the survivors," but also to take stock of the region three years later.

"We have President Trump's 20-point peace plan. We have a U.N. resolution establishing the International Stabilization Force," Waltz told Fox News Digital. "He's determined to not repeat what's happened so often in the past, where Hamas rebuilds, Iran rearms, they attack again, and you have this devastation all over again."

Waltz pointed to broader shifts across the Middle East.

"Iran is on its back foot. Lebanon has hope, Syria has hope. Iraq has hope," he said.

He said he hoped the commemoration could combine "remembrance, the perspective, and I think charting, trying to chart a path of hope and peace for the future."

From the stage, Waltz argued that Oct. 7 had produced the opposite strategic result from what Iran and its allies sought. "October 7 completely, and I think irreversibly, has backfired on Iran and all of their terrorist proxies," he said, pointing to changes in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and the expansion of Israel’s regional relationships.

He ended with a message to the audience: "America will stand with the Jewish people."

"Be strong. Be resilient. Be wise," Waltz said. "And know that what you're doing is right. Stand with your moral compass and know that this administration, the United States of America, stands with you."

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon used the gathering — attended by ambassadors and diplomats from multiple countries — to turn his attention to the institution hosting it.

MOTHER OF OCTOBER 7 HOSTAGE WHO WAS EXECUTED UNPACKS HER GRIEF IN NEW MEMOIR

"Even in this building, the U.N. is trying to demonize and isolate Israel," Danon said. "They have turned the victim into the accused, comparing our IDF soldiers to Hamas terrorists."

Danon said he has been told by colleagues that he takes criticism of Israel at the U.N. ‘too personally’.

"Indeed, it is personal," he responded. "My daughter is serving right now in the IDF. My son served as an officer in the IDF," Danon said. "He was supposed to be on the Re'im base next to Gaza on October 7th. The last minute, he was released home for the holiday."

"That's why it's personal," Danon said. "The U.N. tries to demonize all of our sons and daughters, our lions and lionesses who give everything so we can freely live in our homeland. So yes, it is personal. It's personal for all of us."

For Cohen and Abud, however, the event eventually returned from geopolitics to something much smaller: the possibility of an ordinary future.

Abud said they hoped to have children and build a family despite knowing that Oct. 7 and the 505 days that followed would remain part of their lives.

Cohen, asked by McGraw what he would say if the terrorists who abducted and tortured him were watching, needed only a few words.

"I won," Cohen said.

"I won and I'm here."

He then turned his message outward.

"Stay proud to be Jewish," Cohen said. "And stay proud to be Israeli."

"We are here to stay."

Glenn Corn, a former CIA officer, told Fox News Digital that Russia’s decades-long history of deception makes it difficult to trust the Kremlin’s account of a possible disease outbreak following the death of a 28-year-old researcher at a facility containing dangerous pathogens.

Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, got sick near the end of September.

After unconfirmed reports that Shipilova died from pneumonic plague were shared far and wide on social media, Russian authorities pushed back, saying she died on Oct. 2 from "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and that testing found no evidence she had been infected with a pathogen from her lab.

Yet the Russian government’s past messaging around major crises has left Corn and others wary of its official account.

RUSSIAN RESEARCHER'S MYSTERY DEATH COULD BE ‘FAR WORSE’ THAN THE PLAGUE, FORMER SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL WARNS

"This is what the challenge is, because they have the history of the 'boy who cried wolf syndrome.' They have this history of being deceitful. It's very hard to believe what they're saying," said Corn, a professor at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school in Washington, D.C.

Corn, who is fluent in Russian and spent more than 20 years overseas during his intelligence career, gave several examples of elaborate Russian coverups, including the 1979 anthrax outbreak that killed at least 64 people in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk, now called Yekaterinburg.

For years, the Soviet Union claimed that the deaths were caused by intestinal anthrax from tainted meat, according to PBS' "Frontline." It wasn't until 1992 that President Boris Yeltsin finally admitted the illnesses were the result of military activity at a nearby biological weapons facility.

This dedication to deception, Corn said, remains a feature of the current government under President Vladimir Putin.

AMB. GORDON SONDLAND: THE GODFATHER TEST -- HOW PUTIN TURNS EVERY ATTACK INTO A MYSTERY—AND GETS AWAY WITH IT

Corn pointed to the Kremlin’s past denials of ties to the Wagner mercenary group, whose murky relationship with the state allowed its fighters to advance Moscow’s interests overseas while Russian officials maintained plausible deniability. Putin later acknowledged that the group had been fully financed by the Russian state.

"This goes to the strategic culture of leadership in Russia... and their fear of the rest of the world, and their belief that they have to deceive everybody because everybody is deceiving them," Corn said.

Corn said this style of narrative control is also characteristic of China, which remains under Communist Party rule, while modern Russia inherited many of the institutions and governing practices of the communist-led Soviet Union.

For example, China faced criticism in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic for withholding or delaying the release of critical information about the emerging virus, which has gone on to kill more than 7 million people globally.

TRUMP NEGOTIATORS WITKOFF, KUSHNER MEET WITH PUTIN IN MOSCOW AS US PUSHES FOR END TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

"In both systems, people are disincentivized to tell the truth when there's a bad story," Corn said. "Nobody wants to actually say that we have a real problem and we need to deal with it because they're afraid that it will cost them their jobs, their lives, their freedom."

With that history in mind, Corn said U.S. officials should not simply take Moscow at its word on Shipilova’s death, but independently verify its claims and closely monitor for any signs of a wider outbreak.

So far, there is no sign that Shipilova’s illness has spread. Russia's health watchdog said Tuesday that 60% of the roughly 200 people quarantined after potentially coming in contact with Shipilova have been released. It added that no cases of plague have been found.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that the case presented a "very low" risk outside Russia, The Associated Press reported.

That same day, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that the global health agency is in contact with Russian health authorities and has requested more information "to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia" that killed Shipilova.

President Donald Trump also told reporters on Tuesday that he has a call scheduled with Putin about the case "very soon," adding that the U.S. is already in "very deep discussions" with Russia.

An unholy alliance is being blamed for instigating the violence seen across France as experts point to a bond between extreme left and radical Islamic groups.

What began as protests over school conditions and funding is entering its third week, and the factors behind the widespread, more violent protests are being debated.

"The protests started in an apparently spontaneous way in the disadvantaged, immigrant suburbs of Paris," Nathalie Szerman, researcher in radicalization and extremism in France at MEMRI, told Fox News Digital, but "it quickly became clear that the violence demonstrated in these protests conveyed a huge amount of hate towards the ‘system’ and not much concern for better material conditions in schools, as dozens of schools across France have suffered vandalism and blockades, and many were even set on fire."

FRANCE ROCKED BY STUDENT RIOTS AS HUNDREDS ARRESTED, VIOLENCE SPREADS NATIONWIDE

Szerman said that while demonstrations over school conditions at the beginning of an academic year in France "is not a new phenomenon," the "scope of these demonstrations and their character should raise concerns." She points to protestors taking to the streets carrying Palestinian flags. "Pro-Palestinian organizations, such as Urgence Palestine, have declared the month of October to be a month of revolt, and these groups are supporting and fueling these demonstrations."

"The French are notorious for strikes, labor shortages and street demonstrations," former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Theo Wold told Fox News Digital, and added that these protests are "a consequence of mass immigration. The rioters are not of French culture, and they don’t respect the rule of law … France is learning that importing an underclass of foreigners causes broader societal damage."

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR COMPARES FRANCE'S FAR-LEFT LEADER'S RHETORIC TO HITLER AS ANTISEMITISM SURGES

Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Fox News’ Outnumbered on Tuesday, "I think at the very heart of this, is the far-left and the Islamists combining forces to undermine France itself … This is a form of uprising, frankly, by far left wing forces together with second, third generation migrants. And also, at the same time, France is in real economic trouble."

Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, senior envoy to Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that, "Students have reason to be angry about overcrowded classrooms and absent teachers." She added: "What does Gaza have to do with a shortage of teachers in France? I’ll tell you what: [the far-left La France Insoumise party] has spent years making hostility to Israel a central part of its appeal to young voters. Bringing that cause into the school protests helps fuel the racial dynamics and turn a demand for better classrooms into a much broader confrontation with the government," she said.

EUROPE’S LEFT COURTS MUSLIM VOTERS AS ANTI-ISRAEL POLITICS RESHAPE CONTINENT

"LFI is the perfect embodiment of the Red-Green alliance – the alliance between leftists and Islamists," added Szerman. "LFI rallies Islamist and pro-Palestinian groups on the one hand, and other French anti-system leftists who accuse the elite of enriching itself at the expense of the poor on the other. It is a revolutionary party using Islam as an inner drive. Politicized Muslims are aware of this and are also using LFI to promote their own agenda.

"They are fueling and empowering each other, the common ground being the claim that they are the people," Szerman continued. "The people are seen as the enemy of the ‘elite’ running the country, which therefore has to be overthrown."

Rodan-Benzaquen said, "French students need their teachers to show up to class, and their parents need to know they will be safe at school. But [LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon] is not interested in these goals." She says he is "encouraging the citizens to see their schools as a front in a larger political battle, one whose real prize is the presidency."

FRANCE’S TEEN RIOTS TAKE EXPLOSIVE NEW TURN AS GOVERNMENT POINTS FINGER AT HARD LEFT

French President Emmanuel Macron is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term in elections this coming spring. Many observers believe a runoff match-up between the far-left Mélenchon and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party could be on the horizon.

"No matter how the protests play out, Mélenchon will likely benefit," said Rodan-Benzaquen. "If the unrest drives voters toward the far right, he can hope to emerge as the leader of the opposition. If he succeeds in mobilizing enough voters himself, he could reach the presidency. Either prospect gives him a reason to keep the confrontation going. Neither gives him much incentive to lower the temperature."

"I do not think that the LFI leadership made a conscious decision to trigger destructive demonstrations all over France," added Szerman, "but once the movement was launched, LFI did provide a backbone for the violence, as it will never blame any of its followers."

FRANCE EXPLODES AGAIN AS STUDENTS RIOT OVER EDUCATION

So far, the protests have not spread across the continent even as spending on education seems close between countries.

According to the latest available figures from Eurostat, the European Union’s official statistical office, in 2024 France spent over 5% of its GDP on education, more than it spent on defense. In that same year, neighboring Germany spent only 4.5% of its GDP on education.

In Macron’s latest proposed budget, about $74 billion is earmarked for French schools, more than proposed for defense, but both are cuts from the last official budget narrowly approved by Parliament over the winter. Germany’s Federal Statistical Office reports spending on education was up to 7% of GDP at over $340 billion when including federal, state and local government spending. Meanwhile, in the U.K., Department for Education spending for the 2025/26 school year was estimated at around $142 billion.

When comparing the latest figures for expenditures per student, France’s ministry of education says in the 2024/25 school year, it spent $9,950 per student, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office says $12,000 was spent per student in 2025, and the U.K. spent about $10,100 per student in 2024/25. Meanwhile, the Organization for European Economic Co-operation says the Europe-wide average is around $12,000 per student per year.

Some 500 high schools are closed in France on Wednesday, down from 891 on Tuesday. The schools have been ordered by the ministry of education to replace normal lessons through Friday with structured dialogue and staff crisis management meetings in an effort to calm tensions, to avoid confrontations at school gates and to give staff time to reorganize.

The Associated Press reports more than 6,100 people have been arrested since the protests began, with the Interior Ministry saying 715 police officers have been injured.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended the police response to student protests after one teenager lost a hand in an incident involving a police grenade and another lost sight in one eye after being struck by a projectile.

In parliament on Tuesday, Lecornu pushed back on accusations of police brutality or state repression, adding that the term "police brutality" implies that officers had been instructed to use force, according to Politico.

"What triggers police action is the occurrence of urban violence," Lecornu said.

"Can accidents happen? The answer is yes," he added.

FRANCE EXPLODES AGAIN AS STUDENTS RIOT OVER EDUCATION

Lecornu and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez have both argued that the police response was sparked by urban violence, arson and vandalism, while maintaining that officers have acted within their authority. Nuñez also called the police response proportionate in "almost all cases."

The prime minister also accused opposition party France Unbowed of exploiting the student protests to sow chaos and score political points ahead of next year’s presidential election.

President Emmanuel Macron convened an emergency meeting with senior ministers to address the nationwide student protests and their potential political fallout.

The French government is facing mounting pressure after more than 6,500 people were arrested and hundreds were injured as students demand better funding and learning conditions in schools. Most of those arrested were minors, according to the Associated Press.

Lecornu said 215 students and 85 school staff members had been injured since the protests began, while his office said 715 police officers had also been injured.

"I hope we can provide a political response to a very real anxiety among high school students," Lecornu acknowledged.

As Lecornu delivered his remarks on Tuesday, demonstrators from several French unions and teachers’ groups gathered with high school and university students. Members of France’s left-wing parties were also at the protest, according to Politico.

The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in demonstrations nationwide Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris.

The Paris demonstration was largely peaceful, although smaller groups later clashed with riot police, according to the Associated Press.

The protesters' movement began at high schools in the Paris region in mid-September before spreading nationwide.

TEEN'S HAND BLOWN OFF BY POLICE GRENADE DURING FRENCH STUDENT PROTESTS: REPORT

On Monday, a 15-year-old boy in northern France lost a hand after a police grenade exploded during the protests, Politico reported. A prosecutor said he could not "say for certain whether the student picked up the grenade or whether it was thrown at him."

In the city of Tours, a 16-year-old lost sight in one eye after being hit by a projectile, according to the outlet. The prosecutor said the projectile may have been fired from a sub-lethal riot-control weapon used by police.

Boris Vallaud, leader of the center-left Socialist group in parliament, said the group's lawmakers would introduce legislation restricting the use of sub-lethal riot-control weapons at student demonstrations, warning that they can cause irreversible injuries, the outlet reported.

A former spy chief for Germany's foreign intelligence service was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of espionage and attempted treason over allegations that he obtained classified documents and used secret information to prepare an analysis for an employee of a foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said.

August Hanning, 80, led Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, known as the BND, from 1998 to 2005.

According to federal prosecutors, Hanning is "strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage."

A former aide, identified as Manfred D., was also arrested in western Germany and is accused of aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage in connection with the case.

RUNAWAY BRAZILIAN EX-SPY CHIEF CONVICTED IN COUP REPORTEDLY DETAINED BY ICE AT FLORIDA TRAFFIC STOP

Prosecutors said Manfred D. worked as Hanning’s chief of staff before going on to serve as chief of staff to several of Hanning's successors at the BND between March 2012 and March 2026, giving him access to confidential information.

Beginning in 2010, the men allegedly reached an agreement under which Manfred D. would routinely transmit intelligence to Hanning in exchange for payment.

The arrangement continued until June 2022, with Manfred D. allegedly providing Hanning with roughly 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information intended strictly for internal use, according to prosecutors.

Hanning allegedly used the information in his private consulting work.

US COUNTERINTELLIGENCE ‘WAY BEHIND,’ POST-9/11 RECORD ‘EXTRAORDINARILY NEGLIGENT’, FMR TRUMP WH OFFICIAL WARNS

A spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office told German broadcaster RTL that investigators believe Hanning used classified information to prepare an analysis for an employee of a foreign intelligence service.

Prosecutors also said Hanning passed along information following extensive exchanges with an employee of another intelligence service.

German authorities have not publicly identified the foreign intelligence services allegedly involved.

The investigation grew out of an apparently unrelated case involving the 2024 abduction of the children of Hamburg businesswoman Christina Block during a custody dispute.

Prosecutors said Hanning's arrest stemmed from evidence gathered during that investigation.

CALIFORNIA REALTOR NABBED AT LAX IN ALLEGED CHINA SPY CASE TARGETING TAIWAN PRESIDENT’S RELATIVE

Hanning's arrest marks the first detention of a former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, according to Reuters.

Hanning and Manfred D. were expected to appear before a judge at Germany's Federal Court of Justice following their arrests.

Fox News Digital has reached out to GLOBSEC, where Hanning previously held an affiliation, for comment on his arrest and the allegations against him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The U.S. military in Okinawa, Japan, is beginning an operational pause for 48 hours, prohibiting off-base liberty and ordering training after a Marine was arrested on suspicion of killing and robbing a woman.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, Okinawa Area Coordinator and commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a letter on Tuesday that incidents like this "demand we pause for reflection" and that serving on the island "comes with responsibility."

"We speak often about standards and discipline. Standards are what we expect, and my standards are clear: be accountable for your actions; do the right thing, especially when no one is looking; and always be guided by our core values that govern our conduct at every rank," he wrote.

"We live, work, and socialize alongside the people of Okinawa; their home is our home. Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team. When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region. Accordingly, we will take time to think hard about discipline, standards and our alliance responsibilities," Watson added.

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The arrest of the Marine has sparked protests against the heavy American military presence on the southern Japanese island and concerns over military-related crime.

Japanese officials have also lodged a formal protest with the U.S. government. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned U.S. Ambassador George Glass and called for cooperation with the investigation, stricter discipline among U.S. personnel and measures to prevent similar incidents.

The killing could complicate Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to both strengthen the Japanese military on Okinawa and work more closely with the U.S. military to deter China.

The pause in operations will last from Wednesday through Friday, during which no "off-base liberty" or alcohol will be allowed. Restricting troops from leaving military bases and interacting with the local community is a common response by military leaders to major crime incidents.

Service members will receive training on standards, discipline and "our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community," Watson said.

"This Period of Training will include discussions on liberty policy, enforcement mechanisms, alcohol awareness, Okinawan culture, and alliance responsibilities. Every member of this force must understand that individual conduct has consequences," he said.

After the training, which will begin on Friday, troops will transition into a 30-day "Period of Reflection."

NAVY SAILOR SENTENCED TO 44 YEARS FOR STRANGLING FELLOW SERVICEMEMBER IN VIRGINIA BARRACKS ROOM

During this period, Watson said there will be "restrictions on liberty" to remind all military personnel that "liberty is a privilege and a collective responsibility." These restrictions will include a curfew and enhanced supervision.

"Liberty is a mission, and like any other mission it requires discipline, trust and teamwork to complete it successfully," he said. "Take care of your teammates. Hold one another accountable. Live up to the high standards that come with the uniform you wear."

Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island’s capital city of Naha early Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack.

Ballard has denied the allegations.

Security camera footage showed a man entering the hotel with the woman and later leaving alone.

Ballard was arrested after a patrolling officer spotted him walking later on Saturday in an entertainment district in Okinawa City, about 15 miles northeast of Naha. His shaved head and the tattoos on his arms matched those of the man seen in security footage, Kyodo News agency reported.

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy U.S. military presence on the island, although some have acknowledged its strategic benefit due to what is seen as a growing threat from China.

Okinawa was under U.S. occupation from World War II until 1972. Now, the U.S. population on the island is nearly 80,000, with nearly 30,000 being active duty troops from all four branches of the armed forces. The Marines make up most of the service members on the island.

A rise in crime linked to U.S. military-related personnel has led to renewed protests on the island. The number of criminal cases involving U.S. military-related personnel rose from about 40 in 2020 to 101 in 2025, according to Okinawa prefectural police.

After three U.S. service members raped a 12-year-old girl in 1995, huge crowds protested the U.S. military presence on Okinawa. There was also frustration over a U.S. service member's rape of a teenage girl in 2024 and the delayed disclosure of the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A commercial ship sank and its crew vanished Tuesday after an apparent coordinated air-and-sea drone attack off NATO member Bulgaria, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia before warning Moscow was preparing a broader "massive strike."

A second vessel was also heavily damaged and set ablaze inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, with a drone expert warning the dual precision strikes signaled a dangerous escalation and possible "larger invasion posture" by Russia.

"They were likely using the Geran-4 aerial drone to take the vessel out or the Maran surface vehicle to take it out," Cameron Chell, founder of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday of the first strike.

RUSSIA MAY BE USING HIDDEN 'LUNCHBOX-SIZE' DRONE DEVICES TO COUNTER UKRAINE DEFENSES: EXPERT

"The reason it wasn't just an air vehicle or an air drone that took this ship out was that the Gerans generally come in at a pretty steep angle when they're on final attack," Chell said.

"There are not really any precision drones that fly closely above the surface, which is where they would have had to hit in order to create an impact that would sink this ship fast enough," he added.

"The nature of this strike suggests there was a combination of an air attack and surface attack," Chell said.

The dual attack occurred roughly 70 nautical miles off the eastern Bulgarian coastal town of Byala, according to Reuters, bringing the conflict into the economic zone of a NATO member.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence and security services were working to determine the full circumstances surrounding the attack.

US ALLIES NEED TO SHOOT DOWN RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT TESTING NATO BOUNDARIES, CZECH PRESIDENT WARNS

"Our intelligence and special services are now working to establish all available information about yet another attack in the Black Sea targeting civilian vessels," he wrote on X.

"Our Navy contacted its counterparts in Bulgaria, and it has been established that this was a combined Russian attack using maritime and aerial drones."

Chell suggested the attack’s location and hybrid nature could serve Russia by sowing greater uncertainty across the region.

"We can see the amount of geopolitical chaos that's involved, and this is exactly the type of thing that would benefit Russia in the region," Chell said.

"The hybrid element here is really blurring the lines between traditional military actions," he added, describing the attack as "an expansion of strategy and tactics."

"This is indicative of this larger invasion posture that seems to be unfolding for Russia," Chell said. "And a real desire, what appears to be, for Russia to take things up a notch."

RUSSIA'S SHADOW WAR IS PUTTING EUROPE ON EDGE AS GERMANY CONFRONTS A GROWING THREAT

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev also confirmed that aerial and maritime drones targeted two commercial vessels in shipping lanes inside Bulgaria’s EEZ, calling the attack a "gross, flagrant violation of international law," according to Reuters.

The sunken vessel, identified by British maritime risk group Vanguard as the cargo ship Alfa Watan, suffered catastrophic structural damage before submerging with an undisclosed cargo and an unknown number of crew members aboard.

A nearby Bulgarian ferry, the Dioscuria, diverted to the scene after witnessing an explosion and receiving distress signals, Reuters reported.

Rescuers found an overturned lifeboat, life rafts and life jackets floating in the debris field.

RUSSIA PREPARING HYBRID ATTACKS ON NATO'S EASTERN FLANK, INTELLIGENCE WARNS

Search-and-rescue operations involving the Bulgarian Navy, Air Force and Border Police remained underway to locate the missing crew and monitor for environmental threats, the outlet said.

Chell suggested the apparent coordination between the attacks was particularly significant.

"Not only are you using pretty sophisticated equipment, but you're also doing it in a coordinated manner," Chell said.

"These two ships were going opposite directions. One was actually just coming, and had left Ukraine the day before," he said.

"These things coordinated and were struck relatively at the same time. So another level of coordination has unfolded here," Chell added.

UKRAINE POUNDS BLACK SEA FLEET’S ‘LAST MAJOR STRONGHOLD’ WHILE PUTIN FLEXES NAVAL POWER IN PACIFIC

The second ship, identified by Vanguard as the general cargo vessel ABLE, caught fire after being struck while carrying grain.

A Bulgarian ferry crew evacuated all 18 seafarers aboard — 11 Turkish nationals and seven Indian nationals.

Two crew members suffered severe injuries and were airlifted to a medical facility in Varna, while the remaining 16 were transported safely to shore.

Radev convened an emergency government session following the strikes. While acknowledging it remained unclear whether the drones originated from Russia or Ukraine, he warned of the widening scope of the war.

"Such an attack within the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone is absolutely unacceptable," Radev told reporters.

REPORT WARNS RUSSIA USING SHADOW FLEET TO PROBE NATO DRONE DEFENSES

"If this war is not ended in time, it will continue to expand its spatial scope and increase the risk of even a global conflict."

Chell said striking the two ships inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone could also have the effect of disrupting a crucial shipping corridor and creating fear among commercial operators.

"It all adds up to a perfect little scenario for the Russians to create chaos there, not just to disrupt the lane of economics for the region and in particular for Ukraine — a lifeline," Chell said.

"The Russians are really taking a playbook out of the Iranians who have basically created enough chaos in the Strait of Hormuz where the operators can't take the chance to put their ships through there," he added.

The strikes came amid a surge in attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea, including an incident off Romania’s coast Monday in which two people died in a ship fire.

Ambrey, a British firm specializing in global maritime risk, recorded more than 210 strikes on commercial ships between July and the end of September.

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

Zelenskyy later warned that Ukrainian intelligence had obtained information indicating Russia was preparing a major new assault.

"We’ve got updated intel on Russia’s preparations for a massive strike," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "I ask you, please, to take care of yourselves and respond to missile threat alerts."

"Ukrainian services and our Air Force are ready to respond — as much as our defenses allow," Zelenskyy continued. "And a lot depends on our partners — every country in the world that has the defensive capabilities we need and can provide them to us."

"It’s very important that there be the political will to do this — particularly in the United States and in Europe," he added.

NEW YORK — Nearly three decades after the Good Friday Agreement transformed Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the United States could potentially play a role in a future push for a united Ireland following President Donald Trump's backing for reunification.

Martin, whose Fianna Fáil party supports Irish unity, said the landmark 1998 agreement – which largely ended 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as "the Troubles" – created a peaceful mechanism for deciding Northern Ireland's constitutional future, but cautioned that the deep divide between Northern Ireland's nationalist and unionist communities must first be bridged.

"I believe in unity and my party believes in unity, but we have to work on it," Martin told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "We have to build reconciliation among the different traditions on the island of Ireland."

"The U.S. were critical to the success of peace and conflict resolution in Ireland," Martin added.

IRISH PM REJECTS ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS IN IRELAND AMID DRAMATIC VOTE OVER BOYCOTTING ISRAEL GAME

Martin spoke to Fox News Digital during the U.N. General Assembly in New York at what he described as a global "crossroad," with war raging in Ukraine, conflict across the Middle East and negotiations underway over Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

Throughout the interview, he repeatedly returned to Ireland's own experience of conflict and peace as a guide to how the country approaches crises abroad, while defending the country's long-standing policy of military neutrality despite its growing support for Ukraine.

The constitutional question of Irish unity gained renewed attention during Trump's recent visit to Ireland last month, when the president said he would "love" to see Ireland unified and predicted it would eventually happen.

Asked during the Fox News Digital whether Washington could play a role again if Ireland eventually moves toward reunification, Martin replied: "To a degree maybe, potentially, yeah."

Martin spoke before the latest confrontation over Garvaghy Road erupted in Portadown, reviving one of Northern Ireland's most bitter marching disputes and underscoring how potent nationalist-unionist divisions remain.

The Parades Commission last month approved a limited Orange Order march along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years. Residents and supporters blocked the route, while police declined to force the parade through amid fears of serious disorder.

The Orange Order is a Protestant organization whose members generally support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, while many residents of the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road community, who are predominantly Catholic, favor a united Ireland.

The standoff has since spilled into the courts and Stormont, where parliament meets, as efforts to broker a compromise continue.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, a referendum can be called if it appears a majority in Northern Ireland would support reunification. But Martin said more work is needed to define what a united Ireland would look like and deepen engagement on both sides of the border.

IRISH PM SAYS IRELAND ‘NOT OVERRUN’ BY IMMIGRANTS, LEGAL MIGRATION TIED TO ECONOMIC SUCCESS

UKRAINE AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE

For Martin, however, the lessons of Northern Ireland's peace process extend far beyond the island.

"Because of our conflict in Northern Ireland, we feel we can make a contribution to that conflict resolution pathway," Martin said.

He said Ireland's experience ending decades of violence now shapes how it approaches Russia's war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and Europe's increasingly uncertain security environment.

"We don't get a sense that Russia is really interested at this particular stage," Martin said of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Martin, who had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the previous evening, nevertheless argued that continued channels between Washington and Moscow were important.

Asked whether a realistic peace settlement would ultimately require Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia, Martin rejected the premise.

"Ukraine can't cede territory that Russia hasn't even conquered, despite four years of war," Martin said.

But he said a ceasefire along existing battle lines could provide a starting point for negotiations.

"If we even could get a ceasefire on existing lines, and then negotiations to start," Martin said, adding that Kyiv would need protections against renewed Russian aggression. "Ukraine needs security guarantees."

Martin also pointed to Ukraine's path toward European Union membership as potentially providing an additional layer of security and said the broader security architecture between Europe and Russia would ultimately have to be addressed in negotiations.

"From our perspective, no one has the right to go into another country and take its territory," Martin said.

HOW NEUTRAL IS IRELAND?

Ireland's extensive support for Kyiv, however, raises a more contentious question at home: how far can a militarily neutral country support one side in a war while maintaining that neutrality?

Ireland has committed more than $754 million in humanitarian assistance, military training and other non-lethal support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 while stopping short of providing lethal weapons.

Fox News Digital asked Martin whether that level of support undermined Ireland's neutrality.

"No, because we don't give lethal aid, we haven't given military weaponry, but we have given non-lethal assistance in terms of training and so on like that, and also humanitarian aid to Ukraine," Martin said.

Ireland has also taken in large numbers of Ukrainians fleeing the war. Martin said more than 120,000 had arrived at one point, with roughly 80,000 remaining in the country at the time of the interview.

"That's not taking sides, that's taking a humanitarian response to a war," Martin said. "And many are contributing, many are working in the economy."

Ireland's neutrality has also faced scrutiny over the long-standing use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. military.

NATO's top military commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, described Shannon in August as a "very important logistics hub" for the United States and said withdrawing American military access would probably damage U.S.-Irish relations.

The airport's role has long drawn protests from Irish neutrality campaigners, who argue that allowing U.S. military personnel and aircraft to transit through a civilian airport undermines the country's neutral status.

Despite differing approaches to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Martin described the U.S.-Ireland relationship in almost familial terms.

"There's a very strong bond between Ireland and the United States," Martin said.

He pointed to the long-standing tradition of Irish leaders visiting the White House on St. Patrick's Day and the enormous Irish American diaspora, which he estimated at roughly 30 million people.

"It's just family, there's kinship ties," Martin said.

MIDDLE EAST

Martin said Ireland's peace-process experience also informs its approach to the Middle East, where Dublin has emerged as one of Israel's strongest European critics.

He condemned Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack and defended Israel's right to security while arguing that the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza had been "absolutely disproportionate."

"We believe in a two-state solution," Martin said. "We believe that Israel, of course, has a right to exist in security and its people need to be guaranteed of security. But likewise, Palestinians should have a right to live in their homeland in a peaceful way."

Martin said Ireland's strongly anti-Israel position was shaped partly by its own history and what he described as a "sense of right and justice and fairness."

WATCH: Irish PM explains Ireland's position on Israel, rejects antisemitism concerns amid controversial soccer match

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EUROPE'S SECURITY

Ireland currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, placing Martin at the center of negotiations as Europe confronts its biggest security challenges in decades.

"There's a big realization in Europe that we have to do more to provide greater security to Europe, particularly because of the Russian-Ukrainian war," Martin said.

He pointed particularly to Baltic and Nordic countries, whose governments have increased defense spending amid fears about Russia.

"Many have an existential fear of Russia," Martin said.

Martin said Europe was also tightening its approach to immigration, echoing comments he made elsewhere in the interview that asylum applications had fallen across Ireland and that governments across the continent were responding to mounting political pressure.

For Martin, those challenges — from Ukraine and the Middle East to Ireland's own unfinished constitutional future —ultimately return to the lessons he believes his country learned through decades of conflict and the peace process that followed.

"The world needs to try and turn a page toward a more peaceful sort of coexistence," Martin said.

WATCH: Irish PM explains how Ireland is responding to Trump's 'America First' agenda

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that France’s escalating riots were being driven by "out of control mass migration," as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz echoed those concerns and blamed unchecked immigration and broader European policy failures for helping fuel the unrest.

Asked by Fox News Digital about Trump’s comments and the scenes emerging from France, Waltz condemned the violence while also linking the unrest to European immigration and economic policies.

"I think we would always condemn lawlessness, condemn the violence that we're seeing in Paris," Waltz told Fox News Digital. "But I think we also have to recognize that when you have open borders, when you [have] this pro-migration, unchecked immigration kind of policy, coupled with policies over the years that deny people basic energy, that overspend on all kinds of other government programs, that you see a level of frustration boiling to the surface."

FRANCE EXPLODES AGAIN AS STUDENTS RIOT OVER EDUCATION

Trump weighed in as the unrest intensified, arguing that what was unfolding went beyond the students’ complaints about France’s education system. "What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!" Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, I think you're seeing the results of some of that, and President Trump has brought that to light," Waltz added.

The comments came as France faced its biggest day of school unrest since the protests began in September. On Tuesday, police fired tear gas in Paris and other major cities, protesters lit fires and hurled projectiles, and France’s Interior Ministry said 6,100 people had been arrested, the overwhelming majority of them minors, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the clashes as producing the school system’s "heaviest toll in decades".

FRANCE’S VIOLENT STUDENT PROTESTS RAISE WARNING FOR AMERICA: ‘A CAUTIONARY TALE’

France’s Interior Ministry said 6,100 people have been arrested so far, the overwhelming majority of them minors. Lecornu told lawmakers Tuesday that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff members have been injured, while his office said more than 700 police officers have also been hurt, according to Reuters.

The latest demonstrations brought clashes in Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Rennes, where police fired tear gas as protesters lit fires and hurled projectiles. More than half of France’s roughly 3,700 high schools were blockaded or expected to close Tuesday, according to the High School Students Union. The ⁠Paris police said the clashes there had come about when some 300 people attempted to face off against security forces, adding that the protest was generally unfolding well elsewhere.

Theo Wold, a former assistant attorney general and former White House deputy assistant for domestic policy under Trump, also argued that immigration was contributing to the unrest.

FRANCE ROCKED BY STUDENT RIOTS AS HUNDREDS ARRESTED, VIOLENCE SPREADS NATIONWIDE

"The French are notorious for strikes, labor stoppages and street demonstrations. It’s a core part of the Fifth Republic’s civic culture," Wold told Fox News Digital. "What’s new is the violence, lawlessness and rioting. This is a consequence of mass immigration."

While Trump, Waltz and Wold linked the violence to immigration, Reuters and AP have reported that the protest movement began over school conditions, including teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating buildings and education funding. Students have cited overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and deteriorating school buildings — including water leaks and rat infestations — among their grievances.

The unrest has increasingly become part of a broader political fight ahead of France’s presidential election in April and May 2027. Reuters reported last week that French authorities and political opponents have accused lawmakers and mayors from the hard-left France Unbowed party, or LFI, of stoking the demonstrations. LFI has denied the accusations.

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman-Diamond and Reuters contributed to this story.

Authorities in Mexico say they arrested a notorious member of the Jalisco drug cartel known as "The Tank" on Tuesday.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch announced the arrest in a post on X, identifying the alleged cartel member as Iván Cazarín Molina.

Molina was the subject of sanctions by the U.S. in 2024 for his alleged role in fuel theft for the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Mexican authorities arrested him in Zapopan and were in contact with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

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"Investigations link him to homicides, extortion, illegal deprivation of liberty, hydrocarbon theft, money laundering, and drug trafficking. He is also accused of his alleged involvement in the attack on a Mexican Army helicopter in Jalisco in 2015, in which members of the Army and the Federal Police lost their lives," Harfuch said in a statement.

Authorities seized a vehicle, a firearm and various drugs during the arrest.

MEXICAN CARTEL BOSS LINKED TO INFLUENCER’S LIVESTREAMED MURDER ARRESTED, OFFICIALS SAY

"In September 2024, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned him for his ties to the CJNG and identified him as part of the inner circle of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias 'El Mencho,' which led to an exchange of information with [the DEA]. He will be placed at the disposal of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime Matters (FEMDO), where his legal situation will be determined in accordance with the law," Harfuch added.

The arrest comes roughly a week after the U.S. imposed a sweeping set of sanctions aimed at disrupting a Sinaloa cartel network accused of corrupting Mexican officials just across the U.S. border.

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Los Mayos, a powerful faction of the Sinaloa cartel, and its U.S.-born leader are accused of funneling fentanyl and drug money through California and hiring hitmen to kill rivals on American soil.

The Treasury Department, according to material exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital ahead of their public release on Tuesday, will sanction 21 individuals and 25 entities in a crackdown against Los Mayos and their alleged illegal activity within U.S. borders.

The targets of the sanctions include Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as "Mayito Flaco," a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen born in Anaheim, California, whom Treasury described as the "undisputed head" of Los Mayos.

Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Violent scenes are emerging from France Tuesday as tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand education reform, forcing the reported closure of more than half of the country's high schools.

France's interior ministry said 6,100 people have been taken into custody since the protests began in September, while at least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes, according to Reuters.

Video taken in cities including Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg showed demonstrators facing off with police, lighting fires and dodging tear gas. In other areas such as Marseille and Nantes, protesters held up signs with messages like, "The state has killed national education," Reuters reported.

The Interior Ministry estimated that 86,000 people took part in demonstrations outside Paris on Tuesday morning. More were gathering in the capital for a protest scheduled for the afternoon.

"What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!" Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.

TEEN'S HAND BLOWN OFF BY POLICE GRENADE DURING FRENCH STUDENT PROTESTS: REPORT

Authorities began shutting schools last week to try to defuse tensions after widespread damage to schools and mounting injuries among staff, students and police. Classes were totally or partially suspended Tuesday at 891 schools, according to the Education Ministry. The High School Students Union also told Reuters that over half of France's high schools were closed or blockaded Tuesday.

Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats.

Other common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads. French high school students’ compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.

"We want more money for the national educational system so that high schools are renovated," Roberta, a recent high school graduate in Paris, told Reuters.

FRANCE ROCKED BY STUDENT RIOTS AS HUNDREDS ARRESTED, VIOLENCE SPREADS NATIONWIDE

In one of the recent demonstrations on Monday, a 15-year-old had picked up a police dispersal grenade that detonated in the town of Lens, losing his hand and part of his lower arm, officials said.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has asked ministers in France to address student demands, including repairs to aging buildings, a call for longer lunch breaks and a review of the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. school day, according to Reuters.

Felix Barney, a university student, told The Associated Press that the police response was disproportionate.

"It doesn’t have any sense to hit minors," he said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Tuesday defended policing methods used against high schoolers, saying the police response has been proportionate in "almost all cases."

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A legal battle between the family of an Oct. 7, 2023 attack victim and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has become a lightning rod for ongoing uncertainty about the agency’s future in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli civil rights attorney and president of the Shurat HaDin Law Center, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, told Fox News Digital that she filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Jerusalem on behalf of the family of 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano, who was murdered outside of Kibbutz Be’eri after fleeing the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Samerano’s body was returned to his family after 625 days in captivity, during the final stage of hostage releases, Darshan-Leitner said.

According to Darshan-Leitner, after Samerano was shot to death by terrorists, his body was picked up by UNRWA workers, placed in an UNRWA vehicle and kidnapped to Gaza. "Although the kidnapping was by UNRWA’s workers, UNRWA never revealed the place of the body, never cooperated with Israeli authorities to tell them where Yonatan Samerano was held and never admitted that it was done by its workers. And therefore we decided to sue UNRWA on behalf of the family."

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The difficulty in bringing suit against UNRWA has been the diplomatic immunity the organization enjoys by virtue of the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. Darshan-Leitner said that the charter "specifically prohibits any act of violence, let alone terrorism" and that because "UNRWA was aiding and abetting terror organizations and participating in acts of terrorism, they can no longer enjoy the immunity granted by the treaty."

The Israeli Knesset passed legislation in December stripping UNRWA of its diplomatic immunity, which allows the Israeli government to expropriate UNRWA properties within East Jerusalem.

Due to UNRWA’s loss of immunity, the Samerano family is pursuing punitive damages of NIS 24 million (nearly $8million) under Israel’s Compensation for Victims of Terrorism Law. When the deadline for UNRWA to file its defense in the case arrived last week, Darshan-Leitner said that the agency asked for a 45-day extension.

UNRWA did not respond to requests for comment about the status of its immunity, or its response to the litigation it faces on behalf of Samerano’s family.

US URGES DONORS TO ABANDON UNRWA FUNDING AS UN DEFENDS AGENCY'S MISSION

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, told Fox News Digital that Guterres has consistently "stated that the Knesset Law and its amendments are inconsistent with the status and international legal framework applicable to UNRWA. The source of UNRWA’s immunities is vested in the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which remain applicable."

While Guterres "has been very clear that any UNRWA personnel who has been demonstrated to have participated in the terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 must be held accountable," he added that "Whenever we have been given information by the Israeli government on such individuals, we have acted."

UNRWA’s role in the future of Gaza has been hotly contested in passing months. As the USAID Office of Inspector General and NGO Watch continue to turn up evidence of Hamas infiltration of UNRWA, Finland, Sweden and the U.S. have now fully stopped issuing funds to the organization.

The Board of Peace, charged with the reconstruction of Gaza, has stated that UNRWA will have no role in the future of the Strip.

However, the Associated Press reported on Sept. 25 that the Board of Peace members "have been more open to working with the U.N. agency for Palestine than it seems." Their article cited a Board of Peace official’s confirmation that "board members had met multiple times with UNRWA officials."

The Board of Peace shot back on X, saying that its "policy as it relates to UNRWA’s involvement in Gaza is unchanged. We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalized Strip. UNRWA fails on those litmus tests."

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A U.S. official told Fox News Digital that "The evidence continues to mount that UNRWA has become a vehicle for instability, violence and radicalization, and it has no place in Gaza’s future humanitarian operations. At the same time, we are confident there are many capable and dedicated service providers in Gaza today who, following robust vetting and background checks, will meet the high standards required to deliver critical goods and services to the Palestinian people. We expect many will welcome the opportunity to continue that important work in partnership with credible NGOs, other U.N. entities or alongside the [National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.] Following an orderly wind-down, UNRWA itself will neither be essential nor necessary to accomplishing the work that lies ahead in Gaza."

Guterres continues to stand behind the organization. In remarks he delivered at the Ministerial Meeting on UNRWA on Sept. 24, the U.N. leader stated that "UNRWA remains a critical stabilizing presence."

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"For years now, UNRWA has been forced to operate under extraordinary pressure. I have repeatedly condemned in the strongest terms the appalling attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, UNRWA’s personnel in Gaza have endured terrible loss and hardship. Nearly 400 members of its workforce have been killed. Hundreds of its premises remain inaccessible, severely damaged, or utterly destroyed," Guterres said.

Guterres also said that "a ceaseless political campaign has tried to manipulate public perceptions, undermine UNRWA’s ability to operate, and deny the rights of Palestine refugees." He called on U.N. Member States to "take immediate action" to politically and financially support the organization and protect its mandate.

Darshan-Leitner said that allowing UNRWA to continue operations inside Gaza would be problematic. "UNRWA indoctrinated [Palestinian refugees] and let the terror organizations infiltrate their schools and education facilities." She added that UNRWA facilities "served Hamas as bases, as launchers, as missile storage places," which both "risk the life of the citizens in Gaza," and ensure that there will be collateral damage if Israel retaliates against attacks.

"If the Board of Peace wants to re-educate the people to get rid of the terrorist system, to separate between the terrorists and the citizens of Gaza, it cannot do it when UNRWA is around because UNRWA is embedded in Hamas…UNRWA is Hamas. So letting UNRWA take care of the humanitarian needs of the population in Gaza is a fatal mistake," Darshan-Leitner said.

Iran has promoted a new system encouraging citizens to report information about Iranians living abroad, effectively crowdsourcing surveillance of the diaspora through a website and messaging platforms including Telegram, according to Iranian media reports and an Iranian official source who confirmed the program to Fox News Digital.

The platform, known as Alaj — Persian for "remedy" or "cure" — asks users to provide information on people overseas whom it accuses of acting against Iran’s national interests or security. Iran International reported that tips could be submitted through the Alaj website, a Telegram bot and Iran’s Bale messaging service. The outlet reported that Iranian state television and the Revolutionary Guard-affiliated Fars News Agency also promoted the initiative.

An Iranian official source confirmed to Fox News Digital that Alaj and the Telegram chatbot were established as a new system through which certain individuals could report information about Iranians living abroad. The source said the website was subsequently taken down after the project drew significant criticism inside Iran.

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The website did go offline shortly after its public rollout, although the reason for its suspension remains disputed.

Iran International reported that Alaj claimed to have identified and monitored 1,600 people, including roughly 600 identified through reports submitted by members of the public. Those numbers have not been independently verified. The platform published names and photographs of Iranians abroad and, in some cases, national identification numbers, dates of birth and fathers’ names, according to the outlet.

For Iranian-American journalist and foreign policy analyst Lisa Daftari, the most consequential element is not simply that Tehran is collecting information, but that it is asking Iranians to report on one another.

"Even if it's just the perception that other Iranians can report you or can get you in trouble or that this app exists, it makes a lot of people fearful," Daftari told Fox News Digital. "You'll think twice before going to that next protest."

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Daftari said the fear is particularly acute for members of the Iranian diaspora who still have relatives inside the country.

"Now your face could be captured, you can get in trouble," she said. "If you have family in Iran, they can get into trouble."

Daftari described the approach as a digital extension of a much older system of control, arguing that Iran’s clerical establishment has spent decades creating uncertainty over whether neighbors, colleagues or acquaintances might report one another to authorities.

"Now the regime wants to take this show on the road and do that here, here in the West," Daftari said. "They want to intimidate people. And it works."

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Daftari said she has experienced that intimidation personally for years. "I've been followed, I've been hacked multiple times, I have been approached in person in L.A., in New York, even at the airport," she told Fox News Digital.

She said that after one major hacking incident compromised her social media accounts as well as her personal and professional email, she was contacted by her local FBI office and began working closely with agents.

Daftari said hackers also obtained private photographs of her in a bikini while she was on vacation and sent them to her husband. "The message they want to send is very clear, that we know where you are, we can reach you," she said. "And obviously the point is to intimidate and silence those who speak out, who report, who speak the truth and talk about all the crimes of this regime."

She said the effects extend beyond prominent journalists or activists. Years ago, while filming at a Los Angeles cafe where Iranian Americans were watching a World Cup game, Daftari said she saw people attempting to hide their faces from the camera out of fear that footage could reach Iran and expose relatives there to retaliation.

The calculation, she said, illustrates why a system such as Alaj can have an impact even if a target never knows whether information about them has actually been submitted.

IRAN’S PROXY WAR HAS CROSSED OCEANS AND IS NOW KNOCKING ON AMERICA’S DOOR

The threat has also changed Daftari’s own behavior.

She recalled being unable to stop thinking about security when the location of her father’s memorial service had to be announced publicly after his death. Daftari said she routinely considers where she parks, what details she shares online and security vulnerabilities at places she visits. "It does silence a lot of people and it does change the freedom by which we think we can operate here in the United States where we believe we have full freedom," Daftari said.

"Their intimidation works," she added. "It works to a certain extent on each individual."

Daftari said the broader campaign should also shape how Americans understand the confrontation with Tehran, arguing that the threat extends beyond Iran’s nuclear program.

"It's not just about nuclear weapons, it's about a deadly ideology that has made its way here to U.S. soil," she said. "We have to understand that."

Fears of a pneumonic plague outbreak following the death of a Siberian plague research institute employee don't bode well for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is facing a faltering economy and a stalled war in Ukraine that has claimed estimated hundreds of thousands of Russian lives, experts say.

Putin has for years maintained a tight grip on power, and while a single lab death isn't an immediate regime-killer, suppressed biological incidents—much like the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster or the Soviet-Afghan War—add to the compounding list of systemic failures in Moscow, retired CIA officer Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital.

"The longer-term strategic question is, does this have an impact on Vladimir Putin and his hold on the Kremlin until his own people realize: 'This just isn't right for us. We don't like this. We don't like the war in Ukraine. This is just another thing,'" Hoffman told Fox News Digital.

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"The reason why the Soviet Union collapsed wasn't because of Chernobyl, but that was a part of it," he added. "It was it a failed economy? Well, they kind of got that going too. The failed war in Afghanistan? Well, that war in Ukraine doesn't look too good. So all these things just pile up on Putin."

The researcher who died has been identified as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

There was no evidence that her illness was caused by pathogens linked to her work, Russian health authorities said. Shipilova died after being diagnosed with a pneumonia of "unknown" origin, authorities have said.

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On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was "watching and monitoring" the situation closely.

Anna Popova, the head of Russia's Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare, or the Rospotrebnadzor, which handles infectious disease, arrived at the research lab.

"No micro-organisms associated with the employee’s professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient," the agency said.

Even if Shipilova's death is an isolated incident, Russia's history of hiding information related to sensitive matters could leave many outside observers with doubts, Hoffman said.

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"Putin, you know, is a dictator and he's got pretty strict control over information, so they're obviously not going to release any truth to the public, and that means we have to rely on intelligence to understand what's going on behind the scenes," he said.

The Soviet Union tightly controlled news of its invasion of Afghanistan amid global condemnation and enforced a total media blackout when the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, suppressing information both domestically and internationally.

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"Whatever Russia is saying publicly, that has nothing to do with the reality on the ground," said Hoffman. "What that is, is an influence operation for their own people."

Hoffman noted that China, one of Moscow's closest allies, also controls what information is disseminated to the outside world.

"China does the same thing. How much useful information did we get out of them with COVID?" Hoffman said. "That's the way dictatorships work."