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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was attacked by a different kind of opponent while on a family trip to a safari park in Texas, according to reports. 

Johnson is used to being attacked verbally by journalists and rival politicians, but he received a different kind of barb from a surprising assailant, an ostrich that stretched seven feet tall with four-inch claws. 

Johnson's wife Carrie posted a video of the incident on Instagram, which showed the former leader in a car with his family. 

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The footage shows Johnson sticking his hand out of the car and appearing to call the ostrich over as one of his three children leans toward the window. The animal is seen sticking its neck into the car before biting Johnson, possibly on the hand. 

"Christ!" the one-time Tory leader said. "Oh, f****** hell!"

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Johnson's children can be heard laughing. 

"Too funny not to share," Carrie Johnson wrote of the video. 

Viewers seemed to be amused. 

"Boris’s reaction is sooooo British," one commenter wrote. 

Johnson has remained mostly out of the public eye since his resignation as prime minister in 2022 following a series of controversies.

President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. will engage "directly" with Iran in a high-level meeting set to occur this coming Saturday. 

"We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters from the Oval Office while sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The announced meeting is the first known time the U.S. will directly engage with Iran since the previous Trump administration, when it withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. 

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"We’ll see what can happen. I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious," Trump said in reference to his threat last week in which he said he would "bomb" Iran if it didn’t enter talks to end its nuclear program.

"[That’s] not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it," Trump continued. "We're going to see if we can avoid it. 

"It's getting to be very dangerous territory," Trump warned. "And hopefully those talks will be successful."

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The president refused to detail where the talks would take place or how they would differ from the JCPOA, saying only that they will be "different" and "stronger."

Following the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, the nuclear deal essentially collapsed despite the remaining signatories – which included the U.K., China, France, Russia and Germany – and Iran began rapidly developing its nuclear program. 

Earlier this year, the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned that Tehran had amassed enough near-weapons-grade enriched uranium to build five nuclear weapons if the uranium were further enriched. 

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran… Iran is going to be in great danger," Trump said Monday.

It is unclear if Israel, or any other nations, will be involved in the talks, though Netanyahu made clear Jerusalem is aligned with the U.S. in securing a deal to end Iran’s nuclear program.

"We're both united in the goal that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons, that it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya," Netanyahu told reporters. "I think that would be a good thing. 

"But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons," he added. 

Israel has denied entry to two British lawmakers who were accused of planning to "spread anti-Israel hatred."

The two Labour Members of Parliament, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were briefly detained over the weekend and denied entry to Israel because they allegedly had plans to "document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred," Israel's immigration agency told Sky News.

Israeli officials told the outlet that Yang and Mohamed were with two assistants on the trip, who said they were going to Israel "as part of an official parliamentary delegation."

The officials said that immigration agents did not find "evidence to support the claim... they were traveling as part of an official delegation."

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"No politicians or government officials were aware they were coming," the Israeli officials added.

The Council for Arab-British Understanding claimed that the lawmakers were part of a delegation organized by the group as well as Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Mohamed and Yang posted in a statement to X they were "astounded" at the decision by Israeli authorities.

"It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness, firsthand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory," they wrote. "We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with International Humanitarian Law. Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted."

During an April 2 speech, Mohamed accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.

HEAD OF UN WATCHDOG SAYS UNRWA HIRED PEOPLE ‘WHO WERE SUPPORTING TERRORISM’

"On 30 March, the first day of Eid, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed dozens of Palestinians, adding to the death toll since Israel breached the ceasefire agreement. Israel is now in the process of enacting the largest forced displacement, ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah. How will this end? Israel cannot and will not stop. Is the goal ethnic cleansing? We are witnessing that. Is the goal the complete destruction of Gaza? We are now witnessing that," Mohamed said. 

In August 2019, Israeli officials blocked U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from entering the country following pressure from President Donald Trump.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement at the time that Talib and Omar's itinerary "revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel's legitimacy."

Fox News' Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, with Washington’s recently imposed global tariffs set to be part of their talks.

"This meeting comes at a critical moment on many key issues: the efforts to return our hostages being held by Hamas, the instability in Syria and the threats posed by Iranian proxies," Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told Fox News Digital.

"The recent implementation of tariff policy will also be discussed. Just as Prime Minister Netanyahu was the first world leader to visit President Trump in his second term in the White House, he is now once again the first leader to meet with the president with regard to deepening economic ties and putting trade relations in order," he added.

Netanyahu last met with Trump in Washington on Feb. 4. 

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In Wednesday's "Liberation Day" announcement, a 17% tariff on goods imported from Israel – a 10% baseline on all countries that took effect on April 5 and an additional 7% – was scheduled for April 9.

"The fear is that these tariffs will hurt exports of diamonds as well as high-tech or defense systems like drones. If our income were to be reduced as a result, this would be a problem," Alex Coman, a value-creation expert at the Holon Institute of Technology in Israel, told Fox News Digital. 

"These tariffs came as a surprise. Prior to this decision, there were very few imposed, many products did not have them and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich eliminated those that existed," adding, "As such, I am very optimistic that these tariffs will be reduced."

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U.S. total goods trade with Israel was an estimated $37.0 billion in 2024, including $14.8 billion in exports, up 5.8% ($813.7 million) from 2023, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. U.S. goods imports from Israel totaled $22.2 billion in 2024, up 6.7% ($1.4 billion) from the previous year.

The U.S. trade deficit with Israel was $7.4 billion in 2024, an 8.6% increase ($587.0 million) over 2023.

The Trump administration reportedly calculated the tariff by dividing the trade deficit ($7.4 billion) by the value of imports to America ($22.2 billion) and then essentially halving the figure to reach 17%.

The subject was raised during a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu on Thursday, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also taking part. The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the Israeli premier to "underscore U.S. support for Israel," according to a U.S. readout of the call.

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Trump’s move surprised Netanyahu, prompting him to begin efforts to negotiate a reduction of the tariff to 10%. Smotrich also signed an order to eliminate the last remaining Israeli tariffs on the import of primarily agricultural goods from the U.S. 

Jerusalem and Washington signed a free trade deal in 1985, the United States' first-ever such agreement, and since then some 98% of goods have been traded tax-free.

Netanyahu and Trump will also discuss the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip along with efforts to free the 59 remaining hostages taken during Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023; Turkey’s military intervention on behalf of the new al Qaeda-linked leadership in Syria; the Iranian nuclear threat; and the ongoing battle to thwart the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, according to the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.

"The top issue to be discussed will be Iran because it seems [nuclear] negotiations might begin. I believe Netanyahu will want to caution Trump ahead of time," Ariel Kahana, a senior diplomatic correspondent for the Israel Hayom daily newspaper, told Fox News Digital. 

"We saw the report about the U.S. sending a second THAAD anti-missile battery to Israel on top of equipment America is already sending, and they will want to coordinate all of that together," he continued. 

"They will also talk about the war in Gaza, the hostages and the tariffs, which Netanyahu will try to at least lower. With regards to Turkey, I assume Netanyahu will ask Trump to put some limits on [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. It seems that both Israel and Turkey are trying to expand their presence or activities in Syria, and it might reach a point that could lead to a direct military conflict," Kahana said.

Upon leaving Hungary on Sunday, Netanyahu told reporters about the importance of his visit to meet with President Trump at the White House on Monday.

"I can tell you that I am the first international leader, the first foreign leader, who will meet with President Trump on this issue, which is so important to Israel’s economy. There is a very long line of leaders who want to do the same regarding their own economies. I believe this reflects the special personal relationship and the special bond between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time," Netanyahu said.

Israel struck back on Sunday after Hamas terrorists launched several rockets towards towns in the Southern District of Israel on Sunday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it hit the rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip from which the projectiles were launched earlier Sunday toward Israel. 

The rockets were fired from central Gaza towards Ashdod and Ashkelon on Sunday evening. There were reports of damage and debris in several locations.

There were 10 rockets in total, and Israeli forces only intercepted half.

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"Approximately five projectiles were successfully intercepted by the IAF [Israeli Air Force]," the military explained. "Falls were identified in several areas."

"IDF Home Front Command soldiers are dispatched to the scenes and are operating in cooperation with Israeli security forces."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was later briefed on the attack and commanded "a forceful response and approved the continued intensified IDF operations in Gaza against Hamas."

"I instructed the IDF to extend the military operation and deal Hamas a heavy blow in response to the launches," Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said in a statement. "For every shrapnel that harms a resident of Ashkelon, the Hamas murderers must pay a heavy price."

Later on X, the IDF shared on-the-ground footage of a neighborhood that was struck by a rocket. The video showed multiple emergency vehicles blaring lights at night as first responders tended to a residential neighborhood.

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"This is just one neighborhood in Israel hit by Hamas rocket fire tonight," the post read. "Hamas continues to hide behind Gazan civilians while firing at Israeli civilians."

"We will continue to defend Israelis from the threat of terrorism," the IDF added.

The latest rocket attacks came as the IDF continues targeting terrorist cells across the Middle East. Last week, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Syrian military airfields, which were intended to be "a clear message to Turkey not to interfere with Israeli aerial operations in Syrian airspace." 

On Friday, the IDF confirmed that it had killed the terrorist leader responsible for killing Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas.

"As part of his role in the terrorist organization, Mohammad Awad was actively involved until his death in recruiting terror operatives in Judea and Samaria and within Israel, through whom he used to plan and carry out attacks against Israelis," the IDF said at the time.

Fox News' Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Caitlin McFall and Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

Hamas has revised its casualty figures from the Gaza war, removing hundreds of names from its official list of war fatalities, and revealing that 72% of those killed were men aged 13 to 55 – a demographic largely composed of combatants. The updated figures contradict Hamas' earlier claims that most casualties were women and children.

Salo Aizenberg, from the U.S.-based nonprofit HonestReporting, uncovered the changes through a detailed analysis of Hamas’ casualty lists. The investigation revealed that 3,400 names, including over 1,080 children, were removed from the group’s March 2025 report after being listed in 2024.

Aizenberg pointed out that the original reports, published by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, were widely cited by major international organizations, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC). "These ‘deaths’ never happened. The numbers were falsified – again," he wrote.

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The United Nations did not respond to a Fox News Digital request asking if the world body regretted disseminating those numbers in light of the revised figures.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating Israel for war crimes, told Fox News Digital, "We cannot provide comments on matters related to ongoing investigations. This approach is essential to protect the integrity of investigations, and to ensure the safety and security of victims, witnesses, and all those with whom the Office interacts." 

David Adesnik, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who has also been tracking the figures, reached a similar conclusion. According to his analysis, 72% of the fatalities fall within the male combat-age bracket of 13 to 55.

"Even at age 13, there's a major excess of male over female deaths, and the disparity grows with age," Adesnik told Fox News Digital. "If you calculate from age 13 to 59, there’s a little more than 15,000 excess men. That gives you an idea of how many are actually fighters."

His analysis showed a striking gender imbalance: at age 13, there are 588 male casualties compared to 385 females; by age 19, the gap widens to 800 males versus 285 females. This trend continues throughout the age spectrum, suggesting a disproportionately high number of male combatant deaths.

Adesnik also highlighted issues with how deaths were recorded. "Significant numbers of names disappear from the list over time. It’s like 2,000 names are removed and new ones added," he said.

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He explained that Hamas maintains two lists: one for deaths confirmed by hospitals, and another for deaths reported by family members via an online form – often in cases where bodies couldn’t be retrieved. "Over time, officials realized many of these family-reported names were inaccurate or unverified, and started quietly removing them from the count – replacing one set of data with another to cover up their original manipulation," Adesnik said.

The head of the statistics team at Gaza’s health ministry, Zaher Al Wahidi, told Sky News that names submitted via the form had been removed as a precautionary measure pending a judicial investigation into each one. "We realized that a lot of people [submitted via the form] died a natural death," Wahidi said. Some families submitting false claims, Wahidi said, may have been motivated by the promise of government financial assistance.

Adesnik referenced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous comments about Gaza war casualties. "He said 30,000 dead – 14,000 fighters, 16,000 civilians – while Hamas claimed 70% were women and children. This data gives us a clearer picture of the demographic breakdown and supports the IDF's claim that it is targeting combatants," he said.

The broader debate over casualty accuracy intensified after an Israeli strike on March 23 killed 15 humanitarian workers, including a paramedic, according to the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The incident sparked outrage. However, the Israeli military stated that "the aid workers were mistakenly identified as terrorists".

According to preliminary findings, the incident occurred during a covert IDF operation. Roughly two hours earlier, Israeli forces had engaged in a firefight with terrorists in the same area. Later, feeling threatened, an IDF official told Fox News Digital, the troops opened fire on suspicious vehicles. The incident is still under investigation by the IDF.

In a related development, the IDF announced this week that Mohammed Saleh Mohammed Al-Bardawil, a senior Hamas terror leader, was killed in a targeted operation. Although referred to as a journalist in Gaza, the IDF said Bardawil was involved in producing propaganda videos, including footage of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

"The IDF and ISA will continue to target and dismantle Hamas' infrastructure to mitigate the threat it poses to Israeli civilians," the military said. In a separate statement, it emphasized: "The IDF makes great efforts to estimate and consider potential civilian collateral damage. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target children."

One person was killed Sunday as Russian air strikes hit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, while the death toll from Friday’s deadly attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih continued to rise.

The Kyiv victim was found close to the strike's epicenter of the attack in the city's Darnytskyi district, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. A further three people were injured in the strike, which saw fires break out in several nonresidential areas, damaging cars and buildings.

In a statement on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the intensifying Russian attacks showed that there is still insufficient international pressure on Moscow.

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He said Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones and more than 30 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone.

"These attacks are (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s response to all international diplomatic efforts. Each of our partners — the United States, all of Europe, the entire world — has seen that Russia intends to continue the war and the killing," Zelenskyy said.

"That is why there can be no easing of pressure. All efforts must be aimed at guaranteeing security and bringing peace closer."

Meanwhile, officials said that the death toll from Friday's attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih had continued to grow, with 19 dead — including many children — and a further 75 wounded.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration, declared three days of mourning for the attack, starting on April 7. He said that there was "pain in the hearts of millions of people".

"Together we will stand. And no matter how difficult it is, we will win," he said. "The enemy will be punished for every Ukrainian and for every mother's tear."

Local authorities said the Kryvyi Rih strike damaged 44 apartment buildings and 23 private houses.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday that it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting with unit commanders and Western instructors was taking place.

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The Russian military claimed that the strike killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. The military’s claims could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the claims.

Elsewhere, Russian troops fired 23 missiles and 109 strike and decoy drones across Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Sunday. Thirteen missiles and 40 drones were shot down, while 53 decoy drones were jammed and did not reach their destinations, it said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its air defenses had destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones, including eight over the Rostov region and two over the Kursk region.

Pope Francis appeared in public for the first time in weeks on Sunday, greeting crowds from a wheelchair in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

It was the first time Francis appeared in public since he briefly addressed crowds when being discharged from the hospital on March 23. The pope suffered a bout of double pneumonia that left him hospitalized for five weeks.

Francis made the unannounced visit near the end of Mass and delivered a brief greeting, all while receiving oxygen via his nose.

"Good Sunday to everyone," Francis said. "Thank you so much."

POPE FRANCIS MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN FIVE WEEKS

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The Vatican also released a written message from Francis marking Sunday's Mass, which was specially focused on healthcare workers.

"I ask the Lord that this touch of his love might reach all those who suffer and encourage those who are taking care of them," said the text.

Doctors overseeing Francis' care during his stay at Gemelli Hospital in Rome say that they briefly considered ending the pope's treatment due to his condition.

Medical director Dr. Sergio Alfieri recounted the scenes on Feb. 28 when the 88-year-old suffered a coughing fit and inhaled vomit, prompting staff to have to clear his airways and later put on a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.

"For the first time I saw tears in the eyes of some of the people around him. People who, I understood during this period of hospitalization, sincerely love him, like a father. We were all aware that the situation had worsened further and there was a risk that he would not make it," Alfieri told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"We had to choose whether to stop and let him go or force it and try with all the drugs and therapies possible, running the very high risk of damaging other organs. And in the end we took this path," he reportedly added. 

Alfieri said to the newspaper that Francis "delegated every type of healthcare decision to Massimiliano Strappetti, his personal healthcare assistant who knows the Pope's wishes perfectly."

"Try everything, we won't give up," Alfieri recalled Strappetti telling staff at the hospital. "That's what we all thought, too. And no one gave up". 

As a major "liquidity crisis" looms for United Nations entities in the face of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) funding cuts, with experts saying the Trump administration should examine the U.N.’s media branch, the Department of Global Communications, for its role in churning out anti-Israel propaganda. 

"The U.N. continues its spin-cycle messaging machine without washing out its waste and inefficiencies," former National Security Council Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs Hugh Dugan told Fox News Digital. "That’s its real liquidity crisis."

Among the Department of Global Communications’ responsibilities are the provision of press support, upkeep of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjöld Library, heading of worldwide information centers and coordination of the U.N.’s Twitter presence. A full independent review of the Department’s activities is set to begin this year.

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Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, expressed her desire for the U.S. itself to examine the Department of Global Communications’ funding. Bayefsky told Fox News Digital that "the United Nations is the world headquarters of global disinformation," with an "assembly line of lies, hate speech, incitement to violence, and antisemitism [that] is totally out-of-control."

Bayefsky said it is the "organization itself that poses an integrity risk — to world peace, civilized discourse, and human rights protection. The information environment cultivated by the U.N. has been poisoning the minds of generations of Americans, so isn't it about time that Washington posed a risk to this U.N. ‘work’?" 

The Department’s fixation on Israel was evidenced in a February report about its operations, in which it briefly described crisis communications cells it runs regarding worldwide disasters in Haiti, Sudan and Ukraine, and went into more expansive detail describing its cell on "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory."

According to the Department, the crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory "required strong messaging and outreach to ensure continued international support for the work of the United Nations and its partners." The Department also mentioned that the cell "analyzed information integrity risks, such as the spread of misinformation and disinformation about United Nations work." 

Throughout 2024, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) came under serious scrutiny and lost donors after information was uncovered about UNRWA leaders’ and members’ ties to terrorism, and the hate propelled through UNRWA curricula.

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Fox News Digital asked Melissa Fleming, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Communications, to clarify the department’s allegations of misinformation and disinformation, and to describe why "strong messaging" was required of the department. 

Fleming explained that the Department needed to "clearly explain the role" of the U.N. and its humanitarian agencies, and analyze "information environments to better understand trends that might pose risk to the U.N.’s work."

Dugan, who was a senior advisor to 11 U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. said when it comes to the crisis in Gaza, "there’s some special treatment they’re giving to that region and the coverage of it, which I think is concerning to me." He noted that cells focusing on Haiti, Ukraine, and Sudan "don’t talk about misinformation [or] disinformation." The situation, he said, "wreaks… of the U.N.’s hand in propagandizing and service as a type of mediator of what information gets to whom, and when, and how." 

Asked how many hours the Department of Global Communications devoted to its various crisis cells, Fleming said that time "is determined by a number of factors," including "the scale of the crisis and the speed of developments on the ground," and the level of international interest and U.N. events involved with the crisis. Fleming added that cells meet more often "in the early stages of a crisis." 

Fleming said that "the Israel-Occupied Palestinian Territory crisis communications cell has met on a weekly basis for approximately one hour" following the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. She noted that this was "equivalent to the frequency and timing of meetings for the Ukraine crisis during the first year of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation in 2022." 

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Fleming did not state how much time has been devoted to the Haiti or Sudan crisis cells. The organization’s report on its activities refers to the situation in Sudan as a "massive humanitarian crisis." 

In January, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that rebel actions in Sudan constituted genocide. Blinken described how tens of thousands of Sudanese individuals had died in conflict, that 30 million required humanitarian aid and that 638,000 were experiencing "the worst famine in Sudan’s recent history." 

Blinken stated that Sudanese rebel group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) "and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians, have systematically murdered men and boys — even infants — on an ethnic basis, and (have) deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence."

The U.N.’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan did not mention genocide in its September 2024 findings that "Sudan’s warring parties have committed an appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes, including many which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity." 

Conversely, the U.N. Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices declared in November 2024 that "Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians."

Former national security advisor Jake Sullivan said last year that the Biden administration does "not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide." 

David May, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that "the focus on an imagined genocide, Gaza, is taking time and focus away from an actual genocide, Sudan." May added that "essentially, the Department of Global Communications is tasked with presenting a Palestinian narrative and uses U.N. funds to act as another pro-Palestinian U.N. body." 

May said that "while the United States withholds funding to the United Nations proportionate to the budgets of Palestinian-specific bodies, Washington does not account for more general U.N. departments carrying out an anti-Israel agenda." 

Dugan expressed concern over the Department of Global Communications’ emphasis on its role in combating misinformation in its latest report. It "sends its mandate to go far beyond daily relations with the press corps," he explained, and instead "sets them up to be judge, jury and executioner on storylines and narratives that the secretariat employees find offensive."

Following Vice President JD Vance's warning that Europe was at risk of ‘engaging in civilizational suicide,' the continent has come under the microscope for largely failing to deal with mass migration from mostly Third World countries. Associated with that has been a massive rise in violent crime and a failing economy. 

Freedom of speech is under attack as many complain of a two-tier justice system and, making things even more problematic, Europe's economy is not performing as expected. 
 

The U.K.’s economy has remained stagnant for the last three years with no growth in per capita income. "The country has pathetic performance, says Ben Habib, chairman of the Great British Political Action Committee, and former co-deputy leader of Reform UK. "The U.K. has become even worse than Europe."

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Migration is now a national talking point. Immigration increased to between 1.2 and 1.3 million in 2022 and 2023, up from around 800,000 before the pandemic. It’s causing friction.

"National togetherness is now being torn to shreds as unprecedented levels of mass migration transform parts of our country beyond recognition," observed Conservative Party Member of Parliament Robert Jenrick in a column for the UK Conservative & Reformer Post. "We have imported ethnic and religious tensions, meaning that conflicts on the other side of the world play out on Britain’s streets."

Earlier this week, the State Department said it was monitoring the case of a woman in Britain who was put on trial for holding a sign offering counseling to women outside an abortion facility in the United Kingdom. 

Fox News Digital reported the woman said, "Great Britain is supposed to be a free country, yet I’ve been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation … peaceful expression is a fundamental right—no one should be criminalized for harmless offers to converse."

Violent assaults have also marred many parts of the U.K., when compared to other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD.) Scotland topped the list with 1,487 assaults per 100,000 people, according to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. England and Wales ranked number three on the list with 730 violent assaults per 100,000 residents.

Fox News Digital previously reported that Britain was facing a free speech crisis due to the new left-leaning government, overzealous policing and courts cracking down on freedom of expression. Last August, the government warned its citizens to be mindful of posting content deemed offensive and threatened imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service posted a warning to social media platform X, which was amplified by the government’s official social media accounts, warning citizens, "Think before you post!"
 
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France’s economy has expanded in each of the last four years, but the rate of growth slowed dramatically. France also has a high debt level that will make it hard for the economy to grow fast, Venetis says.

Migration is a continuing problem in France with an influx of 317, 000 immigrants from outside the EU in 2022, up from 222,000 in 2013.

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Right-wing politicians, such as those in the National Rally, are highlighting the friction that the influx of people who don’t want to integrate into French society. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who up until this week was a leading candidate for the country's 2027 presidential election, was just given a two-year prison sentence by a French court, which found her and other party colleagues guilty of embezzling public funds. Le Pen called the sentence a ‘death sentence,’ and said she felt they were "only interested" in preventing her from running for president.

Violent assaults in France ranked near the middle of the OECD list with 310 cases per 100,000 in the population.

Germany’s economy has been in a recession for the last two years. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased to 6.3% in March, from 5.9% last April. That’s partly due to soaring energy prices and competition from China.

"People are not happy about the fact that unemployment is picking up," says Konstantinos Venetis, an economist at TS Lombard. He also says the statistics mask many workers' reduced paid hours on the job. "The amount of people on this status has gone up considerably."

TRUMP CELEBRATES CONSERVATIVE PARTY WIN IN GERMANY

Migration surged to 1.6 million non-EU immigrants in 2022, up from less than half a million in 2021.
Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party has pushed to deport migrants seeking asylum, and its message gained traction with voters during February's national election, where it came in second with 20.7% of the vote. The winning conservative Christian Democrats party was forced to adopt stronger immigration policies as a result of AfD's success with voters.

The country had a relatively high number of violent assaults, ranking sixth in the OECD list with 630 cases per 100,000 people.

The third-largest economy in the EU has grown every quarter since the end of the pandemic, although, like many countries, the rate of growth has slowed. 

At the same time, the debt level as a percentage of GDP dropped to 135% last year versus 138% in 2022 when Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni took over.

Meloni has been credited with her hard stance on illegal migrants. In 2024, the number of migrants totaled 67,317, down almost 60% from 157,651 the previous year. The drop is at least partly due a deal between Italy and Albania to enhance border controls, creating legal ways to immigrate and deterring illegal entry to the country. 

Violent assaults were low at 110 per 100,000 residents.

EUROPE’S BEST KEPT SECRET: POLAND, THE REGION’S ECONOMIC TIGER

Poland’s economy grew by 2.9% last year, slightly more than the estimated 2.8% growth in the U.S., all while beefing up its defense sector and housing an influx of Ukrainians due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
"Poland is a powerhouse and has national pride," Habib says. "It’s a phenomenal country."

The country also has a low level of asylum requests of 9,513 and 17,038 in 2023 and 2024, respectively. That compares to 237,314 in neighboring Germany.

Levels of asylum claims in Poland are likely to remain low as Prime Minister Donald Tusk doubled down on illegal immigration. Late last month (March) he temporarily suspended the rights of immigrants to claim asylum. 

"I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders and the security of Poles," said Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, who signed off on the bill, as reported by Euro News. 

HUNGARY SAYS IT IS WITHDRAWING FROM INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AS ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU VISITS COUNTRY

Poland had the lowest violent assault ranking in the OECD list at two cases per 100,000

Hungary’s economy suffered a setback in 2023 but is now recovering, with growth of 0.4% in the fourth quarter of last year. Analysts at Trading Economics project that the country will grow by 2.7% next year and 3.6% in 2027.

Migration from outside Europe has remained low at 57,000 in 2022 versus 45,000 in 2023. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban recently tweeted: "Don’t be afraid to stand alone. When 26 others accepted mass migration, we built a fence and said no. Now, more and more PMs are saying exactly what Hungary said ten years ago—they’ve realized we were right."
 

Violent assaults in Hungary ranked low with 124 cases per 100,000 people.

Fox News Digital's Kristine Parks contributed to this article. 

Who’s too old to play rock and roll? Apparently, not The Who if this past week’s concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall is anything to go by. It featured the two core members of the group, 81-year-old lead singer Roger Daltrey and soon-to-be-80-year-old songwriter and lead guitarist Pete Townshend.  

Unlike other "senior" musicians and groups like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, who have well-oiled touring machines around them, this was more of a one-off (well, two-off, there had been another concert a few days before) for the respected UK charity Teenage Cancer Trust.  

And so it had more than its share of "bumps," which only made the moments of rock and roll heaven that much more enjoyable.

Guess what? These guys can still rock, sixty years after their first top-ten hit, if a bit tempered by age.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: BRUCE VS BILLY ON NEUTRAL LONDON TURF

Daltrey had a few of his memorable hand-mic air throws. OK, instead of hurling the microphone in the air vertically for thirty feet, they were more sideways for ten.

And Townshend, yes, did his windmill guitar stroke movements. I did count eight in a row at one time, but for the most part it was more like one or two at a time.

Nothing was tempered about Daltrey’s voice, despite problems and surgery in the past. It still sailed over the rafters on a range of songs. The high notes of the tune "Love Reign O’er Me" were done with blockbuster bombast.

And Townshend’s guitar licks could stand up to Clapton’s any day. (The latter also just turned 80, by the way.) Unique, stylish, no flubs.

The Who (with a good backing band) played a few of their very early stand-outs. Especially ironic: "My Generation." (Key line: "I hope I die before I get old." Well . . . maybe not.)

The rock opera about the deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard, Tommy, got a bit of a gloss-over, perhaps because of Daltrey’s recent admission that his vision is beginning to go (along with his hearing).

The follow-up, urban rock opera Quadrophenia, was treated with a deeper dive, maybe plugging the ballet version running in London later this year. It never ends.

But what many consider their finest album, Who’s Next, got the full treatment. From "Bargain" to "Baba O’Reilly," from "Behind Blue Eyes" to "Won’t Get Fooled Again."

The synthesizer parts might have been pre-recorded . . . but the forceful Daltrey-Townshend duet on the key "Blue Eyes" line was utterly telling: 

"And if I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat. And if I shiver, please give me a blanket. Keep me warm, let me wear your coat."

GUNS N’ ROSES’ DRUMMER FRANK FERRER LEAVES BAND AFTER 19 YEARS, NEW MEMBER JOINS TOUR

So . . . the "bumps" noted earlier: Townshend acknowledged that he had had knee-replacement surgery a month ago. Aside from a few whinges ("I’m in agony,’ "I can’t breathe"), he seemed to take it in his stride. Actually, he took it sitting down through half the songs. (No Woodstock-style jumping scissor kicks for him.) But he admitted that it helped him play better.

And Daltrey’s earpiece (which, despite that spotty hearing, helps him stay "in tune") was acting up throughout the night. At one point, he stopped the entire band. "I’m not hearing the Who," he said good-naturedly, "it sounds like I’m hearing the Troggs," referring to an old '60s British pop band. Townshend said in an aside " . . . it was going so well."

In fact, the two of them, known to have had their ups and downs over the years professionally, often resembled on stage an odd couple, snapping at each other from time to time but also warm to each other . . . and the audience.

Townshend (not necessarily known for his bedside manner) at one point thanking the 5,000-plus Royal Albert Hall crowd for sticking with them all these years, and calling The Who "geriatrics who pretend to be young."   

The demographics of the crowd, I must admit, were somewhat on the senior side. But enough sons and daughters were present and getting into it to give one hope, if not for the future, then at least for the present.

For we indeed are seeing, sad to say, the tail end performances of the second great generation of rock and rollers.  After Chuck, Little Richard and Elvis, came The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan . . . and, yes, The Who.

That’s why it’s more than just fun; it’s an honor to catch these final farewells.

Along with their punchier later hits like You Better You Bet and Who are You, The Who played a song Townshend said they’d never played in concert before. Incredible, as it was recorded 54 years ago. Amid high critical acclaim.    

Called "The Song is Over" (also from the Who’s Next album), it was nothing less than extraordinary. And appropriate.

As Townshend worked through the riffs and lines. And Daltrey was literally completely slumped over and supported by the standing mic, as if he could go no further, it ended with them singing:

"The song is over, the song is over. Excepting one note, pure and easy, playing so free, like a breath rippling by."

Except, I take exception. The song, hopefully, is not "over" . . . yet.

Eight people have been charged with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization following a probe into suspected bribery at the European Parliament, Belgium's public prosecutor said in a statement on Friday.

The charges come after Belgian prosecutors said on March 13 they had detained several individuals over suspected bribery in the European Parliament allegedly for the benefit of China's Huawei.

HUAWEI BUILDING SECRET CHIP NETWORK TO DODGE US SANCTIONS: REPORT

On March 13, Belgian investigators raided 21 premises across Belgium and in Portugal and a judge has since requested that the offices of two parliamentary assistants be sealed.

The Belgian prosecutors said the alleged corruption had taken place "very discreetly" since 2021 under the guise of commercial lobbying and involved payments for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.

Prosecutors have said the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei.

Huawei has said it takes the allegations seriously and would urgently communicate with authorities to fully understand the situation. It has also said it has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing.

The prosecutor's office said on Friday that among the eight people charged, three were being kept under electronic surveillance, two have been released and three remain under arrest.

It gave no further information.

The European Parliament has said it had received a request from Belgian authorities to assist with the investigation, and that it would swiftly and fully comply with it.

At the end of 2022, the EU was rocked by the 'Qatargate' cash-for-influence scandal after Belgian authorities charged four people linked to the European Parliament on suspicions that Qatar and Morocco bribed politicians, parliamentary assistants and non-governmental organizations to influence decision-making in the EU assembly.

That investigation is still ongoing.

Controversial United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese has been reappointed to the position for another three-year term. Multiple countries and organizations have condemned Albanese over her history of antisemitic remarks. However, a committee tasked by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with reviewing complaints about Albanese was convinced by her "detailed explanations" that she was not an antisemite.

"We’re talking about one of the world's most blatant legitimizers of Hamas terrorism, who says literally that Israel does not have a right to defend itself," U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital. "It's a horrible statement on the state of the U.N. today."

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL WON’T CONDEMN OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM; US SAID TO GRANT VISA FOR VISIT

U.N. Watch has long opposed Albanese and has worked to expose her alleged violations of the Code of Conduct. On Friday, the organization submitted a list of statements by governments across the globe condemning Albanese’s rhetoric. The statements came from the U.S., France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Israel, Argentina, Germany and the U.K.

Additionally, prior to Albanese’s reappointment, the U.S. mission to the U.N. sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres opposing the renewal. The mission also posted a statement on X.

"We condemn [Albanese’s] virulent antisemitism, which demonizes Israel and supports Hamas. She has clearly violated the U.N.’s Code of Conduct and is unfit for her role. Her reappointment would show the [U.N.] tolerates antisemitic hatred and support for terrorism," the U.S. mission to the U.N. posted.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee also sent a letter to UNHRC President Jürg Lauber expressing its opposition to Albanese’s reappointment. In its letter, the committee said that Albanese’s rhetoric tainted both the U.N. as an institution and her own position.

"Ms. Albanese unapologetically uses her position as a UN Special Rapporteur to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes, while serving as a Hamas apologist," the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote.

REPUBLICANS SEEK TO BLOCK THE REAPPOINTMENT OF UN OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM

In violation of his legal duties under 8/PRST/2, Lauber did not relay complaints about Albanese to a committee that Neuer described as "toothless" with a membership made of "Francesca Albanese’s own best friends."

In its response to complaints submitted by U.N. Watch in June and July 2024, the committee wrote that "some of her tweets may appear as not being in line with the Code of Conduct and may have been interpreted by some as antisemitic." However, the committee also said that they were "reassured" by Albanese’s "detailed explanations" that she was not in violation of the Code of Conduct.

Albanese has faced accusations of antisemitism since she took the position of special rapporteur in May 2022. The Anti-Defamation League has a running list of Albanese’s statements that have been deemed to be antisemitic. Some of the statements date back to 2014, nearly 10 years before her appointment to her current position.

In February 2024, Albanese was condemned by France and Germany after saying French President Emmanuel Macron was wrong to call Hamas’ Oct. 7 events "the largest antisemitic massacre of our century." In her response, she said "The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression."

France said Albanese seemed to "justify" the attacks and that her remarks were "all the more scandalous given that the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism are at the heart of the founding of the U.N," according to the ADL. 

The Islamist revolutionary newspaper that is widely considered the voice of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday stoked a targeted assassination of President Donald Trump.

According to the Persian language article published in the mouthpiece Kayhan newspaper of Khamenei, "He’s way out of line! Any day now, in revenge for the blood of Martyr Soleimani, a few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his and he’ll be drinking from the chalice of a cursed death."

Trump ordered a drone strike in January 2020, which eliminated the U.S. global Iranian regime terrorist Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge assassinations targeting Trump and former officials from his first administration.

According to the Trump administration, Soleimani oversaw the murders of more than 600 American military personnel. 

WALTZ TELLS IRAN TO GIVE UP NUCLEAR PROGRAM OR 'THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES'

The Kayhan article comes days after Trump said he would launch bombing attacks against Iran’s regime if they refused to dismantle their illicit atomic weapons program.

Trump said that "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," he said. "But there's a chance that if they don't make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago."

Trump added the U.S. and officials from the Islamic Republic are "talking."

Kayhan lashed out at Trump’s policies in the Saturday article, writing "He makes threats and then backs down! The result? The situation in America gets worse by the day. Just yesterday, it was announced that his actions have caused $3 trillion in damage to the US economy, American exports are facing serious problems, and top officials in the military, CIA, and elsewhere have either resigned or been dismissed[.]"

Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital that "Kayhan has repeatedly threatened to assassinate President Trump for years. Kayhan’s editor Hossein Shariatmadari is a personal representative of Iran’s supreme leader."

"Such threats ring hollow the demands of Iranian officials for there to be ‘mutual respect’ during future negotiations with the United States," Brodsky continued. "At times Kayhan comes out ahead of the Iranian establishment on foreign policy issues, namely the nuclear file. For instance, Kayhan has called for years for Tehran to exit the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but it has not done so to date. However, in calls to kill President Trump, Kayhan has been in alignment with the regime given the past Iranian plots that U.S. law enforcement has disrupted."

TRUMP VINDICATED AS EXPLOSIVE REPORT CONFIRMS IRAN SUPERVISES HOUTHI ‘POLITICAL AND MILITARY AFFAIRS’

Brodsky added, "The Trump administration should make clear that there can be no negotiations while Iran’s regime is threatening and plotting to kill American citizens. The halting of those plots should be a prerequisite to any negotiating process. The U.S. should also sanction Hossein Shariatmadari and Kayhan. The U.S. Treasury Department previously designated Iranian media networks like PressTV and Tasnim. It should do so with Kayhan as well. Canada has already sanctioned Kayhan given its record of threats."

Iranian-born Israeli Beni Sabti, an expert on Iran and a research fellow for the Institute for National Security Studies, said Iran’s regime "wants to unite the world against Trump and wants someone to shoot Trump, and also they want to bring the economic issue against him." 

Kayhan also attacked Trump’s tariff policy.

Sabti said the clerical regime’s goal is similar to the attempted assassination of Salman Rushdie in upstate New York in 2002 because of Iranian propaganda.

Fox News Digital reported that a New Jersey man, Hadi Matar, absorbed the ideology behind Tehran’s fatwa to murder Rushdie because of a book, "The Satanic Verses," he wrote that, according to Iran’s regime, engaged in blasphemous writing of Islam.

Sabti said Khamenei "wants to make the world angry against Trump and make propaganda against America."

TRUMP REINSTATES ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN 

He added "It is very good opportunity for the Trump administration to file a complaint with United Nations Security Council" against Iran’s regime for threatening an American president.

In November, Fox News Digital reported the Justice Department says it had thwarted an Iranian plot to kill Trump in the weeks leading up to the election. 

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City says an unnamed official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had asked Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran, in September to "focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump."

 IRAN'S LEADER WARNS US COULD RECEIVE ‘SEVERE SLAPS’ FOLLOWING TRUMP'S THREATS TO HOUTHIS

Khamenei has been described as being hell-bent on assassinating Trump since 2020 following the former president’s order to kill Soleimani in Iraq. Fox News Digital previously reported that an Iranian-produced animated video depicted the targeted assassination of Trump by the Islamic Republic that was uploaded to Khamenei’s official website.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian last week "We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far," according to the Associated Press. He added, "They must prove that they can build trust." The White House did not immediately respond to Iran's rejection of the talks, the AP reported. 

Pezeshkian still noted that in Iran's response to the letter that indirect negotiations with the Trump administration were still possible. 

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital press query.

Fox News Digital reporters Greg Norman and David Spunt contributed to this report.

In a week that saw French right-wing leader Marine Le Pen banned from running for office, the South Korean Constitutional Court's ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday has critics looking towards Beijing’s hand in efforts to remove the leader from power.

"Yoon’s foreign and security policies stand in stark contrast to the pro-China figures long supported and controlled by the [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)]," Anna Mahjar-Barducci, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) project director, told Fox News Digital. She explained that those policies "posed a threat to Beijing’s long-term strategy of cultivating a pro-China faction in South Korea,"

Mahjar-Barducci claimed the CCP has used "overt economic cooperation, political donations, covert benefit transfers and even illegal sexual bribery" to cultivate "certain South Korean political figures over time, aiming to undermine the U.S.-South Korea alliance, weaken South Korea’s strategic independence and expand its regional influence at the expense of the U.S." 

SOME COUNTRIES TARGETED BY TRUMP TARIFFS SEEK NEGOTIATIONS, CHINA SAYS ‘NO WINNERS IN TRADE WARS’

Mahjar-Barducci also claimed that one Korean activist who spoke to her on Friday told her that election fraud in South Korea had been organized in cooperation with China, whose government had unduly influenced the past two general elections. 

The Associated Press reported on Friday that supporters of the ousted president were enraged by the decision. Kim Min-seon, a Yoon supporter, is quoted as saying it was the only way to deal with liberals blocking Yoon’s efforts to fight Pyongyang and Beijing’s campaigns to threaten South Korea’s democracy through cyberattacks, disinformation and technology theft — something denied by the opposition party. 

Yoon had long provoked the ire of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un over his plans to increase his country’s nuclear capacity. The former South Korean leader sought increased cooperation with the U.S. as a deterrent to the North Korean threat.

A spokesman from the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not answer Fox News Digital questions on allegations the country interferes in Seoul's politics. Questions sent to the South Korean embassy were not returned. 

CHINA LAUNCHES LARGE MILITARY DRILLS AROUND TAIWAN TO ISSUE ‘SEVERE WARNING’

Mahjar-Barducci also explained that given the "intensive coverage by Beijing’s media" of Yoon’s dismissal, the CCP is "brimming with pride" and "extremely pleased" with the turn of events. Beijing "has already taken down two pro-American South Korean presidents, Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk Yeol, which shows just how deep Beijing’s infiltration and influence in South Korea are," she said.

"South Korea needs to be the strongest ally, along with Japan, of America," Mahjar-Barducci continued. But Beijing is poising itself to "win over this important strategic area," which the U.S. "cannot afford to lose."

FRENCH RIGHT-WING LEADER MARINE LE PEN FOUND GUILTY OF EMBEZZLING PUBLIC FUNDS, BARRED FROM RUNNING FOR OFFICE

Mahjar-Barducci said Yoon's removal is part of a "pattern… all over the world" of right-wing candidates being forbidden from seeking election, including Romanian right-wing presidential frontrunner Călin Georgescu and French right-wing politician Le Pen. "The judiciary has been weaponized once again," she explained.

The CCP’s hand in South Korea comes at a time when Beijing is holding large-scale military drills around Taiwan, with 19 vessels from the Chinese navy being spotted in the waters surrounding Taiwan between Monday and Tuesday morning. Mahjar-Barducci said that while Beijing has attempted to make such drills "a new normal," it has also warned that the "drills could unexpectedly turn into a real war."

South Korea will hold elections for a new president in two months. Fox News Digital has reported that surveys show liberal opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is "an early favorite" for the position.

Whether Russia is "serious" about achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine should become apparent in a "matter of weeks," Secretary of State Macro Rubio told reporters Friday.

"The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war, and we will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it is a delay tactic," Rubio said at NATO headquarters in Brussels. 

Questions are mounting over Moscow’s true interest in engaging with the Trump administration after it rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Ukraine in early March, then refused to agree to a Black Sea ceasefire later that month unless sanctions were lifted.

TOP RUSSIAN NEGOTIATOR SHARES STATUS ON UKRAINE PEACE TALKS AFTER MEETING WITH US COUNTERPART IN DC

"[If] It's a delay tactic, the president’s not interested in that," he added. "President Trump is not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations."

When pressed by reporters, Rubio wouldn’t comment on what conditions Russia has set out in securing a peace deal. 

He did note, though, hat even after direct calls with foreign leaders, official readouts don’t always reflect what was actually discussed. That appeared to be the case after President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when the White House said Russia had "agreed" to eliminate the use of force in the Black Sea.

But the Kremlin later clarified that any agreement was contingent on the West lifting sanctions.

PUTIN CONSCRIPTS 160K MEN AS RUSSIA EYES UKRAINE OFFENSIVE

"I guess it's part of the game," Rubio said. "At the end of the day, what's going to matter here is whether we're going to move towards peace or not."

Rubio reiterated that Ukraine and Russia would both need to make concessions to end the war but declined to say what those should be, insisting those details should emerge through negotiations.

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"Initially, it was important to talk [to the Russians] because we haven't talked to them in a long time. But now we've reached the stage [where] we need to make progress," he said, noting it will be "hard," but he remains "optimistic."

"There are some promising signs. There are some troubling signs. It's not going to be easy. No one ever said this would be easy, but we're going to find out sooner rather than later," Rubio told reporters. "And let's just say I'm hopeful. I remain hopeful."

India's parliament passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments, while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move.

The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land endowments and give the government a larger role in validating their land holdings. The government says the changes will help to fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity, but critics fear that it will further undermine the rights of the country’s Muslim minority and could be used to confiscate historic mosques and other property.

The debate was heated in both houses of parliament. The Lower House debated it Wednesday through early Thursday, while in the Upper House, the fiery discussion lasted more than 16 hours into early Friday.

The Congress-led opposition firmly opposed the proposal, calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lacks a majority in the Lower House, but its allies helped to pass the bill.

MUSLIMS IN INDIA VOICE CONCERNS THAT NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW COULD FURTHER MARGINALIZE THEM

In the Lower House, 288 members voted for the bill while 232 were against it. Similarly, 128 favored it and 95 voted against it in the Upper House. The bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent to become law.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the bill to change a 1995 law that set rules for the foundations and set up state-level boards to administer them.

Many Muslim groups, as well as the opposition parties, say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated and an attempt by Modi’s ruling party to weaken minority rights.

The bill was first introduced in parliament last year, and opposition leaders have said some of their subsequent proposals for it were ignored. The government has said opposition parties are using rumors to discredit them and block transparency in managing the endowments.

Waqfs are a traditional type of Islamic charitable foundation in which a donor permanently sets aside property — often but not always real estate — for religious or charitable purposes. Waqf properties cannot be sold or transferred.

Waqfs in India control 872,000 properties that cover 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land, worth an estimated $14.22 billion. Some of these endowments date back centuries, and many are used for mosques, seminaries, graveyards and orphanages.

In India, waqf property is managed by semi-official boards, one for each state and federally run union territory. The law would require non-Muslims to be appointed to the boards.

Currently, waqf boards are staffed by Muslims, like similar bodies that help administer other religious charities.

During the parliamentary debate, Home Minister Amit Shah said non-Muslims would be included in waqf boards only for administration purposes and to help run the endowments smoothly. He added that they were not there to interfere in religious affairs.

"The (non-Muslim) members will monitor whether the administration is running as per law or not, and whether the donations are being used for what they were intended or not," he said.

Muslim groups, like The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said such comments were against the fundamentals of Islamic endowments as such bodies necessarily need to be governed by Muslims only. The board said the bill was "a blatant infringement on the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens" and called on citizens to hit the streets against it.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, said, "Why should waqf bodies allow non-Muslims as members when Hindu temple trusts don’t allow people of other religions in their fold?"

One of the most controversial changes is to ownership rules, which could impact historical mosques, shrines, and graveyards, since many such properties lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, and even centuries, ago.

Other changes could impact mosques on land held in centuries-old waqfs.

Radical Hindu groups have laid claim to several mosques around India, arguing they are built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are pending in courts.

The law would require waqf boards to seek approval from a district level officer to confirm the waqfs’ claims to property.

Critics say that would undermine the board and could lead to Muslims being stripped of their land. It’s not clear how often the boards would be asked to confirm such claims to land.

"The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a weapon aimed at marginalizing Muslims and usurping their personal laws and property rights," Rahul Gandhi, the main opposition leader, wrote on social media platform X. He said the bill was an "attack on the Constitution" by the BJP and its allies "aimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future."

INDIA’S RELIGIOUS DIVIDE CONTINUES TO WIDEN BETWEEN MUSLIM, HINDU COMMUNITY

While many Muslims agree that waqfs suffer from corruption, encroachments and poor management, they also fear that the new law could give India’s Hindu nationalist government far greater control over Muslim property, particularly at a time when attacks against minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, with Muslims often targeted for everything from their food and clothing styles to inter-religious marriages.

Last month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate while Modi and his party "propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities" during last year’s election campaign.

Modi’s government says India is run on democratic principles of equality and no discrimination exists in the country.

Muslims, who are 14% of India’s 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority group in the Hindu-majority nation, but they are also the poorest, a 2013 government survey found.

Passengers on a cruise ship sailing through rough seas got more than they bargained for when waves up to 40 feet rocked passengers onboard.

Video posted to Instagram shows massive waves hitting the Quark Expeditions’ Ocean Explorer ship, which was traveling between Antartica and the tip of South Africa, known as the Drake Passage, according to the New York Post.

"Imagine if you signed up for a 48 hour rollercoaster," one travel blogger wrote on Instagram. "Yes, we were safe and it was insane…and at times, even fun? 1000% worth it for this trip of a lifetime!"

NOROVIRUS SICKENS OVER 200 CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS ON MONTH-LONG VOYAGE

Lesley Anne Murphy, a travel blogger, said that crew on the ship had told passengers to stay in their cabins until the ship was no longer being rocked by the waves.

Quark Expeditions said the Drake Passage has "fierce weather and extremely powerful waves," since it's an area where the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans flow.

TEEN ON ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE ATTACKED BY HIV-INFECTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: POLICE

The company said its ships are "built to navigate such waters."

"I am proud to say we survived not one but two Drake Shakes," Murphy wrote. "If you’re lucky, you get the ‘Drake Lake.’ If you’re like us, you get the ‘Drake Shake’ with 35-foot waves."

Senior Iranian officials are threatening to ramp up the country's nuclear program as the Trump administration weighs a possible strike against the regime if Tehran does not come to the table for negotiations.

"The president should be making the regime sweat, pure and simple," Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

"This can be done with strict enforcement of maximum pressure sanctions, and a targeted campaign against regime assets in the region - Yemen being a good example now. Washington will also need to add a critical third element to its otherwise economic and military pressure policy. Maximum support for the Iranian people."

IRAN'S KHAMENEI WARNS OF ‘STRONG BLOW’ AS TRUMP THREATENS TO DROP BOMBS, PUTIN SILENT ON US IRE

Lisa Daftari, a Middle East expert and editor-in-chief at The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital that while diplomacy often demands negotiation, extending any offer to Iran’s regime, even symbolically, risks legitimizing a government that has spent decades terrorizing its own people and funding proxies like Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah.

"This regime thrives on defiance, not dialogue. That has not changed. For over four decades, the mullahs have understood only one language: might," Daftari said.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday that it would be better if the U.S. had direct talks with Iran.

"I think it goes faster, and you can understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediaries," Trump said. "They wanted to use intermediaries. I don’t think that’s necessarily true anymore. I think they’re concerned. I think they feel vulnerable, and I don’t want them to feel that way."

Trump also threatened to bomb Iran and impose secondary sanctions on Iranian oil if it did not come to the bargaining table over its nuclear program. Although the president said he preferred to make a deal, Trump did not rule out a military option.
 

"It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before," President Trump told NBC News last weekend.

The U.S. expanded its deterrence efforts in the region, deploying additional squadrons of fighter jets, bombers, and predator drones to reinforce defensive air-support capabilities. The U.S. is also sending the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to the region to join USS Harry S. Truman, which has been in the Middle East to fight against the Houthi's in Yemen.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, responded with threats of his own and said that Iran would respond "decisively and immediately" to any threat issued by the U.S. Iran is still floating the idea of indirect talks, something the administration is reportedly considering.

WALTZ TELLS IRAN TO GIVE UP NUCLEAR PROGRAM OR 'THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES'

Taleblu said, "Tehran's counteroffer of indirect talks is the regime’s way of rejecting Trump while leaving the door open for talks that can be used as a shield against a potential preemptive attack."

The president sent a letter to Khamenei expressing interest in making a deal on the nuclear issue. While increasing its military presence in the region, reports indicate that the Trump administration is considering indirect talks with Iran to curb the expansion of its nuclear program and avoid a direct confrontation.

Experts and observers of the region warn that Iran has used negotiating as a delaying tactic in the past and warn the Trump administration against entering into talks that might further embolden Iran.

"The Trump administration should impose full pressure on the regime in Iran given how weak the regime has become in the last several years. Indirect talks are the regime’s strategy of buying time so it can live to fight another day," Alireza Nader, an independent analyst in Washington, D.C., and expert on Iran, told Fox News Digital.

Nader’s recommendation to Trump is to support the people of Iran and argued that the regime is much weaker than it appears.

"President Trump really wants a deal. Iran has a chance here to go back and negotiate, keep its civilian nuclear program but make concessions about its size and the duration of a deal," Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

"Trump is in a dominant position. Republicans in Congress fear him. Nothing can stop him—at least for now. But power is fickle. The longer he’s in the White House, the more vulnerable he may become. Iran shouldn’t wait for that," Vatanka added.

PRESIDENT TRUMP CAN STOP IRAN'S MARCH TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS: 'RE-ESTABLISH CREDIBLE MILITARY THREAT', REPORT SAYS

In an interview with Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies podcast, "The Iran Breakdown," former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that eventually, Israel will attack Iran's nuclear facility, with or without the United States, because there is no other choice, according to Lapid.

Ali Larijani, an advisor to the supreme leader, said in an interview that although Iran does not seek a nuclear weapon, Tehran will have no choice but to build a nuclear weapon if the U.S. or Israel strike Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in February that Iran has accelerated its nuclear program and has enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels. 

Danielle Pletka, senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital that having additional military assets in the Middle East is sound policy given the threats that the U.S. and its allies face in the region.

For Pletka, the question is, what is the Trump administration looking for?

"A deal in which the Iranians do not fully get rid of their nuclear weapons program? If so, the president sets the United States up for the risk that Barack Obama inflicted on our allies and ourselves – merely delaying the Iranian nuclear program to a later date," Pletka told Fox News Digital.

Pletka said it is strange that President Trump seems to envision a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-like deal, and that has prompted a lot of criticism on Capitol Hill. 

Trump originally withdrew from JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, during his first term in 2018 and reapplied harsh economic sanctions. The Biden administration had initially looked at re-engaging with Iran on the nuclear issue upon taking office, but on-again-off-again talks went nowhere, complicated by Iran’s domestic politics and its role in supporting its terror groups in the region.

The other risk that the president runs, according to AEI’s Pletka, is being perceived as a paper tiger.

"He threatened Hamas with bombing that he never delivered. Now he’s threatening Iran with military action. But does he really mean it? Or is he just blowing hot air?" she said.

Pletka said, "There is an enormous amount of uncertainty around the president’s intentions, and that uncertainty is an opportunity for the Iranians to exploit."

The Middle East Institute’s Vatanka said he believed that Trump could claim a potential win he can sell at home and say he got a better deal than President Obama did with the JCPOA, if Iran were to agree to permanently keep its enrichment level to a low level, unlike the expiration dates included in the JCPOA.

Houthis in Yemen have shot down another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, sources told Fox News. 

This is the third such drone the rebels have shot down since March 3 and the second shot down since the U.S. began conducting daily strikes.

While the U.S. has been carrying out airstrikes daily for 20 days straight, there have been few updates from the Trump administration on the status of the operation. The Pentagon has not held a press briefing in weeks, and the Defense Department has been quiet about the ongoing strikes.

AFTER DEBILITATING STRIKES, TRUMP TELLS HOUTHIS: STOP SHOOTING AT US AND 'WE WILL STOP SHOOTING AT YOU'

On Tuesday, the State Department announced sanctions on "financial facilitators, procurement operatives, and companies operating as part of a global illicit finance network supporting the Houthis." 

The State Department put forward sanctions after the Houthis shot down the first Reaper in early March, citing weapons smuggling as the reason.

TRUMP'S SIGHTS SET ON IRAN AFTER US AIRSTRIKES DECIMATE MORE THAN 30 HOUTHI TARGETS

Late last month, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz spoke about the airstrikes in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation."

"These guys are like al Qaeda or ISIS with advanced cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and some of the most sophisticated air defenses, all provided by Iran," Waltz said. "Keeping the sea lanes open, keeping trade and commerce open, is a fundamental aspect of our national security," he added.

MQ-9 Reaper drones cost approximately $30 million each, according to the Congressional Research Service. Houthis have shot down 13 U.S. drones since October 2023, when the Israel-Hamas war started, however, a source told Fox News that it could be as many as 17 Reapers. 

The U.S. had 230 MQ-9 Reaper drones in its arsenal as of December 2024, a U.S. defense official told Fox News. These drones are primarily used to collect intelligence but can be armed with up to eight laser-guided Hellfire missiles, according to the U.S. Air Force.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.