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Malaysia's government has agreed in principle to accept a second "no find, no fee" proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday.

Loke said Cabinet ministers gave the nod at their meeting last week for Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity to continue the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the ocean next year.

MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES RENEWED PUSH TO FIND MH370 DECADE AFTER DISAPPEARANCE: ‘SEARCH MUST GO ON’

"The proposed new search area, identified by Ocean Infinity, is based on the latest information and data analyses conducted by experts and researchers. The company’s proposal is credible," he said in a statement.

The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane deviated from its flight path to head over the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.

Under the new deal, Ocean Infinity will get $70 million only if significant wreckage is discovered, Loke said. He said his ministry will finalize negotiations with Ocean Infinity in early 2025. The firm has indicated that January-April is the best period for the search, he said.

"This decision reflects the government’s commitment to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of MH370 passengers," he added.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett earlier this year reportedly said the the company had improved its technology since 2018. He has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and narrow the search area to the most likely site.

JERUSALEM — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could be on the brink of engulfing Syria in a new war with his slated invasion of the country’s north in an effort to decimate the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds who helped President-elect Trump defeat the Islamic State in 2019.

The White House-brokered cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been largely ignored by pro-Turkey forces and Erdoğan, according to Fox News information from northern Syria. The SDF, which lost 12,000 fighters in its campaign to aid the U.S. in the victory over the Islamic State, is faced with an existential crisis.

An SDF source in northern Syria told Fox News Digital that the Syrian Opposition and the Syrian National Army, both of whom are aligned with Erdoğan’s government, "are building up around Kobani from the east and west directions. Assaults on the Tishreen Dam are still taking place intermittently. SDF confront them and push them back continuously. Additionally, the Kobani frontlines are subjected constantly to Turkish armed drones and artillery targeting. No support from any nation. Just the U.S. helping with mediation between us and the Turks aims to have a permanent cease-fire."

TURKEY HITS US-ALLIED KURDS IN SYRIA, IRAQ FOLLOWING TERRORIST ATTACK ON DEFENSE GROUP

According to the SDF source, "The main attackers are called SNA, which constitute the Al Hamza division and Sultan Suliman Shah division, who are loyal to the Turkish MHP party leader Dewlet Bahçelî." Erdoğan is aligned with the extremist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Simone Ledeen, a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, told Fox News Digital, "The U.S. must reinforce support for the SDF — using all available tools to ensure they remain capable on the ground — while addressing the reality that Turkey, our NATO ally, is enabling a rapidly expanding jihadist threat." 

When approached by Fox News Digital, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, "Syria is in a fragile state right now. We don’t want to see any party take an action to pursue their own unilateral interests over the broader interests of the Syrian people. We continue to talk to the Government of Türkiye and others in the region about a path forward that de-escalates tensions, not one that escalates them. This is a time to increase stability, not to further devolve into fighting."

The spokesperson added, "Our focus is on promoting a Syrian-led political process in the spirit of U.N. Security Council resolution 2254, while ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS. Given that we know ISIS exploits instability, it's incumbent on all countries with influence on the ground — including Türkiye — to promote stability, dialogue, and restraint. The United States supports Syria’s territorial integrity."

The Biden administration’s alleged failure to rope in Erdoğan aggression could mean the escape of 10,000 Islamic State terrorists held in SDS-run prisons. The SDF has had to redeploy its forces to counter Turkey’s campaign to depopulate northern Syria of SDS fighters. The reemergence of the Islamic State in Syria could adversely affect American security, argue counter-terrorism experts.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., declared repeatedly in an address to Erdoğan in Congress, "Leave the Kurds alone." He added, "The Kurds are America's friends… The people most responsible for helping us, most responsible for destroying ISIS, were the Kurds."

Kennedy warned Erdoğan, "If you invade Syria and touch a hair on the head of the Kurds, I'm going to ask this United States Congress to do something," noting, "Our sanctions are not going to help the economy of Turkey."

Turkey’s economy is wobbly, and potent U.S. economic sanctions could destabilize Erdoğan’s government.

FALL OF SYRIA'S BASHAR ASSAD IS STRATEGIC BLOW TO IRAN AND RUSSIA, EXPERTS SAY

When asked about the reports of Turkish-aligned forces attacking Syrian Kurds, a spokesman for Turkey’s Foreign Ministry told Fox News Digital, "The mentioned reports are groundless. Türkiye never had a problem with the Syrian Kurds — to the contrary, embraced them and supported them to become part of a unified Syria. The clear distinction should be made between the Syrian Kurds and the ones associated with the terrorist organizations."

The spokesman added, "The continued dedication and sacrifices of Türkiye in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) should not be overlooked. At the end of the day, Türkiye remains as the most credible and capable actor in the region in the fight against Daesh." 

Turkey’s government uses Daesh, the transliteration of the Arabic acronym Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), to designate the Sunni Jihadi terrorist movement. 

When confronted with the SDF statement that the U.S.-led mediation efforts collapsed because Turkey failed to accept key points, "including the transfer of remaining Manbij Military Council fighters and civilians wishing to move to safer areas within north and eastern Syria, as well as the resolution of the issue concerning the transfer of Suleiman Shah's remains to their former location," the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "It is not Türkiye escalating the situation on the ground, it is the determination of Syrian people to act against the terrorist organization."

He added, "The Syrian people, empowered by the confidence gained from overthrowing the Ba’ath regime, are striving to expel the PKK/YPG/’SDF’ terrorist organization, which has long occupied their territories and subjected them to violence and oppression. They have successfully removed the organization from Manbij and Deir ez-Zor, and are on the verge of doing so in Raqqa. At the end of the day, this is merely the reflection of the will of the Syrian people."

PKK is an abbreviation for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an organization classified by the U.S. and the EU as a terrorist entity. The U.S. has a long-standing military alliance with the Syrian Kurdish military organization, The People’s Defense Units (YPG), in Syria. The YPG is part of a broader organization known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and played a key role in dismantling the Islamic State in Syria.

In a growing act of bi-partisan congressional support for the Syrian Kurds, lawmakers are sending messages to the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration. 

On Wednesday, Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threatened to impose sanctions on Erdoğan. The senators wrote in a joint statement, "While Turkey has some legitimate security concerns that can be addressed, these developments are undermining regional security, and the United States cannot sit idly by."

"In the wake of the Assad regime’s fall, Turkish-backed forces have ramped up attacks against our Syrian Kurdish partners, once again threatening the vital mission of preventing the resurgence of ISIS," they said.

US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

Several requests for comment from Fox News Digital to President-elect Trump’s spokespeople and his incoming National Security Council adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., were not immediately returned.

Shukriya Bradost, an expert on the Kurds, who was born and raised in the Kurdistan region of Iran, told Fox News Digital, "Turkey's most pragmatic option is to engage in dialogue with the Kurdish administration in Syria, facilitated by the United States. A cooperative relationship could serve both Turkish and Kurdish interests, stabilizing the region while addressing Turkey's security concerns and the experience that Turkey already has with the Kurdistan Region of Government in Iraq (KRG)." 

She added, "Turkey has already shown that it can cooperate with a Kurdish administration in Syria. In the past, oil from northern Syria flowed through KRG into Turkey, demonstrating the potential for economic and political collaboration. This precedent proves that mutual interests can override historical hostilities."

Bradost recommended that Washington "broker a historic agreement that addresses Turkey’s security concerns without dismantling Kurdish autonomy in Syria. Much like the Abraham Accords brought unprecedented diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East, a U.S.-facilitated deal between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds could offer a transformative path forward."

On Friday, the State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, met with representatives of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus. HTS and its Islamist allies ousted the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad less than two weeks ago. 

Leaf told reporters after the meeting that there is a cease-fire around Manbij and there are concerns about "the effects of fighting near the Tishreen Dam and damage to that dam, especially if it were significant structural damage." She added the U.S. is working with Turkish authorities and the SDF for a cease-fire around Kobani. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday looked set to lose power early next year after a key ally said he would move to bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an election.

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been helping keep Trudeau in office, said he would present a formal motion of no-confidence after the House of Commons elected chamber returns from a winter break on Jan. 27.

NEWT GINGRICH SAYS TRUMP MAY HAVE 'BROKEN' TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT DURING HISTORIC TRANSITION PERIOD

If all the opposition parties back the motion, Trudeau will be out of office after more than nine years as prime minister and an election will take place.

A string of polls over the last 18 months show the Liberals, suffering from voter fatigue and anger over high prices and a housing crisis, would be badly defeated by the official opposition right-of-center Conservatives.

The New Democrats, who like the Liberals aim to attract the support of center-left voters, complain Trudeau is too beholden to big business.

"No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government's time is up. We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons," said Singh.

The leader of the Bloc Quebecois, a larger opposition party, promised to back the motion and said there was no scenario where Trudeau survived. The Conservatives have been calling for an election for months.

A few minutes after Singh issued his letter a smiling Trudeau, under growing pressure to quit after the shock resignation of his finance minister this week, presided over a cabinet shuffle.

Trudeau's office was not immediately available for comment.

Votes on budgets and other spending are considered confidence measures. Additionally, the government must allocate a few days each session to opposition parties when they can unveil motions on any matter, including non-confidence.

Before Singh made his announcement, a source close to Trudeau said the prime minister would take the Christmas break to ponder his future and was unlikely to make any announcement before January.

Liberal leaders are elected by special conventions of party members, which take months to arrange.

Singh's promise to act quickly means that even if Trudeau were to resign now, the Liberals could not find a new permanent leader in time for the next election. The party would then have to contest the vote with an interim leader, which has never happened before in Canada.

So far around 20 Liberal legislators are openly calling for Trudeau to step down but his cabinet has stayed loyal.

The timing of the crisis comes at a critical time, since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office on Jan. 20 and is promising to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada, which would badly hurt the economy.

The premiers of the 10 provinces, seeking to create a united approach to the tariffs, are complaining about what they call the chaos in Ottawa.

A festive Christmas market in Eastern Germany erupted into chaos after a car was driven into a group of people.

According to German news agency Bildt, more than 20 people were injured in a suspected terrorist attack in the idyllic Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday.

It was not immediately unclear if anyone was killed during the suspected terrorist attack.

The driver of the car was arrested, the agency said.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital Zagreb on Friday, killing a 7-year-old student and injuring three more children and a teacher, authorities said.

Authorities said the knife attack happened at 9:50 a.m. at the Precko Elementary School in the neighborhood of the same name. They described the attacker as a 19-year-old male and said he had been detained after inflicting injuries to himself.

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said one child died while three children and a teacher were injured.

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"The attacker is a 19-year-old who is a former student of that school and still lives nearby," said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic. "Eventually he started injuring himself. Police prevented him from committing suicide."

Bozinovic said the attacker was registered as previously having mental health problems and had already tried to kill himself: "It is hard to say this person was mentally balanced."

Video footage released by Croatian media showed children running away from the school building and a medical helicopter landing in the schoolyard.

Authorities in Zagreb declared Saturday a day or mourning. President Zoran Milanovic said "there are no words to describe the grief over the horrible and unthinkable tragedy that shocked us all today." MIlanovic called for unity and an effort to ensure that schools are a safe and careless place for children.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at the a government session that he is "appalled" by the attack and that authorities are still working to determine exactly what happened. Plenkovic said several children have been taken to various hospitals in Zagreb.

State HRT television said the attacker entered the school and went straight into the first classroom he found and attacked the children.

School attacks are rare in Croatia. Last May, a teenager in neighboring Serbia opened fire at a school in the capital Belgrade, killing nine fellow students and a school guard.

Singapore's Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay is an annual event filled with holiday spirit. 

This year marks the 11th edition of the event with dazzling light installations that are sure to impress. 

There are plenty of light displays that will leave visitors in awe at Christmas Wonderland, but there is one that is exceptionally impressive. 

HOW TO SAY ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ IN 10 LANGUAGES TO FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD

This is the Spalliera light display that extends 20 meters (over 65 feet) into the sky, according to the Christmas Wonderland website. 

This particular light display, inspired by Italian Gothic architecture, is a handmade work by artisans. 

In 2023, the handmade light display, which was inspired by northern Italy's Mesola Castle, was illuminated by 103,000 bulbs, according to an Instagram post from the event's page. 

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This year's light fixture is new in its design, pulling inspiration from the Orvieto Cathedral in Umbria, Italy, according to the Christmas Wonderland website. 

The light display was handmade by artisans in Puglia, Italy, per the website. 

While visiting Spalliera, guests can also experience artificial snowfall at "Blizzard Time." 

While surrounded by illumination and encompassed by "snow," guests will also hear "Magic of Christmas," by Singaporean composer Dr. Darius Lim, according to the Christmas Wonderland website. 

Other featured activities at the event include a 50-meter-long tunnel filled with lights, as well as several picture-perfect light displays, such as a large ice skate, ornaments and gift boxes. 

Of course, pictures with Santa are available at Christmas Wonderland, as well as carnival rides plus games, dining experiences and live performances. 

In 2024, Christmas Wonderland runs until the start of the new year on Jan. 1, 2025.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has continued its pursuit of obtaining a nuclear weapon by not only stockpiling enriched uranium to near-weapons grade purity, it has expanded its covert actions in developing its weaponization capabilities. 

According to information obtained by sources embedded in the Iranian regime and supplied to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an opposition organization based out of D.C. and Paris, there are indications that Tehran has once again renewed efforts to advance its ability to detonate a nuclear weapon.

At the head of Iran’s detonators program is an organization the NCRI has dubbed METFAZ, which is the Farsi acronym for the Center for Research and Expansion of Technologies on Explosions and Impact, and its recent movements at a previously deactivated site, known as Sanjarian, has drawn immense speculation.

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"Our information shows the METFAZ has expanded its activities, intensified activities, and their main focus is basically the detonation of the nuclear bomb," Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI in the U.S., told Fox News Digital. "When you make a bomb, you have the fissile material at the center of it, but you need to be able to trigger it, to detonate it, and that’s a sophisticated process.

"It’s important to see what METFAZ does and follow their activities because that is sort of like a gauge on figuring out where the whole nuclear weapons program is," he added. 

Iran has at least a dozen sites across the country dedicated to nuclear development, weaponization, research and heavy water production, but information shared with Fox News Digital suggests that there has been an increase in covert activity in at least two of these locations, including Sanjarian, which was once one of Iran’s top weaponization facilities. 

The Sanjarian site, located roughly 25 miles east of Tehran and once central to Iran’s nuclear program under what is known as the Amad Plan, was believed to have been largely inactive between 2009 and late 2020 after stiff international pushback on Iran’s nuclear program.

Though by October 2020 renewed activity had returned to the area under the alleged guise of a filming team, first captured through satellite imagery and which the Islamic Republic used to justify why vehicles had reportedly been regularly parked outside the formerly top nuclear site. 

In 2022, trees were planted along the entrance road to the compound, effectively blocking satellite imagery from monitoring vehicles stationed there, before a security gate was then believed to have been installed in May 2023, according to information also verified by the Institute for Science and International Security. 

Now, according to details supplied by on-the-ground sources to the NCRI this month, top nuclear experts have been seen regularly visiting the site since April 2024 and are believed to be operating under the front company known as Arvin Kimia Abzaar, which claims to be affiliated with the oil and gas industry, a sector in which Iran has long attempted to conceal its activities. 

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Jafarzadeh said one of the executives of the Arvin Kimia Abzaar company is Saeed Borji, who has been a well-known member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 1980 and has long headed METFAZ.

METFAZ falls under Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which is widely known to security experts as the organization spearheading Iran’s nuclear development and is suspected of using the Sanjarian site for renewed research on exoloding bridgewire (EWB) detonators. 

Iran has previously attempted to conceal its EBW detonators program, a system first invented in the 1940s to deploy atomic warheads but which has expanded into non-military sectors, under activities relating to the oil industry.

In a 2015 report, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), noted that Iran’s detonator development was an "integral part of a program to develop an implosion-type nuclear explosive device."

It also highlighted how Iran attempted to conceal its program by alleging during a May 20, 2014, meeting that the detonator program dating back to 2000-2003 was related to Tehran’s aerospace industry and was needed to "help prevent explosive accidents" but which the IAEA determined was "inconsistent with the timeframe and unrelated to the detonator development program."

During the same 2014 meeting, Iran claimed that "around 2007 its oil and gas industry had identified a requirement for EBW detonators for the development of deep borehole severing devices."

FALL OF SYRIA'S BASHAR ASSAD IS STRATEGIC BLOW TO IRAN AND RUSSIA, EXPERTS SAY

The IAEA assessed that while the application of EBW detonators, which are fired within "sub-microsecond simultaneity," are "not inconsistent with specialized industry practices," the detonators that Iran has developed "have characteristics relevant to a nuclear explosive device."

"The Iranian regime has really basically, over the years, used deceptive tactics – lies, stalling, playing games, dragging [their feet], wasting time," Jafarzadeh said when asked about this report. "That’s the way they’re dealing with the IAEA, with the goal of moving their own nuclear weapons program forward without being accountable for anything."

The IAEA did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on the NCRI’s most recent findings, which were shared with the nuclear watchdog this week, and it remains unclear what advancements or research Iran continues to pursue in the detonator field.

"While the international community and the IAEA have mainly focused on the amount and the enrichment level of uranium Tehran possesses, which would provide fissile material for the bomb, the central part, namely the weaponization, has continued with little scrutiny," Jafarzadeh told Fox News Digital.

The NCRI also found that METFAZ, which operates out of a military site known as Parchin some 30 miles southeast of Tehran, has expanded its Plan 6 complex where it conducts explosive tests and production.

Parchin, which is made up of several military industrial complexes, was targeted in Israel’s October 2024 strikes. According to the Institute for Science and International Security, the strikes destroyed "multiple buildings" within the complex, including a "high explosive test chamber" known as Taleghan 2.

Iran’s layered approach to its nuclear program, which relies on networks operating under the guise of privately owned companies, false operations and immense ambiguity, has made tracking Tehran’s nuclear program difficult for even agencies dedicated to nuclear security, like the IAEA, Jafarzadeh said.

"The regime has used deceptive tactics to prevent any mechanism for verification, and it has yet to provide an opportunity or the means for the IAEA to have a satisfactory answer to the inquiries it has raised," he told Fox News Digital. "Our revelation today shows that the regime has no transparency related to its program for building an atomic bomb and is moving towards building the bomb at a rapid pace."

The NCRI confirms that neither the Sanjarian site nor Parchin’s Plan 6 have ever been inspected by the IAEA.

A group of U.S. officials are in Syria's capital for the first time in more than 10 years seeking information on American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, among other things.

The team visiting Damascus consists of US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) Barbara Leaf and NEA Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Rubinstein, who previously served as U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and has decades of foreign affairs experience, will lead the diplomatic engagement, the spokesperson confirmed. 

His mission is to engage with the Syrian people and key parties within the country. He also seeks to coordinate with allies to advance principles laid out in a meeting between world leaders in the Jordanian city of Aqaba earlier this month.

BIDEN SAYS US KNOWS 'WITH CERTAINTY' THAT AMERICAN JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE IS BEING HELD BY SYRIA

The trio will meet with the Syrian people to uncover their vision for their country after the Assad regime fell earlier this month amid an ongoing civil war. They will also ask how the U.S. can help support them in their desired future.

"They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices," the spokesperson said, in part.

The three officials will also meet with representatives of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terrorist group, to "discuss transition principles" endorsed by the United States and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan, the State Department said.

ISLAMIST GROUP RUNNING SYRIA HAS MIXED RECORD OVER GOVERNANCE IN PROVINCE, RULED WITH 'IRON FIST'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously noted that world leaders discussed "the need for an inclusive, Syrian-led political transition" during the Aqaba Meetings on Syria in Jordan on Dec. 14.

"The United States supports a future government in Syria that is chosen by and representatives of all Syrians," Blinken said on X.

Another goal of the visit is to determine what has happened to American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, including former marine turned freelance journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012.

Carstens has been leading the charge to locate Tice and recently shared that Rewards for Justice is offering up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts.

"Given recent events in Syria, the FBI is renewing our call for information that could lead to the safe location, recovery, and return of Austin Bennett Tice, who was detained in Damascus in August 2012," the FBI said in a statement.

The Pentagon says there are 2,000 U.S. troops deployed in Syria, more than double what officials with the Department of Defense have been telling reporters for months.

"We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 U.S. troops deployed to Syria," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Ryder told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday. "In light of the situation in Syria, and in significant interest, we’ve recently learned that those numbers were higher."

Ryder asked to look into the numbers and said he learned on Thursday that there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.

"It was explained to me these additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements, whereas the core 900 deployers are on longer term deployments," he continued. "As you know, for many of our deployments, numbers will fluctuate from time to time, but given that this number is significantly higher than what we've been briefing, I wanted to let you know, as soon as I found out this information."

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The lead spokesman said there are diplomatic and operational security considerations with deployments and the numbers of troops associated with those deployments, as was the case with Syria.

Ryder noted that the troops were in Syria before the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – who fled to Russia earlier this month and ended a nearly 14-year struggle to maintain power in his country – and help augment the defeat of ISIS mission.

After learning of the fluctuation in number of troops, Fox News’ Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin pressed Ryder about the correction to the number of troops and timing.

US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

"This is more than double the number of troops that we’ve been told for quite some time. So, are we talking about this has been going on for months? For Years?" Griffin asked. "Is this something that just happened this summer? We need a time frame."

"Yeah, I think it would probably be fair to say at a minimum, months," Ryder said. "I’ll go back and look. But it’s…yeah, it’s been going on for a while."

The news of additional troops in Syria comes as interest in the region is exceptionally high, especially after the fall of Assad.

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS 'NOT GETTING INVOLVED' IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

Attacks by the Turkish military on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have increased since the Syrian president fled to Russia on Dec. 8. In an interview with Fox News this month, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the SDF, warned that if his Kurdish fighters have to flee, ISIS would return.

He also said half of his fighters guarding the ISIS camps had to withdraw.

"All of the prisons still are under our control. However, the prisons and camps are in a critical situation because who is guarding them? They are leaving and having to protect their families," Gen. Mazloum said. "I can give you one example like the Raqqa ISIS prison, which contains about 1,000 ISIS ex-fighters. The number of guards there have diminished by half which is putting them in a fragile position." 

Fox News previously reported that the U.S. had 900 troops in Eastern Syria, but now that number is about 2,000, and they would likely have to withdraw if the allied Kurdish fighters retreat under attack from Turkey’s military, which views the Kurds as a terrorist threat.

An Indian navy speedboat crashed into a ferry carrying over 100 people to a popular tourist destination off Mumbai on Wednesday, killing at least 13, the navy said.

A navy statement said 99 ferry passengers were rescued. They were on their way to Elephanta Island when the speedboat circled and collided with the ferry "Neelkamal."

DOUBLE-DECKER BOAT CARRYING CHILDREN ON VACATION CAPSIZES IN INDIA, LEAVING 22 DEAD

The speedboat was undergoing engine tests and lost control, the statement said.

The dead included one navy personnel and two others on a navy craft, it said.

The tourists were picked up by navy and civilian boats and transferred to jetties and hospitals in the vicinity, the statement said. Four helicopters and 11 naval craft were used in the rescue.

The Elephanta Caves on the island have temples and images from Hindu mythology and are a popular tourist destination off Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to ask former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for help in locating American veteran and journalist Austin Tice following a letter from Tice’s mother pleading for assistance. 

"I haven’t seen President Assad yet, since he came to Moscow – but I plan to do so. I will have a conversation with him," Putin told NBC during a press conference according to a translator, though he appeared to cast doubt on the former president’s ability to help. "We are adults, we understand – 12 years ago, a person went missing in Syria, 12 years ago.

COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE

"We understand what the situation was and 12 years ago acts of hostilities were ongoing from both sides. Does President Assad himself know what happened to that U.S. citizen, a journalist who performed his journalistic duty in a combat area?" he asked before giving a shrug.

"Nonetheless, I do promise that I will ask this question to him," he added. 

Putin’s comments came after Debra Tice on Wednesday appealed to the Kremlin chief in a letter to help find her son who went missing after he was detained in Damascus in August 2012.

The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was abducted while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which ultimately ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow. 

"The current situation in Syria compels us to ask for your help in finding Austin and safely reuniting our family. You have profound connections with the Syrian government, which can be a great benefit for our unrelenting efforts to find our Austin," she wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News. "In this holiday season of peace and goodwill, we respectfully request your assistance in finding Austin and safely reuniting him with our family.

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"We would, of course, be willing to travel to Moscow or any other place on Earth to put our arms around our precious Austin and bring him home safely," she added. 

In an interview with NBC News, Debra defended her decision to write to the authoritarian leader, one of the U.S.’ chief adversaries, and said, "Of course I am reaching out to powerful people, so they can help us."

"Russia has had a port there in Latakia forever, so I do think they have the ability to know what’s going on the ground. We are still trying to find out where he is," she emphasized. 

The State Department has escalated its efforts to find Tice following the fall of the Assad regime, including by offering a $10 million reward for information relating to his release.

"We have fanned out everywhere with every possible source, every possible actor who might be able to get information," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday in his interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe," in a transcript sent out by the State Department. "This involves anyone and everyone who has some relationship with the different rising authorities in Syria. We’ve been in direct contact with them ourselves. We have other partners on the ground, and we’re looking at getting on the ground ourselves as quickly as we can.

"But the most important thing is this: Any piece of information we get, any lead we have, we’re following it. We have ways of doing that irrespective of exactly where we are," Blinken continued. "And I can just tell you that this is the number-one priority… to get Austin."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.

Trump, a self-styled master of brokering agreements and author of the 1987 book "Trump: the Art of the Deal", has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, but has not yet given any details on how he might achieve that.

Putin, fielding questions on state TV during his annual question and answer session with Russians, told a reporter for a U.S. news channel that he was ready to meet Trump, whom he said he had not spoken to for years.

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Asked what he might be able to offer Trump, Putin dismissed an assertion that Russia was in a weak position, saying that Russia had got much stronger since he ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022.

"We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises," Putin said, after saying that Russian forces, advancing across the entire front, were moving towards achieving their primary goals in Ukraine.

"Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out. In my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises."

Reuters reported last month that Putin was open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Trump, but ruled out making any major territorial concessions and insisted Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.

Putin said on Thursday that Russia had no conditions to start talks with Ukraine and was ready to negotiate with anyone, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But he said any deal could only be signed with Ukraine's legitimate authorities, which for now the Kremlin considered to be only the Ukrainian parliament.

Zelenskyy, whose term was due to expire earlier this year but has been extended due to martial law, would need to be re-elected for Moscow to consider him a legitimate signatory to any deal to ensure it was legally watertight, said Putin.

Putin dismissed the idea of agreeing to a temporary truce with Kyiv, saying only a long-lasting peace deal with Ukraine would suffice.

Any talks should take as their starting point a preliminary agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the early weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, he added.

Some Ukrainian politicians regard that draft deal as akin to a capitulation which would have neutered Ukraine's military and political ambitions.

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead, displaced millions and triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia, which casts the conflict as a defensive special military operation designed to stop dangerous NATO expansion to the east, controls around a fifth of Ukraine and has taken several thousand square kilometers of territory this year.

Determined to incorporate four Ukrainian regions into Russia, Moscow's forces have taken village after village in the east and are now threatening strategically important cities such as Pokrovsk, a major road and rail hub.

Putin said the fighting was complex, so it was "difficult and pointless to guess what lies ahead... (but) we are moving, as you said, towards solving our primary tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation."

Discussing the continued presence of Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, Putin said Kyiv's troops would be forced out, but declined to say exactly when that would happen.

The war has transformed the Russian economy and Putin said it was showing signs of overheating which was stoking worryingly high inflation. But he said growth was higher than many other economies such as Britain.

Asked if he'd do anything differently, he said he should have sent troops into Ukraine sooner than 2022 and that Russia should have been better prepared for the conflict.

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Asked by a BBC reporter if he'd looked after Russia, something that Boris Yeltsin had asked him to do before handing over the presidency at the end of 1999, Putin said he had.

"We have moved back from the edge of the abyss," Putin said.

"I have done everything to ensure that Russia is an independent and sovereign power that is able to make decisions in its own interests."

Russia, Putin said, had made proposals to Syria's new rulers about Russia's military bases there. He said most people Moscow had spoken to on the issue favored them staying.

Russia would need to think about whether the bases should remain or not, he added, but rumors about the death of Russian influence in the Middle East were exaggerated.

Putin touted what he said was the invincibility of the "Oreshnik" hypersonic missile that Russia has already test-fired at a Ukrainian military factory, saying he was ready to organize another launch at Ukraine and see if Western air defense systems could shoot it down.

In Brussels, Zelenskyy addressed Putin's missile suggestion during a press conference at a European Council meeting, remarking of Putin, "Do you think he is a sane person?"

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is facing a growing challenge in the northern West Bank city of Jenin as it launches an ongoing operation against local terror factions supported by Iran, a crackdown that has sparked violent clashes and highlighted the deepening rift between the PA and local communities.

"Iran has been funding militants to buy weapons, and now the Palestinian Authority is acting to stop that. They've taken measures to block the money and crack down on the factions. The PA knows Iran will keep supporting Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and this is the challenge they face. It’s the right time to confront Iran, especially after the wars in Gaza and Lebanon- public mood is not welcoming any military confrontation with Israel after what happened," Mohammad Daraghmeh, Asharq News bureau chief in Ramallah, told Fox News Digital.

The U.S. has reportedly requested Israel’s approval to deliver urgent military assistance to the PA as it intensifies its crackdown on terror organizations in Jenin, Axios reported. The Biden administration is seeking to provide the PA security forces with ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, armored cars and other essential items, but needs Israel’s consent to proceed. Historically, U.S. assistance to the PA has ranged between $200 million and $300 million annually. In recent years, especially after the Biden administration took office, there has been a resumption of aid to the PA, following a freeze during the Trump administration.

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"Since October 7th, there has been an increased push from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with significant Iranian involvement," said Dr. Michael Milshtein, head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at Tel Aviv University who further emphasized the shift in the situation since Oct. 7, noting the influence of Iranian-backed forces. "They're trying to push operations in the West Bank, and there have been attempts to manufacture rockets and fire them at Israeli cities from Jenin. While it’s still in the early stages and these efforts are unsuccessful, it’s a troubling development that signals how Jenin is evolving into a central hub for terrorists."

Last weekend, PA security forces killed Yazid Jaysa, an Islamic Jihad commander, in an operation that has intensified tensions in the region. This was the third death in Jenin within a week, following the killing of 19-year-old Rahbi Shalabi during gunfights between PA forces and local militants. The deaths have further fueled the discontent in the city, particularly among residents of the Jenin refugee camp. "The entire refugee camp is now against the PA," said Daraghmeh.

On Sunday, reports surfaced that the PA had positioned its forces outside the refugee camp, but attempts to enter were met with resistance. The terrorists inside the camp, many of whom have vowed to fight the PA’s forces, pose a significant challenge to the PA’s plans for reasserting control.

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"There’s no active fighting right now, but the PA forces are stuck. They’ve tried to enter, but failed, and now they’re stuck outside," said Daraghmeh. "They can’t leave, but they can’t continue the operation either, because there are dozens of militants ready to confront them."

Milshtein, the former head of Palestinian affairs in Israeli Defense Forces military intelligence, told Fox News Digital, "The PA does not have the ability to enforce control in northern Samaria and the surrounding areas. The PA has lost control of these regions, and for years, Israel has treated Jenin and the surrounding areas like Gaza- without PA control mechanisms, and essentially, there’s a real vacuum."

The timing of the PA’s operation is significant, with many observers noting that it coincides with the broader regional context, including the ongoing war in Gaza and the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Milshtein believes that the events in Syria played a role in the PA’s decision to act. "People in the West Bank say that when one dictator (PA President Mahmoud Abbas) saw what happened to the other (Bashar al-Assad), he decided he would not follow the same fate," Milshtein explained. "Mahmoud Abbas likely felt that he needed to act before the PA’s authority in the West Bank completely erodes."

The operation, which is part of a larger crackdown in the northern West Bank, also reflects the PA’s desire to assert itself as a capable authority ahead of potential political developments in Gaza. The PA has long struggled with its ability to govern Gaza, which it lost to Hamas in 2007. Now, with the region in turmoil, it is hoping to prove that it can restore order in the West Bank, which it argues will bolster its legitimacy in any postwar political scenario for Gaza.

"I don’t see a possibility that the PA will control Gaza," Milshtein said, "There are two million people there. For 17 years, they have been ruled by Hamas, and 60% were born after Hamas took control. They were educated to view the PA as collaborators with Israel and enemies. Giving the PA two hours in Gaza is a known failure from the outset."

Despite the violence in Jenin, Daraghmeh does not foresee the conflict spreading beyond. "People in Ramallah, Hebron and other cities don’t want the West Bank to turn into another Gaza," Daraghmeh said. "The situation in Jenin is contained, but it remains a test for the PA’s ability to control its own territory."

A Frenchman accused of drugging his wife of 50 years and inviting strangers over to rape her – while he filmed the assaults – has been found guilty. 

The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot, the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot, was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata. He later gave Pelicot the maximum sentence of 20 years. 

Dominique Pelicot, admitted that for years he knocked his then wife of 50 years out with drugs so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults.

The appalling ordeal inflicted over nearly a decade on Gisèle Pelicot, now a 72-year-old grandmother, in what she thought was a loving marriage and her courage during the bruising and stunning trial have transformed the retired power company worker into a feminist hero of the nation.

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Stretching over more than three months, the historic case profoundly shook the nation, galvanizing campaigners against sexual violence and spurring calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.

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Dominique Pelicot and 49 other men were tried in the southern French city of Avignon for aggravated rape and attempted rape and face up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

Prosecutors asked that he get the maximum penalty and for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others. They also requested a four-year prison term for another defendant who was tried for aggravated sexual assault.

The 51 men were all accused of having taken part in Dominique Pelicot's sordid rape and abuse fantasies that were acted out in the couple's retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.

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Dominique Pelicot testified that he hid tranquilizers in food and drink that he gave his then wife, knocking her out so profoundly that he could do what he wanted to her for hours.

Gisèle Pelicot's courage in waiving her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushing for the hearings and shocking evidence — including videos — to be heard in open court have fueled conversations both on a national level in France and among families, couples and groups of friends about how to better protect women and the role that men can play in pursuing that goal.

Dominique Pelicot first came to the attention of police in September 2020, when a supermarket security guard caught him surreptitiously filming up women's skirts.

Police subsequently found his library of homemade images documenting years of abuse inflicted on his wife — more than 20,000 photos and videos in all, stored on computer drives and cataloged in folders marked "abuse," "her rapists," "night alone" and other titles.

As the U.S. looks to better secure itself from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Beijing is skirting efforts to clamp down on Chinese interference by utilizing a core American principle, the separation of state and federal powers.

While the U.S. federal government over the last several years has taken steps to protect against potential threats posed by Beijing – like efforts to restrict its ability to invest in U.S. farmlands over concerns that China could use the land for espionage schemes – it has failed to address China’s most utilized tool: influence.

According to a report titled, "The Near Enemy: China’s Subnational Reach Into the United States" and released on Tuesday by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), China’s localized subnational relations in the U.S. are its driving force behind Beijing's continued influence in a range of sectors nationwide.

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"Chinese subnational influence in the United States today grossly outweighs the capacity enjoyed by any other external power. It also dwarfs the leverage cultivated by the ‘active measures’ playbook deployed by the last U.S. great power rival, the Soviet Union," the authors of the report found. 

This sphere of influence is obtained by skirting federal policies and instead focusing on relation-building at the state and local levels, whether this is through private contracts, state-based programs, or acquisitions and investments that create jobs and boost local economies. 

"State and local governments are more ‘pragmatic’ than their federal counterparts, focused on ‘employment and economic development’ rather than security concerns," the authors said in reference to a 2019 report by the state-owned news agency Xinhua that reviewed local U.S. government relationships with China despite the ongoing trade war ignited one year earlier under the then-Trump administration. 

The Chinese report found that "U.S. local governments actively seek cooperation with China," and according to the FDD’s most recent findings, this attitude toward Beijing has not changed when it comes to state leadership on both sides of the aisle. 

"An asymmetry exists within the U.S. federal system’s division of labor. National authorities carry responsibility for national security and international trade policy. State and local authorities focus on the provision of public goods and economic development," the FDD report found. 

"As a result, Chinese subnational influence efforts that disproportionately emphasize economic impact – particularly inbound investment at the subnational level – can bypass security mechanisms that exist at the national level," the report added. 

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The report pointed to relationships that have been fostered between both Democrats and Republican leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last year visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They reportedly discussed issues ranging from economic development to cultural exchange programs. 

Similarly, in 2018, as the trade war with China was kicking off, Arkansas' Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, said during an event hosted by the National Governors Association, and attended by China General Chamber of Commerce Foundation – a group committed to fostering U.S.-China business cooperation – that subnational cooperation with China "is very important."

"Obviously, our federal government runs our foreign policy and our trade policy. But the more we can build relationships at the state level, then the more successful we will be at the national level," he added. 

But according to the findings of the FDD report, this sentiment is the core issue facing the U.S. today and its inability to effectively safeguard itself from Chinese interference in areas ranging from trade and investment to technology, education systems, media and research enterprises.

"American policy responses to China lack coordination. Defending against China’s subnational influence arms requires a more integrated approach to address the complex collective action problem posed by China’s cultivation of influence through state, local, and commercial avenues in the United States," the authors wrote.

The FDD experts reported that China sees state and local actors as "valuable and ripe targets for influence efforts" that are effective in not only securing investment deals and cultural programs, but in swaying national narratives. 

"The Chinese Communist Party takes a deliberate approach to finding seams in U.S. defenses and working to establish a united front that extends the CCP's influence beyond China's borders," Nathan Picarsic, FDD senior fellow and co-author of the report told Fox News Digital. "State, local and commercial avenues provide openings for Beijing to manipulate – and through which it can evade the barriers imposed by an increasingly hawkish Washington."

"For the United States to effectively and efficiently respond to the threat of the CCP's global positioning – across domains of competition, whether measured in capital, technology or military power – we must first address the CCP's presence in the United States," he added. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Hutchinson for comment.

A series of Israeli airstrikes targeted Sanaa, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, early Thursday, igniting fires at energy facilities and at the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.

"The targets struck by the [Israeli military] were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes," a statement said. "The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region."

Israeli forces carried out the strikes on the ports and energy infrastructure in Yemen following the firing of Houthi missiles that were shot down before reaching Israeli territory, according to IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

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"Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception," the Israeli military said. 

Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said a statement would be issued within hours, following a pattern of how the group claims their assaults.

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The Houthis have carried out attacks on Israel and shipping in a campaign to support the Palestinians as Israel continues its war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 45,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Healthy Ministry.

The terrorist group has targeted more than 100 merchant vessels since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.

Houthi-controlled media outlets currently offer no information on the damage or casualties from Thursday’s strikes.

A group of agitators waving Palestinian flags stormed the court during a basketball game between Israel’s Hapoel Holon and France’s Nanterre 92, sparking chaos in the stands. 

The bedlam came during the third quarter of the game in Nanterre, France, which was part of the FIBA Basketball Champions League. 

Around 10 individuals ran onto the court waving Palestinian flags, angering hundreds of attendees from the French Jewish community cheering for the Israeli team. 

Some of the anti-Israel agitators jumped into the stands and were quickly apprehended by security. A group on the pro-Israel side began breaking out into nationalist chants. 

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The match resumed a few minutes later after police detained the disruptors. Security was ramped up for the remainder of the game, including officers equipped with shields, to separate members of the Jewish community from other fans.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs had issued a warning regarding the game earlier in the day, including initial indications of a planned protest by groups expected to gather near the arena. These included the pro-Palestinian organization Europalestine and the far-left party La France Insoumise. 

Nanterre Mayor Raphaël Adam earlier this week barred fans from attending the game to "prevent public disturbances," but a court overturned that decision Wednesday morning.

Hapoel Holon lost the game to Nanterre, 87-77. But the Israeli team still advanced to the Top 16 stage thanks to the loss of Bosnian team Igokea to German team Würzburg. Yotam Hanochi led Guy Goodes’ scorers with 18 points, while Paul Lacombe excelled on the opposing side with 23 points.

France’s highest court has upheld an appeal court decision which had found former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling while he was the country's head of state.

Sarkozy, 69, faces a year in prison, but is expected to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet — as is the case for any sentence of two years or less.

He was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling by both a Paris court in 2021 and an appeals court in 2023 for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.

"The convictions and sentences are therefore final," a Court of Cassation statement on Wednesday said.

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Sarkozy, who was France’s president from 2007 to 2012, retired from public life in 2017 though still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. He was among the guests who attended the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral earlier this month.

Sarkozy, in a statement posted on X, said "I will assume my responsibilities and face all the consequences."

He added: "I have no intention of complaining. But I am not prepared to accept the profound injustice done to me."

Sarkozy said he will seek to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and hopes those proceedings will result in "France being condemned."

He reiterated his "full innocence."

"My determination is total in this case as in all others," he concluded.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, said his client "will comply" with the ruling. This means the former president will have to wear an electronic bracelet, Spinosi said.

It is the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted and sentenced to a prison term for actions during his term.

Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Sarkozy has been involved in several other legal cases. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He faces another trial next month in Paris over accusations he took millions of dollars from then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to illegally finance his successful 2007 campaign.

The corruption case that led to Wednesday's ruling focused on phone conversations that took place in February 2014.

At the time, investigative judges had launched an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign. During the inquiry, they discovered that Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, were communicating via secret mobile phones registered to the alias "Paul Bismuth."

Wiretapped conversations on those phones led prosecutors to suspect Sarkozy and Herzog of promising magistrate Gilbert Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case involving Sarkozy. Azibert never got the post and legal proceedings against Sarkozy have been dropped in the case he was seeking information about.

Prosecutors had concluded, however, that the proposal still constitutes corruption under French law, even if the promise wasn’t fulfilled. Sarkozy vigorously denied any malicious intention in his offer to help Azibert.

Azibert and Herzog have also been found guilty in the case.

A new report cites a laundry list of alleged errors in the casualty tallies that the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health has issued during the conflict in Gaza, and found that worldwide media widely report the inflated numbers with little or no scrutiny.

The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a U.K. based think tank, found "widespread inaccuracies and distortion in the data collection process" for the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) which has resulted in a "misleading picture of the conflict." The study also analyzed how journalists worldwide have spread misleading MoH data without noting its shortcomings or offering alternative information from Israeli sources.

The report's author, Andrew Fox, a fellow at HJS said his team’s research is based on lists of casualty figures that the MoH has released through Telegram as well as lists released by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Fox said he and his team have been able to examine segments of the reporting, despite changeable MoH data being "really hard to interrogate." 

On Tuesday, Gaza health authorities updated its number of dead to what it said was more than 45,000.

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The report said the ministry's reporting long indicated that women and children made up more than half of the war dead, leading to accusations that Israel intentionally kills civilians in Gaza.

"If Israel was killing indiscriminately, you would expect deaths to roughly match the demographic proportions pre-war," Fox said. At the time, adult men made up around 26% of the Gazan population. "The number of adult males that have died is vastly in excess of 26%," he said.

Within accessible reporting, Fox and his team also found instances of casualty entries being recorded improperly, "artificially increas[ing] the numbers of women and children who are reported as killed." This has included people with male names being listed as females, and grown adults being recorded as young children.

Analyzing data by category has further highlighted biases within reporting. There are three kinds of entries within MoH’s casualty figures: entries collected by hospitals prior to the breakdown of networks in November 2023, entries submitted by family members of the deceased, and entries collected through "media sources," whose veracity researchers like Dr. David Adesnik, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has previously questioned. 

Analysis of gender breakdowns among these groupings shows that hospital records "are distorted," with a higher percentage of women and children among hospital-reported casualties than in those reported by family members.

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Though around 5,000 natural deaths typically occur in Gaza each year, the study found that MoH casualty figures do not account for natural deaths. It claims that it also fails to exclude deaths unassociated with Israeli military action from its count. This includes individuals believed to have been killed by Hamas, like 13-year-old Ahmed Shaddad Halmy Brikeh, who appears on a casualty list from August despite reports indicating he had "been shot dead by Hamas" while trying to get food from an aid shipment in December 2023. The list also excludes individuals killed by Hamas’ rockets, about 1,750 of which "fell short within the Gaza strip" between October 2023 and July 2024.

Fox and his team also found individuals who died before the conflict began had been added to MoH casualty counts. In addition, at least three cancer patients whose names were included in lists to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment in April had been listed as dead during the month of March.

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The ministry does not separate combatants and civilians in its casualty figures. Though the study states that Israeli forces have killed around 17,000 Hamas terrorists, Fox said that his research indicated the death toll may include as many as 22,000 members of Hamas. He said his research supports the fact that around 15,000 of the dead in Gaza are women and children, and 7,500 are non-combatant adult males.

"Collecting these sorts of lists in a war zone is a hugely challenging thing," Fox admitted, but he stated that the MoH’s mistakes, whether innocent or deliberate, show that the institution is "really unreliable." 

Despite this unreliability, the Henry Jackson Society’s survey of reporting of the conflict found that 98% of media organizations it looked at utilized fatality data from MoH versus 5% who cited Israeli figures. Fox found that "fewer than one in every 50 articles [about the conflict] mentioned that the figures provided by the MoH were unverifiable or controversial," though "Israeli statistics had their credibility questioned in half of the few articles that incorporated them." 

As an illustration of the phenomenon witnessed in the survey, Fox pointed out what he called an "incredibly biased" article from a British broadcaster that recently emerged citing MoH data claiming that there have been more than 45,000 deaths in Gaza. Though its report mentions MoH data, it does not break down the numbers of combatants and civilians, and does not mention the questionable veracity of MoH reporting. Instead, it parrots MoH claims, reporting that women and children make up for over half of the fatalities.

"It’s just a great example of everything we’ve written in the report," Fox said.

The choosing and decorating of a Christmas tree to display during the holiday season is a beloved tradition with a long history. 

Today, Christmas trees are often decorated with an array of ornaments, including glass ones, homemade creations, candy canes, tinsel and sparkling lights, but that was not always the case. There was a time in history when Christmas trees were adorned with edible items, including apples, to commemorate the feast of Adam and Eve on Dec. 24. 

Germany is credited with starting the tradition of the Christmas tree, according to History.com, with 16th century records telling of Christians bringing trees into their homes for the holiday. 

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The Christmas tree has evolved over time, especially in the way in which it is decorated. 

In the 1600s, it was typical for a Christmas tree to be decorated using apples, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. 

The feast of Adam and Eve, held on Dec. 24, was honored by a "Paradise Play," which told the story of Adam and Eve. 

The play featured a "Paradise Tree," according to the website, The Catholic Company, which was decorated with apples.

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It was popular in Germany to set up "Paradise Trees" in homes, according to several sources, including Britannica and CatholicProfiles.org. 

Then, in the 1700s, evergreen tips were hung from the ceilings of homes, also decorated with apples as well as gilded nuts and red paper strips, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. 

It was not until the 1800s that the Christmas tree made its way to the United States by German settlers, according to the source. 

At this time, Christmas trees were not the large displays they are now, and they simply sat atop a table, per the National Christmas Tree Association. 

Then, in the mid-1800s, trees began to sell commercially in the U.S. By the late 1800s, glass ornaments became a common decoration for the Christmas tree, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. 

Today, every family has their own traditions and preferences when it comes to decorating the Christmas tree. 

Some go with a very complimentary design, sticking to a single or couple of colors. Others opt for a mix-matched arrangement, combining homemade ornaments with more classic ones, as well as colorful lights, ribbon and more.