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The dramatic, upside-down Delta plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson Airport marked the fourth major aviation disaster in North America in the last month. 

The Federal Aviation Administration said all 80 people aboard the jet were evacuated, as images showed the aircraft with a shewn off tail and wing belly up in the snow at Toronto's airport. 

The CRJ-900, which departed from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, overturned while coming in for a landing in Toronto. High winds and drifting snow reportedly had already prompted flight delays and cancelations at the airport. 

Air traffic control audio released after the crash depicts officials describing how the plane was "ups-side-down and burning" on the tarmac.

TORONTO PLANE CRASH TIMELINE: DELTA FLIGHT FROM MINNEAPOLIS FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND

Delta Air Lines said "18 customers with injuries" had been transported to area hospitals. At least three people suffered critical but not life-threatening injuries, a spokesperson for the paramedic service that was on scene told Fox News Digital. 

In the airline's most recent update, which was provided at 10:33 p.m. ET, Delta Air Lines said that "no fatalities have been reported and some of the customers initially transported to area hospitals have been released." 

Two patients were taken by air ambulance to two different trauma centers – Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and St. Michael’s Hospital – in Toronto. A child, about four years old, was transported to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, as officials are expected to provide an update to the media early Tuesday. 

"The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates," the FAA said.

Delta said its incident response team deployed to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) Monday evening, "to support efforts surrounding Delta Connection flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, that was involved in a single-aircraft accident at YYZ around 2:15 p.m. ET." The team is said to include "specially trained Delta Care Team representatives who will provide support for customers and their loved ones." 

"Members of Endeavor Air’s leadership team, including CEO Jim Graham, are also en route to ensure full cooperation with investigators," Delta said Monday night. 

"The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. "I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site. We are working to confirm the details and will share the most current information on news.delta.com as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, please take care and stay safe."

PLANE CRASHES SPARK RENEWED FEAR OF FLYING: 10 CAUSES OF AVIATION DISASTERS

In a Monday afternoon X post, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, said he was "in touch with Delta after a flight taking off from MSP crash landed in Toronto this afternoon." 

"Grateful to the first responders and professionals on the scene," he wrote. 

"Thinking of those on the Delta flight that left Minneapolis and crash landed in Toronto," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote. "Thankful for all the first responders and those on the plane who worked to get everyone to safety and those injured to care. We must get to the bottom of what happened." 

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said she and her staff "are closely monitoring this situation and gathering information." 

"Thank you to all the emergency response teams helping. My thoughts are with everyone on board and their loved ones," Smith wrote on X. 

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said he and his wife "are praying for the passengers and crew who were aboard Flight 4819 and are pleased to see initial reports that no lives have been lost." 

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said she was "closely monitoring the situation in Toronto and keeping all those on board in my thoughts." 

"I am praying for those involved and will continue to monitor this situation as details emerge," Rep. Pete Stauber, R- Minn., said. "I am incredibly grateful for the quick response of the first responders on the ground!" 

The Trump administration has promised a thorough review and update of air traffic control systems nationwide after a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight about to land at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. It was the United States' deadliest aviation disaster since 2001. 

Other recent aviation disasters in North America include a small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, that crashed on Feb. 6, killing the pilot and nine passengers. Additionally, a medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood on Jan. 31, exploding in a fireball that engulfed several homes. 

Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump congratulated U.S. forces following an airstrike over the weekend that targeted an official of Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria.

"US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region."

"Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners," he continued.

AUSTRIA STABBING SUSPECT IS SYRIAN MIGRANT WHO PLEDGED ALLEGIANCE TO ISLAMIC STATE, OFFICIALS SAY

On Saturday, U.S. forces "conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate," U.S. Central Command said in a press release.

CENTCOM said the airstrike was part of its "ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond."

"We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region," Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.

Hurras al-Din was formed in 2018 after the Nusrah Front terror group broke off from Al-Qaeda. The group operates primarily in Syria’s Idlib Province and could have as many as 2,500 members, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV

The center said Hurras al-Din "advocates attacks against the West and Israel to expel foreign influence from Muslim lands, and it seeks to set the conditions necessary to form a new caliphate across the Levant and the broader Middle East."

"Hurras al-Din maintains access to several longtime al-Qa‘ida members who could enable the group to pose a threat to US and other Western interests outside of Syria, despite its weakened state following successive personnel losses since 2019 that have removed many of the group’s veteran leaders," the center said.

A U.S. citizen arrested in Russia earlier this month on drug smuggling charges has been released from Russian custody.

Kalob Wayne Byers, 28, was detained on Feb. 7 at the Vnukovo airport in Moscow after cannabis-laced marmalade was allegedly found in his luggage by customs officials. Byers was traveling from Istanbul with his Russian fiancée, who was also taken into custody.

It was not immediately clear whether Byers' fiancée, identified by Russian media as Naida Mambetova, was also released. She was placed in pre-trial detention on the same charges.

Russian authorities said Byers had attempted to smuggle a "significant amount" of drugs into the country. He was taken into custody on drug smuggling charges, punishable by up to a decade in prison.

AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA IDENTIFIED AS KALOB WAYNE BYERS

Byers, now freed from Russian custody, is staying in the U.S. embassy in Moscow as he awaits a flight home, his parents wrote on social media, according to Russian independent news outlet Meduza. A U.S. official confirmed that Byers was released to the embassy late on Sunday evening, according to The Associated Press.

Russia freeing Byers appears to be part of an effort to ease tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

When asked about Byers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Moscow expects "to discuss restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations" at the Saudi Arabia meeting "so certain events can be viewed in this context."

Tensions between the two countries had already begun to soften in recent weeks.

Last week, President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, stating that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war.

Americans being arrested in Russia has become increasingly common in recent years, as relations between Moscow and Washington have soured because of Russia's war against Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Some Americans have been released in prisoner exchanges, including Marc Fogel, a teacher from Pennsylvania who was jailed in Russia on drug charges. He was freed last week.

US CITIZEN ALLEGEDLY CARRYING CANNABIS DETAINED IN MOSCOW, CHARGED WITH NARCOTICS SMUGGLING: RUSSIAN MEDIA

Fogel was detained at a Russian airport in August 2021 when traveling to work at a school in Moscow. He was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for possession of drugs, which his family said was medically prescribed marijuana.

He was released and flown back to the U.S. earlier this month in an exchange that included returning Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency expert who faced Bitcoin fraud charges in the U.S., to Russia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senior Russian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss improving relations and an end to Moscow's war in Ukraine – without representatives from Kyiv.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led the delegations that met at the Diriyah Palace in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh.

Rubio was accompanied by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, while Lavrov brought along the Kremlin's foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov. 

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and national security advisor Musaed al Alban were present for the start of the meeting but were expected to leave early in the talks.

Ukrainian officials are not participating in Tuesday's meeting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv will not accept the outcome if his country is not in attendance at the meeting.

The meeting symbolizes another significant step by the Trump administration to reverse U.S. policy on isolating Russia. The event was meant to lead to a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last week, Trump upended U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, stating that he and Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war, which began in February 2022.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Canadian tourist had both her hands amputated after being attacked by a shark while snorkeling on vacation in Turks and Caicos when she attempted to get a photo with the creature.

The incident happened on Feb. 7, when officials with the Turks and Caicos Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) said the 55-year-old woman was snorkeling off Providenciales, the main island in the archipelago, when she was attacked by a shark.

Officials said the shark was estimated to be approximately 6 feet in length. However, the species is yet to be confirmed.

An investigation revealed that the woman had "attempted to engage with the animal from the shallows in an attempt to take photographs."

AMERICAN TOURISTS FELT 'NUDGE' BEFORE SHARK ATTACK AT POPULAR BAHAMAS RESORT

The woman's horrified husband quickly rushed into the water to attempt to get the shark away from his wife, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Other terrified bystanders also jumped in to help the woman and try to stop the bleeding. 

She was rushed to a local hospital and later flown off the island for further medical care, officials said.

AMERICAN TOURISTS ATTACKED BY SHARK AT LUXE BAHAMAS RESORT AREA

The victim, who was not identified, had to have both her hands amputated, according to the Visit Turks and Caicos Island website.

The beaches in the area were closed "in an abundance of caution," but later reopened on Sunday, officials said.

"The DECR would like to urge the public to always be aware of your surroundings, follow local advisories, and respect marine life," officials said in a statement on their Facebook page.

SHARK ‘COMPLETELY SEVERS’ LEG OF HAWAII SURFER OFF MAUI BEACH, AUTHORITIES SAY

"Swim in designated areas, avoid murky waters, never swim alone, and do not attempt to feed marine wildlife under any circumstances."

Between 2021 and 2025, four people were reported to have been attacked by sharks, and that all victims survived those attacks, according to the Visit Turks and Caicos Island website. 

The website reported that one of the incidents happened on May 23, 2024, when a male resident was snorkeling at Leeward Reef off the northeast coast of Providenciales when he was attacked by a shark. As a result of the attack, officials said the male had to have his leg amputated above the knee.

The attack comes as another shark attack was reported on the same day when two American tourists were attacked by a shark hours after arriving at a popular beach resort in the Bahamas.

Authorities said the tourists were attacked by what appeared to be a bull shark, leaving one woman with serious injuries, while swimming in the waters of Bimini Bay. 

The incident remains under investigation, and both women are expected to make a full recovery. 

Fox News Digital's Mollie Markowitz, Julia Bonavite and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

A plane crashed at Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday afternoon, injuring Delta passengers flying from the U.S.

The plane crash, which involved a Delta Air Lines CRJ-900 jet that had departed from Minneapolis, was first reported by CTV. The incident was reported at 2:45 p.m. local time.

Pictures of the scene show the plane upside-down and mangled on a snow-covered runway. 

Peel Regional Police says that it is investigating the number of potential injuries, which are unknown as of now, but paramedics told reporters that there were 8 injuries so far. Of the 8 reported injuries, one was critical and the others were mild to moderate, Reuters reported.

HARROWING VIDEO FROM MILITARY BASE SHOWS NEW ANGLE OF MIDAIR CRASH CATASTROPHE

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement on Monday stating that the crash took place while the aircraft was landing. 80 people were on board at the time, and all were immediately evacuated.

The FAA also said that the flight was operated by Endeavor Air. Toronto Pearson confirmed the crash on X, and said that all the plane's passengers and crew "are accounted for." 

"Toronto Pearson is aware of an incident upon landing involving a Delta Air Lines plane arriving from Minneapolis," the airport's post read. "Emergency teams are responding."

PLANE VEERS OFF AIRPORT RUNWAY IN SOUTH KOREA AND CRASHES, KILLING 179: REPORTS

"The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates," the FAA noted.

Monday's crash comes amid a turbulent season for air travel. In late January, 67 people died near Washington, D.C. when a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines-affiliated commercial flight from Kansas.

Recent plane crashes have not been limited to North America either. A crash involving a Jeju Air flight in South Korea killed 179 people when the aircraft crashed into an airport's concrete barrier and bursted into flames. An Azerbaijan Airlines plane also crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas, killing 38 people and injuring 29.

Fox News Digital reached out to Delta for an additional statement.

Reuters contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Fox News Digital's Brooke Curto and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX - A group of young Iraqis launched an initiative called "Iraq Only" with the goal of having better relations with the U.S. and eliminating Iranian militias' hold over Iraq.

The campaign, which involved posting stickers printed with the Iraqi flag and placed over images of militia leaders in Iraq, was a grassroots initiative started by young people to empower the rule of law and build a democratic and citizen-based state in Iraq, free of Iranian influence.

Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with one of the activists who spearheaded the recent effort, Muqtada al-Tamimi, about his experience of social activism, their goals for Iraq’s future, and being kidnapped for his activity of sounding the alarm on Iranian influence.

A WEAKENED IRAN HAS IRAQ LOOKING TO CURB TEHRAN-BACKED EXTREMISTS IN COUNTRY

"We as activists suffer the most from Iranian influence over Iraq. Many of us have been kidnapped and taken into illegal detention centers run by Iranian-backed militias. And some were killed," al-Tamimi, who is a businessman and in his late 20s, told Fox News Digital through his interpreter. 

Al-Tamimi and some of his fellow activists were kidnapped by Iranian-aligned armed groups and were tortured for five days. They were shackled, abused, tortured and had their phones and personal data confiscated without any legal document or judge's signature proving they had the right to access these documents.

"We as activists are persecuted for simply trying to raise our own flag, the Iraqi flag," al-Tamimi lamented.

Al-Tamimi said the Iranian militias act with impunity and don’t respect the Iraqi constitution or Iraqis' rights as citizens.

"The people most harmed by Iranian militias are people like us who call for peace and co-existence in Iraq and with our neighboring countries," he said.

Al-Tamimi and his fellow activists want a strong Iraq that has a stable and integrated economy with the West. 

"We believe that an Iraqi alliance with the West would make Iraq stronger, stable, and more prosperous."

Al-Tamimi and his associates' desire to remove Iranian influence and move Iraq closer to the U.S. and the West is what leaders in Tehran fear most. 

WHO IS THE IRAN-BACKED COALITION ISLAMIC RESISTANCE IN IRAQ, RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DRONE STRIKE ON US TROOPS?

The groundwork for the activism was first laid in 2021 when 312 Iraqis from the Shi'a and Sunni communities convened in Erbil in a conference facilitated by the Center for Peace Communications (CPC), and called for peace and normalization with Israel. Once word of the conference spread across international media, the Iran-backed militias issued death threats, and the Iraqi government issued arrest warrants for conference organizers. CPC took measures to protect all participants from jail or being harmed. 

"The Iraq Only movement speaks to pent-up Iraqi demand for peace, development, and an end to Iranian domination. We wish these young men and women Godspeed in driving change, and hope the U.S. will do everything it can to help them," CPC's founder and president Joseph Braude told Fox News Digital.

Iraq has become a central battleground for regional dominance between U.S. and coalition forces and Iran. Tehran uses allies in Iraq to exert its regional influence and also undermine Iraqi sovereignty through various proxy forces.

The Islamic Resistance of Iraq is a group of armed Islamic resistance factions under the umbrella of the Iran-backed "Axis of Resistance." These groups are the most difficult for the Iraqi government to manage and were responsible for the attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan in January 2024. 

The IRI has been engaging in armed operations against Israel and U.S. coalition forces since Oct. 7. Also operating in Iraq are the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which were formed in 2014 to fight ISIS. 

Iraq Only is also supportive of U.S. forces on Iraqi soil, even as the status of the 2,500 troops in the country remains uncertain.

NETANYAHU HAILS ‘HISTORIC’ FALL OF BASHAR ASSAD IN SYRIA, CREDITS ISRAELI ATTACKS ON HEZBOLLAH, IRAN

"The American presence in Iraq does not at all contradict a strong Iraq but the opposite. A good relationship with the United States means a strong Iraq."

Al-Tamimi said he understands and appreciates the heavy price paid by American forces in upholding the stability and security of Iraq since the invasion of 2003. 

One aspect of their platform that may raise eyebrows is their recognition of Israel’s place in the Middle East and their desire for closer ties with Israel.

"Israel is a great country and has a great culture. We share with them a lot of the geography and as we are looking at and seeking a strong Iraq, we need to seek a strong partnership with a country like Israel if needed."

Al-Tamimi also notes that everyday Iraqis have suffered and paid a high price because of the alliance between Iraq and Iran. Physical infrastructure was destroyed, and Iranian interference undermined state institutions. Eradicating Iranian influence will help Iraq, in their view, ultimately become safer and more prosperous.

"We think once we have a strong relationship with Israel and the United States, we will have a strong Iraq." 

Al-Tamimi also sees positive signs for Iraq and the Middle East after the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

"We believe the removal of the Assad regime is a very good step for undermining Iranian influence in the region and gives us as Iraqis hope for better change in the region."

At least 18 people, including 14 women, were killed in a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital of New Delhi, the Press Trust of India news agency reported Sunday.

Many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj in northern India, according to Delhi’s caretaker chief minister, Atishi, who uses only one name.

The stampede happened late Saturday while thousands of people were gathered at the New Delhi railway station waiting to board a train. The incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footbridge that connects train platforms, authorities said.

WASHINGTON SENDS FIRST GROUP OF INDIAN MIGRANTS WITH US MILITARY PLANE TO HOME COUNTRY

Sheela Devi, who was at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital in New Delhi to collect her daughter-in-law's body, said an announcement about a change of train platforms created confusion among the passengers that led to the stampede.

"The crowd went out of control and no one could control it," said Nikhil Kumar, a shopkeeper who witnessed the crowd surge.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was "distressed by the stampede."

"My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede," he said on the social platform X.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that an investigation has been ordered to find what led to the stampede.

At least 30 people were killed in a stampede at the six-week festival last month after tens of millions of Hindus gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters.

A senior White House official reportedly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision not to sign a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals. 

"President Zelenskyy is being short-sighted about the excellent opportunity the Trump administration has presented to Ukraine," White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the Associated Press. 

Hughes said a minerals deal would allow American taxpayers to "recoup" some of the billions in U.S. aid sent to Kyiv during the Biden administration, while growing Ukraine’s economy. The White House believes "binding economic ties with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of lasting peace," the National Security Council spokesman said, adding: "The U.S. recognizes this, the Russians recognize this, and the Ukrainians must recognize this."

Hughes did not explicitly confirm the proposal, which the AP reported was a key part of Zelenskyy’s talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. 

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE 'ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE'

One current and one former senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told the AP that the offer did not include any specific security guarantees in return for rare earth mineral access. 

The proposal focused on how the U.S. could use Kyiv’s rare earth minerals "as compensation" for support already given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and as payment for future aid, the current and former senior Ukrainian officials said, speaking anonymously to the AP. Zelenskyy said he directed his ministers not to sign off on the proposed agreement because the document was too focused on U.S. interests.

"I didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest," Zelenskyy told the AP on Saturday in Munich. 

Ukraine has vast reserves of critical minerals that are used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries. The Trump administration has indicated it is interested in accessing them to reduce dependence on China.

Zelenskyy reportedly said he considered it "very important the connection between some kind of security guarantees and some kind of investment" in order to deter another Russian invasion.  

The document was reportedly given to Ukrainian officials on Wednesday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a visit to Kyiv.

"It’s a colonial agreement and Zelenskyy cannot sign it," the former Ukrainian senior official told the AP. 

U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz on Sunday rejected the notion that European allies are not being consulted on negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, as the Trump administration is reportedly to begin talks with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week. In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would convene an emergency meeting between the main European powers in Paris on Monday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Walz told "Fox News Sunday" that Vance, Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed in talks with Zelenskyy the importance of "entering into a partnership with the United States," and being "co-invested with President Trump, with the American people going forward." 

"The American people deserve to be recouped, deserve to have some type of payback for the billions they have invested in this war," Waltz said. "I can't think of anything that would make the American people more comfortable with future investments than if we were able to be in a partnership and have the American people made whole. And I'll point out that much of the European aid is actually in the form of a loan. That is repaid. It's repaid with interest on Russian assets. So President Trump is rethinking the entire dynamic here. That has some people uncomfortable, but I think Zelenskyy would be very wise to enter into this agreement with the United States. There's no better way to secure them going forward, and further, there was a question of whether Putin would come to the table. He has now done so under President Trump's leadership, and we're going to continue those talks in the coming weeks at President Trump's direction."

U.S. officials in discussions with their Ukrainian counterparts in Munich were commercially minded and largely concentrated on the specifics of exploring the minerals and how to form a possible partnership to do that with Ukraine, the senior official said. The potential value of the deposits in Ukraine has not yet been discussed, with much unexplored or close to the front line. The U.S. proposal apparently did not take into account how the deposits would be secured if the war continued.

TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT OFFERS ZELENSKYY AN ECONOMIC INVESTMENT DEAL

Zelenskyy and Vance did not discuss the details of the U.S. document during their meeting Friday at the Munich conference, the senior official said. 

That meeting was "very good" and "substantive," with Vance making it clear his and Trump’s main goal was to achieve a durable, lasting peace, the senior official said. Zelenskyy told Vance that real peace requires Ukraine to be in a "strong position" when starting negotiations, stressing that the U.S. negotiators should come to Ukraine, and that the U.S., Ukraine and Europe must be at the negotiating table for talks with Russia.

Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, all but cut Europeans out of any Ukraine-Russia talks, despite Zelenskyy’s request.

"You can have the Ukrainians, the Russians, and clearly the Americans at the table talking," Kellogg said at an event hosted by a Ukrainian tycoon at the Munich conference. Pressed on whether that meant Europeans won’t be included, he said: "I’m a school of realism. I think that’s not going to happen."

Ukraine is now preparing a "counterproposal" which will be delivered to the U.S. in "the near future," the official said.

"I think it’s important that the vice president understood me that if we want to sign something, we have to understand that it will work," Zelenskyy told the AP.

That means, he said, "it will bring money and security."

TEL AVIV, Israel — As the first phase of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears completion, Israel is mulling its next steps against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to unleash "hell" unless all the hostages are released.

Fox News Digital spoke to Israeli military experts to see how they viewed what would be in store for Hamas if the ceasefire deal collapses.

"The only alternative is the resumption of the war in Gaza with all the forces that can be allocated," Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (res.), a former Israeli National Security Council chief and currently a fellow at the Washington-based JINSA think tank, told Fox News Digital.

"Because we have a ceasefire in Lebanon, we can use huge forces inside Gaza to end Hamas. This is one of the reasons why Hamas didn’t break the truce until now, they understand the alternative is a full-blown war for which they are not ready," he added.

RUBIO, NETANYAHU AFFIRM 'COMMON STRATEGY' FOR GAZA, SET SIGHTS ON IRAN IN JOINT STATEMENT

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem and insisted that the two countries were working in lockstep.

"We have a shared strategy, which cannot always be detailed to the public, including when the gates of hell will open. And they will open if all our hostages are not returned, every last one of them," Netanyahu said.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus (ret.), a former IDF international spokesperson and now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says Hamas’s refusal to return all the hostages, coupled with the prevailing political realities in the Middle East and Trump's willingness to reshuffle the deck, will necessitate the IDF's resumption of fighting in Gaza "at a higher intensity and with less restrictions and limitations." 

"The aim will be to defeat Hamas and to take control over the Gaza Strip. I believe that Hamas’s center of gravity is the distribution of humanitarian aid and in the next round of fighting Israel will seek to take ownership of that," he added. 

Former IDF military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin similarly told Fox News Digital that "never in history have two entities been at war and one is helping the other survive with food, fuel and everything else."

He also noted that the Biden administration had "basically embargoed heavy bombs, [but] Trump has already lifted this and will not limit Israel in using them."

Israel received a U.S. shipment of 2,000-pound MK-84 munitions overnight Saturday, with Defense Minister Israel Katz saying the development "serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States."

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR SLAMS PALESTINIAN PLAN FOR GAZA, DEMANDS PA FIRST 'CONDEMN HAMAS'

Trump’s words and deeds have given the impression that he will fully back Israel's goal to defeat the Palestinian terror group militarily, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of the Israeli National Security Council, told Fox News Digital.

"But this misses the point, as we have already been fighting there for 16 months. The only significant leverage left, which was prevented by the Biden administration, is to interrupt all flow of equipment, fuel, food, water and other essential matters into the enclave," Eiland said.

"This is the only thing that can cause real concern in Gaza and which might persuade the leadership to agree to release the hostages."

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces has increased troop reinforcements and mobilized reservists in the Southern Command to prepare for "any scenario." When asked to share with Fox News Digital information regarding Hamas’s remaining weapons stockpile, the IDF declined to comment. 

Hamas initially possessed an estimated 17,000 mid- and long-range missiles, with the former able to hit targets between seven and 14 kilometers away and the latter beyond 15 kilometers, according to Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman (res.), executive director of the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and another former head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate.

TRUMP’S GAZA RELOCATION PROPOSAL SPARKS HEATED DEBATE AMONG PALESTINIANS: ‘NO LIFE LEFT HERE’

"In terms of Hamas’s long-range missiles, the current capabilities are minor, if at all. Mid-range was probably reduced to approximately less than 100 total, and for short-range capabilities such as mortars and drones, it’s hard to estimate," he told Fox News Digital.

Hayman agrees that "all hell" might entail President Donald Trump giving carte blanche to Israel to use 2,000-pound bombs or greater leeway to demolish swaths of territory using bulldozers and other heavy machinery to prevent Hamas from regenerating.

Israel might also change its fighting strategy to ensure Hamas is no longer able to regroup by retaking territory evacuated by troops in Gaza, according to Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser (res.), a former head of research in the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate.

"Israel could mount an attack in a different way than we saw till now. Instead of taking control of areas and then leaving them, we would keep control, minimizing Hamas’s ability to rule over the population in Gaza and thus its ability to survive," he told Fox News Digital.

The long-term presence of Israeli boots on the ground would likely be a precondition for actualizing Trump’s vow to "take over" and transform Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East," an assertion Trump made alongside Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 4.

Meir Ben Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy and former head of the Israeli National Security Council, told Fox News Digital that Israel must push for "the collapse of Hamas rule, the demilitarization of Gaza and the creation of conditions to prevent this area from posing a threat to the security of Israeli citizens."

He said these conditions are "essential to ensure that this round of fighting will be the last," he added. "To achieve this, Israel will have to resume fighting at a time that suits it."

On Sunday, Netanyahu informed special envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting that he would convene the Security Cabinet on Monday to discuss phase 2 of the agreement.

Muhsin Hendricks, known as the world's first openly gay imam, was shot and killed in South Africa over the weekend, as authorities investigate whether the murder was a hate crime.

In a statement obtained by the BBC, police said that Hendricks was killed Saturday morning while traveling near the city of Gqeberha in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. His car was reportedly ambushed.

"Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle," authorities said.

Hendricks founded the Inner Circle, a safe haven for gay Muslims, shortly after coming out as an openly gay imam in 1996. He was previously married to a woman before divorcing her the same year that he came out.

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"The Inner Circle is the longest standing, largest and most influential human rights organization in the world that deals with Islam, gender and sexual diversity from an Islamic theological perspective," the organization's website reads. "The Inner Circle works internationally and supports international affiliate organizations to do similar work, within an Islamic framework."

In a statement, the Cape Town Ulama Board – an organization of Sunni leaders – condemned the murder but said its views do "not align with the views of the deceased."

"We maintain that Islamic teachings firmly condemn violence, murder or such actions that undermine the rule of law and destabilize society," the statement read. "Thus, the Cape Town Ulama Board urges our communities to allow the law to investigate the incident, and by following due process, we hope to maintain peace and order."

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) said in a statement that they believe the killing "may be a hate crime."

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"He supported and mentored so many people in South Africa and around the world in their journey to reconcile with their faith, and his life has been a testament to the healing that solidarity across communities can bring in everyone’s lives," ILGA Executive Director Julia Ehrt said. "Our condolences go out to all who have been touched by his presence in all these years."

In 2022, Hendricks raised concerns about a fatwa condemning homosexuality issued by the Muslim Judicial Council. The ruling found that homosexuality is incompatible with Islam, and said that gay Muslims "have taken themselves out of the fold of Islam."

"While it did not come as a complete shock, it has left me sore considering that it was released when we just had Pride Month," Hendricks said at the time. "The phrase homosexual was only coined in the 18th century and the Qu’ran has been around way longer before that, so how can there be scriptures condemning same-sex relationships?"

Authorities are actively investigating the incident. No additional details are known at this time.

Rwanda-backed rebels have "occupied" a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Congo's government said Sunday, as M23 rebels positioned themselves at the governor's office in Bukavu and pledged to clean up after the "old regime."

Associated Press journalists witnessed scores of residents cheering on the rebels after they entered Bukavu following a dayslong march from Goma, a city of 2 million people they seized last month.

The rebels saw little resistance from government forces against the unprecedented expansion of their reach after their years of fighting. Congo's government vowed to restore order in Bukavu, a city of 1.3 million people, but there was no sign of soldiers. Many were seen fleeing on Saturday alongside thousands of civilians.

The M23 are the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that's critical for much of the world's technology. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to the United Nations experts.

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The fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Bernard Maheshe Byamungu, one of the M23 leaders who has been sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council for rights abuses, stood in front of the South Kivu governor’s office in Bukavu and told residents they have been living in a "jungle."

"We are going to clean up the disorder left over from the old regime," Byamungu said, as some in the small crowd of young men cheered the rebels on to "go all the way to Kinshasa," Congo's capital, nearly 1,000 miles away.

The M23 did not announce any seizure of Bukavu, unlike its announcement when taking Goma, which had brought swift international condemnation. Spokesmen for the M23 didn't respond to questions Sunday.

Congo's communications ministry in a statement on social media acknowledged for the first time that Bukavu had been "occupied" and said the national government was "doing everything possible to restore order and territorial integrity" in the region.

One Bukavu resident, Blaise Byamungu, said the rebels marched into the city that had been "abandoned by all the authorities and without any loyalist force."

"Is the government waiting for them to take over other towns to take action? It’s cowardice," Byamungu added.

Unlike in 2012, when the M23 briefly seized Goma and withdrew after international pressure, analysts have said the rebels this time are eyeing political power.

The fighting in Congo has connections with a decadeslong ethnic conflict. The M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda. Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide and founded the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda militia group.

Rwanda says the militia group is "fully integrated" into the Congolese military, which denies it.

But the new face of the M23 in the region — Corneille Nangaa — is not Tutsi, giving the group "a new, more diverse, Congolese face, as M23 has always been seen as a Rwanda-backed armed group defending Tutsi minorities," according to Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol.

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Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, whose government on Saturday asserted that Bukavu remained under its control, has warned of the risk of a regional expansion of the conflict.

Congo's forces were being supported in Goma by troops from South Africa and in Bukavu by troops from Burundi. But Burundi's president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, appeared to suggest on social media his country would not retaliate in the fighting.

The conflict was high on the African Union summit's agenda in Ethiopia over the weekend, with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warning it risked spiraling into a regional conflagration.

Still, African leaders and the international community have been reluctant to take decisive action against M23 or Rwanda, which has one of Africa's most powerful militaries. Most continue to call for a ceasefire and a dialogue between Congo and the rebels.

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes the M23, has said it was committed to "defending" the people of Bukavu.

"We call on the population to remain in control of their city and not give in to panic," alliance spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement Saturday.

Austrian authorities said Sunday that the suspect who they believe fatally stabbed a 14-year-old boy and wounded five others in the village of Villach is a Syrian refugee who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. 

At a press conference, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the 23-year-old Syrian national was arrested seven minutes after Saturday's attack unfolded in the village of just about 60,000 people bordering Italy and Slovenia. 

"This is an Islamist attack with an IS connection by an attacker who radicalized himself within a very short time via the internet online," Karner told reporters, according to the Associated Press. 

Regarding mass migration and asylum-seekers, Karner, a conservative, said it will ultimately be necessary to "carry out a mass screening without cause because this assassin was not conspicuous." 

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"There's compassion, there's sadness, but in these moments there's also understandably often anger and rage," Karner added, according to Reuters. "Anger at an Islamist attacker who randomly stabbed innocent people here in this town."

The attack came a day after Vice President JD Vance rebuked European leaders at the Munich Security Conference over mass migration, as well as crackdowns on free speech. 

As authorities revealed the alleged "Islamic terror motive," Austria's far-right leader Herbert Kickl, whose party won a national election four months ago, called for "a rigorous crackdown on asylum" in the wake of the attack.

Kickl wrote on X Saturday that he is "appalled by the horrific act in Villach."

"At the same time, I am angry – angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life," Kickl said.

"From Austria to the EU – the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct," he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in its election platform.

The suspect is charged with murder and attempted murder. Austrian police said the suspect recorded himself pledging allegiance to IS, according to Reuters. 

State police director Michaela Kohlweiß said authorities searched the suspect’s apartment with sniffer dogs and found IS flags on the walls. 

No weapons or dangerous objects were found, she added, but police seized mobile telephones. Police were investigating whether the suspect had any accomplices.

"The current picture is that of a lone perpetrator," Kohlweiß said, according to the AP. 

Carinthia State Gov. Peter Kaiser thanked another Syrian national, a 42-year-old man working for a food delivery company, who drove toward the suspect and helped prevent the situation from getting worse. 

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"This shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality," Kaiser said. 

The mayor of Villach, Guenther Albel, said the attack was a "stab in the heart of the city."

Austrian conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker "must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law."

"We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to avoid such acts of horror in the future," he said.

The day before Vance visited the Munich Security Conference, an Afghan refugee on Thursday plowed a car into a crowd in the German city, injuring dozens of people, including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter, who later died. 

"The number of immigrants who entered the EU from non-EU countries doubled between 2021 and 2022 alone, and of course, it's gotten much higher since," Vance said Friday. "It's the result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the continent. Others across the world over the span of a decade. We saw the horrors wrought by these decisions yesterday in this very city. And of course, I can't bring it up again without thinking about the terrible victims who had a beautiful winter day in Munich ruined. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and will remain with them. But why did this happen in the first place?" 

"It's a terrible story, but it's one we've heard way too many times in Europe, and unfortunately too many times in the United States as well," Vance said. "An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rams a car into a crowd and shatters a community. How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?" 

The stabbing in Villach on Saturday marked what is believed to be the second deadly Islamic terror attack in Austria in recent years. In November 2020, a man who had previously attempted to join the Islamic State carried out a rampage in Vienna, armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, killing four people before being fatally shot by police. Last August, Austrian authorities said they thwarted a planned attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna by a teenager who had also allegedly pledged allegiance to IS.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Iran is reported to have launched a new crackdown against Iranian Christians this month following the re-arrest of two men.

According to a Feb. 10 report on the website of the U.K.-based NGO Article18, which seeks to protect religious freedom in Iran, "Two Christians in their 60s who were released after a combined six years in prison on charges related to their leadership of house-churches have been re-arrested."

Iranian regime intelligence agents re-arrested the two Christians, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh and Joseph Shahbazian, and incarcerated both men in Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison. Gol-Tapeh is reportedly on a hunger strike over "unlawful re-arrest," noted Article 18, which advocates on behalf of persecuted Iranian Christians.

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Article18 said a "number of other Tehran Christians were also arrested at the same time and remain in custody."

Iranian-Americans and Iranian dissidents are urging the Trump administration to shine a spotlight on the ubiquitous Iranian regime human rights violations while imposing punitive measures on the clerical state in Tehran.

Alireza Nader, an Iran expert, told Fox News Digital, "Christians in Iran are relentlessly persecuted by the Islamist regime. The Trump administration should highlight their plight publicly while putting maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime."

Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, a German-Iranian political scientist, who is a leading expert on religious minorities in Iran, told Fox News Digital, according to the Christian advocacy organization OpenDoors 2025 annual report, "Christian discrimination in Iran remains extremely severe, scoring 86 out of 100 points and ranking 9th among the worst countries for Christian persecution."

He added, "The government views Christian converts as a threat to national security, believing they are influenced by Western nations to undermine Islam and the regime. As a result, Christian converts face severe religious freedom violations, including arrests [and] long prison sentences."

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Wahdat-Hagh continued, "Those who leave Islam to follow Christianity are the most vulnerable. They are denied legal recognition and are frequently targeted by security forces."

One Iranian Christian who fled Iran to Germany to practice her faith free from persecution is Sheina Vojoudi.

She told Fox News Digital, "As the belief in Islam keeps going down in Iran, the important growth of Christianity has deeply alarmed the Islamic Republic, a theocratic dictatorship. Iran has seen an outstanding rise in the number of Christian converts, despite the decidedly oppressive environment. International human rights groups often consider Christian converts to be political prisoners of conscience, meaning that even after arrest and release, they remain in constant danger of re-arrest and severe punishment."

The dire situation of Iranian Christians prompted the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, to sound the alarm bells in a video presentation organized by Article 18. "The situation of Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a matter of serious concern that demands our continued attention," she said.

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The most recent U.S. State Department report on religious freedom in Iran (2023) states, "The government continued to regulate Christian religious practices. Christian worship in Farsi was forbidden and official reports and state-run media continued to characterize private Christian churches in homes as ‘illegal networks’ and ‘Zionist propaganda institutions."’

The number of Christians in Iran is difficult to pinpoint because of the widespread repression of the faith. According to the State Department report, the Iranian regime’s Statistical Center claims there are 117,700 Christians of recognized denominations as of the 2016 census.

Boston University’s 2020 World Religion Database notes there are roughly 579,000 Christians in Iran, while Article 18 estimates there are 500,000 to 800,000. Open Doors reports the number at 1.24 million.

The Trump administration re-imposed, in early February, its maximum economic pressure campaign on Iran’s regime to reverse Tehran’s drive to build a nuclear weapon and stop its spread of Islamist terrorism.

Vojoudi, an associate fellow at the U.S.-based Gold Institute for International Strategy, told Fox News Digital, "Now is the time for European nations and the United States to take meaningful action, not only by holding the Islamic Republic accountable for its support of terrorism and extremist groups, but also by prosecuting it on the international stage for violating one of the most fundamental human rights: the freedom of religion.

"This is critical not only for the safety of Christian converts but also to reaffirm the values of freedom and human dignity that these nations claim to uphold." 

Multiple Fox News Digital press queries to Iran’s foreign ministry and its U.N. mission in New York were not returned. Fox News Digital asked if the government would release Iranians imprisoned for merely practicing their Christian faith.

As President Donald Trump's administration works toward a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, the leaders of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) are warning that Vladimir Putin's Russia believes it's actually fighting a "holy war" against the West.

A delegation from the OCU was in the United States recently for the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. The group was led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphany, leader of Kyiv and all of Ukraine.

His translator spoke to Fox News about the spiritual war raging between Russia and Ukraine, which has played a big role in why the battle began and continues to escalate.

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His eminence Metropolitan Yevstratiy, the deputy head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's external church relations, says of Russia, "From the point of religious view, this is a liberation of Ukrainians from [the] Godless West, from the evil. And Russia brings to Ukraine the light and truth."

Yevstratiy, and other church watchers like Catholic intellectual George Weigel, have accused the Russian Orthodox Church of being nothing more than an arm of the Kremlin, dressed in religious vestments but doing Putin's bidding.

Writing in the magazine First Things, Weigel noted "… Ukraine mounted and sustained a fierce resistance that denied Russia the quick victory Putin anticipated in February 2022, Russian justifications for the war began to take on a new coloration: The war was now a crusade in defense of Christian civilization."

On Lighthouse Faith podcast, Yevstratiy recalled how at the start of the war, Moscow's Patriarch Kirill sermonized to Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine that if they die in battle they would immediately go to paradise… all sins forgiven. Even to an outsider looking at the complexity of Orthodox Christianity, that sounds more like 'Political Jihad' than the Gospel.

In 2019, Ukraine's Orthodox Church was granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church by the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). It caused an uproar in Moscow. Kirill and Putin refused to recognize the authority of Patriarch Bartholomew.

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Yevstratiy also revealed a scarier version of the war in Ukraine. He says Putin's ultimate goal is more than the reunification of the Soviet Union, or the defense of Christian civilization. It's actually more apocalyptic. He's focused on ushering in the third and final Rome.... in Moscow, which means, labeling the rest of Christianity, Catholics and Protestants alike... as heretics and pagans.

Describing the inner workings of the Orthodox churches may seem a little like 'inside baseball'.  But these are the oldest churches of Christianity. They emerged from the five ancient churches led by the apostles who knew Jesus personally.

The apostle Andrew went to the east in Constantinople; Mark to Alexandria (Egypt); Peter to Antioch (Rome); James to Jerusalem, and Barnabas to Cyprus.  From these men, along with the itinerant Apostle Paul, Christianity spread throughout the globe. So, this conflict between Russia and Ukraine has deep spiritual roots. And Putin knows it.

Yestratiy and Epiphany were present at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. and heard President Trump declare his desire to be a peacemaker.

Vestratiy said, "We pray and we ask God Almighty to bless this very good and Christian desire."

Adding, "May God bless Ukraine. May God bless America."

The full interview is on Lauren Green's Lighthouse Faith podcast, available on Apple, Spotify and here.

What happened to never going against the family? 

Leaders within the Cosa Nostra, Sicily’s mafia, have reportedly complained that mob recruits aren’t what they used to be, as nearly 150 people associated with the group were arrested this week. 

"The level is low, today they arrest someone and if he becomes a turncoat they arrest another... wretched low-level," former Cosa Nostra boss Giancarlo Romano said in a wiretapped conversation last year before he was killed in a shootout, according to BBC News. 

Romano also revealed that he was nostalgic for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic "The Godfather," about a fictional mob family in New York. 

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"If you watch ‘The Godfather,’ the connections he had… he was very influential because of the power that he built at a political level," Romano told his associate. 

He continued, "But us – what can we do? We’re on our knees, guys. We think we do business, but these days it’s others who do it. We used to be number one, now it’s others… we’re just gypsies."

The mobsters also seem to like actor Robert De Niro, who played Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II," and Spider-Man as other wiretaps revealed them as nicknames for each other, according to The Guardian. 

This week Sicilian officers conducted early morning raids, serving 183 arrest warrants on those believed to be associated with the Cosa Nostra for crimes ranging from mafia association to extortion and attempted murder. Of those, 36 were already in custody. 

While raids like this week’s have weakened the Cosa Nostra, Italian officials warn they are still a threat. 

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"The investigations that led to Tuesday’s arrests demonstrate that Cosa Nostra is alive and present and communicates with completely new communication channels," Maurizio de Lucia, chief prosecutor of Sicily’s capital of Palermo, said at a press conference, referencing the mafia’s use of encrypted apps to communicate with each other. "It is doing business and trying to rebuild its army."

Domenico La Padula, with the  Italian Carabinieri police, told The New York Times this week that the Cosa Nostra "is far from dead."

He said they have been able to survive by finding "new energy and new strength," with new recruits and 21st-century criminal ventures like online gambling. 

The Cosa Nostra has remained "strongly tied to the rules of its founding fathers and its ancient rituals," the Carabinieri told The Times, adding that their use of encrypted devices has "limited the need for traditional meetings and gatherings to the bare minimum."

John Dickie, who wrote "Mafia Republic: Italy’s Criminal Curse and Cosa Nostra, A History of the Sicilian Mafia," told The Telegraph that Italian authorities have become "fantastic" at surveilling the mafia. 

"Mafia dons have been caught boasting how good their anti-bugging devices were, at the same time that they were being bugged," he revealed.

Dickie also agreed that the Cosa Nostra appears to be "in decline." 

"You only have to read the phone taps where the bosses are saying ‘it’s not like it used to be,’" he said. "This is about the fifth time that the bosses have tried to reorganise the cupola since the early 1990s. Every time they have been thwarted. The authorities were on to them."

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He continued, "These arrests mean that Cosa Nostra has another big task to rebuild, and they show that the state is still stronger than the mafia."

French President Emmanuel Macron has scheduled an "emergency meeting" for European leaders to discuss President Donald Trump, according to another European official.

According to Politico, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski alluded to the meeting at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Two EU officials told the outlet that the meeting would take place on Monday.

"I'm very glad that President Macron has called our leaders to Paris," Sikorski was quoted as saying, noting that the event would involve talking about the implications of Trump's actions "in a very serious fashion."

"President Trump has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem – reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position…And we need to respond," the Polish official added.

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Sikorski has not shied away from discussing American politics in the past. He previously compared President Biden's poor debate performance to the decline of ancient Rome, and once told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell that Trump was "right" to say that NATO countries need to spend more on their own defense.

Macron has been cordial to Trump since the Republican was elected in November. In an X post, the French leader expressed a willingness to work with the president-elect.

"Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump," Macron's post read. "Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity."

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In December, when Trump visited Paris to witness the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, Macron said it was "an honor" to host him.

"It's a great honor for French people to welcome you five years later," Macron said of Trump. "And you were, at that time, president for the first time. And I remember the solidarity and your immediate action. So, welcome back again. We are very happy to have you here."

Fox News Digital reached out to Macron for more information.

Students in Iran continued to protest the fatal robbery of a 19-year-old student on campus last week on Saturday. 

Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, 19, a business student at Tehran University, was killed in a robbery near a campus dormitory on Wednesday, sparking protests on Friday. 

The protesters are accusing school officials of failing to keep students safe on campus, according to local media. 

The demonstrators clashed with police on Friday near where Khaleghi was killed outside a university dormitory by two unknown robbers. 

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He later died in a hospital.  

The protesters shouted things like "Shame on you!," "University security is a tool of the IRGC [Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps], you are our murderers!", and "The blood that has been spilled can never be erased!"

Amid the outcry, Iran’s vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, ordered an "immediate" investigation into Khaleghi’s death. 

Hossein Sarraf, Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology also warned protesters that "university issues must not extend beyond campus. Those who enter unlawfully will face severe consequences, and there will be no leniency in this matter," according to the state-run ISNA news agency. 

The protest was not politically motivated, but demonstrations in the country can sometimes lead to political unrest under the harsh regime.

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Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) wrote on X on Friday: "Salutes to the students of the University of Tehran who, in protest against the brutal murder of one of their peers, raised their voices with the powerful chant, ‘A student dies, but does not accept humiliation.’"

She added, "The perpetrators of this insecurity are either the Revolutionary Guards and suppressive forces themselves, or the result of the regime's anti-people policies, which prioritize maintaining its power through the harshest oppression, with no regard for the safety or welfare of the people. I call on my fellow citizens to stand in solidarity with the students who today have declared that silence is no longer an option. Indeed, the university is the fortress of freedom and must fulfill its historic role."

Protests ignited three years ago at universities across the country after a 22-year-old woman died in custody after she was detained for allegedly not wearing her headscarf correctly. 

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The protests lasted for months, ending only after a security crackdown in which 500 people died and more than 22,000 were detained.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late on Saturday on his first trip to the Middle East, after a widely condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza.

Trump first floated the suggestion that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza on January 25, a proposal they strongly opposed.

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In a shock announcement on February 4, after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump proposed resettling Gaza's 2.2 million Palestinians and the U.S. taking control and ownership of the demolished seaside enclave, redeveloping it into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

On February 10, he said Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his plan, contradicting his own officials who had suggested Gazans would only be relocated temporarily.

The U.S. president's comments echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes and were labeled as a proposal of ethnic cleansing by some critics.

U.S. ally Israel's military assault on Gaza, now paused by a fragile ceasefire, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in the last 16 months, the Gaza health ministry says, and provoked accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.

The assault internally displaced nearly all of Gaza's population and caused a hunger crisis.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Rubio will discuss Gaza and the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel during the trip, and will pursue Trump's approach of trying to disrupt the status quo in the region, a State Department official said last week.

Kalob Wayne Byers was identified as the American citizen taken into custody in Russia on a drug smuggling charge, according to media reports. 

The 28-year-old was detained at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Feb. 7 after a K-9 with the Russian Federal Customs Service detected something in his luggage, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. 

Byers will remain in custody for 30 days, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Moscow City Court’s Press Office. It released an image Saturday purportedly showing Byers behind bars as he appeared by video link at a court hearing. 

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday by Fox News Digital. 

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Byers was allegedly carrying cannabis gummies at the time of his detention. 

He has been charged with smuggling narcotic drugs into the country and could face up to 10 years in prison, TASS reported.  

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"A chemical analysis revealed the presence of narcotic substances from the cannabinoid group," the customs service reported, according to TASS, adding the man claimed his U.S. doctor had prescribed the gummies.  

News of Byers’ detention comes as Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen who was detained on drug charges in Russia four years ago, was released on Tuesday in exchange for Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik, who had been detained by the U.S. government on cryptocurrency fraud charges.  

Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, was serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana. 

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.