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The British and German Defense chiefs contend that military buildup is necessary to protect Europe from potential Russian aggression.

They pointed to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

"Moscow’s military buildup, combined with its willingness to wage war on our continent, as painfully evidenced in Ukraine, represents an increased risk that demands our collective attention," they declared in an opinion piece published by The Guardian.

RUBIO SEALS CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH HUNGARY

United Kingdom Chief of Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton and German Chief of Defense Carsten Breuer made an argument for peace through strength.

"History teaches us that deterrence fails when adversaries sense disunity and weakness. If Russia perceives Europe in this way, it may be emboldened to extend its aggression beyond Ukraine. Indeed, we know that Moscow’s intentions range wider than the current conflict," they wrote.

RUBIO BLASTS ‘WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS’ FANTASY, WARNS MASS MIGRATION THREATENS WESTERN CIVILIZATION

They asserted that the continent must have a strong defense industry.

"Ukraine shows us that industrial bases are key to sustaining and ultimately winning any major war. The increased defence spending under way across our countries proves that we are taking this seriously, as we cannot deter if we cannot produce. Our industries must be capable of sustained output – manufacturing the ammunition, systems and platforms our forces require at the pace modern conflict demands," they asserted.

UKRAINE STRIKES MAJOR RUSSIAN AMMO DEPOT WITH ‘FLAMINGO’ MISSILE AS TRUMP URGES ZELENSKYY TO MOVE ON DEAL

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"There is a moral dimension to this endeavour. Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace. Strength deters aggression. Weakness invites it," they wrote.

The man accused of carrying out a Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australia, was seen publicly for the first time Monday, appearing by video link from Goulburn Supermax prison during a hearing at Downing Center Local Court.

7NewsAustralia reported that Naveed Akram, 24, spoke only briefly during the less than 10-minute hearing as a suppression order protecting the names of some victims was extended.

"Did you hear what just occurred?" Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund asked. "Yep," Akram replied.

"Your solicitor will call you, OK?" Freund said.

FAMILIES MOURN LOVED ONES LOST IN BONDI BEACH TERROR ATTACK: ‘NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE THE PAIN’

"Yeah," responded the shooting suspect.

Akram has been charged with one count of committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and additional firearms and explosives offenses, according to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions website. 

The most serious charges carry potential life imprisonment.

ISRAELI DIASPORA MINISTER SAYS AUSTRALIA SHOULD HAVE SEEN 'WRITING ON THE WALL' BEFORE TERROR ATTACK

Akram’s lawyer, Ben Archbold, told reporters it was too early to indicate how his client would plead, according to 7NewsAustralia.

"There’s a client that needs to be represented. And we don’t let our personal view get in the way of our professional application," Archbold said.

His next court appearance is scheduled for April 8.

The 24-year-old is accused of carrying out Australia’s deadliest terror attack targeting a Jewish "Hanukkah by the Sea" celebration at Bondi Beach in December. 

His father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed in a gun battle with police at the scene.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the Bondi attack as an "ISIS-inspired atrocity," saying at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra late last year that the government had been informed by the Office of National Intelligence of an ISIS online video feed reinforcing that assessment.

EXCLUSIVE: Taiwan’s foreign minister says China has "clearly become a troublemaker that is maliciously attempting to disrupt the cross-strait status quo and intimidate peaceful countries."

In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said China’s intensifying "authoritarian expansionism not only directly threatens Taiwan’s security and democratic system but also poses significant challenges to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world."

"Last June," Lin said, "[Chinese] aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong maneuvered beyond the second island chain, marking China’s first simultaneous, dual-carrier deployment into the Western Pacific. These developments demonstrate that Beijing’s expansionist ambitions extend far beyond Taiwan and pose an increasingly serious threat to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region and the world."

TAIWAN GENERAL WARNS CHINA’S MILITARY DRILLS COULD BE PREPARATION FOR BLOCKADE OR WAR, VOWS TO RESIST

Communist China was founded in 1949 and has not ruled Taiwan for a single day. Officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan is currently recognized by eleven small countries, plus the Holy See. Beijing nonetheless rejects the reality of nearly 80 years of separate rule, describing Taiwan as a "sacred and inseparable part of China’s territory."

China’s posture toward independently ruled Taiwan has hardened in recent years as President Xi Jinping removed term limits and consolidated near-total power. While earlier Chinese statements included talk of "peaceful unification," Beijing now openly threatens to use force. 

In 2024, Xi directed the Chinese military to complete preparations for a Taiwan operation by 2027. Most defense analysts agree that an invasion would be costly, bloody and highly risky for China, Taiwan and any countries that come to Taiwan’s aid, such as the United States or Japan.

Lin echoed those warnings that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait would reverberate worldwide. "Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are vital to global security and prosperity," Lin said, noting that approximately 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors are produced in Taiwan and that roughly 50% of global commercial shipping passes through the strait. He added that Taiwan is grateful to the United States and other partners for resisting China’s efforts to unilaterally alter the status quo.

The foreign minister said Taiwan’s central role in geopolitics, technology and supply chains ensures that Washington places a high priority on cross-strait stability. He said U.S. policymakers understand that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and related supply chains are critical to American economic security.

CHINA SURROUNDS TAIWAN WITH WARSHIPS, FIGHTER JETS IN LARGEST MILITARY DRILLS ON RECORD

"There is clear strategic continuity between the policies of President Trump’s first and second terms," said Lin, adding that Taiwan’s government will seek ways to coordinate with the United States "through values-based, alliance and economic diplomacy."

Commenting on Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, Lin said, "The Trump administration and U.S. Congress continue to demonstrate a steadfast commitment to safeguarding peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region," Lin said, "which was emphasized in the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS)." The foreign minister also noted that "the recent NSS released by the Trump administration underscored Taiwan’s geopolitical importance as a link between the Northeast and Southeast Asian theaters."

Lin said Taiwan is working to rebalance trade with the United States while strengthening strategic cooperation on AI. "The Trump administration’s AI Action Plan," he said, "underscores the importance of innovation, infrastructure and international cooperation for AI development." 

He also touted Taiwan’s growing investments in the U.S., including a $165 billion commitment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Arizona, and said Taipei is working to make it easier for Taiwanese companies trying to invest in the U.S.. "Against the backdrop of U.S.-China strategic competition and the restructuring of global supply chains," said Lin, "Taiwan’s enterprises understand the remarkable potential of investing in the United States."

The foreign minister said Taiwan appreciates increasing American military support, highlighting that "Last December, the United States approved an arms sales package to Taiwan totaling $11 billion as well as signing the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. These measures underscore the firm bipartisan support for Taiwan in the U.S. government."

But he stressed that Taiwan is accelerating its own defense investments. "Last year, [Taiwan] President Lai Ching-te announced that Taiwan’s defense budget would increase to over 3% of GDP by 2026 and rise to 5% by 2030," he said. While parts of that plan have faced resistance in the opposition-led legislature, both major parties have publicly backed closer security cooperation with the United States and a stronger deterrence posture.

Iran claims it is open to compromise with the U.S. on a nuclear deal if the administration is willing to discuss lifting sanctions, a senior Iranian official said Sunday.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, also said in an interview that the ball was "in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal," adding: "If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement."

"We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program if they are ready to talk about sanctions," Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC.

TRUMP SAYS NUCLEAR TALKS IN OMAN WERE 'VERY GOOD,' CLAIMS IRAN WANTS A DEAL 'VERY BADLY'

Takht-Ravanchi’s comments came as Iran’s top diplomat traveled to Geneva for a second round of indirect talks with the U.S. delegation.

Abbas Araghchi left for the Swiss city following an initial round of negotiations last week with Oman again mediating the next round of talks, according to Iranian state media and the Associated Press.

U.S. officials, however, have emphasized that Iran — not the U.S. — is holding up progress in negotiations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Feb. 14 that President Donald Trump would prefer to reach an agreement but warned it was "very hard to do" one with Iran.

Past diplomatic efforts had collapsed in 2025 after Israel launched what became a 12-day war with Iran and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

SCOTT BESSENT SAYS IRAN UNDERSTANDS 'BRUTE FORCE' AS TRUMP WEIGHS OPTIONS AMID NUCLEAR STANDOFF

But on Sunday, Takht-Ravanchi pointed to Tehran’s offer to dilute its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity as evidence of its willingness to compromise, the BBC reported.

Asked whether Iran would ship its stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium abroad, as it did under the 2015 deal, Takht-Ravanchi said it was "too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations."

One of Iran’s main demands is that talks focus on the nuclear issue. "Our understanding is that they have come to the conclusion that if you want to have a deal you have to focus on the nuclear issue," Takht-Ravanchi said.

Takht-Ravanchi also said the "issue of zero enrichment is not an issue anymore and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore."

TRUMP SAYS IRAN 'SERIOUSLY TALKING TO US' AS MILITARY SHIPS HEAD TO MIDDLE EAST

Trump has since threatened further military action if a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program cannot be reached.

The U.S. has also reinforced its military presence in the region amid heightened tensions and after spiraling protests across the country in December left thousands reportedly dead at the hands of the clerical regime.

The Trump administration is weighing involvement in the case of a protester who was fined for burning a Quran outside the Turkish Consulate in London, as U.K. prosecutors look to reinstate his overturned conviction, according to reports.

Officials are said to be discussing granting 51-year-old Hamit Coskun refugee status if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wins its appeal, with a senior U.S. administration official telling The Telegraph the case is one of several "the administration has made note of."

Coskun, of Armenian-Kurdish descent, had initially sought asylum in the U.K. from Turkey, where he says Islamic extremists "destroyed" his family’s life and where he was jailed for protesting Islamist governance.

DAN GAINOR: ENGLAND DOESN’T HAVE FREE SPEECH AND WANTS TO TAKE OURS AWAY, TOO

On Feb. 13, 2025, he traveled to the Turkish Consulate in London and set fire to a copy of the Quran while shouting slogans including "Islam is [the] religion of terrorism" and "f--- Islam."

There he was attacked by Moussa Kadri, a passerby who chased him with a knife, kicked him and spat on him.

Kadri later received a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of assault and having a bladed article in a public place.

Initially charged with harassing the "religious institution of Islam," Coskun’s case drew intervention from the National Secular Society and the Free Speech Union, who argued prosecutors were effectively reviving blasphemy laws already abolished in 2008.

MARCO RUBIO VOICES CONCERN THAT AMERICANS MAY SOMEDAY BE ARRESTED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WHEN VISITING EUROPE

Coskun was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offense and fined in June 2025.

That October, Coskun’s conviction was overturned when a judge ruled that while burning a Quran was "desperately upsetting and offensive" to many Muslims, the right to free expression "must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb."

The CPS is now seeking to reverse that decision at London's High Court, with Coskun telling The Telegraph that if the appeal goes against him, he may be forced "to flee" the country.

IRISH COMEDIAN SAYS UK PM STARMER HIDES FROM CULTURE WARS AS 'ORDINARY PEOPLE' FIGHT DAILY BATTLES

"For me, as the victim of Islamic terrorism, I cannot remain silent. I may be forced to flee the UK and move to the USA, where President Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism," he told the outlet.

"If I have to do so, then, to me, the UK will have effectively fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it wishes to impose on the non-Muslim world," he added.

President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration have already criticized the U.K. and European governments over increased restrictions on expression.

In 2025, Trump slammed the U.K.'s laws around online speech, saying "strange things are happening" there and that it was "not a good thing."

At the Munich Security Conference in 2025, Vice President JD Vance also said, "In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of State for comment.

Two skiers were killed and another injured Sunday when an off-trail avalanche tore through a popular freeride route on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif near the French-Swiss border, officials said.

Three skiers were swept up in the Sunday morning slide along the Couloir Vesses, a well-known off-piste route in Courmayeur’s upper Val Veny, according to Italy’s Alpine Rescue, The Associated Press reported.

Search and rescue operations involved 15 rescuers, three canine units and two helicopters. One victim was transported to a hospital in serious condition but later died, the agency said.

Authorities said another person was partially buried in an avalanche in Trentino but was pulled to safety by companions.

LINDSEY VONN TRAINS WITH KNEE BRACE AFTER COMPLETELY RUPTURING ACL ONE WEEK BEFORE OLYMPIC RETURN

The deadly slide comes amid a particularly dangerous stretch in the Italian Alps. Italy’s Alpine Rescue said last week that 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains in the week ending Feb. 8 – a record toll – with 10 of those deaths caused by avalanches linked to an unusually unstable snowpack.

Officials said recent storms have dumped fresh snow onto fragile underlying layers, while strong winds have created unstable drifts, producing hazardous conditions across the Alpine arc bordering France, Switzerland and Austria.

The main issue is caused by "persistent weak layers in the snowy cloak, often covered by fresh snow or wind, conditions that make detachments unpredictable and easily triggered even by the passing of a single skier or alpinist," the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps said. "The dangerous points are many and difficult to identify, even for an expert."

LINDSEY VONN CRASHES IN WINTER OLYMPICS ALPINE SKI WOMEN'S DOWNHILL EVENT

Federico Catania, a spokesperson for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps, said recent snowstorms have drawn visitors eager to take advantage of fresh slopes, "and as a result, the number of accidents, and therefore fatalities, has increased proportionally," The AP reported.

Courmayeur, a town of roughly 2,900 residents, sits about 200 kilometers – or 124 miles – northwest of Milan, a host city for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The incidents occurred as the Winter Olympics were kicking off in the region on Feb. 6.

AMERICAN SKIERS RESCUED AFTER GETTING LOST NEAR OLYMPIC VENUE IN THE ITALIAN ALPS

Authorities stressed that competition sites – located in Lombardy near the Swiss border, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Veneto and Val di Fiemme in Trentino – remain safe, well-maintained and closely monitored.

"There is no danger for people skiing within managed ski resorts, and, in particular, no risks to the Olympic sites," Catania said previously. "All of these areas are constantly monitored and are generally safe regardless of Olympic events."

Prior to the start of the Winter Olympics, Vigili del Fuoco said crews would maintain safety measures for all visitors to the sites.

Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukraine’s former energy minister was detained Sunday after authorities removed him from a train at the border as he allegedly attempted to flee the country, a source has confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Herman Halushchenko's arrest, the source said, followed requests from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and marked an uptick in an anti-corruption probe engulfing the political spectrum.

"Halushchenko tried to escape Ukraine," the source said under the condition of anonymity.

"The border guards had a request from NABU and SAPO about him and also to get information in case he tried to cross the border," they added.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION STAYS SILENT AS MASSIVE UKRAINE CORRUPTION SCANDAL ROCKS ZELENSKYY'S INNER CIRCLE

"This essentially means that because he tried to cross, the president has lost some control here."

NABU released a statement on the matter Sunday but did not name Halushchenko, according to the Kyiv Post.  

He had served as the country’s energy minister under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but resigned in November.

"Today, while crossing the state border, NABU detectives have detained the former Minister of Energy as part of the ‘Midas’ case," the agency said in a statement, referring to a corruption scandal in the country’s energy sector.

"Initial investigative proceedings are ongoing, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the law and court sanctions. Details to follow," NABU added.

‘GOLDEN TOILET’ SCANDAL: ZELENSKYY FACES DEEPEST CRISIS YET AS ALLIES ACCUSED IN $100M WARTIME SCHEME

Operation Midas centers on allegations of a $100 million embezzlement scheme within Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company.

Investigators say funds meant for critical energy infrastructure, including wartime grid repairs after Russian attacks, were siphoned off through contract kickbacks.

Halushchenko was one of several ministers who resigned in 2025 as NABU uncovered what it described as the massive money-laundering scheme orchestrated by Tymur Mindich, also an ally of Zelenskyy.

The controversy has also affected border operations. Border head Serhiy Deineko was dismissed in January, the Kyiv Independent reported.

On Jan. 4, Valerii Vavryniuk, the agency’s first deputy, was appointed acting head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS), according to to Pravda.

"The last border head had also been accused of corruption," the source said. "There is a new acting head of the border service who is not loyal to Zelenskyy but more so to the institutions."

FORMER UKRAINIAN PM ACCUSED OF BRIBING POLITICIANS WITH US DOLLARS TO WEAKEN ZELENSKYY'S GOVERNMENT

The source also said since Halushchenko was considered an "unofficial but direct subordinate" of Zelenskyy, this latest arrest will prove difficult for Ukraine's leader.

"Halushchenko had been [an] (unofficial but direct) subordinate to Zelenskyy, so if his corruption is proven then it will be hard to convince people the president knew nothing," they said.

"With the corruption probes, Zelenskyy loses control and this infuriates him," the source added.

The developments come as Zelenskyy continues to navigate Ukraine’s war with Russia.

TOP UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS IN ZELENSKYY GOVERNMENT SUBMIT RESIGNATIONS AMID $100 MILLION CORRUPTION SCANDAL

The source described high emotion inside the Ukraine parliament with Zelenskyy's "stress rising" in the wake of Herman Halushchenko's arrest.

"Recently Zelenskyy became angry over initiatives in parliament that were not pushed through, and he shouted and threatened parliamentarians," the source said.

"This week he appeared quite emotionally uncontrollable and almost aggressive behind the camera, so some parliamentarians have seen his stress rise many times recently – and more than pre-war levels," they said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy's office for comment.