Archbishop of Canterbury withdraws award from Muslim cleric after past Osama bin Laden praise surfaces

The Archbishop of Canterbury's office has withdrawn an interfaith award given to a Muslim cleric after past comments surfaced in which he praised Osama bin Laden.

Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation at Lambeth Palace last Friday, during a ceremony that coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Lambeth Palace announced the reversal Thursday after previous comments by Ashrafi had "come to light," causing it to reconsider the award.

"It is a longstanding principle of interfaith dialogue and co-operation that we must engage with one another across deeply-held differences, and that remains the case," Lambeth Palace said in a statement.

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"However, previous comments made by Imam Ashrafi have come to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn," the statement continued. "We have contacted Imam Ashrafi to make him aware of this decision."

Lambeth Palace added that it continues "to pray for the Christian community in Pakistan, and for all those working for interfaith dialogue and harmony in Pakistan and around the world."

According to Lambeth Palace, the award was given to Ashrafi because of his "longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community."

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According to the BBC, Ashrafi said in 2007 that bin Laden — the architect of the 9/11 attacks — had "been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British."

The BBC also reported that Ashrafi said he would give bin Laden the title "Saifullah," meaning "Sword of God."

Ashrafi told the BBC that his remarks had been "totally taken out of context" and described the backlash against him as an "unfair campaign."

He said he made the remarks about bin Laden in 2007 in response to "the hurt felt by many Muslims" over the British government's decision to knight "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie.

During the award presentation last week, the Archbishop's office said Ashrafi was being honored for "his outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan, known for his commitment to promoting religious tolerance."

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Finnish foreign ministry official details how Russia's 'hybrid warfare' reshaped border security

Russian tactics designed to disrupt European nations forced neighboring Finland to fundamentally rethink its border security, culminating in the recent completion of a new border fence along its eastern frontier.

Finland constructed roughly 124 miles of fencing along its border with Russia — a secondary security measure intended to stem the flow of unauthorized Russian migrants, Petri Hakkarainen, political director for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital.

"We have in the past witnessed Russia's attempts… to instrumentalize migrants at the Finnish border," Hakkarainen said. "Basically pushing migrants towards our borders, forcing us then to take them on."

A sudden influx forces the Finnish government to process large volumes of asylum claims, which could destabilize society if carried out on a massive scale, he explained. 

In response, Finland closed its entire land border with Russia in 2023. Moscow swiftly filed a formal complaint, condemning the closure as "Russophobic."

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The Kremlin expressed "deep regret" over the move, claiming it replaced decades of "pragmatic, mutually respectful relations" with an anti-Russian political stance.

Finland shares an 833-mile border with Russia — the longest of any European Union or NATO member state. The completed border fence supplements the border closures.

As Russia remains locked in a war of attrition in Ukraine, Western officials have accused Moscow of launching widespread destabilization campaigns, ranging from disinformation to state-sponsored economic coercion intended to erode public trust across Europe.

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"We think it's important to listen to those of us who live next door to Russia," Hakkarainen said. "Listen to our analysis of the situation: we consider Russia to be a long-term threat to transatlantic security — not only to Ukraine, not only to Europeans, but to transatlantic security as a whole."

Finland launched the border fence initiative after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a landmark conflict that prompted the historically neutral Nordic nation to join NATO in April 2023.

Moscow has long viewed NATO’s eastward expansion as a direct security threat, using it to justify reinforcing its western defenses. 

When Finland officially joined the alliance, Helsinki saw an immediate reaction: over 1,300 migrants without visa arrived at its eastern border.

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Finland accused Moscow of weaponizing migration as an act of "hybrid warfare," a charge the Kremlin denied.

Closing the border checkpoints has proven "very effective," Hakkarainen noted. Beyond physical barriers, Finnish lawmakers passed the Border Security Act. 

The temporary law allows border authorities to restrict asylum applications and turn back migrants if a foreign actor attempts to destabilize the country by funneling people across the border.

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While the law sparked some initial debate over potential human rights and international law violations, Hakkarainen emphasized that national defense took priority.

"We take these concerns very seriously," he said. "But national security and our own sovereignty... weighed more heavily in this conversation, though there is broad majority support for the act."

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"We take our security and preparedness very seriously," Hakkarainen added. 

"I would say not despite that, but because of that, we are able to lead very normal lives here — regardless of the neighbor we have."

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Saudi Arabia facing 'biggest threat' ever to oil production as Iran-proxy Houthis launch attacks, expert says

Saudi Arabia is currently facing "the biggest threat" ever to its production of oil as the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are launching cross-border attacks and seizing territory near the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an expert told Fox News Digital.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Thursday that the situation is escalating in the Middle East as Iran "likely instigated the Houthis to force a blockade on Saudi Arabia."

"I think this situation is really precarious for the Saudis. This is the biggest threat to their production of oil since their kingdom was founded in 1932. And this is almost existential," he said.

"We see that the Saudis are trying to shop for some force to fight their war for them. And I think along the lines, they also called President Trump. It doesn't look to me that Washington is going to get involved in this one," he added. "We'll probably offer them advice and tell support, but I don't think we, the United States, will get involved with this war over Bab el-Mandeb."

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Saudi Arabia was forced to temporarily close its East-West oil pipeline last week following a drone attack launched from Iraq, which Trump said he believes Iran was behind. Then on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia destroyed a Houthi drone that attempted to enter the airspace near Mecca, among other recent provocations.

"We know that the United States imposes a blockade on Iran, so Iran is unable to export any of its oil, licitly or illicitly. What the Iranians are trying to do is that they're trying to telegraph to the other oil exporters in the region that either we export, all of us export oil, or none of us will export oil," Abdul-Hussain told Fox News Digital. "This is why you see Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. This forced Saudi Arabia to switch its oil production from east to west, from Hormuz to the other side to the Red Sea. Tankers started picking up oil at the port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea and sailing south through the Bab al-Mandeb all the way to the Asian markets.

"Iran didn't like this because clearly all or none didn't work," he said. "So they likely instigated the Houthis to force a blockade on Saudi Arabia."

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Fox News Digital, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Trump to take military action against the Houthis.

Trump then said the next day during a visit to Ireland that "the Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us."

"They let us know, they don’t want to fight with us...they don’t want us to go after them," Trump added. "But they have called and they have talked to us, and they don’t want us to, they would much prefer not having us involved."

Abdul-Hussain told Fox News Digital that "Our expectation as Washington is that the Saudis, with all these arms that we've sold them over the past few decades, with all the military support and advice we give them, that they should be able to protect their own tankers and ships in this waterway and keep it open.

"The Houthis announced that they're only going after Saudi ships and Saudi navigation and they made it clear that they are not going after international shipping, whether [they] are U.S. ships or European ships," he continued. "So this forces a choice on us. Do we go to war with the Houthis out of nowhere, even though they're not willing to, or at least they didn't wage war on our ships and our navigations through Bab el-Mandeb?"

"Or we ask the Saudis to handle this, you know, after all the Houthis are not really a state, they're a non-state actor and Saudi Arabia should be able to deal with them," Abdul-Hussain added. "Unfortunately, the Saudis don't seem to have been able to deal with the Houthis."

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the U.S. remains focused on protecting core national security interests such as the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea while simultaneously empowering allies in the region to manage and resolve security challenges.

The Trump administration also remains in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Yemen over regional stability , the official added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

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Family member of lawyer who coined 'genocide' seeks to strip name from group accusing Israel of atrocity

A family member of Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who escaped Europe during World War II and coined the term "genocide," is in a fight to have his name removed from a Pennsylvania nonprofit organization that accuses Israel of the exact term he came up with.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security has "warned of genocide in Gaza since Oct. 13, 2023," less than a week after Hamas terror attacks killed about 1,200 and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages in 2023.

On Oct. 28, 2023, the institute issued a "statement of mourning for the Gazans and the world," saying that "these two major military powers [the U.S. and Israel] are committing genocide in Gaza only weeks after actively enabling genocide against another besieged people: the Armenians of Artsakh." It also warned that "if the world allows these two powers to continue to act with this level of impunity, genocide will become the normative policy of both dictatorships and the world’s so-called democracies alike."

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The man calling for the change is Joseph Lemkin — whose father was Raphael’s cousin — and the sole survivor after his family of six was killed during the Holocaust. Joseph told Fox News Digital that growing up the son of a Holocaust survivor meant being followed by "a black cloud" that colored his entire life.

In one example, he explained that when the families at his Jewish day school placed ads during an annual banquet to celebrate their successes, his father wrote a yearly commemoration of the memories of his more than 40 family members who died during the Holocaust, including his parents and brother killed at Auschwitz and two brothers who died after joining underground resistance groups.

He said his father raised funds for the impoverished Raphael’s funeral when he died in 1959, and worked until weeks before his death to fundraise for the betterment of his fellow Jewish Americans.

Joseph’s experience as the child of a Holocaust survivor came to mind again when his teenage son showed him a social media post from the Lemkin Institute using the family name to accuse Israel of genocide.

"Seeing the impact and how my son came across it made me really more concerned about it," Lemkin said.

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In an effort to keep the family name from being "turned on its head," he said he has worked with the European Jewish Association (EJA) to submit a letter of complaint to the office of Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and to Pennsylvania’s Department of State’s Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations. In June, Lemkin and his team also sent out letters referencing their concerns to other leaders in Pennsylvania.

In response to a request from Shapiro’s office for additional information, Lemkin and the EJA submitted a 32-page comprehensive legal submission and statement of facts and a 58-page evidentiary appendix in April 2025. He said that he believes that an investigation has been opened into the complaint.

Pennsylvania's Department of State spokesman, Geoff Morrow, told Fox News Digital "the Department [of State] cannot confirm or deny whether any organization has had a complaint filed against it or is under investigation."

Gov. Shapiro’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

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In an Oct. 13, 2025 press release responding to an op-ed, The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stated that "it is very hard to imagine that Raphael Lemkin would not have seen the genocidal dynamics of the present conflict early on, given his definition of the term and his historical studies. We share Raphael Lemkin’s belief in the need for a Jewish national home, but that has not meant that we are unable to see the genocide before our eyes."

The same press release also noted that "Joseph Lemkin does not speak for the entire Lemkin family, nor does he officially represent a Lemkin estate. We have Lemkin family members on our side who reached out to us after October 7, 2023. Peter Lemkin, in whose childhood home Raphael Lemkin was a frequent visitor, has been particularly supportive, offering encouragement, sharing insights into Lemkin’s work, and informing us of his family's close collaboration in the effort to get the Genocide Convention ratified by states."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the institute again questioned Joseph’s representation of Raphael, stating in part that "Over the years, members of the Lemkin family have reached out to express their support for our work. Joseph Lemkin has expressed his disagreement with our work. There is no legal battle between the Lemkin Institute and the Lemkin family."

Peter Lemkin did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Nor did another family member identified to Fox News Digital by the institute as being supportive of its work. 

The statement to Fox News Digital continued, "The Institute was founded in 2016/2017. In 2021, it was renamed to honor the life and work of Raphael Lemkin, whose research and moral commitments, reflected not only in the 1948 Genocide Convention but also in the many case studies he completed before his untimely death at age 59, have deeply influenced the work of the Institute's founders. Since Raphael Lemkin died without heirs or an estate, there was no official representative for the Lemkin family to contact for permission," it stated.

The statement also noted that "The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is an all-volunteer organization founded to fill the gaps in genocide prevention that co-founders Dr. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey and Dr. Irene Massimino observed during several visits to Northern Iraq in 2016 and 2017, when they met with religious leaders, government officials, and survivors of ISIS genocide, including Yezidi, Christians, Shabak-Shia, Kakay and other religious, national, and ethnic minorities.

It continued, "This includes, of course, security for the Jewish people, who continue to be the targets of one of the oldest and most lethal global genocidal ideologies — antisemitism. This also includes Palestinians, Darfuris, Armenians, Artsakhsis, Rohingya, Ukrainians, Uighurs, Amhara, trans people, Yezidis, many Christian populations, many Muslim populations, Somalilanders, Kurds, the Karakalpak, many Black and Native communities in the Western Hemisphere, and far too many other groups to mention here. Our world is unfortunately awash in genocide and it benefits all humanity for all of us to be involved in preventing the crime."

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The institute utilized the October 2025 press release to start a fundraising campaign "to cover urgent legal fees, hire a full-time administrator, and ensure the survival of the Lemkin Institute." They stated that "the attempt to discredit us or to shut down our work is part of a wider effort to silence opposition to Israel’s genocide in the USA. But we will not allow our work to be smeared, or our voices to be silenced."

Israeli civil rights attorney and president of the Shurat HaDin Law Center, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who is not party to the dispute, told Fox News Digital that "the real question is not simply ‘standing,’ but whether the Institute has a lawful right to use Raphael Lemkin’s name in a manner that implies his endorsement, his family’s authorization, or fidelity to his beliefs. The Institute apparently never received permission from Lemkin, his estate, or an authorized representative when it appropriated the name. While using a deceased scholar’s name is not automatically unlawful, it becomes legally actionable when it misleads donors and the public, creates a false impression of endorsement, constitutes deceptive charitable solicitation, or appropriates the reputation and goodwill attached to that individual’s identity."

Commenting recently on the growing threat of antisemitism worldwide after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, renowned historian Sir Simon Schama called accusations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza a "blood libel" in his keynote address at the Holocaust Educational Trust on Sept. 7. Schama stated that "We, the victims of the greatest genocide the world has ever seen, are being called perpetrators of genocide."

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has published multiple reports on the Israel-Gaza war which allege genocide by Israel. On May 28, 2024, they wrote that "even if there were legitimate doubts about Israel’s genocide, there is no doubt that Israel is committing atrocity crimes of the most barbaric kind. Israel must be stopped." 

The Institute also said it is "disgusted by Western leaders, especially in the USA, Germany, and the U.K. They have demonstrated not only that they don’t care one bit about genocide prevention and human rights, but also that they are willing to allow an ally to commit atrocity crimes while they offer material and diplomatic support." The Lemkin Institute suggested that "they should also be put on trial."

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Plane passengers scream in harrowing mid-flight video as violent shaking sends cabin ceiling panels flying

Video captured an Iranian flight descending into chaos Tuesday as sudden, violent shaking appeared to tear apart the plane's cabin, causing overhead compartments and ceiling panels to collapse onto passengers.

The incident happened during a Sepehran Airlines Boeing 737 flight over Iran that departed from Mashhad for Kermanshah, according to Jam Press.

According to the outlet, the aircraft may have suffered engine damage and a tire blowout during takeoff.

During the chaos, the plane's cabin appeared to disintegrate, causing ceiling panels and debris from damaged bins to fall and strike travelers. Passengers were heard screaming and praying as they held their hands up against the falling debris.

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The pilot reportedly declared an emergency landing and sought to return to Mashhad Hashemi Nejad International Airport in Iran.

The aircraft landed safely, Jam Press said, citing NeedToKnow. No injuries were reported among the 127 passengers and crew members.

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The incident caused the temporary closure of one of the airport's two runways.

An investigation into the incident is underway, reports said.

Passengers were reportedly placed on another flight to complete their journey.

According to Jam Press, decades of international sanctions have left Iran's aviation industry struggling to access newer Western-built aircraft, genuine spare parts and other modern upgrades.

Local carriers have been forced to rely on aging aircraft while completing complex maintenance on their fleets.

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US-backed Israel-Morocco deal deepens Abraham Accords amid growing regional threats

NEW YORK — Israel and Morocco agreed Wednesday to upgrade their diplomatic missions to full embassies and exchange ambassadors, nearly six years after Morocco joined the U.S.-brokered normalization drive that reshaped Israel’s relations with parts of the Arab world.

The agreement came during a trilateral meeting in New York between U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, one day after officials marked the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords.

The original accords were signed by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Sept. 15, 2020. Morocco followed through with a separate U.S.-Morocco-Israel Joint Declaration signed in Rabat on Dec. 22, 2020, restoring official contacts and committing the countries to move toward full diplomatic relations, direct flights and expanded economic cooperation.

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Wednesday's agreement advances several of those commitments. Israel and Morocco agreed to establish full embassies and exchange ambassadors, reinstate direct flights by both Israeli and Moroccan airlines before the end of 2026 and finalize agreements on investment protection and avoidance of double taxation.

The countries also pledged to expand cooperation in trade, finance, technology, tourism, water, agriculture, food security, energy, telecommunications and regional security, according to a Sept. 16 joint statement.

The statement also reaffirmed U.S. and Israeli recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and support for Morocco's autonomy proposal as the basis for resolving the territorial dispute.

But the discussion quickly widened beyond Morocco to whether the normalization framework could eventually include Saudi Arabia.

Asked by Fox News Digital whether Saudi Arabia could be the next country to join the Abraham Accords — amid reports of growing Israeli-Saudi security cooperation against the Iran-backed Houthis — Waltz focused on the regional threat posed by the Houthis and their attacks on international shipping.

"The scourge of terrorism from them is unacceptable to the entire region," Waltz said. "They continue to act as a proxy of the Iranian regime."

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"You cannot attempt to punish the rest of the world to achieve a political end," he added. "The oceans, trade, and international waterways must remain open."

The comments come as the Houthis have made major gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Reuters reported Sept. 16 that the offensive has exposed new vulnerabilities for Saudi Arabia and strengthened Iran's regional leverage.

The 18-mile-wide Bab el-Mandeb links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries roughly 7% of global oil output. Houthi attacks beginning in 2023 forced major shipping companies to reroute vessels around Africa, increasing costs and transit times.

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Sa’ar said the threats at Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz demonstrated why countries with shared interests should cooperate.

"What’s happening in Bab al-Mandab, like what's happened in Strait of Hormuz, demonstrates the significance of all nations that want to respect freedom of navigation, world trade, and cooperate against this kind of modern piracy," Sa’ar said.

He declined to elaborate on any operational cooperation involving Saudi Arabia but made clear Israel wants the normalization framework expanded.

"It is clear that we would like this camp to be widened," Sa’ar told Fox News Digital.

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Bourita, meanwhile, said that Morocco's experience demonstrates that relations with Israel can also give Arab governments practical tools to help Palestinians.

"We can help the Palestinians, humanitarianly, because we have these relations with Israel," Bourita said.

During the Gaza war, Morocco used its ties with Israel to secure a land route for 40 tons of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza in March 2024. "Is it better to continue in the rhetorics, political positions, while sitting in our cities, our capitals, or take initiatives?" Bourita asked.

"We don't agree with Israel 100%. Each one may have its policy," he said, arguing that Morocco uses the "Abraham Accords spirit" to "promote peace" and "promote stability in the region."

Bourita also pointed to Morocco's participation in Gaza stabilization efforts.

"I think it needs courage to contribute to peace," he said, "and it's easier to keep on making statements and engaging in rhetorics."

Waltz echoed that argument, praising Morocco's humanitarian work and its role in postwar Gaza efforts.

"It is far more than just signing agreements or coming to ceremonies," Waltz said. "The Moroccan government, the Moroccan people are leaning in, in very meaningful ways for a more peaceful future."

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Trump brings new heat to controversial UN agency as alleged Hamas ties engulf scores of employees

President Donald Trump recently amplified a report about a U.S. government investigation that referred more than 100 current or former UNRWA employees over alleged ties to Hamas — as a new watchdog report accuses the U.N. agency of overstating how much it has reformed.

The scrutiny, which included Trump sharing the report on Truth Social in August, comes as Geneva-based UN Watch released a report Monday challenging UNRWA’s claim that it has completed 41 of the 50 reforms recommended by an independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

UN Watch says that when it compared UNRWA’s claims with what Colonna actually recommended, at most 13 of the 50 reforms had been completed as prescribed. The group argues that UNRWA repeatedly counted drafting policies, launching pilot programs or creating plans as completed reforms even when full implementation had not occurred.

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"UNRWA is grading its own homework — and giving itself credit for reforms that exist mainly on paper," UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital. "A policy is not a reform if it is ignored, unenforced or blocked by staff unions dominated by Hamas."

Among the examples cited in the report is staff vetting. UNRWA lists a "Commercial Vetting Pilot & Costed Plan" as completed, along with other screening measures. UN Watch argues that a pilot and implementation plan do not amount to a fully operational outside vetting system.

The report also challenges UNRWA’s education reforms. UNRWA lists systematic textbook reviews and randomized classroom inspections among completed steps, while a policy prohibiting problematic educational content is still described as "in progress."

Colonna herself said when presenting her review in April 2024 that some educational content remained problematic, citing "glorification of jihad," incitement to violence and maps that did not show Israel, while calling for a zero-tolerance approach.

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Pressed by Fox News Digital at Tuesday’s U.N. briefing over who independently verifies whether the reforms are actually working on the ground, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric defended the process.

"It is not just checking boxes for the sake of checking boxes," Dujarric said, "It’s about the implementation of those things."

Dujarric said UNRWA regularly reports to the General Assembly, holds integrity meetings open to member states and gives governments opportunities to scrutinize what the agency is doing.

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Asked specifically about staff screening, he said UNRWA relies in part on countries where it operates.

"We rely on the member states also, where we operate, who have the capacity to check people to do so," Dujarric said, adding that UNRWA shares staff lists with Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian authorities. "If there are concerns, they need to be shared directly with UNRWA. When they are, they take action."

The Colonna review was commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2024 after allegations that UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Guterres accepted all 50 recommendations in April 2024 and agreed with UNRWA leadership to establish an action plan to implement them.

Neuer rejected the idea that the disagreement is merely about terminology.

"This is not a semantic disagreement over the meaning of ‘completed,’" he said. "UNRWA says the job is done, yet teachers tied to terrorist organizations remain in classrooms, Hamas-dominated unions obstruct discipline, and children continue to be exposed to incitement. Those are real-world consequences, not technicalities."

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