European capital rocked by violent protests as government corruption probe fuels unrest

Thousands of anti-government protesters violently faced off against riot police outside government buildings in Albania’s capital, Tirana, earlier this week, as people called for the resignation of the government following a massive corruption scandal.

The main Albanian opposition party called for people to take to the streets and demand the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku after she was indicted by a special prosecutor who alleged she had been improperly influenced in her decision to favor one company in a tender for the construction of a 3.7-mile tunnel in southern Albania.

Albania’s Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime suspended Balluku from the government in November, but Prime Minister Edi Rama took the issue to the country’s Constitutional Court, which reinstated Balluku in December.

STATE DEPARTMENT STAYS QUIET AS ALBANIA REINSTATES DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION

Balluku denied the allegations, calling the accusations against her amounted to "mudslinging, insinuations, half-truths and lies." Rama has refused to dismiss her.

The corruption allegations touched off widespread outrage, sparking protests in recent months. 

"The wave of popular protests in Albania reflects a growing societal backlash against what critics describe as the increasingly autocratic rule of Prime Minister Edi Rama," Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, told Fox News Digital.

"Over more than a decade in power, Rama is accused of centralizing authority and personalizing state institutions, while his government has faced persistent allegations of cooperation with organized crime and the misuse of public funds and public assets for the benefit of politically connected clients," Nesho claimed.

The shady circumstances surrounding Rama’s most important ally and the lack of accountability reinforces the sentiment that is pervasive in Albanian society that their government is rife with corruption. With both the incumbent government and opposition figures accused of corruption, public confidence in institutions and the justice system has steadily been eroded.

ITALY ROCKED BY ANARCHIST-LED RIOTS AS OVER 100 POLICE INJURED, MELONI CONDEMNS VIOLENCE

Albania has a long legacy of government corruption and ranks 91st out of 182 countries in Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The protests on Tuesday turned violent when supporters of Berisha’s opposition Democratic Party threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at government offices in Tirana. Security forces responded with water cannons and tear gas.

Berisha claims the protests have been peaceful, and people are only voicing their opposition to Rama’s increasing autocratic rule and his attacks of the justice system.

At least 16 protesters were treated for injuries and 13 protesters were arrested, according to The Associated Press. 

Observers of the region believe Berisha, who was prime minister from 2005 to 2013 and faced his own corruption charges, is angling to topple the socialist prime minister and main political rival, Rama, and return to power.

The turmoil in Albania comes as the country has long sought European Union membership, which began in 2014 when it became an official candidate for accession. While the 2025 annual European Commission report stated that Albania made significant strides in judicial reforms and combating organized crime, the latest allegations against Rami’s government will complicate its path to EU membership.

The United States helped implement Albania’s judicial reform process, including the creation of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK). The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) invested millions to foster democratic progress in Albania and assisted in combating Albania’s struggles with corruption and strengthening its weak institutions.

Nesho warned the U.S. and European Union need to get serious with policy in the Western Balkans and help move Albania closer to European integration.

"If Washington and Brussels continue to look the other way — failing to enforce the rule of law, restore real checks and balances, and cut the regime’s ties to organized crime and drug trafficking — Albania risks drifting into the orbit of Eastern-style autocracy," Nesho said.

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Netanyahu urges court to revoke Palestinians' Israeli citizenship after convictions for violent crimes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asked a court to revoke the Israeli citizenship of two Palestinian men convicted of terrorism offenses.

The effort appears to be the first use of a law enacted three years ago allowing the revocation of citizenship and subsequent deportation of Palestinian citizens who were convicted of certain violent crimes such as terrorism and received financial support from the Palestinian Authority as a reward.

Netanyahu filed court documents arguing that the severity of the crimes, along with payments the men reportedly received from a Palestinian Authority fund, justify pulling their citizenship and expelling them from the Jewish State.

The prime minister has long claimed the fund rewards violence, including attacks on civilians.

TRUMP SAYS HE WOULD ‘ABSOLUTELY’ REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FROM NATURALIZED CRIMINALS — IF HE HAS THE AUTHORITY

But Palestinian officials have contended that it is a safety net for the broad cross‑section of society with family members in Israeli detention. They also accused Netanyahu of focusing on the relatively small number of beneficiaries who carried out the attacks.

When the law passed, critics argued that it allowed Israel's legal system to treat Jewish and Palestinian people differently. Civil rights groups said that basing a deportation law on Palestinian Authority payments effectively excluded Jewish Israelis, including settlers convicted of attacks against Palestinians, from the threat of losing their citizenship, as the statute targeted people of a certain race.

Netanyahu said this week that the government launched proceedings against the two men and that similar cases would be brought in the future.

TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF 'MIDNIGHT HAMMER' OPERATION

Israeli officials said Mohamad Ahmad, a citizen from Jerusalem, was convicted of "offenses that constitute an act of terrorism and receiving funds in connection with terrorism." He allegedly received payment after he was sentenced in 2002 for a shooting attack and served 23 years before his release in 2024.

Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsi was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years behind bars for stabbing elderly women. He also allegedly received payments while in prison.

Ahmad would be deported immediately, while al-Halsi would be removed upon his release, as individuals are subject to removal to Gaza once their sentences are complete under the 2023 law, which applies to citizens or permanent residents convicted of "committing an act that constitutes a breach of loyalty to the State of Israel," including terrorism.

The general director of Israel's Adalah legal center, Hassan Jabareen, called the move to use the law "a cynical propaganda move" by Netanyahu. He said stripping citizenship violated the most basic principles of the rule of law, including by acting against people who have completed prison sentences.

"The Israeli government is attempting to strip individuals of the very foundation through which all rights are protected, their nationality," he said on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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USS Ford ordered to the Middle East, the second aircraft carrier being sent to the region

The USS Gerald R. Ford has been ordered to move from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump weighs whether to take military action against Iran amid tensions in the region, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.

This will put two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.

The USS Ford, which set out on deployment in June 2025, was sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last fall as the administration established a significant military presence ahead of the operation to strike Venezuela and capture its president, Nicolás Maduro.

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

On Thursday, Trump warned Iran that failure to reach a deal with the U.S. regarding its nuclear program would be "very traumatic" after the two countries held indirect talks in Oman last week.

"It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly," he told reporters.

Trump held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he insisted to the Israeli leader that negotiations with Iran must continue.

TRUMP SAYS IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER KHAMENEI SHOULD BE 'VERY WORRIED' AMID TENSIONS

Netanyahu is calling on the Trump administration to push Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and end its support for terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as part of any deal.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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European nation votes to cap population at 10M in major immigration crackdown referendum

Switzerland is set to vote this summer on a proposal aimed at capping the country’s population at 10 million, the latest effort by the nation’s leading right-wing party to restrict immigration.

The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which holds the most seats in parliament, announced the referendum on Wednesday after gathering enough support through petition signatures.  

The measure, which will be put on the national ballot on June 14, comes just as the population neared 9.1 million, according to the Federal Statistics Office.

The anti-immigration campaign was proposed as officials noted that foreign-born residents now make up about 27 percent of the population.

DUBLIN PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE, BURN VEHICLE AFTER MIGRANT ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING IRISH GIRL

The SVP, which has long sought to curb rising migration, said that more than 1 million immigrants from the European Union (EU) came to Switzerland in 2024.

The party called the situation "uncontrolled immigration," saying that "the majority of the Swiss population suffers" from increased demand on environmental resources and infrastructure.

"Our small country is bursting at the seams," the party said. "Nature is being paved over. There are ever more traffic jams on the roads, overburdened public transport, overburdened schools, housing shortage and rising rents, massively increasing crime and exploding costs for Swiss taxpayers."

STARMER’S DIGITAL ID WORK REQUIREMENT SPARKS UPROAR FROM UK'S LEFT AND RIGHT

If the measure is enshrined into law, both Swiss citizens and foreign residents must not exceed a total population of 10 million before 2050.

If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government may take steps to curb growth by introducing measures on asylum and family reunification, noting that many immigrants — primarily Muslim men from North Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan — enter through asylum applications.

GREENLAND'S PRIME MINISTER SAYS 'WE CHOOSE DENMARK' OVER THE US 

Major Swiss political parties outside the SVP, including centrist, left-leaning and liberal groups, have reportedly rejected the initiative.

Critics cautioned that the passing of such measure could strain Switzerland’s relations with its European neighbors, as most foreign-born residents hail from other EU countries.

In response, the SVP said lawmakers "could not have made it clearer that they don't care about the concerns of the population, which is increasingly suffering from uncontrolled immigration."

They also stressed that they do not intend to terminate the "free movement of persons agreement with the EU," which allows European citizens to move and work freely across borders, and said such cancellation would remain a last resort if the Federal Council fails to limit immigration.

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US forces complete withdrawal from strategic al-Tanf Garrison in Syria

The U.S. military has completed its withdrawal of American forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday.

The departure, finalized Feb. 11, was carried out as part of a broader shift in U.S. posture in the region under Operation Inherent Resolve, the coalition mission launched in 2014 to combat ISIS.

American troops have maintained a limited presence in the country to support partner forces and prevent the terrorist group from resurging after it was territorially defeated in 2019.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said government forces took control of the al-Tanf base following the U.S. withdrawal and have begun deploying along the country’s borders with Iraq and Jordan, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the country’s state-run news outlet.

US MILITARY LAUNCHES AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIS TARGETS IN SYRIA, OFFICIALS SAY

The ministry said the handover was coordinated with U.S. officials and that Syrian Arab Army units moved in to secure the base and surrounding areas in the tri-border desert region.

The development follows a Pentagon decision in April 2025 to scale back and consolidate U.S. forces in Syria. 

Caroline Rose, director of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios at the New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital that al-Tanf was one of the most strategically important U.S. garrisons in Syria, if not the broader Middle East, as it offered access, insight and intelligence collection along Syria's borders with Jordan and Iraq.

AFTER TRUMP DECLARED ISIS DEFEATED, US FACES NEW TEST AS DETAINEES MOVE AMID SYRIA POWER SHIFT

"This was not only pivotal during the U.S.-led Coalition to defeat the Islamic State, where there was a threat of cross-border offensives and violence, but also proved key to U.S. deterrence efforts against Iran-backed militia networks that operated in Iraq and Syria," she said. "The U.S. pullout from Al-Tanf is a signal that Washington is now comfortable with where the counter-ISIS fight is and the defeat of Iran-aligned proxy networks in the region, along with Syrian security integration efforts with the [Syrian Democratic Forces]."

Rose added that the departure could be viewed as a setback for Jordan, which has long depended on the U.S. position at al-Tanf to deter adversarial actors in the region.

Despite the withdrawal, U.S. forces remain prepared to counter ISIS threats, CENTCOM said, noting that in the past two months, American forces have struck more than 100 targets in the region and captured or killed more than four dozen ISIS fighters.

The change in posture comes just weeks after U.S. forces transferred 150 ISIS fighters from a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq. 

FROM SYRIA TO SOMALIA, US TROOPS REMAIN DEPLOYED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON UNDER MISSIONS THAT NEVER FORMALLY ENDED

Officials indicated in late January that thousands more detainees could also be moved as part of the broader effort to maintain long-term security in the region.

Syria became the 90th member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, a U.S.-led alliance formed to coordinate international efforts against the extremist group, in November.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said Damascus — under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa — is prepared to assume security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps, following the 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

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Trump admin warns Peru it could lose sovereignty as China tightens grip on nation

The United States is warning Peru that China’s growing control over a major Pacific port could threaten the country’s sovereignty, escalating tensions over Beijing’s expanding footprint in Latin America.

The concern centers on the $1.3 billion deep-water port in Chancay, north of Lima, which has become a flashpoint between Washington and Beijing after a Peruvian court ruling limited government regulatory oversight of the project.

The State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on social media that it was "concerned about latest reports that Peru could be powerless to oversee Chancay, one of its largest ports, which is under the jurisdiction of predatory Chinese owners," adding: "We support Peru’s sovereign right to oversee critical infrastructure in its own territory. Let this be a cautionary tale for the region and the world: cheap Chinese money costs sovereignty."

CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION WARNS CHINA'S PACIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS COULD POSE A MILITARY THREAT

China's foreign ministry rejected the comments as "rumor-mongering and smearing" and insisted the project remains under Peruvian authority, according to The Associated Press report.

Asia analyst Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital: "Chancay is so central that analysts say it will redirect trade across the South Pacific. We know Beijing considers ports to be dual-use and strategic. China, held up the BlackRock deal to acquire the CK Hutchinson port operations in the Panama Canal Zone even though the ports are nowhere near China itself."

"In times of war, China will not allow its port operations to load, unload, or service American ships or ships coming from or going to U.S. ports," he warned.

Jack Burnham, senior analyst in the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the port reflects a broader strategic push by Beijing in the region.

SOUTH AMERICAN LEADER DEFIES TRUMP'S ‘DONROE DOCTRINE’ IN BOLD CHINA PIVOT TOWARD XI

"The Chancay port is a keystone in China’s investment in Latin America — its size and proximity provide a bridge across the Pacific and access to another market to fuel Beijing’s export-driven economic engine," Burnham said.

"China’s investment in Peru is predicated on Beijing grasping the sinews of Lima’s critical infrastructure to gain influence. With effective control over the port cemented for now by a lower Peruvian court ruling, China gains access to one of the largest critical infrastructure projects in the region, a position from which it could exercise significant control."

The dispute comes as Washington and Beijing compete for influence across Latin America, where China has expanded investment through infrastructure projects and trade, analysts say.

China’s state-owned shipping giant Cosco, which holds a majority stake in the project, dismissed U.S. concerns and said the court ruling "in no way involves aspects of sovereignty," adding that Peruvian authorities still oversee security, environmental compliance and customs, according to The Associated Press.

Peru’s transport infrastructure regulator, Ositran, has said it plans to appeal the ruling, arguing the port should not be exempt from the same oversight applied to other major facilities.

China's Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not provide a comment in time for publication.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Russia to suspend flights to Cuba as Trump sanctions cut fuel supply

Russia will temporarily suspend flights to Cuba after airlines reported difficulties refueling aircraft on the island, aviation authorities said Wednesday.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia said in a statement posted on Telegram that the airlines Rossiya, part of the Aeroflot Group, and Nordwind were forced to adjust their flight programs due to problems securing fuel in Cuba.

In the coming days, Rossiya will operate several outbound-only flights from Havana and Varadero to Moscow to return Russian tourists home before halting service.

After those repatriation flights are completed, the airline’s Cuba program will be suspended until the situation improves, the agency said, calling the decision one made "in the interests of passengers."

US MILITARY SEIZES ANOTHER FUGITIVE OIL TANKER LINKED TO VENEZUELA

The Transport Ministry and Rosaviatsia said they are maintaining close contact with Cuban aviation authorities and are exploring alternative options to restore two-way service.

The announcement comes two weeks after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over Cuba and authorized new measures aimed at choking off the island’s oil supplies.

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In a Jan. 29 executive order, Trump said Cuba poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and empowered his administration to impose tariffs on goods from any country that "directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba."

The order, which took effect Jan. 30, allows additional duties on imports from countries found to be supplying oil to Havana, part of what Trump described as a "zero tolerance" policy toward the Cuban government.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s website shows a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, an official alert issued to pilots about hazards or operational disruptions, was posted Feb. 10 for nine Cuban airports warning that Jet A-1 fuel is not available.

The advisory covers Havana (MUHA), Varadero (MUVR), Cienfuegos (MUCF), Santa Clara (MUSC), Camagüey (MUCM), Cayo Coco (MUCC), Holguín (MUHG), Santiago de Cuba (MUCU) and Manzanillo (MUMZ), and remains in effect through March 11.

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