Roughly 80 Americans still unaccounted for after Himalayan disaster kills 903, officials say

Roughly 80 Americans remain unaccounted for following the catastrophic Himalayan flood last Wednesday that killed hundreds of people, the State Department said.

The update marks a decrease from a previous estimate of at least 90 Americans who went missing near the Nepal-China border.

"We can confirm that 13 American citizens have made their way to safety in Nepal," a State Department spokesperson told Fox News.

Meanwhile, Nepal’s death toll has risen to 903, while the number of people still unaccounted for has nearly doubled to roughly 4,200, according to an update from local officials Sunday.

TRAPPED NEPALI WORKERS PULLED FROM HYDROPOWER TUNNEL AFTER CATASTROPHIC FLOODING

According to officials, the disaster occurred in north-central Nepal when a distant slope failure involving a glacier triggered a rapidly moving debris flow that traveled roughly 62 miles downstream before striking a populated area. Footage from the disaster showed a massive surge of water and debris suddenly rushing through the valleys, engulfing buildings in its path.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided an update on the toll.

"So far, 903 bodies have been recovered from the areas and about 4200 people are still unaccounted for. Over 10,000 people have been rescued from the regions, including over 323 foreign nationals. As per the available data, about 590 foreign nationals are still missing, from 39 countries," the spokesperson said.

Twenty-two of the missing Americans were part of a pilgrimage affiliated with a Tennessee-based nonprofit group, Isha Foundation coordination leader Jyoti Jankowski told Fox News Saturday. They were inside an immigration building when the flooding struck the area, Jankowski said.

MORE THAN 3,000 MISSING AFTER COLOMBIA EARTHQUAKE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROVIDES $15.5 MILLION IN RELIEF

Authorities said Nepal is coordinating with neighboring countries and the international community to provide relief, with supplies already arriving from countries including India and China.

More supplies are expected to arrive from the U.S., United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, Qatar, the U.K., Australia, the Republic of Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other international organizations, officials said.

"Relief and humanitarian assistance are being provided in the affected areas. We are deeply grateful to our friends and partners for their solidarity, goodwill and generous offers of support at this difficult time," the spokesperson said.

DEATH TOLL FROM MUDSLIDES, FLOODING AT NEPAL-CHINA BORDER CLIMBS PAST 670; NEARLY 3,000 MISSING

The State Department said last Wednesday that it was "monitoring the situation and is deploying a disaster response advisor to the region to support response efforts."

"The Department will also provide $500,000 in assistance through its global award with Catholic Relief Services, supporting emergency shelter, relief items, and water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance to flood-affected communities," the department said.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigators remain uncertain whether the initial failure was a landslide incorporating part of a glacier or a glacial collapse, in which a portion of a glacier breaks off and rapidly moves downslope with surrounding debris.

The glacier-related event resulted in a magnitude 5.2 earthquake, according to the USGS. A second seismic event was recorded approximately three hours later, generating energy equivalent to a magnitude 4.2 earthquake.

"The glacial debris contained water and ice that rapidly melted, picking up more material and water as it flowed downslope in the existing stream and river channels, creating a fast-moving, far-traveled landslide and flood laden with boulders and other rubble," the agency said.

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Parkgoer airlifted after Batman roller coaster incident leaves man with fractures to both legs

Panic and confusion followed at a theme park in Spain Saturday after a ride on a Batman-themed roller coaster left a visitor with fractures to both legs, according to local reports.

The incident occurred on the Batman Gotham City Escape at Parque Warner Madrid, the the park said in a post on X.

The 49-year-old rider reportedly suffered an open fracture in his left leg and a closed fracture in his right leg, Europa Press reported, citing emergency officials.

WOMAN ALLEGEDLY EJECTED FROM ROLLER COASTER, SUFFERS SERIOUS INJURIES AFTER DRAGGED ALONG TRACK: REPORTS

According to the park, the ride opened in 2023 and was Spain’s first multi-launch roller coaster. The roller coaster features three launches that propel riders upward at high speeds and four inversions that leave riders briefly hanging upside down.

Park officials said the ride was stopped immediately and emergency procedures were promptly activated.

EIGHT RIDERS LEFT DANGLING ATOP 100-FOOT ROLLER COASTER FOR OVER THREE HOURS AT TEXAS AMUSEMENT PARK

"The affected person was attended to immediately by emergency medical services," Parque Warner said.

First responders then airlifted the visitor to a nearby hospital, Europa Press reported.

Another visitor, Juan José Molina, described panic among some parkgoers.

"There were people crying and having anxiety attacks," he said.

Parque Warner said the roller coaster will remain closed while management reviews the incident in coordination with authorities.

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Billions in US aid to Ukraine under microscope as corruption rocks Zelenskyy’s inner circle

Washington is relying on extensive safeguards and dozens of oversight agencies to scrutinize and protect billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Ukraine amid the country’s continuing struggle with corruption, a regional security expert said Sunday.

The oversight comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle faces renewed political pressure from widening investigations, with several senior officials and aides resigning, being dismissed or facing investigations since 2025.

Zelenskyy dismissed Iryna Mudra, a deputy head of the presidential office, on Aug. 19 as anti-corruption investigators pursued a money-laundering case involving another deputy head of the office.

Investigators have not named Mudra as a suspect, The Associated Press reported.

ZELENSKYY SAYS PUTIN 'LOST THE INITIATIVE' AS UKRAINE'S TECH INDUSTRY RESHAPES THE WAR

"Of course, in all of the former Soviet Union countries, there is significant corruption," former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Carrie Filipetti, now executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition, told Fox News Digital.

"A lot more work needs to be done. But we know, at least on the U.S. side, as we're providing support for their military, we have a lot of mechanisms," she said before explaining how dozens of agencies are working on oversight of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

The U.S. committed $67.8 billion in defense articles and services to Ukraine from February 2022 through March 2026 through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and Foreign Military Financing, congressional reports show.

That support is part of a broader U.S. response to the war.

About $195 billion has been appropriated for Operation Atlantic Resolve, including funds to replenish U.S. weapons stocks, support U.S. military operations in Europe and provide economic, development and humanitarian assistance, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

AS TRUMP'S NATO GAMBLE PAYS OFF, ENVOY NAMES ALLIES HE'S STILL WATCHING

"Over 24 federal agencies are involved in oversight," Filipetti said. "To make certain that there are no consequences to the U.S. taxpayer, to our equipment in terms of the corruption issue, U.S. contributions are very much protected."

In recent months, however, senior Ukrainian officials have resigned, been dismissed or faced scrutiny by the country’s independent anti-corruption bodies, including NABU.

Those developments include Andriy Yermak’s Nov. 28, 2025, resignation after investigators searched his premises and Mudra’s Aug. 19 dismissal during a money-laundering probe.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna was dismissed by Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. on Aug. 3, two days before a suspicion notice was served against her, according to the Kyiv Post.

He also fired Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on July 15 in a broader reshuffle over internal wartime disagreements which sparked protests across the nation.

ZELENSKYY PRESSURES US AND EUROPE FOR MORE 'AIR DEFENSE' ASSISTANCE AMID ONGOING WAR WITH RUSSIA

In interviews after he left government, Fedorov also complained about what he described as ingrained corruption and patronage networks, Reuters reported.

"We've seen that Zelenskyy is taking really seriously the criticisms of corruption, and every time there is an allegation, he moves very swiftly to remove those individuals from the government," Filipetti said.

"And the fact that there are these independent bodies is, I think, really important. They're listening to them. They're making sure that they're trying to root it out as much as humanly possible."

THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN WEAPONS SYSTEMS NATO IS EAGER TO HAVE

Zelenskyy has pushed back on suggestions that the investigations implicate him personally.

"The heads of anti-corruption agencies have zero questions for me," Zelenskyy said in remarks published Aug. 23 regarding the investigations. "They understand perfectly well that I am not involved in anything like that."

A February 2024 USAID inspector general review also found that the agency did not independently verify some Ukrainian health workers’ salary claims before reimbursement, though Filipetti said U.S. economic aid is now reimbursed only after verification.

"A lot of what the United States has been providing, we're making sure that everything is through a reimbursement mechanism," Filipetti said.

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

She said U.S. aid has not been tied to the money-laundering allegations and remains protected as Ukraine works to combat corruption.

The scrutiny also comes as Kyiv faces shortages of Patriot interceptors amid intensified Russian strikes and a need for air defense interceptors.

Zelenskyy said he wants to secure 300 additional interceptors for the coming winter, while Ukraine’s air force has requested 360.

"One of the most urgent needs that the Ukrainians have right now is interceptor missiles," Filipetti said. "This is why this idea of sending Patriot capabilities and allowing them to produce them on the ground in Ukraine has become so important to Zelenskyy."

RUSSIA’S GAS GAMBLE BACKFIRES AS TRUMP’S ENERGY VISION RESHAPES EUROPE

President Donald Trump has expressed reluctance to further deplete U.S. missile inventories, saying the United States also needs the weapons, while pressing European allies to shoulder more of Ukraine’s defense burden.

"We want missiles too," Trump said Aug. 6 when asked about Zelenskyy’s requests for long-range missiles and Patriot systems. "Biden gave him so much, Biden gave $300 billion worth of ammunition."

Filipetti also said Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts remain an important consideration for its NATO aspirations.

"I think every country has been really adamant that the Ukrainians move forward in their anti-corruption mechanisms," Filipetti said.

"Obviously, if Ukraine ever wants to be a formal member of NATO, that's something that they will need to prove and demonstrate."

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Ex-Pentagon official urges US to ‘squeeze’ UK on defense amid Falklands furor

A report that Washington could use the Falkland Islands to pressure Britain into meeting its NATO defense commitments drew a swift rebuttal Sunday from a former Pentagon official, who insisted the long-standing U.S. neutrality on the islands remains unchanged.

Morgan Murphy, a former press secretary in the War Department, told Fox News Digital that while Washington has not altered its position on Falklands sovereignty, he believes the Trump administration may apply heavy diplomatic leverage over London's military budget.

"You don’t take the security and skip the bill. That is free-riding," Murphy said, before adding: "Friends tell friends the check is due. Squeeze is accountability."

The Falklands' dispute escalated after reports emerged that U.K. Chancellor John Healey is expected to announce that the government will drop its target of spending 3% of gross domestic product on defense by 2030 when he delivers his first budget in October, according to The Financial Times.

TOP US ALLY'S DEFENSE CHIEF QUITS, WARNS MILITARY LACKS RESOURCES FOR RISING THREATS

The tension comes amid a six-month Pentagon review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe led by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby, according to Reuters.

As Washington pushes European allies and Canada to take greater responsibility for NATO’s conventional defense, the U.S. is expected to retain a supporting role, including its nuclear deterrent, according to The Associated Press.

"We can’t ‘withdraw support’ for sovereignty of the Falklands that was never there," Murphy said. "Policy experts know the difference between an unsourced whisper to a British paper that ‘nothing is being ruled out’ and an official word from the White House."

Murphy said the U.S. remains neutral on Falkland sovereignty and continues to recognize British administration of the islands.

HEGSETH ANNOUNCES 6-MONTH REVIEW OF AMERICAN FORCES IN EUROPE, BLASTS NATO ALLIES FOR PUTTING TROOPS 'AT RISK'

Addressing reports from April of an internal Pentagon email suggesting the U.S. could review its position on the islands, Murphy noted the lack of confirmation.

"I have not seen that email. The Pentagon did not confirm it. The official word that followed was the same U.S. position we have now: neutral on sovereignty, recognize British administration," Murphy said.

"I no longer work at the White House and can’t speak in any way for the administration, but I can say that the islanders voted 99.8% to stay British in 2013," he said of Falkland Islanders, who voted in a referendum that year to remain a British overseas territory.

Murphy emphasized that Washington, however, would maintain other diplomatic options without altering the status quo in the Falklands and said the U.S. is actively pressuring Britain on defense obligations.

Under current projections, U.K. defense spending would reach 2.7% of GDP by 2030, with the government expected to set a new timeline for reaching 3% on its path toward NATO’s core defense-spending target by 2035.

According to the 2025 Hague Summit Declaration, NATO allies agreed to spend 5% of GDP annually on defense and security-related expenditures by 2035, including at least 3.5% on core defense requirements, and to submit annual plans charting a credible path to meet NATO capability targets.

AS TRUMP'S NATO GAMBLE PAYS OFF, ENVOY NAMES ALLIES HE'S STILL WATCHING

"Last year in The Hague they signed up for 5% by 2035, which won headlines, but Britain still will not lock 3% by 2030," Murphy said. "I’ve watched this town treat a treaty like a suggestion. Friends don’t let allies cheat. So yes, squeeze London on the number."

He added: "This is the habit: put a number in a communiqué, then treat it as optional. They signed the pledge. They still slide."

Describing potential U.S. pressure on London as "leverage, not abandonment," Murphy said pushing Britain to increase defense spending would be "in the best national security interest of the U.S. and the U.K."

"After Wales in 2014, most of Europe missed the 2% guideline while the U.S. shouldered the load as usual," Murphy added. 

"The United States extends the nuclear umbrella, the intel, the industrial base, the special relationship … You squeeze a budget with tools that move a budget," he said of Washington’s process.

STARMER IN 'SEISMIC' CRISIS, UK DEFENSE CHIEF QUITS BEFORE HIGH-STAKES TRUMP NATO SUMMIT

"Public pressure from the president. Annual Hague reviews. A dated 3% by 2030, or a funded path to 3.5% core by 2035, before the next UK defense budget. The special relationship is a privilege, not a welfare program.

"Tariffs if the White House wants them," Murphy warned.

"The UK is playing a central role in NATO and strengthening collective defence across Europe," a U.K. government spokesperson said, according to Sky News. "We are NATO's third-largest cash spender on defence and the only European NATO member to commit our nuclear deterrent to the alliance."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon and 10 Downing Street for comment.

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USS George Washington captain says morale is high for new Mideast mission

FIRST ON FOX: Morale is said to be high as the aircraft carrier the USS George Washington has arrived in the Arabian Sea near the vital Strait of Hormuz and close to Iran. 

The carrier, CVN 73, has replaced the USS Abraham Lincoln. Fresh from a visit to Vietnam three weeks ago, the 5,000 sailors aboard this mobile airfield, base to approximately nine operational squadrons of advanced strike fighters, electronic attack planes and helicopter assets are, according to senior officers, ready and willing to carry out their new mission.

"Morale aboard USS George Washington remains high among our sailors," Capt. Nicholas DeLeo, the ship’s Commanding Officer, told Fox News Digital. He added "I see this as I walk the deck plates, seeing them take pride in their work — whether conducting flight operations, maintaining our systems or supporting one another on the ship. The dedication and teamwork I see across the ship is outstanding, and that spirit keeps us ready and resilient."

CENTCOM COMMANDER TOUTS USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN MENTAL HEALTH RECORD AFTER MORE THAN 260 DAYS WITHOUT PORT CALL

The George Washington, a Nimitz-class carrier, is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5, and is reported to be accompanied by several warships, including the guided missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) and the guided missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86).

Commander of Carrier Strike Group Five, Rear Adm. Jeff Heames, told Fox News Digital "The teams aboard USS George Washington and Carrier Strike Group Five are ready, determined, and resourced for sustained operations. Our Sailors understand the importance of the mission and continue to execute with precision and professionalism every day."

With the carrier group now operating in the Middle East, it falls under US Central Command (CENTCOM). The command’s former Commander, Gen. Joseph Votel, (Ret.), recently told Fox News’ America Reports about the George Washington’s expected mission, saying "Being able to continue to have credible military capability in the Middle East is really important, so the arrival of the George Washington is I think a good example of that."

Votel continued, "We’re going to have to be prepared, because this is probably going to take some time, to continue to bring forces into the region, we want them to be at a high level of readiness."

IRAN WAR THRUSTS DIEGO GARCIA INTO SPOTLIGHT AS OFFICIAL CALLS US MILITARY BASE ‘INTEGRAL’

Flight operations continue, both day and night. Launching into the skies off Iran from the George Washington, aircraft based on board are reported to be F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multirole strike fighters, F-35C Lightning II fifth-generation stealth multirole fighters, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning and control.

Also onboard are said to be MH-60S Seahawk & MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters for anti-submarine warfare and search-and-rescue.

This past week, a historic landing on the George Washington. Navy Lt. Steven Frazier, a pilot from Strike Fighter Squadron 147, the Argonauts, made the 200,000th trap - landing on the ship in an F-35C Lightning II fighter jet, with his stealth fighter caught by a thick, steel arresting gear cable with the jet’s tail hook.

In a laid-back understatement that could have come straight out of the movie ‘Top Gun’, Lt. Frazier said, "It's a good feeling for me to know that once I leave, I can come back to the aircraft carrier and trap". The carrier can land one aircraft on deck per minute, and typically lands 70 aircraft a day.

IRAN WAR FORCES AMERICA TO CONFRONT THE STRATEGIC COST OF DETERRING CHINA

Attention to mission is evident throughout the ship. On the bridge, Assistant Navigator Elizabeth Wayne told the ship’s communication team, "all of the time when we are navigating, we are focused outside of the ship on anything that could pose a hazard or a threat to the ship."

Wayne continued, "When we are in special evolution, when we are conducting flight operations, the most important thing is to ensure we are lock step with (the) airboss, the captain, the command duty officer underway, everybody needs to be on the same page to execute that safely."

As it arrived in the Middle East, Russia tried to suggest the food on the carrier was not good. Russia Today (RT) posted what are believed to be AI-generated photos of poor rations on board. However, from the videos seen by Fox News Digital of great food and even a café below decks, the truth appears to be very different. Victoria Marc, Culinary Specialist 2nd Class, talked to the communications team on the carrier, noting that "throughout the day and into the night, our sailors have all sorts of food and drink options available to them."

Marc added, "Sailors have the opportunity to eat three meals a day, plus the night rations. Our 150 cooks work 24 hours to prepare and serve 15,000 meals a day to ensure our sailors are well-fed. From the mess deck throughout the day, there’s always something there where people feel fueled and ready for the fight."

And the Navy intends keeping it this way. Earlier this week, CENTCOM published images of the George Washington being replenished at sea. Navy images show the ship being resupplied twice in four days this past week, an average of 2,000 pallets of supplies including fresh food and ammunition winched by helicopter from a nearby supply ship.

Fuel for the carrier’s aircraft is also transferred ship-to-ship. The carrier is nuclear-powered, so the ship itself will not need refueling at sea.

WHO CONTROLS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ RIGHT NOW? HERE'S WHAT THE SHIP TRAFFIC ACTUALLY SHOWS

More history this week – under the headline "Shoutout to our Shipbuilders!!", the ship’s communications team posted "40 years ago on August 25, 1986, the keel for USS George Washington was laid."

Today in the Arabian Sea, that keel supports the 5,000 men and women and their array of air firepower, as they stand at the coalface of the Middle East conflict, ready – and willing – to carry out their mission.

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Switzerland rave shooting kills 1, injures 5 as police hunt those responsible

A 22-year-old woman was killed and five other people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday at a rave in northern Switzerland, authorities said, as police launched a large-scale search for those responsible.

The shooting happened in the Schachen area of Aarau, the capital of Switzerland’s Aargau canton, where the "Aarau Rave VOL. 7" was being held at a horse-racing track, according to Swiss broadcaster SRF.

Aargau cantonal police said the woman died from her injuries at the scene. Four men and another woman, all between the ages of 24 and 27, were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

All six victims are residents of Switzerland, police said.

ONE DEAD, 6 INJURED AFTER GUNFIRE ERUPTS AT UNSANCTIONED CALIFORNIA PARTY THAT DREW HUNDREDS: SHERIFF

Police spokesman Pascal Wenzel told SRF that authorities were alerted to the shooting shortly after 2:30 a.m. The event had been scheduled to end at 2 a.m., according to SRF, which cited information from the organizers’ website.

Authorities said the perpetrator or perpetrators remained unidentified and that possible motives and the circumstances surrounding the shooting were still unclear.

A large area surrounding the horse-racing track, swimming pool and nearby sports field was cordoned off as police searched the area. Authorities also increased their presence elsewhere in Aarau as a precaution and urged members of the public to stay away.

ALL 12 VICTIMS STABLE AFTER SHOOTING NEAR FESTIVAL AS TOLEDO POLICE PURSUE MULTIPLE LEADS

The response included police officers, firefighters and several emergency medical services, according to SRF. The broadcaster reported that a cantonal disaster-response unit, the Argus police special unit and a Swiss military Super Puma helicopter were also involved.

Police in neighboring Germany were also assisting with the search as part of routine cross-border cooperation, a spokesman in Freiburg told the German news agency dpa, according to SRF.

Police appealed to witnesses to provide investigators with videos or photographs from the event and established an information line for relatives and eyewitnesses.

Swiss DJ Tekibo, who performed at the rave, later wrote on Instagram that what happened was "absolutely heartbreaking" and said raves should be places of freedom and safety. He also said he had lost an "important friend," though SRF reported that it was not clear whom he was referring to.

Police said their investigation and search operation remained ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Muslim jail gangs said to force conversions on prisoners in UK: 'Jihadist training camps’

Radical Muslim inmates are said to be forcing other prisoners — mostly white British men — to convert to Islam in some of the U.K.'s prisons, according to British media reports this week.

The problem of Muslim gangs in the nation's prisons has become progressively worse since Britain's Sky News first reported, in 2013, that "British inmates are being bullied into converting to Islam while in jail" while noting that "The Prison Officers Association says it is symptomatic of the growing power and influence of Muslim gangs in prison."

This week Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary of the opposition Conservative party, has urged the left-of-center Labour Government to root out forced conversions. Timothy posted on X on Tuesday that," Islamist gangs control many of our prisons. Conversion to Islam is the only way to stay safe from them. I obtained data showing 1 in 5 Muslim prisoners are white. That’s four times higher than in the general population. This cannot continue."

UK HOME OFFICE GUIDE TELLS ASYLUM SEEKERS NOT TO RAPE, HARASS WOMEN OR MAKE KISSING NOISES

He told the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph that "We know that experts have warned repeatedly about forced conversions taking place behind bars, driven by Islamic gangs," Timothy said, adding "We need to be honest that something is not right here – Labour must urgently investigate and stamp out forced conversions in prison."

A press release from the U.K. Ministry of Justice stated that, "Most prisons show no evidence of gang-based extremism," while noting "We have also banned terrorist prisoners from holding positions of authority in corporate worship, e.g. leading the call to prayer, and clamped down on material found in prisons that could be used to spread harmful ideologies of justice."

According to Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, this growing trend is having a detrimental effect on the country's prison system. "It is an absolutely outrageous state of affairs in the British prison system. This also poses a very significant national security risk for the United Kingdom. The British government appears to have lost control over its prisons, which have become jihadist training camps," Gardiner, who advised Lady Thatcher, told Fox News Digital.

He added that "urgent actions needs to be taken" in response to "the level of forced Islamization in British jails."

UK ASYLUM SEEKERS COULD HAVE TO PAY GOVERNMENT $13K BEFORE APPLYING FOR SETTLEMENT

The number of incarcerated Muslims has its origins in a defective British immigration policy, said Gardiner. According to The Telegraph, "the number of Muslim prisoners in jails in England and Wales has also increased and accounts for nearly one in five (18%) of the prison population, despite making up 6.5% of the general population."

Gardiner told Fox News Digital that "It is very clear that large-scale Islamic migration into the United Kingdom is having a direct impact on crime and public safety in the United Kingdom. And the growing Islamization of Britain carries with it immense risks for British national security and crime. The inflow of Islamic migrants is a real threat to Britain’s future."

Jonathan Hall, the British government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, wrote in his 2022 report titled "Terrorism in Prisons" that he secured evidence that Islamist terrorists are behaving and acting as "self-styled emirs."

He added that the terrorists are "exerting a controlling and radicalising influence on the wider Muslim prison population (including through enforcers, whilst keeping their hands clean); recruitment (in particular of vulnerable or lonely prisoners, using guidance, sharing of food or material gifts), and conversion backed by implicit or actual violence; soliciting or accepting menial tasks (such as cell-cleaning) from lower status prisoners." 

A spokesperson from the ministry told Fox News Digital that, "We do not tolerate intimidation, gang activity or faith-based coercion of any kind in our prisons." The spokesperson added, "Prisons and staff act swiftly to clamp down on all threatening behavior from any groups or individuals."

According to the Justice spokesperson, "Forced religious conversions are not tolerated across the prison estate. In response to the report from the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall, HMPPS [His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service] carried out a review into the influence of faith-based gangs. Following the review, HMPPS has improved the ability to identify nascent extremist gang activity and disrupt it before it takes hold via advanced training and data collection."

FARAGE PUTS SEAT ON THE LINE OVER ‘ESTABLISHMENT HIT JOB’ — VOTERS SEND HIM RIGHT BACK

An independent review by Colin Bloom, a British government advisor, looking at how the government engages with faith, in part stated, that "Failure to identify as a Muslim meant that at best the new prisoner would be denied ‘protection’ from the dominant Muslim gang on that wing, or at worst the new prisoner would be subjected to violence and intimidation from that same gang. "

According to a Fox News Digital review of the 2023 Bloom report, the 159-page study noted that "The 2019 Ministry of Justice report on separating extremist prisoners noted the growing problem of religious extremism across the prison estate, including the "aggressive encouragement of conversions to Islam."

Bloom had previously told GB News that there are some very good (Muslim) chaplains and excellent practices in prison, but "there is also, I think fair to say, that a number of prisons there are very large and aggressive Islamist gangs… where evidence was given to me and my review where Koran's were put on the bed of incoming inmates with the very clear indication convert or get hurt, and it was a way of coercing people to say, you know if you want to be protected in prison then you have to convert and become part of our gang."

Bloom noted that "prisons are actually a much more religious place than the rest of society. More people have a faith if they're in prison than not. But even by the standards of the most amazing, you know revivals religious conversions, there is something going on in prisons because we are seeing the most incredible number of people converting, particularly to Islam, in a way that is defies logic. And I think one of the things that we need to ensure that prison chaplains and prison management have is that inquiring mind to say just what the heck is going on here. This doesn't seem right."

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Death toll from mudslides, flooding at Nepal-China border climbs past 670, nearly 3,000 missing

The death toll from the devastating floods and mudslides along the Nepal-China border has risen to at least 676 people, as rescue operations stall amid poor weather.

After Nepali authorities updated their figures Saturday, the combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 676 dead and nearly 3,000 people missing, according to The Associated Press. Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing, while Nepal’s disaster agency said the death toll had climbed to 669 with 2,426 people missing.

Experts believe Wednesday's mudslides and flash flooding across Nepal and China's Tibet region were caused by a large chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and falling into the Lhende Khola River. Rescue operations at the main disaster zone have been complicated by damaged roads and difficulty establishing communication, and look only to get more difficult, as intermittent rain is expected through the weekend.

"Search and rescue operations have been temporarily halted because it is raining, and the weather is foggy," Narendra Pariyar, a top official for Nepal's Rasuwa district, told Reuters.

MORE THAN 3,000 MISSING AFTER COLOMBIA EARTHQUAKE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROVIDES $15.5 MILLION IN RELIEF

While Nepalese authorities have stressed they don't need countries to send people to help with general search and rescue, they did request that China send tunnel experts as up to 100 people are still trapped in a mud-filled hydropower plant tunnel.

ARMY BLACK HAWKS AIRLIFT 200-PLUS STRANDED CAMPERS AS MISSOURI FLOODS TRIGGER MORE 350 RESCUES

"We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where we don't have enough expertise and technical know-how," Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Reuters.

China dispatched five such workers from Tibet by helicopter to assist, according to the country's state-affiliated Xinhua news agency.

COLOMBIA BUILDING COLLAPSES ON CAMERA AS EARTHQUAKE BRINGS DEATH, DESTRUCTION

Dramatic video showed the rescue of one such person as authorities from Nepal worked to drag the man out of the mud deluge.

Though impending rainstorms are likely to make rescue operations more difficult, officials say a previous threat from a lake that had formed on the border between Nepal and Tibet has substantially subsided.

MASSIVE GARBAGE HEAP COLLAPSES ONTO HOMES, KILLING AT LEAST 30 AS RESCUERS SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS

The lake had been overflowing into the Lhende Khola River, risking further flooding, but that risk had gone down by Saturday, according to Chinese officials.

Nepal's finance minister Swarnim Wagle estimated the country will need over $4 billion to rebuild after the disaster.

"This is just an estimate. Loss and damage is being assessed," he told Reuters.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trapped Nepali workers pulled from hydropower tunnel after catastrophic flooding

Stunning video shows rescue workers in Nepal dragging trapped citizens out of the mud in a hydropower plant tunnel after the devastating mudslide that has left over 1,000 people missing.

The video, released by Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Office on Friday, shows a series of rescue workers pulling trapped people through a tunnel that’s been saturated with mud.

In a post on Facebook, the Prime Minister’s Office said it had rescued 350 people from the tunnel but that efforts continue to evacuate more than 100 people still trapped. The post also added that workers had moved another 533 residents to safety from flooded areas.

The rescue operation is intended to save people after a disastrous mudslide struck the valley in the Rasuwa district in northern Nepal, also affecting neighboring Chinese province Tibet.

TERRIFYING VIDEO CAPTURES PEOPLE FLEEING INCOMING MUDSLIDE AT NEPAL-CHINA BORDER

At least 538 people have been confirmed dead in Nepal, according to the most recent estimate from the Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) and the Nepal Police.

MORE THAN 3,000 MISSING AFTER COLOMBIA EARTHQUAKE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROVIDES $15.5 MILLION IN RELIEF

People unaccounted for on the Nepal side now number up to 1,924, according to The Associated Press.

Chinese authorities also report that, on the Chinese side of the border in Tibet, which was also affected by the deluge and ensuing mudslide, five people were confirmed dead with another 558 missing.

AMERICAN HIKER VANISHES ON TROPICAL TREK AS FLASH FLOODS, MUDSLIDES TURN JUNGLE GETAWAY INTO DESPERATE SEARCH

Of the many missing people are approximately 90 Americans, according to the U.S. State Department.

President Donald Trump commented on the disaster Thursday, telling reporters, "That was a brutal... that was mud and water. It’s a mixture that nobody’s ever seen anything quite like that, where very powerful, strong, well-built buildings were wiped out like they were toothpicks."

A 7.8 MAGNITUDE QUAKE IN THE PHILIPPINES KILLS AT LEAST 32, COLLAPSES BUILDINGS AND SPARKS TSUNAMI

The uniquely devastating natural disaster was likely caused by a giant ice rock that crashed into the Lhende Khola River after an earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

"On Wednesday morning (local time), 26 August 2026, a catastrophic debris flow and flood was likely triggered by a glacial collapse in Langtang National Park, Nepal, near the border with China," the USGS said in a post on its website.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES $150M IN AID, DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIPS AFTER DEADLY VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES

"This debris flow and flooding travelled nearly 100 km and impacted populated areas downstream along the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi Rivers, including Gyirong Port, China. Preliminary media reports and imagery analysis indicate many buildings and infrastructure have likely been buried or destroyed, including a vital highway connecting China and Nepal," the post added.

Fox News Digital contacted the Nepalese Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department for further comment.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Norway's King Harald dies peacefully at 89, son Crown Prince Haakon to succeed him

Norway's King Harald died Friday at 89, the Royal House of Norway announced.

"It is with deep grief that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away," the royal palace said in a statement.

"King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet Friday 28 August at 6:35 AM," the statement continued.

NORWAY RAISES SECURITY CONCERNS OVER MANHATTAN-SIZED ARCTIC LAND SALE AS TENSIONS RISE

Harald, who was Europe's oldest living monarch, was hospitalized with a blood infection on Aug. 17.

He had previously received a pacemaker after falling ill during a vacation in Malaysia in 2024. 

Harald announced he would be drawing down his number of public appearances that same year.

The monarch had served as Norway's head of state since 1991. He was Norway's first royal heir to be born in the country in more than 500 years. In 1905, after Norway gained its independence from Sweden, Harald's grandfather, King Haakon VII, became the first king of an independent Norwegian state since 1387.

Harald was viewed as a reformer and advocated for his fellow European royals to continue a trend towards openness with the public. 

"If you've opened the gate it's very difficult to close it again," he told Reuters. "I'm not sure I'd want to close it. So far so good, as far as I'm concerned." 

When the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, Harald's mother fled with him, first to neutral Sweden, then to the United States, where they briefly lived in the White House after then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered the pair safe haven. 

Harald, his mother and his sisters soon moved to Bethesda, Maryland and would often meet with Roosevelt, who Harald said was like a grandfather to him. 

Harald's son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53, will succeed him and take the name King Haakon VIII.

Haakon and his wife, who will become Queen Mette-Marit, have been embroiled in scandal since it was revealed she exchanged emails with and had multiple meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

CROWN PRINCESS METTE-MARIT OF NORWAY SAYS SHE REGRETS HER TIES TO JEFFREY EPSTEIN

Mette-Marit said she regrets her ties to the deceased billionaire and claimed she had no knowledge of his sordid past while communicating with him. 

Additionally, Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Høiby, who she had from a previous marriage, was convicted of several charges of rape and domestic violence in June. He was sentenced to four years in prison, and both he and prosecutors are appealing the sentence. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Russia threatens strikes on UK military targets, ‘catastrophic consequences’ over Ukraine

Russia warned Thursday that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine if Kyiv uses long-range British cruise missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory, according to reports.

This came a day after Moscow accused Ukraine of striking a shopping center in Russian-controlled Donetsk with British Storm Shadow missiles, wounding civilians, including children.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Britain was "one step away" from becoming legally complicit in what she described as civilian-targeted "terrorism," warning that failure to change course would bring "catastrophic consequences," Reuters reported.

US ALLY ON PUTIN’S DOORSTEP BRACES FOR WAR AS RUSSIA TENSIONS TAKE OMINOUS TURN

"We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons," Zakharova said at a news briefing in Moscow.

She urged British leaders to "immediately, in the most resolute and unequivocal manner, abandon the hostile, aggressive line" to prevent the conflict from escalating to an "entirely new level."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Ukraine Aug. 24 for Independence Day, when he announced that a defense contractor could release classified information about British components used in the long-range SCALP cruise missile as Ukraine and France seek to establish assembly lines in Ukraine, according to the U.K. government.

PUTIN 'PANICKED' AS DEFIANT UKRAINE MARKS INDEPENDENCE DAY UNDER RUSSIAN BOMBARDMENT

The SCALP missile, the French version of Britain's Storm Shadow, can strike targets more than 155 miles away.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the U.K. was "participating in the war" and "pouring fuel on the fire."

A spokesperson for Britain's Ministry of Defense told Reuters London stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Ukraine and was committed to providing the equipment that Kyiv needed "to defend itself against (President Vladimir) Putin's illegal invasion."

"Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression in Ukraine and against the U.K. and our allies," the spokesperson said.

UK'S BURNHAM NAMES TRUMP CRITIC ED MILIBAND FOREIGN SECRETARY; EX-THATCHER AIDE BRANDS PICK 'DISASTROUS'

During his Kyiv visit, Burnham also hit back at Moscow, condemning Russia's "outrageous threats" and asserting that Britain's support for Ukraine would not waver.

Russia also warned Britain Aug. 17 that it would pay a "price" after The Times reported Aug. 15 that British-made drones supplied to Ukraine were used to strike military and industrial targets inside Russia for the very first time.

Britain's Ministry of Defense did not confirm whether British drones had been used in the strikes.

Zakharova made the remarks as President Donald Trump downplayed concerns about a broader war, telling Axios in a phone interview Thursday he was not concerned Russia would attack a NATO member.

US MILITARY PLANE LANDS IN MOSCOW, WITH KREMLIN CLAIMING IT HAS NO INFORMATION: REPORT

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR, confirmed Thursday that he met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Moscow earlier this week, Reuters reported.

Naryshkin characterized the meeting as routine, saying they discussed issues within the scope of their intelligence services, according to Reuters.

Trump similarly described Ratcliffe's trip as "semi-routine," according to Axios.

Fox News Digital has reached out to 10 Downing Street for comment.

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Ratko Mladić, 'Butcher of Bosnia' convicted of genocide, dies at 84

Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb warlord general who oversaw wartime atrocities as he led forces that carried out the worst massacre in Europe since World War II, has died. He was 84.

Mladić, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," died at a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, U.N. court officials said.

He had been in custody since 2011 after years on the run for war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. 

In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison.

EX-PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT DUTERTE TO FACE TRIAL ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CHARGES

Mladić was one of the most notorious figures in the conflict that left more than 100,000 people dead and displaced more than a million others.

Under his command, Bosnian Serb troops took control of large swaths of Bosnia and Herzegovina and laid siege to the capital of Sarajevo and other cities. His forces detained non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers in concentration camps and systematically slaughtered prisoners.

Despite the charges levied against him, Mladić never showed remorse. In court, he yelled at the judges when he was sentenced.

"He was murdered there, in those dungeons," Janko Seslija, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, told The Associated Press. "I feel sorry for Gen. Mladić. He was an honorable man, honorable soldier and commander."

A former Communist-era military officer, Mladić sided with the Serbs as Yugoslavia broke apart and disintegrated into war. He led a Serb insurgency in Croatia before taking over the Bosnian Serb army, according to The AP.

Among the horrors Mladić was charged with was the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, which was supposed to be a safe zone guarded by Dutch peacekeepers.

Mladić seized the town and assured the Muslim children that everything would be fine. Hours later, his troops began days of rape, torture and mass killings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Experts zero in on likely cause of deadly Nepal mudslide, with more than 1,300 missing

The catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet that have killed at least 273 people were triggered by a massive glacier collapse and debris flow that registered as a magnitude 5.2 landslide, according to the U.S. Geological Service (USGS).

The USGS originally pinpointed the cause of the mudslides as a 4.4 magnitude earthquake but later updated its analysis after observing data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery. That data suggested that no earthquake had occurred.

Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development told The Associated Press that Wednesday’s flash floods were likely triggered by a glacial avalanche.

"Hydrological observations indicate the exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave," they said in a statement, adding that at one point, the water levels on the Trishuli River rose by as much as 27 feet in just a half hour.

TERRIFYING VIDEO CAPTURES PEOPLE FLEEING INCOMING MUDSLIDE AT NEPAL-CHINA BORDER

Rescue teams are now searching for the more than 1,300 people who went missing during the floods along the Nepal-China border. Many of them were foreigners and pilgrims.

Nepal Police on Thursday began posting lists of Nepali and foreign nationals missing. Several dozen Americans were listed.

Dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 25 miles of roads were damaged, hampering search and rescue efforts, according to Nepalese officials.

The Nepalese army rescued more than 100 people from flood-hit areas by helicopter Thursday morning, according to army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, told the AP that they have shifted focus to large-scale relief operations. He said that around 1,200 people were displaced from at least three villages.

BABY PULLED FROM VEHICLE TRAPPED IN RAGING FLOODWATERS IN DRAMATIC RESCUE CAUGHT ON VIDEO

Videos of the disaster showed raging floodwaters sweeping away cars, engulfing people trying to flee and destroying homes and bridges.

Debris was left tangled in tree branches and power lines, vehicles were buried and mud-covered survivors emerged as flooding cut off travel in some areas.

The village of Soley in Nuwakot, which has about 25 homes, was almost entirely destroyed, according to Kathmandu-based journalist Nirajan Paudyal, whose parents and other relatives live there. Desperate for news, he traveled to the area Thursday to check on his family.

"There is no update till now. I fear there won’t be any update," Paudyal told the AP.

The disaster in Nepal and Tibet underscores a broader threat, as increasingly unstable Himalayan ice poses risks to communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.

The region experienced similar flash flooding in August 2025, when high temperatures caused a glacial lake in Tibet to overflow. The resulting floods killed nine people and damaged critical infrastructure, including a bridge linking Nepal and China.

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US counters China as Beijing’s ‘shock wave’ hits African economies

A top State Department official has hit out at China for what analysts are calling ‘the China shock wave’ effect now crippling African economies.

African manufacturing is reportedly being battered by a surge of Chinese imports. It’s a triple whammy — China takes raw materials, including critical minerals, from the continent and floods Africa with state-subsidized products. And Beijing isn’t importing anywhere near an equal amount of African products.

The China Global South Project reported that in 2025, Chinese exports to Africa hit $225 billion in value, whereas imports from Africa were roughly only half that — $123 billion.

PUTIN USING AFRICA AS ‘PURSE’ FOR UKRAINE WAR WHILE US FACES ‘INTELLIGENCE BLACK HOLE’: COMMANDER

Now the Trump administration aims to change this imbalance — and create opportunities for American businesses.

"China continues to flood Africa with exports," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia, told Fox News Digital. He added, "No country is immune to the negative impacts of China’s unfair trade practices and state-subsidized overcapacity. China’s economic engagement with African countries has often led to unsustainable debt, economic coercion and an oversupply of Chinese imports threatening to displace and preventing the development of local industries."

He continued, "The U.S. government aims to offer credible alternatives that leverage public and private financing in priority areas that make America safer, stronger and more prosperous. The United States is committed to maintaining the strong, open investment environment that benefits our economy and our people, while enhancing our ability to protect our nation from new and evolving threats that can accompany foreign investment."

Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital China is the number one trading partner for many African countries, but warned" that doesn’t mean that African countries are moving up the value chain. On the contrary, some African countries are increasingly tied into a cycle of mineral and other natural resource exports to China, only to be on the receiving end of finished goods, also from China."

WHITE HOUSE EXPOSES ‘TRANSSHIPMENT SCAM’ COSTING US UP TO $26B, POINTS FINGER AT CHINA

Dezenski added, "Africa wants to manufacture. Chinese exports are getting in the way. Key exports from China are substituting for specific products that could be manufactured in Africa. As China is increasingly shut out of U.S. and European markets through high tariff regimes, Africa is feeling the effects, while China still claims it's supporting emerging economies."

China has lent the money to build new roads, bridges and other infrastructure in Mozambique. But in this, the fifth-poorest country in the world where jobs are in short supply, Beijing insisted that Chinese companies should do the construction. Mozambicans in some cases stood by, while workers brought 7,000 miles from Beijing to dig up the streets became a feature in this African country.

Beijing has now targeted Africa in another way. Between 17% and 40% of all car sales in South Africa are for vehicles from China. The goal appears not to stop at imports. The Chinese government-owned carmaker Chery has recently bought South Africa’s Nissan plant, and will make Chinese models such as Jetour near Johannesburg.

But China has won over many South African consumers. "China is delivering better vehicles and better prices to South African consumers — and this is pushing Western-oriented firms out of the market," analyst Frans Cronje told Fox News Digital.

Cronje, President of the Washington-based Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, added, "the South African and broader sub-Saharan business communities have always shown a Western lean or bias, in large part a consequence of the region's colonial past. But China's industrial influence is changing, and as the South African vehicle industry shows, that change can be rapid and occur with the support of consumers. Privately many Western firms say they don’t know if they can remain competitive." 

The U.S. is making its own waves in Africa though. The administration’s Bureau of African Affairs has reported it has worked on 37 commercial transactions that have closed since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term — representing $25.67 billion in total value, with more still being reported.

There’s a way to go. While American goods traded with Africa last year were valued at $83.4 billion by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Beijing’s General Administration of Customs claimed bilateral trade between China and Africa reached $348 billion for the same period.

The will to succeed, though, is clear. Assistant Secretary Garcia added, "The United States is committed to reshaping the global critical minerals and rare earths market to make it more diverse, secure and reliable. We will work with African partners to address risks from non-market actors and ensure supply chain security. We are using diplomatic and economic tools to promote fair and transparent markets that work for everyone."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington D.C. for comment.

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Hundreds of volunteers pull 360-tonne historic Japanese castle back into place by hand

Japan enlisted the help of hundreds of volunteers to move a portion of a 360-tonne castle more than six feet back into position, inch by inch, following renovations to the structure.

About 1,800 people gathered over the weekend to pull large ropes attached to the Hirosaki Castle keep in Aomori Prefecture, The Independent reported.

The keep — which is a fortified tower within a castle — was moved so repairs could be completed on a wall damaged during a major earthquake. The wall has since been rebuilt, with all 2,185 stones returned to their original positions.

JAPAN MALL REBUILT AFTER DEADLY 2016 EARTHQUAKE DESTROYED IN MAJOR TEMBLOR WEEKS AFTER 'FRESH START' REOPENING

Rotating teams used an ancient technique known as hikiya, in which buildings are placed on rollers or rails and moved intact. The technique is used to preserve historic Japanese buildings that might otherwise be damaged or destroyed.

"We had about 8,000 applications for the 1,800 slots over the last two days, roughly four times oversubscribed, so not everyone could participate," Kensuke Hayasaka, head of the parks and green spaces division in Hirosaki City, told The Guardian.

"Not only from the city, but from across Japan and overseas; a fair number from Southeast Asia, Europe and North America."

MASSIVE 7.7-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS OFF JAPANESE COAST

Pulling the castle keep by hand will continue through the end of August, with about 4,100 people scheduled to move it a total of more than 16 feet, The Guardian reported.

The Hirosaki Castle keep was originally a five-story tower, but it was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1627, the newspaper reported, citing the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The current three-story structure was rebuilt in 1811. Many Japanese castles were dismantled after the end of the Samurai era in 1868 or were destroyed during World War II.

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Terrifying video captures people fleeing incoming mudslide at Nepal-China border

A video taken after flash flooding on the border between Nepal and China shows mudslides enveloping multiple buildings as people fled in Gyirong, Tibet near China's border with Nepal.

The mudslides followed a 4.4-magnitude earthquake which occurred just seven minutes before video captured people sprinting away from the disaster, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).

Nepal's foreign minister Shishir Khanal also suggested that earthquakes could be the cause in remarks to the country's parliament, according to Reuters.

COLOMBIA BUILDING COLLAPSES ON CAMERA AS EARTHQUAKE BRINGS DEATH, DESTRUCTION

Authorities believe the earthquake caused an ice-rock avalanche which flowed into the Lhende Khola River in Nepal, according to Reuters.

At least 95 people have been confirmed dead as rescue authorities in Nepal have recovered at least that many bodies.

Nepal's tourism authority said at least 484 tourists have also been reported missing, at least three of whom are U.S. citizens.

Reports claim as many as several dozen more Americans are missing. No official count of Americans has yet been released by the U.S. government.

The U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the situation closely and communicating with authorities in Nepal.

"The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans," a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"The State Department is aware of Americans impacted by the floods in Nepal and is closely tracking the situation. The Embassy is working closely with local tour agencies and local authorities to assist Americans in the affected areas. We extend our deepest condolences for the victims and to the families of all those affected," the statement continued.

"We strongly encourage U.S. citizens in the affected areas to monitor local news, follow the emergency instructions provided by local authorities, and enroll in STEP.state.gov to receive important emergency information," the spokesperson added.

MORE THAN 3,000 MISSING AFTER COLOMBIA EARTHQUAKE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROVIDES $15.5 MILLION IN RELIEF

Sixty-five people are being treated at hospitals in and around Nepal's capital Kathmandu, according to local officials.

Authorities also warned that a second flood is possible as there is still a blockage lodged on the Lhende Khola River.

33 RESCUED FROM VENEZUELAN RUBBLE: SURVIVAL WINDOW DESPERATELY FADING WITH NEARLY 50,000 MISSING

China deployed 574 rescuers to Tibet's Gyirong land crossing, though one rescuer told CCTV that it would take hours to reach the deluged site, Reuters reported.

India's government and the European Union (EU) have publicly offered support to Nepal and China.

US MILITARY DEPLOYS MTVRS, AIRLIFTS AID TO VENEZUELA FOLLOWING DEADLY EARTHQUAKES

"Spoke to Prime Minister Balendra Shah and conveyed condolences on the loss of lives due to the floods in Nepal. The people of India stand in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Nepal at this difficult time. India is ready to provide all possible humanitarian assistance to Nepal. Our teams are coordinating closely on rescue and relief efforts," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a post on X.

Shah responded on X, calling Modi's gesture "a reflection of the enduring bonds of friendship between our two countries, which we profoundly value."

"Devastating floods have struck communities in Nepal and China. My thoughts are with all those affected, especially the families who have lost loved ones or are still waiting for news... Copernicus has been activated to help map the affected areas in Nepal and support the response on the ground. We stand ready to mobilise further European assistance," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also wrote on X, offering up the use of Copernicus, the EU's Earth monitoring satellite program.

Fox News Digital also contacted Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more information.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Watchdog demands apology after UN memorial erroneously honors Hamas terrorist

A solemn candle-lighting ceremony honoring United Nations employees who died in 2025 while working for the world body has sparked criticism after it unwittingly named an employee who was later revealed to be a Hamas commander.

At the annual memorial service in June honoring 136 employees who died in service to the U.N. in 2025, Secretary-General António Guterres, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, and then-Security Council President Leonor Zalabata Torres helped light a candle representing "an eternal flame." An official later read Imad Youssif El Samhouri’s name alongside those of other U.N. employees as a violinist played somber music.

El Samhouri was employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a teacher and associate principal before becoming principal of UNRWA Rafah Preparatory Boys School B. On Aug. 8, Hamas identified El Samhouri through messaging site Telegram as a field commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades.

UN CHIEF BACKS OFFICIAL WHO REPOSTED ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST'S CLAIMS AMID CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

During the event, Guterres said that "more U.N. colleagues have been killed in Gaza than in any other conflict or disaster in the history of the United Nations. Some died alongside their families, in their homes, in the places they sought refuge. Others were killed while carrying out their duties in offices, in shelters, and in communities they served. These tragedies weigh heavily on us all and should be remembered by the entire world. Let me be clear. U.N. personnel must never be targeted."

Guterres also said, "In keeping with long-standing practice, we have sought the consent of families to read aloud the names of those we honor. Tragically, in the case of men who served with UNRWA, we could not reach those families because they, too, have been killed or forced to flee."

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, has written an open letter to Guterres and Baerbock asking both to issue an apology for the incident and acknowledge that UNRWA is "unwilling or unable" to roust terrorists from its schools.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, told Fox News Digital during a press briefing last week, "[UNRWA] and we are always very deeply concerned when allegations against the former staff is raised. Obviously, when his name was included, the agency was not aware. I will remind you that the list of all UNRWA staff is shared with the Israeli parties as they are every year. His name was shared in the list of 2024. No concerns were raised based on that information from the Israeli side, and obviously, had those allegations been raised before, his name would likely not have been included."

When pressed further about whether Guterres would retract the honors or issue an apology, Dujarric seemed to put the blame on Israel, "We're now stating our position, which makes it clear. Had we known, and had we been told, his name would probably not have been included."

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told Fox News Digital, "It is outrageous to watch the U.N. spokesperson struggle to clearly condemn the crimes committed by former UNRWA employees. Israel repeatedly warned the U.N. that active Hamas terrorists were operating within UNRWA and played a significant role in the atrocities of Oct. 7. The U.N. spokesperson’s response reflects Secretary-General Guterres’ entire tenure: the organization has lost its moral compass. It is because of terrorists like Imad Youssif El Samhouri and others that Israel ended UNRWA’s operations in Israel."

Neuer has accumulated multiple social media posts that he says are attributed to El Samhouri, which demonstrate his support of so-called Palestinian martyrs, his praise for the kidnapping of Israeli teens, and his support for the "good news" of Hamas attacks between 2012 and 2014. 

El Samhouri’s case is one of about 200 cases that senior fellow at UN Watch Salo Aizenberg told Fox News Digital he has cataloged in which terror groups shared posthumous proof that journalists, NGO personnel, aid workers, lawyers and medical personnel were part of their organizations. Citing the Institute for Palestine Studies, which says El Samhouri was killed June 8, 2025, when Israeli forces targeted his tent with no warning, Aizenberg noted on X that El Samhouri was "using the cover of the humanitarian zone as a human shield" when he was targeted.

ISRAEL ACCUSES UN OF PLACING IT ON SAME SEXUAL VIOLENCE BLACKLIST AS HAMAS TERRORISTS, SEVERS TIES

In a martyr video viewed by Fox News Digital that the Israel Defense Forces provided, El Samhouri stands before multiple grenades and a weapon and states that "the call to arms has resounded in the hearts of the faithful and they have answered the call." He also says that "we have chosen jihad as our path; our anthem is that Death in the cause of Allah is our highest aspiration, and our resolve will not waver, no matter how long the road or how great the sacrifices." 

In the same video, while standing within what appears to be an underground tunnel, El Samhouri thanks God, "who has honored us with the tunnels and made them a means of resistance, a means by which the Zionist enemy never imagines we will emerge from beneath the ground."

Neuer told Fox News Digital, "Samhouri publicly glorified terrorism, circulated Hamas battlefield propaganda and brought Hamas officials into UNRWA school life. Photographs show his own principal, Muhammad Al-Bardawil, repeatedly appearing at school events with Jumaa Al-Ghoul, Hamas’ representative in Rafah." He said, "The evidence shows clearly that many officials in the UNRWA school system knew about Samhouri’s support for terrorism and ties to Hamas, and that they actually tolerated or even encouraged it."

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS MORE THAN $1B IN UN BUDGET CUTS AS REFORM PUSH GAINS MOMENTUM

El Samhouri is far from the first UNRWA employee exposed for support of Hamas. Neuer added that "in UN Watch's network map of more than 400 UNRWA employees, Hamas terrorists and their supporters have served as school principals, teachers and leaders of UNRWA’s powerful staff unions. Hamas influences UNRWA hiring and promotions, mobilizes strikes to protect extremists and intimidates international managers whenever even mild disciplinary action is attempted. Hamas pays some of its agents by getting them hired by UNRWA."

According to Neuer, "The deeper problem is that the international leadership of UNRWA and of the U.N. rarely act. This is hardly a vetting oversight — it's a system failure. UNRWA has demonstrated that it is either unwilling or unable to remove Hamas terrorists from its schools. UNRWA cannot be reformed; it must be dismantled if Gaza is ever to be deradicalized and given a real future for peace and success."

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR, UN OFFICIAL SHOUT OVER EACH OTHER IN TENSE EXCHANGE OVER SEXUAL VIOLENCE BLACKLIST

UNRWA did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about El Samhouri’s social media activities, or whether his employment with the agency was further proof of its infiltration by Hamas.

The USAID Office of Inspector General is currently investigating 1,500 UNRWA employees for possible ties to Hamas. Thus far, the USAID OIG has referred 108 UNRWA staff to the State Department, requesting they be suspended or barred from further cooperation with organizations that receive U.S. funding.

A senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that "USAID OIG’s independent and ongoing investigation is revealing the pervasive extent to which UNRWA has aided and abetted Hamas. The investigation demonstrates that UNRWA hired droves of Hamas-linked terrorists and turned over their infrastructure to the terrorist group."

The official stated, "This can never happen again, and other U.N. agencies would be wise to study the USAID OIG’s ongoing work to understand how to avoid a repeat."

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At least 14 newborns killed in Pakistan nursery hospital fire

At least 14 babies at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences died in a nursery fire Wednesday, while one infant was rescued, according to hospital officials.

The blaze at the major government hospital in the capital Islamabad broke out at about 6:45 a.m. after an air conditioning unit compressor exploded, hospital and rescue officials said. The fire was contained to the nursery in the hospital's gynecology ward and did not affect any other hospital wards.

"One baby was rescued by a doctor," hospital spokesperson Dr. Aneeza Jalil said, adding that six of the deceased infants' bodies had been given over to families, while the remaining bodies would be given over soon.

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Video showed grieving families distraught with sorrow as investigators examined blasted out windows and authorities worked to secure the scene.

"I don’t know what to say or whom to blame," a woman The Associated Press (AP) identified as Mrs. Mohammad Sami said.

"I have lost my child," she told the outlet, just three days after she reportedly gave birth.

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The incident prompted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to remove Health Secretary Aslam Ghauri, the country's highest civil servant, from office.

Sharif ordered an immediate investigation.

"A tragedy involving children is an irreparable loss," he said.

Shortly after the incident, Sharif convened a high-level meeting in which he expressed anger at officials for the incident and removed Ghauri.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari also weighed in, offering condolences to the families and saying the deaths amounted to a "heartbreaking and an irreparable loss."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Denmark's left-wing PM warns: 'Big enemy has started to grow from within' as Europe faces migrant reckoning

Denmark's left-wing prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has sent shock waves throughout the European left after recent comments about the Scandinavian nation's — and the continent's — failure to deal with radical Islam among migrant communities.

Her comments come after the mass migration chaos in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, when Frederiksen criticized the actions of Spain's leftist leader, Pedro Sánchez, during a special session on Ceuta in the Danish Parliament. 

Responding to a question from a far-left legislator on Denmark’s apparent lack of "solidarity" with Spain against "anti-democratic forces" pressuring Europe, Frederiksen said, "If we talk about undemocratic forces, then Russia is our biggest enemy. The problem is that a big enemy has started to grow from within, and it is foreigners who have come to Europe," according to an English translation.

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While not singling out Denmark's integrated immigrant population, she continued, "It is Hamas supporters. It is people who commit terror against European societies. It is people who do not recognize our fundamental European values. It is people who sympathize with some of the darkest forces in this world. So, Europe is threatened. The problem is that we are threatened both from outside and now from within, but it is not because of a disagreement between the Danish and Spanish governments, but because of people with an Islamic background who do not want the open, free European society, unfortunately."

Sweden-based foreign policy expert and author Daniel Schatz told Fox News Digital, "What is striking is not that a conservative politician is talking about illegal immigration, failed integration and Islamist extremism, it is that one of Europe’s leading center-left prime ministers is saying it in such blunt terms. That tells you how far the European immigration debate has shifted."

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Frederiksen came to power in Denmark’s 2019 elections on what Reuters called a "platform of radical reforms to reach climate targets, lowering the pension age for manual workers - and stricter migration policies." Denmark already had some of the strongest asylum laws in Europe before 2019, including a 2018 law targeting "parallel societies." That law allowed the government to "demolish or sell off social housing areas where more than half of residents are from a ‘non-Western’ background," if certain criteria were met, and refugees in those areas are not eligible for family reunion.

In 2021, Frederiksen introduced a new deportation law allowing for refugees to be returned to their country of origin, if Denmark deemed it safe, even if Denmark had no diplomatic relations with that country, and even as the European Commission deemed Danish legislation on transferring asylum seekers to third countries while their claims were processed "incompatible with EU law."

Since June, Frederiksen has been a leading voice in opposition to the immigration policies of Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, telling Parliament, "It is no secret that I and the Spanish Prime Minister deeply disagree on immigration policy… I and we will not accept that Danish society has to pay the price for decisions in Spain that we fundamentally disagree with."

On Aug. 1, Frederiksen joined conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and 20 other EU government leaders in a letter saying the EU "cannot allow mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible."

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The two, currently the only female heads of government in the EU, followed that letter with an Aug. 10 joint statement saying they "are both proud of Europe’s Christian cultural heritage and we want to protect it. We expect that those who arrive in our countries and choose to make Europe their home respect our values and do not try to impose ways of life that we do not share. We believe that this is the right path to protect Europe and our common values. And we believe that millions of Europeans share this conviction."

Emma Schubart of the Henry Jackson Society told Fox News Digital, "Frederiksen is right to name the ‘enemy within’. Europe has spent years pretending that uncontrolled migration and failed integration come without consequences. They do not… Parallel societies have taken root, Islamist extremism has been allowed to fester and support for groups such as Hamas is no longer confined to the margins. Denmark understands the cost."

Daniel Schatz said Frederiksen "is essentially arguing that Europe faces threats from two directions: Russia from outside and anti-democratic extremism from within. For a center-left European leader, that is remarkably strong language." He noted Frederiksen’s "political formula has been straightforward: protect Denmark’s generous system of public benefits and social services, control the border and deny the populist right a monopoly on immigration. For an American audience, that is probably the most important thing to understand about the Danish model."

Frederiksen’s position is important, he said, because she did not move politically "because Danish voters suddenly became concerned about immigration. She moved because she realized years ago that many of them already were." He added, "The important distinction is that this is not an argument that immigrants are inherently criminal. It is an argument that a democratic society must be willing to confront failed integration when it occurs."

Schubart added, "Other leaders now need to show the same courage, secure their borders, deport those with no right to remain and make clear that integration into our laws and values is not optional."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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