Hamas allegedly built weapons depots across Europe, planned terror attacks as Oct 7 anniversary neared

The German federal prosecutor’s office recently announced that it indicted seven people for allegedly securing weapons for the Hamas terrorist organization, with the goal of launching terrorist attacks on the second remembrance date of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

The indictment has catapulted the danger of Hamas’ network in Europe to Israeli, American and European installations and citizens into the spotlight.

According to the prosecutor’s office, "All of the accused belong to the foreign terrorist organization Hamas. Some time ago, the organization’s military wing (the so-called Qassam Brigades) began establishing weapons depots in Europe. No later than July 2025, Hamas planned a concrete assassination in Germany or Austria targeting representatives of Israel, people of Jewish faith, or persons with pro-Israel views." The seven suspects were arrested between Oct. 2025 and May 2026.

SUSPECTED HAMAS TERRORIST ARRESTED IN GREECE FOR ALLEGEDLY PLOTTING ATTACK ON ISRAELI CRUISE SHIP

The statement added, "The attack was to take place in close temporal proximity to the second anniversary of Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October 2023 — i.e., in early October 2025."

The indictment listed the nationalities and first names and first letter of the last name of the suspects: German national Abed Al G., Danish national Yousif C., Lebanon-born Borhan El-K., Lebanon-born Wael F.M., German national Ahmad I., Lebanon-born Kamel M., Bulgarian national Mohammad S."

German law shields the last names of criminal suspects for privacy reasons.

The German prosecutors said the suspected Hamas terrorists "had already obtained a functional fully automatic rifle, 13 functional pistols and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. Mohammed A., who is being prosecuted separately, transported some of the weapons to Vienna and stored them there."

According to the German paper Die Welt, "One of the accused was working as a confidential informant for Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. The files show that the informant continued reporting to his intelligence handler while allegedly failing to disclose the full extent of his own involvement in obtaining ammunition for the group."

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Sascha Adamek, a German journalist and the author of the 2026 book "Infiltration: Political Islam Continues Its Advance" told Fox News Digital that "Now the policy of previous federal governments is coming back to haunt them: until 2023 they allowed Hamas and its front organizations to use Germany as a ‘safe haven’ for fundraising and recruitment and also for the radicalization of young people. This dirty deal — that Hamas does not use violence in this country and is therefore left to operate freely — has long been obsolete."

According to the most recent Federal German domestic intelligence report, Hamas could have had as many as 650 operatives in Germany during 2025, the last year of tracking. In 2024, 550 Hamas operatives were active and in 2023 the number totaled 450. The intelligence officials wrote in the report that "The figures refer to Germany and are partly estimated and rounded." According to the report, 1,250 Hezbollah operatives are active in Germany.

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When asked why Germany is allowing Hamas and Hezbollah operatives and members to conduct activities within its territory, the press office of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior told Fox News Digital in part, that, "Hamas, which has been banned from operating in Germany since 2023, has a network of supporters and followers; however, for many years they have tended to act with restraint in public and avoid any outward signs of connection to the organization."

The Interior Ministry’s press office added that "Hezbollah, which is also subject to a ban on its activities in Germany, is not organized under any nationwide umbrella organization or similar supraregional structure. Rather, its supporters are spread across various associations throughout Germany. The focus of the activities of these associations — which are classified as affiliated with Hezbollah —lies in the religious and cultural spheres, as well as in educational programs for children, youth and adults that promote conservative Islam and a Shi’ite identity. In isolated cases, Hezbollah supporters in Germany have been known to engage in specific acts of support for the organization in Lebanon."

When asked if the German government is lax, as critics argue, about eradicating Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism structures, the Interior Ministry said, "On November 2, 2023, the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned the activities of the terrorist organization Hamas in Germany, as these activities violate German criminal law and run counter to the principle of international understanding… Furthermore, its purpose or activities significantly harm the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition, the Federal Ministry of the Interior had already banned the activities of Hezbollah in Germany on April 30, 2020, as these activities also violate German criminal law and the organization is directed against the principle of international understanding."

The interior ministry noted that "Federal and state security authorities consistently investigate leads regarding possible extremist activities as well as acts subject to criminal prosecution and continuously examine all countermeasures available under the rule of law."

The statement also said, "The Hamas terrorist attack on the State of Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent military operation by Israeli defense forces in the Gaza Strip continue to have an impact on the security situation in Germany and Europe. In addition to the heightened abstract threat level, there continue to be intense pro-Palestinian protests as well as corresponding agitation on social media. Various extremist actors in Germany are inciting hatred and violence against Jews or the State of Israel, or denying its right to exist."

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The presence of indicted Lebanese men highlights the alliance between the two U.S-designated terrorist organizations, Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

The Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah joined Hamas a day after the Gaza-based terrorist movement invaded Israel in 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 people.

Germany's Die Welt reported, "The prosecutors alleged the weapons operation was also coordinated from Lebanon, where a Hamas operative allegedly oversaw one of the procurement channels linking members of the network across Europe."

Israel’s Foreign Ministry seized on the report about the planned Hamas terror attacks in Germany and Austria, posting on X:" Palestinian Hamas was planning terror on the streets of Europe. German prosecutors say Hamas plotted attacks in Berlin and Vienna targeting Jewish communities and Israeli diplomats - part of a network allegedly using Turkey as a base for terror operations against European targets. The goal: mark October 7 with more blood."

Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah and Hamas in Europe from the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital that "I wrote the only long form, detailed expose on this a while back now in CTC Sentinel [Combating Terrorism Center}, based on court documents and extensive interviews." He added, "Hamas continues plotting in Europe, overseen by senior Qassam Brigades officials in Lebanon and with direct ties to senior Hamas leadership. One of the people arrested in Europe is the son of a senior Hamas leader, Basem Naim."

Levitt published his article titled "Hamas Plots in Europe: A Shift Toward External Operations?" in the Oct. 2025 issue of the West Point journal CTC.

Levitt cited a 2024 German prosecution indictment of alleged Hezbollah terrorists planning possible attacks against an American military base and Israel's embassy. Levitt wrote "The weapons, German officials concluded, ‘were intended to expand Hamas’ activities in Europe. ‘As the investigation progressed, German authorities determined — based on materials found on one of the defendants’ USB storage devices — that the Hamas operatives were considering specific targets in Germany, including the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate and the area around Berlin’s Tempelhof airport."

Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, warned that Hamas remains a serious security threat. He told the German media outlet, Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), that "Germany has gone from being a retreat for Hamas to an active terrorist target." He stressed Hamas’ ideology and terrorism affects "all of us" and a coordinated response is required.

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Ukraine targets Russia with over 1,000 drones, killing 2 as Moscow holds last day of elections

Ukraine delivered a barrage of missiles and more than 1,000 drones on Russia, which Moscow is calling the "largest ever" of the war and an attack on its parliamentary elections.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the strike at the "dollars that support the war machine" as a push for Russia to "end its brutal war and choose peace."

"Tonight in the Moscow region, our long-range responses were felt very acutely," Zelenskyy wrote early Sunday morning on X. "One of the key enterprises of the Russian Federation's oil industry and an aggressor's logistics facility have been struck. These are billions of dollars that support the war machine."

UKRAINE UNLEASHES MORE THAN 400 DRONES NEAR MOSCOW IN ONE OF WAR'S BIGGEST ATTACKS

Zelenskyy added that the Ukraine attack was a stern response to Russian aggression, making a future call for the U.S., Europe and the G7 to deliver "new sanctions."

"This week alone, Russia has launched more than 2,000 attack drones against us, most of them jet-powered, as well as 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles of various types," he wrote on X. "Ukraine is constantly looking for and finding ways to defend itself and respond to these attacks on life.

"It is important that our partners also look for and find ways to make Russia feel its war. Now is the right moment to take new sanctions steps against the aggressor and force peace through strength. The United States has the means to do this, Europe has them, and so does every G7 country. We are counting on new, strong steps."

The Kremlin was wrapping up the third and last day of its parliamentary elections this weekend and said two were killed and 20 wounded, according local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov.

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

"The biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram. "This unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed."

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down a total of 1,110 Ukrainian drones across the country, as well as over the peninsula of Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 450 drones had been destroyed en route to the Russian capital, and that the attack had damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building.

"Moscow must end its brutal war and choose peace instead of building layered rings of air defense at the expense of other regions," Zelenskyy wrote in a second X post. "Steps toward de-escalation are on the table – in energy and food security. What is needed is political will. I thank everyone who is strengthening Ukraine’s long-range capabilities. I am grateful to everyone who complements our long-range responses with responses through sanctions."

Ukraine continued to fend off Russian attacks, according to Zelenskyy. A Russian drone strike hit a monastery in Ukraine’s Kherson region Saturday, killing a member of the clergy and wounding four people, he said.

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A Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv also killed three children and their mother Saturday night, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional state administration.

Ukraine's latest drone strikes took place on the final day of Russia’s first wartime parliamentary election — balloting that has been virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies.

Russia was also holding the vote in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed after the war began but still does not fully control, and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was Russia invaded in 2014.

Putin accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing what he said was a Ukrainian strike that killed an election official in her home in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify details of the attack and there was no comment from Kyiv.

Putin told the nation in a televised address before the election that the vote would underline support for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

"Your choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us," Putin said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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EXCLUSIVE: Russian document reveals sweeping Iran plan spanning nuclear, finance and aviation

EXCLUSIVE: Nonpublic 2024-2026 roadmap shows Moscow and Tehran building financial, energy and industrial ties, creating new channels for trade and cooperation as both face mounting Western sanctions.

A nonpublic Russian government document obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital reveals how Moscow sought to deepen its relationship with Iran far beyond conventional trade — laying out plans for alternative financial channels, nuclear cooperation, Iranian production of Russian aircraft components, major energy projects and new transportation routes stretching toward the Persian Gulf.

The 44-page Russian-language document, titled "Plan for Cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2024-2026," is marked "For official use" and was approved on the Russian side on Sept. 2, 2024. It assigns ministries, agencies and state companies responsibility for projects and sets deadlines extending through the end of 2026.

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The document predates the current war involving Iran and the United States by well over a year, meaning it does not establish which projects remain active or how the conflict may have altered Moscow’s plans.

But an independent review of the Russian-language document, along with subsequent public reporting, shows that a number of initiatives described in the roadmap later advanced or materialized.

Keti Korkiya, a research analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia Program, reviewed the document for Fox News Digital and said its significance lies less in any single project than in the architecture Moscow was trying to build around the relationship.

"The roadmap is not revelatory: people paying close attention to the relationship between Russia and Iran will see many collaborations between the two countries that have been public for years," Korkiya said in written analysis provided to Fox News Digital.

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"What is more revealing is the architecture of the relationship Moscow is trying to build," she said, pointing to financial mechanisms, transportation routes, energy investment and aviation cooperation as different ways of reducing vulnerabilities created by sanctions and Western economic pressure.

"These are nonpublic high-level documents that illustrate the comprehensive cooperation between Russia and Iran," a European intelligence source who reviewed the material told Fox News Digital.

"It is also strategic, sensitive and highly politicized, focusing on areas like nuclear programs, energy trade and financial transactions that aim to evade the U.S. sanctions," the source said.

A U.S. official, responding on background to questions from Fox News Digital about the financial provisions, said U.S. sanctions have "severely isolated Russia and Iran from the international financial system," adding that efforts by the two countries to develop alternative financial channels and other sanctions-evasion schemes were therefore "not surprising."

The official said Washington closely tracks attempts by sanctioned jurisdictions to develop alternative cross-border payment mechanisms and would seek to disrupt those that facilitate sanctions evasion or illicit finance.

The Russian document itself does not use the phrase "sanctions evasion." Instead, it repeatedly calls for increased use of national currencies, independent financial channels and measures to counter what Moscow describes as "unilateral restrictive measures."

TRUMP THREATENS 'UNPRECEDENTED' ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR ANY NATION AIDING IRAN

Some of the clearest provisions concern how Russia and Iran intended to move money.

The plan set a target of increasing the share of bilateral trade conducted in national currencies from 68% in 2024 to 71% by 2026, while also seeking to expand correspondent accounts denominated in national currencies.

More ambitiously, the roadmap calls for the Bank of Russia and the Central Bank of Iran to develop the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border settlements.

Another provision calls for "ensuring the use of independent systems for transmitting financial messages," including connecting financial institutions to independent channels for exchanging financial information.

The document does not identify which messaging system would be used or explicitly state that the goal was to bypass SWIFT or U.S. financial controls.

But some of that financial integration later became public.

In February 2025, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said Russia and Iran had "practically completely" shifted bilateral settlements into national currencies using their own systems for transmitting financial and banking messages. Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported that the effort was part of a broader push toward independent payment infrastructure between the two countries.

Iran’s ambassador to Russia also said in February 2025 that Tehran and Moscow no longer needed SWIFT for bilateral banking relations and were using their own confidential bank-messaging systems. He said the initial phase of linking Iran’s Shetab payment network with Russia’s Mir system had begun the previous year.

Korkiya said the significance of those measures is cumulative.

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"Individually, none of these initiatives is transformative," she wrote. "Collectively, however, they amount to an attempt to remove single points of vulnerability and build redundancy into the Russia-Iran economic relationship."

The financial effort is paired with a political one.

The roadmap calls for Russia and Iran to coordinate through BRICS and other international institutions against "unilateral trade restrictions," while another provision proposes studying ways to counter "unilateral restrictive measures" and their impact on global markets.

Korkiya said that goes beyond simply finding workarounds.

"Especially interesting is that the roadmap also goes beyond practical sanctions workarounds and includes an effort to build an intellectual and diplomatic campaign against sanctions themselves," she wrote, citing plans for expert communities, discussion platforms and an international forum focused on unilateral restrictions.

A U.S. official told Fox News Digital that financial institutions and intermediaries enabling sanctions evasion expose themselves to "significant sanctions risks," adding that Washington would continue working with partners to "identify, expose and disrupt these networks wherever they emerge."

The official also pushed back on the idea that alternative Russia-Iran systems could displace Western financial infrastructure.

"Russia and Iran can try to build alternative financial channels, but they cannot replicate the reach, liquidity or trust of the U.S. dollar and the international financial system," the official said. "Their efforts will not weaken the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions."

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The financial architecture sits alongside another strategically sensitive pillar of the relationship: civilian nuclear energy.

The plan assigns Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom continued responsibility at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, including fuel and maintenance support for Unit 1 and continuing construction work associated with Units 2 and 3.

The cooperation did not remain solely on paper.

On Sept. 2, 2026, Rosatom said Russian specialists had begun returning to Bushehr, that Unit 1 was preparing for scheduled maintenance and partial fuel replacement, and that nuclear fuel had already been delivered to the site. Rosatom also said work was continuing on the plant and that additional Russian specialists were expected to arrive.

Korkiya noted that the Bushehr Units 2 and 3 project predates the 2024 roadmap, meaning the document did not originate that cooperation but rather incorporated an existing strategic project into the broader Russia-Iran framework.

"Such strategies and protocols confirm that Russia and Iran are closely aligned countries, and Russia almost certainly continues and aims to increase its current cooperation with Iran also in 2026," the European intelligence source said.

Fox News Digital sought comment from Rosatom on the document and the current status of its work in Iran.

The roadmap also identifies specific Iranian oil and gas fields where Moscow sought a role.

It names Shadegan, Kish and North Pars, assigning Russia’s Energy Ministry and unspecified "interested Russian companies" responsibility for advancing the projects.

Those companies are not named in the roadmap. For several projects, the financing column is marked "Confidential."

There is evidence that at least one of the named projects advanced.

Interfax reported on Feb. 13, 2026 that Russian state-owned ZN-Vostok was developing Iran’s Shadegan oil field, while Iranian officials said Tehran hoped to expand Russian investment across additional oil and gas projects.

The roadmap sets milestones for Shadegan through the end of 2025, while work involving Kish and North Pars runs into 2026 and includes legal, commercial and project-analysis work.

That pattern appears repeatedly through the document: ministries, deadlines and strategic objectives are spelled out, while some of the participating companies or financing arrangements remain undisclosed.

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One of the more unusual provisions goes beyond ordinary trade.

The roadmap calls for Russia to help establish production in Iran of individual parts and assemblies for Russian aircraft.

Russian authorities were instructed to determine which aircraft parts could be repaired or manufactured in Iran, identify Iranian companies capable of producing them, certify selected sites through Russia’s aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya and conclude a localization agreement.

The roadmap set a March 31, 2026 deadline for an agreement on localized production and a Dec. 31, 2026 target for launching prototype production.

Public evidence does show that aviation cooperation advanced in the related area of aircraft maintenance.

In February 2025, Rosaviatsiya’s chief said three Iranian companies had been approved to perform maintenance and airworthiness work on Russian-operated aircraft after an Aeroflot Airbus A330 underwent maintenance in Tehran.

The Russian government also publicly discussed deeper aviation-industrial cooperation with Iran that month, including aircraft manufacturing and joint work on jet engines for passenger aircraft.

But Fox News Digital has not independently verified that the more ambitious provision in the roadmap — manufacturing Russian aircraft components inside Iran — was implemented.

The document also lays out an effort to strengthen the physical transportation network linking Russia and Iran.

It calls for work on a proposed railway built to Russia’s 1,520-millimeter track gauge, stretching from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan toward Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf.

The proposal remained in the planning and negotiation stage in the roadmap.

Separately, Moscow sought to advance the Rasht-Astara railway, a roughly 162-kilometer missing link in the International North-South Transport Corridor.

That project subsequently moved beyond the purely conceptual stage.

Russia and Iran formally launched engineering surveys for the railway in May 2025, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.

Korkiya said the project had still not reached full construction by late summer 2026, with Russian and Iranian officials continuing to work on the implementation and construction arrangements. She also identified another provision: Iranian investment in port infrastructure in Astrakhan, Russia.

The roadmap calls for a terminal there using Iranian investment, along with warehouses, a logistics park and grain and vegetable-oil facilities. Korkiya found that an Iranian-owned company later operated a terminal in Astrakhan with a railway spur and was building grain and vegetable-oil storage facilities that closely tracked the roadmap’s description, although the document does not identify that company by name and the match cannot be definitively established.

Taken together, the transport provisions point to an effort to build physical trade routes that are less dependent on traditional European corridors.

The roadmap reaches well beyond finance and heavy industry.

It calls for content exchange, journalist training and joint media production, including at least two joint projects and ‘professional training’ for Iranian journalists.

It also calls for Russian technology companies to secure at least two contracts in Iran involving information and communications technology, including "information security," telecommunications and the video-game industry.

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The official overseeing the Russian side of the relationship also has a direct connection to President Vladimir Putin’s extended family.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev chairs the Russian side of the Permanent Russian-Iranian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Tsivilev is married to Anna Tsivileva, a Russian deputy defense minister and the daughter of Putin’s late cousin, Reuters reported when Putin appointed her to the Defense Ministry in June 2024.

The European intelligence source argued that the connection reflects the political importance Moscow attaches to Iran.

"It should be emphasized that on Russia's part, the economic cooperation with Iran is coordinated and managed by a representative of Vladimir Putin's extended family," the source said.

"This indicates that the Iranian matter is not just one of many bureaucratic issues in the agenda of the Russian government. But it holds significant value for the interest of the Vladimir Putin regime."

"What is also notable is the degree of state coordination and institutionalization behind this effort," she said, pointing to the involvement of central banks, ministries, regulators and state companies, as well as formal deadlines and confidential financing in some projects.

"That suggests Moscow is trying to turn what could otherwise remain a politically convenient partnership into something more durable and bureaucratically embedded," Korkiya said.

Russian and Iranian officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital also sought comment from Rosatom and from Russian officials responsible for Moscow’s participation in BRICS.

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'Devoted' father and grandfather-to-be swimming at popular beach killed in suspected fatal shark attack

A "devoted" father and grandfather-to-be was reportedly killed by a shark this week while swimming at a beach in Australia.

Greg O'Neill, 63, was swimming at Sorrento Beach in the northern suburbs of Perth in Western Australia on Friday when the attack happened in front of horrified beachgoers.

"I couldn’t believe there was that much blood (that had) come out of a human body," Ryan Rowe, a resident who went to the beach soon after the attack, told The West Australian newspaper.

AUSTRALIAN SURFER RISKED HIS LIFE TO SAVE FELLOW SURFER WHO HAD BEEN ATTACKED BY A SHARK

O’Neill’s death also prompted Australia's fisheries minister, Jackie Jarvis, to make the rare call for a catch-and-kill of the great white, which is a protected species.

"In making that decision, I considered the exceptional circumstances of the attack, the hazard posed by the shark, and the potential recovery of coronial evidence," she said.

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Police haven’t said if O’Neill’s remains have been found, but added they were confident the "swimmer died as a result of the attack."

Witness Darrel Haythornthwaite told Nine Network television that O’Neill was swimming with a friend when he was attacked.

"I was just shocked. I mean, I feel for his mate," Haythornthwaite said. "He's apologized and said 'I didn't save my mate’ … I said, 'You couldn't have done anything.'"

AUSTRALIAN MOTHER HEALING WITH 'BEAUTIFUL MESSAGES' AFTER LOSING ARM TO SHARK ATTACK

O’Neill told ABC News Australia, "Our family is deeply shocked and devastated by the terrible tragedy that took the life of father, grandfather-to-be, brother, uncle, husband and friend, Greg James O'Neill."

"He was a generous, devoted family man that gave his children so much love, care and opportunity. Greg loved the ocean and was known as a passionate swimmer, sports lover, dedicated worker and an all round generous, witty guy," the family added. "The kind thoughts and support from everyone who has reached out are deeply appreciated."

A surfer also suffered a serious leg injury on Monday in a shark attack about 250 miles north of Perth.

O’Neill was the fifth fatal shark attack this year.

Three spearfishing divers were killed between May and June in attacks and a 12-year-old boy was killed in Sydney Harbor in January.

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Cuba plunges into total blackout as electrical grid collapses again, US Embassy warns

Cuba experienced a total power failure on Friday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

The embassy said the failure was due to the "collapse of Cuba’s electrical grid. 

According to Cuban regime media, the reason for the collapse is under investigation and the timeline to restore power is unknown."

"All U.S. citizens in Cuba or planning to travel to Cuba should be aware and plan accordingly. There are reports of cellphone and internet outages," the embassy added, noting that Cuba’s electrical grid is "increasingly unstable," which has led to "multiple" nationwide power outages in the last few months.

CUBA’S ECONOMIC FREEFALL IS HIDING A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT JUST MILES FROM FLORIDA: REPORT

The embassy added, "The electrical system remains vulnerable, and additional regular outages have been occurring more frequently and for longer periods. Scheduled power cuts occur daily, and unscheduled outages persist throughout Cuba."

Cuba’s energy ministry also posted about the power outage on social media.

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The country’s power system has been struggling because of fuel shortages, the U.S.-imposed oil blockade and crumbling infrastructure.

CUBA’S DICTATORSHIP HAS LONG BEEN A THREAT TO AMERICA. NOW, IT’S FINALLY TEETERING

Even when there isn’t a national outage, the country often suffers through rolling blackouts that leave millions without power.

The last national outage happened just last month, and Friday's marks the seventh one this year.

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China firm gave Iran lifeline to collect Hormuz tolls before pulling plug amid US warning

Iran’s sanctioned Persian Gulf Straits Authority (PGSA) regained secure online access for four days after a Shanghai-based internet security firm provided and then revoked its web credentials, enabling Tehran to vet vessels, collect Strait of Hormuz tolls and operate despite U.S. digital restrictions, global internet monitors said.

TrustAsia issued an automated domain-validated certificate, a routine process that verifies control of a website domain through server checks and typically does not involve manual vetting or background checks.

The move prompted U.S. sanctions experts, including Jeremy Paner, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, to urge TrustAsia to review its compliance program before offering further services to the IRGC-linked maritime authority — with Paner warning them to act "before it is too late."

The PGSA first said its website was disrupted Aug. 10 because of "the enemy's political influence on the internet service provision systems," according to a post on X.

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NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker told Fox News Digital that the authority had lost its web security credentials after the entity was added to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list on May 27.

The loss of standard SSL/TLS certificates, Toker said, made the PGSA website inaccessible using standard browsers. This forced shipping firms to use unencrypted connections that, according to Toker, could leave their data vulnerable to interception.

While no data breaches resulting from the use of these connections have been made known, and there are no known instances in which a shipping firm’s data was intercepted and used to its detriment because of the certificate expiration, Toker said the site’s inaccessibility resulted in a shift to what he described as "insecure protocols."

"The digital transparency records are authoritative on this," he said, adding that the measure forced the traffic into a format that could be readily intercepted.

"This is a class of vulnerability open to government exploitation, rather than a corporate breach or personal data leak."

Toker claimed this could make it easier for authorities to read communications sent through the platform, potentially identifying shipping firms collaborating with the PGSA.

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"The net result was that the website was more difficult to access, because most web browsers strongly encourage the use of secure HTTPS," Toker said, adding that any form submissions could have been easily "eavesdropped on because they're no longer encrypted in transit."

"The mentioned issue has been resolved, and the secure domain https://pgsa.ir is now once again available for submitting requests using any browser," the PGSA said six days later on Aug. 17 and in another post shared on X.

"If the issue recurs in the future, the HTTP domain will again be temporarily available using the Firefox browser."

Toker confirmed that Iran had turned to Shanghai-based certificate authority TrustAsia Technologies, which he said issued new digital security credentials to the PGSA despite the U.S. sanctions, restoring secure access to its website. 

"Iran’s IRGC extorts vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz through the so-called Persian Gulf Strait Authority," the Treasury Department said in May when designating the entity, adding that the PGSA "spearheads an Iranian-controlled scheme that flagrantly violates international law and U.S. sanctions."

"Anyone cooperating with the so-called strait authority may be providing support to and receiving services from the IRGC, which ultimately benefits from this attempted extortion, and may therefore be exposed to sanctions risk," the Treasury Department warned.

The Chinese firm bills itself as a "leading and professionally certified certification authority in China with its focus on trusted, secure and cryptographic communications in the digital world."

Its mission, it says, is to "Build trust everywhere in the digital world."

"Almost all of these root authorities do business with the U.S., so they tend to comply with U.S. sanctions," Toker said.

But TrustAsia, he noted, had "gone its own way, building a China-first certificate infrastructure that sidesteps the West."

Toker said TrustAsia had "simply gone ahead and issued Iran's PGSA with a new certificate, and Iran was once again collecting revenue from ships passing the Strait via its secure online portal."

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Paner warned that U.S. authorities would have enforcement powers over such actions.

"The U.S. has incredibly broad authority to impose sanctions on non-Iranian companies that provide any sorts of services to sanctioned Iranian companies," he told Fox News Digital.

"Many times, that authority will be abbreviated or explained as being providers of material support to sanctioned Iranian companies. But in fact, any level of services whatsoever could be the basis for the United States imposing sanctions against the company for providing services to Iran."

"Restoration of the certificate is unequivocally sanctionable," Paner warned.

"Restoring the certificate is/was a service provided to the PGSA, which can be the basis for imposing sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended.

"That authority does not in any way require that the service be ‘knowingly’ provided to the PGSA. In other words, the automated nature of the service is irrelevant and does not make the service any less sanctionable," the lawyer added.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Aug. 20, a spokesperson for TrustAsia confirmed that the firm issued a "Domain Validated TLS certificate for pgsa.ir."

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," the firm said before clarifying that "DV certificates are issued through automated validation of control over the requested domain names."

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"This process does not verify or assert the legal identity, affiliation, or sanctions status of the entity operating or benefiting from the domain.

"As a result, the relationship described in your inquiry was not identified during the automated issuance process." Following the firm's review, TrustAsia said it "added the entire pgsa.ir domain namespace to our restricted-issuance list to prevent further issuance or renewal."

"We also expect to complete revocation of the existing certificate within this week," the spokesman said on Aug. 20.

These actions are precautionary compliance and risk-control measures. They should not be interpreted as a finding that the certificate was technically misissued, TrustAsia said.

Toker confirmed the TrustAsia certificate's privilege had been withdrawn on Aug. 21 at 12:15:25 UTC. "This usually means the issuer has taken action," he said.

The internet expert clarified that the revocation will gradually be coming into effect, with the firm "signaling that the PGSA certificate should no longer be trusted, and they're distributing this notice that privilege is withdrawn, usually meaning customer misuse or breached terms of use."

"The secure website will stop working in most browsers, unless the owners can find a certificate authority that's willing to issue a new certificate," Toker said.

IRAN’S UNSEEN SUPREME LEADER BECOMES WEAPON IN ESCALATING POWER STRUGGLE, EXPERTS SAY

After reviewing TrustAsia's statement, Paner also said that OFAC would expect the company to "use the discovery as an opportunity to enhance its compliance program before it is too late."

The former OFAC official clarified that Iran's revenue collection in the waterway would likely draw high-level scrutiny in Washington.

"Iran's attempt to extort the world in the movement of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is of the utmost importance to OFAC, which is the agency that implements and enforces U.S. economic sanctions."

Because major U.S. web browsers currently recognize TrustAsia’s root certificates, American systems would have automatically trusted the sanctioned Iranian portal.

Toker claimed the Treasury Department could have found TrustAsia in violation of sanctions for providing material assistance to a blocked entity, potentially forcing tech giants such as Google and Microsoft to revoke trust in TrustAsia.

There is no evidence that this process had begun or was likely to occur.

"This could have splintered the global chain of trust and potentially render much of the Chinese web inaccessible from the West," Toker warned.

IRAN IS NOT A NORMAL NATION YOU CAN MAKE DEALS WITH; IT’S A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

Paner clarified that the certificates authenticate the site, boosting its credibility, and suggested TrustAsia should have weighed the risks of working with sanctioned entities.

"There's always reputational risk involved in any company that decides to do business with the IRGC."

"If I were advising TrustAsia, I would at minimum immediately identify all other IRGC companies receiving services."

Paner added that this latest situation aligned with broader warnings from administration officials.

"I think this dovetails pretty nicely with Secretary Bessent's comments about how the coming sanctions are going to be unlike any that has come prior. Sanctions require a careful balancing of the costs and the benefits.

"When it's a Chinese tech company providing necessary services to the IRGC, I'm confident that the U.S. government is going to forego any sort of balancing in that regard."

The United States on Aug. 24 had sanctioned nearly 60 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels and expanded the threat of secondary sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. These did not include TrustAsia.

Bessent described the measures as part of an "economic onslaught" targeting Tehran’s global financial networks under "Operation Economic Outcast."

A Chinese Embassy spokesperson also said in a statement: "I am not aware of the specifics you mentioned. I have no information to provide."

Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the White House for comment.

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‘Voters get to choose — just not the result’: Russia’s parliamentary election reaches occupied Ukraine

Russian State Duma elections began Friday — the first since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — including in its occupied areas there, where Russia will look to reinforce the illusion of popular support for its full-scale invasion and annexation of eastern Ukraine.

OSCE election observers are not invited to monitor the outcome of the elections, a telling signal, critics say, that the Kremlin has no intentions of conducting free and fair elections.

"Russia’s refusal to invite an election observation mission seriously breaches its international commitments and shows a worrying disregard for democratic standards. Election observation is not optional — it is something that all OSCE participating States have agreed to, and it is a cornerstone of transparency and accountability," OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons told Fox News Digital.

Russia enacted strict censorship laws after the invasion, criminalizing any dissent about the operation or the armed forces and spreading misinformation about the war.

CIA DIRECTOR JOHN RATCLIFFE MET WITH RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS IN VISIT TO MOSCOW, KREMLIN SAYS

As the Kremlin has tried to keep popular support in favor of its war against Ukraine, a Russian court sentenced Lev Shlosberg, a vocal critic and leader of one of Russia’s only opposition parties to over 11 years in a penal colony for criticizing the war. Prior to Shlosberg’s sentencing, Russia's Supreme Court banned his opposition Yabloko Party from participating in September’s Duma elections.

There are nine parties on the list, all supportive of Putin, including the Kremlin's own United Party in the elections, The Associated Press reported. 

Shortly after Russia’s invasion in 2022, Moscow unilaterally annexed portions of occupied Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation allowing elections to take place in the occupied territories. Ukraine and the international community do not recognize Russian sovereignty over the occupied regions.

Elections in Russia, and by extension in the occupied territory, are seen by his critics as window-dressing opportunities used by Putin to highlight his narrative that the war in Ukraine and the annexation of Ukrainian territory was a legitimate and lawful action.

Keti Korkiya from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Russia Program told Fox News Digital that, "Russians are ready to support, symbolically, Putin, the Kremlin and the war, but if they have to pay a personal price, or even [an] economic price, they are unwilling to do that. That's why Russia has not done another wave of mobilization."

The upcoming elections, like most elections in Russia, will take place under a climate of pervasive fear and manipulation, not the freedom to exercise a democratic right, according to critics.

"It’s a total regime of terror," Jaroslava Barbieri, research fellow at the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital.

The last time Russian elections were held in the occupied territories was in 2024, when Putin secured a fifth term in office, winning nearly 90% of the vote. Residents in occupied Ukraine were forced to acquire Russian passports, which is how authorities are able to compile lists of voters.

FORMER GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS NATION'S ELECTION WAS 'RIGGED,' AND 'WRITTEN IN MOSCOW'

"Election officials are escorted by Russian soldiers carrying ballot boxes door-to-door. Ostensibly framed as a security measure against Ukrainian partisan strikes, this is about direct intimidation, and it is a flagrant violation of international law," Barbieri added.

President Vladimir Putin said in August that the State Duma elections will reaffirm Russia's stability on the world stage, noting the election will highlight the "maturity" of Russia’s political system and resilience in the face of foreign aggression, according to Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) approved new electoral regulations that will be implemented in occupied Ukraine. The Commission stressed the importance of early and at-home voting to prevent large gatherings which could be exploited by Ukrainian attacks.

Russia's ministry of foreign affairs posted on X that preparations for overseas voting in Russia’s State Duma elections are nearly complete. It said there are 326 polling stations set up at Russian embassies and consulates in 152 countries.

Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, said people living in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories should boycott the staged Russian elections.

"Any sort of elections held in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories is illegal and a breach of international law. Ukraine will never recognize any person ‘elected’ as a member of Parliament in the temporarily occupied territories," Ariev told Fox News Digital.

Ariev said people living in the occupied east should leave their homes and spend election day someplace else, to avoid being coerced into voting.

PUTIN PLANS FOR NEXT 6-YEAR TERM AS RUSSIANS VOTE IN 'NEITHER FREE NOR FAIR ELECTION'

Ivana Stradner, who focuses on Russian information security and influence operations at the FDD, says as Russia’s battlefield momentum stalls, the costs of war mount, and Ukraine brings the conflict to Russia’s doorstep, Putin is seeking political legitimacy this election.

"The State Duma elections give the Kremlin a chance to manufacture the appearance of public support… not only for United Russia, but for continuing Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. When the battlefield gets harder to sell, the ballot box becomes another way to sell the war," Stradner told Fox News Digital.

In the 2024 presidential elections, the annexed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic delivered well above the current targeted 70% support, voting well over 90% for President Putin.

"Apparently, in Putin’s version of democracy, the voters get to choose… just not the result," Stradner added. The three days of voting ends on September 20.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

BUSH REVIVES ‘ISLAM IS PEACE’ MESSAGE WITH FRESH FOCUS ON POST-9/11 MOSQUE VISIT

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

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

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

SEAL WHO KILLED BIN LADEN RECALLS 9/11 MOMENT THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE: ‘WELCOME TO MY WORLD’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US

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

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

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

FINLAND’S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS UKRAINE ‘IS NOW HOLDING THE CARDS’ AS RUSSIA SIGNALS TALKS

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

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

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

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

FINLAND'S PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LIFT DECADES-OLD BAN ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN HISTORIC NATO DEFENSE SHIFT

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

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

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

NATO JETS SHOOT DOWN DRONE IN LITHUANIAN AIRSPACE AS RUSSIA GROWS 'INCREASINGLY RECKLESS,' RUTTE SAYS

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

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

ITALY-SPAIN BORDER FEUD EXPOSES EUROPE’S DEEPENING IMMIGRATION DIVIDE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IRAN-BACKED TERROR GROUP'S LATEST TERRITORIAL GRAB THREATENS SECOND GLOBAL SHIPPING CHOKEPOINT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ISRAEL TURNS TABLES ON UN OFFICIAL CLAIMING 'GENOCIDE' IN GAZA WITH BASIC QUESTIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UN COMMISSION ACCUSES ISRAEL OF 'EXTERMINATION' IN CONTROVERSIAL REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FORMER NFL QB ROBERT GRIFFIN III DESCRIBES HARROWING ENGINE FIRE ON UNITED FLIGHT

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

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

TWO PLANES BLOW TIRES WHILE LANDING AT MAJOR US AIRPORT HOURS APART, FAA INVESTIGATING

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

An investigation into the incident is underway, reports said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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