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Iran is said to be ‘deeply threatened’ by the small African breakaway state, Somaliland, because of the potential for U.S., Israeli and Western powers to use its deep water port and airbase.

Such moves would severely disrupt Iran’s plan to use their proxy, Yemen’s Houthi terror group, to attack Red Sea shipping.

Iran has been accused of pressuring the Houthis to renew their strikes on shipping, particularly in the Red Sea’s Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway has become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed.

COULD SOMALILAND BASE EMERGE AS US FOOTHOLD AGAINST IRAN, HOUTHIS IN KEY SEA LANES?

Lisa Daftari, a Middle East and foreign policy expert, told Fox News Digital, "Iran’s regime is deeply threatened by what Somaliland represents in an emerging pro‑Western, potentially pro‑Israel foothold overlooking the Bab el‑Mandeb, that could blunt Tehran’s leverage via the Houthis over Red Sea shipping and Israel."

Daftari, the editor‑in‑chief of The Foreign Desk, said, "that’s why Iran‑backed Houthis are already explicitly threatening to strike any Israeli or Western military presence in Somaliland and warning they could move to choke the Bab el‑Mandeb if the conflict with the U.S. and Israel escalates." 

The White House has said that Iran’s proxies, such as the Houthis, have been weakened. "The United States Military achieved all of the goals laid out for Operation Epic Fury – including weakening Iran’s proxies. Now, Iran is being strangled economically – giving President Trump all the cards as negotiations continue," Anna Kelly, special assistant to the President and White House principal deputy press secretary told Fox News Digital when asked if the U.S. was considering a full-time-basing relationship with Somaliland.

Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital that Somaliland’s recognition of Israel and Israel’s recognition of it last December has clearly irked Iran.

Fitton-Brown, who is a former U.K. ambassador to Yemen — the Houthis home country, said Iran "opposes any recognition of it (Somaliland) primarily because Israel is the first state to recognize it, and Iran will oppose anything that Israel does. Iran is also viscerally opposed to the U.S. and UAE, both of which have pragmatic engagement with Somaliland, short of recognition. Somaliland is a potential base for anti-Houthi enforcement, i.e. a threat to the Iranian Axis of Resistance."

IS TRUMP CONSIDERING BOLD AFRICA PLAY TO PUSH BACK ON CHINA, RUSSIA AND ISLAMIC TERRORISTS?

The U.S. already has a large base on the Red Sea in Djibouti, but Fitton-Brown says this is increasingly problematical "China is significantly expanding its military and commercial presence in Djibouti. There is a sense that Djibouti is not a reliable ally for the U.S. So Somaliland’s time has probably come."

And Somaliland hopes so. Its Foreign Minister, Abdirahman Dahir Adam, told Fox News Digital "At a time when the Strait of Hormuz is under pressure and threats to the Red Sea are escalating, Somaliland has reiterated its longstanding offer to provide the United States with access along our coast. We have been clear about this in times of peace, and we are equally clear today."

The Somaliland government is also offering storage space for tomahawk missiles, with a government source saying it’s "a unique way to advance security interests."

Adam added, "U.S. destroyers that expend their missile batteries in the Red Sea require (currently) up to two weeks of travel to be resupplied. Somaliland is ready to play a practical role in helping the U.S. to secure global trade routes."

But Somaliland’s offer of allowing use of its airbase and seaport is not all plain sailing.  Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Kenneth P. Ekman, former AFRICOM/J5 and West Africa coordination element lead, told Fox News Digital "a policy dilemma presents when conducting diplomatic and military relations with Somaliland directly, rather than through the Federal Government of Somalia and the SNA (Somali National Army)."

IRAN'S AFRICA ACTIVITIES POSE 'SIGNIFICANT THREATS TO US NATIONAL SECURITY'

"This same dilemma presents," Ekman continued. "While we (the U.S.) enjoy good access in Djibouti, this access is singular and competes with the Chinese presence.  Additional access to the port of Berbera, located in Somaliland, provides redundancy (backup) and a relationally different partner. Frankly, the U.S. military, along with some of our allies and partners, need port access in Berbera."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, is strongly advocating for the U.S. to go all the diplomatic way and recognize Somaliland.

He told Fox News Digital in a statement that "Somaliland promises to be a critical counterterrorism ally for the United States, both because of its strong willingness to partner with us and because of its unique location. We should recognize the Republic of Somaliland as an independent state and, in the meantime, significantly boost our counterterrorism cooperation." 

The U.S. though, appears to be making below-the-radar moves. The Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Gen. Dagvin Anderson, was recently in the country visiting port facilities, with a delegation, in November. This week, a Somaliland government source told Fox News Digital that U.S. military delegations come to the state every two months, with the last visit in the second half of April. 

Fitton-Brown told Fox News Digital that, "The U.S. is already using it (Somaliland) for counterterrorism operations. My understanding is that the U.S. doesn’t have a permanent military presence in Somaliland, but actively cooperates with Somaliland's security forces on regional counterterrorism and maritime security issues."

A former senior U.S. defense official agreed that American military specialists have been co-ordinating with Somaliland forces since 2023, when they came together to kill Bilal al-Sudani, reportedly a key facilitator and financier of the ISIS global network.

However, the U.S. aligns publicly with Somalia, from which Somaliland broke away in 1991. 

When asked this week about the U.S. military relationship with Somaliland when it comes to counter-terrorism operations in the country, a Pentagon official told Fox News Digital: "The United States maintains its strategic partnership with the Federal Government of Somalia.

"In northern Somalia, AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, has conducted airstrikes to degrade ISIS—Somalia's ability to threaten the U.S. Homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad. In southern Somalia, AFRICOM, also in close coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, has conducted airstrikes to enable partner forces’ ability to degrade al Shabaab. Our strategic approach to countering terrorism in Africa relies on trusted partnerships and collaboration grounded in and through shared security interests."

Daftari added, "Somaliland is offering the United States what the mullahs fear most in this theater, namely an alternative, resilient platform on the African shore that includes an airfield, port, and over‑the‑horizon access that would dilute Houthi leverage and give Washington options that don’t depend on Djibouti or Persian Gulf partners alone."

PARIS, France — Israel's ambassador to France says far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon's rhetoric against Jews "reminds me of Hitler," warning that foreign influence is fueling a surge in antisemitism that has some French Jews hiding their identities to survive daily life.

France recorded 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025 — triple the 436 incidents in 2022 — but a senior member of the Jewish community leaders told Fox News Digital they refuse to retreat, even as the attacks and incidents keep coming.

Israeli Ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, says France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community and is contributing to a high volume of antisemitic incidents reported across the country each day. France also has Europe's largest Jewish community.

GLOBAL RISE IN ANTISEMITISM LEAVES JEWISH COMMUNITY ISOLATED, RABBI SAYS WORLD AT 'A TIPPING POINT'

"The number of events is extremely high — not because the French government does not fight it, but because there is this base in which antisemitism is growing," he said, due to foreign influence, which he claimed comes from Iran, Russia, Turkey and Qatar.

While he says those state actors are fueling the fire of Jew-hatred from the outside, certain French political actors exploit antisemitism for the purpose of getting more votes. According to Zarka, foremost among them is the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI).

"The way [LFI leader] Jean-Luc Mélenchon speaks in front of a crowd reminds me of Hitler. The way he uses the idea of uniting against one enemy by speaking of Israel is similar to the way Hitler used to speak about the Jews," Zarka said.

In February, the Human Rights League criticized Mélenchon after he mocked the pronunciation of Jewish names, including that of MEP Raphaël Glucksmann.

Mélenchon previously wrote on his blog that "antisemitism remains residual in France," remarks critics said downplayed a surge in Jew-hatred following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

Fox News Digital repeatedly contacted Mélenchon’s media adviser for comment but did not receive a response.

Zarka added that over the past three years there has been a shift in the Jewish community’s perception of what was once considered the extreme right, with many no longer viewing the National Rally, formerly led by Marine Le Pen, as such.

CALLS FOR US TO DO MORE AS ANTISEMITIC ACTS SKYROCKET IN EUROPE: 'ENORMOUSLY PAINFUL'

"Let’s not forget that [National Rally president] Jordan Bardella went to Israel and, at Yad Vashem, made a formal commitment to fight antisemitism, be it from the right or the left, and that is significant... that is sinking into the mind of the Jewish community," Zarka said."

Recent incidents include the partial cutting down on Jan. 12 in Lyon of a tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was abducted and murdered in a 2006 antisemitic attack. On Feb. 9, a young boy wearing a kippah was assaulted by a group of five individuals, one of whom allegedly held a knife to his throat. Ten days later, acid was sprayed in two dining rooms of a kosher restaurant in Paris’s 17th arrondissement. On Apr. 15, racist and antisemitic graffiti targeted three high schools in the Montpellier metropolitan area.

In March, two brothers were arrested in connection with what authorities described as a "deadly and antisemitic" plot after police discovered a semi-automatic weapon, a bottle of hydrochloric acid and an Islamic State flag in their vehicle.

Rabbi Elie Lemmel was targeted in two antisemitic attacks, including last June in Deauville, where he was punched in the stomach. Days later, he was attacked again in Neuilly-sur-Seine while sitting at a café terrace, when a Palestinian from Gaza struck him with a chair.

Lemmel told Fox News Digital he had almost never faced aggression before, but believes the post-Oct. 7 conflict has intensified tensions. He said he understands those who choose to be more discreet and would never judge them.

"You have to be vigilant," he said. "Unfortunately, some people see a kippah and it bothers them. Those who want to do harm will always find reasons.

"If we start hiding, it is the beginning of the end," he added. "I have always worn a kippah, and that is why I continue to wear it."

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER SUSPENDED AFTER ‘FREE PALESTINE’ BROADCAST TO ISRAELI PILOTS

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), said some Jewish families now forgo displaying mezuzahs or use different names on mobile apps to avoid being identified.

"On the one hand, there is a rise in antisemitism that leads to precautionary behavior," Arfi told Fox News Digital. "On the other hand, Jewish life remains more vibrant than ever, with synagogues full and more kosher restaurants than ever before."

"We must not offer antisemitic terrorists and those driven by hatred our fear and withdrawal as a trophy," said Arfi. "Wherever possible, Jewish life must continue openly and proudly."

Immigration to Israel, he said, should nevertheless be seen as a warning sign that some Jews no longer see a future in France.

Historically, French immigration to Israel averaged between 1,500 and 2,000 people annually after the Six-Day War. The figure peaked at around 8,000 annually between 2012 and 2015, fell to about 1,000 in 2023, then rose again to more than 2,000 in 2024 and 3,500 in 2025. The Jewish Agency for Israel estimates roughly 4,000 immigrants from France in 2026.

The Israeli ambassador to Paris noted that French authorities take combating antisemitism seriously, and therefore the country remains "a relatively safe place," while urging Israelis to exercise caution when traveling to other European countries such as Spain, Belgium and even the Netherlands, "where antisemitism flourishes."

In February, President Emmanuel Macron denounced the "antisemitic hydra" that had crept into "every crack" of French society during a ceremony commemorating Ilan Halimi, a Jewish man kidnapped and tortured to death by the Gang of Barbarians in 2006.

"In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the antisemitic hydra has kept advancing," Macron said, according to Le Monde.

"Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crevice, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see," he continued.

Macron also condemned the "Islamist antisemitism" behind the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre, as well as "far-left antisemitism," which he said "rivals that of the far right."

He added that antisemitism increasingly "uses the mask of anti-Zionism to advance quietly."

Even so, bilateral ties with Israel are not without friction, with Zarka disclosing that the government of French President Emmanuel Macron refused to allow U.S. military overflights carrying weapons to Israel during the war against Iran.

"The French made the decision not to provide us with an aerial bridge for American weapon shipments to fly over during the war against Iran," he said.

It was the second time France had denied such a request, the first occurring during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the envoy noted.

A French mother who allegedly abandoned her two young children in a forest in Portugal while blindfolded was arrested with her former law enforcement boyfriend while eating at a café near Libson.

Marine Rousseau, 41, was taken into custody Thursday with Marc Ballabriga, 55, two days after the couple allegedly dumped her helpless 3- and 5-year-old children in a remote forest and left, according to Portuguese and French media.

"They stayed sitting and didn’t seem nervous," café owner Jorge Lopes told the news outlet. "They were searched and handcuffed without any stress at all. When I saw them so at ease in front of the authorities, I was astonished. It was as if they didn’t have blood running through their veins."

The boys were found crying and alone 125 miles away, MetroUK reported.

FLORIDA MOM ACCUSED OF ABANDONING DAUGHTER AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TO GO DRINKING AT BAR

"Given the situation of evident vulnerability, the children were taken to the home of a local resident, where they remained and received initial care in the presence of the officers until they were transferred to a hospital unit," Portuguese authorities said in a statement.

The two boys were in good health and were discharged from hospital on Thursday," Portugal's Public Ministry said.

The couple face child endangerment and abandonment charges. Ballabriga — a former French policeman who quit the force in 2010 — faces an additional aggravated assault charge.

UTAH DOOMSDAY MOM ARRESTED ABROAD AFTER ALLEGEDLY ABDUCTING FOUR KIDS, DUMPING THEM IN EUROPEAN ORPHANAGE

They were ordered held pending trial.

Rousseau’s sons were rescued by Artur Quintas, a local baker who spotted them "screaming and crying" while frantically stumbling along a main road on May 19, the New York Post reported.

They were carrying backpacks stuffed only with clothes, water and snacks.

Quintas recalled the older brother telling him that their mother and her boyfriend allegedly took them into the forest and covered their eyes as part of a "game." When they removed their blindfolds, both adults had vanished.

The pair have since been placed in temporary foster care.

Their biological father — who reported them missing on May 11 — is working to bring them back to France.

"It’s only a matter of days before I get my children back," he told French broadcaster Ici Alsace TV on Monday. "I think about them every second since the Colmar police station contacted me to tell me they were missing. My children will have to rebuild their lives, just as I rebuilt mine.

"And they don’t need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy."

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, would have to approve any final deal with the U.S. through secret courier networks while remaining in hiding as a "designated target," counterterrorism experts said Tuesday.

The unprecedented arrangement, they claimed, means Washington is negotiating a high-stakes accord with an entirely invisible counterparty, with a potential memorandum signed by a regime leader and a "designated target" who can never publicly show his face.

"Khamenei is a designated target, and every confirmed sighting is a coordinate," Dr. Omar Mohammed told Fox News Digital.

"The courier system used for messaging is not transitional. It is the operating system of his rule.

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER RUNS 'STATE WITHIN A STATE' THROUGH SECRET 4,000-PERSON NETWORK, REPORT SAYS

"Any deal the United States signs will have to be designed for a permanently invisible counterparty whose enforcement depends on his continued survival. That is not arms control as it has been conventionally understood. It is a memorandum signed under American military pressure, with a regime whose leader cannot show his face."

Mohammed’s remarks came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained to reporters in India why the deal was suffering delays.

"It’s just the response," Rubio said. "I mean, when you get down on some of these things, you’ve got to hear back, and it takes the Iranians — takes them a little while longer to get back," he explained.

"That is Secretary Rubio confirming the courier latency on the record," said Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University. "Rubio is describing a structural feature of negotiating with a supreme leader no one can locate.

IRAN'S KHAMENEI STAYS AWAY FROM TALKS AS JD VANCE SAYS DYNAMIC MAKES DIPLOMACY 'MUCH MORE COMPLICATED'

"Mojtaba is in hiding, messages are moving by courier, and responses are arriving days late.

"Rubio just confirmed the symptom, and the administration is being honest about the problem. The question is whether the framework can be designed to survive it," Mohammed claimed.

Khamenei has spent nearly three months in hiding as tensions with the U.S. escalate.

He went underground as soon as a strike on Feb. 28 killed his father, amid reports that he was gravely injured.

He was struck in Operation Epic Fury — "wounded and likely disfigured," according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His wife and son were killed in the same strike.

"Officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government do not know where he is," Mohammed said, meaning every piece of information he receives is "dated, and his responses come with significant latency."

The remarks come as Iran and the United States continue talks aimed at reaching a deal to end the war that began Feb. 28.

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI 'MISFUNCTIONING,' NOT CONTROLLING REGIME: SOURCES

"If there’s going to be a deal, we’re going to have to work through that. But this is, you know, it’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one," Rubio said Tuesday.

A senior administration official said the U.S. is prepared to ease sanctions if Iran makes major concessions on uranium enrichment. Frozen Iranian assets have also emerged as a key hurdle.

Iran said Monday that no agreement with the United States was imminent, despite progress toward a framework in talks.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the focus of talks remained ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and that a possible memorandum of understanding did not include specific details on managing the Strait of Hormuz.

"The real question for Washington is not how fast the framework can be signed," Mohammed added.

"It is also what enforcement looks like when the counterparty’s signature comes through a courier."

LVIV, Ukraine — As Kyiv takes a massive hit from Russia, another city seeks to carry on amid war. Four years into Russia’s war, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv is trying to master something impossible: how to live normally while surrounded by death.

At 11:30 a.m., the city stops.

Cars freeze in the middle of the street. Pedestrians pause on sidewalks. In the center of town, underneath the tall clock tower that rises above city hall, people bow their heads in silence as another military funeral convoy passes through the streets.

"It happens one to five times a day," a local resident says quietly.

The war feels far from Lviv, until suddenly it doesn’t.

UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATO

The city of roughly one million people sits near the Polish border, hundreds of miles from the brutal front lines in eastern Ukraine. But Russian drones and missiles still hit here. Air raid sirens interrupt coffee dates and children’s soccer games. Funeral processions cut through wedding traffic. Entire neighborhoods live between moments of beauty and grief.

"We lost approximately 2,000 citizens of Lviv," Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview at city hall. "It is a very huge price which we pay to our independence, to our democracy."

Sadovyi has led the city for nearly two decades, except for a brief presidential run. Inside his office overlooking the historic center, he proudly points to the terrace where he has hosted world leaders and celebrities, including actor Tom Cruise. At one point, a large well-fed cat jumps onto his desk.

"This is my deputy," Sadovyi jokes. The cat, he explains proudly, has become something of a city mascot. "He’s tough like a Ukrainian."

But beneath the humor is exhaustion. Sadovyi says he realized at the beginning of the war that Lviv had a special responsibility. It was close enough to Europe to remain functioning, but close enough to war to understand what was at stake.

His answer was what he calls the "Unbroken" project: a sprawling rehabilitation and innovation effort aimed at helping Ukraine survive physically and psychologically.

The city built rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers and civilians arriving from across the country, treating amputees, burn victims and trauma patients. Sadovyi says the municipality also dedicated 20% of its budget to supporting defense technology companies developing military solutions for the war effort.

"Every family in this city was affected by war," he says. "We need to be strong. We need to survive. I’m building what is needed for that."

'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

Yet survival in Lviv is not only about weapons or hospitals. It is also about convincing people not to give up on life itself.

"People are afraid to come here," Sadovyi says. "But we need them to come."

One of the city’s newest projects reflects that mentality. Part school, part shooting range, part patriotic training center, it was designed to prepare civilians for a country where war has become everyday reality.

Inside one classroom, dozens of teenage girls sit listening to instructors explain emergency survival skills. Upstairs, at the indoor shooting range, instructor Vitaliy proudly shows off rows of American-made weapons including AR-15 style rifles and pistols.

"It’s not as big as ranges in the United States," he says apologetically.

On the wall hangs a shredded image of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, riddled with bullet holes from target practice.

Vitaliy laughs when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin posters.

"We ran out," he jokes. "They’re too popular. We can’t keep them."

On the terrace outside, two wounded veterans practice archery.

One sits in a wheelchair after losing both legs in the war. Another leans on a cane. Both have become competitive athletes through rehabilitation programs.

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

One proudly explains he won a silver medal during a national contest. The other recently took gold and is now preparing for an international championship. Neither wants to talk much about what happened to them during combat.

Their therapy now is sport.

Down the road, another funeral begins. A military convoy carrying the body of a 32-year-old soldier drives slowly through the city center until it arrives at the cemetery.

The city’s military cemetery filled so quickly that officials recently had to open a new burial ground just weeks ago. Already, rows of fresh graves stretch across the hillside, above them blue-and-yellow flags and photographs of young men and women smiling back from before the war.

The grieving brother at the funeral says the fallen soldier never had time to start his own family.

Around him, families kneel beside the earth.

And still, life continues.

Children go to school. Mothers rush to work. Cafés remain packed. Street musicians perform in the old town square.

That same evening, inside the Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet, hundreds gather for the "Miss Lviv" beauty pageant.

Young women dressed in glittering gowns pose beneath bright stage lights while music echoes through the theater. The audience is overwhelmingly female. Many of the men still in the city work in defense industries or hold exemptions from military service.

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The contrast feels surreal only hours after attending a military burial.

But for many residents, events like these are an act of resistance.

"We are trying to keep life going," the reigning Miss Lviv says backstage before crowning the next winner. "I want the war to stop."

One of her friends explains why gatherings like this matter.

"These are difficult times," she says. "Doing normal things like this gives us a reason to dress up and enjoy ourselves."

Nobody here believes anymore that peace can come in 24 hours. But many still hope that President Trump and the U.S. can help bring the war to an end.

By the time evening arrives, air raid sirens once again cut through the city.

At outdoor cafés, people barely react at first.

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Parents continue watching children play near fountains. Young couples finish drinks on restaurant terraces. Residents wait to hear whether the threat is "only" drones or actual missiles before deciding whether to move toward one of the hundreds of shelters spread throughout the city.

That frustration increasingly extends beyond the battlefield itself. Speaking to Fox News Digital while the latest wave of Russian strikes battered Ukrainian cities overnight, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Andriy Melnyk warned that the war was becoming even more dangerous for civilians.

Melnyk, a native of Lviv, described the massive Russian assault between Saturday and Sunday as "the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion."

Even members of his own family in Kyiv, he said, are now considering temporarily leaving the city because "it becomes unbearable to stay."

In Lviv, residents repeatedly ask to remind the world that the war is still intensifying, not fading into the background. Melnyk called on the United States and European allies to take "bold actions" to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged Western countries to provide additional air defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilians.

He also criticized the United Nations for failing to stop the war, arguing that Russia’s veto power had left the Security Council effectively paralyzed.

On the overnight train leaving Lviv, most passengers are women. Border guards spend long minutes questioning the few men onboard, making sure they are not trying to escape mandatory military service. 

The exhaustion is visible everywhere. Still, Sadovyi is full of hope.

"This city will have a great future," he says confidently.

He believes the world will eventually come to Lviv not only to rebuild, but to learn.

"To learn how to be unbroken," he says.

Because, he warns, what happened to Ukraine could happen elsewhere too.

LONDON, England — From Sudan to Gaza, civilians are desperate, hospitals are under attack, and the humanitarian aid system cannot keep up, according to a new report in the Lancet medical journal. 

"The humanitarian system is no longer fit for purpose, given the types of emergencies that we have and their magnitude," report co-author Dr. Paul Spiegel told Fox News. 

AS WORLD FIXATES ON OTHER WARS, SUDAN SEES 12 MILLION FORCIBLY DISPLACED IN DEVASTATING CONFLICT

A professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-chair of its Center for Humanitarian Health, Spiegel has decades of experience working in refugee camps and war zones around the world. "I've been doing this for well over 30 years," he said. "We're in a very dark time."

Highlighting one of the world’s largest disasters, Sudan's brutal civil war — where tens of millions of people are in need as hospitals close and famine spreads — the panel of experts behind the report says the world knows how to save lives, but that the system is failing to deliver. The experts' report, titled 'Health in a World of Crises and Impunity,' argues that some agencies are too bureaucratic, and others too slow. The whole system, they say, needs revamping.

The report argues the United Nations is in need of reform, while in the U.S. it highlights the Trump Administration's shuttering of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) over suspected fraud and abuse. 

During that restructuring, many of USAID's most vital programs were folded into the State Department, but the report calls USAID's closure a "shock" and "sudden," and part of a chain of decisions in the U.S. and elsewhere which it condemns as "a political and moral failure."

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"USAID needed to be restructured," Spiegel told Fox News. "The U.N. needs to be restructured in a very significant way. But it's how you do that.

"It is the strategy to make sure that you do it in such a way that vulnerable populations across the globe are not going to be hurt, and that it wasn't done like that."

The authors are pushing for major global reforms, including overhauling funding, sending aid directly to local communities, greater accountability if governments or armed groups block aid, and upholding healthcare as a basic human right.

"It's really a complete rebalancing," Spiegel said, "to make sure that the system actually works for the people it's intended to help."

President Masoud Pezeshkian invoked one of Iran’s strongest wartime symbols on May 24, signaling Tehran’s resolve to hold its ground against the U.S. and Israel across the region, a counterterrorism expert said.

The Iranian leader's remarks came at a key moment in diplomacy, as President Donald Trump said a deal with Tehran to end the war is "largely negotiated" and warned the U.S. would either sign "a great and meaningful" agreement or walk away entirely.

While Iran signaled broad agreement with Washington on some points, it said a final deal is not imminent and that negotiations over the remaining details are still underway.

IRAN’S TOP DIPLOMAT SAYS NATION’S POWER LIES IN DEFYING PRESSURE: ‘NO TO THE GREAT POWERS’

In an X post marking the anniversary of the 1982 recapture of Khorramshahr from Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War, Pezeshkian said, "Khorramshahr today is Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Hormuz," adding that "resistance, self-sacrifice, and repelling aggression are rooted in the culture of this land."

Analysts claimed Pezeshkian was deliberately invoking one of the deepest ideological touchstones of the Islamic Republic — the battle that came to symbolize national resistance, civilian sacrifice and defiance against invasion.

"This is the Iran-Iraq War reference, and the timing is the point," said Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

May 24 marks the anniversary of the 1982 liberation of Khorramshahr, the southwestern city Saddam Hussein captured early in the war and Iranian forces retook after months of brutal urban combat.

FROM HOSTAGE CRISIS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS: IRAN’S NEAR HALF-CENTURY WAR ON AMERICANS

"This is one of the Islamic Republic’s foundational mythological moments — civilian resistance, mass sacrifice, repelling an ‘aggressor army.’ Roughly what the Great Patriotic War is to Russia. The rhetorical move is the extension," Mohammed told Fox News Digital.

"He’s mapping the 1980-82 defensive-war frame onto the current confrontation: Iran attacked by an aggressor, ordinary citizens (‘battle-untested but brave’) expected to stand and fight, with ‘resistance, sacrifice, repelling aggression’ cast as the cultural default mode."

Some of the phrasing, Mohammed said, also evokes volunteer and Basij fighters versus a professional invading army. The analyst noted that Pezeshkian’s "Hormuz line" comment reflects a standard Iranian escalation tactic.

IRAN TO HOLD LIVE-FIRE DRILLS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ WITH US ARMADA IN MIDDLE EAST

"Invoking the strait inside a wartime-mobilization frame — even rhetorically — is a deliberate signal, not throat-clearing," he added.

"The Khorramshahr frame is the deepest register the regime has. It’s what they reach for to signal existential war, not a managed crisis."

Mohammed explained that Pezeshkian’s X post is framing the current confrontation from the presidential account to send a "high-stakes message."

"It’s also a tell on internal posture: Khorramshahr, in short, means ‘we are being invaded and we will not negotiate,’" he added.

Pope Leo unveiled the Vatican’s new encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," warning that artificial intelligence risks becoming a tool of "domination, exclusion and death" unless governments and institutions place moral limits on the rapidly developing technology.

The Vatican is formally entering the global debate over artificial intelligence as governments and tech companies race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems with limited international regulation.

The pontiff invoked Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical "Rerum Novarum," which addressed worker exploitation during the Industrial Revolution, arguing that AI represents a similarly transformative moment threatening human dignity.

"Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences," the Pope said.

UN REVISITS 'KILLER ROBOT' REGULATIONS AS CONCERNS ABOUT AI-CONTROLLED WEAPONS GROW

The pope warned about increasingly autonomous weapons systems that are beyond meaningful human control. He also said AI systems could block access to healthcare, employment and security because of biased data. He compared AI governance to nuclear arms control.

"Like nuclear energy, it must be at the service of all and of the common good," he said.

AI layoffs may be backfiring on companies

The pope said disarming AI alone is not enough and called on governments and institutions to "build" systems rooted in trust and human dignity. Recalling devastating floods in Peru, he said rebuilding means restoring trust and hope.

WHY A CLASSICAL EDUCATION MAY BE THE KEY TO HUMANITY’S FUTURE IN THE AI ERA

The pope also laid out the church’s broader argument about humanity and technology.

"The person bears within him- or herself a freedom, an interiority and a vocation to love and worship that no machine can replace," he said.

The Vatican is attempting to insert moral theology into a largely secular technological arms race.

"Stay awake," the pope urged, warning humanity not to surrender moral judgment to machines.

A Canadian teenager is facing arson charges after authorities say she torched a charter bus belonging to an American professional baseball team during a road trip to Winnipeg, Canada.

The Kane County Cougars, a U.S.-based independent professional baseball team, were traveling in Canada for games against the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

On May 21, law enforcement agencies responded to the team’s bus engulfed in flames outside Blue Cross Park, according to Winnipeg Police Service.

FEDS SAY ARIZONA SUSPECT VANDALIZED ICE FACILITY AND ATTEMPTED TO IGNITE LOBBY AREA

Authorities determined that the fire was intentionally set. Two teenagers were initially taken into custody. A 15-year-old girl has since been charged with arson causing damage to property and possession of incendiary material.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM EVACUATES BUS BEFORE IT GOES UP IN FLAMES ON HIGHWAY

The teen was later released into the custody of a responsible adult, police said.

"The entire bus and contents were destroyed," the Winnipeg Police Service said in a release.

AUSTIN POLICE ARREST 2 JUVENILES ALLEGEDLY LINKED TO 12 RANDOM SHOOTINGS INJURING 4 PEOPLE

"We are very disappointed that this could happen to our family-owned company, and the loss of this vehicle will impact our business and operations," Windstar operations manager Jackson Greteman told a CBC Lite.

"We are happy that no one was hurt in this reckless act of vandalism and are co-operating with local authorities," he added.

VIDEO SHOWS TEENS CARVING UP GOLF COURSE GREENS IN RECKLESS STUNT, POLICE SAY

Greteman said damage to the 56-seat bus and destroyed equipment is estimated at roughly $425,000.

Authorities have not publicly discussed a possible motive as the investigation continues.

At least 82 people were killed and more than 120 others hospitalized after a massive gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in China late Friday, according to the Associated Press (AP). Two people remained missing.

The catastrophic blast at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan County, located in China’s northern Shanxi province, marked the country’s deadliest mining disaster in recent years.

Local officials, who have launched an investigation into the incident, said they uncovered "serious violations" by the mine’s operator, Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group.

The explosion also triggered a wave of heightened safety inspections across China’s coal sector, tightening the supply outlook for coking coal and sending prices soaring Monday, according to Reuters.

EARTHQUAKE 50 MILES FROM MOUNT EVEREST LEAVES AT LEAST 95 DEAD IN TIBET

According to the AP, the explosion triggered a chaotic scene where thick smoke engulfed the mine and suffocated many victims underground.

One miner lost consciousness, while many others suffered from toxic gas exposure, the outlet added, citing state broadcaster CCTV.

The explosion has reportedly intensified scrutiny from Chinese officials, who said investigators found multiple violations at the site, though details remain unclear.

8 SKIERS FOUND DEAD, 1 MISSING AFTER MASSIVE LAKE TAHOE AVALANCHE

In 2024, China’s National Mine Safety Administration had previously classified the mine as disaster-prone due to its "high gas content," the AP reported.

State media also reported that blueprints provided by the mine did not match the site’s actual layout, complicating rescue operations, the outlet added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a full-scale effort to rescue those still missing and ordered a thorough investigation to hold those responsible accountable, the AP said, citing official Xinhua News Agency.

SIBANYE WORKERS BEGIN TO SURFACE AFTER ACCIDENT AT SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD MINE

The state-run outlet later reported that company officials connected to the disaster had been "placed under control," according to the AP.

China has suffered a string of deadly mining disasters in recent decades even as officials have pledged to strengthen oversight of the sector.

In 2023, at least 53 people were killed in Inner Mongolia following reports of a collapse at an open-pit mine.

In 2009, a reported explosion at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province left 108 people dead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

At least 23 people were killed and about 70 others wounded in a major attack Sunday morning after a suicide bomber targeted a passenger train in Pakistan, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The assault — in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Balochistan province — occurred when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a railway line as a passenger train passed, causing two train cars to overturn and catch fire. The region has long been the site of a low-level but persistent insurgency involving separatist and militant groups.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group fighting for the province’s secession from Pakistan, reportedly claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting a train carrying security personnel.

The Times of India reported that the train was carrying army personnel and family members traveling from Quetta to Peshawar for the Eid holidays; AP reported more generally that the BLA said it targeted a train carrying security personnel. The area is also known for having a strong security presence.

SUICIDE CAR BOMBER ATTACKS SCHOOL BUS IN PAKISTAN, KILLING AT LEAST 5 PEOPLE

The blast reportedly sent shockwaves through the area.

According to witness accounts and images circulating on social media, the force of the explosion caused two train cars to overturn and burst into flames, sending thick black smoke into the sky, The AP said. Nearby buildings were also heavily damaged, and more than a dozen parked vehicles were impacted, the outlet added.

Several victims were reportedly transported to local hospitals. Among the wounded, about 20 were reported to be in critical condition, according to doctors cited by The AP.

PHOTOS CAPTURE DEVASTATION AFTER CHILE TRUCK EXPLOSION KILLS AT LEAST 4, DAMAGES AT LEAST 50 VEHICLES

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, calling it a "cowardly act of terrorism" and saying that those responsible would be brought to justice.

"I strongly condemn the heinous bomb explosion near Chaman Phatak, Quetta, which has resulted in the tragic loss of innocent lives and left many others injured. Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan. We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said.

"I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and pray for the swift recovery of the injured. The entire nation stands in solidarity with the people of Balochistan in this hour of grief."

INDIA VOWS TO HUNT TERRORISTS ‘TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH’ AS TENSIONS WITH PAKISTAN RISE AFTER KASHMIR ATTACK

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti alleged that the group is supported by Indian-sponsored proxies aimed at destabilizing Pakistan. The two countries have long been locked in a bitter dispute over territorial claims in Kashmir, though India has consistently denied such accusations.

"The terrorists of Fitna Al-Hindustan are proving their savagery by targeting innocent civilians, women, and children," Bugti said, describing the group as "evil originating from India."

"Those who shed the blood of innocent people deserve no leniency. Let the enemy hear this: there will be no safe haven left for terrorists in Balochistan. We will hunt down the terrorists, their facilitators, and their masterminds one by one and bring them to justice, and this war will continue until the last terrorist is eliminated."

The BLA has increasingly carried out large-scale suicide operations targeting Pakistani security forces and infrastructure in Quetta, according to The Times of India.

In 2024, at least 26 people, including soldiers, were killed in a suicide bombing at a train station in Balochistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Intensifying leaks and tense phone calls between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting a relationship breakdown over Iran were part of a calculated strategic effort to keep Tehran guessing, a leading defense analyst told Fox News Digital on Sunday.

The public display, which projected American diplomatic patience while shutting out Jerusalem, covertly laid the groundwork for a unified front, he said.

The strategy culminated in a weekend synchronization phase, with Trump and Netanyahu showcasing total alignment by Sunday, suggested Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the Misgav Institute.

TRUMP, NETANYAHU TO MEET AT WHITE HOUSE IN HIGH-STAKES TALKS ON IRAN, GAZA PLAN

Axios had reported Thursday that a difficult call between the leaders focused on a revised U.S. proposal sent to Iran via Pakistan, which Netanyahu reportedly rejected in favor of renewed military action to degrade Tehran’s infrastructure.

One U.S. source told the outlet that "Netanyahu’s hair was on fire" after the exchange.

Separately, weekend reports suggested Israeli leaders were being marginalized from U.S.-Iran negotiations after Netanyahu’s prewar push for a joint campaign to topple the Iranian regime failed to materialize.

Netanyahu broke his silence Sunday, posting on X to declare absolute solidarity with the White House and project a unified stance.

IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER IS ‘HIS FATHER ON STEROIDS,’ EXPERTS WARN OF HARDLINE RULE

"The partnership between us and our two countries has been proven on the battlefield and has never been stronger," Netanyahu shared on X. "My policy, like President Trump’s, remains unchanged: Iran will not have nuclear weapons."

Michael viewed the public friction and targeted leaks as a calculated tactical feint designed to keep Tehran blindsided.

"Neither President Trump nor Prime Minister Netanyahu has any interest in any crisis, but by leaking the story of a crisis between Trump and Netanyahu, the Iranians might find themselves surprised by the timing of the next military attack," Michael said.

"The leak created a sense of disagreement between the two leaders and positions Trump as the leader who gives another chance to the diplomatic path despite the pressures of Prime Minister Netanyahu," he said. 

"Trump understands who the Iranians are."

The final synchronization followed a weekend phone call in which Trump reassured Netanyahu that any final agreement with Iran would fully dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program.

UN'S NUCLEAR WATCHDOG WARNS ITS UNABLE TO CONFIRM IRAN'S PROGRAM IS 'ENTIRELY PEACEFUL'

Netanyahu also said Trump also "reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon."

Washington has been keeping Jerusalem updated on the negotiations "over a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and enter negotiations toward a final agreement on the points that remain in dispute," an official statement read.

Following the Sunday call, Netanyahu also thanked Trump for his "exceptional commitment to Israel’s security."

"Netanyahu’s last post about his last conversation with Trump can be understood as the ultimate closure to this deception and any accusations," Michael added.

"This is trying to prepare the Israeli public for the idea that everything was fully coordinated with the U.S., and the diplomatic developments will serve the Israeli interest."

Michael added, however, that skepticism remained in Jerusalem over whether the gaps between the U.S. and Iran will be bridged, or whether "Trump will accept the Iranian position."

Maritime tracking transmissions collapsed near the UAE’s main oil hub, rattling Persian Gulf shipping hours before President Donald Trump announced progress was made on a bilateral peace deal with Iran, according to an AI maritime firm. 

Maritime intelligence firm Windward AI first detected the blackout in Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmissions near Fujairah, suggesting heightened electronic warfare, jamming, deliberate AIS shutdowns and intense cyber interference near the key UAE oil port.

"Fujairah goes dark: AIS transmissions collapse after Iran’s PGSA announcement," Windward warned in a post shared on X.

"Vessels are still in the area. They are loading less, and a meaningful number have gone dark," the firm said.

GULF SHIPPING OPERATIONS GRIND TO HALT NEAR IRAN, US QUIETLY PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE STRIKE: 'HEIGHTENED RISK'

As Trump announced that an Iran deal was "largely negotiated" and would see a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Fujairah went on to move 1.35 million barrels of crude Sunday aboard a single tanker bound for South Korea.

"Today, May 24, the port moved 1.35 million barrels, a single VLCC, destined for South Korea," Windward said before reporting a tense, ongoing "ceasefire posture" and blockade footprint quickly being set into place.

"One cargo doesn't mark a return to baseline, but it's the first signal of flow resuming out of Fujairah since the announcement," Windward said.

Ahead of the barrel transfer, Trump had stated that Washington and Tehran had "largely finalized" a memorandum of understanding for a peace agreement. He posted an AI-generated image depicting exploding IRGC fast boats in the strait.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN DEAL ‘LARGELY NEGOTIATED’ AS 84-DAY WAR NEARS POSSIBLE END

Iran responded directly by continuing to declare the strategic maritime choke point stays under Tehran’s absolute control.

"We reaffirm that the Strait of Hormuz will remain under full Iranian administration and sovereignty, even in the event of reaching any future agreement," Iran’s official military spokesperson, Ibrahim Al-Fiqar, said in a statement shared on X.

"The Islamic Republic emphasizes that the authorities to determine transit routes, timing, and issuance of maritime licenses are an absolute sovereign right exclusively in the hands of Tehran."

The tanker blackout, crude transfer activity and movement toward a U.S.-Iran deal accelerated following the launch of Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority on May 20.

Overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, the PGSA functions as a sovereign regulator by requiring ships to submit vessel, cargo, insurance and crew details — along with mandatory payments — for "safe passage" through the strait.

Regional analysts told Fox News Digital that, ahead of deal progression, Iran’s territorial claims had even been stretching beyond its own waters into areas tied to Oman and the UAE.

US EYES IRAN FAST BOATS WITH ‘KILL’ TACTICS TESTED IN VENEZUELA DRUG-BOAT STRIKES

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that enforcement "relies on the IRGC Navy’s asymmetric playbook."

"This includes fast boats, drones, radar tracking, coastal missiles and selective intimidation rather than constant physical interdiction," Vatanka said.

"Tehran wants Gulf states and major importers to gradually accept Iranian oversight of Hormuz as a new geopolitical reality," he added.

While nuclear issues are dominating the current negotiations amid reports of a 60-day ceasefire, the PGSA has quickly emerged as an economic leverage tool threatening global oil and shipping markets.

"Now Hormuz is Iran’s main non-nuclear leverage tool," Vatanka said as the PGSA he claimed gives Tehran a "mechanism to pressure rivals, favor allies and normalize IRGC oversight of one of the world’s most critical energy routes."

According to Vatanka, the system was functioning as a wartime extortion mechanism.

"Ships submit cargo and crew data for approval, while reports point to quiet ‘facilitation payments,’ preferential treatment for friendly states and uncertainty for everyone else," Vatanka warned.

"Iran keeps the penalties deliberately vague. Noncompliant ships risk delays, harassment, drone surveillance, IRGC interception or denial of safe passage — enough pressure to encourage compliance without outright closing the strait."

This is part three of a series examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance.

LVIV, Ukraine — Four years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials across NATO’s eastern flank increasingly believe the alliance’s future is already being rewritten on Ukraine’s battlefield.

From drone warfare and cyber defense to civilian resilience and large-scale military mobilization, Eastern European officials say Ukraine has become one of the world’s most battle-tested militaries, forcing NATO to rethink how future wars will be fought.

This week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been invited to attend the alliance’s annual summit in Ankara in July, underscoring how central Ukraine has become to NATO’s future despite not being a member of the alliance.

'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

"I think today the Ukrainian army is the number one army in Europe," Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview in the western Ukrainian city.

"I think NATO needs the Ukrainian army," he added.

The debate over NATO’s future intensified this week as alliance foreign ministers gathered in Sweden ahead of a major NATO summit in July, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the upcoming meeting "one of the more important leaders’ summits in the history of NATO."

Rubio warned NATO allies this week that the alliance lacks sufficient munitions production for future conflicts, a concern echoed by Ret. Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, who said the Pentagon is studying Ukraine’s rapid wartime industrial adaptation.

"A number of nations are taking a page out of Ukraine’s transformation of its defense industrial base, in terms of quality as well as the tremendous increase in quantity of arms to the frontlines as well," Newton said, adding, "The Pentagon is taking note and working to encourage the transformation of our own industrial base so we can drastically improve and more rapidly provide capabilities to our forces in the field, not in a matter of years but in months and perhaps even in weeks."

Rubio also referenced President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would maintain troop deployments in Poland after concerns earlier this week about possible reductions on NATO’s eastern flank.

AS TRUMP FORCES NATO TO PAY UP, ALLIANCE RACES TO CLOSE MILITARY GAP WITH US

Speaking before the NATO meeting, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski welcomed Trump’s announcement. "I want to thank President Trump for his announcement that the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels," Sikorski said.

"I think this makes Putin very uncomfortable."

Some note that the debate over NATO’s future comes with deep irony for Moscow.

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s central grievances before the invasion was NATO’s eastward expansion and Ukraine’s growing ambitions to move closer to the alliance. Moscow repeatedly demanded NATO roll back its military footprint to pre-1997 levels and opposed any future Ukrainian membership.

Instead, the invasion accelerated NATO’s expansion.

Finland formally joined NATO in 2023, ending decades of military nonalignment, while Sweden joined in 2024 after Russia’s invasion dramatically reshaped security calculations across northern Europe. Finland alone added more than 800 miles of direct NATO border with Russia.

Now officials in Poland and Ukraine say the war is not only expanding NATO geographically, but fundamentally transforming the alliance itself.

"For decades, NATO focused largely on expeditionary wars and counterterrorism," said Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski during an interview in Warsaw. "Modern warfare is mostly done by drones."

"There is not a military in the world which is better than Ukraine" in understanding today’s battlefield realities, he added.

US SCRAMBLES AS DRONES SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE OF WAR: 'THE FUTURE IS HERE'

Ret. Gen. Philip Breedlove, who served as NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said the war has fundamentally transformed how militaries around the world understand modern warfare.

"The war in Ukraine has changed far more than just NATO’s understanding of modern warfare — it has changed the whole world’s understanding," Breedlove told Fox News Digital.

Breedlove added that Ukraine’s military has evolved into "one of Europe’s most capable and formidable" forces after years of fighting Russia, despite having surrendered its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

UKRAINE MAKES FASTEST GAINS IN YEARS AS RUSSIA TALKS STALL, EXPLOITING CRACKS IN KREMLIN COMMAND

"Today, most agree that Ukraine is not only fighting, but winning back land against one of the world’s most formidable forces," he said.

That transformation is visible throughout Ukraine.

Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine had one of Eastern Europe’s largest IT sectors. Sadovyi said the war forced much of that technological ecosystem to pivot toward defense production.

"Before the invasion, we had in Kyiv a huge IT cluster, 40,000 workers," Lviv’s mayor said. "During the war, we rebuilt the IT cluster to defend cluster."

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

Ukraine now operates a rapidly expanding wartime innovation ecosystem focused on drones, anti-drone systems, battlefield communications and decentralized weapons production. NATO officials and European militaries are increasingly studying those lessons closely.

Breedlove says the conflict exposed the limits of traditional air power and accelerated the rise of drone warfare.

"It’s critical to remember that the war in Ukraine is being fundamentally fought without the support of modern air warfare because of the failures of the Russian Air Force," he said.

"It’s why drone warfare has grown so exponentially, because neither side was able to marshal true modern air capabilities."

The changes are also reshaping NATO strategy.

The Polish defense official Zalewski told Fox News Digital the Pentagon is now promoting what Polish officials describe as "NATO 3.0," a model in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for conventional defense as the United States shifts more attention toward China and the Indo-Pacific.

"The main assumption of this concept is that conventionally it would be Europe defending itself," he said.

EUROPE STEPS UP TO FUND ITS OWN DEFENSE, PROVIDE SECURITY FOR UKRAINE AFTER TRUMP THREATS

That shift comes as Poland dramatically increases military spending and positions itself as one of NATO’s leading military powers on the alliance’s eastern flank. Warsaw spent nearly 5% of GDP on defense this year, the highest level in NATO.

Polish officials argue the war proved Eastern Europe was right to take Russia’s threat seriously long before many Western European countries did.

"The eastern flank is much more powerful than even five years ago," Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki told Fox News Digital during reporting in Warsaw.

"We were right about the nature of Putin’s regime and Russia’s aggressive strategy."

Ukraine is not currently a NATO member, and the alliance has avoided offering Kyiv a concrete timeline for accession during the war out of concern it could trigger direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

But across Eastern Europe, officials increasingly argue the alliance’s future may depend on Ukraine regardless of formal membership.

China has deployed over 100 vessels in the waters surrounding Taiwan in the week following President Donald Trump's Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the secretary general of Taiwan's National Security Council said Saturday.

"Our ISR/intel shows that the PRC has deployed over 100 vessels around the 1st Island Chain over the past few days, so soon after the Beijing summit," Secretary General Joseph Wu wrote on X.

"In this part of the world, China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the Status Quo & threatening regional peace & stability," Wu concluded.

Wu posted a graphic appearing to show a high volume of Chinese vessel deployments in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and near Taiwan and The Philippines.

CHINA LAUNCHES LARGEST MILITARY DRILLS OFF TAIWAN IN 8 MONTHS WITH LIVE-FIRE EXERCISES CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Wu alerted the world to the ship deployments a little more than a week after Trump left Beijing and just days after Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao told U.S. lawmakers that the U.S. was temporarily pausing weapons shipments to Taiwan.

"Right now we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury," Cao testified during a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

U.S. lawmakers approved a $14 billion weapons package to be sold to Taiwan in January, though Trump has yet to sign off on it.

AS CHINA TENSIONS LOOM, US TEMPORARILY PAUSES TAIWAN WEAPONS SALES DUE TO IRAN WAR, ACTING NAVY SECRETARY SAYS

Taiwanese officials say they were not alerted to any potential pauses, according to The Associated Press.

Cao's pause announcement followed the Trump-Xi summit during which Chinese officials made clear that the Taiwan question is China's biggest issue in diplomatic relations with the United States.

"President Xi stressed to President Trump that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement after the Trump-Xi bilateral meeting.

"If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy," Ning concluded.

Fox News Digital contacted the White House, a representative for the Taiwanese government and the Chinese Foreign Ministry for additional comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert Saturday warning that a "potentially significant air attack" could hit the city in the next 24 hours.

The U.S. Mission Ukraine said in a statement, "The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next 24 hours."

"The embassy, as always, recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced," the warning added.

The message follows a warning from Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy that Russia was preparing to strike Ukraine with a hypersonic Oreshnik missile.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

LVIV, Ukraine: Exclusive — The same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that rain down Lviv in Ukraine nearly every night are now being hunted by weapons built just miles away — inside hidden factories where former students and office workers assemble kamikaze drones and interceptor systems around the clock.

What began as an improvised wartime effort has evolved into one of the world's fastest-growing military drone industries — one Ukrainian official says Kyiv now leads NATO in battlefield innovation and can offer hard-won lessons for the U.S. and Israel as they confront the same Iranian drone technology across the Gulf.

"Drone technology completely changed the situation in the frontline," Lviv Mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview, "Maybe in six months, maybe in one year, we will have technology to land 1,000 drones in one moment.

POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION

"If we will have more deep collaboration between Ukraine, the United States, Israel and Europe, we will prepare special equipment for our victory," he said.

Dmytro, CEO of a Ukrainian drone manufacturer producing roughly 1,000 drones a week, told Fox News Digital, "We are three or four steps ahead of other countries…this is a new kind of war," he said. "It is a war of IT technology."

Cheap drones now allow small battlefield units to identify and destroy tanks, armored vehicles and even sophisticated air defense systems that once required expensive missiles or fighter aircraft.

That transformation is visible throughout western Ukraine, where defense technology hubs, secret workshops and testing facilities now operate, while in the cities air raid sirens regularly interrupt daily life.

Inside the workshop Fox News Digital visited, workers moved rapidly between tables stacked with propellers, fiber-optic cable and other classified drone components. The workers say they no longer see themselves as civilians temporarily helping the war effort. Many now view drone production as essential to Ukraine’s survival.

Vitaliy, one of the technicians assembling kamikaze drones destined for the front line, said he now builds hundreds of drone components a day. "Targets will be vehicles, tanks, troopers, positions," he told Fox News Digital.

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

Referring to President Donald Trump's statement that he will end the war, Vitaliy said, "I feel honored because I’m helping my country to get peace much faster," Vitaliy added. "Peace through strength — this is our motivation. But it is mostly on us, for sure," he said.

Ukraine’s domestic drone production has expanded at a staggering pace. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhiy Boev said earlier this year the country aims to produce more than seven million drones in 2026, up from roughly four million in 2025.

From AI-assisted battlefield systems to drones resistant to Russian electronic warfare, Ukraine’s wartime innovations are exposing vulnerabilities in traditional Western military doctrine.

At another defense technology hub in Lviv, rows of interceptor drones, unmanned ground vehicles and remotely operated weapons systems fill a showroom demonstrating Ukraine’s rapidly evolving battlefield ecosystem.

"We have around 250 tech companies in the system," said Volodymyr Cherniuk, co-founder of Iron, a Ukrainian defense technology cluster.

Some drones are designed for reconnaissance. Others for evacuation, logistics or direct strike missions. One heavy-lift drone used for nighttime attacks has earned the nickname "Baba Yaga" from Russian troops, which Cherniuk translated as "boogeyman."

Another interceptor drone is designed specifically to hunt Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia uses in nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities.

UKRAINE’S 'SPIDER’S WEB' DRONE STRIKE BURNS OVER 40 RUSSIAN WARPLANES, MOSCOW CALLS IT 'TERRORIST ATTACK'

"They can go 300 kilometers per hour," Cherniuk said. "One hundred grams is enough to shut down a Shahed."

"We have a lot of Americans, Canadians, Europeans who come here and want our data, feedback from the front line," Dmytro said. 

As Fox News Digital reported from Lviv, air raid sirens repeatedly echoed across the city, a reminder that western Ukraine remains within reach of Russia’s expanding drone campaign.

Russia has dramatically escalated its aerial assaults in the recent week after the end of the short ceasefire, launching massive drone barrages targeting cities and logistical hubs across Ukraine, including areas near NATO territory close to the Polish border.

Ukraine has also increasingly demonstrated its ability to strike deep inside Russian territory with long-range drone attacks targeting areas around Moscow and Russian energy infrastructure.

But the evolving drone war has also increasingly spilled beyond Ukraine and Russia’s borders into NATO territory.

In recent weeks, drones linked to Ukrainian long-range strike operations entered the airspace of Baltic alliance members including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, triggering political fallout and renewed concerns about regional air defenses. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned after drones crashed near fuel storage facilities close to the Russian border.

Ukrainian and Baltic officials blamed Russian electronic warfare and GPS spoofing for redirecting the drones off course, arguing Moscow is increasingly using electronic warfare not only defensively, but also to create instability and political pressure inside NATO countries.

The incidents underscore how the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones Russia uses nightly against Ukrainian cities — and similar long-range drone technologies increasingly used by both sides — are reshaping modern warfare far beyond the battlefield itself.

An Ebola treatment center in the epicenter of the deadly outbreak in eastern Congo was set on fire Thursday after angry residents clashed with authorities over the body of a suspected victim.

Rwampara Hospital was attacked by local youths attempting to retrieve the body of a friend who had reportedly died of Ebola, a witness told The Associated Press.

"The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful," Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area, told the outlet. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation."

The AP reported that people broke into the center and set fire to objects inside. A reporter also witnessed what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim being burned inside the facility.

EBOLA OUTBREAK REPORTED IN AFRICAN COUNTRY — HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) said two tents used to treat Ebola patients were set on fire at the hospital. The organization said six people were receiving treatment for Ebola at the center.

Patrick Muyaya, a government spokesperson for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said medical care was continuing normally and all six patients were accounted for.

He called for calm while condemning violence against health facilities and medical staff.

WHO DECLARES EBOLA OUTBREAK IN CENTRAL AFRICA A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY AFTER 80 SUSPECTED DEATHS

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the individuals who burned the tents did not understand the protocols surrounding Ebola burials.

The incident underscored growing tensions between health officials enforcing strict Ebola containment measures and local customs surrounding funerals and burial rites.

"His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear," Mukendi said. "All bodies must be buried according to the regulations."

‘DISEASE X’ HAS KILLED DOZENS IN THE CONGO — HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MYSTERY ILLNESS

In its statement, ALIMA condemned the spread of "incorrect or unconfirmed information on social media and the internet," warning that misinformation could fuel fear and mistrust toward health facilities.

The violent clash comes as Congolese health officials reported 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected Ebola cases across two provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The United Nations said earlier this week that neighboring Uganda had reported two cases, including one death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency Sunday, and the U.S. issued an urgent travel warning for the DRC shortly afterward.

US ISSUES URGENT TRAVEL WARNING AS DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK SPREADS OVERSEAS

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this week he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic."

Officials said the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rarer variant for which existing vaccines may be less effective.

Nearly $4 million in emergency funding has been approved by the WHO to support national authorities responding to the outbreak.

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The United States has arrested the sister of the executive president of GAESA, a sprawling conglomerate of military-run businesses in Cuba, due to her alleged ties to the communist regime.

GAESA has been cited for reportedly diverting millions in aid meant for the Cuban people "at the behest of the regime," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Thursday.

Adys Lastres Morera was taken into ICE custody after the State Department revoked her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, according to Rubio.

Morera, who was managing real estate assets while living in Florida, reportedly aided Havana’s communist government, officials said.

ALLEGED MEMBER OF CUBA'S MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR ARRESTED BY ICE AGENTS IN MIAMI

Her status termination was carried out at Rubio’s discretion. Morera entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2023, Reuters reported. 

"Today, Adys Lastres Morera, a Cuban national with ties to the communist regime in Havana, was arrested following the Department of State’s termination of her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, at my direction," Rubio said.

RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND

Morera is the older sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month for her role as executive president of GAESA.  

GAESA has been described by officials as an exploitative communist entity that siphons resources from the Cuban population.

"While the Cuban people suffer from the collapse of Cuba’s non-functioning communist economy, GAESA functions to allow a small circle of regime elites to plunder all the remaining resources of the island, squirreling away as much as $20 billion in illicit funds away in hidden overseas bank accounts," Rubio said. 

He added that Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, as a senior executive, is responsible for managing international assets allegedly used to fund the "lavish lifestyles" of the Castro-era elite, as well as supporting efforts tied to broader ideological influence abroad.

Rubio also pointed to worsening conditions inside Cuba, including widespread blackouts and severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, arguing that GAESA is diverting resources away from basic needs under the communist system.

"GAESA’s ill-gotten riches are not spent on repairing the collapsing power grid, stocking empty pharmacies, feeding hungry families, or providing for the most basic and essential needs of the Cuban people. Instead, they are used to enrich Havana’s elites and underwrite their ongoing campaign of espionage, subversion, and revolutionary militancy against the free peoples of this hemisphere," he said. 

A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day this week, as critics warn the world’s tallest peak is becoming dangerously overcrowded with thrill-seekers willing to pay $15,000 for a shot at the top.

The surge shattered the previous Nepali record of 223 climbers set in 2019, Rishi Bhandari, secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, told Reuters on Thursday.

"This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far," Bhandari said, adding that the final summit total could rise even further as some climbers had not yet officially reported their successful ascents.

Nepal has already issued 494 Everest climbing permits this season, each costing climbers $15,000.

EXTREME TRAVEL DESTINATION TO RESTRICT POPULAR MOUNTAIN ACCESS

Climbers this year are ascending only from the Nepal side of Everest because China reportedly did not issue permits for expeditions from the Tibetan side.

Mountaineering experts have long criticized Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on Everest, warning that overcrowding can create life-threatening bottlenecks high on the mountain in Everest’s deadly "death zone," where oxygen levels plunge to dangerously low levels.

LEGENDARY MOUNTAINEER JIM WHITTAKER, FIRST AMERICAN TO SUMMIT EVEREST, DEAD AT 97

Nepal has attempted to respond to safety concerns in recent years by tightening rules and increasing fees for climbers, though some expedition leaders have defended the high number of climbers.

"If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem," expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told the outlet. "We have mountains in the Alps like the Zugspitze where we have 4,000 persons on top per day. So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger."