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Category: World News

First American hostage to be released from Gaza, Hamas says

American-Israeli Keith Siegel is set to be released on Saturday as part of Israel and Hamas’ ceasefire deal. He is the first of the American citizens taken on Oct. 7, 2023 to be released by the terror organization as part of this ceasefire deal.

Siegel and his wife, Aviva, were taken captive during Hamas’ brutal surprise attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. In November 2023, Aviva was released from Hamas captivity as part of a ceasefire and hostage deal early in the war.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 31, 2025
An Iraqi man who carried out Quran burnings in Sweden is killed in a shooting

An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden has been killed in a shooting near Stockholm, authorities said Thursday.

Salwan Momika, 38, staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the Quran burnings got worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.

THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS RALLY ACROSS IRAQ FOR A 2ND DAY TO CONDEMN THE BURNING OF A QURAN IN SWEDEN

The Stockholm District Court said a verdict scheduled Thursday in a trial in which Momika was a defendant was postponed because one of the defendants had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lundahl, confirmed that the deceased was Momika. He said he didn’t have any information on when or how Momika died.

Salwan Momika speaks in Malmö, Sweden, Sept. 30, 2023. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)

Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night at an apartment building in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds who later died.

Broadcaster SVT reported that the victim was Momika.

Prosecutors said five people were arrested overnight on suspicion of murder. They said all were adults but gave no further details.

Prosecutor Rasmus Öman said the investigation is still in its early stages and that the suspects and others still have to be questioned.

Momika came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021, according to SVT.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden’s security service was involved because “there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power,” Swedish news agency TT reported.

Momika argued that his protests targeted the religion of Islam, not Muslim people. He said he wanted to protect Sweden’s population from the messages of the Quran. Swedish police allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech, while filing charges against him.

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Last March, he was arrested in neighboring Norway after stating that he would seek asylum there, and was sent back to Sweden, TT reported.

Momika and a co-defendant were charged in August with incitement to hatred because of statements they made in connection with the Quran burnings. A verdict was supposed to be handed down on Thursday morning.

January 30, 2025
Caribbean nation of St Kitts launches investigation after 19 people found dead in drifting vessel

Authorities in the eastern Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis said Thursday they are investigating the circumstances that led to the discovery of at least 19 bodies found drifting at sea.

CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS FROM ACROSS US SUE AFTER WORKER SENTENCED FOR PLACING HIDDEN CAMERAS IN GUEST ROOMS

At around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday the St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard responded to a report of a drifting vessel off the coast of Nevis. The partially submerged boat contained decomposed human remains. It was towed to St. Kitts, where police and medical officials are conducting investigations.

The St. Kitts And Nevis Flag is pictured. (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“It was a fishing vessel, which is not typically found in the Caribbean,” Police Commissioner James Sutton told The Associated Press. “We are not certain, but we believe that this vessel originated off the West African coast.”

Sutton said officials now face the difficult task of determining the exact number of bodies and identifying them. The advanced state of decomposition, he said, has made it difficult.

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This is the first such discovery in recent memory in the twin-island nation.

January 30, 2025
Netanyahu furious about chaotic handover of Israeli hostages from Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped the hammer in response to what he described as “shocking scenes” when terrorists released hostages on Thursday.

Terrorists released Israeli and Thai hostages on Thursday, but Israeli President Isaac Herzog noted in a post on X that “the scenes of abuse and terror towards the hostages as they were transferred to the Red Cross were horrifying …”

Netanyahu responded by ordering a delay in the planned release of terrorists, demanding assurance regarding the release of hostages, but the prime minister’s office later indicated that the demand had been satisfied.

THIRD ROUND OF HOSTAGE RELEASES BEGINS AS PART OF HAMAS’ GAZA CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Defense Minister Israel Katz, has ordered that the release of the terrorists slated to be released today be delayed until the safe exit of our hostages in the next phases is assured. Israel demands that the mediators see to this,” the office noted on X.

But it later seemed to indicate that the issue had been resolved, stating, “Pursuant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand, the mediators have conveyed a commitment, according to which the safe exit of our hostages who are due to be released in the next phases has been assured.” It added, “Israel insists that the lessons be learned and that strict care be taken in the next phases regarding the safe return of our hostages.”

Netanyahu had indicated there were “shocking scenes” when the hostages were released.

ISRAEL ORDERS UNRWA TO CEASE OPERATIONS IN COUNTRY OVER TERROR TIES: ‘MISERABLY FAILED IN ITS MANDATE’

“I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages. This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization,” Netanyahu noted, according to the prime minister’s office. “I demand that the mediators make certain that such terrible scenes do not recur, and guarantee the safety of our hostages. Whoever dares to harm our hostages will pay the price.”

Terrorists perpetrated a heinous attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, slaughtering, kidnapping, and raping victims.

Israel responded by launching a war effort to wipe out Hamas.

FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: TRUMP MOVES TO DEPORT HAMAS-SYMPATHIZING STUDENTS

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The release of hostages on Thursday came amid a ceasefire agreement.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

January 30, 2025
Moment IDF soldier is reunited with family seen on video

After 482 days in Hamas captivity, Agam Berger, one of the IDF soldiers kidnapped from an observation base during the Oct. 7 attacks, was reunited with her family in Israel. Berger was the last of the soldiers kidnapped from Nahal Oz base to remain in Hamas captivity.

In a video released by the IDF, Berger’s parents were seen rejoicing as they watched their daughter being greeted by Israeli forces prior to their own reunion with her.

Berger’s emotional reunion with her parents was also captured on video and released by the IDF.

“We’re here, and we will not leave you ever again,” Berger’s mother said, hugging her daughter. “It’s a mother’s promise.”

Former Hamas hostage Agam Berger is reunited with her family. (Courtesy: IDF)

THIRD ROUND OF HOSTAGE RELEASES BEGINS AS PART OF HAMAS’ GAZA CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

Upon her return, Berger’s family celebrated the return of their “strong, faithful and brave” daughter, saying that they “can begin the healing process, but the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home.”

Former Hamas hostages Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa and Karina Ariev watch as fellow hostage Agam Berger is released. (Courtesy: IDF)

The soldiers who were kidnapped alongside Berger, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa and Karina Ariev watched from Rabin Medical Center as Berger was released. The five of them were taken hostage together, and Hamas released the other four were released last Saturday as part of Israel and Hamas’ ceasefire deal.

Former Hamas hostage Agam Berger is reunited with the other IDF soldiers who were kidnapped alongside her on Oct. 7, 2023. (Courtesy: IDF)

Berger was one of seven hostages released on Thursday, including Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Moses, Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum celebrated their release in a statement, saying it brought “hope” and showed “the triumph of the human spirit,” while noting that “there are still 82 hostages held in Gaza that need to be saved.” The organization also thanked President Donald Trump, saying his “instrumental efforts made this deal possible.”

Additionally, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum also expressed concern over the “harrowing images” of the hostages’ transfers to the Red Cross.

“After 482 days of unimaginable terror and suffering, these individuals—who have already endured the unthinkable—must not be subjected to further danger,” the statement read. “This process, marked by cruelty and disregard for human dignity, must be unequivocally condemned. In these critical moments, every effort must be made to ensure their protection and immediate reunification with their loved ones.”

STATE DEPT PULLS MILLIONS IN FUNDING FOR ‘CONDOMS IN GAZA,’ AS TRUMP ADMIN LOOKS TO TRIM SPENDING

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement about the “shocking scenes during the release of the hostages.”

“I see with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “This is another proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the terrorist organization Hamas. I demand from the mediators to make sure that such threats will not happen again, and to guarantee the safety of our hostages. Whoever dares to harm our hostages – blood on his head.”

Hostages released in the latest ceasefire deal have been seen surrounded by terrorists and large crowds as they make their way to the Red Cross to be taken back home to Israel.

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After the videos and images of the chaotic scenes became public, Netanyahu demanded that hostages be guaranteed a safe exit in the future and delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners until his demand was met. Mediators eventually made a commitment to ensure the safe transfer of hostages in future releases.

On Monday, Israel began allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed part of the territory, and hundreds of thousands streamed back. Many found only mounds of rubble where their homes had been.

In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that eight of the hostages to be released in this phase are dead.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 30, 2025
Third round of hostages to be released as part of Gaza ceasefire agreement

Hamas began a third round of freeing hostages in Gaza Thursday as part of an ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Hamas handed female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, to the Red Cross at a ceremony in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. She was later transferred to the Israel Defense Forces.

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE DETAILS HORRORS OF CAPTIVITY, CREDITS KIDNAPPED IDF SOLDIER WITH SAVING HER LIFE

Agam Berger, 19 (Courtesy: Bring Them Home Now)

Another ceremony was planned in the southern city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Both were attended by hundreds of people, including masked militants and onlookers.

YARDEN GONEN: THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, FOR RESCUING MY SISTER FROM HAMAS

Hamas has agreed to handover three Israelis and five Thai captives on Thursday. In exchange, Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli forces monitor activity in the Gaza strip. (IDF)

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

January 30, 2025
British woman uses wigs, disguises to take citizenship tests, officials say

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A British woman is accused of disguising herself to pose as at least 14 people while taking citizenship tests in the United Kingdom.

The unnamed 61-year-old woman used an array of wigs and disguises to impersonate male and female applicants, the U.K. Home Office said.

“These fraudsters lead to people wrongly being granted the right to remain, putting the public at risk,” the agency said on social media.

ELON MUSK DEMANDS UK ACT ON GROOMING GANG SCANDAL AMID GROWING CALLS FOR PROBE

A woman allegedly used wigs and disguises to take citizenship tests for at least 14 people in the United Kingdom. (UK Home Office)

During her arrest, Immigration Enforcement officers seized several false documents and the wigs, which were believed to have been used in the scheme.

She is believed to have carried out the scheme at multiple test centers across the United Kingdom between June 2022 and August 2023, authorities said.

BRITAIN HIT BY ANOTHER ASIAN GROOMING GANG SCANDAL AS REPORT EXPOSES CHILD SEX ABUSE IN MANCHESTER

The UK Home Office citizenship test is based on 24 multiple choice questions. (Getty Images)

Immigration enforcement criminal and financial investigation inspector Phillip Parr said a “complex investigation” had “put a stop to this dangerous scheme,” Sky News reported.

“This individual is believed to have orchestrated a pre-meditated plan to avoid detection, meticulously selecting disguises and test center locations across the country to evade the authorities,” he told the outlet.

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The Life in the UK Test, a requirement for anyone seeking to obtain indefinite leave to remain or to become a British citizen, consists of 24 questions aimed at proving the applicant has sufficient knowledge of British values, history and society, the BBC reported.

January 29, 2025
Passenger plane catches fire at South Korean airport. All 176 people on board are evacuated

A passenger plane caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea late Tuesday, but all 176 people on board were safely evacuated, authorities said.

The Airbus plane operated by South Korean airline Air Busan was preparing to leave for Hong Kong when its rear parts caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the southeast, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

AIRLINER’S FINAL 4 MINUTES OF RECORDINGS ARE MISSING AFTER CRASH THAT KILLED 179: INVESTIGATORS

The plane’s 169 passengers, six crewmembers and one engineer were evacuated using an escape slide, the ministry said.

The National Fire Agency said in a release that three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. The fire agency said the fire was completely put out at 11:31 p.m., about one hour after it deployed firefighters and fire trucks at the scene.

Mayor of Busan Park Heong-joon and other officials visit the site where an Air Busan airplane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Son Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known. The Transport Ministry said the plane is an A321 model.

Tuesday’s incident came a month after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. It was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

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The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airport’s runaway on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. The flight was returning from Bangkok and all of the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.

The first report on the crash released Monday said authorities have confirmed traces of bird strikes in the plane’s engines, though officials haven’t determined the cause of the accident.

January 29, 2025
French President Macron’s plan for new Notre Dame windows face backlash

French President Emmanuel Macron’s desire to be immortalized in the windows of the restored Notre Dame Cathedral may be shattered as his plans for contemporary designs face furious opposition.

Macron’s plan involves replacing the large windows of six side-chapels in the south aisle of Notre Dame’s nave with contemporary designs in yellow, pink and green stained-glass, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The president’s aides have said the redesign is to remind future generations of the 2019 fire that engulfed the medieval structure, according to the outlet.

The plan, however, has been met with backlash as art historians and architects argue the harmony in the cathedral’s design is at risk should more modern windows be installed.

NOTRE DAME HOSTS FIRST MASS SINCE 2019 FIRE, DRAWING CROWDS BY THE THOUSANDS

Macron is seeking to leave his mark on the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with redesigned, contemporary stained-glass windows. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

France’s National Heritage and Architecture Commission unanimously voted in July against Macron’s proposal, prompting one artist in the running to design the new stained-glass windows to drop out of the competition.

“When I read that, I said, ‘We’re stopping everything,’” Pascal Convert, 67, told the outlet.

Windows in the heart of Notre Dame are seen on Nov. 28, 2024. (AP/Stephane de Sakutin)

Claire Smith, a professor of archeology at Flinders University Australia, told the outlet that Macron was “inserting himself” into the cathedral in an “opportunistic and self-aggrandizing” way.

FIRST LOOK AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL’S RESTORED INTERIOR FIVE YEARS AFTER DEVASTATING FIRE

Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of France’s opposition party, wrote on X last month that “a leader can’t sully, this priceless heritage on a whim,” referring to the window controversy.

The nave of Notre Dame Cathedral is seen on Nov. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP/Stephane de Sakutin)

Macron’s plan is expected to be opposed through France’s court system.

The cathedral reopened last month in Paris with an opening ceremony attended by then-President-elect Donald Trump, then-First Lady Jill Biden, Prince William and other notable figures.

The restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. (Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed during the inferno.

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Nearly $1 billion in donations were raised to rebuild Notre Dame in the days following the fire.

January 29, 2025
Former Hamas hostage details horrors of captivity, credits kidnapped IDF soldier with saving her life

Former Hamas hostage Amit Soussana is sharing more details about her time in captivity, and she says there was another hostage who was instrumental in her survival. Liri Albag, one of the IDF soldiers who was kidnapped on Oct. 7, “saved” Soussana.

Speaking on Israeli TV, Soussana recalled her captors tying her up and beating her, demanding that she admit to being in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Soussana says her hands and feet were bound, and she was beaten with a stick before one of the captors pointed a gun at her and said, “You have 40 minutes to tell us the truth, or else I kill you.”

Amit Soussana was released after 55 days of hell in a hostage deal. (Getty Images)

ISRAELI WOMAN BRAVELY DESCRIBES HORROR AS HAMAS HOSTAGE: ‘THEY WERE TAKING PLEASURE IN HURTING ME’

Fellow hostage Albag was apparently able to convince their captors that Soussana was not in fact in the military. Soussana who calls Albag “something special, a force,” believes this act saved her life.

“I told her when she came back: ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life,” Soussana said in the interview.

Released Israeli hostage Liri Albag, a soldier who was kidnapped from her army base during Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, embraces loved ones after being released, in an unknown location, in a handout photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)

Hamas terrorists kidnapped Soussana from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the brutal Oct. 7 attacks. She was forced to walk barefoot in pajamas from her burning house to the Gaza border, being beaten along the way. Soussana fought her kidnappers in what was called “the battle of my life,” trying to stall them in hopes that the IDF would rescue her before she was dragged into Gaza.

Soussana was released from Gaza in November 2023 after 55 days in captivity as part of Israel’s first hostage deal with Hamas.

UN FINALLY RECOGNIZES THAT ISRAELI WOMEN WERE RAPED, SEXUALLY ATTACKED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS

In March 2024, Soussana became the first Israeli woman to speak publicly about being sexually assaulted while in Hamas captivity. She recalled the horrifying incident in an interview with The New York Times. Soussana later testified before the UN Security Council in October 2024 about her experience.

Amit Soussana spoke before the UN on Wednesday, sharing her harrowing experience as a hostage. Hamas terrorists abducted her on Oct. 7, 2023. (UNTV)

During her captivity, Soussana was chained by her ankle, unable to move. “I had to ask for permission to use the bathroom,” she explained, detailing her experience. “In that house, I was sexually assaulted by the Hamas terrorist who had guarded me.”

She described the assault, saying, “He forced me to go to the shower and entered the room, pointed his gun at me. He was breathing heavily and had a monstrous beast-like face.” She recalled his intrusive questioning while he sat next to her in his underwear, lifting her shirt and touching her. “I knew exactly what he was planning to do, and yet I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. I was utterly helpless.”

Soussana said that after the assault she was not “allowed to cry or to be sad.” She recalled feeling isolated and being “forced to act nice to the person who had just sexually assaulted me.”

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Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a deadly war for over 15 months following the terror group’s devastating surprise attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas is expected to release Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud and 80-year-old Gadi Moses on Jan. 30 as part of the current ceasefire deal with Israel.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 29, 2025