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Stanford University was caught red-handed using artificial intelligence to alter an image promoting its residential and dining offerings, replacing a Hispanic male student with a Black woman.

The Stanford Review posted the original dining-hall photo — which shows an Asian woman, a White man and a Hispanic student — alongside the altered version on X.

“We have reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of university policy. Stanford’s AI policy  is clear: The use of AI in producing or altering images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities, or achievements is strictly prohibited,” a spokesperson for Stanford University said in a email to Fox News Digital.

“Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy. We are working with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training and ensure proper review of all materials,” the spokesperson continued.

KEY TRUMP AGENCY PUTS TOP UNIVERSITIES IN CROSSHAIRS OVER ALLEGED RACE-BASED DORM PROGRAMS

Billy Ramirez, who was removed from the photo, told the Stanford Review that he was “baffled” when he saw that he was cut out of the photo.

“At first, I found it hilarious that they had used AI to completely change our appearances, including my race and gender,” Ramirez told the Stanford Review.

“But after looking at the comparison, I was also upset because I don’t agree with Stanford making those choices about how we were represented,” Ramirez continued. “Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me.”

“Our reporting highlights the need for universities to abandon not just the practice of DEI but the hyper-fixation on the appearance of diversity,” the Stanford Review told Fox News Digital.

In addition to removing Ramirez from the photo, the appearances of the two students were also altered, making the Asian woman and White man’s faces thinner.

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY HIT WITH FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION OVER RACE, SEX-BASED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

The controversy comes as Stanford faces scrutiny from the Trump administration over alleged race-based discrimination in both its admissions policies and a teacher-certification support program.

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In April, the Trump administration opened a civil-rights investigation into Stanford over allegations that a teacher-certification program reserved full financial support for educators who identified as people of color. The Education Department said it is examining whether the program violated Title VI by conditioning access to benefits on race.

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And in March 2025, the Justice Department launched an investigation into Stanford along with several other universities over whether it was using diversity, equity and inclusion in admission decisions. The outcome of the Stanford admissions review has not been publicly announced.

FIRST ON FOX — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is moving to restrict visas to individuals who “engage in or facilitate” birth tourism hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States for a state visit, Fox News Digital has learned.

“By restricting visa issuance of those who both engage in and profit from this fraud, we are sending a clear message: The United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of U.S. citizenship,” a statement from Rubio obtained by Fox News Digital states.

The restrictions target foreigners who “knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism,” including non-citizens who work in the birth tourism industry, so-called fixers who coach visa applicants to commit fraud, as well as others “who support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism.”

BIRTH TOURISM FIGHT SHIFTS TO US ‘TROPICAL MATERNITY WARD’ WITH HISTORY OF CHINESE EXPLOITATION

Birth tourism is the practice of traveling to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth so the child obtains U.S. citizenship. China has been a particular focus of federal efforts to combat the practice, with Justice Department cases targeting large-scale birth tourism operations catering predominantly to Chinese clients. Chinese nationals have traveled to clinics on the West Coast and to Saipan — part of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — to give birth.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who chairs a House Oversight task force investigating birth tourism, has also singled out China and Russia in raising concerns about the practice.

China could also stand to gain from a reduction in birth tourism as the country faces a steep demographic decline. Young people leaving for the United States, a process made much easier if they’re already citizens, could exacerbate China’s troubles on that front.

TRUMP’S TOUGHER ROUND-TWO BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP STRATEGY HINGES ON KEY LEGAL DISTINCTION, EXPERTS SAY

Cracking down on birth tourism has been a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. Alongside countering birth tourism, the Trump administration has also unsuccessfully sought to overturn birthright citizenship as part of its push to address what it feels are abuses of the American system.

After the Supreme Court struck down the federal government’s initial attempt to do away with birthright citizenship, President Donald Trump issued two follow-up executive orders. One sought to deny citizenship to children born to members of designated terrorist organizations and the other directed the State Department to deny travel visas to or pursue removal actions against individuals believed to be in the country for the purposes of birth tourism.

AMERICA AND CHINA ARE FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE OF AI — CHIPS ARE THE BATTLEFIELD

“The Trump Administration is using every tool at our disposal to defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, protect American public benefits and U.S. taxpayers from exploitation, and safeguard our national security,” Rubio said in his statement.

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Xi arrives Wednesday evening for a tense White House summit with Trump covering AI, tariffs, rare earth minerals and fentanyl exports.

President Donald Trump plans to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Dr. Youlin Chen, the man’s family told Fox News after his wife and the wife of another detainee spoke exclusively to “Fox & Friends” Wednesday.

The wives of two wrongfully detained Americans in China made a plea for Trump to intervene in their husbands’ detention during an interview with Fox News senior foreign correspondent Gillian Turner.

Yugang Rong and Sylvia Zin implored Trump to intervene in the cases of their husbands, Chen, a seismic and nuclear researcher, and Min Zin, a scholar with a focus on Myanmar, respectively. The pair are the only two U.S. citizens in China that have been designated by the U.S. State Department as wrongfully detained.

CHINA’S XI SET TO ARRIVE IN WASHINGTON FOR HIGH-STAKES TRUMP SUMMIT AS AI SUPREMACY BATTLE LOOMS LARGE

“My husband is an American citizen. He is the father of my son and we terribly miss him,” Rong told Turner.

Chen was taken from outside the Beijing airport by Chinese agents in November 2024, according to a website dedicated to his release.

After Chinese agents took him, they reportedly seized his cellphone, iPad, laptop and cameras and repeatedly logged onto his email accounts and accessed his devices.

His wife believes he was taken because of his seismic research into nuclear activity.

“It’s his research work. He has been doing a lot of research on how to monitor nuclear tests,” she told “Fox & Friends.”

His research, according to the website, “focuses on the Earth’s crustal structures in Asia using regional earthquake data, including data sourced from and in collaboration with earthquake scientists in China.”

In one of his publicly available reports he used geophysical research methods to detect North Korean nuclear tests.

China charged Chen with espionage, but he has yet to receive a trial despite over two years of imprisonment. He has not been allowed any contact with his family.

DAUGHTER OF DETAINED CHINESE PASTOR SAYS SHE HAS ‘HOPE’ AFTER LEARNING TRUMP MAY RAISE CASE WITH XI JINPING

Sylvia Zin, meanwhile, does not understand why her husband, whose research focuses on military government and Chinese-Myanmar relations, was taken.

“Unlike Dr. Chen, I really have no idea why, what in his research that they would be interested in. He is an open source researcher, and all of his work is published on their website,” Zin told Turner.

MY FATHER IS A PASTOR, IMPRISONED IN CHINA. PRESIDENT TRUMP, PLEASE SAVE HIM

Both women made a plea to the president to intervene.

“At this point, I think the president is the only person who can move ahead in this case and bring him home,” Zin said.

PASTOR FREED FROM CHINESE PRISON AFTER TRUMP RAISED HIS CASE WITH XI JINPING

Both Zin and Rong said they were hopeful that Trump would bring their husbands home.

“President Trump has done a lot for us. He has personally been involved in this case. I know whenever he [gets] personally involved in cases, Americans come home,” Rong said.

US MARINE VETERAN RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON AFTER 1,666 DAYS OF DETENTION

The Trump administration has succeeded in securing the freedom of 83 U.S. nationals detained abroad in the past year, according to a report from the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.

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Fox News’ Gillian Turner contributed to this report.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Missouri redistricting case for a third time after Justice Brett Kavanaugh accepted a request to intervene in the case once again Tuesday night.

The divisive redistricting map drawn in 2025 would grant Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives if it is put in place ahead of the 2026 elections. A federal judge in Missouri ruled in favor of the 2025 map last month, but the Supreme Court put a stay on that ruling just two weeks ago.

Opponents of the map issued an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court late Tuesday night after the St. Louis-based Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the new map on Monday.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT ORDERS MISSOURI TO USE CONGRESSIONAL MAP REJECTED TWICE BY SUPREME COURT

Kavanaugh handles emergency requests for the state of Missouri and directed supporters of the new map to respond to the appeal by Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.

The development is the latest in a roller-coaster ride of legal decisions that have seen the new map fly up and down between federal and state courts, the Supreme Court and the Missouri Supreme Court.

ELECTION CHAOS IN THIS RED STATE JUST GOT EVEN STRANGER FOR REPUBLICANS AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING

The case began when Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition for the 2025 map to be placed on the ballot for a vote in 2026. Instead, the new map was used to determine congressional districts for the state’s primary elections.

The Democratic group behind the petition, People Not Politicians, asked a state court to intervene, saying the group’s petition of 300,000 signatures should have triggered a referendum on the new map under Missouri’s constitution. The Missouri Supreme Court agreed, writing that the 2025 map cannot go into effect “unless and until approved by the voters at the November 2026 general election.”

MISSOURI HIGH COURT BLOCKS GOP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS; TRUMP BLASTS ‘RIDICULOUS’ RULING

Hoskins then appealed the case to the Supreme Court, but Kavanaugh declined to hear his request on Sept. 4.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates who won primary elections based on the 2025 maps brought up a separate case in federal court, arguing that if the general election takes place under the 2022 map their districts would be very different from the primary maps. Many general election voters, they noted, would also be presented with options they had no role in voting for during the primaries.

SUPREME COURT AGAIN BLOCKS MISSOURI FROM USING TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS

Eighth Circuit Judge Stephen R. Clark ruled in favor of those candidates and issued an order requiring that the 2025 maps be used in this year’s elections, effectively contradicting the state Supreme Court.

This time, People Not Politicians asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, and Kavanaugh agreed. The court issued an unsigned order blocking Clark’s order until the Eighth Circuit issued a formal ruling in the case. The Eighth Circuit then fast-tracked the case and ruled in favor of the 2025 map.

MISSOURI SUPREME COURT THREATENS SECRETARY OF STATE WITH CONTEMPT AMID INTENSIFYING REDISTRICTING BATTLE

People Not Politicians filed their latest request for an intervention on Tuesday night, arguing that the court’s ruling against the new map was still in effect, and pointing to statements from Missouri election officials saying it is too late to change what maps are used in the upcoming elections.

The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities already announced it will not be using the 2025 map for November, arguing in an appeal filing that the state does not have enough time to provide new ballots.

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“Ballots have been printed, and Missourians have already voted. Thousands more will vote before this order seeks to take effect. Officials should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless legal action and instead focus on administering our elections,” People Not Politicians director Richard von Glahn said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended Tehran’s conduct in its war with the United States on Wednesday, taking aim at President Donald Trump and vowing that Iran would not surrender during a fiery address before world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

The speech follows months of fighting, failed diplomatic efforts and mounting international pressure on Tehran, giving Pezeshkian a high-profile platform to defend Iran’s actions and challenge the U.S. account of the conflict.

“America and Israel attacked us, equipped with the latest technology and weapons systems, and our people stood steadfast. Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee. We did not bow our head,” said Pezeshkian. “Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such. We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists.”

Fox News Digital compiled the top moments from Pezeshkian’s speech and the developments unfolding both inside and outside the U.N.

ONE GLARING ISSUE GOES UNADDRESSED IN UN CHIEF’S HIGH-STAKES TALKS WITH IRAN’S PRESIDENT

Protesters gather outside UN, jeering the Iranian president’s visit

Pezeshkian’s fiery attacks on Trump and the United States came amid a hostile reception in New York City, where protesters gathered to denounce the Iranian government as its president addressed world leaders at the United Nations.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined a “Free Iran” rally outside the U.N., where protesters denounced Tehran as Pezeshkian addressed world leaders.

Demonstrators waved Iranian flags while denouncing Iran’s government over its repression of political dissent, restrictions on women’s rights and treatment of opposition figures.

US delegate walks out as Iran vows ‘we will not bend the knee’ at UN

As the emcee announced Pezeshkian’s impending speech, audible boos erupted from the protest crowd outside the UN as the leader walked out onto the stage.

A member of the U.S. delegation walked out of the General Assembly hall after Pezeshkian began criticizing the United States during his speech, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Mission for comment.

TRUMP DEFENDS US INTERVENTIONS ABROAD AHEAD OF ‘BIG DECISION’ ON IRAN: ‘SETTLING YEARS OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS’

America on trial, Trump dubbed a ‘bully’

Pezeshkian used his speech to defend Iran’s conduct during the war and take aim at the United States and Israel.

“The United States using weapons with multiple warheads targeted that sports hall. … They martyred, assassinated our scientists, our men, women and children,” he said.

“This is what the United States seeks to do with all countries — [to] sacrifice the population of a country in order to achieve [its] goals,” Pezeshkian added.

CENTCOM has denied that U.S. forces carried out the strike on the sports hall in Lamerd, saying American forces did not strike the city or anywhere within 30 miles of it on the opening day of Operation Epic Fury.

FIVE TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP’S HIGH-STAKES UN SPEECH TO THE WORLD

Pezeshkian said that the U.S. and Israel have learned that Iran cannot be made to surrender, reiterating that Iran is “not afraid of fighting” and would defend the country “until our last breath.”

TRUMP WARNS IRAN WILL BE HIT ‘REALLY HARD’ IF NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE AGAIN

During a moment of his speech, Pezeshkian held up props showing photos of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian schoolchildren killed during the beginning of the conflict.

“Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength. America and Israel attacked us,” Pezeshkian said.

He also used the opportunity to take shots at Trump, accusing him of “bullying” Iran.

“More must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us, that we are ready for dialog and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” Pezeshkian said.

Trump addressed leaders Tuesday and said he faced a “big decision” between reaching a deal with Iran or, in his words, “annihilat[ing] the Islamic Republic,” before U.S. officials later met with Iranian officials.

“Going back to the words of the president of the United States yesterday … everything uttered about our country was against the very essence and charter in the spirit of the United Nations,” Pezeshkian said. “He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will increase in the face of sanctions, and increased bullying, because all of us under law will never bow our head or bend at the knee.”

Administration officials quickly pushed back on Pezeshkian’s attacks and disputed his account of the conflict.

“I think sponsoring terrorist organizations in the region to attack your neighbors, attack energy infrastructure, attack civilian sites is a violation of the UN system. So I don’t know what’s standing. Iran has to lecture anyone on human rights or the international system. When they habitually violate it,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio added that Iran has no credibility defending the international order because its regime has repeatedly violated it.

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“The Iranian regime has murdered thousands of its own people, killed Americans overseas, executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, and launched indiscriminate attacks against its neighbors in the region,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

“The President is courageously ensuring that such an evil country never possesses a nuclear weapon, which will make the entire world safer and more stable,” she added.

After posting an explicit warning that MAGA supporters, conservatives and apolitical applicants need not apply, a New York City kitten rescue is defending its screening process against mounting criticism, including from PETA, which called on the group to scrap the ideological ban.

“Homeless animals don’t care which side of abortion you are on or whether you believe in global warming or support Palestine or Israel or if you don’t vote at all, ever. They care if you love them and will give them a good home,” PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk told Fox News Digital.

“We hope this policy, which is humancentric, is reconsidered and abolished.”

The dispute centers on Itty Bitty City Kitties, a Rockaway Beach-based rescue that describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit specializing in orphaned and neonatal kittens, feral cat welfare and adoptions. The organization is also listed among New York state’s registered pet rescues.

ONE OF NATION’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN FOSTER AGENCIES WILL NOT ALLOW LGBTQ COUPLES TO ADOPT CHILDREN

In a social media post reviewed by Fox News Digital, the rescue laid out a series of political positions it said could disqualify prospective adopters.

“MAGA? Nope.”

“Conservative? Nope.”

“‘I’m not political’? Nice loophole. Still nope.”

An accompanying image of a kitten bore the message, “NO. F—ING. MAGA.”

The post drew wider attention after Libs of TikTok posted it on X, prompting questions about whether the language represented the rescue’s actual adoption practices.

Fox News Digital contacted Itty Bitty City Kitties and asked whether an applicant could be rejected for identifying as MAGA, conservative or apolitical.

Samantha Knox, who has publicly identified herself as the director of Itty Bitty City Kitties, defended the organization’s screening approach by saying its overriding responsibility is the welfare of the animals in its care.

“As an animal welfare rescue, our primary responsibility is ensuring the animals in our care go to safe, compassionate homes,” Knox told Fox News Digital.

She said the organization considers “public conduct and demonstrated values” and argued that a record of “celebrat[ing] cruelty” can raise concerns about an applicant’s suitability to care for an animal.

“A history of celebrating harm or abuse, be it toward people or animals, is one of the biggest red flags in animal rescue,” Knox said. “We stand by our mission and will never place a vulnerable animal with anyone, ever, who we feel is a danger to the welfare of the animal.”

OREGON SETTLES WITH CHRISTIAN MOTHER DENIED FOSTER CARE ADOPTION OVER GENDER IDENTITY BELIEFS

Fox News Digital followed up with a narrower question, asking whether a person who identifies as MAGA or conservative, but has no documented history of animal cruelty, threats, neglect or violence, would be eligible to adopt.

“Itty Bitty City Kitties does not screen or reject applicants based on registered political party affiliation,” Knox responded. “MAGA is a political movement and ideology, not a recognized political party.”

Knox said adoption evaluations instead concern “conduct, ethical alignment and animal safety.”

“We reserve the right to reject any application where an applicant’s expressed values, public statements or actions demonstrate a failure to meet our safety and welfare standards,” she said.

NEW JERSEY POLICE PULL OUT 3-FOOT PYTHON FROM WOMAN’S CAR GRILLE, BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS

Asked again whether a MAGA or conservative applicant without a history of cruelty, threats, neglect or violence could adopt from the organization, Knox did not provide a yes-or-no answer.

“Media-driven requests to force complex animal welfare evaluations into a binary ‘yes or no’ premise fundamentally misrepresent how responsible adoption screenings operate,” she said.

Knox added that “active support for or alignment with social movements” the rescue believes normalizes or promotes cruelty can be treated as “actionable conduct” and said adoption decisions are made “holistically under these welfare and safety standards.”

Knox also provided Fox News Digital with screenshots she said showed explicit, hostile messages directed at the rescue after its political posts.

Knox said messages of that nature illustrated the kind of conduct the rescue considers relevant when evaluating prospective homes. PETA, however, drew a different line.

“Political affiliation is not a reliable measure of whether someone will be a good guardian,” the organization told Fox News Digital, adding that a person’s actions and statements, along with demonstrated treatment of people and animals, can be relevant to an adoption decision.

PETA said rescues should focus on “objective animal welfare factors,” including an applicant’s history of animal care, ability to meet an animal’s needs and evidence of cruelty, neglect or violence. 

“Shelters and rescues exist to protect animals, not to serve as political gatekeepers,” PETA said.

Itty Bitty City Kitties’ public adoption page describes what the organization calls a “Fully Supported Adoption Model,” under which prospective owners submit an application, references, employment and living information, participate in a phone interview and complete a FaceTime or Zoom interview in lieu of a home visit.

The rescue’s published “MUST LIST” says adopters must keep animals up to date on veterinary care; keep them indoors or leashed outside; never declaw them; maintain a plan for travel, illness or death; not simply give away an animal they can no longer care for; and be financially able to provide for its welfare.

The public-facing requirements reviewed by Fox News Digital do not mention MAGA, conservatism, political affiliation or political ideology.

The organization has also used its social media account for other political messaging.

On Sept. 10, Itty Bitty City Kitties posted an image of a kitten carrying the words, “Kittens. Don’t. Mourn. Nazis.”

“For absolutely no reason at all on this day one year later…” text on the image stated. 

“Just a little kitten making sure we all know where we stand,” the accompanying caption read, followed by hashtags including “#kitten,” “#cat,” “#politics” and “#iykyk.”

While the post did not name late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, it was published exactly one year after his assassination at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.

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Knox also invoked the rescue’s nonprofit status in defending its ability to take positions on political and social issues, saying 501(c)(3) organizations are permitted to maintain issue-based standards aligned with their missions as long as they do not engage in partisan political campaigning.

PETA, while objecting to the use of political affiliation as a measure of adoption suitability, said an applicant’s actual behavior toward animals can, and should, matter regardless of ideology.

“More broadly, anyone who condones, celebrates or participates in harming animals demonstrates a troubling lack of empathy,” PETA said.

A Michigan student confronted Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about his position on Iran during a town hall Wednesday, invoking his family’s stated persecution by the Iranian regime before repeatedly pressing the candidate on whether he stood with Iranians opposing the government.

Iman Dashti, who identified himself as Persian, told El-Sayed during a town hall at the University of Michigan that members of his family had suffered under Iran’s government.

“My cousin was hunted in the streets of Iran by the IRGC because her hijab wasn’t on right,” Dashti said. He also alleged that her uncle was sentenced to death and received 50 lashes under the Iranian government.

ABDUL EL-SAYED PROTESTED AGAINST ‘EX-TERRORISTS’ WHO CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, UNEARTHED REPORT REVEALS

Dashti then confronted El-Sayed over leaked audio from earlier this year in which he said he did not want to comment on the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today.”

“That silence had a gaping hole in our community,” Dashti told El-Sayed Wednesday.

Dashti asked El-Sayed whether he regretted that silence, whether he would renounce people who held vigils supporting Khamenei and whether he stood “unequivocally against the IRGC” and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

El-Sayed responded by arguing that the United States has too often acted as “the world’s policeman” while saying he supported movements for democracy and freedom abroad.

AFTER 6 MONTHS OF WAR, US MUST PREPARE FOR A FUTURE AFTER IRAN’S GOVERNMENT FALLS

“One can disagree with the governance of a foreign country. One can stand in solidarity with freedom and democracy movements,” El-Sayed said.

He went on to reject U.S.-led regime change in Iran.

“I will always stand for and with democratic movements always,” El-Sayed said. “But I also don’t believe that we were in the right to go to war to topple the government of Iran. It was not our responsibility to do. It is the responsibility of the people of Iran to decide what their leadership should look like.”

Dashti pressed him again. 

“You stand with us?” he asked.

“I will always stand with movements for freedom and democracy,” El-Sayed responded, before again warning against U.S. involvement in regime change.

“We should not be in the business of regime change,” he said.

El-Sayed added moments later, “I want freedom and democracy for the people of Iran, no question. But I want that to be done by the people of Iran, coming together as a community to decide how to create democratic change in their society.”

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for additional comment on the exchange and attempted to reach Dashti through Instagram.

El-Sayed, who won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary in August, is running against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The contest has drawn substantial national attention and spending.

The Iran confrontation was one of several notable exchanges during Wednesday’s “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall at El-Sayed’s alma mater.

KAMALA HARRIS BACKS MAJOR CHANGES TO THE SUPREME COURT, ELECTORAL COLLEGE AHEAD OF POSSIBLE 2028 CAMPAIGN

While discussing public health infrastructure, El-Sayed appeared to make a prediction about the party and the gender that will win the White House in 2028.

“I’m looking forward to working with the next Democratic president when she takes office in 2029,” El-Sayed said, adding that he hoped to work with that administration to modernize the nation’s public health infrastructure.

El-Sayed did not identify whom he had in mind.

His remarks came as former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democrat presidential nominee, returned to Michigan to campaign with El-Sayed. Harris has not announced a 2028 presidential campaign.

El-Sayed also criticized President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during the event.

“Donald Trump and JD Vance can’t seem to keep my name out their mouth,” El-Sayed said. “They don’t really know how to say it, though, which is fine, because I believe in teaching opportunities.”

Trump and other national Republicans have repeatedly targeted El-Sayed during the midterm campaign, while El-Sayed has responded by criticizing the president.

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“As he noted in his response, Abdul will always stand with movements for freedom and democracy, and he condemns government anti-free speech violence,” Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“Abdul has also been clear that the United States should not be in the business of spending our tax dollars abroad on regime change wars that take our service members’ lives, waste our tax dollars and raise our prices. He believes American taxpayer dollars are best spent here at home to invest in infrastructure, education and healthcare.”

After filing for divorce on “biblical grounds,” Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, addressed whether she would support him this November.

In an address to the Texas Federation of Republican Women themed “the elephant in the room,” the state senator stressed that “it’s not the people, it’s the seat.”

“We have more control over that seat and the future when we control the seat, when it’s still in the family, even if we’re mad at them,” she said as the audience chuckled.

Video of the address was posted on Facebook on Friday by the DeWitt County, Texas, GOP and state Republican Executive Committee member Cheryl Thompson-Draper.

FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISIONS SHAPE TEXAS SENATE RACE

This is the first time Paxton’s estranged wife has publicly addressed the Texas Senate race since filing for divorce. Democrats are targeting the seat as they seek to win control of the Senate. Democratic candidate James Talarico held a 3-point edge over Paxton, 51% to 48%, in the most recent Fox News poll. Fox News has categorized the race as a toss-up.

The state senator filed for divorce from Paxton in July 2025. In her filing, Paxton said that her husband had “committed adultery” and that their marriage had “become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.”

In a social media post, she wrote that “after 38 years of marriage, I filed for divorce on biblical grounds.”

“I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation,” she added. “But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”

Despite the divorce, the state senator urged GOP voters to remain loyal to the party in this midterm election.

“If we lose it to the other team, the nuances that we want to fix with maybe a certain candidate are nothing compared to what it’s going to take to get it back,” she said.

12 RACES SCRAMBLE SENATE BATTLEFIELD AS DEMOCRATS EYE COMEBACK

She acknowledged that personal frustrations with a candidate may influence some voters but emphasized that “when you vote for the person, the party comes along with them.”

“The party comes with the person,” she continued. “So, when you vote for that person because you like this one better or whatever, you just need to understand, they are not alone, like a standalone thing, like a menu item, you get the whole thing, and we have more control when it’s our party. We have more ability to influence when that person is attached to our party.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the state senator, Paxton and Talarico for comment.

After a bruising primary race in which he toppled longtime Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Paxton has struggled to find his footing in the general election against Talarico.

Even so, Paxton has projected confidence that voters will reject Talarico as a “fake” moderate, pointing to past comments by Talarico, including saying “God is nonbinary” and saying there are six sexes. Paxton has the support of President Donald Trump and financial backing from the president’s MAGA Inc. political action committee as well as Elon Musk’s America PAC.

TALARICO HIT WITH ‘BLATANT CORRUPTION’ ALLEGATION OVER HEFTY SALARY FROM CONSULTING FIRM, CAMPAIGN PUSHES BACK

In an interview with Fox News earlier this month, Talarico walked back his comments about God being nonbinary and there being six sexes, saying his statements “missed the mark.”

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In the same interview, however, Talarico said, “I am proud of my legislative track record delivering for Texans.”

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“I brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass 60 bipartisan bills that lower people’s costs and get the economy back on track,” he said, adding, “I’ll put my record up against Ken Paxton’s every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

FIRST ON FOX: As President Donald Trump readies for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday, some lawmakers want to remind the public of the several brutal acts the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has committed since its founding over a century ago.

Senators James Lankford, R-Okla., and Angus King, I-Maine, have joined forces to push a reminder of a long list of actions obtained by Fox News Digital undertaken by the CCP in pursuit of its “tyrannical ambitions” to grab ahold of and maintain power in China.

Both lawmakers want to put the “countless lives the Chinese Communist Party has destroyed and the people currently living in fear” at the forefront as Trump and Xi prepare for days of talks. And it comes as the CCP celebrates its 105th anniversary since its founding.

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“For 105 years, the Chinese Communist Party has oppressed its own people, persecuted people of faith and denied basic freedoms,” Lankford said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“As the United States engages with Beijing, we cannot forget the millions who have suffered under the CCP or those who continue to live under its repression today,” he continued. “The United States must continue to stand for religious freedom, human rights and the dignity of every person.”

Lankford and King’s resolution lists several instances over the last century when the CCP and its leaders have slain their own citizens, imprisoned dissidents and crushed opposition.

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Many happened during the CCP’s push for control, which left a wake of blood and carnage, during the vicious period when People’s Republic of China’s founder Mao Zedong was on the rise during and after World War II and up to the 1960s.

During that period, there was the Yan’an Rectification Movement from 1942 to 1945, when “more than 10,000 people were killed” as the CCP purged dissidents of the movement, and the Chinese Land Reform movement of 1949 to 1953, when between 200,000 and 5 million were slain as the party redistributed rural property to peasantry.

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Then came the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries from 1950 to 1952, with millions of arrests, imprisonments and over 700,000 executions. During that same stretch was the Three-Anti Campaign and the Five-Anti Campaign, when Zedong and the CCP “humiliated, terrorized, exiled, imprisoned, and killed thousands of political opponents and capitalists.”

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And, in the last three decades, the resolution noted, the CCP’s iron fist hasn’t loosened its grip, like undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, targeting religions with “insidious tools of repression” and subjecting an estimated 1 million Uyghur Muslims to “mass detention and torture” in so-called reeducation camps.

Trump will welcome Jinping at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday afternoon, teeing up meetings that are set to last until Friday. 

Lawmakers are hoping that Trump plays a strong hand during his meetings with Jinping and are urging him to strike trade deals and an agreement on the artificial intelligence race, among other top priorities.

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei struck again, this time in a fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, calling the body “useless” and made up of “fatally arrogant parasites.”

Milei began by commending the U.N.’s founding mission of resolving conflict peacefully and promoting universal freedom and dignity as “noble words.” However, he went on to say that “today, regrettably, it is time to acknowledge that, in practice, that sacred covenant has been broken.”

“That’s to say, it has become a useless organization whose only purpose is to sustain a caste of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats,” he charged.

To make his case, he pointed to the U.N.’s role in restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he called a type of “genocide,” and the “gender agenda, environmental extremism and unchecked immigration.”

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Milei said, “During the pandemic, bodies under the auspices of this house put themselves before scientific evidence and the sovereignty of nations and promoted forced lockdown policies throughout the world.

“Where some allege a public health policy error, we see a global experiment in social control disguised as science. And when a state wearing public health blinkers deprives its population of the right to work, to receive an education and to bid farewell to their dead, this results in millions of avoidable deaths; there is a word for it, genocide.”

He charged that “every time [the U.N.] failed, rather than reviewing the model or apologizing, they doubled down.”

“Those who were supposed to guarantee collective security and human rights failed in their task. They allowed chaos, violence and international terrorism to flourish,” he said.

“The alleged defenders of human rights have sheltered bloodthirsty dictatorships and regimes that stone women in the streets; they have systematically voted against Israel while remaining silent in the face of Islamic terrorism and the genocide of Christians in Africa.”

Milei is widely considered a radical reformer, budget slasher and an ally of President Donald Trump. Similar to Trump’s previous criticisms of the U.N. before the assembly, Milei did not hold back in his address Wednesday.

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Turning to his own country’s grievances, Milei continued by saying, “And if that were not enough, an organization established to defend the territorial sovereignty of its members decided to look the other way with regard to the situation of the Malvinas [Falkland] Islands, South Georgia Islands, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.”

He said these islands “are a test of the gulf that exists between the words of international institutions and the reality upon which they purport to act.”

“There’s no shortage of words or resolutions; what is lacking is consequences,” he asserted. “Because an institution that cannot ensure that its words carry weight in the real world loses the most important thing of all, its authority.”

Milei said that, in addition to what he described as the Falkland Islands “failure,” the U.N. has “built a bureaucratic leviathan devoted to deciding how the peoples of the world and their citizens should live.”

INTERNATIONAL ‘DEEP STATE’ PRIME TARGET OF TRUMP-STYLE CANDIDATE FOR UN CHIEF

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“This amounts to a curious mixture of anarchy and tyranny, impotence in the face of those who break the most basic rules, such as bloodthirsty dictatorships and terrorist organizations coupled with Orwellian control and impositions on liberal democracies that abide by the rules.”

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Referencing free-market economist and philosopher Ludwig von Mises, Milei said, “I would remind them of what Mises said, ‘Good people do not think about controlling the lives of their fellow human beings.’”

Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, holds between $246,000 and $690,000 in energy investments with companies fueling the data center growth in the Tar Heel State, according to his federal reporting.

Those holdings raise questions about whether Whatley stands to benefit from his support of data center expansion, an issue that has drawn national attention over community zoning, energy use and state growth.

Most of his reported holdings are with four companies.

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Whatley and his family have holdings between $149,000 and $410,000 in Duke Energy, between $1,000 and $15,000 in Arista Networks, from $80,000 to $200,000 with Dominion Energy, and between $16,000 and $65,000 in GE Vernova.

While most of those, like Duke and Vernova, don’t directly build data centers themselves, they offer services or products used by them. Duke is a major utility provider in North Carolina, and Vernova produces on-site gas turbines used by data center facilities operated by companies like Amazon and Microsoft.

In addition to those investments, Whatley reported $361,000 from CAPCVentures LLC, a D.C. for consulting services in 2025, according to his financial disclosure. That firm lists GE Vernova— a major supplier of turbines and grid equipment used to power data centers — as a client, along with Centrus Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association.

Earlier coverage put his pay from the same shop at about $755,000 between 2022 and 2025.

When asked about his holdings and whether he saw them as a potential conflict of interest, Whatley’s campaign noted that he supports restrictions on stock trading for members of Congress.

“Whatley supports the Stop Insider Trading Act and urges the U.S. Senate to pass the commonsense legislation, and supports commonsense reforms requiring elected officials to place their assets in qualified blind trusts, ensuring they have no control over how those assets are invested,” DJ Griffin, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The campaign also said that Whatley would support letting local communities decide for themselves what kinds of data center projects to accept and which ones to rule out.

“Michael Whatley’s standard is simple: data centers pay their own way, families pay nothing and communities decide. That means Big Tech builds or buys every megawatt it needs and covers every dime of the grid upgrades to deliver it, with zero costs shifted onto residential ratepayers. It means no special subsidies and no sweetheart deals cut over the heads of taxpayers,” Griffin continued.

“And it means the people of North Carolina’s counties and towns, not bureaucrats in Raleigh or Washington, decide what gets built in their communities. North Carolina should win the AI economy, and it should win it on terms that protect the families who live here.”

THE DATA CENTER FIGHT COULD DECIDE THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND COST AMERICA THE AI RACE

Whatley’s campaign also turned the spotlight on his Democratic opponent, Roy Cooper, the former governor of North Carolina.

“Roy Cooper is the only candidate in this race who has used the powers of his elected office to recruit data centers to NC and to have them subsidized by NC Taxpayers,” Griffin added, noting that Cooper also has supported restrictions on congressional stock trading.

Notably, the bulk of North Carolina’s tax breaks already existed by the time Cooper became governor in 2017.

The year before, in 2016, the state had implemented statute G.S.105-164.13. Under that provision, lawmakers had expanded data center tax exemptions on sales, servers, storage and networking for companies investing at least $75 million in projects over five years.

The state did, however, approve several major grants to companies like Apple and Corvid Technologies under Cooper’s watch through “Job Development Investment Grants” (JDIGs). Those aimed to further job development in the state, dovetailing with existing development efforts. Among the more high-profile JDIGs, Apple entered into a $845 million grant over a period of 39 years alongside another $112.4 million that would go to an industrial development fund to build out rural infrastructure. The agreement is contingent on Apple creating a certain number of jobs, but the company has yet to meet the JDIG’s projected goals since its implementation.

For his own part, Cooper’s campaign bashed Whatley for, in their view, not being sensitive enough to local resistance to data center expansion.

“Longtime utility company lobbyist Michael Whatley believes people’s concerns about data centers are fake as he continues to shill for his billionaire buddies in the utility industry instead of standing up against rate hikes that are crushing hardworking families,” a spokesperson for the Cooper campaign said in a statement.

Cooper has taken a more critical approach to their expansion, arguing that they are forcing local communities into higher and higher utility bills.

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Like many Democrats on the topic, Cooper has framed his stance in the broader context of championing affordability policies.

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“[Cooper] believes local communities must have the final say on new projects coming to their area, which includes local moratoriums, and data centers must pay for all of the energy they use without passing on any of their costs to consumers,” Cooper’s campaign said.

Having cleared their respective primaries, Cooper and Whatley will face off in North Carolina’s general election on Nov. 3.

The Trump administration has backed away from a potential diesel export ban that was floated as a way to lower prices at the pump, a proposal economists warned could have ultimately driven up costs for American consumers and businesses.

The administration’s latest position marked something of an about-face after President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he had urged aides to consider keeping more diesel at home. 

“I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel,” Trump said. “I’ve called for it within my people. I’ve been talking about it.” Alongside Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was evaluating whether an export ban was “feasible in terms of the overall refining capacity” and whether “a full or partial ban would work.”

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Diesel and all major global crude prices have become an unexpected political headache ahead of November’s midterm elections as the war in Iran enters its eight month and shipping routes for oil remain significantly blocked or interrupted by conflict. 

The national average for diesel climbed to $6.53 per gallon for the week of Sept. 21, 2026, up from $3.75 during the comparable week a year prior, according to federal energy data.

Gasoline may get the headlines, but diesel is the workhorse fuel powering the trucks, farm equipment, freight trains and heavy machinery that keep the U.S. economy moving.

“The price of diesel touches everything within the transportation services category of the American economy. That means there will be an increase in your grocery prices, because everything that gets delivered to the grocery store will get that much more expensive with further rises in diesel prices,” Joe Brusuelas, principal and chief economist for RSM US LLP, told Fox News Digital.

Those higher fuel costs can ripple through supply chains, raising expenses for trucking companies — including those that carry most goods available to U.S. consumers — farmers tending to their fields and other businesses. Some of those raising diesel costs can ultimately reach consumers by the supply chain resulting in higher prices for groceries, packages delivered to their doorsteps, household goods and even new homes.

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Brusuelas warned that while restricting diesel exports could initially lower prices in some parts of the country, any relief could prove short-lived and trickle down to other areas of life.

“This is why this is one of those policies that sounds good on the surface but is significantly counterproductive, not just for overall inflation, but the balance sheets of American consumers and what they have to spend to maintain their livelihood,” he told Fox News Digital.

Brusuelas estimated that if a ban were to go into effect, consumers could begin seeing prices rise within four to six weeks.

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The record price of fuel comes as the Iran war continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and refined fuel that has become a chokepoint of where roughly 20% of the world’s petroleum and liquid fuel supply usually traverse.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure have also disrupted refinery operations as Moscow already moved to restrict diesel exports, further tightening supplies. Additionally, Iran-backed Houthi’s advancing and attacking along Yemen’s coast has further restricted Middle East oil transport out of another key shipping route – the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The U.S. shipped a record 1.6 million barrels of diesel overseas each day in August, up from roughly 1 million barrels per day in February, according to data from energy analytics firm Kpler.

Meanwhile, U.S. diesel supplies are nearly 13% below the average for this time of year, despite refineries operating at about 97% capacity.

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Richard Stern, vice president of the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, said the U.S. has already seen the consequences of restricting energy exports.

“We already tried fuel export bans in the ’70s, and it led to higher prices, starved our industries and aided our enemies. We should not repeat this disastrous policy,” Stern told Fox News Digital.

The U.S. imposed broad crude oil export restrictions in 1975. According to the institute’s analysis, gas prices more than doubled over the next six years, rising 50% faster than overall inflation. The report also says domestic oil production declined as reliance on foreign imports increased.

Stern said the history shows an export ban could create new problems without shielding Americans from global prices.

“Diesel and other fuels are part of a global market, and a U.S. export ban would simply redirect where fuel goes, not shield Americans from globally set prices,” Stern said. “Instead, the ban would force our allies to look to Russia and China for fuel and would ultimately interfere with the supply chains that feed American industry.”

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The ban could have initially pushed more diesel into the U.S. market and temporarily lowered prices, but analysts warn that relief could fade as refiners cut production and supplies tighten elsewhere.

Europe, which relies heavily on diesel from the U.S. Gulf Coast, could be forced to seek fuel from other suppliers, including Russia.

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That could turn a proposal aimed at easing costs for Americans into a policy that raises prices, disrupts supply chains and complicates Trump’s pledge to make energy more affordable ahead of the midterm elections.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani repeatedly branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” but faced criticism for remaining largely tight-lipped about Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

While Mamdani has labeled the Iranian government “brutal” and cited its “systematic repression of its own people,” critics railed against him for declining to use similar language about Pezeshkian, who arrived in the city on Wednesday.

“Mayor Mamdani, you said war criminals who set foot in New York should be arrested. Good news. One is in New York city this week,” said Iranian-born journalist Masih Alinejad, who was subjected to an assassination attempt near her Brooklyn home while Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei was still alive.

“If you have the courage to talk about arresting those responsible for crimes against humanity, start with the man sleeping five miles from your office,” Alinejad tweeted.

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She invited Mamdani to view the FBI files about her case, in which several men attempted to kidnap her in Brooklyn.

Director of National Intelligence Walter “Jay” Clayton said in January that the Iranian regime coordinated a murder-for-hire plot against Alinejad because of her efforts to speak out against its human rights abuses, while federal authorities sentenced one U.S.-based conspirator to 15 years.

“The government of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, assassination, and espionage around the globe, has engaged in a campaign of assassination plots in the United States and abroad targeting those who oppose the regime,” Clayton said in a statement.

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Meanwhile, Mamdani has said Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City and has called him an “architect” of “genocide.” No similar statements about Pezeshkian could be found.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment.

National security expert and ACT For America founder Brigitte Gabriel also criticized the mayor over the discrepancy.

Gabriel, who has said she survived a terror attack during the 1975 Lebanese Civil War in Lebanon, now lives in the U.S.

“[The] Iranian President on American soil — while we are still in open conflict with Iran. 18 Americans dead. Thousands of Iranians slaughtered. And he’s getting a visa, a hotel, and a UN microphone in New York,” Gabriel fumed on X.

“Where are the war crimes charges? Where’s Mamdani to arrest him while he’s in NYC?”

ISRAEL’S AMBASSADOR SAYS NYC’S MAMDANI IS ‘SOWING CHAOS’ AHEAD OF NETANYAHU’S UN APPEARANCE

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters Tuesday that Mamdani should stop attacking his nation’s government and turn his attention to Pezeshkian’s administration.

“Focus on the problems of the City of New York and stop with promoting anti-Semitism, stop supporting Hamas, and stop engaging with the Iranian regime,” Danon said.

Those comments came weeks after Mamdani’s international affairs liaison sought to arrange a meeting with Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton told Fox News the disparity in Mamdani’s rhetoric is stark.

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“Is Zohran Mamdani threatening to arrest butchers from Iran who have killed tens of thousands of their own people, or genuine war criminals from other countries?” Cotton, R-Ark., asked.

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“No. The one person he cites is the leader of the Jewish State of Israel.”

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While Mamdani met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, he said afterward the two leaders will continue to have radically different views on Israel and the conflict in Iran.

First lady Melania Trump touted the outsized role women play in the American and global economies during a keynote speech at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday.

“People still do not fully understand the full scale of women’s power in the global economy. Women are not just a part of [the] marketplace, simple participants,” she said while speaking at IMPERIA, the first invite-only global summit at the NYSE designed exclusively for female CEOs and executives.

“We are its foundation and we are its infrastructure,” she continued.

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Ringing in the morning bell at the exchange, Trump also made the case that women remain a latent asset in the marketplace.

“The world’s biggest untapped economic force is not a new market, a breakthrough technology, or an undiscovered natural resource. It is women coming together as owners,” the first lady said.

She then painted a picture of what the market would look like absent the driving force of female impact.

“Remove women as consumers, investors, leaders, caregivers, innovators and managers of household finances and the modern economy would not work as it does today,” she said.

“Remove women from the workforce and we would lose doctors, engineers, bankers, lawyers and millions of other professionals. Remove women from the unseen and ignored economy of care, childcare, running households, home teaching and caring for elderly or sick family members and the support structure that lets others work for pay begins to collapse. Remove women from capital formation and we lose investors, shareholders, asset managers, property owners, retirement savers and those who protect intergenerational wealth,” Trump continued.

The first lady then closed with a plea for the world, and especially the women present, to invest more in women.

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“Together, we can convert individual success into collective momentum to create new opportunities, support eachother’s growth, and drive lasting economic power. Now is our time to move beyond mentorship and toward ownership. Do not simply advise another woman. Invest in her. Do not merely open a door. Create a real opportunity,” she said.

“Turn networks into tangible value capital. Customers, contracts, knowledge and success. Be intentional with your purchases. Invest in one another. Invite another outstanding woman into the boardroom. Help an entry entrepreneur land the first big customer, fund new ideas that should exist,” Trump continued.

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“The women here have built companies, created wealth and transformed industries. But imagine that power connected before you depart here today. Begin to work with each other. Let’s turn this gathering into meaningful action. Women are on the global economy infrastructure. Now let’s use that stronghold to own more of it together,” she concluded.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by a roughly two-to-one margin in blue-leaning New York State, but a new poll indicates Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman has cut his deficit to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to single digits with just six weeks to go until Election Day.

Hochul, who is running for a second full four-year term steering the nation’s fourth most populous state, stands at 50% support among likely voters in New York, with Blakeman at 41%, according to a Siena College poll conducted Sept. 11-17 and released on Wednesday.

Blakeman, the Nassau County executive on New York’s Long Island, trailed Hochul by 10 points in Siena’s August survey. The one-point movement by Blakeman, who is aiming to become the first Republican in nearly a quarter-century to win an election for governor in New York, is within the survey’s margin of error.

“With six weeks until election day, voters offer good news to both Hochul and Blakeman. She now has the support of 50% of voters and saw her favorability and job approval ratings edge into positive territory. He now trails by single digits – well, nine points – in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two-to-one,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said.

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Greenberg noted that at this point four years ago, Hochul held a 17-point lead over then-Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP nominee. But Zeldin closed the gap and ended up losing to Hochul by only six points in the 2022 election.

“Currently, Blakeman is doing a better job with Republicans, leading 88-8%, than Hochul is with Democrats, leading 81-11%,” Greenberg added.

The GOP nominee is also edging Hochul 44%-39% among independent voters.

“All polls continue to show Kathy Hochul’s downward spiral and me closing the gap as New Yorkers learn more about my plan to cut income taxes by historic margins and slash electric bills in half,” Blakeman argued in a statement after the release of the Siena poll.

But the new poll indicates that two-thirds of New York State voters, including 37% of Republicans, think Hochul will win re-election.

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Blakeman is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, who in February endorsed his bid for governor. But Trump’s support may be doing Blakeman no favors, with half of likely voters, including a quarter of Republicans, saying it’s a negative for the GOP nominee’s campaign.

Hochul was endorsed earlier this year by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the first socialist mayor of the nation’s most populous city, reciprocating her backing during his own historic mayoral run last year.

By a 50%-30% margin, voters said Mamdani’s support for Hochul is a plus for the governor’s bid for re-election.

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Then-Lt. Gov. Hochul was sworn in as New York’s first female governor in August 2021 after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the middle of his third term, resigned amid multiple scandals.

Hochul has seen her political standing rise over the past year and a half as she’s increased her resistance to Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda.

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Fox News reached out to the Hochul campaign for reaction to the Siena poll but didn’t receive a response at the time this story was published.

The poll, which was conducted by telephone and text-to-web collection, surveyed 1,144 likely voters in New York, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points for core questions.

Vulnerable Republicans running for their political lives have, for months, kept quiet or sided with President Donald Trump on the war in Iran.

But as costs rise and voters pepper them with questions on the campaign trail about when the fighting will end, some are changing their tune and breaking with Trump, arguing the war must end to lower prices — including lawmakers who previously voted to continue the conflict in the Middle East.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, are all running in toss-up races that will define the balance of power in the Senate.

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Hinson, whose agriculture-heavy state is getting hit with high diesel costs, argued that lawmakers needed to suspend the gas tax, pause diesel exports, “unleash E-15 everywhere we can,” reinstate biodiesel tax credits and create a diesel relief program.

“These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end,” Hinson said.

Her race against Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek is listed as a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report.

Hinson, however, has voted against every war powers resolution offered in the House. Notably, she voted against the successful war powers resolution when seven House Republicans, including two other Republican members of the Iowa House delegation, voted for it.

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Rogers has been out of Congress since 2015, but is running in one of the most-watched toss-up races this cycle against Abdul El-Sayed, where Republicans hope to flip a state that eluded them when Trump ran for his second term two years ago.

Shortly after Hinson’s shift in position, he released an ad echoing an immediate end to the war.

But weeks earlier, the former lawmaker, who voted in favor of the war in Iraq in 2002, told Fox News Digital at the GOP’s made-for-TV huddle in Dallas that he wanted to see the war come to an end.

“Well, first of all, I’d like to see this thing come to an end. They need to find a way to get this thing ended,” Rogers said. “I think that’s certainly where Michigan voters, Michigan families are.”

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“Again, I think we have to understand, do we want Iran to have a nuclear weapon? I think most people overwhelmingly say no,” he continued. “Would they like this to come to an end? I say absolutely yes.”

Husted, who is running in another toss-up contest against former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, has also pivoted. And like Hinson, he has voted against every war powers resolution that has hit the floor in the Senate.

“The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices,” Husted told Politico.

Some Republican leaders are encouraging candidates to break with Trump to make their own bespoke campaigns, particularly as the war’s unpopularity continues to increase.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is crisscrossing the country to rally support and funds for candidates, said he encourages “most candidates to run their own campaigns.”

“Well, I mean, I think, you know, if I’m running in an environment like this, you know, obviously, you’re gonna develop a campaign and a message that can win in your state. And so, I encourage most candidates to run their own campaigns.”

“I mean, obviously, the president’s gonna be a factor in every election. It’s a midterm election, he’s not on the ballot,” Thune said. “But, I mean, obviously, there are gonna be probably policies of his they agree with, and some that they don’t. But I think they need to be their own person. And I think that’s the best way to do it.”

A video showing transgender activists injecting themselves with cross-sex hormones outside New York University’s Langone Health hospital is spreading rapidly online, just days after the hospital reached an agreement with President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) to cease providing sex-change treatments to minors.

“We’re taking our HRT here at the doors of the people who have given up to demystify, normalize, and celebrate our trans bodies in the face of NYU’s cowardice,” a person holding a bullhorn and reading off a script says in the video, referencing hormone replacement therapy drugs.

At least people in the video, all wearing masks outside, can be seen filling syringes and injecting themselves, including a person in a wheelchair.

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A crowd of supporters, some holding signs saying “Protect Trans Kids” and “Resist,” looked on as the stunt was performed. Other protesters held a hand-made banner reading “No compliance with Trump’s bias.”

The video, which was posted to X by Freedom News TV, drew harsh reactions from shocked online viewers.

“This is so obviously a mental illness,” said online commentator Matt Van Swol. “You cannot watch this video and conclude anything else.”

“This is a truly crazed movement that has successfully normalized cultish pseudo-medical practices from the outermost fringe of human extremity as a part of suburban elementary school life across America,” said author Wesley Yang. “Surely everyone watching these bizarre spectacles understands this.”

“I see addicts. Addicted to HRT. Addicted to attention. Addicted to constant validation,” said Tanya Tay Posobiec.

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Last week, the DOJ announced that it came to an agreement with NYU Langone and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) after investigating the institutions for potentially illegally carrying-out on children “sex-rejecting procedures,” which proponents often describe as “gender affirming care.”

“Under the agreements, NYU and UPMC will cease providing these dangerous interventions to minors, which include administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and performing surgical procedures,” a DOJ release said.

NYU Langone also agreed to pay an $8.5 million as part of the settlement, while UPMC agreed to pay $950,000. The DOJ made it clear that the resolution does not confer liability on either of the hospitals, and maintains that the hospitals deny any wrongdoing.

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“The Department of Justice is fighting to protect our nation’s children and working tirelessly to reach agreements with hospitals to end so-called ‘gender affirming care’ for minors,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche in the DOJ’s statement.

“Today’s resolutions send a clear message: hospitals that target children in these practices and then fraudulently obtain payment for the procedures will be held to account.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom generated fierce online backlash after admitting the state’s decision to close beaches amid the COVID-19 pandemic was “insane in hindsight” during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper released this month.

“Look, everyone’s a genius in hindsight, so, you know, coulda, woulda,” Newsom told Tapper while fly fishing in a Montana river.

When asked what he would have done differently, Newsom said people initially treated the pandemic like a “Purell-based crisis,” spending too much time on hand sanitizer shortages and price gouging instead of the virus.

He added the beach closures are one of several decisions he regrets.

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“The idea that we closed beaches was insane in hindsight,” he said, before adding that he also regrets that the state’s largest public school systems remained closed longer than they should have.

The clip ignited a social media firestorm, with conservatives and some Californians accusing Newsom of acknowledging mistakes they argued were obvious during the pandemic.

In a post on X, Republican former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt wrote, “No, Gavin. It was insane then . We all told you it was insane then. You knew it was insane then. You’re just an insane person.”

“Remember when I sued you in both state and federal court to open the beaches of Orange County that you maliciously closed, and you lifted the order so as to moot our cases before the hearings?” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted on X. “You knew it back then too, Governor.”

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“Gavin Newsom had a man arrested for paddleboarding alone because apparently that put him at risk of getting COVID,” Benny Johnson, host of “The Benny Show,” posted on X. “He filled skate parks with sand, forced masks on your kids, made you show a vaccine card to go anywhere in public. Now he admits it was ‘insane’ six years later because he thinks he’s going to be president. America hasn’t forgotten.”

“You are a sea captain who ran his tanker into the rocks, and now we can have a laugh as you explain that you didn’t know anything back then and that now you would like to be in charge of the fleet,” Comedian Adam Carolla posted on X.

“Not just in hindsight!” Fox News political analyst Guy Benson posted on X.

“What was insane was closing beach parking lots but allowing — even permitting — BLM protests in the same parking lots,” RealClearPolitics political correspondent Susan Crabtree posted on X. “It was also insane to see state beaches closed but city beaches right next door open and crammed with people. I’ll never forget that one.”

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California became the first state to issue a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19, 2020, affecting nearly 40 million residents, and was among the last states to resume full-time, in-person learning.

Other restrictions included requiring masks, closing beaches and many businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, with the state threatening to cut funding to some cities that refused to enforce them. Newsom also attended an upscale dinner in November 2020 while imposing the restrictions, which many critics called hypocritical.

Fueled by frustration over his administration’s handling of the pandemic and its economic fallout, Newsom, who was elected in 2018, faced a recall election in 2021 but ultimately won.

Newsom’s admission comes as questions about COVID-era government decisions continue. In July, Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times when asked about the government’s response while testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office for comment.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of SBA Pro-Life America, told Fox News Digital that U.S. law has not caught up with the growing availability of abortion medication, allowing predators who use the drugs to end pregnancies without women’s consent to face relatively light consequences.

She pointed to the case of Hassan-James Abbas, an Ohio man accused of forcing abortion pills into his pregnant girlfriend’s mouth in December 2024. He was sentenced earlier this month to six months in prison.

The woman, Jona Affholder, went to the hospital and ultimately lost the baby.

“The fact that this guy got only six months in prison for his crime says a lot about the state of our culture right now,” Dannenfelser said. “This was a very much wanted pregnancy. She could support the baby on her own and didn’t need his help. But he had other ideas in mind.”

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Abbas, then a surgical resident at the University of Toledo, began dating Affholder in early October 2024, according to a lawsuit she filed against him.

Sometime in December that year, Affholder got pregnant. Authorities said once he found out, he illegally obtained mifepristone and misoprostol using his estranged wife’s identification information. It is unclear whether Abbas prescribed the drugs himself.

Taken together, the two medications terminate early pregnancies: mifepristone blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to sustain the pregnancy, while misoprostol causes contractions that expel the fetus.

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Under current FDA rules, patients do not have to see a physician in person to receive a prescription, allowing mifepristone to be prescribed after a telehealth visit and mailed by a certified pharmacy.

After getting his hands on the pills, he began offering Affholder hot chocolate and tea, “which was out of character for their relationship,” according to the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.

On Dec. 18, 2024, Abbas invited her to his home in Holland, Ohio. Prosecutors said despite being aware of Affholder’s intention to keep the baby, he climbed on top of her in bed, held her down and shoved crushed abortion pills into her mouth.

Court records show that when Affholder tried to call 911, he took the phone out of her hand and hung it up. Eventually, she was able to leave Abbas’s residence and get to the hospital.

Affholder described this experience in a Daily Wire op-ed published in June 2026.

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“I fought him off and ran to call 911. He took my cell and my keys, blocking me from leaving. I rushed to the kitchen, trying to rinse the powder from my mouth. But he continued to restrain me, buying each minute for the drugs to do their intended purpose of killing our kid,” Affholder wrote.

“When he assumed the drugs had sufficiently aborted our baby, he returned my belongings, and I went straight to the hospital,” she added. 

According to Affholder’s account, she began hemorrhaging after arriving at the hospital and ultimately miscarried.

Abbas, who was arrested the next day, initially pleaded not guilty. In May 2026, he pleaded no contest to four felony charges: disrupting public services, unlawfully distributing abortion-inducing drugs, identity fraud and using deception to obtain a dangerous drug.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped charges of abduction and tampering with evidence. The state had alleged that Abbas drove away from the home on the night of the assault and threw the remaining pills out his car window.

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Dannenfelser contrasted Abbas’ six-month sentence with Ohio’s penalties for rape, which can carry years or even life in prison depending on the circumstances.

“But… this coercion and this attack that led to the death of her wanted child gets only six months,” she said.

In February 2024, Mason Herring, of Texas, received the exact same sentence — six months — for slipping misoprostol into his then wife’s drinks. The baby survived but initially faced severe developmental delays.

“If you are Amy Acton running for governor [of Ohio], if you are Sherrod Brown running for the Senate, you need to answer for this because their Republican opponents are very much for limiting these drugs or controlling them at least,” Dannenfelser added.

Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns for comment.

Dannenfelser also criticized Planned Parenthood and pro-choice advocates, accusing them of failing to speak out about Affholder’s case and others like it.

“Where are the advocates, the feminists, the people who are against the coercion of women, the people who are ‘my body, my choice,’ the people who say that medical care is all that they’re really looking for,” she said.

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Planned Parenthood does not appear to have publicly commented on Affholder’s case, but the organization has explicitly condemned the act of giving women abortion drugs without their knowledge or consent.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment.

Dannenfelser said the Department of Justice should take a more active role in prosecuting cases involving forced abortions.

“We do have every hope that the attorney general will move on this, and he’s referenced it at the Dallas convention that people who are pushing death in a pill will be disappointed,” she said. “That is the surest way to justice.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, joined Dannenfelser in demanding Attorney General Todd Blanche take action, referencing Affholder’s case.

“My constituent was held down and force-fed crushed-up mail-order abortion pills,” Moreno wrote to Blanche. “Unsurprisingly, reckless Biden-era mail-in abortion policies are responsible for this hell-on-earth tragedy.”

President Donald Trump offered a roaring counterbalance to a spate of world leaders bashing Israel or appearing to equivocate between the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks and Jerusalem’s response — as one world leader was assailed for his comments on Hamas.

Gaza dominated the opening day of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire, as world leaders accused Israel of continuing to displace Palestinians and undermine prospects for peace. 

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Israel of violating Palestinian rights in the West Bank, questioning the justification for its actions and making a remark that was translated as “Hamas was never active in the West Bank.”

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Israel’s U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon, challenged his claim about Hamas’ presence in the West Bank. “French President Emmanuel Macron claimed from the UN podium that Hamas has ‘never been active’ in Judea and Samaria. Just two days ago, a French citizen was murdered there,” Danon wrote on X . “Mr. President, Emmanuel Macron, do your homework before lecturing Israel. Check the facts.”

Asked by Fox News Digital to clarify Macron’s remarks, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said: “The president meant to say that Hamas does not govern the West Bank. His remarks should therefore not be misinterpreted.”

In response to the comments, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reposted Israel’s Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism. Huckabee stated, “Hard to imagine a more out of touch with reality speech than Macron at UN. @AmichaiChikli corrects the record. Hamas is an evil scourge, and they have killed innocent American citizens.

Chickli’s post noted in part that, “Since 1990, Hamas has carried out more than 80 lethal terrorist attacks originating in or directed from Judea and Samaria, murdering more than 350 Israeli civilians.” Judea and Samaria is another term used for the West Bank.

Macron also accused Israel of violating Palestinian rights in the West Bank and undermining the sovereignty of neighboring Lebanon, where he said villages in the south were being “razed.” Macron questioned the credibility of the international community’s recognition of Palestinian statehood if it failed to act on the situation in Gaza. “Some claim that peace has been achieved,” he said, calling the situation “shameful.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, in his final address to the General Assembly (UNGA) as secretary-general, opened fire on Israel’s response in Gaza, describing it as “a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I have witnessed in all my years as Secretary-General.”

“Amid the turmoil engulfing the region, we must not lose sight of the devastating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” he said, as the world approaches three years since the Hamas terror attacks that sparked the Israeli military response he spent much of his speech criticizing.

At the same time, Guterres lamented the ongoing conflict in Sudan, saying the war-torn East African nation is a place the “world looks away” from wrongly.

Yet his decision to single out Gaza as “the worst” devastation he had witnessed during his tenure raised questions about the international community’s uneven attention to two of the world’s deadliest conflicts. Approximately 72,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, compared with an estimated 150,000 people killed in Sudan’s civil war. Many of those killed in Gaza include terrorists.

King Abdullah II of Jordan, a regional U.S. ally whose country signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994, doubled down on the anti-Israel tenor, accusing Jerusalem of “war crimes.”

“In my region, from Lebanon to Yemen, to Sudan, protracted conflict is deepening humanitarian suffering,” Abdullah said. “And if anyone had any doubt that a crisis in our part of the world stays there, just look at the energy and grocery bills of ordinary families, from Mumbai to Madrid to Minnesota.”

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Abdullah said Jordanian field hospitals had been targeted during the first 300 days of the “so-called ceasefire” and lamented the deaths of Palestinian children.

He also praised Trump for “pushing hard for peace” while pivoting to fault Israel for “moving the goalposts” and allegedly destroying civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

“The question is, is this the behavior of a democratic state governed by law? What is unfolding across the West Bank is not a series of isolated acts. It is elements of a single policy to compel an entire population to leave their land,” Abdullah said.

“And there is a name for that: forced displacement. And that is a war crime.”

Abdullah also accused Israel of harboring territorial ambitions in Syria, calling on the international community to act.

Just before Abdullah, President Donald Trump offered a scathing counterweight to the invective directed at the Netanyahu administration and Israel’s response to Palestinian terrorism.

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“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” was a mantra repeated by Trump from the dais, as he noted that the Khamenei regime had also celebrated Oct. 7 as a “service to humanity” while murdering thousands of Iranian citizens in recent months, according to the president.

“Just imagine such a vile regime, wherever empowered to carry out large-scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield. This was the reality we had to confront, the reality that far too many preferred to ignore,” he said, taking occasional swipes at nations — and previous U.S. leaders — who refused to help neutralize the Iranian threat.

“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” he said. “But I believe, we’ll make a deal. right after the election,” he added, suggesting Iran is waiting to see whether Republicans retain control of Congress while noting that he himself is not on the ballot.

Meanwhile, criticism of Israel continued from the dais throughout the day.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were “statesmen” who sought solutions with courage and clarity.

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“They were defeated by hatred,” Lula da Silva claimed , according to the U.N.’s transcript of his remarks.

“Generations of Palestinians will carry the pain and trauma left by the genocide of women and children perpetrated by Netanyahu[‘s] government in Gaza,” he said.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told Fox News Digital that, “Unfortunately, it’s not new, but the U.N. is obsessed with Israel,” Danon told Fox News Digital.

“Instead of focusing and dealing with the real issues they all gather and gang against Israel,” he said. “[It is] the weakness of the secretary general. That is why we are grateful for President Trump, who came to the U.N., delivered a very powerful speech with moral clarity, but we are used to it… Unfortunately, instead of taking practical actions to improve the world, it’s much easier to blame Israel about everything,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called Gaza “the world’s biggest graveyard for children” and compared the situation there to Holocaust-era concentration camps, continuing his history of comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.

Danon said it is legitimate to criticize Israel and that its leaders welcome debate — but that the U.N. instead delved into “pure hate [and] incitement,” singling out Erdoğan, who is supposed to be a Western ally.

“[He] comes here every year, compares the Israelis to the Nazis. That’s shameful. That’s shameful. And he shows that he’s an antisemite. He doesn’t really care about the Palestinians. He just wants to sow chaos and instigate against the Jewish people.”

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As for King Abdullah’s remarks, Danon said, “He should know better. We work with Jordan, we support Jordan, we defended Jordan in the past. But unfortunately, many leaders, when they come here, they don’t speak about the cooperation with Israel, the economical or security cooperation. They join the group and they always criticize us.”

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.