World
Mother of missing Marine veteran calls Trump admin a 'breath of fresh air' as she continues 12-year search
Debra Tice has spent more than 12 years searching for her son, Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.
Through four presidential administrations, she has not lost hope that her son will come home alive. In fact, she calls the new Trump administration a “breath of fresh air.”
“They are thinking about what they need to do, making suggestions, standing ready, having ideas. The burden isn’t on me the way it has been in the past,” Tice told Fox News Digital, referring to the Trump administration.
The Marine veteran’s mother’s first trip back to Damascus, Syria, in over 10 years comes on the heels of a revolution within the war-torn country. Debra Tice has been in Syria for only a few days, but she has already managed to meet with the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad.
“It was really quite a surprise that we were able to get a meeting with al-Sharaa. It was a very good meeting,” Tice said.
SYRIA RESCUE-MISSION OPERATOR BELIEVES AUSTIN TICE IS ALIVE AND WILL BE FOUND SOON
Hostage Aid Worldwide, a non-profit organization coordinating Tice’s visit to Syria, was able to take her inside some of the prisons that have been abandoned since the fall of Assad. She said that seeing the conditions in these prisons was “really challenging,” but that she appreciated getting a sense of “what Austin was up against.”
Tice also issued a challenge to those in the U.S. government who “feel like Austin can wait” to go see the prisons for themselves.
“I think if they had to come over here – and I wouldn’t even ask them to spend the night in one of those prisons – but I think if they had gone to see what he may have gone through, maybe they would’ve been more motivated to get Austin out of there.”
TREY YINGST ENTERS ABANDONED SYRIAN DETENTION SITE IN SEARCH FOR MISSING AMERICAN JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE
During a press conference on Monday, Tice offered praise for the incoming Trump administration and confirmed that they have “already reached out” regarding Austin’s case.
“I haven’t experienced that in the past four years, but I am optimistic about their help and involvement. I believe they will act quickly,” Tice said.
Tice also used the press conference to send an emotional message to her missing son. “Austin, if you can hear this somehow, I love you. I know you won’t give up, and I won’t give up either,” Tice said.
Tice added she has “never had any doubt about the fact that Austin is going to walk free. It’s a matter of time, and in my faith it’s God’s timing.”
When speaking about her hope and optimism about finding her son, Tice credited her faith as “100 percent.” She added that, “if I didn’t have my faith, I just think I would crumble into a bunch of really small pieces.”
COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “intensive efforts are still underway to find Austin Tice.” Additionally, the spokesperson said that the department is “working to get U.S. officials into Damascus” to aid in the search but is waiting for confirmation that the”conditions are safe and local authorities can accommodate the visit.”
“We have used relevant information, as well as declassified intelligence, to inform the search efforts of Syrian and international partners on the ground in Damascus who are searching for Austin every day,” the spokesperson added.
“They have visited and searched numerous now-uncovered secret prisons, but to date they have not found Austin or any additional information that would help us locate him.”
Last month, after receiving a letter from Debra Tice, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to ask Assad for help finding Austin. However, as of now, there are no signs that this has happened.
World
A fashion designer, Italian singer and Icelandic illustrator team up on Vatican exhibition
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s Apostolic Library tapped Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, Italian singer Jovanotti and Icelandic illustrator Kristjana S Williams for an exhibition exploring world tours of the late 19th Century.
The exhibition, titled “En Route,” is the sixth in a series of events intended as a dialogue between the Vatican library’s heritage, dating to the 4th century, and contemporary art.
The library enlisted Chiuri, Jovanotti and Williams to explore the stories of selected travelers, and the contemporary meaning of a recently discovered collection of 1,200 newspapers gathered from remote corners of the world by the diplomat and scholar Cesare Poma during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Chiuri focused on six Victorian-era women who defied conventions by traveling the world on their own. She worked with the Chanakya School of Craft in India to create tapestries depicting the routes they traveled.
“It was interesting to see that they immediately felt the need to change their clothes, because otherwise it was not comfortable to travel, especially by bicycle,” Chiuri told a press preview on Friday. “The first item they took off was the corset.”
Jovanotti, a singer-songwriter and globetrotter, exhibits a bicycle that he has ridden around the world, including on trips through China, Iran, Pakistan, New Zealand and most of Latin America. He also displays a disco ball that is made into a globe with silver mirrored panels representing the ocean, and gold ones for land.
“I liked the idea of bringing a disco ball to the Vatican,’’ he quipped.
The exhibition takes its name from a periodical by two French journalists, Lucien Leroy and Henri Papillaud, who published their global travels from 1895-97, in part to finance the journey. It runs from Feb. 15-Dec. 20.
World
Iran's covert nuclear agency found operating out of top space program launch sites
FIRST ON FOX: A covert agency within Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, tasked with the development of Iran’s nuclear program, has been found to be operating out of top sites used by Iran’s space program.
Iran has hidden elements of its nuclear development program under the guise of commercial enterprises, and it has been suspected of using its space program to develop technologies that could be applied to its nuclear weapons program.
Fox News Digital has learned that according to information obtained by sources embedded in the Iranian regime, evidence collected over several months shows that Iran’s chief nuclear development agency, the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, has been operating out two locations previously recognized as space development and launch sites.
IRAN HIDING MISSILE, DRONE PROGRAMS UNDER GUISE OF COMMERCIAL FRONT TO EVADE SANCTIONS
“These reports, compiled from dozens of sources and thoroughly validated, indicate that in recent months, SPND has intensified its efforts to construct nuclear warheads at both the Shahrud and Semnan sites,” the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a report exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.
The information was obtained by individuals affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and given to the NCRI, an Iranian opposition organization based out of Washington, D.C., and Paris. The NCRI’s deputy director of its Washington, D.C., office, Alireza Jafarzadeh, was the first to disclose to the world information about Iran’s covert nuclear program in 2002.
One of the sites, the Shahroud Space Center, which has been suspected of being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to develop intermediate-range ballistic missiles, is also now reported to have “large-scale” SPND personnel operating out of it – a move Jafarzadeh described as a “significant red flag.”
The Shahroud Space Center caught global attention in 2022 when Iran announced it had developed the Ghaem-100 rocket, which could be used to send low-orbit satellites into space, but also as a ballistic missile with a range of nearly 1,400 miles, greater than what was previously achieved with the Qased rocket.
However, according to sources familiar with activity at the Shahroud Space Center “SPND’s experts are working on a nuclear warhead for the Ghaem100 solid-fuel missile with a range of more than 3,000 kilometers [more than 1,800 miles] and a mobile launch pad.”
IRAN EXPANDS WEAPONIZATION CAPABILITIES CRITICAL FOR EMPLOYING NUCLEAR BOMB
The site is under high security and personnel are apparently prohibited from driving on to the complex. Instead, they are required to park at a checkpoint at the entrance to the site, before being transported inside the complex by the IRGC.
“The Ghaem-100 missile, with a mobile launchpad that enhances its military capability, was produced by the IRGC Aerospace Force and copied from North Korean missiles,” the NCRI report said. “The production of the Ghaem missile was designed from the very beginning to carry a nuclear warhead. The IRGC Brigadier General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the father of the IRGC’s missile program, personally pursued the project.”
It is unclear what level of nuclear payload the Ghaem-100 missile would be capable of carrying at the range of 1,800 miles, though this is still shy of the roughly 3,400 miles needed to be classified as an intercontinental missile.
The second site, located in the northern city of Semnan, the Imam Khomeini Spaceport – Iran’s first spaceport – made international headlines just last month when Tehran launched its heaviest-ever rocket into space carrying a payload of roughly 660 pounds, relying on a liquid propellant.
According to the NCRI report, Iran is using this technology to develop liquid-fuel propellants, like the Simorgh rocket with a range of more than 1,800 miles, used for launching heavier satellites into space – but with the capability of carrying nuclear warheads.
IRAN LAUNCHES ROCKET WITH HEAVIEST-EVER PAYLOAD INTO SPACE AMID HEIGHTENED CONCERN OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Liquid fuel enables a missile to have greater propulsive thrust, power and control. Though it is heavier than solid fuel and requires more complex technologies.
“Creating a Space Command of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force has served to camouflage the development of nuclear warheads under the guise of launching satellites while additionally giving the regime independent communications necessary for guiding the nuclear warheads,” Jafarzadeh told Fox News Digital.
The International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this month warned that Iran has developed some 440 pounds of near-weapons grade uranium that has been enriched to the 60% purity threshold – shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb.
Though only some 92 pounds of weapons-grade uranium is reportedly required to create one nuclear bomb, meaning Iran, if it further enriched its uranium, could possess enough material to develop five nuclear bombs.
However, Jafarzadeh warned that the international community needs to be paying attention to Iran’s activities beyond enriching uranium.
“It is naïve to only focus on calculating the amount or purity of enriched uranium without concentrating on the construction of the nuclear bomb or its delivery system,” he said. “All are integral components of giving Iran’s mullahs an atomic bomb.”
World
Protesters in Barcelona angry at evictions and high rental rates
Local residents and activists blame the influx of tourists, many of whom seek short-term rental accommodations, for contributing to soaring rent prices.
Hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside Barcelona’s historic Casa Orsola apartment building on Friday, determined to prevent the eviction of one of its long-time tenants, Josep Torrent.
The building, has come to symbolise the ongoing housing crisis in Barcelona, which has seen escalating concerns over affordable housing.
The Casa Orsola, purchased by an investment fund in 2021, has witnessed significant changes under new ownership. Since the acquisition, the new owners have ceased renewing rental contracts for existing tenants. Neighbours and local media have speculated that the building will be converted into luxury apartments intended for short-term tourist rentals—an increasingly common trend in Barcelona.
These short-term rentals are exempt from rent cap regulations, which were recently introduced by the local government to address the city’s housing shortage.
Josep Torrent, a mathematics professor who has lived in the building for 23 years, was scheduled for eviction on 31 January, following years of legal battles with the new owners. However, the eviction was postponed after negotiations with the judiciary and Catalan police, who cited concerns over the safety of carrying out the removal amid the protests. A new eviction date has been set for the early hours of Tuesday, 4 February, with protesters pledging to continue their fight to prevent it.
“These people want to scare their tenants and evict them one by one. But we have a very clear idea. The only way to stay in our homes is through collective bargaining so all rent contracts can be renewed,” Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for Catalonia’s tenants union, said. “It’s disgraceful the way these people extort.”
One local resident Raul Acuña called for collective action. “If we all unite and keep fighting, we may be able to reverse this problem. But we must stay united. The problem starts with policies carried out by local governments. If we stay together, we can reverse the situation. If we don’t, it’s likely we will be forced to move out of the city.”
Over the last decade, the average rent in Spain has doubled, and the price per square metre in Barcelona has jumped from 7.2 euros in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to real estate website Idealista. The crisis is exacerbated by stagnant wages, particularly for younger people, in a country plagued by high unemployment rates.
Ignasi Marti, a professor of Society, Politics, and Sustainability at Esade University, emphasised the need for market regulation to address the crisis.
“The market never self-regulates. If you leave private actors to regulate themselves, it leads to situations like the one we’re witnessing now. The market must be regulated in some way.”
A report by the Bank of Spain revealed that nearly 40% of Spanish renters dedicate an average of 40% of their income to rent and utilities, significantly higher than the EU average of 27%.
This problem is compounded by the rising number of short-term rentals catering to tourists, which drives up prices even further. Migrants to Spain, who often lack sufficient savings, are disproportionately affected by the high rents.
Spain’s public housing stock is also one of the smallest in the OECD, with less than 2% of housing available for rent through public housing programmes, far below the OECD average of 7%. Countries like France, Britain, and the Netherlands have much larger percentages of public housing, with France at 14%, Britain at 16%, and the Netherlands at 34%.
Local residents and activists blame the influx of tourists, many of whom seek short-term rental accommodations, for contributing to the soaring rent prices. Barcelona’s town hall has pledged to eliminate 10,000 so-called “tourist apartments” by 2028 as part of an effort to reduce the housing burden on locals.
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