World
Syria’s new president takes center stage at UNGA as concerns linger over terrorist past
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Once a member of al Qaeda and the Islamic State and now leading Syria’s fragile transition since toppling the Bashar Assad regime, Ahmed al-Sharaa is ready to take to the global center stage at the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday and make his case for a new path forward for his war-torn nation.
“This marks the first participation in high-level meetings of a Syrian president at the United Nations General Assembly since 1967, so this is a very big deal,” Natasha Hall, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.
“On such a historic occasion, what he will try to emphasize and underline is that this is a new day for Syria. They have overthrown the brutal dictatorship of the Assad regime. He will talk about the progress that’s been made and what more progress needs to happen in terms of recognition and the lifting of U.N. sanctions to help Syria move forward,” Hall added.
TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST TOUR BEGINS WITH SYRIA LOOMING AS STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY
Interim Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Photo/Andres Kudacki)
A high-ranking Syrian government official confirmed to Fox News Digital that al-Sharaa will use the opportunity at the U.N. to present Syria’s vision for stability, reconstruction, and reconciliation.
“The most important issues he will raise include the need to lift all forms of unilateral sanctions that continue to hinder Syria’s recovery, the importance of combating terrorism in all its forms, the return of displaced Syrians and refugees, and the advancement of a genuinely inclusive political process rooted in the will of the Syrian people,” the Syrian official said.
Al-Sharaa, who led the Islamist rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to victory over Assad, ditched his military fatigues for a Western-style suit and has been on a charm offensive, hosting European and Western diplomats and politicians in hopes of bringing Syria out from its international pariah status.
The new Syrian leader received an unprecedented endorsement from President Donald Trump when the two met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May.
Trump called al-Sharaa a “young, attractive, tough guy,” announcing that the U.S. would lift sanctions in place since the Assad era and even discussed normalizing relations.
People welcome the leader of Syria’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive snatching Damascus from government control, Ahmed al-Sharaa (C), before his address at the capital’s landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8, 2024. Al-Sharaa gave a speech as the crowd chanted “Allahu akbar (God is greatest),” in a video shared by the rebels on their Telegram channel showed. (Aref Tammawi/AFP via Getty Images)
Hall noted that al-Sharaa might be looking to secure a security pact between Israel and Syria along the UNGA sidelines, emphasizing that he seeks a Syria that is at peace with its neighbors and doesn’t want to position Syria to be a threat to any outside forces, particularly Israel.
He will also be looking to secure much-needed reconstruction aid to rebuild a country ravaged by 13 years of civil war. The cost for reconstruction is estimated to be between $250 and $400 billion, and 16.7 million people, or 75% of the population, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N.
Since seizing Damascus, he has publicly said all the right things. He promised an inclusive government that would represent all religious and ethnic factions in Syria, uphold women’s rights and protect minority rights.
ISLAMIST GROUP RUNNING SYRIA HAS MIXED RECORD OVER GOVERNANCE IN PROVINCE, RULED WITH ‘IRON FIST’
Al-Sharaa also fulfilled promises to target ISIS and other terrorist groups operating in Syria. One month after taking power, Syrian security forces seized a shipment of heavy ammunition destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon, once a key ally of the Assad regime and Iran’s Axis of Resistance.
While optimism for a new Syria remains high, some caution it’s still too soon to judge al-Sharaa as a Western ally given his terrorist past.
“Al-Sharaa is not a democrat. He ruled Idlib without power-sharing. So far, in terms of control of vital government functions like security, foreign affairs, intelligence and justice, he has put loyalists in place,” former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Fox News Digital.
Ford, who was the last U.S. ambassador in Damascus in 2011, said the crucial question is whether, over time, individual political and civil liberties will be respected and that people maintain, as they have now, the freedom to organize and protest.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Bing Guan/Pool Photo via AP)
“Al-Sharaa’s heavy hand ruling Idlib prior to Assad’s fall has been lighter in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere. But so far, there is more political freedom to speak and protest in Syria than in many other countries in the region, such as Egypt, Algeria and some Gulf states,” Ford added.
Ambassador Barbara Leaf, who served as assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, visited Damascus and met with Shara in December, becoming the highest-ranking official to meet with Syrian leadership since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Leaf, a distinguished diplomatic fellow with the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital about her initial contact with Shara right after HTS overthrew Assad. Her mission was to get eyes on him, to assess him and to send a clear signal on U.S. expectations if he was going to lead a new Syria.
“My takeaway from the meeting was that he came across as somebody who was very well-prepared for the discussion. He had clearly anticipated all of the topics that I raised and he had pretty thoughtful responses with a readiness to engage,” she said.
Syrian security forces walk together along a street, after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, collapsing a ceasefire announced just hours earlier that aimed to put an end to days of deadly sectarian bloodshed, in Sweida, Syria, July 16, 2025. (Karam al-Masri/Reuters)
Al-Sharaa made a point several times to say that Syria would no longer be a threat or a staging point for threats against its neighbors, including Israel, and that he would not allow the Iranians, Hezbollah or Palestinian groups, to use Syrian territory to conduct terrorist activities, the ambassador said.
“I came to the sense that he was already making a shift from being a military commander to being a politician, to being a political leader,” Ambassador Leaf noted.
While Ambassador Leaf highlighted his pragmatism, his true intentions as the new leader of Syria remain murky.
The ambassador said that it appears al-Sharaa has traveled a trajectory away from his jihadist terrorist past, but it remains a question how far he is willing to go to effectuate what she believes is an intention to form an Islamist style of governance.
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“Does he want to formulate a kind of Islamist governance, conservative governance and social order that, frankly, Syria has not seen? And would he be willing to use force to get there? That’s an unknown,” the ambassador cautioned.
What’s concerning for Ambassador Leaf and others is that many of the people serving in key roles in the transitional government are close associates of al-Sharaa and others affiliated with HTS and other allied armed rebel groups.
“Al-Sharaa is still engaged in a careful balancing act within his own government between liberal opposition voices, former regime bureaucrats and more Islamist proponents aligned still with HTS’ mission and principles,” Caroline Rose, director of The New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, once known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is seen in Syria Feb. 7, 2023. Since becoming the country’s president, he has gone back to his given name. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
EVANGELICAL LEADER SAYS US MUST PROTECT SYRIAN CHRISTIANS FROM ATTACKS BY JIHADI TERRORISTS
Rose, who traveled to Syria earlier this year, said that Syria’s complex political dynamics have led not only to gridlock, but even incapacity in times of crisis, “such as failure to rein in radical Sunni fighters during violent outbreaks in Latakia and Suwayda, but also policies appeasing more conservative elements of al-Sharaa’s support network, such as the ruling requiring full-body swimwear at Syrian pools and beaches.”
While Syria’s new government has looked to consolidate control over a restive society, Shara’s forces had to manage a fragile society divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Syria has experienced a wave of sectarian violence since the revolution to overthrow Assad. Government security forces retaliated after forces loyal to the Assad regime launched an attack in the coastal city of Latakia, Assad’s hometown. In total, around 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were massacred, according to the U.N. Most of the victims from the Alawites, a minority group in Syria, which the Assad family belonged to, as well as from the Druze community.
It was the worst episode of violence since the overthrow of Assad in December 2024.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Civil Defense worker inspects the damage inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (SANA via AP)
Clashes between Bedouin tribes, Druze militias and government forces in Suweida led to hundreds of deaths and drew in Israeli military intervention — to protect Syria’s Druze minority. A ceasefire was eventually agreed to but the spiraling ethnic violence highlights Syria’s rocky transition.
The country’s dwindling Christian community has also felt the brunt of extremist violence. In June, the Islamic State was suspected of carrying out a deadly suicide bombing at a Greek Orthodox church in Syria, which killed 22 worshipers and injured 63 others. Christians have also been attacked and, in some cases, killed, allegedly by forces tied to the al-Sharaa government.
The new authorities will also have to incorporate Kurdish forces operating in Northeast Syria, where the Syrian Democratic Forces have been crucial to the U.S.-led counter-ISIS campaign. Any disruptions in the merging of the SDF into the Syrian state raises the risk of an ISIS resurgence.
World
‘Criminal Minds’ Star Paget Brewster Tells TV Journalist to ‘Work at a Shelter’ After Mixed Review, Sparking Outrage From Other Critics
“Criminal Minds” star Paget Brewster lashed out at ScreenRant staffer Shealyn Scott over X on Saturday afternoon for her story lamenting the changes Paramount+ has brought to the long-running procedural drama.
“Hello critic Shealynn Scott,” Brewster wrote in the since-deleted post. “You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck.”
Film and TV critics were quick to hit back in the replies. David Rooney, chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in his response to Brewster, “This is a very bad look. An actor on a long-running show attacking a young reviewer who contextualizes her respectful criticisms with obvious knowledge of the material — says way more about u being thin-skinned than it does about her professionalism. ‘Work at a shelter,’ really?!”
Senior ScreenRant writer Andy Behbakht also came to the defense of Scott, writing, “This is disgusting behavior on your part, and really tragic to see you tearing down a young female journalist whom you are literally telling that she ‘sucks’ and that she shouldn’t be in the field that she is in. I stand by my colleague, and you owe her an apology.”
Brewster released an apology for the post on Sunday. She wrote on X, “Hi guys, I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it. Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job. I’m very sorry, Shealyn. And I’m sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked.”
“Criminal Minds” premiered its 15th and final season on CBS in 2020, and then was revived for Paramount+ in 2022 under the title “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” Scott’s piece discussed the changes “Criminal Minds” underwent when it went from linear to streaming.
“From details as small as a ratings change to TV-MA— which allows David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) the occasional heated expletive— to new main cast members like Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka), there’s no doubt that ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ has its own unique identity,” Scott wrote in her story. “Plenty of the continuation’s changes have been received warmly, and ‘Criminal Minds’ unquestionably still works as a gripping crime drama, but there are just as many tweaks that feel more like downgrades— including the new 10-episode season structure. Though logical in theory, the shortened seasons are unfortunately working against ‘Criminal Minds’’ greatest strengths.”
World
Meloni’s spat with Trump is calculated strategy to boost her approval ratings: expert
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s escalating feud with President Donald Trump is nothing but a calculated political strategy aimed at boosting her standing at home, a leading Italian political analyst told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
After the row between Trump and Meloni escalated on June 20, analysts also said the Italian leader may see little downside in confronting Trump, particularly as she faces declining approval ratings ahead of Italy’s 2027 general election.
The diplomatic dispute had reached a boiling point after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced June 19 that he was scrapping a trip to Washington, where he had been scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Giorgia Meloni must have calculated that a public row with Trump yields no tangible consequences, other than an increase in her domestic and international standing,” Mattia Diletti, a political science lecturer at Sapienza University of Rome, said.
TRUMP SAYS MELONI ‘WANTS TO BE FRIENDS AGAIN’ AFTER ITALY REFUSED TO HELP US AMID IRAN WAR
Giorgia Meloni said President Trump’s statements were “completely made up” and that “neither I nor Italy ever beg.” (Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images; Bastien Ohier / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images))
Giovanni Orsina, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss University, also told the Financial Times that the row would offer a “positive image” for Meloni and a “silver lining” to a confrontation she had “desperately tried to avoid.”
The friction between Trump and Meloni intensified after an interview broadcast by Italy’s La7 television network, where the president claimed she had asked for a photograph with him at the G7 summit and that he agreed only out of pity.
“She begged me to take a picture with her,” Trump said. “She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”
RUBIO MEETS MELONI AS TRUMP–POPE CLASH CLASH ESCALATES US STRAINS WITH KEY EUROPEAN ALLY
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends her annual press conference in Rome on Jan. 9, 2026, addressing government priorities and policy challenges for the year ahead. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Meloni fired back, releasing a video statement on X rejecting the president’s narrative.
“I am frankly stunned,” Meloni said in the video message. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. But there’s one thing he must remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
Trump doubled down on Truth Social and tied the row directly to Meloni’s political fortunes.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America… when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon … She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience … Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”
Within hours, Meloni responded on social media: “As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it … My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest… In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”
TRUMP ‘RIGHT TO BE OUTRAGED’ BY EUROPE’S BETRAYAL ON IRAN, SAYS FORMER THATCHER ADVISOR
Rubio will travel to Italy on Wednesday for meetings with Pope Leo and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The back-and-forth marks a reversal for two leaders who once enjoyed a close political alignment.
When Meloni first came to power, she positioned herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels while pushing ties with Trump based on shared nationalism and stances on immigration.
“Politically, Trump has favored Meloni,” Diletti noted, pointing out that she had previously visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2025. She was the only European Union leader to attend his second inauguration.
The cracks also appeared in April when Trump criticized Meloni for siding with Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of the U.S. conflict with Iran.
On Sunday, Trump also criticized Italy and Giorgia Meloni over their approach to Iran, accusing the NATO ally of failing to help confront Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
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“As the 2027 Italian general election approaches, Meloni is facing a decline in approval ratings for the first time,” Diletti explained.
“The opportunity to counter a President so unpopular in Europe and Italy helps bolster her approval ratings and allows her to build European solidarity,” he claimed.
World
Mourners gather to remember Lebanese conservationist killed by Israel
Renowned turtle conservationist Mona Khalil had been wounded in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.
Published On 21 Jun 2026
Mourners have gathered in Beirut to pay their respects to a much-loved Lebanese conservationist who died from wounds caused by an Israeli strike on her home on the country’s southern coast.
Mona Khalil, 77, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the attack in the village of al-Mansouri in Tyre province on June 4 and succumbed to her wounds more than two weeks later, on Friday.
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News of her death triggered an outpouring of grief among environmentalists and those who volunteered and worked with her over the years, many of whom gathered in Beirut on Sunday.
The Orange House Project, which Khalil helped build into a small conservation hub and ecotourism site in al-Mansouri, became a refuge for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles and a training ground for volunteers documenting nesting activity along the coast.
Khalil was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1949. She held Dutch as well as Lebanese citizenship, having lived in the Netherlands before returning to Lebanon and settling in what had once been her grandmother’s home – the building that would later become known as the Orange House.
At the heart of Khalil’s work was a narrow stretch of coastline, al-Mansouri beach, where a fleeting encounter with a turtle that had emerged from the ocean to lay its eggs in 1999 propelled her on a lifelong journey devoted to animals.
Each nesting season, Khalil and volunteers would patrol the beach at night, marking fresh tracks in the sand and carefully relocating vulnerable nests away from human activity and coastal light pollution.
Journalist and environmental activist Fadia Jomaa first met Khalil in 2016 while researching sea turtles in Lebanon and then decided to volunteer with her project.
During the previous war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in 2024, Khalil initially refused to leave al-Mansouri beach, Jomaa said. The Lebanese army ultimately persuaded her to evacuate for her safety.
“She was the last one to leave the area,” Jomaa noted.
“She had an awful time in Beirut,” the journalist said, adding that Khalil longed to return to the south, to the Orange House and the beach she had spent years protecting.
“She used to say, ‘My soul will stay here,’” Jomaa said, recalling conversations in which Khalil would point to an olive tree or a small hill overlooking al-Mansouri beach. “She used to say, ‘This is where you will bury me.’”
Where Khalil will ultimately be buried remains uncertain and is tied to the security situation in the area, Jomaa said.
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