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The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that a ‘small number’ of North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, adding that a couple of thousand more soldiers are expected to arrive at any time.

Last week, White House National Security communications director John Kirby confirmed that between early to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 troops into eastern Russia.

Now, the Pentagon says about 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and they are preparing to be sent to the battle lines alongside Russian troops in their fight against Ukraine.

‘We believe that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has sent approximately 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia, and that these troops will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,’ Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters during a news briefing Tuesday. ‘A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine towards Russia’s Kursk Oblast, near the border with Ukraine.’

Ryder said the troops are in addition to a couple of thousand others already in the Kursk region, adding the Department of Defense (DoD) is concerned that Russia intends to use the soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukraine.

‘Indications that there’s already a small number [of North Korean troops] that are actually in the Kursk Oblast, with a couple of thousand more that are either almost there, or due to arrive imminently,’ he said.

The Pentagon could not confirm whether the North Korean soldiers were in fact inside Ukraine, yet.

‘Initial indications are that these troops will be employed in some type of infantry role,’ Ryder reiterated. ‘But again, what that could be remains to be seen. So, we’re going to continue to monitor closely.’

Like the DoD, President Biden expressed concerns about North Korean soldiers preparing for battle against Ukraine in Russia.

After speaking about infrastructure in Baltimore on Tuesday, a reporter asked Biden if he was worried about North Korean troops in Russia.

‘I am concerned about it, yes,’ he said.

Biden was then asked if Ukrainians should strike back.

‘If they cross into Ukraine, yes,’ Biden said.

Intelligence officials in both South Korea and Ukraine had previously stated that North Korean troops were being transferred to Russia.

‘What exactly are they doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,’ Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said.

Russia and North Korea have denied the troop movements.

South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers that North Korea plans to deploy 10,000 troops to Russia by December, a number that lines up with claims from Ukrainian intelligence.

South Korea said last week that it may start sending weapons to Ukraine in reaction to the deployment. Officials said their response would come in phases linked to the depth of cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

North Korea and Russia, locked in separate confrontations with the West, have sharply boosted their cooperation in the past two years. The U.S., South Korea and their partners have accused North Korea of supplying artillery shells, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia to help fuel its war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. 

In June, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Greg Norman, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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‘Breaking News,’ an MSNBC banner insisted on Sunday night. ‘Trump’s MSG rally comes 85 years after pro-Nazi rally at the famed arena.’ The far-left network’s breathless report featured chilling black-and-white footage of the German American Bund’s notorious National Socialist gathering, complete with swastika armbands and stiff-armed salutes.  

Referring to Trump’s packed-to-the rafters event at Madison Square Garden, MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said: ‘But that jamboree happening right now, you see it there on your screen in that place, is particularly chilling because in 1939, more than 20,000 supporters of a different fascist leader, Adolf Hitler, packed the Garden for a so-called pro-America rally – a rally where speakers voiced antisemitic rhetoric from a stage draped with Nazi banners.’ When a Jewish protester rushed the stage, Capehart explained, American storm troopers yanked his clothes off and beat him as he cradled his head in his arms. 

Scary! But much more than that, this is disgusting, vile rubbish. And – as luck would have it – this also is spectacularly inaccurate.  

The Nazi rally happened at the old Madison Square Garden at 8th Avenue and West 49th Street, home of today’s Worldwide Plaza office and retail complex. Trump and his supporters were not ‘in that place,’ as MSNBC’s misinformation claimed.  

In fact, Trump’s extravaganza was a mile south, at 8th Avenue and West 33rd Street, in a venue that began hosting events in 1968 – the same year that the old MSG was demolished and turned into a parking lot. Not only was the MAGA nation not on the same defiled ground as that pre-World War II Hitlerfest. The facility in question has not even existed for 56 years.  

The entire premise of MSNBC’s hyperventilation – and that of Hillary Clinton and other Trump haters – has collapsed like an arena pummeled by a wrecking ball. Too bad these Trumpophobes didn’t spend five minutes on the Google machine to learn about MSG’s three incarnations, the first two of which were razed. Perhaps drowning Trump in archival footage of swastika flags is just too important to engage in high-school-paper level fact-checking.  

The left’s entire Nuremberg-Rally-on-the-Hudson Big Lie suffers from more than just a fatally flawed timeline. 

Trump’s event, which I was pleased and proud to attend, bore no resemblance whatsoever to the 1939 occasion that has the left soiling themselves in fear. 

Rather than ferocious U.S. storm troopers, I saw thousands of calm, cheerful men, women and children lined up from the middle of West 33rd Street and wrapped north and then east around 1 Penn Plaza – all the way to the middle of West 34th Street. They peacefully and patriotically waited in a cool autumn breeze to enter MSG.

Once inside – as far as I could tell – no Jews were yanked from the stage and pounded into submission. Au contraire, Trump advisor Stephen Miller, Trump’s friend and golf partner Steve Witkoff, and Cantor Fitzgerald chief Howard Lutnick were welcomed to the stage. These Jewish gentlemen offered warm and passionate words of support for Trump.  

The crowd – which filled every row, all the way to the top aisle behind the podium –cheered and applauded these speakers with abundant enthusiasm. Miller, Witkoff and Lutnick were permitted to leave the stage. All three were fully dressed, and none exhibited signs of physical assault or trauma.  

In an even more dramatic departure from Nazism, Congressman Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Death Row Records Co-Founder Michael ‘Harry O’ Harris addressed the red-capped masses. These two Black men also endorsed Trump, to the enormous satisfaction of the mega-MAGA faithful. 

The occasion also featured the characteristically fiery-yet-eloquent words of former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – a Hindu distinctly lacking in blond hair and blue eyes. Ramaswamy (much like Miller) electrified the audience with his stirring advocacy of Trump and his policies. 

The youngest major presidential contender in memory also said that gay Americans were welcome in the MAGA tent, so long as they agreed with Trump and his followers that men and boys have no place in women’s and girls’ sports, and gender transition should be limited to adults. ‘Gay marriage is fine, but hands off the kids!’ is a MAGA tenet that enjoys widespread appeal across the ideological spectrum.   

The event felt like a one-day Republican National Convention. The excitement, energy and camaraderie recalled one of those quadrennial nominating affairs. The speakers were also of that caliber. They included, among others, former congresswoman and recent GOP convert Tulsi Gabbard, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Hulk Hogan and Eric and Lara Trump.  

The GOP nominee’s other son was aghast at what inflation did to his family’s recent fast-food tab. ‘ If Donald Trump Jr. has sticker shock at McDonald’s, we have a serious problem in our country.’

This occasion had its surreal qualities, political commentator Tucker Carlson noted. ‘Just another day following Bobby Kennedy, Jr., at a Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Garden … Yeah, that’s totally normal!’ 

Among the speeches and snippets of classic rock tunes such as ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Sweet Child of Mine,’ the campaign presented multiple new slogans on screens and in videos and hallway displays. Many are four words long, like Make America Great Again. They are caveman-simple, but direct, powerful, compelling and manly: 

  • ‘Better Off with Trump’
  • ‘Dream Big Again’
  • ‘No Tax on Overtime’
  • ‘Make America Strong Again’

And my favorite: 

  • ‘Trump Will Fix It.’

Melania Trump made a surprise appearance, to introduce her husband. As Donald J. Trump finally took the stage to a deafening ovation, Lee Greenwood serenaded the once and perhaps future First Couple with a live rendition of ‘I’m Proud to Be an American.’ 

Trump himself spoke positively and optimistically about November 5 as ‘Liberation Day’ and promised a fascinating combination of major tax cuts, deregulation, energy liberation, Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick to lead a massive federal budget-slashing effort, tariffs, and Golden Rule trade policy (regarding international commerce, do unto other nations as they do onto us). I call this supply-side protectionism. I like the first part better than the second. If anyone can fuse these two seemingly contradictory approaches, it would have to be Donald J. Trump. 

Rather than a Thousand Year Reich, which Hitler promised Germany, Trump spoke warmly of ‘a new golden age.’

This occasion had its surreal qualities, political commentator Tucker Carlson noted. ‘Just another day following Bobby Kennedy, Jr., at a Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Garden … Yeah, that’s totally normal!’ 

The event’s one sour note was comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s crack about an island made of garbage floating in the middle of the ocean: Puerto Rico. He was the day’s first speaker and appeared when MSG was about half full. While the rest of his set was amusing, that line drew appropriately few laughs and, instead, something between silence and groans. Trump and his campaign have disassociated themselves from those remarks. 

It’s a damn shame that Hinchcliffe is a noxious distraction from an otherwise upbeat and extraordinary event in modern politics. And Adolf Hitler would have hated the whole thing. 

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Israel took out three of Iran’s Russian-made S-300 missile defense systems during last week’s retaliatory strike against the Islamic Republic, Fox News has learned. 

Israel carried out the strategic airstrike on Oct. 26, marking a significant escalation in the conflict between the two countries during the operation’s chosen name, ‘Days of Repentance.’ The strikes targeted critical military infrastructure, delivering both a symbolic and tactical blow to Iran’s strategic capabilities following Tehran’s attack on Israel weeks earlier.

The Biden administration was informed about Israel’s strike in advance. The targets were chosen in an effort to send a pinpoint message to Iran and to degrade its ability to fire ballistic missiles at Israel anytime soon.

At the start of the year, Iran only had four S300 surface-to-air missile systems. In April, Israel took out one of the missile systems in response to Iran’s first ballistic missile attack. A senior U.S. official confirmed the airstrikes took out the three S-300 missile systems. 

‘The majority of Iran’s air defense was taken out.’ a senior Israeli official told Fox News. 

On an internal call, President Biden’s adviser for the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, said ‘Iran is essentially naked’ with no more missile defense. 

Israeli warplanes also took out multiple radar systems that are needed to guide the same ballistic missiles that were fired at Israel in April and on Oct. 1 when Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state. Many of the missiles were destroyed before reaching their target, and others caused minimal damage, the Department of Defense said. 

Removing the radar systems prevents Iran from firing those missiles in the future, a senior official said. 

‘Our message is very, very clear… ‘Any threat, anywhere, at any time, we will know how to reach it, we will know how to strike,’’ said Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi. 

Halevi emphasized that Israel had only deployed a portion of its capabilities, suggesting that further actions could be taken should Iran escalate.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has urged Iran not to respond to Israel’s strikes. 

‘We believe that this should be the end of this tit-for-tat,’ Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a meeting today with reporters. ‘We don’t think that Iran should or needs to respond. On Oct. 1, Iran launched the 200 ballistic missiles that were targeting civilian population centers. Israel’s response was targeted at military targets.’

‘We see this as a way to off-ramp,’ she added. 

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report. 

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The White House attempted to walk back President Biden’s comments after the president unleashed a firestorm after calling Trump supporters ‘garbage.’

During a virtual Vice President Kamla Harris campaign call with Voto Latino, Biden took a swipe at former President Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchiffe made jokes mocking different ethnic groups, with one joke referring to Puerto Rico as a ‘floating island of garbage.’

‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,’ Biden said. ‘[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.’

His remarks were quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in ‘a basket of deplorables’ in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that President Biden ‘referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’’

‘The president was referencing a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he likened Puerto Rico to an island of floating ‘garbage’ in the middle of the ocean,’ he said.

The White House earlier told NBC News that the president was referring to Hinchcliffe.

Later, Biden tried to further clarify his comments, saying that he was denouncing Hinchicliffe’s comments – not Trump supporters.

‘Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,’ Biden wrote in a post on X. ‘His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.’

Speaking at a campaign event with Trump on Tuesday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) picked up Biden’s remark as ‘breaking news’ and told Trump supporters that Biden had marginalized a huge number of everyday Americans as ‘garbage.’

Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Biden and Harris ‘despise the tens of millions’ who support him.

‘There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him,’ she wrote in a release. 

Backlash from the comments came from both sides of the aisle, with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro condemning Biden’s remarks.

‘I’m giving you my fresh reaction to it,’ he told Fox News Radio Political Analyst Josh Kraushaar on Tuesday. ‘I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support.’

Fox News Digital’s Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

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As the country braces for Nov. 5, Americans are not the only ones keeping a close eye on election day. For many in war-torn regions throughout the world, the outcome of the U.S. election could mean the difference between life and death.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, told Fox News Digital that Israeli citizens are following the U.S. election ‘very closely’ and are fully aware of the ‘dramatic’ impact the election will have on the Middle East and their lives.

He said that though the spirits of Israeli citizens have improved since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, ‘the fact that there is an ongoing war with dead soldiers almost on a daily basis’ is taking a toll on the people.

Over the weekend, Israeli air force jets bombed several Iranian military sites. Israel also launched an attack in northern Gaza in an effort to stop Hamas forces from regrouping. In response, Iran has vowed to ‘use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response’ to the attacks.

Amid this time of difficulty, Segal said that most Israeli citizens believe former President Donald Trump would enable Israel to defeat its enemies.

Segal shared a recent Channel 12 poll that found Israelis favor Trump over Vice-president Kamala Harris 66 to 17 percent.

‘There is a hope in Israel that Trump would bring with him a much more staunch approach, a much more tough approach against Iran, thus enabling Israel to act more freely against the arms of the octopus,’ Segal explained.

This election cycle, Trump has cast himself as Israel’s protector, contrasting himself with the Democrats who he said support the ‘total annihilation’ of Israel. During his first term, Trump was instrumental in brokering the ‘Abraham Accords’ which offered one of the most significant breakthroughs in improving Israeli-Arab relations in decades.

Segal said that Harris is more of an unknown regarding her policy toward Israel.

‘Harris is a mystery, but her party is not a mystery, and the party is rapidly turning to the left and that’s the reason why I say the vast majority of Israelis are worried,’ he said.

Harris has said, ‘we are prepared to defend Israel, as we have before, we will again.’ Yet, she has also insisted that ‘there must be a de-escalation in the region.’

Segal said that many Israelis, both inside and outside the government, are afraid that, as president, Harris would hinder Israel’s efforts in Gaza and beyond, resulting in reduced security for the country and its citizens.

In addition to allowing Israel to continue its defense efforts, Segal said he believes the most important question is whether the next administration will cooperate with Israeli hopes to disable Iran’s nuclear facilities.

‘The Democratic administrations, led by Obama and Biden, opposed it. There is a hope in Israel that Trump would support it passively or even actively,’ he said. 

According to strategic military intelligence analyst and Russia expert Rebekah Koffler, leaders in Russia and Ukraine hope for a Harris victory.

Koffler was born and raised in Russia and formerly worked for the CIA as a Russian doctrine and strategy specialist. 

She told Fox News Digital that Ukrainian leaders favor Harris because they believe she will continue the Biden administration’s policy of sending tens of billions of dollars in military aid. In the same vein, she said that Ukraine fears that Trump, who has criticized the Biden administration’s funding of Ukraine, will cut off aid and pressure them to make territorial concessions to end the war.

Koffler said that Russian intelligence services, meanwhile, have profiled Harris as ‘unintelligent, incompetent and vapid,’ which she said, ‘makes it easier for them to deceive and manipulate her.’

Though many have criticized Trump’s conciliatory language regarding Putin, Koffler said that in terms of policy, the former president’s first term was ‘the most anti-Russia policy’ in U.S. history.

She said, ‘there’s no one that Putin fears more than Trump.’

If Trump is given a second term, Koffler believes the war will be over within the first three months. On the other hand, a Harris victory would allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue the war as is and simply outlast Ukraine.

‘[Putin] is prepared for a very long war,’ she said. ‘So, if Harris continues, whatever she can squeeze out of the American people if she still can. Putin is ready for that. He’s ready to fight until the last Ukrainian.’

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Cosm, the immersive technology company that broadcasts live sports events using what it calls “shared reality,” is partnering with the National Football League, the company announced Monday.

As part of the deal, Cosm will produce and distribute NFL games at its venues throughout the rest of the 2024 season.

The deal includes broadcasting every Thursday night football game on Amazon, all Sunday night games on NBC, every Monday night football game on ESPN and select games on Sunday with Fox.

The company, founded in 2020 by Mirasol Capital, uses a 360-degree dome with giant 12K+ LED screens to offer viewers a fully immersive “shared reality” experience that mirrors being at the game.

The domes fit about 700 people with the average ticket price ranging between $22 and $127. Cosm uses a dynamic pricing model, similar to concerts or live sports.

Cosm offers a range of live sports and educational programming.COSM

“What’s so unique about a property like the NFL is that fandom is everywhere,” said Jeb Terry, president and CEO at Cosm. “We see fans coming in wearing jerseys, bringing the Terrible Towel, bringing cow bells, having an absolute blast, like they’re at the stadium themselves.”

The company did not disclose the financial details of its deal with the NFL.

Cosm first opened its doors in Los Angeles and Dallas this summer and recently announced its third venue would be in downtown Atlanta, with future locations to be announced soon.

Cosm already has deals in place with the NBA, UFC, ESPN, NBC Sports, TNT Sports, Fox Sports and Amazon Prime Video, and broadcasts everything from the Summer Olympics in Paris to the current World Series.

Tickets for the first game of the World Series featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees sold out in seven minutes, Cosm said. The second game sold out in one minute.

“Inventory is flying off the shelf,” Terry said.

While live sports act as the core anchor for Cosm, the company also has nonsports offerings, including an animated voyage beyond the planets through the eyes of astronauts and a Cirque du Soleil show. This allows the company to have programs throughout lunch and matinee hours when live sports may not be available.

As fans’ viewing habits are changing, Cosm is finding rapid success in its tech-forward model.

Terry said the venues are already seeing repeat customers and they will soon be introducing membership rewards and season passes.

In July, the company raised more than $250 million in funding to expand globally. Cosm is valued at more than $1 billion, and its investors include sports heavyweights such as former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and co-managing partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils David Blitzer.

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

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JPMorgan Chase has begun suing customers who allegedly stole thousands of dollars from ATMs by taking advantage of a technical glitch that allowed them to withdraw funds before a check bounced.

The bank on Monday filed lawsuits in at least three federal courts, taking aim at some of the people who withdrew the highest amounts in the so-called infinite money glitch that went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms in late August.

A Houston case involves a man who owes JPMorgan $290,939.47 after an unidentified accomplice deposited a counterfeit $335,000 check at an ATM, according to the bank.

A customer uses an ATM outside of a Chase Bank branch in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. on March 13, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

“On August 29, 2024, a masked man deposited a check in Defendant’s Chase bank account in the amount of $335,000,” the bank said in the Texas filing. “After the check was deposited, Defendant began withdrawing the vast majority of the ill-gotten funds.”

JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is investigating thousands of possible cases related to the “infinite money glitch,” though it hasn’t disclosed the scope of associated losses. Despite the waning use of paper checks as digital forms of payment gain popularity, they’re still a major avenue for fraud, resulting in $26.6 billion in losses globally last year, according to Nasdaq’s Global Financial Crime Report.

The infinite money glitch episode highlights the risk that social media can amplify vulnerabilities discovered at a financial institution. Videos began circulating in late August showing people celebrating the withdrawal of wads of cash from Chase ATMs shortly after bad checks were deposited.

Normally, banks only make available a fraction of the value of a check until it clears, which takes several days. JPMorgan says it closed the loophole a few days after it was discovered.

The other lawsuits filed Monday are in courts including Miami and the Central District of California, and involve cases where JPMorgan says customers owe the bank sums ranging from about $80,000 to $141,000.

Most cases being examined by the bank are for far smaller amounts, according to people with knowledge of the situation who declined to be identified speaking about the internal investigation.

In each case, JPMorgan says its security team reached out to the alleged fraudster, but it hasn’t been repaid for the phony checks, in violation of the deposit agreement that customers sign when creating an account with the bank.

JPMorgan is seeking the return of the stolen funds with interest and overdraft fees, as well as lawyers’ fees and, in some cases, punitive damages, according to the complaints.

The lawsuits are likely to be just the start of a wave of litigation meant to force customers to repay their debts and signal broadly that the bank won’t tolerate fraud, according to the people familiar. JPMorgan prioritized cases with large dollar amounts and indications of possible ties to organized crime, they said.

The civil cases are separate from potential criminal investigations; JPMorgan says it has also referred cases to law enforcement officials across the country.

“Fraud is a crime that impacts everyone and undermines trust in the banking system,” JPMorgan spokesman Drew Pusateri said in a statement to CNBC. “We’re pursuing these cases and actively cooperating with law enforcement to make sure if someone is committing fraud against Chase and its customers, they’re held accountable.”

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A British lawmaker has been suspended by the governing Labour Party after footage appeared to show him punching a man repeatedly on the street.

Police are investigating the alleged attack by Mike Amesbury on Friday night, which first came to light after social media footage showed a brawl in the street following the alleged attack.

Subsequent surveillance footage, obtained by the Daily Mail newspaper and published Sunday, appears to show Amesbury talking to a man before punching him in the face and then attempting to strike him again repeatedly on the ground.

Labour said Amesbury is assisting police with their inquiries, and that they have suspended the backbencher “pending an investigation.”

Amesbury has been an member of parliament (MP) since 2017 in Cheshire, northwest England, where the alleged incident took place. He remains an independent member of the House of Commons after losing the party whip.

The lawmaker said in a statement, released before the additional footage was published by the Mail, that he was “involved in an incident that took place after I felt threatened on the street following an evening out with friends.”

He said he had “contacted Cheshire Police myself to report what happened during the incident.”

Cheshire police said in a statement: “A 55-year-old man has been voluntarily interviewed under caution by police in relation to this incident. He has since been released pending further enquiries.”

Labour swept to power in a July general election after 14 years in opposition, winning 411 seats for a commanding majority. Nine of those MPs have since had the whip removed or resigned from the party.

The populist Reform UK party have called for Amesbury to resign and allow a by-election in his seat to take place, which would be the first electoral test of the new government if it were to take place.

MPs are entitled to remain in the Commons after losing the whip. A recall petition in their constituency, which could trigger a by-election, could take place if they were to receive a prison sentence.

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A major manhunt is underway in northern Austria after a hunter allegedly fatally shot two people and fled the scene, local police said Monday.

Franz Hofer, mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau, was killed in the village of Altenfelden in Austria’s rural Muhlviertel region, near the border with Germany and the Czech Republic.

A large-scale police operation with helicopters and special forces is underway, she said. The suspect is believed to be armed and local residents have been told to stay indoors.

“Unfortunately, we assume that the perpetrator we are looking for could be carrying the weapon,” Handelbauer said, according to local media. A dispute over hunting rights appeared to have sparked the incident, police added.

According to Kronen Zeitung, a local outlet, the suspect was known to hunters in the area. “He was a difficult person,” said a hunter from the area who wished not to be named.

The shooting shocked officials at the People’s Party (OVP) regional headquarters in Linz. “It’s madness,” said state party leader Florian Hiegelsperger.

Herbert Sieghartsleitner, the state hunting master, said the incident was “unbelievable.”

“I am deeply shocked by what has happened. I knew Franz Hofer very well personally,” he said, according to Kronen Zeitung.

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British far-right political activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after he admitted to being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee, according to court documents.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted on Monday to breaching UK court rules 10 times.

Robinson, the founder of the now-defunct anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), was accused of repeating false allegations that caused him to lose a libel suit in 2021.

The initial libel case related to Robinson making false accusations against a Syrian schoolboy who was attacked in an incident shared widely on social media. In 2018, footage emerged showing the 15-year-old – a refugee from Syria – being taunted, grabbed by the throat and pushed to the ground, as other students at his school in Huddersfield, northern England, looked on.

At the time, Robinson made allegations against the teenager in a number of social media videos, which he then deleted, falsely claiming the teen attacked English girls. The far-right figurehead later admitted to posting a fake photograph purporting to show violence by a Muslim gang.

At Monday’s sentencing hearing, a judge at London’s Woolwich Crown Court said Robinson breached court rules by publishing a film, called “Silenced,” on social media in which he repeated the libelous allegations. He also played the film publicly in London’s Trafalgar Square at a rally of his supporters.

“The breaches were not accidental or negligent or merely reckless,” Justice Johnson said during the sentencing hearing. “There was a degree of sophistication in the breaches in that they involved the planned release of material in a manner that was designed to seek to achieve maximum coverage.

“Nobody is above the law,” the judge added.

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