INTERNACIONAL
UN filing accuses UK of forced displacement as Diego Garcia tensions and security fears grow
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U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces a «crimes against humanity» complaint at the United Nations over the treatment of the Chagossian people as tensions rise after an Iranian missile attempt targeting Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer, who is named in the filling, has been reported specifically over the removal of four people who returned to the island in a complaint filed by the attorney general for the Chagossian government.
James Tumbridge’s filing also comes as the exiled leadership stressed the importance of strong ties with the United States, telling Fox News Digital that Washington is a «brother in arms for global security.»
TRUMP, STARMER AGREE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MUST REOPEN AS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT ESCALATES
A U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, stops for refueling at the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in October 2001 after an airstrike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin/U.S. Department of Defense)
On March 20, Iran launched two ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia from more than 2,300 miles away, missing the target but underscoring the base’s strategic importance.
Chagossian leaders have since backed a continued U.S. presence, with First Minister Misley Mandarin saying they want to «uphold the 1966 agreement and consider the U.S. as a brother in arms for global security.»
The 1966 agreement allowed the U.S. to use Diego Garcia for defense purposes, initially for 50 years.
«The desire of the Chagossian government is to have a positive relationship with the U.S. and an ongoing presence on Diego Garcia of the U.S. military,» Tumbridge also told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP PROVEN RIGHT ON IRAN’S LONG-RANGE MISSILE CAPABILITY AS REGIME TARGETS US-UK BASE, EXPERTS SAY
Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and the site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean leased from the U.K. in 1966. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Tumbridge’s U.N. submission claims U.K. actions risk the «forced depopulation» of the Chagos Islands.
Expulsions began in 1968, when about 2,000 residents were removed, culminating in 1973, and in February the U.K. issued new removal orders to four Chagossians who had returned to the islands.
The filing calls the situation «forced displacement» that could constitute «a crime against humanity by forced depopulation of a territory.»
It warns the British government of a «fresh crime now» that could complete a decades-long erasure of the Indigenous population, stating, «The removal of these four persons would result in the total physical erasure of the Chagossian people,» potentially «amounting to ethnic cleansing.»
FARAGE SLAMS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER FOR ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ LACK OF SUPPORT FOR TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES
President Trump warned he will use force if a lease deal with Mauritius over Diego Garcia «falls apart» or anyone threatens U.S. operations. (Getty Images)
«The BIOT commissioner accepted that the Chagossians were wronged in the past,» Tumbridge said Wednesday.
«How can the U.K. prime minister, who claims to value the rule of law and human rights, not want to right that wrong and let the people return to their islands?»
The filing also comes as the U.K. considers transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
This followed a 2019 International Court of Justice opinion, while preserving the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease.
President Donald Trump criticized the proposed handover, and the U.K. has since paused legislation to formalize the deal, with ministers saying it has become «impossible to agree at a political level.»
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The legislation was expected to be included in the King’s speech outlining the next parliamentary session’s agenda.
Fox News Digital has reached out to 10 Downing Street for comment.
treaties, united nations, human rights united nations, iran, united kingdom
INTERNACIONAL
Gira por África: el papa pide «un examen de conciencia» a las autoridades de Camerún para combatir la corrupción
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Iran is set to execute its first female protester tied to the January 2026 uprising in Tehran, according to multiple human rights organizations.
Bita Hemmati was named in a collective death sentencing alongside three other defendants, including her husband, Mohammadreza Majid-Asl, 34, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The couple’s reported neighbors, Behrouz Zamaninejad and Kourosh Zamaninejad, were also sentenced to death, while a relative, Amir Hemmati, received five years in prison.
The verdicts mark some of the most recent capital punishment decisions amid the government’s broader crackdown on suppressing unrest. Possibly thousands of protesters have reportedly been killed since demonstrations erupted this year.
TRUMP DETAILS SWEEPING ‘ALL OR NOTHING’ BLOCKADE OF STRAIT OF HORMUZ AFTER FAILED IRAN TALKS
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on Jan. 9, 2026. (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
«Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl and Bita Hemmati are a couple living in Tehran, and Amir Hemmati is a relative of the two,» a source told HRANA. «Kourosh Zamaninejad and Behrouz Zamaninejad were living in the same residential building, and their arrests took place simultaneously.»
No execution date has yet been given.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court reportedly accused the defendants of multiple offenses, including national security disruption in connection with the «hostile government of the United States,» according to HRANA.
On Jan. 8 and 9, the defendants allegedly used explosives and weapons, threw objects such as concrete blocks and incendiary materials from rooftops, injured security forces, and engaged in «propaganda against the regime» in an effort to undermine security, according to federal authorities.
IRAN THREATENS TO HALT RED SEA TRAFFIC IN RESPONSE TO US MILITARY BLOCKADE OF PORTS
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
Alongside the capital punishment verdicts, the court also issued five years of discretionary imprisonment and ordered the seizure of their personal assets.
Officials added that the fifth associate, Amir Hemmati, was specifically convicted of «assembly and collusion against national security» and «propaganda against the regime,» the groups said.
Human rights activists further raised concerns that the defendants’ confessions may have been coerced, citing allegations of torture and interrogation.
Mourners hold pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Isfahan, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)
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The organizations, which are urging a halt to the executions, also claimed a lack of specific evidence linking the accused to the alleged crimes, and argued that Tehran is seeking to intimidate the public in order to prevent future civilian unrest.
Widespread protests first erupted in late December 2025 in Tehran amid an economic crisis marked by a collapsing currency and soaring inflation. Tensions then quickly escalated into broader anti-government unrest that spread across multiple cities.
Washington officially joined the conflict with the launch of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026, when it conducted massive joint airstrikes with Israel that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
iran, conflicts, war with iran
INTERNACIONAL
ODNI sends criminal referrals to DOJ for ex-IG, whistleblower tied to Trump impeachment
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EXCLUSIVE: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department for the whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment and for the former intelligence community inspector general who notified Congress of the allegations, Fox News Digital has learned.
«I want to refer information that may constitute possible criminal activity in violation of federal criminal law committed by one or more former employees of the intelligence community,» ODNI’s general counsel wrote in the referral to the Justice Department.
Fox News Digital on Wednesday reviewed the referrals ODNI sent to the Justice Department.
«The possible criminal activity concerns the circumstances described in the following congressional briefings: Discussion with Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019); Briefing by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019),» it continued.
GABBARD CLAIMS ‘COORDINATED EFFORT’ BY INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO ADVANCE NARRATIVE TO IMPEACH TRUMP
Michael Atkinson, then-inspector general of the intelligence community, leaves the Capitol after closed doors interview about the whistleblower complaint that exposed a July phone call the president had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump pressed for an investigation of Democratic political rival Joe Biden and his family, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The referrals come after DNI Tulsi Gabbard released documents earlier this week exposing what was described as a «coordinated effort» by elements within the intelligence community—including then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, to «manufacture a conspiracy» that was used as the basis to impeach Trump in 2019.
An intelligence official told Fox News Digital that the language in the referral is broad, but that it’s specifically directed at Atkinson and the whistleblower who reported concerns about President Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
FLASHBACK: NUNES THREATENS TO REFER WATCHDOG’S HANDLING OF WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT TO DOJ
ODNI directed Fox News Digital to a recent X post from Gabbard when asked for comment on the referrals.
«Newly-declassified records expose how deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that Congress used to usurp the will of the American people and impeach duly-elected President @realDonaldTrump in 2019,» Gabbard posted to X on Monday.
President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands at the start of a joint news conference following a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice on Wednesday afternoon regarding the referrals.
The documents Gabbard released earlier this week include transcripts from Atkinson’s closed-door testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which were withheld from the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment trial. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., led a vote to release the transcripts in March.
ODNI said the documents confirmed that Atkinson «failed to conduct basic due diligence and willfully exceeded his statutory jurisdiction to mischaracterize the president’s phone call with Zelensky as an ‘urgent concern’ to Congress.»
Atkinson, during his investigation, found that the whistleblower showed indications of «political bias» and was «in favor of a rival political candidate,» while still deeming the complaint a matter of «urgent concern.»
Atkinson received a complaint in August 2019 from the whistleblower, who was raising concerns about Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pressing him to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine. The president specifically suggested Zelensky look into Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and former President Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted.
Hunter Biden was quietly under federal investigation, beginning in 2018, at the time of the call, a probe prompted by suspicious foreign transactions.
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Trump’s request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo because millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also said Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democrat political opponent.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings and Hunter had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
«I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’» Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.
FLASHBACK: HOUSE INTEL REPUBLICANS INVESTIGATING ICIG HANDLING OF WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT
«Well, son of a b—-, he got fired,» Biden said during the event. «And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.»
Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin’s firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and they say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.
Meanwhile, House Republicans, back in 2019 and 2020, sought to refer Atkinson and the whistleblower to the DOJ for investigation.
Republicans, at the time, complained that the whistleblower made contact with the staff of then-Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in advance — though Schiff downplayed the nature of that contact.
The White House, under Trump’s first term, released a declassified version of the whistleblower complaint, which revealed that the whistleblower’s concerns stemmed from the secondhand accounts of «more than half a dozen U.S. officials.»
President Donald Trump speaks during a board meeting of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The declassified whistleblower complaint, though, stated: «I was not a direct witness to most of the events described. However, I found my colleagues’ accounts of these events to be credible, because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another.»
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Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives in December 2019. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the matter Wednesday.
justice department, white house, fbi, investigations
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