FIRST ON FOX : Fox News Digital has learned that the U.S. could withhold funding for the war against Islamist terror in Somalia until Europe, the African Union (A.U.) and the United Nations (U.N.) pay more of their «fair» share toward the cost of striking out and keeping the peace in the conflict-torn country. 

These plans to «prohibit» the use of U.S. funds are key details, shown first to Fox News Digital, of a new bill to be introduced by three prominent Republican senators.

In line with President Donald Trump’s administration’s widespread moves to tighten fiscal controls in the U.S. and overseas, Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho., Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., are to introduce «the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) Funding Restriction Act of 2025.» 

This is «to safeguard U.S. taxpayer funds and hold the U.N. and A.U. accountable in African peace operations,» Risch told Fox News Digital.

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The bill also seeks to mandate the U.S. to oppose any U.N. Security Council action which enables such funding.  

The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab. In just the past five weeks, U.S. Africa Command reported that it has carried out four airstrikes; three against ISIS terrorists and one against al-Shabaab. At least one of these strikes, the command stated, was against multiple targets.

Chairman Risch told Fox News Digital, «The Trump Administration has taken decisive action to counterterrorist groups across Africa, and I’m very supportive.»

However, officials from the European Union, according to Risch, plan to skew payments for the AUSSOM peacekeeping and stablization operation more toward the U.S.; in other words, make the U.S. pay more than it should, he said.

«At the U.N., our European partners are looking to skirt their financial commitments to AUSSOM in Somalia by switching to a new imbalanced funding mechanism that pushes the burden on Americans,» he stated.

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Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on April 26, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

«We can’t let that stand,» Risch continued. «This bill will prohibit U.S. contributions to AUSSOM under this new funding scheme, until the A.U. and the U.N. can prove that they are using the funds they have responsibly, and prevent Americans from being locked into perpetually funding a broken system.»

Risch said, «President Trump has ushered in a new era of American foreign policy where American taxpayer dollars will be used only to secure a safe and prosperous America. For far too long, our allies have taken America for a ride, and profited off of America paying the lion’s share for global security. Europe must continue to shoulder this burden.»  

The other two senators sponsoring the bill, Cruz and Scott, also serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

The U.N. headquarters in New York City. (iStock)

Scott told Fox News Digital, «The United States will not allow our tax dollars to be exploited by the U.N. while our partners refuse to pay their fair share, much less for a mission that fails to spend these dollars responsibly or transparently. I am proud to join my colleagues on the AUSSOM Funding Restriction Act to ensure Americans’ interests are put first, and their tax dollars spent wisely.»

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The specific aims of the bill that have been shown to Fox News Digital are:

• Protect U.S. Taxpayer Funds: Prohibit U.S. financial contributions to AUSSOM under UNSCR 2719 and mandate U.S. opposition to any U.N. Security Council action enabling such funding.
• Ensure Rigorous Oversight: Require the Secretary of State to conduct annual, independent assessments of the A.U.’s compliance with UNSCR 2719 criteria for all A.U.-led peace operations.
• Enhance Transparency and Accountability: Mandate comprehensive reporting to Congress on the assessment findings, AUSSOM’s performance and funding, and any U.S. contributions under UNSCR 2719.
• Strengthen Congressional Consultation: Expand existing State Department briefings to include specific updates on A.U. peace operations funded under UNSCR 2719.

Los investigadores han desentrañado detalles importantes sobre la momia conocida como el “capellán secando al aire”, un sacerdote del siglo XVIII preservado de manera excepcional en la cripta de la iglesia de St. Thomas am Blasenstein, en Austria.

Este fascinante hallazgo, que había sido objeto de especulación y rumor por más de dos siglos -ya que los primeros documentos datan del 1850-, fue examinado en profundidad tras una intervención motivada por una fuga de agua en la cripta, según informó CNN.

El equipo de expertos utilizó análisis avanzados como tomografías computarizadas, datación por radiocarbono y análisis químicos para desvelar los métodos de embalsamamiento empleados, así como detalles sobre la vida, salud y muerte del sacerdote.

Los estudios determinaron que el cadáver pertenecía a Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg , un aristócrata que sirvió como vicario parroquial en la iglesia antes de su muerte en 1746, a los 37 años, según fechas obtenidas por datación de radiocarbono que sitúan su deceso entre 1734 y 1780.

Frontiers in Medicine, la revista en la que se publicó el estudio, explicó que la conservación asombrosa del cuerpo fue posible gracias a un método de embalsamamiento inusual.

“El abdomen fue rellenado a través del recto con astillas de madera, tela y una solución de cloruro de zinc, lo que absorbió los fluidos corporales y ralentizó la descomposición bacteriana”, indicó Andreas Nerlich, líder de la investigación y profesor de medicina de la Universidad Ludwig-Maximilians de Múnich.

Dentro del cuerpo, los investigadores encontraron una mezcla de materiales sorprendentes: madera de abeto, trozos de lino, cáñamo y textiles bordados. Según el análisis de las muestras, el cloruro de zinc actuó como agente desecante, mientras que otros componentes, como el lino, ayudaron a fijar el agua y contribuyeron al estado conservado del cuerpo.

“Este enfoque no tiene precedentes en la literatura científica y nos ofrece un cumplimiento de métodos de embalsamamiento menos convencionales que podrían haber sido utilizados en Europa en esa época”, afirmó Nerlich en declaraciones proporcionadas por National Geographic .

Además de los métodos aplicados para el embalsamamiento, los análisis isotópicos y químicos permitieron reconstruir algunos aspectos de la vida de Sidler.

“Una dieta rica en carne y cereales de alta calidad concuerda con las provisiones esperadas para un vicario parroquial del siglo XVIII”, señalan los autores del estudio. Sin embargo, durante los últimos meses de su vida, la composición isotópica indicó un posible deterioro en su salud o alimento limitado, posiblemente vinculado con la Guerra de Sucesión Austriaca, que estaba en curso en ese momento.

En el ámbito médico, los hallazgos mostraron que Sidler padeció tuberculosis pulmonar crónica, lo que dejó evidencias visibles en forma de calcificaciones y un pulmón derecho extendido que probablemente experimentó pleuritis.

Este diagnóstico se complementó con el descubrimiento de una quiste pulmonar y lesiones internas consistentes con infecciones activas. “La condición habría provocado una hemorragia pulmonar aguda, que muy probablemente fue la causa de su muerte”, concluyó Nerlich.

El estudio descartó rumores previos sobre un posible envenenamiento, los que se originaron hace más de dos décadas cuando las radiografías iniciales detectaron un cuerpo extraño en la cavidad pélvica.

Este objeto resultó ser una esfera de vidrio hueca con orificios, probablemente parte de un rosario o un bordado, que entró accidentalmente en el cuerpo durante el procedimiento de embalsamamiento. Esta pieza como un elemento común en el arte religioso del siglo XVIII, producida posiblemente en la región del cinturón industrial de vidrio de Europa Central.

El método de conservación destaca por ser completamente diferente a los métodos históricos registrados, como los utilizados en el antiguo Egipto, donde se practicaba la apertura del cuerpo para su tratamiento.

Según Nerlich: “Esta es la primera vez que se documenta el uso de una técnica tan peculiar para momificación, que incluía intervención únicamente a través del recto”. La práctica particular quizás buscaba simplicidad y rapidez, ante la posibilidad de trasladar el cuerpo al monasterio madre de Sidler, situado a 15 kilómetros de St. Thomas.

Como señaló Gino Caspari, arqueólogo y editor de “El libro de las momias”: “El análisis interdisciplinario de las momias nos permite explorar aspectos culturales, médicos y sociales de la historia”.

California state Sen. Tony Strickland believes policy reforms are warranted after federal authorities intervened in the planned early release of an illegal immigrant convicted in a 2021 DUI manslaughter that killed two Orange County teenagers in his district in Seal Beach.

The Republican told Fox News Digital that changes are needed to programs like the in-prison credit system that may have allowed Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano to be released back into the community in July if the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not quickly get involved.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said last week that California will «coordinate» with ICE to «transfer him before release,» as he is slated to only spend three and half years of his 10-year sentence behind bars at the state level.

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«We need to reform these programs. We need to reform some of this. Again, I think the most essential role of government is public safety, and we need to bring accountability back into our system here in California. If you make a mistake, you can commit a crime. You should do the time. And again, we are not more safe by these programs, we’re less safe,» Strickland told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The senator said the plan for early release was «a slap in the face of the parents and everybody who loved those children who ended up passing away.»

Ortega-Anguiano, 43, was driving drunk and high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, killing them both as they burned alive. In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

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New sections of the steel bollard-style border wall, comprising primary and secondary barriers, stands along the U.S.-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana during a tour with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on May 10, 2021 in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego County, California. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News reported that the victim’s families were informed on Easter Sunday about an early release. However, following the report, the DOJ said they would be prosecuting Ortega-Anguiano on federal charges to keep him behind bars longer.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

«For safety and security reasons CDCR cannot provide information on an incarcerated person’s release date or location in advance of their release. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole dates to an earlier date,» the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated last week.

ICE told Fox News Digital that Ortega-Anguiano had entered the country illegally twice before and had a prior criminal background before the two teens were killed in the fatal crash.

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Anya Varfolomeeva and Nicholay Osokin were killed in an Orange County, California, car crash in 2021. (Courtesy of the Varfolomeev and Osokin families)

«I was moved by the story and the fact this should never happen,» Strickland said.

However, he said Democrats in Sacramento are mum about early release concerns.

«I haven’t heard anything. The supermajority is tone-deaf, and the governor, Newsom, is so busy about running for president, he’s not doing his job as governor of California. He’s so interested in what’s going on in the Trump administration,» the senator said.

Strickland said Golden State residents are becoming more aware of problems in Sacramento – and the Orange County lawmaker said that awareness is cause for optimism.

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«The good news is people are now waking up to the lack of leadership and they’re waiting to hear leaders to come forward to help turn the state around. I do believe California will be golden again, but it takes leadership and people like myself and others in the legislature to point this out,» Strickland said.