INTERNACIONAL
Iran eyes revenge for Soleimani as WHCA Dinner shooting exposes security ‘vulnerability,’ expert warns
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The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner has exposed a serious security vulnerability surrounding President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. officials, a former Defense Department intelligence officer has warned.
And with tensions between Washington and Tehran rising and ceasefire talks stalled, Andrew Badger told Fox News Digital the April 25 breach could further increase Iran’s «motivation» to target Trump and others in the administration.
«This could show that there is a vulnerability in terms of potentially accessing President Trump or senior officials,» Badger said before warning of «significant vulnerabilities.»
TRUMP PRAISED FOR ‘STRENGTH’ IN MOMENTS AFTER SHOTS RANG OUT AS EYEWITNESS DESCRIBES ‘TERRIBLE’ SCENE
A split image showing the alleged White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter, Cole Allen, and President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
«When you’re looking at your adversary, and you’re seeing weakness, it also fuels motivation,» he said before claiming that «Iran has the motive to strike at senior Trump officials, including President Trump.»
«Iran, which has a demonstrated history of using criminals and proxy individuals, could certainly look at this as an opportunity.»
Chaos broke out at the Washington Hilton Hotel when a suspected gunman, identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, stormed a security checkpoint and opened fire.
Trump and other administration officials were rushed out of the ballroom as law enforcement responded. Allen is currently in custody and made an initial court appearance on Monday.
AMERICANS MUST HAVE ‘HIGHER DEGREE OF VIGILANCE’ AMID IRAN TERROR THREAT, HOUSE INTEL CHAIR WARNS
President Donald Trump is escorted out during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. (Bo Erickson /Reuters)
The gathering included Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, journalists and senior administration officials — a concentration of leadership that Badger said presented significant risk.
«The top three of the line of succession were at this single event,» Badger noted.
He added that «eight of the nine line-of-succession officials were at this single event,» warning of a worst-case scenario: «If this individual would have somehow worn a suicide vest, you could have eliminated all three of those individuals.»
HOSPITALS IN SANCTUARY CITIES COULD BE MOST VULNERABLE TO IRAN TERROR ATTACKS, WARNS EXPERT
IRGC Cmdr. Qassem Soleimani shakes hands with Mojtaba Khamenei. (Mehdi Ghasemi/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
«Imagine if there were multiple people. Imagine if he was wearing suicide vests. Imagine if he used some type of drone,» Badger said, emphasizing the scale of potential exposure at a nonsecure venue.
The incident, he said, unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing tensions with Iran, which have escalated amid U.S. and Israeli targeting of Iranian officials and leadership.
Badger pointed to longstanding Iranian hostility tied to the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport ordered by Trump.
TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
IRGC Commander Qassem Soleimani meets with officers and Supreme Leader staff in 2016. (Press Office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei/Getty Images)
«There has been a driving animus, a driving motivation in the Iranian regime — which they’ve stated publicly — to get revenge for that killing of Soleimani,» said Badger, who served on the front lines of human intelligence operations, including a 2014 deployment to Afghanistan.
After Soleimani was killed, Ayatollah Khamenei warned that those responsible for the attack would face «severe revenge,» adding that the death would strengthen and intensify resistance against the United States and Israel.
Badger warned that Iran and other adversaries have increasingly relied on unconventional tactics. «Iran and other state actors such as Russia have increasingly reverted to contracting criminals, or gangsters, to conduct hybrid warfare,» he said.
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Following the incident, Trump underscored the need for more secure venues, advocating for a dedicated White House ballroom.
«It’s got every single bell and whistle you can possibly have for security and safety… It’s really what you need,» Trump said on Fox News’ «The Sunday Briefing.»
national security, donald trump, white house, war with iran, terrorism
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Pro-Israel college students who have watched socialism and anti-Israel activism gain ground on campus say the same political currents are now colliding with the Democratic Party — and the backlash is pushing some young Jewish voters to the right.
«Even before the craziness of the post-October 7 campus climate, it was already an underlying sense of, ‘America is bad and we’re gonna learn about that,’» University of Michigan rising senior Addison Stone told Fox News Digital.
Speaking at the Israel on Campus Coalition’s national summit in Washington this week, students said political currents they have watched spread on college campuses are increasingly surfacing in Democratic politics, particularly as the party’s progressive wing gains ground and clashes deepen over Israel.
Dylan Goldman, a rising senior at UC Berkeley, identified himself as «left leaning» and told Fox News Digital that Democratic lawmakers welcoming the popular socialist candidates – who overwhelmingly hold hostile postures toward Israel – are making a «really poor move.»
DEMOCRATS LURE ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ GEN Z TOWARD SOCIALISM — A COUNTERATTACK IS TAKING SHAPE
Israeli pop star Harel Skaat performs for students at the 2026 ICC National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital)
«Jewish Democrats who are not single-issue voters… now feel so alienated by our own party that it’s pushing us conservative. It’s pushing to go further right,» said Goldman.
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive whose campaign drew support from the democratic socialist movement, won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, adding to a string of victories for left-wing candidates challenging the Democratic establishment as the party battles for control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
The conference brought hundreds of pro-Israel students to Washington for advocacy training, networking and discussions on supporting Israel, combating antisemitism and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship on college campuses.
«The academics don’t help, but they’re sort of helping indoctrinate the next generation and the next generation with the combination of learning about that in classes and going on social media and seeing it and the DSA trying to make everything cool with communism,» Stone said. «You’re really seeing the outcome of that on college campuses where they’re burning both American and Israeli flags.»
JEWISH MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS ADMIT THEY WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN IF ABDUL EL-SAYED BECOMES NOMINEE
Student at a pro-Israel conference spoke with Fox News Digital about the ideologies finding support on college campuses. (Ashley DiMella/Fox News Digital)
As those political divisions play out nationally, organizers at the summit said Jewish students are still confronting the campus hostility that helped bring many of them to Washington.
«What’s happening to Jewish students on American campuses should alarm every American,» Israel on Campus Coalition CEO Jacob Baime told Fox News Digital. «The hostility is out in the open now: mobs on the quad, intimidation in the classroom, and harassment online. But here’s what the mob didn’t count on: this generation isn’t backing down.»
«These students are the proudest, toughest, most organized pro-Israel cohort we have ever seen. This week we brought more than 1000 campus leaders to Washington to train and equip them with the skills they need to go back to campus ready to fight for what they believe in,» he added.
FETTERMAN WINS PRAISE FOR ‘GUTS’ AFTER GOING TOE-TO-TOE WITH JON STEWART OVER ISRAEL SUPPORT
Israeli pop star Harel Skaat performs for students at the 2026 ICC National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital)
Fetterman, who spoke at the Israel on Campus Coalition’s flagship event, said the Democratic Party’s shifting posture toward Israel and the Jewish community is becoming increasingly consequential.
His support for Israel has repeatedly put him at odds with members of his own party, including over the broader conflict in the Middle East and his backing of President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
«I think I was the only Democrat to support the Trump administration to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities,» Fetterman told Fox News Digital. «If you don’t want them to acquire a nuclear bomb, it’s pretty reasonable to bomb their nuclear facilities.»
Fetterman argued the threat extends beyond Israel, casting the confrontation with Iran as a larger battle over American values and the West’s role in the region.
«The problem is Iran. That’s the problem,» he said, later adding, «I’m proud to stand for America, civilization, democracy, and Israel is our special ally that represents all of that in that region.»
campus radicals, socialism, gen z, campus controversy, democratic party, culture opinion, israel
INTERNACIONAL
Fiscalía pide 396 años de prisión para extesorero del Banco Nacional de Costa Rica acusado de sustraer ₡3,293 millones (USD 7.3 millones)
El juicio contra Ricardo Olivas Valle, extesorero del Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), entró en su etapa final con la solicitud de la Fiscalía de una condena que suma 396 años de prisión por el supuesto desfalco de ₡3,293 millones (USD 7.3 millones) sustraídos de las bóvedas de la sede central de la entidad, en San José.
La Fiscalía Adjunta de Probidad, Transparencia y Anticorrupción (Fapta) inició la presentación de sus conclusiones ante el Tribunal Penal, donde expondrá por qué considera que el exfuncionario es responsable de los hechos que se le atribuyen y solicitará formalmente la pena de cárcel.
Olivas Valle enfrenta una acusación por 33 delitos de peculado, uno por cada extracción de dinero que, según el Ministerio Público, habría realizado entre 2021 y 2023 aprovechando los últimos minutos de la jornada laboral y los momentos de menor vigilancia dentro de la institución.
De acuerdo con la investigación, las sustracciones ocurrían principalmente entre las 4:16 p. m. y las 5:29 p. m., cuando el movimiento dentro de las instalaciones disminuía. La Fiscalía sostiene que el extesorero aprovechaba supuestos fallos en los controles internos para retirar millones de colones de las bóvedas.
Durante el juicio fueron analizadas decenas de grabaciones de seguridad que, según la acusación, muestran al exfuncionario colocando fajos de billetes en sobres de manila amarillos para luego salir de la entidad pasando por los controles de seguridad.
El caso fue denominado “Gallo Tapado” por el Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) y la Fiscalía debido al presunto mecanismo utilizado para ocultar el origen del dinero.
Según la tesis acusatoria, Olivas habría utilizado parte de los fondos sustraídos para comprar diariamente grandes cantidades de fracciones y billetes de lotería de la Junta de Protección Social (JPS). Cuando resultaba ganador, el dinero era depositado en sus cuentas bancarias, lo que habría permitido introducir los recursos al sistema financiero aparentando que provenían de una fuente legítima.
Durante los allanamientos realizados en su vivienda, las autoridades encontraron cerca de 3,000 fracciones de lotería, como parte de las evidencias incorporadas al expediente judicial.
El Ministerio Público sostiene que la prueba presentada durante el debate demuestra la participación del exfuncionario en las extracciones de dinero y solicitó una condena acumulada de 396 años.
Sin embargo, aunque la sumatoria de penas supera ampliamente la normativa nacional, la eventual sentencia deberá ajustarse al límite máximo establecido por la legislación costarricense, que actualmente es de 36 años de prisión.
Además de la Fiscalía, en el proceso participan como partes acusadoras la Procuraduría General de la República y el Banco Nacional, institución que reclama los recursos supuestamente sustraídos.
Durante su declaración ante el Tribunal, Olivas Valle reconoció que tuvo problemas relacionados con los juegos de azar, aunque afirmó que su adicción estaba limitada a la compra de lotería.
“Tuve adicción a los juegos, en algún momento, a la lotería solamente”, declaró el exfuncionario, quien aseguró que tras ingresar a prisión en 2023 su problema estaba relacionado únicamente con “ganas de jugar”.
El extesorero negó que su conducta estuviera vinculada con otros tipos de apuestas y afirmó que compraba principalmente tiempos y monazos, mientras que la lotería la adquiría en menor cantidad.
La investigación también reveló presuntas debilidades en los mecanismos de supervisión interna del Banco Nacional.
Según la acusación, desde 2019 no se realizaban arqueos físicos exhaustivos en las bóvedas, situación que habría permitido que las supuestas sustracciones continuaran durante varios años sin ser detectadas.
Además de Olivas Valle, otras personas fueron incluidas en investigaciones separadas por posibles omisiones, incumplimiento de deberes o encubrimiento. Entre ellas figuran supervisores, contadores, personal de seguridad y exdirectivos jurídicos de la entidad.
El juicio continuará con la etapa de conclusiones de las partes y posteriormente el Tribunal Penal deberá definir la responsabilidad del exfuncionario y la eventual sentencia.
INTERNACIONAL
Nigeria’s largest rescue operation frees 308 hostages held by militants in Kwara State
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Victims held for six months in captivity at the hands of jihadi kidnappers in Nigeria detailed on Friday the harrowing conditions they were kept in after being liberated in what Nigerian officials are calling the largest rescue operation in the country’s history.
Nigerian forces rescued at least 308 victims from captivity in the past week, with the bulk of the victims coming from two distinct groups. 163 of the victims were taken from the Woro community in Nigeria’s Kwara State in a Feb. 3 raid that saw their jihadi kidnappers kill an additional 160 people in the Woro village.
The victims told the Associated Press that they believed they had been taken as punishment for refusing to accept and acquiesce to the religious preachings of the jihadis.
One woman, Hauwa Saliu, told the outlet that her captors constantly asked the victims if they had accepted jihad yet.
NIGERIAN PASTOR HIGHLIGHTED BY TRUMP SAYS HE’S NEXT AFTER MILITIA KILLS HIS RELATIVES
Hauwa Saliu, a woman who is among those rescued by Nigerian forces this week, about six months after being abducted by militants in February, speaks to journalist as she receives medical attention at a hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
«We prayed to God to help us go back home, but it never really crossed our minds that we were going to go back home,» she told the outlet.
Another victim, Amira Saliu, described the conditions in which the women and children were being kept, explaining that they were held in a forest near a river, and forced to put out fires and hide when they heard helicopters nearby.
FREED HOSTAGE ROM BRASLAVSKI DETAILS ABUSE, STARVATION DURING 738 DAYS IN GAZA CAPTIVITY
Saliu, a nurse, also explained how she had to help 10 women give birth with no medical equipment or sanitary gloves.
«I had no choice but to use my bare hands,» she told the outlet.
Women who were rescued after being held in a forest after they were abducted from the Woro community by gunmen in February receive medical attention at a hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
Mary Ishaya, 44, told the outlet that the captives often went days without food and had to bury other captives who had died.
«I still cannot find the right words to describe what has happened to us. We saw death and suffering,» she said.
A woman who was rescued after being held in a forest after being abducted from the Woro community by gunmen in February receives medical attention at a hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abubakar Khadijat)
The governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, told reporters during a news conference that 46 victims were being treated at a hospital.
«This is indeed, indeed a very sad situation. We’ve not yet come to terms with it. We’re still assessing the situation. As you can see, it’s just kids … children and women that are here today,» he said. «It’s truly a shame that this has happened.»
COULD THIS AFRICAN NATION BECOME TRUMP’S NEXT TERROR TARGET AS JIHADISTS CLOSE IN ON POWER?
The incident highlights the ongoing tensions between Nigeria’s militant Islamic insurgency in the north and the country’s large Christian population, who make up roughly 45% of Nigeria’s citizens.
On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump, in coordination with Nigeria’s government, authorized precision missile strikes on Islamic State-affiliated groups in northern Nigeria, citing the need to protect the country’s Christians.
US launches strike against ISIS in Nigeria. (Department of War via X)
The U.S. followed up in May, launching coordinated joint military action that reportedly resulted in the death of senior Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Mainuk.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
islam, africa, counter terrorism, terrorism, world, human rights
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