INTERNACIONAL
Russia shifts from talk to action, targeting NATO homeland amid fears of global war
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NATO has been on high alert since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three and a half years ago, but a recent spike in the alliance’s airspace violations has security experts increasingly concerned that warnings of war with Moscow are no longer theoretical, but inevitable.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said the U.S. could «end up in World War III» over Russia’s war in Ukraine and conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin has «let him down» over his refusal to end his military campaign.
One day later, Russia sent three fighter jets over Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn in a direct and clear violation of its airspace, prompting another NATO member to spark Article 4 for the second time in as many weeks.
A picture shows French Mirage 2000 fighter jets flying over Estonia, on March 30, 2022. (Didier Lauras/AFP via Getty Images)
RUSSIAN JETS VIOLATE ESTONIAN AIRSPACE, FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS
«Russia is testing NATO again— dozens of drones in Poland last week, drones in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and now fighter jets in Estonian skies. These are deliberate provocations,» Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told Fox News Digital. «They are deliberate tests—tests of our readiness, our resolve, and of the limits of our deterrence.»
Sakaliene said the Friday violation was just the latest in «an escalating pattern of pressure by Russia.»
«For Estonia, for Poland, for Lithuania, for all of NATO’s eastern flank, this is a direct threat—not just to territorial integrity, but to citizen safety,» she added.
The Lithuanian defense minister warned that the biggest line of defense NATO holds right now, apart from its actual military readiness, is showing a united front to dissuade Moscow from taking direct action against a NATO member and prompting what could become a global war.
«Our biggest risk currently is miscalculation by Russia,» Sakaliene said. «Does Russia believe that NATO will not allow violations of its territory? Does Russia believe that Europe is going to strike back together with [the] United States?
«That’s now the last line of defense between if and when [war with Russia happens],» she added.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks at a press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and warns World War III could happen over Russia’s continued war in Ukraine during an event at Aylesbury, England, on Sept. 18, 2025. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY TO MEET AS POLAND PRESSURES NATO ON NO FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE
Concern over direct NATO conflict with Moscow escalated earlier this month after a swarm of at least 19 Russian drones not only flew over Polish airspace, but forced a multi-nation response when NATO, for the first time since the war began, fired upon Russian assets and brought down as many as four drones that posed a threat.
While Trump suggested that the drone swarm could have been a mistake, Poland refuted this and said it was «deliberate» and a «planned provocation.»
Drone strikes have long been a favored wartime tool of Russia’s in its operation against Ukraine, with the number of strikes peaking in July with some 6,297 long-range drones fired across the country.
That figure dipped to 4,216 drones fired in August. Though notably, the majority of those UAVs were fired between Aug. 16th and the 31st, when some 3,001 drones were deployed beginning the day after Trump met with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.
Minister of Defense of the Republic of Lithuania Dovile Sakaliene at a press conference. (Photo by Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
An American company, which sat less than 30 miles from two other NATO nations, Hungary and Slovakia, was also hit with «several» cruise missiles in late August.
«The scope of air attacks from Russia to Ukraine is really rising. They are using more drones, more rockets, and they are still expected to rise,» Sakaliene said.
«We have to admit and adapt to this new reality. High intensity war by Russia against Ukraine is ongoing,» the defense minister said. «That means that more and more UAVs are going to wander off into the territories of the bordering countries, and even further.»
Russia has increasingly turned to gray-zone tactics, which involve incidents that fall below the threshold of open warfare, but which allow Russia to test NATO’s resolve and response capabilities.
Over the last month, Poland saw three separate incidents in which its airspace was violated by Russian drones, including UAVs carrying explosive components that crossed into its airspace from both Ukraine and Belarus.
Black smoke rises from the electronics manufacturing company as firefighters continue to extinguish the fire after the Russian army hit a large American company producing civilian electronics with two missiles in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region of Ukraine, on Aug. 21, 2025. (Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
TRUMP DEMANDS NATO ALLIES HALT RUSSIAN OIL PURCHASES BEFORE NEW US SANCTIONS
Just three days after the drone swarm bombarded Polish air defense systems, a Russian drone crossed into Romanian airspace and prompted a French fighter jet and Polish helicopter to respond under NATO’s Operation Eastern Sentry – a defensive posture the alliance launched just one day prior.
These events came after Lithuania in late July was forced to sound the alarm following two separate incidents in which Russian Gerber drones violated its borders, including one which was carrying explosives.
But these tactics are not the only threats that security experts in recent weeks have flagged as concerning behavior from Moscow.
Earlier this month, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) based in Washington, D.C. drew attention to an op-ed published by former Russian president and current Security Council chair Dmitry Medvedev on Sept. 8 in the state-sponsored news outlet TASS, which used language that directly mirrored rhetoric by the Kremlin in the lead up to its invasion of Ukraine.
In his article, Medvedev accused Finland of being «Russophobic» and claimed, «the thirst for profit at the expense of Russia was installed in Finnish minds back in the days of Hitler.»
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin inspects the «Zapad-2025» (West-2025) joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Belarus, on Sept. 16, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
He further claimed that Helsinki has attempted to erase the «historical and cultural identity» of ethnic Russians and said joined NATO under the «guise» of defense, but in actuality, was covertly preparing for war against Russia, reported the ISW.
Medvedev’s comments were not stand-alone threats. Multiple Kremlin officials, including Putin who said «there will be problems» after Finland joined NATO, have claimed the alliance will use Finland as a «springboard» to attack Russia.
«Russia has been steadily setting conditions to attack NATO over the past several years: Moscow is standing up new divisions and optimizing its command and control headquarters on NATO’s eastern flank,» George Barros, Senior Russia Analyst with ISW told Fox News Digital. «The Kremlin information warfare apparatus is fabricating claims and justifications for why Finland, the Baltic States, and Poland are not real countries.
«These are the prerequisite preparations for future war that Moscow is preparing,» he warned.
Russian tanks move during the «Zapad-2025» joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground near the town of Borisov, east of the capital Minsk, Belarus, on Sept. 15, 2025. (Olesya Kurpyayeva/AFP via Getty Images)
Sakaliene echoed these concerns and additionally pointed to Russia’s use of «soft power,» often employed through social media and traditional media, to influence public perception, which she warned is «alarmingly effective.»
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«We see a picture of a very aggressive country which is investing a disproportionate amount of its funds into their military capacity,» the defense minister said. «Despite heavy losses every week, every month, they are moving forward in Ukraine, and at the same time, they are expanding their capabilities.
«It raises considerable doubts if all that mass of military power is being accumulated only for Ukraine,» Sakaliene said.
russia,vladimir putin,nato,ukraine,donald trump,wars,world
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An elite counterterrorism unit has been deployed to protect Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Fox News Digital has learned.
The force, known as NOPO — Iran’s black-clad Counterterrorism Special Force — was assigned to safeguard the leader after a U.S.-Israel strike on a Tehran compound on Feb. 28 killed the elder Khamenei amid the start of Operation Epic Fury.
«With Khamenei gone, NOPO will likely now be protecting Mojtaba Khamenei,» Ali Safavi, an official with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI said.
The NOPO force, formed in 1991, had the 28th Ruhollah (Khomeini’s first name) Division as its «nucleus», according to Safavi, and typically handles hostage rescue operations. «Its task was not to protect Khamenei,» he added.
IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER IS ‘HIS FATHER ON STEROIDS,’ EXPERTS WARN OF HARDLINE RULE
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei receives protection from elite NOPO force following his father’s assassination in U.S.-Israel attack on Tehran compound Feb. 28. ( Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The history of the unit also includes deployments against internal security threats, and it has often been called on to suppress protests.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected Mojtaba Khamenei on March 8, 2026, elevating him as the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
His succession comes amid ongoing war with the U.S. and Israel, but so far, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been heard from since the start of the conflict.
According to The Times of Israel, Iranian state television reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the war, with the reports yet unconfirmed.
«NOPO is the Farsi acronym for Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, which translates into the Special Force to Protect the Supreme Leader,» Safavi further explained before clarifying that «Velayat is not necessarily the supreme leader, but the entirety of the regime.»
IRAN POSTPONES TEHRAN FAREWELL CEREMONY FOR KHAMENEI WHERE LARGE CROWDS WERE EXPECTED TO GATHER
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 14, 2016. (Reza B / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Over time, NOPO has evolved into a highly specialized unit distinct from the broader Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military branch established in 1979 to defend the Islamic Republic and its leadership from internal and external threats.
«The NOPO is composed of six brigades only. Four are stationed in Tehran, one in Mashhad and one in Isfahan,» Safavi said.
«They are far more lethal, ruthless and well-trained than the IRGC,» he claimed before describing how the brigade’s loyalty was to the Supreme Leader.
«This force was used for the protection of Khamenei,» Safavi continued. «They are very well-equipped. Khamenei did not trust any other security force for his protection.»
Safavi also said some members of the unit were likely killed in Ali Khamenei’s assassination but that the force remains fully operational.
«Some of the NOPO could have been killed when Khamenei was killed, but the fact is that they are now involved in the suppressive and security measures the regime has also undertaken in recent days to prevent any outbreak of protests,» Safavi said.
The elite force’s activities extend beyond personal protection in times of crisis, Safavi added.
KHAMENEI’S DEATH OPENS UNCERTAIN CHAPTER FOR IRAN’S ENTRENCHED THEOCRACY
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)
«But in times of crisis, such as what happened during the January uprising, they were heavily involved in opening fire on the protesters,» he said.
This comes amid reports that hundreds of NOPO members have also been widely deployed around prisons in Iran that are holding political detainees.
«Hundreds of suppressive forces are widely deployed around the prison. In Ghezel Hesar Prison,» the NCRI said in a statement.
On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, following the bombing of a military center near Mahabad Prison, prisoners whose ward doors had been locked protested and set fire to their blankets, demanding their release under wartime conditions.
«Suppressive forces responded by firing tear gas into the ward,» the NCRI reported.
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Reports also indicated NOPO had taken control of Evin Prison in Tehran following the flight of regular prison officials amid intensified conflict.
In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on NOPO for its part in committing «serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing.»
war with iran,mojtaba khamenei,iran,ali khamenei,sanctions,wars,counter terrorism
INTERNACIONAL
Minnesota Dem suggests studying ‘benefit of shoplifting’ in committee clash, then says it was sarcasm
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A Minnesota Democrat whose retort to a Republican about potential «benefit[s] of shoplifting» during a hearing on worker misclassification defended the exchange as sarcasm gone awry.
During a Minnesota House Workforce and Labor Committee hearing this week, lawmakers reviewed information on how laws governing employee and independent contractor classifications affect insurance payments and other benefits, according to local reports.
State Rep. Dave Pinto, D-St. Paul, responded after a Republican lawmaker voiced concern that worker misclassification ultimately falls on the taxpayer.
«It is an intriguing line of questions,» Pinto said, appearing to suggest a study on the «benefit of shoplifting and retail theft.»
WATCH: WALZ, ELLISON, OMAR REFUSE TO ANSWER WHEN PRESSED ON FRAUD AFTER CONTENTIOUS FRAUD HEARING
A suspect is taken into custody outside a big-box store in California on an unspecified date. (Will Lester/Getty Images)
Pinto spoke of a recent presentation before another committee he sits on that sought to address solutions to organized retail theft.
«And it actually had not occurred to me to ask — it probably would have been good — to make sure that they would study sort of the benefit of shoplifting, of retail theft since because perhaps people are relying on that and sort of using that maybe it’s you know assisting them in some way,» he said.
Pinto went on to describe whether people involved in such activities are considered to be violating the law, and that there may be a policy question at the root of such a discussion.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Pinto defended the remarks, saying he was reacting sarcastically to Rep. Isaac Schultz, R-Mille Lacs, who had posed the original question.
«My comments, intended to be sarcastic, followed a line of questioning from Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz suggesting a study is needed on whether the illegal practice of worker misclassification harms consumers,» Pinto said.
«As a prosecutor, of course I take retail theft and shoplifting seriously. Any insinuation to the contrary is absurd — just like Rep. Schultz’s remarks were.»
NEARLY ALL SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN ST PAUL CHURCH STORMING; MLK’S NIECE SAYS HOSTILE TACTICS ‘NOT THE WAY’
Nonetheless, Pinto’s original comment was viewed thousands of times on social media and elicited responses from other lawmakers, amid ongoing scrutiny over social services fraud and other scandals in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
State Rep. Krista Knudsen, R-Lake Shore, was rendered speechless in a video response to the matter, as she put her hands to her face.
«There are no benefits to shoplifting for the people that are being shoplifted from. I have no idea what else to say,» Knudsen said. «I’m shocked, actually. I don’t even know what to say. Who — I don’t know what to say — Who benefits from shoplifting? The criminals.»
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Republican from the Minneapolis area, appeared to cite her region’s nationally recognized scandals, saying she cannot believe the comment was made by Pinto.
«[W]e are trying to prevent fraud and prevent crime in Minnesota and this has been an issue that we’ve dealt with as a legislature for many years. We finally got the organized retail theft crime in statute last session,» she said.
«It’s been a long haul and that’s a tool that we need to crack down on this real problem throughout our communities around the state.»
Worker misclassification has been a focus of Democrat-Farmer-Labor lawmakers in the state legislature for some time, as an effort began in 2024 to ban employers from misclassifying employees.
ILLEGAL’S DRAGGING OF ICE AGENT SHOWS THE EXACT DANGER THE OFFICER WHO SHOT RENEE GOOD FEARED, EXPERT SAYS
That policy was reportedly spurred by a construction worker who testified before lawmakers that he racked up major medical bills after a work-related injury, but his employer later only offered him a small amount for expenses and «told him to forget about insurance and to change his name and address, saying the bills would eventually disappear if nobody paid them,» according to a post on the House of Representatives website.
The man later allegedly found out his employer was misclassifying employees in order to save on labor costs, according to the lawmakers’ page.
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State Rep. Emma Greenman, D-Minneapolis, authored HF4444 to ensure businesses don’t act in such a way in the future and/or misclassify employees as contractors or the like.
«Our job is to ensure that Minnesota workers have the protections that we in law provide,» she said at the time.
republicans,minneapolis st paul,minnesota,democrats,robbery theft
De todas partes del mundo me escriben sobre las elecciones en Colombia del fin de semana pasado. ¿Qué pasó? ¿Para dónde va Colombia? ¿Y a la derecha y al centro derecha cómo le fue? La respuesta: bien y mal.
Mal, porque los resultados mostraron que Colombia sigue en un inmenso riesgo de avanzar por el camino populista, pues esa izquierda se fortaleció en el Congreso y mostró que Iván Cepeda es un candidato muy fuerte y sin rival en ese espectro político, lo que no sucede ni con el centro ni con la derecha. Bien, porque la Gran Consulta del centro y la centro derecha se convirtió, por un lado, en la más votada de la historia, con 5.8 millones de votos, y mostró el camino para derrotar a la izquierda radical: unirse y atraer al centro es la consigna para la primera vuelta presidencial.
¿Entonces? Lo primero es que aquello que querían Gustavo Petro, Iván Cepeda y Abelardo de la Espriella, no tener competencia en mayo, en la primera vuelta presidencial, no se les dio. Paloma Valencia, con esos millones de votos de la consulta, se confirmó como una rival muy fuerte para los dos candidatos radicales, e incluso la posibilidad de que ella, como la candidata del centro y la derecha, llegue a la segunda vuelta es alta, si hace las cosas bien en estos meses de campaña.
¿Qué es hacer las cosas bien? Por un lado, hay que cultivar el centro, para mantener esos votos y, además, hacerlos crecer en las zonas donde se puede y con los sectores sociales, en especial los jóvenes urbanos, a los que no les llegamos y que Juan Daniel Oviedo logró encantar. No podemos esperar un segundo para comenzar a entender a ese joven urbano al que Oviedo le habló, para ampliarnos en esa base, y debemos enfocar los esfuerzos principalmente en Bogotá.
Paloma debe dejar el discurso tradicional del uribismo y empezar a leer mejor este momento del país. No quiere decir, de ninguna manera, que se olvide de los temas de seguridad y otros que hacen parte de su agenda, pero sí que entienda que el discurso anticomunista tradicional ya no mueve a nadie, o a los que mueve ya los movió. Ojalá Oviedo y Paloma entiendan lo que está en juego, y logren un buen entendimiento para que, por un lado, nos salvemos de las garras del populismo y, por el otro, se hagan las muchas reformas que necesita el país.
Iván Cepeda, sin duda, sigue muy pero muy fuerte. ¿Podrá arrancar más votos de los que ya tiene en el centro? Depende de Claudia López, quien ya dejó en claro que quiere llegar allá, de Sergio Fajardo y de todos los candidatos de la Gran Consulta. Pronto vamos a ver en las nuevas encuestas, que quedaron todas muy mal paradas, aunque unas peor que otras, qué tanto los resultados del domingo cambiaron el escenario político.
Obvio, hay que mirar esos datos con pinzas y tener en cuenta que no van a incluir las fórmulas a la Vicepresidencia de los candidatos, que también marcan algo de diferencia. ¿Qué pasa si en esas encuestas Paloma pasa a tener entre el 15 y el 20 por ciento? ¿O si tiene alrededor del 10?
Ya veremos cómo lo que sucedió en estas consultas cambió o no el panorama político y si generó una competencia más abierta y con mayores posibilidades para que el centro sea definitivo en la decisión presidencial. Por ahora, se abre una esperanza de que la polarización es evitable y que la centro derecha puede jugar un papel realista en las elecciones de mayo.
Otra cosa es lo que pasó con el voto para el Congreso, en el cual, sin duda, el Pacto Histórico mostró fuerza y disciplina; no nos digamos mentiras, ya es la primera fuerza política del país. Lo grave, es que, si sumamos los congresistas de otros partidos que se van a vender, pueden tener más de la mitad del congreso, y eso quiere decir que si gana Cepeda vamos a tener Constituyente, leyes que destruyan de manera definitiva el sistema de salud y unos impuestos que acaben con el sector privado.
El Centro Democrático subió, pero, la verdad, su lista al Senado dejó mucho que desear. No hubo una figura nueva que moviera ese grupo, distinta a Álvaro Uribe. Muchos llegaron en coche y, si bien pueden ser buenos senadores, nunca van a tener su propio escenario político. El 90 por ciento de los senadores electos por el centro democrático, no lo hubieran sido sin Uribe.
Es hora de crear un partido que no sea Uribe dependiente, y en estos dificilísimos cuatro años, convertir al CD en ese partido va a ser un reto gigante. Lo que queda claro es que si no se hace, el Centro Democrático desaparece y ante la fortaleza de la izquierda no hay contrapeso alguno. La responsabilidad histórica en ese sentido es enorme.
Comienza la recta final. El futuro de Colombia está en juego y Paloma se montó en la elección presidencial. Unidos en la segunda vuelta podemos evitar la catástrofe. Ese debe ser el objetivo de todos. ¿Seremos tan responsables? Ojalá la sensatez prevalezca sobre el ego.
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