7-Eleven plans to close 645 stores in the U.S. this year

April 14, 2026 / 5:31 PM EDT / CBS/AP

7-Eleven plans to close 645 stores across the U.S. in fiscal year 2026, according to earnings filings from the convenience chain published last week.

Seven & i Holdings Co., the Japan-based parent of the convenience chain, noted that these closures “include the conversion to wholesale fuel stores.” Financial documents show that 7-Eleven Inc. has steadily opened new wholesale fuel stores in North America over recent years, which accounted for more than 900 locations as of December 2025.

The chain’s North American operator forecast it will open 205 stores during the same time period, although those openings will be outpaced by the closures.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why it is shuttering the stores. 7-Eleven has closed hundreds of “underperforming” convenience stores in recent years, citing pressures such as slowing sales, less foot traffic and inflationary pressures.

According to the company’s website, there are over 86,000 7-Eleven stores across 19 countries today. 7-Eleven Inc., the brand’s North American operator based in Texas, oversees more than 13,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

The latest wave of store closures arrives as higher prices strain consumers worldwide. The U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran has especially rattled energy markets, with drivers now facing soaring gas prices.

Consumers were facing stubborn inflation even before the war. In North America specifically, Seven & i noted in its April 9 report, “although the economy remained robust, personal consumption also began to soften” for the 2025 fiscal year — “particularly among low-income households, as inflation continued to weigh on spending.”

Openings for Seven & i subsidiaries outside of North America are set to outpace the stores they’re closing — including Seven-Eleven Japan, which expects to close 350 stores and open 550 locations, per financial filings.

Seven & i expects its revenue to fall 9.4% for the current fiscal year, totaling a projected nearly 9.45 trillion yen (about $59.5 billion).

The company has been looking for new opportunities for growth, and last year outlined a wider transformation plan aimed at boosting its convenience store offerings. Among goals, Seven & i has said it would invest in more fresh food offerings and expand its “7NOW” delivery service.

The changes also arrive under new leadership. Stephen Hayes Dacus became Seven & i’s CEO last spring.

Florida doctor indicted after allegedly removing patient’s liver instead of spleen in fatal surgery

April 14, 2026 / 5:54 PM EDT / CBS News

A Florida doctor is facing charges of second-degree manslaughter following a fatal surgery where he allegedly removed a patient’s liver instead of the spleen.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was arrested Monday after a two-year investigation into the August 2024 death of a 70-year-old Alabama man conducted by local and state law enforcement in collaboration with medical authorities, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said.

Dr. Shaknovsky, who is licensed to practice medicine in Florida, Alabama and New York, is now being held at the Walton County Jail on a $75,000 bond, according to correction records, after a grand jury returned an indictment. His medical licenses were all suspended or turned in before his recent arrest.

“The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out through the proper legal process,” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a statement.

A chaotic operative scene

When the Alabama man first arrived at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach with abdominal pain on Aug. 18, 2024, Dr. Shaknovsky recommended surgery.

The patient refused an operation at first and wanted to return home, Florida health officials said in a 2024 emergency application to suspend Dr. Shaknovsky’s license. Ultimately, the patient conceded under pressure from Dr. Shaknovsky, an osteopathic physician, to a laparoscopic splenectomy.

The procedure was scheduled late in the day on Aug. 21, 2024, after 5 p.m., raising concerns among the operating room staff who noted they only had a skeletal crew available. Staff also raised concerns about the doctor’s lack of experience and skills in the emergency department.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was arrested for allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of the spleen in a fatal surgery. Walton County Sheriff’s Office

Operating room staff “knew splenectomies were complicated procedures that could quickly deteriorate and were not regularly performed at Ascension,” documents read. Dr. Shaknovsky started the laparoscopic procedure but then elected to convert to an open procedure, without properly documenting the reasons, the emergency application said. During the operation, the patient started to hemorrhage, and his vitals dropped, so the operating staff called an emergency code.

A spokesperson for Ascension Sacred Heart said in a statement that “Dr. Shaknovsky was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024. We remain focused on upholding the standards our patients and community expect of us.”

Dr. Shaknovsky said in an interview with officials following the operation that he tried to control the patient’s bleeding. He claimed he blindly fired a stapling device into the abdomen, removing an organ he presumed to be the spleen, despite later admitting he was unable to properly identify it due to shock and chaos. He also alleged that the patient’s spleen was grossly enlarged and the liver was unusually positioned, contributing to his misidentification.

Accounts from operating room witnesses paint a chaotic scene and markedly different recollections. Upon opening the patient’s abdomen, a megacolon allegedly burst, obstructing visibility, the emergency application said. While staff attempted to clear the field, Dr. Shaknovsky is said to have identified a pulsing vessel, stapled it, and continued to dissect even as the abdomen was full of blood, failing to ask for essential tools like a clamp or cauterizer.

Dr. Shaknovsky identified a vessel that he intended to cut and noted that he could feel it pulsing under his finger. He told the staff member assisting him, “that’s scary.” He ultimately removed the liver, identifying it as the spleen, an organ distinct in size, color, and location.

Staff members said in the emergency application that they were reportedly shocked by this misidentification.

Despite resuscitation efforts, the patient was pronounced dead. Dr. Shaknovsky informed staff that the cause was a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm and insisted that the removed organ be labeled as a “spleen” for pathology. However, the medical examiner found no evidence of a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm.

Dr. Shaknovsky has denied wrongdoing, the emergency application said, asserting that the patients’ organs presented with abnormal anatomy or had “migrated” to an unusual location.

A checkered medical history

Applications to suspend or revoke Dr. Shaknovsky’s physician licenses document a checkered medical history. In an application for an emergency suspension of the Florida medical license of Dr. Shaknovsky, which was issued in 2020, Florida health officials detail another incident leading to patient harm. Just two months before the fatal surgery, Dr. Shaknovsky had operated on a 58-year-old man, removing a portion of his pancreas instead of the adrenal gland during an adrenalectomy, according to Florida’s Department of Health.

Dr. Shaknovsky documented removing the left adrenal gland and later claimed the adrenal gland had “migrated.” The patient suffered permanent harm from this error, department of health officials said. The Florida Department of Health suspended Dr. Shaknovsky’s license in September 2024, according to public records.

The wife of the patient who died in 2024 contacted the Alabama Board of Licenses to alert them to Dr. Shaknovsky’s alleged role in her husband’s death. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint against Dr. Shaknovsky, temporarily suspending his license, which he has held since 2016 in Alabama. Dr. Shaknovsky “may constitute an immediate danger to his patients and the public,” the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission said in its order.

He surrendered his license on Nov. 7, 2024, according to Alabama’s medical license records. The Alabama application to suspend Dr. Shaknovsky’s license documented two prior operating mistakes in 2023 – one of which, the documents said, led to another fatality.

According to the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners in July 2023, Dr. Shaknovsky was scheduled to perform an ileostomy, an operation that diverts the small intestine through the abdominal wall, but instead opted to perform a bowel resection on the patient, which resulted in a perforation. The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she later died.

His New York State medical license, which he has held since 2015, was suspended in 2025.

Dr. Shaknovsky did not respond to a request for comment.

宏茂桥警署的警员展开调查，最终锁定涉案者为六名年龄介于13岁至16岁的青少年。他们在星期二（4月14日）被警方逮捕。 （档案照片）

从电单车储物箱里找到智能钥匙，六名青少年连偷两辆电单车，结果被新加坡警察部队逮捕。他们星期三（4月15日）将在青少年法庭被控。

新加坡警察部队星期二（14日）发文告说，当局在上星期天（12日）和星期一（13日）之间各别接到报案，指榜鹅通道（Punggol Drive）和榜鹅中路（Punggol Central）发生电单车偷窃案。

宏茂桥警署的警员随后展开调查，最终锁定涉案者为六名年龄介于13岁至16岁的青少年。他们在星期二被警方逮捕。

初步调查显示，六名青少年之所以能偷走电单车，是因为他们在电单车储物箱内找到电单车的智能钥匙。警方事后找回两辆电单车，后续调查也证实六名青少年都没有相关驾照。

六人星期三将在青少年法庭被控。根据《刑事法典》第379A节条文，偷车一旦罪成，可被判坐牢最长七年和罚款。

警方促请所有车主采取以下防范措施，预防犯罪发生：

• 将电单车停在明亮处；

• 为电单车安装防盗警报器；

• 使用电单车车罩，并固定好两端；

• 使用额外的锁具，例如碟刹锁（disc brake locks），或安装悬挂锁；

• 每次下车时拔出钥匙并锁车；

• 不要将备用钥匙存放在电单车的储物箱。

调查还在进行中。

Chevron says Venezuelan oil imports are helping curb U.S. gas prices

April 14, 2026 / 6:20 PM EDT / CBS News

Chevron’s stepped-up imports of Venezuelan oil are helping ease fuel prices for U.S. consumers, according to a senior executive with the energy giant.

Andrew Walz, Chevron’s president of global refining, told CBS News that the company is running its Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery around the clock to process crude from Venezuela.

Walz said Chevron is moving to curb prices for consumers as the war in Iran constrains global oil supplies and pushes U.S. gasoline prices up to their highest level since 2022.

A tanker carrying 400,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude will supply Chevron’s Mississippi refinery for four days. The oil imports are helping both “bring revenue to Venezuela, and it’s helping Americans,” Walz said.

“This ship is lowering prices in America because we have access to a new supply point that we didn’t have previously,” he added.

The Trump administration earlier this month lifted sanctions on interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez as the U.S. seeks to rebuild ties with the country’s government. The move came three months after U.S. forces seized Rodriguez’s predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in a military raid.

Since Maduro’s removal from power, the Trump administration has sought to incentivize U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil sector, rolling back sanctions to allow American oil companies to spend on infrastructure and production.

“I think the lesson is that energy really matters, and it needs to be affordable and reliable. And that’s why we have to keep investing in infrastructure, investing in capabilities, and companies like Chevron need to keep finding these products and getting them to their customers,” Walz said.

Always be conserving

Without access to Venezuelan oil, Americans would be paying higher prices at the pump, according to the Chevron exec.

“Less supply means higher prices,” Walz said.

The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. is $4.12, up from $2.98 just before the Iran war, according to AAA.

With U.S. energy costs surging, meanwhile, Walz also encouraged motorists and consumers to take steps to conserve.

“People do need to conserve energy. We should always be conserving energy, whether it’s your light switch or the miles you drive or what kind of car you buy,” he said. “So I would encourage everybody to try to conserve, hang in there and hopefully prices will be coming down soon.”

Chevron and Venezuela this week announced two deals to expand oil production in the country. Walz said that Chevron plans to expand production in Venezuela by 50% over the next few years.

Watch more of Andy Walz’s interview Wednesday on “CBS Mornings.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/chevron-executive-venezuelan-crude-oil-helping-lower-prices-iran-war/

Dem fundraising giant in the hot seat as GOP lawmakers demand answers over dodged subpoena

2026-04-14T19:00:57-04:00 / Fox News

Lawmakers seek a resignation letter and a message about an ignored whistleblower complaint on donation screening

By Leo Briceno Fox News

Published April 14, 2026 7:00pm EDT | Updated April 14, 2026 7:16pm EDT

Democratic fundraising giant ActBlue is facing fresh scrutiny after report revealed internal legal memos warning CEO Regina Wallace-Jones that she may have misled Congress regarding the platform’s ability to block illegal foreign donations.

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House Republicans are demanding ActBlue, a top Democratic campaign fundraising apparatus, turn over international communications, probing whether the organization knowingly misled lawmakers and dodged subpoenas to hide weaknesses in its screening process to weed out illegal, overseas donations.

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., collectively laid out their demands in a letter published on Tuesday.

“For more than a year, the Committees have conducted oversight regarding ActBlue’s ‘fundamentally unserious approach to fraud prevention,’” the letter reads.

“Recent reporting … strongly suggests that ActBlue deliberately obstructed the Committees’ investigation, including through misleading statements and noncompliance with our subpoenas.”

BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL: LEFT-WING GROUPS DEFIANT AS GOP SHEDS LIGHT ON GROUPS TIED TO CHINA

Rep. Jim Jordan leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10, 2024.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

The letter is addressed to Regina Wallace-Jones, the CEO and president of ActBlue, and is the most recent entry in investigations that began in 2023 when Republicans originally raised concerns about foreign donations possibly influencing American elections.

It also follows New York Times reporting on a memo from Covington & Burling, a law firm, warning that gaps in its screening armor could present “a substantial risk for ActBlue.”

The memo, on its own, does not implicate wrongdoing or indicate that ActBlue accepted international donations. Even so, the reporting caught the eye of Republicans in Congress.

Steil, Jordan and Comer are collectively asking ActBlue to produce two internal documents to examine the internal understanding ActBlue may have had about its own weaknesses.

The first is a resignation letter from General Counsel Aaron Ting — a document Republicans contend centers on liabilities created by ActBlue’s donation security.

Republicans believe the second, a message from ActBlue’s former legal counsel Zain Ahmad, relates to an ignored whistleblower complaint about those practices.

HOUSE HEARING RAISES RED FLAGS OVER FORMER TECH MOGUL’S ‘CCP NETWORK’ ALLEGEDLY FUNDING OF FAR-LEFT GROUPS

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) speaks to the media on his Committee’s investigation into former President Joe Biden’s cognitive state, in the Rayburn House Office Building on July 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Republicans have already requested those documents before, but haven’t received them.

“There is considerable reason to believe that ActBlue may have deliberately withheld this responsive material to impede our investigation,” the letter states.

For its own part, ActBlue has claimed it makes every effort to ensure its fundraising complies with legal requirements.

In ActBlue’s own letter published in Nov. 2023, Wallace-Jones, the CEO, affirmed that the organization maintained the highest standards for scrutiny of its fundraising.

“Our approach is multilayered, with checks and confirmations occurring throughout the donation process to verify donors and donor information,” Wallace-Jones wrote.

“These measures, which include compliance measures, technological tools, and manual reviews, help to ensure the identity of donors, root out potential foreign contributions, and protect donors from financial fraud.”

OVERSIGHT DEMANDS DOJ ANSWERS ON FOREIGN FUNDING OF AGITATOR GROUPS AS IRAN, ANTI-ICE PROTESTS CONTINUE

Regina Wallace-Jones of Palo Alto soaks up the first evening of the DNC Convention at the United Center in Chicago, IL on Monday, August 19, 2024.(Photo by Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

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Republican lawmakers have given ActBlue two weeks to produce the requested documentation, setting a deadline for April 28, 2026.

“Absent these steps, the Committees are prepared to use available mechanisms to enforce our subpoenas,” the letter reads.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

王石针对被抓传闻发律师声明：将启动法律追责

2026年4月15日 07:12 / 联合早报

中国房地产巨头万科集团创始人王石据传被抓后，他不仅出面驳斥传闻，也在星期二（4月14日）委托律师发布声明，称该传闻是恶意捏造的虚假信息，并将正式启动法律追责程序。

综合财联社和凤凰网财经报道，香港卫视综合台台长秦枫星期天（4月12日）傍晚在微博爆料称“王石被抓”， 随后在评论区继续说：“退休不是护身符，早晚的事，官不官宣都视工作需要而定……露面也不一定没被控制。”

这一消息迅速引发关注。王石的妻子田朴珺当晚连发两条微博辟谣，“这是法治社会，造谣是不需要付出代价的吗”，又强调“我们必将通过法律途径追究到底，绝不姑息”。

王石本人随后也发文说：“看来大家比我本人还关心我的动态。一切安好，造谣者交给法律。”

据观察者网报道，王石星期二委托律师发布声明指出，“王石被抓”纯属恶意捏造的虚假信息，与客观事实完全不符。截至声明发布之日，王石一切正常，人身自由不受任何限制，工作与生活秩序井然，不存在任何被司法机关采取强制措施、限制人身自由的情形。

延伸阅读

下午察：王石再传被抓 狼来了背后的焦虑
谈王石被抓传闻 胡锡进：望舆论对过气老企业家口下留情

声明称，关于“因万科经营亏损被追责”的虚假传言。王石自2017年6月起已卸任万科董事会主席，不再参与公司日常经营与管理决策。万科所有经营事项均由其董事会及管理层独立负责。将企业经营状况与委托人个人进行不当关联、编造“被追责的谣言”，纯属主观臆断、恶意抹黑。王石不存在任何因经营问题被司法机关追责的情形。

声明也提到，王石是中国改革开放后第一代民营企业家标杆人物，深耕实业四十余载，创办并带领万科成为行业典范。其始终恪守法治精神与商业伦理，在推动行业规范发展、践行社会公益、促进民营经济健康成长等方面作出重要贡献，社会声誉与公众影响力有目共睹。

随着万科近年经营出现动荡，王石多次遭传失联或被抓，今年1月便曾出现失联传闻，王石当时通过他的视频号发布自己的骑行视频，侧面进行回应。

针对外界这次再传王石被抓，中国官媒《环球时报》前总编辑胡锡进星期天晚上在社媒发文称，王石是参与定义了中国改革开放的那批企业家之一，“我的愿望是他没事，能够平安落地”。

胡锡进说，如果王石确实有事，国家法律自会找上门去，并称一些人好像盼着王石出事一样，希望舆论中人“对这位‘过气的’老企业家口下留情”。

Chevron executive Andy Walz suggests Americans should drive less amid high gas prices

April 14, 2026 / 7:45 PM EDT / CBS News

As gas prices continue to soar in the U.S. and across the globe amid the war with Iran, Chevron executive Andy Walz suggested Americans could save money by driving less and trying to conserve energy.

“People should try to drive less. They should try to conserve energy,” Walz told CBS News when asked how Americans could try saving money at the pump. “We should be doing that all the time. Energy’s essential for people’s lives, but we should conserve it.”

Since the start of the war at the end of February, ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas supply, has been greatly diminished. As a result, the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, has spiked, hovering around $100 a barrel in recent weeks.

Walz, Chevron’s president of downstream, midstream and chemicals, said there’s probably no “silver bullet” to help bring down prices for Americans over the long term while oil prices remain high for everyone else.

“It’s a global market for crude,” Walz said. “We have crude here, that’s closer to us, that we’re all processing and using. That’s helping Americans buffer their price. … If this goes on for an extended period of time, it’s probably gonna get tougher.”

Walz also warned of possible supply chain issues if the crisis continues.

“America is more reliant on local production, but there’s countries in Asia and other parts of the world that rely heavily on Middle East crude,” he said. “They can’t get it. They can’t refine it. They can’t make the products people need, and they’re starting to run out. And that is a real problem. We’re worried about price here. There’s other countries that don’t have the products. And to me, that is a big worry.”

Watch more of Andy Walz’s interview Wednesday on “CBS Mornings.”

3月25日，在曼谷国际车展上，一辆电动汽车展示了中国电动车巨头比亚迪的标志。 （法新社）

一个工人权益组织称，已发现中国电动车巨头比亚迪的匈牙利新工厂存在违反劳动法规的证据。比亚迪计划在本季度于该厂开始大规模生产汽车。

据彭博社报道，总部位于纽约的非营利组织“中国劳工观察”星期二（4月14日）在官网发布报告称，调查发现一些受分包商和招聘机构雇用的中国劳工，涉及债务束缚、签证违规使用以及长时间高强度工作等情况。

比亚迪未回应多次置评请求。中国劳工观察说，在接获一名来自比亚迪匈牙利工厂的举报人投诉后，已于去年10月和11月展开实地调查，并访谈了50名工人。

中国劳工观察称，在塞格德发现当地存在多层中介参与的用工体系，将财务风险转嫁给劳动者。受访员工称，普遍存在每周七天工作、轮班时间超过法定时限及加班上限的情况。

这份报告发布之际，比亚迪正加快全球扩张步伐。位于匈牙利南部城市塞格德的工厂，是比亚迪在欧盟的首个大型汽车制造基地。

彭博社引述知情者透露，比亚迪管理层在3月30日的分析师简报会上说，公司有信心在2026年实现150万辆的出口量，这一数字高于比亚迪1月公布的130万辆海外销量目标。

比亚迪正面临中国国内销量放缓与剧烈市场竞争的挑战，公司3月27日公布的年报显示，2025年净利下跌18.97%至326.19亿元人民币（60.8亿新元），是四年来首次出现全年净利下滑。

比亚迪正依靠海外市场的增长来弥补国内销量的下滑，这家全球最大电动汽车制造商在2025年的最大亮点是出口业务，全年出口逾104万辆，同比增长1.4倍。

Trump blasts close ally Meloni, says she’s failing US on Iran

Meloni also confirmed Italy suspended its defense cooperation agreement with Israel amid Middle East tensions

2026-04-14 4:39pm EDT / Fox News

By Efrat Lachter Fox News

Published April 14, 2026 4:39pm EDT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393038848112

NATO allies have ‘abandoned’ their responsibilities as US allies, former Israeli ambassador says

Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren discusses President Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO allies for refusing to support a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on ‘America Reports.’

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Tensions between Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni escalated Tuesday after the U.S. president publicly rebuked one of his closest European allies, accusing her of lacking “courage” and failing to support Washington’s efforts against Iran.

In a phone interview with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump called Meloni “unacceptable” and said he was “shocked” by her stance, according to the outlet’s English-language version.

The dispute with Trump was further fueled by Meloni’s criticism of his recent remarks targeting Pope Leo XIV, which she called “unacceptable,” prompting Trump to respond that “she is the one who is unacceptable.”

In a scathing rebuke of the Vatican’s call for Middle Eastern de-escalation, President Trump took to Truth Social to blast Pope Leo XIV. Labeling the pontiff “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump warned him to “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.” The post, which quickly went viral, accused the first American pope of “catering to the Radical Left” at the expense of global security.

MORE KEY US ALLIES BLOCK MILITARY FLIGHTS AS IRAN WAR RIFT WIDENS WITH TRUMP

In the interview to Corriere della Sera Trump also reiterated criticism of Pope Leo, saying the pontiff “has no idea what’s going on in Iran” and “doesn’t understand” what is at stake.

Tensions between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni escalated Tuesday.(Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)

She “isn’t giving us any help, I’m shocked by her,” Trump said about Meloni in the six-minute conversation.

He went further, accusing Meloni of relying on Washington while refusing to act.

“They depend on Donald Trump to keep it open,” he said, referring to global energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

The comments mark a sharp shift in tone toward Meloni, who attended Trump’s 2025 inauguration and was praised by him as “a great leader” just weeks ago.

The White House and Meloni’s office did not immediately respond.

The public rift comes as Meloni has begun distancing herself from both Washington and Jerusalem amid mounting domestic and political pressure over the widening Middle East conflict.

RUBIO SAYS US MAY NEED TO ‘REEXAMINE’ NATO MEMBERSHIP AFTER ALLIES BLOCKED BASING, AIRSPACE HELP

President Donald Trump delivers remarks, as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer applaud, following the signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Egypt, Oct. 13, 2025.(Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

On Tuesday, Meloni confirmed in a statement that Italy had suspended the automatic renewal of a long-standing defense cooperation agreement with Israel, signaling a significant recalibration in ties.

“In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel,” she said, according to Reuters.

The move follows recent tensions between Rome and Jerusalem, including Israeli warning shots fired near Italian troops serving in southern Lebanon under a U.N. mandate, as well as growing Italian criticism of Israeli military operations in the region.

Israel downplayed the impact of the decision, saying the agreement was largely symbolic and “has never contained any substantive content,” Reuters reported.

In Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply criticized the government following Italy’s move.

“Italy’s decision to suspend the defense cooperation agreement with Israel is another embarrassing failure of the prime minister and the non-existent foreign minister,” Lapid wrote on X.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S CONSIDERING PULLING US OUT OF NATO OVER IRAN WAR STANCE

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is greeted upon arrival at the White House South Portico in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, 2025.(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“Meloni is not a left-wing progressive European leader,” she added. “She belongs to the conservative right and understands the need to fight terrorism.”

Meloni’s shift reflects what analysts describe as a broader political repositioning, as the war’s economic fallout, particularly rising energy costs, weighs heavily on Italy’s import-dependent economy and public opinion.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani defended Meloni, reaffirming Italy’s alliance with the United States while emphasizing that cooperation must be grounded in “loyalty, respect and mutual frankness.”

The escalating tensions highlight growing fractures within Western alliances as the U.S.-led confrontation with Iran reverberates across Europe, forcing leaders like Meloni to balance strategic partnerships with domestic political realities.

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A ship passes through the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran on April 8, 2026.(Shady Alassar/Anadolu/Getty Images)

The Israel Defense Ministry declined to comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Efrat Lachter is a foreign correspondent for Fox News Digital covering international affairs and the United Nations. Follow her on X @efratlachter. Stories can be sent to efrat.lachter@fox.com.

Justice Department moves to dismiss Proud Boys and Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy convictions

2026-04-14 6:08 PM ET / CNN

By Hannah Rabinowitz

Updated Apr 14, 2026, 7:35 PM ET

PUBLISHED Apr 14, 2026, 6:08 PM ET

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right group Oath Keepers, attends a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on January 6th in the Rayburn House Office Building on January 14.

Heather Diehl/Getty Images/File

The Justice Department moved to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members Tuesday, undoing one of the Biden administration’s most celebrated victories against those who it said inspired the January 6, 2021, attack on American democracy.

If a judge approves the dismissals, it would erase the most serious convictions from the sprawling investigation of the US Capitol riot, one of the largest federal investigations in US history.

President Donald Trump has long lambasted the January 6 prosecutions as an injustice against his supporters, even referring to those in jail as “hostages.”

On his first day in office, Trump issued pardons to over 1,000 people convicted in the attack — every defendant except for 14 people, each of whom had their sentences commuted. One of those people was pardoned in March 2025,and the department now says twelve others — eight members and associates of the Oath Keepers and four from the Proud Boys — should have their convictions dismissed.

Supporters of President Donald Trump storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

Leah Millis/Reuters

Dismissing the convictions would also be a major blow to the Biden Justice Department, which across three trials had argued that the attack on the US Capitol was more than just a political protest that got out of control, but rather a violent attack on democracy and an effort to keep Joe Biden out of the Oval Office by any means necessary.

Xochitl Hinojosa, the former director of the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs under Biden, said the Trump administration’s move “gave yet another nod to individuals who conspired against the United States government, stormed the Capitol on January 6th, and brutally attacked law enforcement.”

“This is a slap in the face to the American people and American democracy,” Hinojosa, who is now a CNN commentator, said in a statement.

The defendants whose convictions may be dismissed are Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and associates Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, Joseph Hackett, and David Moerschel; and Proud Boys associates Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.

A spokesperson for US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro’s office declined to comment.

CNN is reaching out to attorneys for the defendants.

Nick Smith, who represents Nordean, told CNN that he is “grateful” to the DOJ for moving to vacate his client’s conviction.

“It is good for everyone of all political persuasions that sedition charges are not used for protests that turn into riots,” Smith said.

After the attack in the waning days of Trump’s first administration, the Justice Department and FBI launched a nationwide manhunt to identify and arrest rioters, which quickly turned into the biggest criminal probe in US history. Prosecutors charged more than 1,580 people and secured roughly 1,270 convictions.

Trump left office just two weeks after the riot and has since repeatedly called January 6 “a day of love and peace” and claimed his supporters posed “zero threat.” His comments are belied by hundreds of video clips of Trump supporters beating police with flagpoles, batons, wooden clubs and baseball bats, deploying stun guns and chemical sprays, and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police officers.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.