Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas resigned on Thursday following protests in the country’s capital over investigations into his alleged business dealings. 

‘Gintautas Paluckas called me this morning and informed me of his resignation,’ Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters, according to Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT). Nausėda also said Paluckas made the right choice and welcomed the decision.

Nausėda recently gave Paluckas two weeks to decide whether or not to stay in his position.

‘The president has asked the prime minister to either give a reasoned answer to the questions raised by the public in the next two weeks, or to consider seriously his further options as prime minister,’ presidential adviser Frederikas Jansonas told reporters on July 24, according to LRT.

The prime minister’s resignation also comes after a smaller party threatened to exit the country’s ruling coalition unless Paluckas stepped down from his position.

After media outlets began publishing investigations into Paluckas’ business and financial dealings, Lithuania’s anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies launched probes of their own, according to the Associated Press. One of the cases against him is more than a decade old. 

In 2012, Paluckas was convicted of mishandling the bidding process for rat extermination in Vilnius, where he was serving as the director of the city’s municipality administration, the Associated Press reported. However, it has been revealed that he did not pay a chunk of the nearly $20,000 fine.

A more recent scandal involved a €200,000 ($228,777) subsidized loan that Garnis, a company Paluckas co-founded, received after Paluckas was already serving as prime minister, according to LRT. The outlet added that Lithuania’s Chief Official Ethics Commission is investigating the loan. 

Garnis was also linked to a more recent scandal involving the prime minister in which Dankora — Paluckas’ sister-in-law’s company — received EU funding and used it to purchase goods from Garnis. However, according to LRT, public outcry pushed Dankora to return the funds.

Paluckas denies any wrongdoing and claims the criticism is part of a ‘coordinated attack’ by his political opponents, according to the Associated Press. 

The prime minister’s resignation puts Lithuania in a precarious position, as it comes just before Russia and Belarus hold joint military exercises. Paluckas’ whole cabinet is expected to resign as well, possibly leaving the Baltic country without a functioning government just weeks ahead of the Russian-Belarusian exercises, according to the Associated Press. However, this may not impact Lithuania’s foreign policy, as Nausėda, who represents the country on a global scale, has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine during its years-long war with Russia.

The United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire and move toward peace in Gaza by September, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Tuesday.

Starmer made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday, just a day after meeting with President Donald Trump in Scotland and discussing the Israel-Hamas war and the hunger crisis in Gaza.

‘I can confirm that the U.K. will recognize the State of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, unless the Israeli government take substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution,’ Starmer told reporters. ‘This includes allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank.’

‘Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all the hostages. Sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,’ he continued.

Trump declined to endorse Starmer’s move in a statement to reporters aboard Air Force One. He noted that both Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have now moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state.

‘Essentially, they’re saying the same thing and that’s okay. But you know it doesn’t mean I have to agree,’ Trump said.

Starmer said his government will make a final assessment ahead of the UNGA meeting to determine what steps both Israel and Hamas have taken and make a final decision on recognizing a Palestinian state.

The U.K. leader went on to say that the primary motive behind the announcement is to change the situation on the ground in Gaza as well as facilitate the release of more hostages.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected Starmer’s announcement in a countering statement on Tuesday.

‘The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,’ the ministry said.

The U.K.’s announcement comes just one day after Starmer met with Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, where both leaders condemned the humanitarian and hunger crisis in Gaza.

Trump publicly broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the meeting, saying he disagreed that the hunger crisis is a false narrative put forward by Hamas.

‘Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,’ Trump said when asked if he agreed with Netanyahu’s claims. ‘That’s real starvation stuff.’

Trump has highlighted America’s efforts to secure aid for Gaza, noting some $60 million the U.S. spent on the issue in recent days.

‘We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food for Gaza, and nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it. And it makes you feel a little bad when you do that,’ Trump said during a Sunday meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. ‘And, you know, you have other countries not giving anything. None of the European countries, by the way, gave – I mean, nobody gave but us and nobody said, gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.’

Israel has begun conducting aid drops across Gaza in recent days, bending to pressure after months of restricting the flow of aid. The IDF had long said Hamas was stealing much of the resources being sent into the region, a statement Trump and the U.S. have echoed.

Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee met with stakeholders and law enforcement to address the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., during a closed-door congressional roundtable on July 22, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The roundtable comes amid growing concerns about antisemitic violence months after recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., along with growing fears surrounding the potential election of Zohran Mamdani, who has espoused anti-Israel viewpoints, as New York City mayor. 

‘Jewish communities across the country are living in fear, and I am committed to standing with them. This roundtable comes at a critical moment: a far-left activist who has defended the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ is inching closer to leading a city home to one of the world’s largest Jewish populations,’ Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in his opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital. 

‘Antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric is becoming dangerously mainstream. We must act now to expose and combat this vile hatred wherever it is spread,’ Pfluger said. 

The roundtable focused on improving interagency coordination, intelligence sharing, training, and enforcement to better prevent and respond to antisemitic violence, according to a House Homeland Security Committee aide.

In particular, the meeting addressed ways to bolster communication between the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, along with state and local law enforcement, according to Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a non-profit organization focused on the safety of the Jewish community in North America. 

This interagency coordination is absolutely paramount as the Secure Community Network has flagged 500 credible threats to life this year – which all have required immediate law enforcement intervention, according to Masters. 

‘Bad guys don’t respect orders. Bad actors don’t respect jurisdictions, and that means that our intelligence can’t be siloed,’ Masters told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

Additionally, the roundtable’s discussion highlighted how extremist rhetoric can spread, especially on college campuses and via social media, the aide said. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, student protests have erupted across college campuses in the U.S., including at Columbia University in New York. 

Likewise, those participating in the roundtable addressed the prevalence of homegrown and foreign-influenced extremism, when one participant highlighted instances where anti-Israel terrorist organizations have disseminated tool kits and talking points aimed at promoting attacks in the U.S., the committee aide said. 

The discussion is expected to inform legislative priorities centered around bolstering officer training, improving data collection, and ensuring ‘robust prosecution’ of antisemitic offenses, the committee aide said. 

Those who participated in the roundtable included representatives from the Secure Community Networks; the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people; the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis; and law enforcement officials. 

Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, has spearheaded legislation that would bar any visa holders backing Hamas or other designated terror groups from staying in the U.S. 

He also led a hearing last month on the rise of antisemitic violence in the U.S., following a May shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington and a terrorist attack in Colorado targeting a grassroots group advocating for the release of Israeli hostages.

Antisemitic violence reached a new high in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League. 

The group recorded 9,354 antisemitic instances of harassment, assault, and vandalism in the U.S. in 2024 – a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023 and a 344% increase in the past five years. Likewise, the number of incidents is the highest the group has recorded since 1979, when the group first started tracking these cases. 

Incidents of antisemitic violence in 2024 were highest in the state of New York, where Mamdani is currently a state assemblyman. 

Mamdani has attracted scrutiny, including from Democrats, for initially failing to condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ a phrase used to back Palestinian resistance against Israel. However, he has since said he will not use the term and will discourage others from using it as well. 

Still, concerns remain over what his potential leadership as mayor could mean for the Jewish community in New York City. Roughly 1.4 million people in the Greater New York Area identified as Jewish in 2023, according to UJA-Federation of New York. 

‘There’s a lot of fear in the Jewish community if this guy becomes mayor,’ New York City Republican councilwoman Inna Vernikov told Fox News Digital. 

‘This is a guy who wants to globalize the intifada,’ Vernikov said. ‘We’ve never seen anything close to this in New York City. We have the largest Jewish population in America, and I’ll tell you Jews are telling me they’re going to run away from New York City, and Jews have contributed a lot to the city and to this country, and the idea that they are now afraid to live here – it’s unacceptable and unprecedented really, this has never happened here.’

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after his first choice struggled to gain support.

Susan Monarez, a longtime fixture in Washington who has taken on leadership positions in a number of government public health roles, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, crossing yet another position off the lengthy and growing number of nominees awaiting confirmation.

Monarez was confirmed on a 51to 47party line vote.

Across her roughly two-decade career in D.C., she has served as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the Department of Health and Human Services and in roles at the White House, including at the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council.

She is the first CDC director to undergo the Senate confirmation process after a new law changed the requirement in 2023. Prior to her confirmation, Monarez had served as the acting director of the CDC since the beginning of this year.

But Monarez, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology, was not Trump’s first pick to lead the public health agency, which is tasked with protecting Americans from public health threats.

Trump tapped Monarez in March shortly after withdrawing his nomination of Dr. David Weldon, a former House member, after it was clear that he couldn’t get enough votes from Senate Republicans to make it across the finish line.

He lauded Monarez’s credentials, and charged that Americans had ‘lost confidence’ in the CDC.

‘Dr. Monarez will work closely with our GREAT Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr,’ he said on social media at the time. ‘Together, they will prioritize Accountability, High Standards, and Disease Prevention to finally address the Chronic Disease Epidemic and, MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!’

But questions also linger on how well Monarez and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might work together.

During her confirmation hearing last month, Senate Democrats grilled Monarez over whether she agreed with Kennedy’s positions on vaccines. Kennedy has long been outspoken about his skepticism regarding vaccines, particularly COVID-19 vaccines.

The CDC has been hit with thousands of staff cuts and resignations and subject to changes in vaccine policy — notably Kennedy’s decision to remove the COVID-19 from the vaccine schedule for pregnant women and healthy children — in the last six months. 

‘I think vaccines save lives. I think that we need to continue to support the promotion of utilization of vaccines,’ Monarez said during her confirmation hearing.

Her confirmation also comes as Kennedy, in his budget request for the HHS, seeks a slash in funding to the CDC of nearly 50%, or from about $9.2 billion to $4.2 billion, for the upcoming fiscal year.

But Kennedy made clear in an X post at the time of her nomination that he supports Monarez to take on the position.

‘I handpicked Susan for this job because she is a longtime champion of MAHA values, and a caring, compassionate and brilliant microbiologist and a tech wizard who will reorient CDC toward public health and gold-standard science,’ he said. ‘I’m so grateful to President Trump for making this appointment.’

And an HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘Once Dr. Monarez is confirmed, the Secretary looks forward to working with her to advance common-sense policies that will Make America Healthy Again.’