The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) is demanding that the United Nations not reappoint Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who chairs the committee, is leading the charge to oppose Albanese.

In a letter to U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) President Jürg Lauber, the committee accuses Albanese of failing to uphold the council’s code of conduct. They also condemn Albanese for comments she made about Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

‘Albanese unapologetically uses her position as a UN Special Rapporteur to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes, while serving as a Hamas apologist,’ the committee wrote in its letter. ‘In her malicious fixation, she has even called for Israel to be removed from the United Nations while likening Israel to apartheid South Africa.’

The committee not only criticized Albanese but also slammed the UNHRC, saying its leaders ‘allowed antisemitism and anti-Americanism to thrive within, with a seeming unwillingness to hold the most egregious violators of human rights to account.’

‘Francesca Albanese is an unabashed anti-Israel activist who has consistently done the bidding of Hamas terrorists responsible for the heinous October 7th attacks. Her appointment is a disgrace to the U.N. It’s time for the U.N. to claw back the integrity and accountability it has surrendered,’ Mast told Fox News Digital.

U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer lauded the ‘much needed’ action from Congress. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Neuer said that Albanese’s reappointment would be ‘unlawful’ and called for ‘consequences’ from the U.S. if she visits the country.

‘Francesca Albanese openly supports Hamas, spreads antisemitic tropes, and tramples the U.N.’s own Code of Conduct. Under the U.N.’s own rules, the president of the Human Rights Council is now duty-bound to convey to the plenary this and other substantial objections that have been submitted, and for the delegates to formally consider Albanese’s many violations. And yet every indication is that the 47-member body — with the EU’s complicity — is instead barreling ahead with Albanese’s reappointment,’ Neuer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Albanese, who was appointed special rapporteur in 2022, has been condemned by the governments of multiple countries and faced accusations of antisemitism. Her response to French President Emmanuel Macron calling the Oct. 7 attacks ‘the largest antisemitic massacre of our century’ sparked backlash from France, the U.S. and Germany.

The U.S. slammed Albanese for her ‘history of using antisemitic tropes,’ and said her comments were ‘justifying, dismissing [and] denying the antisemitic undertones of Hamas’ October 7 attack are unacceptable [and] antisemitic.’

The French Mission to the U.N. condemned Albanese’s response in a post on X. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) translation, the post read: ‘The October 7 massacre is the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. To deny it is wrong. To seem to justify it, by bringing in the name of the United Nations, is a shame.’ This was just a few months after the mission condemned her ‘hate speech and antisemitism.’

Germany retweeted France’s statement and said, ‘To justify the horrific terror attacks of 7/10 & deny their antisemitic nature is appalling. Making such statements in a UN capacity is a disgrace and goes against everything the United Nations stands for.’

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect Americans from ‘exploitive ticket scalping’ in the concert and entertainment industry, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The president signed the order Monday evening in the Oval Office. Kid Rock joined the president for the signing ceremony. 

The president’s executive order directs the Federal Trade Commission to work with the attorney general to ensure that competition laws are enforced in the concert and entertainment industry. 

The order also enforces the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities. 

The president’s order also ensures price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchasing process, including through the secondary ticketing market; and will evaluate, and, if appropriate, take enforcement action to prevent ‘unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct’ in the secondary ticketing market.

The president’s order also directs the attorney general and Treasury secretary to ensure that ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other laws. 

Under the order, the Treasury Department, DOJ, and the FTC will deliver a report within 180 days summarizing the actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in live concert and entertainment industry and will recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers. 

The order comes after President Trump, on the campaign trail, vowed to work to combat high ticket prices. While campaigning, the president described the current system where fans are priced out as ‘very unfortunate.’ 

A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president is ‘committed to making arts and entertainment that enrich Americans’ lives as accessible as possible.’ 

The official said that America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs. 

‘But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,’ a White House official said. 

‘Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,’ a White House official said. ‘By some reports, fans have paid as much as 70 times the face value of a ticket price to obtain a ticket.’ 

The official added that when this occurs, the artists ‘do not receive any additional profit—it goes solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.’ 

‘Anyone who’s bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years, no matter what your politics are, knows it is a conundrum,’ Kid Rock said Monday. ‘If you buy a ticket for 100 bucks by the time you check it out, it’s 170. You don’t know what you can charge for it, but more importantly, these bots you know, they come in to get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they’re relisted immediately for sometimes a 4 or 500% markup.’ 

Kid Rock explained that the artists ‘don’t see any of that money.’ 

President Trump, upon signing the order, said that the move is ‘a big step to getting this stopped.’ 

In a statement late Monday, Live Nation said it supports the president’s action: ”Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on. We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more.’

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino posted on X, thanking President Trump and Kid Rock for ‘taking ticket-scalping head on.’

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to back out of a rare earth deal with the U.S., adding if he does that he is going to have ‘some problems.’

‘I think Zelenskyy, by the way, he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems – big, big problems,’ Trump said while speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. ‘We made a deal on rare earths, and now he’s saying, ‘well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.’ He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that, so, if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.’

Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement on minerals and security with the U.S. at any time, noting that the agreement is seen as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees.

Zelenskyy’s statement came after a visit to the White House where the two leaders were expected to sign an agreement on rare Earth minerals. But the visit turned sour, and Zelenskyy was kicked out of the president’s home with no deal in hand.

While speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he and his team were making progress on a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia.

One reporter asked if Trump would say his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin was at its lowest point.

The president said no, adding he did not think Putin was going to go back on his word for a partial ceasefire. He also said deals are made with people whether you like them or not.

Trump explained that Putin had said some things over the last few days about Zelenskyy not being credible, adding he was not happy about that. But, Trump added, he thinks Putin is going to be good. He also said he would not want to put secondary tariffs on Russia.

The U.S. put secondary tariffs on Venezuela, which Trump said has had a ‘very strong impact.’

‘You know that every ship just got out and left. A lot of them left. They dropped the hoses right into the ocean, and they left. They didn’t want to be there for a minute because they didn’t want those tariffs to catch on,’ Trump said. ‘But they didn’t want me to see them there. So, Venezuela and secondary tariffs, all secondary tariffs, are very strong, because essentially it says if you disobey our orders, you cannot do business in the United States of America, and that’s the catch.’

Trump said he plans to hit all the countries across the board with tariffs.

‘If you look at the history, and you look at what’s happened to us…take a look at trade with Asia, and I wouldn’t say anybody is doing it as fairly or nicely,’ Trump said. ‘We’re…going to be much more generous than they were to us.’

Trump also addressed questions about possibly running for a third term, which earlier in the day he said he was ‘not joking’ about.

Initially, Trump told reporters he was not looking at a third term, noting that people have spoken with him about a possible third term.

He said the 2020 election, in which he lost to now former President Joe Biden, was ‘totally rigged,’ but he would not take credit for a third try.

Trump also said his administration has had the best 100 days than any other president.

‘I was with some very important people today, and they said they’ve never seen turnaround as fast as this,’ he said.

As reporters continued to press him about a third term, though, Trump quickly shot them down.

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he told one reporter. ‘I don’t want to talk about a third term now. We have a long time. We have almost four years to go.’