A scholar believes a nearly 2,000-year-old account of Jesus may be more historically reliable than previously thought, challenging longstanding doubts about one of the earliest non-Christian accounts of his life.

T.C. Schmidt, an associate professor of religious studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut, is the author of a 2025 book titled "Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ," examining a long-disputed passage about Jesus written by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus.

Josephus lived from roughly 37 to 100 A.D. and wrote about Jesus in his work "Antiquities of the Jews," providing one of the few surviving non-Christian accounts of his life.

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In the passage, Josephus described Jesus as a wise man who attracted followers and was sentenced to crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. The text also referred to reports that Jesus appeared alive again after his death.

For centuries, scholars have debated whether Christian scribes altered the passage, which contains statements about Jesus that some historians believe would have been unusual for a non-Christian Jewish writer.

But Schmidt told Fox News Digital that his research suggests the passage is authentic, citing linguistic analysis and comparisons with Josephus' other writings.

Schmidt examined ancient versions of Josephus' account in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Armenian, using textual comparisons and computer-assisted stylistic analysis to argue that the disputed passage was consistent with Josephus' writing style.

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His analysis, Schmidt said, found similarities throughout the passage.

"I show that every single phrase in the passage can be indexed back to Josephus. It all sounds like something Josephus would say," Schmidt told Fox News Digital.

Schmidt also argued that some of Josephus' descriptions of Jesus have been misinterpreted, making the passage appear more favorable to Christianity than Schmidt believes Josephus intended.

For example, he said Josephus' description of Jesus performing supernatural deeds does not necessarily mean the historian believed those powers came from God.

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Instead, the language is more ambiguous, leaving open whether those powers were believed to come from divine or demonic sources.

"This actually sounds like something a non-Christian Jew would have said," Schmidt said. "We have other accounts of later Jews saying similar things about Jesus."

"So you add it all together and the style of the passage matches Josephus and the claims of the message match what Josephus would have said as a non-Christian Jew," he added. "In other words, the passage looks totally authentic."

Schmidt said his findings could strengthen the historical evidence surrounding Jesus' life.

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"What this passage does is that it solidifies Jesus in history," Schmidt said.

He said Josephus' account corroborates details found in the Gospels, including Jesus' disciples, his reputation for performing miracles and his crucifixion under Pontius Pilate.

Schmidt also emphasized the passage's reference to Jesus' resurrection, arguing that it provides historical evidence of what his earliest followers believed.

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"Josephus doesn't himself affirm the resurrection, but he does affirm that early Christians, the disciples of Jesus, believed that Jesus was resurrected on the third day," Schmidt said.

When asked about his book's reception, Schmidt said his book has received positive feedback, with some reconsidering their views on the passage's authenticity.

The authenticity of Josephus' account still remains a subject of scholarly debate, with historians continuing to disagree over how much of the passage may have been altered by later Christian scribes.

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Looking ahead, Schmidt said he has identified two or three additional possible connections between Josephus and people associated with Jesus' crucifixion since the book was published — a subject of future research.

Schmidt also encouraged readers to examine historical sources for themselves, noting that his own research led him to question what he had previously been taught.

"I was taught my whole scholarly life that this paragraph by Josephus was not authentic. And I believed that," Schmidt said.

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"But as I began sifting the evidence, everything kept pointing to the idea that it's authentic."

Major U.S. and international airline groups are pushing back against a new Ebola-related travel requirement that will affect millions of people flying into the United States.

Beginning Nov. 3, all passengers on international flights to the U.S. will have to confirm that they have not been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the previous 21 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The requirement applies to everyone flying into or connecting through the U.S. — including American citizens, green card holders and airline crew members, the CDC said.

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Travelers will have to complete a paper or digital statement before boarding, even if they have never visited the DRC. 

Airlines must collect the forms and keep them for at least 42 days after the flight arrives in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Airlines for America (A4A), which represents major carriers including American, Delta, Southwest, United and JetBlue, is asking the CDC to reconsider the requirement and give airlines more time to prepare, according to an Oct. 26 letter provided to Fox News Digital.

The group said it supports the CDC's public health goals but argued that the new requirement is too broad and is being introduced too quickly.

A4A asked the government for a "more proportionate and measured U.S. response" focused more closely on affected areas and travelers who have recently been there.

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The group also asked for the Nov. 3 start date to be delayed.

"Changes to check-in systems, digital signatures, station procedures and training cannot readily be completed in the allotted time," A4A wrote.

Dr. Tyler Evans, a California-based infectious disease physician and CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, told Fox News Digital, "This was a step in the right direction, given the fact that we really do have to take this seriously. We have to ensure that this does not cross borders."

He added, "This is the second-largest outbreak of Ebola in history. So this is very serious."

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents more than 370 airlines around the world, has also asked the CDC to reconsider the requirement, Reuters reported.

"It is unreasonable for the U.S. government to require all airlines serving the U.S. market to modify their procedures to accommodate the collection of attestations from each individual (passenger and crew) flying to the United States in less than two weeks," IATA wrote in a letter, according to Reuters.

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A4A is also asking the CDC to exempt airline crew members, arguing that existing aviation documents already contain information about crews and their travel.

The group has requested an exemption for U.S. military passenger charters as well, saying the military already tracks service members' health, safety and whereabouts.

The CDC said the requirement is intended to reduce the risk of Ebola entering the United States through air travel. 

The 21-day period reflects the maximum amount of time it can take for symptoms to appear after exposure.

Anyone who has been in the DRC during that period, including travelers who only passed through an airport there, will not be allowed to board a U.S.-bound flight unless they have a government exemption, the CDC said.

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"Some of the initial symptoms would just be flu-like symptoms. You'll have a high-grade fever, you'll feel sort of fatigued," the doctor said.

"[For] people that ... are asymptomatic, being able to screen is a very effective modality to reduce, to prevent or mitigate further transmission," Evans said.

Evans worked on the Ebola response twice in the past, both in West Africa and in the DRC, the two largest outbreaks in history.

"The reality is Ebola is one of the most infectious and has one of the highest case fatality rates of infectious diseases," Evans said.

But Americans often don't view Ebola as being relevant to them, he said. "When it comes to infectious diseases ... microbes don't sort of respect boundaries."

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Travelers who knowingly provide false information could face prosecution and fines, according to the CDC.

Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC and IATA for further information and comment.

Angry port workers in Barcelona, Spain set a barricade ablaze Wednesday, blocking access to a cruise terminal and forcing passengers to haul their luggage on foot, according to local reports.

The protest took place near Barcelona's cruise terminals, where workers blocked an access road leading to the Porta d'Europa bridge, Spanish news outlet Crónica Global reported.

The workers were protesting potential pay cuts, with the road closures forcing cruise passengers to walk with their luggage instead of traveling by bus or car, the same outlet reported.

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Roughly 200 workers took part in the protest, which lasted about four hours, Spanish outlet Metrópoli said. 

There was a burning barricade made of branches. Riot police were reportedly deployed to the area, according to Crónica Global.

Four cruise ships carrying a combined total of more than 13,000 passengers were in port during the disruption, according to Cruise Hive.

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The vessels reportedly included Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas, Mein Schiff 7 and AIDAmar, which were visiting Barcelona.

Norwegian Escape was also in port preparing to embark passengers for a new voyage, Cruise Hive reported.

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Spanish outlets reported that the protest followed a government audit that found discrepancies between approved salary budgets and the amounts workers were actually paid.

Workers fear the findings could lead to pay cuts of up to 8%, according to local news outlet betevé.

Employees have argued they should not be penalized for the discrepancies.

"The solution is not to cut salaries," the workers' committee said in a statement Wednesday, translated from Spanish, according to maritime news outlet Diario del Puerto.

In a statement, the Port of Barcelona said it was required to correct the payroll discrepancies identified in the government audit but maintained that the issue was not the result of wrongdoing by the port, according to local broadcaster betevé.

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Barcelona is one of Europe's busiest cruise destinations, with the port recording nearly 4 million cruise passenger movements in 2025, according to the Port of Barcelona.

The disruption comes as Barcelona continues to grapple with broader tensions surrounding tourism.

Earlier in October, Fox News Digital reported growing tensions over tourism in Barcelona, where protests have raised concerns about the impact on visitors to the popular Spanish destination.

Earlier this summer, Barcelona officials pushed to increase taxes on cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours to as much as $35, as part of broader efforts to curb overtourism.

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The U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Spain and Andorra issued a demonstration alert for Spain (not related to the port protests) on Oct.28.

"Demonstrations and protests continue to occur in Spain.  While some demonstrations have been announced, including on October 31, other protests are spontaneous. Last minute changes can happen and may occur outside planned routes," the alert said.

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"Local authorities may increase security measures, including road closures, traffic restrictions, or increased security presence in areas where the demonstrations will occur.  U.S. citizens should avoid demonstrations and areas of unrest. 

"Stay away from areas with large crowds or significant police activity," it added. "Even peaceful protests can turn confrontational and escalate into violence."

Two college students who went hiking in Colorado were found dead after they were not seen or heard from for several days.

Deputies discovered the bodies of Kaden Matsuda, 19, and Jackson Donlon, 20, in a mountain basin on West Apostle Mountain, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

Matsuda, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Donlon, of Queensbury, New York, were both students at Colorado Mountain College Leadville campus. Deputies say they left campus for a hike near Ice Mountain Friday, Oct. 23.

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Their bodies were found Wednesday after the young men were reported missing by CMC on Monday.

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The sheriff's office said their bodies were found near one another, and "foul play is not suspected."

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Investigators shared detailed updates on social media about the mission in which 60 search and rescue volunteers deployed from six different counties and had to brave treacherous trails and deteriorating weather conditions to try and find the men.

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Deputies were able to come up with a possible timeline for the students' doomed hike.

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Timeline

• Friday, Oct. 23: The pair departs campus for Chaffee County during rainy weather.
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Their planned return day if conditions were poor. A heavy snowstorm hit between 1-2 p.m., causing severe local road hazards.
• Sunday, Oct. 25: Their planned return day if they pushed to the summit.
• Monday, Oct. 26: CMC staff officially reported them missing. Deputies located Matsuda’s vehicle at a trailhead near Winfield, Colorado.
• Tuesday, Oct. 27: Aerial crews spotted their collapsed tent near Lake Ann.
• Wednesday, Oct. 28: Kaden Matsuda and Jackson Donlon were found dead.

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In a statement, Sheriff Andy Rohrich said in part, "Our heart aches for Kaden and Jackson’s family and friends. We are very proud of our team’s efforts to find them before this weekend’s coming storm. Although this is a gut punch, our prayers were answered that we would find Kaden and Jackson, allowing some closure for the family."

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Their remains were sent to the Chaffee County Coroner’s Office for autopsies.

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The investigation into their deaths continues.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Colorado Mountain College for comment on the tragedy.

The era of the standard $99 airline credit card may be fading as American Airlines becomes the latest major carrier to adjust its price tag.

Beginning Jan. 24, 2027, the annual fee for both the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard and the Citi/AAdvantage Business MasterCard will jump from $99 to $150, according to a company press release.

The adjustment marks the first price hike for the popular Platinum Select consumer card since 2018, signaling a shift in the travel rewards landscape.

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To soften the blow of a nearly 52% fee increase, American Airlines, Citi and MasterCard are adding several new travel and lifestyle perks.

Whether those additions make up for the $51 increase will depend largely on how travelers use the card, Nick Ewen, editor-in-chief of The Points Guy, told Fox News Digital. 

"You have to look at the real dollar value based on your own travel habits," said Ewen, who is based in Florida. 

Cardholders will gain additional ways to earn AAdvantage miles on everyday spending, along with up to $120 toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees every four years, American Airlines confirmed.

Additionally, a new $100 annual statement credit for in-flight purchases will replace the previous 25% food and beverage discount. 

This makes the card significantly more rewarding for travelers, as the credit can be applied toward broad in-flight expenses, including Wi-Fi, which was explicitly excluded under the old discount system.

For someone who regularly spends money aboard American flights or already pays for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, Ewen said the new credits could help offset the higher annual fee.

"If the answer is yes, you're definitely going to come out ahead," he said of travelers who typically spend up to $100 on in-flight purchases each year.

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The changes may not be for everyone, however.

"If you're only flying American once a year, you may not be able to stomach that additional increased annual fee," he said.

The changes also include adjustments to how cardholders can rack up rewards on everyday purchases, according to the press release. 

The personal Platinum Select card will offer three miles per dollar on eligible AAdvantage Hotels and Cars bookings and two miles per dollar on gas and EV charging, select streaming services, and eligible Rides and Rails purchases.

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Existing perks — including preferred boarding, no foreign transaction fees and a free first checked bag on domestic American itineraries for the cardholder and up to four companions — will remain intact.

Ewen said the higher fee follows a broader shift among airline rewards cards. 

"American is far from the first airline that we've seen this increase in their annual fees," he said, pointing to similar changes from Delta, Southwest and United.

Entry-level airline cards that once hovered around $100 annually are increasingly moving closer to $150, Ewen said.

"This is definitely the norm, although it's not universal across the board," he added.

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The move by American Airlines aligns with a broader trend sweeping the credit card sector.

Over the past few years, the travel rewards market has seen steady fee inflation as issuers pack mid-tier and premium cards with statement credits and subscription services.

Financial institutions are betting consumers will accept higher upfront costs in exchange for tangible, use-it-or-lose-it perks, transforming traditional flight-focused credit cards into broader lifestyle products, according to reports. 

The changes drew mixed reactions from cardholders online.

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"Call me crazy, but none of this is an upgrade," one Reddit user commented.

Another questioned the value of the new in-flight credit. 

"These inflight credit[s] [are] annoying," the person wrote. "They don't even stock them except for longer flights."

Others were more receptive to the new benefits, with one commenter pointing to the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit as a reason the higher fee could be worthwhile.

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"This has become more of a respectable airline card in my opinion now with this refresh," one user wrote.

A hidden problem is surfacing regarding certain pilots' behavior.

More than three in four pilots reported having at least one "microsleep" while operating an aircraft in recent weeks, according to a report by aviation consultancy Baines Simmons based on responses from 7,200 pilots across 32 European countries.

The findings were published by the European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents over 44,000 pilots across Europe, according to a press release.

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The concerns extend beyond brief episodes of sleep in the cockpit. Nearly 39% of pilots said they usually or always did not get enough rest to keep fatigue from building up, according to the report.

The findings also raised questions about whether pilots feel comfortable reporting when they are too tired to fly.

Only 37.2% said they typically report when they are too fatigued to fly, while 24.2% said they do not report it and fly anyway, according to the findings. 

"When pilots fear career consequences, fatigue goes unreported, and the risk returns to the cockpit," Capt. Coen George, an ECA board director, said in the press release.

He warned that the reluctance to speak up could leave airlines unaware of how widespread fatigue is among their crews.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented stricter pilot rest and duty requirements in 2012 to address fatigue and improve safety, the agency said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Under the rules, pilots must receive at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before a flight duty period, including an opportunity for eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. Pilots who feel fatigued or unfit to fly must report it and be removed from duty by the airline, according to the FAA.

Pilot fatigue can be particularly challenging when crews work overnight or travel across multiple time zones.

Matthew "Whiz" Buckley, a former U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot who later flew for American Airlines and FedEx, previously told Fox News Digital that having scheduled time off does not necessarily mean a pilot gets enough sleep.

"It's just unnatural to sleep during off-hours," Buckley said.

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Pilots may arrive at a hotel early in the morning and then have to sleep during the day, while long-haul flights can further disrupt normal sleep patterns, Buckley said.

"Where it really takes a toll on the body for pilots is east-west," he said. "When you're crossing multiple time zones, [that's] when your body can really get messed up."

Buckley also emphasized that pilots ultimately have to assess whether they're rested enough to safely operate an aircraft.

"At the end of the day ... you know who determines if a pilot is fit to fly? You," Buckley said.

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Having nearly "77% of respondents [in the new survey] say that they reported micro-sleeping or dozing off while at work is definitely an alarming number, and the industry does need to take note of this," Bobby Laurie, a Pennsylvania-based travel expert and former flight attendant, told Fox News Digital. 

"But it's not necessarily a warning sign that the flight that you've been on had a pilot or both pilots asleep."

He said that while there are things the industry can do to "rectify this problem," travelers, too, should take note of a few things. 

"If you find yourself at the airport, and the departure board is saying you're delayed due to crew rest … you need to realize that the delay is posted for safety reasons. You might not have gotten to your destination in one piece if those crew members did not get the rest they needed," he said. 

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Fox News Digital previously reported that rest requirements for flight attendants have faced scrutiny in the U.S.

The FAA recently proposed a nationwide rule that would prevent state and local governments from setting separate meal and rest-break requirements for flight attendants and pilots.

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Major flight attendant unions opposed the proposal, arguing that some crew members already work for hours without enough opportunities to eat, drink or use the restroom.

Fox News Digital reached out to Baines Simmons and Flight Safety Foundation for comment.