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A young couple in Indonesia was publicly caned Thursday after allegedly kissing during a TikTok livestream.

The couple — a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman — each received 21 lashes, according to The Associated Press.

They were reportedly convicted of violating local morality laws under an Islamic Sharia court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province. 

The pair, who were detained in March, had already spent four months in prison prior to the punishment, which ultimately reduced their sentence from 25 lashes to 21, the AP said. 

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According to local authorities, the couple filmed a TikTok video inside a car one night in March.

As the video went viral, they were subsequently apprehended for what officials described as an "immoral act." 

"Their actions were uncovered thanks to reports from residents who were disturbed by their immoral livestream content," Sharia police said in April. 

"The trigger was their livestream on TikTok while engaging in immoral acts in the car," Head of the Sharia Police Muhammad Rizal added in his statement. "This sparked criticism from netizens and local residents, who then reported them to the authorities."

THREE HIKERS KILLED AFTER CLIMBING RESTRICTED INDONESIAN VOLCANO TO CREATE ONLINE CONTENT, POLICE SAY

The court also confiscated a cellphone and a USB flash drive containing the TikTok video, which authorities promised to destroy, according to the AP.

A Banda Aceh resident who attended the caning, 22-year-old Aini Nadhirah, said she believed the punishment was "entirely justified."

"In my opinion, this caning is entirely justified because it serves as a warning to other Aceh residents to be more careful when using social media," Nadhirah said, according to the AP.

"It also raises awareness that such actions are unacceptable, thereby educating the public."

STUNNING PHOTOS CAPTURE MOMENT ONE OF INDONESIA'S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANOES ERUPTS

Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces its own Islamic Criminal Code governing moral conduct. 

The province’s right to implement Islamic law was granted by Indonesia’s secular central government around 2005 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist insurgency. The policy was later expanded to apply to non-Muslims. 

Under the law, moral offenses — including adultery and same-sex relations — can carry penalties of up to 100 lashes. Caning is also used for individuals accused of gambling, drinking, adultery and premarital intimacy. 

Public caning in Aceh has long drawn criticism from human rights groups, including Amnesty International Indonesia, which has called the practice cruel and degrading.

Despite Indonesia having ratified international conventions prohibiting cruel punishment, authorities in Aceh defend the practice, arguing it does not fall under such a definition. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, while the Kurdish opposition group told Fox News Digital that six of its Peshmerga — a term commonly used for Kurdish fighters — were killed in what it described as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ambush in northwest Iran.

The clash marks another escalation in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west after days of reported attacks and clashes involving Iranian security forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kurdish armed factions. 

It also underscores the current position of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that recently were viewed by U.S. and Israeli officials as a possible pressure point against Tehran during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran but ultimately stayed out of the conflict amid mixed signals from Washington and pressure from both Iran and Turkey.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN'S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

Majeed Gly, president of the American Kurdish Committee, told Fox News Digital the latest clashes should not be read as a full-scale uprising, but also should not be dismissed as routine border violence.

"What I’m hearing is, this is not business as usual," Gly said. "This is not like periodic clashes on the border. This is operations, and it seems to be deep inside."

Gly said Kurdish frustration has grown sharply after months of Iranian attacks on Kurdish areas and opposition-linked sites, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He said the region has been hit by more than 850 attacks since February, leaving at least six civilians dead and dozens more wounded.

Hejar Berenji, the U.S. representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or PDKI, confirmed to Fox News Digital that six PDKI Peshmerga were killed in a clash with IRGC forces in the Piranshahr area of Iranian Kurdistan.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had killed five members of the banned PDKI in northwest Iran, Reuters reported Thursday, citing state media. The IRGC said the group was ambushed after entering Iranian territory in mountainous border areas near Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan Province.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN'S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

Berenji identified the six Peshmerga as Karo Hormuziari, Fardin Changizi, Mohammad Khaki, Abdullah Mohammadpour, Twana Osmani and Mohammad Amin Bayezidi. He said the incident took place Wednesday night in the village of Qizqapan, near Piranshahr, and said the PDKI unit was on a "political and organizational mission" when it was "ambushed by a large and heavily equipped IRGC force."

"This should be understood in the broader context of the Islamic Republic’s continued repression in Iranian Kurdistan and its repeated attacks on Iranian Kurdish civilian camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, even during ceasefire and negotiation periods," Berenji said. "The regime has increased pressure on Kurdish communities because it understands that Iranian Kurds remain among the most organized and determined democratic forces inside Iran."

The PDKI is one of Iran’s oldest Kurdish opposition movements. The group has been involved in decades of intermittent conflict with the Islamic Republic, while Tehran has long viewed Kurdish armed groups as separatist threats, while others describe it as a historic, centrist and nationalist Iranian Kurdish opposition group that Iran has targeted for years, including through assassinations of its leaders decades ago.

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the Middle East with communities spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. In Iran, many Kurds live in the country’s mountainous west and northwest, where Kurdish opposition groups have long accused Tehran of repression, executions, forced assimilation and military crackdowns. Iranian authorities view armed Kurdish factions as separatist or "terrorist threats."

The latest clash followed several days of violence in western Iran. A similar incident near Piranshahr was reported by Iranian state media Tuesday, with the IRGC saying it had killed six members of what it called an "opposition and separatist group." 

Two IRGC members were killed and two wounded in a shooting in Kermanshah Province Monday evening, an attack claimed by a newly formed Kurdish armed group seeking retaliation for the IRGC’s role in suppressing the 2022–2023 protest movement, according to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw.

Iran also appeared to be expanding pressure on Kurdish opposition groups beyond PJAK, the Kurdistan Free Life Party, after days of clashes between PJAK and the IRGC, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. 

Berenji said the latest clash was not a response to ongoing U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding negotiations, which remain unresolved as talks continue without a finalized agreement.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN'S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

"The Kurdish struggle for freedom, democracy and national rights predates the current negotiations and is not dependent on them," Berenji said. "At the same time, any agreement that ignores the Kurdish question, the regime’s attacks on Kurdish civilians and the repression inside Iran will not bring real stability."

Gly said Kurdish anger has been compounded by language in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding that critics interpret as Washington agreeing not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.

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"This sentence has taken every Iranian opposition group the wrong way, especially the Kurds," Gly said. 

He argued that even during negotiations with hostile powers, the United States should not abandon its public support for freedom movements, invoking former President Ronald Reagan’s approach to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Gly said he does not see clear evidence that Kurdish groups have gained major new military capabilities but said the perception of Iran’s strength has changed.

"What has changed is the perception of weakness of Iran," Gly told Fox News Digital. "They are less afraid of the regime."

The new violence carries broader significance for Washington because Iranian Kurdish opposition groups were recently discussed as a possible ground pressure point against Tehran. 

U.S. officials and Kurdish groups had discussed a potential military operation against Iranian security forces in western Iran, Reuters reported in March, while a separate report said Israel was backing Iranian Kurdish plans to seize Iranian border areas, though such an operation would likely require U.S. and Israeli support.

But those expectations quickly faltered. In April, Kurdish fighters ultimately stayed out of the war because of mixed signals from Washington and Israel and Iranian threats and strikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged President Donald Trump during the conflict to prevent Kurdish forces from launching a ground operation inside Iran, reflecting Ankara’s longstanding opposition to Kurdish armed movements gaining ground in the region, Reuters also reported. 

During the conflict, Trump told Reuters he would be "all for it" if the Kurds wanted to move against Iran and said their objective should be "to win," but Kurdish commanders were frustrated by the lack of a clear U.S. or Israeli strategy.

Berenji said the PDKI does not seek chaos, but insisted Kurdish forces have the right to defend themselves.

"We seek a democratic, pluralistic, secular and federal Iran where all nations and communities can live with dignity and rights," he said. "But the Kurdish people also have the right to defend themselves against repression, intimidation, and attacks by the IRGC."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Iran’s mission to the United Nations for comment.

An 11-year-old boy died of a rabies infection in Ontario, Canada, according to a medical journal article published Monday.

Canadian Medical Association Journal did not identify the boy or his family, but wrote that he was first brought to a hospital weeks after an encounter with a bat.

"The patient’s family reported that, during a visit to a cottage in northern Ontario 19 days before symptom onset, the boy had been awoken by a bat on his nose and mouth. He had swatted the bat off his face; his father had caught the bat in a cooking pot and released it outside," CMAJ wrote.

MEASLES-INFECTED TRAVELER MAY HAVE EXPOSED PASSENGERS AT LAX AND NEARBY HOTEL, HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN

"The child had no visible lesions on his face, and his parents did not consider that the bat had behaved erratically. Therefore, they did not seek medical assessment," the journal noted.

The boy was ultimately admitted to the hospital 20 days after the encounter with the bat, when his parents brought him to an emergency room. He was first sent home but then brought back the following morning and admitted to the hospital.

Doctors noted that the boy's condition "rapidly worsened" by the evening, but he spent more than two weeks in the hospital before passing away.

MEASLES-INFECTED TRAVELER MAY HAVE EXPOSED PASSENGERS AT LAX AND NEARBY HOTEL, HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN

"By day 5 of admission, his brainstem reflexes were absent. Life-sustaining therapies were withdrawn on day 17 of admission, and he died peacefully with his family at his bedside," the journal article said.

Doctors who authored the article warned that any direct human contact with a bat, even in the absence of a visible bite or scratch, should be discussed with public health authorities.

Rabies is virtually always fatal in humans if not treated quickly with postexposure prophylaxis, or PEP. The treatment is nearly always successful if administered promptly after exposure.

A 43-year-old security guard in Venezuela was pulled alive from the ruins of a shopping center Thursday after being trapped beneath the rubble for eight days following twin earthquakes that killed more than 2,200 people.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was rescued from the collapsed basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal state of La Guaira, where he had been trapped since the powerful earthquakes struck June 24.

"When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn't make it," Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told The Associated Press.

Rescuers first made contact with Gil Flores over the weekend after detecting signs of life beneath the debris.

BOY, 2, PULLED ALIVE FROM RUBBLE SIX DAYS AFTER VENEZUELA'S DEVASTATING TWIN EARTHQUAKES

Gil Flores was working an overnight shift when the first earthquake struck. While much of the building collapsed around him, his small security booth stayed intact, protecting him from the falling concrete and leaving enough space for him to survive.

Rescue crews worked through aftershocks, torrential rain and unstable rubble to reach him. They used a telescopic camera to communicate with Gil Flores and lowered water and liquid nutrients through a narrow shaft to keep him alive during the final days of the rescue.

His wife, Gusbimar González, said the family's despair turned to hope after rescuers reached her husband.

"When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness," she told the AP. The couple has two children, ages 8 and 10.

Video from the scene showed rescuers carrying Gil Flores on a stretcher covered with an orange tarp through cheering crowds before loading him into a Red Cross ambulance. Members of the Costa Rican Red Cross hugged one another after the rescue.

The operation was led by Chilean firefighters and included search-and-rescue teams from Costa Rica, the United States, Portugal, Mexico and other countries.

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The shopping center collapsed after twin earthquakes measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela on June 24, destroying tens of thousands of buildings, killing more than 2,200 people and injuring more than 11,000 others.

Gil Flores' rescue offered a rare moment of hope after days of devastation.

On Tuesday, emergency workers rescued a 2-year-old boy who had been trapped beneath the rubble for six days.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department shared video showing American search-and-rescue teams pulling a 9-month-old girl alive from a collapsed structure. The infant was rescued along with her mother, the State Department told Fox News Digital. Both suffered only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.

The U.S. government has mobilized $150 million in humanitarian aid to help Venezuela respond to the disaster.

Fox News Digital's Michael Sinkewicz and Peter D'Abrosca, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

Russia launched one of its heaviest overnight attacks on Kyiv, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the Ukrainian capital in a strike that tore through residential buildings, killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 90, according to Reuters.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, speaking from Ukraine exclusively with Fox News Digital, said the assault marked "the most horrific night for Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion."

"Early this morning, I spoke with my mother-in-law, who is in Kyiv. She told me she had never been so terrified. It felt as if the biblical Apocalypse were unfolding before her very eyes. Everyone was praying."

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The explosions shook central Kyiv for hours as thousands of residents rushed into bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far in 2026 and was the deadliest strike on the capital since at least May, when 24 people were killed in an attack that brought down an apartment block. 

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight, according to Reuters. 

Yuri Ihnat, the Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and that the interception rate for them was low, as Ukraine continues to face shortages of Patriot missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who cut short a visit to Ireland and returned to Ukraine, said damage had been reported at more than 20 sites across the capital.

"The main strike was directed at Kyiv," Zelenskyy said. "Air defence supplies for Ukraine are an absolute and critical priority."

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning and said damage had been recorded across the city of roughly 3 million people.

Melnyk told Fox News Digital the attack should force the international community to confront Russia’s status inside the U.N. Security Council.

"And yet, this barbaric Russia continues to be treated at the U.N. as a normal member state," he said. "It is time to end this parallel reality. Russia’s status as a permanent member of the Security Council should finally be called into question. Russia should be treated for what it has become: a pariah state."

Emergency crews searched through the rubble of a nine-story building on the left bank of the Dnipro River as fires continued to burn after sunrise. City officials said some people remained trapped inside damaged residential buildings.

East2West footage showed the overnight barrage from inside Kyiv, including a baby sleeping as explosions flashed outside an open window and smoke from an earlier strike rose nearby. Other footage showed residents sheltering near a metro station as strikes hit the capital, as well as heavy damage across Kyiv, including residential buildings torn apart and thick smoke hanging over parts of the city.

More than 20 sites were damaged, including residential buildings, diplomatic accommodation and the National Institute of Biochemistry, where a state-of-the-art laboratory and offices were gutted.

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Katarina Mathernova, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia "unleashed hell on Kyiv" overnight and struck accommodation used by diplomatic personnel. Diplomats were not injured, but their belongings were damaged in a fire that engulfed the building, she said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that its "massive attack" used long-range, high-precision weapons and drones to strike military and energy facilities, as well as airports in Kyiv and other locations. Moscow said the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia. 

Ukraine said it hit an oil refinery overnight in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, where the regional governor reported one person killed in a strike on an industrial facility.

The Kremlin said Russian military commanders briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the attacks and said Moscow would continue increasing pressure on Ukraine to achieve its war aims.

Poland, a NATO and European Union member that borders Ukraine, briefly scrambled fighter jets as a preventive measure. Finland also briefly issued a temporary aviation restriction zone in the eastern Gulf of Finland, its defense forces said.

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu told Fox News Digital that Russian drones were detected in Ukraine roughly 30 kilometers from Romania’s border Wednesday, prompting NATO air-policing aircraft to respond.

"Two Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft deployed under the Enhanced Air Policing mission and operating from the 86th Air Base in Fetești in Romania, were scrambled to monitor the Romanian airspace situation near the border with Ukraine," Țoiu said. "A Romanian Air Force IAR 330 Puma helicopter was also deployed. Such incidents have constantly accompanied Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that she would propose new sanctions on entities supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex in response to the strikes.

"The more Moscow attacks civilians, the more sanctions must be imposed," Kallas said in a post on X.

Russia has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians in strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians but says attacks on what it calls civil infrastructure are legitimate because they affect Ukraine’s ability to wage war.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A top United Nations official is once again under fire for smearing Israel by sharing a social media message originally posted by a woman facing charges of incitement to terror and expressing support of Hamas.

On June 18, U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Vanessa Frazier reposted an image of three small objects which the original poster, Sarah Wilkinson, claimed were cluster munitions "disguised as children’s toys" that Israelis had been "strategically dropping" over Lebanon. In her own post, Frazier stated, "If this is true it means that there is a deliberate, premeditated intent to kill children."

Frazier, who has over 10,000 followers on X, has since deleted the post, but a screenshot of the original was provided to Fox News Digital.

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In response to questions about whether United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stood behind Frazier's repost of Wilkinson's remarks, Guterres' spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital that "the retweet was deleted a while ago and, as you know, [the] retweet in no way implies an endorsement of the person who posted the original tweet."

Andrew Fox, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that "it is farcical that a U.N. official should be so gullible." 

Fox, a former British army officer who has studied and written about Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tactics, said it was "deeply telling that a U.N. official should leap to share the ancient, antisemitic blood libel that Jews kill children. This is the toxic atmosphere that nearly three years of lies have created around Israel. Any allegation against the Jewish state, no matter how outlandish, is immediately given credence. This is another nail in the coffin of the U.N. special representative’s credibility and reputation."

An IDF spokesman told Fox News Digital that the "allegation is baseless and unfounded. It is fake news, and we categorically reject it."

The original poster of the cluster munitions accusation was arrested in the United Kingdom on terror charges in 2024, according to the World Socialist Web Site. The site, as well as Al Mayadeen English — Hezbollah’s media arm — link Wilkinson to the social media profile on X that shared the post Frazier elevated.

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The BBC reported last week that Wilkinson will face trial in January on "two counts of encouragement of terrorism on social media, two counts of expressing an opinion or belief that was supportive of a proscribed organization, namely Hamas; and one of failing to comply with a police investigation."

Though Wilkinson discussed her arrests and subsequent charges on her X account, she did not respond to Fox News Digital’s messages asking for comment about the charges she currently faces.

In response to questions about her removal of the X post and concerns about its original source, Frazier said that "regarding specific tweets, I understand why some of my social media activities have generated questions. Where concerns arose regarding posts, I took appropriate action. Nonetheless, the intended message is to emphasize the alarm of the Secretary-General in his Annual Report regarding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Lebanon, a matter that raises serious humanitarian concerns due to their long-lasting impact on civilians."

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Frazier said, "Ultimately, my mandate is not carried out through social media. It is carried out through the United Nations’ established monitoring and verification methodology, which applies the same standards to all parties to conflict."

In March, JNS reported that Frazier posted that she was "deeply alarmed by reports of attacks on Iranian schools leaving a large number of casualties, mostly children." A photograph accompanying the post showed numerous black body bags. When it became clear that the photo depicted victims of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protesters, Frazier removed the post. She then created a new post with a similar sentiment featuring an updated picture.

On June 24, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council president raising Israel’s "grave concerns regarding conduct that appears inconsistent with the neutrality, professionalism, and impartiality expected of a senior United Nations official."

In his letter, a copy of which was provided to Fox News Digital, Danon said Frazier’s social media behavior suggests "a troubling pattern of engagement with unverified, disputed, or misleading material, alongside content raising concerns about antisemitic framing and extremist rhetoric."

Danon also raised concerns about Frazier’s "abrupt interruption of [his] remarks during a United Nations side event," which he said was "in disregard of basic procedural norms and the respect owed to Member States."

Reuters called this exchange between Danon and Frazier "a furious shouting match."

Frazier told Fox News Digital that her "intervention was procedural, not political. Its purpose was to help ensure that the discussion remained consistent with the standards expected in a United Nations forum," where discussions "are expected to be conducted in accordance with established procedures and with respect for the dignity of participants and officials."

The June 17 release of the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict has also raised concerns.

Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told Fox News Digital that the allegations in the report were "wild, dangerous blood libels divorced from reality."

Bayefsky blasted the U.N.’s use of the term "verified" when describing allegations, despite a lack of description of how and through what sources those supposed verifications occurred.

She said, "It is important to recognize the direct connection between the ancient antisemitic blood libels accusing evil Jews of murdering non-Jewish children and the U.N. actors who repeat the same ugly falsehoods today. History teaches us just how dangerous these depraved lies are for Jews wherever they live."

Frazier defended the report, saying it was "the product of a rigorous United Nations (U.N.) monitoring and verification process and reflects information reviewed at multiple levels of the U.N. system." She said that "suggesting that the report is based on falsehoods does a disservice to all child victims, including Israeli children whose suffering is also documented in the report."

Frazier also maintained she has "no bias against the State of Israel or against any Member States of the United Nations, and reject[s] the characterization," saying that "as a U.N. official, accuracy, impartiality, and credibility are fundamental to my work."

When asked by Fox News Digital if Guterres would examine Frazier’s tenure, Dujarric responded that "the Secretary-General has full confidence in Vanessa Frazier and her work."

He defended Frazier, saying she "has not ‘vilified’ and is not ‘vilifying’ the State of Israel, or any other country for that matter. Her focus is not on any one single country but on the protection of children throughout the world. Under the mandate the Security Council has given her, she does not ‘blacklist’ Member States or other parties. The report exists to find ways to get all of the parties listed to improve their behavior, so that children can be protected in concrete ways. She has been effective in doing just that." 

Danon said that "it comes as no surprise that Secretary-General Guterres expresses full confidence in Ms. Frazier." He said Frazier’s report "is a symptom of [Guterres’] tenure. Under his leadership, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to uphold the standards of impartiality it claims to represent."

TEL AVIV: As Israel marks 1,000 days since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, children — many still coping with the psychological effects of the war — are beginning their summer vacation, with some navigating the uncertainties of traveling abroad amid rising antisemitism and others grappling at home with the anxieties of living in a society shaped by nearly three years of war on multiple fronts.

Lilach, 47, of Kibbutz Eilon, jut over a mile and a half from Israel's border with Lebanon in the Western Galilee, told Fox News Digital she hopes her children — Yuval, Amit, and Yoni — will finally be able to enjoy a normal summer.

During the war, there was always concern about leaving home. The kids were barely in school and spent most of their time indoors in front of screens," she said.

"I hope they can now spend time with their friends and enjoy activities together. Tomorrow, Yoni is going to an amusement park. I just want them to have fun, be with their friends and enjoy being kids again," she added.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, Lilach said, her children have had only one uninterrupted year of school.

"It was hard. They would start school, attend for a month or two, then classes would stop because of the war with Iran or fighting with Lebanon, and then resume. It was difficult to get back into a routine each time. It felt like starting a new school year over and over again," she said.

Despite the repeated disruptions, Lilach said her daughter Amit graduated from high school thanks to her determination and private tutoring. Yoni, however, who has attention deficit disorder, struggled with spending weeks at home during the fighting and will move to a smaller classroom next year to receive additional support.

Evacuated with her family a day after the Oct. 7 attacks, Anat, 50, of Kibbutz Yiftah in the Upper Galilee, less than two miles from Israel’s border with Lebanon, told Fox News Digital that her children changed schools three times before the family returned home in February 2025. During Israel’s recent war with Iran, they were again out of school for about six weeks.

"Every day, having my 10-year-old log on to Zoom for online classes was a challenge. It was very difficult to maintain a routine and continuity in her learning," Anat said.

With the family hoping to travel abroad this summer, Anat said she has tried to shelter her children from the tidal wave of antisemitism that has emerged globally over the past three years of war.

"We don’t talk at home about people around the world who hate us. We love everyone, and we don’t talk about hate, period. For them, traveling is something wonderful that they can’t wait for," she said. "Despite how difficult it has been, our children are strong. They have grown up quickly because of everything they’ve been through and know how to cope. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves—we’re fighters."

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Nufar Bar Lipshatz, a developmental psychologist in the Northern District of Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest healthcare provider, said many children continue to show signs of trauma.

According to data she cited from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, 25,274 children had been officially recognized as victims of hostile acts between Oct. 7, 2023 and the end of 2025. She also referenced a joint study by the Goshen organization and the Israeli Pediatric Association showing that 84% of Israeli children exhibited signs of emotional distress by late 2023 following the cross-border terror assault from Gaza and Hezbollah’s entry into the war from Lebanon the following day.

"We see many symptoms that are connected but manifest differently in each child, whether it’s a child who can’t speak, wets their pants, or develops [nervous] tics," Bar Lipshatz said. "Trauma is real, and children can’t always express it with words, so they act it out. They reenact running to shelters, their father being deployed, war, aggression and kidnappings during play."

She recalled treating a girl who became unable to ride her bicycle because she constantly looked over her shoulder, checking whether someone was behind her.

While summer vacation may offer temporary relief, Bar Lipshatz warned that long breaks from routine can reinforce anxiety.

"We know from research that children need stability and routine because it helps them feel safe. During school breaks, children may feel safer because they are avoiding situations that trigger stress, but over time they are also avoiding facing their fears," she said. "We need to give parents and children the tools to cope with stress because it will not disappear simply by staying at home."

Bar Lipshatz, who also works with autistic children, said travel itself can be challenging because unfamiliar sounds and crowded environments may trigger traumatic memories.

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"When you go on vacation, you go to places with lots of people and noise. What we think could be fun can actually become a trigger," she said, recalling a trip to Romania where bear-warning sirens in a national park sounded identical to Israel's missile alerts.

She noted that one of her young patients told her she feared traveling abroad because, despite the war, Israel felt more predictable than an unfamiliar country.

In a bid to maintain a sense of routine and help students catch up on lost time, the Israeli Ministry of Education told Fox News Digital that it will continue operating throughout the summer through programs serving approximately 1.12 million students, supported by an investment of about $270 million.

For the first time, middle school students will participate in summer programs focused on artificial intelligence, STEM subjects, mathematics, science, and English. The ministry said the highest participation rates are in northern and southern communities affected by the war.

It also said it will continue providing emotional support through its Psychological Counseling Service, expand psychological services for students in need, and keep its "Voice for All" support hotline operating throughout the summer.

"The education system will continue to support Israeli students during the summer vacation to ensure educational, emotional and social continuity for every student who needs it," the ministry said.

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Children affected by the war are also attending summer camps such as those led by OneFamily, an organization that supports victims of terrorism and war and their families.

More than 400 children — each of whom has lost an immediate family member to terrorism or war, most since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — will take part in OneFamily's annual summer camp from July 8 to July 13 in the Golan Heights, where they will spend time with other children who share similar experiences of grief and loss.

A central focus of the camp is helping children build resilience while learning to cope with their grief. This year, the organization's founding director, Chantal Belzberg, received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Activities include swimming, competitions, sports, but also therapeutic group dialogue circles. On the last night, some campers share stories about their lost loved ones and their own journey to healing, followed by a big concert.

"Children who have lost a parent, both parents or siblings to terrorism or acts of war don't always want to go to therapy. But when you bring them together with other children who have experienced the same loss, it gives them strength and creates a therapeutic environment," Belzberg told Fox News Digital.

"They come to have fun, and through the activities they meet other children who have gone through the same thing. That's when they begin to talk. Traditional support services are not always places where children want to go," she continued.

"We bring them together so they meet children who truly understand them. They realize they are not alone and can build a community where they don't feel isolated. One of the greatest challenges after trauma is isolation," she added.

Pope Leo XIV's first major showdown with a breakaway Catholic movement ended Thursday with the Vatican declaring the Society of St. Pius X in schism and excommunicating bishops who defied the pontiff by ordaining new bishops without his approval.

The Vatican acted one day after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland, despite a personal appeal from Leo urging the group to abandon what the Catholic Church called a "schismatic act."

In a decree released Thursday, the Holy See excommunicated the four newly consecrated bishops as well as the two bishops who took part in the ceremony, declaring the ordinations a schism, or an intentional break from the Catholic Church.

The decision comes after decades of efforts by successive popes to reconcile with the traditionalist movement, which rejects many of the reforms adopted during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, including allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin.

POPE LEO PLEADS WITH BREAKAWAY CATHOLIC GROUP NOT TO COMMIT 'SIN OF EXTREME GRAVITY'

Only the pope has the authority to approve the consecration of Catholic bishops, a practice meant to preserve the Church's unity and its line of succession from the apostles.

The sanctions also reverse concessions the Vatican had granted the SSPX in recent years as it tried to bring the group back into full communion with Rome. According to the decree, the group can no longer validly administer the sacraments of confession and marriage, and the Vatican urged Catholics attending SSPX Masses to separate themselves from the movement.

The action comes just days after Leo made a rare personal appeal to the group's leader, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, urging him to cancel the consecrations.

"I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" the pope wrote in a letter to Pagliarani on Monday, warning the planned ordinations would deepen the decades-old division between Rome and the SSPX.

The dispute is the first major test of Leo's pontificate. Since becoming pope, the American-born pontiff has emphasized healing divisions within the Catholic Church, including reaching out to conservatives and traditionalists who felt alienated during Pope Francis' papacy.

POPE LEO SENDS UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE ON IMMIGRANTS DURING VISIT HONORING AMERICA'S FIRST SAINT

During Wednesday's consecration ceremony, Pagliarani insisted the ordinations were carried out not in opposition to the pope but in service to the Church.

"We are accused of not respecting the pope," Pagliarani said. "But it is precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ, as the head of the church, that we don’t want to see the pope humiliated anymore, on the side of false shepherds representing false religions."

Founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of St. Pius X has long opposed what it considers theological errors introduced by the Second Vatican Council. Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 after consecrating four bishops without the approval of Pope John Paul II in a nearly identical confrontation.

Those excommunications were lifted in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI in an effort to restore dialogue, though the SSPX never returned to full communion with Rome and has remained outside the Church's formal structure.

Despite that status, the society has continued to grow, reporting hundreds of priests, seminarians and religious members serving followers in dozens of countries, making it one of the largest traditionalist Catholic movements operating outside the Vatican's authority.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tehran is preparing for the July 9 burial of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, more than four months after his death, as authorities mobilize the Basij militia and mount a massive security operation ahead of what is expected to be a "historic" turnout.

The lengthy delay to the funeral has raised questions about how Khamenei's remains have been preserved, as Islamic tradition, anaylsts say, generally calls for prompt burial and discourages chemical embalming.

"The mechanism is almost certainly refrigerated cold storage, not embalming, as Islam bars chemical embalming," counterterrorism expert Dr. Mohammed Omar told Fox News Digital.

MOJTABA KHAMENEI USING ‘BIN LADEN TEMPLATE’ TO SURVIVE, LEARNED FROM ABBOTTABAD: ANALYST

"Shia law allows delayed burial and preservation by cold in exceptional cases, and a clerical exemption for a Supreme Leader is easy to get," he added.

"Iran's forensic morgues already hold bodies for months, so four months in freezing is not exotic. That is what 'religious and legal standards' cover," Mohammed said.

Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28 with a targeted U.S. strike that killed Khamenei at his compound in Tehran. He had ruled the Islamic Republic for 36 years.

"There may not be much of a body to present. Khamenei was killed by a bunker-penetration strike, and others killed with him were recovered weeks later and identified by DNA," Mohammed explained.

"A regime holding an intact body does not cancel the farewell, shift the burial site repeatedly, and confirm that he can be buried only days out.

"It reads less like reverence and more like remains they could preserve but not display," he said.

WAVE OF ATTACKS ON IRAN'S IRGC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RENEWED KURDISH INSURGENCY

With that, Iranian authorities are portraying the funeral as both a farewell to the leader and a show of strength under the slogan "We Must Avenge."

According to Iranian state media, Yaqoub Soleimani, deputy for cultural and educational affairs at the Martyrs Foundation and one of the funeral's organizers, said Wednesday the ceremony would be conducted "with full grandeur."

Soleimani said a turnout of 1 million people would make the event "a historical occasion" and "a national epic in the memory of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The schedule starts with public viewings Saturday and Sunday in Tehran. A funeral procession is scheduled for July 6, where local authorities estimate 15 million to 20 million people could attend.

Another procession is planned the following day in Qom, one of Shiite Islam's holiest cities.

"The numbers the regime is putting out — up to 20 million mourners in Tehran, 35 million nationwide, more than 90 countries represented, 14,000 journalists credentialed — are not logistics," Mohammed, of the George Washington Program on Extremism, said.

"They are the message. Tehran is spending everything it has to project continuity and strength because after the war both are in question."

IRAN'S UNPRECEDENTED 'WHOLE-REGIME' DELEGATION AT US DEAL TALKS SIGNALS ONE GOAL: EXPERT

According to Iran International, Tehran is also preparing a massive security operation for the funeral.

"The Basij and the IRGC running this is the story, not a detail," Mohammed said.

"The Basij is coordinating logistics — highways turned into parking, each Tehran district assigned a province, five public holidays declared — and the Guard has crowd control.

"This is a mobilization dressed as a funeral. The same apparatus organizing the grief this week is the apparatus that put down the January protests and denied funerals to the families of the people it killed then. American readers should hold those two facts next to each other," he added.

While senior Iraqi officials will attend the funeral, representation from other major powers will be limited.

Although Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian personally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will instead send a lower-level official delegation.

Reports on June 30 also confirmed that Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili will attend the ceremony.

"No major power is sending its top leader," Mohammed said.

"For a regime that claims to lead a front stretching from Beirut to Sanaa, a regional turnout at its founder-successor's funeral is the isolation showing through the pageantry.

"For Washington, it is a useful readout: the war left Tehran's axis smaller and more regional than the regime advertises," he added.

Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is facing a new legal challenge in the United States after the families of five Venezuelan men filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of overseeing a Venezuelan police unit responsible for extrajudicial killings and torture during his presidency.

The complaint alleges Maduro created Venezuela's Special Action Forces, known as FAES, and exercised command over the unit as it allegedly carried out a campaign of extrajudicial killings between 2017 and 2021. The families are seeking compensatory and punitive damages under the Torture Victim Protection Act.

The lawsuit opens a second legal front for Maduro in the United States, where he is already awaiting trial on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. The complaint says venue is proper in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York because Maduro is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

TRUMP 'SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING' PLAN TO MAKE VENEZUELA AND ITS $40 TRILLION IN OIL PERMANENT PART OF USA

According to the complaint, FAES officers routinely entered homes before dawn wearing black clothing and face coverings, separated young men from their families, forced many to their knees, executed them and then staged crime scenes to make it appear the victims had "resisted authority." Plaintiffs also allege officers looted homes, planted weapons and transported victims to hospitals after they had already died in an effort to conceal the alleged killings.

The lawsuit details five incidents between 2017 and 2021 involving six victims and also accuses FAES officers of torturing three relatives by beating, detaining or forcing them to witness the killings before they were denied justice through Venezuela's judicial system.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs, Maduro's attorney Barry Pollack and Amnesty International did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

STATE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES 'TOTAL COMPLIANCE' FROM VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT IN RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER MADURO ARREST

The lawsuit alleges Maduro established FAES in 2017 as a special tactical unit within Venezuela's National Bolivarian Police and later publicly defended the force despite criticism from the United Nations and other human rights organizations. It cites reports from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the U.S. State Department documenting allegations of widespread human rights abuses by the unit.

The families argue they have been unable to obtain justice in Venezuela because prosecutors either refused to pursue investigations or failed to hold senior officials accountable, leaving them without an effective legal remedy in their home country.

The Torture Victim Protection Act allows civil claims in U.S. courts over alleged torture and extrajudicial killings committed under the authority of a foreign government.

Maduro served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until 2026, according to the complaint. He has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case and has previously described himself as a "prisoner of war."

A U.S. Navy MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier made an emergency water landing in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday, leaving one crew member missing.

The incident happened at about 3:30 a.m. ET, according to the U.S. 5th Fleet.

Three of the helicopter's four crew members were successfully recovered and are currently in stable condition aboard the George H.W. Bush, officials said.

SHIPPING GIANT WARNS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CHAOS IS 'NEW NORMAL' AS TEHRAN SHIFTS 4M BARRELS

U.S. Navy assets in the region are actively conducting search and rescue operations for the remaining crew member, who has not yet been publicly identified.

Military officials said there is no indication the emergency landing was the result of "hostile action."

EIGHT BELIEVED DEAD AFTER B-52 CRASHES SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FROM EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

For the second time in little more than a year, a blast tore through the Moscow suburb of Balashikha, Russia, and left a Russian military figure dead.

On June 9, explosives planted under a BMW detonated as the driver began leaving a parking lot, according to independent Russian outlet The Insider. The outlet identified the man killed as Lt. Gen. Damir Davydov, a Russian Defense Ministry official responsible for supplying missiles and artillery ammunition to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

The location was striking. The explosion occurred roughly 1,150 feet from the site where Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Russia's General Staff, was killed in a car bombing in April 2025, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.

'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET

Months before Moskalik’s death, another senior Russian officer was assassinated in Moscow. 

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, was killed when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter exploded outside an apartment building. A source in Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, told Reuters the agency carried out the operation.

Together, the attacks are part of a broader pattern of assassinations and attempted assassinations targeting senior Russian military figures — a campaign that a European intelligence source says is now exposing tensions inside Putin’s own security system.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, senior Russian military figures have been killed in missile strikes, drone attacks, car bombings, crashes and frontline combat — a toll that, according to a European intelligence source, is now fueling internal tensions between Russia’s military and the FSB, Russia’s powerful domestic security service and successor to the Soviet KGB.

"There are internal frictions between Russian security institutions," a European intelligence source told Fox News Digital. "The Russian military wants the FSB to guarantee physical protection for Russian generals, but the FSB is opposed to taking responsibility for the military."

The dispute reflects a deeper rivalry inside Russian President Vladimir Putin’s system, where the security services have long held a privileged position over the armed forces, according to multiple sources.

'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET

"This goes back to Soviet times," the European intelligence source said. "The security services do not like the military, and the military does not like the security services."

The central tension, according to the European intelligence source and Russian opposition figure Maxim Katz, is inside Putin’s own system: the war has elevated the importance of the military on the battlefield, while the political structure in Moscow still treats generals as a potential threat.   

The result is a paradox for the Kremlin. Russia needs its military commanders to sustain the war, but the security services that dominate Putin’s system appear reluctant to take responsibility for protecting them. 

At least 15 Russian generals have been confirmed killed since the full-scale invasion began, according to independent Russian outlet Mediazona. 

The toll includes five lieutenant generals, seven major generals and three former generals.

Some died far from Moscow, closer to the battlefield. 

Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, deputy commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, was killed in July 2023 in a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile strike on the Russian-occupied city of Berdiansk. Maj. Gen. Sergei Goryachev, chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army, was killed in June 2023 during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region. Maj. Gen. Vladimir Zavadsky, deputy commander of the 14th Army Corps, was killed near Krynky in southern Ukraine in November 2023.

Others were struck inside Russia or in Russian-controlled territory. 

Lt. Gen. Alexander Otroshchenko, a senior Russian air force commander, died in a military transport plane crash over occupied Crimea in March 2026. Retired Maj. Gen. Kanamat Botashev, flying for the Wagner Group, was killed in May 2022 after his Su-25 was shot down over Ukraine’s Luhansk region.

'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET

The losses began in the opening weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, when Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of Russia’s 41st Combined Arms Army, and Maj. Gen. Vladimir Frolov, deputy commander of the 8th Army, were killed.

Katz said the military has long occupied a vulnerable position inside the Russian power structure.

"In Russia, the FSB is the biggest and most powerful security organization, and Putin himself comes from that system," Katz told Fox News Digital. "The army, on the other hand, has always been viewed by these people as a threat."

Katz said the Kremlin historically has feared popular military figures because the army is one of the few institutions with the capacity to challenge political power.

"You will not find Russian military men in senior government positions," Katz said. "Since Stalin, they have been afraid of the army. Whenever there is a relatively well-known military figure with a name of his own, they deal with it somehow — legally, or like with Prigozhin, or like with other generals. In Russia, there is no such thing as a popular general."

Katz argued that even during wartime, when the military might be expected to gain status, Putin’s system keeps the army politically weak.

"The army does not take part in decision-making," Katz said. "It is funded now, but everything goes to the war. The generals are rich, but not like ministers or FSB people. Among the elites, they are the most deprived."

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

That dynamic, Katz said, helps explain why Russian generals may not want the FSB responsible for their protection.

"For them, the FSB is a much bigger threat than the Ukrainian army," Katz said. "The Ukrainian army kills a general once in a while. The FSB puts generals in prison much faster."

The European intelligence source said the killings matter not only because of the operational losses, but because of the psychological effect inside the Russian army.

"Putin understands that losing prominent Russian generals can affect morale within the Russian army, which is already low from the Russian perspective," the source said.

The apparent compromise, according to the European intelligence source, was to shift responsibility away from the FSB.

"The FSB did not want to deal with military protection, so the security service of the Russian presidential administration would take care of those generals," the source said.

Katz said the internal pressure on Putin may also collide with Russia’s parliamentary elections in September — a moment he believes Western observers are largely ignoring.

RUSSIAN DRONES TEST NATO'S ARTICLE 5 DEFENSE GUARANTEE AHEAD OF FRIDAY SANCTIONS DEADLINE

He said the vote will not be free, and the Kremlin is expected to manipulate the results. 

But he argued that if public support for Putin’s United Russia party has fallen sharply, it may become harder for the regime to make the official results appear believable.

"Everyone already knows what results they will announce," Katz said. "The question is whether anyone will believe those results."

Katz said Putin’s system has long depended not only on control, but on the perception that the Kremlin still commands broad public support.

"Putin has never ruled in a situation where he does not have a majority," Katz said. "His legitimacy rests on everyone believing that he has majority support. Once everyone believes he does not have a majority, and that he did not just cheat a little but simply drew the results, that is a different story."

He compared the potential challenge to authoritarian systems that are forced to move from managed popularity to open coercion.

"Putin cannot lose like Orban," Katz said. "But if everyone in Russia knows that everyone voted against him and he drew the results in his favor, that would be a new situation. He has never been in that position before."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian governments for comment but did not receive responses in time for publication.

Emergency workers in Venezuela on Tuesday rescued a 2-year-old boy who had been trapped beneath the rubble for six days, marking the only reported rescue of a survivor on the sixth day of operations following last week's devastating earthquakes.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in a Telegram post that Jordanian emergency workers pulled the child from a collapsed building in La Guaira, where the worst destruction from last week's earthquakes occurred.

The child, identified by authorities as Klieber Moran, was rescued after spending six days trapped beneath the rubble, Rodríguez said.

Moran was taken to a hospital for treatment, she added.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES $150M IN AID, DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIPS AFTER DEADLY VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said in a televised address Tuesday that officials remain hopeful more survivors will be found.

"We ⁠must hold onto the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble," Jorge said. "Early this morning, a 2-year-old boy was rescued and is currently ​receiving care at ​a health ⁠center in Caracas."

Rescue efforts have continued since magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela's northern coast last Wednesday.

DEATH TOLL FROM VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES RISES TO AT LEAST 235, WITH THOUSANDS REPORTED MISSING

The death toll from the twin earthquakes rose to 1,943 on Tuesday, with more than 10,500 people injured, according to Venezuelan officials. On Monday, the death toll stood at 1,719.

Tuesday's rescue marked another glimmer of hope amid the disaster that has devastated the South American country.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department shared video showing American search-and-rescue teams pulling an infant alive from beneath the rubble in Venezuela.

EX-MLB PLAYER SAYS WIFE DIED IN DEVASTATING VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES

The infant, who is 9 months old, was rescued along with her mother, the State Department told Fox News Digital. Both suffered only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.

"Against impossible odds, hope endures," the State Department posted on X.

On Tuesday, a shipment from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) containing 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela.

FORMER METS PITCHER NARROWLY ESCAPES DEATH IN VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES THANKS TO ELEVATOR MALFUNCTION

The shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment, according to the United Nations.

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Virginia, California and Florida were dispatched to Venezuela on Friday to help search collapsed buildings.

According to the State Department, the three USAR teams include 312 personnel and 18 canine teams, made up of firefighters, physicians, structural engineers and canine search specialists, and deployed with more than 200,000 pounds of specialized rescue equipment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The State Department on Tuesday congratulated conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori after she was declared the winner of Peru’s presidential runoff election by a razor-thin margin.

The statement marked a significant milestone in Latin American relations, with Washington signaling it expects to work closely with Fujimori’s administration on shared priorities.

"The United States congratulates President-Elect Keiko Fujimori of Peru on her important electoral victory," the department said. 

"The Trump Administration looks forward to deepening collaboration with the Fujimori Administration to advance security cooperation and to strengthen bilateral cooperation on investment and trade in our region."

TRUMP ADMIN WARNS PERU IT COULD LOSE SOVEREIGNTY AS CHINA TIGHTENS GRIP ON NATION

Her victory comes as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with pro-market allies in Latin America amid growing Chinese economic influence in the region.

Beijing recently completed the Chancay deepwater port in Peru — a $1.3 billion mega-project that serves as China’s key logistics hub on the Pacific coast.

Fujimori’s tough stance on organized crime also aligns with U.S. efforts to expand regional security and anti-trafficking cooperation.

BIDEN, XI TO MEET ON SATURDAY IN PERU, US OFFICIALS SAY

Fujimori was declared the winner Monday by Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the electoral authority responsible for reporting vote count results. The country’s final authority on election matters, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), has yet to issue its official proclamation, according to Reuters.

According to the ONPE, Fujimori secured 50.1% of the vote, winning by fewer than 50,000 votes out of roughly 18 million ballots cast.

Her victory over leftist challenger Roberto Sánchez marks her fourth presidential bid and makes her Peru’s first female president-elect. 

The result caps a deeply divisive election cycle in a country that has gone through nine presidents in the past decade.

Fujimori is also the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who ruled the country during the 1990s.

TRUMP VICTORY BOOSTS CONSERVATIVES IN LATIN AMERICA, WAKE-UP CALL TO DICTATORS: 'THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES'

Fujimori’s presidency marks a return of her family’s political brand to Peru’s highest office — a movement that has long carried a complicated relationship with the United States.

While Washington once backed her father for his fight against communist guerrillas and economic reforms in the 1990s, the U.S. later condemned his government over the dismantling of democratic institutions and allegations of human rights abuses.

Keiko Fujimori has since spent more than two decades attempting to reshape "Fujimorismo" into a modern conservative, law-and-order political movement.  

Peruvians voted in favor of Fujimori amid a surge in violent crime, extortion and years of political instability.

Fujimori campaigned on an "iron fist" approach to security and a pledge to protect Peru’s free-market economy, while her opponent focused on rural economic grievances. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

Fitness influencer Edda Elisa Pilz says she was prevented from boarding a Lufthansa flight from Berlin to Austria until she covered up her athletic outfit, alleging an airline employee repeatedly called her "naked" during the encounter as temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Pilz, 24, who boasts more than 500,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok, shared a video describing the confrontation while preparing to board the Lufthansa flight during the summer heatwave. The video has since circulated widely on social media, where Pilz questioned whether the airline has a dress code for passengers and criticized what she described as the employee's treatment of her.

Pilz said she was waiting to have her boarding pass scanned when a Lufthansa employee stopped her from boarding.

POPULAR CRUISE LINE’S BIKINI CRACKDOWN COULD SURPRISE PASSENGERS AT ISLAND PORTS

According to Pilz, the employee told her, "You cannot board like that," before repeatedly telling her she was "naked."

Pilz said she was wearing a matching athletic top and shorts and questioned why the outfit was considered inappropriate in the summer heat.

"What am I supposed to put on?" she said in the video. "What should I wear? It is clothing."

POPULAR CRUISE LINE’S BIKINI CRACKDOWN COULD SURPRISE PASSENGERS AT ISLAND PORTS

According to Pilz, the employee told her she was not wearing "normal clothes" and instructed her to put something over her outfit before she would be allowed to board the aircraft.

Pilz said she put on a jacket but was then told she also had to zip it completely before being allowed to proceed.

She alleged the employee then blamed her for delaying the boarding process.

PASSENGER ALLEGEDLY BOARDS FLIGHT WITH FAKE BOARDING PASS, FORCING PLANE BACK TO GATE

According to Pilz, the employee told her, "Because of you, we are now delayed. Because of you, the whole flight is delayed, because you are holding up all the traffic here."

Pilz said she replied that she had simply asked for an explanation because she had never heard of an airline dress code.

She also claimed men wearing shorts were allowed to board the same flight without being stopped.

The influencer said the incident was less about whether Lufthansa has a clothing policy than the way she said she was treated by the employee.

"I can accept rules," she said. "But the attitude was unacceptable."

Pilz ended the video by directly questioning Lufthansa and asking whether the airline condones that type of customer service, adding that she was waiting for an official response.

Lufthansa's General Conditions of Carriage do not appear to include a specific passenger dress code. The airline says it may refuse transportation under certain circumstances, including when a passenger's conduct could significantly affect the "safety and security, the health or wellbeing of other passengers," or for other operational or security reasons, but the policy does not specifically address athletic clothing.

Pilz and Lufthansa did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Christina Shaw contributed to this report.

Thousands of police officers were deployed across South Africa after large-scale protests against illegal immigration erupted Tuesday, with destructive clashes spreading across multiple cities.

The unrest, involving thousands of protesters, broke out ahead of a June 30 deadline set by some organizers demanding the departure of all illegal migrants, according to Reuters.

The marches reportedly drew thousands of mostly poor or unemployed South Africans, who say foreign migrants have taken jobs by accepting lower wages while also fueling higher crime rates.

At least four people have been killed as violence and looting spread across the country, Reuters reported.

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT CONDEMNS SOUTH AFRICA OVER 'EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS' IN ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

The clashes mark the largest migration-related protests since anti-migrant violence erupted in South Africa in 2008.

While thousands of foreign nationals from other African countries had already fled ahead of Tuesday’s so-called deadline, tensions have remained high, Reuters said.

Multiple businesses and properties were vandalized in several areas, according to reports.

In anticipation of further attacks, many shops reportedly closed, with foreign workers staying home.

Landlords in Durban and Johannesburg also evicted foreign tenants illegally to avoid further trouble, witnesses alleged.

Reuters added that 100 Congolese nationals were reported sleeping on the streets of Durban.  

SOUTH AFRICA'S HIGH VIOLENCE AND LAND DEBATES CLASH WITH WESTERN MEDIA VIEWS

While many marches were considered peaceful, police reported that they arrested several looters and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

National broadcaster SABC added that protesters looted shacks belonging to foreign nationals in the Soweto township. 

In Thembisa, a suburb of Johannesburg, rioters reportedly threw stones at police and suspected migrants, with witnesses saying sporadic gunfire was heard.

STATE DEPT SAYS G20 BOYCOTT TIED TO SOUTH AFRICA’S ‘GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED DISCRIMINATION’ AGAINST AFRIKANERS

Police deployed tactical vehicles and fired shots in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, after being confronted by a group of roughly 500 protesters, Daily Maverick reported. 

Thousands of police officers have been deployed nationwide, while the military was placed on standby, a defense spokesperson said in a statement. 

"To those who intend to break the law tomorrow, our message is simple: do not test the resolve of the State," Lt. Gen. Tebello Mosikili said. 

The "March and March" group, one of the more prominent organizations behind the unrest, addressed the violence, saying it cannot be held responsible for spontaneous incidents breaking out during the demonstrations.  

"Unfortunately, we can't be in every single community telling them ... how to behave," Jacinta Ngobese, leader of the March and March group, told Reuters two weeks ago. 

Ngobese said the group plans to hold weekly marches until its demands are met, despite the government rejecting the deadline and saying only authorities can enforce immigration laws.

"For ​the next six months, we are asking for our national resources to be used to take the illegal immigrants out of this country. From building to building -- they ​must go," Ngobese said, according to ZimLive.

Despite South Africa’s high unemployment rate, the country remains Africa’s largest economy and continues to draw migrants.

The immigrant population stands at about 3 million, or roughly 4% of the total, according to StatsSA.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is facing a new round of violence in the country’s Kurdish-majority west, raising questions about whether a long-simmering Kurdish insurgency is entering a more active phase as fragile talks between Iran and Washington continue, experts say.

The flare-up matters beyond Iran’s borderlands because Kurdish opposition groups were recently viewed as a potential pressure point against Iran during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran — and now some Kurdish voices fear they could be left exposed as Washington and Tehran return to fragile diplomacy. 

In recent days, Iranian security forces have been killed in several reported attacks and clashes across western and northwestern Iran. Four Iranian security personnel reportedly were killed and several others injured in two separate armed attacks Tuesday, reported The Jerusalem Post, in an analysis by Seth J. Frantzman, citing Iraq’s Shafaq News. 

IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS'

Two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members were reportedly killed and two others wounded in what it called an "armed terrorist attack" in Paveh, Iran, a border city in Kermanshah Province, reported Tasnim News, an Iranian outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

In Baneh, Iran, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint, killing two police officers and injuring three other people, including a 3-year-old girl, The Jerusalem Post reported. Clashes had spread to Iran's Paveh, Marivan and Mahabad, the outlet reported, citing Rojhelat.Info, a Kurdish-focused media account. 

The Paveh, Iran, attack was claimed by a little-known armed group called Xore Heva, or "Sun of Hope," which said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Iran’s crackdown on protests sparked by the 2022 death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory hijab rules, The National reported.

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the Middle East, with communities spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. 

In Iran, many Kurds live in the country’s mountainous west and northwest, where Kurdish opposition groups have long accused Iran of political repression, executions, forced assimilation and military crackdowns. 

Iranian authorities, in turn, view armed Kurdish factions as separatist or terrorist threats, especially groups such as PJAK, which has clashed for years with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along Iran’s western border. The fight is not simply ethnic: It is also political, rooted in Kurdish demands for rights and autonomy, Iran’s fear of separatism and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s role in suppressing dissent in border regions.

Jino Victoria Doabi, head of international relation at Hiwa, a Kurdish-led human rights organization, told Fox News Digital the latest clashes could appear to mark more than isolated exchanges.

"It looks like this could be an escalation," Doabi said, referring to the spread of reported clashes. 

She said the initial attack appeared to be framed by Kurdish forces as retaliation, but argued the geographic spread suggested the confrontation may continue.

IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS'

Doabi said Kurdish anger is being driven not only by the latest casualties, but by a broader sense that Iran has been able to target Kurdish areas and opposition groups systemically without consequence.

"The Kurdish people in Iran are very dissatisfied that the IRGC can attack Kurdish parties and Kurdish fighters and no one reacts," Doabi said.

The violence comes as Iran is moving forward with a memorandum of understanding with Washington that has drawn criticism from Iranian opposition circles. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the U.S.–Iran memorandum after receiving assurances that Iran’s rights would be protected, IranWire reported Tuesday. 

Iranian officials have described the deal as having the support of top officials, even as critics inside Iran have attacked negotiators over the arrangement, IranWire also reported. 

Doabi said Kurdish parties are deeply skeptical of any memorandum of understanding or negotiated arrangement with Iran, arguing that many Kurds believe such a deal would only strengthen the regime.

"Kurdish parties do not believe that making a deal with this regime can help the people in Iran," Doabi said. "Their position is that a deal would only strengthen the regime."

IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS'

She added that many Kurds in Iran are "very angry" over the idea of any agreement with Iran, citing decades of repression, arrests and killings in Kurdish areas.

"It is going to be very dangerous for people in Iran, and especially in Kurdistan, Azerbaijan and Baluchistan," Doabi said, "because that is where much of the resistance and activism is."

The Kurdish groups now under scrutiny include the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, known as PJAK, and its armed wing, the East Kurdistan Defense Units, or YRK. 

IranWire reported earlier in June that YRK accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of launching artillery and mortar attacks against its positions near Marivan, Iran, beginning June 8, prompting what YRK described as a defensive response. Iranian official outlets had not responded to YRK’s casualty claims at the time, according to IranWire.

That regional sensitivity was on display earlier in 2026, when reports emerged that Kurdish opposition groups could open a front against Iran during the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran. 

Israel had been backing plans by Iranian Kurdish militias to seize border areas inside Iran, Reuters reported in March, though the outlet said the fighters would likely need U.S. and Israeli backing to make a significant move. Five long-standing Iranian dissident groups, including PJAK, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Freedom Party, had formed an alliance, Reuters also reported. 

During the war, Trump told Reuters that he would be "all for it" if the Kurds wanted to move against Iran and said their objective should be "to win." But Reuters reported that Kurdish commanders were frustrated by a lack of clear U.S. or Israeli strategy and that Iran’s threats helped keep Kurdish forces from launching an incursion.

Regional reports later claimed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan persuaded Trump to abandon a plan to arm Iranian opposition groups and Iraqi Kurdish groups against Tehran. Israeli media reported June 6 that Erdogan pressed Trump to scrap the proposal after details were allegedly leaked to Turkey by White House officials.

The latest violence does not prove that a coordinated insurgency is underway. But the reported spread of clashes across multiple Kurdish areas, the involvement claimed by Kurdish militant factions and Kurdish opposition to ongoing U.S.–Iran talks suggest that Iran’s western borderlands could become a new pressure point for Tehran at a moment when the regime is trying to preserve both internal control and fragile diplomatic momentum.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Iranian officials and Kurdish representatives for comment.

Nearly 100 monkeys ran loose through neighborhoods in central Thailand after escaping from a government-run enclosure overnight, prompting authorities to launch a large-scale effort to capture the animals.

Officials said nearly 100 monkeys broke through part of an enclosure at the Lopburi Municipality Animal Nursery.

The monkeys were being housed under the care of local authorities after being transferred from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Workers were able to prevent more than 1,000 other monkeys at the facility from escaping.

MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER, RELEASED AFTER ALLEGEDLY FORCING TODDLER INTO CROCODILE ENCLOSURE AT ZOO

Provincial officials, wildlife authorities and municipal workers searched nearby residential areas Tuesday after the escape.

Authorities used food-baited cages to lure some of the escaped monkeys back into custody. Other monkeys, including some of the larger and more dominant macaques, had to be subdued with tranquilizer darts before they could be captured.

Crews repaired the damaged enclosure while officials continued efforts to recapture the escaped monkeys.

MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER, RELEASED AFTER ALLEGEDLY FORCING TODDLER INTO CROCODILE ENCLOSURE AT ZOO

Lopburi Gov. Weeraphong Ritrod said the damaged enclosure had been repaired and reinforced to help prevent additional escapes.

He said officials also plan to build a more secure, double-layer enclosure designed to keep dominant monkeys from breaking out in the future.

The governor said the province is also preparing to establish a foundation to help support food costs and improve the monkeys' welfare.

FLORIDA WOMAN MAULED TO DEATH BY DOGS THAT HAD ALLEGEDLY TERRORIZED NEIGHBORHOOD, OWNER CHARGED IN KILLING

Mayor Chamroen Salacheep said the monkeys may have escaped because of hunger, extreme heat, overcrowding or their natural instinct to roam.

He also apologized to residents affected by the incident and encouraged anyone whose property was damaged to report it so authorities could assess the damage and determine what assistance may be available.

Lopburi has long been known for its large population of free-roaming macaques.

The monkeys have also caused problems for residents and businesses because of property damage and aggressive behavior. Authorities have worked in recent years to reduce the monkey population through sterilization programs and by relocating some animals to dedicated enclosures.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Lopburi Municipality and Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The conservative, pro-U.S. government of President Rogrigo Paz is being challenged in the streets by radical elements led by a former socialist president recently forcing the new Bolivian government to introduce a state of emergency.

The landlocked mineral-rich nation is facing one of its deepest political crises in decades as economic turmoil, nationwide protests and a battle over the country’s future threaten to reshape the balance of power in South America.

The unrest comes after years of political divisions following the tenure of socialist President Evo Morales, whose Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) dominated Bolivian politics for nearly two decades. Internal fractures, economic decline and public frustration have weakened the movement and opened a new chapter of uncertainty.

US, SHIELD OF THE AMERICAS CONDEMN 'ONGOING EFFORTS' TO OVERTHROW BOLIVIA'S ELECTED PRESIDENT AMID UNREST

The Trump administration recently signaled strong backing for the Paz government while condemning efforts to destabilize the country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States "Will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere" and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Bolivia’s "stability, security, and a better future for all Bolivians."

Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, "The United States strongly supports President Rodrigo Paz's decision on June 20 to declare a State of Exception to restore order and ensure the free flow of food, medicine, and essential supplies to the Bolivian people.  We are glad that the blockades in Bolivia have ended and the government has restored order."

Bolivia’s crisis has been driven by Morales and his supporters furious at the Paz reforms. Protests and road blockades have disrupted transportation, caused shortages and increased pressure on the Paz government.

José Luis Lupo, chief of staff and minister of the presidency of Bolivia told Fox News Digital: "After more than 50 days of blockades that severely disrupted the supply of food, fuel, and medicines, paralyzing much of the country's economic activity and straining its democratic stability, I am convinced that Bolivia now faces a unique opportunity to transform a deep crisis into the starting point for a new phase of national reconstruction."

He noted that "for weeks, we sought agreements with various sectors because we believe that, in a democracy, every avenue for mutual understanding must be exhausted before resorting to extraordinary measures."

He said the state of emergency [state of exception] "was the constitutional last resort to restore freedom of movement, protect critical infrastructure and ensure that Bolivians could once again access essential goods. It was not a measure intended to restrict rights, but rather to protect lives, preserve democracy and restore freedom of movement to millions of citizens."

PETE HEGSETH WARNS NARCO-TERRORISTS AS US BACKS BOLIVIA'S GOVERNMENT AMID COUP WARNINGS

The turmoil has also had consequences beyond Bolivia’s borders. The country holds some of the world’s largest lithium resources, a key mineral for electric vehicles, batteries and advanced technology supply chains. Competition for influence in resource-rich Latin America has become increasingly important for Washington as China and other global powers expand their presence in the region.

Bolivia’s political crisis reflects a broader trend across Latin America, where voters in the last few election cycles have elected conservatives who challenged the left’s business-as-usual politics and in doing so have taken the continent in a rightward direction.

The socialist Morales remains an influential figure and continues to command support among rural and indigenous groups, keeping Bolivia’s political divisions alive even as the country searches for a path out of the crisis.

Mauricio Ríos García, manager of Crusoe Research and editor of FRACTAL Index in Bolivia, told Fox News Digital, "The 50-day blockades have caused estimated losses of $2.5 billion and the closure of around 13,000 companies. Once the blockades end, a rebound in demand combined with excess liquidity is expected to drive inflation higher."

Ríos said, "The government is nearing an IMF agreement that would likely include a new devaluation (exchange rate unification) and other adjustments in exchange for financing of around $3.3–5 billion. This marks growing dependence on the IMF and the United States, while the gradualist approach has left the economy with very little room for maneuver and risks further instability.

"Expectations for Bolivia’s economy in the second half of the year have been revised downward. Blockades and deeper structural problems rooted in the government’s gradualist fiscal and monetary policies have worsened the difficult inheritance from the previous administration," he concluded.

COLOMBIA'S 'EL TIGRE' SECURES PRESIDENCY AS LEFTIST RIVAL FINALLY CONCEDES DEFEAT

For Washington, Bolivia’s future represents more than a domestic political dispute. The outcome could influence America’s strategic position in the Western Hemisphere, the future of critical minerals, and whether Latin America’s recent political shift continues moving away from the left-wing movements that dominated parts of the region during the last two decades.

"I am convinced that stability will only endure if it is accompanied by inclusion. There can be no peace where neglect and inequality persist. That is why we are driving a development agenda for historically marginalized regions, particularly the provinces of La Paz, focused on infrastructure, basic services, productive development and the participation of the communities themselves," Lupo said.

And as the barricades have lessened, Lupo, chief of staff and minister of the presidency of Bolivia, says, "A different phase is now beginning. I believe the country needs a broad political and social agreement involving the government, parliamentary forces, the regions, the productive sector, and civil society. Bolivia needs to pass reforms that provide legal certainty, promote investment, and modernize strategic sectors such as hydrocarbons, mining, lithium, renewable energy and the justice system. Such consensus is essential to restoring confidence, stabilizing the economy and generating sustainable growth.

"I hope to see Bolivia definitively replace confrontation with dialogue, strengthen its institutions, and build a more robust economy characterized by clear rules, democratic stability and greater opportunities for all," Lupo concluded.

The Trump administration had increased emergency humanitarian assistance to help address food and medical shortages caused by weeks of unrest, underscoring U.S. concerns that prolonged instability could have broader implications for regional security and democracy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range strikes are creating fuel supply problems inside Russia, as videos obtained by Fox News Digital show long lines, angry motorists and fights erupting at filling stations across several Russian regions.

Speaking at a meeting with government ministers and other officials after a wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, Putin said on Sunday that strikes on "critical infrastructure" and energy facilities were creating "problems," including shortages affecting motorists, businesses and agricultural producers, but said Russia was dealing with them, according to Reuters. 

The remarks marked a rare admission from the Kremlin that Ukraine’s long-range campaign is having an impact beyond the battlefield.

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT

For Ukraine, the fuel crisis is evidence that its long-range strike campaign is doing more than damaging individual facilities. The attacks are forcing Moscow to manage visible problems at home, exposing a vulnerability in a country whose global power has long rested on its energy sector. 

Ukraine increasingly has used long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes hundreds of miles from its border. Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries overnight, Reuters reported Sunday, including one in Krasnodar, Russia, and another in Yaroslavl, Russia, as Kyiv continues targeting infrastructure linked to Moscow’s war effort.

Fuel shortages have spread across Russia, including occupied Crimea, southern Russia, Siberia and Moscow. Moscow also is weighing emergency measures, including temporarily allowing the production and import of lower-quality fuel, according to a draft government document reported by the Kommersant daily newspaper.

Maxim Katz, a Russian opposition figure and former Moscow municipal deputy, told Fox News Digital that the fuel shortages are real and increasingly difficult for Russians to ignore.

"There are fuel problems in Russia right now — real ones," Katz told Fox News Digital. "I’m getting a lot of reports, and I can see it too: It’s hard. You can’t find fuel, or you have to stand in line. In some cities, you have to spend half a day looking for fuel, and then they give you only a little, and you have to get back in line again."

Katz said the shortages appear tied directly to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refining capacity.

"They are bombing the refineries very effectively," he said. "Putin doesn’t have a way to defend them. Right now, it looks like there is no way to defend them, and that is a major pressure point on Putin."

Videos obtained by Fox News Digital from East2West news agency show scenes of frustration at Russian filling stations, where drivers are seen waiting in long queues and arguing as shortages bite. In one video, two women appear to argue over a place in line, with one insisting, "I was in the queue," before the confrontation escalates into shouting and threats.

'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET

In Serov, Russia, police were called after a male driver was seen shouting obscenities at several women before punching one of them, according to a video. 

In Ryazan, Russia, video shows a fight breaking out near a forecourt as drivers waited for fuel. In Irkutsk, Russia, a man is seen leaning into the open window of a hatchback and repeatedly hitting another motorist.

One woman, identified only as Tanya, 29, told east2west she waited 13 hours in Siberia to get half a tank of fuel and blamed Putin’s war for the chaos.

"He should stop this senseless conflict and let us live normally," she told the outlet. 

'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET

Katz said the fuel disruption comes alongside deeper economic pressure caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, including high domestic borrowing, steep interest rates and a budget increasingly built around military spending.

"The whole economy is now built on war," Katz said. "War does not produce anything. Nothing comes back from it. So what remains is a big hole."

He said Russia is not yet on the verge of collapse, but the strain is "growing and growing," with economic officials warning that spending may need to be cut as the budget deficit becomes harder to close.

This assessment was also confirmed to Fox News Digital by a European intelligence source, who said the economic pressure is effectively working.

Fox News Digital reached out to Russian and Ukrainian spokespeople for comment. 

Reuters contributed to this story.