White House blasts Spanish government as thousands of migrants surge from Morocco, emergency request denied

The White House bashed Spain's left-wing government after the border between Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta and Morocco collapsed Thursday. 

"President Trump has long warned Europe what would happen if they continue to implement far-left, globalist policies, including enabling mass migration," White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News in a statement. 

"Spain and other countries who have adopted this destructive philosophy should immediately reverse course or risk their own demise." 

TRUMP CRITICIZES SPAIN AMID IRAN, NATO RIFT AS PM SANCHEZ FACES QUESTIONS OVER POLITICAL MOTIVES

Ceuta's president formally requested a national emergency declaration Thursday after more than 2,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco in the past 10 days. Videos showed chaotic scenes of migrants pouring into the Spanish territory.

Video shows hordes of apparently military-aged men smiling and posing for cameras, some carrying swimming flippers, and sprinting through the streets as authorities struggle to corral the unruly masses.

Other footage shows crowds of migrants emerging from the sea, climbing up onto Ceuta's rocky shores and working their way around border fences.

Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas formally requested that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declare a national emergency to help respond to the border crisis, Spanish media outlets reported. Madrid, however, denied the request.

DEM REP SETH MOULTON SAYS PARTY HAS NO IMMIGRATION PLAN, IS ONLY ‘OPPOSITION TO TRUMP’

"The declaration of a national emergency is part of the state civil protection regulations, which do not consider migratory flows as a risk to the National Civil Protection System, nor do they establish special plans, basic guidelines, or specific civil protection instruments for their management. Therefore, it is not possible to activate this mechanism, as requested by the president of the Government of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas," Spain's Ministry of the Interior said in a statement, according to Spanish outlet El País.

Ceuta’s government, in its request for a national emergency declaration, noted that immigration from Morocco is always a problem for the Spanish enclave but claimed the last 10 days represented a peak "of particular intensity." That peak has seen more than 2,000 migrants cross the border in the past 10 days, Ceuta officials said, according to El País.

"The Government of Spain is fully committed to providing an immediate response to the situation in Ceuta. We are mobilizing all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible," Sánchez wrote in a Thursday post on X.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FORCED A FALSE CHOICE ON AMERICANS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Sánchez has faced considerable backlash from his country's conservatives for his policies on immigration, with many arguing that Spain's policy of guaranteeing social services to minors who illegally enter the country incentivizes mass migration.

"When they cross the border as minors, you cannot send them back to Morocco," Javier Negre, a conservative Spanish journalist and owner of La Derecha Diario and UHN Plus, told Fox News Digital.

"The Spanish state has to take care of them and pay money to NGOs to care for these minors until they turn 18," Negre continued.

"It’s proof that Europe and Spain are on the verge of becoming a failed continent because of the future policies and promotion of this illegal invasion under Pedro Sánchez."

Sánchez, for his part, has claimed that accepting migrants is necessary to keep Spain's economy alive, arguing the country's low birth rates necessitate accepting immigrants.

"The West needs people. Currently, few of its countries have a rising population growth rate," Sánchez wrote in a February op-ed in The New York Times.

"Unless they embrace migration, they will experience a sharp demographic decline that will prevent them from keeping their economies and public services afloat. Their gross domestic product will stagnate. Their public healthcare and pension systems will suffer. 

"Neither AI nor robots will be able to prevent this outcome. ... The only option to avoid decline is to integrate migrants in the most orderly and effective way possible." 

Fox News Digital contacted the offices of Sánchez and Vivas for further comment.

Fox News' Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

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NATO member scrambles fighter jets as Russian attack on Ukraine kills 8

Poland, the closest NATO member to the Ukraine-Russia war, scrambled fighter jets and placed its air defenses on high alert early Thursday as Russia launched more than 70 missiles and roughly 280 drones across Ukraine, killing at least eight and wounding dozens from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just returning from this week's U.S. visit with President Donald Trump and the funeral of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the barrage exposed a critical shortage of Western-supplied interceptors, particularly against ballistic missiles.

"The protection of people’s lives depends directly on their willingness" to provide Ukraine with air-defense missiles, Zelenskyy said of Kyiv’s allies.

Hours later Thursday morning, the European Union disbursed $4 billion to Ukraine to finance the procurement of more drones, missiles, air defense and fighter jets, according to the European Commission.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILE ATTACK ON KYIV HOURS AFTER ZELENSKYY WARNS OF MAJOR STRIKE

The disbursement is part of a more than $100 billion loan approved by the EU earlier this year and follows the roughly $3.5 billion installment on June 25 and $4.5 billion on June 30.

Polish forces detected an unidentified object moving west through the country’s airspace shortly before 4 a.m. An F-16 was dispatched to intercept it, but the object disappeared from radar minutes later. Authorities subsequently found a crater about 33 feet wide and scattered debris in farmland near Tarnawa-Kolonia, about 1.2 miles from the closest buildings.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said initial evidence indicated the object was a Russian Kh-101 missile, although investigators were still working to confirm its type and origin.

THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN WEAPONS SYSTEMS NATO IS EAGER TO HAVE

"All the indications are that it was a Russian Kh-101," Tusk said, adding that Polish forces were prepared to shoot it down if it had continued flying toward a populated area.

He added the U.S. is interested in joining the investigation, which has initially determined the missile was not intended for Poland territory. The fate of the Ukraine-Russian war might be decided within the next 100 days, Tusk told reporters.

The threat to a NATO ally is a new frontier in the long-running war and comes after Zelenskyy pressed senators to advance Graham's sweeping sanctions package. Also, Trump and Zelenskyy discussed U.S. licenses allowing Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors, along with other defense cooperation and efforts to revive stalled diplomacy with Moscow.

Six people, including two girls ages 5 and 12, were killed when a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile struck a private home housing a large family near Kryvyi Rih, according to local officials. Seven others were reported killed in Kyiv and elsewhere in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions as the casualty count rose during rescue operations.

'WRITTEN IN OUR DNA': POLISH PILOTS WHO REMEMBER SOVIET RULE PREPARE FOR AMERICA'S MOST LETHAL FIGHTER JET

"A dark night," Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih’s defense council, wrote on Telegram. Eight people were wounded in the strike on the home.

The person killed in Kyiv was a 31-year-old man, while two others were wounded, according to Ukrainian police. Russian strikes damaged residential buildings, vehicles, storage facilities, a market and a garage complex in the capital, where air raid warnings lasted more than five hours and thousands of residents sheltered in subway stations.

In Lviv, about 40 miles from the Polish border, emergency crews searched damaged apartment buildings for people trapped beneath concrete and debris. Thirty people, including children, were reported injured. More than 20 residential buildings, a school and two kindergartens were damaged, officials said.

"I was terrified watching the rescuers go beneath those concrete slabs," one Lviv resident told Reuters as crews pulled a boy from a damaged building.

Ukraine’s air force said its defenses intercepted 55 missiles and 265 drones. But only one of nine ballistic missiles was shot down, while 11 missiles and 17 drones struck targets at 20 locations.

The U.S.-made Patriot is the only system currently in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of reliably intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound. Zelenskyy has repeatedly warned that Patriot interceptors are arriving too slowly and in insufficient numbers.

During his Tuesday meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy said the leaders discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production in Ukraine. He also met with Lockheed Martin executives and told senators that domestic production would be a long-term solution but would not address Ukraine’s immediate shortage of missiles. European countries have offered to pay for additional U.S.-made interceptors.

Zelenskyy’s Washington visit coincided with Senate consideration of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, named for the longtime defense hawk and outspoken Ukraine supporter who died unexpectedly earlier this month.

The Senate voted 86-12 Tuesday to clear an initial procedural hurdle and voted 84-12 Wednesday to formally proceed with the legislation. Additional votes were still required before final passage.

The package would impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, financial institutions, energy projects and vessels accused of helping Moscow evade existing restrictions. It would also authorize tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas and the leading countries facilitating sanctions evasion.

Graham negotiated the revised package with the White House shortly before his death. The legislation also includes an extension of sanctions targeting Iran’s energy and weapons sectors, a provision sought by the Trump administration.

Zelenskyy met with a bipartisan group of senators before the procedural votes and called the legislation an important signal to Russia, Europe and the Ukrainian people. He watched the Senate vote from the chamber’s gallery after attending Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trump retaliates after Iran attack as expert warns regime is growing more dangerous

The United States resumed airstrikes inside Iran Wednesday night in retaliation for Tehran’s attempted surprise ballistic-missile attack on American forces, as an Iran expert warned that the regime has become increasingly willing to test Washington despite its weakened military capabilities.

"The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East," U.S. Central Command said as the new operation began, according to The Associated Press.

The renewed strikes marked the first U.S. attacks inside Iran since President Donald Trump paused the bombing campaign Friday after 13 consecutive nights to allow diplomacy another chance. Iran’s missile launch shattered that brief pause and returned the conflict to direct exchanges between Washington and Tehran.

Trump had signaled the retaliation earlier Wednesday, saying the United States would hit Iran "very hard."

ARMY IDS 2 VICTIMS KILLED IN JORDAN AIR BASE ATTACK; TRUMP: IRAN WILL PAY 'MANY TIMES OVER'

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the surprise nature of Iran’s attack reflected a significant shift in Tehran’s strategy.

"What makes this attack different is that it’s basically a surprise attack," Taleblu told Fox News Digital. "This is the Islamic Republic matching its deeds with its words," he said. "That means a more risk-tolerant, more confident, perhaps less capable, but more dangerous Iran in the Middle East."

U.S. Central Command said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran at U.S. forces in the region at approximately 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday. All were intercepted, and no casualties or damage were immediately reported.

Trump later vowed a forceful response, telling Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that the United States would be "hitting them hard" and that Iran was "going to get a beating." "We're going to beat the f---ing s--- out of them," Trump said.

US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

But Ben Taleblu warned that successful interceptions alone may not restore deterrence. He argued that Tehran has repeatedly learned that it can fire on American forces, absorb a U.S. response and then attempt to dictate when the exchange ends.

"The dangerous lesson for America here is that you have to treat every single Iranian missile attack, whether it was successful or not, as being successful," he said. "You can’t over-rely on technology because, ultimately, this is not a technological problem. This is a political problem."

The attack came as the nearly five-month conflict threatened to widen across the region.

Iran said it also targeted commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States and Saudi Arabia jointly struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq following drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. The operation marked the first time Riyadh publicly acknowledged participating in strikes alongside Washington, potentially opening a new front in the confrontation, Reuters reported. 

TWO US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN IRANIAN STRIKES ON JORDAN, CENTCOM SAYS

The renewed fighting also threatens already-fragile negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran rejected an Omani proposal for joint regional management of the waterway, insisting on broader control over shipping routes through the strait.

The attack followed a far deadlier Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Jordan earlier in July. That strike hit housing used by American troops at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, killing two U.S. service members and wounding several others.

The United States subsequently struck Iranian targets, but Ben Taleblu argued that Tehran continues to believe it can absorb retaliation, fire back and dictate when each cycle of fighting ends.

He said the United States must respond while preparing for another Iranian counterattack, warning that allowing Tehran to claim it had "closed the round" after retaliating would reinforce the regime’s belief that it can dictate the pace of the conflict.

"The U.S. certainly does need to respond, and President Trump indeed has promised to respond with some very colorful language, but it has to be prepared for the Iranian response," he said.

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Russia launches ballistic missile attack on Kyiv hours after Zelenskyy warns of major strike

Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Ukraine's capital early Thursday, with multiple explosions reported across Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to seek shelter as blasts rocked the city. Reuters, citing a witness, reported hearing multiple explosions.

The Ukrainian Air Force also said Russia was targeting the capital with ballistic missiles.

RUSSIA UNLEASHES NEARLY 600 MISSILES AND DRONES ON KYIV IN DEADLIEST STRIKE SINCE MAY

Klitschko later said several non-residential sites caught fire following the strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attack came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia appeared to be preparing a major overnight assault.

"I received a report from Air Force Commander Anatolii Kryvonozhko," Zelenskyy wrote on X Wednesday, saying Russia had prepared a "massive attack several days ago" and that there was a "high probability" it would be carried out overnight.

ZELENSKYY SAYS PUTIN 'LOST THE INITIATIVE' AS UKRAINE'S TECH INDUSTRY RESHAPES THE WAR

"It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of lives directly depends on their readiness, or lack thereof, to help us with air defense missiles," Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian president made the appeal after returning from the United States, where he met with President Donald Trump.

Trump recently announced at the NATO summit in Turkey that the United States would license Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, according to The Associated Press.

"First and foremost, this concerns the United States and those partners that have Patriot missiles and can provide them to support our defense," Zelenskyy wrote.

"Every partner knows what is needed and fully understands the consequences of marking time."

Fox News Digital's Emma Bussey and Reuters contributed to this report.

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French man discovers 5 dead babies hidden in boxes in his home after argument with wife: prosecutors

A man in France discovered remains believed to belong to five newborns hidden inside cardboard boxes in his home after his partner gave birth at home and was taken to a hospital, according to prosecutors.

He became distressed after he found out about her pregnancy at ⁠a very late stage, despite her repeated denials, and began searching their home, prosecutors said. The couple already had two children, ages eight and nine.

The woman, 32, who was not identified, was allegedly arguing with her husband over what was in the boxes at their home in the town of Orange on Monday after she gave birth at home to a baby boy the day before.

She started complaining about abdominal pain during the argument on Monday. She was taken to a hospital and her husband stayed behind and discovered the dead babies hidden in the boxes.

NEWBORN VANISHED AFTER SECRET BIRTH, PARENTS ALLEGEDLY CLAIMED BABY 'WAS A PRANK': COPS

The man, also 32, then notified authorities through the hospital ​where the woman was being treated for pain.

"The husband stayed behind when she was taken to the hospital, and looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies," an investigating source said, according to the US Sun. "All the [fetuses] were decomposing, and had been around for quite a while."

Police searched the couple's home, and prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday.

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A forensic pathologist estimated, based on initial findings, that the bones ​and decomposing remains belonged to five newborns.

Authorities said the remains included bones believed to belong to four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth. Autopsies and further laboratory testing were ordered.

The man told ‌police ⁠he was unaware of his wife's possible pregnancies.

The public prosecutor's office urged child welfare services to assess the health of the couple's eight and nine-year old children. It ​also issued a ​provisional placement ⁠order for the newborn baby, pending referral of the case to a children's court judge.

The ​mother, who was still in the hospital on Tuesday, has not yet spoken to investigators.

A post-mortem examination has been ordered on ​the decomposing remains, and the bones will undergo anthropological analysis in a laboratory, according to prosecutors.

The couple had no history of problems and were described by a neighbor as "charming people," according to French outlet AFP.

The neighbor, Florent Jean, told the outlet that the wife was a stay-at-home mother and the husband worked. Jean said the two were "normal people, really."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Iran hangs 2 protesters in public, crowd cries 'dishonorable' as security fires tear gas

Iran publicly hanged two young men Tuesday over their alleged roles in January's nationwide anti-government protests, as onlookers chanted "Dishonorable, dishonorable!" before security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled Iranian opposition group.

Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi were hanged Tuesday in Isfahan's Shahid Alikhani Square — where authorities alleged they committed offenses connected to the Jan. 8 protests, according to the NCRI and Iranian state media.

The NCRI said onlookers condemned the executions before security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The opposition group also said security personnel had been deployed on rooftops and surrounding streets.

Iranian state media also reported the public executions, Reuters said, with Iran's semi-official news agency Mehr saying they were carried out in Alikhani Square "in the presence of a group of people."

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"Fearing public outrage over this brutal crime, the regime's suppressive forces had deployed agents in the surrounding streets and on rooftops," NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi said in a statement shared on X.

The executions mark the latest escalation in Iran's crackdown on protesters arrested during the nationwide demonstrations that began in late December and intensified in January.

Human rights groups have accused Iranian authorities of denying defendants due process, relying on coerced confessions and carrying out executions after unfair trials.

Iran's judiciary, meanwhile, accused Badjani and Hosseinabadi of participating in the Jan. 8 killing of four members of the State Security Force during demonstrations in Shahid Alikhani Square.

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According to the judiciary's Mizan news agency, Badjani and Hosseinabadi were convicted of moharebeh, or "enmity against God," efsad-fil-arz, or "corruption on Earth," as well as destruction and arson of public property, and acts that led to the deaths of four officers. Authorities also accused them of possessing firearms and Molotov cocktails.

The NCRI claimed Tuesday that the defendants were denied the right to choose their own lawyers, and even their court-appointed attorneys were denied access to the case files.

Iran publicly hanged Abolfazl Sepahi-Badjani Tuesday over his alleged role in January's nationwide anti-government protests.

The judiciary, however, said the men had legal representation, appealed their convictions and were convicted using police reports, cellphone evidence, witness testimony, confessions and a crime scene reconstruction. 

The pair were said to be among 12 protesters sentenced to death in what has become known as the Alikhani Square case.

Two other defendants, Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, were executed July 19, bringing the total number of executions in the case to four.

The U.N. experts warned this week that the remaining defendants face an imminent risk of execution.

'KILLING OFF THE COUNTRY': IRAN EXECUTES DOZENS, ARRESTS 4,000+ IN WAR CRACKDOWN

"The young men, aged between their late teens and early 20s, were reportedly arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, in some cases being subjected to enforced disappearance, ill-treated and accused of involvement in the killing of four security force members, as well as arson and vandalism during the Jan. 8, 2026, protests in Shahid Alikhani Square in Isfahan," U.N. experts said in a statement.

The statement also said all defendants were sentenced to death during a single closed-door hearing without clarity about each individual's alleged responsibility, calling the proceedings a violation of international fair trial standards.

Human Rights Watch said this week that at least 50 people have been executed over the past four months on what it described as vague national security charges.

"By resorting once again to the medieval practice of public hangings, the Islamic Republic is trying to instill fear throughout society and deter future protests," Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a post shared on X.

"Public executions are a cruel form of state terror that the international community must not tolerate," he added.

The protests across Iran began in late December amid a deepening economic crisis before expanding into one of the largest anti-government movements in the Islamic Republic's history.

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Deadly French wildfires threaten missile plants, nuclear sites as fourth heatwave looms

Massive wildfires sweeping through southwestern France are threatening key defense and nuclear sites near Bordeaux, forcing evacuations and emergency measures at missile factories, military research facilities and aerospace plants, according to reports.

The escalating blazes come as France braces for its fourth major heat wave of the year Tuesday, with soaring temperatures and arid conditions increasing pressure on crews battling massive wildfires near Bordeaux, according to Reuters.

Temperatures in the French region were forecast to reach 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), about 13 degrees (7 degrees Celsius) above normal, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.

EUROPE'S FIRES REVEAL DEADLY MIX OF RECORD HEAT, HUMAN ERROR, ARSON AND LAND MISMANAGEMENT

"The situation we are dealing with today is the most severe we have ever recorded, the toughest since the Second World War," President Emmanuel Macron, who flew to the area, had said Sunday.

French Economy Minister Roland Lescure said the fires have disrupted more than 13,000 businesses in the Gironde region, with many forced to close or evacuate.

According to The Telegraph, the fires are closing in on missile and rocket factories that store explosive materials.

At least seven sites holding hazardous substances are within 12 miles of the blaze.

FRANCE RECORDS MORE THAN 5,700 EXCESS DEATHS DURING HISTORIC EARLY SUMMER HEAT WAVE

Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, to the west-northwest, is one of the evacuated towns and is home to a large factory that produces propellants for Ariane space rockets and France's strategic missiles.

A nearby plant in Sainte-Hélène also produces ammonium perchlorate, a key oxidizer used in solid rocket propellants.

According to Defense News, the fires are also threatening factories that make key parts for France's nuclear missiles, Rafale fighter jets and military missiles.

ArianeGroup evacuated employees from sites in the fire zone, while France's Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) closed its military research center in Le Barp as the wildfires first advanced toward Bordeaux.

Officials said there is no risk of radioactive leakage because the facility contains no nuclear materials, the outlet reported.

EUROPE'S FIRES REVEAL DEADLY MIX OF RECORD HEAT, HUMAN ERROR, ARSON AND LAND MISMANAGEMENT

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said July 24 that protective measures had been deployed around the sites "given the nature of the products stored there," Le Monde said.

Meanwhile, France's Defense Ministry said 1,500 military personnel have been deployed since Friday to support firefighting operations and help secure strategic industrial sites.

So far, the fires have scorched more than 104,000 acres (42,000 hectares) in the Gironde region, making them among France's largest wildfires on record.

Authorities said about 240 homes have been destroyed, while nearly 4,000 holidaymakers have been evacuated from campsites, holiday villages and tourist resorts in Lacanau, about 35 miles west of Bordeaux.

As France and Spain battle one of Europe's worst wildfire seasons in decades, roughly 360,000 people have been forced to evacuate in recent days.

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