A French mother who allegedly abandoned her two young children in a forest in Portugal while blindfolded was arrested with her former law enforcement boyfriend while eating at a café near Libson.

Marine Rousseau, 41, was taken into custody Thursday with Marc Ballabriga, 55, two days after the couple allegedly dumped her helpless 3- and 5-year-old children in a remote forest and left, according to Portuguese and French media.

«They stayed sitting and didn’t seem nervous,» café owner Jorge Lopes told the news outlet. «They were searched and handcuffed without any stress at all. When I saw them so at ease in front of the authorities, I was astonished. It was as if they didn’t have blood running through their veins.»

The boys were found crying and alone 125 miles away, MetroUK reported.

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«Given the situation of evident vulnerability, the children were taken to the home of a local resident, where they remained and received initial care in the presence of the officers until they were transferred to a hospital unit,» Portuguese authorities said in a statement.

The two boys were in good health and were discharged from hospital on Thursday,» Portugal’s Public Ministry said.

The couple face child endangerment and abandonment charges. Ballabriga — a former French policeman who quit the force in 2010 — faces an additional aggravated assault charge.

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Marine-Rousseau allegedly left her two young sons alone in a Portuguese forest while blindfolded in Portugal, authorities said. (Getty Images)

They were ordered held pending trial.

Rousseau’s sons were rescued by Artur Quintas, a local baker who spotted them «screaming and crying» while frantically stumbling along a main road on May 19, the New York Post reported.

They were carrying backpacks stuffed only with clothes, water and snacks.

Quintas recalled the older brother telling him that their mother and her boyfriend allegedly took them into the forest and covered their eyes as part of a «game.» When they removed their blindfolds, both adults had vanished.

Marine Rousseau is charged with child endangerment. (Getty Images)

The pair have since been placed in temporary foster care.

Their biological father — who reported them missing on May 11 — is working to bring them back to France.

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«It’s only a matter of days before I get my children back,» he told French broadcaster Ici Alsace TV on Monday. «I think about them every second since the Colmar police station contacted me to tell me they were missing. My children will have to rebuild their lives, just as I rebuilt mine.

«And they don’t need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy.»

En el Golfo San Jorge, el mar patagónico ofreció una de sus escenas menos habituales: una ballena azul emergió muy cerca de una embarcación turística y sorprendió a quienes navegaban frente a las costas de Comodoro Rivadavia. El episodio, registrado en video y ampliamente difundido en redes sociales, se transformó en un acontecimiento inédito para la región y atrajo la atención de científicos, autoridades y amantes de la naturaleza.

La excursión, organizada por la empresa Habitantes del Mar, transcurría bajo la rutina habitual de navegación cuando la aparición del mayor animal conocido del planeta modificó el clima a bordo. Analía San Leandro, pasajera del bote, fue quien logró captar en video la cercanía de la ballena azul, cuya silueta nadó paralela a la embarcación, mostrando parte de su cuerpo alargado y su particular color gris azulado.

La sorpresa inicial se transformó en asombro y emoción. “Primera vez que se logra registrar a la enorme y enigmática ballena azul desde el bote frente a Comodoro Rivadavia. Un encuentro inolvidable que nos recuerda lo asombroso que es el Golfo San Jorge”, publicó el Proyecto de Investigación de Cetáceos del Golfo San Jorge (PI Cetáceos GSJ) en sus redes sociales. El registro se viralizó de inmediato, con miles de interacciones en las plataformas digitales y la rápida reacción de la comunidad científica.

La observación de una ballena azul (Balaenoptera musculus) a corta distancia, en aguas costeras del Atlántico sur, representa un fenómeno infrecuente que abre nuevas oportunidades para la ciencia. Los especialistas subrayan la importancia del registro porque permite estudiar de primera mano el comportamiento, desplazamiento y fisonomía del animal bajo condiciones únicas. Se trata de la primera vez que se logra documentar la presencia de esta especie desde una embarcación en la zona.

El episodio se da en un contexto de mayor actividad biológica en el golfo. Científicos y pobladores han reportado un aumento en la presencia de cetáceos, especialmente de la ballena sei (Balaenoptera borealis), especie que estuvo ausente durante casi un siglo y cuya reaparición se interpreta como un signo de recuperación ecológica tras años de protección internacional. La reaparición de estos grandes mamíferos marinos es un indicador del estado del ecosistema. En los últimos meses se han visto grupos numerosos cerca de la costa.

Las causas detrás de estos avistajes pueden estar relacionadas con cambios en la disponibilidad de alimento, variaciones en las corrientes marinas o mejoras en la salud general del ecosistema. Aunque la presencia de la ballena azul en el Atlántico sur está documentada, su acercamiento a zonas interiores del golfo patagónico sigue siendo un hecho poco común.

El fenómeno también tuvo repercusión en el sector turístico. La viralización de los videos convirtió al Golfo San Jorge en tendencia y puso en valor su potencial como destino para el avistaje de fauna marina. Esta región, que suele quedar en segundo plano frente a la famosa Península Valdés, comienza a posicionarse como una alternativa para quienes buscan experiencias de contacto con la naturaleza.

El avistamiento de la ballena azul potencia el atractivo de Comodoro Rivadavia y de la provincia de Chubut para el ecoturismo, aunque también plantea retos en términos de regulación y conservación. El propio gobernador de Chubut, Ignacio Torres, compartió en sus redes sociales un video junto a una ballena durante el Primer Encuentro de Pesca Embarcada en Puerto Madryn. “No es IA, es una de las maravillas de nuestra provincia que enamoran a todos los que nos visitan”, escribió el mandatario.

El episodio refuerza el valor simbólico de la conservación marina en un contexto global donde la biodiversidad enfrenta amenazas persistentes. Desde 1986 rige una moratoria internacional sobre la caza comercial de ballenas, medida que permitió observar señales de recuperación en varias especies. El paso silencioso de una ballena azul junto a una embarcación turística en la Patagonia argentina se convierte en un recordatorio de la fragilidad y, al mismo tiempo, de la resiliencia de los ecosistemas marinos.

Las imágenes y testimonios de los testigos, junto a la difusión mediática, contribuyen a sensibilizar sobre la importancia de la protección de la fauna marina. Como subrayó el PI Cetáceos GSJ, el registro de este encuentro queda como “un testimonio de un mar que todavía guarda sorpresas”.

La presencia de la ballena azul en el Golfo San Jorge no solo marcó un antes y un después para los tripulantes del bote turístico, sino que también generó orgullo en la comunidad de Comodoro Rivadavia y en todo el país.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing a Muslim problem with local Muslim activists planning to spill into the streets Tuesday night outside Gracie Mansion, where protesters will accuse the mayor of promoting what they describe as an extreme form of Islamism.

Meanwhile, Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, is also facing criticism from hardline anti-Israel activists who argue he has not gone far enough in support of Palestinian activism after taking office.

Anila Ali, president of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, said she plans to join Tuesday night’s protest because she believes Mamdani’s politics are alienating moderate Muslims and damaging relations between Muslim and Jewish communities in New York.

«With Mamdani in office, we feel our religion is now hijacked once again and is being used by these Islamists,» Ali told Fox News Digital in a video interview.

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Ali described herself as part of a post-9/11 movement of «moderate Muslims» who reject Islamist extremism and believe Islam is compatible with coexistence, religious freedom and life in America.

She described Islamism as a hardline political ideology that merges religion and politics, and she argued Mamdani represents a more radical version of Islam than the moderate faith practiced by many American Muslims.

She said moderate Muslims don’t identify with Islamist groups such as the Council on American Islamic Affairs (CAIR), which she accused of monopolizing public representation of Islam in America and promoting a hardline Islamist movement. Ali said many moderate Muslims feel increasingly sidelined by activist groups and political organizations they believe do not represent their faith or values.

«Zohran Mamdani is their success story. The Muslim Brotherhood, they backed him,» Ali told Fox News Digital in a video interview.

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However, criticism of Mamdani is not only coming from moderate Muslim and interfaith activists. Hardline anti-Israel activists have also criticized the mayor for not going far enough in support of Palestinian activism after taking office.

«When he said that Israel has the right to exist, I also clearly called that out,» anti-Israel activist Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian-American activist, told Fox News Digital last week. Kiswani is the co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which staged a Nakba rally in New York on May 15 where demonstrators chanted «globalize the intifada.»

Kiswani also criticized Mamdani for what she described as walking back his earlier defense of the phrase «globalize the intifada» and softening his stance on Palestinian activism after taking office.

«I don’t think he or any politician is doing enough in support of Palestinian liberation,» Kiswani said.

The divide has turned Mamdani into a local flashpoint in a broader political battle playing out across the United States, where anti-Israel activism, Islamist movements and far-left groups have increasingly merged into overlapping protest coalitions.

Ali said Mamdani’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, his comments surrounding Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and his defense of slogans such as «globalize the intifada» have alienated many moderate Muslims and worsened tensions between Muslims and Jews in New York.

Within Our Lifetime co-founder Nerdeen Kiswani speaks during a «Nakba 78» anti-Israel protest in Washington Square Park on May 15, 2026, in New York City, as demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and Hamas flags gather behind her. (Asra Q. Nomani/Fox News Digital)

«They start with the Jewish people — that’s not where they’re going to end,» Ali said.

«But more importantly, what he’s done is he’s damaged interfaith relations. He’s damaged the image of Islam.»

Ali said that Mamdani still retains strong support from progressive and pro-Palestinian activist groups that helped fuel his political rise.

Tuesday’s protest outside Gracie Mansion, Ali said, is intended to show Muslims, Jews and Christians standing together against what she described as extremist Islamist politics masquerading as mainstream Islam.

«[Mamdani] starts teaching our kids, Muslim kids and American kids, Islamism 101,» Ali said, referring to what she described as efforts to normalize Islamist political ideology through activism and identity politics.

Pro-Palestinians gather at a ‘Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land’ protest against a ‘Great Israel Real Estate’ event at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on May 5, 2026. The NYPD increased security and established a perimeter around the synagogue on E. 67th and E. 68th Streets in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Ali also described Mamdani’s politics as part of a «red-green alliance» between Islamist activists and the far left.

She warned New York risks following the path of British cities such as Bradford, Birmingham and Manchester, which she described as overtaken by extremism and division. The cities have long been at the center of debates in the United Kingdom over immigration, Islamist extremism, segregation and multiculturalism.

«The radical Islamism, it’s just unbearable to see what’s happened to the UK,» she said.

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The protest is being organized by End Jew Hatred alongside a coalition of Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups, including the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council and the Catholic League.

CAIR acknowledged Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond.