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.

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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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Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

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.

The man told ‌police ⁠he was unaware of his wife’s possible pregnancies. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

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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.

The Senate took its first major step in fulfilling one of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s biggest desires: levying bone-crushing sanctions against Russia.

A bipartisan swell carried the sanctions package through its first hurdle on an 86-12 vote, which has gone through several iterations in the time since it was first formulated by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. He explained that at its core, the package was designed to stop purchases of Russian oil and gas that was «fueling Putin’s war machine.» 

«Ukraine’s fight is our fight,» Blumenthal said. «Nobody believed that more deeply and passionately than Lindsey Graham. He lived it, and this vote is a step forward.»

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The colossal vote also marks a huge victory on the floor for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who over the summer has managed to pass or advance two major bills with a massive wave of bipartisan support on the Senate floor, even during starkly partisan times in upper chamber. 

And the package that survived Tuesday night, just hours after lawmakers, world leaders and family said their last Washington, D.C., goodbyes to the longtime senator has once again been revamped.

A bipartisan group led by Blumenthal and Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who picked up her older brother’s sanctions crusade, announced that a deal had been reached to rename the package in honor of the late lawmaker, and tack on additional sanctions against Iran.

Lawmakers argue that the best way to remember Graham, and cement his legacy into law, is to pass the newly-minted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, particularly as a symbol of his ferocious support for Ukraine.

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Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that «literally the first conversation I ever had with Lindsey Graham was about Russia sanctions.»

«I know he was very passionate about this and I know that sanctions are one of the best tools we have for bringing wars to an end without having to commit any of our military,» Husted said.

The bill, as Blumenthal noted, still focuses on kneecapping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort by targeting Moscow’s top financial gainer: oil and gas sales.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a memorial service for former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

But it also extends sanction authority against Iran that hampers funding to the country’s weapons and energy sectors as the administration and negotiators abroad seek to find a long-lasting peace agreement for the war in the Middle East.

Also, still in the legislation are targeted sanctions against Putin, Russian officials and Russian military leaders, up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports, tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy, like China and India.

It also gives President Donald Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions, among others.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., one of the original backers of the sanctions package, is already putting pressure on the House to make a move on the legislation. The lower chamber left until the end of August last week. 

«I am hopeful that when we get this across the finish line, which is going to happen in a big way, that the House will come back immediately and pass this legislation,» Britt said. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close ally of Graham’s, made the journey to Washington to attend his funeral, and meet with President Donald Trump and lawmakers in the process to push the sanctions bill and a deal for more anti-ballistic defenses in the war against Russia.

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Zelenskyy said on X that, «First and foremost, I offered President Trump our condolences on the passing of Lindsey Graham. He was a true friend of Ukraine.»

«The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,» Zelenskyy said. «We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.»

And Zelenskyy, after his closed-door meeting with lawmakers, went to the viewing gallery in the Senate to watch vote, which after many stops and starts, finally showed signs of progress. 

La agencia de migración de la ONU alertó sobre el aumento de tráfico de personas para trabajos forzados en centros de estafas en línea, una modalidad que afecta a cientos de miles de víctimas, incluidas personas angloparlantes con estudios universitarios. Según la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM), los grupos criminales captan a sus víctimas mediante anuncios falsos de empleo, especialmente a través de redes sociales, que prometen oportunidades laborales en el extranjero.

Al llegar al destino, los afectados son privados de libertad, se les retienen documentos y se les obliga a participar en esquemas de fraude por internet, bajo amenazas, violencia y “servidumbre por deudas”.

“Estamos viendo que ahora mismo surgen muchos más de estos casos”, declaró la directora general de la OIM, Amy Pope, el martes en Ginebra. La funcionaria precisó que hay víctimas de más de 80 países distintos en este tipo de delitos. Pope subrayó que los reclutadores buscan perfiles que “por lo general hablan muy bien inglés”, a menudo con títulos de posgrado y cierto nivel académico, y que los casos “se están dando específicamente en toda Asia”.

“Las redes criminales atraen a estas personas con promesas de empleo, anunciando ofertas en redes sociales, reclutando a personas que a menudo hablan inglés muy bien, y que frecuentemente tienen títulos universitarios”, sostuvo Pope y agregó: “No todas las personas que trabajan en esos centros son víctimas de trata, algunas saben en lo que se están involucrando, pero un porcentaje significativo son víctimas de trata”.

La OIM citó estimaciones de la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (ONUDD) que calculan pérdidas por hasta 114.000 millones de dólares el año pasado en Asia oriental, Australia y Nueva Zelanda, y advierten que los “complejos de estafas” en la región podrían albergar a cientos de miles de trabajadores traficados.

Entre 2022 y 2025, la OIM asistió a más de 3.500 víctimas de este tipo de explotación, originarias de casi 40 países, siendo las más afectadas Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Etiopía, Kenia y Bangladesh.

Pope, precisó que, aunque inicialmente las víctimas procedían principalmente de países asiáticos cercanos a los centros de estafa, actualmente se han documentado afectados de más de 80 países, lo que indica una diversificación en el origen de las personas explotadas por estas organizaciones. Respecto a los perjudicados por los fraudes en línea, Pope advirtió que estas redes suelen seleccionar como objetivo a personas mayores, a quienes contactan telefónicamente para intentar obtener datos bancarios y cometer estafas.

La Policía de Malasia desarticuló dos centros de estafas digitales en el estado de Johor, frente a Singapur, y detuvo a más de 300 personas presuntamente implicadas en fraudes millonarios contra víctimas internacionales, según informaron las autoridades y recogen medios locales.

De acuerdo con el jefe policial de Johor, Ab Rahaman Arsad, citado por la prensa malasia, los centros operaban en 32 inmuebles —27 apartamentos en un complejo de lujo y 5 chalés— y estaban vinculados a sospechosos con antecedentes en fraudes similares en otros países. El diario nacional The Star indicó que cada residencia tenía asignadas víctimas de un país específico, y que la mayoría de los engaños estaban relacionados con falsas inversiones, criptomonedas y la suplantación de bufetes de abogados.

El operativo culminó con la detención de 335 personas de entre 20 y 58 años, entre ellos 309 ciudadanos chinos, 19 indonesios, cuatro birmanos y cuatro malasios, según el mismo medio.

Expertos y la ONU señalaron que los centros de estafa surgieron en el Sudeste Asiático ligados a la industria de los casinos, y se trasladaron al entorno digital tras la pandemia de la covid-19. Muchos de sus trabajadores cumplen labores en condiciones cercanas a la semiesclavitud, defraudando millones de dólares a víctimas en todo el mundo bajo las órdenes de mafias, en su mayoría de origen chino.

(Con información de Associated Press y EFE)