World
‘Killing off the country’: Iran executes dozens, arrests 4,000+ in war crackdown
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U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday accused Iran’s regime of dramatically intensifying its crackdown on dissent in the wake of the February conflict, warning that Tehran has carried out executions, mass arrests, torture and one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns while invoking national security.
In a sharply worded statement from Geneva, Türk said at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges since Feb. 28, as the regime faces mounting scrutiny over what he described as a sweeping assault on fundamental rights.
“I am appalled that, on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict, the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways,” Türk said.
COULD NARGES MOHAMMADI UNITE IRAN’S OPPOSITION? HUSBAND SAYS IMPRISONED NOBEL LAUREATE STILL FIGHTING
A protester holds ‘Stop executions in Iran’ and ‘Free Iran’ placards during the demonstration. Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street in protest against executions in Iran and in support of freedom for Iran. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Since the start of the conflict two months ago, the U.N. said nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges. It’s estimated that some 40,000 people were killed by regime forces during January’s uprising.
Türk warned that Iran’s broad use of vaguely defined national security laws has enabled authorities to fast-track prosecutions, deny legal counsel, and rely on coerced confessions.
“Even where national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited where strictly necessary and proportionate,” he said, calling on Tehran to halt executions, impose a moratorium on capital punishment, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained.
For many Iranian dissidents, the findings reflect an already dire reality.
A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: (L to R) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father as its supreme leader on March 9, 2026. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
“It is bad,” Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the Iran So Far Away Substack, told Fox News Digital. “They’re completely killing off the country.”
On Saturday, it was reported that Iran had executed another athlete, a 21-year-old karate champion. Sassan Azadvar Joonqani was detained in January during the anti-regime protests and was executed by the regime on Thursday, according to a report in Euronews.
Wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi was executed by the regime in March for alleged illegal actions in January’s protests against the authorities. (The Foreign Desk)
In March, Iran executed another athlete, 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi, for protesting against the regime, Fox News Digital reported.
Türk’s office said detainees have reportedly faced enforced disappearances, torture, mock executions, and televised confessions, with ethnic and religious minorities including Bahá’ís, Zoroastrians, Kurds and Baluch Iranians facing particular risk.
RUBIO REVOKES IRANIAN OFFICIALS’ US TRAVEL PRIVILEGES OVER DEADLY PROTEST CRACKDOWN KILLING THOUSANDS
Ali and Kiana Rahmani accept the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 on behalf of their mother, imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, at Oslo City Hall in Norway on Dec. 10, 2023. (Javad Parsa/NTB/Reuters)
Among those cited by the U.N. was imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, whose condition sharply worsened Friday after what her family described as a catastrophic health crisis following months of being denied specialized care.
According to a statement from the Narges Foundation that was published Friday, Mohammadi was urgently transferred by ambulance from Zanjan Prison to a hospital after suffering two episodes of complete loss of consciousness in a single day, accompanied by severe cardiac distress. The foundation said prison doctors determined her condition could no longer be managed on-site after what her family called a “last-minute” transfer that may have come dangerously late.
Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, told Fox News Digital earlier this week that her physical condition had already become increasingly dire after what he described as a violent arrest and deteriorating prison treatment. “She has sustained severe trauma and urgently requires medical attention.”
Rahmani previously said Mohammadi’s medical team and outside specialists had pushed for treatment in Tehran due to her history of multiple heart procedures, while authorities allegedly blocked those recommendations until her condition became life-threatening. Despite her physical decline, Rahmani said, “Spiritually and mentally, Narges remains steadfast.”
IRAN’S KHAMENEI LASHES OUT AT PROTESTERS AS NATIONWIDE ANTI-REGIME UNREST GROWS
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP) (UGC via AP)
The U.N. statement, combined with Mohammadi’s emergency hospitalization, has intensified scrutiny of Iran’s prison conditions, which Türk described as marked by overcrowding, medical neglect, and severe human rights abuses.
Türk also cited dire prison conditions, including overcrowding, shortages of food, water and medicine, and denial of medical care.
The U.N. further highlighted reports of lethal violence in detention facilities, including claims that security forces killed at least five detainees in Chabahar Prison after protests over suspended food distribution.
But while dissidents welcomed the U.N.’s unusually forceful language, some also questioned whether condemnation without action can meaningfully alter conditions, especially as Iran this week was elevated to a vice-chair role on a U.N. nuclear nonproliferation committee.
“The reason why Iranians just don’t trust, don’t like and don’t want to know from the U.N.,” Zand said, is what she described as its repeated failure “to rise to the occasion of responding to the regime and holding their feet to the fire at the right time… with the right amount of pressure.”
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Iranian diaspora activists gathered in front of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on Jan. 27, 2024, to protest the increase in death sentences by Iran’s Islamic Republic rulers. The demonstration was organized by the Echo Iran group. (Echo Iran/Middle East Images/AFP)
While she said the latest statement itself was important, Zand argued many view such condemnations as hollow when paired with what they see as institutional legitimacy granted to Tehran.
“They’re making a statement… fine,” she said. “But what are they gonna do about it?”
France’s Minister for Foreign Trade, Nicolas Forissier, says the European Union must stop being “naive” and shift its mindset when addressing trade imbalances, saying that the approach should encompass all countries weaponising foreign trade.
World
Inside ‘Sh(AI)ved,’ the AI-Created Vintage Adult Film Collection Unveiled at Cannes: ‘Splendid, Volcanic Orgasms’
Fifty years ago, a young woman named Hannah pleasured herself in a erotic magazine photo spread. This week, thanks to generative AI, she did it again – this time with a voiceover.
The first volume of “Sh(AI)ved” — a collection of AI-generated short films drawn from erotic magazine photo spreads published 50 years ago — made its debut on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, and is now streaming on Cultpix.
Thomas Meier, of the Norwegian firm Multiformat, deployed the latest generative AI tools to convert still images from 1976 magazine photo spreads into fully animated video, complete with color, synchronized sound, dialogue and voiceover.
Variety took a deep dive into the films to see what the fuss is all about.
The first short in the collection, the titular “Sh(AI)ved,” begins with the usual montage of naked women pleasuring themselves that mid-70s adult films normally commenced with. It’s all set to a soundtrack known variously as “wah-wah music” or “porn funk” – the latter referring to the strutting, bass-heavy funk grooves that became synonymous with the era. The genre is also sometimes called “sexploitation music” or, more colloquially, “bow-chicka-wow-wow,” heavy on electric guitar riffs.
The film itself begins with a tight close-up of the shaved pudenda of a young woman named Hannah (as a voiceover informs us), who is engaged in self stimulation. At the same time, the VO reminisces about a “tender time” with a young female friend, but how “something was missing.” The VO continues in a philosophical manner as the self stimulation advances. Hannah then makes a phone call to a male friend and in his absence, makes do with a vibro-massager.
This is followed by what the VO describes as “a randy orgy with best friends,” where three women have arrived with clean-shaven pudenda (you can see there’s a theme emerging here). “Gone were the annoying and wearisome little hairs that used to get in their way, often completely destroying the frail, sensuous atmosphere,” we are informed. The women then proceed to enjoy acrobatic sex in a number of positions, permutations and combinations, sometimes involving dildos and strap-ons, with plenty of loud moaning and the aforementioned bow-chicka-wow-wow music. All of these result in “splendid, volcanic orgasms” for all.
The final short in the first volume is titled “After-Movie Party,” where two male-female couples (who we are told swap partners) get amorous after a late-night movie and begin having sex. One of the men isn’t enjoying himself while performing cunnilingus on his partner, as her pubic hair gets in the way. The men proceed to shave the women’s pudenda — you may have noticed this theme by now — and much energetic sex is had by all.
For aficionados of 1970s adult films, “Sh(AI)ved” — and others that will surely follow it its wake — will be of much interest. For those who are not, and might only be interested in the march of AI, the films should still be fascinating. In terms of how it looks, the decor is authentic 1970s and the humans are amazingly photo-realistic, especially in their faces and bodies. Its only when it comes to extreme close ups of genitals do the plasticky nature of AI, aspiring to be photo-realistic, become evident.
“Sh(AI)ved” is, depending on your perspective, a novelty, a provocation, or a genuine milestone in the long, complicated history of moving images. Probably all three. The technology is not yet seamless – AI, it turns out, handles faces and mid-shots with remarkable aplomb but loses its nerve in extreme close-up, where flesh turns to plastic and the illusion slips. But as a proof of concept for what generative AI can do with archival still photography, and as a time capsule that captures both the aesthetic and the philosophical innocence of 1970s erotica, it is hard to look away. Future volumes will presumably iron out the technical wrinkles. For now, the most arresting thing about “Sh(AI)ved” may be how quaint it all feels – which, one suspects, is precisely the point.
World
Ebola treatment center set on fire in Congo after residents clash with authorities over victim’s body
Ebola outbreak tied to over 130 deaths as US ‘leaning into’ response
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician, details the public health emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. He stresses the low risk to the United States but highlights the critical need for international resources and coordination to extinguish the outbreak at its source.
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An Ebola treatment center in the epicenter of the deadly outbreak in eastern Congo was set on fire Thursday after angry residents clashed with authorities over the body of a suspected victim.
Rwampara Hospital was attacked by local youths attempting to retrieve the body of a friend who had reportedly died of Ebola, a witness told The Associated Press.
“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area, told the outlet. “The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”
The AP reported that people broke into the center and set fire to objects inside. A reporter also witnessed what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim being burned inside the facility.
EBOLA OUTBREAK REPORTED IN AFRICAN COUNTRY — HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
A security guard runs in front of an Ebola treatment center in flames in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) said two tents used to treat Ebola patients were set on fire at the hospital. The organization said six people were receiving treatment for Ebola at the center.
Patrick Muyaya, a government spokesperson for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said medical care was continuing normally, and all six patients were accounted for.
He called for calm while condemning violence against health facilities and medical staff.
WHO DECLARES EBOLA OUTBREAK IN CENTRAL AFRICA A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY AFTER 80 SUSPECTED DEATHS
Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the individuals who burned the tents did not understand the protocols surrounding Ebola burials.
The incident underscored growing tensions between health officials enforcing strict Ebola containment measures and local customs surrounding funerals and burial rites.
“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear,” Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”
‘DISEASE X’ HAS KILLED DOZENS IN THE CONGO — HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MYSTERY ILLNESS
Charred hospital beds stand in a smoldering Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026, after it was set on fire by people angry at being stopped from retrieving a body, according to a witness and police. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
In its statement, ALIMA condemned the spread of “incorrect or unconfirmed information on social media and the internet,” warning that misinformation could fuel fear and mistrust toward health facilities.
The violent clash comes as Congolese health officials reported 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected Ebola cases across two provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The United Nations said earlier this week that neighboring Uganda had reported two cases, including one death.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency Sunday, and the U.S. issued an urgent travel warning for the DRC shortly afterward.
US ISSUES URGENT TRAVEL WARNING AS DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK SPREADS OVERSEAS
Congolese police personnel and civilians stand near the burning Ebola treatment center, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak, in Rwampara general hospital in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. (REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere)
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this week he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.”
Officials said the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rarer variant for which existing vaccines may be less effective.
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Nearly $4 million in emergency funding has been approved by the WHO to support national authorities responding to the outbreak.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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