World

Woman wakes up with 8-foot python coiled on her chest while sleeping: ‘Don’t move’

Published

2 weeks ago

January 18, 2026

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Woman wakes up with 8-foot python coiled on her chest while sleeping: ‘Don’t move’

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“Oh baby. Don’t move. There is like a 2.5-meter python on you.”

An Australian woman woke up in the middle of the night to discover a massive carpet python coiled across her chest after the snake slithered into her second-story bedroom in Brisbane, Queensland.

Rachel Bloor said she initially believed the heavy weight on her stomach and chest was her dog lying on top of her. But when she reached out under the covers, she felt something smooth move beneath her hand and realized it was not her pet.

“To my horror, I realized it wasn’t my dog,” Bloor told the BBC.

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Carpet pythons, while nonvenomous, can be lethal to their prey through constrictions. (WTVT)

The 2.5-meter, or roughly 8-foot, snake had made its way into her bedroom Monday night, according to the report.

Bloor said she immediately woke her husband and asked him to turn on the lights.

“He goes, ‘Oh baby. Don’t move. There is like a 2.5-meter python on you,’” she recalled.

Her first concern, Bloor said, was getting the family dogs out of the room before anything escalated.

“I thought if my Dalmatian realized that there’s a snake there, it is gonna be carnage,” she said.

After her husband removed the dogs, Bloor carefully worked her way out from beneath the covers.

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Rachel Bloor calmly handled the nearly 8-foot carpet python herself instead of calling professionals in the moment. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“I sort of side shuffled out,” she said.

Rather than calling a professional snake catcher, Bloor said she stayed calm and ushered the large reptile out of the bedroom herself through a window.

“I grabbed him,” she said, adding that the python “didn’t seem overly freaked out.”

“He sort of just wobbled in my hand,” she said.

Bloor suspects the snake entered through plantation shutters on her window and crawled onto the bed while she slept.

“It was that big that even though it had been curled up on me, part of its tail was still out the shutter,” she said.

FLORIDA WOMAN WINS ANNUAL PYTHON CHALLENGE WITH RECORD SNAKE HAUL

Bloor said she just ‘sort of side-shuffled out.’ (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The snake was identified as a carpet python, a non-venomous constrictor commonly found in Australia’s coastal regions.

Despite the frightening encounter, Bloor said she was relieved it was not another animal.

“Toads freak me out,” she said.

Snake catcher Kurt Whyte told ABC News that snake activity has increased with breeding season over and eggs beginning to hatch.

“Obviously, with this hot weather, we’re seeing plenty of them getting out and about and basking in this sun,” Whyte said.

Whyte added that while snake populations have not necessarily increased, sightings are becoming more common as housing developments expand into Australian bushland.

“They have got to find places to live, and our backyards are offering the perfect habitat,” he said.

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He warned that common household features could provide easy access for snakes seeking shelter.

“Unfortunately, the gaps in our garage doors… provide the perfect entry points for a snake,” Whyte said.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

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World

Venezuela releases all known American detainees after Maduro’s capture and government takeover

Published

5 hours ago

January 31, 2026

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Venezuela releases all known American detainees after Maduro’s capture and government takeover

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All known American citizens being held in Venezuela have been released, the U.S. Embassy said Friday evening.

“We are pleased to confirm the release by the interim authorities of all known U.S. citizens held in Venezuela,” the embassy wrote on X. “Should you have information regarding any other U.S. citizens still detained, please contact American Citizen Services.”

No other details about the detainees were disclosed. Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department.

VENEZUELA’S DELCY RODRÍGUEZ SNAPS AT WASHINGTON, DECLARES ‘ENOUGH’ OF US INFLUENCE

Venezuelans burn a U.S. flag after the announcement of the U.S. attacks and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. government on Friday said all known Americans being detained in the country had been released. (Stringer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Interim authorities have slowly released American detainees in the weeks since the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Both are being held in New York City on federal narco-terrorism charges.

Earlier this month, Venezuela’s interim government reported that 116 prisoners had been released, although only about 70 have been verified by the non-governmental organization Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, according to Bloomberg.

STATE DEPT CONFIRMS ‘LIMITED NUMBER’ OF PERSONNEL IN CARACAS WORKING TO RESUME VENEZUELA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during celebrations for Independence Day in Caracas July 5, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, the U.S. government announced a travel alert advising against travel to the country. Americans in the country were advised to depart immediately.

“The security situation in Venezuela remains fluid. The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela, reiterating warnings against travel to Venezuela dating to 2019. As international flights have resumed, U.S. citizens in Venezuela should leave the country immediately.”

The country is being run by Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former lieutenant.

This week, Rodriguez signed a law overhauling the nation’s oil sector, opening it to privatization and reversing a core policy of the socialist government that has ruled Venezuela for more than two decades.

The State Department told Fox News a “limited number” of people are working on the ground in Venezuela. (Reuters)

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On Jan. 10, President Donald Trump said American energy companies will invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s “rotting” oil infrastructure and push production to record levels.

World

Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians across Gaza, attacks reported in Rafah

Published

6 hours ago

January 31, 2026

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Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians across Gaza, attacks reported in Rafah

Multiple attacks across the besieged enclave a day before Israel is expected to reopen the Rafah border crossing.

Published On 31 Jan 2026

At least 12 Palestinians, half of them children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since dawn, a day before the Rafah crossing is due to reopen.

An Israeli air strike on Saturday on a tent sheltering displaced people in the al-Mawasi area to the northwest of Khan Younis city killed at least seven Palestinians, including three children, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Rafah reopening

Residents in the border town of Rafah also reported several air attacks in areas under Israeli control. Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza with Egypt, on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.

The opening of the key entry point is part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It was meant to open during the first phase of the ceasefire, but Israel refused to do so until the body of its last remaining captive was found.

Israel on Saturday said it would only allow a “limited movement of people” who have received security clearance by Israel to enter and exit. No aid or humanitarian supplies will be allowed to enter.

“Only those who fled during the past two years are allowed to come back,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud explained. “Those who are born outside the Gaza Strip are not going to be allowed to come back.”

Hamas responded to the Rafah announcement by calling for Israel to allow movement in and out of Gaza “without restrictions”, and urged it to adhere to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,600 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.

(Al Jazeera)

World

Video: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

Published

16 hours ago

January 30, 2026

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Video: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

new video loaded: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

The actor Hudson Williams gave Prime Minister Mark Carney a fictional Canada Olympic Team fleece jacket that his character wore on “Heated Rivalry,” which has become a global phenomenon.

By Axel Boada

January 30, 2026