World Headlines
Inside Gaza’s mental health crisis impacting civilians, aid workers: ‘Catastrophic’
Getty Images - STOCK(GAZA) -- A "catastrophic" mental health crisis has unfolded in Gaza, affecting both civilians and humanitarian workers, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, according to international aid organizations.Since Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded by declaring war, more than 35,173 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 79,061 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 1,700 Israelis have been killed and more than 8,700 have been injured, according to Israeli officials.The physical toll of the war has been documented in photographs and videos with Gazans suffering from severe injuries, including the loss of limbs, and malnutrition due to the shortage of ... Read More
Why climate migration in Brazil has become a global crisis
Mario Tama/Getty Images(BRAZIL) -- "It is absolutely, absurdly, extraordinarily serious what is happening in Rio Grande do Sul right now -- and unfortunately, it will get worse," Brazilian state governor Eduardo Leite said during a press conference at the onset of what has become the most severe climate catastrophe to impact the region.Persistent rains and destructive flooding in the southern Brazilian state have left 150 people dead, 2.1 million affected, 620,000 residents displaced and 807 people injured, according to civil defense officials.Harrowing images from the region show a once-vibrant city and abundant farmlands completely underwater.The Guaíba River in Porto Alegre, the capital city of Rio Grande do Sul, could reach unprecedented levels of over 18 feet in the coming days, ... Read More
North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile a day after US, South Korea held jet drill
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Friday, South Korea’s military said, a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets in a joint drill that the North views as a major security threat. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons launched from the North's east coast Wonsan region traveled about 300 kilometers (185 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said a North Korean missile landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff statement called the launches “a clear provocation” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South ... Read More
Massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea causes power cutoffs in Sevastopol
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but has no plans to capture the city. Putin’s comments on a trip to China were his first on the offensive launched on May 10, which opened a new front in the war and displaced thousands of Ukrainians within few days. It came hours after a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Russian-occupied Crimea early Friday caused power cutoffs in the city of Sevastopol while damaging aircraft and fuel storage at an airbase. In southern Russia, Russian authorities said the attack also set a refinery ablaze. Speaking to reporters Friday on a visit to Harbin, China, Putin said ... Read More
Rwanda genocide tribunal comes to end after almost three decades
JonGorr/Getty Images(LONDON) -- The UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has officially concluded after 29 years, the Office of the Prosecutor has announced.It comes as the last two fugitives indicted by the tribunal -- Ryandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo -- were successfully accounted for, ultimately confirmed as deceased.Ryandikayo and Sikubwabo were charged with several crimes including counts of genocide and the two were accused of leading mobs of the Interhamwe Hutu militia.“My Office and I are pleased that today, this work has been brought to a successful end,” said International Residual Mechanism for Criminal tribunals (IRMCT) Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz.The IRMCT told ABC News that a total of 92 persons were indicted by the UN tribunal for crimes committed during ... Read More
Slovakian prime minister’s condition stabilizes after assassination attempt
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico walks during the European Council summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on April 18, 2024. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)(LONDON) -- Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's condition has been stabilized overnight following an assassination attempt, although his condition is still serious, his deputy said early Thursday.Fico, 59, was shot five times on Wednesday outside a government building in the town of Handlova, according to Slovakian Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.Doctors worked overnight to stabilize his condition, with two medical teams working on him. He spent about five hours in surgery.The complicated nature of his injuries means he's still considered to be in serious condition, his deputy said Thursday.The suspect, who has not been named, ... Read More
US soldier detained in Russia ‘admitted guilt,’ state media reports
Darrin Klimek/Getty Images(LONDON) -- Gordon Black, the U.S. soldier detained in Russia, has "admitted guilt" on a charge of theft, according to TASS, a state-owned news service.Black was said to be "cooperating" with Russia's investigation into the alleged theft, TASS reported on Thursday."The accused admitted guilt and is cooperating with the investigation. This is happening in English through an interpreter," TASS reported, quoting a representative of local law enforcement agencies.Black was detained in Vladivostok, Russia, earlier this month on charges of criminal misconduct, according to the U.S. Army. His detention is expected to last until at least July 2, according to the court. His lawyer had appealed his detention last week.Two U.S. officials told ABC News this month that Black, ... Read More
American woman charged after ammunition found in baggage in Turks and Caicos: Police
Turks and Caicos officers stand outside a police station. (ABC News/Nightline)(NEW YORK) -- Police in Turks and Caicos have charged an American woman with ammunition possession -- a crime that carries a minimum penalty of 12 years -- after airport officials alleged they found illegal ammunition in her luggage.Sharitta Shinise Grier, 45, of Orlando, Florida, was visiting Turks and Caicos with her daughter for Mother's Day when, during a routine search at the Howard Hamilton International Airport Monday, officials claim to have found two rounds of ammunition in her bag, police said.Grier and her daughter were both arrested, though the daughter was later released.Officials confirmed Wednesday the mother had been charged. She is expected in court on Thursday, officials said. ... Read More
Wildfire smoke could impact US again as Canada braces for another fiery summer
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- With numerous wildfires burning across Canada, including about 40 that remain out of control, meteorologists said conditions are stacking up for a replay of last year's fire season when thick smoke wafted down to the United States, turning the skies over New York City orange and its air quality hazardous.More than 130 wildfires are now burning in multiple provinces of Canada, mostly in the western part of the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.Earlier this week, smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted across the border into the United States, prompting Minnesota officials to issue the state's first air quality alert of 2024."As of right now, it is very hot, ... Read More
What to know about the deadly escape of French prisoner ‘The Fly’
LOU BENOIST/AFP via Getty Images(LONDON) -- A manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement officers continued Wednesday for a fugitive prisoner dubbed "The Fly" and accomplices wielding machine guns who facilitated the convicted criminal's escape by ambushing a prison transport van at a toll booth and gunning down two guards, authorities said.The international police organization Interpol issued a worldwide red alert for the fugitive identified by authorities as 30-year-old Mohmed Amra after French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said authorities are concerned that Amra has fled the country."We are investing considerable resources, we are making a lot of progress," Damanin said in an interview with the French radio broadcaster RTL.French President Emmanuel Macron stated on the social media site X: "Everything is ... Read More
Slovakian prime minister in life-threatening condition after assassination attempt
Tomas Tkacik/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot in the abdomen in an assassination attempt outside a government building in the town of Handlova on Wednesday, according to a government official.Fico, 59, was raced to a hospital in Handlova in life-threatening condition, officials said. He was conscious following the shooting, government officials said at a press conference.Several shots rang out, officials said. A suspect was immediately swarmed and arrested at the scene."I am shocked, we are all shocked by the terrible and malicious attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico," Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova said in an address to the nation. "Something serious has happened that we can't even realize yet. A physical attack ... Read More
US to send additional $2 billion in Ukraine aid, Blinken says
pop_jop/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The United States will send an additional $2 billion in aid to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday during a press conference in Kyiv with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.The aid would be used not only for purchasing weapons from the U.S., but also be used by Ukraine to invest in manufacturing its own machinery and weapons and purchasing from other countries, Blinken said.Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. ... Read More
Deadly clashes intensify in El Fasher, Darfur, amid international calls for end to Sudan civil war
Newly arrived refugees from Darfur in Sudan sit on a vehicle before being taken to a new camp on April 24, 2024 in Adre, Chad. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)(LONDON) -- Fighting between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group and allied militias has intensified in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state.In a dramatic escalation of violence, fighting has broken out in the north and east of El Fasher -- also commonly known as Al Fashir -- with the sound of airstrikes, artillery fire and heavy weapons ringing from mid-morning on Friday into the weekend.At least 27 people have been killed in the renewed fighting and at least 130 people injured, according to the ... Read More
Flood-stricken Brazil continues to battle rising river levels, 149 confirmed dead
Destroyed houses, damaged cars, branches, and debris are seen in Cruzeiro do Sul following the devastating floods that hit the region in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 14, 2024. (Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty Images)(NEW YORK) -- Persistent rains and destructive flooding continue to wreak havoc in Brazil, with officials saying rising river levels signal further damage in the Rio Grande do Sul region.As of Tuesday, 149 people were confirmed dead in the flood-stricken southern state, with 124 individuals still unaccounted for, according to civil defense officials.More than 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes, with approximately 155,000 of those homes being destroyed, officials said.In total, local agencies say 2.1 million people have been directly affected by the ... Read More
Temperatures measured during summer 2023 ‘unparalleled’ to past 2,000 years, researchers say
Tim Grist Photography/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- A closer look at tree rings is adding to the growing list of evidence that shows unprecedented temperatures measured on Earth over the past year.The summer of 2023 was the warmest in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropical regions -- from about New Orleans to the North Pole -- in the past 2,000 years, according to a study published in Nature on Tuesday.Land temperatures in this section of the Northern Hemisphere were 2.07 degrees Celsius -- or about 3.73 degrees Fahrenheit -- higher in the summer of 2023 than instrumental averages between 1850 and 1900, researchers discovered after combining measurements from thousands of meteorological stations to analyze the June-through-August surface air temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere's ... Read More
Protesters in Israel arrested after attacking Gaza aid trucks
Anas Zeyad Fteha/Anadolu via Getty Images(JERUSALEM) -- Multiple people have been arrested in connection with an attack Monday on an aid convoy headed toward Gaza, according to Israeli officials.Israeli protestors blocked aid trucks that were headed to Gaza from the West Bank. Humanitarian groups say civilians are facing a “full-blown famine” and a humanitarian crisis amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.Footage of the incident, captured by bystanders at the scene and shared online, appears to show protesters blocking and raiding the aid vehicles near Hebron that were passing through the West Bank from Jordan, destroying boxes of water, food and other aid bound for Gaza. Aid trucks can also be seen set ablaze and left burning on the road.The attack on ... Read More
Israel-Gaza live updates: Bodies of 3 hostages recovered from Gaza
Palestinians who fled Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip ride with their belongings in the back of a truck, as they arrive to take shelter in Deir el-Balah in the central part of the Palestinian territory on May 12, 2024. - Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images (NEW YORK) -- As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, renewed negotiations are underway to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, as Israeli forces continue to prepare for an apparent invasion of the southern Gazan town of Rafah.Here's how the news is developing:May 17, 3:00 PMGaza assistance through US maritime corridor not replacement for aid through land: USAIDHumanitarian assistance shipments delivered to Gaza through the U.S.’ maritime corridor should ... Read More
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