This picture shows the destroyed Arbaat Dam, 40km north of Port Sudan that collapsed following heavy rains and torrential floods on August 25, 2024. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A dam collapse in Sudan has left at least 30 people dead and at least 20 villages destroyed, the United Nations has said, following heavy rains in a region already devastated by civil war.
The U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs posted a statement to its website on Monday evening noting that the Arbaat Dam — some 24 miles northwest of the city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast — “suffered extensive damage due to heavy rains” on Saturday.
“Preliminary reports indicate the breach caused extensive damage in 20 villages downstream from the dam,” the statement read. “Our humanitarian partners and local authorities are assessing the affected areas and will have additional clarity on the extent of the damage in the coming days.”
The U.N. cited a government delegation as reporting 70 villages around the dam were affected by the flood, with 20 destroyed. Of the 65,000 people living to the west of the facility, the homes of around 50,000 have either been destroyed or damaged, the U.N. situation report said.
“The affected people are in urgent need of water, food, and shelter assistance,” it added.
The real death toll is “likely much higher” than the current 30 people, the statement read, with reports indicating that “scores of people” are missing.
The Arbaat Dam is the primary source of freshwater for Port Sudan and its 483,000 residents.
“The reported damage is expected to have a substantial impact on water supplies to Port Sudan, worsening the humanitarian situation,” the U.N. said.
The port city has served as a haven for government troops — the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) — since 2023, when fighting erupted between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group and left the capital of Khartoum contested.
Port Sudan has also been a center for internally displaced people fleeing the fighting between the SAF and RSF.
“I extend my condolences to those that have lost loved ones or been displaced due to the recent collapse of Aarbat Dam,” U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello posed on X.
“With the fragility of so much vital civilian infrastructure, we reiterate calls on the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to provide protections for the restoration of security, health care, and infrastructure,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — A 39-year-old man has drowned after pushing two children to safety from a river before succumbing to the current himself, officials said.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, when authorities received a call at approximately 1:45 p.m. to reports of a possible drowning in the Delaware River, according to a statement from the National Park Service.
Rescue team members were on the scene within minutes but were unable to find the currently unnamed 39-year-old New Jersey man until 3:07 p.m. when crews recovered his body about 20 to 30 feet from shore in approximately 7 feet of water, officials said.
“According to witnesses, the man had been swimming in the Delaware River with his family when two children in the party began to struggle in the current,” NPS said in their statement following the accident on Monday. “He was able to get the children to safety before succumbing to the current himself.”
National Park Service rangers and dive team members from Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and rescue teams from Bushkill, Dingmans and Westfall Fire Departments and Lehman Township EMS all responded to the call for help on Monday from Pike County Dispatch regarding the drowning, authorities said.
This is the second drowning in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area this summer. The first occurred on June 29 when a 24-year-old man drowned in the waters of the Delaware River near Milford Beach within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, according to authorities.
The investigation into the latest drowning accident remains open.
(NEW YORK) — A female student at Texas’ Rice University was shot and killed on Monday by a man authorities said she had been in a “dating relationship” with.
University police responded to a request for a welfare check around 4:30 p.m. local time and found the student, who was identified as Andrea Rodriguez Avila, deceased in her room. Police also discovered an “unidentified male with a self-inflicted … gunshot wound, who was not a member of the Rice community,” school president Reginald DesRoches told the media.
Chief of Police for Rice, Clemente Rodriguez, confirmed police found a note “written by the suspect” at the scene, leading to their belief that the male shot Avila.
“In general terms, it was a lot about their relationship, and then obviously they were having a troubled relationship at this time,” he said of the note, adding that officials believe it was a “dating relationship.”
DesRoches said the “Rice campus is safe, and there is no immediate threat” to the community.
“And tonight, we will wrap our arms around our students,” he added.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office released this Ring camera still of Stanley Kotowski in the clothes he was last seen wearing before going missing. (Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office)
(NEW YORK) — Authorities in South Carolina said they believe they have found the body of an endangered Massachusetts man who went missing over a week ago while vacationing with his family on Hilton Head Island.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, had not been seen since leaving his family’s vacation rental in Sea Pines the morning of Aug. 16, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
The body of a man believed to be Kotowski was found under a home in Sea Pines on Monday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities responded to the home around 11:30 a.m. ET Monday “in connection to suspicious activity,” and the body was recovered about four hours later, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Tuesday to determine the manner of death and positively identify the body, the sheriff’s office said.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by other agencies, Sea Pines Security, and the community in the search for Mr. Kotowski,” the sheriff’s office said.
Kotowski was reported missing by his family about two hours after he was last seen, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sergeant Daniel Allen. He was listed as endangered due to his mental state, the length of time he has been missing and because he was last seen on a Ring camera without any shoes on, Allen said.
According to the incident report, Jackie Kotowski told deputies that her husband “believes Sea Pines is a ‘set up’ and has a conspiracy that the people here are out to get him.” She also reported that he had made “several statements of people at this place ‘watching him,'” the incident report stated.
He had been struggling with anxiety before he went missing, his family told ABC Savannah, Georgia, affiliate WJCL-TV following his disappearance.
“He had really bad insomnia for about a month. This is like a brand-new thing,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL. “He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid, and he thought someone was chasing him.”
He had not taken any personal items, such as his phone or wallet, when he left the rental, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
(NEW YORK) — More than 9,500 cases of 100% apple juice that were sold at Walmart have been recalled due to high levels of arsenic.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration upgraded the level of the apple juice recall, originally issued on Aug. 15, from unclassified to class 2, which indicates “a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences,” but is unlikely to cause “serious adverse health consequences.”
“Product contains inorganic arsenic above action level set in industry guidance (13.2ppb),” meaning parts per billion, the FDA said of the juice.
The agency’s enforcement report stated that 9,535 cases of Great Value brand apple juice sold at Walmart in 25 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had been voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer Refresco Beverages US Inc.
A representative for Refresco told ABC News in a statement, “We are aware that certain lots of the 100% apple juice we previously manufactured contains inorganic arsenic slightly above the FDA’s 10 ppb (parts per billion) action level in the FDA Final Guidance to Industry on Action Level for Inorganic Arsenic in Apple Juice, which aims at reducing the dietary exposure of contaminants to as low as possible. As a result, impacted products are being voluntarily recalled.”
The statement continued, “At this time there are no reported complaints or incidents of illness caused by the product. Per the FDA, it is not possible to completely prevent arsenic from entering the food supply, yet exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic can have adverse health effects.”
The representative added that “the safety of consumers and the satisfaction of our customers are our top priorities” and that the company is “working diligently to address the situation.”
Product details of recalled apple juice
The contaminated Great Value beverages in question were sold in six-packs of 8-ounce plastic bottles with the UPC code 0-78742-29655-5.
The recalled apple juice has a “Best if used by” date code of DEC2824 CT89-6.
The Crew of the next SpaceX private astronaut flight called Polaris Dawn, (Left to Right) Anna Menon, who works to develop astronaut operations for SpaceX, Scott Poteet, who served as the mission director of the Inspiration4 mission SpaceX, Jared Isaacman, who is financing the mission and Sarah Gillis, lead space operations engineer, SpaceX. Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington
(MERRITT ISLAND, Fla.) — Embarking on a new chapter of private space exploration, the Polaris Dawn mission is poised to make history this week by launching four private citizens into ultrahigh orbit and attempting the first civilian spacewalk.
Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and in collaboration with SpaceX, the crew aims to reach as far as 870 miles above Earth, the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in more than a half-century since the Apollo program.
SpaceX announced Monday that the Falcon 9 rocket that will carry the Polaris Dawn crew to orbit could launch as early as Wednesday at 3:38 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was delayed 24 hours from the planned pre-dawn Tuesday blast-off.
The delay is due to a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical, SpaceX said.
Umbilical systems employ fluid connectors known as quick disconnects to transfer fluids into a vehicle, according to NASA.
“Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit,” the company added.
There are two additional launch opportunities within the four-hour window on Wednesday at 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. ET. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Thursday, Aug. 29 at the same times, according to SpaceX.
Isaacman, the CEO of the payment-processing company Shift4, will be joined by former Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
During the historic mission, which is set to span five days under normal conditions, two of the crew members will exit the spacecraft in the first commercial spacewalk at an altitude of 435 miles above Earth.
During a press briefing last week, Isaacman shared details on the ambitious mission, which will see all four crew members exposed to the vacuum of space due to the absence of an airlock on the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
The spacewalk will also serve as a critical test for SpaceX’s new Extravehicular Activity spacesuits, an evolution of the intravehicular activity suit.
This new design includes a heads-up display, helmet camera and enhanced joint mobility. It also features thermal insulation, solar protection and a suspension system that allows you to pressurize the suit, put on a harness and actually go through operations as if you are weightless.
The Dragon spacecraft has undergone significant modifications, including upgrades to the life support systems to supply more oxygen during spacewalks, according to the Polaris Program. Environmental sensing has been improved, and a new nitrogen repressurization system has been installed.
The Polaris Dawn mission will be Isaacman’s second journey to space.
In 2021, he funded his first mission to orbit Earth. The project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser, garnering $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and marked the first all-civilian mission to orbit.
Looking to the future, Isaacman believes the SpaceX vehicles could unlock a new frontier in commercial space travel.
“It could very well be the 737 for human space flight someday,” he said of the company’s Starship vehicle. “But it’ll certainly be the vehicle that will return humans to the moon and then on to Mars and beyond.”
Jennifer Solomon leads Parenting with Pride, a network of parents aiming to advocate for LGBTQ students in Florida. (Jennifer Solomon)
(NEW YORK) — When Florida parent Rose Taylor discovered that her son’s new teacher would not use his preferred pronouns, it shattered Taylor’s perception of safety in her local North Florida school.
Taylor, who asked to be named using a pseudonym for privacy reasons, says her son declared that he was a boy at the age of 4, and his teachers and fellow students welcomed his name and pronoun changes.
The next year, however, his new teacher wouldn’t call him by the proper pronouns. Taylor’s son told his mother that the teacher could call him a girl, “but no one else could.”
The comment sounded off alarm bells for Taylor: “Adults don’t get special rules for you, especially that go against your personal rules.”
She continued, “This is going to open him up to bullying. This is going to teach him that rules don’t apply to certain adults in authority, which could open him up to any sort of sexual assault, grooming or anything like that.”
Joining a group like Equality Florida’s Parenting with Pride has helped parents like Taylor face such obstacles amid the backdrop of rising anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric.
According to the ACLU, Florida had 14 bills introduced this year that would impact the LGBTQ community — including restrictions on changes to ID cards, the required use of preferred names or pronouns, and more.
In recent years, education has been the target of this kind of legislation, with the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law and the Stop “WOKE” Act restricting what material and content schools can share about gender and sexual orientation.
Supporters say these laws allow parents to decide what their children learn or discuss about certain topics, and should be discussed at home instead of at school. A spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis argued in a post on X that “there is no reason for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of K-12 public education. Full stop.”
Many of these bills failed or died in the legislature. One of those bills was from State Sen. Bran Martin, who proposed legislation that would have banned Pride flags from flying at government buildings or public schools and colleges. In an interview with ABC News, Martin called sexual orientation and gender “adult issues” and argued that these laws are intended to “protect children.”
“No one’s attacking kids for their sexual orientation or their gender identity,” Martin said.
Instead, he noted that some constituents and legislators do not believe young kids should be having conversations related to gender or sexual orientation in the classroom.
“There’s so many, so many good books that kids can learn to deal with self-esteem and how to deal with their friends and how to be successful, or how to deal with unique experiences in their life,” Martin said. “We don’t have to have our shelves full of kids’ books dealing with sexual identity when there’s so much other information to learn that can be taught.”
Florida parent Jennifer Solomon told ABC News her youngest son didn’t know anything about politics or the different gender identities when he began showing signs that his gender expression might not align with what is typical for boys his age — such as wanting to wear dresses.
She created local LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG Miami when she discovered there were few local resources for parents with children like her son, and she needed guidance and support.
“I realized that I had a story to tell, that I had this incredible child that I was given to raise, and he changes hearts and minds everywhere he goes,” she said.
She thought middle school might be a “nightmare” for her child due to her fears about bullying and his safety — “I was wrong,” she said.
“He is student council president. He is on the cheerleading team. He just made the competitive dance team,” Solomon said. “He has shown me and shown others that you can live as who you are, and others will accept you if we get the politicians and the lawmakers to kind of move out of the way and let our kids just be who they are. “
Now, as the Parents and Families Support Manager for Equality Florida, Solomon hopes Parenting for Pride can help parents address efforts to restrict representation in classroom content or restrict how students can express themselves in schools.
Parenting for Pride — which just held its first summit with more than 200 participants — offers workshops, panels and trainings on online safety, health and wellness, Title IX, and more.
Hillsboro County parent Ellen Lyons attended the summit on behalf of her school’s Parent-Teacher Association to learn how to better make all families feel “welcome and included.”
“Students generally have been concerned about the impact of legislation on the books that they can read, on the way they can address one another, of the way that teachers can address them,” said Lyons. “And so one of the things that PTA wants to do is have all of the knowledge about what the current state of affairs is, so that we can give people accurate information and help people advocate for their students.”
Parenting with Pride has created a network of more than 2,000 families — an effort local activists are encouraging amid the growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment.
“We are parents, and we are demanding our parental rights, because it’s not just parental rights for some, but parental rights for all,” said Solomon. “Enough attacking my child. I’m willing now to be in a space of advocacy that I never thought I would be in.”
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — An aerial hoop artist is recovering after she fell during a Cirque du Soleil show in Oregon, according to the production.
The dramatic incident, which was captured on video, occurred at a performance of the show “KOOZA” on Saturday at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland.
The performer was seen hanging on a hoop suspended from the ceiling as it spun in circles before she fell mid-act. The audience could be heard gasping after she fell onto the ground.
The artist is “recovering and being cared for by our medical and coaching team,” “KOOZA” said in a statement on Facebook on Monday, adding that they “appreciate your concern and well wishes for our aerial hoop artist.”
“Safety is of our utmost concern, and they will be cared for until they can return to the show,” the statement continued. “We do hope you enjoyed the rest of KOOZA.”
The name of the performer was not released by the show.
Brian Goldstein, who was sitting close to the front of the audience with his two children during Saturday’s production, told ABC News the fall occurred within a half hour of the show starting.
“To see something like this is very surprising and very shocking,” he said. “It was very scary for my daughter.”
His son, Benjamin, captured the fall on video. Benjamin told ABC News he thought it was part of the show, “but then when the actors were looking surprised, I was like, oh no, this isn’t part of the show at all.”
Brian Goldstein said they were impressed with how the team responded to the incident and how the performer “maintained her composure.”
“She gave a thumbs up as she was being carried off stage, which was a great sign,” he said.
Brian Goldstein said that after a roughly 20-minute pause in the performance, a person involved with the show addressed the audience and said the artists were willing to continue, and they went on to finish the show.
“I have to give those performers kudos — to continue on and complete the show after something like that, it’s got to be difficult,” he said. “They did a phenomenal job.”
To the aerial hoop artist, he said: “We hope she knows that all of her fans are looking forward to her speedy recovery.”
According to the description on Cirque du Soleil’s website, “KOOZA” combines “acrobatic performance and the art of clowning, while exploring fear, identity, recognition and power.”
The show is scheduled to run at the Portland Expo Center through Oct. 6.
(NEW YORK) — Rising inflation has driven mortgage rates up, making it difficult for many Americans to find an affordable home. As a result, many potential buyers find themselves waiting for an interest rate cut to bring mortgage prices down.
For more than a year, LaToya Trotter has worked closely with trusted real estate agent Shannon Welch to find an ideal new home in the vibrant Chicago area. Trotter purchased their current home in 2020 for $45,000 in an all-cash offer.
Interest rates have dropped from their 23-year high in 2023 but are nowhere near the 3% homeowners enjoyed in 2020. This puts home prices at an all-time high, dramatically increasing moving costs.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the current monthly payment for a median-priced home has more than doubled since 2019. Buying a starter home in more than 200 U.S. cities now costs $1 million.
“It’s sad because there are people in America that will never make $1 million in their lifetime,” Welch said. “So how can they afford a million-dollar home?
Trotter, a single mother and electrical engineer, is searching for a new home priced at $400,000 to secure her 14-year-old daughter Adoniah’s future. She wants to move closer to her daughter’s school. The teenager attends a private Catholic high school located 30 minutes away from their South Chicago home.
She visited a three-bedroom, two-bath home listed for $340,000 and a five-bedroom, three-bath home with an asking price of more than $459,000.
Welch is keeping a keen eye on the market for her client. She doesn’t dismiss Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ promise to build 3 million new housing units if elected, but she thinks that plan misses the mark in Chicago.
“We have tons of inventory throughout Chicago land,” Welch said. “We have hundreds of properties on auction. We have properties that are abandoned.”
Harris proposed a plan to assist first-generation homebuyers by providing a down payment of up to $25,000.
While Harris’ Republican rival Donald Trump has yet to outline a housing plan if he wins back the White House in November, the Republican National Party this year pledged to promote homeownership through tax incentives.
According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, more respondents trust Trump over Harris to handle the economy and inflation by 9 points. Over 85% of adults consider this a top issue in their presidential vote.
When asked who she’ll vote for this November, Trotter noted that she’ll back the candidate whose policies seem likely to offer her the best future.
“I’ll just again look to find whoever has policies that align more closely with what I’m looking to do today,” Trotter said. “It’s not about the past. It’s about looking forward.”
(WASHINGTON) — General Larry Ellis, a retired four-star general who served in that rank under George W. Bush’s administration, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter exclusively obtained by ABC News.
This is the first time Ellis, who served as the commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, has endorsed a presidential candidate, writing that “this is not a decision I take lightly, but one I believe necessary.”
“Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is wholly and dangerously unfit for Commander-in-Chief. He praises and emboldens our enemies that seek to weaken our country. He has denigrated our brave men and women in uniform,” Ellis writes.
Ellis adds that if any service member were to ever “act just a bit like” Trump, “then he or she would be immediately removed from the leadership position, admonished, and separated from military service.”
Former Bush, Romney and McCain staffers endorse Harris
More than 200 Republican staffers who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney, or the late Sen. John McCain also endorsed Harris in a letter Monday obtained by ABC News. The letter was first obtained by USA today.
The letter calls on moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states who voted for President Biden in 2020 to vote for Harris in November.
“Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable,” the letter says.
The letters of endorsement come on the same day that Trump is reaching out to U.S. service members. On the third anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal and bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members, Trump slammed the Biden administration’s handling and sought to tie Harris to the chaotic withdrawal.
“The humiliation in Afghanistan set off the collapse of American credibility and respect all around the world,” Trump said to the National Guard Association of the United States conference in Detroit.
In response, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement to ABC News: “The Biden-Harris Administration inherited a mess from Donald Trump. Trump wants America to forget that he had four years to get out of Afghanistan, but failed to do it. All he did was continue our longest war. Trump cannot be trusted to keep us safe, but Vice President Harris is a proven leader on the world stage.”
