(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is putting off its plan to ban menthol cigarettes until next March after an aggressive lobbying push by civil rights groups — some sponsored by Big Tobacco — who argued a ban would unfairly target Black smokers.
The delay, acknowledged in an online posting Wednesday, is a major defeat for health advocates who have been pushing for years to limit access to menthol cigarettes, which are aggressively marketed in Black communities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, menthol can enhance the addictive effects of cigarettes and make it harder to quit.
“We can’t reduce tobacco use and associated disease and death without eliminating menthol as a flavor. That’s really the next step,” said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, which represents city health departments across the country.
The Biden administration had seemed on board with restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes, with the Food and Drug Administration proposing the ban in April 2022. A final rule was supposed to be released in August. When a final rule was sent to the White House budget office this fall, advocates believed they were close to the finish line.
But in private phone calls, civil rights groups including the ACLU; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, or NOBLE; and Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network warned the White House against the plan, with some officials suggesting that a regulatory crackdown could harm President Joe Biden’s reelection chances with Black voters.
A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities involved, confirmed that the delay was the result of those conversations.
“It is a signal to the community that lobbied on this that we heard you and we need some more time to look at this,” the official told ABC News.
The White House declined to comment.
Now anti-tobacco groups say they worry the rule won’t happen at all, especially in an election year. They point to the fact that several of the groups involved in discussions with the White House and others running ads against the ban are sponsored by tobacco companies.
Yolonda Richardson, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said more than 45,000 Black people die from smoking each year — a figure the administration knows well.
“I don’t know how Black Lives Matter if you’re willing to put 45,000 lives at risk” by keeping menthol cigarettes on the market, she said.
NOBLE lists tobacco giant Altria among its sponsors. Another group, the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, which ran ads against the proposed ban, is sponsored by Reynolds American.
NOBLE and NABCJ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tobacco-maker Reynolds American said it supports organizations that “contribute to the debate” on issues important to its consumers.
“Reynolds has been clear on where it stands on this topic – we strongly believe there are more effective ways to deliver tobacco harm reduction than banning products. Banning products often leads to unintended consequences such as the increase of illegal/unregulated products flooding the market,” according to the company statement.
Altria did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but in a statement on menthol cigarettes in general said: “We believe prohibition does not work, and criminalizing menthol will lead to serious unintended consequences. We also believe the science and evidence does not support bans on menthol cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars.”
Sharpton’s National Action Network says it participated in phone calls with the White House because it believes the menthol ban would have unintended consequences. A spokesperson did not answer questions about whether tobacco companies sponsor the organization.
“National Action Network has taken the position that, unless there are real safeguards against criminal prosecution of Black and Brown communities, the proposed menthol ban will have unintended consequences,” according to a statement shared with ABC News. “This position was taken after working with Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner; attorney Ben Crump; and the ACLU. NAN is also not opposed to a ban on all cigarettes.” (Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, died in 2014 after being placed in a police chokehold while being arrested on Staten Island in a dispute over selling loose cigarettes.)
Juliano and Richardson said any suggestion that the rule could criminalize Black smokers doesn’t make sense because the rule goes after manufacturing and distribution only.
“These regulations do not suggest in any way shape or form that individuals would bear the brunt of any enforcement,” Juliano said.
Richardson said misinformation is a problem as much as the politics.
“I think it’s very easy for the tobacco industry to stoke fears on an issue that clearly the Black and African American community feels very strongly about and it’s very emotional issue for this community,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — A gunman opened fire at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, killing three and injuring another in a “heinous” incident that shattered the peace of the campus, officials said.
The gunman, who law enforcement officials have not named, went floor to floor in Beam Hall and was only stopped by campus police officers who engaged him in a shootout, according to the authorities.
“What happened today is a heinous, unforgivable crime,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference.
“[T]here was a gathering just outside of the building where the students were playing games and eating food,” he continued. “There were tables set up for them to build Legos, and if it hadn’t been for the heroic actions of one of the police officers who responded, there could have been countless additional lives taken.”
The shooting was first reported at 11:45 a.m., and McMahill said the incident originated on the fourth floor of Beam Hall.
“We heard shots; we heard a bunch of shots, and the second police got there, they went in, and more shots were fired,” UNLV junior Danny Coleman told KTNV ABC 13.
The officers engaged the suspect in a firefight, where he was struck and killed, according to the police.
UNLV said police were working to evacuate buildings one at a time, and students were urged to shelter in place. The order was lifted late Wednesday night, university president Keith E. Whitfield announced in a letter to the community.
Three died in the incident, and a fourth gunshot victim was taken to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in critical condition. Their condition was later upgraded to stable, police said.
Four other students were transported to the hospital suffering panic attacks, according to McMahill. Some law enforcement officers sustained minor injuries in the incident.
“We watched a lot of fear among the men and women at UNLV today. It’s unfortunate they had to go through that,” McMahill said.
Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center confirmed it treated three patients brought to the facility from the scene.
UNLV student Mike Henderson told ABC News that he was in a hallway when the shooting started and immediately ran into a classroom and sheltered in place.
He said he was later escorted out by police and saw someone with their face down, bleeding.
“[It’s] not something I thought would ever happen to me personally,” he said.
Authorities said there is no further threat to the university, which has been closed for the rest of the week as a result of the shooting.
In his message to the university community on Wednesday night, President Whitfield called the incident “unfathomable.”
“We’re all still in shock as we process the unfathomable event,” he wrote. “Members of our community lost their lives, and others were injured. My heart aches for our UNLV family. I know all of us are sending our love and support to the victims, their families, and friends during this difficult time.”
A ground stop that had been initiated at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport was lifted Wednesday night.
McMahill said law enforcement had identified the now-deceased shooter but did not release the name Wednesday night as next of kin had to be notified. There were no details on the shooter’s motive or the weapon used in the incident.
Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a statement that he was in communication with the school and law enforcement as the investigation continued.
President Joe Biden said he was “praying for the families” affected by the shootings in San Antonio and Las Vegas and praised “courageous” officers “who risked their own safety to bring an end to these deadly shooting sprees,” in a statement on Wednesday.
The president added that he “directed that all necessary support be provided to assist in the investigations and support these communities” while calling on Congress to pass gun safety laws.
(WASHINGTON) — In an historic move, the Justice Department on Wednesday announced it is unsealing war crimes charges against four Russia-affiliated military personnel with disturbing details of their alleged torture and inhumane treatment of a U.S. national in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country last year.
This is the first time ever that the department has filed charges under the U.S. war crimes statute.
The charges allege that Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan, Dmitry Budnik, Valerii (last name unknown) and Nazar (last name unknown) detained, severely beat and tortured an American citizen they had allegedly abducted from his home in the village of Mylove after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
“As the world has witnessed the horrors of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, so has the United States Department of Justice,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a news conference announcing the charges Wednesday. “That is why the Justice Department has filed the first ever charges under the U.S. war crimes statute against four Russia-affiliated military personnel for heinous crimes against an American citizen.”
In an interview with U.S. officials last year, the U.S. national detailed how the Russian soldiers stripped him naked, threw him on the ground and tied his hands behind his back before they severely beat him — including with the stocks of their guns. The soldiers then allegedly took the man to a Russian military compound and held him for 10 days.
While in captivity, the U.S. national said he was subjected to two brutal interrogation sessions in which he was tortured by the four defendants named in the charges. He said he was stripped naked, photographed and one of the defendants even staged a mock execution. One of the soldiers reportedly asked the U.S. national for his last words, after which he put a gun near the back of his head before pulling the trigger and shooting a bullet that missed him by inches.
“Again and again, he believed he was about to die,” Garland said.
The defendants are charged with three war crimes including unlawful confinement, torture and inhumane treatment, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes. The charges have a max sentence of life in prison, but it’s unclear whether any of the defendants will ultimately see the inside of a U.S. courtroom.
“The Justice Department will work for as long as it takes to pursue accountability and justice for Russia’s war of aggression,” Garland said.
“Our work is far from done,” Garland added.
While Garland said this is the first time charges have been brought under the war crimes statute, he said he expects more to come.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the FBI will continue to work with international law enforcement to hold criminals accountable for their actions.
“We will work relentlessly to bring criminals to justice,” Wray said.
(LAS VEGAS) — Multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News the deceased suspect in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas shooting is Anthony Polito, 67.
Polito, the sources say, had applied for a college professorship at UNLV, but was not hired. He has ties to North Carolina and Georgia, where he previously worked as a college professor.
Polito was armed with a handgun during Wednesday’s attack. Police say he was killed in a shootout with two police detectives who responded to the active shooting scene.
Detectives have been working into the night and plan on continuing their investigation through the overnight hours.
A law enforcement official briefed on the probe said one apartment in Henderson, Nevada — believed to be the shooter’s home — is currently being searched. Detectives have also retrieved the suspect’s phone and are now feverishly examining its contents for clues about what motivated the killer to mount his alleged attack Wednesday.
Police are also combing his professional writings to determine whether something in those texts could shed light on the events that occurred on the UNLV campus.
Investigators have now determined that the victims killed were not students, but faculty or staff. That suggests to detectives that the rampage may not have been random, but may have been an attack that targeted certain people because of some sort of previous relationship or interactions.
According to preliminary investigative information, the gunman fired on police, which is what led them to shoot him.
(NEW YORK) — Lori Vallow, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, is scheduled to be arraigned in Arizona Thursday morning on charges alleging she killed her fourth husband and plotted to kill the ex-husband of her niece.
Lori Vallow, 50, was extradited from Idaho to Arizona last week and booked in Maricopa County on first-degree murder and first-degree premeditated murder. She has been held without bond since her initial court appearance on Nov. 30.
Her arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. MT Thursday.
The court proceedings come after she was indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in 2021 in connection with the killing of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot by her brother in 2019 during a confrontation at her Arizona home.
She was subsequently indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in 2022 for allegedly scheming with her brother to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece.
Lori Vallow, also known as Lori Vallow Daybell, is currently serving life in prison without parole at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center in Pocatello, Idaho, after a jury found her guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.
Lori Vallow denied murdering her children, saying in court at her sentencing in July: “Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. … No one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen.”
Her attorney filed a notice of appeal in October in the case.
J.J. and Tylee were last seen in September 2019 and, following a monthslong search, their remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, in June 2020.
Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, the author of religious fiction books, both reportedly adhered to a doomsday ideology. She once claimed she was “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020” and didn’t want anything to do with her family “because she had a more important mission to carry out,” according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
Friends have said Lori Vallow’s 13-year marriage to Charles Vallow started to deteriorate after she became a fan of Daybell’s books, with the two separating in 2019. Their blended family had included Tylee from Lori Vallow’s third marriage, and Charles Vallow’s nephew J.J., whom they adopted.
While at his estranged wife’s home in Chandler, Arizona, to take J.J. to school in July 2019, Charles Vallow was fatally shot by her brother, Alex Cox. Her brother told police he shot his brother-in-law in self-defense. Police were investigating the claims when Cox himself died from natural causes months later.
Following a yearslong investigation, prosecutors alleged that Lori Vallow conspired with Cox to murder Charles Vallow, calling the case “complex” and “difficult.”
Three months after the shooting of Charles Vallow, Boudreaux called 911 in October 2019 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona. He told police at the time he thought Cox was behind the wheel.
The indictment against Lori Vallow in the shooting alleges that she and Cox planned to murder Boudreaux. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office released the indictment in May with no further comment due to the pending case.
Her trial has been scheduled to start on April 4, 2024.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military is grounding all of its Osprey V-22 aircraft in the wake of last week’s deadly U.S. Air Force crash off the coast of Japan that left eight airmen dead.
The coordinated announcement means that all versions of the Osprey flown by the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy are being grounded as part of an operational standdown.
“Out of an abundance of caution, following the AFSOC operational stand down, NAVAIR is instituting a grounding bulletin for all V-22 Osprey variants Dec. 6. This decision comes after the V-22 Osprey mishap on Nov. 29, off the shore of Yakushima, Japan,” read statements from the Marines and Navy.
The Air Force and Marines also said in separate statements that the cause of last week’s crash is “unknown at this time,” but “preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap.”
“While the mishap remains under investigation, we are implementing additional risk mitigation controls to ensure the safety of our service members,” read a statement from the armed forces.
The Osprey aircraft carrying eight airmen crashed off the Japanese coast at about 3 p.m. last Wednesday, U.S. officials previously said.
The crash took place during a “routine training mission,” the U.S. Air Force said last week.
(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) — Four Republican presidential candidates took the stage in Alabama on Wednesday night for one last chance to trade attacks and stake out policy positions before voting starts in the 2024 primary, in Iowa and New Hampshire, next month.
The debate, the smallest yet, featured former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Knives seemed to be out for Haley amid her continued rise in the primary polls. She and DeSantis stood center stage as they vied for a distant second place spot to former President Donald Trump — who once again skipped sparring with his challengers, spending the night fundraising in Florida instead as he remains the polling front-runner.
On the sidelines of the stage, Christie took on Trump while Ramaswamy took on everyone else.
Here are five takeaways from the latest Republican debate:
Haley takes brunt of attacks
Haley, who has earned high marks in past debates, according to polling, was the main target of the attacks on Wednesday night.
From the start, Ramaswamy and DeSantis took on the former ambassador for her stance on China, social media, transgender rights and more.
“She caves any time the left comes after her,” DeSantis said as he slammed her record. “Any time the media comes after her.”
Haley responded: “I love all of the attention fellas.”
One opponent on stage, however, took a moment to defend her from Ramaswamy’s personal digs at her foreign policy chops.
“He has insulted Nikki Haley’s basic intelligence. Not her positions, her basic intelligence,” Christie said, adding, “Look, if you want to disagree on issues, that’s fine. Nikki and I disagree on some issues. I’ve known her for 12 years … and while we disagree about some issues and we disagree about who should be president of the United States, what we don’t disagree on is this is a smart accomplished woman. You should stop insulting her.”
DeSantis defends record as campaign stagnates
The first question of the night went to DeSantis and it was about electability.
Moderator Megyn Kelly asked him for his response to voters who, according to the poll numbers that show his support his flatlined in second place, seem to be telling him: “Not no, but not now.”
Like he did throughout much of the night, DeSantis made the case that he’s got a list of conservative wins as governor compared with Trump’s past defeats.
“So we have a great idea in America that the voters actually make these decisions, not pundits or pollsters,” he responded. “I’m sick of hearing about these polls, ’cause I remember those polls in November of 2022. They said there was going to be a big red wave. It was going to be monumental, and that crashed and burned. The one place it didn’t crash and burn was in the state of Florida.”
“They weren’t predicting that I would win the way I did, and I won the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida,” he said, referring to his double-digit election in a famous swing state. “I’m looking forward to Iowa and New Hampshire. The voters are going to be able to speak and we’re going to earn this nomination.”
Christie takes on Trump: ‘An angry, bitter man’
Moderators frequently posed their Trump-related questions to Christie, who has built his campaign on attacking the former president, unlike the other candidates.
Some of his sharpest comments came when asked about Trump’s “dictator” comments to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. Christie said the remarks were “completely predictable” and called Trump an “an angry, bitter man.”
“So do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history, and that’s why failing to speak out against him, making excuses for him, pretending that somehow he’s a victim — empowers him,” Christie said.
“You want to know why those poll numbers are where they are? Because folks like these three guys on the stage make it seem like his conduct is acceptable. Let me make it clear. His conduct is unacceptable,” Christie said. “He’s unfit, and be careful what you’re gonna get if you ever got another Donald Trump term. He’s letting you know …. He will only be his own retribution. He doesn’t care for the American people, it’s Donald Trump first,” he said, drawing some boos.
Christie also called out DeSantis for not giving a straight answer when asked if Trump is “mentally fit” for office, accusing DeSantis of being “afraid to answer.”
Ramaswamy keeps up fiery antics
While Ramaswamy’s campaign has faded to the background as his polls remain at 5% nationally, the entrepreneur reprised his role as disruptor on the debate stage.
He was relentless as he went after everyone else. He again called Haley a female “Dick Cheney” and held up a sign that read “Nikki=Corrupt” as he questioned her authenticity. He was booed repeatedly.
At one point, Christie had enough.
“This is the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America,” Christie said as he pointed a finger at Ramaswamy in one of the most heated exchanges of the night. “So shut up for a little while.”
Narrow policy differences
Ramaswamy was a lone voice advocating for the U.S. to take a less prominent role in the Israel-Hamas war, calling his approach “pro-American” and “pro-Israel.”
“As your next president, my sole moral duty is to you, the people of this country,” he said.
Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he added, “That’s how I’m going to lead. So I’ll tell Bibi, ‘You smoke the terrorists on your southern border, you go ahead, and we’re rooting for you. We’re going to smoke the terrorists on our southern border,’ and that’s how I’m going to lead this country.”
Slight differences were also apparent when it came to immigration and border policies.
Haley didn’t endorse Trump’s plan to revive his ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries and said instead there should be a review of countries that have terrorist activity and represent a threat to the U.S. DeSantis hit back, saying he’d go further in imposing limits on immigration to countries “hostile” to America.
On transgender health care, Christie offered a divergent stance than his opponents, saying he believes gender-affirming care for minors should be decided by parents and not the government. The other candidates all voiced opposition to medical treatment for those under 18.
“I’m sorry, but as a father of four, I believe there is no one who loves my children more than me,” Christie said. “There is no one who loves my children more than my wife. There is no one who cares more about their success in health, in life than we do, not some government bureaucrat.”
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended early Friday, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Dec 06, 9:44 PM EST
Over 80% of people in Gaza have inadequate food consumption, WFP report says
Around 83% of households in southern Gaza suffering from inadequate food consumption, according to a new report from the World Food Programme.
The organization also reported Wednesday that 97% of households in northern Gaza have inadequate food consumption.
As a result, 95% of households are adopting extreme food consumption strategies to cope with food shortages in northern Gaza, the report said, with 82% of households doing the same in southern Gaza.
Dec 06, 5:25 PM EST
US, G7 partners call for opening of Gaza crossings into Israel
The United States and its Group of Seven allies called for crossings from Gaza into Israel to be opened for the transfer of humanitarian aid in a statement released Wednesday evening following a virtual meeting.
“The population is increasingly vulnerable, and with winter approaching, we must continue to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza to meet fully the needs on the ground, including by opening additional crossings,” the G7 leaders said in the statement.
Only the Rafah crossing into Egypt is open, while all of the other crossings into Gaza border Israel and have been closed. The White House provided its readout of the meeting but did not mention this joint call for the opening of additional crossings.
The White House said the leaders “expressed deep regret that Hamas refused to release all of its women hostages and military operations resume.”
“Hamas offers nothing but suffering to the Palestinian people, and it is an obstacle to a better future for them and for the region. We will continue to coordinate our efforts to isolate Hamas and ensure it cannot threaten Israel,” the G7 leaders said in its statement.
Dec 06, 2:26 PM EST
Kids in Gaza share their experiences through art
Children in Gaza are sharing their traumatic experiences from the war through drawings.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it organized the event to help children process their complicated feelings.
The art was displayed in the rubble of a bombed house.
The children’s art included portraits of families and drawings of homes. One showed an injured person in a hospital bed, and another depicted a journalist’s camera and bulletproof vest.
Dec 06, 2:15 PM EST
Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis
Israeli soldiers are fighting for the first time in the heart of Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The city of Khan Yunis is a terrorist stronghold,” the IDF said. “The entire leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization — both military and political — proliferated in the area of Khan Yunis.”
Israeli troops have eliminated terrorists and their infrastructure in the area, the IDF said. One strike was on a mosque that the IDF said was being used to store weapons.
Dec 06, 1:22 PM EST
UN secretary-general invokes Article 99, calls for humanitarian cease-fire
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday that he’s invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter for the first time in his six years as leader.
Article 99 says that the secretary-general “may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
“Facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe & appeal for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared,” Guterres said in a post on X.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council president, Guterres said, “The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region. … The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis.”
Dec 06, 12:41 PM EST
IDF encircling Hamas leader’s house: Netanyahu
Israeli forces are now “encircling” the house belonging to Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“It’s only a matter of time until we catch him,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister also said Israel is exerting pressure to allow Red Cross workers to visit the more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.
Dec 06, 11:24 AM EST
Biden calls reports of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israeli women ‘appalling’
Editor’s note: This report contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
President Joe Biden has blamed Hamas’ refusal to release civilian female hostages for the end of a temporary cease-fire and called reports of women allegedly sexually assaulted by Hamas “appalling.”
“We had a report in the earliest days that Hamas used rape to terrorize women and girls during the attack on October the 7th in Israel,” Biden said, according to pool reports of his remarks Tuesday at a closed-door fundraiser.
“Over the past few weeks, survivors and witnesses of the attacks have shared the horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty,” he said. “Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive — of women corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them. It is appalling.”
It’s on all of us — government, international organizations, civil society and businesses — to forcefully condemn the sexual violence of Hamas terrorists without equivocation — without equivocation, without exception,” Biden said.
ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Dec 06, 9:02 AM EST
IDF says it struck 250 targets in Gaza over last day amid ‘intensive battles’
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday morning that its aircraft had bombed “approximately 250 terror targets in the Gaza Strip” over the last day amid what it described as “intensive battles.”
“During these strikes, terrorists from the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations were eliminated, and a number of terrorist infrastructure were destroyed,” the IDF said in a statement.
Israeli soldiers also located “one of the largest weapons depots” in Gaza “near a clinic and a school” in the northern part of the Hamas-controlled territory, according to the IDF.
“The depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles aimed at central Israel, dozens of grenades and UAVs,” the IDF added. “All of the terrorist infrastructure was found close to civilian buildings in the heart of a civilian population. This is additional proof of Hamas’ cynical use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”
Hamas has denied Israel’s claims that it deliberately shelters behind civilians in Gaza.
Dec 06, 7:37 AM EST
US believes eight American hostages remain in Gaza, Kirby says
The United States believes eight Americans are still being held hostage by militants in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“We think there’s about eight hostages that are Americans. We know of at least one woman in that group,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on Good Morning America.
“We’re doing everything we can to try to get them released,” he continued. “We’re constantly engaged with our partners in the region to try to get this humanitarian pause back in place, so that the flow of hostages can renew.”
Although a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, ended last week, the U.S. is “still flowing in humanitarian assistance” to civilians in Gaza, according to Kirby.
“And we’re trying to get it up to the level that it was during the pause,” he noted.
When asked about what Israel’s “endgame” might be in its war against Hamas as Israeli troops expand their offensive across all of Gaza, Kirby said: “That’s really something for the Israeli’s to speak to.”
“We obviously want to see Hamas eliminated as a threat to the Israeli people,” he added. “That hasn’t been achieved yet. They’re going after the leadership as best they can. They believe they need to operate in the south. We’ve told them you know we’ll continue to support their military operations but we want to make sure that as they do that they’re factoring in those innocent civilian lives as much as possible.”
Dec 06, 7:16 AM EST
Gaza hospital says it’s ‘besieged’ by Israeli forces
Al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip is “besieged” by Israeli forces, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
There are currently 95 employees and 38 patients inside the hospital in the city of Jabalia, north of Gaza City, according to the spokesperson.
Just four hospitals remain operational in the north, according to the Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
Dec 06, 5:32 AM EST
Gaza hospital receives scores of dead, wounded in past 24 hours
A hospital in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip has seen an influx of dead and wounded arrive at its doors over the last day, according to Palestinian health officials.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday morning that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has received 73 dead and 123 injured patients in the past 24 hours amid intense bombardment by the Israeli military.
Dec 05, 6:12 PM EST
Over 1,000 Americans and family members seeking to depart Gaza: State Department
More than 1,000 Americans and their family members are still stranded in Gaza, more than a month after the Rafah border crossing first opened to outbound traffic, according to the State Department.
“We know of approximately 1,050 individuals (about 350 U.S. citizens, plus lawful permanent residents and family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents) who we are in touch with and who are seeking to depart Gaza,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News, adding it “remains a fluid and quickly evolving situation.”
These figures come a day after State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters that the number of American citizens trying to exit the area stood at 220, and that there were 750 individuals eligible to leave Gaza who had not yet been able to depart.
Dec 05, 3:48 PM EST
State Dept. imposes visa restrictions on individuals ‘undermining peace’ in West Bank
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa restriction policy on Tuesday “targeting individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank.”
The policy includes those “committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities,” Blinken said in a statement.
The State Department has already started pursuing initial action against individuals and will designate others “in the coming days,” spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters Tuesday.
The department expects the policy will impact “dozens of individuals and potential their family members,” he said.
During a visit to Israel last week, Blinken said he “made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities” and that Israel must “take additional measures to protect Palestinian civilians from extremist attacks.”
He added that the U.S. would also continue to engage with the Palestinian Authority to stress that it needed “to do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis.”
ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Dec 05, 3:26 PM EST
Netanyahu says Gaza must be demilitarized through ‘sheer force’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Tuesday that Gaza must be demilitarized and that he is not ready to accept an international force being responsible for Gaza post-war.
“Gaza must be demilitarized and the only country that can do this and ensure it lasts is Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I’m not ready to close my eyes and accept any other arrangement.”
The prime minister said half of Hamas’ battalions have already been “destroyed.”
Netanyahu also said a tactic of sheer force made sense for bringing home the remaining hostages.
“The only way to bring home the rest of the hostages is through massive military force in Gaza and that’s what we are doing,” he said.
He also criticized those calling for a short war, saying, “I say to our friends who call for a short war, the only way for the war to end quickly is by applying sheer force. So I say stand with us. Stand with Israel. Stand with civilization.”
Dec 05, 1:14 PM EST
State Dept. imposes visa restrictions on individuals ‘undermining peace’ in West Bank
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new visa restriction policy on Tuesday “targeting individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank.”
The policy includes those “committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities,” Blinken said in a statement.
During a visit to Israel last week, Blinken said he “made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities” and that Israel must “take additional measures to protect Palestinian civilians from extremist attacks.”
He added that the U.S. would also continue to engage with the Palestinian Authority to stress that it needed “to do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis.”
ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Dec 05, 10:43 AM EST
IDF says it has ‘hundreds of testimonies of rape and sex crimes’ from Oct. 7
Israeli authorities say they have collated “hundreds of testimonies of rape and sex crimes” they claim was committed by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 terror attack.
A document from the Israel Defense Forces details allegations of sexual violence, with “almost all of the testimonies” coming from eyewitnesses and first responders who were present at the scene during or after atrocities, the document states. This is because “virtually all” of the victims of sexual violence were also murdered on Oct. 7, according to the document.
The IDF said the document offers “only a small part of an immense body of information of evidence of Hamas’ sex crimes” and said the evidence “proves beyond all doubt that Hamas and other … terrorists used rape and sexual violence systemically against Israeli women and children,” according to the IDF.
One IDF volunteer quoted in the document described seeing many young women “in bloody, shredded rags, or just in underwear.”
“Our team commander saw several (female) soldiers who were shot in the crotch and intimate areas,” the IDF volunteer said, according to the document.
The IDF alleges that some members of Hamas who were captured and then interrogated also gave testimony that women were sexually abused on Oct. 7.
An Israeli paramedic quoted in the document said they inspected the bodies of two teenage girls who had been murdered. One of the girls “had her pants pulled down towards her knees … and there’s the remains of semen on the lower part of her back,” the document states.
A survivor of the Oct. 7 attack, Gad Liebersohn, quoted in the document said that “for two hours I’m hiding and hearing people getting kidnapped and women getting raped … begging for their lives.”
Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has denied the allegations that its fighters committed sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack on neighboring southern Israel.
Cochav Elkayam-Levy, the head of Israel’s Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, has described what she called “widespread rape evidence.”
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Dec 05, 8:57 AM EST
At least two injured after rocket hits Israeli residential building, authorities say
Rocket fire struck a residential building in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Tuesday afternoon, according to Israel’s emergency medical service MDA.
At least two people — a 67-year-old and a 60-year-old — were wounded by shrapnel while standing in the parking lot next to the building’s entrance, according to MDA, which said its staff provided treatment on site and transported the two victims to a nearby hospital.
Dec 05, 6:55 AM EST
Hospital in northern Gaza under siege, health ministry says
Another hospital in the northern Gaza Strip is under siege by Israeli troops, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Tuesday.
Israeli tanks and snipers have surrounded Kamal Adwan Hospital, where more than 7,000 displaced people are sheltering, according to the health ministry. Israeli troops are allegedly firing at “anyone who moves,” the health ministry said.
The power was also cut from the hospital, according to the health ministry.
Dozens of wounded people as well as the bodies of at least 108 who have died are currently inside Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to the health ministry.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Just four hospitals remain operational in northern Gaza, according to the health ministry, as medical services in the besieged enclave struggle to deal with the mounting casualty toll.
Dec 05, 6:28 AM EST
At least 30 killed in airstrike on school in southern Gaza, hospital says
Dozens of people were killed or wounded in an Israeli airstrike that allegedly targeted a school housing displaced families in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, according to local medical staff.
A spokesperson for Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis told ABC News that it had received scores of patients from the scene, including 30 who had died and dozens who were injured.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
The strike came on the heels of the IDF’s announcement that it would be expanding its offensive on Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, across the entire strip.
Dec 05, 1:38 AM EST
‘Nowhere is safe in Gaza’: WHO
The World Health Organization painted a bleak picture of the situation in Gaza on Monday night and called for Israel “to take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as per the laws of war.”
According to the latest information from the WHO, there are only 18 functioning hospitals in Gaza, with three only providing first aid and the remainder just partial services.
With an increasing number of Palestinians displaced as the war continues, the WHO says, “syndromic surveillance has noted increases in infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, scabies, jaundice, diarrhoea, and bloody diarrhoea. Shelters in the south are also reporting cases of acute jaundice syndrome, a worrisome signal of hepatitis.”
The WHO previously said, “syndromic surveillance systems seek to use existing health data in real-time to provide immediate analysis and feedback to those charged with investigation and follow-up of potential outbreaks.”
The WHO warned thousands are likely to be cut off from health care services due to increased ground operations by Israel in southern Gaza. The open hospitals are operating beyond capacity, with the bed occupancy rate at 171% and intensive care units at 221%, the WHO said, based on data from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
WHO workers called the situation at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis “catastrophic, with the building and hospital grounds grossly overcrowded with patients and displaced people seeking shelter.”
The WHO said in a statement Monday night it has recorded 203 “attacks on hospitals, ambulances, medical supplies, and the detention of health-care workers attacks on hospitals, ambulances medical supplies” between Oct. 7 and Nov. 28.
“This is unacceptable,” the WHO’s statement read. “There are means to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and they should be instituted.”
(NEW YORK) — Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has announced felony charges against six so-called “fake electors” for their alleged role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, his office announced Wednesday.
Among those charged are some of the top officials from the Nevada Republican Party, including Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, Nevada Republican Party National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, Clark County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Law and Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle, as well as Republican operatives Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.
The six defendants were indicted by a grand jury in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Nevada for falsely portraying themselves as Nevada’s presidential electors after the last presidential election, the attorney general’s office said.
Each of the defendants have been charged with felonies including offering a false instrument for filing, offering a forged instrument, and offering a false instrument titled “Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada” to the President of the Senate; the Archivist of the United States; the Nevada Secretary of State; and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
Several of them met with the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and McDonald and DeGraffenreid reportedly testified before a federal grand jury that was empaneled in Washington, D.C., to investigate Jan. 6 earlier this year.
“When the efforts to undermine faith in our democracy began after the 2020 election, I made it clear that I would do everything in my power to defend the institutions of our nation and our state,” Ford, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go unchallenged. Today’s indictments are the product of a long and thorough investigation, and as we enter into litigation, I am confident that our judicial system will see justice done.”
DeGraffenreid and Law declined to comment to ABC News. McDonald, Law, Hindle, Meehan and Rice could not be immediately reached for comment.
This is the third criminal indictment state attorney generals have filed against so-called “fake electors,” who allegedly pledged false electoral votes to Donald Trump in their respective states during the 2020 election, despite Joe Biden winning those states.
Three such “fake electors” were among the 18 co-defendants charged, along with Trump, in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants, while all other defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in July charged 16 “alternate electors” for conspiracy to commit forgery, among other charges. Nine subsequently entered not guilty pleas.
(NEW YORK) — A suspect is dead following a fatal shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday, according to authorities and sources.
There is at least one fatality, according to multiple sources. Sheriff Kevin McMahill said there were three victims in unknown conditions, adding, “That number could change.”
UNLV said shots were reported at Beam Hall, home to the business school, as well as the student union, which is next door.
The shooting was reported at 11:45 a.m. and police responded and “engaged” the suspect, authorities said.
A ground stop was initiated at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport on Wednesday due to the close proximity of the airport runways to UNLV, and because of the police response to the shooting, which included helicopters, according to an official briefed on the incident.
UNLV said police were working to evacuate buildings one at a time and students were urged to shelter in place.
Authorities said there is no further threat to the university, which has been closed for the rest of the day.
