Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — With the Fourth of July right around the corner, many cities are gearing up for their traditional fireworks displays with many locations opting for innovative alternatives.
Pallavi Pant, head of global health at the Health Effects Institute, told ABC News that the use of fireworks releases metallic particles into the air that can have harmful consequences.
“These fireworks, you know, what gives them their color — the blues, the greens, the vibrant reds — are essentially metals, like copper. Copper gives you blue, or strontium, which gives you the bright red we see in the fireworks,” Pant explained. “When we use these fireworks, either in our homes and our backyards or with our friends or the family, or in a professional sort of setup, which tends to be in many cases in the US, we are emitting all of these particles in the air.”
Studies have shown that the particles released by fireworks can have negative impacts on human health, especially for people with respiratory conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Pant explained that researchers have been noting these effects since as far back as the 1970s and that people with existing heart conditions may also be affected.
“You may experience aggravation of symptoms,” she said. “Shortness of breath is a common one. Sometimes you have a sort of irritation in your eyes.”
Effects on air quality can also be compounded by fires started by fireworks. The National Fire Protection Association reports that, “fireworks started an estimated 12,264 fires in 2021, including 2,082 structure fires, 316 vehicle fires, and 9,866 outside and other fires. These fires caused 29 civilian injuries and $59 million in direct property damage.”
That year, a group of 150 fire scientists released a warning against using fireworks in the West due to increased fire risks associated with drought. Many western cities, like Flagstaff, Arizona, have banned or limited firework use for those reasons.
Flagstaff is one of the cities embracing alternative celebrations for the Fourth of July, due to the fire risk. They’ve been celebrating with a free laser light show for a few years now, which, according to a press release, “[replaces] the standard fireworks with a stunning display of multicolored lights and lasers in sync to fun music.”
“The shift from traditional fireworks to a laser light show was the responsible action to take due to extreme fire risk with the dry and hot conditions in the northland. It is extremely important to have a safe celebration and be fire aware,” Flagstaff City Manager Greg Clifton said in a press release. “And it is also important to have a yearly celebration that we can all anticipate and plan on.”
Some others, like Boulder, Colorado, are choosing to use drones for their festive displays. The city of Boulder explained in a press release that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, its annual fireworks display had been a tradition dating back to 1941.
“The shift from traditional fireworks to drones was not an easy decision and based on a number of factors,” the release said. “Including increased fire danger fueled by climate change.”
(WASHINGTON) — California Rep. Ro Khanna on Sunday praised President Joe Biden’s continued efforts to cancel federal student loan debt after the Supreme Court struck down his initial plan to forgive up to $20,000 for some borrowers.
Biden said Friday that he will now rely on the 1965 Higher Education Act to try to enact debt forgiveness, rather than the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003, on which his initial plan was based.
“I am pleased that the White House is invoking the Higher Education Act,” Khanna, a progressive Democrat, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “I do hope that the White House will make sure that the interest doesn’t accrue starting in September. I know the president has said he isn’t going to refer students to the credit agency. I also believe under the Higher Education Act he can stop the interest accrual.”
While Khanna said he was supportive of Biden’s new path forward — and would like there to be a broader payment pause while the administration pursues more ways to legalize loan forgiveness — he sharply criticized the Supreme Court.
He argued the justices overstepped their bounds and “usurped the authority of Congress” by limiting how the HEROES Act can be used, rather than deferring to legislators, “just because they think Congress gave too much power to the president.”
The post-9/11 era HEROES law enabled the U.S. education secretary to “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision” regarding student loans to initially protect borrowers impacted by terror attacks. That law was later altered to include people affected by “a war or other military operation or national emergency” — with Biden maintaining that the COVID-19 pandemic qualified.
Karl noted on “This Week” that the Supreme Court’s analysis rejected the White House’s arguments, even citing a comment made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2021 that Biden “can postpone [student loan debt]. He can delay. But he does not have that power [to cancel it]. That has to be an act of Congress.”
The high court’s conservative majority on Thursday ruled 6-3 that Biden did not have the authority under the HEROES Act to issue sweeping federal student loan cancellation, which the White House had hoped to do for more than 40 million borrowers.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the opinion knocking down Biden’s plan, found that precedent “requires that Congress speak clearly before a Department Secretary can unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.”
Khanna, on “This Week,” took another view.
“We can have an argument that the HEROES Act passed in 2003 shortly after 9/11 was way too broad in giving that kind of authority to the president and the secretary. I don’t believe it was the case. That’s a legitimate argument. The place to make that argument is in the United States Congress,” he said.
“It’s not for unelected justices to override what Congress has passed. And that’s what this court is doing. It’s very dangerous,” he continued. “They are basically reinterpreting congressional statute to fit their ideological preconceptions.”
While the White House had long resisted discussing what other avenues they might pursue if the student loan cancellation program was rejected, the president on Friday said he will invoke the Higher Education Act to allow Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to “compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances.”
But it’s currently unclear how much forgiveness would be enacted under this strategy.
The White House will also implement a 12-month “on-ramp repayment program” during which the government will not refer borrowers who miss payments to credit agencies.
“This new path is legally sound,” Biden said in remarks after the Supreme Court ruling. “It’s going to take longer. And in my view, it’s the best path that remains to student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.”
(NEW YORK) — As Russia continues its nearly 16-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine, political turmoil has erupted in Moscow while Kyiv tries to take back territory.
A feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, and Russia’s top military brass escalated as Prigozhin’s forces left the front line in Ukraine and marched across the border to seize a key Russian city. They then marched north toward Russia’s capital, seemingly unopposed, before turning around just hours later. The short-lived rebellion was described by international observers as the most significant challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his more than 20 years of rule.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are in the early stages of a counteroffensive to reclaim the almost one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory that is under Russian control.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jul 01, 8:39 PM EDT
Ukraine holds disaster drills amid fears Russia could sabotage Zaporizhzhia plant
Amid fears Russia might blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine is holding drills to prepare emergency services with how to deal with a potential radioactive disaster.
ABC News was invited to the drills in the city of Zaporizhzhia this week, about 30 miles from the plant, where firefighters in hazmat gear simulated decontaminating people from radiation during an evacuation.
Emergency workers demonstrated scanning civilians with Geiger counters as they disembarked buses, stripping some civilians and hosing them with water as they lay on stretchers. Firefighters in yellow suits sprayed down vehicles and moved them through a large washer system rigged up between fire trucks.
This week, Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, claimed Russia had now completed preparation to potentially sabotage the plant if it chooses.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jul 01, 4:46 PM EDT
CIA director says mutiny shows ‘corrosive effect’ of Putin’s war
CIA Director Bill Burns said Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny showed the “corrosive effect” of President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine during remarks in England on Saturday.
“It is striking that Prigozhin preceded his actions with a scathing indictment of the Kremlin’s mendacious rationale for its invasion of Ukraine, and of the Russian military leadership’s conduct of the war,” Burns said during a lecture to Britain’s Ditchley Foundation. “The impact of those words and those actions will play out for some time, a vivid reminder of the corrosive effect of Putin’s war on his own society and his own regime.”
Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, also noted how Russian disaffection will gnaw away at the Kremlin and that the CIA is taking this opportunity to step up its recruitment efforts in Russia.
“Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership, beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression,” Burns said. “That disaffection creates a once-in-a generation opportunity for us at CIA, at our core a human intelligence service. We’re not letting it go to waste.”
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith
Jun 30, 5:45 PM EDT
Too early to tell impact of mutiny on Putin: Gen. Milley
Gen. Mark Milley, the U.S. military’s top general, told reporters Friday that it’s likely too early to tell the impact of the Wagner Group mutiny on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We want to know the answer to that question,” Milley said when asked at the National Press Club if Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny had left Putin weakened. “I don’t think we have evidence, conclusive evidence, either way, yet too early to tell.”
Milley acknowledged that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is making steady progress, but moving slowly — something he said was not surprising given how tough of a fight it is.
“At the end of the day, Ukrainian soldiers are assaulting through minefields and in the trenches, and this is literally a fight for their life. So yes, sure, it goes a little slow, but that is part of the nature of war,” Milley said.
He also noted that the U.S. is considering sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, though no decision has been made.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 29, 4:36 PM EDT
Russian Gen. Surovikin detained, US official says
Russian Gen. Sergei Surovikin has apparently been detained, according to a U.S. official. Other details about his status are unclear.
The development follows reports from a senior U.S. official on Wednesday that Surovikin had engaged in discussions with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin about his plans to mutiny.
Prigozhin is now exiled in Belarus.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 29, 2:56 PM EDT
Pence makes surprise trip to Ukraine
Former Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise trip to Ukraine on Thursday, projecting solidarity against Russia in a way, so far, unmatched by his Republican competitors in the 2024 presidential campaign.
“As I made clear to President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy today, when I return home, whatever the future holds for me and my family, we’re gonna stand for freedom,” Pence told reporters. “And I’ll do my part to make sure that America continues to stand for the courageous fighters here in Ukraine that are fighting to reclaim their freedom.”
Pence visited the sites of atrocities in the early phase of the war, in Irpin and Bucha, among other stops, before meeting with Zelenskyy inside the presidential palace in the capital of Kyiv.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey and Guy Davies
Jun 29, 2:41 PM EDT
Ukraine sees ‘largest deterioration’ of peace worldwide: Report
Ukraine recorded the “largest deterioration” of peace worldwide in the latest global peace report from the international think tank Institute for Economics & Peace.
“The war in Ukraine had a significant impact on global peacefulness, with Ukraine and Russia having the largest and fifth largest deteriorations in peacefulness respectively,” the report stated.
Since last year’s report, Ukraine fell 14 places to 157th among the 163 countries covered by the report. Due to the conflict, 65% of men in Ukraine ages 20-24 have fled the country or died, according to the report.
-ABC News’ Emma Ogao
Jun 29, 12:45 AM EDT
Suspect accused of helping Russia direct missile strike arrested
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Wednesday the Security Service of Ukraine and the police arrested a suspect who they say coordinated with Russian forces in Tuesday’s missile attack on Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk region.
The missiles struck a popular pizzeria and killed 12 people, including three children. More than 60 people were injured, the president said in a public address.
The unidentified “spotter” was charged with treason, according to Zelenskyy.
“Anyone in the world who does not understand that one cannot be an accomplice of a terrorist state must be held accountable by the entire international community,” he said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 27, 10:56 PM EDT
Prigozhin thought he would have help from Russian military: Senior US official
A senior U.S. official tells ABC News that Yevgeny Prigozhin thought he would have help from the Russian military.
Both former Russian military officers and some others in Moscow had conversations with Prigozhin before he started his march, the official said.
The U.S. doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin realized this beforehand, and the officers sided with Putin in the end, the official said.
According to the official, Prigozhin was shocked he didn’t have support.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Jun 27, 9:43 PM EDT
Russian missiles strike Donetsk city
Two Russian missiles struck Kramatorsk, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killing at least four people, according to officials.
At least 47 people were injured in the attack, but the death and injury toll could rise.
One of the deceased victims was a 15-year-old and one of the wounded victims was a child under a year-old, officials said.
One missile struck an eatery downtown and the other one hit the outskirts of the city, Andriy Yermak the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office said.
A restaurant and a hotel were badly damaged as a result of the strikes, according to officials.
Crews continued to dig through the rubble to search for victims throughout the evening.
“Each such manifestation of terror proves over and over again to us and to the whole world that Russia deserves only one thing as a result of everything it has done – defeat and a tribunal, fair and legal trials against all Russian murderers and terrorists,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko and Ellie Kaufman
Jun 27, 5:55 PM EDT
Russian missiles strike Donetsk city
Two Russian missiles struck Kramatorsk, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killing at least four people, according to officials.
At least 47 people were injured in the attack, but the death and injury toll could rise.
One of the deceased victims was a 15-year-old and one of the wounded victims was a child under a year-old, officials said.
One missile struck an eatery downtown and the other one hit the outskirts of the city, Andriy Yermak the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office said.
A restaurant and a hotel were badly damaged as a result of the strikes, according to officials.
Crews continued to dig through the rubble to search for victims throughout the evening.
“Each such manifestation of terror proves over and over again to us and to the whole world that Russia deserves only one thing as a result of everything it has done – defeat and a tribunal, fair and legal trials against all Russian murderers and terrorists,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko and Ellie Kaufman
Jun 27, 2:33 PM EDT
US sanctions alleged illicit gold companies funding Wagner Group
The U.S. announced additional sanctions targeting the Wagner Group, specifically going after gold companies and a Russian man it says are illicitly funding the Wagner Group’s operations in Ukraine and Africa.
Central African Republic based companies Midas Resources SARLU and Diamville SAU, Dubai based company Industrial Resources General Trading and Russia based company Limited Liability Company, re connected to Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is already subject to U.S. sanctions along with numerous other entities linked to the Wagner Group, according to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian national, and an executive in the Wagner Group, allegedly worked closely with Prigozhin’s entity Africa Politology and senior Malian government officials on weapons deals, mining concerns, and other Wagner Group activities in Mali, OFAC said.
“The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali,” Brian Nelson, the U.S. under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a written statement. “The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Jun 27, 2:19 PM EDT
Ukraine has recaptured 300 sq km so far: UK minister
Ukraine has recaptured approximately 300 square kilometers during the summer counteroffensive so far, United Kingdom Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Tuesday.
The gains represent more territory than Russia seized during its winter offensive in 2022, Wallace told Parliament.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Jun 27, 1:31 PM EDT
Belarus president talks about Wagner negotiations
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko provided more details about his alleged role in negotiations between Wager Group leader’s Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin following the PMC’s rebellion.
Lukashenko claimed Prigozhin abandoned his demands, including the resignation of Shoigu, after they talked.
“[Prigozhin] told me ‘Alexander Grigoryevich, I will not demand from the president that he give up Shoigu and Gerasimov, and I will not even ask for a meeting,’ I say, ‘Well, that’s good. This is a very good move,'” Lukashenko claimed.
Lukashenko said that Wagner forces could join the Belarusian army but said that he won’t built camps for Wagner’s troops in his country.
“We don’t need to open any Wagner recruitment points,” he said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Jun 27, 12:22 PM EDT
Belarus president says Prigozhin arrived in the country Tuesday
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on state media Tuesday that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in his country earlier in the day.
Lukashenko claimed on state media that “security guarantees” Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to Prigozhin were provided.
“Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today. As I promised, if you want to stay with us for a while and so on, we will help you,” Lukashenko said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 27, 11:10 AM EDT
Ukraine makes gain on occupied bank across from Kherson
Ukrainian troops have reportedly seized a small village on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of Dneipr after crossing the river from the liberated city of Kherson, according to Russian accounts on Tuesday.
A small Ukrainian force has managed to dig in to the village of Dachi after making a landing there a few days ago and are trying to expand the beachhead. Ukrainian troops in small boats crossed the river and landed at the base of the ruined Antonivskiy Bridge, which they destroyed last year.
Russian military bloggers reported very heavy fighting on Tuesday, saying Russian airborne units have been trying unsuccessfully to dislodge the Ukrainians for the past four days. Russian aviation and heavy artillery have been firing on the Ukrainian position.
So far, the Russian side claims some 70 Ukrainian soldiers are dug in, covered by intense artillery fire from across the river. The Russian accounts say Ukraine is trying to move reinforcements across. Video released by Ukraine also shows a Russian APC being destroyed in the village of Oleshkjy, further south, indicating the bank south of Kherson is now contested.
Ukrainian troops have also managed to advance and liberate Rivnopil, a village on the Zaporozhzhia front, breaking through after more than two weeks of fighting. It’s notable because the Russians had been fighting hard to hold it.
Taken together the advance there, the landing in Kherson and advances near Bakhmut are small signs the Ukrainian counteroffensive may be starting to pick up steam and the Russians are coming under growing pressure.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jun 27, 6:39 AM EDT
Military stopped ‘civil war,’ Putin says
The Russian military and security forces stopped what could have become a “civil war,” President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
“The Russian military in a difficult hour for the country stood in the way of turmoil, the result of which would be chaos,” Putin said at an event for military units, adding that “the military and law enforcement officers of the Russian Federation actually stopped the civil war.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who the Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s had sought to have replaced, was present at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Jun 27, 5:15 AM EDT
Belarus was ‘combat’ ready during rebellion, president says
The military in Belarus was ordered to “full combat readiness” during the Wagner Group’s rebellion in neighboring Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was said to have helped broker a deal to halt the choatic rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“I will not hide, it was painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia,” Lukashenko said Tuesday during brief remarks before a military presentation. “Not only me. Many of our citizens took them to heart. Because the fatherland is one.”
The fatherland comment appeared to allude to Lukashenko’s longstanding belief that Russia and Belarus share a special bond.
He added, “I gave all orders to bring the army to full combat readiness.”
Jun 27, 5:01 AM EDT
Russia closes case against Wagner Group leader
The Russian Federal Security Service on Tuesday dropped the criminal case investigating the rebellion by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his forces.
The FSB said it closed the case because it has been established that participants stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime.
Jun 26, 6:28 PM EDT
US to announce 500M in military aid to Ukraine, official says
The U.S. will announce another military aid package for Ukraine Tuesday, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The $500 million aid package will include 30 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 25 Stryker armored vehicles, missiles for the HIMARS system and the Patriot air defense system, TOW missiles, Javelins and more ammunition for artillery, according to the official.
This will be the 41st aid package under the Presidential Drawdown Authority that allows the transfer of weapons from U.S. military stockpiles to Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 26, 3:42 PM EDT
Putin expresses defiance against attempted Wagner rebellion
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his first public remarks after the Wagner Group attempted to march to Moscow and overthrow the government.
In a pre-recorded video statement, Putin thanked the Russians for their endurance, solidarity and patriotism during the ordeal and claimed that any blackmail attempt was doomed to fail.
Putin said an armed rebellion would have been suppressed.
“The organizers of the rebellion, betraying their country, their people, betrayed those who were drawn into the crime. They lied to them, pushed them to death, under fire, to shoot at their own,” Putin said.
The Russian president noted that the majority of Wagner fighters were “patriots.”
“I thank those soldiers and commanders of the Wagner Group who made the only right decision,” Putin said. “They did not go to fratricidal bloodshed, they stopped at the last line.”
Putin offered Wagner Group members who participated in the rebellion the option of joining the defense ministry or other law enforcement agencies or returning home.
Jun 26, 12:52 PM EDT
Biden says US, NATO not involved in Wagner rebellion
President Joe Biden spoke out addressed the Wagner Group’s actions over the weekend.
He said the U.S. and its allies convened on Friday when the rebellion began.
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse, let me emphasize, gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” Biden said at a news conference at the White House.
The president added that the incident was “part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Jun 26, 12:44 PM EDT
European leaders respond to Wagner attempted rebellion
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council met Monday and discussed the attempted rebellion by the Wagner paramilitary group over the weekend.
Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, told reporters at a news conference after the meeting that “the situation remains complex and unpredictable” and 27 EU states are remaining vigilant.
U.K. Foreign Minister James Cleverly released a statement Monday claiming the “Russian government’s lies have been exposed by one of President Putin’s own henchmen.”
“Prigozhin’s rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin’s authority, and it is clear that cracks are emerging in the Russian support for the war,” he said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Jun 26, 12:18 PM EDT
‘We had no goal of overthrowing’ the government: Prigozhin
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin released an 11-minute recording Monday explaining why his troops reversed course on their campaign against Moscow over the weekend.
Prigozhin said the purpose of the “march” was to prevent losses of his troops “and to bring justice to all persons who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during” the war in Ukraine.
“We had no goal of overthrowing the regime,” he added, referring to Putin’s government.
Prigozhin said that the march escalated after their convoy was hit by a missile attack from Russian forces.
Prigozhin said that the marched stopped when his troops approached “Moscow deployed artillery.”
“We did not want to shed Russian blood. We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow the government in the country,” he said.
He claimed that several of his troops were wounded and two were killed.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Natalia Shumskaia and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 26, 5:47 AM EDT
Ukrainian forces appear to cross river into occupied Kherson
The Ukrainian military has landed troops on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River across from the city of Kherson, according to Russian reports.
Media posted online by pro-Russian accounts suggested small boatloads of Ukrainian soldiers have managed to establish a small beachhead at the foot of the destroyed Antonivskiy Road Bridge that spanned the river before Ukraine brought it down last year.
The size of the Ukrainian force on the bank is unclear, but Russian accounts suggested it was relatively small.
Some Russian accounts posted dramatic video showing fighting on the eastern bank, including what appears to be a Russian armored vehicle firing intensively at Ukrainian soldiers as it recovers Russian wounded.
The video was undated but Russian reports suggested around several dozen Ukrainian troops landed on June 24 and Russian airborne units have been trying to dislodge them since.
Another video shows a small boat carrying perhaps a dozen Ukrainian soldiers landing by the ruined bridge, coming under shell fire.
The Russian military blogger account, Two Majors, reported a small group of Ukrainian soldiers had succeeded in digging in around the bridge. It noted Russian forces had been forced to pull back to a distance from the bank because their positions had been flooded after the Kakhovka dam was blown up earlier this month.
Russian military bloggers said Russian aircraft and artillery were firing on the Ukrainians Monday.
If Ukraine is able to keep hold of its foothold, it will put further pressure on Russia’s forces in the south, already battling to hold back Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
In the wake of Saturday’s short-lived attempted rebellion against the Kremlin by the Wagner private military company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled oligarch considered one of Putin’s best-known opponents, told ABC News he supports the mutiny and encourages Russians to back the leader of the mercenary group.
Once Russia’s richest man, Khodorkovsky, a Putin opposition activist, spent 10 years imprisoned after he challenged Putin, his case now considered a foundational moment for Putin’s regime.
When Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters marched on Moscow Saturday before making a sudden about-face, Khodorkovsky was notable among Russia’s pro-democracy opposition in calling on people to support Prigozhin, arguing that allowing him to remove Putin would create an opportunity for the democrats.
Khodorkovsky told ABC News he believed Prigozhin’s actions were a real coup attempt and that it had “seriously undermined” Putin’s power. He predicted that similar opportunities to collapse the regime will be launched soon.
“The blow to Putin’s reputation, to the authorities’ reputation, was absolutely fantastical,” Khodorkovsky said. “Putin’s government today is, without a doubt, strongly undermined by what happened — his authority, his ability to control the security services is seriously undermined.”
Khodorkovsky said Prigozhin’s march on Moscow had undermined Putin’s popularity, showing neither ordinary Russians nor the security services were prepared to act to protect him.
“Along the entire route of Wagner’s columns, no one in any way tried to hinder him (Prigozhin). Even the security forces did not try to stop him,” Khodorkovsky said. “It showed that, in fact, inside the country, Putin has an absolute void.”
Khodorkovsky said he did not support Prigozhin himself — considering him a “war criminal” — but that the democratic opposition should have sought to help him overthrow Putin, and then taken power from him after.
Khodorkovsky criticized other parts of the anti-Kremlin opposition who attacked him for calling on people to assist Prigozhin, saying he believed the opposition had “slept through” the opportunity and suggesting it should have sought to stage a rebellion in Moscow at the same time.
“There will definitely now be more such opportunities because of Putin’s weakening. But the next time we need to simply be more ready,” said Khodorkovsky, who is living in exile in England. “If an uprising had started in Moscow to meet Prigozhin then a situation could have developed quite differently.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jun 24, 6:53 PM EDT
US official says it’s a ‘mystery’ why Prigozhin stopped march to Moscow
A senior U.S. official says it is a mystery as to why Yevgeny Prigozhin stopped his march to Moscow given that he was seemingly in a dominant position.
The official said he was greeted as a hero in Rostov-on-Don. However, the senior official told ABC News that Prigozhin is in an “emotional state,” and perhaps did it because he thought this would destroy Russia, or because he glimpsed his own end. It is impossible to tell whether Prigozhin thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will actually honor their deal which included allowing Wagner group soldiers to be folded into the Russian military.
The official said that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was very effective, telling Prigozhin and Putin that this was all a misunderstanding and that they are both patriots and aligned for the same goals.
Putin is said to be completely shocked by how fast Wagner Group moved through Russia. For now, he is just trying to secure his position. He does not want to be seen negotiating over his defense minister, but the official says the U.S. believes concessions were made over Sergei Shoigu’s future as well as others.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Jun 25, 3:56 AM EDT
Moscow highway restrictions remain, Russian media reports
Travel restrictions remained in place on Sunday on the major M-4 highway near Moscow, according to Russia’s state-run media.
“According to the previously issued regional decisions, traffic restrictions remain in force on the M-4 Don highway near the Moscow Region and the Tula Region,” the federal road agency said, according to TASS.
The security checkpoints had been put in place Saturday as a column of Wagner Group forces traveled toward Moscow. Roadblocks in southern Russia, including in Rostov-on-Don and the Krasnodar Region, were reportedly lifted.
“All previously imposed restrictions on highways have been lifted,” TASS reported, citing a branch of the Russian Interior Ministry.
-ABC News’ KJ Edelman
Jun 24, 10:20 PM EDT
‘Gang of 8’ briefed about Wagner Group movements
Senior congressional leaders were briefed about the ongoing situation in Russia, according to a congressional aide.
U.S. intelligence officials told the so-called “Gang of Eight” — the top Republicans and Democrats currently in congressional leadership– in recent days about potentially concerning movements of Wagner Group forces and equipment build-ups near Russia. However, it was unclear to U.S. intelligence what was going to happen and when.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Jun 24, 5:18 PM EDT
Blinken holds call with Turkish counterpart for ‘ongoing situation in Russia’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated that U.S. support for Ukraine will not change. The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation develops,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Blinken also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday to discuss the situation in Russia, Miller said. Blinken reiterated that support by the U.S. for Ukraine will not change.
The U.S. will stay in close coordination with Ukraine as the situation develops.
-ABC News Shannon K. Crawford
Jun 24, 4:45 PM EDT
Wagner chief will not be prosecuted, Kremlin says
Yevgeny Prigozhin will go to Belarus to ease tensions and the fighters of PMC Wagner Group who took part in the so-called “campaign” against Moscow will not be prosecuted, the Kremlin said Saturday evening.
The rest will be able to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“In the end, we managed to resolve this situation without further losses, without raising the level of tension,” Peskov said.
“An agreement was reached that PMC Wagner would return to their camps,” he added.
Jun 24, 2:55 PM EDT
Wagner Group chief orders mercenaries to halt march on Moscow
The Wagner Group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and return to their field camps, saying he wants to avoid shedding Russian blood.
Prigozhin made the announcement in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel.
Russian state media has shown Wagner fighters packing up and reportedly leaving Rostov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and thanked him for his efforts de-escalating the situation.
Jun 24, 1:12 PM EDT
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cancels trip to Israel, Jordan due to situation in Russia
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has canceled his planned trip to Israel and Jordan due to the situation in Russia. The trip was to have begun Saturday.
Milley also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“They discussed the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments. The Chairman reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Joint Staff spokesperson Col. Dave Butler.
The Pentagon said Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is monitoring the ongoing situation in Russia and will continue to be briefed on any significant developments.
Jun 24, 12:47 PM EDT
Moscow suspends schools, events until July 1
Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, has suspended mass events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin urged residents to refrain from traveling around the city. Monday was also declared a non-working day for the city. Sobyanin said that a counter-terrorism regime was declared in Moscow and that the situation was difficult.
Jun 24, 12:34 PM EDT
Biden speaks with leaders of France, Germany, UK about ‘situation in Russia’
President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the developments in Russia.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also briefed by their national security team on the developments in Russia and will continue to receive updates throughout the day, the White House said Saturday.
Jun 24, 10:11 AM EDT
Wagner troop column 300 miles south of Moscow, Russian media says
The governor of the Lipetsk region, which is about 300 miles south of Moscow, said a column of Wagner troops has been spotted in the region, Russian state media reports.
Jun 24, 9:15 AM EDT
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a private military organization run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with tens of thousands of fighters, according to U.S. officials.
Earlier this year, the U.S. labeled the group a “significant transnational criminal organization” and levied new sanctions, while human rights observers this week said they suspected Wagner fighters were linked to the mass killing of people in Mali last year.
Government reports, statements from U.S. officials and insights from experts, as well as other sources, shed light on the Wagner group’s history and goals, its alleged wrongdoings and its importance to Russia — in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Jun 24, 7:24 AM EDT
NATO monitoring Russian situation, official says
A NATO representative said the alliance was watching what was happening in Russia on Saturday.
“We are monitoring the situation,” spokesperson Oana Lungescu said.
Jun 24, 6:31 AM EDT
‘Operational combat’ underway north of Rostov, official says
A governor of the Voronezh region, about 300 miles south of Moscow, says Russia’s armed forces are conducting “operational combat operations” there as part of “counter terrorism operation.”
Earlier the region’s government reported a column of Wagner Group fighters was moving through the region, an area between Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
“In the bounds of the counterterrorist operation on the territory of the Voronezh region, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are conducting necessary operational combat operations,” the official said. “We will inform further about the development of the situation.”
Jun 24, 6:03 AM EDT
Russia in ‘so much chaos that no lie can hide it,’ Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia appeared to be suffering “full-scale weakness” after the Wagner Group mercenaries said they’d taken hold of a key Russian city.
“Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it,” he said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 5:47 AM EDT
Prigozhin responds to Putin, says Wagner not going to surrender
The Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calling him a “traitor,” by saying he will not surrender or turn back.
“Putin was deeply mistaken about the betrayal. We are patriots of our homeland, we fought and are fighting,” Prighozin said in an audio message. “No one is going to turn around at the request of the president, the FSB or anyone else, because we do not want the country to live longer in corruption, deception and bureaucracy.”
Prigozhin accused Russia’s military of targeting a Wagner column with helicopters and jets.
Jun 24, 5:37 AM EDT
Chechen leader backs Putin, says forces moving into ‘zones of tension’
The powerful head of Chechnya, the semi-independent Russian region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on Saturday he supported President Vladimir Putin.
Kadyrov saiud he fully backs Putin and called Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s actions “treacherous.”
Kadyrov has tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters. He said his forces are already moving to “zones of tension.”
It raises prospect of Chechen forces fighting with Wagner Group troops.
Kadyrov has previously been friendly with Prigozhin — his coming out in support of Putin is a boost for Putin, but also raises prospect of serious clashes in Russia.
Jun 24, 5:27 AM EDT
Next 48 hours ‘will define’ Russia, Zelenskyy advisor says
Russian leaders are “now choosing which side they are on,” an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.
“The next 48 hours will define the new status of Russia,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Either a full-fledged Civil War, or a negotiated Transit of Power, or a temporary respite before the next phase of the downfall of the Putin regime.”
He added, “A deafening ‘elite’ silence is in Russia so far…”
Jun 24, 3:52 AM EDT
Uprising ‘significant challenge’ to Russian state, UK says
Members of the mercenary Wagner Group have begun moving north “almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow,” in what amounts to the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
“Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 3:25 AM EDT
Putin: Wagner Group moves are ‘stab in the back’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said moves taken by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally, to bring his troops into a key Russian city amounted to a “stab in the back.”
Putin didn’t mention Prigozhin by name, but said that “necessary orders have been given” to defend Russia in a recorded address aired on Russian television on Saturday.
“Actions that divide our unity are in essence defeatism before one’s own people,” he said. “This is a stab in the back of our country and our people.”
Jun 24, 3:12 AM EDT
Kremlin briefs Putin on ‘attempted armed rebellion’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed by the country’s security agencies about what was referred to as an “attempted armed rebellion,” according to Russia’s state-run media.
The late-night statement from Putin’s spokesman suggested that the Kremlin considered Wagner Group’s move into Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, to be a “rebellion.”
Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message on Friday claimed his forces would now punish Russia’s defense minister and chief of general staff, telling other units to stand down and not offer resistance.
“Special services, law enforcement agencies, namely the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardiya, in round-the-clock mode, constantly report to the president on the measures taken in the context of the implementation of the instructions previously given to him,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
Jun 24, 2:42 AM EDT
Wagner Group claims control over Rostov military facilities, airport
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, said on Saturday that the headquarters of the Southern Military District and all military facilities in Rostov-on-Don were under his control.
Prigozhin in a video demanded that Kremlin bring him Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu.
He also threatened in the video that he would go to Moscow.
“We will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of video and audio recordings posted on social media.
He added, “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former vice president and 2024 presidential hopeful Mike Pence on Sunday celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that effectively ends affirmative action at U.S. colleges, telling ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl that while he thought there was once “a time” for the practice, “those days are over.”
“I think there was a time for affirmative action … to open the doors of our colleges and universities to minority students and particularly African Americans who may have been denied access. But I think those days are over,” he said.
“I have every confidence that African Americans and other minority Americans are going to continue to compete and succeed in universities around the country, but we’re going to do it with a colorblind society that I think is the aspiration of every American,” Pence told Karl.
The Thursday decision from the nation’s highest court set new limits sharply restricting how race can be considered in college admissions, with the conservative majority ruling that programs at two top universities violated equal protection under the Constitution.
The opinion drew a range of differing opinions from politicians and advocates. An ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday found that 52% of Americans approved of the decision while 32% disapproved, though opinions split along ideological and racial lines.
Karl asked Pence on “This Week” if it would be “a problem for America” if as a result of this ruling less Black and Hispanic students were admitted to the nation’s top universities.
Pence did not directly answer and instead hailed the victory as “a tribute to our minority students.”
“I really believe that the decision by the Supreme Court today was an acknowledgement of the incredible progress that minority Americans have made, their extraordinary educational achievements,” he added, noting that the use of race in college admissions “went away a little sooner” than former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor notably predicted in a 2003 opinion.
Karl followed up and repeated his question, pointing to data from the nine states that have already banned affirmative action. At some elite colleges there, enrollment of minority students, particularly of those who are Black and Hispanic, dropped.
“Look, I haven’t seen your studies. I don’t know the numbers. … I’m just very confident that African Americans, Hispanic Americans and other minorities are going to be able to compete and succeed,” Pence said.
Karl pressed Pence on a wrinkle in Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion: that military academies can still factor in race of applicants in making their decisions, because of “potentially distinct” and “compelling” interests for the government and national security.
Karl paraphrased a sharply worded dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson: “One standard for the boardroom, another standard for the bunker — doesn’t she have a case? A point there?”
“This probably won’t be the first time that I disagree with our newest justice,” Pence said.
“But Jon, come on. The American has been an instrument of advancing equality since virtually the founding of this country,” he said.
Karl followed up. “If you agree that this is the way it should be for universities across the country, should it also apply to the military academies? Why the carve out?”
“I’d refer your viewers to the decision itself,” Pence said, before turning to boast about the Trump administration’s role in selecting Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom were in the majority ending affirmative action.
Another “real victory” Pence celebrated was a Supreme Court ruling on Friday in favor of a website designer who said her Christian beliefs compelled her not to make sites for same-sex couples.
“You said … there is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States. I think everybody would absolutely agree with that. Do you also believe there is no place for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity?” Karl asked Pence.
Pence again did not directly answer, telling Karl, “I’m a Bible-believing Christian. I’ve always believed that marriage is between one man and one woman. But the Supreme Court, now [for] the better part of 10 years ago, recognized same-sex marriage. But now, in what is the second important case in this area, this week, that strong conservative majority also affirmed the right of every American to live, to work, to worship, according to the dictates of their conscience.”
Pence talks surprise Ukraine trip
Pence’s interview on “This Week” concluded with him addressing his surprise trip last week to war-torn Ukraine — which sets him apart from other Republican presidential candidates, some of whom have sounded more skeptical about America’s ongoing commitment in the conflict.
Karl asked if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemed open to considering territorial concessions to Russia in order to end the invasion. In a recent interview, former President Donald Trump said that would be “subject to negotiation” if he is back in the White House, along with all other aspects of the fighting.
Pence avoided weighing in, instead touting the “courage and resolve” of the Ukrainians and saying he believes President Joe Biden has “failed miserably” in explaining to Americans the importance of supporting Ukraine.
“He’s given these gauzy speeches about democracy. … Look, we’re there because it’s in our national interest to give the Ukrainian military the ability to rebut and defeat Russian aggression,” Pence said. “Because if Russia overran Ukraine, I have no doubt, Jon, that it wouldn’t be too long before they crossed the border, where American servicemen and women would be required to go and fight.”
Biden has also said backing Ukraine is about preserving freedom in Europe and curbing the ambition of “autocrats” like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While in Ukraine, Pence tweeted, “I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal, and I know who needs to win this war in Ukraine … There is no room in our party for apologists for Putin.”
Karl asked Pence if that was a reference to Trump.
“Obviously, it’s President Trump who said that the invasion of Ukraine was genius. So are you saying, essentially, that Donald Trump is an apologist to Putin?” Karl pressed.
Pence declined to directly respond, though he again stressed his unabashed support of Ukraine.
“Look, others in this Republican primary have said that it was a territorial dispute,” he said, referencing a phrase Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had used (and subsequently said was misunderstood).
“I do know the difference between a genius and a war criminal,” Pence added, “and Vladimir Putin’s unconscionable and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was an act of naked aggression.”
(NEW YORK) — Twitter owner Elon Musk introduced, then quickly amended, new rules to the social media platform on Saturday that set “temporary limits” on how many posts can be read per day.
Musk initially unveiled Saturday afternoon that verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts per day and unverified accounts are limited to 600 posts per day. New unverified accounts are limited to 300 posts per day, he said.
Within two hours of making the announcement, Musk tweeted that rate limits will be “increasing soon” to 8,000 for verified, 800 for unverified and 400 for new unverified accounts.
The changes were made to “address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation,” Musk tweeted.
Details of the changes came after many Twitter users complained about issues loading tweets Saturday morning — including receiving error messages saying “rate limit exceeded.” The hashtag “TwitterDown” was trending Saturday as users apparently encountered the new limits.
The website downdetector.com showed a spike in users reporting problems accessing Twitter Saturday morning, with thousands of problems reported by the afternoon.
Since acquiring Twitter in October for roughly $44 billion, Musk has made major changes to the company and its platform.
In an effort to significantly slash costs, the company cut roughly 75% of its 7,500-person workforce, raising concerns about Twitter’s capacity to maintain its platform.
In April, the company began phasing out legacy “blue check marks.”
Now, users who pay a monthly subscription fee and meet certain eligibility criteria can get a check mark and be considered verified.
Musk announced in May that he was stepping down as CEO, after the billionaire entrepreneur pledged in December to step down as the head of Twitter as soon as he found someone “foolish enough to take the job.”
Musk was replaced by Linda Yaccarino, previously the ad sales chief at NBCUniversal.
Musk, who runs Tesla and Space X, said at the time he plans to transition to a role as executive chairman and chief technology officer.
ABC News’ Matt Foster and Max Zahn contributed to this report.
(PARIS) — Riots erupted for a fourth night across France over the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M., who was laid to rest on Saturday.
More than 1,300 people were arrested overnight throughout the country, according to the French Ministry of the Interior, as cars and buildings were set ablaze and stores looted. The damage was widespread, from Paris to Marseille and Lyon, with about 2,500 fires set, officials said.
Dozens of police officers and firefighters were injured overnight, as some 45,000 police officers were deployed in France to quell potential violence, officials said. It’s unclear how many protesters were injured.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that 45,000 police and gendarmes will again be mobilized Saturday evening.
The violent unrest in France kicked off after the teen was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic check in the northwestern Paris suburb Nanterre on Tuesday morning.
Lawyers for the victim’s family, who have roots in Algeria, identified him as Nahel M. A funeral for Nahel was held on Saturday in Nanterre. Mourners gathered at a mosque and on the street outside the cemetery to pay their respects.
Amid the unrest, the French government canceled large-scale events around the country on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to parents to keep their children at home, noting that many of the protesters are young people.
On Saturday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s office said Macron called to postpone what would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in nearly two dozen years, The Associated Press reported.
The officer who shot and killed the teen has been detained on suspicion of voluntary homicide amid an ongoing investigation into the incident, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said Thursday that the officer did not meet the requirements to discharge his weapon and will remain in custody awaiting trial.
France’s Inspectorate General of the National Police, which investigates allegations of police misconduct, is also conducting a probe into the fatal shooting.
Nahel’s family’s lawyers told ABC News they filed complaints against the officer accused of pulling the trigger and another officer who was at the scene.
Macron and Darmanin have both repeatedly called for “calm” as authorities investigate the teen’s death.
France’s national football team – including international star Kylian Mbappé — has also called for an end to the violence. “Many of us are from working-class neighborhoods, we too share this feeling of pain and sadness” over the killing of Nahel, the team said in a statement.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(NORTH CAROLINA) — North Carolina now prohibits abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, bringing its limit down from 20 weeks.
This comes despite a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and Dr. Beverly Gray, an abortion provider, challenging the legality of the ban, which requested a temporary restraining order on the ban before it went into effect Saturday.
The judge issued a ruling allowing most of the ban to go into effect, with the exception of one rule that would have required physicians prescribing medication abortions to document the pregnancy in their medical chart, according to the order. The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until July 14, as litigation continues.
Another provision, which requires sexual assault survivors to obtain an abortion in a hospital after 12-weeks of pregnancy will not go into effect until Oct. 1, according to Planned Parenthood.
In response to the suit, the legislature passed a bill clarifying some provisions that are at the center of the lawsuit. This includes allowing abortion pills to be prescribed beyond the 10-week limit that the ban had originally established and that providers cannot be prosecuted for providing legal abortions.
“Our legal challenge forced General Assembly leadership to clean up their mess of a bill, but we never should have had to sue to get clarity on how to comply with this law. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic remains committed to providing abortion care to as many people as possible within the unjust and inhumane confines of this abortion ban, and we encourage anyone in need of abortion care to contact us as soon as possible for help navigating this new reality,” Jenny Black, the president & CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement Friday.
The North Carolina Legislature’s Republican supermajority overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of an abortion ban, passing the 12-week ban in May. The Republicans garnered a supermajority after a lawmaker switched parties less than six months after being elected into office as a Democrat.
The new ban will require abortion providers to give a state-mandated script about the risk of abortions 72 hours before the appointment.
The ban permits exceptions for cases of rape and incest up to 20 weeks of pregnancy and fatal or life-limiting fetal anomalies up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. It also permits abortions for ectopic pregnancies and to save the life of the mother.
Any abortions performed in accordance with the exceptions permitted by the ban are required to be reported to the state’s Department of Health. The report must include a record of evidence explaining why the abortion care is permitted under the exceptions.
North Carolina is a key point of abortion access for women in the South who live in states where nearly all abortions have ceased since Roe v. Wade was overturned a year ago, ending federal protections for abortion rights.
North Carolina saw the third-largest increase — behind Florida and Illinois — in the total number of abortions provided by a clinician during the nine-month period after Roe was overturned, according to data collected by WeCount.
Access to abortion in Florida is also at risk as the state’s Supreme Court examines the legality of a 15-week ban. If the court upholds the ban, a separate law that implements a six-week abortion ban will go into effect.
In the last year, 15 states have ceased nearly all abortion services.
(NEW YORK) — Between the damaging storm threat from the Midwest to the East and dangerous heat in the West and South, more than 110 million Americans are on alert for dangerous weather over the holiday weekend.
On Saturday, excessively hot temperatures extending from the West Coast to the South could affect 66 million Americans.
Temperatures in the West will reach the 100s in many locations and even the 110s in places like Redding, California, and Fresno, California, along with Phoenix, Arizona. A whopping 116 degrees is expected in Palm Springs.
In the South, heat index temperatures (how temperatures feel) will range from 105 to 115 degrees on Saturday in at least 8 southern states from Texas to Georgia. The entire state of Mississippi is under an excessive heat warning.
On Saturday, the highest risk area is centered over St. Louis, Louisville and Indianapolis stretching across portions of I-70, I-55, I-65 and I-64.
More than 50 million Americans are in the storm zone this holiday weekend. From Missouri to the East Coast, Americans will need to stay alert for storms with damaging winds along with chances for large hail and a few tornadoes.
On Sunday, the threat for damaging wind and large hail will extend from Tennessee to New Jersey.
Temperatures are expected to remain hot through the July 4th holiday.
Fifteen states remain under air quality alerts on Saturday. Overall, the smoke in America is weakening but those with asthma and other respiratory issues should continue to use caution, health officials warn.
Health officials say its important to remember to reduce outdoor exertion and listen to your body – sitting in the shade with plenty of adequate hydration is of the utmost importance if you’re outside. Better yet, stay indoors with air conditioning.
(NEW YORK) — As Canada and the U.S. continue to feel the lasting effects of the ongoing wildfires raging in the Great White North, environmental experts are pushing for long-term changes that they say can mitigate the damage from future blazes.
And with climate change making these once unprecedented wildfire events commonplace, those experts said governments on both sides of the border need to act fast.
“It has been an issue because we don’t have a strong federal government and it’s left us in this mess right now, Robert Gray, a wildland fire ecologist based in British Columbia, told ABC News.
Gray, who has studied wildfires in both the U.S. and Canada, said that higher temperatures, and dryer conditions have left the land in the eastern Canadian wilderness more susceptible to larger wildfires.
Even one lightning strike on a tree or brush could be detrimental as there is much more wood to keep the fire burning for a long time.
“These fires are reburning past fires that have been not that old,” he said. “The trees fall down and then it’s basically available to burn again.”
As for the current situation, some experts said the terrain and severity of the fire make it difficult to put out quickly.
“Because of the size of the fires, the weather is going to be the only thing now that’s going put them out. That means major rain, and in some areas, possibly snowfall,” Gray said.
John Gradek, a faculty lecturer and the coordinator of McGill University’s aviation management program, told ABC News that Canada doesn’t have a unified government entity that manages the country’s forests and handles disasters that take place in multiple provinces.
Those responsibilities lie with each province’s government, and because of that, he said there is not a coordinated effort between Quebec and Ontario with the current situation.
But even without that national oversight, Gradek said that emergency response teams can start to implement mitigation techniques that have been proven to curb forest fires.
For example, in locations such as British Columbia, California and Colorado, which have had more experience with major wildfires, forestry teams will do controlled fires to clear the underbrush at the beginning of the season, Gradek said.
“In the wildlands of the Quebec forests there is no prescribed program to clean up the forest floor,” he said.
Gradek said that government groups can also plan before the warmer months by deploying fire retardant substances from the air to lessen the chance of a spread once wildfire season starts.
Negar Elhami-Khorasani, an associate professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, told ABC News that at the very least local and federal governments should come up with policies and strategies that provide fair warning about the dangers of the wildfires.
Similar to hurricane plans near coastal cities, Elhami-Khorasani said it wouldn’t take too much time or resources to warn residents who live and work near wildfire-prone areas in Canada about dangers during wildfire season.
“Prior to the event, completing a risk evaluation and creating tools to predict what can happen can guide mitigation actions,” she added.
Gray emphasized that increased wildfires are a multinational problem throughout North America, and both the U.S. and Canada need to prioritize wildfire mitigation in all areas of the country as he predicted that this summer’s events will become more common.
“There is a political will to do this, and there is an outcry in the U.S. that is raising the word on the impact,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Five-year-old Penelope Sapia was diagnosed with a rare disease at birth. Ever since then, her mother, Gillian Sapia, has had to become well-versed in the complex world of Medicaid enrollment — the only way the family affords the constant brain scans, kidney tests and seizure medications that Penelope needs to treat her classic galactosemia, a genetic metabolic disorder.
That’s why Gillian Sapia, a former nurse turned full-time caretaker for her daughter, was stunned when she received a text from Penelope’s occupational therapist in May. Penelope no longer had Medicaid, the therapist texted, and she wouldn’t be able to get treatment again until she did.
“I was crying all day,” said Sapia, who wasn’t sure if she’d made a mistake renewing her daughter’s Medicaid or if there had been a mistake in the system. “It was just so overwhelming and so defeating because I really do — my whole life is taking care of her. I’m her caretaker. And I felt like a bad mom.”
Sapia knew that their home state of Florida, along with a handful of other states, had begun combing through Medicaid rolls to make sure everyone was still eligible — as required with the end this year of the federal government’s public health emergency for COVID-19.
Nonetheless, Sapia had expected to remain enrolled because, she said, she applied for renewal and hadn’t heard otherwise from the state Medicaid office.
Instead, Sapia said that text from her daughter’s occupational therapist kicked off a three-week period of daily calls, often with hourslong hold times, to reach agents with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). When she couldn’t get answers there, she turned to health advocates and lawyers who took up her case.
In that time, the Sapias said, they spent about $1,000 a week to keep up with Penelope’s health care needs as they struggled to find out why she lost her Medicaid coverage — and how to get it back.
Three weeks later, after working with lawyers and a health advocacy group called the Florida Health Justice Project, Sapia said she got a call carrying good news: Penelope was back on Medicaid.
But the Sapias say they still don’t have a clear answer for why they were suddenly removed in the first place.
DCF declined to comment to ABC News on Penelope’s case, citing privacy concerns, and a spokesperson did not respond to a detailed list of questions for this story. But the spokesperson maintained that “everyone that is removed from Medicaid receives a final notice informing them of the reason for termination.”
Sapia said that wasn’t her experience.
“They didn’t even tell me that I was dropped. And I went through all of my letters to see where I was dropped, and there was absolutely not a single letter in my profile online,” she said. “No answers whatsoever.”
In May, the same month the Sapias were removed from Medicaid, Florida removed around 250,000 other enrollees — and nationwide, more than 1.5 million Americans have lost coverage in the last four months, according to an analysis of available data from at least 25 states by the nonpartisan health policy center KFF.
Why Medicaid is undergoing a huge review
The massive shift in health care coverage — potentially the biggest since the country implemented the Affordable Care Act 10 years ago, experts have said — started in the spring, when the country officially moved out of the pandemic’s emergency phase, first declared by the federal government in 2020.
States had been given additional federal funding for the last three years to provide continuous Medicaid coverage, ensuring no one lost health care amid the throes of COVID-19.
The end of the emergency, in May, also meant the end of the federal money and states could once again begin reviewing their Medicaid rolls, asking people to renew their coverage and prove they’re still eligible for government-funded health care. Florida began redetermining Medicaid eligibility on May 1 and will be updating the coverage rolls each month through March 2024.
In Arkansas, where at least 110,000 people have lost coverage so far, according to KFF, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has pledged to carry out the process in half the time the federal government called for states to use. Huckabee has called the Medicaid rollbacks “necessary” to help get the program “back to normal.”
“We’re simply removing ineligible participants from the program to reserve resources for those who need them and follow the law,” she wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in May.
Nearly all states will have begun their redetermination processes by July, and about half the country already has.
In all, 15 million people could get removed from the Medicaid rolls during the redetermination process, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates.
Up to 7M Americans may lose coverage unnecessarily
The concern of health advocates, though, is for people like the Sapias, who seemingly slip through the cracks of bureaucracy.
With such a big undertaking after three years, Medicaid officials estimate that there could be roughly 7 million people who are still eligible but lose their coverage anyway.
“That is of paramount concern to us,” Dan Tsai, who oversees federal Medicaid efforts for CMS, told ABC News in an interview.
The estimate comes from historical data, Tsai said, which shows that before the pandemic, people struggled to keep up with regular reapplications for Medicaid coverage. Procedural errors, missed notices and confusion are known factors in part to blame for eligible recipients losing coverage, he said.
“Because of the Medicaid renewal process, which is often very paper-based, you have individuals in the program — kids, families, parents — losing coverage for a period of time and often not knowing it until they show back up at the doctor’s office,” he said.
Referring to the 15 million expected to lose Medicaid coverage with the end of COVID-19 funding, Tsai said, “We know and have estimated that roughly half of that … will be people that are still eligible and lose coverage. Not because their income has changed but because of red tape, of not getting a piece of paper in the mail or knowing that they were up for renewal and needing to submit and return a form to the state.”
In Florida, for example, 82% of those removed from the Medicaid rolls in May lost coverage because of “procedural reasons,” according to a KFF analysis of the Florida redetermination data from May. That meant people didn’t fill out a form correctly or submit it in time, or perhaps moved homes and missed a letter notifying them of the change in the mail.
By contrast, 18% of the 250,000 people in Florida were removed in May because they were ineligible, KFF found, usually meaning they’d found employer-sponsored health care or they now made too much money to qualify for the low-income program and were transferred over to coverage through the ACA, also known as “Obamacare.”
DCF did not respond to ABC News’ multiple requests for comment regarding KFF’s findings.
While it’s still unclear why Penelope Sapia was temporarily removed from Medicaid coverage, experts who reviewed her case pointed out that Florida’s plan pledges to keep children with medically complex conditions enrolled until the end of the redetermination process.
Because of that, the Sapias expect her to have coverage until they go through the renewal again in March 2024 — but her story raises concern about the state’s process, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
Across the country, Alker said, it will be a challenge to navigate such a far-reaching process without dropping people from coverage unnecessarily.
“This is a really heavy lift. We see mistakes are made. Families don’t get the letter, they don’t understand the letter, they have a hard time getting help,” she said.
While the DCF wouldn’t comment on Penelope Sapia, the department’s deputy chief of staff, Mallory McManus said they are “utilizing an aggressive text and email effort in addition to traditional mail.”
“If all of those efforts are unsuccessful, we are calling recipients to inform them that their redetermination is past due and to encourage them to respond to the Department,” McManus told ABC News.
Tsai, at CMS, said his department has been working for two years to get states to streamline their processes in order to lessen the blow when redeterminations inevitably began again.
“So much of the work and the strategies we put on the table, the all-hands-on-deck moment now, is to help make sure that everybody eligible is aware of what’s happening, has a chance to update their contact information with the state and really is able to return the renewal form to keep their coverage,” he said.
“There’s more to do,” he acknowledged. “And indeed, some states have taken us up on every option and strategy that we’ve put on the table. Some states have taken up fewer of those.”
But the “bottom line” is this, he said. “We’re really encouraging and urging our state partners and others to really adopt, take up, do everything in your power, to do everything to keep people covered.”
ABC News’ Eric Fayeulle and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
