(NEVADA COUNTY, Calif.) — At least 700 firefighters are battling the Rices Fire in northern California on Wednesday, where hundreds of residents have been evacuated from their homes, officials said.
The fire, which has burned 769 acres and is 0% contained as of Wednesday morning, has led to mandatory and warning evacuation orders, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. It has impacted 355 homes and other buildings in the area, according to local officials.
The fire is expected to be fully contained on July 1, according to a Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit report on Wednesday.
There are no reported civilian injuries, and one reported firefighter injury.
Evacuation warnings and orders remained active for 12 zones on Tuesday night, according to police.
“Today, the fire exhibited active fire behavior with wind driven runs and single tree spotting and long range spotting. It is burning in dormant brush, hardwood slash and brush,” a statement from Cal Fire said on Wednesday.
Steep and rugged terrain, critically dry and receptive fuel beds, and drought have led to the continued fire activity, authorities said.
Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Chief Brian Estes said the fire has been burning to the north and northeast towards the Yuba River drainage.
“If it does go into the over the Yuba River drainage and crosses that drainage that crosses into Yuba County from Nevada County then we could have some tremendous impacts to the communities of Dobbins, Oregon House and Brownsville,” Estes said in a press conference on Tuesday evening.
The fire began around 2 p.m. on Tuesday off Rices Crossing Road and Cranston Road, according to the Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit.
Four structures were confirmed to be destroyed as of Wednesday morning. An additional 500 buildings are threatened along with South Yuba State Park, officials said.
Estes said the Rices fire is already a massive operation and it’s vital to contain the fire before it spreads further.
“I think we’re going to see a trend for Northern California to start to see more large fires, and so we have a long summer ahead of us,” Estes said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
The Madelyn Helling Library is open as a shelter for residents forced to evacuate and animals can be taken to the Nevada County Fairgrounds for shelter, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We make sure that we have lots of law enforcement personnel in the areas to make sure that the people that are in that area are supposed to be there,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a Tuesday evening conference. “We want to make sure that we don’t have any looting.”
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — A 34-year-old man is recovering from injuries sustained at Yellowstone National Park after he was charged at and brutally gored by a bison when he and his family got too close to the animal.
The incident occurred near Giant Geyser at Old Faithful on Monday when the unidentified man from Colorado Springs, Colorado, was walking with his family on a boardwalk at Yellowstone National Park when a bull bison began charging at them, according to a press release issued by the park.
“Family members did not leave the area, and the bull bison continued to charge and gored the male,” the statement from Yellowstone continued. “The male sustained an injury to his arm and was transported by ambulance to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.”
It is unclear whether the family had gotten too close to the animal or if the attack was unprovoked but Yellowstone officials confirmed that the incident remains under investigation and did not disclose any further information on the man’s condition.
Yellowstone warned that park regulations mandate people stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times because they are unpredictable animals and can run three times faster than humans can.
“This is the second reported incident in 2022 of a visitor getting too close to the animal and the bison responding to the perceived threat by goring the individual,” said Yellowstone National Park.
That incident occurred just last month on May 30 when a 25-year-old woman from Grove City, Ohio, approached a bison within 10 feet near Black Sand Basin, located just north of Old Faithful at Yellowstone, causing the animal to charge at her. The victim was subsequently gored by the bison and tossed 10 feet into the air before she was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment, according to a statement from Yellowstone National Park released at the time of the incident.
“Yellowstone’s scenic wonders are sure to take your breath away: don’t let them take your life,” warns Yellowstone National Park on its page online for park safety. Some of the rules highlighted by the park include never approach wildlife, stay on boardwalks and trails in thermal areas, and never feed wildlife.
“Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal,” says the park. “Always stay at least 25 yards (23 m) away from bison.”
(WASHINGTON) — Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court’s liberal wing, said he will officially step down from the bench at noon on Thursday, relinquishing his duties as a justice and clearing the way for the swearing-in of the nation’s first Black female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Breyer wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden dated Wednesday.
Breyer’s retirement fulfills the wish of Democrats who lobbied for his exit to make way for Biden’s first nominee to the court.
Progressive activists had imposed unprecedented public pressure on Breyer, who was nominated in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, to retire. Breyer was first appointed to the federal bench in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, going on to serve 13 years as an appellate judge until Clinton elevated him to replace Justice Harry Blackmun on the Supreme Court in 1994. The Senate confirmed him 87-9.
Last term, Breyer authored major opinions upholding the Affordable Care Act, affirming free speech rights of students off-campus and resolving a multi-billion dollar copyright dispute between two titans of American technology, Google and Oracle.
His retirement relatively early in the Biden presidency, while Democrats retain a razor-thin majority in the U.S. Senate, helped to ensure his seat would be filled with someone who shares his judicial philosophy.
Breyer has described differences among the justices as contrasts in “philosophical outlook” rather than differences of politics and chaffed at the labeling of justices as “liberal” or “conservative.”
“Politics to me is who’s got the votes. Are you Republican or Democrat? I don’t find any of that here,” he told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in 2015.
While he never enjoyed the rock-star status held by Ginsburg, Breyer has long been revered and celebrated as a consensus-seeker and happy warrior throughout his 27 years on the court. He has also been one of the few justices to be a regular attendee at State of the Union addresses before a joint session of Congress.
Asked in 2017 how he would like to be remembered, Breyer told an interviewer: “You play the hand you’re dealt. You’re dealt one. And you do the best with what you have. If people say yes, he did, he tried, he did his best and was a decent person, good.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Breyer’s seat
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will fill Justice Breyer’s seat, and become the first Black woman to sit on the nation’s highest court. With Jackson’s ascension to the bench, for the first time, white men will not represent the majority on the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden formally announced Jackson’s nomination earlier this year and fulfilled a campaign promise made ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state’s Black voters and Rep. Jim Clyburn.
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said in February from the White House. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”
Jackson, who will also be the nation’s first former public defender to sit on the high court, served as a clerk for Breyer from 1999 to 2000 and called it “extremely humbling to be considered” for his seat.
“I know that I could never fill his shoes, but if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit,” she said.
Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney — joined Senate Democrats in voting to confirm Jackson in April, marking a solid, bipartisan win for the Biden White House.
(WASHINGTON) — Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court’s liberal wing, said he will officially step down from the bench at noon on Thursday, and the court announced he will then swear in his former law clerk — Ketanji Brown Jackson — to take his place on the bench, becoming the nation’s first Black female justice.
“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Breyer wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden dated Wednesday.
Breyer’s retirement fulfills the wish of Democrats who lobbied for his exit to make way for Biden’s first nominee to the court.
Jackson will take both her oaths at noon — Chief Justice John Roberts administering the Constitutional Oath and Justice Breyer delivering the Judicial Oath. Her presence will mark the first time four women will be on the Supreme Court at the same time.
Progressive activists had imposed unprecedented public pressure on Breyer, who was nominated in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, to retire. Breyer was first appointed to the federal bench in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, going on to serve 13 years as an appellate judge until Clinton elevated him to replace Justice Harry Blackmun on the Supreme Court in 1994. The Senate confirmed him 87-9.
Last term, Breyer authored major opinions upholding the Affordable Care Act, affirming free speech rights of students off-campus and resolving a multi-billion dollar copyright dispute between two titans of American technology, Google and Oracle.
His retirement relatively early in the Biden presidency, while Democrats retain a razor-thin majority in the U.S. Senate, helped to ensure his seat would be filled with someone who shares his judicial philosophy.
Breyer has described differences among the justices as contrasts in “philosophical outlook” rather than differences of politics and chaffed at the labeling of justices as “liberal” or “conservative.”
“Politics to me is who’s got the votes. Are you Republican or Democrat? I don’t find any of that here,” he told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in 2015.
While he never enjoyed the rock-star status held by Ginsburg, Breyer has long been revered and celebrated as a consensus-seeker and happy warrior throughout his 27 years on the court. He has also been one of the few justices to be a regular attendee at State of the Union addresses before a joint session of Congress.
Asked in 2017 how he would like to be remembered, Breyer told an interviewer: “You play the hand you’re dealt. You’re dealt one. And you do the best with what you have. If people say yes, he did, he tried, he did his best and was a decent person, good.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Breyer’s seat
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will fill Justice Breyer’s seat, and become the first Black woman to sit on the nation’s highest court. With Jackson’s ascension to the bench, for the first time, white men will not represent the majority of justices on the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden formally announced Jackson’s nomination earlier this year and fulfilled a campaign promise made ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state’s Black voters and Rep. Jim Clyburn.
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said in February from the White House. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”
Jackson, who will also be the nation’s first former public defender to sit on the high court, served as a clerk for Breyer from 1999 to 2000 and called it “extremely humbling to be considered” for his seat.
“I know that I could never fill his shoes, but if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit,” she said.
Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney — joined Senate Democrats in voting to confirm Jackson in April, marking a solid, bipartisan win for the Biden White House.
(NEW YORK) — After testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that he has joined a growing group of people experiencing a Paxlovid rebound, following treatment with Pfizer’s antiviral.
Fauci, 81, said that when he first tested positive two weeks ago, he had very minimal symptoms. However, when he began to feel worse, “given [his] age,” he was prescribed Paxlovid.
Other than fatigue and a bit of congestion, Fauci reported that he felt “really quite well,” and after his five-day course of Paxlovid, he tested negative with a rapid test.
However, after testing negative for three consecutive days, Fauci said he decided to take one more test out of precaution and subsequently found himself positive again on the fourth day.
“It was sort of what people are referring to as a Paxlovid rebound,” Fauci said during a remote interview with the Foreign Policy Global Health Forum on Tuesday.
Over the course of the next day, he began to feel “really poorly,” and “much worse than in the first go around,” he added.
Paxlovid is authorized in the U.S. for people with mild-to-moderate symptoms of COVID-19, who are at significant risk of progressing to severe illness.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked doctors to be on the lookout for the seemingly rare, but increasingly reported phenomenon.
“Paxlovid continues to be recommended for early-stage treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 among persons at high risk for progression to severe disease,” the CDC wrote in a health alert in May.
The rebounding phenomenon, which is described as a recurrence of COVID-19 symptoms or the development of a new positive viral test after having tested negative, has been found to occur between two and eight days after initial recovery. A brief return of COVID-19 symptoms may be part of the “natural history” of the virus, officials wrote, and may occur in some people, regardless of treatment with Paxlovid or vaccination status.
Just last week, Fauci told reporters during a White House COVID-19 briefing that he was feeling well after testing positive and taking his first course of Paxlovid.
“All is well with Fauci and thank you for asking,” Fauci said. “I’m vaccinated. I’m doubly boosted. And I believe if that were not the case, I very likely would not be talking to you, looking as well as I look, I think, right now.”
However, after his COVID-19 recurrence, Fauci was prescribed another course of Paxlovid, he said. As of Tuesday, he is on his fourth day of a five-day course.
“I am on my fourth day of a five-day course of my second course of Paxlovid. And fortunately, I feel reasonably good. I mean, I’m not complete[ly] without symptoms, but I certainly don’t feel acutely ill,” Fauci said.
Health officials have reported that while information is still limited, available data suggests that most people who experience the rebound are not likely to suffer from severe forms of disease.
At this time, CDC states that there is currently no evidence that an additional treatment of Paxlovid, is needed, following a rebound.
The Food and Drug Administration also says that “there is no evidence of benefit at this time for a longer course of treatment … or repeating a treatment course of Paxlovid in patients with recurrent COVID-19 symptoms following completion of a treatment course.”
The CDC currently recommends that doctors advise their patients with COVID-19 rebound to follow CDC’s guidance on isolation and take additional precautions to prevent transmission.
Patients should re-isolate for at least five days, and per agency guidance, can end their re-isolation period after five full days, if fever has dissipated for 24 hours and symptoms are improving, the CDC says. Physicians are also recommended to tell their patients to wear a mask for a total of 10 days after rebound symptoms started, the agency said.
“Regardless of whether the patient has been treated with an antiviral agent, risk of transmission during COVID-19 rebound can be managed by following CDC’s guidance on isolation, including taking other precautions such as masking,” the agency wrote in May.
Earlier this month, Pfizer also reported new clinical trial data that showed that Paxlovid did significantly reduce the risk of going to the hospital or dying in people with standard risk of developing severe illness. However, the company said the treatment still works well in high-risk individuals.
(SAN ANTONIO) — At least 53 people are dead after dozens were found inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio on Monday evening in a suspected case of human smuggling, authorities said.
Of the 53 bodies in the custody of the medical examiner’s office, 40 are male and 13 are female, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday
Rebeca Clay-Flores, the Bexar County Precinct 1 commissioner, said at a press conference Tuesday that some of those found are under the age of 18, likely teenagers.
Thirty-seven of the victims have potential identification, officials said.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday that the total number of victims was 51 and that those who have been identified so far were from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. The criminal investigation remains ongoing, as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and partners continue to work to identify all of the victims, according to ICE.
It’s the deadliest incident of human smuggling in U.S. history, an HSI spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, citing information provided by U.S. authorities, said the death toll was at least 50, including 22 Mexican citizens, seven Guatemalan citizens and two Honduran citizens. The other victims have yet to be identified and Mexico is working with the U.S. on an investigation, according to Ebrard.
“We are in mourning,” Ebrard said in a statement Tuesday via Twitter. “Huge tragedy.”
The incident unfolded in the south-central Texas city on Monday evening at around 5:50 p.m. local time, when a nearby worker heard a cry for help and found the tractor-trailer with the doors partially opened and the bodies of 46 people inside, according to San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus and San Antonio Fire Department Chief Charles Hood.
An additional 16 people — 12 adults and four children — were transported to area hospitals in what officials called a “mass casualty event.”
Chris Magnus, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), told reporters he was “horrified” by the incident.
“Horrified at this tragic loss of life near San Antonio,” Magnus said Monday. “This speaks to the desperation of migrants who would put their lives in the hands of callous human smugglers who show no regard for human life.”
The trailer was refrigerated but did not have a visibly working air-conditioning unit and there were no signs of water inside, according to Hood.
Three people are in custody in connection with the incident, according to McManus, who added that the case is now a federal investigation. One of the suspects was a driver who was spotted fleeing the scene by an eyewitness who called 911, McManus told ABC News.
Hood told ABC News that the the smell of meat tenderizer, which was reportedly put on top of the bodies before the suspects fled, was overwhelming.
The victims taken to hospitals were hot to the touch and all suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion, Hood said. There were no child fatalities that authorities know of so far, he added.
“They suffered, horrendously, could have been for hours,” Hood said.
Hood said there were personal items near where the bodies were found, including prayer cards in Spanish and a new pair of Air Jordan’s.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement Tuesday calling the deaths “horrifying and heartbreaking,” blaming the criminal smuggling industry for preying on migrants. Biden also highlighted the anti-smuggling campaign the U.S. has launched with its partners, saying they have made over 2,400 arrests.
“Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy, and my Administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry,” Biden said.
ICE said initially that HSI agents found more than 40 deceased individuals upon arrival at the scene on Monday when responding to a call from the San Antonio Police Department regarding “an alleged human smuggling event.”
“HSI continues its enforcement efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities,” ICE said in its statement. “We will continue to address the serious public safety threat posed by human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of those smuggled. To report suspicious activity, we encourage people to call the HSI Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. All calls are kept confidential.”
HSI is the arm of ICE responsible for taking down smuggling networks
The San Antonio Fire Department confirmed to ABC News that HSI and CBP are taking over the investigation from local authorities.
CBP is the umbrella agency of the U.S. Border Patrol, which responded to assist at the scene and is supporting ICE in the federal investigation, according to Magnus, the CBP commissioner.
“We will be working with our federal, state and local partners to assist in every way possible with this investigation,” Magnus told reporters Monday night.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration will “continue to take action to disrupt human smuggling networks which have no regard for lives.”
“Our prayers are with those who tragically lost their lives, their loved ones, as well as those still fighting for their lives. We are also grateful for the swift work of federal, state and local first responders,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
When asked about the criticism from Republicans, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who say Biden’s border policies have led to dangerous journeys for immigrants, Jean-Pierre said the White House is focused on the victims and their families.
“But the fact of the matter is, the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks,” Jean-Pierre said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas took to Twitter to say that he was “heartbroken by the tragic loss of life today and am praying for those still fighting for their lives.”
“Far too many lives have been lost as individuals — including families, women, and children — take this dangerous journey,” he tweeted Monday night. “Human smugglers are callous individuals who have no regard for the vulnerable people they exploit and endanger in order to make a profit. We will work alongside our partners to hold those responsible for this tragedy accountable and continue to take action to disrupt smuggling networks.”
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security released more details on the Biden administration’s efforts to combat human smuggling and unauthorized migration in conjunction with the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles.
The series of operations launched across the Western Hemisphere is part of the largest human smuggling crackdown ever seen in the region, with more than 1,300 deployed personnel and nearly 2,000 smugglers arrested in just two months.
Agencies from across the administration, including the intelligence community and the U.S. Treasury Department, have engaged to disrupt smuggling operations in real-time and strip down the financial backing of the transnational criminal organizations that coordinate these crimes.
“The Biden administration is focused on putting these organizations out of business,” DHS said in a recent statement prior to Monday’s incident. “But human smuggling is, by definition, a transnational problem and we are committed to working with our regional partners in the Americas to commit our collective expertise and resources to put an end to human smuggling.”
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Marilyn Heck, Matt Gutman, Robert Zepeda, Anne Laurent, Scottye Kennedy and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Three tropical systems are churning in the Atlantic basin that could develop into a tropical storm or tropical depression over the next two days.
The closest system to the U.S. is near the Texas coast. It has a 40% chance of strengthening into a tropical depression as it moves on shore just south of Houston in the next 24 hours.
Up to six inches of rain is possible south of Houston and three to four inches is expected for Houston itself Wednesday night through Friday morning. Street flooding is possible.
The second system is in the southern Caribbean and has a 90% chance of developing into Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Gusty winds and heavy rain are expected in Aruba and life-threatening flash flooding is forecast for Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The third tropical system is now moving through the central Atlantic and will be hovering over the eastern Caribbean by this weekend. This storm may bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Puerto Rico for the 4th of July.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 29, 9:15 am
Finland, Sweden invited to join NATO
The leaders of NATO countries have invited Sweden and Finland to join NATO, they announced at the Madrid summit.
NATO leaders in their declaration called Russia “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.”
Jun 29, 8:28 am
NATO to identify Russia as its ‘main threat,’ Spanish PM says
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is hosting a NATO summit in Madrid, said Russia will be identified as the alliance’s “main threat” in its new strategic concept unveiled during the summit.
“The strategic concept of Madrid will be naming Russia as the main threat of the allies,” Sánchez told Spanish media on Wednesday. NATO previously considered Russia a strategic partner.
Sánchez stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only person “responsible for this substantive change.”
During a speech at the NATO summit on Wednesday, the Spanish Prime Minister said the summit carried a clear signal for Putin.
“We are sending a strong message to Putin: ‘You will not win,’” Sánchez said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Facebook on Tuesday that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers had mastered the use of weapons supplied by Western countries, while other troops are in ongoing training.
Reznikov said Ukrainian specialists were training on aviation and other types of high-tech weaponry, including artillery systems and means of reconnaissance.
“We are learning at a fast pace,” the defense minister added. “Any weapon in the hands of the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces becomes even more effective.”
In his speech at the NATO summit on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his plea for more weapons supplies, highlighting Ukraine’s need for more modern artillery systems.
To break Russia’s artillery advantage, Ukraine needs “much more modern systems, modern artillery,” Zelenskyy said.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jun 29, 7:39 am
Missile strike on mall may have been mistake
Russia’s recent missile strike on a shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, which killed at least 20 people, may have been “intended to hit a nearby infrastructure target,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Wednesday in an intelligence update.
The ministry called it “a realistic possibility” and noted that “Russia’s inaccuracy in conducting long range strikes has previously resulted in mass civilian casualty incidents, including at Kramatorsk railway station” on April 9.
“Russian planners highly likely remain willing to accept a high level of collateral damage when they perceive military necessity in striking a target,” the ministry said. “It is almost certain that Russia will continue to conduct strikes in an effort to interdict the resupplying of Ukrainian frontline forces.”
“Russia’s shortage of more modern precision strike weapons and the professional shortcomings of their targeting planners will highly likely result in further civilian casualties,” the ministry warned.
Jun 28, 4:51 pm
20 dead, 40 still missing from mall strike
Twenty people are dead and 59 are wounded from Russia’s missile strike on Monday at a mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, according to Kyrilo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Forty people remain missing, Tymoshenko said.
“Several fragments of bodies have been found ripped off limbs and feet of the people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council.
He said if Russia denies the devastation was wrought by one of its missiles, he asked the U.N. send an independent representative to the site of the attack to verify for itself.
First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the U.N., Dmitry Polyanskiy, flatly denied carrying out strikes against any civilian target.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford, Oleksii Pshemysko and Fidel Pavlenko
Jun 28, 12:58 pm
Sean Penn meets with Zelenskyy
Sean Penn met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Tuesday after the actor arrived in Ukraine to shoot a documentary, according to Zelenskyy’s office.
Penn, who first came to Ukraine on the day Russia invaded in February, wants to “visit settlements in Ukraine affected by Russian aggression,” according to Zelenskyy’s office.
Jun 28, 4:13 pm
Biden: Ukraine ‘standing up’ to Putin ‘in ways that I don’t think anyone anticipated’
President Joe Biden and Spanish President Pedro Sanchez delivered remarks Tuesday on new areas of cooperation between the two countries and efforts to keep supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
Biden did not mention Monday’s strike on the Ukraine mall that killed 18, but said the invasion has “shattered peace in Europe and every norm since WWII.”
Biden said he and Sanchez discussed the need to continue to provide weapons to Ukraine.
The Ukrainians “are standing up in ways that I don’t think anyone anticipated, showing enormous bravery, enormous resolve,” Biden said.
He said he believes Putin’s objective is to “wipe out the culture of Ukraine.”
Biden said NATO allies will be “standing as one” to support Ukraine and teased more military posture commitments in Europe. Biden said the U.S. and Spain are working on an agreement to increase the number of Navy destroyers stationed at Rota Naval Base in Spain.
(SEOUL, South Korea) — A North Korean defector group in Seoul claimed on Tuesday to have launched air balloons carrying medical supplies near the inter-Korean border.
The Fighters for Free North Korea, an activist group of North Korean defectors who send anti-propaganda leaflets across the border, said they flew 20 air balloons carrying 50,000 pain relief pills, 30,000 vitamin C and 20,000 N-95 masks. Dispatching unauthorized materials at the border is against the law in South Korea.
“In order to help the miserable mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in North Korea who are dying without any medicine, the Fighters for Free North Korea is temporarily halting the anti-Pyongyang leaflet sending, and will send medical supplies to help with COVID situation in the North,” Park Sang Hak, a North Korean defector who leads the activist group, told ABC News.
The South Korean government since 2020 has banned sending leaflets across the border. Sending them carries a maximum prison term of three years or fines up to $27,400.
The non-government organization has been gathering help from human rights support groups based in Seoul and the U.S. to send medical supplies to the North since the Kim Jong Un regime acknowledged the outbreak on May 13.
North Korea remains one of the only two nations without COVID vaccines. Ever since admitting that it had its first COVID patient, the isolated regime has been announcing the number of ‘fever patients’ and COVID-related deaths through its state media daily. Lacking medical supplies to treat the pandemic, Pyongyang’s main newspaper, Roding Sinmun, advised people to use traditional remedies such as drinking willow or honeysuckle leaf tea.
“In South Korea, even animals are given medicine to treat diseases, the North Korean regime is uncivilized at the worst level,” Park told ABC News. “All we want for the families and friends in North Korea is for them to be treated with real medicine to fight COVID-19.”
An official from the Unification Ministry told ABC News that police and other authorities were working to confirm Tuesday’s balloon launch.
“The ministry understands the intent of the distribution, but believe in the need [for the group] to restrain its activities considering the sensitive inter-Korean relationship and the government’s effort for cooperation in the inter-Korean disinfection, and whether [the activities] could actually help the North Korean people,” the official said.
The group claims that it’s the second time this month they have sent air balloons with medical supplies to the North, and will continue to do so.
(NEW YORK) — Updated COVID-19 vaccines that could better match the more recent variants are on the way.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s committee of independent advisors met and recommended that the vaccines should target the latest omicron variant, kicking off the process for distribution of the new vaccines this fall.
That could be good news for the fight against the virus. But the next few months hold a lot of uncertainty.
Many vaccine scientists agree that as the virus evolves, vaccines should be updated along with it. But scientists caution that planning ahead in this pandemic is challenging. A new variant could emerge by the fall, rendering even new vaccines old by then.
There’s also a question of how many people will get the shot — both because the government doesn’t have enough funding to secure vaccines for everyone, and because less than half of eligible Americans have received their first booster shots.
That said, the vaccine companies have been testing different strategies for a new-and-improved booster shot.
On Tuesday, the FDA’s advisers reviewed the data and favored a bivalent vaccine — a type of vaccine that targets two strains of virus in the same shot. They recommended that it include the latest omicron subvariant and the original strain, generally supporting it because it could protect more broadly against future variants.
FDA leadership will announce the final decision sometime in early July, incorporating the advisers’ discussion from Tuesday.
Health officials are aiming to roll out the newly designed vaccines in early October, said Dr. Peter Marks, who oversees the FDA’s vaccine department.
The goal is to get ahead of a potential surge next winter.
“That combination of waning immunity, combined with the potential emergence of novel variants during a time this winter when we will move inside as a population, increases our risk of a major COVID-19 outbreak,” Marks said.
“And for that reason, we have to give serious consideration to a booster campaign this fall to help protect us during this period from another COVID-19 surge,” he said.
How much better will the new vaccines be?
Scientists cautioned that existing vaccines are still working well to prevent severe illness.
And while newer shots will help, they might not be significantly better at preventing more mild breakthrough illness.
“It will be better than what we have now, but I don’t think we are going to see 94% again,” said Dr. Paul Goepfert, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The current vaccines, designed to match the original Wuhan virus, initially showed efficacy of 94% — but that’s now thought to be an untenable goal because of rapidly-evolving new variants, Goepfert said.
“It’s essentially an arms race,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, author on the recent study and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “As the population becomes more immune, the virus becomes more and more immune evasive.”
Updated vaccines “will be helpful,” Barouch said, but are unlikely to be a “game changer” that end the need for future boosters.
The political snag getting in the way
The other major caveat to the rollout of new vaccines this fall is funding — the battle over which has been stuck in a stalemate on Capitol Hill since the winter.
The White House has since pulled funds out of COVID test manufacturing and put it toward contract negotiations for the newest vaccines, but the decision leaves the US vulnerable to a testing shortage, and still doesn’t fully do the job.
“It’s very clear we’re not going to have enough vaccines for every adult who wants one,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID coordinator, said last week.
Jha called the decision to move money away from testing “incredibly painful,” but necessary to avoid missing out on orders entirely as other countries placed theirs.
“Contract negotiators on behalf of the US government are going to enter into contract negotiations with Moderna and Pfizer with the resources that we’ve been able to … cobble together for vaccines for the fall,” Jha said.
The government will purchase enough for high-risk Americans to get the latest vaccines, Jha said.
But it’s unclear how the rest of the population will get access to the vaccines. On one hand, demand for vaccines has continued to drop since the initial doses. If that trend continues and fewer people want a vaccine, it’s possible that the government’s smaller order could still cover people who want one.
And some experts don’t think everyone will need a booster in the fall, like Dr. Paul Offitt, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who said he thinks re-upping antibody levels ahead of a likely winter surge would be beneficial for high-risk groups, but not necessary for everybody.
Another option is for insurance companies to step in and cover vaccines, rather than the government distributing them for free. Jha dismissed this option, though, calling it too soon to switch to the private market because there’s still too much competition for ordering doses among countries and insurance companies wouldn’t have enough leverage.
“There is not a commercialization plan that somehow would be ready in time for this fall and winter,” Jha said.
Yet vaccine companies have indicated that they’re ready to distribute their vaccines through insurance companies and won’t leave the American market behind.
Though it’s still months away, both the White House and the vaccine companies have committed to devising a plan as fall draws closer.
