(NEW YORK) — A Great Smoky Mountains bear has been euthanized after officials said it attacked a mother and her daughter while they were camping in the national park on Sunday.
A family of five was sleeping in their tent at the Elkmont Campground when the bear ripped into it at approximately 5:20 a.m.
The park said after an investigation and on site monitoring, wildlife biologists successfully captured the bear.
The black bear, was euthanized due to risk to human safety on Monday, the park said.
“The bear weighed approximately 350 pounds, which is not standard for this time of year, suggesting the bear had previous and likely consistent access to non-natural food sources,” Lisa McInnis, chief of resource management, said in the park’s statement. “In this incident, the bear was likely attracted to food smells throughout the area, including dog food at the involved campsite. It is very difficult to deter this learned behavior and, as in this case, the result can lead to an unacceptable risk to people.”
The park reports the family was inside the tent, with their dog, sleeping when the bear ripped through and entered the tent. Once inside, the bear scratched a three-year-old girl and her mother.
After several attempts, the father was able to scare the bear from the tent and campsite. The family left a note at the campground’s office before leaving the site to seek medical attention.
Both the three-year-old and her mother sustained superficial lacerations to their heads.
Once alerted to the incident at approximately 8:50 a.m., park staff monitored the site for bear activity and set traps in the area.
Park rangers closed the immediate area, interviewed the father and other campers and collected site information such as bear tracks and other identifying markers.
Reportedly, a male bear who matched the father’s description entered the area of the incident and exhibited “extreme food-conditioned behavior and lack of fear of humans, boldly entering the trap without weariness.”
Park officials said the bear’s behavior did not appear consistent with predatory behavior, but rather that of a food conditioned bear.
This is the second bear from the park to be euthanized because of its condition due to being fed human food this month.
According to park officials, human-bear conflicts peak in late May and June when natural foods such as berries are not yet available. As a result, bears are attracted to the smell of food in the park’s developed areas, including campgrounds and picnic areas.
The park encourages campers to take necessary precautions to properly store food while in bear country.
The park stated its staff would continue to track reports of bear activity in campgrounds and other more populated areas to notify the public regarding any site warnings or closures.
(NEW YORK) — New York’s highest court declined to take up an appeal by former President Donald Trump and two of his adult children, a decision that obligates the Trumps to sit for depositions next month in the ongoing civil investigation into how they valued their real estate holdings.
The New York Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”
Former President Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump have now exhausted their appeals and must sit for depositions beginning July 15, according to a previous stipulation filed in the case.
The New York Attorney General’s Office has been investigating potential discrepancies in how the Trump Organization valued certain assets when seeking loans or when pursuing tax breaks.
Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in the yearslong investigation.
A state appellate court ruled in May that the subpoenas for their testimony were not, as the Trumps argued, part of a politically motivated investigation into how the family valued its real estate holdings.
The New York Court of Appeals had given the Trumps until Monday to submit an appeal, shooting it down one day later — on Donald Trump’s 76th birthday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has argued her office has found “significant evidence” of fraud in the investigation into how Trump and the Trump Organization valued real estate holdings in the state. The investigation has reviewed whether the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading valuations of its holdings in different ways to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions.
Among the real estate holdings being investigated are 40 Wall Street, in Manhattan’s Financial District; Seven Springs, Trump’s estate in Westchester; Trump Park Avenue; and even Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower.
A parallel criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has already led to charges of tax fraud against Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, and the company itself.
They have both pleaded not guilty. A trial is expected to take place in the fall.
(WASHINGTON) — The first federal prison to experience a COVID-19 outbreak in March of 2020 is now severely short-staffed, the Louisiana congressional delegation and members of the Bureau of Prison union say.
FCI Oakdale in Louisiana experienced a severe COVID-19 outbreak in March of 2020, so bad the Justice Department inspector general was critical of the BOP for how it failed to separate inmates at the facility during the first weeks of the pandemic.
The Louisiana congressional delegation, led by Republican Sen. John Kennedy, wrote to the Bureau of Prisons to make sure it takes care of the staffing issues at the facility.
“FCC Oakdale faces unsustainably low staffing levels that is nearing crisis,” the congressional delegation writes. “These vacancies force FCC Oakdale to rely on mandatory overtime in order to meet the basic safety needs of the mission.”
They say they are concerned about the staffing levels and want to know what the Bureau is doing to address it.
“Staffing conditions at FCC Oakdale have understandably forced many veteran staff members to actively seek opportunities for promotion or transfer to other federal prison facilities and agencies or even retire.”
The Bureau of Prisons told ABC News it received and is reviewing the congressional letter. “We have no additional information to provide at this time,” the BOP said.
Federal prisons that are short-staffed are not a new problem, which is something the national BOP union has pointed out.
The local union president at FCC Oakdale tells ABC News FCC Oakdale was the first to experience a major outbreak of COVID-19 and staff worked overtime to provide coverage for the prison.
“During that time, as your aware, the staff worked an extreme amount of overtime to provide security coverage to the inmates at outside hospitals while receiving treatment for COVID,” Ronald Morris, AFGE Local 1007 President told ABC News. “This was a very hard mission staffing wise due to having inmates in the outside hospital, attempting to cover the post at the institution through augmentation and dealing with staff out due to COVID. Fast forward two years and it seems that the staff have not been able to recover. We are still short-staffed,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — A committee of advisers at the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of authorizing the Moderna vaccine for kids ages 6 through 17, paving the way to add one more vaccine to the options available for this age group.
Currently, only Pfizer’s vaccine is available for kids over 5 years old. Moderna’s vaccine, which was stalled in the regulatory process for months, would give parents another option.
The process to get Moderna’s vaccine out to pharmacies and clinics now moves to FDA leadership, which must decide whether to issue an official emergency use authorization of the vaccine.
After that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s team of advisers will review Moderna’s data, and finally, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will issue her recommendation.
It’s not clear whether adding Moderna as another option in the vaccine arsenal will move the needle for uptake in the kids and adolescent age group.
More than 25.4 million eligible kids between the ages of 5 and 17 are still unvaccinated, and only about 44% have been fully vaccinated.
At the meeting before FDA’s advisory committee on Tuesday, though, Moderna representatives argued there was a significant need for a second vaccine because of the continued threat of COVID-19 among kids.
“Recent data have shown that approximately 25% or one in every four children and adolescents hospitalized due to COVID-19 require ICU intervention,” said Carla Vinals, Moderna’s vice president of regulatory affairs strategy for infectious diseases.
Emory associate professor Dr. Evan Anderson, who works with Moderna, presented an analysis showing that COVID-19 is worse than the flu — killing more children ages 5 to 17 than any other vaccine-preventable disease.
Moderna scientists said their vaccine would prevent pediatric hospitalizations if authorized. They estimate the two-dose Moderna vaccine would prevent 95 hospitalizations per 1 million kids ages 5 to 11 and 200 hospitalizations per 1 million kids ages 12 to 17.
The FDA also cleared the air on the issue that delayed Moderna’s authorization for this age group — the potential for the rare incidence of heart inflammation called myocarditis.
Data for international surveillance had suggested a higher risk for myocarditis following vaccination with Moderna compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. But after looking into it, those concerns subsided.
The FDA did not find a “statistically significant” difference in risk when comparing the two vaccines, officials said Tuesday.
The risk of myocarditis is also primarily seen among males 18 to 25. Moderna’s vaccine is only for kids and adolescents ages 6 to 17.
If authorized, Moderna’s vaccine dosing would be 100 micrograms for 12- to 17-year-olds, or the same as the adult dose, and 50 micrograms for 6- to 11-year-olds, which is half the adult dose.
(WASHINGTON) — The House on Tuesday approved a Senate bill to provide more security for the families of Supreme Court justices, sending the measure to President Joe Biden’s desk after Democrats and Republicans could not agree over whether to extend the increased protections to the families of court clerks.
The bill — first approved unanimously by the Senate a month ago — was passed by the House nearly a week since an armed man was arrested near Brett Kavanaugh’s home and charged with attempted murder of the Supreme Court justice after allegedly telling authorities he was suicidal and wanted to kill Kavanaugh, police have said.
“By passing this bill as is, we are sending a clear message to the left-wing radicals you cannot intimidate the Supreme Court justices. I hope we all take that message to heart,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on the House floor on Tuesday.
Supreme Court justices are already provided with security; however, the Supreme Court Police Parity Act would expand security to the justices’ families. The legislation had been stalled in the House over proposed amendments by House Democrats to extend protections to the families of Supreme Court employees. as well.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Monday night that no changes to the Senate-passed bill would be tolerated.
“The right bill passed the Senate. We’re not going to pass this House bill if it comes over,” McConnell said.
Sen John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the House was “playing with fire,” adding, “All we’ve tried to do is give the justices the very same protection that’s available to members of Congress.”
The stalemate came as Republicans accused Democrats of delaying taking up the legislation amid new threats to the high court — which has seen renewed protests by advocates ahead of major opinions on polarizing issues including gun rights and abortion access.
Democrats, in turn, said the GOP was ignoring the wider problem.
“Let me tell you why it took us a few weeks rather than just one week to pass this legislation: It’s because Republicans refuse to protect the families of Supreme Court employees who are at risk,” California Rep. Ted Lieu said.
“We understand that there was Republican opposition to that aspect of the bill, and in the interest of protecting the justices’ families, we can no longer delay in passing the only version of the bill they would apparently agree to.” Lieu added.
The legislation gained momentum in the House after 26-year-old Nicholas Roske was charged with attempted murder last week when he showed up armed to the Maryland home of Justice Kavanaugh, according to authorities.
Roske was angry over the recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent submitted in support of a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
Roske was allegedly spotted by two U.S. Marshals wearing black clothes and carrying a backpack getting out of a cab in front of Kavanaugh’s house at approximately 1:05 a.m. Wednesday, according to the affidavit.
A Glock 17 pistol, two magazines, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light and duct tape were in Roske’s backpack, according to the affidavit.
The suspect then allegedly called the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center to say he wanted to kill a Supreme Court justice, according to the affidavit. (He agreed to remain in custody until a preliminary hearing currently scheduled for June 22.)
The Department of Homeland Security has already warned that there could be an increase in threats against Supreme Court justices over the leaked draft of the Roe v. Wade decision, which has not yet been formally issued.
A bulletin obtained by ABC News in May said the draft leak “prompted a significant increase in violent threats — many made online via social media and some of which are under investigation — directed toward some U.S. Supreme Court Justices and the Supreme Court building.”
The National Capital Threat Intelligence Consortium identified at least 25 violent threats on social media that were referred to partner agencies for further investigation, the bulletin said.
“Some of these threats discussed burning down or storming the U.S. Supreme Court and murdering Justices and their clerks, members of Congress, and lawful demonstrators,” the bulletin said.
U.S. Marshals bolstered their protective details for the justices and began guarding their homes around the clock in the wake of the leaked draft, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.
(PHILADELPHIA) — President Joe Biden delivered fired-up remarks on the economy before a friendly, cheering audience of union workers in Philadelphia Tuesday — nodding to inflation, high food and gas prices, and his plans to try to ease the economic pressures American families are facing.
Shouting at times, receiving standing ovations, and delivering plenty of classic “Bidenisms,” the president spoke about the economy to a convention of the AFL-CIO federation of labor unions — and acknowledged the record-high inflation rates his administration is trying to combat.
“Jobs are back, but prices are still too high,” Biden conceded, arguing Republicans are blocking him from carrying out his plan to bring down costs. “COVID is down, but gas prices are up. Our work isn’t done.”
High inflation is a major political liability for Biden, who blamed Republicans for blocking a lot of his ideas to lower prices for Americans.
During his campaign-like speech, he heavily praised organized labor — and delivered a midterm message.
“You’re a gigantic reason why I’m standing here,” Biden told the crowd. “Standing here today as your president. I really mean it.”
‘Jobs are back, but prices are still too high’
While Biden focused his message on the economy, he did not address inflation until well into his speech, and when he did, he reiterated how his personal experience with inflation gave him an understanding of what families are facing.
“Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to stop my plans to bring down costs on ordinary families. That’s why my plan is not finished and why the results aren’t finished either,” Biden argued.
The president pointed to his efforts to bring down prices at the pump in particular by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to get more oil to market, but noted the entire world is facing high inflation, and that in the United States, “It’s sapping the strength of a lot of families.”
Biden also went into more detail than usual about the food crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine, saying, part of his plan to help bring down food costs included the U.S. working to get Ukrainian grain out of the country and to the global markets.
He acknowledged the complicating factors involved in doing so, particularly because of the differences between Ukraine’s rails and the rest of Europe.
“We’re going to build silos, temporary silos in the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland, so we can transfer it from those cars into those silos into cars in Europe and get it out to the ocean and get it across the world,” Biden pledged, but conceded, “it’s taking time.”
Midterm message and support for Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania, Atlanta
With the midterm elections just a few months away, Biden used his remarks to also deliver a message to voters — trying to draw contrast between his party and Republicans on the economy, despite the dreary headlines his administration has been facing.
“Our work isn’t done but here’s the deal. America still has a choice to make. A choice between a government by the few for the few or a government for all of us. Democracy for all of us, an economy where all of us have a fair shot and a chance to earn our place in the economy,” Biden pitched to the crowd.
The president, who had prided himself on bipartisanship, said he is under no “illusions” when it comes to the Republican party today, hitting Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s tax proposal in his remarks.
“The fact is Republicans in Congress are still in the grip of the ‘ultra-MAGA’ agenda. And they still refuse to consider any part of the Trump tax cuts, which delivered a massive windfall to billionaires and others. And they weren’t paid for,” Biden said.
“They still refuse to consider a minimum corporate tax of 15%, minimum tax,” he said. “They seem to think that the problem in America today is the working families aren’t paying enough.”
He also delivered messages of support for two midterm candidates in particular: Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, Stacey Abrams.
Biden said he held a Zoom call on Monday with Fetterman, who is running for Senate in Pennsylvania and recently suffered a stroke, telling the crowd Fetterman was “looking good” and “can’t wait to get back on the trail” — adding a joke about Fetterman’s size.
“If you’re in a foxhole, you want John with you man,” Biden said. “I know he can’t wait to get back on the trail. He’s looking good. He’s no bigger, stronger voice for working people in this state than John. Certainly no bigger one, for that matter.”
He also called on the union members to support Abrams, who he said was in attendance.
“I gotta ask y’all a favor: Help her in Georgia. Help Stacey Abrams in Georgia,” he said. “There’s three things I learned about her early on. One, she’s loyal. Two, she’s capable. And three, she’s smarter than me. She knows what she’s doing. So folks, please help her out.”
Touts pro-union credentials
Speaking before the union crowd, Biden said “nothing had made me prouder than that” to be called “the most pro-union president in history” by the AFL-CIO’S leadership.
“I promised you I would be, and I commit to you as long as I have this job I will remain that,” Biden said.
The president also called on Congress to pass the PRO Act, which would expand labor protections and the right to organize.
He touted his accomplishments, including the infrastructure bill, the millions of jobs created during his time in office, and how American families are carrying less debt and have more savings.
“I love these guys talking about why these guys left my employment, went to another job,” Biden said. “Because he got paid more! Isn’t that awful, isn’t that a shame that they gotta compete for labor. Better paying jobs, for better jobs for them and their families. It’s been a long time since that’s happened in this country, but it’s happening now.”
He contrasted himself with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, and the poor state of the economy in 2020.
“I promise you, I’m going to keep fighting for you,” Biden shouted, to loud cheers. “Are you prepared to fight with me?”
(PHILADELPHIA) — In an effort to curb shootings and make going to and from school less dangerous for students, Philadelphia officials announced they will spend $1.8 million on installing security cameras near city high schools and middle schools in high crime neighborhoods.
Standing outside the John Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia, where a 17-year-old student was fatally shot in January after leaving campus, Mayor Jim Kenney and other city leaders said at a news conference Monday they hope the cameras will make criminals think twice about committing shootings around a school.
“We need to create a culture of if you’re going do something, somebody might be watching you,” city councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez said.
Cameras that can be remotely monitored will be placed along routes students frequently take to and from Bartram and 18 other schools, officials said.
Craig Johnson, the deputy chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia, said the schools were chosen for the program based on information regarding shootings around those campuses. The cameras will be linked to the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, where Philadelphia police monitor crime from real-time feeds.
“We hate to think that we have to have this environment where we have to have this coverage, but it’s a simple reality that people in the neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia, they want us to do something,” Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke said at the press conference.
The move comes as shootings and murders in the City of Brotherly Love have climbed to record levels. Last year, Philadelphia set an all-time annual homicide record with 562 killings. As of Monday, the city has recorded 227 homicides this year, 18 fewer than this time in 2021, according to police department crime statistics.
More than 800 non-fatal shootings have occurred in the city this year as of Sunday, according to gun violence crisis data tracked by the city’s Office of the Controller. At least 95 young people 18 or younger have been shot in the city this year, according to the data.
Johnson said the need for the new security cameras is being prompted by the shootings of teenagers, many near their schools.
On May 17, a 16-year-old boy was shot seven times while sitting outside KIPP Philadelphia Charter School in the city’s Parkside neighborhood. Just seven days later, three students, ages 15 to 17, were shot and wounded after leaving the Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter in the city’s Tioga-Nicetown section.
In April, a 15-year-old boy was shot to death about a block from Tanner Duckrey School in North Central Philadelphia when a gunman fired at least 20 shots.
“Youth being shot or being murdered almost on a daily basis doesn’t even garner that much attention,” Johnson said. “It’s almost like it’s expected or normalized and that’s a really sad place to be.”
The announcement of the program comes less than a month after a teenager armed with an AR-15 rifle allegedly killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Clarke said he hopes the new cameras will also “create an environment where people feel a little more safe.”
“We need every child to be safe as they go to school, and come home later in the day,” Clarke said. “These cameras are a good start, and they’ll lend eyes to law enforcement officials working very hard to keep our kids safe from harm.”
(NEW YORK) — A third of the U.S. population will experience heat advisories on Tuesday and Wednesday as a week of record-breaking temperatures continues, according to the National Weather Service.
A “heat dome” is expected to bring triple-digit temperatures to portions of the Midwest, adding to the early onset temperatures already baking the Southwest.
From California to Virginia, approximately 100 million Americans are under heat advisories, heat warnings or heat watches.
St. Louis reported a record-high temperature of 100 degrees on Monday, and the heat index in parts of the Midwest neared 115 degrees.
From Raleigh, North Carolina, to Chicago, actual temperatures are expected to reach near 100 degrees on Tuesday.
As extreme heat has persisted in the Southwest and Midwest, the heat is moving East, with Detroit predicted to reach 97 degrees on Wednesday.
Wildfires are continuing in the Southwest amid the heat, igniting due to gusty winds and very dry conditions.
There are red flag warnings across Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma for increased fire danger.
A new heat wave is poised to hit the Southwest on Wednesday, with temperatures again surpassing 110 degrees from Southern California to Arizona.
Gusty winds are expected to continue, prolonging wildfire risks in the Southwest.
More than 27 major cities tied or broke day-of heat records on Saturday, with California’s Death Valley being the hottest place in America at 123 degrees.
Palm Springs, California, and Phoenix followed, tying at 114 degrees, marking the hottest day for Phoenix in a century.
Las Vegas reported temperatures of 109 degrees on Saturday for the first time since 1956.
Extreme heat causes more deaths in American than any other weather-related disaster, with the Environmental Protection Agency estimating that more than 1,300 deaths per year in the U.S. are due to extreme heat.
Warning signs of a heat episode include nausea, excessive sweating and rapid pulse.
Those who are at the greatest risk for a heat-related incident include young children, older adults, pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals.
If possible, the NWS encourages residents to take cool showers or baths, find pools to escape the heat, avoid physical activity during the daytime and high-heat hours and find a safe place with air conditioning.
(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 14, 1:20 pm
Russian, Belarusian tennis players can compete at US Open under neutral flag
Russian and Belarusian tennis players, who are banned from Wimbledon, will be allowed to compete in this year’s U.S. Open, but only under a neutral flag, the U.S. Tennis Association said.
The USTA said it “previously condemned, and continues to condemn, the unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
Russian player Daniil Medvedev, the current No. 1 player in the world, won last year’s U.S. Open.
Jun 14, 6:37 am
Ukraine pleads for heavy weapons ahead of NATO meeting
The only way to end the war in Ukraine, either on the battlefield or behind the negotiation table, is a parity of weapons, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said on Monday.
“Being straightforward — to end the war we need heavy weapons parity,” Podoliak said on Twitter.
According to the presidential adviser, Ukraine’s military wish list includes 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.
“Negotiations are possible from a strong position, which requires parity of weapons,” Podoliak said. “There is simply no other way.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Podoliak’s plea for weapons on Monday in a tweet that recounted Ukraine’s recent military triumphs achieved with limited resources.
“Ukraine has proven it can punch well above its weight and win important battles against all odds,” Kuleba said, pointing at victories in the battles of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv. “Imagine what Ukraine can do with sufficient tools,” the Foreign Minister added. Kuleba urged Ukraine’s partners “to set a clear goal of Ukrainian victory and speed up deliveries of heavy weapons.”
Podoliak said a meeting of NATO defense ministers will be held in Brussels on June 15.
“We are waiting for a decision” on the weapons, Podoliak said.
The group, known as the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, will convene a meeting for the third time in a bid “to ensure that we’re providing Ukraine what Ukraine needs right now,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said at a press briefing in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.
Austin, who will be in attendance in Brussels, said that Ukraine needs support “in order to defend against Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked assault.” The secretary of Defense noted that looking ahead, Ukraine will require help “to build and sustain robust defenses so that it will be able to defend itself in the coming months and years.”
In his Monday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to tell people in the occupied territories “that the Ukrainian army will definitely come.”
“Tell them about Ukraine. Tell them the truth. Say that there will be liberation,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials played down threats of possible food shortages in the country due to the ongoing conflict. While Ukraine lost 25% of its sown area as a result of Russia’ full-scale invasion, the country’s food security was “in no way” threatened, Taras Vysotsky, the first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy, said at a press briefing for Ukrainian media on Monday.
“Despite the loss of 25% of sown areas, the structure of crops this year as a whole is more than sufficient to ensure consumption, which in turn also decreased due to mass displacement and external migration,” Vysotsky said.
The deputy minister added that Ukraine has “already imported about 70% of essential fertilizers, 60% of plant protection products and about a third of the required amount of fuel” before the war erupted in late February. According to Vysotsky, current sowing volumes are enough to ensure domestic consumption and even exports.
Jun 13, 9:26 am
Bodies of tortured men exhumed in Bucha
Another mass grave has been dug up in Bucha, uncovering the bodies of seven men who authorities believe were tortured and killed during the bloody occupation of the city in March.
Police told ABC News their hands were tied with ropes behind their backs and they were shot in the knees and head.
“They were killed in a cruel way,” police spokesperson Iryna Pryanyshnykova said. “These were civilian victims. The people here were killed by Russian soldiers and later they were just put into a grave to try to hide this war crime.”
It’s not clear why the men were killed, Pryanyshnykova said.
She said experts will analyze DNA to identify the victims.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Jun 13, 6:24 am
Zelenskyy: Ukraine fighting for ‘every meter’ of Severodonetsk
Russian forces have pushed the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of the center of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said.
“They are pressing in Severodonetsk, where very fierce fighting is going on — literally for every meter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on Sunday evening.
Russian forces now control about 70% of the city, as intense shelling makes mass evacuation and the transportation of goods impossible, Sergiy Haidai, another Ukrainian official, said.
Around 500 people, including 40 children, are sheltering in the city’s Azot chemical plant, Haidai said.
While the Ukrainians try to organize their evacuation, authorities of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic have given an ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in the city.
“They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and give up, or die. They have no other option,” said Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia Department of the DPR.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 12, 5:33 pm
Zelenskyy sends virtual message to Sean Penn’s CORE benefit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the annual Hollywood fundraiser for actor Sean Penn’s nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) Saturday night with a powerful video message urging people to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“All of you have heard about the horrors that Ukraine is going through. Tens of thousands of explosions and shots, hundreds of thousands wounded and killed, millions who have lost their homes,” Zelenskyy said in his virtual speech. “All of this is not a logline for a horror film. All of this is our reality.”
Zelenskyy’s video message included footage showing missiles striking homes and apartment complexes in Ukraine, civilians dead in the streets of Ukrainian cities and children playing in parks amid the backdrop of bombed buildings.
Among those attending the CORE fundraiser, held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angles, were Penn and CORE co-founder Ann Lee, former President Bill Clinton, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, singer John Legend, and actors Patrick Stewart and Sharon Stone.
The group said the event raised more than $2.5 million for CORE’s disaster relief and preparedness work, including its urgent humanitarian response in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy noted that Penn traveled to Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and witnessed the atrocities firsthand. He thanked Penn and his group for the continued support for Ukraine.
“We have been resisting it for 107 days in a row,” Zelenskyy said of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. “We can stop it together. Support Ukraine, because Ukraine is fighting for the whole world, for democracy, for freedom, for life.”
Jun 12, 4:17 pm
Russia’s firepower superiority 10 times that of Ukraine’s in Luhansk: Military chief
Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny said Sunday that he told his American counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Russian firepower superiority in the Luhansk region is far greater than that of Ukrainian forces.
Zaluzhny said that during a briefing he told Milley that Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in the north of the Luhansk region, where they are using artillery “en masse” and their firepower superiority is 10 times that of Ukraine’s.
“Despite everything, we keep holding our positions,” Zaluzhny said.
Zaluzhny also said Russia has deployed up to seven battalion tactical groups in Severdonetsk, a city in the Luhansk region. He said Russian shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has resumed.
Russian forces destroyed a second bridge leading into Severodonetsk and are now targeting a third bridge in an effort to completely cut off the city, Luhansk region Gov. Sergiy Haidai said Sunday. Ukraine’s army still controls around one third of the city, he said.
Haidai said that Ukrainian forces are still holding onto the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, where around 500 civilians are taking shelter.
If Severodonetsk falls, Lysychansk will be the only city in the Luhansk region that remains under Ukraine’s control.
Zaluzhny said that as of Sunday, the front line of the war stretched 1,522 miles and that active combat was taking place on at least 686 miles of the front line.
Zaluzhny said that during his briefing with Milley, he reiterated Ukraine’s urgent request for more 155 mm caliber artillery systems.
Jun 12, 12:48 pm
Russian cruise missile attack confirmed in western Ukraine
Russia claims a cruise missile strike destroyed a large warehouse in western Ukraine storing weapons supplied to the Ukrainians by the United States and European allies.
While police in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, where at least one cruise missile hit, told ABC News that no weapons were destroyed, the region’s governor said part of a military facility was damaged.
Ternopil’s governor Volodymyr Trush posted a video showing widespread damage from what he said were four Russian missiles launched Saturday from the Black Sea. Trush said 22 people were wounded, including a 12-year-old child, in the missile strikes.
In addition to the military facility, Trush said four five-story residential apartment buildings were damaged. One of the missiles hit a gas pipeline, he said.
Russia’s defense ministry said Kalibr high presicion sea-based, long-range missiles struck near Chortkiv in the Ternopil province and destroyed a large warehouse full of anti-tank missile systems, portable anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery shells supplied by the United States and European countries.
(WASHINGTON) — The Jan. 6 committee announced Tuesday morning that its hearing set for Wednesday has been postponed — but conflicting explanations were offered as to why.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told reporters on Capitol Hill following the committee’s announcement that there was no issue with witnesses in moving the hearing but “technical issues.”
“It’s just technical issues. I mean, we were, you know, the staff putting together all the videos, you know, doing 1-2-3, It was overwhelming, so we’re trying to give them a little room,” she said. “It’s not a big deal.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe earlier, she said “putting together the video exhibits is an exhausting exercise for our very small video staff … it’s just too much to put it all together.”
But when asked later if Lofgren’s explanation of the hearing postponement is accurate, a committee aide said “no.”
The aide said the hearing has been “postponed to accommodate scheduling demands.”
Not long after the committee issued a statement saying, “The postponement is due to a number of scheduling factors, including production timeline and availability of members and witnesses.”
The hearing’s focus was to be then-President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on the Justice Department to back his false claims of election fraud.
Former acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen had accepted an invitation from the Jan. 6 committee to appear at Wednesday’s hearing, alongside his then-deputy Richard Donoghue and one of DOJ’s former top attorneys Steve Engel, according to a letter obtained by ABC News sent from Rosen’s attorney to the committee.
