(WASHINGTON) — Oil prices are dropping Thursday morning in response to news that President Joe Biden is moving forward with a plan to release roughly 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve over the next six months, the White House has confirmed.
Biden is expected to announce this step on Thursday afternoon during a scheduled event to discuss actions his administration is taking to rein in soaring gas prices that have spiked even further following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden will also call on “Congress to make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing,” the White House said in a release.
About 3 million barrels a day of Russian oil will come off the market in April due to Western sanctions, according to the International Energy Agency, and this plan could help alleviate pain at the pump by helping to replace that loss.
This would be the third time Biden has had to tap into the strategic petroleum reserve. In November, he authorized the release of 50 million barrels as gas prices surged ahead of the holidays, and along with 30 other countries, the U.S. released 30 million barrels following the start of the war in Ukraine, though that did little to ease skyrocketing prices.
As of Friday, there were more than 568 million barrels of oil in the reserve, according to the Department of Energy.
Given the complexity and volatility of the oil market, many geopolitical and economic factors feed into oil prices and there is no guarantee this release will keep prices down for an extended period of time.
Overnight, crude oil prices were down roughly 5% in reaction to this plan, which means the price at the gas pump could also dip in the coming days.
The current national average for a gallon of gas is $4.23, according to AAA, $1.35 higher than this time last year.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as other major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 31, 8:15 am
‘Significant Russian shelling’ persists in Chernihiv, says UK
Despite Russia’s claims of curbing its military activity around Chernihiv, “significant Russian shelling and missile strikes have continued” in the besieged northern Ukrainian city, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday in an intelligence update.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, “despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units,” according to the ministry.
“Heavy fighting will likely take place in the suburbs of the city in the coming days,” the ministry added.
Heavy fighting also continues in Ukraine’s southern port city of Mariupol, “a key objective of Russian forces,” according to the ministry.
“However Ukrainian forces remain in control of the center of the city,” the ministry said.
Mar 31, 7:46 am
Kremlin reacts to US saying Putin ‘felt misled’
The Russian government is “concerned” by recent statements from U.S. officials claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin “felt misled” by his advisers and the Russian military on the war in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference Thursday.
“We do not just regret this. This is a source of our concern,” Peskov told reporters, “because such an utter lack of understanding is the reason why erroneous, rash decisions are made with very bad consequences.”
“It looks like neither the [U.S.] Department of State nor the Pentagon know what is really happening in the Kremlin,” he added. “They simply do not understand what is going on in the Kremlin. They do not understand President Putin. They do not understand the decision-making mechanism. They do not understand our work style.”
Mar 31, 7:25 am
Russia announces cease-fire in besieged Mariupol
Russia has announced a localized cease-fire in Ukraine’s besieged southern port city of Mariupol on Thursday to allow civilians to be evacuated.
A humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, via the Russian-controlled port of Berdiansk, would be opened from 10 a.m. local time, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“For this humanitarian operation to succeed, we propose to carry it out with the direct participation of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement Wednesday night.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a later statement via Telegram that the Red Cross confirmed Russia had agreed to open a humanitarian corridor to Mauripol, where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped with no electricity and dwindling supplies after weeks of Russian bombardment. A convoy of 45 evacuation buses was headed to the city to collect civilians, according to Vereshchuk.
A number of previous attempts to establish humanitarian corridors out of Mariupol have failed, with Russia and Ukraine trading accusations of breaking cease-fires and sabotaging evacuation efforts.
Mar 31, 6:21 am
At least 1,189 civilians killed, 1,901 injured in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 1,189 civilians have been killed and 1,901 others have been injured in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
At least 108 children were among the dead and 142 among the injured, according to the OHCHR, which noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine had reported at least 145 children were killed and 222 injured as of Wednesday.
“We know the actual figures are likely far higher,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement Wednesday. “In many places of intensive hostilities, such as Mariupol and Volnovakha, it is very challenging to obtain a comprehensive picture.”
According to a press release from the OHCHR, most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missile and airstrikes.
The agency has also received “credible allegations that Russian armed forces have used cluster munitions in populated areas at least 24 times,” according to Bachelet, who noted that her office is “also investigating allegations that Ukrainian armed forces have used such weapons.”
“The persistent use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas is of immense concern,” she said. “Homes and administrative buildings, hospitals and schools, water stations and electricity systems have not been spared.”
According to Bachelet, at least one Ukrainian facility for bedridden patients and others with disabilities, mostly elderly people, came under fire while its residents were inside, with dozens of alleged casualties.
“My colleagues in Ukraine are working to establish the fate and whereabouts of survivors,” she added.
The OHCHR noted in its press release that “the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.” Those areas include Mariupol and Volnovakha in the Donetsk Oblast, Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast, Popasna in the Luhansk Oblast, and Trostianets in the Sumy Oblast, where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties. Casualty numbers from those locations are being further corroborated and thus are not included in the latest statistics, according to the agency.
Mar 31, 4:32 am
Putin ‘massively misjudged’ invasion of Ukraine, UK spy chief says
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apparently “massively misjudged” his invasion of Ukraine, a U.K. intelligence chief said Thursday.
“It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanize. He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime, and he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory,” Jeremy Fleming, head of the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), said during a speech in Australia’s capital, Canberra.
“We’ve seen Russian soldiers, short of weapons and morale, refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft,” he added.
While Fleming agreed with a recent assessment by U.S. intelligence that Putin’s advisers were believed to be too afraid to tell the truth, he said the “extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.” He warned that Russia is searching for cyber targets and bringing in mercenaries to reinforce its stalled military campaign in Ukraine.
(JERUSALEM) — A spate of deadly shootings in Israel has sparked renewed fears that the security situation is deteriorating as Palestinians approach the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
On the streets of Bnei Brak, a city just outside Tel Aviv, on Tuesday, a gunman fired upon civilians, killing five, including an Israeli police officer, before the suspect was shot and killed.
Tuesday’s slayings marked the third in a series of unclaimed attacks labelled as terror by the Israeli authorities in just eight days, a wave of violence that’s left 11 dead and raised concerns among political leaders and analysts about further attacks.
Early Thursday morning, two Palestinians were killed and seven were injured during an Israeli army raid on a refugee camp in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. In response to the Jenin attack, the head of Islamic Jihad has ordered all forces to be on high alert.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had warned of escalating violence while he was in Israel just 24 hours before the Bnei Brak shootings, denounced the attack.
“We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack in Bnei Brak, Israel, that killed five innocent victims,” Blinken said. “This comes after two other recent horrific terrorist attacks in Hadera and Be’er Sheva, Israel. This violence is unacceptable. Israelis — like all people around the world — should be able to live in peace and without fear. Our hearts go out to the families of those killed in the attacks.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, meanwhile, vowed a tough response to the recent terror attacks.
“Israel is facing a wave of murderous Arab terrorism,” he said. “My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones tonight, and I pray for the well-being of the wounded. The security forces are working. We will fight terror with perseverance, stubbornness and an iron fist. They will not move us from here, we will win.”
Nine Israelis and two Ukrainians have been killed since March 22 in three separate attacks labelled as terror by the authorities. The previous attacks were carried out by Arab citizens. Tuesday’s suspect was said to be a Palestinian, from the occupied West Bank, who had been living in Israel illegally.
Hamas, the militant group in charge of the Gaza strip, described the latest attack as “heroic” but made no formal claim of responsibility. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine, condemned the killing of Israeli citizens and warned against reactions aimed at the Palestinian people, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
In response to the violence, 3,000 Israeli police will be deployed in Jerusalem during the month of Ramadan, Israeli TV Channel 12 reported.
On Wednesday, Bennett announced new security measures, and told all Israelis with a license to begin carrying a weapon, compounding the tense atmosphere.
The number of casualties is the highest seen in such a short period of time since 2015. Unlike then, however, when the majority of the attacks were characterized as “lone wolf” knife attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the latest attacks in Israel were boldly carried out in major cities in the heart of the country with the use of automatic weapons.
The second in the trio of recent attacks took place in Hedera, carried out by two men reported to have received training in Syria. The apparent rise of some Islamic State group sleeper cells, their capacity to carry out such attacks and their ability to infiltrate the Palestinian community inside Israel and find recruits to carry out such attacks, marks a change in the security situation, analysts say.
The attacks came as a surprise to many observers, with some noting that the issues that came to the fore during the conflict between Israel and Gaza in May 2021 have been left unresolved.
With a succession of Arab states normalizing ties with Israel, there is a sense among analysts that hopes of a peace deal are becoming hopeless — and without that hope comes the threat of more violence.
Israel’s “Nationality Bill,” enacted in 2018, which reaffirmed Israel as a nation-state for Jewish people, has also proved controversial abroad and for the estimated two million Arabs living in the country. There are fears that the escalation could spread violence into Jerusalem and the West Bank, and a repeat of the 2021 war could be on the cards.
And it is charged days like the commemoration of the Land Day on Wednesday or the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan on Saturday, and grievances left unaddressed, which can tip the scale toward a renewed wave of violence.
(ALGIERS, Algeria) — One of President Joe Biden’s first foreign policy moves was a pledge to help end one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises — the war in Yemen — by “stepping up our diplomacy” and “ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
More than a year later, the war has escalated — with a sharp increase in civilian casualties, a growing number of Yemenis facing hunger, with less humanitarian funding, less international oversight of airstrikes and more complex attacks against Yemen’s neighbors fighting in the conflict.
A possible new cease-fire for Islam’s holy month of Ramadan could be within reach, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen indicated Wednesday, as he promotes a new peace plan. The Saudi-led coalition announced a unilateral cease-fire starting Wednesday, days after the Houthi rebels announced their own on cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“I don’t want to overstate it because we’ve been here before, but there’s a chance that we actually have a path forward with the new special envoy laying out what is a credible plan,” a senior State Department official told ABC News.
Temporary cease-fires and new peace plans have come and gone for seven years now, with the Yemeni people left to suffer the consequences. Nearly 400,000 people are believed to have been killed by fighting, disease and starvation, according to a U.N. report. Over 20 million — two-thirds of the population — are now reliant on humanitarian aid, including two million children facing acute malnutrition.
“The world cannot forget about Yemen,” said Tamuna Sabadze, the country director for the International Rescue Committee, an aid group on the ground in Yemen — a country the size of California and long the Arab world’s poorest. “The suffering has continued for too long. Those with influence over the warring parties must work to deliver a diplomatic resolution to this crisis.”
The Houthis, a northern rebel group increasingly backed by Iran, swept to power in 2014 when they seized the capital, Sanaa, amid Arab Spring strife. In response, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and an Arab coalition launched a military intervention — seven years ago this past Saturday — to prop up the Yemeni government and keep from power what they saw as an Iranian proxy.
Biden brought new attention to the war early in his term, including by naming career diplomat Tim Lenderking as special envoy for Yemen. On one side, critics, including Republicans and Saudi and Emirati officials, blame increased fighting on his decision to remove the Houthis from the foreign terrorist organization list. On the other, especially among members of Biden’s own party, there have been accusations that the administration is not doing enough to pressure the Saudi-led coalition to end the war.
It’s unclear if measures prescribed by critics on either side would do just that. The last year of diplomatic efforts hasn’t.
But amid rockier ties with those Gulf Arab partners, the Biden administration is shifting toward them — redoubling support for their defense and increasing pressure on the Houthis. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the UAE’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayan, on Tuesday during a tour of the region. They spent two hours together at a private residence of MBZ, as the powerful prince is known, in Morocco — including a 30-minute one-on-one stroll around the compound.
A senior State Department official said Wednesday the two discussed “different mechanisms” to elevate U.S. support for the UAE’s security, although not an official treaty or security guarantee. But after an increasing number of deadly Houthi attacks on Saudi and Emirati civilian infrastructure, the U.S. is now considering “everything from sanctions to interdictions to other means of preventing [the Houthis] from being able to wage attacks against not just the Emiratis, but the Saudis, as well as within Yemen,” they added.
Houthi attacks have gotten increasingly sophisticated and deadly — killing civilians, striking airports and oil facilities, and using ballistic missiles and drones that are supplied by Iran. Many have come to view the militant group as a proxy force for Iran, which has taken advantage of the war to destabilize its chief rivals in the region, the Saudis and Emiratis.
One form of pressure the Emiratis and Saudis are unlikely to get, however, is re-adding the Houthis to the State Department’s foreign terrorist organization list, a designation that carries similar sanctions to those the Houthis are already under, but adds potential criminal prosecutions for anyone supporting them.
Emirati officials in particular have been lobbying for a reversal, with Biden announcing in January that one is under consideration and the State Department consistently calling Houthi attacks “terrorism.”
But even as they review re-designating the Houthis, the senior State Department official said, the administration’s argument for the last year against the designation remains — that it would restrict aid flowing into Yemen because of that threat of prosecutions.
“It’s fair to say that they [the Emiratis] and others in the region see the FTO designation in one way, whereas we see it primarily through the impact on our ability to deliver and support humanitarian assistance,” the senior State Department official told ABC News.
Still, the talk of strong support for UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others is a far cry from where some members of Biden’s own party are.
“Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes and air-and-sea blockade have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and threatened millions more with famine, triggering the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. On this grim anniversary – spanning seven years and three presidential administrations – we are calling for an immediate end to American involvement in the Saudi-led coalition’s brutal military campaign,” Sen. Bernie Sanders and three progressive House members — Pramila Jayapal, Peter DeFazio, and Ro Khanna — said, adding they will use a War Powers resolution to force his hand.
The U.S. military’s involvement in the conflict has been limited since November 2018 when, under similar bipartisan pressure, the Trump administration halted midair refueling for Saudi-led coalition aircraft. That air force has been accused by the U.N. of potential war crimes — indiscriminate bombardments and targeting civilian infrastructure.
The Houthis have also been accused of potential war crimes, including indiscriminate attacks and land mines, according to the same U.N. panel. Increasingly, they’ve also conducted complex, coordinated attacks on Saudi Arabia and UAE — including one last Friday that set two Saudi Aramco facilities ablaze and sent black smoke billowing into the air. While there were no casualties, Saudi officials said it would affect oil production amid the global energy crunch.
Fighting in recent months has been worse than in years — with January the deadliest month since 2018 — just three months after the UN Human Rights Council voted to disband that U.N. panel investigating war crimes.
While the majority of civilians have been killed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, the senior State Department official said the coalition “has been saying they’re prepared to engage” in negotiations towards a cease-fire and ultimately a political resolution.
The coalition on Wednesday launched a unilateral cease-fire. The U.N.’s new special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, welcomed it as part of his call for a truce for Ramadan, Islam’s holy month which starts this weekend. Grundberg has been conducting extensive consultations with not just the warring countries, but also political parties, civil society activists and women’s rights advocates.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, a Riyadh-based bloc of regional countries, is also hosting a peace conference this week of Yemeni parties.
The Houthis have rejected both the Saudi cease-fire and the GCC summit, but days earlier announced they would halt to cross-border attacks until Wednesday, refusing to extend it unless the coalition met certain demands. Those demands — ending restrictions on Yemeni ports and closure of Sanaa’s airport — were not met, but it’s unclear if the Houthis had resumed attacks.
Still, Grundberg expressed some hope Wednesday that his team was “making progress” on reaching a truce — telling the GCC summit, “Yemen needs a truce. I am engaging with the parties with a sense of urgency to reach this truce by the beginning of Ramadan.”
In the meantime, it’s the Yemeni people who suffer — a crisis now exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Yemen imports approximately one-fifth of its wheat from the two countries, and with energy prices also soaring, the already severely underfunded humanitarian response is left reeling.
That’s left children like “Isaac” with dimmer futures. In addition to widespread malnutrition, approximately 10,000 children have been killed by the war. Some two million children are out of school, with over 25,000 schools damaged or destroyed.
Isaac, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, told the aid group Save the Children that his school “is definitely not safe anymore.” The 14-year old boy was shot by a sniper in the leg.
“I assumed the sniper would spare me when he saw I was only picking up the ball. He doesn’t usually shoot at us, he rarely does, but he did this time,” he said, according to the group.
(NEW YORK) — When lockdowns first hit the country during the spring of 2020, 18-year-old Emma Brun said she was in a tough place.
The student gymnast couldn’t compete in any of her meets or see her teammates and friends in person. Brun, who lives near Dayton, Ohio, told ABC News those lost connections compounded the mental health struggles she was facing even before the pandemic.
“I lost all of that support immediately. It really went downhill at that point,” Brun told ABC News.
After the stay-at-home ended, Brun said she was still dealing with anxiety, feelings of self-doubt and depression. Her mental health struggle ultimately led to a suicide attempt in February 2021.
Brun said she’s in a better place today after months of therapy, medication and self-reflection. She wants to make sure that her story can prompt others to get the help they need with navigating pandemic-related mental health issues.
“My mom and I started sharing what had happened, because I started to feel better and I started to feel hope again. We realized that this is a message that needs to be told,” she said. “It’s something that I can share with other people so that other people can experience the same relief and the joy that came afterward.”
Brun’s battle with depression and suicidal ideation is one that an increasing number of kids and teens have been facing.
Even before the pandemic, mental health struggles were already on the rise among young people. However, data shows the pandemic exacerbated and accelerated these existing issues.
“There’s been a trend over time for kids to have more and more struggles with their own behavioral health,” Dr. John Duby, vice president of community health at Dayton Children’s Hospital, said. “While the numbers were already going up before, they are been augmented. There’s certainly been an added impact that goes with the pandemic, but it’s on top of a problem that was already well on its way.”
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told ABC News’ Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, that there was a 57% increase in the suicide rate among children compared to the decade before the pandemic. Suicide attempts among teenage girls rose by 50% during the first year of the pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brun’s parents told ABC News they experienced the effects of this mental health crisis firsthand when they were looking for long-term help for Emma. It turns out that help is not always easy to find, as many hospitals now report long wait lists for available beds and treatments.
It would take nearly 24 hours to find a mental health facility with an available bed was finally found — a full hour-and-a-half drive away from the family’s home, Brian Brun, Emma’s father, told ABC News.
“My heart is broken for my daughter. But all of a sudden, I’m realizing how huge this problem is. I can’t find a bed for my daughter,” Brian said. “Hundreds of other fathers are dealing with this exact thing at this moment.”
Brun said that her recovery took a lot of work, but one of the things that helped was opening up about her condition to her friends and family. She said that everyone has been supportive and has given her an open ear anytime she needs to discuss her mental health issues.
“Sometimes you have negative self-talk. Sometimes you have depression, but it’s not your fault if you do, and that was something I was blaming myself for,” she said.
Doctors, social workers and other professionals are working to address the growing need for mental health resources for children and teenagers.
The Hope Squad, a Utah-based organization, has created peer-to-peer groups across the country to help students look for signs of suicide and mental health distress in their friends and fellow students.
“What we’re finding is so many of our kids want to help. They hear from their peers when their peers are struggling. They hear more so than us through social media and texting,” Beth Celenza, a Hope Squad advisor for Ohio’s Mason High School, told ABC News. “In ways that as teachers we don’t see that.”
Students at Mason High School told ABC News that their engagement with the Hope Squad has not only allowed them to help other students, but it has also helped them address their own struggles with anxiety and depression.
“The whole community has come together on these mental health reasons and come together to support everyone because we’re all going through the same thing of being isolated,” said freshman Ella Hardesty. “Even just for myself… I’ve learned to help myself right now, too.”
Through medication, therapy and support from her loved ones, Brun said she’s in a much better place today than a year ago. She’s back competing in gymnastics and spending more time with her friends.
“Things actually improve with time if you let them and if you just think things through. And you don’t force things to happen. Once that happens, it’s a lot easier,” she said.
Brun’s advice to anyone who may be suffering from mental health issues is to look for the silver lining and seek out anyone who can provide support during the dark times.
“I believe that when people know they’re not alone, it really helps,” Brun said. “I don’t want anybody else to go through what I went through if I can help it.”
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security is expected to move forward this week with lifting Title 42 restrictions — the Trump-era order giving the government authority to expel migrants at the southern border under a public health emergency — two government officials told ABC News Wednesday.
Democrats and immigrant advocates have strongly opposed the policy, citing concerns over the limits it places on migrants seeking asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he has been “deeply disappointed” in the Biden administration for not ending the Title 42 rapid expulsion protocols and he specifically referenced the risks posed to Ukrainian families.
“This is not who we are as a country,” Schumer said earlier this month. “Continuing this Trump-era policy defies common sense and common decency. Now’s the time to stop the madness. President Biden must fulfill his promise to fully restore our refugee laws, bring order to the border and stop the use of Title 42 to justify these deportations.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are responsible for issuing the order, which was made in the name of public health under the Trump administration at the beginning of the global coronavirus pandemic. The agency is continuing its review and has yet to issue a formal decision, the CDC told ABC News in a statement.
“We are finalizing our current assessment and will release more information later this week,” the CDC said in a statement.
A court battle in which the administration faced a deadline to reimpose categorical expulsions of unaccompanied migrant minors or to ask an appellate court to intervene resulted in the administration rescinding the Title 42 policy for unaccompanied children once again earlier this month.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC News the administration is at fault for not more expansively implementing the Migrant Protection Protocols, a tool first used by President Donald Trump to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their claims to process in the U.S.
“Reports the president will rescind Title 42 after refusing to properly implement MPP is setting the stage for hundreds of thousands more illegal encounters and the continued flow of deadly drugs that will poison our communities, as well as opening the door to further human trafficking and misery,” McCaul said.
While the Biden administration has announced billions in funding for more than two dozen projects to expand and modernize U.S. border crossings, it’s not clear those funds will be enough to sufficiently expand the processing capacity of Customs and Border Protection facilities.
The primary goal is to improve commerce and trade with new security and sustainability features so federal facilities catch up to the expansion of trade in recent years, administration officials said in announcing the funding plan last month. The $3.4 billion investment comes from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
Delays and long lines at land ports of entry are common, especially at the nation’s highest trafficked regions, like San Diego. On the southern border alone, delays have cost 88,000 jobs and roughly $3 billion in economic output, according to a 2016 study of cross-border trade.
“Those inefficiencies translate into a weaker economy, fewer jobs and we can do better,” U.S. General Services Administrator Robin Carnahan told reporters at an event announcing the border funding. “A lot of these land ports are beyond their useful life and their capacity in many ways and these upgrades that we’re talking about today are long overdue.”
The repeal date for Title 42 is slated for May 23, according to several reports.
That timeline would put immense pressure on the U.S. Border Patrol to enact a plan that will allow for the safe processing of migrants taken into custody.
“If in fact they do get rid of it on May 23 they’re barely giving us a month and a half to get prepared,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told ABC News Wednesday. “There’s just no way to get an operation of that magnitude in place in that short of a period of time without there being complete chaos. It’s impossible.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 30, 7:26 pm
Zelenskyy said he had detailed conversation with Biden, questions reports of Russian withdrawal
In his daily address Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a very “detailed” conversation with President Joe Biden on various topics.
Zelenskyy said he thanked Biden for $1 billion in new humanitarian aid and an additional $500 million in direct support.
Zelenskyy said he stressed the current moment is a turning point
“I told President Biden what Ukraine needs, and I was as sincere as possible with him,” he said. “The support of the United States is vital for us, and now it is especially important to lend a hand to Ukraine, to show all the power of the democratic world.”
The Ukrainian president said he reiterated his calls for more weapons and resources to fight Putin’s forces.
He also said he didn’t buy Russian’s “withdrawal” from Kyiv and Chernihiv.
“We do not believe anyone,” he said. “We will not give up anything, and we will fight for every meter of our land, for every our person.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 30, 3:44 pm
Pentagon refers to Russian claims of withdrawing troops near Kyiv as ‘spin’
Over the last 24 hours, the Pentagon has seen less than 20% of the Russian troops that had been around Kyiv “reposition” northward, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby said Russian claims that they are withdrawing troops to deescalate fighting amid peace talks with Ukraine is just “spin.”
Kirby said he was intentionally using the term “reposition” instead of withdrawal to describe the movement of Russian forces “because the way it’s being spun by the Ministry of Defense is that they’re pulling back and they’re trying to deescalate and depressurize the situation. And we just don’t believe we haven’t seen any evidence of that.”
Kirby said the U.S. assesses that the Russians are instead “going to refit these troops, resupply them, and then probably … employ them elsewhere in Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Mar 30, 3:19 pm
Shelling continues in Chernihiv and Kyiv suburbs
Shelling is continuing in Chernihiv and the suburbs of Kyiv, one day after the Kremlin said Russian operations near the two cities would be “scaled down dramatically.”
In Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, Gov. Viacheslav Chaus said shelling lasted all night and that civilian targets were being destroyed, including shopping malls and libraries. Local authorities said at least one civilian was killed and six were wounded.
Activity was relentless Wednesday in Irpin, near Kyiv, and bombardments in the suburbs have continued into the night.
Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, said Wednesday that Russian troops have not completely abandoned attempts to capture or at least surround Kyiv and Chernihiv. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said some Russian military units are being relocated but that there’s no mass withdrawal of troops.
-ABC News’ James Longman, Bruno Roeber, Irene Hanatiyuk and Oleksii Pshemyski
Mar 30, 12:37 pm
Biden tells Zelenskyy US will give Ukraine $500 million in ‘direct budgetary aid’
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on the phone from 11:08 a.m. ET to 12:03 p.m. ET, according to the White House.
Biden said the U.S. will provide Ukraine with “$500 million in direct budgetary aid,” according to a White House readout. The $500 million is for financial assistance that Ukraine can use for budgetary expenses such as paying salaries and maintaining government services, according to the White House.
“The leaders discussed how the United States is working around the clock to fulfill the main security assistance requests by Ukraine, the critical effects those weapons have had on the conflict, and continued efforts by the United States with allies and partners to identify additional capabilities to help the Ukrainian military defend its country,” the White House said.
Zelenskyy in a tweet said they “talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.”
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Mar 30, 11:46 am
Zelenskyy warns Norway of Russia’s military buildup in Arctic
Ukraine warned Norway on Wednesday that Russian forces have “amassed in the Arctic region” and will ultimately pose a threat to Europe.
“I think you are experiencing new risks near your border with Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to Norwegian lawmakers via video link from Kyiv. “A number of Russian troops that has no normal explanation has already been amassed in the Arctic region. For what? Against whom?”
“The future of Europe — the whole continent from north to south, from west to east — is being decided right now,” he added. “On our land, on Ukrainian soil, in Ukrainian air, in Ukrainian sea. So that your soldiers do not have to defend NATO’s eastern flank, so that Russian mines do not drift to your ports and fjords, so that your people do not have to get used to the sound of air alarms and so that Russian tanks are not amassed at your border, we must stop the aggression of the Russian Federation together and only together.”
Zelenskyy said Russian forces are continuing to carry out relentless and indiscriminate attacks on his country. Although Ukrainian troops are holding off Russian advances, he warned that “the columns of Russian armoured vehicles are not decreasing.”
“There are no forbidden targets for Russian troops. They attack everything,” he told Norwegian lawmakers. “Ukraine’s losses are enormous.”
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko and Christine Theodorou
Mar 30, 11:18 am
Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister
During a meeting in China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi doubled down on increasingly close ties between the two nations despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Wang acknowledged the “Ukraine problem” but stopped short of offering support.
Chinese officials have said repeatedly in the past weeks that they are “not a party” to the conflict but “support Russia and Ukraine in overcoming difficulties.”
-ABC News’ Karson Yiu
Mar 30, 9:55 am
Putin advisers ‘afraid to tell him’ about Russian military performance
U.S. intelligence said it believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers on his troops’ performance in Ukraine “because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth,” a U.S. official told ABC News.
Based on declassified intelligence, the official said, “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military. There is now persistent tension between Putin and the MOD [Ministry of Defence], stemming from Putin’s mistrust in MOD leadership. Putin didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian President.”
The official continued: “We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth.”
Mar 30, 8:30 am
Poland plans to abandon Russian hydrocarbons by year’s end
Poland announced Wednesday its plan to stop buying Russian oil, gas and coal by the end of 2022.
“Today, we present the most radical plan in Europe to abandon Russian hydrocarbons — oil, gas and coal. This plan is necessary for the recovery of Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference.
According to Morawiecki, Poland “will impose a total embargo on Russian coal in April, at the latest in May.” He said his country has already largely reduced its dependence on oil from Russia and “will do [its] best to abandon Russian oil by the end of the year.” He added that he is also expecting a decline in gas imports in May.
Morawiecki called on other European countries, including Germany, to follow suit. He urged the European Commission “to establish a tax on Russian hydrocarbons so that trade and economic rules in the European single market are fair.”
Mar 30, 8:06 am
Enrollment in Poland’s national guard grows sevenfold
In the Polish village of Zegrze, about 20 miles north of Warsaw, cars line the small street outside a facility belonging to Poland’s Territorial Defense Force (TDF). Officials said interest in training with the TDF has increased sevenfold in the last month, following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine — creating an unintended traffic backup in the facility’s tiny public parking lot.
The TDF is the fifth military branch of the Polish Armed Forces, behind the Land Forces, Army, Navy and Special Forces. The group is made up of volunteer and part-time privates, and is comparable to the National Guard of the United States.
ABC News got exclusive access into the TDF facility in Zegrze and spoke with several new trainees, all of whom were women. Each one spoke about their underlying interest in the military and wanting to feel confident in protecting themselves and their families. But several said they became motivated to enroll after watching average Ukrainian citizens defend their country. They were inspired to be prepared in the same way.
ABC News’ cameras were allowed to follow a group of trainees — men and women of all ages — as instructors took them into a nearby forest on Tuesday morning. The trainees were clad in army fatigues and their faces were marked with camouflage paint as they crawled along the ground, guns in hand. The training was a grueling, real-life instruction that left them exhausted within an hour.
The program lasts for 16 days, with at least 12 hours of training required each day. At the end, the trainees take a military oath and then are allowed to return home. Many know there is a chance they will soon be called on to help the Polish military as the Russian invasion grinds on in neighboring Ukraine. While they won’t likely see combat, their main objective is to enhance national defense capabilities and protect their local communities.
Mar 30, 7:39 am
Ukrainians attempt to save animals from abandoned zoo near Kyiv
Ukrainians are attempting to rescue exotic animals from an abandoned zoo near the capital.
Vitaly Mukhanov told ABC News that he had volunteered to help bring supplies to Ukrainian soldiers when he came across the Yasnohorodka family ecopark, about 30 miles outside Kyiv. The park appeared to have been damaged by shelling and the animals, including camels and ostriches, were left with no food. Some were injured, while others were dead.
Videos and images Mukhanov took of the scene and posted on Facebook on Monday quickly went viral and he said he was subsequently contacted by the zoo’s owner, who asked if he could help.
In one of the videos, Mukhanov comes across a wounded ostrich. The bird appeared to be taking its last breaths as he gently stroked its head.
“You can see from the images that the animals were in a very bad way,” Mukhanov told ABC News. “The town nearby was liberated from the Russians two days ago, so the owner is now returning to the zoo and they hope to evacuate the animals in the next couple of days.”
Mukhanov said he has since returned to western Ukraine to get more supplies, but he was told that veterinarians were due to visit the Yasnohorodka family ecopark on Tuesday to provide care to some of the animals.
Mar 30, 7:18 am
Explosion rings out near Russian city of Belgorod
A missile hit a temporary Russian military camp near the border with Ukraine late Tuesday, according Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
TASS, citing a source, reported that preliminary data shows the camp, just outside the Russian city of Belgorod, was fired on from the Ukrainian side. However, Ukraine has denied responsibility and instead blamed the incident on Russian error.
Belgorod Oblast Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement that blasts occurred in the village of Krasny Oktyabr, about 19 miles southwest of Belgorod. He did not cite a cause of the incident, saying he was awaiting a report from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows an explosion in Krasny Oktyabr on Tuesday night. The cause of the blast was unknown.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk alleged that “an unauthorized detonation of ammunition” took place at a warehouse of the Russian Armed Forces in Belgorod.
“This is an example of typical for Russians neglect of safety precautions and mass use of dangerous ammunition of the Second World War,” Vereschuk said at a press briefing Wednesday.
Belgorod is about 50 miles north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which Russian forces have shelled heavily in recent weeks.
Mar 30, 6:11 am
Russia bombards Chernihiv hours after claiming to curb assault
Air raid sirens sounded off across almost all of Ukraine overnight and into early Wednesday, hours after Russia said it would scale back its military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Russian forces bombarded the besieged northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv as well as Khmelnytsky Oblast in western Ukraine, while several missiles were shot down over the capital, Kyiv, according to Vadim Denisenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister. The damage and any casualties were still being assessed Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the Luhansk Oblast has been under heavy shelling for days, Denisenko said.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed Wednesday that the Russian military continues to withdraw part of its troops from near Kyiv and Chernihiv, and are possibly “regrouping units to concentrate the main efforts in the eastern direction.” However, the General Staff said it believes the real goals of the so-called withdrawal are a rotation of individual units, misleading Ukraine’s military leadership and creating an erroneous idea about Russia’s refusal from the plan to encircle Kyiv.
Mar 30, 5:27 am
Over four million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than four million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Refugee Agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 9% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 35 days.
More than half of the refugees crossed into neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 30, 3:41 am
Russian authorities may ‘single out and detain’ Americans in Russia and Ukraine, US warns
The United States is warning that Russian authorities “may single out and detain U.S. citizens” in both Russia and Ukraine.
The warning came Tuesday as the U.S. Department of State issued new travel advisories for the two warring countries.
The State Department previously warned Americans in Russia that they could be targets for harassment by Russian authorities. But the latest advisory makes it explicit that U.S. citizens could be “singled out,” “including for detention.”
The State Department has also previously warned Americans against traveling to Ukraine to join the fight against Russian forces, pointing to statements from Russian authorities that anyone detained while fighting will not be considered a lawful combatant. That could mean mistreatment or worse, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
“There are continued reports of U.S. citizens being singled out and detained by the Russian military in Ukraine and when evacuating by land through Russia-occupied territory or to Russia or Belarus,” the latest advisory for Ukraine states.
Both Russia and Ukraine have been on the State Department’s “Travel Advisory Level 4 – Do Not Travel” for months, as tensions ratcheted up and with little to no diplomatic presences on the ground.
Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(WARSAW, Poland) — Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has taken in 300,000 Ukrainian refugees, according to Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.
While Trzaskowski told ABC News’ Linsey Davis Tuesday that the city and its residents have welcomed these families and doing their best to accommodate their needs, they still face uphill challenges as more refugees arrive.
“We are going to welcome whoever needs help, but if a strain on the public services, schools, [and] health system [becomes] huge, the solidarity might wane in a few weeks,” the mayor told ABC News.
As the number of refugees is expected to grow while the conflict continues, Trzaskowski is calling on leaders around the world to assist with the refugee efforts.
As of March 29, over 4 million Ukrainians have fled to nearby countries to escape the war, according to data from the United Nations. Poland has taken the majority of those citizens, 2.3 million, according to the U.N.
Trzaskowski said his city’s refugee response has been “improvised” as the local government, regular citizens and organizations have come together to provide the hundreds of thousands of families with support.
Ukrainian citizens have been granted access to free education and free health care in Poland and 13,000 Ukrainian children are already attending Warsaw schools, according to the mayor.
“This is really a huge challenge also financially, but you know, we have to organize it,” Trzaskowski said.
He added that the city’s social workers are overburdened with the daunting task of registering over 300,000 people with Polish social service agencies and programs.
“So now I’m thinking how to put more people at a task of doing it as quickly as possible,” he said.
The mayor tweeted on Monday that the city’s refugee assistance efforts requires more investment and personnel and called on the European Union to offer direct support.
“We need a system because we don’t know [if] maybe we are going to have another wave of refugees in just in just a week or two. We need to be prepared,” he said.
World leaders have recently pledged to help the growing number of families who are fleeing Ukraine.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, and other countries, such as Canada have promised to take them.
Trzaskowski said he is hopeful that more countries and the United Nations will step up their efforts and alleviate some of his country’s burdens, but in the meantime he pledged that his citizens will continue to welcome the refugees as one of their own.
“Ukrainians are among us but they’re with us they’re not as if relegated to the margins of the society they’re in our homes they are participating in our life and that’s that’s the beauty of it,” he said.
(KYIV) — A group of Ukrainian volunteers are attempting to rescue animals from a private zoo near the capital that was abandoned after the Russian army bombed and occupied the area.
Vitaly Mukhanov told ABC News that he had volunteered to help bring supplies to Ukrainian soldiers when he came across the Yasnohorodka family ecopark, about 30 miles outside Kyiv.
The park appeared to have been damaged by shelling, Mukhanov said. Animals, including camels and ostriches, were left with no food. Some were injured, while others were dead, he said.
“You could tell that many of the animals starved to death.” Mukhanov said.
Videos and images Mukhanov took of the scene and posted on Facebook on Monday quickly went viral and he said he was subsequently contacted by the zoo’s owner, who asked for his assistance.
In one of the videos, Mukhanov comes across a wounded ostrich. The bird appeared to be taking its last breaths as he gently stroked its head.
“You can see from the images that the animals were in a very bad way,” Mukhanov said.
“The town nearby was liberated from the Russians two days ago, so the owner is now returning to the zoo and they hope to evacuate the animals in the next couple of days,” he said.
As of Wednesday morning, Yasnohorodka family ecopark posted on their Facebook page that the animals were being rescued and evacuated from the area.
Mukhanov explained that due to the area being bombed and occupied by Russian forces, the owners and staff were in fear of their lives and had to flee the zoo as quickly as possible, forcing them to leave the animals behind.
“As of now this area has been freed and our Ukrainian troops are there, so we have organized and guaranteed the owner safety so he can evacuate the animals,” he said.
The owner will be returning back to the area hopefully by tomorrow, he said, but there are currently staff and volunteers on-site feeding the animals and safely beginning to evacuate some of them.
ABC News reached out to park operators but have not received a comment.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Sophia Simons
(NEW YORK) — One crew member is dead and two were rescued after a Navy aircraft crashed off the Virginia coast Wednesday, according to the U.S. Navy.
The E-2D Hawkeye, which was assigned to an East Coast Airborne Command and Control Squadron, crashed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the vicinity of Wallops Island and Chincoteague, Virginia, officials said.
Two crew members were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard search and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The third crew member was found dead on the aircraft, the Navy said.
The Navy said the name of the crew member killed would be released once next of kin are notified.
The cause of the crash is not known at this time.
U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., tweeted that she is monitoring the situation.
“I’m keeping our naval aviators, their families, and our first responders in my thoughts and prayers tonight as rescue and recovery efforts continue,” Luria said.
