(NEW YORK) — Thursday marks two years since 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez mysteriously vanished at a New Jersey park.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has worked with investigators to create this age-progression image showing what Dulce may look like today as a 7-year-old.
“Law enforcement continues to pursue all leads” to find Dulce, Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae and Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said in a joint statement Wednesday.
Authorities — including state, local and federal — are working “to determine those who are responsible” for her disappearance, the statement said.
Dulce was last seen on Sept. 16, 2019, while playing with her 3-year-old brother at the Bridgeton City Park behind Bridgeton High School.
Her mother, Noema Alavez Perez, was sitting in her car 30 yards away helping Dulce’s 8-year-old sister with homework.
“She was a sweet girl. Nice, loving,” Perez told ABC News this year. “She likes to pretend that she was always a princess. She likes to be around like smaller kids. She always like to give hugs and kisses.”
Police and prosecutors said Wednesday there’s no evidence of the little girl’s death and they “hold out hope that Dulce is alive.”
(LONDON) — French officials announced overnight that their military forces had killed the top ISIS leader in Africa, a terrorist for whom the United States had offered a $5 million reward due to his connection to the deadly attack on a team of Green Berets in Niger four years ago.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Twitter that Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, was “neutralized by French forces.”
“This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” Macron said of the region in northwest Africa.
The drone strike occurred in late August but al-Sahrawi’s death was confirmed this month, French and U.S. counterterrorism officials told ABC News.
Al-Sahrawi was wanted by the U.S. for leading the group of more than 100 militants responsible for attacking Operational Detachment-Alpha 3212, a team of soldiers from 3rd Special Forces Group on Oct. 4, 2017, leaving four Americans and at least six Nigerien soldiers dead outside the tiny village of Tongo Tongo.
The 2017 ambush is the subject of a four-year ABC News investigation and an ABC Documentaries film set for release on Hulu in November, “3212 UN-REDACTED: An Ambush In Africa. The Pentagon’s Betrayal.”
Macron did not explicitly say that France’s anti-insurgent Task Force Barkhane in Mali had been assisted by U.S. intelligence, but sources in Paris and in Africa confirmed that was the case. American intelligence had previously assisted in numerous raids carried out by French Special Forces in 2018 that killed many of the Tongo Tongo attackers and recovered American weapons and one vehicle from the Green Beret team attacked in 2017.
The parents of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson, who was killed in action in the 2017 attack and decorated with the Bronze Star Medal with “V” for Valor, praised the French but said the U.S. should have taken the lead on al-Sahrawi’s capture or killing.
“We are profoundly grateful to the French Armed Forces for removing this threat to West Africa. At the same time, we are disappointed that the United States did not exert the effort to bring this individual to justice,” Johnson’s mother and stepfather, Debbie and Ray Gannon, told ABC News in a statement. “We should have made the effort to either kill or capture the individuals who were responsible for the ambush of ODA 3212 ourselves, instead of relying on other countries.”
Also killed in the 2017 attack were Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright of Lyons, Georgia, Sgt. LaDavid Johnson of Miami, and Staff Sgt. Bryan Black of Puyallup, Washington.
“More death does not make losing Bryan any better. But knowing there is one less evil man in this world brings me peace,” said Michelle Black, who authored the book “Sacrifice: A Gold Star Widow’s Fight For The Truth,” about her husband and the Tongo Tongo gunfight. “Perhaps it will prevent other families from suffering terror at his hands and for me that is enough.”
Bryan Black’s parents, Henry and Karen Black, also were grateful for the French operation, she said.
In a ceremony for all four families of the fallen soldiers in July, LaDavid Johnson and Jeremiah Johnson, both support soldiers who were killed with the Green Beret team, were posthumously inducted into the Green Berets.
“Although nothing can take away the pain of losing our four fallen heroes, there is comfort in knowing that justice has been served,” said former Green Beret Maj. Alan Van Saun, who was company commander of the ambushed detachment ODA 3212, and who appears in the ABC documentary film.
“I am grateful for our French and African partners who worked tirelessly to bring this chapter to an end, but I know there is still a lot of work to be done to bring stability to the Sahel,” Van Saun told ABC News.
The French Defense Ministry said that the operation was conducted between Aug. 17-22, in partnership with the Malian armed forces, against ISIS fighters in the dangerous forest area south of the village of In Delimane in Mali’s Liptako region.
A senior French commander told ABC News that al-Sahrawi was “weakened after the loss of two of his logistics commanders in the same period,” after the French neutralized Rhissa al-Sarhaoui and the commander known as Ikarey.
The French commander told ABC News that, based on U.S. intelligence, “we understood al-Sahrawi left Menaka on a motorbike and was about to cross the Nigerien border.”
Al-Sahrawi was then targeted by a drone airstrike that killed the ISIS leader and resulted in the captured of ten of his men, French and U.S. officials said.
“This zone is a red one. Almost a stateless area. This is a huge get and could rebalance the power at least for the Malian Liptako,” said the French commander, who added that confirming al-Sahrawi’s death “took several weeks.”
“The killing of al-Sahrawi follows a series of tactical successes by the French, who recently killed or captured several senior ISGS [Islamic State in the Greater Sahara] commanders,” said Sahel expert Heni Nsaibia of the risk consultancy firm Menastream. “It appears that these events and the question of who will succeed al-Sahrawi have created serious tensions within ISGS. We are talking about numerous No. 1- and 2-ranking commanders eliminated in just months. This means that it will be difficult for the group to effectively restructure and reorganize at this point.”
In a statement, Macron paid tribute to France’s fallen troops in northwest Africa.
“The Nation is thinking this evening of all its heroes who died for France in the Sahel … of the bereaved families, of all of its wounded,” Macron said. “Their sacrifice is not in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue this fight.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 666,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 63.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 16, 7:39 pm
Seattle to require proof of vaccination or negative test for indoor recreation, large outdoor events
The most populous county in Washington state will implement COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements for indoor dining, large outdoor events and other activities.
Starting Oct. 25, proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required for everyone ages 12 and up to enter indoor establishments, including restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theaters, and attend outdoor events with more than 500 people in King County, home to Seattle, officials announced Thursday.
Those who are not vaccinated must show proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test in the last 72 hours or take a rapid test on site prior to entry.
“We are at a critical point in this pandemic, with high levels of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and no certainty as to what will follow the Delta variant,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement. “Vaccination is our best shield against this deadly virus.”
Over 85% of King County residents have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Constantine.
Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, already required vaccination or a negative test, while the MLB’s Seattle Mariners said last week they would institute the same guidelines should they make the playoffs.
Sep 16, 6:53 pm
24 state attorneys general warn Biden of potential legal action over vaccine mandate
Two dozen state attorneys general are threatening legal action against the federal government over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private businesses.
A week after President Joe Biden announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will create a rule that will require roughly 80 million workers nationwide to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, 24 Republican state attorneys general warned in a [letter addressed to the president] () that they “will seek every available legal option” if the mandate is implemented.
The letter, which called the plan “disastrous and counterproductive” and debated its legality, was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Earlier this week, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defended Biden’s vaccine plan in an interview with “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“The requirements that he announced are not sweeping requirements for the entire nation,” Murthy said. “These are focused on areas where the federal government has legal authority to act.”
Sep 16, 5:05 pm
CDC predicts hospitalizations will drop this month
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly ensemble forecast, an average of several models, predicts that the number of new daily hospital admissions will likely drop.
The ensemble forecast predicts “5,000 to 15,300 new confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions likely reported on October 11.” The current seven-day average is 11,165 new hospitalizations per day.
-ABC News’ Brian Hartman
Sep 16, 3:59 pm
Pfizer CEO pens letter making the case for boosters
In an open letter, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is making the case for his company’s vaccine booster shot, one day before an FDA advisory committee meets to debate and vote on the issue.
Bourla underscored the “strong immune response after the booster dose” and vowed that Pfizer has “stayed true to our commitment of full transparency without selectively cherry-picking data.”
Bourla also addressed international concerns over boosters for all potentially detracting from access to first doses in developing countries.
“Some people and organizations have raised concerns that the approval of boosters will divert doses dedicated to the low- and middle-income countries and redirect them to the high-income countries. And they use this argument to claim that boosters should not be approved. I disagree,” Bourla wrote.
“No commitments already made by Pfizer to a country will change if boosters are approved,” he wrote.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Sep 16, 3:20 pm
US reports highest daily death toll in nearly 7 months
The U.S. reported a staggering 2,000 COVID-19 related fatalities overnight, marking the highest single-day death total in nearly seven months, according to federal data. Although that large number could be partially due to data backlogs, it’s still significant given that the pandemic has been ongoing for 18 months.
In the last five weeks, the U.S. has not seen a single day with less than 100,000 new cases, according to federal data. This is a massive step back in the fight against COVID-19; between Feb. 7 and July 29, 2021, there was never a day with 100,000 or more new cases.
Tennessee has the country’s highest case rate followed by West Virginia, Wyoming, South Carolina, Alaska, Montana and Kentucky.
Nine states now have more patients in hospitals than at any point in the pandemic: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Sep 16, 2:47 pm
Idaho expands crisis standards of care statewide
Idaho is expanding its crisis standards of care plan to the entire state due to a surge in hospitalized patients that’s exhausting resources.
“The situation is dire,” Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Thursday. “We don’t have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for COVID-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident.”
Crisis standards of care was first activated Sept. 6 in North Idaho.
“When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect,” state officials said. “For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available.”
“Not all hospitals will move to that standard of care,” state officials said Thursday. “Hospitals will implement as needed and according to their own CSC policies.”
Sep 16, 2:25 pm
Italy votes to mandate COVID health pass for workplaces
A COVID Green Pass will be required for all workers in Italy, in both private and public sectors, beginning Oct. 15, the government announced Thursday.
The Green Pass proves a person is vaccinated, has recovered from COVID-19 or has had a negative test in the last two days.
Employees who go to work without the pass face a five-day suspension without pay.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Sep 16, 12:20 pm
What to expect at Friday’s panel on Pfizer booster shots
An FDA advisory panel will convene in open session Friday to debate the latest booster shot data submitted by Pfizer, and following a non-binding vote, the FDA is expected to formally amend its current vaccine approval for Pfizer.
Opening remarks are set for 8:30 a.m. ET. That’s followed by introductions by the FDA, presentations from CDC representatives, discussion of booster protection and a presentation from Pfizer.
After a public hearing portion in the afternoon and a Q&A on the Pfizer and FDA presentations, the committee is expected to debate the issue for about two hours. A vote is expected at about 4:45 p.m. ET.
Next week, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel whose members will discuss who should get a booster and when.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Sep 16, 10:46 am
Booster shots begin in England
Booster shots are now being administered in England.
Eligible people must be six months out from their last shot and include: adults ages 50 and over; people in residential care homes; frontline health care workers; social workers; people who are immunocompromised; and caregivers for the immunocompromised.
About 4.5 million people will be eligible for a booster in the next few weeks.
Sep 16, 9:01 am
Pope Francis discusses vaccine hesitancy
Pope Francis said Wednesday he found it “ironic” that a cardinal who was not vaccinated against COVID-19 had been hospitalized with the virus.
Speaking to reporters on his plane while returning to Rome after visiting Hungary and Slovakia, Francis discussed the hesitancy against COVID-19 vaccines and how it has divided people.
“It’s strange because humanity has a friendly relationship with vaccines,” the pope said. “As children, we got them for measles, for other things, for polio. All the children were vaccinated, and no one said anything. Then this happened.”
“Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some anti-vaxxers,” he added, “and one of them, poor man, is in hospital with the virus. But life is ironic.”
Although Francis didn’t identify the man by name, it appeared he was referring to American Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the Catholic church’s most outspoken conservatives who eschewed the COVID-19 vaccine and spent days on a ventilator after contracting the virus in August.
Francis noted that everyone in the Vatican, “except for a small group,” has been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sep 16, 7:17 am
China says it has vaccinated over 1 billion people
China said Thursday that it has vaccinated more than 1 billion people against COVID-19.
According to the Chinese National Health Commission, 2.16 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far, fully vaccinating 1.01 billion people. That accounts for more than 70% of China’s population.
China’s COVID-19 vaccination rate is now among the highest in the world, above the United States and Europe. The inoculation drive, however, only used domestically-made vaccines, including Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech, both of which were approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization but have faced growing scrutiny that they may not be very effective at curbing the spread of the virus, particularly the new variants.
Despite chasing zero cases with the strictest of suppression methods, China still suffers the occasional COVID-19 outbreak. A fresh outbreak of the more contagious delta variant has been growing in the southeastern province of Fujian. Chinese authorities said the source of the outbreak there was a father who returned from Singapore in early August and transmitted the virus to his child after quarantining. The father didn’t test positive for COVID-19 until 38 days after he had returned to China.
Painting the threat of the virus coming in from abroad, China has no plans to reopen its borders for the foreseeable future. Even the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February Feb is expected to be held within a very strict bubble that will make the recent Tokyo Games seem lax.
Sep 15, 6:58 pm
NYC health officials investigating cases linked to Labor Day concert
New York City’s Heath Department announced Wednesday it is investigating a cluster of COVID-19 cases that were linked to a Labor Day weekend concert.
At least 16 people have been identified as part of the cluster linked to the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall’s Island, which is located in the East River, the department said.
Eight people have been also been identified who “though likely exposed prior to attending the concert,” were in attendance while potentially contagious, according to the health department.
“Anyone who attended this festival should get tested immediately, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated. This is especially urgent if attendees are experiencing symptoms,” New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi, said in a statement.
The concert’s organizers had strict rules for entrance.
Attendees had to show proof of vaccination that matched their photo ID. Unvaccinated ticket holders were allowed in if they showed proof of a negative test “no more than 3 days prior to each day of attendance,” according to the concert’s website.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is planning to meet on Sept. 22 and 23 and is prepared to discuss COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
This will delay the potential start date of boosters until at least late next week, past the president’s planned start date for boosters on Sept. 20.
The White House acknowledged that the start date is ultimately up to the CDC and Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA advisory panel is currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on boosters for the Pfizer vaccine and will have a non-binding vote later that day.
If the FDA approves, the ACIP will discuss and vote on recommendations, such as who should get the boosters and when.
The CDC director will make the ultimate decision on the boosters following the ACIP recommendations.
(WASHINGTON) — A lawyer whose firm represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2016 presidential election was indicted Thursday by special counsel John Durham on a single charge of making a false statement to the FBI.
Michael Sussmann, an attorney for the Perkins Coie law firm who previously represented the Democratic National Committee following the hacking of its servers by Russia during the 2016 campaign, is accused of lying “about the capacity in which he was providing allegations to the FBI” when he met with a top lawyer from the bureau in September 2016 and provided him information about potential ties between a Russian bank and computer servers in the Trump Organization.
“Specifically, SUSSMANN state falsely that he was not doing his work on the aforementioned allegations “for any client,” which led the FBI General Counsel (James A. Baker) to understand that SUSSMANN was acting as a good citizen merely passing along information, not as a paid advocate or political operative,” prosecutors write in the indictment.
They allege instead that Sussmamn intentionally misled the FBI general counsel because he was acting at the time on behalf of an unnamed tech executive, an “U.S. internet company” and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign.
Prior to his indictment Thursday, Sussmann’s attorneys provided a statement to ABC News maintaining his innocence.
“Mr. Sussmann has committed no crime,” attorneys Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth of the law firm Latham and Watkins said. “Any prosecution here would be baseless, unprecedented, and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work.”
“We are confident that if Mr. Sussmann is charged, he will prevail at trial and vindicate his good name,” they added.
Durham was appointed by former Attorney General William Barr in May 2019 to investigate allegations of misconduct by members of the FBI and the intelligence community in their investigation of potential ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign for the presidency. Before his resignation, Barr appointed Durham as special counsel extending his tenure into the Biden administration.
While Durham’s probe has long since lapsed the total duration of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, prior to Thursday he had yielded only one indictment against a lower-level FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring an email used in seeking surveillance against a former aide to Trump’s campaign. That lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, was sentenced to probation earlier this year.
Durham has been tasked with creating a report outlining his findings, though it will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to determine whether to make those findings public. Garland has said publicly he has no intention of interfering in Durham’s work.
The indictment alleges Sussmann began in 2016 working with a U.S. tech executive and other cyber researchers in coordination with the Clinton campaign to assemble “white papers” on a potential communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russian-owned Alfa Bank. Sussmann later provided Baker with the documents in a Sept. 19, 2016 meeting where he is alleged to have made the false statement about who he was acting on behalf of at the time.
The connections were later examined by the FBI, but not substantiated.
In a 2017 deposition with House lawmakers, Sussmann said that he requested the meeting on behalf of a client who was a cybersecurity expert that held data he said showed ties between Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization. According to a source familiar with the matter, his legal team denied in meetings with Durham’s team that his meeting with Baker was coordinated or on behalf of members of Clinton’s campaign.
The meeting between Sussman and Baker occurred more than a month after the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation — looking into whether people associated with the Trump campaign were coordinating, wittingly or unwittingly, with the Russian government’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 campaign — was opened on July 31.
Days earlier, on July 27, 2016, then-candidate Trump said publicly at a campaign event, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the more than 30,000 emails that are missing.” This was an apparent reference to Clinton emails that had been stored on a private server during the time she had served as secretary of state.
In the spring of 2016, Russian military intelligence had hacked into the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee. Emails and documents stolen by the Russians had already been leaked in June and July of 2016 and Trump continued to encourage more leaks as they continued throughout the campaign.
The New York Times, which first reported news of Durham’s plans to seek an indictment against Sussmann, also reported that Garland has declined to overrule Durham’s decision.
Sussmann’s legal team has communicated to Durham’s team that they believe his case will fall apart under scrutiny for several different reasons, a source said. They have noted that Sussmann’s alleged statement to Baker was made nearly five years ago and in a private meeting with no witnesses. And they argue the statements identified by Durham are immaterial in that they likely had no significant impact on any actual investigation being conducted by the FBI at the time.
In the indictment, however, prosecutors contend the statement was material “because, among other reasons, Sussmann’s false statement misled the FBI general counsel and other FBI personnel concerning the political nature of his work and deprived the FBI of information that might have permitted it more fully to assess and uncover the origins of the relevant data and technical analysis, including the identities and motivations of Sussmann’s clients.”
(WASHINGTON) — Customs and Border Protection encountered over 200,000 attempted crossings in August, fewer than the two-decade high seen in July, but still far more than in past years.
While the Biden administration has asked for patience, some Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm over what they consider a continuing crisis.
The 208,887 of apprehensions in August were fewer than in July, when 212,672 people were encountered crossing the border — eclipsing every year since 2000. But last year, CBP made 50,014 apprehensions, just a fraction of this August’s number. In 2019, there were 62,707 apprehensions and the number was even smaller — 46,719 — in 2018.
According to the data released by CBP on Wednesday, 25% of the crossings were made by people who had already been encountered — leaving 156,641 unique encounters last month.
The number of unaccompanied minors has remained steady since July, at nearly 19,000 each month. In August, more than 1,400 unaccompanied children a day, on average, were in CBP custody — up 100 from July.
CBP says fentanyl seizures rose 34%, along with a 36% increase in pounds of cocaine seized from July to August. Fentanyl seizures are also up 50% so far this year, with more than 10,000 pounds confiscated, according to the data.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday downplayed the numbers.
“Once again, we have a plan and we’re executing it. The situation doesn’t change with a flick of a switch, it requires a tremendous amount of work,” he said during a fireside chat with ABC News at the Homeland Security Enterprise Forum.
But ranking member on the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was not so optimistic.
“Once again, CBP operational statistics show that we are seeing the worst unlawful migration crisis in more than twenty years,” Portman said in a statement on Wednesday night. “The Border Patrol has now made more than a million apprehensions of unlawful migrants since President Biden took office. CBP reported more than 208,000 total encounters at the border in August, quadrupling the number from last August.”
Former President Donald Trump’s Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf warned that Border Patrol agents will soon reach their breaking point if crossings continue at the current rate.
“President Biden’s failed border-security policies are simply unsustainable. The men and women of federal law enforcement cannot continue to deal with these crisis-level numbers. They are already overwhelmed and overburdened. The breakdown is coming,” Wolf said in a statement
The administration, however, has framed the drop in encounters since July as a sign things are moving in the right direction.
“The men and women at CBP continue to step up to meet the demands of high numbers of encounters at our southern border. CBP recorded 2 percent fewer encounters in August than July,” Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a release. “The vast majority of single adults encountered in August, along with a substantial share of families, continued to be expelled under the CDC’s Title 42 authority.”
(LONDON) — The anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has launched giant billboards across the U.K. with slogans questioning the British monarchy.
“Secretive. Divisive. Undemocratic. Abolish the monarchy,” read some, while others have pictures of Prince Andrew, captioned: “Wanted: a democratic alternative to the monarchy,” and “No one is above the law,” referring to the lawsuit filed against the prince in New York.
Virginia Giuffre is suing the prince for alleged sexual assault and Wednesday the U.K.’s High Court confirmed that it will assist Giuffre’s lawyers in serving the prince his papers.
Prince Andrew has long denied Giuffre’s allegations which first surfaced in 2014, telling the BBC in a 2019 interview “I’ve said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact.”
“The lawyers acting for Ms. Giuffre have now provided further information to the High Court, and the High Court has accepted the request for service under the Hague Service Convention,” a representative for the High Court told ABC News in a statement.
The scandal surrounding Prince Andrew’s court case and other recent unrest in royal circles have boosted the anti-monarchist group, according to ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson.
“To put ads up like this isn’t a cheap exercise and it shows that Prince Andrew’s scandal, the disquiet caused by Meghan and Harry and the cash-for-honours controversy involving Prince Charles means that the anti-monarchist groups are gaining traction in this country as well as financial backing,” said Jobson.
The cash-for-honors controversy which Jobson refers to emerged this month after two British papers, The Sunday Times and The Mail uncovered evidence they claim shows a close aide of Prince Charles’ agreed to arrange an honor and faster access to British citizenship for a Saudi businessman after he donated generously to the prince’s charities.
Prince Charles denies any involvement in this matter. Clarence House released a statement saying: “The Prince of Wales has no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation now under way by The Prince’s Foundation.”
“I don’t think it’s a danger to the monarchy but this is a sign that this is damaging their public image. After all, the monarchy is an unelected institution that requires public support for its very existence,” Jobson added.
“These billboards are expensive so Republic’s backers have had to put their hands in their pocket,” Jobson said.
Republic has set up a crowdfunding page which has so far made £25,000 (approximately $34,000 USD) to pay for the billboards which are now posted throughout the U.K. including in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and other cities.
The group says its launching this campaign in advance of Charles’ accession to the throne. “With polls showing young people wanting an elected head of state, the succession of King Charles will be a major turning point in the monarchy’s history and in the growth of Britain’s republican movement,” Graham Smith, Republic’s chief executive, is quoted as saying on the group’s website.
“We have been campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy for a long time but now we are at a crossroads. As the Queen’s reign draws to an end, it is time to demand a say in who should be our head of state,” Smith added.
“The royals are on a collision course with British values. The 2020s should be the decade when we finally get to decide who we have as our elected head of state,” Smith’s statement also reads.
The monarchy remains popular in the U.K., however. A recent Ipsos poll taken after the March interview involving Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, showed 41% of British people polled said that Britain’s future would be worse with the monarchy abolished. Thirty-one percent said its abolishment would make no difference, and only 19% said ending the monarchy would be better for Britain’s future.
The poll also showed that Queen Elizabeth remains the most popular royal with 40% choosing the queen as one of their favorite members of the royal family. Prince Charles ranked at 11% favorability, and Prince Andrew, at 2%.
“The Queen regularly tops the polls as the most popular member of the family” Jobson said, “and at this moment of transition between her and Charles obviously the anti-monarchy groups are trying to exploit the Prince of Wales’ comparative unpopularity and the uncertainty that the end of her reign will bring.”
(WASHINGTON) — Following months of negotiations, House Democrats advanced critical legislation late Wednesday that will help President Joe Biden deliver on a massive $3.5 trillion human infrastructure package filled with social and progressive priorities.
Thirteen House committees spent countless hours over the week marking up legislation to meet a self-imposed Sep. 15 deadline. The bill language passed by the committees will now be drafted into a final bill that is expected to be married with the Senate’s version of the bill in the coming weeks.
The negotiations this week were not without drama, as Democrats are dealing with growing disagreements on policy between progressives and moderates in the House, as well as skeptical holdouts Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who have concerns with overall spending.
Manchin has previously called for a “strategic pause” in moving forward with the reconciliation bill and has repeatedly said he does not support passing another multi-trillion dollar spending bill.
Biden on Wednesday held separate meetings with both Manchin and Sinema as a form of personal outreach.
“The president certainly believes there’ll be ongoing discussions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. “Not that there’s necessarily going to be a conclusion out of those today, but that was the primary focus and purpose of these meetings.”
The final bill will include significant new investments in health care, child care, higher education, workforce training, and paid family and medical leave which would include 12 weeks paid family and medical leave for most working Americans.
It will also include plans to permanently close the Medicaid coverage gap, expand Medicare by offering seniors access to hearing, dental and vision benefits; extend several tax credits; strengthen the Affordable Care Act, invest in maternal health, and provide additional investments in public health. It would also make major changes to immigration, climate, and tax laws.
Democrats intend to off-set the costs of the package by raising taxes on wealthy Americans, profitable corporations and investors.
The House Ways and Means Committee released a plan to raise the corporate tax rate to 26.5% for businesses earning more than $5 million in income. The corporate rate would be lowered to 18% for small businesses earning less than $400,000; all other businesses would continue to pay the current rate of 21%.
The legislation would also raise the top income tax rate to 39.6% from 37% for married couples who report taxable income of more than $450,000 and for individuals who report more than $400,000. The proposal also includes a 3% surcharge on individual income above 5% and increases the top tax rate for capital gains – the proceeds from selling an asset – to 25%, up from 20%.
It’s not clear how much revenue the tax increases could generate and whether they would fully offset the $3.5 trillion spending bill.
“I want to thank all thirteen committees given instructions in this process for reporting recommendations within their jurisdictions for the Build Back Better Act. I also want to express my gratitude and admiration for the hardworking committee staff who sacrificed sleep and, in many cases, time with their families this summer in order to make sure that this critical legislation reflects Democrats’ focus on helping Americans access opportunity and achieve real economic security. We will continue our work on this legislation in the coming days, as we take action to deliver on President Biden’s plan to Build Back Better,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement late Wednesday.
House committee chairs are expected to brief Democrats on their portions of the spending bill on Friday. The House is set to return from a six-week recess on Monday.
“This package, coupled with the bipartisan infrastructure plan, represents our firm belief that it’s not just the roads that get you to work that require funding, basic supports like child care and paid leave are also essential features of society worthy of investment. As the broader negotiations continue, I must emphasize that now is not the time to settle for less. The American people are looking to us as members of the Democratic Party to push ourselves and set the highest possible standards for what’s possible. Twelve weeks of universal paid family and medical leave, guaranteed access to child care, strong proposals to combat climate change, and responsibly funding our priorities are just some of the measures that must remain in this package and become law,” said House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal in a statement.
But serious issues remain.
A trio of moderate House Democrats came out against the drug pricing plan in Democrats’ sprawling agenda as it made its way through the House.
Reps. Kathleen Rice, Scott Peters, and Kurt Schrader on Wednesday opposed language in the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would give the federal government a greater role in negotiating drug prices. Another key House panel endorsed the drug pricing plan later Wednesday evening, but leadership may not yet have the votes to pass it as part of a larger bill.
It’s another bump in the road for leadership that underscores the challenge facing the Biden White House and the Democrats’ narrow majority.
“Polling consistently shows immense bipartisan support for Democrats’ drug price negotiation legislation, including overwhelming majorities of Republicans and independents who are fed up with Big Pharma charging Americans so much more than they charge for the same medicines overseas. Delivering lower drug costs is a top priority of the American people and will remain a cornerstone of the Build Back Better Act as work continues between the House, Senate and White House on the final bill,” Henry Connolly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement to ABC News.
Northeastern lawmakers are also hoping the final package repeals a cap on deductions for state and local taxes – SALT – imposed by Republicans in 2017. Rep. Tom Souzzi, D-NY, has made clear that without SALT, he’s a “no” on the overall reconciliation package.
“I have been consistent for six months: ‘No SALT, no deal’,” Suozzi said in a statement.
House Democrats have said they will pursue “meaningful” change to the $10,000 limit on the federal deduction for state and local taxes. However, repealing the cap on the write-off may primarily benefit wealthy households, opponents have said.
The measure has been a sticking point in negotiations among lawmakers in high tax states.
While Democrats don’t need GOP support to pass their $3.5 trillion spending bill, due to the reconciliation process which allows legislation to pass with a simple majority, they have to get votes from every Democratic senator and nearly every House member.
House Democrats plan to tweak their bill in the coming days ahead, but they are under a tight deadline to get agreement with the Senate so that a bill can clear both chambers. Their goal is to finish their work before Sept. 27 – when Pelosi has promised she will allow the House to begin considering a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Pelosi has long vowed to hold on to that bipartisan bill until the much larger, $3.5 trillion “human” infrastructure bill filled with Democratic priorities is passed first.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
(MOAB, Utah) — Police in Utah have released body camera images of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman who went missing during a cross-country road trip, and her boyfriend during an incident Aug. 12.
The photos show Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, talking to an officer after her 2012 Ford Transit had been pulled over by Moab police.
Another image shows Petito, who appears to be crying, sitting in the back of a police vehicle.
On Aug. 12, police in Moab responded to an “incident” involving the couple, but “insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges,” Moab Police Department Chief Bret Edge said in a statement Tuesday night.
Officers responded to a report of a domestic problem after a witness said the couple, involved in an altercation at the Arches National Park, drove off in a white van, according to a police report.
When officers located a van and pulled it over for a traffic stop, the couple admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie, according to the report. The couple also stated to police that Laundrie did not hit Petito.
Petito told police she suffers from severe anxiety and other medical conditions, which were redacted from the police report, and that the couple’s argument had been building for days. Police labeled the incident as a “mental/emotional break” rather than a domestic assault, according to the report.
Police also are “actively looking” into a connection between Petito’s disappearance and a double homicide of two women that occurred in Grand County, Utah, on Aug. 13, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Investigators searching for Petito have expressed frustration that Petito’s boyfriend has not shed any light on her possible whereabouts.
In June, Petito and Laundrie left on a trip from the Florida home they shared with Laundrie’s parents in Petito’s van, North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison told reporters in a news conference Thursday afternoon. They intended to drive west, visiting state and national parks along the way, Garrison said.
“Two people went on a trip. One person returned,” he said. “And that person that returned isn’t providing us any information.”
Petito’s family said she maintained regular contact with them throughout the journey, and she and Laundrie documented their travels on Instagram and YouTube. Posts show them at the Mystic Hot Springs in Utah on July 26 and on a large rock structure at Arches National Park in Grand County, Utah, on Aug. 12, the same day police in Moab, Utah, responded to the incident involving an altercation between the couple.
Communication from Petito “abruptly stopped” toward the end of August, Garrison said, adding that investigators have not yet pieced together a complete timeline of Petito and Laundrie’s travels.
Petito was last seen leaving a hotel in Utah with Laundrie on Aug. 24. The next day, she spoke to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, informing her that their next stops would be Grand Teton and Yellowstone, Schmidt told ABC News earlier this week.
“She sounded good and excited to continue her trip and excited to start her YouTube channel,” Schmidt said in tears. “She seemed OK.”
Schmidt received two text messages from Petito’s phone since Aug. 25, but there were no photos or details from the trip, so it is unclear whether Petito actually sent those texts, Schmidt said.
Laundrie returned to Florida with Petito’s van on Sept. 1, police said. Petito’s family reported her missing on Saturday after they hadn’t heard from her in more than two weeks.
Laundrie, named a person of interest in the case on Wednesday, has not made himself available to speak with investigators, despite numerous pleas from the police department and Petito’s parents, authorities said.
The latest statement from the attorney representing the Laundrie family, Steven P. Bertolino, said he’s advised Laundrie not to speak with authorities.
“Many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito’s absence,” the statement read. “In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this, and the warning that ‘any statement will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel, Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter.”
The statement continued: “I have been informed that the North Port, Florida, police have named Brian Laundrie as a ‘person of interest’ in this matter. This formality has not really changed the circumstances of Mr. Laundrie being the focus and attention of law enforcement and Mr. Laundrie will continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel.”
While police are still treating Petito’s disappearance as a missing persons case, Garrison acknowledged that investigators have grown weary of Laundrie’s refusal to speak to them, even if he is “exercising his constitutional rights” to remain silent.
“We share that frustration with the world,” Garrison added.
During the press conference, Petito’s father, Joseph Petito, made an emotional plea to Laundrie, his family and the public to help find his daughter.
“I’m asking for help from everyone here,” he said. “I’m asking for help from everyone at home. I’m asking for help from the parents of Brian.
“There is nothing else that matters to me now. This girl right here. This is what matters.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Bonnie Mclean contributed to this report.
(MERRITT ISLAND, Fla.) — The first all-civilian flight to Earth’s orbit successfully launched Wednesday.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off as scheduled at the start of the five-hour window for launch at 8:02 p.m. ET. It reached orbit about 12 minutes later.
The crew said goodbye to their families, suited up and were driven in Teslas to Kennedy Space Center’s historic pad 39A Wednesday afternoon.
SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission is the third recent billionaire-backed space launch, but it’s gone where neither Richard Branson nor Jeff Bezos could — into orbit.
SpaceX tweeted at just before 11 p.m. that the crew had reached an orbit of 535 km, or about 363 miles, the farthest any civilian has traveled from Earth.
That is even further than the International Space Station, which orbits at 240 miles.
Commanding the mission is 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, an experienced pilot. He founded a payment process company called Shift4 Payments and purchased all four seats on the flight for an estimated $220 million.
Isaacman wants this launch to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He has already donated $100 million to the cause.
One seat was reserved for 29-year-old St. Jude ambassador Hayley Arceneaux. Arceneaux is a bone cancer survivor and will be the youngest American to go to space as well as the first pediatric cancer survivor.
The third occupant will be Dr. Sian Proctor, 51, who said she has dreamed of going to space since she was a child. She burst into tears when she heard she was chosen as a member of the Inspiration4 mission.
She will become the fourth Black female American astronaut to travel into space.
The final crew member is Chris Sembroski, 41, an Iraq War veteran and engineer with Lockheed Martin, who won the final seat through a lottery that required a St. Jude donation to enter.
The four will orbit the Earth for three days with no set destination. They said they will conduct some science experiments while on board and auction off items in space for St. Jude.
There is always risk launching into space and coming home. While these passengers have been trained by SpaceX, they are not professional astronauts.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon will also be tested for the first time at this distance.
They cannot go much longer than three days without running low on fuel, food and water. And while past missions could make changes on the return because of bad weather on Earth due to astronauts on board, this ship won’t have quite as much flexibility.
After three days of orbiting Earth, they will prepare to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida late Saturday or early Sunday.
Photographed by Pari Dukovic, Prince Harry is seen wearing an all-black ensemble while Meghan rocks a white blouse and trousers.
The publication selected surprise pairings of its list members as well as guest contributors. Also, founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés was selected to write about the royal couple.
“Springing into action is not the easy choice for a young duke and duchess who have been blessed through birth and talent, and burned by fame,” wrote Andrés on Prince Harry and Meghan. “It would be much safer to enjoy their good fortune and stay silent. That’s not what Harry and Meghan do, or who they are… In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the duke and duchess have compassion for the people they don’t know. They don’t just opine. They run toward the struggle.”
Throughout the series of photos featured in Time Magazine, Prince Harry and Meghan are seen wearing forest green looks while posing in front of picturesque outdoor backdrops.
TIME editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal in his letter to readers, said the royal couple has “catalyzed essential conversations on topics from mental health to misinformation.”
In addition to the duke and duchess of Sussex cover, there are six others including Simone Biles, Billie Eilish, Kate Winslet, Cathy Park Hong, Jensen Huang and Ngozi Okonjo Oweala.
The list also includes features of rapper Lil Nas X, tennis star Naomi Osaka, Vice President Kamala Harris and a host of diverse notables.
