Hurricane Erin – The Fifth Named Storm Map/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Erin, now a powerful Category 4 storm churning in the Caribbean, is not forecast to hit land, but it will bring large waves and dangerous rip currents to the U.S. East Coast.
Here’s the latest forecast:
Erin’s outer bands lashed the Caribbean this weekend, flooding Puerto Rico and leaving more than 60,000 customers on the island without power on Monday.
A tropical storm warning is in place for the Turks and Caicos Islands and part of the Bahamas, where winds could top 40 mph.
While Erin won’t hit the U.S., lifeguards along the East Coast are on alert for dangerous waves and rip currents this week.
On Monday and Tuesday, Erin will bring large waves reaching 6 feet to the East Coast. Waves over 6 feet are considered extremely dangerous for swimmers.
By Wednesday, those waves could reach 8 to 12 feet in northern Florida and from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, up to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
On Thursday, those 8- to-12-foot waves will remain in the Outer Banks and could also target New Jersey and Long Island beaches.
By Friday, waves are expected to weaken back to 6 feet as Erin takes a sharper turn away from the U.S.
Dangerous rip currents will also be widespread along the East Coast all week, and likely through the weekend, due to these unsettled waters.
(NEW YORK) — Two Utah police officers were killed and a third was injured along with his service dog when they responded to a domestic disturbance call at a home on Sunday night and were fired on by a suspect inside the residence, authorities said Monday morning.
The shooting unfolded in Tremonton, about 70 miles north of Salt Lake City, Brigham City Police Chief Chad Reyes said at a news conference Monday.
Reyes said the suspect in the shooting, a resident of the home the officers were called to, was arrested and has been charged with aggravated murder. The suspect’s name was not immediately released.
The suspect opened fire on the officers without warning as soon as a second person inside the home opened the front door for the officers, according to Brigham City police detective Crystal Beck.
“Upon arrival, they immediately began taking fire,” Beck said of the officers. “They requested additional units, and then stopped answering their radio.”
Reyes said the two Tremonton police officers died at the scene. Their names were not immediately released. A Box Elder County sheriff’s deputy and his service dog arrived at the scene as the shooting was going on and were fired on while they were still in their patrol vehicle.
Reyes said the wounded deputy was taken treated at a hospital and released. The officer’s service dog was taken to a veterinary clinic and was in good condition, Reyes said.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Reyes said the shooting highlights the dangers officers face answering domestic disturbance calls.
“We don’t know what we’re walking into. They are one of the most dangerous events we can be dispatched on,” Reyes said. “These officers have been doing this. They took an oath to protect and serve their communities and that’s what they were doing, and they knew the dangers going into this and unfortunately they paid the ultimate price.”
No civilians were injured and there is no current threat to the public, officials said.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One in the air on August 15, 2025, en route to Anchorage. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday wrote in a post to his social media platform that he will lead a “movement” to get rid of mail-in ballots and voting machines, falsely claiming that they lead to voter fraud.
“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election,” Trump wrote in his social media post.
Trump said he will begin his efforts by signing an executive order ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Any such order would likely face legal challenges.
“Remember, the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,” Trump wrote.
The Constitution gives power state legislatures to determine the “times, places and manner” of holding elections, subject to acts of Congress that regulate the process.
Trump has long sown doubts about mail-in voting, often over the objections of many Republicans. He’s claimed mail-in voting contributed to his 2020 election loss, though no widespread fraud has been found.
The president’s post comes after Trump told Fox News that he spoke about mail-in voting in the United States with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. When the two met in Anchorage, Alaska, last week, Putin claimed Russia’s war on Ukraine wouldn’t have happened if Trump had been president.
“Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview after Friday’s summit.
Trump added that Putin “said there’s not a country in the world that uses it now” — though Russia itself also has mail-in voting.
Russia’s 2024 presidential election outcome, which showed a landslide win for Putin, was decried by many Western nations as not free or fair. The U.S. State Department said it had “occurred in an environment of intense political repression that has marginalized or completely silenced all independent voices.”
Trump’s former top adviser, Fiona Hill, who was present when Trump suggested in 2018 that he believed Putin’s denial that Russia interfered in the 2016 election over the findings of U.S. intelligence, weighed in on the issue during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“Well, look, this is Vladimir Putin, as usual, trying to manipulate U.S. domestic politics,” Hill said. She added that Putin “wants to sow chaos in the American electoral system ahead of the midterms.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The entrance to the state-managed immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades on August 03, 2025 in Ochopee, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(MIAMI) — After weeks of complaints from detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” that they lack access to their attorneys, a federal judge in Miami will consider whether noncitizens housed at the temporary migrant detention center are being deprived of their due process rights.
At a hearing Monday, a group of detainees at the facility is asking U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, a Trump appointee, to issue an order that would require the state of Florida and the Trump administration to expand legal access at the controversial facility.
“This is an unprecedented situation where hundreds of detainees are held incommunicado, with no ability to access the courts, under legal authority that has never been explained and may not exist,” they wrote in their motion.
Their lawyers have argued that the detainees lack a standard way to communicate with their attorneys, resorting to using a recorded pay phone to contact their lawyers in five-minute intervals.
They also argue that detainees are being held without any formal criminal or immigration charges against them, making it challenging, if not impossible, for them to seek release on bond.
“Immigrant detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz also have been effectively barred from obtaining relief from federal immigration courts, including release from detention on bond,” they argued in court filings.
Attorneys with the state of Florida and the Trump administration acknowledge that the facility ran into issues facilitating attorney-client communications when “Alligator Alcatraz” opened last month, because of what they called “initial delays caused by the inherent logistical struggles of standing up a temporary detention center to house thousands of detainees.”
However, they argue that officials have set up a consistent way for detainees to contact their lawyers using a private contractor, nullifying the need for a preliminary injunction.
“Plaintiffs offer no evidence to suggest the State Defendants will stop scheduling meetings with counsel without an injunction. Accordingly, the Court should deny Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” they wrote in a legal filing.
While the plaintiffs also argued that the facility exists in a legal “black hole” with no clearly defined immigration court to challenge their detentions, the Trump administration recently designated the Krome North Service Processing Center near Miami as the immigration court with responsibility for “Alligator Alcatraz.”
This is the second major lawsuit challenging the operation of “Alligator Alcatraz,” as another federal judge is considering blocking the use of the facility over environmental concerns.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, after a multi-day hearing earlier this month, issued a temporary restraining order blocking further construction at the facility, and is now considering a broader order barring use of the facility.
(LONDON) — Over 350 people have died in a 72 hour period in Pakistan due to monsoon flooding, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority reported, bringing the total number of people killed to over 650 since June 26.
Over 180 others were reported injured, and rescue efforts are ongoing after heavy rains halted operations for several hours on Monday, according to Reuters.
A deluge of rain triggered floods and landslides, sweeping people away and flooding and destroying homes, officials said.
Updates from the National Disaster Management Authority indicated that the majority of deaths were caused by the flash floods, while smaller percentages were caused by houses collapsing and lightning. Deaths were concentrated in the mountainous northern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the bereaved families. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in this hour of grief,” wrote Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on X. “The Government is mobilising all resources for rescue and relief operations.”
But some residents reportedly said they feel the government is not providing enough support in the aftermath of the floods.
“We’re poor people here, and nine feet of water flooded our homes. People have suffered huge losses – everything, even basic utensils,” Mohammad Shabbir, a garment factory owner in Rawalpindi, told Reuters last month. “No one from the government has checked on us or offered help. They didn’t even show sympathy. It’s like we’re invisible.”
Other residents echoed his sentiment. “The authorities haven’t lifted a finger. They visit briefly in big vehicles, take note, and leave, while we, the most vulnerable, are left to fend for ourselves,” Rawalpindi resident Shehbaz Ali told Reuters.
The Pakistani government stated in a news conference that it had sufficient resources for recovery efforts and does not require foreign assistance at this time, reported the Associated Press.
In 2022, devastating floods in Pakistan left a third of the country submerged, about 15,000 dead or injured, and 8 million displaced, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
Pakistan faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world in part due to high exposure to flooding and tropical cyclones, according to the World Bank.
A 2022 study from World Weather Attribution concluded that climate change likely increased extreme monsoon rainfall.
As rescue and recovery efforts continue, Pakistanis affected by the flooding are attempting to rebuild their lives and homes. “Those with means might be able to bear the loss, but we can’t,” said Shabbir. “We’re just struggling to survive.”
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department has announced that it’s suspending the issuance of all visitor visas for people from the war-torn Gaza Strip, including children in need of urgent medical care.
“All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,” the State Department wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
Based on State Department statistics from January 2025 through the end of May 2025, a total of 3,804 class B1/B2 visas have been issued for individuals with Palestinian Authority travel documents. While the State Department numbers do not specify the purpose of the trips nor how many of the 3,804 visas issued were class B1 or B2, individuals seeking to enter the United States for tourism or medical treatment fall under the B2 visa class, while B1 visas cover business travel.
An ABC News request for comment sent to the State Department did not immediately receive a response.
Describing one of the latest transfers of Palestinians seeking treatment in the U.S., HEAL Palestine, an American nonprofit organization, announced that 11 severely injured Palestinian children, along with 26 accompanying family members, successfully crossed from Gaza into Jordan on July 30, 2025, in coordination from the World Health Organization and were planning to enter the U.S. in August.
“Many of the children suffer from critical injuries such as amputations, severe burns, and trauma-related complications – conditions that Gaza’s collapsed health system can no longer treat,” according to HEAL Palestine.
(NEW YORK) — Three officers were shot and injured while responding to domestic disturbance call at a residence in Utah, law enforcement said.
A suspect was taken into custody following the shooting, Detective Crystal Beck, of the Brigham City Police Department, told reporters in a press conference.
The officers’ conditions were unknown, Beck said.
When they arrived at the residence in Tremonton they were immediately shot at by the suspect, she said. Those initial officers called for additional units and stopped responding to radio calls, she added.
Additional officers arrived and were able to take the suspect into custody, Beck said.
No civilians were injured and there is no current threat to the public, although the shelter in place remains, she added.
(LONDON) — At least seven people, including two children, were killed by a Russian drone strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday night, according to local officials.
Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of Kharkiv National Police’s investigations unit, said in a post to Facebook that five Shahed strike drones hit an apartment building at dawn.
“An entire family died in an apartment on the fifth floor,” Bolvinov said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles in the country overnight into Monday morning, of which 88 drones were shot down or suppressed.
Missile and drone impacts were reported across 25 locations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv regions, the air force said.
Zaporizhzhia Gov. Ivan Fedorov said in a post to Telegram that at least three people were killed and at least 20 people injured by missile strikes in the southern region.
The latest attacks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to meet President Donald Trump and a host of European leaders at the White House on Monday, where Trump has said he hopes his Ukrainian counterpart will agree to a deal to end Russia’s war.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s influential chief of staff, wrote on Telegram of the latest round of strikes, “Russia continues to deliberately kill civilians.”
“That’s why [Russian President Vladimir] Putin doesn’t want to stop the fire — he likes to shell peaceful cities and talk about wanting to end the war,” Yermak wrote. “We don’t see this desire yet.”
Both sides have continued their long-range strike campaigns throughout Trump’s efforts to craft a ceasefire and peace deal to end the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Through July, Russia launched a record 6,443 drones and missiles into Ukraine, according to data published by the Ukrainian air force, with a daily average of 201 drones and six missiles.
July’s monthly total was the highest of the war to date, and around 13% more than were recorded in June.
At least 286 people were killed and 1,388 injured in Ukraine in July, making last month the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since May 2022, according to data published by the United Nations’ Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
So far in August, the scale of Russian strikes has diminished. As of Monday, Ukraine’s air force had recorded 1,344 drone and 27 missile launches by Russia in August — an average of around 74 drones and more than one missile per day so far this month.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, has claimed to have shot down 1,740 Ukrainian drones so far in August, at a daily average of around 96 per day.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces downed at least 24 Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday.
Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump on Sunday teased what he said would be a “big day” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a host of European leaders prepared for a White House meeting that Trump said can end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “almost immediately.”
Monday’s Washington, D.C., summit follows Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Since that meeting, Trump appears to have dropped his demand for Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire and is now pressuring Kyiv to accept territorial concessions to secure a peace deal.
On Sunday, Trump explicitly said Ukraine will not regain Crimea — occupied by Russia in 2014. The president also repeated that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO, though White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Zelenskyy have hinted at alternative security guarantees involving the U.S.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote on social media on Sunday.
The president has previously incorrectly framed Ukraine as the initiator of the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. That invasion followed Moscow’s cross-border aggression in 2014, which saw Russia seize Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region.
“Big day at the White House tomorrow,” Trump added. “I’ve never had so many European leaders at one time. It’s my great honor to host them!!!”
“NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE,” Trump added. “Some things never change!!!”
Trump is expected to greet Zelenskyy outside the West Wing at 1 p.m. ET, according to a schedule published by the White House, after which they will hold a bilateral meeting. The president is scheduled to take photos with European leaders at around 2:30 p.m. ET and hold a multilateral meeting with them at 3 p.m.
Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that he had arrived in Washington on Sunday night, expressing his gratitude to Trump for hosting the planned meeting. “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“And peace must be lasting,” he added, noting Moscow’s 2014 aggression plus the failure of the international community to enforce the 1994 Budapest Memorandum — which was also signed by Russia — that offered Ukraine “security assurances” in exchange for Kyiv surrendering its Cold War-era nuclear arsenal.
“Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.”
Friday’s summit in Alaska ended with Russia demanding that Ukraine cede the entirety of its contested and fortified eastern Donetsk region in exchange for an end to the fighting, two sources told ABC News.
Trump then challenged Kyiv to “make the deal” and lavished praise on Putin. “Look, Russia is a very big power, and they’re not,” Trump told Fox News after the meeting. Putin, he added, is a “strong guy” and “tough as hell.”
A host of European leaders will accompany Zelenskyy at the White House meeting. European leaders have backed Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s positions during the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on Kyiv.
Those confirmed as attending are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Ahead of last week’s summit in Alaska, European leaders echoed Zelenskyy’s position that a ceasefire must precede peace negotiations, that security guarantees for Kyiv must be put in place and that only Ukraine can make the final decision on any territorial concessions.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that he and his fellow European leaders will be traveling to Washington both to support Zelenskyy and “to defend European interests” at a “very serious” moment for the continent’s security.
“If we are weak today with Russia, we prepare the wars of tomorrow,” Macron said, adding that Moscow had “never” respected past “promises of non-aggression.”
The nature of Western security guarantees for Ukraine will be a key topic for discussion, Macron said, explaining to journalists a two-pronged approach by which Ukraine’s military would be bolstered and a Western “reassurance force” would be deployed to Ukraine to act as a deterrent against renewed Russian attacks.
Any concessions will spark intense debate within Ukraine. The country’s constitution dictates that any changes to the national borders must be approved by an all-Ukraine referendum.
Kyiv’s ambitions to join both NATO and the European Union are also enshrined in the constitution, meaning it may need to be amended for Ukraine to accept exclusion from either bloc.
“Territorial concessions are impossible,” Oleksandr Mrezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News. “Under the present circumstances, we need a ceasefire and security guarantees to prevent Putin from violating the ceasefire.”
“In my opinion, Putin’s idea about a ‘peace treaty’ instead of a ceasefire is extremely dangerous and unacceptable for both Ukraine and the U.S.,” he added.
“That the U.S. offers to be engaged in security guarantees is great news for us, but we don’t know yet what it will be in practice,” Merezhko said. “I personally continue to believe that the best option for all — Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU — is NATO membership for Ukraine.”
“Putin is afraid of only one thing — NATO,” Merezhko added. “That’s why it’s the most reliable and effective security guarantee for us.”
Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine continued long-range attacks overnight into Monday.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 140 drones and four missiles in the country, of which 88 drones were shot down or suppressed. Missile and drone impacts were reported across 25 locations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv regions, the air force said.
At least seven people, including a child, were killed when a Russian drone impacted an apartment complex in Kharkiv, local officials said.
Zaporizhzhia Gov. Ivan Fedorov said in a post to Telegram that at least three people were killed and at least 20 people injured by missile strikes in the southern region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed at least 24 Ukrainian drones overnight.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump shared on social media the “peace letter” from first lady Melania Trump that was hand delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on Friday.
The first lady writes “it is time” to protect children and future generations worldwide.
“Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart, whether born randomly into a nation’s rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center. They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger,” Melania Trump’s letter begins.
The first lady states that all children are born innocent, regardless of their nationality, political views or beliefs.
“A simple yet profound concept, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity — an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology,” she said.
“In today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them — a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future,” she continued.
The first lady tells the Russian president that protecting children “will do more than serve Russia alone” and “will serve humanity itself.”
“Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today,” she concludes.
“It is time,” she signs off.
The physical letter was first obtained by Fox News Digital.
