A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field on April 23, 2026 in Huntington Beach, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Oil prices on Monday fell to their lowest level since March after U.S. officials announced an agreement between the United States and Iran.
West Texas Intermediate futures price, the benchmark index for U.S. trading, registered at about $80.40. That figure, which amounted to a 5% drop on Monday, marked the lowest price since March 5, just a week after the outbreak of the Iran war.
Stock prices, meanwhile, climbed on hopes of a resolution to the Iran war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 530 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 increased 1.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.3%.
Gas prices have fallen toward $4 per gallon in recent weeks, nearing the milestone as oil costs have eased in response to negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
The national average price of a gallon of gas stands at $4.06, marking a decline of 46 cents, or 10.2%, over the past month, AAA data showed. Gas prices, however, remain $1.08 higher than where they stood before the Iran war.
The Middle East conflict prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of global oil supply. The standoff triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded, sending gasoline prices higher.
President Donald Trump said in a Sunday social media post that the U.S. and Iran had reached a deal that will open up the strait.
“I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade,” Trump wrote.
“Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” he added.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the deal had been finalized and said it would be signed in Switzerland on Friday.
Trump said the strait would open after the formal signing of the deal on Friday. The oil flow is linked to mine removal, Trump noted.
Crude oil is the main ingredient in auto fuel, accounting for more than half of the price paid at the pump, according to the federal U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, meaning the country produces more oil than it consumes. But since oil prices are set on a global market, U.S. prices move in response to swings in worldwide supply and demand.
ABC News’ David Brennan and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
Former President Barack Obama speaks with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 13, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Former President Barack Obama is sharing his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran, saying recently that he is skeptical that real progress will be made.
Obama spoke with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts on Saturday, one day prior to Trump’s announcement that the United States and Iran had reached a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. naval blockade.
The exact points of the deal remain unclear. A senior administration official told reporters Friday that it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lead to “the dismantling” of Iran’s nuclear program and the U.S. getting Iran’s highly enriched
The expected deal comes eight years after Trump withdrew the U.S. from a previous nuclear agreement with Iran – led by the Obama administration in 2015 – that Trump described at the time of withdrawal as the “worst deal ever.”
In the interview Saturday, ahead of the new deal being announced, Obama told Roberts that he was “doubtful” any deal with Iran put forward by the Trump administration would be “significantly different” from the 2015 deal that his administration put in place.
“It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place and had worked for, for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it,” Obama told Roberts in the interview, which took place at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Obama also expressed hope that the fighting in the region would come to an end and urged policymakers to prioritize diplomacy over military action.
“I’m hopeful that bombing stops and ordinary people are no longer suffering as a consequence of the war,” he continued. “Then in retrospect it’s a reminder that on a lot of difficult foreign policy problems — the notion that we can just bully our way or bomb our way to solutions — may sometimes seem appealing, but the fact of the matter is that taking the time to explore diplomacy and exhaust the possibilities of coming up with deals that don’t solve 100% of the problem but solve 80%, 90% of the problem while avoiding the necessity of going to war.”
“You’d think we would’ve learned that lesson by now,” he continued. “But it seems like every so often we have to relearn that lesson again.”
Trump first announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
After an initial ceasefire and unsuccessful U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April, negotiations continued as the ceasefire was extended.
Following Trump’s June 14 announcement on social media that a new deal had been reached, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the deal had been finalized and said it would be signed in Switzerland on Friday.
“All of our positions and important issues are included in the draft understanding,” Gharibabadi said in a statement to Iranian state media.
Tune into “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, June 17, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on ABC for more of Robin Roberts’ interview with former President Barack Obama.
A policeman stands guard as smoke and flames rise from the building adjacent to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra after a large scale attack overnight on June 15, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russian drones and missiles targeted Kyiv in a major attack on Sunday night, Ukrainian officials said on Monday morning, killing several people in the capital and setting a fire at a historic cathedral and UNESCO world heritage site.
At least five people were killed and 28 people injured by the strikes on Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in posts to social media.
Zelenskyy said that Russia launched more than 60 missiles at the capital.
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, an 11th-century cathedral located in the heart of the city, was among the sites damaged in the attack, Zelenskyy wrote.
The roof of the church was set on fire by strikes, he reported, though said that emergency responders extinguished the blaze. “This is one of the biggest Russian crimes against Christian culture to date,” the Ukrainian leader added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attack as “barbaric” in a post to X. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has forever put his name on the list of history’s worst barbarians.”
In total, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones into Ukraine overnight, of which 50 missiles and 582 drones were shot down or otherwise suppressed. Twenty ballistic missiles and 27 drones impacted across 42 locations, the air force said in a post to Telegram.
Sunday night’s attack was the largest combined Russian strike recorded since the night of June 1, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.
Zelenskyy said that at least five more people were killed and nine people injured by Russian strikes In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, while other attacks were also reported in the Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions.
“Russia is showing the world its intentions to continue the war,” Zelenskyy wrote. “It is very important that there be a response from the G7 countries, which are currently gathering for a summit, and that it be decisive and meaningful: more pressure on the aggressor, more help for Ukraine with air defense, especially with anti-ballistic missiles.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry described the overnight attacks as “a massive strike with high-precision weapons” in a post to Telegram. The ministry claimed that its targets included “objects of the defense-industrial complex” and military facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
The ministry denied responsibility for the strike on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, claiming — without providing evidence — that the cathedral was hit by an interceptor missile fired by a Ukrainian-operated U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system.
The latest Russian attack came as leaders of the G7 — a grouping made up of the U.S., France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K. — prepared to gather for the bloc’s annual summit, which this year is being held in France.
Zelenskyy is expected to attend the event as a guest and meet with President Donald Trump and European leaders. While touring the damaged cathedral on Monday afternoon, the Ukrainian president said he invited Putin for talks at the summit. Moscow has not yet commented on the invitation.
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed the shooting down of at least 123 long-range Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday morning.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, said in posts to Telegram that temporary flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Sochi, Volgograd, Kaluga, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod overnight.
Flight restrictions were also introduced at three of Moscow’s four international airports — Domodedovo, Ivanovo and Zhukovsky — amid the latest attacks, Rosaviatsiya said.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a post to Telegram that four Ukrainian drones were shot down en route to the capital in the early hours of Monday, marking the eighth consecutive day of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow.
ABC News’ Victoria Beaule, Yulia Drozd and Anna Sergeeva contributed to this report.
An ABC News graphic shows the weather forecast on Monday, June 15, 2025. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Areas in Texas are seeing from 3″ to more than 5″ of rainfall within hours, leading to flash flooding in places like Waco and Austin, with a flood watch in effect for much of central and southern Texas.
Flash flooding on I-35 in Waco led to water rescues and stranded vehicles. The Texas Game Wardens said on social media that their rescue teams and local partners were responding to “numerous” calls involving people trapped by floodwater.
Videos from the area show the flooding as well as first responders helping some of those who were stranded.
“I am sincerely lucky to be alive. When I got there, there were no first responders,” Rick Smith, who filmed a video showing people wading through waist-high water, wrote on social media. “I am so thankful that retaining wall held up otherwise this situation could’ve been a horrible tragedy. There were many of us literally trapped on I 35.”
A stationary frontal boundary is draped across the South, bringing daily flash flood risks to the region through the week ahead.
A flood watch continues for central and southern Texas through much of Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi through Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, depending on location. Torrential rainfall rates of 2″ to 4″ per hour are possible.
Houston is under a level 3/4 moderate risk for excessive rainfall and flash flooding for four days in a row — Monday through Thursday. Significant flood events are possible each day.
A low pressure system from the Gulf could bring more rain to South Texas mid to late week, hence the high rain and flooding potential there.
A widespread 4″ to 6″ is expected across southeast Texas, much of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama through Thursday.
The Houston area and other pockets of the South could see more than half-a foot of rain, and in a worst-case scenario depending on what happens later in the week, a 5-day total of 10″ plus is possible for the Houston region.
Dangerous heat in the Pacific Northwest
Record high temperatures started in western Washington and Oregon on Sunday — with new high temp record for Seattle (89) and Portland (94).
Record highs will be possible again on Monday, with highs near 100 for Portland and near 90 in Seattle.
An extreme heat warning continues on Monday for Portland, along with a heat advisory for Seattle. Temperatures will be cooler on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the 70s for Seattle and 80s for Portland.
Severe threat mid-week
Wednesday, a level 3/5 enhanced threat is in place from Missouri through central Illinois and Indiana. Destructive wind, large hail, and strong tornadoes are possible.
Indianapolis, St. Louis, Springfield and Peoria, Illinois, and Columbia, Missouri, are included in the threat.
A level 2/5 is in place for Chicago, Columbus, Kansas City, Wichita and Toledo.
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a proclamation signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026 in Washington, DC.. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Immediately after celebrating his 80th birthday with Sunday’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn, President Donald Trump is expected to head to France to meet with top global superpowers at the annual G7 summit.
Held in Évian-les-Bains, France from June 15 to 17, this will be the president’s fifth time attending the conference in person and comes amid heightened global turmoil, with the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine expected to loom large over the summit’s economic and geopolitical agenda.
This is the first time the G7 leaders are meeting in-person since the start of the U.S.-Iran war, which has now reached its 15th week and continues to impact the global economy, with increases in fossil fuel and oil and gas prices. The war had caught U.S. allies off guard and some were unwilling to heed the president’s requests for help, which has created tensions between Trump and some G7 leaders.
There is expected to be a focus on the Middle East, with Trump scheduled to participate in bilateral meetings with Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to a senior administration official.
While the past week saw significant military escalation between the U.S. and Iran, Trump said Sunday that the two countries had reached an agreement that would open the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the global oil supply passes through.
During the G7 summit last year, Trump left one day early because of the growing conflict between Israel and Iran, and that weekend launched Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Like last year, leaders are also looking to secure lasting peace in Ukraine. It has been 4 1/2 years since Russia invaded Ukraine, but the war is escalating, especially with Ukraine’s expansion of long-range drone attacks against Russia. Trump repeatedly promised that he personally could end the Russia-Ukraine war on the first day of his presidency and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to seek more assistance from allies.
Zelenskyy will meet with G7 leaders on Tuesday, according to a senior administration official, but there is no one-on-one meeting currently scheduled with Trump. Ukraine was also not listed as one of the U.S. goals for the summit, though the administration emphasizes that resolving the conflict remains one of the president’s “top priorities.”
The other six countries that comprise the G7 coalition include France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom, but leaders of other countries are often also invited to the annual conference, with Zelenskyy reportedly expected to be in attendance.
During a background call previewing the trip, a senior White House administration official said Trump’s goals include addressing “economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, illegal immigration and artificial intelligence,” in addition to boosting investment partnerships.
Upon assuming his second term, Trump has strained his relationship with the other G7 leaders. In addition to prompting other countries to question his actions in Iran, the president has distanced the U.S. from top allies over his rhetoric towards NATO, his tariffs and his ambitions in acquiring Greenland, to name a few issues.
The conference was originally scheduled to begin on Sunday. Officials did not comment on whether the president’s birthday plans for that day played a role in shifting the G7 schedule forward.
On the final day of the summit on Wednesday, Trump is expected to travel to Paris to have dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles before heading back to Washington.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are under severe weather threats as storms and summer heat continue on both coasts.
This severe weather threat will impact parts of the central United States, from Texas to Illinois.
A flood watch is also in effect for parts of eastern Kansas, western Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas until Sunday morning.
A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is in effect for parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and much of western and central Missouri — including Wichita, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Springfield, Missouri.
The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.
The severe weather threat shifts back to parts of the East Coast with more than 50 million on alert for severe storms on Sunday.
A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is up from northern North Carolina to upstate New York and includes Raleigh, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New York City; Pittsburgh; and Albany, New York.
The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and lightning.
Heading into next week, the severe weather looks to stall for a couple of days before ramping back up by the middle of the week.
The summer heat and humidity continues in the South, with heat advisories in effect for millions from the Carolinas and Florida out to Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The Northeast will see lower humidity this weekend so the heat will not be as dangerous despite temperatures in the 80s and 90s.
An extreme heat warning is already in place for the Portland, Oregon, area where a life-threatening heat wave is expected Sunday through Tuesday with temps reaching 95 to 100 degrees.
For the West coast, a heat advisory is in place in California’s central valley from Redding to Bakersfield with high temps from 100 to 105 possible. Closer to the Bay Area, high temps around 100 are possible for San Jose and Santa Clara.
The booking photos for Samantha Raebel, left, and Vanessa Wahanganisa Tjongarero-Henderson. (Montgomery County Police Department)
(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) — Two women wanted in Maryland for allegedly killing the mother of one of the suspects were captured in Ohio after an individual who offered to help them realized from media coverage that they were wanted for murder, authorities said.
The arrests came nearly three weeks after the victim, 67-year-old Hilde Henderson, is believed to have been killed at her apartment at a senior living community in Silver Spring, Maryland, authorities said.
Officers conducting a welfare check on May 26 found Henderson dead from blunt force trauma, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. She is believed to have been dead for four days, police said.
The victim’s daughter, 29-year-old Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson of Clarksburg, and the daughter’s girlfriend, 36-year-old Samantha Raebel of Phoenix, were subsequently identified as suspects in the homicide, police said. Police obtained an arrest warrant charging them both with first-degree murder and released their photos amid the search for the suspects.
Following a nationwide search, the two were ultimately arrested Wednesday in Genoa, Ohio, thanks to a local tip, police said.
A woman in Genoa unwittingly offered to help the couple, until she and her friend grew suspicious and learned of the ongoing manhunt by searching one of their names online, according to ABC Toledo affiliate WTVG.
Adrienne Behrman told WTVG that the suspects came into her workplace and told her they were homeless, so she offered to help and invited them to stay at her apartment.
“I’ve been down and out myself — homeless, without money, you know, just not wanting to be a charity case or anything like that, and I just felt like I was led to help them,” Behrman told the station.
Behrman recounted, though, that the more questions she asked them about where they were from and where they wanted to go, “things were not adding up.”
She told her concerns to a friend, Nikki Peters, who said she noticed that the last name of one of the suspects from a Cash App payment request for cigarettes didn’t match the name she had been told, WTVG reported.
“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.
While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.
“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”
“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.
While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.
“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”
Behrman said she called 911, WTVG reported.
“That orchestrated the whole thing the way that it needed to be done in order for them to be apprehended and no one else to be hurt,” Behrman told the station.
Tjongarero-Henderson and Raebel are being held at the Ottawa County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Maryland, authorities said.
Police have not released details on what evidence led them to identify the couple as suspects in the case.
Kathryn Woessner, 68, was last seen on June 3 before her rescuers found her on June 6, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)
(MINNESOTA) — A missing woman was found in a Minnesota puddle of mud where she told her rescuers she had been stuck for days.
Kathryn Woessner, 68, was last seen on June 3 before her rescuers found her on June 6, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Woessner did not have any personal belongings with her, according to the sheriff’s office.
Woessner told the men who rescued her that her car was stuck and she was trying to get out when she went around to the other side, slipping and falling into a puddle that was probably 2 feet deep, according to Mike Gravalin and Adam Sandbeck, the two men who saved her.
Woessner told the men the mud was like quicksand, they told KSTP.
Woessner told the men she had been stuck on her back for days and she was seriously sunburned on her face, Gravalin and Sandbeck told KSTP.
Due to her medical conditions, she was taken to Essentia Health- St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brained, according to the sheriff’s office.
In this Aug. 20, 2021, file photo provided by the U.S. Army, combat medic Sgt. Wyatt Ryser with the 811th Hospital Center gives a Covid-19 briefing to an Afghan family at Camp As Sayliyah in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. military is providing meals, water, and snacks to immigration applicants seeking relocation to the U.S. Jimmie Baker/U.S. Army via Getty Images, FILE
(QATAR) — Her room is made up of four towering gray walls. With a rug, a colorful comforter and a few pictures, 15-year-old Zahra Muheb has tried to make it feel like home. She’s spent her last two birthdays living at Camp As Sayliyah, a refugee camp on an unused American military base in Doha that’s a temporary home for more than 1,100 Afghan refugees.
Most of its residents are women and children who were placed there by the U.S. State Department during the U.S. refugee resettlement process.
Zahra told ABC News her dreams for the future have changed drastically since President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting refugee resettlement efforts during the first days of his second term. She said the ripple effects have been felt throughout every corner of the camp.
“I mean, when you go out of the camp and you’re sick, they take you to hospital and they put GPS trackers on you so that you cannot escape,” she said. “I feel like prison might be much better than here.”
Zahra also told ABC News that she was threatened by the camp duty director and other camp officials after speaking to news outlets.
She claimed that they said someone in Washington, D.C., asked them to talk to her, then turned to her parents and said, “What you allow your daughter [to do] has significantly increased the risk of going back to Afghanistan.”
In response to Zahra’s specific claims, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, “We have no information regarding this alleged incident” and that “accusations are dealt with promptly to protect residents.”
The fear of being sent back to Afghanistan is intense for many refugees at the base, she noted.
Zahra told ABC News camp officials are using that fear and not knowing where they will be placed against residents at the base.
“They are lying to people about [being sent to a] third country,” she said. “They are encouraging people to go back to Afghanistan, paying them money.”
Zahra’s family was already vetted by the Biden administration, but they and many other camp residents remain in limbo, waiting to see where and when the U.S. State Department will relocate them.
“The State Department continues to work toward a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside of Afghanistan while upholding the safety and security of the American people,” a department spokesperson told ABC News.
In response to the possibility of being sent to the DRC, Zahra said she wanted to address Trump directly, saying the idea was “not even acceptable.”
“Mr. Donald Trump and Mrs. Melania reconsider [to] at least take us to America because we deserve safety. We deserve a life with dignity,” she told ABC News.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration raised the refugee ceiling by 10,000 solely for white South African refugees despite the promises the U.S. previously made to those residing at Camp As Sayliyah.
On June 2, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the State Department’s fiscal year 2027 budget, lawmakers pushed back against these new policies.
Democratic Sen. Van Hollen of Maryland told Republican Secretary of State Marco Rubio that “this administration has capped refugees at a record low” and that “White South Africans, Afrikaners, have comprised roughly 99% of those slots.” He called the administration’s process a “race-based refugee system.”
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, denounced the notion of sending Afghan allies living at Camp As Sayliyah back to Afghanistan, which is controlled by the Taliban, or the DRC, which has seen a surge of sexual violence towards women and children in recent years amid the conflict that has raged since 2022.
In response, Rubio noted that the U.S. “can’t admit any Afghans at this point into the country,” due to an executive order in the wake of last November’s deadly attack on two members of the National Guard last November.
“I don’t know of any single country that’s going to take a thousand people, but we’ve talked to multiple countries about taking several hundred of these people and allowing them to move to a safe location,” he said.
The residents we spoke to told ABC News they feel left behind, including a father who served as a member of the Afghan Command Forces for the U.S. and asked ABC News not to use his name for fear of retaliation.
“In reality, we were brought here legally and we completed all legal processes,” he said. “We stood side by side with the United States in Afghanistan for almost 20 years. Now the time has come for the U.S. government to fulfill their promises.”
Shawn VanDiver, the president of AfghanEvac, a non-profit organization that advocates for Afghan refugees, arranged a call with residents, congressional staffers and politicians in April.
“We’re gonna keep fighting for you, there’s a lot of people in Congress that are gonna keep fighting for you,” he told the residents.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, joined the call to relay what his son, who served in Afghanistan as a Marine Corps infantry officer, told him about the Afghan allies “who put their lives on the line.”
“They love America. We will work for them and fight for them just as we would our own veterans,” he said.
In a previous statement, the U.S. State Department told ABC News in March that “Afghan Nationals at the Camp do not currently have a viable pathway to the United States” and that residents would be relocated by March 31. In June, ABC News spoke with several residents who still do not know where or when they will be relocated, if at all.
“There was a viable pathway, the administration has chosen to close it — it is a policy choice,” VanDiver told ABC News.
For now, residents at the camp hope the U.S. will keep its original promise to bring them to the country to start a new life.
Zahra asked ABC News to use her name, hoping it will help her resettlement efforts and others at the camp who are afraid of being sent to countries in conflict like DRC.
“I’m showing my face and I am raising my voice. To the camp officials from here … you cannot stop me,” she said. “Whatever you do, it won’t stop me. If you think that you can treat me [like this] and it will stop me, it cannot. I will fight. I will take those people to safety. I will try.”
On Thursday, 83 members of Congress signed a letter to Rubio, demanding a clear plan for residents at Camp As Sayliyah, shortly after Zahra’s story aired on ABC News on Tuesday. In the letter, congressional leaders gave the department until June 24 to respond with answers and a credible plan for refugees who have been living in limbo.
(MIDLAND, Texas) — One victim was killed and 10 others were injured in a mass shooting in Midland, Texas, on Friday morning, and the suspected gunman is dead following a standoff with police, authorities said.
When police responded to an active shooter report around 8 a.m. local time Friday, the suspect, Victor Mata Villarreal, allegedly fired at bystanders and officers, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Villarreal, 45, then barricaded himself in an abandoned veterinary clinic, DPS said. After an hourslong standoff, the Odessa, Texas, resident was found dead in the building around 12:30 p.m. local time, authorities said.
Nine victims were taken to Midland Memorial Hospital, where four were rushed into surgery and five were admitted in stable condition, hospital officials said. The five in stable condition have since been discharged, officials said.
The victims have not been identified. DPS said no law enforcement officers were hurt.
Villarreal had been wanted for attempted capital murder of an officer after he allegedly fired multiple shots at police during a car chase on Wednesday, DPS said.
He fled from that scene on Wednesday and went into hiding, according to law enforcement. On Friday, when officers tried to apprehend him, he began opening fire, according to law enforcement.
Midland Mayor Lori Blong said at a news conference, “I would really ask Midlanders to pray for the families of those who have been impacted, for the victims themselves, for the family of the one who is confirmed deceased.”
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
