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Russia launches deadly overnight strikes in Ukraine despite Zelenskyy’s ceasefire

May 6, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — At least one person was killed and two people were injured by an overnight Russian drone strike on a kindergarten building in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, local officials there said on Wednesday, as Moscow’s cross-border attacks continued despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s unilateral declaration of a temporary ceasefire beginning at midnight on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched 108 drones and three missiles into the country overnight, of which 89 drones were intercepted or suppressed. The missiles and nine drones impacted across eight locations, the air force said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed to have downed at least 53 Ukrainian drones overnight. The ministry did not specify whether any Ukrainian drones were intercepted after the unilateral Ukrainian ceasefire came into effect at midnight on Tuesday.

Sumy was among several targets of Russia’s overnight strikes. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said in posts to Telegram that at least four people were killed and 19 people injured by Russian strikes in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, which damaged infrastructure plus administrative and residential buildings.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the ministry said, two women were injured by a drone strike on a house in the southwest of the city which also sparked a fire.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service also reported a Russian drone attack on an apartment building in the southern city of Kherson.

Tuesday night’s attacks followed a major Russian missile and drone attack on several Ukrainian cities earlier in the day, in which officials said at least 28 people were killed.

Zelenskyy issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what he described as Russia’s “brutal attacks” and Moscow’s refusal to partake in the Kyiv-proposed 24-hour ceasefire.

“On all key frontline areas, assault operations are ongoing, and just since the beginning of today, the Russian army has carried out nearly 30 assault operations. More than 20 airstrikes involving over 70 aerial bombs were recorded just last night and this morning,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“During the night, the Russian army also launched attacks with various types of drones,” the Ukrainian president added.

“Ukraine has clearly stated that it will respond in kind, given the persistent Russian appeals through the media and social networks to maintain silence during the Moscow parade,” Zelenskyy wrote, referring to the planned “Victory Day” celebrations in the Russian capital planned for May 9.

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week announced a unilateral truce on May 8 and May 9. Zelenskyy then said Ukraine would mark its own 24-hour ceasefire beginning at midnight on May 5.

“Russia must end its current war. Even with the internet shut down and most Russians’ communications blocked, it’s absolutely clear that their leadership could emerge from the bunker and choose peace,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Our diplomatic proposals are on the Russian side, and the only thing needed is Russia’s willingness to move towards real peace.”

“As of today, we note that the Russian side has disrupted the ceasefire. Based on the results of our military and intelligence evening reports, we will determine our further actions,” he added.

3 evacuated off cruise ship with suspected hantavirus cluster, WHO says

May 6, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON and BELGRADE, Serbia) — Three people have been evacuated off of the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a suspected hantavirus cluster, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

WHO officials in Cape Verde told ABC News that the patients were to be transferred to ambulances waiting on the shore to receive them. The three were then to be taken to an airport, where they were expected to board a special medevac flight to the Netherlands.

“WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said on social media, where he confirmed the evacuations.

“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” he added.

He said that “the overall public health risk remains low.”

The WHO said on Wednesday that eight suspected cases of hantavirus were recorded among passengers on the ship, an increase from the seven reported on Tuesday. Three of the cases had been confirmed by lab testing, WHO said.

“Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship,” the WHO said on social media on Wednesday. “He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.”

There have been three deaths among the reported cases, including a married couple from the Netherlands, one of whom was confirmed to have been infected with hantavirus, authorities said.

Cape Verde officials said on Tuesday that the vessel was expected to sail to the Spanish island of Tenerife, where Spanish health authorities were to take over further investigations, including lab testing and clinical assessments, particularly for older passengers.

The leader of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa, said on Wednesday that the regional government was opposed to allowing the luxury cruise ship to dock at Tenerife.

“This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety,” Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands told radio station COPE, according to Reuters.

Clavijo said on social media that he had requested a meeting with the Spanish prime minister to discuss the ship. He added that the Canary Islands “always acts with responsibility, but it cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of the Canary Islands institutions and without sufficient information to the population.”

WHO officials earlier on Wednesday said the three evacuated people were to be transferred to planes bound for both the Netherlands and Tenerife, but later updated the plan so that all would be sent to the Netherlands, officials told ABC News.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Howard Lutnick set to be questioned about relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

May 6, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is set to testify behind closed doors on Wednesday about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, making him the first Trump Cabinet official to face questions as part of the House Oversight Committee investigation.

Lutnick agreed to the voluntary transcribed interview after months of criticism over his relationship with Epstein — who was once Lutnick’s neighbor — and past statements distancing himself from the notorious sex offender.

During an interview last year with The New York Post, Lutnick described Epstein as “gross” and claimed that he said in 2005 he would “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again” after touring Epstein’s New York City mansion.

However, documents released by the Department of Justice showed that Lutnick planned a visit to Epstein’s private island in 2012 — years after Epstein pleaded guilty to two prostitution-related charges in 2008.

“We are looking forward to visiting you,” Lutnick’s wife emailed Epstein’s assistant. “We would love to join you for lunch.”

When asked about the documents in February, Lutnick acknowledged he visited the island and said that he did not see anything inappropriate during his visit.

“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick testified on Capitol Hill in February.

While the DOJ’s Epstein files included a photo from that trip, the Department of Justice acknowledged they temporarily removed the photo before restoring it following backlash. A DOJ official claimed that the photo was temporarily removed with a “batch of files that were flagged for nudity,” though the photo did not contain any nudity and did not include any redactions when it was restored.

Lutnick also appeared to enter a business deal with Epstein in 2012, according to documents released by the Department of Justice. Both men signed business documents in 2012 to acquire an advertising company called Adfin.

Other documents released by the DOJ showed Epstein agreed to donate $50,000 in 2017 related to a dinner hosted in Lutnick’s honor.

During his New York Post interview last year, Lutnick said he believed that Epstein may have used blackmail to get the “sweetheart deal” he received during his first criminal case in 2008.

“I assume, way back when, they traded those videos in exchange for him getting that 18-month sentence, which allowed him to have visits and be out of jail. I mean, he’s a serial sex offender. How could he get 18 months and be able to go to his office during the day and have visitors and stuff? There must have been a trade,” Lutnick said.

But those allegations contrast with statements from multiple Trump administration officials who have insisted that Epstein neither trafficked young women for people beyond himself nor held compromising information about high-profile individuals,

“There is no credible information. None. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals,” FBI Director Kash Patel said last year.

When asked about Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein in February, President Trump described Lutnick as a “very innocent guy” and suggested he would be willing to testify.

“Well, Howard would go in and do whatever he has to say,” Trump said. “He’s a very innocent guy, doing a good job.”

Correspondents’ dinner shooting suspect indicted by a grand jury on 4 counts

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on four counts — three of which he had already been charged by criminal complaint.

Those initial charges he was indicted on are attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The fourth new charge is assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to the indictment.

The California native was tackled by law enforcement after the gunfire April 25 inside the Washington, D.C., Hilton hotel, where thousands of journalists, as well as President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet, were gathered for the annual dinner.

Allen did not reach the ballroom, where the dinner was underway. A Secret Service member was shot during the incident, but the bullet hit the agent’s protective vest, officials said.

Allen — who officials say traveled by train from California to D.C. — allegedly left a note which said that administration officials were his targets and were “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to the criminal complaint against him.

The suspect allegedly wrote that Secret Service agents were targets “only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible,” the complaint said.

Allen has not yet entered a plea.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Secret Service officers exchange gunfire with armed suspect near White House, juvenile bystander injured: USSS

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secret Service officers exchanged gunfire with an armed man near the White House property in Washington, D.C., on Monday, authorities said.

The suspect and a juvenile bystander were struck during the exchange of gunfire, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Michael Marx, according to multiple law enforcement sources. He has a Texas driver’s license and no obvious connection to Washington, and authorities are working to learn why he was in the city, sources said Tuesday.

Authorities are executing search warrants on his phone, digital media and other locations to try and determine if he posed any threat to specific individuals or entities, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, sources said.

The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. Monday near the National Mall, outside the perimeter of the White House complex, according to U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn.

A plainclothes Secret Service officer observed a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm,” Quinn said during a press briefing.

Uniformed Secret Service police briefly followed the suspect and, upon making contact, he fled on foot and fired in the direction of the officers, Quinn said.

The officers returned fire, striking the suspect, Quinn said. The suspect was transported to a hospital, according to Quinn.

Marx was struck multiple times and remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, sources said.

At least one bystander, a male juvenile, is believed to have been shot by the suspect and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to Quinn. The victim is also being treated at a hospital, he said.

“Everything I’ve seen leads me to believe, and the investigators believe, he was struck by the suspect,” Quinn said.

Marx has not yet been charged.

The shooting comes over a week after an alleged assassination attempt on Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know, but we will find out,” Quinn said.

Not long before the shooting occurred, Vance’s motorcade passed through the area, Quinn said. The suspect did not approach the motorcade, according to Quinn.

The use-of-force investigation will be conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department, Quinn said.

The incident prompted a brief evacuation of the White House North Lawn.

ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr and Jack Date contributed to this report.

Woman arrested after driving on sidewalk toward child riding bike: Police

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(SPOKANE, Wash.) — A woman was arrested last week in Spokane, Washington, after she allegedly drove up on the sidewalk and nearly hit a child who was riding their bike, police said.

In the April 28 incident, Wendy A. Clemente, 56, was caught on camera driving in her silver Ford Focus when she turned onto the sidewalk where the child was riding their bike, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

“The driver chased the juvenile on the sidewalk before reentering the roadway and leaving the area. Thankfully, the juvenile was not hit or injured,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday.

Deputies began searching the area for the driver when they received a call about a reported burglary at a home about a mile away, the sheriff’s office said.

The officers found Clemente at the home and her car in the driveway, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office alleged Clemente denied drinking alcohol or consuming any drugs, “but later changed her story and admitted to drinking alcohol.”

The suspect was charged with 1st degree assault (attempted), DUI and 1st degree criminal trespass, according to the sheriff’s office.

On April 29, a judge ordered Clemente to be released on her own recognizance until her next court date, according to the sheriff’s office.

Attorney information for the suspect was not immediately available.

2 dead, 3 injured in shooting during business meeting at Texas shopping center: Police

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(CARROLTON, Texas) — Two people were killed and another three injured in a shooting during a business meeting at a shopping center in Texas, authorities said.

The shooting suspect was apprehended nearby following a short foot pursuit, police said.

The gunfire broke out at a Korean shopping center in Carrollton, located about 20 miles north of Dallas, on Tuesday morning, police said.

Police responded to K Towne Plaza shortly before 10 a.m. CT for reports of a shooting and found two people dead at the scene, according to Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo. Three additional victims were in stable condition, he said.

Arredondo called it a “complicated scene” during a press briefing. Officers were working “multiple scenes” across K Towne Plaza and a nearby shopping center, locally known as Koreatown, where the suspect was taken into custody, he said.

The police chief identified the suspect as 69-year-old Seung Han Ho.

“Currently, there is no immediate threat to the public,” Arredondo said. “Victims were meeting with the suspect for a business purpose. This is not a random act of gunfire.”

Arredondo said police were still working to learn more about the business relationship between the suspect and the victims, who were all adults.

The police chief did not release any further details on the victims.

Republicans aim to secure $1 billion for security-related aspects of White House ballroom construction project

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Republicans aim to secure billion for security-related aspects of White House ballroom construction project

Republicans aim to secure $1 billion for security-related aspects of White House ballroom construction project — Demolition of the East Wing of the White House, during construction on the new ballroom extension of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republicans are aiming to secure $1 billion in funding for security-related aspects of the White House ballroom project as part of a broader, roughly $70 billion funding package for immigration enforcement, which they aim to pass with little-to-no support from Democrats.

Republicans began unveiling aspects of their reconciliation package late Monday night. Included within the bill is a $1 billion allocation to the Secret Service for “the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades … relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”

The funding can only be used for security-related aspects of the project, according to the bill text.

The Trump administration has previously said it aims to raise $400 million in private donations to pay for the ballroom, and has said it will cost the taxpayer nothing.

President Donald Trump said in October that the ballroom would be “paid for 100% by me and some friends of mine,” referencing donors.

“The government is paying absolutely nothing,” Trump said.

Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that they have titled “The Stop Ballroom Bribery Act” to regulate the project and impose restrictions on donations.

A group of GOP senators led by Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced separate legislation that would provide $400 million in funding. The senators on that bill say their proposal is to offset the cost of the ballroom by using customs fees. Because it is not in a reconciliation bill, it will almost certainly fail to pass if it even gets a vote on the Senate floor.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul put forward a separate bill that would authorize the ballroom but not fund it. He attempted to pass that by unanimous consent last week and it failed.

This bill text comes as Republicans have increasingly called for the construction of the ballroom following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month. They say a secure facility is necessary for the president and Cabinet members to gather with large groups on the White House grounds.

The White House said Tuesday that “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds.”

“Due in part to the recent assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement. “As President Trump has repeatedly said, the White House must be a safe and secure complex that generations of future presidents and visitors to the People’s house can enjoy.”

In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said the bill does “does not fund ballroom construction,” but “provides funds for Secret Service enhancements that will ensure all presidents, their families and their staffs are adequately protected.”

The ballroom has been the target of a lawsuit filed late last year by historic preservationists, with a federal judge finding it to be illegal without the approval of lawmakers.

In a filing in the case last month, the Trump administration said that the security enhancements to the East Wing project would include “missile resistant steel columns, Military-grade venting, drone-proof ceilings and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass,” all aimed at forming a “fortified structural buffer” to protect not only the ballroom, but also the main White House residence and the offices in the West Wing.

That April 27 Justice Department filing, which read in part like a social media post written in the president’s own voice, also said the upgrades would include “bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment, protective partitioning, and other features.”

District Judge Richard Leon ruled in late March that building the ballroom without congressional authorization violated the law. While Leon carved out an exception for work that would be necessary to ensure the “safety and security of the White House,” he later clarified his decision to allow for “below-ground construction” on the project, as well as anything above ground that would be “strictly necessary” to secure and protect that work.

Leon’s injunction has been administratively stayed by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, pending oral argument at a hearing set for next month. The appeals court’s order means that, for now, work on both the ballroom and the project’s security-related features can continue.

For weeks, Republicans have been working to put forward a funding package in response to political gridlock that left Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol without their regular annual appropriations. Though these agencies received funding through the previously passed One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans say more funding is needed, and they’re looking to secure $26 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and $38 billion for ICE in this just-released bill.

Republicans are aiming to pass the funding using a budgeting tool called reconciliation, which, if successful, would allow Republicans to send this funding to Trump’s desk without the support of a single Democrat and without the possibility of a filibuster. But there are rules governing this process, and it’s not yet clear whether the Senate parliamentarian, who must determine whether items in a reconciliation package are “substantive to the budget,” will green light the ballroom security funding or other items in the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that Republicans are “on a different planet” than American families with their spending priorities.

“Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom,” Schumer wrote in a post on X Tuesday.

Fulton County challenges DOJ subpoena targeting 2020 election workers

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — The Department of Justice last month demanded the names and contact information for every election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, involved in the 2020 election, according to court filings disclosed this week.

The Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections is now asking a federal court in Atlanta to quash the grand jury subpoena from federal agents, which requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and emails for any staff member who worked the 2020 election.

“Its purpose is to target, harass, and punish the President’s perceived political opponents; it is grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need; it cannot yield any evidence that could result in a criminal prosecution,” lawyers for the Fulton County officials said in the motion filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The subpoena appears to escalate the Trump administration’s pressure on Fulton County amid an ongoing federal investigation into purported irregulates in the 2020 election.

Driven in part by Trump allies who unsuccessfully sought to use debunked theories to overturn the election, federal agents in January seized all the ballots and records from the 2020 election.

For months, Fulton County officials have urged a federal judge to order the records be returned, though that judge has not yet issued a ruling.

DOJ attorneys have insisted that the search was based on evidence of potential misconduct and accused Fulton County officials of speculating about “some kind of grand conspiracy.”

In the motion filed on Monday, lawyers for Fulton County called the recent subpoena the “latest effort to target and harass the President’s perceived political enemies.” They argue that the statute of limitations for any alleged crime has run out and that the investigation lacks a legitimate basis.

“Grand juries do not exist to conduct roving inquiries untethered to a prosecutable criminal case,” the motion said.

Robb Pitts, the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, described the subpoena as an “outrageous federal overreach designed to intimidate and to chill participation in elections” in a statement.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

2 hikers injured in bear attack at Yellowstone National Park

May 5, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(MYSTIC FALLS, Wyo.) — Two hikers were injured in a bear attack at Yellowstone National Park, prompting some areas of the park to close, the National Park Service said.

The incident occurred Monday afternoon on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Wyoming, the park service said.

The two hikers “sustained injuries by one or more bears,” the park service said in a press release on Tuesday.

National Park Service emergency services personnel responded, and the incident remains under investigation, the park service said.

No additional details were released, including the condition of the hikers or the type of bear suspected in the attack.

Some areas of the national park are temporarily closed due to the ongoing investigation.

The last bear attack in Yellowstone was in September 2025, when a 29-year-old man was injured by a grizzly bear while hiking alone near Turbid Lake.

The last deadly bear attack occurred in 2015, in the Lake Village area of Yellowstone, the park service said.

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