World

(MOSCOW) — U.S. officials and lawmakers reacted with a mix of caution and concern this weekend in the wake of comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would be moving tactical nuclear weapons into neighboring Belarus, which provided a crucial staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s government denounced such a move as a provocation and called for a U.N. Security Council meeting.

Speaking on Russian TV on Saturday, Putin insisted that the reason for the decision, reached with the agreement of Belarus, was the U.K. supplying depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, though British officials have called such munitions “a standard component and … nothing to do with nuclear weapons.”

The weapons Putin would move into Belarus would be less powerful and with a shorter range than other kinds of nuclear weapons; he said the storage necessary for them would be ready by July.

“We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crew,” Putin said on TV.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said later Saturday that the U.S. hasn’t seen any indications Russia is going to imminently use a nuclear weapon and will not be changing its own posture.

“We have seen reports of Russia’s announcement and will continue to monitor the implications,” Watson said, adding, “We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.”

The State Department responded similarly, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that “Russia and Belarus have talked about doing this for some time.”

“This could be political signaling on Belarus Freedom Day, which is celebrated by the democratic opposition to the Lukashenka regime,” the spokesperson said, referring to Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday that “we have not seen any indication he’s [Putin] made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around.”

“We’ve, in fact, seen no indication he has any intention to use nuclear weapons — period — inside Ukraine,” Kirby said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Obviously, we would agree that no nuclear war should be fought, no nuclear war could be won and clearly that would cross a major threshold.”

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Rep. Mike Gallagher said Putin’s remarks amounted to posturing but were troubling nonetheless.

“Putin has engaged in nuclear saber-rattling since the start of this crisis. It is something to be concerned about, but we should not allow his threat to deter us,” said Gallagher, R-Wis. “We can’t allow that to be a cause for delaying critical weapon systems that we need to deliver to the Ukrainians.”

The risk of nuclear weapons being used has reemerged on the world stage since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

U.S. President Joe Biden said at a fundraiser in October that Putin was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons” and that “we have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis” in the 1960s.

Kirby subsequently said on “This Week” in October that Biden was reflecting the very high “stakes” of the conflict rather than immediate danger.

“We are monitoring this as best we can, and we have been monitoring his nuclear capabilities, frankly, since he invaded Ukraine back in February,” Kirby said then.

Putin declared last month that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty, first signed in 2010 and extended in 2021, which implements caps on the number of nuclear weapons deployed by Russia and the U.S. and inspections of nuclear sites.

He blamed NATO support for Ukraine.

Soon after, Biden told ABC News anchor David Muir that Putin had made a “big mistake.”

“Not very responsible. But I don’t read into that that he’s thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that,” Biden said.

ABC News’ Tal Axelrod, Cheyenne Haslett, Matt Seyler, Tanya Stukalova and Edward Szekeres contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — In the days after Ugandan Parliament passed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ bills, members of the country’s LGBTQ community who spoke to ABC News said they were worried about their personal liberties and safety.

“There are no words to describe the feeling of being persecuted by everyone around you, just for being yourself, for being who you are,” Atuhaire, a Kampala-based member of Uganda’s LGBTQ community told ABC News, using only their first name to protect their personal safety.

Atuhaire added, “When we leave work every day our colleagues know they have a safe place to go home to. We no longer have even that luxury. As we speak, I am facing eviction.”

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 — which was passed on Tuesday evening after several readings and hours of debate — proposed tough penalties against Uganda’s LGBTQ+ community, who have been on the end of increasing discrimination and violence.

The sweeping legislation would criminalize “the offence of homosexuality,” meaning anyone who identifies as LGBTQ or “any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female” may be subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years if convicted.

The bill would also outlaw the promotion of homosexuality,” meaning anyone advocating for LGBTQ rights or anyone who provides funding to organizations that do faces the threat of imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 1 billion Ugandan shillings, or about $265,900.

The bill touches on landlords and property owners too. They face the threat of prosecution through penalties or imprisonment if their premises are found to be used for “homosexual acts.”

“This country will stand firm, and once it is passed, I can tell you madam speaker, we are going to reinforce the law enforcement officers to make sure that homosexuals have no space in Uganda,” said Musa Ecwery, a lawmaker from Uganda’s Amuria District, speaking in parliament.

Parliamentary Speaker Anita Annet announced the passing, saying, “The Ayes have it.” She was met with cheers and applause in the packed parliamentary chamber. The bill was supported by 283 of 389 legislators.

“This house will continue to pass laws that recognize, protect and safeguard the sovereignty, morals and cultures of this country,” Annet said.

If the bill passes into law through assent by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, anyone caught engaging same-sex sexual activity could face life imprisonment, as would anyone convicted of grooming or trafficking children for the purpose of “homosexual activities.”

“Aggravated homosexuality,” a broad term encapsulating perpetrators who are HIV positive, among other categories, would also could carry a life sentence for those convicted.

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the bill’s passing was “deeply disturbing” and threatened to erode gains made over the years.

“The passing of this discriminatory bill — probably among the worst in the world,” Türk said, adding, “Let us be clear: this is not about ‘values.’ Promoting violence and discrimination against people for who they are and who they love is wrong and any disingenuous attempts to justify this on the basis of ‘values’ should be called out and condemned.”

The bill was introduced in early March 2023 by Asuman Basalirwa, a lawmaker who said homosexuality was a “human wrong” that threatened traditional family values and the continuation of humanity.

“The vitriol and we receive daily on social media has always been vicious, but nothing like the last few months,” Grace, an LGBTQ+ activist, told ABC News in a phone interview. “Especially following the Anglican church debacle and comments form the president calling us deviants and so on and so forth, the list goes on — this is the climate for us in Uganda.”

“I wish I could tell you I’m shocked, but I’m not. I am tired,” Grace said. “But the beauty of our community and what I love is no matter what bill, intimidation or what have you, or what circumstance, we will not be erased or silenced. We will keep speaking up for our rights.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the bill “undermine[s] fundamental human rights” of Ugandans and could “reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS.” He called on Museveni to veto the bill.

In a White House press briefing, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the bill, saying the East African nation may face repercussions — “perhaps in an economic way” — should the law be enacted.

“We’ll have to take a look. No decisions. We’re watching this very, very closely,” Kirby said

The U.S. currently provides Uganda with an annual assistance budget exceeding $950 million as well as health assistance through PEPFAR.

Museveni, the president, has said the West has “weird cultures” and has vowed not to bend to western pressure.

“Western countries should stop wasting the time of humanity by trying to impose their practices on other people,” he said in an address earlier this month.

Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda, as in over 30 of Africa’s 54 countries. Human rights advocates said they planned to challenge the bill in court if it’s signed into law.

“The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke about how pernicious and ghastly it is that people are penalized and killed simply and solely on the basis of their sexual orientation and called on us to all oppose this injustice,” Türk said. “I would like to renew his plea today.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ACCRA, Ghana) — Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday, kicking off a weeklong trip on the continent that will also take her to Tanzania and Zambia.

Harris, the first Black woman U.S. vice president, is making her first trip to Africa while in office.

She arrived Sunday in Air Force Two with the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, and was greeted by Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.

The welcome ceremony included a gift of flowers, dancers and drummers as she walked down a red carpet and a large group of children gathered to the side of the stage where she made brief remarks.

“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa,” she said on the tarmac of Kotoka International Airport.

“I’m very excited about the impact of Africa on the rest of the world,” she said, pointing to a future in the coming decades in which the population — with a current median age of 19 — would help put African nations at the center of international relations.

While on her trip, Harris said she wants to promote “increasing investments,” the “economic empowerment” of women, girls and young businesspeople, “digital inclusion” and food security in light of mounting challenges from climate change.

She said she will also be discussing democracy and government as she meets with various leaders and will be observing just some of the innovation and creativity that is “inspiring the world.”

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, and again I’m so very excited to be here,” she said.

The vice president will meet with Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday and hold a news conference following their meeting.

She travels to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Wednesday afternoon, and then departs Tanzania for Lusaka, the Zambian capital, on Friday, where she will meet with President Hakainde Hichilema.

She returns to Washington on April 2.

Harris continues the Biden administration’s outreach to African countries amid competition from China and their growing influence on the continent, where countries have forged trade and other ties with Beijing.

Previewing the vice president’s agenda on a call with reporters on Thursday evening, senior administration officials said Harris will be asking the leaders not to “choose” between the U.S. and China but to “expand” their options.

“We can’t ignore the current geopolitical moment. It’s no secret that we are engaged in competition with China. And we’ve said very clearly we intend to out-compete China in the long term,” the officials said.

In a show of how much Tanzania values their relationship with China, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s first state visit outside of Africa last November was to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing where their meeting focused on areas of cooperation such as agriculture trade and infrastructure.

Two notable moments to watch for during Harris’ trip will be in Ghana and Zambia. The administration officials said that on Monday, Harris will tour Cape Coast Castle, a former slave-trade outpost and location of the so-called “Door of No Return,” and deliver remarks on the “brutality of slavery and the African diaspora.”

And Harris’ time in Zambia will be notable as it marks her return to the country for the first time since she was a young girl. In the 1960s, she traveled there to visit her maternal grandfather, who was a civil servant in India and worked for several years in the Zambian government on refugee resettlement issues.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — The Rwandan government announced Friday that Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the acclaimed 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, will be released from prison nearly three years after he was captured and detained.

The 68-year-old Rwandan hotelier-turned-dissident, who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was tried and convicted on a slew of terrorism-related charges in Rwanda’s High Court in Kigali in 2021. He was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

Rusesabagina’s prison sentence was commuted by presidential order on Friday after consideration of requests for his clemency and approval by the Cabinet, according to Rwandan Minister for Justice and Attorney General Emmanuel Ugirashebuja.

“Under Rwandan law, commutation of sentence does not extinguish the underlying conviction,” Ugirashebuja said in a statement. “If any individual benefitting from early release repeats offences of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served, in accordance with the conditions specified in the Presidential Order. Other penalties imposed by the Court, such as compensation owed to victims, are not affected by this commutation and thus remain in force.”

Rwandan government spokesperson Stephanie Nyombayire confirmed to ABC News that Rusesabagina would be freed within 24 hours.

When asked for comment, Rusesabagina’s family told ABC News in a statement on Friday: “We are pleased to hear the news about Paul’s release. The family is hopeful to reunite with him soon.”

Last year, the U.S. Department of State determined that Rusesabagina, who has maintained his innocence, had been “wrongfully detained.” The U.S. House of Representatives subsequently passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the Biden administration to demand Rusesabagina’s release on humanitarian grounds. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Rwanda in August 2022, members of Congress sent a letter urging him to push for Rusesabagina’s “immediate release” and “safe return to the United States.”

Rusesabagina was the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when divisions between Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups came to a head. The Rwandan government, controlled by extremist members of the Hutu ethnic majority, launched a systemic campaign with its allied Hutu militias to wipe out the Tutsi ethnic minority, slaughtering more than 800,000 people over the course of 100 days, mostly Tutsis and the moderate Hutus who tried to protect them, according to estimates from the United Nations.

More than 1,200 people took shelter in the Hotel des Mille Collines during what is often described as the darkest chapter of Rwanda’s history. Rusesabagina, who is of both Hutu and Tutsi descent, said he used his job and connections with the Hutu elite to protect the hotel’s guests from massacre. The events were later immortalized in Hotel Rwanda, with American actor Don Cheadle’s portrayal of Rusesabagina earning an Academy Award nomination for best actor in 2005.

Rusesabagina, who fled Rwanda with his family in 1996 and later settled in San Antonio, Texas, rose to fame and was lauded as a hero after the movie’s release. In 2005, he was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the American president. He also wrote a book, gave paid speeches and became an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has been in office for the last two decades.

In August 2020, Rusesabagina traveled to Dubai to meet up with a Burundi-born pastor who Rusesabagina alleges had invited him to speak at churches in Burundi about his experience during the Rwandan genocide. The pair hopped on a private jet that Rusesabagina believed would take them to Burundi’s capital, according to Rusesabagina’s international legal team.

Rusesabagina did not know that the pastor was working as an informant for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau and had tricked him into boarding a chartered flight to Kigali. He was subsequently arrested and charged with several terrorism-related offenses, with Rwandan prosecutors alleging that Rusesabagina wanted to go to Burundi to coordinate with rebel groups based there and in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rusesabagina’s family and lawyers have repeatedly expressed concern over his condition and treatment while under detention in Rwanda’s capital. The married father of six is a cancer survivor and is prescribed medication for a heart disorder. He was held in solitary confinement for more than eight months after his capture and has been denied proper medical care, according to his international legal team. The U.N.’s Nelson Mandela Rules state that keeping someone in solitary confinement for more than 15 consecutive days is torture.

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(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. official told ABC News that there were two new attacks late Friday on two U.S. facilities in Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria after another earlier in the day and a drone attack on Thursday that prompted retaliatory U.S. airstrikes that targeted Iranian-backed militias believed responsible.

Both attacks late Friday happened about the same time, the official said. One involved three drones targeting one facility and the other involved five rockets fired at a separate facility, according to the official, who said one American service member was wounded and was in stable condition.

The official said that two of the three drones that targeted one U.S. facility were shot down, but one drone made it through. There were no injuries in that attack.

The official said that five rockets were fired at another U.S. facility where the American service member was wounded. That individual is in stable condition, the official said, and that a damage assessment of the facility was still underway.

Earlier Friday, a Pentagon spokesman said the first of the three attacks on U.S. bases did not cause any damage and there were no injuries.

“On the morning of March 24th, at approximately 8:05 am local time, 10 rockets targeted coalition forces at the Green Village in northeast Syria,” said Lt. Col. Phil Ventura, a Pentagon spokesman.

“The attack resulted in no injuries to US or coalition personnel and no damage to equipment or facilities,” he added.

The new attacks, of which there have been about 80 since the start of 2021, come a day after the U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against the Iranian-backed groups after a one-way explosive drone attack targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.

“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.

U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base on Thursday was Iranian in origin, according to the statement. Iran has used such drones in the past in attacks on Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, but this drone technology has become more noticeable after it provided hundreds of Shahed drones to Russia that have been used in attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure targets.

Earlier on Thursday, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, who as the commander of U.S. Central Command is the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, told Congress that there have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021.

“At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.

“The airstrikes were conducted in response today’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he added.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the airstrikes were carried out by U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft as part of a response approved by President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday.

Biden was enroute to Ottawa, Canada, when he approved the airstrikes presented by the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community as response options to the drone attack, White House spokesman John Kirby said during an appearance on CNN.

“He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets,” Kirby said. “We’re going to work to protect our people and our facilities as best we can. It’s a dangerous environment.”

“We are not seeking a conflict with Iran,” said Kirby. “We’ve been very clear with the Iranians and with our partners about how serious the mission that we’re doing in Syria is and how we’re going to protect that mission.”

“Iran should not be involved in supporting these attacks on our facilities or on our people, we’ve made that very very clear,” said Kirby.

At a news conference with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday afternoon, before the reports of even more attacks, Biden said, “make no mistake, the United States does not — does not, emphasize — seek conflict with Iran but be prepared for us to act forcefully protect our people. That’s exactly what happened last night.”

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.

In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

“These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the Pentagon statement read.

“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” Austin said. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”

“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today,” the defense secretary added.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. “will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.”

“Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region,” he added.

During Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.

There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.

“It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more,” he said

“So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies — that’s under UAVs or rockets — to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria,” Kurilla added.

ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. “must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Two U.S. officials told ABC News that there was another attack on a U.S. base in eastern Syria Friday, following a drone strike on Thursday, but that no damage or injuries resulted from the most recent attack.

The officials said the Friday attack was from indirect fire and one of the officials confirmed it was a rocket attack.

The U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against Iranian-backed groups after a drone strike targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.

“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.

U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base on Thursday was Iranian in origin, according to the statement. Iran has used such drones in the past in attacks on Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, but this drone technology has become more noticeable after it provided hundreds of Shahed drones to Russia that have been used in attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure targets.

“At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.

“The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he added.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the airstrikes were carried out by U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft as part of a response approved by President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday.

Biden was enroute to Ottawa, Canada, when he approved the airstrikes presented by the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community as response options to the drone attack, White House spokesman John Kirby said during an appearance on CNN.

“He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets,” Kirby said. “We’re going to work to protect our people and our facilities as best we can. It’s a dangerous environment.”

“We are not seeking a conflict with Iran,” said Kirby. “We’ve been very clear with the Iranians and with our partners about how serious the mission that we’re doing in Syria is and how we’re going to protect that mission.”

“Iran should not be involved in supporting these attacks on our facilities or on our people, we’ve made that very very clear,” said Kirby.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.

In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

“These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the Pentagon statement read.

“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” Austin said. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”

“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today,” the defense secretary added.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. “will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.”

“Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region,” he added.

During Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.

There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.

“It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more,” he said

“So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies — that’s under UAVs or rockets — to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria,” Kurilla added.

ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. “must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Kamala Harris, the first Black U.S. vice president, on Saturday begins a historic first trip while in office to Africa, with stops scheduled in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia during her weeklong tour.

She continues the Biden administration’s outreach to African countries amid competition from China and their growing influence on the continent, where countries have forged trade and other ties with Beijing.

Previewing the vice president’s agenda on a call with reporters on Thursday evening, senior administration officials said Harris will be asking the leaders not to “choose” between the U.S. and China but to “expand” their options.

“We can’t ignore the current geopolitical moment. It’s no secret that we are engaged in competition with China. And we’ve said very clearly we intend to out-compete China in the long term,” the officials said.

In a show of how much Tanzania values their relationship with China, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s first state visit outside of Africa last November was to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing where their meeting focused on areas of cooperation such as agriculture trade and infrastructure.

Harris, in her own visit to Africa, will hold bilateral meetings in each country that will involve “wide-ranging discussions” on regional security, democracy, strengthening business ties, debt relief and restructuring and the impact on Africa from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.

“Russia’s war is not only hurting the people of Ukraine and Europe, but it’s hurting Africans and others around the world by generating rising food and commodity prices that are actually having a disproportional impact on African countries,” the administration officials told reporters Thursday.

Two notable moments to watch for during Harris’ trip will be in Ghana and Zambia. The administration officials said that on Monday Harris will tour Cape Coast Castle, a former slave-trade outpost and location of the so-called “Door of No Return,” and deliver remarks on the “brutality of slavery and the African diaspora.”

And Harris’ time in Zambia will be notable as it marks her return to the country for the first time since she was a young girl. In the 1960s, she traveled there to visit her maternal grandfather, who was a civil servant in India and worked for several years in the Zambian government on refugee resettlement issues.

“The vice president is very much looking forward to returning to Lusaka [the Zambian capital], which is a part of her family’s story and a source of pride,” the senior administration officials said Thursday, suggesting there would be “more to say” about this portion of the trip as that day nears and that Harris would “have much more to say about this herself throughout the trip.”

Harris departs Washington on Saturday evening and arrives in Ghana on Sunday afternoon, though her first engagements will take place on Monday, beginning with a bilateral meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo, followed by a visit to a local recording studio in Accra.

On Tuesday she is set to deliver a “major speech to an audience of young people,” tour Cape Coast Castle and “speak about the brutality of slavery and the African Diaspora” from that location as well.

Also in Accra on Wednesday, Harris will meet with women entrepreneurs and discuss the economic empowerment of women. During that meeting, senior administration officials said, Harris is expected to announce a “series of continent-wide, public and private sector investments to help close the digital gender divide and to empower women economically more broadly.”

Harris travels to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday she begins the day meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The vice president will also participate in a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy there, and she will meet with entrepreneurs at a tech incubator and coworking space.

Next Friday, March 31, Harris departs Tanzania for Lusaka where she will meet with President Hakainde Hichilema.

And on April 1, she will focus on climate adaptation and resilience and food security, along with a convening of “business and philanthropic leaders from both the continent and for the United States to discuss digital and financial inclusion on the continent,” administration officials said.

She arrives back in Washington on April 2.

It’s the latest high-profile international tour for Harris, who has been an administration lead on issues including immigration — on which she has sometimes drawn backlash — and, more recently, highlighting what the White House said is the importance of ensuring abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overruled.

The vice president’s trip is also the latest show of support from the administration amid President Joe Biden’s push to engage closer with the African continent.

At the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington last year, Biden said the United States was “all in on Africa and all in with Africa,” adding that the continent “belongs at the table in every room” where global challenges are being discussed. Biden announced then that he was “eager” to visit the continent himself, though the White House has not announced any official travel.

Harris’ visit also comes on the heels of a series of other notable trips by high-ranking figures in the administration.

Just over a week ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the first person in his post to visit Niger and announced $150 million in new humanitarian assistance for Africa’s Sahel region. During the first stop of his tour, he also committed $331 million in new humanitarian aid for Ethiopia.

First lady Jill Biden was in Namibia and Kenya last month for a five-day visit focused on food insecurities in the Horn of Africa as well as challenges facing youth and women. In Kenya, she met with drought-affected communities and heard first-hand accounts of its devastating impacts in the region.

Following her visit, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced it was providing over $126 million in additional food assistance for Kenya.

And in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen began the administration’s engagement with a 10-day tour to Senegal, South Africa and Zambia; and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield made stops in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against Iranian-backed groups after a drone strike targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.

“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.

U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base was Iranian in origin, according to the statement.

“At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.

“The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” he added.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.

In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

“These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the Pentagon statement read.

“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” Austin said. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”

“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today,” the defense secretary added.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. “will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.”

“Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region,” he added.

During Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.

There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.

“It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more,” he said

“So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies — that’s under UAVs or rockets — to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria,” Kurilla added.

ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. “must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs.”

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(NEW YORK) — Don’t miss your lucky chance to see the stars — or planets — align next week.

A five-planet alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars will be visible in the night sky on Tuesday, March 28.

Bill Cooke, who has a Ph.D. in astronomy and heads NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, spoke to ABC News’ Good Morning America about the best ways to catch this upcoming alignment.

He said to grab a pair of binoculars and head outside right after sunset in order to see Mercury and Jupiter, which will be the closest to the western horizon.

“Perhaps the hardest to see with your eye will be the planet Mercury, [which] will be the one closest to the horizon, and right beside it will be a brighter object, planet Jupiter,” said Cooke, who added that the next planet, Venus, will probably be the brightest planet to spot, whereas Uranus, a green star, can be hard to see with an unaided eye.

“Of course, the capper will be the moon, which will be halfway lit up just above Mars. So you’ll get five planets and the moon,” he said.

Each planet in our solar system, excluding the now-relegated Pluto, shares the same orbital plane. During a planetary alignment, the planets will appear to “bunch” on the same side of the sun — forming a line but appearing as an arc since the sky “is like a dome,” according to Cooke.

Cooke said planetary alignments happen every few years, but the configurations vary. The last planetary alignment was a four-planet alignment on Dec. 28, 2022.

“You’re worrying that planetary alignments are rare, but honestly we get one every couple of years. It may involve four planets, or it may involve five planets, but planetary alignments — they can put on a show,” Cooke said.

However, if you miss your chance on March 28, Cooke said to just wait until Sept. 8, 2040, for the rare alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars.

“All of them will be visible within 10 degrees and that’ll be pretty darn impressive,” he said. “I’m always partial to Saturn because of the rings, right? I mean, who can resist?”

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(WASHINGTON) — Ukraine will get American Abrams tanks this fall, much sooner than expected, after the Pentagon decided to refurbish existing hulls in its inventory instead of building new ones from scratch.

Meanwhile. the Patriot air defense missile training for Ukrainian troops that has been taking place in Oklahoma will wrap up “in coming days” and the missile systems will be in Ukraine “in coming weeks” on an expedited basis, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.

In January, the Pentagon would be sending Ukraine 31 M1A2 Abrams tanks that would be built from scratch, a process that could take at least a year, if not longer.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon’s top spokesman told reporters that the switch to sending refurbished hulls equipped with modern weapons systems would get to the battlefield quicker.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that, since the initial announcement in January, the U.S. has been committed “to exploring options to deliver the armored capability as quickly as possible.”

He added that after further analysis the Pentagon, in consultation with Ukraine, decided that choosing the M1A1 version will “enable us to significantly expedite delivery timelines and deliver this important capability to Ukraine by the fall of this year.”

“This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later,” said Ryder.

The Pentagon had never given a timeline for when the 31 Abrams tanks would arrive in Ukraine, but Ryder acknowledged that “we were projecting it would be probably over a year or so before we would have been able to deliver” the more modern M1A2 variant.

Ryder said the M1A1 Abrams will have “a very similar capability” to the M1A2 that includes advanced armor, a 120 mm cannon, and a 50-caliber heavy machine gun.

The U.S. commitment to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine was the linchpin of a plan to get Germany to go along with the transfer of Leopard tanks in its own inventory or that of other nations.

The understanding was that the slower manufacturing pace of newly Abrams would meet Ukraine’s longer range military needs while the Leopards would have a more immediate impact on the battlefield as Ukraine prepares for an anticipated counteroffensive.

Some of those German-made Leopard tanks have already begun arriving in Ukraine where they will be paired up with Ukrainian tank crews that have been receiving training outside of Ukraine.

Ryder did not have any details on when Ukrainian troops might begin to train on the Abrams tank and where such training could take place.

“We will ensure that the Ukrainians receive the necessary training on these tanks in time for them to be delivered,” said Ryder.

On Tuesday, senior Russian officials expressed environmental concerns about the armor piercing shells used by British Challenger 2 tanks being given to Ukraine that contain depleted uranium. The Abrams tank also fires depleted uranium rounds, but when asked by reporters if the U.S. was going to provide similar rounds to Ukraine Ryder said “not to my knowledge.”

At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Army officials confirmed that the training of 65 Ukrainian troops on how to operate the Patriot air defense system is nearing its conclusion and that the system could soon be in Ukraine.

The Patriot missile training of Ukrainian troops at Fort Sill, Oklahoma is going to wrap up in coming days according to an Army spokesman who adds that the American Patriot battery being sent to Ukraine will arrive “in coming weeks”.

The Ukrainians will depart here in the coming days, go to Europe, and depart for Ukraine in the coming weeks,” Col. Marty O’Donnell, the spokesman for U.S. Army Europe and Africa told ABC News.

The Ukrainian troops have trained at Fort Sill since mid-January in an expedited training cycle for how to use the Patriots, a training cycle that can normally last a year.

“In Europe, the Ukrainians training here will meet up with Ukrainians training in Europe, and with U.S., German, and Dutch equipment donations to validate the systems and ensure interoperability,” said O’Donnell.

The United States and Germany have each committed to providing a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine to assist with that country’s pressing air defense needs to counter Russian barrages aimed at its cities and infrastructure. The Netherlands has also committed to providing additional missiles and launch systems that will be incorporated into the German Patriot system.

The training for Ukrainian troops to use the Germany Patriot battery has been taking place in Poland.

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