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(SQUAMISH, British Columbia) — Ukrainian Plast, the country’s largest scouting organization, is becoming another center of gravity for Ukrainian families who fled the Russian war against their homeland.

Maria, 9, and her family were forced to relocate to Canada from Ukraine in 2022, several weeks after Russian armed forces invaded the country.

Although they lived in a western city of Lviv, relatively far from the Russian border, her parents considered the situation to be too dangerous to let it threaten their children’s lives and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Maria’s mother almost immediately found the local Plast branch to join it.

“This year Spring Festival was about power, and under power I understand not only physical strength, but also mental strength — the ability to stand your ground firmly and survive,” Maria said.

Since their arrival, Maria has already got four camps in her aggregate and is very proud of the new badges she earned.

“As you can see, I have over ten skills for now – much more in comparison to the number I had back in Ukraine,” she said.

But Plast is not only about gaining badges — it is more about communication, learning and uniting young people before they enter the bigger world with its challenges.

That is why, this year the Spring Festival in Squamish, a town north of Vancouver, gathered dozens of participants not only from British Columbia but also from the US.

“My father was a Plast member, so I joined the organization when I was a little child and my first camp was at 4 and I have been doing camps since then,” said Kalyna Durbak, 37, Seattle Plast branch leader.

Her grandparents were from Ukraine, but her father was born in Argentina and her mother in the U.S. Her parents met in Chicago.

Although Kalyna was not born in Ukraine, she knows the language very well because of Ukrainian school in Chicago, which she attended every Saturday for ten years, up until she was 15.

“It was like I lived two lives at a time: from Monday till Friday, I was American but at home and at the weekends, I was Ukrainian,” she said.

Now, the school experience, in particular the knowledge of Ukrainian language, geography and history partially helps in her work with young Plast members.

Kalyna agrees, that more and more new members have joined Plast in the U.S. and Canada for the last two years.

On the one hand, she is glad that the organization is growing. But, on the other, she said she feels sad that the reason for that is the war: “These feelings are bitter-sweet as I am grateful for being able to help and support our sisters and brothers in Ukraine,” Kalyna said.

Due of the growing number of Plast members in Canada, Seattle branch refused to organize the Spring Festivals by themselves and join the neighbors so close to celebrate the start of the camping year all together.

“Of course, we could do it in Seattle, but it would be joylessly – I love to see Plast members from Vancouver and they love to see us,” Kalyna said.

That is why she describes Plast as some kind of brotherhood – one great family without any borders: “Plast has no borders, I like it very much as I have friends all over the world – I know scouts from Austria, Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Argentina, obviously from Canada.”

Anastasia, 39 and her children had no experience in scouting in their native city of Odesa in southern Ukrainian. Five months ago, the family moved to Canada to find peace. So, 9-year-old Sofia and her five-year-old brother Lev joined Plast in British Columbia.

“We want our children to remain in Ukrainian community, study Ukrainian culture and support it at the proper level, communicate with other Ukrainian children,” said Anastasia.

According to her, children are still trying to adapt in Canada, as it is completely new country for them, a new world, a new language: “They used to live in their own world but now they live in a new one, they used to have their own surrounding, friends and activities, and now they have to start everything from the scratch.”

Anastasia’s and her husband’s parents are staying in Odesa, a city that is a near constant target for the Russian missiles and drones, and they are sorry for not being able to see their grandchildren.

“But the security is above all — the most important for them is to ensure that our children are safe and Plast is important for us as it is connecting us with our Motherland,” said Anastasia.

“When we moved to Canada from Ukraine many years ago, there was no any hesitation regarding the continuation of the scouting traditions on the new ground,” said Lida Slobodian, this year’s camp commandant, recollecting the great experience from her youth when she was just a common member of Plast.

She has been the Plast member for over than 30 years and her elder children were attending Plast meetings back in Ukraine.

“Therefore, I wanted my youngest child, born in here, to be able to join the organization and that is how we have created a branch in Vancouver,” she said.

According to Lida’s analysis, approximately half of the branch’s current members were scouting back in Ukraine or are local Plast members in Canada. The other half knew nothing about the organization in Ukraine and joined it already in Canada to preserve and evolve their connection to Ukraine and to the local Ukrainian community.

Normally, Plast serves as an opportunity to preserve Ukrainian identity, Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian spirit, but Lida also considers it to be a great school of life, developing leadership and other soft skills.

For children it is an opportunity to become a member of Ukrainian circle, to find new friends and to establish new connections, she said. In her opinion, the opportunities provided by Plast are very important in the Canadian multicultural society where Ukrainian children can rarely meet other kids from Ukraine in their classes at school, practice Ukrainian language in order not to forget it in new surroundings.

In particular, such camps as this Spring Festival one serves as a good chance for children to play some games, to sing songs together, to present some skit performance, learn something new – and everything in Ukrainian language.

“Besides, children learn a lot about nature, wildlife, how to act when you meet a bear, for example, surviving in the forest and in the mountains,” added Lida.

In her opinion, this camp was mostly oriented on teaching children such skills as time management and leadership, as some tasks are oriented on the proper estimation of the problem and children’s ability to take responsibility for decisions and proposing some ideas or solutions in tight schedule. There were also some games that teach developing strategic thinking and teamwork.

Kalyna shares the opinion, that Plast gives young people an opportunity to become a leader and sometimes it is the first time for them to try themselves as leaders, to bear responsibility.

“It gives them a lot of leadership skills and self-discipline – they learn how to present themselves in the world, how to become a better teacher for others and a better person,” she said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Beryl has weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall earlier Friday in Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, as tropical storm conditions continue over portions of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Beryl was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph when it came ashore northeast of the resort town of Tulum on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early Friday.

The storm continued its weakening trend as it crossed the Yucatan — leaving behind a major cleanup for resorts in Tulum, Cancun and Cozumel — and headed toward the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Beryl now aiming for Texas

As Beryl moves over the Gulf, in the direction of the U.S.-Mexico border, it could re-intensify back into a Category 1 hurricane by Sunday morning.

Beryl is expected to make landfall by early Monday morning in southern Texas — somewhere between Corpus Christi and South Padre Island, though some models show that the storm could hit farther north.

Based on the forecast from the National Hurricane Center, the storm could be a strong Category 1, with winds of 75 mph or higher.

Regardless of Beryl’s strength, it is expected to bring heavy rain to southern Texas. Rainfall could be more than 8 inches in just hours, which could produce inland flash flooding all the way to Austin and San Antonio.

Life-threatening storm surge could measure several feet and cause major coastal flooding from South Padre Island all the way to Galveston.

In addition, the prolonged period of onshore winds along the U.S. Gulf Coast could create rough beach conditions, including a risk for rip currents this holiday weekend.

Texas issued a disaster declaration for 39 counties on Friday, as officials prepared for the storm.

“We are going to be prepared for the worst, and we have assets ready to deploy as soon as we know a better direction of where that storm has gone,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during a press briefing.

Jamaica sees ‘significant’ damage

The hurricane hit Mexico after it passed just south of the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, bringing hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that was forecast to possibly produce a water rise of 4 to 6 feet and half a foot of rain.

It also left flooding and widespread damage on the island of Jamaica late Wednesday. Beryl’s center also passed just 45 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph.

Beryl was the first major hurricane — at least a Category 3 — to pass this close to Jamaica since 2007.

Damage has been reported primarily in southwestern Jamaica after Beryl battered the island, officials said.

“Jamaica was spared the worst of Hurricane Beryl, but the damages are still significant,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on social media.

About half of the island is still without power as of Thursday evening, according to a government official.

Jamaica Public Service said teams are conducting remote assessments and waiting for an all-clear from emergency management to conduct ground assessments and begin the restoration process.

One of the main cell providers in Jamaica — Digicel — has been down since the overnight hours and is working on network restoration.

The island’s three major airports closed on Tuesday as the storm approached, stranding travelers. Jamaica Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett told ABC News Thursday that power outages have impacted the airports but that all three will be fully operational on Friday.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay reopened to customers at 6 p.m. local time Thursday. Guards at the airport told ABC News that the facility sustained some damage from the storm.

Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston had said it planned to reopen Friday at 5 a.m. local time. It saw some minor damage from the storm, including a small section of the roof of the passenger boarding pier that blew off.

Ian Fleming International Airport in Ocho Rios was also planning to reopen on Friday, according to Bartlett.

ABC News’ Faith Abubey contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Beryl made landfall northeast of the resort town of Tulum on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 storm early Friday.

Beryl was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph when it came ashore, weakening to 100 mph an hour after landfall.

The hurricane hit Mexico after it left flooding and widespread damage on the island of Jamaica late Wednesday. Beryl’s center passed just 45 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph.

Beryl was the first major hurricane — at least a Category 3 — to pass this close to Jamaica since 2007.

The hurricane passed just south of the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, bringing hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that was forecast to possibly produce a water rise of 4 to 6 feet and half a foot of rain.

Beryl is forecast to continue its weakening trend as it crosses the Yucatan.

In Tulum, a mandatory curfew went into effect Thursday at 4 p.m. local time due to the storm.

By Friday evening, Beryl should cross into the southern Gulf of Mexico and weaken into a tropical storm.

As Beryl moves over the Gulf, in the direction of the U.S.-Mexico border, it could re-intensify back into a hurricane, with winds near 75 mph ahead of making landfall sometime Monday morning. Right now, it’s too soon to tell exactly where it will make landfall along the Gulf Coast, but models are currently predicting just south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Regardless of Beryl’s strength, it is expected to bring heavy rain to southern Texas and could produce coastal flooding on the Texas Gulf Coast, from Galveston to South Padre Island, and the Florida Panhandle.

In addition, the prolonged period of onshore winds along the U.S. Gulf Coast could create rough beach conditions, including a risk for rip currents this holiday weekend.

Jamaica assessing damage

Damage has been reported primarily in southwestern Jamaica after Beryl battered the island, officials said.

“Jamaica was spared the worst of Hurricane Beryl, but the damages are still significant,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on social media.

About half of the island is still without power as of Thursday evening, according to a government official.

Jamaica Public Service said teams are conducting remote assessments and waiting for an all-clear from emergency management to conduct ground assessments and begin the restoration process.

One of the main cell providers in Jamaica — Digicel — has been down since the overnight hours and is working on network restoration.

The island’s three major airports closed on Tuesday as the storm approached, stranding travelers. Jamaica Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett told ABC News Thursday that power outages have impacted the airports but that all three will be fully operational on Friday.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay reopened to customers at 6 p.m. local time Thursday. Guards at the airport told ABC News that the facility sustained some damage from the storm.

Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston had said it planned to reopen Friday at 5 a.m. local time. It saw some minor damage from the storm, including a small section of the roof of the passenger boarding pier that blew off.

Ian Fleming International Airport in Ocho Rios was also planning to reopen on Friday, according to Bartlett.

ABC News’ Faith Abubey contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — A change election in the United Kingdom has taken place as the center-left Labour Party won a huge landslide, putting a crushing end to the 14-year rule of the Conservative Party, which suffered a record devastating defeat — perhaps the worst in its history.

Voters have inflicted a historic wipe out on the Tory party that led Britain through Brexit and, with almost all results called, Labour has won over 400 seats, gaining a huge majority of more than 190, comparable to Tony Blair’s sweeping victory in 1997. The Tories meanwhile have lost hundreds of seats, on track for the worst result since the party’s founding in the 1830s.

Labour’s Keir Starmer became prime minister Friday morning after Rishi Sunak resigned in front of King Charles III and Starmer met him immediately after to ask for permission to form a government, a formality that was granted by the reigning monarch.

Starmer is now the first Labour leader to win an election since Tony Blair.

The result is notable as a win for centrist progressives amid the far-right populist surge in the U.S. and many other major Western countries as the British electorate voted overwhelming to sweep out the Tories, blaming their anger at the crumbling state of Britain’s public services and years of political chaos following Brexit.

Starmer only became the Labour leader in 2019 and has dragged his party back to the center ground, wrestling it away from the influence of Bernie Sanders-like left-wing former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer ran on a platform to “end the chaos” and to begin slowly reinvigorating Britain’s services and infrastructure. He has also promised to move away from culture war debates, including Brexit, saying the U.K. will not rejoin in his lifetime.

The Tories, meanwhile, are now enduring what one of its leading figures described last night as an “electoral apocalypse.”

Many of the party’s best-known figures lost their seats on Thursday, including a record number of cabinet ministers, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss who was unceremoniously swept aside, as well as a lead campaigner of Brexit, Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held his own seat but led a weak campaign after choosing to call the snap election six weeks ago, making repeated gaffes — most damagingly returning home early from D-Day commemorations to do a TV interview. Sunak, the last of five consecutive conservative prime ministers since 2016, lasted just 18 months in the job.

Labour has a number of challenges in front of them now as they attempt to govern the country as the Tories suffered such a massive defeat, in part because of the rise of a far right anti-immigrant populist party, Reform, led by Brexiteer-in-chief, Nigel Farage, who finally was elected to parliament, took huge chunks of the Tory vote.

Also concerning for Labour, despite their enormous majority, the party won a record-low proportion of the total popular vote, only around 35%. That suggests despite a strong desire for change and to give Labour a chance, there is little overall enthusiasm for Starmer.

Starmer now faces a challenge to meet the potential of his huge majority. Unlike when Blair came to power, the U.K. is facing a far more difficult economic outlook and ominous state finances, making fixing Britain’s struggling public services daunting.

Starmer, however, has acknowledged as much, saying throughout the campaign — and following his victory — that improvement will be slow and hard at first. He has promised to hit the ground running, pledging to cut short parliament’s summer recess to start work on his agenda, with Labour saying they will focus immediately on issues like housing, as well as confronting an urgent crisis of overcrowding in prisons.

The more modest promises reflect the more difficult realities Britain faces, but is also a marked change in tone from right wing populist forces rising elsewhere across Europe.

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(LONDON) — Polls opened Friday in Iran for the run-off presidential election as none of the four candidates won more than 50% of the votes in the first round on June 28.

Lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, and former nuclear negotiator for Iran, Saeed Jalili, a conservative, found their way to the top of the ballots with Pezeshkian leading but still not solidifying a majority.

Once known as rivals in the Islamic Republic’s political scene, Iranian reformists and the conservative party used to convince people to cast their votes for them by advocating for different and competing plans, stoking emotions and encouraging large voter turnout.

However, the first round of this election had the lowest turnout in the 45-year history of the theocratic regime, with official statistics saying only 40% of the eligible voters had cast their votes, though even that number is largely disputed by analysts who believe the real turnout was much lower.

The turnout is seen as a disappointing result for the country as the Islamic Republic leadership has repeatedly used election turnouts as a major indicator to prove its legitimacy on the international scene and within diplomatic negotiations.

However, even the reformist candidate, Pezeshkian, along with many activists and former and current political prisoners and families of victims of the last decades of Islamic Republic ruling, has been advocating for boycotting this election, saying there is no fundamental difference between the two parties and no change can be expected from either of them.

Some remarks of Pezeshkian have specifically been highlighted by advocates for election boycott, including his reference to execution and his background in implementing compulsory hijab rules against women.

“I will withdraw from the elections if Mr. Jalili promises he would get executed if he does not achieve the 8% growth in his government,” Pezeshkian said recently in a TV debate.

While the reference was described as “irresponsible” and “careless” by users on social media — and even some of his supporters who believe any form of execution must be banned — he later posted it on his X account.

However, Pezeshkian’s supporters believe that if his conservative rival wins, even the smallest possibility of any political changes that could ease people’s livelihoods would be lost due to Jalili’s role in leading the Islamic Republic nuclear negotiation team from 2007 through 2013 when the country faced many international sanctions because of its nuclear activities.

The snap election was called after the late President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19 and, according to the country’s constitution, upon the death of a president, the next president must be elected within 50 days.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — After 14 years in power with five consecutive prime ministers, the Associated Press’ exit poll suggests the U.K.’s Conservative Party has been voted out of power on Thursday, ceding control to Labour, a center-left party that had run on a platform calling for “change.”

The results were widely expected, as public support for the Conservatives, or Tories, had eroded amid Brexit, COVID and rising inflation.

Based on the AP exit poll, Labour is expected to win 410 seats out of the House of Commons’ 650 seats, while the Conservatives will take 131 seats.

Liberal Democrats are expected to have earned 61 seats, per the AP exit poll, while the right-wing Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is expected to have earned 13. The Scottish National Party is predicted to have earned 10 seats. The exit poll also suggested the Green Party earned 2, per the AP.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. across the United Kingdom on Thursday, marking the country’s first national vote since 2019. Voters in 650 constituencies were expected to cast ballots for members of the House of Commons.

Prior to Thursday’s election, opinion polls in Britain have for more than two years predicted the Conservatives are heading for a “heavy defeat,” Pippa Catterall, a professor of history and politics at the University of Westminster, told ABC News.

“The Conservatives nonetheless went into the election with the hope that, as usual, the polls would narrow in their favor,” Catterall said. “Instead, it got worse.”

The Labour Party’s leader, Keir Starmer, who is now expected to become prime minister, said he hoped to put an end to the Conservative “chaos.”

His campaign released a “manifesto” laying out some of his government’s plans, including cutting hospital wait times, ushering in a greener economy and improving the U.K.’s post-Brexit trade deals with the European Union.

“From Ukraine to Gaza, Labour’s foreign and defense policy essentially mirrors the current government’s,” Dr. David S. Moon, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Bath, told ABC News. “Starmer’s Brexit plan lacks specifics beyond promising to negotiate a ‘better deal.'”

Moon and other political observers said it’s little surprise the Labour Party has focused its messaging on what the Conservatives have done with their time in office rather than campaigning solely on what they hope to accomplish.

Since David Cameron’s victory in the 2010 general election, the center-right Tories have led the country through a period of economic “austerity,” its exit from the European Union, the COVID pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.

“A Starmer victory seems more the product of a media backlash against the Conservatives following the scandal-plagued Johnson and Truss years rather than excitement about policy proposals, with Labour now seen across newsrooms as a safe alternative following Starmer’s shifting of the party to the right,” Moon said.

Cameron had called for the Brexit referendum before stepping down from power in 2016. He was followed in office by Theresa May, who put together a Brexit deal but stepped down before the deal could be completed. Johnson, in his 2019 campaign, promised to “Get Brexit Done,” and the country left in January 2020.

But the Tory’s leadership during the U.K.’s messy exit from the European Union is likely only one of many reasons that support for the party has waned, said Sean D. Ehrlich, associate professor of political science at Florida State University.

Johnson oversaw a chaotic rollout of COVID restrictions, which were then broken by Johnson himself during a Christmas gathering at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence.

Truss introduced a “mini-budget” in 2022 that included a series of tax cuts aimed a growing the economy, but she reversed course within days amid public backlash.

British inflation then spiked under Sunak, rising to a high of 11% in late 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.

“The Conservatives are deeply unpopular in large part because they are no longer viewed as competent,” Ehrlich said. “Their struggles to implement Brexit play a large role in this decline in support but the election should probably not be viewed as a repudiation of Brexit itself.”

About six weeks ago, as Sunak announced he was calling a general election for July, he was caught in the rain in front of Downing Street without an umbrella.

The prime minister, who came to power in 2022 via an internal party election, has said Labour’s election would lead to weaker border security and higher taxes. He said Thursday that a Tory defeat could mean “higher taxes for a generation.”

“Labour would increase taxes on every part of your life, including your death,” he said on social media.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations have stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

10:00 AM EDT
Biden to speak with Netanyahu: Source

President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Even as Biden tries to stave off criticism for his debate performance in the U.S., he is also trying to tamp down the mounting conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon. Hundreds of rockets were fired into northern Israel on Thursday, though no one was injured.

6:01 AM EDT
Hezbollah fires 200 rockets, drones toward Israel

Hezbollah militants said they fired more than 200 rockets and drones toward Israel on Thursday.

Sirens and alerts began sounding throughout northern Israel early on Thursday, officials said.

As the sirens began “numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

Jul 03, 1:44 PM
Israel assassinates highest ranking Hezbollah commander since Oct. 8

Israel assassinated the commander of Hezbollah’s Aziz Unit, based in southern Lebanon, Israel claimed and Hezbollah acknowledged.

Muhammad Ni’Mah Nasser is one of the most senior commanders killed since Hezbollah began firing at Israel in solidarity with Gaza on Oct. 8.

Hezbollah has responded with around 100 rockets in the last three hours, according to the IDF. No major damage has been reported.

Both sides have said they are ready for war and that they are ready to ink a peace deal brokered by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein. A senior Hezbollah official said this week it can only sign the deal after Israel reaches a cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza.

-ABC News’ Matt Gutman

Jul 02, 4:34 PM
European Gaza Hospital now empty following evacuation orders: WHO

All patients and medical staff have left European Gaza Hospital in southern Gaza, following evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces in Khan Younis, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The hospital, which had 320 patients, is “now completely empty,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“It is devastating to see the 650-bed-capacity hospital out of service at a time when access to health care is urgently needed,” he said in a statement while calling on the hospital to be made operational “immediately.”

Most patients were being referred to Nasser Medical Complex, which is now at full capacity and facing a shortage of medical supplies, the WHO said.

Jul 02, 4:16 PM
Evacuation order is largest in Gaza since October: UN

The Israel Defense Forces’ evacuation order for a region in southern Gaza on Monday was the largest such order since October 2023, according to the United Nations.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East estimated that 250,000 people are impacted by the evacuation order in Khan Younis. The evacuation zone covers 117 square kilometers, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Jul 01, 1:12 PM
IDF orders evacuation of area in Khan Younis amid response to rocket attack

The Israel Defense Forces ordered hundreds of people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza to evacuate amid its response to a rocket attack, the military said.

The area for evacuation is near the European Hospital, according to a leaflet distributed in the region Monday.

“For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone,” the leaflet stated.

The IDF said the evacuation is in response to an earlier rocket attack that came from the area involving approximately 20 projectiles.

“A number of the projectiles were intercepted and some of the projectiles fell inside southern Israel. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said in a statement. “IDF Artillery is currently striking the sources of the fire.”

-ABC News’ Sami Zyara and Matt Gutman

Jun 29, 3:44 PM
Hostage speaks 1st time since release

Noa Argamani, one of four hostages rescued during a deadly IDF raid on June 8, released a video thanking Israeli forces for rescuing her and calls for the release of the remaining hostages, including her boyfriend, in her first public remarks since she was released.

They were separated during the kidnapping, according to Argamani.

“I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are still 120 hostages in Hamas captivity. Among them is Avinatan Or, my partner, from whom I was separated at the moment of abduction. Although I’m home now, we can’t forget about the hostages who are still in Hamas captivity, and we must do everything possible to bring them back home,” Argamani said.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

Jun 28, 2:31 PM
Military pier in Gaza to be taken offline again: US official

The U.S. military pier in Gaza will be taken offline again on Friday and moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to high seas, according to a U.S. official.

This is a precautionary move to protect the pier from breaking due to rough waves, the official said.

This is the third time the pier has had to be moved to Ashdod because of weather. The pier has been operational only about half of the time since it opened in mid-May.

“I don’t have a date of when the pier would be reinstalled,” Defense Department deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday, noting that Centcom will assess the sea conditions over the weekend.

As the pier was moved away Friday, two U.S. officials told ABC News that officials are considering not re-installing the pier until the humanitarian aid that it brought to Gaza gets distributed. More than 19 million pounds of aid has been delivered to Gaza via the pier but it’s now piling up at the staging point at the edge of the pier, Singh said.

Inspectors General at the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Thursday that they’re launching reviews of the mission to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza via the military’s temporary pier system.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Luis Martinez

Jun 28, 11:31 AM
Israel, US discussing transfer of Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine

Israel and the U.S. are discussing the transfer of Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

This agreement — not yet finalized, according to the source — would mark a shift in Israel’s public policy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A key factor behind Israel’s willingness to discuss the transfer of Patriot air defense batteries is the tightening military alliance between Russia and Iran.

In April, Israel announced the decommissioning of U.S.-donated Patriot systems from its aerial defense array. Security sources previously said Patriot has been successfully replaced by the Israeli-made David’s Sling air and missile defense system.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

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(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Beryl has weakened to a Category 3 storm on Thursday, but not before leaving flooding and widespread damage on the island of Jamaica late Wednesday.

Beryl’s center passed just 45 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph.

Beryl was the first major hurricane — at least a Category 3 — to pass this close to Jamaica since 2007.

By Thursday morning, Beryl had weakened to Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph, as it approaches the Cayman Islands.

The hurricane should pass just south of the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, bringing hurricane-force winds and storm surge that could produce a water rise of 4 to 6 feet as well as half a foot of rain.

The next landfall for Beryl will likely be on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where major resorts such as Cancun, Playa De Carmen and Tulum are under hurricane warnings.

Beryl could be a Category 1 hurricane as it reaches the Mexican resorts early Friday morning with wind gusts near 74 to 85 mph, storm surge up to 3 feet and up to 8 inches of rain.

By Friday evening, Beryl should cross into the southern Gulf of Mexico and weaken into a tropical storm.

As Beryl moves over the Gulf, in the direction of U.S.-Mexico border, it could re-intensify back into a hurricane, with winds near 75 mph ahead of landfall. Right now, it’s too soon to tell exactly where it will make landfall along the Gulf Coast, with models predicting anywhere from northeastern Mexico to Texas’ Gulf Coast.

Regardless of Beryl’s strength, it is expected to bring heavy rain to southern Texas.

In addition, the prolonged period of onshore winds along the U.S. Gulf Coast could create rough beach conditions, including a risk for rip currents this holiday weekend.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — As former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed a Conservative Party rally in London on Tuesday, he made clear that opinion polls were predicting his party was expected to be swept out of power with Thursday’s election.

“I think and hope the British people will show more sense on Thursday and draw back from the brink,” Johnson said during his first campaign speech in support of current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

One of Sunak’s cabinet members, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, put the party’s prospects more succinctly the following day, writing in an op-ed published Wednesday that “it’s over.”

After 14 years in power with five consecutive prime ministers — including Liz Truss, who served just 44 days — the Conservatives, or Tories, are expected to be voted out in favor of Labour, a center-left party that has run on a platform calling for “change.”

Polls opened at 7 a.m. across the United Kingdom on Thursday, marking the country’s first national vote since 2019. An exit poll is scheduled to be published at 10 p.m., suggesting winners in key races.

Opinion polls in Britain have for more than two years predicted the Conservatives are heading for a “heavy defeat,” Pippa Catterall, a professor of history and politics at the University of Westminster, told ABC News.

“The Conservatives nonetheless went into the election with the hope that, as usual, the polls would narrow in their favor,” Catterall said. “Instead, it got worse.”

The Labour Party’s leader, Keir Starmer, who would become prime minister, said he hoped to put an end to the Conservative “chaos.”

His campaign released a “manifesto” laying out some of his government’s plans, including cutting hospital wait times, ushering in a greener economy and improving the U.K.’s post-Brexit trade deals with the European Union.

“From Ukraine to Gaza, Labour’s foreign and defense policy essentially mirrors the current government’s,” Dr. David S. Moon, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Bath, told ABC News. “Starmer’s Brexit plan lacks specifics beyond promising to negotiate a ‘better deal.'”

Moon and other political observers said it’s little surprise the Labour Party has focused its messaging on what the Conservatives have done with their time in office rather than campaigning solely on what they hope to accomplish.

Since David Cameron’s victory in the 2010 general election, the center-right Tories have led the country through a period of economic “austerity,” its exit from the European Union, the COVID pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.

“A Starmer victory seems more the product of a media backlash against the Conservatives following the scandal-plagued Johnson and Truss years rather than excitement about policy proposals, with Labour now seen across newsrooms as a safe alternative following Starmer’s shifting of the party to the right,” Moon said.

Cameron had called for the Brexit referendum before stepping down from power in 2016. He was followed in office by Theresa May, who put together a Brexit deal but stepped down before the deal could be completed. Johnson in his 2019 campaign promised to “Get Brexit Done,” and the country left in January 2020.

But the Tory’s leadership during the U.K.’s messy exit from the European Union is likely only one of many reasons that support for the party has waned, said Sean D. Ehrlich, associate professor of political science at Florida State University.

“The Conservatives are deeply unpopular in large part because they are no longer viewed as competent,” he said. “Their struggles to implement Brexit play a large role in this decline in support but the election should probably not be viewed as a repudiation of Brexit itself.”

About six weeks ago, Sunak stood in the pouring rain in front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, and announced he was calling an election.

The prime minister, who came to power in 2022 via an internal party election, has said Labour’s election would lead to weaker border security and higher taxes. He said Thursday that a Tory defeat could mean “higher taxes for a generation.”

“Labour would increase taxes on every part of your life, including your death,” he said on social media.

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(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Beryl is slamming Jamaica with life-threatening impacts.

Wind gusts were up to 175 mph as the Category 4 storm moved past the south side of the island Wednesday afternoon.

Storm surge up to 9 feet and 4 to 8 inches of rain are expected on Jamaica due to the storm. Up to a foot of rain is possible locally, which could trigger flash flooding and mudslides.

As the storm barreled toward Jamaica, the country’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, preemptively declared the entire island a disaster area in an address to the public Tuesday night.

Holmes also said an islandwide curfew will be in place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Although the cyclone has lost some steam as it closes in on Jamaica, it has already caused six deaths in the Caribbean.

Beryl was downgraded to a Category 4 from a Category 5, but its maximum sustained winds remained dangerous at 140 mph Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center. A hurricane warning has been issued for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

In anticipation of the storm, Jamaican officials shuttered three airports on Tuesday. They will stay closed through Wednesday, and reopening will be announced pending post-storm assessments.

Sangster International Airport (Montego Bay), Norman Manley International Airport (Kingston) and Ian Fleming International Airport (Boscobel) have all closed.

Current forecast beyond Jamaica

The storm is expected to impact the Cayman Islands overnight and into Thursday morning, with winds around 100 mph possible.

A weakening trend will continue through the rest of the week as Beryl sweeps across the Caribbean Sea and encounters less favorable atmospheric conditions.

Beryl will then aim for Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula by the end of the week. The current forecast calls for another landfall sometime on Friday south of Cancun as a Category 1 storm. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coasts of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun.

The same general area of eastern Mexico will likely now see impacts from all three of the first named storms of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, after being hit by Tropical Storms Alberto and Chris.

Beyond that, Beryl could weaken to a tropical storm, with maximum winds of 65 mph, but atmospheric conditions could become more favorable as it moves into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. By Sunday morning, Beryl could once again become a hurricane with winds near 75 mph. The current forecast calls for another landfall Sunday or Monday somewhere near the Mexico-U.S. border, near South Padre Island, possibly as a Category 1 storm. Some models push Beryl parallel to the Texas coast.

The storm is expected to bring flooding rain, storm surge and coastal flooding all the way to Corpus Christi by early next week. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is warning of life-threatening rip currents and large surf for the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Texas.

Deadly storm

The hurricane killed three people in Cariacou in Grenada, where it made landfall on Monday, officials said. Another death from the storm was reported in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and two people were killed in northern Venezuela, officials in those countries said.

Hurricane Beryl had strengthened into a Category 5 storm heading into Tuesday as it moved through the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, becoming the strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record.

Early Tuesday, Beryl was packing maximum winds of 165 mph. The hurricane surpassed the July record of 160 mph maximum winds produced by Hurricane Emily in 2005, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The outer bands of Beryl also brought heavy rain to southern portions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti late Tuesday and into Wednesday.

Residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were cleaning up Tuesday and assessing damage. Schools, homes, buildings and farmland sustained extensive hurricane damage, officials said. On Union Island, which is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, authorities said 90% of the houses were either destroyed or severely damaged, and the roof of the Union Island airport was ripped off by the hurricane’s buzzsaw-like winds. Heavy damage was also reported at Argyle International Airport on St. Vincent.

The one death reported in the Grenadines occurred on Bequia Island, officials said.

After touring the damaged areas on Tuesday, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told reporters that Beryl “left in its wake immense destruction.”

Sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean Sea are running warmer than average for this time of the year, more in line with where they would be at the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season rather than early July. This is providing ample fuel for Beryl’s extreme intensification.

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