World

(LONDON) — The Islamic Republic of Iran said it executed three men Friday morning on charges of “waging war against God” and collaboration with terrorist groups.

The judiciary’s website Mizan claimed that Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi’s charges were based on their confessions that they were involved in killing three members of the regime’s forces during protests in Isfahan last November.

Protests in Isfahan and other cities across the country erupted in September after 22-year old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not fully abiding with the mandatory hijab rule of the country, died in police custody.

At least 22,000 people had been arrested across the country in the ensuing protests, as the Islamic Republic News Agency confirmed. Iran Human Rights reported that at least 537 people were killed by the regime which never accepted the responsibility of what happened to Amini.

After Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the execution sentences of Kazemi, Mirhashemi and Yaghubi, families of the men executed Friday and members of the Iranian public pleaded with international bodies to take any action to stop the Islamic Republic from carrying out the sentences.

Amnesty International said the men’s fast-tracked trial was flawed and then pointed out there were significant procedural flaws, lack of evidence, and torture allegations that were never investigated.

In a last message that the three men reportedly signed and smuggled out of the prison, they asked the public to help them stop the regime from executing them.

“Hello, we ask you dear fellow citizens not to let them kill us. We need your help. We need your support,” the message signed on May 17 reads.

In December, Mohsen Shekari was the first person hanged for alleged crimes related to the protests after allegedly holding up traffic and assaulting a guard. Less than a week later, 22-year-old Majid Reza Rahnavard, who had been convicted on charges of “waging war against God” amid protests, was executed.

According to the Iran Human Rights group, 13 executions were recorded on May 18 and at least 90 people have been executed since the start of the month.

United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on May 9 that Iran is executing a “frighteningly” high number of people, with over 209 executed so far since January.

“On average so far this year, over 10 people are put to death each week in Iran, making it one the world’s highest executors,” said Türk.

Protests against the regime erupted across the country Friday in response to the executions.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — A year since Russia took control of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, plans for reconstruction are under way but former residents aren’t convinced.

The siege of Mariupol started the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ended on May 20, 2022. The battle ended with the surrender of the last Ukrainian fighters at their final stronghold — the Azovstal steel plant.

Katya Plechystova got a call on that day from an unknown number. It was her husband Oleg. For three months he had been defending their hometown while fighting for the Ukrainian army. They hadn’t spoken — except for the very occasional text message — since before the invasion.

“He said that they are leaving the plant, that this is just an evacuation through Russia and that they have guarantees that everything would be fine,” Katya says. That was the last time Katya spoke to Oleg. “There has been no information about his whereabouts for this whole year”

Dmytro Kozatsky was at Azovstal with Oleg. He struggles to talk about his experience. “In general, these three months passed like a whole separate life,” he told ABC News.

He says the worst moments were after airstrikes and having to call out to make sure everyone was still alive.

“Any time someone died during these strikes, that was probably the toughest,” he said.

Dmytro surrendered with Oleg on May 20 and was held in prison barracks with other Azovstal fighters before being exchanged in a prisoner swap in September.

Neither Dmytro nor Katya can picture what the future looks like for Mariupol. Russia has used their efforts to rebuild the city for positive press, with President Vladimir Putin visiting a new apartment building as an example back in March.

But Dmytro is unimpressed.

“I would love for the city to be rebuilt and reformed, but it’s very difficult for me now to imagine how that could be done,” he said.

Russia put together plans for Mariupol’s future as a Russian city almost immediately after the siege ended. In July 2022, local Russian-backed authorities signed into law a sweeping new bill outlining the reconstruction of Mariupol up to the year 2035.

The plan — published in full by Russian media outlet The Village — breaks down reconstruction by neighborhood, and projects a return to the city’s pre-war population by 2030. The Russian construction ministry announced in January that there were no plans for Azovstal to be repaired as the steel plant it once was. Instead, it is being envisioned as a vast business park with sprawling green spaces.

Satellite imagery indicates that the neighborhood next to it, which was severely damaged in the fighting, has been almost completely demolished in preparation for development.

To Katya, even a Ukrainian-controlled Mariupol would not be enough for her to go back.

“I can’t imagine returning to the city because of all the pain and suffering I associate with it, because of all the pain my husband lived through in that city,” she says. “I have this feeling inside of me that Mariupol was wiped out. There is nothing they could do to bring it back to me.”

Maria Vdovichenko, however, is one former resident who does dream of returning.

Having just graduated from high school, she lived through the siege of Mariupol as a civilian and when her apartment block came under fire in early March, her family moved to the basement for two long weeks.

“The shelling continued every day, every night. And every night we thought maybe we would die, maybe we wouldn’t survive because we were also without food, and without water,” she says. On March 17, her father decided they couldn’t wait any longer and they started the dangerous drive out of the city.

They passed through a Russian “filtration camp” where soldiers checked their documents for any sign of support for Ukraine before violently assaulting both Maria and her father. After 27 checkpoints, they finally arrived in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Since then, Maria has been in Kyiv but she dreams of returning to Mariupol.

“I want to see all the streets, my drama theatre, my home. My home is destroyed in Mariupol, but I want to see it because I miss my city so much,” she says.

Maria wants to go to university to study something that would help her give back to her country. She says her family used to have big dreams before the war, but things have changed now, “We want to just live, in our home, our country, our land.”

Buildings in Maria’s neighborhood have slowly been demolished over the last year, though no new apartment blocks have been built in their place. In March of this year, a sign was put up on Maria’s old apartment block in Mariupol telling residents to leave the building by March 17 — exactly one year since Maria’s family fled.

The building was demolished just three days later and the ground has now been prepared for a new building to take its place.

ABC News’ Yulia Drozd contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — An Iranian judiciary banned grape juicing at Tehran’s central fruit and vegetable market on Wednesday. Grape juicing refers to the process of making grape juice in Tehran. Residents buy large amounts of grapes ranging from 120-150 kilograms, which translates to almost 350 pounds, from the local fruit market.

The move is the latest attempt to prevent people from making wine at home during the grape season. Tehran’s fruit and vegetable contractors’ union, however, says the judiciary’s decision was meant to redirect the business owners back to their “authorized licenses.”

Banning alcoholic beverages was one of the first decisions made by the religious officials of the Islamic Republic after the Islamic Revolution took over Iran in 1979. As a result, liquor stores, pubs and bars were closed throughout the country, bottles were removed from the shelves and alcohol was removed from menus. Since then, alcohol consumers have been pushed to secretly make their own beverages and rely on illegal smugglers while risking harsh punishments.

“It is such a ridiculous and desperate move to ban grape juicing,” said Ramin, a 42-year-old Tehran-based writer, who used a pseudonym so he could freely express his ideas. Ramin makes his own alcoholic drinks, such as red and white wine, Roku gin, spiced rum and vodka. “It will be more hassle. But those who have been making their own drinks can’t be stopped by this,” he added.

An Iranian lawyer told ABC News that based on the Islamic Republic judicial regulations, the punishment for consuming alcohol when arrested for the first, second, and third offenses is 80 lashes. “The sentence for the fourth arrest is execution,” the lawyer said, who did not want their name to be disclosed for security reasons.

“Banning the fruit and vegetable market from juicing the grapes is yet another form of punishment the regime is inflicting on us for our participation in the past few months of revolution,” Ramin said, referring to the Mahsa Amini movement in which hundreds were killed and thousands were arrested amid protests ignited by the death of Amini in police custody.

Amini had been arrested for allegedly not fully obliging to wearing the mandatory hijab. “Just like the hijab law, the ridiculous ban on grape juicing is set to remind us who the boss is in public places,” Ramin said.

Explaining the importance of the public space for the regime, Ramin said consuming alcohol in public, or “seeing signs that prove alcohol is made and used in the country” is something the regime tries to prevent to prove its power by simply banning it.

Lack of access to standard products has led to several alcohol consumption crises in Iran. The most severe cases happened in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 600 people died after consuming poisonous products instead of normal alcoholic beverages, the judiciary spokesman said. The surge happened as the misinformation spread false claims on how alcohol could create immunity against the COVID-19 virus.

In one of the rare comments made by the Islamic Republic officials, the deputy minister of the interior minister said in a conference in January 2022 that at least “nine to 10% of 15- to 64-year-old people” drink alcohol, as ISNA reported. It means that “more than five million people” out of the 80 million population of the country consumed alcohol every year,” according to the ISNA report.

Reacting to the deputy minister’s comment on alcohol consumption, Mohammad Reza Ghadirzadeh, social worker and addiction treatment specialist, told Roozeno the real statistics might be different, as consuming alcohol is considered a “taboo” in the country.

“Because earning any money by making, distributing or smuggling alcohol is considered as black money, there is no transparency or data on it or even on crimes related to it,” the Iranian lawyer told ABC News.

“What do we do now? We’ll bring those grapes home and juice it ourselves in big buckets with a group of friends over a weekend,” Ramin said. “It is more hassle, but it is more fun and gives us a better-quality wine,” he added.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — A group of North Koreans crossed the Northern Limit Line in a fishing boat and South Korea’s navy patrol boat located the group, South Korean authorities said Thursday.

The incident took place on May 6 and authorities from the Defense Ministry, National Intelligence, and the Unification Ministry said that the government is interrogating those North Koreans and cannot share any details at the moment.

The number of North Koreans fleeing to the South has dramatically decreased from over 1,000 every year for most of the 2000s to around 100 since the COVID-19 breakout in 2020, data from the Unification Ministry shows.

229 people defected from North Korea to South Korea in 2020, but less than 100 defected from North Korea in 2021 and 2022, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification. Provisionally, 34 people have defected in 2023, according to the Unification Ministry.

The drop in defectors seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and the following years has not been seen since the 1990s, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report.

One of the main factors causing the drop in defectors was the closure of the North Korean border to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, CSIS said in the report. Other efforts, like North Korea’s campaign to publicize how difficult life in South Korea is, also could have contributed to the decline, CSIS said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Fossil fragments found in Spain are pointing to a new species of dinosaur, researchers said.

Scientists have proposed a new species of spinosaurid after studying the specimen, which includes a right jaw bone, one tooth and five vertebrate, found in the Arcillas de Morella Formation in Castellon, Spain, in 2011, according to a study published in Scientific Reports on Thursday.

Spinosaurids are often characterized by their large bodies, which stand on two feet. The group of dinosaurs, which include the Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, are also typically carnivorous.

The fossils date to the late Barremian or Early Cretaceous period — between 127 million and 126 million years ago, the authors said. Based on the remains, the researchers believe the dinosaur was between 10 meters to 11 meters long, or about 32 feet to 36 feet.

After comparing the specimen to other spinosaurids, the researchers determined it as both a new species and a new genus of spinosaurid, naming it Protathlitis cinctorrensis, with Protathlitis meaning “champion” in Greek and “cinctorrensis” in honor of the town, Cinctorres, in which the fossils were uncovered, according to the study.

The name “Champion” was in reference to the UEFA Europa League title won by European soccer club Villarreal C.F. in 2021 and to celebrate the club’s 100th anniversary in 2023, lead researcher Jose Santos‑Cubedo told ABC News.

Protathlitis cinctorrensis also has an elongated snout fitted with numerous conical teeth and used their hands to capture prey, Santos‑Cubedo said.

The finding suggests the Iberian peninsula may have been a diverse area for medium to large-bodied spinosaurid dinosaurs, shedding further light on the origin and evolution of the type of dinosaur.

It is believed that spinosaurids may have originated in Europe and then migrated from Africa to Asia, according to the paper. Evidence of their existence in Spain is mostly based on fossilized tooth remains.

The researchers believe this new species may indicate that spinosaurids appeared during the Early Cretaceous period in Laurasia — a large area of land in the northern European hemisphere — with two sub-groups of species occupying western Europe, according to the paper.

The spinosaurids may have later migrated to Africa and Asia, where they diversified.

“In Europe, baryonychines were dominant, while in Africa, spinosaurines were the most abundant,” Santos‑Cubedo said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — U.S. Avenger air defense systems, which are mounted on Humvees and are highly mobile, are now being used to protect major Ukrainian cities and to protect Ukraine’s ground forces near the frontline, according to a senior Ukrainian official.

One of Ukraine’s most senior commanders also confirmed to ABC News that all 12 Avenger systems promised by the Biden administration are in Ukraine and operational. In November, four short-range Avenger air defense systems were announced as part of a $400 million defense package for Ukraine.

Lt. Gen. Serhiy Nayev, who is in charge of Ukrainian forces stationed along the border with Belarus and Russia, described the Avenger as “a very important boost” for Ukraine’s air defenses in an exclusive interview.

The Avenger has laser and infrared technology to identify and track targets and its dual launchers can carry a total of eight heat-seeking Stinger missiles.

ABC News was the first media organization to film an Avenger in a secret location in central Ukraine.

Nayev said the air defense system had already proved to be “very effective” because when deployed they are “constantly on the move” and “ready for the next strike.”

The Avenger can be used to intercept helicopters or low-flying aircraft.

However, Nayev said the technology was proving adept at intercepting cruise missiles and lethal attack drones at night, or in the day and in any type of weather.

“It’s good for the troops [operating the system,] as they feel confident they can hit the target,” he said.

Ukraine’s air defenses are again in sharp focus after a barrage of Russian ballistic and cruise missiles struck Kyiv on Monday night, including several hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles.

Moscow previously claimed the Kinzhal, which means “dagger” in Russian, could not be shot down.

Ukrainian officials claimed all 25 missiles fired on Monday night were shot down.

However, one of the explosions did cause minor damage to a component of a highly sophisticated Patriot air defense battery, according to a Ukrainian military source and a U.S. official.

The U.S. official said the overall Patriot system was still operational and could be fixed “soon.”

Ukrainian officials said their ability to defend Kyiv against an “exceptional” barrage of Russian missiles showed how much their overall defenses had improved.

Nayev told ABC News that the efficiency of Ukraine’s air defenses had “increased by 100%” thanks to donated systems from Europe and the U.S.

As well as one highly sophisticated Patriot system and the 12 Avengers, the Biden administration has pledged to supply Ukraine with eight advanced Surface-to-Air NASAMS systems, a Hawk air defense system and other types of radar missiles and guns for air defense.

Ukraine’s European allies have also supplied an array of advanced air defense systems such as Germany’s sophisticated IRIS-T as well as the long-range Italian and French made SAMP/T.

For Vitaliy, a commander in Ukraine’s Air Force whose unit operates an Avenger system, the technology is a massive leap from old Soviet systems which Ukraine relied on in the past.

Vitaliy, who didn’t give his surname for security reasons, and his team recently completed training by American military personnel on the Avenger system in Germany.

With his family based in Kyiv, he thanked the United States for helping Ukraine to protect its skies and the people he loves.

“I only have my family, and I must protect them,” he said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ISTANBUL) — Voters in Turkey will return to the polls soon as no candidate was able to receive 50% of voting in the first round of the critical presidential election.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled the country for 20 years and has won the majority of the elections, got 49.2% of the May 14 vote, while his Social Democrat rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu who was nominated by the opposition as a joint candidate, received at 44.5%. Independent Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan got over 5% of the vote and also positioned himself in a strong position by almost holding the key to determine the winner in the second round.

The two candidates with the most votes will enter the second round. However, Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu have both claimed victory and claim their rival lost. They also both insist they will win in the second round of the election which will be held on May 28.

“Erdogan will not win,” Kilicdaroglu, the joint candidate of the Turkish opposition, told ABC News, responding to a question if he expects an economic crisis if Erdogan wins.

Kilicdaroglu appeared to be very confident during the interview in Düzce a few days before the elections. He posted a video the day of election on his social media accounts saying “I am here it I will struggle till the end” and slapped the table when it was officially clear that he finished in second place.

“I am so saddened and despair. If I have a chance, I would leave the country [as] these election result [are] unacceptable. Unfortunately, our people is not questioning before they vote. They cast their vote like football club fan,” Oya, who asked that her last name not be used, told ABC News while in tears walking in Besiktas which is the stronghold neighborhood of opposition.

Erdogan, who was a few points behind in almost all the polls until then, spoke for hundreds of thousands at the old airport a few days later, accusing the opposition of taking instructions from terrorist organizations and the West. He spoke at the Istanbul rally, accusing the opposition of “terrorism” and uttering the words “We will not let Kilicdaroglu divide the homeland.”

“Erdogan’s votes are near four points higher than Kilicdaroglu’s so we can say Erdogan concluded the first round with a net advantage. On the other hand, no party could actually win in the first round. Further, Erdogan’s votes declined from near 52% in 2018 to 49% in 2023, with his party’s votes declining from 42% in 2018 to 35% in 2023. In contrast, CHP’s votes increased from 22% to 25% between 2018 and 2023. In sum, the opposition managed to increase its support and weaken the incumbents but it was not enough to remove the latter from office yet,” said Seda Demiralp, a political Scientist at Isik University.

A young woman, Feyza Özdeş, showed up to celebrate in front of Erdogan’s AK party Istanbul HQ on election night.

“This one is no exception, no surprise here. Erdoğan already won. I see the second round as a formality at this point. Sinan Oğan himself may support Kilicdaroglu in the process, but a considerable part of his voters are AKP origin,” Özdeş said.

Özdes is not the only one in Turkey that believed Nationalists fueled Erdogan votes. Erdogan has referenced the nationalist campaign in this election.

“Nationalist campaign that aimed at moving the public agenda away from the economic crisis worked. We saw a rise in nationalist sentiments over the past couple of weeks. Most voters bought the incumbent campaign that associated the opposition with a weak position visavis terrorism. As a result, not only opposition votes remained limited, despite the economic crisis, but nationalist parties and leaders’ votes increased,” said Demiralp.

The runoff election will allow Turkish voters to decide whether they will be ruled for another five years by Erdogan or make a change after 20 years by giving Kilicdaroglu a chance. Some strongly think Erdogan will be starting a couple of steps ahead for the next race.

“In the runoff, it is almost certain that Erdogan will win. His ruling alliance has won a clear majority in the parliament and he will run his campaign based on stability and continuity of the government under his presidency for another term,” said Hakan Akbaş, managing director of Strategic Advisory Services. “He is also very charismatic, gifted campaigner in the old fashioned way, thrives on culture wars and divisive polarized fear-based campaigns that always heled him consolidate his voter base.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Kremlin has responded forcefully to the CIA launching an official channel on Telegram, the encrypted messaging app favored by Russians, featuring a dramatized video aimed at recruiting frustrated Russian civilians as spies.

The video invites them to engage with the agency on Telegram and share information it says could be critical to United States intelligence efforts.

The recruitment pitch is geared toward those whose knowledge of industry, science, technology or diplomacy, could be useful to the CIA — communicated by using a secure conduit on the internet.

“Contact us. Perhaps the people around you don’t want to hear the truth. We want to,” says text of the Russian-language video, which shows actors depicting Russians at home and at work, living quietly, as the voiceover of a Russian man contemplates telling truths the video suggests have been suppressed by the state.

“The CIA wants to know the truth about #Russia, and we are looking for reliable people who know and can tell us this truth,” the text of the video says. “Your information may be more valuable than you think.”

The Russian narrator acknowledges the “reality we speak about in a whisper” and laments “why the lives of some are worth more than others.” At the conclusion of the video, he’s decides to speak up: “This is my Russia. This will always be my Russia. I will endure. My family will endure. We will live with dignity because of my actions.”

The Kremlin has accused the U.S. of “attempts to interfere in our internal affairs, and attempts to destabilize the situation in our country.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned Tuesday that “such malicious activity, including the distribution of inflammatory materials, will not remain without a proper effective response.”

A CIA official told ABC News the Telegram channel and the accompanying video production could draw Russian nationals to communicate with the U.S. by appealing to their sense of wanting to do the right thing.

“They’re feeling compelled by the Russian government’s unjust war right now to reach us, but we just want them to do so as securely as possible…[The video] is meant to convey more emotion,” the official said on condition of not being named.

The character’s voiceover, however, says clearly in Russian, “I don’t believe in revolution.” The CIA official said the video’s intention is to connect with Russians who are willing to speak but not to ignite political change on the ground.

“Many Russians may be ready to [contact us],” the official said. “They just need direction on how to do it.”

Darrell Blocker, a former CIA deputy director of its counterterrorism unit and ABC News contributor, called the agency’s outreach on Telegram “a stroke of genius.” In intelligence circles, this mode by which citizens can come forward to share what they know with foreign officials is known as a “walk-in” program – essentially an open door.

“Walk-ins are absolutely some of the most lucrative intelligence cases in the history of the agency. It’s one of those quiet success stories that no one on the outside ever really knows about,” Blocker said.

The CIA had already released instructions on social media for contacting the agency via the Dark Web. The Telegram video launch, which comes a year later, represents the agency’s expanding toolkit that includes open-source analysis.

“So, this is just the CIA, the modern CIA, so to speak, using long established and successful programs and in a different way,” Blocker said.

But the war in Ukraine is not specifically referred to in the CIA video. “I think mentioning it specifically in a video coming from CIA could be seen as a provocation,” Blocker said.

The video is a more tactical approach to build intelligence over time. “There’s always an audience for information, whether it’s going to be applicable a week from now or 10 years from now, you just never know.”

The vetting process is intense and continuous, Blocker says, and the CIA’s expertise and process, which the agency couldn’t discuss publicly, serve to root out people who might look to exploit the channel by providing a false identity or information.

The CIA official said the program has already yielded results, receiving contacts from the broad set of people in industries from which it solicited information. It launched the program after Russians expressed interest in coming forward, the official said.

Inside and outside of the country, Blocker said Russians would likely have interest in sharing what they know but are unaware of a secure way to do so. It’s often these ordinary people that initiate major intelligence gathering.

“It’s said in the CIA that CIA officers don’t recruit the Russians, the Russians recruit the CIA officer,” he said.

ABC News’ Tayna Stukalova contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico) — Nine migrants were found Tuesday by Mexican authorities after a group was kidnapped on its way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

A bus holding 50 migrants left Tapachula, Chiapas, on Sunday and disappeared the following day near Matehuala, San Luis Potosí.

The migrants had permission to transit through Mexico and decided to take a bus to head to the border.

The owner of the company received a call asking for a thousand dollars for each of the passengers on the bus, the vice president of National Confederation of Mexican Carriers in San Luis Potosí said.

The bus was located Tuesday afternoon in Galeana, Nuevo León, but without the passengers.

Later in the night, nine of the 50 migrants were rescued in Nuevo Leon state after allegedly escaping their captors.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would send National Guard members to help with the search during his morning press conference Wednesday.

“The kidnapping of migrants in Matehuala is being taken care of. Some of them have already been found,” he said. “The site has already been identified. In short, we are already working on that. There is a deployment of the National Guard and we hope to rescue them.”

“Originally, we are talking of 50 [kidnapped migrants]. We are on it and we cannot say more for obvious reasons but work is being done,” he added.

Some migrants arriving in Mexico can freely move in the country without seeking the help of smugglers if they are provided with a transit permit issued by the Mexican National Institute of Migration.

Smugglers are now trying to make up for lost business by asking a fee from bus companies that move the migrants.

“Unfortunately there are gangs that kidnap. That is also why we make this appeal to the migrant brothers not to be deceived, manipulated by the traffickers, by the coyotes, by the polleros, who tell them that if they get five, six, eight thousand dollars, they’re going to take them to the U.S.,” Lopez Obrador said.

Pandemic-era border restrictions, known as Title 42, expired last week, leaving migrants from many Central and South American countries in limbo as they tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

After Title 42 expired, President Joe Biden implemented new asylum restrictions for immigrants, requiring them to apply first for legal protection in another country before doing so in the U.S.

Asylum seekers now have to meet a “higher threshold of proof” and have a “credible fear” of returning to their home country before qualifying, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

The Biden administration also said it was establishing processing centers for immigrants in Guatemala and Colombia. The Guatemalan government, however, has not yet agreed to a processing center with the U.S. even though the two countries have had some preliminary conversations about the matter, a spokesperson for the Guatemalan president told ABC News.

Despite the risks, thousands of migrants still make the perilous journey to the U.S. each day.

ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Haroldo Martinez contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Two staff members of the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria were among the four people killed by armed assailants when an American convoy was attacked on Tuesday, the State Department said.

The staff members, who were not U.S. citizens and who haven’t yet been publicly identified, were killed by people who were “linked with criminal groups” in the country’s southeast, U.S. officials said.

Two members of a local Police Mobile Force were also dead following the assault, Nigerian police officials sad. The victims’ bodies were later set on fire, officials said.

The consulate staff had been traveling in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State as part of a humanitarian effort when their vehicles were struck at about 3:30 p.m. local time, officials said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the State Department was investigating the incident.

“What I can tell you is that no U.S. citizens were involved, and therefore, there were no U.S. citizens hurt,” he said during a midday briefing at the White House. “But we are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.