(NEW YORK) — Sea level rise is likely presenting more threats to an already vulnerable marine species, according to new research.
As waters from the ocean push further and further onto shore, the flooding is washing away the nesting sites for sea turtles in places like the United States, Australia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
Researchers estimated the probability of flooding under moderate and high greenhouse gas emission scenarios could impact 2,835 sea turtle nest locations within seven breeding grounds between 2010 and 2100. They found that under a moderate emissions scenario, breeding grounds located on flat beaches were most vulnerable to flooding — with 100% likelihood of flooding of nests in Raine Island, Australia; Saona Island, Dominican Republic; St George Island, Florida; and Mondonguillo beach, Costa Rica, according to the study.
Flooding of nests in some those areas are expected by 2050, the researchers said.
Nests in Raine Island and Saona Island will likely be “completely vanished” in the next several decades, Marga Rivas, a biodiversity and nature conservation researcher at the University of Cadiz in Spain and author of the study, told ABC News.
In Sint Eustatius, a Dutch island in the Caribbean, 50% of leatherback, 18% of hawksbill and 13% of green turtle nest locations could be vulnerable to flooding by 2050.
Within breeding grounds used by multiple turtle species, leatherback turtle nests may be particularly vulnerable to flooding due to their tendency to nest in open areas near the high tide line, according to the study. Hawksbill and green turtles tend to nest at higher elevations closer to dunes and steep cliffs, the researchers said.
As female sea turtles return to nest on the same beaches they hatched on, sea level rises could lead to many turtles nesting on flooded beaches, which could negatively impact the number of turtles hatching, according to the study.
Coastlines in places like Costa Rica and South America have been shrinking significantly in the last several years, Rivas said. The fact that turtle nests will likely disappear in alarming rates on several islands so far away from one another prove how widespread and dangerous the threat is, she said.
Rivas also warned against relocating turtle nests to higher ground because without temperature control, this well-meaning action could cause skewing sex ratios — causing all of the eggs that hatch to be females. The temperature of the developing eggs determines whether the offspring will be male or female.
“They put it anywhere, and they are producing 100% of females in those places,” Rivas said.
Sea level rise is adding to the severe threat sea turtles already face by overfishing and plastic ingestion, Rivas said.
“We need to help protect their nesting population because without those, with the high mortality they’re suffering, it’s impossible to to keep their species for the future,” Rivas said.
Loggerhead turtles are listed as vulnerable and multiple subspecies of leatherback turtles are listed as critical on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States is sending additional military forces and equipment to a base in Djibouti to pre-position in case they are needed for the possible evacuation of Americans from Sudan, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
Fierce fighting between the Sudanese Army and a paramilitary force has raged in Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum since this past weekend, raising security concerns for Americans and citizens from other countries who have been trapped by the fighting.
More than 330 people have been killed in the fighting. There are an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
“The Department of Defense, through U.S. Africa Command, is monitoring the situation in Sudan and conducting prudent planning for various contingencies,” said Lt. Col. Phil Ventura, a Defense Department spokesman.
“As part of this, we are deploying additional capabilities nearby in the region for contingency purposes related to securing and potentially facilitating the departure of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan, if circumstances require it,” said Ventura. As a matter of policy and security, we do not speculate on potential future operations.
Two U.S. officials told ABC News that the additional personnel and capabilities are being sent to Djibouti where 5,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed at Camp Lemonnier, the large U.S. military base that is the hub for U.S. military operations in the Horn of Africa.
A top White House spokesman told reporters Thursday that President Joe Biden had authorized the movement of U.S. personnel in recent days.
“He authorized the military to move forward with prepositioning forces and to develop options in case, and I want to stress right now, in case there’s a need for an evacuation,” John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications told reporters at a White House briefing.
“We want to make sure that we’ve got the capability ready in case it’s needed,” said Kirby who stressed that no decision had been made yet to evacuate American diplomats or citizens. He urged both sides to stop the violence and allow for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to be distributed to address shortages of food and medicine.
Any evacuation in Sudan would likely mean access to the airport in Khartoum where fighting has already damaged some civilian aircraft.
“What I can tell you is that we have good accountability of all our government personnel,” operating at the embassy said Kirby who acknowledged that not all of the U.S. diplomatic personnel are together.
“They’re still trying to get them all co-located together for their own safety, they are still sheltering in place where they are,” said Kirby.
While a U.S. diplomatic convoy was struck by gunfire earlier in the week, Kirby said “there’s no indication that either side is deliberately going after or trying to hurt target. Americans.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford contributed to this report
(LONDON) — At least 78 people are dead and dozens more were injured after a stampede at a school in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday evening, according to local officials. The tragedy occurred on one of the last days of Ramadan, as people were reportedly gathering to receive a handout of about $9 per person that was being distributed by merchants.
Witnesses told officials the stampede was caused by someone trying to control the crowd by shooting into the air. The shooting reportedly hit an electrical wire which fell on the ground and caused electroshocks, which triggered more panic in the crowd, witnesses said.
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said the stampede happened at a “random distribution of sums of money by some merchants,” blaming the merchants for the lack of organization and not coordinating with ministry officials.
Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official in Sanaa, said at least 13 people were seriously injured, according to the Al-Masirah satellite TV channel.
The aid distributors quickly sealed off the school where the event was planned and barred people and journalists from approaching.
The two merchants in charge of the matter were arrested, the Interior Ministry said.
Sanaa has been under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2014. An ongoing civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government directly claimed the lives of at least 150,000 people by the end of 2021, according to a United Nations report.
The number of casualties in the civil war could be 377,000 when including those killed through “both direct and indirect impacts,” the UN said.
Even before the recent conflict, according to the UN, Yemen was already the poorest nation in the Arab region, suffering from weak development as a result of local conflicts, chronic food insecurity and uncertain political transition.
About 20.7 million people out of the total population of 30.5 million in Yemen are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, UNICEF said, with 14.3 million people in acute need. The agency says around £10 ($12.45) provides life-saving therapeutic food for a child in Yemen for a week.
(NEW YORK) — A dry winter, following an even drier summer, has left much of Europe fearing another extended drought. Striking satellite images show just how much lakes in Spain and France have shrunk, pushing local authorities to act.
The Sau reservoir, north of Barcelona in Spain’s Catalonia region, was created in 1962, flooding an existing village in the basin to make way for it. Over the years, the steeple of the church has sometimes been visible when the water reached low levels. But now, after multiple dry years, entire segments of the town have become accessible again.
In fact, the water has reached such low levels that last month Catalan authorities announced they would begin the process of draining the reservoir completely. At this point, the reservoir was about 10% full, with a capacity to supply water to about one million people for three months, well below the over five million people who typically rely on it.
As part of this operation to drain the reservoir, authorities are also working to remove several tonnes of fish from the water to prevent them from dying in large quantities and contaminating the water. In a statement, the regional authorities described the draining of the Sau reservoir as “an extraordinary measure … to guarantee the population’s demands as much as possible.”
The Sau reservoir is only one of multiple bodies of water that have lost drastic amounts of water over successive dry seasons. The Lac de Montbel, in southern France, is below 30% of its capacity. The lake started receding in the summer of 2022 and the region’s driest winter in decades has only compounded the situation.
At the end of February, the area surrounding the lake came under “reinforced alert” for water restriction, meaning water use for agricultural purposes must be cut by half. Individuals are also urged to reduce their water consumption as much as possible.
Andreas Gunther is project coordinator for the Global Gravity Based Groundwater Project, or G3P. It’s an initiative using satellites to try to map Europe’s groundwater capacity, to gather a picture of how much water is available on the continent, both in lakes and rivers, but also in aquifers deep below the surface.
Gunther said the current problems go back to 2018 when successive dry years strained Europe’s water supply. A few rainy years gave hope that a drought might be avoided but the rain still fell short of expectations.
“This was not sufficient to restore the deficits that had been generated in the two to five years before,” he said.
The situation now is at its most dire in the 20 years since mapping began, Gunther said.
“Many areas reached their lowest ever level in water storage in the summer of 2022,” he noted.
Gunther’s groundwater project aims to help governments and organizations plan as these dry cycles are exacerbated by climate change. With the last eight years in Europe being the warmest ever recorded, observation and policy will be key to managing the future of water on the continent.
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 19, 5:22 PM EDT
Russia reportedly fires nearly 80 missiles at Kherson in 24 hours
Russia has fired nearly 80 missiles at Kherson in 24 hours amid ongoing shelling, a local official said.
“For the previous day, we have recorded 79 shellings throughout our territory,” First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi said on Telegram earlier Wednesday. “About 300 rounds of ammunition were used by the enemy.”
At least two people have sought medical attention due to shelling injuries, according to Sobolevskyi, who noted that the “shelling continues.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 19, 2:31 PM EDT
US announces new $325 million military package
The U.S. Department of Defense announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine, including more rockets and artillery rounds, in addition to other equipment.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley are in Europe to attend another meeting of the 50-plus countries providing military assistance to Ukraine that begins later this week in Ramstein, Germany.
“The United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 18, 6:20 PM EDT
Germany says it delivered Patriot missile system to Ukraine
The German government announced Tuesday that it delivered a Patriot missile defense system and missiles to Ukraine this week.
The country also sent 16 Zetros trucks, bringing its total to 76, and two border patrol vehicles, bringing its total to 124, the government said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 18, 6:10 AM EDT
Russia detains man who spoke with WSJ reporter
Russia’s security services have arrested an anti-Kremlin political commentator who the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich met with shortly before his own arrest.
Yaroslav Shirshikov has said he spent two days showing Gershkovich around the city of Yekaterinburg during a reporting trip there a couple of weeks before Russia seized Gershovich.
Shirshikov said he had been due to meet with Gershkovich again the week the reporter was arrested in the city.
This morning, local media published video showing masked security officers detaining Shirshikov in his apartment and searching it.
A local news outlet cited a security services representative saying Shirshikov may have been arrested for posting comments cheering the assassinations of two ultra-nationalist pro-war figures, Daria Dugina and the blogger Vladen Tatarsky.
The site UralLive quoted a law enforcement source that Shirshikov was detained on a charge of “justifying terrorism,” which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. It linked the charge to a social media post in which Shirshikov wrote he wasn’t sad over the death of Tatarsky, who was killed in a bomb attack in St. Petersburg this month.
Shirshikov spoke to several international media outlets including ABC following Gershkovich’s arrest. He said that Gershkovich had acted entirely as a professional journalist in Yekaterinburg, conducting interviews openly and doing usual reporting.
Shirshikov is a critic of the Russian government and has spoken publicly about his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Apr 18, 4:52 AM EDT
Putin visits military in occupied Kherson Region
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to Kherson and Luhansk, visiting a military headquarters in occupied territory in Ukraine.
Putin arrived via helicopter at the headquarters of an army group in occupied Kherson, according to video released on Tuesday by the Kremlin.
In brief remarks after he arrived, Putin said he didn’t want to distract troops from their mission, saying his tour of the installation would be in a “businesslike manner, briefly, but concretely,” according to Interfax, a Russian state-affiliated news wire.
“It is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, to exchange information,” he said, according to Interfax.
Apr 17, 6:19 AM EDT
Putin critic sentenced to 25 years
A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders, whose family live in the U.S., to 25 years in prison in what is widely seen a show trial.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is the most high-profile opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be jailed since Alexey Navalny.
Kara-Murza’s extraordinarily harsh sentence is one of the lengthiest any opposition figure has received under Putin and illustrates how repressive Russia has become during the war in Ukraine, reverting to something much closer to the USSR where no opposition is tolerated.
Kara-Murza was convicted of treason, as well as “discrediting Russia’s armed forces,” a new law that effectively criminalizes criticizing the war in Ukraine. He was also convicted of belonging to a banned organization. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.
Kara-Murza is one of Russia’s best-known pro-democracy figures and a veteran critic of Putin.
Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship, spent many years living in the United States and his wife and children still live in Virginia. He was close to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who championed human rights in the former Soviet Union.
Dozens of journalists and Western diplomats attended the court hearing on Monday, including the U.S. ambassador who read out a statement condemning the sentence.
“We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome,” Amb. Lynne Tracy said.
Kara-Murza previously has survived being poisoned not once but twice. In 2015 and then again in 2017, he suffered organ failure after being exposed to an unknown toxin. Independent researchers later linked the poisoning to the same team of FSB poisoners who targeted Navalny.
He chose to return to Russia after the war began, believing it was important to continue to campaign for freedom in his country and has been an outspoken critic of the invasion.
His trial was held entirely behind closed doors, but a letter containing his closing statement to the court has been released to reporters.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza said in the statement. “I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.
The parents of Wall Street Journalist journalist Evan Gershkovich spoke in an interview with with the paper Friday, the first time since their son was detained in Russia in March.
Mikhail and Ella Gershkovich, who were born in the Soviet Union and married after emigrating to the U.S. separately in 1979, talked about how much he wanted to work for the Journal and cover Russia.
“He said I’m just one of the few left there,” Ella Gershkovich, his mother, said of his time working in Russia during the Ukraine war.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be returned.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be released.
“It’s one of the American qualities we absorbed. Be optimistic, believe in happy ending. That’s where we stand right now, but I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved, but that’s what I choose to believe,” Ella Gershkovich said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 14, 2:52 PM EDT
6 dead, including 1 child, after Russia attacks Slovyansk
Russian forces shelled Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Friday, Andrii Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram.
At least seven explosions were heard in the city in the area near a school, and three buildings were struck, Yermak said. Russia hit three five-story buildings in the attack, he added.
Six civilians, including one child, were killed and 17 people have been wounded, as of Friday afternoon, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video of the attack on his Telegram page and condemned Russian forces.
He said there are still people trapped in the rubble.
“The evil state once again demonstrates its essence, just killing people in broad daylight, [and] ruining, destroying all life,” he said.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 12, 7:12 PM EDT
Singer Brad Paisley visits Ukraine for 1st time with Senate delegation, meets with Zelenskyy
Country singer Brad Paisley visited Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see firsthand what’s happening in the war-torn country, according to Ukrainian fundraising platform UNITED24.
Paisley, who serves as a global ambassador for UNITED24 and its campaign to help rebuild Ukraine, performed his song “Same Here” while in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Paisley, who went with a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation, also played for American troops in Poland, UNITED24 said.
“It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand,” Paisley said during a press conference. “For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict.”
Apr 12, 5:59 PM EDT
2 US citizens died while fighting in Ukraine, State Dept. says
Two Americans have died while volunteering to fight in Ukraine, he U.S. Department of State said Wednesday.
Edward Wilton and Grady Kurpasi died in combat during the conflict, bringing the total number of Americans killed to at least eight.
Wilton, 22, died on April 7 fighting in Bakhmut, his half brother Parker Cummings told ABC News. He was from Marianna, Florida.
Wilton served in the U.S. Army, Cummings said, and informed his half brother about his plans to fight in Ukraine through a message sent from a plane en route to Poland on April 10, 2022.
“My brother was very selfless. My brother was very honorable and traditional,” Cummings told ABC News. “He cared more about freedom for all than for his own safety. Edward was a true hero and he will be missed until we see him again.”
Joshua Cropper, who told ABC News he fought with Wilton in Ukraine’s International Legion between April and early July 2022, said of Wilton: “He was so young, but immensely brave. Fearless. We’d need three guys to do any task, he’s always going to have his hand up. He was as mature as anybody I’ve ever known.”
Kurpasi was reportedly last seen in April 2022 and was widely reported to be missing last June.
As recently as last fall, his family said they believed he was in critical condition in a Russian-controlled hospital in Donetsk, but it’s not clear exactly when he was confirmed dead or if he was ever hospitalized.
A GoFund Me page organized on behalf of Kurpasi’s wife provides few details on his time in Ukraine, but states that he “ended up leading a squad into battle and was killed in action.”
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about his case. “When a U.S. citizen dies overseas, including in Ukraine, the Department of State supports the legal representative and family of the deceased in numerous ways, including by providing information on the disposition of remains and estates and issuing a consular report of death.”
The spokesperson added: “The U.S. government takes its role in such a situation very seriously, providing all appropriate assistance through the legal representative, next of kin or their designee.”
Regarding Wilton, a State Department official confirmed that a U.S. citizen died near Bakhmut and said they’re in touch with the family and providing all appropriate consular services.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Chris Looft
Apr 12, 2:50 PM EDT
Efforts to pressure Russia to release WSJ reporter ‘senseless and futile,’ Russia says
Days after the U.S. designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, Russian officials referred to pressure from the U.S. to release him as futile.
“Any attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the court, insisting on a ‘special treatment’ for U.S. citizens who have violated Russian law, are senseless and futile,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
After some missed calls, President Joe Biden finally connected with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Tuesday.
“He felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family,” she told reporters on Air Force One as the president travels to Ireland.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Gershkovich’s detention is “pretty fresh” and officials are still trying to get consular access to Gershkovich, which they have not been able to do.
He would not get into any specific conversations the U.S. is having with Russians about releasing Gershkovich or if a prisoner swap is a possibility.
“I just want to make a couple of things clear that is, the determination of wrongful detention, it doesn’t start the clock necessarily on communicating with the Russians about getting him released,” Kirby said. “We’re very early in this process here and I certainly, I think you can understand why I wouldn’t talk about any discussions we might be having with the Russians about his release or Paul [Whelan]’s release. We certainly wouldn’t do that.”
Kirby said the administration is “certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released.”
“I don’t want to go into details about these internal deliberations, having things out in the public sphere viscerally might actually make it harder to get Evan and Paul home, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 10, 4:28 PM EDT
Gershkovich designated as wrongfully detained by Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained by Russia, according to a statement released Monday afternoon.
Two Americans are now considered to be wrongfully detained by Russia — Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.
Gershkovich’s case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator.
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old New Jersey native who has lived and worked in Moscow as an accredited journalist for the last six years, was in a restaurant in Yekaterinburg on March 29 when Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested him on espionage charges that the Wall Street Journal, his colleagues and the U.S. government have said are absurd.
Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(CAIRO) — By 2025, Egypt is projected to be a water-scarce nation as climate change and a major dam threaten its source of survival.
Egypt has long been called the “gift of the Nile” as it has historically depended on the river for survival. But over the next two years, experts say Egyptians could approach a state of “absolute” water scarcity.
Climate change, population growth and a regional fight for water resources are all contributing to the risk of water imbalance, experts say.
About 90% of Egypt’s population lives along the Nile River, with the waterway providing nearly all Egyptians with drinking water. The country is facing an annual water deficit and is estimated to be categorized as water scarce by 2025, according to the United Nations.
Rising sea levels are prompting saltwater intrusions that are not only affecting water supply but also spoiling agricultural farmland, according to water management experts.
“The sea is rising in the Mediterranean Sea, and the land is sinking in the Nile Delta. And as a result, the Nile delta becomes the second most susceptible place on earth to climate change impacts in terms of sea level rise,” says Karim Elgendy, an associate fellow at the Chatham Institute think tank.
Egypt is not the only country that depends on the river — it’s shared by 11 African countries. The completion of a mega-dam on the river poses another significant threat to the water supply in the region, critics of the project say.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a part of a contentious decade-long dispute involving Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The hydro-electricity dam is now nearly complete and has begun filling to provide direly needed energy supply to Ethiopia. The GERD is expected to make the country a major power exporter in the region.
“Folks have never actually went to war just because of water. Now, we could be at the point in history where that changes,” says Mohammed Mahmoud, a director of the Climate and Water Program at the Middle East Institute.
In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country should be ready for a war with Egypt over the dispute. In 2021, Egypt and Sudan held joint military exercises to showcase security ties between the two countries in response to the ongoing conflict, the Associated Press reported.
The dam’s impact on the water supply depends on how fast it’s filled, according to Elgendy. “It will determine the impact of this disruption and the reduction to the volumes of water that goes to Egypt,” he said.
Egypt’s population of 109 million is projected to grow significantly in decades, further straining the demand for water in the region.
“There’ll be an imbalance in terms of less water supply and inflated demand,” said Mahmoud. “Both because of climate change, and also because of socio economic conditions and population growth.”
Ethiopian officials have insisted that the dam will not impede on both Sudan and Egypt’s water supply. Negotiations over an agreement between the three nations over the filling of the dam have stalled recently.
“I believe there will come a point where some level of cooperation has to happen, because there is no other alternative,” says Mahmoud.
(BENTIU, South Sudan) — The water came in the night, rushing into her home.
And as it covered everything she owned in her hometown of Niahldiu, Nyathak took her children through the waters to the shore, waiting to be rescued.
Flooding during the rainy season is not uncommon here in South Sudan, but as the weeks and months passed without the waters receding, Nyathak — like so many here — made the decision to leave Niahldiu with her family in search of dry land.
She said it took her six days to reach dry land — almost 30 miles away in Bentiu, the seat of Unity State, where, for two years now, tens of thousands of people have come seeking dry shelter, medicine and food, as the flood water claims more and more communities and cuts off many others from supplies.
ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir and his team traveled to South Sudan to report on yet another front line of the climate crisis, with more than one million people now facing severe food insecurity due to the worst floods here since the 1960s, according to the United Nations.
They joined humanitarian workers from the World Food Programme as they race against time to bring necessary supplies — and food — to support the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by both conflict and climate in the town of Bentiu. So many here have been cut off by the water, forced to rely on canoes or wade through the high waters in search of food, shelter and medicine.
Khaula Waqar, a logistics officer with the WFP who has been in South Sudan for five years, said the floods caught everyone by surprise.
“We were totally taken aback … We were completely surrounded by water, and Bentiu had basically become an island. It was really heartbreaking to see all the villages underwater and the people and their livestock getting displaced,” Waqar told Muir in Tong, one of the villages now isolated due to the flooding. “These people, they’re not water-based communities, so they had no canoes or boats to transport their items. But they just had plastic sheets and were carrying all their possessions in the flood water and moving, searching for higher ground.”
The South Sudanese are no strangers to conflict or displacement. It’s the youngest nation in the world — this region broke away from Sudan in 2011, with the promise of peace after protracted conflict. The people here sacrificed for decades to achieve independence, and thousands of them were displaced in the fighting.
The country, home to one of the world’s largest swamp lands, and its people would move with the seasons. During the rainy season from April to October, the swamp would swell, leading to a dry season where communities here would take their livestock to pasture and grow crops.
ABC News was there as humanitarian convoys traveled the only road in and out of the region — the Bentiu Panakuach Road — that comes from Sudan, witnessing the aid’s uncertain future, as the road is threatened by rising waters in the coming rainy season and now conflict north of the border in Sudan.
“WFP is in a race against time to preposition the food before the rainy season starts, because if we can’t preposition the food, then people will be on the brink of starvation,” Waqar told Muir. “We also have some IPC 5 counties here, which means there’s almost famine there.”
The IPC is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, and phase 5 is considered catastrophe and famine, according to the system.
The aid is crucial. One in five children here are severely malnourished, with mothers forced to feed them water lilies, which grow in the flood waters, to keep their bellies full.
“It is a coping mechanism because they don’t have enough food,” Aachal Chand, WFP’s head of nutrition in South Sudan, told Muir outside a nutrition site in Tong. Mothers were arriving there by canoe, desperate for help.
Chand warned that, with conflict elsewhere in the world, attention and funding have moved away from South Sudan. Currently, the organization is only able to provide food rations for half the month.
“We do not have enough funds to provide the needs for the whole month, so we only provide a 50% ration, so the other 50% has to be sourced by the community,” Chand told Muir.
Water lilies and fish caught in the flood waters round up the rest of the month, presenting yet another issue.
“Water and sanitation is a big issue here, as well, so diarrheal diseases are very common,” Chand said. “If you don’t have safe drinking water or safe cooking water, then whatever you cook also can harm your child.”
Muir and his team met some of the children affected at the Bentiu State Hospital, where the most severe cases have been admitted. On a recent day, there were 20 children admitted to the hospital for malnutrition, including baby Goer — at 42 days old, he weighs under 4 pounds.
Officials here say the baby’s mother, Nyadier, can’t find enough food to feed herself and thus is not producing enough breast milk for Goer. The flood has claimed the lands; food is scarce.
“The reason of this child being admitted is because the mother does not have milk, breast milk,” Kuajien Gathook, a clinical officer with World Relief, working with WFP at the hospital, told Muir. “The mother cannot find enough food so that she can produce.”
According to the World Food Program:
$7 provides a month of school meals for a child in need, which is sometimes their only reliable meal.
$25 provides 50 mothers with nutritious meals, supporting multiple generations.
$50 provides a child with a year of school meals, keeping kids coming back.
$75 feeds a family of five for one month, providing staples such as rice, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, flour, beans and lentils.
$1,000 can feed a family of five for one year, creating a lasting impact.
(NEW YORK) — On Thursday, the moon will move to entirely block the sun for just over a minute during what is known as an annular solar eclipse.
This year, however, is extra special.
Read below to find out why:
When is the 2023 April solar eclipse?
The annular solar eclipse on April 19 — or in some places April 20 — is actually a “hybrid” solar eclipse, meaning the moon will move in front of the sun to create what looks like a “ring of fire” before moving to a total solar eclipse, where the moon will completely block the sun, according to NASA .
While solar eclipses happen anywhere from two to five times a year, “hybrid” solar eclipses occur only a handful of times per century, according to NASA .
How to watch the 2023 April solar eclipse
This year’s rare celestial event will only be visible from the southern hemisphere, making Western Australia and the islands in the Indian Ocean the optimal place for eclipse-watchers to see the phenomenon in person.
However, for those who cannot travel to see the eclipse, NASA will livestream the event for free starting at 10:30 p.m. ET on April 19.
(LONDON) — The invitations have been made and the rehearsals have begun for the coronation of King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla.
Even without an invitation, and even if you’re not in the United Kingdom, you can still get an up-close view of the coronation, an event that last happened 70 years ago when Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned.
Charles and Camilla’s coronation will take place Saturday, May 6, at Westminster Abbey in London.
Cameras are allowed inside Westminster Abbey, so all of us at home will get a chance to see the biggest moments of the day, from the coronation service to a procession through London and Charles’ first wave as king from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Home viewers can also catch a glimpse of the special guests attending the coronation — including first lady Jill Biden — and all the best fashion.
How to watch the coronation in the US
ABC News and Good Morning America will have special TV coverage of the coronation on Saturday, May 6, from 5 to 10 a.m. ET.
The five hours of special coverage will also be available to stream on ABC News’ digital platforms, including ABCNews.com and GoodMorningAmerica.com, mobile apps, social platforms and over-the-top (OTT) services.
ABC News’ digital platforms will also re-air the coronation service throughout the day on May 6.
See the coronation day schedule below and get ready to watch history:
Coronation schedule of events
Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm timings for Charles’ coronation day so the below timings are estimated and scheduled to change.
Approximately 5:30 a.m. ET: Charles and Camilla depart Buckingham Palace and travel to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which was created for Elizabeth in 2012. The procession will take Charles and Camilla down The Mall and around the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary and, finally, to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey.
6 a.m. ET: The May 6 coronation service will begin at 11 a.m. local time, 6 a.m. ET, and is expected to last around 90 minutes. During the ceremony, Charles will sign an oath pledging to serve the people and will be crowned with the St. Edward’s Crown, marking the only time the king will ever wear that specific crown. Camilla will be crowned with the Queen Mary’s Crown. At the end of the service, Charles will exchange his crown for the Imperial State Crown, or Crown of State.
Approximately 7:30 a.m. ET: Charles and Camilla will depart Westminster Abbey in a procession back to Buckingham Palace. This procession, known as the Coronation Procession, will follow the same route as they took earlier in the day, but will be larger in scale and will include Armed Forces from the U.K. and across the Commonwealth.
Charles and Camilla will travel in this procession in the Gold State Coach, which has been used in every coronation since 1831. The coach was last used at the Platinum Jubilee for Elizabeth in 2022.
Approximately 8 a.m. ET: At the end of the procession, Charles and Camilla will receive a royal salute and three cheers from members of the Armed Forces. They will then appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, where they will give their first balcony waves to the public as king and queen.
The rest of the coronation weekend — which includes a bank holiday in the U.K. on Monday, May 8 — will include celebrations across the country.
Buckingham Palace is encouraging people to host Coronation Big Lunches to celebrate together throughout the weekend.
On Sunday night, a coronation concert featuring Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Andrea Bocelli and others will be held on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
On Monday, the palace is encouraging people to volunteer in their communities.
State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that an American diplomatic convoy was attacked in Sudan, where forces loyal to two rival generals are battling for control of the resource-rich North African nation.
“I can confirm that yesterday we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on,” Blinken told reporters during a trip to Japan. “All of our people are safe and unharmed, but this action was reckless, it was irresponsible and, of course, unsafe. A diplomatic convoy with diplomatic plates, a U.S. flag being fired upon.”
Since heavy fighting erupted in Sudan on Saturday, at least 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 others have been wounded, according to United Nations Special Representative for Sudan Volker Perthes. The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties, put the civilian death toll at 144 and said 796 others were injured. The number of casualties was expected to continue to climb with the ongoing violence.
The fighting started in Khartoum and quickly spread to other parts of the country, though “the heaviest concentration of fighting” remains centered in the densely populated capital, according to the World Health Organization, the global health arm of the U.N.
Among those killed were three World Food Programme employees who were working in Sudan’s hunger-stricken North Darfur state. Two other employees were injured in the same incident on Saturday, according to the World Food Programme, the food assistance branch of the U.N., which was forced to temporary halt all operations in Sudan due to the violence.
The widespread clashes are the culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group. So far, neither has shown any indication of backing down. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019.
Blinken said he spoke separately with Burhan and Dagalo via telephone on Tuesday morning, making “very clear that any attacks, threats, dangers posed to our diplomats were totally unacceptable.” While Monday’s attack on the American diplomatic convoy remains under investigation, the secretary said the initial reports suggest “it was undertaken by forces associated with the RSF.”
During his conversations with both generals, Blinken said he urged “them to agree to a 24-hour ceasefire to allow Sudanese to safely reunite with their families and to obtain desperately needed relief supplies.”
“Indiscriminate military operations have resulted in significant civilian deaths and injuries, and are recklessly endangering the Sudanese people, diplomats including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian aid workers,” the secretary told reporters. “If implemented successfully, a ceasefire for 24 hours can create a foundation to build upon for a more sustained halt to the fighting and a return to negotiations on a durable end to the hostilities.”
Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti, took to Twitter on Tuesday to confirm his “vital conversation” with Blinken.
“We discussed pressing issues in Sudan and our shared dedication to freedom, justice, and democracy for our people,” the RSF commander tweeted. “Although reluctant participants in this war, it is necessary to protect our people and defend our values.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Burhan said in a statement Tuesday that all those fighting for the RSF who lay down arms will be pardoned and absorbed into the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, told a virtual press briefing on Tuesday that he’s been in near-constant contact with leaders on both sides as the fighting continues “almost uninterruptedly.” He said U.N.-brokered, short-term ceasefires were put in place on Sunday and Monday but that clashes broke out again before the time was up.
“It’s a very fluid situation, so it’s very difficult to say where the balance is shifting to,” Perthes said. “There are objective difficulties with access to this country and mediators would not easily be able to come here and, to be very honest, the two sides that are fighting are not giving the impression that they want mediation for a peace between them right away.”
Since the fighting began, virtually all U.N. operations on the ground have seen their staff and facilities caught in the crossfire, Perthes said, making it “extremely difficult if not impossible for humanitarian agencies to deliver aid.”
“We cannot deliver when our staff is attacked, when they’re thrown out of their offices, when their offices are destroyed and their vehicles looted,” he added.
A number of hospitals in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities have been severely damaged or destroyed, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which called the issue “a clear violation of international humanitarian law.” The group said in a statement Monday that some facilities are now completely “out of service” after being bombed, while others lack power or adequate staff and are running dangerously low on medical supplies, food and water.
During Monday’s press briefing in Washington, D.C., White House spokesperson John Kirby called for de-escalation and an “immediate ceasefire without conditions” between the warring parties in Sudan, while warning any Americans there to “treat this situation with the utmost seriousness”
“This dangerous escalation jeopardizes the progress made to date in the negotiations to restore Sudan’s democratic transition and it undermines the aspirations of the Sudanese people,” Kirby told reporters.
