(NEW YORK) — The team of Russia’s top opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, is a sounding the alarm that his health is seriously deteriorating in prison and that an ambulance was called for him last Friday night because of “acute stomach pain.”
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, tweeted that Navalny had lost 8 kilograms — about 18 pounds — in just 16 days while in solitary confinement. She said he is not receiving any treatment.
“When Alexey asks what he is ill with, the prison doctor mockingly answers that it is ‘just spring and everyone has exacerbations,'” Yarmysh wrote.
She wrote that they cannot rule out that he may have been poisoned again to make his health slowly deteriorate.
He has been repeatedly put in solitary confinement for two-week stints for months, she said. The most recent stint was the 13th time he was placed in solitary confinement, according to Yarmysh.
“On Friday he was released from the punishment cell, but on Monday he was sent back there for the 13th time,” she wrote. “One of the prison officers told Navalny that a provocation was being prepared against him.”
She also pleaded for international attention on the situation.
Navalny’s lawyers made similar claims in the spring of 2021, saying he was in grave condition.
Navalny, who barely survived a poisoning in August 2020, was sentenced to another nine years in prison in March 2022 on charges of embezzlement and contempt of court. He had been serving 2 1/2 years in prison.
The charges have been condemned as politically motivated by the United States and many other Western countries.
“We condemn Russian authorities’ politically-motivated conviction and sentencing of opposition leader Aleksey Navalny on additional spurious charges to nine more years in a high security prison,” Ned Price, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said in a statement in March 2022. “This outlandish prison term is a continuation of the Kremlin’s years-long assault on Navalny and on his movement for government transparency and accountability.
He continued, “Of course, Navalny’s true crime in the eyes of the Kremlin is his work as an anti-corruption activist and opposition politician, for which he and his associates have been branded ‘extremists’ by Russian authorities.”
Navalny, a documentary about the Vladimir Putin critic, won the Oscar for best documentary feature last month.
(TAIPEI, Taiwan) — China’s military declared it’s “ready to fight” after wrapping up three days of combat drills simulating a blockade to “seal off” Taiwan.
The large-scale land and sea exercises follow last week’s meeting by Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and hasn’t ruled out taking the self-governed island by force.
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Monday it tracked a record 91 Chinese fighter jets in the final day of the exercises, with dozens of warplanes crossing over the sensitive maritime median line of the Taiwan Strait.
The drills involved Su-30 and J-11 fighters, navy destroyers and missile speedboats, practicing to “encircle” Taiwan. China said it was simulating attacks on key targets, with the People’s Liberation Army even releasing an animation of what hitting those targets would look like.
A voice recording obtained by ABC News captures the moment of a standoff between a Taiwanese ship and Chinese ship. The Taiwanese officers are heard telling the PLA Xuzhou: “Your actions have seriously undermined the region’s peace, stability and security and deliberately provoked trouble, which have intensified security risk in the Taiwan Strait. Please leave immediately. If you insist on trespassing into our 24 nm contiguous zone, I will be forced to expel you.”
China’s Xuzhou responds, “The 24 nm contiguous zone doesn’t exist. Taiwan is an integral part of China. Those pursuing Taiwan independence are the ones undermining peace and stability across the Strait.”
China also claimed a U.S. Navy ship “illegally intruded” into waters it claims as its own, about 800 miles south of Taiwan. The USS Milius is a guided missile destroyer, it was carrying out a freedom of navigation patrol in the Spratly Islands, in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The U.S. said it was monitoring China’s actions and that it was “comfortable and confident” it has the resources and capabilities to ensure peace and stability in the region.
This round of Chinese drills is shorter than the ones held last August, following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. At that time China staged unprecedented drills for about a week, including firing missiles over the island.
Former Taiwanese defence minister Andrew Yang told ABC News that he thought this month’s drills were actually larger in scale, because of the use of China’s Shandong aircraft carrier.
On the streets of Taipei, ABC News spoke to a range of Taiwanese who had mixed views towards the Chinese threat, but many of them said it was easier “not to think about” whether there could be an invasion.
Brian Pien, who works in IT recruitment, said, “They made it clear they’re gonna do something. We don’t know when that’s going to happen, we just hope we’re going to be safe.”
Twenty-six-year-old Becky Chen said, “I feel ever since Nancy Pelosi visited us the tension has been more intense than ever.”
J.C. Cheng, however, said the threat of China is something “us Taiwanese grow up with,” but admitted it’s something he does worry about.
Wu Rwei-Ren, associate research fellow at Academia Sinica, said “Taiwan on the surface, looks quiet and peaceful, and it seems like everything is business as usual, but in people’s conscience, something fundamentally different has occurred.”
“The economy is good. We have a vibrant democracy, we have human rights and freedom,” he went on to say, “And yet, on the other hand, we are facing probably one of the most dangerous times in history.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will head across the pond on Tuesday for a long-awaited trip to Ireland, his ancestral homeland, that will feature a heavy emphasis on family in addition to diplomacy.
Biden’s visit will be his first to Ireland as president and mark only the second time an Irish-Catholic president has made a visit from the U.S. It also comes nearly 60 years after the first Irish-Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, became the first sitting commander-in-chief to visit Ireland.
The president will depart Washington on Tuesday for Belfast, Northern Ireland — the first stop of his four-day, two-country trip. There, Biden will mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to 30 years of sectarian violence on the island known as “the Troubles.”
“President Biden cares deeply about Northern Ireland and has a long history of supporting peace and prosperity. As a U.S. senator, Joe Biden was an advocate for how the United States can play a constructive role supporting peace,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said Monday, previewing the trip.
Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland will also focus on “the readiness of the United States to support Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential to the benefit of all communities,” according to the White House.
The economic focus of Biden’s visit is particularly notable as Ireland, a member of the European Union, and Northern Ireland, part of the U.K., are still dealing with the fallout from Brexit, when the U.K. left the EU.
Earlier this year, a trade deal called the Windsor Framework was struck to prevent a strict land border from being reinstated on the island and to address some of the outstanding trade concerns remaining from Brexit.
A so-called “hard border” between Ireland and Northern Ireland, some feared, could undermine the 1998 peace agreement and see tensions reignited between mostly Protestant “unionists” and mostly Catholic “nationalists” in Northern Ireland.
Biden previously praised the Windsor deal as “an essential step to ensuring that the hard-earned peace and progress of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is preserved and strengthened.”
After lowering the terrorism threat level to “substantial” last year, Northern Ireland has recently raised it back to “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely, based off an MI5 intelligence assessment. But Kirby on Monday downplayed any concerns about security when asked about Biden’s travel.
“We don’t ever talk about security requirements of protecting the president, but the president is more than comfortable making this trip and he’s very excited to do it,” Kirby said.
Following his time in the U.K., Biden will head to the Republic of Ireland later this week, where he will meet with President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as well as address a joint session of the Irish legislature.
“Today, one in 10 Americans claim Irish ancestry and Irish Americans are proudly represented in every facet of American life. Ireland’s a key economic partner of the United States, and the United States and Ireland are working closely together to make the global economy more fair,” Kirby said in his preview of the trip.
He also singled out Ireland’s contributions to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
“The Irish government has been strong supporters of Ukraine, providing vital non-lethal assistance including medical supplies, body armor and support for Ukraine’s electric grid, as well as their agriculture,” he said.
“They have supported EU sanctions on Russia and the people of Ireland have generously welcomed nearly 80,000 Ukrainians, offering refuge to those who were forced to flee their homes in search of safety,” he said.
But perhaps the bigger focus of Biden’s trip will be tracing his connections back to Ireland, mainly through two families on his mother’s side: the Finnegans and Blewitts.
Biden is expected to meet with relatives and visit “places of significance to the Finnegans of County Louth and the Blewitts of County Mayo,” according to a White House official.
In County Louth on Wednesday afternoon, Biden will visit Carlingford Castle; on Friday in County Mayo, he will visit Our Lady of Knock and the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Center’s family history research unit. (He returns to Washington on Saturday.)
He is also expected to deliver remarks near St. Murdoch’s Cathedral in County Mayo that “celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement announcing the trip.
That cathedral has deep ties to Biden’s family — some relatives were baptized there, and his great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral that were used in its construction, which ultimately helped fund the family’s voyage to America.
Even the most casual observers of the president have likely heard him boast of his Irish heritage. In nearly all his remarks, he will often quote members of his Irish family or some of his favorite Irish poems and literature, like Seamus Heaney’s “The Cure at Troy.”
“My colleagues up in the United States Senate used to kid me because I was always quoting Irish poets on the floor. They thought I did it because I was Irish. That’s not the reason. I did it because they’re the best poets in the world,” Biden has joked.
In the past he has spoken about his Irish roots as “part of [his] soul” and “how [he] was raised.”
The focus of his political pitch of “dignity” for all Americans is also based on his heritage.
“[I]t gets back to a word that’s probably overused in my house — as my grandfather would say, ‘Maybe it’s the Irish of it.’ The word ‘dignity.’ The simple dignity,” Biden said in May of his policies focused on trying to improve the middle class.
During his time in Ireland, Biden will “discuss how a fierce pride in being Irish and a value system that says everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect have been passed down to each generation,” the White House official said of the trip.
“He will also discuss how the Irish-American story — of enduring difficult times but marching forward towards a better tomorrow — speaks to our shared past, present and future,” the official added.
(LONDON) — An Australian man has quite literally struck gold.
He discovered a rare gold nugget worth about 240,000 Australian dollars, or about $160,000, while scanning Victoria’s “Golden Triangle” with his metal detector.
The man, who did not wish to be named, was scanning the area between Ballart, Bendigo and St. Arnaud, which was popular during Victoria’s famous gold rush in the 1850s, when his Minelab Equinox 800 metal detector started to beep.
It was there that he unearthed a 4.6 kg rock, which contained 2.6 kg of gold.
Inquisitive about the rock’s worth, the man put it in his backpack to took it to Darren and Leanne Kamp at Lucky Strike Gold in Geelong, a city nearby, for appraisal.
Lucky Strike Gold told ABC News that in 43 years of working in the industry evaluating and prospecting gold, they have never encountered a gold nugget of this size.
“We are in a unique position to see lots of gold nuggets come through the door to be sold or shown off by prospectors,” Leanne Kamp told ABC News. “Darren, himself, has found gold nuggets weighing 24 oz, 16 oz, 10 oz, 8 oz, 6 oz, but nothing as big as this!”
She added, “The gold specimen was originally very dirty so the prospector broke it into two, thinking that there may be a solid nugget inside. However, it turned out that it was riddled with gold from the outside in.”
The prospector had thought the piece might be worth about 10,000 Australian dollars, but “when he placed it into Darren’s hand, it was immediately apparent due to its significant weight that it was worth more like 100,000,” Leanne said.
“Just on gold price alone, the valuation came in at 240,000 Australian dollars, however nuggets like these fetch a premium price because of their rarity,” she said.
Victoria’s “Golden Triangle” is known for producing some of the largest and purest gold nuggets in the world. It was there that the “Hand of Faith” — the biggest known golden nugget — was discovered in 1980, weighing 876 ozs. That nugget currently resides in Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget Casino.
Equipped with a more expensive detector, the man who found the $160,000 nugget said he’s going back to see if he can strike gold again.
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has officially determined that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a designation that will allow the U.S. government to more aggressively advocate for his freedom.
“Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth,” the State Department said in a statement announcing the development on Monday. “The U.S. government will provide all appropriate support to Mr. Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich.”
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen who has worked in Moscow for more than half a decade, was arrested late last month on espionage charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and both the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have repeatedly declared the allegations are baseless.
Blinken has already held a rare call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to advocate for Gershkovich’s release. The secretary said last week that he had “no doubt” that the reporter was being unjustly held by Russia, but that the department was still working through the bureaucratic process required to classify the case a wrongful detention — an undertaking that can take months or even years to complete.
Officials say the speed at which the department moved to classify Gershkovich as wrongfully detained is unprecedented.
Gershkovich’s case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — a section within the State Department often referred to as the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator. The designation also frees up additional government resources and grants the department additional authorities to push for his freedom.
But so far, American diplomats stationed in Russia have been unable to even see Gershkovich behind bars, a standard practice that allows foreign governments to communicate with nationals jailed abroad.
During a press briefing on Monday, the State Department said Moscow was violating international law and agreements between the U.S. and Russia by continuing to block officials from seeing Gershkovich.
“We have stressed the need for the Russian government to provide this access as soon as possible,” Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the department, said during a press briefing.”
Gershkovich is now the second American considered to be wrongfully detained by Russia. Paul Whelan, an American citizen who Moscow also accused of espionage, has been imprisoned since 2018.
(LONDON and ROME) — About 1,200 migrants on two different boats were rescued in the Mediterranean on Monday, the Italian Coast Guard said.
One of those boats, a migrant vessel adrift in the Mediterranean with about 400 people on board was in “huge danger” amid high waves on Monday, Sea-Watch International, a nongovernmental rescue operation said.
Italian Coast Guard ships had been dispatched in a rescue operation, the organization said. Another vessel with about 800 people on board also was safely evacuated about 120 miles off the southern coast of Sicily on Monday, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency.
The adrift vessel had departed from Tobruk, Libya, with migrants heading to Europe, according to Alarm Phone, a migrant-aid group.
Around 2,000 people had been rescued by the Italian Coast Guard over the weekend since Friday, the coast guard said. With the combined rescues Monday, the total number of rescues is up to more than 3,000 people since Friday.
“The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue,” Alarm Phone said on Twitter.
The vessel had been taking on water on Sunday as it drifted between Greece and Malta in high seas, both organizations said. Sea-Watch said it came across the vessel “in distress” on Sunday after the captain had apparently abandoned ship.
“Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel,” Sea-Watch said.
Alarm Phone said several people had jumped into the water when they saw nearby merchant ships. The ship that had supplied fuel didn’t rescue any of the passengers, Sea-Watch said.
“A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left & there is nobody who can steer the boat,” Alarm Phone said. “Several people require medical attention, incl. a child, a pregnant woman & a person with a physical disability.”
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(ROME) — A migrant boat adrift in the Mediterranean with about 400 people on board was in “huge danger” amid high waves on Monday, Sea-Watch International, a non-governmental rescue operation said.
Italian Coast Guard ships had been dispatched in a rescue operation, the organization said. Another vessel with about 800 people on board was also being rescued about 120 miles off the southern coast of Sicily on Monday, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency.
The adrift vessel had departed from Tobruk, Libya, with migrants heading to Europe, according to Alarm Phone, a migrant-aid group.
“The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue,” Alarm Phone said on Twitter.
The vessel had been taking on water on Sunday as it drifted between Greece and Malta in high seas, both organizations said. Sea-Watch said it came across the vessel “in distress” on Sunday after the captain had apparently abandoned ship.
“Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel,” Sea-Watch said.
Alarm Phone said several people had jumped into the water when they saw nearby merchant ships. The ship that had supplied fuel didn’t rescue any of the passengers, Sea-Watch said.
“A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left & there is nobody who can steer the boat,” Alarm Phone said. “Several people require medical attention, incl. a child, a pregnant woman & a person with a physical disability.”
(LONDON) — The prince and princess of Wales stepped out in their Sunday best alongside their three children during a church outing at Windsor Castle to celebrate Easter.
In their first Easter outing as the prince and princess of Wales, Prince William and Kate Middleton brought Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and 4-year-old Prince Louis to this year’s Easter services.
The family of five color-coordinated in royal blue outfits, matching with King Charles and Queen Camilla for the celebration, which is the same color of choice for the recently released portrait of the king and queen consort ahead of coronation ceremonies next month.
Princess Kate wore a blue coat dress, a matching blue pillbox hat and a rare bold shade of red nail polish.
Princess Charlotte was dressed in a floral dress with blue tights, while Prince George matched his father Prince William in matching navy suits and ties.
Prince Louis donned powder blue shorts, typical wear for young boys in Britain, as well as navy knee socks and a blazer with a blue tie.
The family affair comes a month before the grand coronation of King Charles III on May 6. Invitations for the ceremony were recently released. It was also announced that Prince George, the second in line to the throne, will be included in the historic event as a page for the king.
(TAIPEI, Taiwan) — China says it has started three days of combat readiness patrol exercises around Taiwan starting on April 8, just a day after Taiwan President Tsai returned home following her meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Chinese state media released a video which mentions some of the assets used in the exercises, including PLA army’s rockets — likely the new PHL-16 truck-mounted self-propelled multiple rocket launcher — the Navy’s destroyer escort, a missile boat, the Air Force’s J-series, fighter bombers, electronic warfare aircraft and aerial tankers.
China says this has all been “quickly amassed and moved to the designated drill zones in preparation for combat deployment. The drills aim to examine, under the support of joint combat forces, the military’s capabilities of gaining air & sea superiority/controls as well as information warfare strength. The mission forces will simultaneously organize combat patrols encircling Taiwan and closing in on the island so as to impose/increase island-wide military intimidation.”
The drills, named “United Sharp Sword,” include air and seaborne operations. China’s Eastern Theater Command said these exercises are intended as a serious warning to the “collusion between Taiwan separatist forces and external forces and it is the necessary actions that need to be taken to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it has detected 42 fighter jets in the airspace around Taiwan as of Saturday morning, with 29 of them entering Taiwan’s southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone or having crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. In total, eight warships have also been detected, according to officials.
Taiwan released a video saying, “China’s Eastern Theater Command announced combat ready patrols & drills on the excuse of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s US transits – a move that seriously jeopardizes the region’s peace, stability and security. Taiwan’s military has utilized joint surveillance measures to keep a tab on the situation nearby. [Taiwan] won’t escalate tensions, neither trigger disputes. We will respond with calmness and reasons and take it seriously to safeguard our national sovereignty and national security.”
Meanwhile, live-fire drills will also be held in Fujian — located just across the strait from Taiwan — over the next several days.
The military exercises are expected to run for a shorter period of time compared to the seven-day drills staged last August following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
(TEHRAN, Iran) — Seven months after the beginning of the “Women Life Freedom” movement in Iran, a tangible impact is being felt across the country as many women are still refusing to wear their hijab in public and they continue to share their stories on social media.
“This is life. This is womanhood. I will never forget the epic feeling I had the day I went out with my friend and saw how we, women, have conquered the city with our bodies, with our hair in the wind,” Ava, a Tehran-based musician in her mid-20’s, told ABC News on condition of anonymity so she could speak freely about the movement.
“I feel that our mere presence on the streets is an act of resistance. Practicing everyday life as we want is a part of our revolution,” she added.
Meanwhile, hardliner supporters of the Islamic Republic regime have been gearing up for severe pushbacks against the resistance movement.
In an address to Iran’s top officials on Tuesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Republic, said that removing the hijab is a “plot” designed by “the enemy” and is “haram based on Sharia and also politically” as he urged authorities to develop plans for the “issue.”
The recent protests began last fall following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who was taken into custody by the morality police after she was arrested for not properly wearing a hijab. At least 22,000 people were arrested across the country in the ensuing protests and Iran Human Rights reported that at least 537 people were killed by the regime since the beginning of the protests.
The leader’s speech came after some videos of the regime’s conservative supporters went viral as hardline supporters made it clear that if officials do not demonstrate an ability to fight back against the liberation movement that they would “take spontaneous action.” In the past decade, such threats have led to incidents like acid attacks against women who have not fully adhered to compulsory hijab rules.
“The order given by his excellency is clear,” Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a speaker for the Iranian parliament, said one day after the leader’s speech as he promising hardline supporters that any bills or plans about hijab would be prioritized.
A plan of action has been presented by parliamentarian Hosein Jalali, according to a report by the semi-official Jamaran News Agency on March 26. In a press conference, he stated that women not abiding by the compulsory hijab rule could be fined up to $60,000 and other punishments like the cancellation of driver’s licenses and passports could occur as well.
Questions of enforcement of these proposals, however, have not resonated much so far among many Iranians.
“I do not listen to what they say. Politics and religion must serve life, otherwise they are doomed to fail. That old fear many people used to has been diminishing. We are getting prepared to move on,” Ava said. “Even in smaller cities, the ‘woman, life, freedom’ movement has been accepted in different levels.”
While the “ultimate demand and goal” of Zahra, 47-year-old housewife from a conservative neighborhood of Isfahan is to topple the regime, she told ABC News that people appreciate achievements of protestors’ “big sacrifices.”
“My old mother has decided not to wear chador [the long black veil] anymore. She now believes by not wearing it that she can normalize her grandchildren and her nieces’ decision to remove the hijab altogether,” Zahra said.
“We know there is still a long way to get to economic and social freedom and well-being. But my super religious mother wants to support our daughters in their decision of how to dress. And It is a big change so far,” she added.
