(HAMBURG, Germany) — Multiple people were shot, some fatally, at a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday evening, police said.
Several people were seriously injured in the shooting, said police, who initially described the location as a church.
A suspected shooter was found dead in a community center, according to police, who were continuing to conduct searches to “rule out the involvement of other perpetrators.”
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. and involved one or more unknown perpetrators, according to an alert from the city of Hamburg.
The streets around the building have been cordoned off and residents have been advised to avoid the area and shelter in place “for the time being,” the alert said.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher called reports of the deadly shooting “shocking” and offered his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims.
“The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrators and clarify the background,” he said in a statement earlier Thursday.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HAMBURG, Germany) — Multiple people were shot, some fatally, at a church in Germany Thursday night, police said.
Several people were seriously injured in the shooting, which occurred in a church in Hamburg, police said.
Police said the building where the shooting occurred was being used by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. and involved one or more unknown perpetrators, according to an alert from the city of Hamburg.
The streets around the church have been cordoned off and residents have been advised to avoid the area and shelter in place “for the time being,” the alert said.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher called reports of the shooting “shocking” and offered his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims.
“The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrators and clarify the background,” he said in a statement.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The Afghan Taliban began reversing women’s rights soon after returning to power in 2021, imposing bans on education, work and the ability to travel without a male guardian. Women who have protested the oppressive new rules face arrest and the possibility of being tortured and forcibly disappeared, according to a report from Amnesty International.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed recently traveled to Afghanistan, where she met with Taliban leaders to discuss the harsh restrictions on women and girls. Mohamed spoke to ABC News Live’s Mona Kosar Abdi about the crisis Afghan women are facing and the U.N.’s ongoing humanitarian work in the country.
MONA KOSAR ABDI: You recently got back from Afghanistan, making you the most senior U.N. official and also woman, it’s important to point out, to meet with the Taliban leaders. Can you tell me a little bit about how that conversation went? And also, were you able to bring women’s rights to the forefront?
AMINA MOHAMED: Absolutely. It was a huge task and a half. We did a lot of consultation before we got there with Afghan women, Afghan women who have been in the United States for a couple of decades, those who’ve come just recently as the Taliban came back in and many Afghan women within Afghanistan, countries in the neighborhood. They have a right to be in the workplace. In fact, Islam itself, the jihad, was founded by a woman and the prophet’s an employee of a woman. So, these are things we brought to the front, and we were able to have those discussions. They are denying rights to women for education and in the workplace, and that has to be reversed.
KOSAR ABDI: And today is International Women’s Day, which is a day that highlights women’s achievements all over the world. But it also puts a spotlight on the fight for women’s rights and also gender inequality, particularly in countries like Afghanistan, where, as you mentioned, women cannot go to work, where women cannot go to school. So what role can the U.N. play in advocating for women and further pushing their rights in countries, for example, such as Afghanistan?
MOHAMED: Well, as the Taliban came back into Afghanistan, the United Nations stayed to deliver because we were very concerned that those reversals would come very quickly. So it was important for us to be there in the humanitarian space to ensure that lives were saved and the majority of those women and it had to be women to women’s services. So we shored that up. The international community rightly were concerned and took a position to pause on the funding. We made the case for, please don’t do that because this will harm women and girls and the vast population that are vulnerable and poor in very harsh circumstances in Afghanistan. So we worked around how to better deliver, even in the most extreme circumstances, where these bans were in place. The U.N. continues to be there in its mission with its country team, deploying whatever space that we can push and expand to ensure that women and girls come back into the workplace, come back to school, continue to get delivered of services that are lifesaving.
KOSAR ABDI: One concern that we’ve heard expressed, particularly in Afghanistan, is about young girls being forced into marriage. Can you touch a little bit about the U.N.’s response to preventing child marriages?
MOHAMED: Well, this has been something that we’ve been engaged with around the world. It is a huge challenge to women and girls’ rights, where there are harsh laws in place that enable this practice to happen. So what we do is to try to look at the root causes, which is why I say that families, the levels of poverty have to be addressed, so families don’t have to give their children away in marriage or otherwise, because in some cases they’re selling them.
KOSAR ABDI: After the U.S. withdrawal back in 2021, the Biden administration froze billions in aid and, coupled with the drought, it is severely impacted the Afghan economy. Can you touch on just what impact it is having on the people and the state of the country?
MOHAMED: Well, there is no formal economy to talk of. Everything is in the informal space. And it’s very difficult for them with the sanctions and with no economic framework or financial structure to operate, to allow, you know, salaries to be paid in basic government entities or for the economy to move forward. And the pressure that we can put upon them, again, is about their economy. They care about their economy. They want to trade. They want to be recognized. And that’s where we can put some pressure for them to, you know, abide by those values and principles of the international community to bring them back in. So clearly, the economy matters. Clearly, they appreciate, in fact, they told me they appreciate the funding that comes on the humanitarian side. But that’s one thing to appreciate, it’s the other to behave, it’s the other to do the right thing by women and girls. But the economy is certainly up front and center. There are big issues around that.
KOSAR ABDI: Part of your work is about amplifying the voices of women and sharing their stories. Can you share some of those stories with us that you’ve heard about some of the rights that they’re advocating for?
MOHAMED: You speak to Afghan women, they are the best you’ll find anywhere. And you can see that with those who are in diaspora, incredibly smart and really beautiful women from the inside out. That’s being snuffed. It is International Women’s Day. Every woman that knows that their daughter can go to school tomorrow in the developed world needs to think about that and raise their voice to amplify what is a right for Afghan women who have daughters. And that does help. Whether you tweet it or you speak about it or you charge your representative in the parliament, it’s so important around the world that we don’t let this die.
KOSAR ABDI: Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.
MOHAMED: Thank you and Happy International Women’s Day.
Everything we know about the kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico
Emily Shapiro, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The two Americans who survived a violent kidnapping ordeal in Mexico are back in the U.S., as questions remain surrounding what happened to the two members of the group who died.
Here’s everything we know:
The kidnapping
The four Americans — Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia “Tay” McGee and Shaeed Woodard — drove Friday morning into Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas.
“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle,” and then put the four Americans in another car and fled, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said.
Irving Barrios, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, said the Americans were not directly targeted and it appears “it was a misunderstanding.”
Mexican investigators think the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
The rescue
Williams and McGee survived the kidnapping. They were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said.
One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside the house, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
The two Americans found dead had blankets or sheets on top of them, a source close to the investigation told ABC News. One of the dead was wearing a surgical robe when he was found, the source said.
One person has been arrested. The 24-year-old suspect was in charge of looking after the victims inside the house where they were found, Mexican officials said.
During the days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.
The survivors and the victims
McGee is a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure, according to her family.
Her mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News she spoke to her daughter on Tuesday. She said McGee had no major injuries.
Michele Williams, wife of survivor Eric Williams, said the FBI told her that her husband had been shot twice in one leg and once in the other.
He has undergone surgery in a Texas hospital, she said.
Brown, who was among the two killed, was on the trip to Mexico to support his friend, McGee, for her surgery, according to Brown’s sister, Zalayna Brown Grant.
“Zindell was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend,” Grant wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Our family waited for any news about my brother’s return, but he won’t be coming home alive.”
Woodard, who was also killed, was McGee’s cousin, according to McGee’s mother.
A fifth person who was traveling with the group, Cheryl Orange, did not cross the border into Mexico and remained in Brownsville, according to a police report from the Brownsville Police Department.
The investigation
The FBI said it’s working with “federal and international partners to determine the facts of what happened and to hold those responsible for this horrific and violent attack accountable for their crimes.”
The FBI and State Department are working to bring the bodies of the two victims back to the U.S., the FBI added.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday, “Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where, under what circumstances they occur. We’re going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”
President Joe Biden has “been kept updated” on the situation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
The FBI urges anyone with information to call its San Antonio office at 210-225-6741 or submit information on its website.
ABC News’ Miles Cohen, Ellie Kaufman, Matt Rivers, Anne Laurent, Shannon Crawford, Dan Carranza and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
(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:
Mar 09, 3:59 AM EST
Zelenskyy decries Russia’s ‘miserable tactics’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Russian officials had returned “to their miserable tactics” as they launched at least 81 missiles at Ukrainian sites overnight.
“The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them,” he said on Telegram. “They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”
He added, “We thank the guardians of our skies and everyone who helps to overcome the consequences of the occupiers’ sneaking attacks!”
Mar 09, 3:34 AM EST
81 missiles launched in ‘massive’ Russian attack, Ukraine says
Waves of missiles and a handful of drones were launched overnight by Russia, targeting energy infrastructure and cities across Ukraine, officials said.
The attack on “critical infrastructure” and civilian targets lasted throughout the night, Verkovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, said on Twitter. Energy was being gradually restored on Thursday morning, the body said.
Ukraine’s parliament and military said at least 81 missiles were fired from several bases. Eight Iranian-made drones were also launched, the military said.
Ukraine destroyed 34 cruise missiles and four drones, military officials said on Facebook.
“Russia’s threats only encourage partners to provide long-term assistance to Ukraine,” said Yehor Chernev, deputy chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
Russia “will be sentenced as a terrorist state” for its attacks, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Rada’s chairperson, said on Twitter.
Mar 09, 12:35 AM EST
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant now running on diesel generators, energy minister says
The last line that fed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been damaged following missile strikes, and the plant is now working on diesel generators, according to the Ukrainian energy minister, Herman Galushchenko.
Mar 09, 12:16 AM EST
Emergency power outages nationwide due to missile attacks, provider says
DTEK, the largest private grid operator in Ukraine, said emergency power outages are in effect due to the missile attacks in the Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions.
Mar 09, 12:27 AM EST
Multiple missile strikes reported across Ukraine
Multiple explosions have been reported in city centers all over the country, including Dnipro, Odesa, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Kharkiv.
Residents in multiple areas are being asked to shelter in place, and communication and electricity has been impacted.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said multiple explosions were reported in the Holosiiv district.
The governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Syniehubov, said Russia struck the city at least 15 times overnight.
The head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration said there had been no casualties and that the power supply is being restricted.
Mar 08, 2:05 PM EST
Ukraine says it was not involved in Nord Stream Pipeline bombings
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov denied Ukraine was involved in the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline, which carries natural gas from Russia to Germany. While the pipeline was not active at the time of the bombing last September, it was filled with fuel.
The denial comes after The New York Times reported that intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the Nord Stream bombings last year.
After the story broke, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned against “jumping to conclusions” about who carried out the explosion, suggesting it could have been a “false flag” operation to blame Ukraine.
German authorities were reportedly able to identify the boat used for the sabotage operation, saying a group of five men and one woman using forged passports rented a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens. The nationalities of the perpetrators are unclear, according to a separate report by Germany’s ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper.
“We have to make a clear distinction whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group [acting] without knowledge of the government. But I am warning against jumping to conclusions,” Pistorius said on the sidelines of a summit in Stockholm.
A Russian diplomat said Russia has no faith in the U.S.‘s “impartiality” in the conclusions made from intelligence.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Mar 07, 4:23 PM EST
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war
Russia and Ukraine exchanged over 200 prisoners of war on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Interfax, a Russian news agency.
During his daily evening address, Zelenskyy said 130 Ukrainians were “brought home from Russian captivity,” including privates and sergeants from the army, navy and national guard.
“Just as we remember every corner of our country that is under occupation, we remember every single person in Russian captivity,” he said.
Ninety Russians were released from the Ukrainian side back to Russia, though Russia said Ukraine originally agreed to release 160 Russians, Interfax reported.
“During the exchange of prisoners of war on Tuesday, the Ukrainian side agreed to return only 90 Russians, despite an earlier agreement on the exchange of ‘160 for 160,'” Tatyana Moskalkova, human rights ombudsman for the Russian Federation said, according to Interfax.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Mar 07, 12:09 PM EST
Up to 30,000 Russian casualties in Bakhmut: Western officials
Up to 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in Bakhmut over the last several months amid intense fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city, Western officials said in a briefing Tuesday.
The ratio of dead to injured was “unclear,” said the officials, who described Ukraine’s refusal to withdraw from the city — even though its forces are surrounded on three sides — as “a sound tactic” given that “lots of Russians are being killed.”
“What we’re seeing is a horrific level of Russian casualties for minimal gains,” they said, noting that an estimated 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded overall since the war began.
In the past 24 hours, 244 Russian troops were killed and 315 wounded in Bakhmut, Serhiy Chevrevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern group of forces, said during a national telethon on Tuesday.
The officials refused to say how many Ukrainians have been killed or injured in and around Bakhmut but claimed it was “significantly lower.”
They also were unable to put a clear time frame on when a Ukrainian withdrawal might come, though noted the possibility of a Ukrainian counteroffensive should not be ruled out.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Mar 05, 5:20 PM EST
13 found dead after strike hits Zhaporizhzhia
Thirteen people have been found dead since a rocket struck an apartment building in Zhaporizhzhia, Ukraine, authorities said.
The governor there has called for a national day of mourning on Monday.
The State Emergency Situation of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia initially posted on their Telegram account Friday that seven people were dead.
So far, 11 people have been saved, and 20 people were able to evacuate the building.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Mar 03, 2:21 PM EST
Merrick Garland makes unannounced visit to Ukraine
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Friday at the invitation of the Ukrainian prosecutor general to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other international partners at the United for Justice Conference.
Garland attended several meetings while he was there.
-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin
Mar 03, 2:09 PM EST
US announces $400 million more in military aid for Ukraine
The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in new military aid for Ukraine, including eight folding armored bridges for the first time.
This is the Biden administration’s 33rd drawdown of equipment from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Mar 03, 2:08 PM EST
5,000 remain in Bakhmut as Russian shelling intensifies
Around 5,000 people still remain in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, including 37 children, according to Donetsk Oblast Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The losses in Bakhmut stand at the rate of one Ukrainian solider to seven Russian soldiers, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilo said on TV.
Russian forces fighting for control of Bakhmut intensified shelling at access roads to the west, making it harder for Ukrainian forces to move in and out, Reuters reported Friday.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Mar 03, 12:20 PM EST
Blinken, Ukrainian foreign minister discuss Lavrov meeting
The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba about the brief conversation that took place at the G-20 summit between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“The Secretary underscored to Foreign Minister Kuleba the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s brutal attacks, including the ongoing targeting of civilian infrastructure and resulting civilian casualties,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Mar 02, 3:48 PM EST
US to announce more weapons for Ukraine on Friday
The U.S. will announce another assistance package for Ukraine on Friday, White House spokesperson John Kirby announced Thursday afternoon, but did not detail the exact size of this next round of support.
“You’ll see us tomorrow, just unilaterally, the U.S. will have another round of assistance for Ukraine coming tomorrow. And it will include mostly ammunitions and munitions that the Ukrainians will need for the systems that they already have, like the HIMARS and the artillery.”
The new aid comes as President Joe Biden meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House Friday to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues.
Kirby said the leaders would discuss the “kinds of capabilities that Ukraine continues to need in the weeks and months ahead.”
He also said this will be a “true working visit” between Biden and Scholz and they are expected to discuss “recent engagements with Ukrainian officials, including the President’s trip to Kyiv and meeting with President Zelenskyy, as well as Chancellor Schultz’s meeting with President Zelensky in Paris last month.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Mar 02, 3:12 PM EST
Lavrov ‘diverted’ Blinken’s calls to reconsider Russia leaving START treaty
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “diverted” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s calls to reconsider the decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the New START treaty, Russia’s foreign ministry told Interfax, Russian news agency.
“If they want to return to diplomacy, let them return. If they are engaged in self-promotion and such inexpensive PR, well, this is possible. True, the result will be appropriate,” Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, told Russian TV channel Rossiya-1.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia
Mar 02, 12:36 PM EST
Blinken, Lavrov hold ‘on the go’ talk at G-20 meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had an “on the go” talk during the G-20 Meeting of Foreign Ministers in India, but there were no negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS, a Russian news agency, Thursday.
“Blinken asked for a contact with Lavrov. Sergey Viktorovich [Lavrov] had communication on the go during the second session. But there were no negotiations, no meeting or so on,” the diplomat said.
Blinken had said earlier in the day during a press conference he had “spoke briefly” with Lavrov and discussed ending the war, as well as Russia rejoining the New START Treaty on nuclear arms.
“I told the foreign minister what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations and what so many G-20 foreign ministers said today: End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that could produce a just and durable peace,” he said. “The United States stands ready to support Ukraine through diplomacy to end the war on this basis.”
A senior State Department official downplayed any hopes that the conversation moved the needle on any of the topics.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Shannon Crawford
Mar 01, 5:12 PM EST
Ukraine says it’s shot down 80% of Russian missiles
Ukraine has shot down 80% of Russian missiles, according to Commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Air Force Serhiy Nayev.
Nayev made the assessment in a Facebook post on Wednesday about the effectiveness of the air defense system.
(AFGHANISTAN) — More than 600 Afghan women and girls refuse to bow down to the Taliban’s ban on education. Run by 25-year-old Parasto, a non-registered NGO called SRAK allows students to take their studies underground in a secret network of schools.
The brutal crackdown on girls’ education in Afghanistan began shortly after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. First, the authoritarian group forbade female students from attending high school. More restrictions followed in December, when the Taliban banned women from attending university and even elementary school.
The bans sparked widespread condemnation from Western governments and human rights groups across the world.
ABC News Live takes an inside look at what life is like for the Afghan woman trying to educate the country’s girls, who have been banned by the Taliban from attending school. The story streams Wednesday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. on ABCNews.com.
“The fall of Kabul was not an easy thing for us young generation especially, who were educated and they had their dreams, that now it was all vanished,” Parasto said. (ABC News agreed not to use Parasto’s last name due to safety concerns).
“I saw [on TV] that there were girls coming out of schools and they were crying and they had been asked to go back to their houses. It was shattered. It was devastating,” Parasto told ABC News.
Parasto said she couldn’t just sit and watch what was happening, so she founded an underground network of schools for Afghan girls to continue their studies in secret. She enlisted friends to become teachers; their ranks increased when female students were banned from universities.
One student, an aspiring engineer, told ABC News she wants to learn and make progress so her family will be proud. A 16-year-old student said that going to the school makes her happy and she wishes she could spend more time there.
“I think we have been a little bit successful in bringing back the shine in the eyes of the students here,” Parasto said.
But in the eyes of the Taliban, the underground schools are illegal, and teachers and students face the immense risk of being found. A school operating inside someone’s home was nearly discovered when Taliban authorities approached the homeowner and said they had heard there was a secret school there, Parasto said.
“[The homeowner] told him that, ‘I am not aware of what is going on here. Just some girls are good at gathering together, and they are learning religious studies only,’” Parasto said.
None of the teachers or students were at the secret school at the time, Parasto said.
“When I come here, I do have fears. I feel like if I bow down before my fears, I would believe I am dead,” one teacher told ABC News.
Parasto says that after the Taliban began searching homes, they had to close the schools for some time. She says that the idea of stopping the work is even more dire than the risk of being exposed.
“If I stop this work, many of the girls will be forced to get married. Many of them will be dead while they are delivering a baby in a rural area where they do not have access to any clinic. We had three students that wanted to commit suicide,” Parasto said.
Parasto said her young students have become her motivation. In turn, the girls “see the teachers as their family members” and fellow students as “sisters.”
“With the closing of schools and universities, we lost our hopes too,” the 16-year-old student said. “I wanted to die at that time. There were no wishes left in my heart.”
Parasto said that there have been several raids in schools they operate in over the years, and one since ABC News filmed the story. No teachers or students were there when the raids took place. She also said that there is no certainty the underground schools will continue to run, because of limited resources. Many of the schools don’t have electricity to keep the students warm during lessons; several teachers work without pay.
More information about Parasto’s mission and how the underground schools are run can be found at srak.org.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Intelligence chiefs from across the U.S. government faced a grilling on Wednesday from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the origins of COVID-19 and China’s influence in the world, along with other topics.
The annual hearing on worldwide threats included testimony from, among others, the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray and National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone.
“The People’s Republic of China, which is increasingly challenging the United States economically, technologically, politically and militarily around the world, remains our unparalleled priority,” Haines said.
She said Chinese President Xi Jinping, embarking on an unprecedented third term as his country’s leader, will continue to work toward a goal of making China “the preeminent power in East Asia and a major power on the world stage.”
China’s ruling Community Party, Haines said, “is increasingly convinced that it can only do so at the expense of U.S. power and influence and by using coordinated whole-of-government tools to demonstrate strength and compel neighbors to acquiesce to its preferences, including its land, sea and air claims in the region and its assertions of sovereignty over Taiwan.”
Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier said China’s military capabilities “are advancing very, very rapidly in every … warfighting domain that exists.”
“The Defense Intelligence Agency is taking note of that and watching very carefully,” Berrier said.
On COVID-19, Wray reaffirmed his bureau’s assessment that the origin of the pandemic was likely a lab leak incident in Wuhan, China, a position he also voiced recently on Fox News.
But Haines, speaking next, said there is not yet agreement across the intelligence community on the virus’ origins.
“There’s a broad consensus in the intelligence community that the outbreak is not the result of a bio-weapon or genetic engineering,” she said. “What there isn’t a consensus on is whether or not it’s a lab leak, essentially as Director Wray indicated, or natural exposure to an infected animal.”
Pressed on the matter by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Haines detailed some of the conflicting views.
“There are four elements plus our National Intelligence Council that assess with low confidence that the infection was most likely caused by natural exposure to an infected animal,” she said, adding, “We have the FBI, as you noted, that sees it as more likely that it’s a lab leak and has done that with moderate confidence. And the Department of Energy has changed its view slightly with low confidence. It says that a lab leak is most likely, but they do so for different reasons than the FBI does. And their assessments are not identical.”
“So you can see how challenging this has been across the community,” Haines said.
On TikTok — the immensely popular video-sharing app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance — Wray reiterated the concern among some lawmakers and intelligence officials that the platform could be used to exploit the data of millions of American users.
“So if you were to ask Americans, ‘Would you like to turn over your data, all your data, control of your devices, control of your information to the [Chinese Communist Party]?’ — most Americans would say, ‘I’m not down with that,’ as my kids would say,” Wray testified.
On Tuesday, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, unveiled a bill that would empower the president to ban TikTok and maybe other Chinese technology in the United States — a measure with White House and bipartisan congressional support.
In recent weeks, Congress’ intelligence committee leaders have been briefed by officials on a multitude of issues, including the suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the U.S. before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina in February and classified documents found at the homes and offices of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said at Wednesday’s hearing that he wasn’t satisfied with the lack of information the panel has gotten on the classified documents issue. He asked Haines and Wray why they haven’t personally reviewed all of the classified documents found at the residences of Trump, Biden and Pence to assess what risk their apparent mishandling could have posed to national security.
Both Wray and Haines said they’ve reviewed some of the classified materials but not all.
“When we get documents that have been compromised in the context of a leak investigation or other things like that, I don’t personally review them generally, even when they have significant consequences. There are the subject-matter experts within the institutions that do that. They provide their views and then they typically will summarize or otherwise indicate issues that have to be addressed as a consequence, if there are any,” Haines said.
Other topics covered at Wednesday’s hearing included Russia’s strategy in Ukraine, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, North Korea and more.
In one barbed moment, Cotton took exception to a passage in an annual assessment report released by Haines’ office on Wednesday: “Transnational [racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists] continue to pose the most lethal threat to U.S. persons and interests, and a significant threat to a number of U.S. allies and partners through attacks and propaganda that espouses violence.”
“Are you serious? You seriously think that racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists are the most lethal threat that Americans face?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, in terms of the number of people killed or wounded as a consequence,” Haines replied. She could not offer a number of victims off-hand when asked.
Cotton then brought up the high number of U.S. fentanyl deaths, asking, “Isn’t that a more lethal threat?”
Haines said, “Absolutely,” and clarified the context of the quote from the report — that it was in comparison to terror threats.
An FBI spokesperson, when asked about the hearing ahead of Wednesday, said Wray would face a number of topics but declined to share anything specific about what the focus would be.
“The hearing will have multiple speakers and cover a variety of topics,” FBI spokesperson Christina Pullen told ABC News in an e-mail.
GOP senators on Monday also sent a letter to Haines demanding they receive an intelligence briefing on the origins of COVID-19.
“We write to request that you immediately deliver to Congress each [intelligence community] assessment used and relied upon by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for its consensus publications,” wrote Republican Sens. Collins, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Roger Marshall of Kansas.
“Congress should be able to review the independent evaluations without filters, ambiguity or interpretations of the intelligence,” they wrote. ‘There is clear bipartisan support in Congress to make these assessments available immediately in full as evidenced by the unanimous March 1, 2023 Senate passage of the COVID-19 Origin Act to declassify information related to the origin of COVID-19.”
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan’s children Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor are now using their official royal titles of prince and princess, respectively.
Archie, who will turn 4 in May, and Lili, who turns 2 in June, came into the titles when their grandfather King Charles III took the throne in September, following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
It was not known though whether Harry, fifth in line to the throne, and Meghan would use the titles for their children. The Sussexes stepped down from their roles as senior working royals in 2020 and now live in Montecito, California.
The question of titles was answered on Wednesday when a spokesperson for the Sussexes confirmed that Harry and Meghan hosted a christening for Lili. In the statement, the spokesperson used Lili’s princess title.
“I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday, March 3 by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
A royal source also confirmed to ABC News Wednesday that the royal family’s official website will soon be updated as well to refer to Archie and Lili with their prince and princess titles.
The three children of Harry’s older brother Prince William — George, Charlotte and Louis — have always used the titles of prince and princess as William is the heir to the throne.
Harry and Meghan’s decision to use prince and princess titles for Archie and Lili comes even as they have distanced themselves from their official royal roles.
In his bombshell memoir Spare, released in January, Harry spoke openly about his rift with his father and brother, saying the “divide” with his family, “couldn’t be greater before this book.”
Still, he also spoke of his hope for a reconciliation with his family, saying that hope is what pushed him to speak out.
“If we can get to the point of reconciliation, that will have a ripple effect across the world,” Harry told Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan in an interview before the book’s release. “I genuinely believe that, and that’s kind of what is pushing me. And if that doesn’t happen, then that’s very sad.”
Neither Kensington Palace — the office of William and Kate, the Princess of Wales — nor Buckingham Palace, the office of Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have commented on the claims Harry made in Spare.
Members of the royal family are not believed to have attended Lili’s christening last week in California.
With her birth in 2021, Lili made history as the first senior royal baby born in the United States, and the first great-grandchild of the queen to be born outside of the United Kingdom.
She is also the first senior royal baby to be christened in the U.S. Her brother Archie and their three cousins, George, Charlotte and Louis, were all christened in the U.K.
Lili’s christening was reportedly attended by 20 to 30 guests that included her godfather Tyler Perry and her grandmother Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother, according to People magazine.
Harry and Meghan revealed in their Netflix docuseries last year that they asked Perry to be Lili’s godfather after establishing a close bond with him when they moved to the U.S. in March 2020 and stayed temporarily in Perry’s Los Angeles mansion.
In the docuseries, Perry described the moment Harry and Meghan asked him to be Lili’s godfather. The Sussexes have not publicly released the name of the toddler’s godmother.
“They said, ‘Well, we’d like for you to be Lili’s godfather.’ I go, ‘Whoa.’ I had to take a minute to take that in,” Perry said in “Harry & Meghan. “And I thought, ‘I’d be honored. I’d absolutely be honored.'”
(NEW YORK) — The two Americans who survived a violent kidnapping ordeal in Mexico are back in the U.S., as questions remain surrounding what happened to the two members of the group who died.
Here’s everything we know:
The kidnapping
The four Americans — Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia “Tay” McGee and Shaeed Woodard — drove Friday morning into Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas.
“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle,” and then put the four Americans in another car and fled, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said.
Irving Barrios, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, said the Americans were not directly targeted and it appears “it was a misunderstanding.”
Mexican investigators think the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
The rescue
Williams and McGee survived the kidnapping. They were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said.
One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside the house, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.
One person has been arrested. The 24-year-old suspect was in charge of looking after the victims inside the house where they were found, Mexican officials said.
During the days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.
What are the survivors’ conditions?
McGee is a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure, according to her family.
Her mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News she spoke to her daughter on Tuesday. She said McGee had no major injuries.
Michele Williams, wife of survivor Eric Williams, said the FBI told her that her husband had been shot twice in one leg and once in the other.
He has undergone surgery in a Texas hospital, she said.
The investigation
The FBI said it’s working with “federal and international partners to determine the facts of what happened and to hold those responsible for this horrific and violent attack accountable for their crimes.”
The FBI and State Department are working to bring the bodies of the two victims back to the U.S., the FBI added.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday, “Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where, under what circumstances they occur. We’re going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”
President Joe Biden has “been kept updated” on the situation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
The FBI urges anyone with information to call its San Antonio office at 210-225-6741 or submit information on its website.
(COLCHESTER, England) — On a cold, damp March morning, hundreds of people had turned out in Colchester, England, hoping for a glimpse of King Charles III. The gathering was, however, divided into two distinct groups. By far the larger of the two was there to support their king, but the smaller — those there to protest against him and the institution he heads — may well have been the louder.
The king and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, were in the city a few hours from London to celebrate its newfound status as a city, to visit a library and to announce the name of a baby rhino recently born at the zoo. All very standard royal stuff.
But Charles’ visit attracted something that would have been unlikely to have happened had it been the late Queen Elizabeth II at Tuesday’s engagements. A group of about a dozen had gathered to greet the king with signs reading: “Not My King.” They booed loudly as the royal couple went past.
The protests were organized by Graham Smith, the head of an anti-monarchist campaign group, Republic, whose mission is “to see the monarchy abolished and the King replaced with an elected, democratic head of state,” according to its website.
Republic has gained a new momentum since the queen died. It has been gathering more support both financially and in recruits to its cause, according to Smith.
“Charles has not inherited the respect and deference and sycophancy that the Queen enjoyed,” Smith told ABC News after the King had gone. “And it’s a very different environment in which to campaign now.”
Protests against the late queen were extremely rare. Now a smattering of Republic supporters appear set to follow Charles wherever he goes. Last month when he visited Milton Keynes, the yellow placards were also being thrust in the air. On two of his first engagements as king, he had eggs hurled at him. Republic members were not behind the egg incidents.
“I think the relationship is changing. I think there was a great loyalty to the queen … but society has changed. Which is why opinion is changing,” Liz Stephens, who also works with Republic, told ABC News, adding, “The Royal Family is not representative of the society we live in.”
“There were occasional protests against the monarchy when Queen Elizabeth was alive but there is definitely a sense that the end of her reign has sparked a renewed sense of vigour amidst the republican movement,” notes ABC News Royal Contributor Victoria Murphy.
She added, “The queen consistently outpolled the monarchy in her popularity, and her reputation was pretty much untouchable by the end of her reign, but the same is not true for the new king. He has a challenge on his hands because a lot of questions are being asked about the monarchy globally right now and we have a lavish coronation about to happen at a time of financial hardship for many.”
“I think there’s a lot more of an appetite for challenging that wealth and misuse of money,” Smith said.
His group is planning a large protest at the coronation, with those yellow “Not My King!” placards set to pepper the king’s procession route with a flash of colour and dissent.
“I think it’s a disgrace. To think this country is in a mess and we’re spending out millions on a coronation,” Michael, who was one of the protesters in Colchester, told ABC News.
And there are signs that others feel as strongly as Michael does. Smith says that he has seen donations to Republic more than double in the last few years. In 2020 Republic had £100,000 in the bank, by 2022 it was £286,000; £70,000 of that coming in after the queen died, he said. They have hired more staff and moved to new offices. The donations are mostly coming in small amounts from lots of people, Smith notes and some money is coming from the sale of merchandise.
That merchandise largely aimed at the younger demographic with hoodies that read “Bring down the crown” and T-shirts with “#NotMyKing,” which may be a prudent move by Smith, as polls are indicating that the younger generation is losing interest in the monarchy. The most recent royal favorability poll from YouGov, published in January, said only 34% of 18- to 25-year-olds thought Britain should continue to have a monarchy.
While the King may not be as popular as his mother, he nevertheless enjoys widespread support, which was evident in Colchester. The larger group shouted down the protesters with cries of “God Save the King!”
“I think the Royal Family is so important to our country and we’ve got to show him our support,” a local resident named Natasha told ABC News. “I think we’ve got something special with the Royal Family and we’ve got to hold onto it. Sometimes there’s a bit of negativity surrounding it. But there’s a lot of support out there.”
“Further down the line we’ve got William and Kate who are a complete asset to the Royal Family as well,” she said.
