(NEW YORK) — At least 34 people have died and thousands more have been forced to evacuate as authorities battle raging wildfires in Northern Algeria, Algeria’s Interior Ministry announced.
At least 8,000 firefighters, 529 trucks and 10 mobile columns and aerial support teams are working to fight the wildfires — the largest and worst of which are in Algeria’s coastal provinces of Béjaïa, Bouïra and Jijel, east of Algiers.
Fanned by high temperatures and strong winds, the wildfires — which have been burning for several days — have spread across forests and agricultural areas in a total of 16 Provinces and Civil Protection services have recorded 97 blazes across the African nation.
Among those killed include 10 soldiers from the People’s National Army (ANP) who were fighting the flames, Algeria’s Defence Ministry announced.
At least 1,500 people have been evacuated thus far, Algeria’s Interior Ministry announced.
Algeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has urged vigilance, calling on citizens to avoid going to forest areas as firefighting and rescue operations continue.
“Given the record and significant rise in temperature and forest fires recorded in certain Wilayas [provinces] of the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development calls on all citizens, both those living near forests and city dwellers, to avoid going to forests, especially in these abnormal climatic conditions,” Algeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
In neighboring Tunisia, authorities have also evacuated 2,500 people from the border town of Maloula as wildfires rapidly spread from Algeria across the border.
Algeria is in the midst of a scorching summer, recording temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in parts of the country on Monday. The region is also susceptible to summer wildfires. Last summer, the Algerian Red Crescent announced at least 43 people were killed and 200 injured in fires that occurred in forest and urban areas.
“Algeria is affected by forest fires that occur every summer, but the rate of being affected by fires increases from year to year due to climate change that causes drought and heat waves,” said the Algerian Red Crescent Society.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune offered condolences to families of the victims of the fires.
“In front of this great affliction, I express to the families of the victims my deepest condolences and sincere feelings of sympathy,” he said in a statement.
Algerian authorities have announced firefighting and rescue operations are continuing in affected areas despite “difficult weather conditions” and “record rise in temperature,” remaining mobilized until fires are completely extinguished.
(NEW YORK) — Weather conditions are keeping the Mexican Navy from approaching the capsized sailboat of a U.S. citizen who was reported missing on July 21, officials told ABC News Tuesday.
Donald Lawson, from Baltimore, Maryland, was piloting the sailboat, U.S. Coast Guard District 11 Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel told ABC News. He was headed from Acapulco, Mexico, to Panama on July 5.
Lawson called his spouse a few days into his journey and said he was having mechanical issues with the sailboat. He told his spouse he would head back to Acapulco, Schnabel said.
When his spouse did not hear from him for a few days, she contacted the Maryland Coast Guard on July 21, the official told ABC News.
Three vessels and a “persuader aircraft” were deployed, the Mexican Navy said, in the search and location operation. The boat was found capsized 275 miles from Acapulco. Weather conditions are impeding further search efforts.
Lawson had been on the journey hoping to set a speed record, sailing a trimaran around the world, Baltimore ABC affiliate WMAR-TV reported. The professional ship captain recently docked in Acapulco for repairs.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — EDITOR’S NOTE: Readers may find some images disturbing.
Andriy and Alina Smolensky were just 22 years old when they were introduced by a mutual friend at a party in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, five years ago.
“I think it was midnight,” Alina told ABC News. “We talked all night long. After that, he found me on Facebook and he wrote to me. After that, we started to chat with each other. Every day.”
The couple bonded over a shared love of music and the outdoors. Three months later, Andriy proposed, and Alina said yes without hesitation.
“I was really kind of at that point of my life [when] I understood who am I, what I want from this life,” Andriy told ABC news. “And I finally found the girl for me.”
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Andriy, like so many other Ukrainians, signed up to fight, driven by the desire to protect his country and preserve the life they had built. Even if she wanted to, Alina knew she couldn’t convince Andriy to stay out of the war.
“If he was another person, if he had another mind, I don’t know if I’d love him,” she said. “I was scared, but in the same time, I was proud of him a lot.”
Andriy began in the infantry, but with his background in IT, he eventually found himself promoted and working as a sergeant in a drone reconnaissance unit on the frontline. While leading a mission in the spring, disaster struck in the trenches. Reaching out of the trench to pick up one of their drones, a mortar shell exploded in front of his face.
“Basically this is the last moment I remember,” Andriy said. His partner froze, but Andriy, still conscious, continued to shout orders to his men.
“He thought I was dead because it’s got blown right next to my head and my hands, as I get out from the trench,” Andriy said.
Rushed to the nearest field hospital, Andriy fell into a coma. Alina, back in Kyiv, heard the news the next day.
“It was a military psychologist,” she said. “He asked me to sit down and he said that there are two news for me. The good news is that Andriy is alive. The sad news is that he doesn’t have his arms and he didn’t know if he had his eyes.”
Within 15 minutes she had packed her bag and rushed to the east to see her husband. She was allowed just 20 minutes to see him and, despite the severity of Andriy’s life-changing injuries, she was by his side. A sense of relief was her overriding emotion.
“You know, I felt happy that I’m with him,” she said. “That he’s not alone. That I am not alone, too. That we are together. Because we are family.”
Andriy lost both his arms in the explosion. But it was the news that he had also lost his sight that proved most devastating.
“After that, I had a couple of hard days,” he said at an interview in the military hospital he is staying in. “When I realize that my whole life was disappearing now. My dreams disappearing now. My career disappearing now. And the next time I come to the Carpathian Mountains, hiking with my wife, I won’t have the possibility to take her hand and see her smiling.”
With Alina’s help, Andriy tries not to dwell on those thoughts. Instead, they focus on the positives. Though badly scarred, thanks to the quick work of the doctors, the shrapnel lodged in his face did not damage his brain, for which he is grateful.
“You know, a lot of veterans came back and they cannot remember their children,” Andriy said. “I am grateful to God that I can talk, that I can hear at least [with] one of my ears. And that I can remember who I am, why I did what I did. And to be proud for myself and my family.”
He added: “In my soul I’m the same, but my appearance is a little bit changed.”
Andriy’s injuries represent the kind of family tragedy unimaginable in peacetime. But Alina has not left his side, and is learning to adjust to the complex needs of Andriy’s recovery. That emotional support, as well as the medical, is crucial in helping the wounded to live functioning lives again.
It is special “to find such a level of support, such a friendship in a family, such love,” Dr. Bohdan Vashkevych, who is supervising Andriy’s care at a military hospital in Kyiv, told ABC News. Love and support, he said, “is one of the most important factors of a successful rehabilitation.”
The complexity of Andriy’s needs — lacking both the sensitivity of touch and his eyesight — cannot fully be served by Ukraine. The couple are hopeful that, as he continues his recovery, they may have access to prosthetics abroad and new technologies in the U.S. and Europe to help regain some of his sight. For now, they are taking their recovery one day at a time.
“You know, everyone told me that ‘Alina you are so strong,'” she said. “You are doing such a lot of things. But don’t think that I do something special. That’s my husband. I love him. What else should I do? That’s not something heroic for me.”
(NEW YORK) — Iran’s “morality police,” are again patrolling the streets to enforce the country’s compulsory hijab law, nearly a year after widespread protests erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
The controversial measure was announced Sunday along with a series of other severe actions that are being taken against women, Iranian authorities said.
Amini was on a trip to Tehran last September when the morality police arrested her for not wearing “proper hijab.” She was taken into custody only to be announced dead at a hospital three days later, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Her death sparked protests among women who risked their lives by ripping off their hijabs and cutting their hair in public. Iran Human Rights reported that at least 537 people were killed in the ensuing protests and at least 22,000 people were arrested, with IRNA confirming the number of arrests.
A 33-year-old singer from Tehran, who asked not to be identified by name because she fears retribution from local authorities, spoke to ABC News podcast START HERE about the morality police’s return and her hope that people will continue to keep up the pressure and protect one another.
BRAD MIELKE: So with that in mind, without your name, what can you tell me about who you are and where you are?
IRANIAN WOMAN: I’m 33 now. I’m from Tehran. I live in Tehran. I’m a singer. I cannot sing. I am not approved to have a concert. So this information can harm you. That’s why I cannot totally talk about myself easily, and I’m sorry about that.
MIELKE: That’s totally understandable. Can you explain the morality police to an American? We think of – there are police in uniforms and they enforce the law, but the morality police sound very different in certain ways. Can you just explain what they do, who they are and how they act?
WOMAN: Sure. They have the, you know, dress code – such as police. And may I ask you a question? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend?
MIELKE: Yes. Yeah. I’m married. A wife, yeah.
WOMAN: Oh, good, good. Bless you. Imagine that you’re walking with your wife in the street, going to shop some shoes for her. And in the entrance of a mall, there are two people standing with a very nasty style. They have, you know, crossed eyebrows. They are looking at you like they want to kill you and they ask your wife to come here. [They say,] ‘Why are you wearing that? Why are your hair out? Don’t do that. Don’t do this. OK, come with me. I will make sure that you are punished.’
MIELKE: I see, wow. And they have the impunity as they see fit, essentially?
WOMAN: Yeah. Believe me, they will attack you somehow. This is a horror movie. I cannot explain it to you.
MIELKE: In recent years, like after the death of Mahsa Amini, what was it like in Iran? How did life change?
WOMAN: It has changed everything. At the day when I saw the news and saw the girl falling down and that brutal – “Vozaro,” we call it “Vozaro” – morality police office, I hated them. I wanted to kill someone, because they have done something terrible to her – a very, very good girl who was so much better than me in their attitude.
MIELKE: You’re saying like, she was even more obedient than you. And they’re still doing terrible things.
WOMAN: Yes, sure, sure. She was an idol for them. Just look at the streets now. She was idol of hijab in comparison with the way we dress now, and that was their mistake. After that, everything changed. We are on the streets. We participated everywhere. People just called for help and I got beaten. My family got beaten. They’re fighting, because they know that always there is the threat of being arrested, being tortured, being raped in the prison. But they stood – we stood together. I walk close to a girl who is not wearing hijab, because I want her to feel safe. The other girl does it for me.
MIELKE: I see. So you had this collective unwillingness to wear the hijab. People have been openly defying these laws and, frankly, the authorities have seemed fearful of cracking down too hard. But then in the last week, they came out and they said in a statement they will be enforcing things more harshly. Have you seen that play out yourself?
WOMAN: On the subway, you cannot get on easily, because they have two policemen and they’re standing in the entrance of the subway. They shout. They try to scare you to obey the rule of hijab. But I myself didn’t pay attention to them. They followed me. I ran and blah, blah, blah, blah.
MIELKE: So you were not wearing a hijab on the subway and these men –
WOMAN: No, I’m not wearing hijab anywhere.
MIELKE: Right, and these men see you and then follow you and shout at you?
WOMAN: Yeah, yeah. If they get you, they make sure that you are beaten up and you are arrested. And I’m not going to mention the other stuff. They do this to make the fear in the society. But the thing is, beneath that skin is that we are too much. They are afraid. They know that they cannot attack me as one person, one individual. If they attack me, the society will, you know, interfere and maybe they will be beaten up.
MIELKE: Like you’re saying, when police now grab one woman at a time, other people might stand up for that woman?
WOMAN: Yes, yes. It is really possible. This is a big possibility.
MIELKE: And is that different from a year or two or five years ago?
WOMAN: Yes, sure. Believe me, this would never happen those days. People help each other. We didn’t believe that we can help each other, but nowadays we do. We do. And, you know, they fear. They have the fear. My husband has been bitten by the bullet, because of helping a woman.
MIELKE: Bitten by the bullet. He was shot for helping a woman?
WOMAN: Yes, yes, but he is OK.
MIELKE: OK.
WOMAN: Yeah, he is OK now, but that is true. He was talking and then he saw someone grabbing a little girl in that way of, you know, nasty touching and stuff to get her to somewhere that she might not get back safe. He didn’t think of anything. He just interfered. And we help each other these days.
MIELKE: So it seems like the Iranian authorities are trying to reassert the control they have, but it sounds like you’re saying, the people in Iran are forever changed. Like, you guys are not going back to that system the way it looked before.
WOMAN: Yes, sure, sure. You know, if an animal fears about something. For example, a cat fears of something, it tries to show teeth to the thing. They are doing that. They are fearful. They are shaking to the bones of us being together. So, what is the solution for them? Being more brutal. They try to put more pressure on us. Just today, a very big online shop like Amazon has been shut down because their staff, they’re not wearing hijab.
So look, nothing is going right for them. We are continuing, because this is the way that has no turning back. We have to stick to it. If we let the rope loose, they will kill us all.
MIELKE: Wow, if you loosen the rope, they will kill us all. If you release that pressure, then they’ll just make it even worse. Really powerful. Thank you so much for telling us your story, and thank you for being with us. And thank you for your bravery.
WOMAN: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. That is a great feeling, when you feel you are imprisoned in a country, but someone else, someone out there is thinking about you and concerned about you. Thank you so much. Thanks, America.
(LONDON) — Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved the key part of a divisive judicial overhaul plan pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Part of the plan — which was proposed as a sweeping reform by Netanyahu’s hardline nationalist government — removes the court system’s ability to strike down “unreasonable” decisions by the government. Critics said it would mark a move away from democratic ideals. Supporters said it would claw back some power from unelected judges.
Lawmakers who opposed the bill stormed out of the chamber before a vote, resulting in the bill passing with a 64-0 unanimous approval. As opposing lawmakers left the floor, they called out “shame” and “government of destruction,” officials said in a press release announcing the vote.
“This extreme government is hugging and posing to celebrate the moment they made it that we are no longer a brotherly people,” said Yair Lapid, former prime minister and opposition leader. “Celebrating the moment when they managed to throw into the ash heap of history everything that connects us.”
He continued, “Today, we saw an unprecedented show of weakness by Netanyahu. There is no prime minister in Israel. Netanyahu has become a puppet on a string of messianic extremists.”
A previously planned vote on the overhaul during parliament’s last legislative session had been delayed after the plan sparked nationwide protests.
Thousands of protesters on Monday again lined the streets around the Knesset, where Israel’s parliament meets in Jerusalem. They were met with a heavy police presence. Authorities fired water canons overnight and carried several protestors away on Monday morning.
The people out in mass in the streets wanted only to “overthrow the government that was democratically elected,” Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power party, said on Monday.
Protests have simmered in Israel for months, since the planned changes were rolled out in December. Under Netanyahu’s reforms, Knesset lawmakers would be able to override decisions made by the country’s supreme court, a change that’s seen by many as a move to consolidate power.
“Without the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets, the legislation would have continued unhindered,” Yair Lapid, an opposition leader, said on Sunday. “I will do as much as I can to bring a broad consensus for a democratic and strong Israel.”
Netanyahu was released from a hospital on Monday after spending two nights at the Sheba Medical Center, where he was fitted with a pacemaker.
President Joe Biden called on Sunday for Netanyahu not to “rush” his plan, adding that it’s “becoming more divisive, not less.”
“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” Biden said, in a remark first reported by Axios and confirmed by ABC News.
The two leaders spoke about the bill in March, when it was delayed.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Fritz Farrow and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this story.
(LONDON) — Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved the key part of a divisive judicial overhaul plan pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Part of the plan — which was proposed as a sweeping reform by Netanyahu’s hardline nationalist government — removes the court system’s ability to strike down “unreasonable” decisions by the government. Critics said it would mark a move away from democratic ideals. Supporters said it would claw back some power from unelected judges.
Lawmakers who opposed the bill stormed out of the chamber before a vote, resulting in the bill passing with a 64-0 unanimous approval. As opposing lawmakers left the floor, they called out “shame” and “government of destruction,” officials said in a press release announcing the vote.
A previously planned vote on the overhaul during parliament’s last legislative session had been delayed after the plan sparked nationwide protests.
Thousands of protesters on Monday again lined the streets around the Knesset, where Israel’s parliament meets in Jerusalem. They were met with a heavy police presence. Authorities fired water canons overnight and carried several protestors away on Monday morning.
The people out in mass in the streets wanted only to “overthrow the government that was democratically elected,” Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power party, said on Monday.
Protests have simmered in Israel for months, since the planned changes were rolled out in December. Under Netanyahu’s reforms, Knesset lawmakers would be able to override decisions made by the country’s supreme court, a change that’s seen by many as a move to consolidate power.
“Without the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets, the legislation would have continued unhindered,” Yair Lapid, an opposition leader, said on Sunday. “I will do as much as I can to bring a broad consensus for a democratic and strong Israel.”
Netanyahu was released from a hospital on Monday after spending two nights at the Sheba Medical Center, where he was fitted with a pacemaker.
President Joe Biden called on Sunday for Netanyahu not to “rush” his plan, adding that it’s “becoming more divisive, not less.”
“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” Biden said, in a remark first reported by Axios and confirmed by ABC News.
The two leaders spoke about the bill in March, when it was delayed.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Fritz Farrow and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this story.
(LONDON) — Mass evacuations continued over the weekend in Rhodes, the popular tourist destination, as wildfires swept toward other villages, cities and tourist destinations throughout Greece.
About 19,000 residents and tourists left villages along the southeastern coast of Rhodes, near Kiotari, with some evacuating via boats, officials said.
Emergency services were fighting blazes around the country through Monday morning, including several near Athens, the capital.
Some of those blazes have been burning since early last week, when Greece requested the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, a coordinated rescue and humanitarian assistance, to fight wildfires near Athens, officials said. Firefighters and equipment arrived last week from several European countries and Israel.
“Greece is handling this difficult situation with professionalism, putting emphasis on safely evacuating thousands of tourists, and can always count on European solidarity,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday. “EU firefighters are already on the ground.”
Residents of some villages in Corfu were warned late Sunday that they should begin evacuating. The villages of Viglatouri and Nisaki were asked evacuate to Barbati, 112 Greece, the country’s emergency hotline, said in an alert.
Temperatures around the country were expected to dip on Monday, with the highest relief coming in eastern Greece, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service said in a warning.
But the heat was expected to return in full force on Tuesday, with highs between about 107 and 111 degrees, local weather officials said. Southern Europe has for days been in the grip of a searing heat wave.
The harsh weather conditions in Greece were “expected to intensify early this week,” Deputy Fire Chief Ioannis Artophios said in a video update posted Saturday. Greek officials were expecting much of the country to have very low humidity and high winds, along with high temperatures.
“This extreme situation we are experiencing will further favor the occurrence and spread of forest fires,” Artophios said, according to a translated transcript.
TUI, a popular airline for tourists flying from Britain to Greece, cancelled all outgoing flights to Rhodes for Monday and Tuesday. Another airline, Jet 2, cancelled all flights to Rhodes through July 30.
“We will fly those aircraft to Rhodes with no customers onboard,” Jet 2 said in a statement,” so that we can continue to bring customers back to the UK on their scheduled flights.”
About 10% of Rhodes’ tourist capacity had been affected by wildfires last week, Greece’s Civil Protection officials said on social media on Friday.
When Doyle and Kris Noe woke up Saturday at a resort in Rhodes, they found that the wildfires had been moving closer overnight, Kris Noe wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
“By lunch we were very concerned and they evacuated us to the beach road and told us to start walking at 2:15p,” she wrote. “We walked 5 miles to get where we could breathe again without masks.”
From there, the pair were moved to a nearby school, then sent on an hourlong bus ride to Rhodes airport.
“No hotels were available so the airport floor was a first for us,” Kris Noe wrote. “But we were safe, had food, water and bathrooms.”
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou, Ellie Kaufman and Matthew Holroyd contributed to this story.
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday cautioned that deliveries of the F-16s that Ukraine has long sought in its fight against Russia could take “months and months” once it’s determined the fighter jets are appropriate, but America’s support hasn’t wavered.
In an interview on CNN, America’s top diplomat defended U.S. assistance to Ukraine so far, insisting Kyiv had consistently been given the equipment it needs to try and repel Russia’s invasion.
“At every step along the way, in fact, going back before the Russian aggression when we saw the storm rising … we made sure, going back to Labor Day before the war, Christmas before the war, that they started to get in their hands the equipment they would need if the Russians went forward,” Blinken told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “Every step along the way ever since, we’ve worked to try to get them what they need, when they need it.”
“But it’s not just the equipment itself. It’s the training, it’s the maintenance, it’s the ability to use it in combined arms operations. All of that takes time,” Blinken said. “If a decision were made to actually move forward on the F-16s tomorrow, it would be months and months before they were actually operational.”
The Biden administration previously resisted helping provide F-16s to Ukraine amid concerns of escalation, though supporters of supplying the jets have defended their value and argued that sending them wouldn’t risk provoking broader Russian aggression.
In a sit-down interview earlier this month with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while he was grateful for international support, more munitions would improve the chance of his country’s success.
“F-16 or any other equipment that we do need will give us an opportunity to move faster, to save more lives, to stand our ground for a longer time,” Zelenskyy said then. “Well, some weapons have been provided, on the other hand, helps us save lives and we appreciate that. Of course, foot dragging will lead to more lives lost.”
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” in July, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that sending F-16s was the goal — as was making sure Ukrainian forces could utilize them.
“We’re going to be working with some allies and partners to get the F-16 pilots the pilot training going very, very soon,” Kirby said then. “And we’re going to work to get those jets to Ukraine just as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this summer, Ukraine began its latest counteroffensive to continue retaking land from Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion last year after taking over the Crimea Peninsula in 2014.
On CNN, Blinken recognized that Ukraine was clamoring for whatever equipment it could get its hands on but expressed faith in the U.S.-led coalition to keep arming Ukraine.
“If I were in the shoes of our Ukrainian friends and partners, I’d probably be saying exactly the same thing. And President Zelenskyy’s been extraordinary as a leader and in trying to galvanize the international community, along with us, to provide them what they need,” he said.
“Our military leaders are using their best expertise possible to help determine what it is that can be most effective for the Ukrainians. How quickly can it be deployed? How effectively can they use it? That will continue and the process on the F-16s is moving,” Blinken said.
He acknowledged challenges in the ongoing counteroffensive but said Ukraine was resilient.
“[Russia’s] objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, its sovereignty, to subsume it into Russia. That failed a long time ago,” Blinken said. “Now Ukraine is in a battle to get back more of the land that Russia seized from it. It’s already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized. Now they’re in a very hard fight to take back more. These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.”
(LONDON) — A massive search for an elusive animal initially thought to be a lioness on the loose near Germany’s capital was called off Friday after authorities found no trace of a big cat in the area.
After 36 hours of combing through woodlands and speaking to experts, authorities said they now believe the creature in question is a wild boar, which are common in the region.
The search began early Thursday after the police force for Brandenburg, the German federal state encircling Berlin, received a call around midnight about what appeared to be a big cat roaming freely in Kleinmachnow, a southwestern suburb of Berlin. Based on a video of the sighting provided by the caller, investigators determined that the situation was “credible” and the animal was likely a female lion, according to police.
Authorities subsequently issued a warning to residents in the area via social media and loudspeaker announcements, urging them to avoid leaving their homes and to bring their pets inside.
Police forces from Berlin and greater Bradenburg state were deployed in droves to locate the suspected lioness, using patrol cars, drones, helicopters and infrared cameras. Officers in riot gear were put into action to protect the local population. Authorities also enlisted the help of local veterinarians and hunters, who provided “expert support” for the operation, police said.
The search focused on the areas of Kleinmachnow and two nearby towns, Stahnsdorf and Teltow. Investigators were struggling to ascertain where a lioness would have come from. No circuses, zoos or wildlife refuges in the area had reported an escaped animal, according to police.
On Friday morning, Brandenburg state police announced via social media that “the search for the lioness was unsuccessful during the night and will be continued today.” They urged people to “seek shelter immediately” and call an emergency telephone number if they see the predator.
A few hours later, Kleinmachnow Mayor Michael Grubert told reporters that the search had turned up no evidence of a lioness or any wild creature other than wild boars or an animal that had been killed. Experts who analyzed the poorly lit video of the animal concluded that its rounded back and thick legs did not appear to be that of a lioness but rather a boar, according to Grubert.
“We will return to the usual vigilant program and we think there is no acute danger for Kleinmachnow or for the south of Berlin,” the mayor told reporters on Friday, noting that police forces would be redeployed if the situation changes.
It was unknown how much the search efforts had cost, but Grubert defended the operation and said he had no regrets.
“The danger of a wild animal in Kleinmachnow justifies the deployment,” he told reporters.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
The USS Kentucky, a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine, pulls into port in Busan, South Korea, July 18, 2023. — U.S. Navy
(BUSAN, South Korea) — This week’s arrival of a nuclear-capable U.S. Navy submarine in Busan, South Korea, marked the first time that a submarine capable of carrying up to 20 nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles had made a port of call in South Korea.
The rare public visit is intended to demonstrate America’s security commitment to South Korea and to deter North Korea.
ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz was given exclusive access to the USS Kentucky in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, the only American journalist allowed to visit the submarine during its port of call in South Korea.
Busan, South Korea’s largest port, is located in the most southeasterly point of the Korean peninsula and is more than 200 miles south of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) that serves as the border with North Korea.
More than two football fields in length, the USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) is one of 14 Ohio Class U.S. Navy submarines capable of launching 20 Trident 2 D5 missiles, each armed with multiple targeted warheads capable of striking targets up to 4,000 miles away.
As is standard practice, the U.S. Navy does not say if there are nuclear weapons aboard its Ohio-class submarines.
The deployments of these submarines are highly classified and it is extremely rare for them to make a port of call, but the Kentucky’s visit realized a commitment made in April by President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol that an American ballistic missile submarine would visit South Korea in a demonstration of U.S. security commitments.
“It represents our enduring relationship with the Republic of Korea, our security commitment and our extended deterrence. It assures our allies and it deters any potential adversaries,” Rear Admiral Chris Cavanaugh, Director, Maritime Headquarters U.S. Pacific Fleet, told Raddatz in an interview aboard the USS Kentucky.
Shortly after the submarine’s arrival in Busan on Tuesday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent response to the rare port of call. On Thursday, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam warned that the sub’s visit posed a threat to North Korea and might fall under that country’s conditions for the use of nuclear weapons.
The tensions with North Korea have been evident this week as an American soldier, Army Pvt. Travis King, darted across the DMZ in Panmunjon into North Korea where he is now believed to be in the custody of North Korean authorities.
Cavanaugh said Ohio-class submarines like the Kentucky deter the possibility of a nuclear conflict.
“I am very confident in our own nuclear deterrence. Again, any adversary that would contemplate an attack knows that we have a massive response capability that’s untargeted and located by them,” he told Raddatz.
That nuclear deterrence is also intended to reassure South Korea’s security concerns.
“We do a whole host of things to assure them of our extended deterrence, which means we don’t take any capabilities off the table when it comes to defending our allies,” said Cavanaugh.
South Korean President Yoon and other senior Korean and American military leaders visited the submarine on Wednesday.
Yoon said the visit “demonstrates the U.S.’s routine deployment of strategic assets and the will of the two countries to defend the ability to execute extended deterrence.”
“This means North Korea can’t even dream of a nuclear provocation, and it serves as a clear warning to North Korea that such a provocation would spell the end of the regime,” Yoon said.
The approximately 150 sailors aboard the USS Kentucky are being commanded during this current deployment by Cmdr. Lee “Randy” Fike who told Fife told Raddatz that his crew took a great amount of pride in serving aboard the first ballistic missile submarine to visit South Korea since 1981.
Daily life aboard Ohio-class submarines during months-long deployments involves a lot of training for the sub’s crew and officers, especially in the submarine’s missile control center where the crew simulates the launch procedures for the ICBM’s it carries.
“It’s a large focus of what we do day in and day out training to make sure that we’re ready to demonstrate that we have a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent,” said Fike. ” And hope you never have to use it. Absolutely.”
The responsibility of being a vital component of America’s nuclear triad is not lost on the crew, some of whom have witnessed first-hand the power of a test launch a Trident missile from aboard a submarine.
“It’s very, very sobering,” Cmdr. Fike told Raddatz. “We go through these training simulations all the time, but nothing can really replicate the feeling that happens when 100,000 pounds of D-5 missile leaves a submarine.”
Because ports of call during submarine patrols are so rare, Fike noted that as a veteran submariner the visit to the Busan marked his first-ever port of call during a deployment.
“The gravity of what we’ve had the opportunity to do and come interoperate with our our allies in the Republic of Korea, it’s absolutely amazing,” said Fike.
“For most of my crew, this is the first time they’ve set foot on a foreign country, said Fike. “So it’s great opportunity for us. And the host nation has been absolutely welcoming.”
Allowed to visit ashore, 24-year-old Missile Technician 2 Ryan Shirley enjoyed a visit to a local shopping mall in South Korea.
“it’s a different change of scenery and how they operate over there in South Korea,” Shirley told Raddatz.
But the history of the moment was not lost on Shirley who admitted to having thought about the pending visit for days.
“I think it’s really good,” said Nichols..
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Forner from Savannah, Georgia, who re-enlisted in the Navy on Thursday after having served three years aboard the USS Kentucky.
Forner labeled the port of call “historic” and “a cool experience” for the U.S. Navy’s submarine force to be able to make a port of call to Busan.
It is unclear how long the USS Kentucky will remain in port in Busan.
