Courtesy of The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
(FAYOUM, Egypt) — A huge 2,300-year-old funerary building and a number of mummy portraits were discovered in Egypt’s southern province of Fayoum, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Cairo, the country’s antiquities ministry said on Thursday.
The building and the paintings, which are famously known as the Fayoum portraits, date back to the Ptolemaic and Roman eras in the 3rd century B.C. They were found in Fayoum’s Gerza village, which was known as Philadelphia during the Roman period.
“The discovered structure is a large building styled as a funerary building with colored gypsum tiled floors,” Adel Okasha, who heads the antiquities department in Cairo and Giza, said in a statement. “To the south of it, there is colonnade hall where the remains of four columns were found.”
The uncovering of the paintings was also hailed as one of the most important archeological discoveries this year, as it marked the first time such portraits were found in more than 110 years.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, British egyptologist Flinders Petrie excavated at least 150 mummy portraits at a Roman necropolis in in Fayoum’s archeological site of Hawara.
“The discovery shows the diversity and difference in quality of the mummification process during the Ptolemaic and Roman times based on the financial status of the deceased,” said Mostafa Waziry, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Antiquities Council.
Waziry also said a “rare terracotta statue of [ancient deity] Isis Aphrodite was discovered inside one of the burials in a wooden coffin,” as well as “papyrus-made records” with Demotic and Greek inscriptions that show the economic and religious statuses of the inhabitants of the area at the time.
Egypt, which has invested heavily in ancient discoveries in recent years, is hoping to revive its ailing tourism industry. The country also plans to inaugurate a state-of-the-art museum near the Giza Pyramids, which Egypt says will be the biggest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization.
Archaeologists explore a dig site in the Omnogovi Province in Mongolia, where they discovered a new species of dinosaur, the Natovenator polydontus, in 2008. – Sungjin Lee and Yuong-Nam Lee
(NEW YORK) — Scientists have discovered a new predatory dinosaur fossil in Mongolia that was likely a semiaquatic diving predator.
A near-complete skeleton, found in the Omnogovi Province, depicts a bird-like specimen and was named “Natovenator polydontus,” or “Swimming hunter with many teeth,” according to a paper published in Communications Biology on Thursday.
Researchers from the Korea-Mongolia International Dinosaur Expedition located the fossils at the Baruungoyot Formation in 2008, Young-Nam Lee, a professor of vertebrate paleontology who led the dig, told ABC News.
During the expedition, 27 members of the team gathered 196 cataloged specimens. The Natovenator polydontus was found by Robin Sissons, a graduate student of the University of Alberta, Lee said.
The fossil was not fully exposed in the field, so Sissons, despite not knowing what it was at the time, made a plaster jacket for it, Lee said.
All of the fossils from that collection were then shipped to South Korea for preparation and study, where “a whole skeleton came to light” of the new species of dinosaur, Lee said.
The specimen “was so delicate but beautifully preserved,” Lee said.
It included a skull, spinal column, one forelimb and the remains of two hindlimbs. Its streamlined body, with ribs that point toward its tail, is similar to modern diving birds and its long neck resembles modern water birds such as geese, the researchers said. These adaptions may have reduced the drag that Natovenator would have been subjected to when swimming, helping it to catch prey.
The fossil also included an “unusually high number of teeth” compared to the size of the dinosaur’s jaw, indicating that it ate a fish or insect-based diet, according to the researchers.
“Instantly we realized it was something important,” Lee said. “It had a skull with many tiny teeth and a very long neck was distinct.”
This is the first time that a non-avian theropod — a type of carnivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs — was discovered with a streamlined body similar to some birds, according to the researchers.
Analysis of evolutionary relationships also indicate that the new species is closely related to halszkaraptorines, a group of non-avian theropods that previous research has suggested may have been adapted for a semiaquatic lifestyle.
“Natovenator is a valuable discovery,” Lee said. “Finding semi-aquatic dinosaurs means that the ecological diversity was very high in dinosaurs. Halszkaraptorines could change our prejudice about the lifestyle of dinosaurs.”
(LVIV, Ukraine) — Officials have warned that the city of Lviv, Ukraine, home to over 150,000 internally displaced people, could face a winter without power as they anticipate another surge in refugee numbers.
The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, told ABC News that the city, near the western border with Poland, is preparing to stay completely without power supply and natural gas supply because of Russian missile attacks which have devastated Ukrainian infrastructure in recent weeks.
To cope with the coming winter, a major construction project is now underway in the city in order to facilitate a new wave of people fleeing from regions badly targeted by Russian missile strikes which involves both renovating existing modular houses and building new ones.
Amongst the current refugee population, there is a mix of fear ahead of the expected drop in temperatures as well as overall hope in Ukraine’s long-term ability to secure a victory in the war.
“We hope that we will move to a different location as it becomes cold in here,” Ksenia, a 17-year-old from New York — a town in Donetsk region situated near the current frontline — told ABC News. She has been living in Lviv since this summer, when warmer temperatures did not pose such a challenge, with her mother, grandmother, brother and two cats.
Maria, 45, from Zaporizhzhia, has tried to retain her optimism. Asked by ABC News about her family’s plans for the future, she said: “Only victory and a way back home.”
Both Maria’s brother and son are currently serving in the Ukrainian army and her husband, also a military serviceman, has been missing since 2015.
Maria’s mother, Olga says, the conditions were different in the summer when they just moved into a temporary house designed for the families of four people. Due to the building’s thin walls, it can get very wet inside the home — the walls, doors and even their beds are covered with condensation and, sometimes, even with fungus.
These modular houses were a result of an urgent decision made in the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to Mayor Sadovyi, five million people have moved through the city since late February and there were days when upwards of two million refugees were staying in Lviv at once.
“We were forced to come up with any decision to give these people an opportunity to sleep somewhere,” he said.
Now he plans to buy more powerful diesel generators to guarantee the city’s residents heating, even without complete electricity.
“Every medical facility and several boarding schools are supposed to have a generator as an alternative energy source, and a solid fuel boiler as a second heating source,” Sadovyi said.
A separate complex for young mothers and pregnant women was built in Lviv about three months earlier this year — a totally different type of accommodation that is resistant to low temperatures, is more comfortable and can house over 100 people at once.
Lilia Kilchytska, head of a charity called “Unbroken Mothers”, says that IDPs from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and other partially occupied regions live there at the moment.
To provide electricity and heating for the children and their mothers, the center has been granted a power generator by an international charity organization. It has already saved the families during the several blackouts caused by the Russian missile strikes.
A large number of refugees have lost their homes because of the war. Besides temporary shelters placed at dormitories, malls, theaters, schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure facilities, the administration is actively searching for long-term housing projects for IDPs.
Officials are currently considering buying, building or renovating enough square meters for the forced newcomers to the region but money is scarce, and authorities have said they require more donations and financial support if they are going to scale up their efforts.
At the moment, there are only 1,733 places for refugees to stay in these renovated buildings in Lviv over the upcoming winter.
That number, according to the authorities, pales in comparison to the potential flood of people who may leave their homes in other parts of Ukraine as Russian strikes continue this winter.
(BOSTON, Mass.) — Prince William thanked the “people of Boston” as he and his wife Kate arrived in the city to kick off their first U.S. tour in nearly a decade.
Their whirlwind tour ends with an awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize, an initiative William launched in 2019 to create solutions for environmental problems.
This is William and Kate’s first visit to the United States since they visited New York City in 2014. It is also their first overseas trip since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September and their first overseas trip since taking on the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales.
“[William and Kate] are both excited for their first international trip since taking on their new roles,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told ABC News. “Both appreciate the history associated to the titles but understandably want to look to the future and pave their own paths.”
Check back for updates throughout their trip.
Wednesday: Prince and princess of Wales sit courtside at Celtics game
Following their visit to city hall, William and Kate headed to TD Garden for a basketball game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
Kate donned a blue blazer while William wore a blue button down and dark blue blazer. They were all smiles as they cheered on Celtics courtside alongside Governor-elect Maura Healey, Celtics co-owners Steve Pagliuca and Wyc Grousebeck, and Grousebeck’s wife Emilia Fazzalari.
William and Kate light Boston green
William and Kate’s first stop on their Boston trip was Boston City Hall.
They were greeted by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, the first woman and first person of color to be elected as mayor in the city last year, and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.
In honor of the Earthshot Prize, which was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot Initiative, the couple helped light Boston buildings and landmarks green.
In his address to Mayor Wu and the crowd at Boston City Hall, Prince William thanked Wu and Reverend White-Hammond for their support for the Earthshot Prize. He also noted why Boston was the “obvious choice for the Earthshot Prize in its second year” and said he was inspired by President Kennedy’s moonshot speech to launch the Earthshot Prize.
“Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy’s ‘moonshot’ speech laid down a challenge to American innovation and ingenuity,” Prince William began. “‘We chose to go to the moon,’ he said, ‘not because it is easy, but because it is hard.'”
“Where better to hold this year’s awards ceremony than in President Kennedy’s hometown, in partnership with his daughter and the foundation that continues in his name,” he added. “Boston was also the obvious choice because our universities, research centres and vibrant start-up scene make you a global leader in science, innovation and boundless ambition. Mayor Wu, you have also been a leader in putting climate policies at the heart of your administration. Thank you.”
“Like President Kennedy, Catherine and I firmly believe that we all have it in ourselves to achieve great things, and that human beings have the ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve,” William said. “We cannot wait to celebrate the Earthshot Prize later this week, and we are both looking forward to spending the next few days learning about the innovative ways the people of Massachusetts are tackling climate change.”
President Biden to greet Prince William and Kate in Boston on Friday
Earlier on Wednesday during a White House press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden “intends to greet the prince and princess of Wales” on Friday when he is in Boston. The White House previously announced that Biden would be in Boston this week for a fundraiser.
William and Kate arrive in Boston
Upon their arrival in Boston Wednesday morning, William said he and Kate are “delighted to be back in the United States.” He also used the moment to reflect about his grandmother, who celebrated her 1976 bicentennial in the U.S.
“On this, our first visit since the death of my grandmother, I would like to thank the people of Massachusetts and particularly of Boston for their many tributes to the late queen. She remembered her 1976 bicentennial visit with great fondness,” William said in a statement.
“My grandmother was one of life’s optimists. And so am I,” he added. “To the people of Boston, thank you. I’m so grateful to you for allowing us to host the second year of the Earthshot Prize in your great city. Catherine and I can’t wait to meet many of you in the days ahead.”
Spokesperson for William addresses racism accusations surrounding godmother
As William and Kate were making their way to Boston, a controversy erupted in the U.K. involving William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey.
Hussey, a longtime lady-in-waiting to the late queen, was accused of making racist remarks to an attendee at a reception hosted by Queen Escort Camilla on Tuesday at Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said it had launched an investigation into the allegation and said Hussey had “stepped aside from her honorary role.”
A spokesperson for William commented on the incident while briefing reporters ahead of William and Kate’s arrival in Boston.
“This is a matter for Buckingham Palace but as the Prince of Wales’ spokesperson, I appreciate you’re all here and understand you’ll want to ask about it. So let me address it head on,” the spokesperson said. “I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience at Buckingham Palace last night.”
He continued, “Obviously, I wasn’t there, but racism has no place in our society. The comments were unacceptable and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”
(WASHINGTON) — French President Emmanuel Macron told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he believes a negotiation is still “possible” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which Macron called a “huge mistake.”
Macron spoke with Stephanopoulos ahead of meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday for the first state dinner of Biden’s administration. In the interview, Macron talked about his visit to Washington and reinforcing France as the oldest ally of the U.S., especially during the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Stephanopoulos asked Macron about his vision for a “successful peace” in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February.
The French president stressed that such peace would need to be “sustainable” and driven by the Ukrainians.
“A good peace is not a peace which will be imposed to the Ukrainians by others, No. 1,” Macron said, adding, “A good peace is not a peace which will not be accepted on the mid-to-long run by one of the two parties.”
During Macron’s U.S. visit, he and Biden plan to address issues including economic ties between the two countries, challenges from China, Iran and the Middle East, and aligning how to best support Ukraine against Russia, according to the White House.
“I think President Putin made a huge mistake by launching this war,” Macron told Stephanopoulos, mentioning the Minsk agreements made between Ukraine and Russia after 2014 in an effort to prevent war.
Putin has since said he doesn’t recognize that deal.
“There was a political and diplomatic process with involvement of the international community. And he decided on his own, based on a fake narrative, saying NATO will use Ukraine to attack Russia, which is totally wrong,” Macron said.
Stephanopoulos asked: “Is a man who’s capable of making a decision like that, a mistaken decision like that, capable of negotiating what you call a good peace?”
“This is exactly the question,” Macron said.
But still, he said he hopes Putin will be “rational” with a negotiated end to the war.
“[Putin] is in charge and he’s been in charge for quite a long time … He knows his people. I think he made mistake,” Macron said. “Is it impossible to come back [to] the table and negotiate something? I think it’s still possible.”
(BOSTON) — Royal watchers hoping for a family reunion between Prince William and Prince Harry while William and Kate are visiting the United States may be left disappointed.
Sources close to William and his brother Prince Harry, who lives in the U.S. with his wife Meghan, confirm the two couples have no plans to meet while William and Kate are on their three-day visit to Boston.
William and Kate, the prince and princess of Wales, are visiting Boston to attend Friday’s awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize, an initiative William launched in 2019 to create solutions for environmental problems.
While in Boston, the couple will meet with Caroline Kennedy and tour the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Just a few days later, on Dec. 6, the California-based Harry and Meghan will be in New York City to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award from Kerry Kennedy, a cousin of Caroline Kennedy and niece of the late John F. Kennedy.
The fact that the two couples will be so close to each other on the East Coast in a short time span but will not meet is a sign of their continued strained relationship, according to ABC News contributor Victoria Murphy.
“I think the fact that there isn’t going to be a meeting says it all — the fallout is still very real and raw,” said Murphy. “Yes, Boston is a long way from California but Harry and Meghan are making the trip to New York just a few days later, so citing distance as the reason for not meeting doesn’t feel like the full picture.”
The couples have seen each other only a handful of times since Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior working royal roles in 2020 and moved from the U.K. to California.
The last time William, Kate, Harry and Meghan appeared publicly together in person was during the mourning period for the late Queen Elizabeth II in September. Prior to that, the two couples, once called the “Fab Four” by royal watchers, had not been seen together in public in over two years.
“The brothers put on a show of unity for the queen’s funeral but the reality is that the divisions and disagreements are very much still there and they could get bigger depending on what is in Harry’s book and the couple’s docuseries,” said Murphy.
Harry and Meghan will be featured in a docuseries airing on Netflix in December and the next month Harry’s memoir, titled Spare, will be published on Jan. 10.
When the book was announced last year, Harry said it would be a “firsthand account” of his life that is “accurate and wholly truthful.”
The spotlight on Harry and Meghan means William and Kate’s U.S. trip, their first in eight years, comes at an “interesting time,” according to Murphy.
“Since they stepped back from royal life, Harry and Meghan have, at times, been very visible, but at times they have had periods out of the limelight with their young family,” she said. “Right now, it feels like they are very visible with anticipation building around their docuseries and Harry’s book and an awards gala to attend in New York.”
Murphy continued, “So it’s an interesting time for William and Kate to be in the U.S. — the country Harry and Meghan have made their home — right at the moment when there is a particular buzz and anticipation around what Harry and Meghan might have to say next about the royals.”
William and Kate’s trip also comes at an important time for the couple, who have taken on new roles since the queen’s death.
The trip is their first international trip since taking on the new roles of prince and princess of Wales. It also comes at a time of change for the monarchy under King Charles III, William and Harry’s father.
It is also William and Kate’s first trip since their visit to the Caribbean, where they faced protests over colonialism.
“I think this trip will be an interesting one because the monarchy has had a lot of criticism in the past few years,” said Murphy. “The picture is very different to when William and Kate visited the U.S. in 2014, so this trip could be seen as an opportunity to gauge how the U.S. public feels about the working royals and the monarchy right now and what that might mean for the royal family globally.”
The trip is also of personal importance to William, the heir to the throne, who has made preserving the environment a central point of his royal work.
“This is William’s passion project and something he is dedicating himself to over a decade and that he wants to do so that he can look his children in the eye over climate change,” said Murphy. “Their biggest goal is absolutely to get more focus around the awards and what we can do for climate change.”
(NEW YORK) — The Invictus Games are still less than a year away, but Prince Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, are getting ready for the international event.
On Wednesday, the Invictus Games Foundation released a new promotional video for the paralympic-style competition featuring several Invictus competitors facing off in a ping-pong match — Prince Harry and Meghan appear in the video.
Are you ready? The incredible experience that is the #InvictusGames is coming ever closer.
Be a part of it to experience the power of sport in recovery in Düsseldorf 9-16 Sept 2023.
Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are now available!
— Invictus Games Düsseldorf 2023 (@InvictusGamesDE) November 30, 2022
In the caption, the foundation shared information about the games, which will be held in September 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and that tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are now available.
The Invictus Games were founded eight years ago by Prince Harry, who served in the British Army for 10 years and completed two tours in Afghanistan. He created the games as an international version of the Warrior Games, which is organized annually by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The first Invictus Games were held in London in 2014 and have been held in The Hague, Netherlands; Orlando, Florida; Toronto and Sydney since.
(BOSTON, Mass.) — Prince William thanked the “people of Boston” as he and his wife Kate arrived in the city to kick off their first U.S. tour in nearly a decade.
Their whirlwind tour ends with an awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize, an initiative William launched in 2019 to create solutions for environmental problems.
This is William and Kate’s first visit to the United States since they visited New York City in 2014. It is also their first overseas trip since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September and their first overseas trip since taking on the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales.
“[William and Kate] are both excited for their first international trip since taking on their new roles,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told ABC News. “Both appreciate the history associated to the titles but understandably want to look to the future and pave their own paths.”
Check back for updates throughout their trip.
William and Kate light Boston green
William and Kate’s first stop on their Boston trip was Boston City Hall.
They were greeted by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, the first woman and first person of color to be elected as mayor in the city last year, and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy.
In honor of the Earthshot Prize, which was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot Initiative, the couple helped light Boston buildings and landmarks green.
In his address to Mayor Wu and the crowd at Boston City Hall, Prince William thanked Wu and Reverend White-Hammond for their support for the Earthshot Prize. He also noted why Boston was the “obvious choice for the Earthshot Prize in its second year” and said he was inspired by President Kennedy’s moonshot speech to launch the Earthshot Prize.
“Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy’s ‘moonshot’ speech laid down a challenge to American innovation and ingenuity,” Prince William began. “‘We chose to go to the moon,’ he said, ‘not because it is easy, but because it is hard.'”
“Where better to hold this year’s awards ceremony than in President Kennedy’s hometown, in partnership with his daughter and the foundation that continues in his name,” he added. “Boston was also the obvious choice because our universities, research centres and vibrant start-up scene make you a global leader in science, innovation and boundless ambition. Mayor Wu, you have also been a leader in putting climate policies at the heart of your administration. Thank you.”
“Like President Kennedy, Catherine and I firmly believe that we all have it in ourselves to achieve great things, and that human beings have the ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve,” William said. “We cannot wait to celebrate the Earthshot Prize later this week, and we are both looking forward to spending the next few days learning about the innovative ways the people of Massachusetts are tackling climate change.”
President Biden to greet Prince William and Kate in Boston on Friday
Earlier on Wednesday during a White House press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden “intends to greet the prince and princess of Wales” on Friday when he is in Boston. The White House previously announced that Biden would be in Boston this week for a fundraiser.
William and Kate arrive in Boston
Upon their arrival in Boston Wednesday morning, William said he and Kate are “delighted to be back in the United States.” He also used the moment to reflect about his grandmother, who celebrated her 1976 bicentennial in the U.S.
“On this, our first visit since the death of my grandmother, I would like to thank the people of Massachusetts and particularly of Boston for their many tributes to the late queen. She remembered her 1976 bicentennial visit with great fondness,” William said in a statement.
“My grandmother was one of life’s optimists. And so am I,” he added. “To the people of Boston, thank you. I’m so grateful to you for allowing us to host the second year of the Earthshot Prize in your great city. Catherine and I can’t wait to meet many of you in the days ahead.”
Spokesperson for William addresses racism accusations surrounding godmother
As William and Kate were making their way to Boston, a controversy erupted in the U.K. involving William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey.
Hussey, a longtime lady-in-waiting to the late queen, was accused of making racist remarks to an attendee at a reception hosted by Queen Escort Camilla on Tuesday at Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said it had launched an investigation into the allegation and said Hussey had “stepped aside from her honorary role.”
A spokesperson for William commented on the incident while briefing reporters ahead of William and Kate’s arrival in Boston.
“This is a matter for Buckingham Palace but as the Prince of Wales’ spokesperson, I appreciate you’re all here and understand you’ll want to ask about it. So let me address it head on,” the spokesperson said. “I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience at Buckingham Palace last night.”
He continued, “Obviously, I wasn’t there, but racism has no place in our society. The comments were unacceptable and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”
(NEW YORK) — The family of Paul Whelan, the American former Marine held hostage by Russia, say they are worried for his safety after he dropped out of contact at the prison camp where is being held last week.
Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, on Tuesday said camp authorities had claimed they had abruptly moved Whelan to a prison hospital without explanation. In a statement, he said the family fear Whelan could have suffered a sudden medical emergency or that the prison authorities might be lying to conceal that Whelan was now in solitary confinement or otherwise held and not allowed to communicate.
Paul Whelan has spent nearly four years in detention since he was seized in 2018 by Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, while visiting Moscow for a friend’s wedding. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges but the United States and his family say were fabricated in order to take him as a political bargaining chip.
Whelan has been held in at Correctional Colony 17 — a prison camp in the Mordovia region around 300 miles from Moscow — for more than two years. His family began sounding the alarm on Monday after Whelan missed scheduled calls with his parents and the U.S. embassy last week.
“We’re concerned that he may have either some emergency medical issue that is not being disclosed or that he is in fact still at IK-17 and has been placed in solitary as retaliation for something,” David Whelan said in an email statement.
David Whelan said the prison camp claims his brother was moved to the prison hospital on Nov. 17 but Whelan had not complained of any medical issue to U.S. embassy staff that visited him a day earlier or mentioned any move to his parents in a call on Nov. 23.
“Paul was not complaining of any health conditions that required hospitalization, so has there been an emergency? He appeared healthy and well to the Embassy staff,” David Whelan wrote.
“If Paul’s at the prison hospital, why is he being prohibited from making phone calls that every prisoner is allowed to make? Is he unable to make calls? Or is he really still at IK-17 but he’s been put in solitary and the prison is hiding that fact,” he wrote.
He said the prison had previously sent Whelan to the hospital against his will, sometimes as a punishment. Previously, however, Whelan noted that his brother had always told them when he was being sent to the hospital, David Whelan said.
Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, told ABC News that Whelan had a medical check up two weeks ago which suggested no issues.
Zherebenkov said there were two explanations why Whelan was not making his calls — either there are technical issues or he was being punished.
Asked by ABC News on Tuesday, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said it was the first he had heard Whelan had missed a call but he expressed deep concern for Whelan’s conditions.
Whelan is able to speak most weeks to his parents in the U.S. via video call from the prison, according to his family, and also has scheduled calls to the embassy.
“They have a call scheduled with him on Thursdays and he failed to make it last week. It’s incredibly unusual for Paul to miss trying to call home on a holiday like Thanksgiving,” David Whelan said. He said he hoped the U.S. embassy would find out Whelan’s condition.
“Is his phone card out of funds? Is he in solitary? Has he been moved to a hospital camp again without his request? Transport somewhere always comes to mind because prisoner transfers always seem to happen on a Friday. And, if it’s punitive, what is the prison retaliating for?”
The U.S. is seeking to negotiate Whelan’s release as well as the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been in Russian detention since February and who American officials also believe was taken by the Kremlin as a political bargaining chip.
Griner arrived earlier this month at a nearby prison camp in Mordovia after she was sentenced to nine years on drug smuggling charges, the U.S. says were trumped up.
Russia has signaled it wants to trade Whelan and Griner in a prisoner exchange for Russians imprisoned in the U.S., but efforts to reach a deal have stalled.
The Biden administration this summer said it was prepared to trade Viktor Bout, the notorious arms trafficker who is serving a 25-year prison sentence on weapons smuggling charges and is widely suspected to have ties to Russian intelligence. But Russia has so far rejected the offer, despite publicly suggesting for years Bout was a top candidate for any swap.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov earlier this month said he hoped the prospect of trading Bout was “getting stronger” but that the two sides were “yet to arrive at a common denominator.” He confirmed the U.S. and Russia were negotiating on the issue via a “special channel” and that Bout was among those being discussed.
A potential sticking point is Moscow may be their unwillingness to trade two Americans for one Russian citizen, even one of Bout’s importance.
In new comments on Tuesday, Ryabkov said “there is always a chance” that a deal might be reached soon, but gave little suggestion one was close.
“Regretfully, we have seen a number of situations where we thought a decision would be made soon. That did not happen,” Ryabkov told reporters.
Ryabkov also criticized the U.S. for speaking publicly about the negotiations, accusing it of “going over the top by using megaphone diplomacy.”
The acting U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, in an interview with Russian state media this week confirmed that the U.S. was continuing to discuss Griner and Whelan through special channels.
“We have already said, the United States has submitted a serious proposal for consideration. We finalized this proposal and offered alternatives. Unfortunately, the Russian Federation has not yet received a serious response to these proposals,” she told RIA Novosti.
(LONDON) — Prince William’s godmother and a longtime lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II has stepped down from her role amid an allegation of racism.
Buckingham Palace said Wednesday it launched an investigation into an accusation that Lady Susan Hussey made racist comments to an attendee at a palace reception hosted by Queen Camilla.
Ngozi Fulani, the founder of Sistah Space, a nonprofit organization that supports women and families affected by domestic abuse, shared in a Twitter post that she was asked repeatedly by Hussey where she was from.
“What part of Africa are you from?” Fulani alleges Hussey asked her, according to her tweet.
Fulani wrote that when she replied she was from the United Kingdom, Hussey continued to question her, allegedly saying, “Oh, I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you’re from. When did you first come here?”
Fulani — who was at the palace for a reception on combatting violence against women, one of Camilla’s main charitable interests — wrote that she had “mixed feelings” about her visit to the palace, saying that after her conversation with Hussey, the “rest of the event is a blur.”
Hussey was one of Elizabeth’s longest-serving ladies-in-waiting, an honorary role that serves as a kind of personal assistant to the queen.
Camilla, who became queen consort after Elizabeth’s death in September, did away with the lady-in-waiting role, instead choosing to have lady companions, one of whom is Hussey’s daughter.
On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace confirmed Hussey had “stepped aside from her honorary role.”
“We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details. In this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made,” the palace said in a statement. “We have reached out to Ngozi Fulani on this matter, and are inviting her to discuss all elements of her experience in person if she wishes.”
The statement continued, “In the meantime, the individual concerned would like to express her profound apologies for the hurt caused and has stepped aside from her honorary role with immediate effect. All members of the Household are being reminded of the diversity and inclusivity policies which they are required to uphold at all times.”
Prince William, who is starting a three-day trip in Boston Wednesday with his wife, Kate, the Princess of Wales, has not commented on the incident. Camilla has not commented beyond the statement from Buckingham Palace.
The apology from the palace comes less than two years after Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made bombshell allegations of racism within the royal institution in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
In the two-hour, prime-time interview, Harry and Meghan, who stepped down from their senior royal roles in 2020, alleged that conversations were had with Harry about the skin color of their son Archie, the first American British biracial royal born in the U.K., and also widely considered to be the first mixed-race child born into the royal family.
When Harry and Meghan were dating in 2016, Harry lambasted the “abuse and harassment” of Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, in the press and criticized “racial undertones” in some coverage of her.
Earlier this week, a senior police official confirmed the Sussexes faced “disgusting and very real” threats when they lived in the United Kingdom.
Neil Basu, the former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police, told Channel 4 News that there were serious and credible threats made against Meghan, mostly emanating from what Basu described as “extreme right-wing terrorism.”
“If you’d seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it, the kind of rhetoric that’s online, if you don’t know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time,” he said of the threats against Meghan. “We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats.”
