World

(LONDON) — Cases of Lassa fever have been identified in the United Kingdom for the first time in over a decade.

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed in a press release Wednesday that two people have been diagnosed with Lassa fever in England, while a third “probable case” is under investigation.

All three cases are within the same family in the East of England and are linked to recent travel to West Africa, where the potentially deadly infectious disease is endemic.

“Cases of Lassa fever are rare in the U.K. and it does not spread easily between people. The overall risk to the public is very low,” Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the UKHSA, said in a statement Wednesday. “We are contacting the individuals who have had close contact with the cases prior to confirmation of their infection, to provide appropriate assessment, support and advice.”

Hopkins noted that the UKHSA and the National Health Service (NHS) in England “have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be reinforced.”

Prior to these cases, there had been just eight cases of Lassa fever imported to the U.K. since 1980. The last two occurred in 2009. There was no evidence of onward transmission from any of these cases, according to the UKHSA.

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. People usually become infected with Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or feces of infected rats that are present in parts of West Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The virus can also be spread through infected bodily fluids. People living in endemic areas of West Africa with high populations of rodents are most at risk. Imported cases rarely occur elsewhere in the world and such cases are almost exclusively people who work in endemic areas in high-risk occupations, like medical or other aid workers, according to the UKHSA.

Lassa fever is known to be endemic in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Libera, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria, but probably exists in other West African nations as well. It’s not easy to distinguish from other viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola virus disease and malaria, and clinical diagnoses are often difficult, especially early in the course of the disease, because the symptoms are so varied and non-specific, according to the WHO.

Symptoms are usually gradual, starting with fever, general weakness and malaise. Then, after a few days, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough and abdominal pain may follow. Patients with severe cases may develop facial swelling, fluid in the lung cavity, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure. Deafness occurs in 25% of recovered patients and in half of these cases, hearing returns partially after one to three months, according to the WHO.

About 80% of people who become infected with Lassa virus have no symptoms and one in five infections result in severe disease, where the virus affects several organs such as the liver, spleen and kidneys. The overall case-fatality rate is 1%, while case-fatality among patients hospitalized with severe cases is estimated at around 15%. Death usually occurs within 14 days in fatal cases. Diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential, according to the WHO.

Although severe illness can occur in some individuals, most people with Lassa fever will make a full recovery, according to the UKHSA.

One of the patients with a confirmed case has recovered, while the other will receive specialist care at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, a London-based NHS foundation trust consisting of several hospitals and clinics. Meanwhile, the patient with the probable case is being treated at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs two hospitals in Bedfordshire county in the East of England. The U.K. High Consequence Infectious Disease Network is engaged with the ongoing care of the infected individuals, according to the UKHSA.

“The Royal Free Hospital is a specialist centre for treating patients with viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Lassa fever,” Dr. Sir Michael Jacobs, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, said in a statement Wednesday. “Our secure unit is run by a highly-trained and experienced team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure our staff can safely treat patients with these kind of infections.”

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(KYIV, Ukraine) — A new round of key talks aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis are set to take place in Berlin on Thursday.

The talks will follow the so-called Normandy Format, the name of the long-running negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by France and Germany, and are aimed at ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east.

The talks have been largely deadlocked since 2015, but Thursday’s meeting is being closely watched for signs that a flurry of diplomatic activity this week, spear-headed by French President Emmanuel Macron, might point toward a broader de-escalation of the growing crisis.

Macron visited Kyiv Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following marathon talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that resulted in a glimmer of hope that Putin may be open to taking Western offers of diplomacy to end the crisis.

Macron has said Putin assured him there would be no escalation around Ukraine, and French officials have since said they believe the visit has achieved a “pause” that allows de-escalation and gives more time for negotiations.

With Russia continuing to move troops close to Ukraine, where it has already massed over 100,000, the hope expressed by Macron and Zelenskyy is that Thursday’s talks can widen that diplomatic path and help bring down tensions. In Kyiv, both leaders spoke optimistically about Thursday’s talks, saying they expected progress.

The talks will be held between Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Zelenskyy’s top aide Andriy Yermak, and Dmitry Kozak, a deputy chief of staff to Putin. No breakthrough or even substantial progress is expected, but Western countries and Ukraine are pushing to reinvigorate the format to try to get Russia to engage or at least keep diplomacy going for now. Macron has said the talks should provide a “clarification” of what’s possible.

Macron has said making progress in the Ukraine talks should be combined with the launching of a separate dialogue with Russia on European security to address Kremlin concerns about NATO. It is still not clear if Macron’s initiative means the Kremlin is ready to take a diplomatic exit. But it’s hoped some positive steps at the talks could reduce the risk of military escalation.

“Unless Russia is serious about de-escalation, I think buying time is all we can hope for,” a former adviser to Zelenskyy told ABC News.

Russia’s buildup has already reinvigorated the talks — a round held in Paris two weeks ago was the first in two years and ended with the sides recommitting to a much-violated ceasefire.

The Normandy talks are intended to negotiate the fulfillment of the so-called Minsk agreement, a peace deal that ended large-scale fighting in 2015, but which has been effectively stillborn since. The deal envisages Ukraine regaining control over the eastern separatist Donbas regions in return for granting them broad autonomy in its constitution.

The talks have been deadlocked because Russia and Ukraine disagree over the order the agreement should be fulfilled. Russia demands that Ukraine first change its constitution to give the Russian-occupied regions special autonomous status and hold elections in them before it regains any control there. Ukraine says the separatists must disarm and Russian forces there leave before any elections to decide the regions’ statuses can be held.

Russia has pushed for Ukraine to reintegrate the separatist regions because it would give it a lever in Ukraine’s government, and a de facto veto on Ukraine joining NATO or the European Union. For that reason, accepting the Minsk agreement on Russia’s terms has become politically impossible for any Ukrainian government, which would face huge backlash at home.

Most experts believe Russia is massing troops near Ukraine in part to try to force Kyiv into moving toward Moscow’s interpretation of the Minsk agreement.

But Ukraine’s government has feared that in the face of the Russian military threat, Western countries might force it to make concessions.

In Ukraine, there was media speculation Wednesday that Macron may have pressured Zelenskyy to make concessions in Thursday’s talks, in particular to begin direct negotiations with the Russian-controlled separatists, the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR).

If true, that would be politically explosive in Ukraine and would mean Macron had pushed Zelenskyy into a major concession.

But Ukraine’s foreign minister on Wednesday bluntly denied it would ever hold direct negotiations with the separatists.

The minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said France understands Ukraine’s “red lines and do not demand to implement things that are not acceptable to Ukraine.”

Kyiv refuses to negotiate with the separatist because it sees them as puppet governments controlled by Russia. Talking to the rebels directly would accord them recognition and also legitimize the Kremlin’s false claim that the conflict in Ukraine is a civil war, in which Russia is not involved.

Macron’s office also denied it had pressured Ukraine. French officials said Thursday’s talks would focus on how Ukraine can move toward introducing a draft law granting special status for the separatist areas and get comments on it from the separatists as an exception set out by the Minsk agreements.

“We are basically preparing to be able to put on the table all the practical options which will ultimately have to receive the approval not only of the Ukrainians, but of the Russians,” the officials said.

Oleksiy Semeniy, a former adviser to Ukraine’s national security council and currently director of the Institute for Global Transformations in Kyiv, told ABC News on Wednesday he did not believe it was politically possible for Zelenskyy to start direct negotiations with the separatists.

He said an important sign of success would be if it was announced following the talks that a leader’s summit, involving Zelenskyy and Putin, would take place.

 

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(LONDON) — Dozens of people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second to batter the island nation since the start of the year.

With wind gusts of up to 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts Sunday. The storm left land Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall was forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.

The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 112,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as a dangerous storm. As of Wednesday evening, at least 92 people have died, mostly in the southern Ikongo district, and over 60,000 others remain displaced from their homes and have been temporarily relocated, the country’s risk and disaster management office said.

At least three children under the age of 12 were among the dead, according to United Kingdom-based international charity Save the Children, which cited Madagascar’s risk and disaster management office.

The cyclone flooded almost 7,000 homes, completely destroyed 6,000 and damaged nearly 1,500. Hundreds of schools were also affected, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. Meanwhile, at least 53 hospitals were damaged and six were completely destroyed, the country’s risk and disaster management office said Wednesday.

The storm also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 20 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, according to the risk and disaster management office.

The World Food Program, the food assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”

“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”

Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”

“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”

Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.

One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.

Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.

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(NEW YORK) — Four months after the Taliban seized power, Obaidullah Alikhil found himself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet as his son laid in bed with no strength to even open his eyes as he battles malnutrition.

Weighing around 12 pounds, 2-year-old Mohammed Alikhil was first admitted to the hospital in the summer of 2021, as the U.S. prepared to retreat its troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s power continued to grow. He was hospitalized for 21 days due to severe diarrhea, Alikhil told ABC News in December.

At the end of his stay, he was brought back home. But his condition, according to Alikhil, only got worse, leading to another hospital visit.

Several hospital visits and medications did not help with Mohammed’s recovery. With no solution, the bills continued to pile up, and the family’s financial situation became even more challenging.

Mohammed is one out of millions of Afghans on the brink of starvation as their families run out of money. More than 23 million Afghans face acute hunger, including nine million who are nearly famished, according to the UNICEF World Food Program.

By mid-2022, the U.N. Development Program estimates that 97% of Afghanistan’s population will “plunge” into poverty. Up to one million children under 5 could die by the end of the year due to the country’s food crisis and the lack of water and sanitation services, according to UNICEF.

The cold weather brought by the winter season makes the situation even more complicated. To keep Mohammed warm, Alikhil boils water and sets the kettle near his bed.

The struggle to keep their homes warm could increase the risk of illnesses, according to UNICEF. If a child is malnourished, the risks of getting sick are higher, and the recovery could take longer.

“We are approaching a critical juncture for Afghanistan’s children, as winter brings with it a multitude of threats to their health,” Abdul Kadir Musse, a former UNICEF Afghanistan representative, said in a Jan. 15 press release.

“There is no time to lose. Without urgent, concerted action — including ensuring we have the resources to deploy additional cash transfers and winter supplies — many of the country’s children will not live to see spring,” he said.

The financial situation among Afghans becomes even more challenging, following the freezing of more than $9 billion in assets after the Taliban took power last August.

The measure to freeze foreign reserves was taken as a way to prevent the resources from falling into the Taliban’s hands. The U.N. has about $135 million in aid in Afghanistan but it can’t access the money since the Taliban-run central bank lacks the infrastructure to convert it to afghani, the country’s currency.

As a way to meet the needs of families, UNICEF launched a $2 billion appeal in December as a way to respond to the needs of over 24 million Afghans. The appeal will “help avert the collapse of health, nutrition, WASH, education and other vital social services for children and families.”

The U.S. is also taking part in providing aid to Afghanistan as it deals with a growing humanitarian crisis. In January, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced a contribution of over $308 million in humanitarian assistance for Afghans, bringing the total amount of aid in the country to nearly $782 million since October 2020.

“The United States continues to urge the Taliban to allow unhindered humanitarian access, safe conditions for humanitarians, independent provision of assistance to all vulnerable people and freedom of movement for aid workers of all genders,” a press release stated at the time. “We will continue to work to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people and call on other donors to continue to contribute to this international response.”

The U.S., however, is under growing pressure to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets. The Taliban met with western diplomats from the U.S., Britain, France, Italy and Norway in January during a series of closed-door meetings in Oslo to discuss the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Afghans.

It marked the first official talks since the group seized power six months ago.

For people like Alikhil, they struggle to find opportunities in a country under conflict and the Taliban’s leadership.

“All I want from them is to create a job opportunity [for us] so our lives get better. I am an educated person. I need a job so I can serve the country,” he said. “There is no job, no money.”

Without money and resources, some families are forced to make horrific decisions to make some money — even if it means selling their children.

“As of now, this child belongs to me; I have the right to sell him,” Khoday Ram, who is struggling to feed himself and his family, told ABC News. “If things would have been better, I would have let him study. But we’ve been left like this.”

“It’s normal to sell our daughters, but the situation is so bad, I have to sell my son because we’re hungry,” he said. “What happens to my son once I sell him is not up to me. He could end up being killed, or he could be allowed to go to school.”

Others are left with the choice to sell their organs in exchange for some money to buy a meal.

“I couldn’t go out and beg for money, I was not able to beg. Then I decided to go to the hospital and sell my kidney, so I could at least feed my children for some time,” Ghulam Hazrat told ABC News.

With over 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees, they consist of one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Approximately 2.2 million have relocated to Iran and Pakistan, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Due to the growing conflicts and the rise of the Taliban to power, the UNHCR predicts the number will continue to rise.

While Alikhil struggles to find a job so he can provide for his family, what keeps him hopeful is Mohammed and his recovery after getting the strength to open his eyes once again.

“Only God knows the future, what will happen, whether we will get help or not,” he said. “In our community here, until now, we didn’t get any kind of help yet, neither money or flour. So far no one has helped us.”

“All I want is to earn something so I can take care of my family’s expenses, that’s it,” Alikhil said.

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(LONDON) — More than two dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second to batter the island nation since the start of the year.

With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.

The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 72,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 27 have died.

At least three children under the age of 12 were among the dead, according to United Kingdom-based international charity Save the Children, which cited Madagascar’s risk and disaster management office.

Hundreds schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the country’s risk and disaster management office said.

The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”

“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”

Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”

“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”

Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.

One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.

Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYIV, Ukraine) — French officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed to not launching any new “military initiatives” near Ukraine, a sign they said suggests Putin is moving towards de-escalating the crisis around the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Putin made the commitment during more than five hours of talks between the two leaders on Monday night in Moscow. The French officials said Putin had also promised that thousands of Russian troops massed in neighboring Belarus to the north of Ukraine would leave after exercises end there this month.

It “makes it possible to consider de-escalation,” the officials said in a briefing note sent to journalists.

If true, the promise could be an important sign Putin may be closer to taking Western diplomatic offers as a road out of the crisis, where the massing of tens of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine has sparked fears of invasion.

The Kremlin on Tuesday downplayed the French officials comments, denying that any deal had been reached.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Financial Times, which first reported the French claims, had “simply written incorrectly.”

Peskov said it was not possible for Putin and Macron to reach a deal since France was not the leader of NATO, which would need to accept any agreements.

But in reality the French officials had not said a deal was reached, just that Putin had promised not to undertake new military initiatives and to initiate a “broader dialogue” that would need to include the rest of NATO countries.

Peskov also confirmed the promise Russian troops will leave Belarus once the joint exercises there end on Feb. 20.

“No one has ever said that Russian troops will remain on the territory of Belarus, that has never been a question,” Peskov told reporters. “On the conclusion of these exercises the troops will return to their place of permanent deployment.”

Russia has been pouring trainloads of troops into Belarus amid its broader build up near Ukraine, alarming Western countries which fear they could be used as a cover for an attack. But Moscow and Minsk both insist the troops are there just for war games.

Putin and Macron’s marathon talks in the Kremlin Monday had ended with a glimmer of hope the Russian leader is ready to accept diplomacy. Putin afterwards told a press conference that Macron had brought “a range of ideas,” which he said it was too early to talk about publicly, but that Putin said he considered “possible as the basis for our next steps.”

It was not clear what those ideas were. But French officials afterwards said Putin and Macron had agreed to “the initiation of a broader dialogue” on three key points: First, Russia’s military posture; second, the long-running ‘Normandy Format’ negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine between government and Russian-backed separatists in the east; and third, the “opening of a dialogue on strategic issues,” a phrase that refers to troop and weapon deployments, and wider questions of NATO’s relationship with Moscow.

Macron flew to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, where he is expected to bring some of the ideas to which Putin referred. Putin on Monday night told Macron, “Let’s see” how that meeting goes, saying he and Macron had agreed to speak again after.

While massing troops near Ukraine, the Kremlin has demanded the United States and NATO give binding guarantees that Ukraine will never join the alliance and that NATO will pull back its infrastructure from eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War.

The U.S. and NATO countries, including France, have rejected those as non-starters, but have offered to engage with the Kremlin on more modest security issues, including limits on missile deployments and troop exercises.

Macron in front of Putin again affirmed NATO’s so-called “Open Doors” policy, calling it “existential.” Any diplomatic breakthrough would either have to find a creative way of reassuring the Kremlin on its main demands or for Putin to move back from them.

Putin with Macron had said there were “some thing possible to talk about” in written responses the U.S. and NATO have sent to Russia’s demands, referring to the more modest offers on missile deployments and other military issues. But he referred to them as “secondary.”

The Kremlin on Tuesday lowered hopes around Macron’s efforts, saying “for now, of course we can’t say we sense any real path to a resolution.”

Peskov said Russia didn’t see “readiness for now” from Western countries to pay attention to its main concerns on NATO.

“The president emphasised this yesterday that, to our regret, in the answers that we received from Washington and NATO there are grains of rationality, but they unfortunately have a secondary character,” Peskov said Tuesday. “And on the fundamental issues we, unfortunately haven’t received an answer. And so this issue remains open in the full sense of that word and remains for us the most important.”

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(JERUSALEM) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden by phone this weekend just as the nuclear talks in Vienna enter a critical final stage.

During the phone call Sunday, which Israeli media says Bennett has been trying to arrange for weeks, the two leaders discussed the U.S. raid that killed the leader of ISIS, regional security issues, ties with the Palestinians and the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

But when it came to Iran, there was no hint of their clashing views on the nuclear talks taking place in Vienna.

Biden believes saving the 2015 deal will curb Iran’s nuclear activities, while Bennett, just hours before talking to the U.S. president, slammed the deal as ineffective.

During the call, Biden also accepted an invitation to visit Israel later this year.

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(LONDON) — More than a dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second storm to batter the island nation since the start of the year.

With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.

The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 70,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 21 have died.

Some 211 schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the risk and disaster management office said.

The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”

“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”

Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”

“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”

Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.

One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.

Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders as tensions with Russia persist over Ukraine.

During brief remarks in the Oval Office ahead of a joint press conference, Biden said the two countries are “working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and address the challenges opposed by China and promote stability in the Western Balkans,” as military forces buildup along the Ukraine border.

Monday marks Scholz’s first visit to the White House, and Biden said it provided a good chance to “get to know you more personally.”

While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face “severe” consequences if it invades Ukraine, Germany had often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany had also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian natural gas pipeline, not yet operational, that would carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia’s threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. But meeting with Scholz Monday, the two world leaders expressed unity with their posture towards Russia.

After both leaders appeared to avoid mentioning the pipeline, under repeated questions from reporters at an afternoon press conference, Biden, standing next to the German chancellor said Nord Stream 2 would not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin of potential economic consequences.

“If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the — the border of Ukraine again, then there will be — there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said during the press conference with Scholz, who did not go as far as Biden, but insisted the U.S. and Germany remain “absolutely united.”

Pressed on how he can commit to that given that Nord Stream 2 is under German control, Biden doubled down, saying, “We will — I promise you — we will be able to do it.”

Scholz, in turn, expressed unity with the U.S. and said that Germany was preparing sanctions in case Putin decides to invade.

“As I already said, we are acting together,” Scholz said at the press conference. “We are absolutely united and we will not take different steps. We will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand.”

Biden added that all diplomatic lanes should be taken to de-escalate the situation on the Ukraine border where at least 100,000 Russian troops have gathered and that Russia needs to understand NATO nations stand together.

Asked by another reporter if Americans who are still in Ukraine should leave, Biden said would be “wise” for Americans to leave the country.

“I’m not talking about our diplomatic core. I’m talking about Americans who are there. I hate to see them get caught in a crossfire if, in fact, they did invade. And there’s no need for that,” Biden said.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Biden as he was exiting the press conference, “Is de-escalation possible?”

“The answer is yes,” Biden replied.

While an administration official earlier acknowledged “the narrative that’s been out there” that Germany’s response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz’s hesitation thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Putin decides to move.

“We’re confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they’re very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said. “What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward.”

When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall, ahead of Biden’s joint remarks.

“There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won’t be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany,” the official noted.

ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.

“I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies,” the official said. “And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there’s a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions.”

Scholz’s visit comes almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.

Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-20 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.

As Biden and Scholz participated in their first joint press conference from the East Room, in-person talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin wrapped after five hours, according to Russian media.

Biden told reporters Monday that he has been “very straightforward and blunt” in his discussions with Putin when warning of sanctions Russia could face but said he still he does not know what Putin will ultimately do.

“I know he’s in a position now to be able to invade, almost assuming that the ground is frozen above Kiev. He has the capacity to do that,” Biden said. “What he’s going to do, I don’t know.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders as tensions with Russia persist.

While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face “severe” consequences if it invades Ukraine, Germany has often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany has also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian gas pipeline that will carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia’s threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. Meeting with Scholz Monday, Biden will be looking for Scholz to express unity with the U.S. posture towards Russia.

On Nord Stream 2, in particular, a senior Biden administration official was blunt.

“We have made our position very clear, which is that if Russia invades Ukraine in one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward,” the official said on a briefing call with reporters.

While the official acknowledged “the narrative that’s been out there” that Germany’s response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz’s hesitations thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to move.

“We’re confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they’re very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said. “What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward.”

When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall.

“There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won’t be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany,” the official noted.

ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.

“I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies,” the official said. “And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there’s a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions.”

Scholz’s visit will come almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.

Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-2 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.