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(TEHRAN, Iran) — As nuclear talks enter what U.S. officials have described as the “final moment,” Iran struck a defiant tone Friday, marking the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought to power its hardline government.

In the streets of Tehran, thousands celebrated in convoys of cars and motorbikes because of COVID-19 restrictions — waving flags, honking horns, and displaying “Down with U.S.A.” signs.

But elsewhere across the capital, a weary Iranian public suffering under years of tight U.S. sanctions and economic mismanagement are eager for relief, especially from sky-high inflation, which now exceeds 40%.

Whether they’ll see a significant reprieve soon depends on the diplomatic efforts underway in Austria, where the U.S. and Iran are negotiating through proxies in an attempt to resuscitate a President Barack Obama-era nuclear deal.

At its core, the 2015 agreement saw the U.S. and international community lift certain sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program — a swap that was disrupted by former President Donald Trump when he exited the deal and reimposed crushing U.S. sanctions in 2018 — an attempt to strengthen his hand in negotiations.

But in response, Iran has since then escalated its nuclear program, enriching enough uranium at high-enough levels that U.S. officials say they are just “weeks” away from having enough for a nuclear bomb.

One week ago, President Joe Biden’s administration waived sanctions related to Iran’s civilian nuclear program, exempting foreign countries and companies that work with Tehran on nonproliferation projects from penalties.

The move is aimed at laying the groundwork for resuming U.S. compliance with the 2015 deal, but Iran’s foreign ministry called it “insufficient,” with its president dismissive of the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital.

“We put our hopes on the east, west, north, south of our country and never have any hope in Vienna and New York,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech Friday.

Raisi’s speech was repeatedly interrupted by chants of “Death to America” — a familiar slogan that dates back to the 1979 revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed ruler and ushered in an Islamist government, led by a supreme leader known by the clerical title, ayatollah.

But for the thousands of Iranians joining the protests and burning flags, there are thousands more who lament the economic situation, desperate for relief.

“The high prices are really hurting us,” one woman out shopping with her mother told ABC News. She declined to identify herself.

“I’m not that much into politics. I like my country, but the only problem is that things are really expensive, and when we have problems, states people do not really solve them,” she said, adding that since Raisi was inaugurated in August, “Nothing has changed. Nothing has gotten better. Things are even getting worse after him.”

Omid Kalavi, a toymaker in Tehran, said inflation has meant more people come to him for repairs than to purchase new toys for their children.

“I’m not a politician, but as far as I know, people are those who suffer the most from the political games. I can’t say our government or the United States because of imposing sanctions — I don’t know exactly to be honest, but as far as I know, people are suffering from it most.”

Without a deal, that economic hardship will continue. A senior State Department official said the U.S. would “fortify our response” if it has to walk away from talks, “and that means more pressure — economic, diplomatic, and otherwise.”

The Biden administration’s efforts to negotiate a mutual return to the deal have not yielded results in 10 months of talks. When the two sides were making progress last June, the talks went on hiatus for Iran’s presidential elections.

Raisi’s government stalled for months before resuming negotiations in late November. After making hardline demands at the start of the new round of talks, they returned last month “in a serious, business-like negotiation,” the senior State Department official said.

But time is running out to reach a new agreement. U.S. Special Envoy to Iran Rob Malley and other senior administration officials briefed Capitol Hill Wednesday on Iran’s growing nuclear stockpile and the urgency of talks, which lawmakers described as “sobering” and “shocking.”

“Breakout time has gone from a year to a matter of weeks,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., echoing what Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials have said in recent weeks. Murphy added that “a deal is in sight, but there is significant gaps between the two sides that need to be closed.”

The senior State Department official declined to discuss how much distance remains between both sides, saying nothing was agreed until everything was agreed. But Iran has demanded some sort of guarantee that a future U.S. administration cannot again exit the deal — the kind of promise any American president can’t give — while also publicly calling for the U.S. to completely lift sanctions first.

On the other side, the U.S. has warned that Tehran’s nuclear stockpile must return to the deal’s levels — enriching uranium to 3.67% and with a stockpile of 300 kilograms for the first 15 years of the deal.

“If is not reached … in the coming weeks, Iran’s ongoing nuclear advances will make it impossible for us to return to the JCPOA,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday, using an acronym for the deal’s formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

But many critics say that point has already passed. Iran is spinning more advanced centrifuges and building more of them, enriching uranium metal, and enriching uranium up to 60% purity — a short technical step from weapons-grade, which is above 90%.

Some analysts say the scientific knowledge Iran has developed since the deal was scrapped will be impossible to eliminate.

“You cannot put the genie back into the bottle. Once you know how to do stuff, you know, and the only way to check this is through verification,” Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency — the U.N. nuclear watchdog — told the Financial Times last year.

But restoring the deal is intended to allow for that verification, ensuring Iran does not use its program to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has obstructed the IAEA’s work repeatedly in recent years. It has failed to account for uranium detected at three undeclared sites, and for a year now, it has barred the agency from reviewing data from surveillance equipment at Iran’s declared sites.

The obstruction, which also includes harassing some IAEA inspectors, “was seriously affecting the ability of the Agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” the IAEA reported in late November.

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(WINDSOR, Ontario) — Canadian police on Saturday blocked off the area surrounding the Ambassador Bridge over the U.S.-Canadian border and surrounded a group of about 100 protesters at the foot of the bridge. All protestor trucks are gone from the base of the bridge.

Police dressed in riot gear lined up on all sides with vehicles, forming blockades boxing all in. Buses are parked nearby and there are some military vehicles in the area, authorities said.

No arrests have been made, according to authorities.

Canadian police announced on Saturday that they have “commenced enforcement” at and near the bridge.

“We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time,” Windsor police said in a tweet Saturday morning.

The Windsor Police & its policing partners have commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge. We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time.

— Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) February 12, 2022

“We are providing notice that anyone blocking streets or assisting others in the blocking of streets may be committing a criminal offence and must immediately cease further unlawful activity or you may face charges. You could be arrested if you are a party to the offence or assisting others in the direct or indirect commission of this offence,” Windsor Police said in a statement on Friday. 

“Charges and/or convictions related to the unlawful activity associated with the demonstration may lead to denial in crossing the USA border,” Windsor police warned.

ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Zach Fannin contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has ordered 3,000 more soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland as tensions continued to mount about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior defense official said Friday.

The deployment of the additional troops to Poland came as the White House warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin during the Olympics and urged all American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country over the next 24 to 48 hours.

“At the direction of the President, Secretary Austin today ordered to Poland the remaining 3,000 soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Bragg, N.C.,” said a senior U.S. defense official. “These troops will depart Fort Bragg over the next couple of days. They are expected to be in place by early next week.”

The additional paratroopers will join the 1,700 soldiers from the same unit who began arriving in Poland earlier this week to help prepare the infrastructure needed if additional American forces were deployed to Poland.

Those soldiers were part of a deployment announced last week that included sending 300 soldiers from the 18th Airborne Corps headquarters unit to Germany and sending 1,000 soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Regiment based in Germany to Romania.

“They are being deployed to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO’s eastern flank, train with host-nation forces, and contribute to a wide range of contingencies,” said the senior defense official.

Those soldiers from the 82nd Airborne have been arriving at an airport in southeast Poland located 60 miles form the border with Ukraine. A U.S. official has told ABC News that these troops would be prepared to provide assistance to any American citizens fleeing Ukraine by land.

“These additional deployments are temporary in nature, meant to supplement for a brief time the more than 80,000 U.S. troops already in Europe on rotational and permanent orders,” said the senior defense official. The 3,000 troops now headed to Poland were not among the 8,500 troops based in the United States who had been put on “heightened alert” two weeks ago in case they needed to be deployed on short notice as part of the NATO Response Force.

Additional U.S. aircraft and accompanying personnel already in Europe have moved closer to NATO’s eastern flank as tensions have grown in recent days.

Eight American F-15 fighter jets along with about 130 troops with the 493 Fighter Squadron based in the United Kingdom arrived in Poland Thursday.

“The extra fighters will bolster readiness and Allied deterrence and defense as Russia continues military build-up in and around Ukraine,” a statement from U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa said.

Another squadron of Air Force F-16 fighters based in Germany arrived in Romania on Friday.

Additional naval power has also been sent to the European region, with four U.S.-based destroyers deployed to “participate in a range of maritime activities in support of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and our NATO allies,” according to the U.S. Navy.

While not confirming the deployment of the four ships is directly tied to tensions with Russia, a Navy official noted that they destroyers bring options to the region.

“One of the unique values of naval forces is their mobility and ability to deploy for a range of contingencies and operations,” the official said. “These deployments provide additional flexibility to the Sixth Fleet Commander.”

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(LONDON) — Queen Elizabeth is being monitored for COVID-19 after her son, Prince Charles, tested positive for the virus on Thursday, according to Buckingham Palace.

A royal source told ABC News the 95-year-old queen and Prince Charles, 73, met recently. The queen is not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19 at this time, according to the source.

Prince Charles, who is now self-isolating, attended an event Tuesday at Windsor Castle, where the queen recently returned after spending time at Sandringham, her Norfolk estate.

This is the second time Prince Charles has tested positive for COVID-19, with his first diagnosis coming in March 2020, before he was vaccinated.

Buckingham Palace has not said if Queen Elizabeth has been tested for COVID-19.

“With the queen, they’re balancing the situation,” said ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy. “She is head of state and there is a sense that the public does need and want to know, but at the same time, she’s a very elderly lady who is entitled to a certain amount of medical privacy.”

Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, was last seen publicly on Saturday at an event in Sandringham to mark her 70 years on the throne.

The queen met with representatives from local community groups in the ballroom at Sandringham House to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee.

It was the queen’s first public, in-person event since October, when she was hospitalized for one night for what the palace described as “preliminary investigations.”

After being advised by her doctors to rest, Queen Elizabeth took on a more modified schedule. In November, she missed the annual Remembrance Sunday Service for the first time in her reign due to a sprained back.

The queen had already modified her schedule throughout the coronavirus pandemic, holding virtual audiences and participating in video calls instead of public events.

When her husband, Prince Philip, died at age 99 last April, the queen sat alone during the funeral service in St. George’s Chapel, following pandemic restrictions.

Both Queen Elizabeth and her late husband received their first COVID-19 vaccination shots in January 2021, Buckingham Palace confirmed at the time.

Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, confirmed in December that they had both received their booster shoots of the vaccine, according to the BBC.

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(NEW YORK) — The specter of a military confrontation on the Ukrainian border is stoking fears in Europe of an interruption in natural gas from Russia — and pumping fresh life into the debate over whether President Joe Biden’s climate agenda is brushing up against difficult geopolitical realities.

Critics of the Biden administration say its efforts to curb domestic oil and gas production have complicated its ability to negotiate with Russia, which provides more than a third of Europe’s natural gas.

To others, the standoff demonstrates the need for a swift transition to clean energy, “so that we’re not held hostage by Russia moving forward,” says Erin Sikorsky, director of the Center for Climate and Security and a former intelligence official.

Either way, experts say, the conflict in Eastern Europe is shining a spotlight on the challenges ahead as governments adapt to an evolving energy landscape.

“It is clear that climate change is a huge focus for the Biden White House,” said Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But energy security realities are intervening, and they can’t be ignored.”

As Russian troops amass along Russia’s border with Ukraine, American officials are warning of a possible invasion in the coming days or weeks. In the event of an escalation, Western leaders fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin could halt gas supplies to Europe, potentially threatening Europe’s energy security.

The Biden administration has prepared contingency plans to backfill Europe’s energy needs in such an event. But oil interests and Republican lawmakers argue that a reduction in domestic fossil fuel extraction in recent years has hamstrung the United States’ ability to ensure Europe’s energy security.

Frank Macchiarola of the American Petroleum Institute told ABC News that “ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine serve as a reminder of the critical role of U.S. oil and natural gas in meeting our nation’s energy needs and ensuring our allies have access to a stable supply of affordable, reliable energy.”

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, echoed that sentiment to Politico, characterizing the Biden administration’s scramble to shore up natural gas for Europe as “a crisis strategy that didn’t have to be.”

But many experts disagree with that critique. Because investments in domestic oil production today generally won’t impact the market for many years, Biden is limited in what he can do now to boost oil reserves. In the meantime, Cahill said, Biden should continue to advance his clean energy ambitions — but recognize the need for future U.S. oil production.

“The Biden administration should pursue its climate agenda, including tougher regulations on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry,” Cahill said. “But we’ll need fossil fuel investment for years to come, even as the energy transition picks up speed.”

Sikorsky warns critics not to conflate “the short-term crisis and the long-term strategy.”

“The administration has to do what it has to do to make sure energy supplies in Europe remain strong in the face of Russian aggression,” Sikorsky said. “But it has do that with an eye toward a more rapid transition to renewable energy.”

Because Russia’s economy relies so heavily on natural gas exports to Europe, Biden and European allies still have substantial energy-related leverage in negotiations with Moscow. The Russian government generated almost 30% of state revenue in 2020 from fossil fuel companies, including $40 billion in gas sales to Europe, according to one U.S. government report.

“The long-term threat to Russia’s market position is actually far greater” than the threat to Europe’s energy needs, said Matthew Schmidt, director of the International Affairs program at the University of New Haven. “Russia is a dinosaur. Their economy is weak. It’s a carbon-based economy, and if Putin were to use gas a weapon, he’s going to kill the market.”

Additionally, experts say renewable energy breakthroughs are closer than most leaders realize — a development that could render oil and gas obsolete in the coming decades.

Schmidt said he would encourage the Biden administration to forego any further investment in fossil foils and instead “go in on clean energy now, because that’s the long-term trend.”

This week, Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz pledged to halt production of Europe’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the event of an invasion. The U.S. and its allies could also directly sanction the Russian oil and gas industry as part of an effort to “reverse the direction of energy leverage,” according to a Brookings Institute policy paper.

But sanctions targeting Russia’s oil industry carry substantial risks for Europe’s energy needs. Enacting them would present the same outcome as Putin preemptively cutting off natural gas.

Cahill said that Biden’s quest for additional energy resources “does raise questions about whether we’ve under-invested in fossil fuels in the past five to seven years … which in turn raises questions about our ability to impose sanctions.”

For some industry experts, Europe’s dependence on Russian oil serves as a cautionary tale for the U.S. — and an impetus for the U.S. to expand investments in clean energy.

“Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels has made it vulnerable, the result of investment choices made over the course of decades,” said Trevor Higgins, vice president for climate policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

“We should not repeat the same mistakes,” said Higgins. “A clean energy economy will be more secure and resilient than continued dependence on fossil fuels.”

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(KYIV, Ukraine) — Russia has officially kicked off the main phase of huge joint military exercises in Belarus, as Western countries continue to warn Russian forces massed near Ukraine could be used to launch a possible attack.

Russia has poured an unprecedented number of troops and equipment into Belarus over recent weeks ahead of the 10-day drills, moving units almost 6,000 miles from its far east and deploying tanks, long-range artillery and advanced fighter jets.

The United States and NATO countries have expressed worries that the exercises could be used as a cover for preparations for a possible on Ukraine, whose capital, Kyiv, is less than 200 miles south.

But Russia and Belarus have insisted the drills are just defensive war games. Russia’s defense ministry on Thursday said the exercises, called “Union Resolve 2022,” will “practice averting and repelling external aggression via a defensive operation, as well as combating terrorism and defending the interests” of Russia and Belarus.

The exercises are due to end on Feb. 20 and the Kremlin has said its troops will leave Belarus then.

Russia’s deployment of troops to Belarus is part of its broader military buildup massing over 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s eastern border and to the south in Crimea. Independent military analysts have sounded the alarm over the exercises, saying the scale of the Russian deployment is vastly larger than anything since the Cold War and includes units that would be used in a major invasion, such as advanced anti-air defences and Iskander-M long-range missile brigades. Satellite imagery has shown some of the Russian units are parked only a few dozen miles from Ukraine’s border, in areas not officially designated for the exercise.

The Belarus drills will coincide with what Western countries and some analysts have said is the window when Russia will reach the point of readiness to launch a major military operation against Ukraine.

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday warned “the number of Russian forces is going up. The warning time for a possible attack is going down.”

“We must be prepared for the worst while remaining strongly committed to finding a political solution,” Stoltenberg added.

Ukrainian officials are much more skeptical and have denied the Russian forces in Belarus appear ready to launch an offensive. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov this week said Ukraine did not see Russia forming any strike groups in Belarus and that it had insufficient forces, he estimated only several thousand.

Ukraine’s government has said it believes the Russian buildup right now is primarily aimed at putting psychological pressure on Ukraine with the threat of attack.

In the next 10 days Russia will make a vast display of military power to the north, east and south of Ukraine, holding exercises on an unprecedented scale also outside Belarus. The period seems likely to be a key moment in determining whether the crisis escalates or if the Russian buildup turns to a bluff.

The exercises in Belarus will also overlap with large-scale Russian naval drills in the Black Sea, that on Thursday prompted Ukraine to accuse Moscow of mounting an “unprecedented” naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. Six Russian warships, including amphibious landing ships, entered the Black Sea Wednesday night, to join a fleet already there. Ukraine said it “strongly protests” against the live-fire drills between Feb. 13 and Feb. 19 that are expected to close off access to much of its coast in the Black Sea and to the Sea of Azov.

If President Vladimir Putin is preparing to attack, the Russian build up appears to be approaching a point of maximum danger, according to some analysts, who say it has nearly completed its build up of heavy equipment and is now entering a phase where it will move up personnel to man it.

That does not mean that Russia will attack — U.S. officials say they believe Putin has not yet made a decision — just that it will have the forces in place to do so within the next two weeks.

“Once the second phase of the exercise begins on the 10th, I think they’re going to have everything they need in place and I think that week or the week after would make the most sense for an escalation if Russia is planning on doing an escalation,” Rob Lee, an analyst at Kings College London’s War Studies department, told ABC News.

An analysis by Janes, the defense think tank, estimated there are at least 14 Russian battalion tactical groups in Belarus with around 8,000 to 14,000 troops. The U.S. has said it assesses as many as 30,000 could take part.

“Best case scenario at the end of the exercise they start moving that equipment out,” Lee said. But as long as that equipment is still there then the risk is going to be very high of an escalation.”

Lee said he believed a military incursion was more likely than not.

The Kremlin has denied it has any invasion plans, dismissing it as Western “hysteria.” After meeting the U.K.’s foreign minister in Moscow on Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mocked Western allegations Russia was preparing to attack, including claims it might be waiting for the ground to freeze to allow tank movements.

“It’s like when they say that Russia is waiting for the ground to freeze so that tanks can easily enter Ukraine,” he added. “It seems that our British colleagues were on similar ground today, off of which bounced all the facts we presented them.”

Key talks are taking place in Berlin Thursday aimed at continuing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis. Ukraine and Russia will meet at the so-called “Normandy Format,” the long-running negotiations, mediated by France and Germany, aimed at resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in its east.

No breakthrough is expected, but Western countries are hoping the talks can build on the small positive signs for diplomacy that emerged from French President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with Putin in Moscow at the start of this week.

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(LONDON) — Over 50 people will be questioned in connection with parties held during lockdowns in Downing Street, police said, as the criminal investigation into the conduct of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff gathers pace.

The investigation into a number of events held in Downing Street by the prime minister’s staff while the country was under lockdown conditions throughout 2020 has dominated the headlines in the British media in recent weeks. The Metropolitan Police are investigating eight gatherings, and they are currently examining over 500 documents and 300 images provided to them by a separate, internal investigation led by the civil servant Sue Gray.

Johnson, according to reports in the British media, is expected to be among the more than 50 people being asked by the police to explain their participation in the events.

The prime minister’s office said he had not yet been contacted by the police.

The scandal has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, even as the prime minister has sought to take a strong line on Russia over Ukraine and offer reassurance to the U.K.’s European allies.

Over a dozen gatherings alleged to have broken social-distancing rules are believed to have taken place throughout 2020, including a Christmas event, two leaving parties for departing staff and a summer gathering in the Downing Street garden, where up to 100 staffers where invited to bring their own booze. All took place while the country was under varying degrees of restrictions.

The full findings of Gray’s report will not be published until after the police investigation has been concluded, but an update published on Jan. 31 accused the government of “failures of leadership and judgment” in relation to the gatherings.

“Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place,” Gray wrote. “Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did … Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.”

The interim findings also notes that “the excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time.”

In response, the prime minister apologized and promised to overhaul the culture of his department. He has faced down growing calls for his resignation from opposition lawmakers and a few members of his own party.

Speaking to BBC radio on Thursday, the head of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, said that some of those questioned could end up being fined.

“Fifty people are being asked to account for what they are doing,” she said. “Some, not all, may end up with a fixed penalty notice and I recognise this has disgusted many members of the public.”

The prime minister’s office has refused to elaborate on questions of whether Johnson will resign if he is among those fined for attending the gatherings, as his future as leader of the country largely depends on whether he can maintain the support of lawmakers within his own Conservative Party.

In a speech to the Institute for Government, former Conservative Prime Minister John Major, in office from 1990 to 1997, accused Johnson of breaking the rules on Thursday.

“The prime minister and our present government not only challenge the law, but also seem to believe that they, and they alone, need not obey the rules, traditions, conventions – call them what you will – of public life,” he said. “The charge that there is one law for the government, and one for everyone else is politically deadly – and it has struck home.”

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(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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