(LONDON) — At least four people are dead in a submarine accident that occurred while it was carrying crew members and 45 Russian tourists in Egypt, officials said.
Russia’s embassy in Egypt confirmed in a statement obtained by ABC News that there was an accident on Thursday morning involving a submarine carrying crew members and 45 tourists — all Russian citizens — in the Red Sea less than a mile off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt.
At least four of those aboard the submarine were killed in the incident, the Russian embassy said.
Doctors in the emergency department at the Royal Hospital Hurghada confirmed to ABC News that they received five patients from a submarine accident on Thursday.
The circumstances remain unclear, including whether the submarine was submerged at the time and the numbers of those who have been injured in the incident.
It is also currently not known how many people were on board the submarine at the time of the accident or what the cause might have been.
Hurghada is a popular tourist destination for beachgoers along the Red Sea and is well known for its scuba diving and snorkeling.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Ihor Kuznietsov/Novyny LIVE/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russian strikes injured five people, damaged homes and a gas pipeline in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson overnight on Wednesday, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Prokudin added that one Russian strike drone was shot down over the Kherson region — most of which is occupied by Russian forces, with the region bisected by the frontline marked by the Dnieper River — and that one woman was killed by a drone attack on Thursday morning.
Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the southern Zaporizhzhia region — which is also partially occupied by Russia — said local frontline communities were left without electricity due to overnight shelling. More than 3,300 customers were affected, Fedorov said in a post to Telegram.
In the northwestern Kharkiv region, close to the front line, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 11 people were injured in a “massive” drone attack. Several homes and industrial sites were damaged, he said.
In the central city of Dnipro, the local military administration reported multiple fires caused by drone impacts. “Enterprises, educational and cultural institutions, more than a dozen high-rise buildings were damaged in the city,” it said on Telegram. “More than 60 cars were damaged, several more were destroyed. Two trucks were also hit.”
Overall, Ukraine’s air force reported one missile and 86 drones launched into the country overnight. The force said on Telegram that 42 drones were shot down and 26 lost in flight without causing damage. Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv regions were impacted, it said.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that recent Russian strikes suggested the use of “swarms” of attack drones against specific cities to overwhelm local defenses.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down one Ukrainian drone over the western Bryansk region. The ministry said the drone caused a power outage. It also said there was an attempt to attack ground equipment at the Glebovsky underground gas storage facility in occupied Crimea and shelling of a transformer substation in Bryansk.
Cross-border strikes have continued despite progress on a U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire intended to freeze military action in the Black Sea and pause long-range attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in both countries.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia this week, the White House said the parties agreed to “develop measures to implement the agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.” The Kremlin said its moratorium began on March 18, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s communications advisor said Russia hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure eight times since that date.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday there had been no attacks on energy infrastructure in either country since Tuesday, when Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause strikes following the latest round of talks in Riyadh.
The White House framed the partial ceasefire as a victory in its broader push for peace in Ukraine. But concerns remain in Kyiv that President Donald Trump’s administration is too aligned with Moscow’s narrative on the conflict.
This week, Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff — who has been central to talks with both Moscow and Kyiv — echoed misleading Russian talking points, for example suggesting that the Russia’s claimed annexation of five Ukrainian territories — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — had the support of the local population.
During a press conference with reporters in Paris on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Witkoff “often cites the Kremlin narrative.”
“I think that this does not get us close to peace, I think this sadly will weaken the pressure of the U.S. on the Russian Federation,” he added. “I have spoken with President Trump more than once — we are trying to share real and truthful information since Witkoff’s declarations disturbs us a lot since we are fighting Putin and we do not want him to receive support .”
“I have always said to President Trump that we want the U.S. to be on our side,” Zelenskyy said. “And even if the U.S. has chosen to be in the middle then they need to stay in the middle and not come closer to the Kremlin.”
ABC News’ Anna Sergeeva, Nataliia Popova, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, Ellie Kaufman and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump said the U.S. will “go as far as we have to go” to get control of Greenland, ahead of a planned visit to the Arctic island by Vice President JD Vance that has prompted criticism from Greenland and Denmark.
Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will lead the U.S. delegation to visit the Pituffik military space base in the northwest of the island, having scaled back plans for a broader and longer visit. The American group was originally planning to visit the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, and a dog sled race.
Trump showed no indication of softening his ambition to take control of the island, which is an autonomous territory but part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
“We need Greenland for national security and international security,” Trump said, taking reporters’ questions in the Oval Office.
“So we’ll, I think, we’ll go as far as we have to go,” he continued. “We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But if we don’t have Greenland, we can’t have great international security.”
Trump added, “I view it from a security standpoint, we have to be there.”
Trump also said that he understood “JD might be going,” referring to the vice president, but did not offer any details about the trip. Vance is expected to travel to Greenland on Friday.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede earlier this week called the upcoming visit by U.S. officials part of a “very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community” and called for the international community to rebuke it. After the U.S. announced that the visit would be pared back to only include the Pituffik base, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the decision was “wise.”
Trump has repeatedly — in both his first and second terms — raised the prospect of the U.S. obtaining Greenland, whether through purchase or other means. During his March speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump said the U.S. would acquire the strategic territory “one way or the other.” Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede dismissed Trump’s remarks. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” he wrote on social media.
“We are not Americans, we are not Danes because we are Greenlanders. This is what the Americans and their leaders need to understand, we cannot be bought and we cannot be ignored.”
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(LONDON) –The success of a nascent potential agreement between Ukraine and Russia to pause naval and energy infrastructure attacks will depend on Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, warning that Kyiv has no trust for Russian President Vladimir Putin after more than three years of full-scale war.
“Now, results are needed from Russia,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Tuesday. “We do not trust them. And frankly — the world doesn’t trust Russia. And they must prove that they are truly ready to end the war — ready to stop lying to the world, to President [Donald] Trump and to America.”
“How Russia behaves in the coming days will reveal a lot — if not everything,” he said.
“If there are air raid alerts again, if there is renewed military activity in the Black Sea, if Russian manipulations and threats continue — then new measures will need to be taken, specifically against Moscow,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia and Ukraine “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea,” according to White House readouts, published Tuesday after three days of meetings with representatives from Kyiv and Moscow in Saudi Arabia.
The nations also agreed to “develop measures to implement the agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine,” the White House said. Trump said, “We are making a lot of progress.”
Drone strikes continued through Tuesday night into Wednesday despite the apparent progress on a partial ceasefire agreement.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 117 drones into the country overnight, of which 56 were shot down and 48 lost in flight. “Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy regions were affected by the Russian attack,” the air force wrote on Telegram.
In Russia, the Defense Ministry said its forces downed nine Ukrainian drones, including two over the Black Sea. In the western Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a drone attack wounded one person and broke the windows of several buildings.
On Wednesday morning, Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on Telegram that “there were 117 more pieces of evidence in our sky that Russia is dragging out this war — 117 strike drones.” He added, “To launch such large-scale strikes after ceasefire negotiations is to show everyone in the world with all the obviousness that Moscow is not going to make a real peace.”
“Strong steps from the world and clear pressure on Russia are needed,” Zelenskyy continued. “More pressure, more sanctions from the U.S., so that the Russian strikes stop.”
Questions remain as to the nuances and extent of the agreements. Russia and Ukraine both released their own readouts emphasizing different elements of what was purportedly agreed with the U.S.
Russia for example, said the U.S. agreed to “help restore access to the world market for Russian exports of agricultural products and fertilizers,” plus to reduce the cost of shipping insurance and expand access to ports and payment systems. Such steps will require the lifting of some sanctions on Russian agricultural and food companies, the Kremlin said.
That point was not reflected in the Ukrainian readout. Kyiv’s announcement also said the U.S. would help with prisoner of war exchanges, the release of civilian detainees and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children — a topic not mentioned in the Russian readout.
After Putin spoke with Trump last week, the White House said a proposed 30-day partial ceasefire would pause attacks on “energy and infrastructure.” The Kremlin said the agreement referred to “energy infrastructure.” Tuesday’s White House statement reverted to the wording used by Russia.
Russia said the proposed 30-day pause in attacks on energy infrastructure began on March 18, and on Tuesday published a list of facilities subject to the pause in strikes. Moscow said either side could opt out of the freeze in the event of violations by the other. All nuclear and other power plants, oil and gas depots, pipelines and storage facilities, plus hydroelectric dams were among the facilities included.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated the same claims Wednesday to reporters.
“As for whether it means anything or not, I can only repeat what I said both the day before yesterday and yesterday: Putin’s order on the moratorium [on strikes on energy facilities] is in force and is being implemented by our armed forces,” Peskov said.
Both sides have accused the other of continuing to attack energy and other critical infrastructure targets throughout the ceasefire negotiations. Zelenskyy’s communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, said in a post on X on Tuesday that Russia has hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure eight times since March 18.
“I think there will be a million questions and details,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday, shortly after the news on the negotiations was announced.
Later, in his evening video address, Zelenskyy said the onus for the success of the partial ceasefire is on Moscow.
“Diplomacy must work,” he added. “And from the Ukrainian side, we are doing everything to make that happen. I thank everyone who is helping. I am grateful to the United States for the constructive and effective work of our teams.”
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell, Anna Sergeeva and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(PABRADĖ, Lithuania) — Search and recovery efforts are underway for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, according to the Army and the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.
The soldiers, who the Army said are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, were reported missing on Tuesday, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.
The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were operating at the time has been found submerged in water in a training area, the Army said on Wednesday.
“The 3rd Inf. Div. is continuing to keep families of the Soldiers informed on the status of search efforts,” the Army said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of northern Gaza on Tuesday in a rare protest against Hamas, with marchers calling for the terror group to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel and give up control of the strip to end the war.
Videos from the northern city of Beit Lahiya — which has been devastated by a heavy Israeli bombardment and intense fighting by between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces over the past 17 months — showed hundreds gathered on the streets, some chanting anti-Hamas slogans. Shouts of “Hamas out” could be heard in videos posted to social media.
The gathering followed an appeal for a demonstration spread on social media channels. ABC News is unable to verify its origin or the identity of the original poster.
Some marchers held signs displaying demands, including “Enough displacement and homelessness,” “Stop the war” and “We refuse to die,” as seen in videos circulating on social media.
Videos filmed by a local journalist and verified by ABC News showed Gazans chanting, “We want to live, we want to live,” in Arabic as a man addressed the assembled crowd.
“We are here today to deliver a message to the entire nation,” he said. “We are a peaceful people, a peaceful people, a peaceful people. We want to live. This is the least of life’s demands.”
“We want to live,” he continued. “Deliver it to the entire nation and the leadership. We want to live. People don’t have money to move — meaning to move their things when evacuating — there is no empty space in Gaza. Where will we go?”
The Associated Press reported that some videos appeared to show Hamas members dispersing the crowd.
A call across the Gaza Strip for more protests circulated on social media on Wednesday. In a video statement on Wednesday, speaking in Hebrew, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz addressed the protests.
“The IDF will soon operate forcefully in additional areas in Gaza and you will be required to evacuate and lose more and more territory,” Katz said in the statement directed at residents of Gaza. “The plans are already prepared and approved. Learn from the residents of Beit Lahia: Demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages — this is the only way to stop the war.”
Tuesday’s protests came amid Israel’s renewed offensive on the devastated strip, which began last week and ended a two-month ceasefire that began in January.
Israel is demanding the immediate release of all remaining hostages — consisting of 59 people, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive — taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign would resume with “full force,” adding that further “negotiations will only be done under fire.” Israel intends to fully dismantle Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza, Netanyahu has said.
As of Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 792 people had been killed and 1,663 others injured since the resumption of Israeli military action last week.
The latest casualties bring the total death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to 50,144, with another 113,704 wounded, the ministry said.
Around 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel during the Hamas attack, with 251 people taken back into Gaza as captives, according to the Israeli government.
(PABRADĖ, Lithuania) — Search and recovery efforts are underway for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during scheduled tactical training near Pabradė, Lithuania, the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius said.
They were reported missing on Tuesday, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.
The Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces and Lithuanian law enforcement are among those involved in the search, the U.S. Embassy said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Three people were killed when a large avalanche swept away a group of skiers in Canada, officials said.
The avalanche struck just before 1 p.m. on Monday when two groups of skiers had just finished skiing and were waiting in a staging area below the tree line of Clute Creek water shed in an alpine area on the east side of Kootenay Lake in the British Columbia backcountry, according to a statement from the Kaslo Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“A transport helicopter was nearing the group when the pilot observed an avalanche and sounded the siren,” officials said. “One group of skiers was able to run out of harm’s way, while the other group of four was swept away into the tree line.”
Efforts to recover the men were immediately initiated but when officials located them, they found three of them deceased.
They were identified as “a 44-year-old man from Whistler BC, a 45-year-old man from Idaho USA and the 53-year-old guide from Kaslo BC.”
The fourth man, a 40-year-old from Nelson, British Columbia, was critically injured.
Avalanche Canada said the Kootenays have a high danger rating at all elevations and that rising temperatures can create avalanche conditions.
(GAZA CITY) — The Israeli government approved the establishment of an agency to facilitate the “voluntary” removal of residents from Gaza, drawing condemnation from across the region.
The agency, proposed by the Israeli Defense Ministry, was approved last weekend, but has not been formally established.
“We are working by all means to implement the vision of the U.S. president, and we will allow any Gaza resident who wishes to voluntarily move to a third country to do so,” Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
President Donald Trump began to publicly push in February for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza — a move that some, including the United Nations and U.S. allies like France and Germany, have said would be a violation of international law.
Despite Trump threatening to pull aid from Egypt and Jordan if they do not agree to take in the Palestinians living in Gaza, both countries remained steadfast in their opposition of the proposal.
The Arab Summit approved a draft proposal for a Gaza reconstruction plan that would not displace the Palestinians living in Gaza earlier this month. Under the proposal, Gaza would be governed by a committee of independent professionals and technocrats for six months until the Palestinian Authority resumes control over the enclave.
Egypt “strongly condemned” the establishment of an agency “tasked with the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip” and the “recognition of 13 new settlements in West Bank,” in a statement Monday.
“Egypt affirms the denial the bases of the so-called ‘voluntary displacement’ that Israel claims it is targeting through this agency, stressing that leaving while under fire from strikes and war and the blockade preventing humanitarian aid and usage of starvation as a weapon is considered forced displacement, a crime and violation of international law and international humanitarian law,” the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement in Arabic.
Saudi Arabia also condemned the move. The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X Monday: “The Kingdom reiterates its firm rejection of Israel’s continuous violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”
“The Foreign Ministry expresses Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of the Israeli occupation authorities’ announcement on the establishment of an agency that aims to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, as well as the approval of the separation of 13 illegal settlement neighborhoods in the West Bank in preparation for legitimizing them as colonial settlements,” the Saudi Arabian ministry added.
The proposal for the new Israeli agency comes days after the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza surpassed 50,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. At least 792 people were killed and 1,663 others were injured in Israeli strikes last week alone, after the ceasefire ended between Israel and Hamas, the ministry said.
(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday is set to visit the prison in El Salvador that took in migrants at the center of the deportation battle playing out in U.S. courts.
On Wednesday, Noem will visit the Terrorist Confinement Center with the Salvadorian minister of justice, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official, and will later meet with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador.
“This week, I’m headed down to El Salvador,” Noem said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Monday. “I’ll be in the prison where we sent [Tren De Aragua] gang members. I’ll be meeting with the president and also Colombia and Mexico and talking about building these relationships so we can continue to get people out of this country that don’t belong here and take them home.”
She said the president talked to her about “sending the message worldwide” that people shouldn’t illegally be entering the United States.
The DHS has rolled out a $200 million advertising campaign to tell people who are thinking about coming to the U.S. illegally not to come and to urge those who are in the U.S. without legal status to leave.
“They shouldn’t be coming here illegally,” Noem said. “So we are in several other countries around the world with a message right now that’s saying if you are thinking about coming to America illegally, don’t do it — you are not welcome. We have a legal process to become a United States citizen, and there are consequences if you come here illegally.”
The administration allegedly sent members of the Venezuelan Tren De Aragua gang to the infamous prison — even though a federal judge ordered officials not to do so.
“America has changed because we are putting Americans first,” Noem concluded during the meeting on Monday.
Noem will also meet with leaders from Colombia and with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum later in the week.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for criminal aliens considering entering America illegally: don’t even think about it. If you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down, and lock you up,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This trip underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the United States.”
