(LONDON) — Russia launched overnight a deadly aerial strike on the Ukrainian capital, killing at least one person, injuring 19 others and damaging residential buildings, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said early on Sunday.
“Emergency response efforts are currently underway in Vyshhorod, Kyiv region, following the Russian attack,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Russia struck the city with drones, damaging numerous residential buildings.”
The attack came as Zelenskyy’s top advisers traveled to the United States for high-stakes talks with the Trump administration over its proposed plan for peace between Russian and Ukraine. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff is then expected to travel early next week to Moscow, where he’ll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy’s advisers are expected on Sunday in Florida, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to lead the talks. Ukraine is trying to hammer out its best starting position before Witkoff goes to Putin.
Doubts remain that Putin would actually agree to any plan that’s deemed acceptable to Kyiv. He has already signalled he won’t compromise — saying any talks with Zelenskyy are “pointless.”
Sunday’s talks are the first high-level negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine since they met in Geneva, Switzerland. Those talks had begun with a 28-point plan proposed by the United States, which through negotiations became a 19-point plan. But even that revised plan had not settled what were perhaps the most difficult issues — including whether Ukraine would cede any territory to Russia and whether Ukraine could in the future apply for NATO membership.
The Ukrainian delegation is being led by Rustem Umerov, the head of the National Security Council. It follows Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak being forced to resign amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the country and left Zelenskyy without his right-hand man at a difficult moment.
Umerov was questioned in connection with the scandal by investigators, according to Reuters and local media, but he has not been formally accused of wrongdoing.
Zelenskyy on Sunday morning said Russia launched a total in the last week of about 1,400 drones and 66 missiles, as well as over a thousand aerial bombs, against Ukraine, underlining the scale of Russia’s increased air campaign as peace talks go on.
“This is exactly why we must strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every single day,” Zelenskyy said. “Missiles and air-defense systems are essential, and just as crucial is active work with our partners for peace. We need real, reliable solutions that will help end this war. I thank everyone who is helping.”
(LONDON) — The death toll following a massive fire that ripped through several Hong Kong high-rises has climbed to 146 people, the Hong Kong police on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference, the police said they are not ruling out the possibility that the number of dead from the fire would increase.
With an “optimistic” estimation, the police added that the time for the search and operations is three to four weeks.
The massive fire engulfed the Wang Fuk Court, a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Within hours it was upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, city officials said.
Three men associated with the construction firm in charge of the renovation at the housing complex were arrested and were under investigation in connection with the fire, Hong Kong police said during a press conference on Thursday morning.
Officials in Hong Kong announced Friday there would be three days of mourning for the victims.
From Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, national flags will be flown at half-mast and there will be a three-minute moment of silence on Nov. 29 at 8 a.m. Citizens will also have the opportunity to sign condolence books for the victims.
“During this period, government officials will not attend non-essential public activities. All entertainment and celebration activities organized or funded by the government will be cancelled or postponed as appropriate,” officials said.
CHICAGO — A winter storm is hitting the Midwest with snow and wintry conditions, causing travel issues for many who were looking to get home following Thanksgiving.
At least 450 flights had been canceled around the United States as of 7 a.m. ET, with the biggest impacts at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, according to FlightAware, a flight-data tracker.
Some 179 cancelations, including 110 departing flights, were logged at O’Hare early on Sunday. The Illinois hub saw more than a thousand flights cancelled or delayed on Saturday, as snow fell in the area.
The airport logged about 8.4 inches of snow up to midnight, breaking the previous record for the snowiest November day in the area’s history of 8.0 inches back on Nov. 6, 1951.
The Chicago metro area has seen anywhere between 7 to 10 inches of snow as of Sunday morning.
The FAA’s operations plan on Sunday morning said, “Heavy show and ice in the Upper Great Lakes and moving east. As well as thunderstorms in the Southern Plains will be some major constraints along with heavy holiday volume.”
(NEW YORK) — Multiple people who were protesting possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Lower Manhattan were arrested Saturday, the New York Police Department said.
The protesters were seen near Centre Street in Chinatown blocking vehicles and shouting, “ICE out of New York,” according to video obtained by ABC News. At one point, the protesters were observed blocking a van from coming out of a garage.
While the NYPD declined to comment on any possible activity by federal agents, it said in a statement that officers “observed multiple people blocking the street and were told multiple times to disperse but they did not comply.”
The NYPD said that “multiple” persons were taken into custody but didn’t immediately provide more details on the numbers or the charges.
Saturday’s protest came a month after federal agents carried out an immigration enforcement action that targeted vendors on Canal Street in Chinatown. At least 9 people were arrested during that raid, according to federal officials.
Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held for “nearly 24 hours” without any federal charges following that incident, according to U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents the area.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Over 1,400 flights have been canceled nationwide with the majority due to weather hitting the upper Midwest, according to FlightAware.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the most impacted airport by far, with over 930 cancellations and over 750 delays as of Saturday afternoon. Flights leaving to O’Hare are delayed an average of five hours due to snow and ice, according to the FAA.
Chicago Midway has 187 cancellations and 85 delays. Both airports have been issued ground stops.
The heaviest snow in Chicago is expected Saturday between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The snow becomes lighter overnight into Sunday morning, with some lingering snow winding down by 12 p.m. Sunday. Between 6 to 10 inches of snow are possible.
A cross-country storm already brought snow from Montana to Missouri later Friday. The storm has begun to move into parts of the Midwest Saturday morning, impacting travel for millions making the journey back home from the holiday.
Winter weather alerts are up for millions ahead of this system from North and South Dakota down to Indiana and Michigan.
(NEW ORLEANS) — The federal government will be targeting New Orleans soon as its next city to ramp up immigration enforcement, sources with knowledge of the plans told ABC News.
At least 200 border patrol agents are expected in the city in the coming weeks, according to the source, who noted that plans are preliminary and could change.
The pending buildup of agents comes two weeks after the Border Patrol and other federal agencies increased their presence in Charlotte, North Carolina, and made over 250 arrests.
Greg Bovino, the commander-at-large of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), personally oversaw that effort and is expected to lead the New Orleans surge, sources said.
Bovino teased “next level” immigration enforcement in an X post Saturday, but didn’t say where.
“Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, immigration enforcement is going next level,” he said.
Although Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, has supported proposals for a federal surge and asked for the National Guard to be deployed in his state, schools and businesses have been bracing for the increased federal presence.
Several schools have sent warnings to parents and teachers in anticipation of the increased federal presence, with some offering free rides to school, according to Nola.com.
(NEW YORK) — Over 1,000 flights have been canceled nationwide with the majority due to weather hitting the upper Midwest, according to FlightAware.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the most impacted airport by far, with over 700 cancellations and over 500 delays as of Saturday morning. Flights leaving to O’Hare are delayed an average of over five hours due to snow and ice, according to the FAA.
Snow has already begun falling in Chicago with the heaviest snow expected Saturday between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The snow becomes lighter overnight into Sunday morning, with some lingering snow winding down by 12 p.m. Sunday. Between 6 to 10 inches of snow are possible.
A cross-country storm already brought snow from Montana to Missouri later Friday. The storm has begun to move into parts of the Midwest Saturday morning, impacting travel for millions making the journey back home from the holiday.
Winter weather alerts are up for millions ahead of this system from North and South Dakota down to Indiana and Michigan.
(NEW YORK) — Ukraine is sending a high-level delegation to the U.S. on Saturday for more talks on the Trump administration’s new peace plan, ahead of White House envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow expected early next week.
Ukraine’s presidential office confirmed the delegation is on its way.
The Ukrainian delegation will now be led by the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff was forced to resign on Friday amid a corruption scandal.
Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, is also listed as part of the delegation, as well as senior military, security and foreign ministry officials.
The U.S. and Ukraine last held talks around a week ago in Geneva when they revised the peace plan to make it more acceptable to Ukraine.
In a post on social media on Saturday, Zelenskyy said he expects to be briefed by Umerov on the outcome of the talks on Sunday.
The talks are aimed at ensuring the results from the Geneva talks a week ago are “hammered out” and to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war,” he said.
“Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov, together with the team, is already on the way to the United States. Rustem delivered a report today, and the task is clear: to swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.
“Ukraine continues to work with the United States in the most constructive way possible, and we expect that the results of the meetings in Geneva will now be hammered out in the United States,” Zelenskyy continued. “I look forward to our delegation’s report following its work this Sunday. Ukraine is working for a dignified peace.”
Meanwhile, Kyiv was targeted with major attack overnight into Saturday as Ukraine’s foreign minister said last night’s attack shows how Putin is determined to prolong the war despite the peace talks and called on the international community to help out more pressure on Russia.
“While everyone is discussing points of peace plans, Russia continues to pursue its “war plan” of two points: to kill and destroy,” Andriy Sybiha, the the Ukrainian foreign minister, wrote on X.
“Putin wants to prolong the war at any cost. The war he cannot win — and the war refuses to end. But the international community has the means to ensure that this cost becomes unbearable for him,” he said. “We urge additional support for Ukraine’s defense and resilience, additional strong sanctions on Russia, and a swift decision to enable the full use of frozen Russian assets.”
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump’s redistricting push to preserve a Republican majority in Congress and allied voting rights cases in Texas and Louisiana could wipe out nearly a third of the 62-member Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) if all the electoral and judicial dominoes fall his way.
Missouri Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who has served 11 terms in the House, called the efforts as “blind, and sometimes even mean-spirited, political decisions that those who perpetuate it could easily deny it.”
Cleaver’s district is one of those in the crosshairs of Trump’s march to enlist statehouses and the courts to increase Republican seats in Congress at the expense of Democrats — many longstanding, dozens of them Black and Brown.
“There are probably some good and decent people who, but for their cult-like political attitudes, would not like something like this to happen,” Cleaver added as he tried to make sense of how he and his district are threatened by what he says is a double-barreled salvo aimed at the Voting Rights Act and state legislatures.
Cleaver’s senior colleague from South Carolina was more blunt.
“These are people who are trying to rig the system, making it very clear that there are certain people who will not be represented in Congress,” said Democratic Rep. James E. Clyburn, who has worn multiple House leadership titles along with being a Presidential Medal of Freedom holder. He has represented the Palmetto State since 1993 and, like Cleaver, once led the CBC — a staple of Capitol Hill politics since 1971.
On Monday, a coalition of voters of color and civil rights advocates will ask the Supreme Court to maintain a lower court’s ruling that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s redrawn map is an illegal racial gerrymander.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily paused the lower court’s order last week.
The Texas maps were set in motion by Abbott at the behest of Trump, who has openly called on Republican-controlled statehouses and governors to pass maps so that his party gains more seats and maintains control of Congress.
“A very simple redrawing; we pick up five seats. And we have a couple of other states where we’ll pick up seats also,” Trump said of Texas and other efforts in July.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act The effect of the new maps in Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere puts at risk so-called “majority-minority” seats made possible by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prevents any voting procedure or practice which results in a denial of the right to vote using race, color, or even language minority status.
It is also the main legal tool used to challenge election laws, like district maps, which may have a discriminatory result, even if that wasn’t the intent.
Such a challenge under Section 2 may lead to the creation of a majority-minority district where a racial minority group makes up the majority of the voting-age population. The goal in the case of such a district is to give the minority, racial or language group a realistic chance to elect the representative of their choice.
Many of those majority-minority districts are held by African American and Latina/Latino members. Some political and legal analysts say up to 19 members of the CBC stand to be wiped out.
Cleaver, whose Kansas City-area district would be cut in two in a redrawn Missouri map, told ABC News that the effort is part of an overall step backward when it comes to racial representation.
“We are just tearing apart a district in order to satisfy someone’s desire for reelection,” Cleaver told ABC News in September.
Clyburn said “It’s pretty clear what it’s about: What they’re trying to do now is render Section 2 ineffective.”
He added, “You got to hope that the Supreme Court will not take it up … The Supreme Court can stay out of it, and then what the law court has already done, it will stand. And there are a lot of people who think that may be the case.
“I hope the Supreme Court collectively will come to understand that they have unleashed severe threats to those constitutional principles that have kept this country together for all of these years.”
Louisiana’s congressional map was redrawn in 2022 because it violated the Voting Rights Act Section 2 by discriminating against African American voters.
The Pelican State went back to the drawing board to create a new map to follow the law. The majority-minority districts are now in front of the Supreme Court as to whether they violate the Constitution.
Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, called that challenge “specious and wrong.”
Republicans contend their redrawn maps are not about race but are driven by a desire for partisan advantage — something the Supreme Court has ruled is constitutional.
Abbott defended Texas’ redistricting effort, saying race had nothing to do with it and calling a lower court decision “clearly erroneous.”
“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences — and for no other reason,” Abbott said in a statement. “Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings. This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict.”
Nelson said “Despite the Supreme Court’s permissiveness around partisan gerrymandering, this certainly is unconstitutional and is a case that they take up. I think the three-judge panel was quite clear on what the violations were. It was clear from the very beginning that the intention is to dilute the voting power of Black and Latino communities in Texas.”
Protecting vulnerable members Cleaver acknowledged the reality of fighting it out in state legislatures.
“We’re minorities politically. So, it’s not like we can submit a piece of legislation to make it right,” Cleaver told ABC News. “We’re going to lose on all of the votes.”
He said Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the CBC’s political action committee CBC-PAC, has identified vulnerable members who the group aims to put on a “protection plan.” Some of those members include Louisiana Reps. Troy Carter and Cleo Fields, Alabama Reps. Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures, Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath, Texas Reps. Al Green, Marc Veasey and Jasmine Crockett, Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson, Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Clyburn.
The CBC-PAC will raise money for candidates who are “fighting for survival in these places where they were redistricted and left to win in a district that’s not normally responsive to us,” Cleaver said.
Members of other ethnic groups who are vulnerable include Texas Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Joaquin Castro and Julie Johnson.
Cleaver said campaigning in the proposed new districts amounts to surrender.
“If you start saying, ‘I want to go out and start campaigning in the proposed district,’ you are actually playing right into the hands of the people who are trying to eliminate you. If we think we’re right, we ought to act like we are right,” he said.
Clyburn, a big ground-game supporter, backs efforts to pass referendums such as one building signature support in Missouri to block the new congressional map recently passed and signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The new map takes effect in early December, or 90 days after the end of the state’s legislative session, unless opponents collect enough signatures to put the new map to a vote.
However, the effort by referendum advocacy group People over Politicians, which claims it has the necessary signatures to put the new map to a vote is being challenged in court by secretary of state and the state General Assembly, which contends on constitutional grounds that the legislature’s authority over redistricting cannot be overturned by referendum.
People over Politicians says the Republican-led government’s argument is an attempt to justify a “power grab. A federal judge he’ll the matter by Dec. 9, two days before the deadline for gathering signatures for a referendum.
Until then, Cleaver is comforted by those fighting on his behalf which includes an unusual and large coalition of multi-racial clergy, grassroots activists and business leaders who normally are silent. “So, you know we’re not, those of us who are in office. We’re not alone. We’re not alone.”
Effect of striking down majority-minority districts So, what, at the end of the day, do the Louisiana and Texas Voting Rights Act-related cases mean for the law itself if majority-minority districts are struck down by the Supreme Court? Nelson explains both the practical and constitutional stakes.
Nelson said there are up to 19 districts that have been protected by or drawn in response to the Voting Rights Act. She explained the practical and constitutional stakes if majority-minority districts are struck down by the Supreme Court:
“And we expect that, you know, states that are opposed to, you know, shared power among people of all races and backgrounds will leap at the opportunity to redraw maps in a way that shuts out a significant portion of our electorate from ever being able to elect candidates of their choice.”
Nelson said such a move by the court “would be a colossal undercutting of power that would then translate into even more failed policies for some of the most vulnerable communities in our country. So the impact would be absolutely devastating,” she said. “This is not just, you know, political warfare or partisan competition. This is making a mockery of a representative democracy when you don’t have fair representation.”
Clyburn for his part would rather mobilize than wait for parties out of his control to act.
“We need to be involved, to turn out the vote and do what we can to make sure that people get to the polls, and hopefully do what is necessary to stop the redistricting at the polling places. That’s what we can do,” he said. “To sit around wringing our hands about what the court may or may not do is a waste of time, energy, and, I think, emotions.”
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Andriy Yermak, his chief of staff, has resigned after anti-corruption searches on his home and office on Friday morning.
Zelenskyy announced the resignation in an address he posted online Friday.
The head of Zelenskyy’s presidential office, Yermak is the president’s powerful right-hand man and had been leading the negotiations with the United States to end the war with Russia.
Yermak’s fall strips Zelenskyy of his closest adviser and chief negotiator at a moment when he has been under intense pressure to agree to a new peace plan with Russia.
Yermak had increasingly faced suspicion he could be implicated in a sprawling high-level corruption scandal in Ukraine’s energy sector that has rocked the country’s government, already taking in a former business partner of Zelenskyy’s and prompting the resignations of the justice and energy ministers.
Zelenskyy had resisted calls for Yermak’s resignation, but after the highly publicized raids on Yermak’s addresses Friday morning, he appeared to have concluded the suspicions against his chief of staff were causing too much damage. He did not directly acknowledge the raids or accusations during his address, saying he had made the decision to remove Yermak because he wanted to “avoid rumors and speculation” that could harm internal unity at a critical time.
““For internal strength to exist, there must be no reasons to be distracted by anything other than defending Ukraine. I want there to be no questions whatsoever about Ukraine,” Zelenskky said in the video statement.
He said he would hold consultations on Saturday to choose Yermak’s replacement.
Investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) on Friday morning raided Yermak’s office and home as part of their investigation into the corruption scandal that has been dubbed “Mindich-gate” in Ukraine, a reference to Zelenskyy’s former business partner Timur Mindich who is implicated.
Prosecutors allege senior officials and Mindich arranged a kickback scheme that funneled tens of millions of dollars from contractors building defenses to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Investigators have not formally announced any allegations against Yermak or charged him. But he has faced mounting suspicion with critics alleging Yermak must have known about the corruption or bore responsibility for it. Some members of Parliament and anti-corruption campaigners also alleged that he was featured in recording made as part of the investigation under the name “Ali Baba.”
Yermak was also accused by opponents of being behind a failed attempt over the summer by Zelenskyy’s administration to strip independence from the same anti-corruption bodies now investigating him, which triggered mass protests.
There is no evidence Zelenskyy himself knew about the alleged corruption scheme or benefited from it. But as the scandal moved to the heart of his administration, he faced widespread calls to act or be seen as complicit, with worries he could face protests again if Yermak remained in post.
On Friday before his resignation Yermak posted he was “fully assisting” investigators.
Often referred to as Zelenskyy’s “grey cardinal,” Yermak has long-faced accusations of creeping authoritarianism and over-centralizing power, while allegations of corruption have lingered.
He has played a central role in Ukraine’s negotiations, including leading the delegation to Geneva last weekend for the talks with the U.S. on the Trump administration’s new peace plan. In an interview on Thursday with Time Magazine, Yermak ruled out ceding any territory to Russia.
Zelenskyy on Friday thanked Yermak for his role in leading the negotiations to end the war, saying “it has always been a patriotic position” and that he had represented Ukraine’s position “exactly as it should be.”
New peace talks are expected to be held perhaps as early as this weekend and Zelenskyy said they would now be headed by the head of Ukraine’s General Staff, as well as its National Security Council and foreign ministry representatives.
