Lindsey Buckingham was supposed to launch his first-ever solo tour of Europe in Dublin, Ireland, this Tuesday, May 17, but the former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist has had to postpone the trek because he recently contracted COVID-19 and hasn’t recorded yet.
A message on Buckingham’s socialmediasites shared the bad news, saying, “It is with great sadness that we are announcing the postponement of Lindsey’s European tour which had been due to begin next week. Along with other members of his band and crew, Lindsey contracted COVID-19 at the end of his latest North American tour, forcing that to end prematurely. Unfortunately he’s still recovering and has no choice but to move the upcoming tour to a later date.”
The note continues, “This is heartbreaking for Lindsey, he was so excited to come to Europe for the first time as a solo artist this spring. We’re currently working on rescheduling the dates and hope to have some news to share on that very soon.”
The 11-date tour had been scheduled to run through a June 2 performance at Denmark’s Heartland Festival 2022.
Late last month, Lindsey announced that the last few shows of his spring 2022 North American tour had to be canceled because of a COVID outbreak in his touring party, which we now know included him.
The canceled concerts included an April 28 show in Tysons, Virginia; and April 30 gig in Louisville, Kentucky; and a May 1 performance at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee.
Buckingham continues to promote his latest solo album, a self-titled collection that was released in July 2021.
Swimmers relax in an underground pool in Helsinki, Finland. All buildings above a certain size in Finland are required by law to have their own bunkers. – ABC News
(HELSINKI) — Finland may be world’s happiest country — at least on the surface. But Helsinki’s “underground city” tells a different story.
Beneath the capital, a massive network of bunkers and tunnels spreads out all across the city. There are than 5,000 bomb shelters in Helsinki — enough to shelter more than the city’s entire population — and more than 50,000 bunkers across the country, according to Helsinki’s Civil Defense Department. All buildings above a certain size are required by law to have their own bunkers.
“There’s a historic sense that you should always be prepared. It might not be this generation or the next generation, but Russia is likely to attack Finland in some way,” said Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a leading researcher at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs.
With so much ground going unutilized, the city of Helsinki has converted some of its shelters into spaces for everyday public use. There’s an underground playground, a shelter that doubles as a hockey rink, even an underground swimming pool.
This is what it’s like being Russia’s neighbor. The two countries share an 800-mile border and a long, complicated history.
For decades, Finland opted not to join any military alliance in an effort meant to appease Russia’s security concerns. As a result, Finland had to ensure it could fend for itself. So it’s not just the bunkers; conscription is still mandatory for men, and the country has about 900,000 reservists.
“We have to take care of the citizens, that’s the main reason we have this system,” said Tomi Rask, an instructor with Helsinki’s Civil Defense Department.
But the very scenarios Finland has spent years preparing for are now playing out in Ukraine, where some have been living underground for weeks.
The invasion marked a turning point for Finland-Russia relations. Public support in Finland for joining NATO is skyrocketing from roughly 30% before the war to more than 70% in the weeks after the invasion.
“We have such a horrible neighbor on the east side of Finland. We don’t have any other option than to go to NATO,” said said Finland citizen Kare Vartiainen, who ABC News met making use of the underground pool.
After years of neutrality, on Thursday, Finland’s leaders announced Finland should apply to join NATO “without delay.” Sweden is expected to follow suit.
The country’s accession would more than double Russia’s land border with NATO. It would also expand NATO’s influence in the Arctic and further unify the West, said Salonius-Pasternak. NATO would also grow stronger.
“NATO would now have two more old democratic countries, both with really capable militaries, so that effectively all of northern Europe would now be one region to defend,” he said.
There are those that are still skeptical, like Veronika Honkasalo, one of the few members of Parliament who doesn’t think Finland should join. MPs are expected to take up the issue next week.
“I’m afraid that NATO membership will increase actually the tensions in the Baltic Sea region and also will increase the tensions in Finland, especially regarding the eastern border,” she said.
Russia has already threatened “serious military and political consequences” if Finland and Sweden join NATO, saying it will have to bolster its defenses in the region and that it could decide to place nuclear weapons in the Baltics.
There are concerns about what could happen in the time period after Finland and Sweden submit their applications but before they formally join the alliance. The two countries now hoping to win over security assurances from allies, including the U.S.
On Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to come to Finland and Sweden’s aid if either nation is attacked.
Finns say now is the time to act while Putin is busy with Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is prompting Finland, even with its 50,000 shelters and capable military, to decide it can no longer go it alone. It’s likely giving Putin the very thing he worked so hard to prevent: NATO’s expansion.
“We are a small nation, we need help, we need friends. And from my point of view, maybe NATO is the friend that we need,” said Rask.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 12, 5:11 pm
Sen. Rand Paul single-handedly delays $40B in aid, pushing vote to next week
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., single-handedly sidelined the $40 billion emergency Ukraine aid bill until next week in an effort to force lawmakers to include funding for a new watchdog effort to police how the billions in taxpayer dollars are spent.
In a very rare moment, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined forces.
“There is now only one thing holding us back: the junior Senator from Kentucky is preventing swift passage of Ukraine aid because he wants to add — at the last minute — his own changes directly into the bill. His change is strongly opposed by many members from both parties,” Schumer said Thursday. “He is not even asking for an amendment … he is simply saying, ‘my way or the highway.'”
But Paul stood his ground, highlighting the nearly $60 billion that the U.S. will have given to Ukraine if this package passes.
After Paul blocked an effort to expedite passage, Schumer reiterated that Paul will not get his desired changes without a vote and blamed Paul for slowing aid.
The aid bill has enormous bipartisan support and is expected to pass by sometime next week.
May 12, 4:50 pm
Psaki says US would support Finland, Sweden joining NATO
The United States “would support” Finland and Sweden applying to join NATO “should they choose to apply,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday.
“We, of course, will respect whatever decision they make. Both Finland and Sweden are close and value defensive partners of the United States and of NATO,” she said.
If the countries do apply, Psaki said, it “should be reassuring to the American people about our own security interests.”
“Having a strong NATO alliance, a strong Western alliance, that’s a defensive alliance, by the way, it is good for our security around the world, certainly having a strong partnership with a range of countries, including Sweden and Finland,” she said.
May 12, 3:38 pm
Russian official: Finland, Sweden possible target for strike if they join NATO
Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy told a British news podcast that Finland and Sweden officials “know the moment they become members of the NATO, it will imply certain mirror moves on the Russian side.”
“If there are NATO detachments in those territories, these territories would become a target — or a possible target — for a strike,” Polyanskiy warned.
He continued, “NATO is a very unfriendly bloc to us. … It means that Finland and Sweden all of a sudden, instead of neutral countries, become part of the enemy and they bear all the risks.”
Despite repeated claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO’s expansion is a risk to Russian security, Polyanskiy insisted the addition of Finland and Sweden to the alliance would have little impact.
“I don’t think it will really be a blow to the security of Russia because these two states become members of NATO — hopefully they won’t, but if they do it would be the worst solution for them, but not for Russia,” he said. “Russia is ready to face NATO threats. Russia has made the necessary precautions for this.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russia “will be forced to take retaliatory steps both of military-technical and of other nature in order to stop the threats to its national security” should Finland become a NATO member.
While Britain has pledged military support for both Sweden and Finland if they were to come under attack, regardless of whether the countries are accepted into the alliance and under the umbrella of NATO’s Article 5, the U.S. has yet to make a similar bridge security guarantee.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried said, “We will surely find ways to assure Finland and Sweden, but the nature of that is still to be worked out.”
May 12, 2:08 pm
Russian missiles strike in and around Ukrainian oil refinery
About 12 Russian missiles struck in and around the Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine, according to Dmytro Lunin, head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration.
No one was injured and crews have extinguished the blaze, Lunin said.
Most missiles hit the infrastructure of the refinery, which is not operating, Lunin said.
May 12, 1:39 pm
Nearly 100 children killed in Ukraine in April alone: UNICEF official
The United Nations said it’s verified the deaths of nearly 100 children in Ukraine in April alone — and officials believe the actual figure to be considerably higher.
“More children have been injured and faced grave violations of their rights, millions more have been displaced,” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi said at Thursday’s U.N. Security Council meeting. “The war in Ukraine, like all wars, is a child protection and child rights crisis.”
Education also “came to a standstill” when Russia invaded, Abdi said.
One in every six UNICEF-supported schools in eastern Ukraine was damaged or destroyed as of last week, Abdi said.
“These attacks must stop. All parties must honour their legal and moral obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, and to ensure the rights of children are upheld,” Abdi said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 12, 12:19 pm
Russian missiles strike in and around Ukrainian oil refinery
About eight to 12 Russian missiles have struck in and around the Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine, according to Dmytro Lunin, head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration.
“The threat of blows remains,” Lunin warned. “Do not leave the shelters!”
The impact on the oil refinery is not yet clear.
-ABC News’ Irene Hnatiuk
May 12, 11:45 am
Ukraine negotiating to evacuate wounded soldiers from Mariupol plant
“Difficult” negotiations are underway between Ukraine and Russia to coordinate the evacuation of seriously wounded fighters from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in exchange for an unspecified number of Russian prisoners of war, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
“We are currently negotiating only 38 severely wounded fighters that can’t walk,” she said.
-ABC News’ Irene Hnatiuk
May 12, 10:40 am
Russia threatens to take ‘retaliatory steps’ following Finland’s NATO announcement
Russia “will be forced to take retaliatory steps both of military-technical and of other nature in order to stop the threats to its national security” in response to Finland’s possible accession to NATO, according to state-run TASS citing a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The ministry added, “Finland joining NATO will seriously harm bilateral Russian-Finnish relations and the maintenance of stability and security in the North European region.”
May 12, 8:24 am
Finland joining NATO would pose threat to Russia, Kremlin says
Russia will conduct a “special analysis” and take necessary measures for national security if Finland joins NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
“There is an order from the president, the supreme commander-in-chief, that a list of measures be composed to strengthen our western flanks in connection with the strengthening of the eastern flank of NATO,” Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing. “NATO has been enlarging towards us. So, clearly, all of that will be elements of a special analysis and the elaboration of measures necessary for maintaining a balance and providing our security.”
“Everything will depend on the manifestation of the further [NATO] enlargement process — how far the military infrastructure will grow towards our borders,” he added.
When asked whether Finland’s accession to NATO — the world’s biggest military alliance — would pose a threat to Russia, Peskov told reporters: “Of course it will.”
“Another enlargement of NATO does not make our continent more stable and secure,” he said.
Peskov’s comments followed a joint statement released by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announcing their support for Finland applying to join NATO.
May 12, 4:09 am
Finland says it ‘must apply for NATO membership without delay’
Finland’s leaders announced Thursday their support for the country applying to join NATO, the world’s biggest military alliance.
“During this spring, an important discussion on Finland’s possible NATO membership has taken place. Time has been needed to let Parliament and the whole society establish their stands on the matter,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement. “Time has been needed for close international contacts with NATO and its member countries, as well as with Sweden. We have wanted to give the discussion the space it required.”
“Now that the moment of decision-making is near, we state our equal views, also for information to the parliamentary groups and parties. NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security,” they added. “As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance. Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay. We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
The Finnish Parliament will now take up the issue, with a vote expected to be held early next week.
The announcement marks a major shift in Finland’s traditionally neutral policy, triggered by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia, and recent opinion polls show Finnish public support for joining NATO has surged to 76%.
Neighboring Sweden is also considering applying to join the alliance.
May 11, 4:40 pm
State Dept. maintains Putin still has ‘straightforward’ path to peace
Despite President Joe Biden saying Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t have a “way out,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price insisted the U.S. is providing the Kremlin with a “very simple” and “straightforward” exit strategy through genuine diplomacy.
“The State Department, this administration, provided an off ramp well before President Putin decided to launch this war against Ukraine … it has not closed,” Price said.
The problem, Price said, was that Russia continues to show no interest in that route.
Price repeated that one area where the U.S. was not willing to give over any ground was the potential expansion of the NATO alliance.
“NATO’s open door means an open door. That is important to us and it is nonnegotiable,” he insisted.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
May 11, 4:36 pm
Biden: ‘American agriculture imports will make up for the gap in Ukrainian supplies’
President Joe Biden said the war in Ukraine is an opportunity for American farmers to step in to address shortages caused by the invasion.
“We can make sure the American agriculture imports will make up for the gap in Ukrainian supplies,” Biden told a group at a farm in Illinois on Wednesday.
Biden said to the farmers, “With Putin’s war in Ukraine, you’re like the backbone of freedom.”
The president pointed the finger at Russia for preventing Ukraine from shipping wheat to the rest of the world.
Biden noted: “Ukraine was the world’s largest producer of wheat and corn and cooking oil — but wheat, the largest. … Ukraine says they have 20 million tons of grain in their silos right now … because of what the Russians are doing in the Black Sea, Putin has warships, battleships preventing access to the Ukrainian ports to get this grain out, to get this wheat out.”
“The brutal war launched on Ukrainian soil has prevented Ukrainian farmers from planting next year’s crop and next year’s harvest,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
May 11, 4:08 pm
1 dead, 6 hurt in bombardments in Russia’s Belgorod region
One person has been killed and six others are injured from shelling in the Solokhi village in Belgorod, Russia, according to Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. A 14-year-old boy is among the injured, the governor said.
This area is less than 7 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Gladkov said the shelling originated from Ukraine’s side of the border and that this was the most serious incident since Ukrainian forces began firing on the region. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed that Ukrainian forces are firing on Russia’s side of the border.
May 11, 3:04 pm
UK signs new security pacts with Sweden, Finland
As Sweden and Finland consider NATO memberships, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed new security pacts with the leaders of both nations on Wednesday, ensuring the U.K. could give military support even if the countries are not NATO members.
Johnson said the invasion of Ukraine “sadly” opened a new chapter.
“Our armed forces will train, operate and exercise together — marrying our defense and security capabilities and formalizing a pledge that we will always come to one another’s aid,” he said at a news conference.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 11, 12:50 pm
First Russian soldier indicted for allegedly shooting, killing Ukrainian civilian
The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has brought its first indictment against a Russian soldier for allegedly shooting and killing a Ukrainian civilian.
Vadim Shishimarinov, a 21-year-old soldier in Russia’s 4th Armored Division, allegedly fired his AK-47 at a car driven by a 62-year-old Ukrainian man, killing him at the scene, Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said.
He could face a life sentence if convicted of the shooting, which unfolded on Feb. 28 in the village of Chupakhivka.
-ABC News’ Tomek Rolski
May 11, 7:52 am
Fighting continues between Ukrainian and Russian forces on Snake Island, UK says
Fighting has continued on Ukraine’s Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, “with Russia repeatedly trying to reinforce its exposed garrison located there,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Wednesday in an intelligence update.
“If Russia consolidates its position on Zmiinyi Island with strategic air defence and coastal defence cruise missiles, they could dominate the north-western Black Sea,” the ministry warned.
The island is strategically located, as it provides access to Ukraine’s major port cities, including Odesa, the country’s largest seaport and one of the largest in the Black Sea basin, serving as a major gateway for grain shipments and other key exports.
Ukraine, however, has managed to successfully strike Russian air defenses and resupply vessels with drones, according to the ministry.
“Russia’s resupply vessels have minimum protection in the western Black Sea, following the Russian Navy’s retreat to Crimea after the loss of the Moskva,” the ministry added.
May 11, 6:57 am
Zelenskyy thanks House for aid, as Russia denies responsibility for Ukrainian deaths
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday thanked the U.S. House of Representatives for its approval of a nearly $40 billion package of humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine in a bill passed on Tuesday.
“We are looking forward to the consideration of this important document for us by the Senate,” Zelenskyy wrote in a tweet expressing gratitude to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Joe Biden and “all friends of Ukraine” in the House.
Earlier on Tuesday, two senators unveiled a resolution calling on the Biden administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D.-Conn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., said the designation, which could result in further sanctions for Russia, is warranted by Russia’s war on Ukraine and conduct elsewhere under President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is a thug, and a bully, and he will continue being an increasing threat to Europe and the world unless he is stopped,” Blumenthal said at a press conference, adding, “If there’s anybody who embodies terrorism, totalitarianism and tyranny, it’s Putin.”
The resolution was originally requested by the Ukrainian parliament, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far declined to add Russia to the list of countries — Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria — considered to be state sponsors.
Russia’s Ministry of Health sent the World Health Organization a letter in which it “strongly rejects” its responsibility for the rising death toll in Ukraine.
“The health emergency in Ukraine and neighboring countries is caused by the unconstitutional coup that took place in this country in 2014, and by the subsequent military aggression of the Kyiv regime against the population of Donbass in the period of 2014–2022,” Andrey Plutnitsky, Russia’s envoy to the WHO, wrote in the letter.
Plutnitsky called on WHO member states to pay “special attention” to “the military biological activities undertaken by a number of countries on the territory of Ukraine, which represent a significant danger to the region.”
Members of the Russian military are trying to hide their involvement in some hostilities in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence service said on Wednesday.
Russian troops, including some from the air and space forces, have demanded that the command keep their involvement in the invasion secret in order to avoid further possible responsibility for war crimes, the Ukrainian intelligence claimed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that 89 of the 90 M777 Howitzers promised to Ukraine have been handed over to the Ukrainian military.
Of the total count of 184,000 rounds of ammunition committed to Ukraine, “65 percent, so almost 120,000 rounds, are in [Ukraine],” a senior defense official said at a background briefing on Tuesday. The Russians added two battalion tactical groups to their force in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the official added, bringing the new count of operational Russian BGTs up to 99.
May 10, 11:18 pm
House approves $40 billion in Ukraine aid, sending measure to Senate
The House on Tuesday approved a nearly $40 billion package of humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, the latest tranche of relief to the country the U.S. is aggressively backing in its fight against Russia.
The bill, which was finalized earlier Tuesday and includes nearly $7 billion more funding than requested by the Biden administration, was approved in a 368-57 vote, with all Democrats backing the bill and all opposition coming from Republicans.
With the vote, Congress has now directed more than $50 billion to support Ukraine in the war with Russia. The House voted 36-169 on March 9 on a $13.6 billion package for Ukraine and other key European allies.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure in the coming days.
The package includes $6 billion to help train, equip and support the Ukrainian armed forces, and more than $9 billion to replenish the U.S. stockpiles of military equipment and ammunition in the U.S. and abroad that have been tapped to re-arm Ukraine.
The measure would also help fund and support U.S. troops stationed in Europe and the operation of a Patriot air defense missile system in Europe, and it includes more than $900 million to support Ukranian refugees with housing, counseling and English language classes, as well as helping process and screen those traveling to the United States.
Additionally, the bill directs the inspector general of the Defense Department to provide a written report to the House and Senate defense committees reviewing the Ukraine program spending within 120 days of the law’s enactment.
May 10, 6:46 pm
State Department calls on Congress to pass additional aid
The State Department is urging Congress to quickly move on passing additional funding for Ukraine, calling the aid “vital” and warning the administration’s other means of financing military support were quickly running out.
“Our assistance to Ukraine has been just as we promised: massive,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during his daily briefing Tuesday. “We have provided $4.5 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine since the start of this administration, some $3.8 billion worth of security assistance since the invasion began. These are supplies — weapons — precisely what Ukraine needs to defend itself.”
But, he said, maintaining that support depends on lawmakers fulfilling the White House’s request for another $40 billion in funding.
“The fact, however, is that right now, our coffers in terms of drawdown funding — they’re dwindling,” he said. “We now have less than $100 million left and we will exhaust those funds within the next week.”
Price said the new tranche of funding would “help our Ukrainian partners and also our NATO allies do precisely what we feel it is imperative that they be positioned to do at this moment.”
Pressed on whether the administration had a limit in mind when it came to sending lethal aid to Ukraine, Price said the focus was on fulfilling its promises to “provide Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself” and ensuring “our allies — especially our allies on the eastern flank — had what they needed to deter and potentially even respond to Russian aggression.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
May 10, 5:32 pm
Nominee for US ambassador to Ukraine testifies in confirmation hearing
Amid a three-year vacancy and with Ukraine in the grips of a brutal war, the U.S. Senate took its first major step towards confirming an American ambassador to Ukraine on Tuesday with a hearing in its Foreign Relations Committee for President Joe Biden’s nominee, Bridget Brink.
Brink — a veteran diplomat with 25 years of experience and the current U.S. ambassador to Slovakia — acknowledged the great difficulties that would come with the post but said it would be the “honor of a lifetime.”
“We face the biggest threat to peace and security in Europe in decades,” she said during her opening statements. “If confirmed, I pledge to work with you to continue our commitment to a sovereign, democratic and independent Ukraine — free to choose its own future.”
Brink has bipartisan support and her path to confirmation appears to be a smooth one, though Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the committee, foretold “a lot scrutiny from Washington” when it comes to moving the U.S. embassy back to Kyiv and “helping to shepherd U.S. military, humanitarian and financial aid in the right places.”
“I think it’s really important for us to be there in person and present,” Brink responded when questioned on plans to reopen the embassy in Kyiv. “I don’t know exactly how fast we will be able to do this process, but I know we are trying to do it as fast as possible and it is certainly my hope and plan, if confirmed, to be able to start my mission in Kyiv.”
She later added: “It’s necessary for us to be there on the ground.”
The nominee was also asked about the need for the aid package currently working its way through Congress.
“It is incredibly important that the supplemental move fast,” Brink said. “The needs are large.”
Brink also promised to work to assist Ukraine in holding Russia accountable for alleged war crimes.
“We are going to use every tool at our disposal,” she said. “I can tell you it’s a personal priority of mine.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
May 10, 3:23 pm
House expected to vote on nearly $40 billion Ukraine aid package
The House will vote on a new roughly $40 billion Ukraine aid package Tuesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
The request includes funding for “critically needed resources, including military aid, support for the Ukrainian economy, and humanitarian assistance for food security to address the worldwide hunger crisis.”
The White House had initially requested $33 billion in assistance for Ukraine, but congressional leaders decided to tack on an additional $7 billion for more military and humanitarian assistance.
“This package, which builds on the robust support already secured by Congress, will be pivotal in helping Ukraine defend not only its nation but democracy for the world. Time is of the essence – and we cannot afford to wait,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues. “With this aid package, America sends a resounding message to the world of our unwavering determination to stand with the courageous people of Ukraine until victory is won.”
The bill is expected to pass in the House, after which it would head to the Senate.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
May 10, 3:10 pm
Pelosi, lawmakers to brief Biden on trip to Ukraine
President Joe Biden will host House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress in the Situation Room on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the lawmakers’ recent trip to Ukraine, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Biden previously spoke with Pelosi over the phone about her trip but wanted a more thorough discussion in person, Psaki said.
Expected to attend are: Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-NY; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass.; and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Mariam Khan
May 10, 2:59 pm
Putin has goals beyond Donbas, US says
Russian President Vladimir Putin “is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas,” according to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
“The next month or two of fighting will be significant as the Russians attempt to reinvigorate their efforts. But even if they are successful, we are not confident that the fight in the Donbas will effectively end the war,” Haines told senators at an Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.
For now, Putin’s goal is to take control of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and encircle Ukrainian forces from the north and south of the Donbas “in order to crush the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces who are fighting to hold the line in the East,” Haines said.
Putin also hopes to “consolidate control of the land bridge Russia has established from Crimea to the Donbas, occupy Kherson, and control the water source for Crimea,” Haines said. The U.S. sees indications his military wants to extend that land bridge to Transnistria in Moldova, she added.
Haines said Russia might be capable of achieving “most” of those goals in the coming months. However, “We believe that they will not be able to extend control over a land bridge that stretches to Transnistria and includes Odessa without launching some form of mobilization. And it is increasingly unlikely that they will be able to establish control over both oblasts and the buffer zone they desire in the coming weeks,” she said.
Sanctions from the West are having a “pretty significant” impact on Russia, according to Haines.
“Among the indicators that one might look at are, for example, the fact that we’re seeing close to about, we predict, approximately 20% inflation in Russia; that we expect that their GDP will fall about 10%, possibly even more over the course of the year,” she said.
The fighting itself has also worn on Russia’s capabilities.
“The ground combat forces have been degraded considerably. It’s going to take them years … to rebuild that,” she said.
But that could drive Putin to other means of exerting force. Haines said, “They may rely more on things like cyber, nuclear, precision, etc. … Putin would probably only authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state or regime.”
Haines warned, “The current trend increases the likelihood that President Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on, or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine.”
“The most likely flashpoints for escalation in the coming weeks are around increasing Russian attempts to interdict Western security assistance, retaliation for Western economic sanctions or threats to the regime at home. We believe that Moscow continues to use nuclear rhetoric to deter the United States and the West from increasing lethal aid to Ukraine and to respond to public comments that the U.S. and NATO allies that suggest expanded Western goals in the conflict,” she said. “If Putin perceives that the United States is ignoring his threats, he may try to signal to Washington the heightened danger of its support to Ukraine by authorizing another large nuclear exercise involving a major dispersal of mobile intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, strategic submarines.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
May 10, 11:29 am
Russia has lost 8 to 10 generals so far, US believes
The U.S. believes eight to 10 Russian generals have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told senators on Tuesday at an Armed Services Committee hearing.
This is slightly below the estimate from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, which said up to 12 Russian generals have been killed.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
May 10, 8:18 am
Ukrainian police probe over 10,000 cases of suspected war crimes
The national police chief of Ukraine, Gen. Igor Klimenko, told ABC News on Tuesday that his officers are currently investigating 10,800 cases of suspected war crimes across the country, in areas that were previously occupied by Russian forces.
In the Kyiv region alone, police said they have so far recovered 1,262 bodies of slain civilians. The head of Kyiv police, Andriy Nebytov, told ABC News on Tuesday that his officers are currently working to identify 258 of those bodies.
Local police said five bodies were recovered on Monday, including three men who were lying in a mass grave. Police said the men had been shot in the head.
Local officers in the Kyiv region said they have found so many dead bodies of people killed when Russian forces occupied the area that they do not have the capacity to store them all in morgues. Instead, DNA samples will be taken before the bodies are buried while the process of identifying the victims is carried out.
Once the DNA process is complete, the graves of the deceased can be properly marked, according to local police.
French police officers are also in Ukraine to help with the identity process. According to Ukrainian police, technology available to their French counterparts can finish the DNA identification process within 24 hours — something which would normally take Ukrainian police three to four days.
May 10, 6:47 am
Russia paying the price for underestimating Ukrainian resistance, UK says
Russia is paying the price for underestimating Ukrainian resistance, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Tuesday in an intelligence update.
“Russia’s invasion plan is highly likely to have been based on the mistaken assumption that it would encounter limited resistance and would be able to encircle and bypass population centres rapidly,” the ministry said Tuesday in an intelligence update. “This assumption led Russian forces to attempt to carry out the opening phase of the operation with a light, precise approach intended to achieve a rapid victory with minimal cost.”
“This miscalculation led to unsustainable losses and a subsequent reduction in Russia’s operational focus,” the ministry added.
According to the ministry, these “demonstrable operational failings” prevented Russian President Vladimir Putin from announcing significant military success at Monday’s Victory Day parade in Moscow.
Although he showed no signs of backing down, Putin did not make any declarations of war or victory in his annual speech for Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Instead, he drew parallels between Soviet soldiers battling Nazi troops and the Russian forces fighting now in Ukraine, as he has vowed to “de-Nazify” the former Soviet republic.
“You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War,” Putin said Monday during a military parade in Moscow’s Red Square.
May 10, 6:30 am
US suspends tariffs on Ukrainian steel
The U.S. will temporarily suspend 232 tariffs on Ukrainian steel for one year, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced Monday.
Ukraine’s steel industry is one of the foundations of the country’s economy, employing 1 in 13 Ukrainians, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Some of Ukraine’s largest steel communities have been among those “hardest hit by Putin’s barbarism,” the U.S. Department of Commerce said in a press release, and the steel mill in Mariupol has become a “lasting symbol of Ukraine’s determination to resist Russia’s aggression.”
“Steelworkers are among the world’s most resilient — whether they live in Youngstown or Mariupol,” Raimondo said.
The pledge to slash tariffs “is a signal to the Ukrainian people that we are committed to helping them thrive in the face of Putin’s aggression,” she said, “and that their work will create a stronger Ukraine, both today and in the future.”
Ukraine is currently losing about $170 million every day due to blocked ports and the country’s export potential has fallen by more than half, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmysal said on Monday.
Ukraine also submitted a several-thousand-page questionnaire, the second part of the answers, that must be completed by countries aspiring to join the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday during his nightly address.
“It usually takes months. But we did everything in a few weeks,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president held talks with EU leaders on Monday and claimed Ukraine could be granted EU candidate status as early as June.
Russia running out of missiles
Russia has used up about half of its existing missiles during its invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Monday. But the Russians still maintain the capacity and a certain supply of components to replenish some of their depleted arsenal, Malyar added.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense also stated in its Monday intelligence update that Russia’s stockpile of precision-guided munitions “has likely been heavily depleted.” Instead, the Russian military is now using “readily available but ageing munitions that are less reliable, less accurate and more easily intercepted.”
Russia will likely struggle to replace the precision weaponry it has already expended, the ministry said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Monday that he has “never been more certain that Ukraine will win,” adding that Britain will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Fighting continued on May 9 at the Azovstal steel plant while “some occupiers were walking along the streets” of the surrounding city of Mariupol parading with flags and Ribbons of Saint George, a traditional Russian military symbol, said Petro Andriushchenko, the Mariupol mayor’s advisor. Russian forces on Monday tried to blow up the bridge used to evacuate people from the steel plant, trying to “cut off our defenders from the possibility to exit,” Andriushchenko said.
There are still more than 100 civilians trapped in Azovstal, Pavlo Kyrylenko, who heads the Donetsk military administration, told local media.
(NEW YORK) — At least 11 people are dead and dozens were rescued after a boat capsized Thursday off the coast of Puerto Rico, officials said.
The vessel, which was “suspected of taking part in an illegal voyage,” overturned shortly before noon local time Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft spotted the capsized vessel and people in the water about 11 miles north of Desecheo Island, a small, uninhabited wildlife refuge off Puerto Rico’s western coast.
The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection responded along with the marine units of the Puerto Rico Police Department. The Coast Guard launched multiple helicopters from Air Station Borinquen and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos as part of the rescue operation.
There were 31 survivors, according to the Coast Guard. None of the passengers appeared to be wearing life jackets, it said.
The total number of passengers who were on the boat before it capsized is unclear.
The vessel was transporting non-U.S. citizens, the Coast Guard Office in Puerto Rico said.
Desecheo Island is located in the Mona Passage, a potentially dangerous strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
(HOLYOKE, Mass.) — Massachusetts has reached a $56 million settlement with the families of the dozens of veterans who died and were sickened during the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home’s widespread COVID-19 outbreak in the early months of the pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday.
“The COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was a terrible tragedy. While we know nothing can bring back those who were lost, we hope that this settlement brings a sense of closure to the loved ones of the veterans,” Baker said in a press release.
Tom Lesser, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told ABC News that the outbreak resulted in more than 160 veterans contracting the virus between March 1 and June 23, 2020, with at least 84 veterans ultimately dying from the infection.
The agreement is subject to approval by the federal district court for Massachusetts, and the terms of the settlement will cover veterans who lived at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home at any time between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020, and who became ill or died from COVID during that period.
According to the state, estates of deceased veterans would receive a minimum award of $400,000 and veterans who contracted COVID-19 but survived would receive a minimum of $10,000.
“There is no amount of money that can compensate our clients for the loss of their loved ones. But our clients are grateful that the Commonwealth has acted to resolve this matter without the need for protracted litigation by agreeing to compensate both the families of those who died of COVID, as well as the veterans who survived. The settlement is fair and just,” Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tom Lesser wrote in a statement.
For some of the victims’ families, the news of the settlement comes as a relief, though they remain upset at the devastating consequences of the decisions taken by the officials responsible for the state-run veterans’ home.
“I think it’s great because it’s at least some sort of acknowledgement, perhaps, but I would like to see the people with the powers that could have prevented or remedy that in it speedier fashion to be held accountable that needs to happen,” said Susan Kenney, whose 78-year-old father, Charles Lowell, contracted COVID-19 and died in the outbreak.
The loss of Lowell, an Air Force veteran who served from 1960 to 1965 during the Vietnam War, is still fresh for Kenney, who was emotional as she recalled trying to reach her father after he had fallen ill.
“Not knowing if your dad’s dead or alive and you see the death toll rising and rising… I wanted him to be cared for with honor and dignity, and we weren’t allowed that opportunity,” Kenney said.
Kenney stressed that the push from families to make changes at the Soldiers’ Home has nothing to do about the money, but rather a fight for “human rights”.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts House passed legislation that would require additional oversight of the home.
The state also reports that it has undertaken an “expedited capital project to reimagine the future of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke and develop the right, longer-term option to meet the current and evolving needs of area Veterans.”
“Something needs to be learned from it,” Kenney said. “Unfortunately, people were put in positions of power yet did nothing to prevent and only allowed people to get complacent in their positions and protocols, and it affected our veterans greatly. And most tragically it could have definitely been prevented.”
Late last month, the Massachusetts Inspector General’s office released a report detailing the “extensive mismanagement” and “oversight failures” at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, prior to the onset of the pandemic.
According to the report, former superintendent of the home, Bennett Walsh, was “quick to anger” and actively “intimidated” employees, further retaliating against staffers who angered him or whom he believed were disloyal.
“He created a negative work environment, engaged in retaliatory behavior, demonstrated a lack of engagement in the Home’s operations, circumvented the chain of command and bristled against supervision,” investigators said.
Walsh, alongside the facility’s former medical director, Dr. David Clinton, had faced charges of elder neglect, and permitting bodily injury. However, a Massachusetts judge cited no “reasonably trustworthy evidence” and dismissed charges for both.
However, the inspector general’s report found that Walsh did not have the managerial skills, leadership capacity, or temperament for his leadership role at the facility.
In May 2020, an attorney for Walsh insisted that Walsh did not keep anyone “in the dark” about the growing crisis inside, and took several steps to notify state and local officials about the growing rate of COVID-19 infections among veterans, but that Walsh’s requests for medical assistance for the facility were denied.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Susan Hillis, who has spent years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is the lead author of several reports on Covid-related orphanhood and caregiver death, spoke recently about the devastating toll of the pandemic with ABC News’ David Muir, the anchor of “World News Tonight.”
“In the United States, for every four COVID deaths, we have one child left behind, orphaned of their parent or grandparent, caregiver who provided for their needs and nurture,” said Hillis who has a PhD in epidemiology.
Her recent study published in The Lancet in February 2022 includes a real-time Covid orphanhood calculator showing the global impact of the pandemic.
The research was led by the CDC, in collaboration with Harvard, Oxford, Imperial College, USAID, the World Bank, and World Health Organization.
According to the latest data, the number of children globally affected by orphanhood and caregiver death has now surpassed 10 million children — and more than 250,000 children have now lost a parent or caregiver in the U.S.
“It is an extraordinary number of children. That is why, we cannot in good conscience continue to ignore them,” Hillis told Muir.
The February report also compared the number of children whose parents or caregivers died in the first 14 months of the pandemic, 2.7 million children, to those affected in the next six months — and found the number nearly doubled, reaching 5.2 million by October 2021.
The study also shows that children whose parents or caregivers have died are mostly adolescents who have lost their fathers.
The research recommends that care for children must be integrated into every nation’s Covid response plan.
“There is not nearly enough being done, and that’s why it’s so important that all of us begin to ask these questions,” Hillis said, talking about the urgent need to find support for the children impacted by orphanhood.
(NEW YORK) — Louisiana’s House of Representatives is debating a bill Thursday which would ban abortions and subject women to criminal prosecution for murder.
The proposed bill seeks to rewrite the state’s homicide statute to include abortion. The bill also voids any federal statutes, regulations, treaties, orders and court rulings that would allow abortion.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a pro-life Democrat, issued a statement calling the bill “radical” and said it goes far beyond being pro-life.
“House Bill 813 is not a pro-life bill. In addition to the fact that this legislation is patently unconstitutional, this bill would criminalize the use of certain types of contraception, as well as parts of the in vitro fertilization process, and it could even serve as a barrier to life-saving medical treatment for a woman who is suffering a miscarriage,” Edwards said in a statement.
Edwards called the idea of a woman being jailed for an abortion “simply absurd.”
“I do not normally comment on these types of bills before they’ve made it through the legislative process, but I felt I had to join my voice to the chorus of pro-life organizations against HB 813,” Edwards said.
Anti-abortion group Louisiana Right to Life also criticized the bill, saying it is not consistent with the group’s policy and “does not exempt women from criminalization and is unnecessary to protect the life of babies from abortion.”
“Our longstanding policy is that abortion-vulnerable women should not be treated as criminals. Instead, we should hold accountable the individuals performing the abortion or selling or providing the chemical abortion drugs,” Louisiana Right to Life said in a statement.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Danny McCormick, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Louisiana Right to Life on Thursday said it supports an amendment by Rep. Alan Seabaugh which completely replaces the bill, and seeks to “hold accountable” those who provide abortion services rather than mothers, the group said in a statement.
“Through Rep. Seabaugh’s amendment, Louisiana will reaffirm its policy to protect unborn children from abortion without criminalizing abortion-vulnerable women. Unless HB 813 is fundamentally changed through Rep. Seabaugh’s amendment, Louisiana Right to Life is asking legislators to oppose HB 813,” said Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, in a statement.
This Sunday, The Who will play their first concert in Cincinnati since the band’s infamous December 1979 show at the Riverfront Coliseum, where 11 young people lost their lives as fans rushed the doors of the venue before the event.
Sunday’s Who performance will be the first concert ever at Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium, and the British rock legends have chosen a very special opening act for the show: a local band named Safe Passage, with a personal connection to the tragic 1979 event. Two of Safe Passage’s members, Walt Medlock and Mike Simkin, were friends with three of the victims of the tragedy — Stephan Preston, Jackie Eckerle and Karen Morrison — and attended the same high school, Finneytown.
Safe Passage performs at an annual benefit for the P.E.M. Memorial — named after Preston, Eckerle and Morrison — which helps fund three scholarships each year for graduating seniors at Finneytown High School.
In an interview with local ABC-TV affiliate WCPO, Medlock notes, “We will be the first band to perform ever at TQL Stadium,” while Simkin adds, laughing, “And we happen to be opening with a little band called The Who.”
Regarding his band being asked to perform with one of the world’s most famous groups, Simkin says, “It was an almost like Godzilla walking down your street, something that’s so unreal, it’s just hard to believe.”
Adds Melock, “This is an amazing chance to live that for 25-30 minutes, I’ve got to thank The Who management.”
Safe Passage, whose set list usually includes some Who songs, will be playing a mix of originals and covers on Sunday.
Meanwhile, The Who will donate some proceeds from the Cincinnati the concert to the P.E.M. Memorial.
(WASHINGTON) — Thousands of nurses from around the country marched to the White House and past the U.S. Capitol Thursday demanding reforms to the health care industry they claim has been putting their lives in danger and prioritizing profits over the care of patients.
They called for three major changes: fair wages, safe-staffing ratios, and protection against workplace violence — issues nurses say have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the nation marked 1 million deaths from Covid, the nurses gathering in front of the White House warned of what they said was the dangerous nurse-to-patient staffing ratio putting both patients and nurses in danger.
While the ratio of nurses to patients depends on the type of care, a nurse most commonly cares for three patients at one time. Some nurses at Thursday’s protest reported caring for eight to 10 patients simultaneously. Cindy Reuss said she left her job after 17 year due to unsafe staffing ratios.
Her job job was her heart, she said, in an interview with ABC affiliate WJLA.
“None of us want to leave bedside nursing,” Reuss said. “But we cannot do it. With eight to ten patients, it’s not safe. We just want the opportunity to be good nurses.”
Other nurses at the protest highlighted what they said was the lack of protection nurses have against workplace violence.
Thomas Fernandes, who’s been a critical care travel nurse for five years, claimed a patient shattered a meth pipe on his head with no repercussions.
“Put your hands on a cop, you go to jail. Put your hands on a nurse and you can come back next week,” Fernandes said, pointing to what he said was a lack of penalties for patients who harm those dedicated to caring for them.
Adriane Carrier said she has been injured three times and spent two and half years out of work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and residential care facilities have the second-highest workplace injury incident rates in the country.
“We need to have a safe workplaces and consequences for injuring and harming health care workers and nurses,” she said.
During their march past the U.S. Capitol, the nurses also demanded fair, reasonable and competitive wages, noting what they said is the increase in hospital profits while they’ve seen little to no increase in pay.
“This is a time where the health care industry and hospitals have made record profits while [nurses] are leaving the bedside,” Carrier said. “50,000 more nurses will be leaving the bedside. There will be no more nurses to take care of Americans and our country and that is going to be the biggest tragedy of all.”
(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — Officials have identified a U.S. Army soldier who died after sustaining injuries in a bear attack Tuesday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
Staff Sgt. Seth Michael Plant, 30, an infantryman from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was part of a small group training in an area west of the Anchorage Regional Landfill when the attack took place, the base said Thursday.
Plant was “transported to the JBER hospital after the mauling where he was declared dead,” the base said in a statement Thursday.
A second soldier who suffered minor injuries in the attack was treated and released, according to the base.
Plant’s name was initially withheld following the incident pending next-of-kin notification. A native of Saint Augustine, Florida, he joined the active-duty Army in January 2015 after a stint in the reserve component. He had previously served at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before coming to JBER in July 2021.
“Staff Sgt. Plant was an integral part of our organization. He was a positive and dedicated leader who brought joy and energy to the paratroopers who served with him,” said Lt. Col. David J. Nelson, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment commander, said in a statement. “He always had a smile on his face, he always went above and beyond what was asked of him, and he served as an inspiration to all who had the privilege to know him. His loss is deeply felt within our organization and we offer our sincere condolences to friends and family.”
Plant had received numerous awards and decorations during his service, including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the attack, along with the 673d Security Forces Squadron, 673d Civil Engineering Squadron Conservation Law Enforcement Officers, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The 673d Security Forces Squadron responded to the incident, and the area was closed off to the public for recreation.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers were looking for the bear in the wake of the attack. It was unclear what type of bear was involved.
“More information about the attack will be announced as it becomes available,” the base said.
The U.S. Army Alaska Command is headquartered at JBER.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck and Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
