World Headlines
Young Afghan woman, separated from family in US, pleads for help getting out
Obtained by ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- "I'm in danger," the daughter cried to her father from thousands of miles away in Afghanistan. "We cannot go outside with friends. Before, we were going outside to restaurants, shopping, but now we are like prisoners in our own home," she said, her voice full of fear, saying Taliban fighters might find her. "Mina" (ABC News has changed her name for her protection and that of others), a university-educated and unmarried Afghan woman, separated from her family in the U.S., was pleading for help on a call with advocates trying to get her out. With her father having aided the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, and her immediate family living in New Jersey, Mina is in ... Read More
Massive asteroids will whiz past Earth in coming weeks, including 1 nearly size of Empire State Building
xtockImages/iStock(NEW YORK) -- Several massive asteroids are expected to whiz close to Earth in the coming weeks, including one nearly the size of the Empire State Building. Two are expected to soar near the planet on Saturday, followed by more in the coming days, according to data from NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies. On Friday, Asteroid 2021 SM3, which has a diameter of up to 525 feet -- bigger than the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt -- was projected to zoom by around 3.5 million miles away from Earth, USA Today first reported based off CNEOS data. Near-Earth objects are defined by NASA as "comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational ... Read More
UK MP David Amess dies after being stabbed multiple times
Zoe Norfolk/Getty Images(ESSEX, England) -- By Marlene Lenthang David Amess, a conservative British member of Parliament, died Friday after being stabbed multiple times, officials said. Amess, 69, represented Southend West in Essex. He was attacked while holding his monthly “meet and greet” with voters at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, British outlet Sky News reported. The motive behind the attack is unknown. Essex Police were called to reports of a stabbing shortly after 12:05 p.m. local time and found a man injured. "He was treated by emergency services but, sadly, died at the scene," police said in a press release. Police said a 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the stabbing and a knife was recovered ... Read More
US plans to reinstate ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy next month
SAN DIEGO -- The Biden administration said it plans to reinstate a Trump-era border policy next month to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court, complying with a judge's order. It hinges on approval of the Mexican government, which has raised concerns that U.S. officials are working to address, the Justice Department said in a court filing late Thursday. Mexico wants cases to generally conclude within six months and ensure that asylum-seekers have timely and accurate information about hearing dates and times and better access to legal counsel. Mexico also wants exemptions for “particularly vulnerable populations” and better coordination on locations and times of day that asylum-seekers are returned to Mexico. About 70,000 asylum-seekers have been ... Read More
Trapped in the woods: Belarus accused of using migrants as weapons
yorkfoto/iStock(LIPSK, Poland) -- It was pitch black as the activists entered the forest. Even with headlamps and torches, their beams shone only small windows into the darkness, illuminating the trunks of birch trees. The activists, from the migrants rights group, Grupa Granica, were looking for a small group of men who a short while ago had crossed the border from Belarus into a corner of northeastern Poland. The men being sought were among hundreds of people trapped in forests where the European Union shares borders with Belarus; men caught in a worsening -- and highly unusual-- migration crisis on the bloc's eastern frontier. For months, the border between Belarus, Poland and Lithuania has seen a surge of migrants, that European ... Read More
Several casualties reported amidst gun battles in Beirut following blast protest
KeithBinns/iStock(BEIRUT) -- Casualties have been reported after hours of gun battles in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, following calls led by Hezbollah and their allies to remove the judge leading the investigation into last year's massive port blast. At least six people have been killed and 30 wounded in ongoing clashes in the district of Tanouyeh after protesters gathered outside Beirut's Justice Palace, according to the Lebanese Red Cross, who have dispatched six teams to assist the wounded and transport them to local hospitals. Videos circulating on social media have shown armed men clashing in the streets with assault rifles, crowds fleeing and children taking shelter in the city's schools. According to the Shiite group Hezbollah, peaceful protesters were targeted ... Read More
Biden embraces Trump accords, but struggles with his withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal amid growing threat
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz(WASHINGTON) -- There have been major differences between the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden on foreign policy -- not least over the Iran nuclear deal, with Biden officials blaming Trump's withdrawal for bringing Iran closer to a nuclear weapon today than before. But even as Biden's top diplomat warned more starkly than ever about the threat from Iran and the need to salvage the nuclear deal Wednesday, there was some consistency: Secretary of State Antony Blinken embraced the set of key Trump-era deals known as the Abraham Accords. Those historic agreements saw Israel establish relations with some of its Arab neighbors -- starting with the United Arab Emirates and extending, in varying ... Read More
US pushes diplomacy, prepares sanctions as Ethiopia launches new offensive in brutal war, risking famine
beyhanyazar/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Nearly a month after President Joe Biden created a new U.S. sanctions authority and threatened to impose economic penalties on Ethiopian leaders unless they halted a conflict in the country's northern province, that war is now escalating. The worsening fighting puts millions of lives at risk amid reports of famine-like conditions already faced by up to 900,000 people and severe food insecurity impacting 6 to 7 million, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. announced Tuesday it is providing $26 million more humanitarian aid, but that will do little to stop the suffering as of now. Aid convoys into the Tigray region have been blocked and attacked throughout the conflict, with a particularly brutal blockade by the Ethiopian government ... Read More
Five dead, two injured in random bow and arrow attack in Norway
Fotonen/iStock(KONGSBERG, Norway) -- Five people were killed and two others injured in an apparently random attack in Kongsberg, Norway, late Wednesday as a man roamed the city shooting people with a bow and arrow. Authorities said the man was taken into custody in the city center and is currently being held in the nearby city of Drammen. Police are not searching for any other suspects. "Based on the information we have at the present time; the apprehended man has acted alone. We will also have to look at whether this is an act of terror or not," Øyvind Aas, the city's assistant chief of police, said in a statement. "The suspect has not yet been questioned by the police, and ... Read More
US investigating reported cases of ‘Havana syndrome’ in Colombia ahead of Blinken visit
Oleksii Liskonih/iStock(BOGOTA, Colombia) -- A "few" U.S. personnel at the embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, have reported symptoms consistent with "Havana syndrome," a source familiar with the cases confirmed to ABC News. Colombia is now the latest country where American officials have reported incidents of the mysterious neurological affliction that has confounded the U.S. government for years now, but the reports are particularly notable because Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Bogotá this month, the Colombian Foreign Ministry announced last week. In a similar episode in August, Vice President Kamala Harris's trip to Vietnam was delayed for a few hours after an unconfirmed case of "Havana syndrome" was reported by a staffer at the U.S. mission there. American diplomats, ... Read More
Nobel Prize Foundation under fire for rejecting ethnic, gender quotas
iStock(LONDON) -- The Nobel Prize Foundation is facing pushback after saying it would not implement gender or ethnicity quotas in selecting nominees. Only 59 women, or 6.2% of total winners, have ever received a Nobel Prize since its inception in 1901. Göran Hansson, the secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and vice chairman of the board of directors for the Nobel Foundation, told the AFP in an interview published on Tuesday: “We have decided we will not have quotas for gender or ethnicity. We want every laureate [to] be accepted ... because they made the most important discovery, and not because of gender or ethnicity. And that is in line with the spirit of Alfred Nobel’s last will.” ... Read More
Shipwreck off Colombian coast kills three migrants, six are still missing
Max2611/iStock(CABO TIBURON, Colombia) -- Three people are dead and six are still missing after a ship sank in Cabo Tiburon, Colombia. Units of the Colombian Navy in coordination with Panamanian authorities are carrying out the search and rescue operation of the passengers who were transported in a ship that was wrecked in the general area of Cabo Tiburon, in the municipality of Acandí, the Navy said. The vessel was sailing with approximately 30 migrants, including Haitian, Cuban and Venezuelan citizens, they said. The Colombian Navy said 21 people have been rescued, and the bodies of three dead women have been found. Two were Haitian and one was Cuban. The Navy, with the support of the Panamanian authorities and fishermen in ... Read More
Afghan interpreter who helped rescue Biden in 2008 evacuated from Afghanistan
(WASHINGTON) — An Afghan interpreter who helped rescue then Sen. Joe Biden during a congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan in 2008 has been evacuated from the country, the State Department and the nonprofit that coordinated his travel confirmed to ABC News on Monday. The interpreter and his family were among more than 200 "at-risk" people in Pakistan who have now been moved "to safety," the Human First Coalition said in a statement. The organization, comprised of volunteers efforting evacuations, thanked Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Department for their help facilitating their travel. It said Blinken held late-night phone calls and helped coordinate a "path" out of Pakistan for the group. It also thanked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran ... Read MoreHuman-inducted climate change may affect 85% of the global population, researchers say
E4C/iStock (NEW YORK) — Scientists are beginning to paint a clearer picture on just how many people will be affected by climate change if current warming trends continue. About 85% of the world's population already lives in areas experiencing the affects of human-induced climate change, according to a study published in Nature on Tuesday. Researchers in Berlin compiled data from more than 100,000 impact studies analyzing detectable environmental signals of human-inducted climate change, finding that the evidence for how climate change is impacting communities is continuing to grow. "In almost every study where we have enough data, we can see, [the world] is getting hotter, and it's getting hotter in a way that is consistent," Max Callaghan, a researcher at ... Read More
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