State Department spokesperson comments on staffer who resigned over U.S. response to Gaza war

Strange fish behavior in Florida sparks emergency government response

Ripley’s Aquariums plan to take up to six smalltooth sawfish into their facilities. A spokesperson said that a majority of the company’s animal care team will help with the effort, including by transporting sawfish to its Marine Science Research Centers and caring for them.

The Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium said in a release that it, too, is eager to help, with quarantine facilities ready for rescued sawfish.

“Attempts to solve this mystery call for robust collaboration,” said Kathryn Flowers, a Mote postdoctoral research fellow and the lead scientist for the initiative.

The issue is affecting many kinds of fish off Florida’s coast, according to Dean Grubbs, the associate director of research at Florida State University’s coastal and marine laboratory.

“It’s been species all the way from the very small bait type fish, like pin fish, all the way up to things like groupers and even some stingrays,” he said.

There are some theories about what’s happening, Brame said, but it’s difficult to arrive at a quick answer in these types of events.

“To some degree, I’ve heard it described as trying to find a needle in a haystack,” he said. “But there’s so many different possibilities that it’s really difficult to isolate which one it could be.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said on Wednesday that it had found evidence to rule out some potential causes. The fish did not appear to be suffering from a communicable disease or bacterial infection, it said, and other factors like oxygen, salinity and temperature were not suspected to be factors, either.

The commission’s hotline for sawfish sightings, which has been around for years, has seen an uptick in calls over the last month.

Sea Mckeon, director of marine programs at the American Bird Conservancy, said his organization is monitoring the fish situation closely as well, but it has not yet seen a link to any bird mortality. To help scientists figure out the underlying causes, he said, members of the public can record instances of strange fish behavior that they see out on the water, and upload videos or photos to community science sites like iNaturalist.org.

Grubbs said the issue seems to have gotten worse since February.

“It’s extremely distressing to see these sawfish dying, as we’ve spent the last 15 years studying them,” he said. “And it’s hard. It’s hard on my students to see it, my graduate students — it’s definitely distressing. We want to get to the bottom of it and figure out a way to come back from this.”

Marissa Parra

Marissa Parra is a national correspondent for NBC News based in Miami, Florida.

Maria Piñero

Jason Abbruzzese contributed.

Source link

Biden says he’ll visit Baltimore next week as response to bridge collapse continues

Biden on Baltimore bridge collapse

Biden says feds should pay for Baltimore bridge collapse rebuild

14:27

Washington — President Biden said Friday he plans to visit Baltimore next week following the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Mr. Biden confirmed the trip to reporters after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after attending a star-studded fundraiser in New York City with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

The Biden administration said Thursday it approved $60 million in immediate federal aid to help clean up the wreckage that was caused by a cargo container ship colliding with the bridge early Tuesday, killing six people.

“The federal emergency funds we’re releasing today will help Maryland begin urgent work, to be followed by further resources as recovery and rebuilding efforts progress,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Thursday.

Mr. Biden said earlier this week that he expects the federal government to pay for the full cost of reconstructing the bridge as officials stressed the economic impact of the Port of Baltimore’s closure. A massive effort is underway to reopen the port, a key shipping route that supports thousands of jobs.

“To the people of Baltimore, I want to say, we’re with you,” the president said Tuesday. “We’re going to stay with you as long as it takes.”

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Source link

State Department spokesperson comments on staffer who resigned over U.S. response to Gaza war

State Department spokesperson comments on staffer who resigned over U.S. response to Gaza war – CBS News

Watch CBS News

State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel joined CBS News to discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing to reschedule his delegation’s visit to Washington, D.C., to discuss Rafah, a State Department employee who resigned from her post over the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza and the latest on the crisis in Haiti.

Source link

Israel agrees to prisoner-hostage exchange and is awaiting Hamas’ response, CNN affiliate and analyst say

Israel agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange that would release around 700 Palestinian prisoners, among them 100 serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages, CNN affiliate Kan News reported Sunday, citing a senior Israeli official.

Earlier in the weekend, CNN analyst Barak Ravid, citing an unnamed Israeli official, tweeted that Israel agreed to a US “bridging proposal” on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for every hostage held by Hamas.

Israel agreed to the proposal put forth by CIA Director Bill Burns, according to Ravid. Burns was in Doha, Qatar, where Hamas and Israel are engaged in talks through mediators.

The delegations are now waiting for a Hamas response, Ravid said.

A diplomatic source briefed on the matter confirmed to CNN the accuracy of Ravid’s information but said outstanding issues remain, including the entry of aid and “Israeli military repositioning” in Gaza.

CNN has reached out to Israeli officials and Hamas on the status of the talks.

The latest proposal by Hamas this month demanded that some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be released. Israel at the time described the demands as “ridiculous” and “absurd.”

Kan News reported that, according to the official, Israel is ready to make “significant compromises in order to return the abductees home.”

An agreement, if it happens, is expected to have multiple phases. In the first stage, Hamas has proposed releasing the hostages who are women – including Israeli soldiers – elderly, sick and wounded. That number is believed to be roughly 40 out of the around 100 hostages who remain alive.

Mossad Director David Barnea, along with a top-level Israeli security delegation, visited Doha twice this week for talks.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Abel Alvarado contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

Source link

Princess Kate and Prince William “are extremely moved” by public response to her cancer diagnosis, palace says

Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince William, “are extremely moved” by the global response to her cancer diagnosis, Kensington Palace said in a statement on behalf of the couple, and reiterated their plea for privacy right now.

The princess, also known as Kate Middleton, announced last week that she had been diagnosed after the abdominal surgery in January that prompted her highly-scrutinized disappearance from public life.

“The Prince and Princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the U.K., across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness’ message,” said a spokesperson for the palace on Saturday night. “They are extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”

The palace will not be releasing additional updates about Princess Kate this weekend, the statement added.

“We are of course happy to take technical questions but noting the need to give the family space and privacy at this time,” the spokesperson said.

World reacts to Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis

03:06

Public figures across the globe have spoken out to voice support for the princess in the wake of the announcement. So have various members of the royal family, including King Charles III, who said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace that he was “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did,” and has remained in the “closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law” in recent weeks, the Associated Press reported. The king and Queen Camilla “will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time,” the palace said in that statement, according to the AP.

Prince Harry and Meghan also shared a statement responding to Kate’s diagnosis.

“We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace,” the statement said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement Kate had the “love and support of the whole country,” and Kate’s video post on Instagram has nearly 5 million likes.

Social media and tabloid headlines had been awash in rumors and conspiracy theories about Kate’s whereabouts since the palace announced in January that she would be absent from royal duties, including public appearances, for several months while she recovered from a planned abdominal surgery.

The news that King Charles was undergoing cancer treatment exacerbated an already swirling online frenzy about the princess’ health when it came to light in early February, but the rumors reached a fever pitch last week, when an image of Kate with her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, was found to have been digitally altered before being released on Mother’s Day in the U.K. Kate later apologized and said she had edited the photo after the palace had refused to release an original.

Seemingly answering to the controversies and increasingly imaginative speculation over her well-being, it was Kate herself who announced her cancer diagnosis in a video message recorded last Wednesday at her family’s home in Windsor and released two days later. Like the king, the princess did not specify which form of cancer she has, but she said when the video was recorded that she had recently begun a preventative course of chemotherapy.

Kate said she had undergone major abdominal surgery earlier this year for a condition initially thought to be non-cancerous. She said the surgery was a success, but said that subsequent testing revealed “cancer had been present.”

“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she said in the video message. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”

Emily Mae Czachor

Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She covers breaking news, often focusing on crime and extreme weather. Emily Mae has previously written for outlets including the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

Source link

Hawaii wildfires burn homes, forcing evacuations as strong winds hamper response

HONOLULU — Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures, forced evacuations and caused power outages in several communities late Tuesday as firefighters struggled to reach some areas that were cut off by downed trees and power lines.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles, was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph that knocked out power as night fell, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters.

Acting Governor Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation on behalf of Gov. Josh Green, who is traveling, and activated the Hawaii National Guard.

Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. It wasn’t immediately known how many buildings had burned, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview late Tuesday.

Because of the wind gusts, helicopters weren’t able to dump water on the fires from the sky — or gauge more precise fire sizes — and firefighters were encountering roads blocked by downed trees and power lines as they worked the inland fires, Martin said.

About 13,000 customers in Maui were without power, Hawaiian Electric reported Tuesday night.

“It’s definitely one of the more challenging days for our island given that it’s multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas,” Martin said.

Winds were recorded at 80 mph in inland Maui and one fire that was believed to be contained earlier Tuesday flared up hours later with the big winds, she added.

“The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea said.

Hurricane Dora was complicating matters for firefighters in an already dry season.

Hawaii is sandwiched between high pressure to the north and a low pressure system associated with Dora, said Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu. The dryness and the gusts “make a dangerous fire situation so that fires that do exist can spread out of control very rapidly,” he said.

“It’s kind of because of Hurricane Dora, but it’s not a direct result,” he said, calling the fires a “peripheral result” of the hurricane’s winds.

In the Kula area of Maui, at least two homes were destroyed in a fire that engulfed about 1,100 acres, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said. About 80 people were evacuated from 40 homes, he said.

“We’re trying to protect homes in the community,” Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said of evacuating about 400 homes in four communities in the northern part of the island. As of Tuesday, the roof of one house caught on fire, he said.

Fires in Hawaii are unlike many of those burning in the U.S. West. They tend to break out in large grasslands on the dry sides of the islands and are generally much smaller than mainland fires.

Fires were rare in Hawaii and on other tropical islands before humans arrived, and native ecosystems evolved without them. This means great environmental damage can occur when fires erupt. For example, fires remove vegetation. When a fire is followed by heavy rainfall, the rain can carry loose soil into the ocean, where it can smother coral reefs.

A major fire on the Big Island in 2021 burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

The island of Oahu, where Honolulu is located, also was dealing with power outages, downed power lines and traffic problems, said Adam Weintraub, communication director for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

The weather service had in effect a high wind warning and red flag warnings for dangerous fire weather, Powell said.

These conditions were expected through Tuesday, decreasing throughout the day Wednesday and into Thursday.

Source link

North Korea says it’s investigating Travis King in 1st response to United Nations messages

The response comes after two weeks of silence.

North Korea for the first time responded to messages regarding U.S. Army Private 2nd Class Travis King, who ran across the demilitarized zone two weeks ago, according to defense officials.

“I can confirm that the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has responded to United Nations Command, but I don’t have any substantial progress to read out,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing Tuesday when asked by ABC News for an update on attempts to communicate with North Korea.

The message, which came on Monday Eastern time, was superficial — the North Koreans merely acknowledging that King had crossed into the country, and saying that the incident is under investigation.

PHOTO: Pvt. Travis King is seen in an undated photo. — Pvt. Travis King is seen in an undated photo.

Claudine Gates

King, 23, has been a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army since 2021 and had no previous deployments before serving in South Korea, according to Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee. King spent 47 days in a South Korean jail after an altercation with locals, and was released in June according to U.S. officials.

After about a week on a U.S. base completing out-processing tasks, King was escorted to South Korea’s Incheon International Airport where he was to board a flight and end up in Fort Bliss, Texas, where he most likely faced separation from the Army, officials told ABC News. The escort walked with King as far into the airport as possible without having tickets, parting with him at the customs or security checkpoint.

PHOTO: A group of tourists stand near a border station at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, July 18, 2023. — A group of tourists stand near a border station at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, July 18, 2023. Not long after this photo was taken, Travis King, a U.S. soldier, bolted across the border and became the first known American detained in the North in nearly five years.

Sarah Jane Leslie/AP

Instead of boarding his flight, King at some point left the airport, joining a tour of the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, the heavily-fortified area separating North Korea from South Korea. King broke from the group, then “willfully and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said two days after the July 18 incident.

On the North Korean side, King was driven away in a van, and is believed to have been taken to the capital city, Pyongyang.

“I’m absolutely foremost concerned about the welfare of our troop. We will remain focused on this, and this will develop in the next several days,” Austin added.

U.S. officials say they remain concerned for King and have no knowledge of his wellbeing.

Source link

Former Russian president warns of nuclear response if Ukraine counteroffensive is successful

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would “have to” use nuclear weapons if Ukrainian forces threaten Russian territory in their ongoing counteroffensive, in a message on his social media accounts Monday.

Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons during the war.

“Imagine if the offensive, which is backed by NATO, was a success and they tore off a part of our land, then we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon according to the rules of a decree from the president of Russia,” he said Monday.

“There would simply be no other option. So our enemies should pray for our [warriors’ success]. They are making sure that a global nuclear fire is not ignited,” he added.

Medvedev was apparently referring to Russia’s nuclear weapon use policy, signed by Putin in 2020, that says Moscow may deploy nuclear weapons Russia’s nuclear weapons “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”

Russia has illegally annexed entire regions of eastern Ukraine amid the war, claiming they are now part of Russia’s homeland. Ukraine has also recently ramped up attacks on Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would increase attacks within Russia.

Medvedev was vague about what land would risk a nuclear response if lost. He has frequently telegraphed his threats of nuclear warfare, often bolstering actions or declarations from Putin, including when the current Russian president last fall said nuclear weapons were “not a bluff.”

Putin has doubled down on his nuclear blackmail in recent months, transferring tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. The weapons have a smaller yield upon detonation than larger weapons of mass destruction, but they still have devastating capabilities.

Putin has in part justified the transfer of the tactical weapons because the U.S. holds low-yield nuclear bombs in European allied nations.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is making progress in major advances around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk and in the southeastern Zaporizhizhia region.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said Monday that Kyiv has liberated about 15 square miles around Bakhmut and more than 77 square miles in the south.

Ukrainian troops are moving toward the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk in Zaporizhizhia, where they hope to cut off a land bridge from Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014 but considers its territory.

Source link