(LONDON) -- A section of a strategically vital Ukrainian dam and hydroelectric powerplant under Russian control has been destroyed. Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the breach.
The Nova Kakhovka dam, which was built in 1956 and traverses the enormous Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, suffered an breach overnight at approximately 2 a.m. local time as a deluge of water could be seen bursting through the dam that had previously held back more than 18 cubic kilometers of water -- comparable to the size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
The dam's breach could have a massive impact on the wider war effort between Russia and Ukraine.
A defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an emergency meeting of his National Security Council on Tuesday and blamed "Russian terrorists" for the dam collapse.
"The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land," Zelenskyy said in a message on social media. "Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It's only Ukraine's victory that will return security. And this victory will come. The terrorists will not be able to stop Ukraine with water, missiles or anything else."
Meanwhile, an estimated 16,000 residents who live downriver were told to leave immediately after the breach as the governor of Kherson ordered an immediate evacuation of citizens. Officials told residents they had five hours to get out, instructing them only to take essential documents and directing them to buses that would take them to higher ground.
"The United Nations has no access to independent information on the circumstances that led to the destruction in the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam," the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Tuesday. "But one thing is clear: this is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."
The UN said it is rushing support to Ukraine, which includes drinking water, water purification tablets and other "critical" assistance.
The breach at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, which seems to be beyond repair, could also affect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant which is located approximately 100 miles upstream.
The reservoir provides cooling water to the plant and the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it is "closely monitoring" the situation surrounding the dam but that there was "no immediate nuclear safety risk" to Zaporizhzhia.
In an interview with the New York Times, Ivan Plachkov -- a former minister of energy of Ukraine -- said that all six nuclear reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Plant are shut down but still require water to dissipate heat from the radioactive fuel remaining in the reactor cores.
(NEW YORK) -- Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, has lost his extradition appeal and will be sent to the United States on Thursday, according to the Peruvian Supreme Court.
Van der Sloot had filed "a habeas corpus application against the citizen extradition process," according to a court document, and on Monday he refused to sign the laissez-passer that would allow him to be extradited, his lawyer told ABC News.
The Dutch citizen has been serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot left the Challapalca prison in Peru on Saturday to be transferred to another prison in Lima to await his extradition to the U.S.
In the U.S., van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges stemming from an accusation that he tried to profit from his connection to the Holloway case.
Holloway, 18, went missing in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba. She was last seen driving off with a group of young men, including van der Sloot, then 17.
Van der Sloot, who was detained as a suspect in the teen's disappearance and then later released, was indicted by an Alabama federal grand jury in 2010 for allegedly trying to extort Holloway's family.
Federal prosecutors alleged that in March 2010 van der Sloot contacted Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, through her lawyer and claimed he would reveal the location of the teen's body in exchange for $250,000, with $25,000 paid upfront. During a recorded sting operation, Beth Holloway's attorney, John Q. Kelly, met with van der Sloot at an Aruba hotel, giving him $10,000 in cash as Beth Holloway wired $15,000 to van der Sloot's bank account, according to prosecutors.
Then, van der Sloot allegedly changed his story about the night he had been with Natalee Holloway, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot claimed he had picked her up but that she had demanded to be put down, so he threw her to the ground. He said her head hit a rock and she was killed instantly by the impact, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said van der Sloot then took Kelly to a house and claimed that his father, who had since died, buried Natalee Holloway's body in the building's foundation.
Kelly later emailed van der Sloot, saying the information he had provided was "worthless," according to prosecutors. Within days, van der Sloot left Aruba for Peru.
ABC News' Jack Date and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
(LONDON) -- Prince Harry took to the witness stand in a U.K. courtroom on Tuesday, becoming the first British royal to do so in more than a century.
The Duke of Sussex was grilled by the defense team in his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mirror.
Harry and 100 other celebrities, including the estate of the late George Michael, are suing Mirror Group Newspapers for alleged misuse of private information between 1991 and 2011, including phone hacking and intercepting voicemails.
In a prepared witness statement released Tuesday, Harry said the articles published about himself and his family played a destructive role in his childhood and provoked feelings of paranoia in him.
"As a teenager and in my early 20s, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that [the tabloid press] wanted to pin on me mainly because I thought that, if they are printing this rubbish about me and people were believing it, I may as well 'do the crime,' so to speak," Harry said in the statement. "It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a 'damaged' young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers."
He continued, "Looking back on it now, such behavior on their part is utterly vile.”
Harry, the youngest child of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana, also addressed the tabloid rumors that he was born from an affair between Diana and James Hewitt.
Harry said in his witness statement that he wondered if the rumors were planted by the tabloids so that he would be "ousted from the Royal Family."
"Numerous newspapers had reported a rumour that my biological father was James Hewitt, a man my mother had a relationship with after I was born. At the time of this article and others similar to it, I wasn’t actually aware that my mother hadn’t met Major Hewitt until after I was born," Harry said in his statement. "This timeline is something I only learnt of ... around 2014, although I now understand this was common knowledge amongst the Defendant’s journalists."
He continued, "At the time, when I was 18 years old and had lost my mother just six years earlier, stories such as this felt very damaging and very real to me. They were hurtful, mean and cruel. I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories. Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so I might be ousted from the Royal Family?"
Harry's legal team has accused Mirror Group Newspapers of unlawfully gathering information on an "industrial scale."
Mirror Group Newspapers is contesting the claims, saying in the 33 articles being examined by the court that its reporters found the information through lawful reporting.
Harry's testimony in the case is expected to continue on Wednesday.
The prince traveled to the U.K. just prior to his testimony Tuesday because of a late flight to the U.K. after celebrating the birthday of his daughter, Lilibet, who turned 2 on Sunday, according to his attorney.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, live in California with Lilibet and their 4-year-old son, Archie.
Since stepping down from his role as a senior working royal in 2020, Harry has made no secret of his disdain for the British tabloid media. In his witness statement, Harry said it he has "a very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the U.K."
"Harry is somebody that is very clear in what he wants to achieve. He believes he has been treated badly by this newspaper group," said ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson. "He believes he's had his phone hacked by this newspaper group and therefore is determined, as he is right, to be compensated for it, and to receive an apology."
The lawsuit against the Mirror Group Newspapers is one of six lawsuits that Harry is currently waging against the British tabloids.
He made an unexpected appearance in a U.K. courtroom in March for a hearing on a lawsuit that he, Elton John and other celebrities have brought against Associated Newspapers Ltd., the publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline.
The case, first announced last year, alleges the celebrity defendants are "the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy," according to a press release shared last year by Hamlins, the London-based law firm representing Harry in the case.
Harry told ABC News' Michael Strahan in January that the lawsuits he is involved in are his attempt to bring about real change when it comes to the media coverage of celebrities and the royal family.
"I'm in this to be able to say, 'Draw a line. Enough. We can all move on and get on with our lives,'" he said. "But if this continues, then I'm naturally, deeply concerned that what has happened to us will happen to someone else."
(LONDON) -- Prince Harry took to the witness stand Tuesday in a U.K. courtroom, becoming the first British royal to do so in more than a century.
Harry, the duke of Sussex, was grilled by the defense team in his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mirror.
Harry and 100 other celebrities, including the estate of the late George Michael, are suing Mirror Group Newspapers for alleged misuse of private information between 1991 and 2011, including phone hacking and intercepting voicemails.
On the witness stand, Harry said the articles published about himself and his family played a destructive role in his childhood and provoked feelings of paranoia in him.
"As a teenager and in my early 20s, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that [the tabloid press] wanted to pin on me mainly because I thought that, if they are printing this rubbish about me and people were believing it, I may as well 'do the crime,' so to speak," Harry said in his prepared witness statement. "It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a 'damaged' young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers."
He continued, "Looking back on it now, such behavior on their part is utterly vile.”
Harry's legal team has accused Mirror Group Newspapers of unlawfully gathering information on an "industrial scale."
Mirror Group Newspapers is contesting the claims, saying in the 33 articles being examined by the court that its reporters found the information through lawful reporting.
Harry's testimony in the case is expected to continue on Wednesday.
The prince traveled to the U.K. just prior to his testimony Tuesday because of a late flight to the U.K. after celebrating the birthday of his daughter, Lilibet, who turned 2 on Sunday, according to his attorney.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the uchess of Sussex, live in California with Lilibet and their 4-year-old son, Archie.
Since stepping down from his role as a senior working royal in 2020, Harry has made no secret of his disdain for the British tabloid media. In his witness statement, Harry said it he has "a very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the U.K."
"Harry is somebody that is very clear in what he wants to achieve. He believes he has been treated badly by this newspaper group," said ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson. "He believes he's had his phone hacked by this newspaper group and therefore is determined, as he is right, to be compensated for it, and to receive an apology."
The lawsuit against the Mirror Group Newspapers is one of six lawsuits that Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, is currently waging against the British tabloids.
He made an unexpected appearance in a U.K. courtroom in March for a hearing on a lawsuit that he, Elton John and other celebrities have brought against Associated Newspapers Ltd., the publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline.
The case, first announced last year, alleges the celebrity defendants are "the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy," according to a press release shared last year by Hamlins, the London-based law firm representing Harry in the case.
Harry told ABC News' Michael Strahan in January that the lawsuits he is involved in are his attempt to bring about real change when it comes to the media coverage of celebrities and the royal family.
"I'm in this to be able to say, 'Draw a line. Enough. We can all move on and get on with our lives,'" he said. "But if this continues, then I'm naturally, deeply concerned that what has happened to us will happen to someone else."
(LONDON) -- A section of a strategically vital Ukrainian dam and hydroelectric powerplant under Russian control has been blown up as both Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the breach.
The Nova Kakhovka dam, which was built in 1956 and traverses the enormous Dnipro river in southern Ukraine, suffered an explosion overnight at approximately 2 a.m. local time as a deluge of water could be seen bursting through the dam that had previously held back more than 18 cubic kilometers of water -- comparable to the size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
The dam’s breach could have a massive impact on the wider war effort between Russia and Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an emergency meeting of his National Security Council on Tuesday and blamed “Russian terrorists" for the explosion of the dam.
“The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land,” Zelenskyy said in a message on social media. “Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It’s only Ukraine's victory that will return security. And this victory will come. The terrorists will not be able to stop Ukraine with water, missiles or anything else.”
Meanwhile, an estimated 16,000 residents who live downriver were told to leave immediately in the aftermath of the explosion as the governor of Kherson ordered an immediate evacuation of citizens. Officials told residents they had five hours to get out, instructing them only to take essential documents and directing them to buses that would take them to higher ground.
The explosion at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, which seems to be beyond repair, could also affect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant which is located approximately 100 miles upstream.
The reservoir provides cooling water to the plant and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it is “closely monitoring” the situation surrounding the dam but that there was “no immediate nuclear safety risk” to Zaporizhzhia.
In an interview with the New York Times, Ivan Plachkov -- a former minister of energy of Ukraine -- said that all six nuclear reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Plant are shut down but still require water to dissipate heat from the radioactive fuel remaining in the reactor cores.
(LONDON) -- A wealthy man in Finland has been handed a whopping €121,000 fine ($129,544) for speeding.
Andres Wiklöf -- one of Finland’s richest men -- was driving on Finland’s Åland Islands on the Järsövägen headed towards the Åland Island capital, Mariehamn, when police caught him driving approximately 50 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Speaking to local media, Wiklöf said that he was aware he was over the speed limit which changed “suddenly” and was attempting to slow down, but did not manage to slow down fast enough.
“I really regret the matter,” he told Åland Island’s main newspaper, Nya Aaland. Wiklöf was also issued with a 10-day driving license suspension.
Under Finland’s “Day-Fine” system, an individual's income is a key determinant in the size of the fine they are subsequently issued with by law enforcement. Finland was the first Nordic nation to introduce the income-based “Day Fine” system in 1921, and several European nations have followed suit since.
Further, under the Finnish “Day-Fine” system, the more a driver is over a speed limit, the higher the number “day fines” received.
It is not the first speeding fine Wiklöf has been issued. He is reported to have previously been issued with a €63,000 fine in 2018 and, in 2013, he received a €95,000 fine -- together amounting to a grand total of €279,000 over the last decade.
Other massive fines from Finland are former Nokia Boss, Anssi Vanjokki, who was issued a €116,000 for speeding on his motorbike, and Remia Kuisla, a Finnish businessman who was fined €54,000 for driving 64 mph in a 50 mph zone.
Wiklöf says he hopes the fine will be used positively.
“I have heard that they are going to save one and a half billion on healthcare in Finland, so I hope that the money can fill a gap there,” said Wiklöf.
Wiklöf, an Åland native, is ranked among Finland’s richest men. He is the chairman of Wiklöf Holding, his business empire that includes businesses in logistics, real estate and trade. It is estimated to be worth over $10 million.
According to the European Road Safety Observatory, drivers in Finland are “more supportive” for stringent legislation on speeding and drunk driving compared to their European counterparts.
The world-record speeding-ticket is currently held in Switzerland which has a similar “day-fine” system. Here, a total fine of $1,091,340 (3,600 Swiss franks per day for 300 days) was issued to a Swedish motorist caught driving 170 kilometers per hour (105 mph) over the speed limit.
(WASHINGTON) -- Although U.S. officials have accused China's military of carrying out dangerous provocations in recent days, diplomats from both countries are ramping up engagement at the same time -- a two-prong approach that seems to be increasingly driven by Beijing.
On Monday, White House spokesperson John Kirby condemned a close call in the Taiwan Strait over the weekend when a Chinese warship crossed just about 150 yards across an American destroyer's bow, a move the Pentagon described an "unsafe maritime interaction."
"We urge them to make better decisions about how they operate in international airspace, and sea-space," Kirby said, adding that this incident as well as a Chinese fighter jet recently coming within 400 feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace speaks to an "increasing level of aggressiveness" demonstrated by Beijing's military.
But despite that public chastisement by the Biden administration, high-level U.S. officials from the State Department and the National Security Council held private talks in Beijing -- the latest sign that tensions between the powers are easing, at least on the diplomatic front.
The State Department's deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel described the meetings as "candid and productive discussions as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication," and an effort to build on other recent high-level engagements.
"President Biden has been clear we don't seek any kind of new Cold War and our competition must not spill over into conflict," Patel said.
While the Biden administration has been consistent in seeking to maintain open lines of communication across areas of government, Beijing's split-strategy has become more evident in recent weeks as it apparently seeks to thaw relations with Washington while continuing to show its military might in the Indo-Pacific.
China's reticence to participate in military-to-military communication with the U.S. across senior and working levels is a longstanding tradition, and one on display last week when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's request for a face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore was rejected.
A reason for that hesitancy, sources and experts say, is that the Chinese government sees military communication between the countries as dominated by the Taiwan issue -- a matter where Beijing sees virtual zero room for compromise, and thus, little need for conversation.
But in other arenas, Beijing sees plenty of potential benefits in engaging with Washington -- particularly when it comes to the U.S.-China trade relationship.
Although China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has periodically sent mixed messages about its posture towards the U.S., its actions in recent weeks have displayed a renewed enthusiasm for diplomacy. In May, Beijing appointed an ambassador to the U.S. after the post was left vacant for months and sent a delegation to Detroit to participate in trade talks.
Officials from both countries also see the recent visit by U.S. officials to Beijing as an important precursor for rescheduling Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip the city, which was scrapped in February after a Chinese surveillance balloon was identified over the U.S. mainland.
Sources say that getting that trip back on track is something that both countries want to see happen, and that it may be added to the calendar before the end of the summer.
While there are examples of progress in the bilateral relationship, American officials have warned that a gap in military-to-military communication may still result in a dangerous blind spot, which could lead to additional close-calls between countries and dangerous escalation.
"It won't be long before somebody gets hurt," Kirby said of the intercepts. "They can lead to misunderstandings. They can lead to miscalculations."
A billboard promoting contract army service is pictured in the Russian city of Belgorod, some 40 km from border with Ukraine, on May 27, 2023. -- Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images
(SLOVYANSK, Ukraine) -- Well-trained, well-equipped Ukrainian combat forces are now in "assembly areas," close enough to front line areas, meaning they could launch a concerted attack on Russian positions in a relatively short time period, according to Western officials.
In the meantime, Ukraine has already increased its offensive operations, both within its own borders and in Russia and beyond, in order to attempt to create more favorable conditions ahead of a much-anticipated counteroffensive.
Current operations were part of a "bigger plan," which would eventually lead to a major offensive, a senior Ukrainian commander said in a recent interview with ABC News.
Unconfirmed reports indicated on Monday that Ukrainian offensive actions in certain areas of the front lines were increasing.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have repelled a number of Ukrainian attacks, however the leader of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Ukrainian forces had advanced around the settlement of Berkhivka, to the north of the Ukrainian eastern city of Bakhmut.
"The troops are fleeing," said Prigozhin in an audio message posted online.
It's unclear whether fresh offensive actions by the Ukrainian military will evolve into larger assaults on wider areas of the Russian front lines or whether they are more localized -- or even diversionary operations -- aimed at testing and wearing down the Russian defenses in preparation for a more substantial offensive later on.
In an online briefing this week, Western officials cautioned that, even though Ukraine now has the military weaponry and equipment it needs to punch through the Russian lines, a large-scale assault could still be "weeks" away.
The officials said Ukraine was currently engaged in "shaping operations," which refers to a series of actions on and off the battlefield aimed at destabilizing the Kremlin and the Russian military in order to create the optimal conditions for the counteroffensive.
Despite officially denying involvement in a drone attack last week on Moscow, in private Ukrainian officials have indicated that Ukrainian intelligence was behind that strike and a number of other recent attacks inside Russia.
Officials in the Russian region of Belgorod have also reported a spike in Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks in recent days.
The assessment from Western officials given to reporters was that the series of attacks inside Russia are "difficult for the Russian leadership" as the Kremlin has to strike a balance between recognizing the seriousness of what had been happening, but also not reinforcing the notion that the war in Ukraine is now having a tangible impact in Russia.
The officials said they were now "tracking" Russian media sources to see whether criticism of the Russian leadership might become "a less taboo thing."
Over the past two weeks ABC News has interviewed four middle-ranking and senior Ukrainian commanders, as well as low-ranking soldiers about the forthcoming counteroffensive.
Most of the men said preparations for the counteroffensive are moving into the final stages.
Colonel Oleksandr Bakulin, who commands around 6,000 men positioned near the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut said Ukraine was "pushing" in some frontline areas, however he cautioned that in other areas, Russian forces were doing the same.
Bakulin said recent Ukrainian gains in areas near to Bakhmut were part of a "bigger plan" which would "eventually lead to the counteroffensive."
In recent weeks Ukraine has also stepped-up long-range missile strikes on areas of occupied territory deep behind the Russian lines.
The efficacy of such strikes is impossible to judge, given that there is little public comment about the strikes and claims by either side cannot be verified.
However verifiable videos circulating online fit the same broad pattern seen in the run-up to Ukraine's counteroffensive on the city of Kherson back in November which was preceded by Ukrainian strikes on Russian military assets and logistics.
Officials in the United Kingdom said their Storm Shadow missiles are now being used by the Ukrainian military.
Those missiles have a range of around 155 miles, which is roughly triple the range of the missiles which the United States has supplied to Ukraine for use with the HIMARS missile-launchers.
In order not to reveal sensitive information to the Russians the quantities of long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine has not been revealed.
ABC News contributing military analyst, retired Col. Steve Ganyard questioned whether Ukraine's stocks of Storm Shadows will be sufficient to substantially weaken Russian forces.
"Continued attacks on fuel storage areas and ammunition dumps will eventually prove useful in weakening Russia's ability to wage war," Ganyard said.
However he was skeptical about whether this can be achieved to a sufficient level over the next few weeks.
Russian defensive fortifications are also now, in places, "potentially formidable," said Western officials.
Ganyard said he agreed with that assessment. He said there are still question marks about whether the Ukrainians "have the overwhelming force required to advance against a well dug-in opponent."
However, he said, it was also important to bear in mind "how surprisingly poorly the Russian military has performed in this war."
"It will all come down to how good Ukrainian and western supplied intelligence is, and how well Ukraine is able to exploit the Russian weaknesses they find," Ganyard said.
Senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have in recent days given a number of interviews and statements in which they have said that Ukrainian forces are now ready for the pending offensive.
However, as Western officials conceded, a major attack might still be weeks away.
Keeping the Russian military waiting and guessing is an important part of the Ukrainian game plan.
(ODISHA, India) -- At least 200 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a train accident in India, as the death toll continues to rise, officials said.
The crash occurred Friday night in Odisha, a state in eastern India, and involved three trains, according to Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena. Several cars of a passenger train derailed in the incident, he said.
"Death toll in the train accident increasing," Jena said on social media, saying Sunday that the official death toll is 275 people.
Approximately 900 people were injured in the accident, per reporting from the Special Relief Organization, which deals with disaster management in the state.
More than 200 ambulances have responded to the scene of the "violent train accident," Jena tweeted.
Rescue teams have been mobilized from various parts of the country, according to Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "distressed" by the accident.
"In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families," Modi tweeted. "May the injured recover soon."
President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were heartbroken and offered prayers for those who lost loved ones or were injured by the train crash in a statement Saturday.
"The United States and India share deep bonds rooted in the ties of family and culture that unite our two nations—and people all across America mourn alongside the people of India. As the recovery effort continues, we will hold the people of India in our thoughts," the statement read.
Saturday was declared a day of mourning in Odisha due to the rail accident, which occurred near Bahanaga.
Ex-gratia payments will be offered to "victims of this unfortunate train accident in Odisha," Vaishnaw tweeted.
Families who suffered a death will receive 10 lakhs -- equivalent to about 12,000 USD -- while those who suffered "grievous" injuries will receive two lakhs -- about 2,400 USD -- according to Vaishnaw.
People with minor injuries will receive 50,000 rupees -- about 600 USD -- Vaishnaw said.
ABC News' Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(KHARTOUM, Sudan) -- When electricity shortages closed the Ibrahim Malik Teaching Hospital where Dr. Mohamed Karrar worked, he packed a bag with any medical equipment and medicine he could carry.
"I posted on Twitter that I am an emergency doctor in Al Mamoura available at any time for anyone who needs me for free, along with my phone number," Karrar said.
The doctor is one of many Sudanese medical professionals working in neighborhood primary health care centers amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan, where rival forces are battling for control of the country. Cease-fire talks that could end the bloody conflict have stalled. Karrar's parents call him daily from the safety of a village in South Sudan.
"They worry about me. But I studied for years to do this," he told ABC News. "I feel like I can't just leave those sick and wounded people to die."
Data from Sudan's Doctor's Trade Union suggests 70% of health care services are no longer functioning due to lack of supplies, personnel and access. Twenty-one hospitals have been forcibly evacuated by militants. And 17 hospitals have suffered aerial or land bombings, with nine ambulances attacked. A video filmed by an eyewitness on May 15 shows smoke billowing from the East Nile Hospital in Bahri, Khartoum.
"It's no longer safe for patients or healthcare providers to reach hospitals," said Dr. Yasir Elamin, president of the Sudanese American Physicians Association, which supports health care facilities countrywide.
The number of civilian deaths has climbed to 866 with 3,721 injuries, according the union. Some died from shrapnel and bullet wounds, others had medical conditions and died as a result of not being able to access medical help, said Elamin, speaking to ABC News from Houston, Texas.
Weak health infrastructure
"Before the war, the health infrastructures were weak anyway," Elamin said. "Almost 80% of health care services in Sudan are based in Khartoum. And now Khartoum is really one of two hotspots of the war. The second being West Darfur. So paralyzing healthcare in Khartoum effectively means paralyzing healthcare in Sudan."
SAPA has more than 200 volunteers who provide telemedicine consultations 24 hours every day. The challenge is when you speak to people who have acute injuries from the war, because you can't just tell them to go to a hospital, Elamin said.
"The majority of Sudanese people wouldn't have standard access to the Internet. So the poorest people can't benefit from this service," he said.
"We know that there has been a very big disparity within the country, in terms of service provision, rural versus urban, in addition to differential access, depending on people's socioeconomic circumstances," Kate Nolan, Deputy Director of Operation Medecins San Frontieres, said.
Some of the worst of the fighting has been concentrated in impoverished West Darfur. Last week Sudan's Doctor's Union reported more than 280 civilian deaths in two days alone. MSF has been forced to seize almost all activities in the region.
Photos taken at West Darfur's Geneina Teaching Hospital, which is funded by MSF, show the aftermath of looting at the facility. Hospital beds are seen without mattresses. Cabinets have been emptied. Boxes of medicine have been combed through.
"After the looting of one of our medical warehouses in Khartoum, fridges were unplugged and medicines removed," Jean-Nicolas Armstrong Dangelser, MSF's emergency coordinator in Sudan, said in a press release. "The entire cold chain was ruined so the medicines are spoiled and can't be used to treat anyone."
Getting aid from Port Sudan to desperate civilians in West and South Darfur will be a 'major challenge' with no clear solution, both MSF and SAPA said.
Resistance committees
A neighborhood WhatsApp group reviewed by ABC News called the "Central Emergency Room," which counts health sector workers from the Al Mamoura neighborhood as its members, is being used to share logistic and medical advice.
Elamin says the Sudanese uprising led to the growth of so-called "resistance committees" within neighborhoods. They have been playing the critical role of bolstering communication within communities.
Clinics are using social media to facilitate transporting people to hospitals, identifying patients, reuniting them with family and burying them.
"A colleague of mine told me about his uncle who was killed alongside his son in his car. Someone took photos of them with their cell phone. The family were looking for them for almost four or five days," Elamin said.
The photos were shared online and the family were eventually able to bury the bodies, he said.
Threats to medical personnel
Whilst civilian resistance committees are plugging the gaps, every day is a struggle. Elamin said he doesn't know how long his colleagues in Sudan can continue. Intense battles have continued to rage in Khartoum in spite of repeated cease-fire declarations aimed at securing humanitarian access.
Sudan Doctor's Trade Union condemned a "series of assaults on facilities, medical personnel and civilian volunteers'' in their latest situation report.
"I am worried someone will find out I am a doctor", says Dr. Noah Madni, who is unable to travel to his place of work, the Elrazi hospital, located in an embattled area of Khartoum, "I hear that one of my friends was at the Elrazi and the RSF came and forced them to treat them. Now we have no contact."
This is a sentiment echoed by several physicians ABC News spoke with in Sudan. They said they hide their IDs and monitor entrances to hospitals.
In a graphic video seen by ABC News, Karrar, a primary care doctor, filmed the inside of the abandoned Alraqi hospital in Khartoum. The video from April 21 shows military boots and blood stains inside the evacuated facility. Service at the hospital is still suspended.
"When we arrived, it was empty and there was blood on the floor in the emergency room, corpses belonging to soldiers and civilians lying on the ground and on trolleys," Karrar said. He was told by staff that it had been taken over by soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces, one of two rival factions fighting for control of Sudan. Doctors were made to treat injured soldiers by force, Karrar said.
"Every day we live out the worst days of our lives," Madni said. "We see death in front of our eyes. Our families are terrified."
ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy contributed to this report.
(TAIPEI, Taiwan) -- In the second major provocation by China's military in the span of a week, a Chinese warship carried out what the U.S. military called "an unsafe maritime interaction" when it crossed an American warship's bow at a distance of 150 yards forcing the U.S. Navy destroyer to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.
The incident occurred on Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal executed a transit in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, according to officials.
"During the transit, PLA(N) LUYANG III DDG 132 (PRC LY 132) executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of Chung-Hoon," said a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
"The PRC LY 132 overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 kts to avoid a collision," said the statement.
The Chinese warship then executed a second pass in front of the American warship's bow at a distance of 2,000 yards and remained off the destroyer's port bow.
"The LY 132's closest point of approach was 150 yards and its actions violated the maritime 'Rules of the Road' of safe passage in international waters," the Indo-Pacific Command said.
The close call at sea was captured on video by journalists with Canadian news outlet Global News that were traveling aboard the HMCS Montreal, which was sailing a distance behind the Chung-Hoon.
That video showed the Chinese warship appearing to head left to right in front of the warship's path.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific as China engages in provocative behavior in the region in a speech Saturday to a security conference in Singapore.
"We will support our allies and partners as they defend themselves against coercion and bullying," said Austin. "To be clear, we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion."
China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu also referenced "bullying" and "double standards" in Asia by "some country," an apparent reference to the U.S., in remarks Sunday to the Shangri-La Dialogue summit.
"A cold war mentality is now resurgent, greatly increasing security risks," he said. "Mutual respect should prevail over bullying and hegemony."
Chinese aircraft and warships have encountered harassment from Chinese planes and ships as they have transited the South China Sea where China has made territorial maritime claims in recent years.
U.S. officials said they believe that the harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.
A Chinese fighter jet crossed the path of an American reconnaissance plane in late May as it flew in international airspace, above the South China Sea, forcing the American plane to fly through the Chinese aircraft's wake.
A senior U.S. defense official spoke Tuesday about that incident, expressing the belief that the Chinese harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.
"We don't believe it's done by pilots operating independently," the official told a small group of reporters. "We believe it's part of a wider pattern we see in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and elsewhere."
Austin has sought to engage in substantive discussions with China to emphasize the need for regular discussions to avoid potential miscalculations or escalations that could develop from such incidents.
Before arriving in Singapore, China declined his offer to meet with Li, but on Friday Austin was able to shake Li's hand and engage in a brief discussion at a dinner for senior leaders attending the conference.
"A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement," Austin said in his remarks Saturday. "And the more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict."
Another previous such incident occurred on Dec. 21, 2022, when a PLA J-11 fighter pilot came within 10 feet of what INDO-PACOM labeled "an unsafe maneuver."
(LONDON) -- Perturbed by the stench entering his family home in Bahri, Khartoum North, Dr. Noah Madni and his remaining neighbors decided to remove the bodies amassing in the street themselves.
"No one from the military or health ministry was coming to pick the bodies up," Madni told ABC News.
He and his neighbors gathered a party of people from different specialties. They set about assigning roles and organizing transport. Madni then shared pictures on Facebook, calling on friends and families to contact him if they saw a dead body.
For weeks the world has watched an exodus of more than 100,000 people from Sudan, the northeastern African country where a dispute between rival generals has led to a bloody internal conflict. Cease-fire talks have stalled. And citizens and doctors who remain face a worsening humanitarian situation and the monumental task of preventing Sudan's fragile health system from full-scale collapse.
Civilians account for a small number of the dead that Madni encounters, he said. Instead, the majority are members of the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful Sudanese paramilitary group. Many are soldiers aged between 20-30 years old, though Madni said he has heard some are as young as 16.
"We wash them and bury them in the cemetery. We try our best to dig holes. We are just trying our best," he said.
Photos show burial sheets, bodies wrapped and ready for burial, and graves being dug at Hillat Hamad Cemetery in Bahri.
'This is about basic human dignity'
With electricity in short supply and near constant air raids and gunfire prohibiting families and medical teams from collecting their dead, the issue is a prescient one, said Alyona Synenko, regional spokesperson for Africa with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"We've been hearing about lots of bodies piled up in morgues. These were bodies from before these hostilities started, they were abandoned in morgues without electricity."
Sudan Doctor's Trade Union has warned of an "environmental catastrophe" as the bodies of soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire lie in the street for days. They advised citizens in a Facebook post to avoid washing bodies that had reached a great degree of decomposition.
The bodies pose a public health risk, but civilians were also warned to avoid them as a measure of basic human dignity, Synenko said.
"These are not just bodies, these are people. It's important to properly collect them, identify them in a dignified way," Synenko told ABC News.
One video posted on social media shows a body being removed from ِِِAl-Wadi Street, Omdurman, Sudan, on April 17. Other social media posts seen by ABC News show bodies lying unburied in homes in embattled areas of Khartoum for weeks.
"It's a Muslim country and there is a tradition to bury people very quickly," Synenko said "The cultural and religious traditions must be respected."
Several physicians ABC News spoke to reported families were burying loved ones or colleagues wherever they could, often in their own gardens.
The ICRC said it's working closely with the Sudanese Red Crescent society engaged in "Dead Body Management," which includes collecting, identifying and burying those that have been killed. Whilst the ICRC has supplied 100 body bags, they have warned of potential implications when people are not identified.
"It's important to prevent people from going missing," they said. "If we have dead bodies that are not properly identified, that can translate into years or decades of suffering for families who will then try to find their loved ones and won't be able to do so if somebody was killed and buried somewhere without proper identification."
Sudan's Doctor's Trade Union has advised volunteer groups to assign numbers to each unidentified corpse and record the place of death and any identification papers they may be carrying.
"It is possible to go back to exhume the corpses and take a sample of the bone for DNA testing after the end of the war."
ABC News has reviewed photographs on social media showing pictures of unidentified corpses and numbered graves. One caption reads: "I have a name but buried unknown on May 23. 3487 that's my name, remember me to survive".
Civilians missing in Khartoum
Israa Kamal Ali, 22, said she has had no contact with her father since May 2.
Kamal Ali Osman left his home in Al Sahafa to collect heart medication from his father's home in Omak. Osman later sent a text message to his family telling them he had been stopped by the RSF, but minutes later these messages were deleted, Israa told ABC News from Cairo, Egypt.
Israa Kamal Ali
"We think they forced him to delete the messages," Israa explains that the 60-year-old had recently undergone heart surgery that requires daily heart medication.
Israa's family is one of hundreds that have taken to social media to seek information about missing loved ones since the conflict began. According to the local monitor, the Missing Persons Initiative, 190 Sudanese people are now deemed missing.
"It has been a difficult time for my family," Israa said. "We are constantly worried about him and his health."
ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) -- Ethnic cleansing campaigns have continued in Ethiopia's Tigray region, despite a November 2022 peace agreement, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.
"The November truce in northern Ethiopia has not brought about an end to the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans in Western Tigray Zone," Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "If the Ethiopian government is really serious about ensuring justice for abuses, then it should stop opposing independent investigations into the atrocities in Western Tigray and hold abusive officials and commanders to account."
The new report highlights that Tigrayans have suffered forced expulsions and deportations, torture, death and life-threatening treatment that "may amount to the crime against humanity of extermination" on the basis of their identity.
The Ethiopian military entered Tigray, a semi-autonomous region in the northern part of the country, on Nov. 4, 2020, in response to claims the Tigray People's Liberation Front attacked a military base in the region, according to the country's prime minister.
The war in Tigray is estimated to have claimed the lives of up to 600,000 civilians between November 2020 and August 2022, according to researchers from Belgium's Ghent University. Han Nyssen, senior professor of geography at Ghent University, told ABC News in January that the true scale of death in Ethiopia's Tigray region remains hard to ascertain.
"We [still] have almost no view of what happens in Western Tigray," he said.
Human Rights Watch conducted dozens of interviews with witnesses, victims and humanitarian aid staff in gathering information about the bleak conditions for Tigrayans.
"The [militias] came into my home and said I need to leave because it's not our land," a woman from the town of Adebai who was forced to flee toward Sudan told Human Rights Watch on the condition of anonymity. "They would knock at midnight and say Tigrayans can't come back."
More than a thousand Tigrayans have been arbitrarily detained from September 2022 to April 2021, in the Western Tigrayan towns of Humera, Rawyan and Adebai, according to the report. One interviewee who was held at Bet Hintset prison told Human Rights Watch that detainees endured poor treatment, with many dying due to lack of food and medication.
The African Union, which convened the peace talks alongside members of the high-level, AU-led Ethiopian Peace Process panel, reached a "cessation of hostilities agreement" on Nov. 2, 2022. It said at the time it marked an "important step in efforts to silence the guns."
Many of the displaced -- which the U.N. registered as 47,000 in eastern Sudan as of October 2022 -- told Human Rights Watch that they felt unsafe returning home due to intimidation from abusive officials and security forces that remain in the region.
The Human Rights Watch has called on the Ethiopian government to "suspend, investigate and appropriately prosecute" commanders and officials who are implicated in the abuse of human rights in Western Tigray.
"If the Ethiopian government is really serious about ensuring justice for abuses, then it should stop opposing independent investigations into the atrocities in Western Tigray and hold abusive officials and commanders to account," Bader said.
(KYIV, Ukraine) -- A group of friends in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, opened what they call the first military-meme art bar: Offensive.
On the walls of a new bar, there's a piece of a Russian UAVs, a spent shell, the debris of the downed Russian jet and a few uniforms of captured Russian soldiers. There are a bunch of war trophies and war-related jokes.
The opening comes ahead of the Ukrainian army's much anticipated counteroffensive against Russians forces on the front line, some Ukrainians have turned the current success of their Armed Forces into a brand.
"Most of these items were brought to us by our friends in the Army who participated in the Kharkiv counter-offensive," said Borukh Feldman, the owner of the bar, whose name has been changed for security reasons.
He referred to a remarkable blitzkrieg of the Ukrainian forces in the east in early September last year when they managed to liberate a few hundred settlements in a few days.
"And I'm sure there will be even more new pieces from the future operations," Borukh said.
The idea to open a military-style bar came to him back in 2015, he said, when the war in Ukraine was practically frozen -- Russia annexed Crimea and parts of Donbas and there were only random shots fired on the front line.
"Then people almost forgot about the war, so I wanted to establish a place to remind of it," Borukh recalled. He didn't have enough money then to open a bar, but now it's easier since the price of the rent dropped due to the full-scale invasion and power outages caused by Russian attack on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure in autumn and winter.
Now, the bar not just reminds people of the war, but it's a way to go through this traumatic experience, praise the military and help the army, Borukh said.
One of the customers ABC News met at the bar was an American from the International Legion, who asked no to disclose his name. He said he was passing by, noticed the name, decided to pop up and found the place "very comfy."
"I have friends for example in the Azov battalion and they said they feel like home here" Borukh said. "The military entourage is very familiar to them but they can relax here and be sure everyone understands them."
The memes on the walls of Offensive are a fascinating mixture of very particular Ukrainian jokes, dark humor about the deceased Russian soldiers and propaganda posters with F-16 jets and Neptune destroying a Russian warship.
"The sense of humor helps us stay sane and be resilient," Borukh said. "Some memes were created by our soldiers right in the trenches. They presented them to us and said this bar is blessed by the Armed Forces," Borukh laughed. "And that is true. If not [for] our army we wouldn't be even alive probably."
That's why fundraising is a must for the owners. The bar hosts regular concerts of some underground Ukrainian bands to raise money for certain needs Borukh's military friends have on the frontline -- from walkie-talkies to drones.
Not only the decor of the bar is unique, but, of course, the menu, too. It has some craft blackberry beer brewed locally and "fried Putin," which is actually a variation of the Canadian poutine.
One could think it's crazy to start a business during the war. But cafes, bars and restaurants are one of the most successful businesses in Ukraine and in particular in Kyiv, a vibrant megapolis, which both locals and foreigners love for the food, coffee and casual lively atmosphere.
Around a hundred establishments were opened in the city during the last year, many owned by internally displaced people, who lost property in the occupied areas of Ukraine or just preferred to move out of the occupation.
"It usually takes half a year or even a year to become profitable in the gastro sphere. After two months I feel like we're doing very well," Maksym, the administrator of the Offensive. said.
The bar already has its particular audience -- the military, students and young professionals of the creative industries, some actors and painters -- typical habitants of the Podil district of Kyiv, popular with its cultural places.
And war-related naming is not a rarity in Ukraine these days, too. There's another restaurant named after Bayraktar, a type of Turkish drone, and cafe Javelin, named after an American anti-tank weapon. There are cocktails called Himars, another American game-changer that has helped the Ukrainian forces.
Such features set a patriotic mood at the establishment and attract customers, but most businesses that use such branding -- from small to large companies -- have pledged to donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
(NEW YORK) -- Keith Russell began his day with a trip to the airport to pick up some supplies. It ended with a scene that could have been pulled from an adventure movie when he rescued five travelers from an airplane submerged in the crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas.
A single-engine Piper PA-32 aircraft carrying five people crashed roughly 10 miles north of Andros, Bahamas on Thursday afternoon, according to the Bahamas' Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority.
The aircraft, which took off from San Andros Airport bound for West Palm Beach, suffered mechanical issues before the pilots ditched the craft in shallow waters, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
That’s when Russell got involved.
While picking up supplies from the airport, Russell ran into a pilot who remembered that Russell owns a high-speed boat that might be able to reach the stranded travelers.
While officials from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, Royal Bahamas Police Force and United States Coast Guard all participated in the search, Russell joined aboard his 18-foot center-console boat, powered by a 115-HP outboard.
"My goal was just to get out there to assess the situation and hope that I wasn't going out there to meet no bodies," Russell told ABC News.
Soon after launching his boat, Russell said he spotted a Coast Guard plane circling above shallow water.
“I see the Coast Guard circling and sure enough I got down there, and the plane was there in the water,” he said. “The passengers and the pilot were on top of the plane with a life raft and everything was there.”
To Russell’s surprise, he found no mangled bodies or debris. Instead he found two pilots and three passengers resting atop the plane in good spirits. With its tail peaking above the water line, the Piper aircraft rested seemingly unscathed on the seafloor.
"Everybody was just sitting on top of the plane, and they were just happy to see me," Russell said about finding the two pilots and three passengers.
Russell then transported the five travelers to land, where he said they declined medical attention. The Volunteer Pilot Group, which operated the flight, said that the passengers and pilots were unharmed after the “emergency water landing.”
The Volunteer Pilot Group is a Florida-based nonprofit that facilitates “charitable air transportation by connecting volunteer pilots with flight requests from passengers in need,” according to the organization’s website.
"I was just thankful that I was able to go out there and help. You know, at the end of the day, my goal was to try to do my best to save their lives," Russel said.
He added that helped the five travelers got to a local hotel, where they are resting ahead of another, hopefully drier, flight on Friday.
ABC News' Sam Sweeney, Jared Higgs, Rachel DeLima and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
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