3 American women found dead at Belize beach resort: Police
STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images
(BELIZE) — Police in Belize are investigating after three young American women were found dead in their hotel room at a luxury beachfront resort last weekend.
The women — identified as 23-year-old Koutar Naqqad, 24-year-old Imane Mallah and 26-year-old Wafae El-Arar — were found dead at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro on Saturday morning.
The investigation into the cause of their deaths is underway, but Belize’s police commissioner said on Tuesday that carbon monoxide poisoning and possible overdoses are being considered.
Officials noted that alcohol and gummies were found in the hotel room. “We’ve had issues with gummies in the past being resold and sending people to the hospital,” the commissioner said in a statement.
An autopsy is being conducted Tuesday, according to police.
The commissioner said authorities reviewed surveillance footage from the resort that showed the women entering the hotel Thursday evening and they were not seen leaving the room again.
Additionally, nobody was seen entering the women’s room in the footage, according to the police.
The hotel told authorities that nobody answered the door when housekeeping arrived on Friday, so they left.
Police said the women could have been dead in the hotel for approximately 20 hours before they were found.
The women, originally from Morrocco, lived in Revere, Massachusetts.
“The City of Revere extends our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the three local women who tragically and unexpectedly passed away in Belize,” the city wrote on Facebook on Monday.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for further “tough measures” against Russia to push President Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire agreement, suggesting after another round of drone strikes that Moscow “couldn’t care less about diplomacy.”
Long-range cross-border strikes have continued throughout U.S.-mediated efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, intended as a springboard for a broader peace deal to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
Both Kyiv and Moscow last week agreed to freeze attacks in the Black Sea and on energy infrastructure, though both have since accused the other of violating the pause on attacking energy targets.
In a Sunday evening video address, Zelenskyy reported “more strikes and shelling” in seven Ukrainian regions. “The geography and brutality of Russian strikes, not just occasionally, but literally every day and night, show that Putin couldn’t care less about diplomacy,” he said.
“For several weeks now, there has been a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” Zelenskyy continued. “And almost every day, in response to this proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling and ballistic strikes.”
“Russia deserves increased pressure — all the tough measures that can break its capacity to wage war and sustain the system that wants nothing but war,” Zelenskyy said. “Sanctions against Russia are essential. More air defense for Ukraine is essential. More cooperation and unity among all partners is essential.”
President Donald Trump on Sunday hinted at his apparent frustration with the lack of progress toward a peace deal in Ukraine, telling NBC News he was “very angry” at Putin after the Russian leader again criticized Zelenskyy and called for his removal in favor of a transitional government.
Trump added that he would consider applying new sanctions on Russia’s lucrative oil exports and on any nations purchasing its oil. China and India are among the most significant customers for Russian oil products.
The president later told reporters on Air Force One that his administration was making significant progress toward ending the war. Asked about his relationship with Putin, Trump responded, “I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word.”
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Trump said. “We’ve always gotten along well despite the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
The president said he was “disappointed” by Putin’s latest attacks on Zelenskyy. “He considers him not credible, he’s supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or you don’t like him, so I wasn’t happy with that.”
Asked if there was a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire, Trump suggested there was a “psychological deadline.” He added, “If I think they’re tapping us along, I will not be happy about it.”
Russia and Ukraine continued cross-border strikes through Sunday night into Monday morning.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched two missiles and 131 drones into the country overnight, of which it said 57 drones were shot down and 45 lost in flight without causing damage. The Sumy, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions were affected by the attack, the air force said in a post to Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 66 Ukrainian drones overnight — 41 over Bryansk region, 24 over Kaluga region and one over Kursk region.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — International aid organizations are warning that humanitarian efforts in Gaza would be severely impacted if the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is shut down by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk said he was “in the process” of “shutting down” the agency — which oversees foreign aid, disaster relief and international development programs — and that President Donald Trump agreed with him.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that he had been appointed acting director of USAID, saying the agency is “not functioning” and that it needs to be aligned with U.S. national interests.
Alex Smith, a former contractor for USAID who advised on nutrition, child health and maternal health, told ABC News that the dismantling of the agency could have a major impact on aid in Gaza.
“It’s going to be devastating,” said Smith, who left the agency last year. “You know, countries are already trying to figure out how they’re going to fill the gaps, but they just don’t have the money, and finding new donors could take years.”
Smith noted that the Trump administration said previous federal funding freezes wouldn’t affect emergency food programs, but that the USAID also provides humanitarian assistance on other fronts.
“There’s a lot more than food aid that USAID does. That’s a kind of common misconception — that all we do is just drop off big bucks and food,” he said. “It’s about fighting infectious disease, malaria, TB, HIV all over the world. You know, with the conditions in Gaza as they are, we’ve seen some polio. It’s very likely that cholera is already there and it’s going to get worse. So we used to have a lot of programs to try to combat those specific infectious diseases.”
Jesse Marks, senior advocate for the Middle East at the humanitarian organization Refugees International, told ABC News he’s worried the stoppage of aid from USAID could put the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in jeopardy.
“An aid freeze in general, but particularly for Gaza, threatens to undermine what has already been a fragile ceasefire, and the potential for phase two and phase three release of hostages,” Marks said.
“I think one of the facets of this that people are not necessarily connecting is that the humanitarian access to Gaza — which is underpinned by USAID, State Department funds — was a central feature of the bargain that underpins ceasefire,” he continued. “So, if you remove aid to Gaza, whether directly or as a second-order effect of the aid freeze, this raises the risk of a broader ceasefire collapse.”
USAID has been contributing aid to Gaza and the West Bank since at least 2021, with increased aid after the Israel-Hamas war broke out.
In November 2024, USAID announced it was providing $230 million in additional funding “to support economic recovery and development programs in the West Bank and Gaza.” It has given more than $2.1 billion in humanitarian assistance since Oct. 7, 2023.
The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs said funding from USAID would allow the agency’s partners to provide food assistance, emergency health care and psychosocial services, and could help with providing access to clean drinking water, hygiene products and sanitation services.
In a statement to ABC News last week, the nonprofit International Medical Corps (IMC) said it had received $68 million from USAID to set up and run two large field hospitals in Gaza so it could treat more than 33,000 civilians per month.
The spokesperson also rejected claims from a U.S. State Department official that IMC had used funding from USAID to procure or distribute condoms.
USAID was partly responsible for renewed international pressure on Israel to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
In April 2024, USAID Administrator Samantha Power testified before Congress, stating that parts of Gaza were experiencing a famine and that conditions were “as dire as any I have seen in my career.”
Her assessment came after a March 2024 report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification that famine was “imminent” in northern Gaza and the entire population was experiencing high levels of food insecurity.
Later that day, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that Israel was constructing a new land crossing from Israel into northern Gaza to facilitate more aid deliveries based on previous promises made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Aid organizations including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors without Borders, and Oxfam, a group made up of 21 independent NGOs, have called on the U.S. government to halt the shutdown of USAID.
“Dismantling USAID would be a callous, destructive political power play that would have deadly consequences for millions of people living in dire humanitarian emergencies and extreme poverty,” Abby Maxman, Oxfam America president and CEO, said in a statement.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Shannon Kingston, MaryAlice Parks and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Twenty-one passengers were killed after a train in Pakistan was attacked and hundreds were taken hostage by the militant Balochistan Liberation Army on Tuesday, according to the Pakistani military.
Four military members conducting a rescue operation and 33 terrorists, members of the BLA, have been killed, according to the military.
The military operation has ended, according to a Pakistani military official.
On Tuesday, a U.S. official told ABC News at least 450 people were taken hostage on the train and said six Pakistani military personnel were killed.
The separatist militant group claimed it had taken 182 military and security personnel hostage on the train, according to a post on Telegram, but said they had released the majority of the civilians on board. The group claimed a higher number of casualties in the attack, saying they killed 20 Pakistani military personnel and shot down a drone.
The BLA had threatened to kill all the hostages if Pakistan’s military tries to rescue them, the official said.
The BLA blew up part of the track, forcing the train to stop, before they boarded and took control, according to the official.
The attack happened in mountainous area right before a tunnel, making a rescue very difficult, they said.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers.”
The train was trapped in a tunnel after the tracks were blown up and militants opened fire on it, reportedly injuring the driver, local authorities and police have told media.
The BLA believes the Balochistan region of Pakistan, in the country’s far west bordering Iran and Afghanistan, should be allowed to break off from Pakistan. They are well-known for committing terror attacks in Pakistan. The BLA also attacked Jaffar Express trains in August 2013 and October 2016.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
