3 missing US soldiers found dead in Lithuania, search continues for 4th soldier
US Army
(PABRADĖ, Lithuania) — Three of the four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a training mission near Pabradė, Lithuania, last week were found dead on Monday, but the search is ongoing for the fourth soldier, the Army said.
Their identities were not released.
The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were in when they went missing was removed from a swamp early Monday morning after six days of work to retrieve it, the Army said.
The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday during a training exercise, the Army said.
On Wednesday, their 63-ton-vehicle was found submerged in about 15 feet of water and “clay-like mud” in a training area, the Army said.
“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” and the vehicle “may have just gone diagonally to the bottom,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone last week.
The multiday search effort was complicated by the swamp’s muddy conditions, officials said.
The Army said last week it brought in assets including “a large capacity slurry pump, cranes, more than 30 tons of gravel, and subject matter experts.”
“The Polish Armed Forces have also volunteered a unit of military engineers, which is bringing in an additional water pump, tracked recovery vehicles, other additional equipment and supplies needed along with 150 personnel,” the Army said.
On Saturday, a U.S. Navy dive team arrived at the site, joining Lithuanian divers, the Army said.
(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday pushed for Karol Nawrocki to be president of Poland while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Warsaw, decrying his opponent as a “train wreck.”
It is an extraordinary move for a sitting member of the U.S. Cabinet to advocate for a political candidate in a foreign country.
Noem spoke for more than 20 minutes at CPAC, an American group that seeks to spread conservative ideas and held its first conference in Poland on Tuesday.
She claimed there is no time for “nice words,” saying, “We do not have time to dance around the dangers that threaten our societies.”
“It matters who’s in charge,” Noem told the crowd. “I have watched over the years as socialists and people that are just like this mayor out of Warsaw that is an absolute train wreck of a leader have destroyed our countries because they have led by fear.
“They have used fear to control people, and they’ve used fear to promote an agenda that is not what liberty is about, that is not what freedom is about,” she said.
The Polish runoff election for president is on Sunday, June 1, with Nawrocki as the conservative choice and Rafal Trzaskowski for the Civic Platform party.
Nawrocki visited President Donald Trump earlier this year.
“He needs to be the next president of Poland,” Noem said of Nawrocki. “Do you understand me?”
Noem then took aim at “weak” European leaders who have allowed in migrants and “destroyed their civilizations.”
“You have enforced your borders. You have protected who comes into your country, enforced your visa programs. You’ve done good work to make sure that this country has a different story,” she told the crowd.
“But you have much more to do, and you are threatened with a leader who is on the ballot who would take all of that protection away from you, who would open you up to much of the experiences that America had to live through under our last president, Joe Biden,” she added, offering pointed criticisms at Biden and her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas.
She argued America “lived through four years of hell” and that the public made a choice in electing Trump in November.
“Thousands and thousands of dangerous criminals came into our country, hundreds of known terrorists infiltrated our country and our communities,” she said. “And our families were murdered and raped and victimized, arrested, released again by his administration to continue the fear agenda that he was trying to promote and to allow political power to be in his hands but not in the people any longer.”
Noem praised Trump as making the United States “safer” for the public.
“Donald Trump is a strong leader for us, but you have an opportunity to have just as strong of a leader in Karol if you make him the leader of this country,” she said.
“You can be that shining city on a hill that the rest of Europe and the world will watch and know how strong you are, how free you are because you’ve elected the right leader that will protect it and defend it and ensure that every individual is treated the same and has equal rights as afforded to them,” she added.
Noem also said that if the Polish elect the right person, the country will continue to have the backing of the U.S.
“If you have elected a leader that will work with President Donald J. Trump, the Polish people will have an ally strong that will ensure that you will be able to fight off enemies that do not share your values,” she said. “You will have strong borders and protect your communities and keep them safe and ensure that your citizens are respected every single day. You will continue to have a U.S. presence here, a military presence, for Trump, that we can work together for the security of both of our nations.”
CPAC will go to Hungary later this week, but it is unclear if Noem or any other U.S. officials will speak at the conference.
(VATICAN CITY) — The cardinal of Baghdad, Louis Raphael Sako, reportedly told journalists at the Vatican on Tuesday that he expects a “short conclave” that could select Pope Francis’ successor in as little as two days.
“It will be a short conclave, two, three days,” Sako said, as quoted by Italy’s ANSA news agency, speaking to reporters before today’s general congregation.
“There is a very fraternal atmosphere and a spirit of responsibility,” the cardinal said.
When asked if he had an idea of who he would vote for to become the new pope, Sako replied: “I have a very clear idea but I cannot say it.”
The conclave to elect the Catholic Church’s 267th leader will begin Wednesday, May 7, the Vatican announced on Monday. Cardinals will convene at the Vatican to begin the process.
Francis, who died last Monday at the age of 88, was buried on Saturday in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
International students pursuing degrees at Michigan public universities sought relief from detention and deportation during a federal court hearing on Tuesday, after their student immigration status was terminated this month, jeopardizing their legal status in the U.S.
The students — two citizens of China, one of Nepal and another from India — filed a lawsuit on Friday against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and immigration officials, claiming that their student immigration status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) was illegally terminated “without sufficient notice and explanation.”
SEVIS is a database that tracks information about nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors in the U.S.
“According to the government, they no longer have legal status in the U.S., and they have to leave the country immediately,” Ramis Wadood, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan who is representing the students, told ABC News.
He noted that the students didn’t get any kind of grace period.
“You no longer have status, and have to leave the country right away,” Wadood said.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court by the ACLU of Michigan on behalf of the students — Xiangyun Bu, Qiuyi Yang, Yogesh Joshi and Chinmay Deore. According to the complaint, in addition to their student immigration status being terminated, Yang and Joshi were told that their F-1 student visas, which allowed them to enter the country, were also revoked.
“None of them has been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime in the United States,” the complaint said. “None has violated any immigration law. Nor have they been active in on-campus protests regarding any political issue.”
The students’ attorneys argued during a Tuesday morning hearing in a Detroit federal court for a temporary restraining order that would restore their legal status and protect them from arrest or deportation as the case moves forward.
According to Wadood, the judge indicated that he “recognized the urgency of the situation and said he would rule soon.”
Wadood told ABC News on Monday that his clients are at risk of being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are “scared” and have stopped showing up to classes in person.
“Our clients have been allowed to continue their studies to the extent that their professors and their programs will accommodate,” Wadood said, adding that they are trying to resume their studies remotely since “they’re at risk of arrest and detention at any point.”
The lawsuit names DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and ICE Detroit Field Office Director Robert Lynch. ABC News reached out to the officials but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
“DHS did not provide the students or their schools any meaningful explanation for terminating their F-1 student status,” the complaint said. “At most, what seems to connect students targeted by this newfound and unlawful policy is that the students had some encounter with some American law enforcement official at some point in the past, no matter how innocuous — including receiving a speeding or parking ticket (or even a warning) or lawfully withdrawing an application to enter the United States.”
Court records show four separate letters that each of the students received from their prospective universities informing them that their student immigration status has been terminated. The reason cited by DHS in all cases is “individual identified in criminal records check,” and for Yang and Joshi it also says “and/or revoked visa.”
The Trump administration filed a response on Monday evening to the plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order, urging the judge to “deny this request because it is procedurally and substantively improper.”
“An emergency motion for a temporary restraining order may only be used to maintain the status quo; it cannot be used to obtain the ultimate relief plaintiffs seek in this case, which is the alteration of their SEVIS record,” it said.
The government also alleged in Monday’s filing that the students have criminal records, but did not provide additional details.
“DHS searched criminal records for each of the plaintiffs and criminal history matches were returned for each of the plaintiffs,” its response said.
Wadood denied that any of his clients have ever been charged with or convicted of a crime. He said that in explaining their reference to “criminal records,” the government cited three of his clients who were detained for alleged domestic disputes.
They were subsequently released and not charged with any crimes, while one plaintiff “doesn’t have as much as a simple speeding ticket or parking ticket” on their record, according to Wadood
“Our plaintiffs’ criminal history is clean. They have no convictions, no charges,” he said.
The federal lawsuit comes as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown strikes higher education, prompting a slew of lawsuits against White House officials. Similar lawsuits have been filed across the country in states like New Hampshire, Indiana and California.
According to Inside Higher Ed — a publication that tracks news in higher education — as of Tuesday over 180 colleges and universities have identified nearly 1,200 international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department.
“If the courts don’t put an end to this arbitrary government action, then generations of future international students are going to see what’s happening today and decide, ‘You know what, it’s probably not safe for me to go to the U.S to study'” Wadood said. “And our academic institutions, our academic communities, are going to be so much worse off because of it.”
The Trump administration appears to be targeting some international students with student visas and green card holders for their participation in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses or for alleged criminal records.
“A visa is a gift. It’s a voluntary thing. We decide to give you a visa,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a March 28 press conference. “We deny visas all over the world every day for a variety of reasons, and that means we can also revoke those visas. No one is entitled to a visa.”
