Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, dies at age 117
(NEW YORK) — A woman classified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person in the world died on Aug. 19 at the age of 117, her family confirmed to The New York Times.
According to Guinness World Records, Maria Branyas Morera died in Spain at the Residència Santa María del Tura nursing home in Olot, Catalonia, where she has lived since 2000.
Guinness World Records passed on the title of “oldest woman living” to Branyas Morera when Lucile Randon, a nun also known as Sister André, died in 2023 at the age of 118.
Branyas Morera, according to Guinness World Records, was born March 4, 1907, in San Francisco but moved to Catalonia with her family and later called Barcelona home. She was married in 1931 to Joan Moret, a doctor, who preceded her in death in 1976. They had three children, two daughters and a son.
“Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain. A few days ago she told us: ‘One day I will leave here. I will not try coffee again, nor eat yogurt, nor caress the Fairy… I will also leave my memories, my reflections,'” her family wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Catalonia’s regional president, Salvador Illa, re-shared the post and expressed his condolences, adding in part, “We lose an endearing woman, who has taught us the value of life and the wisdom of the years.”
(LONDON) — Russian missiles struck Lviv in western Ukraine early on Wednesday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens of others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a local official said.
A 14-year-old girl was among the dead, Zelenskyy said in a statement posted to the messaging app Telegram.
“More than 30 people were injured,” he added. “Ordinary residential buildings in the city, schools and medical institutions were damaged.”
Serhiy Kiral, the deputy mayor of Lviv, told ABC News that at least seven people — including three children — are confirmed killed.
“Firefighters are still working to put out the fire, to rescue people who may still be under the debris,” Kiral said early on Wednesday.
“It’s not clear what genius planned the target — these are purely residential neighborhoods in downtown Lviv, around the central train station,” Kiral added.
The strike was the western Ukrainian city’s worst since an attack last year that killed 10 people, Kiral said, adding, “Impunity leads to more crime; rule of thumb.”
Lviv was one of several cities that were targeted on Wednesday by Russian missiles, Zelenskyy said. Five people were also injured in Kryvyi Rih, he added. Ukraine’s air force wrote on Telegram that it downed seven cruise missiles and 22 attack drones overnight. Russia fired a total of two ballistic missiles, 11 cruise missiles, and 29 drones, the update said.
The most recent wave of attacks followed missile-and-drone barrages on Monday night and Tuesday morning that killed dozens of people in three cities. The deadliest incident was a double ballistic missile strike on the Poltava Military Communications Institute and a nearby hospital which killed more than 50 and wounded hundreds, Ukrainian officials said.
First lady Olena Zelenska said Tuesday’s attack was a “shocking tragedy for the whole of Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he “ordered a full and prompt investigation into all the circumstances of what happened.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the Poltava and Lviv strikes targeted military and defense industry targets.
The military college in Poltava, it said, was used to train communications and electronic warfare specialists, as well as drone operators who conducted strikes with uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, within Russia. Training there was conducted under the “guidance of foreign instructors,” the ministry alleged.
The Lviv attack was conducted using “long-range precision weapons,” including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and attack drones, the ministry’s report said. The strike targeted “enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry complex” involved in the production and repair of “electronic components of aircraft and missile weapons.”
“The strike targets have been achieved,” the ministry said. “All designated objects have been hit.”
The Poltava attack came against a backdrop of intensifying Russian long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities, military targets and critical infrastructure nationwide.
Zelenskyy and his top officials have been pressing their Western partners, including the U.S., to loosen restrictions on Kyiv’s use of Western weapons, and to allow Ukrainian forces to strike airfields and launch sites within Russia.
“Russia does not have a free hand,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in a Tuesday press briefing when questioned on the issue. “We continue to supply Ukraine with air-defense systems,” he continued.
“We continue to supply Ukraine with other equipment that it can use to push back on Russian military assaults, and that’ll continue to be our policy,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the U.S. military announced it is moving more forces to the Middle East.
Here’s how the news is developing:
US is ‘strengthening’ military force in Middle East over ‘escalating’ tensions
The U.S. is “strengthening” its capabilities in the Middle East by sending an additional guided missile submarine to the region “in light of escalating regional tensions,” according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued on Sunday.
The update comes the same day Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel,” according to the statement.
Secretary Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East, which was previously expected to get there by the end of the month.
The Lincoln was already en route to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but will now add to the capabilities of the Roosevelt
Additionally, Austin has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Middle East.
The statement doesn’t say how soon the Lincoln or the USS Georgia will arrive in the region.
Israeli forces intercept ‘projectiles’ crossing from Lebanon, no injuries: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted approximately 30 “projectiles” that were identified as crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
No injuries were reported from the attacks, the IDF said.
“The IDF is striking the sources of fire,” the IDF added.
(LONDON) — A man wrapped in a red-and-white English flag raised his hand in a Nazi salute in the town center of Leicester, England, as a line of police officers looked on and a crowd of counterprotesters shouted out their collective disapproval.
“Off our streets, Nazi scum,” the counterprotesters chanted, according to a video of the incident posted on social media and verified by ABC News. The man saluting during the Aug. 3 rally appeared to hold his hand high throughout the duration of the 23-second clip.
Similarly racist, combative and at-times-violent scenes have played out on streets throughout the United Kingdom for more than a week. London’s Metropolitan Police has described the ongoing far-right rallies as a “national critical incident.”
“We will not tolerate this on our streets,” the Met said in a statement. “We will use every power, tactic and tool available to prevent further scenes of disorder.”
Dozens of additional rallies led by far-right groups were expected to be held Wednesday evening in London and elsewhere, the police said. Counterprotests were expected at many of them. Patrols were being increased in London in advance of the rallies, police said in a statement late Tuesday.
“We arrested more than 100 people in central London disorder last week and we will not hesitate to arrest hundreds more if they take to the streets intent on fueling violence,” the Met said.
The unrest follows the deaths of three girls, who were stabbed in a “ferocious” attack during a July 19 dance event in Southport, a seaside town, according to police.
A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder, police said. The suspect was from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, and was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The Crown Court released the suspect’s name after a judge ruled it could be released despite his age. Although the suspect was born in the United Kingdom, online rumors spread calling into question his immigration status, police said.
“This recent activity is a clear lesson in how important it is to counter any misinformation posted online or on social media,” Shane O’Neill, Leicester Police’s chief superintendent, said in a statement.
Some of those who’ve attended the rallies have voiced concerns over immigration policies in the wake of a the stabbing deaths. Keir Starmer, the newly elected prime minister, described their actions as “far-right thuggery.”
“We will ensure those responsible will feel the full force of the law,” Downing Street said in a statement. “We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities. The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.”
Starmer said Downing Street had called for “swift action” against violent protesters, and the Crown Prosecution Service already charged and brought several rioters into court.
One 37-year-old pleaded guilty Tuesday to violent disorder after he “hurled missiles at police officers … following widespread unrest in Hull,” prosecutors said in a press release. Another 18-year-old from Bolton was sentenced Tuesday to two months in jail after pleading guilty to damaging two police cruisers during the unrest, prosecutors said.
Several arrests were also made in Leicester, where two protests were held in the city center on Aug. 3, including one 35-year-old woman who was later charged with racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment and assault for allegedly beating an emergency worker, the Leicester Police said in a statement.
Along with the hundreds who’ve been arrested at rallies, others were arrested for “online offenses,” Starmer’s office said Tuesday.
“If you provoke violent disorder on our streets or online, you will face the full force of the law,” Starmer said.
ABC News’ Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.