Teen sentenced to 52 years in prison for deadly stabbing at Taylor Swift-themed party
(LONDON) — A teenager has been sentenced to 52 years in prison for fatally stabbing three girls at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom last year.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to all charges, including three counts of murder, earlier this week, avoiding a trial.
The horrific stabbing spree unfolded in July in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool. Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school.
Three girls — 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar — were killed. Ten people were also injured in the attack, police said.
Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire, was initially charged with three counts of murder, as well as 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife in the incident. He subsequently faced a terror charge for possessing a jihadi training manual and was charged with producing ricin, a toxin.
He pleaded guilty to all 16 charges on Monday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(TEL AVIV) — Israeli police are responding to a suspected terror attack on buses near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement Thursday evening.
The two buses where bombs exploded were empty and in separate parking lots about 500 meters apart from each other, the mayor of Bat Yam, where the incident occurred, said. Bat Yam is on Israel’s southern coast and is just south of Tel Aviv.
There are no injuries from the explosions, police said.
“Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam. Large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects. Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects,” the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Police urged the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Six Americans who were imprisoned in Kuwait have been released in an agreement with the United States, a representative for their families confirmed to ABC News.
The Americans, many of whom are veterans and former military contractors, were convicted on drug charges, Jonathan Franks, a crisis management consultant, said.
For years, however, the prisoners have “vigorously” maintained their innocence, Franks said.
Several more prisoners are expected to be freed in the coming weeks as part of the agreement, Franks added.
“This morning, the Kuwaiti government released six of my clients as part of an agreement that will ultimately free fifteen of my clients in short order. Each was convicted on drug charges, and each vigorously maintains their innocence,” Franks said.
Convictions for possession of drugs in Kuwait may include long jail sentences or the death penalty, according to an advisory by the U.S. State Department.
According to the U.S. Embassy of Kuwait website, American citizens are subject to Kuwait’s laws and regulations. Those laws can “differ significantly from those in the United States,” and the U.S. government may only be able to offer limited assistance to those charged, the website says.
Kuwait is a small Middle Eastern country borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The prisoners’ release comes amid President Donald Trump’s emphasis on freeing Americans held abroad.
“President Trump has made it a priority to bring home Americans detained overseas. We are pleased that Kuwait released Americans from prison,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
“Kuwait is a vital ally in the region, and we look forward to continuing to work with Kuwait and other partners in these efforts across the world,” the spokesperson added.
In February, three prisoners, including an unnamed American and a journalist dubbed a political prisoner, were released from Belarus.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s team is working on an updated agreement between Ukraine and the United States for Ukraine to agree to give the U.S. revenue from some of Ukraine’s most valuable resources, a Ukrainian official told ABC News.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the negotiations said a new version of the deal between the two countries has been put on the table.
The document currently on the table is a work in progress after the Trump administration initially proposed Ukraine provide the U.S. government with 50% of the revenue from some of its key resources, including minerals, oil, gas and ports a week ago, according to a draft document reviewed by ABC News and a Ukrainian official familiar with the matter.
The proposal hanging between the two countries comes at a critical time in the U.S. and Ukraine’s relationship under the Trump administration and an even more critical time in the almost three-year war since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s team was presented with the initial document with almost no warning when U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Kyiv on Feb. 12, prompting widespread criticism that the Trump administration was seeking to strong-arm the country into an exploitative deal, a Ukrainian official said. The purported original draft document, reviewed by ABC News, contained no mention of future security guarantees for Ukraine, suggesting the country should give up access to its resources as payback for the American aid already rendered.
That document was obtained by ABC News from a Ukrainian source.
After Zelenskyy refused to sign the initial deal, Trump escalated criticisms, calling him a “dictator” and questioning his legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader, echoing talking points of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy has held his ground, both thanking the U.S. for continued support and saying that he believes Trump is living in a “disinformation space.”
“I told them to show the security guarantees, and then we talk about the percentage. They said 50% and I replied NO. I can’t sell the country off. I’m just a manager. Tomorrow, the country will have another manager, so I can’t sell it. Besides, around 20% of resources are in Russia-occupied territory,” Zelenskyy said during a press conference Wednesday.
During the meeting between Trump’s Special Envoy to Ukraine, Russian Gen. Keith Kellogg and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday, the two discussed the proposal again, a Ukrainian official said. After the meeting with Kellogg, Zelenskyy’s team is now working on an updated agreement, a Ukrainian official told ABC News.
A proposed agreemen
A couple of hours before Zelenskyy met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv on Feb. 12, a proposed agreement from the U.S. asking Ukraine to agree to give the U.S. 50% of the revenue from some of its most valuable natural resources was sent over. Zelenskyy and his team had almost no time to review the document, but they were asked to sign it during the meeting that day, a Ukrainian official told ABC News.
The official said Zelenskyy refused.
Zelenskyy was due to meet two days later with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, Germany. But after Zelenskyy sent a revised proposal ahead of the meeting, Vance and Rubio threatened to cancel it, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy’s team asked them to read it first, the official said, and the meeting eventually went ahead. A U.S. official familiar with the discussions denied these details.
An alleged draft document, reviewed by ABC News, of the initial proposal from the U.S. government dated Feb. 7 requests the U.S. government receive “50% of the financial value received” by the government of Ukraine from “resources of Ukraine, including: mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports” and “other infrastructure (as agreed),” the draft document states. A U.S. official familiar with the matter said these details align with the US’s initial proposal to Ukraine.
The alleged draft document, at the top, states the U.S. “has provided significant financial and material support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.”
“We won’t confirm or deny terms of ongoing discussions. These discussions work best between the interested parties, not through the media,” a White House official said when asked about the authenticity of the document.
Trump has since slammed Zelensky for not signing the deal, on Wednesday accusing the Ukrainian President of treating Treasury Secretary Bessent rudely during his visit, claiming without evidence that Zelensky had kept Bessent waiting because he was “sleeping.”
Trump officials on Thursday also defended the deal and said the President was “frustrated” that Zelenskyy was refusing to agree to what they called a “historic opportunity.”
“Look, President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelenskyy. The fact that he hasn’t come to the table, that he hasn’t been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered. I think he eventually will get to that point, and I hope so very quickly.” Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said Thursday at a White House briefing.
“There can be, in my view, nothing better, for Ukraine’s future and for their security than to have the United States invested in their prosperity long term,” Waltz said.
It was unclear what changes the Ukrainian side had proposed during their discussions with Kellogg on Thursday.
