All passengers believed dead after plane carrying 62 people crashes in Brazil, military says
(CASCAVEL, Brazil) — All passengers are believed to be dead after a Voepass plane carrying 62 people crashed in Brazil on Friday, according to authorities.
The passenger plane was traveling from Cascavel, Brazil, and was bound for Guarulhos Airport, near Sao Paulo, the airline said.
The plane had 58 passengers and four crew members on board, the airline said. Military police confirmed to ABC News that they believe all passengers died.
There is no confirmation of how the accident occurred, the airline said.
The crash was reported to military police at 1:28 p.m. local time.
The two-engine ATR 72 model aircraft fell close to a residential building in Vinhedo outside the city of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo federal police said.
One resident was injured, police said.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at an event Friday asked the crowd to observe one minute of silence for the victims of the crash.
Footage of the incident captured the plane falling in a spiral out of the sky followed by a large fireball.
The governor of Sao Paulo is heading back from Vitoria to manage the situation, officials said.
Brazil’s civil aviation agency said in a statement they will be investigating.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Animal rights activists are calling for the release of an orca who has been living in Argentina’s largest aquarium for over 30 years.
The orca named Kshamenk, pronounced Shamenk, is the last captive orca in all of Latin America, living in Buenos Aires’ Mundo Marino aquarium since his rescue in 1992.
Recently, viral drone footage showing Kshamenk lying almost motionless in his small concrete pool has brought renewed attention to the fate of the lone orca, with thousands around the world calling for him to be released from captivity.
“Time is not on Kshamenk’s side,” Canadian whistleblowing organization Urgent Seas, which has been leading the campaign for Kshamenk’s release, told ABC News. “The recent deaths of solitary orcas highlight the despair social animals such as Orcas feel when not living in their proper families or with members of their own species.”
“To witness their mental healths decline is gut-wrenching – as we are seeing with Kshamenk,” Urgent Seas said in its statement.
In November 1992, three fishermen sailed from San Clemente del Tuyú, a town on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, to embark on a normal day of sea fishing, according to Mundo Marino’s biography of Kshamenk. A few hours into their trip, the fishermen spotted four black figures lying near the coast in a marshy area of Samborombón Bay, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
The figures turned out to be four stranded orcas that had become trapped on a muddy bank.
One of the orcas was Kshamenk – then approximately 3 years old – found by rescue teams in “critical condition” and “showing various signs of weakness” including being “severely decompensated, dehydrated’ and with “very altered blood parameters,” according to the biography.
The group of orcas was presumed by rescuers to have been stranded for approximately two days, becoming stuck in the sand on a mud bank after chasing a school of fish during a higher tide.
After consultation with local authorities, it was considered the “best thing” for the young orca to remain in the care of the Mundo Marino team following rehabilitation, according to the aquarium. The aquarium said specialists who evaluated Kshamenk’s physical and mental health “reject the possibility of transfer” because it would “seriously put her well-being and life at risk.”
According to testimonies of fishermen, it is believed the other three orcas were able to swim back into the sea the next day as the water level rose.
Kshamenk is estimated to be around 35 years old, Mundo Marino told ABC News. He is one of at least 54 orcas currently being kept in captivity in marine parks around the world, according to the International Marine Mammal Project.
Online petitions to free Kshamenk have garnered tens of thousands of signatures, videos posted on TikTok and Instagram shining light on the plight of the orca – which has lived for years without orca companionship – amassing hundreds of thousands of views.
Munro Marino described Kshamenk as a “healthy, curious, active [and] affectionate Orca who enjoys playing and doing activities with her keepers.” On the orca’s health, Mundo Marino said Kshamenk is in “excellent health.”
“His survival would depend on both being accepted by a new pod of orcas and being able to hunt independently, both of which are highly unlikely,” Mundo Marino said in a statement sent to ABC News.
“We are aware of what some activist groups believe about a hypothetical reintroduction; we respect their position, but the reality is that this is a proposal without a consistent scientific basis. It is impossible for Kshamenk to return to the sea without putting his life at serious risk.”
Scientific studies on orcas have found captivity can have “harmful effects’ on the marine mammals. “The scientific data on how both wild-caught and captive-born orcas fare in captivity are increasingly robust in demonstrating that they cannot thrive under artificial circumstances in concrete tanks,” a study by the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico found.
“In captivity, orcas exhibit a wide range of abnormal behaviors and often die at an early age from infections and other health conditions that are uncommon in a wild setting.”
Campaigners are calling for the passing of a Kshamenk Law – known as Ley Kshamek in Spanish – a bill that calls for the “prohibition and sanctioning of shows with while marine animals’ and their exhibition or captivity without rehabilitation and reinsertion or reintegration purposes.”
(NEW YORK) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt on Wednesday for fresh talks on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, and as tension with Hezbollah persists at the Israel-Lebanon border.
Here’s how the news is developing:
11,000 students killed in Gaza, education ministry says
The Palestinian Ministry of Education said Tuesday that some 11,000 students have been killed and more than 17,000 others have been injured in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s campaign there started on Oct. 7.
The ministry also said 500 schools and universities have been bombed across the territory in almost one year of war.
Islamic Jihad rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said it “eliminated” the head of the Islamic Jihad militia group’s southern rocket and missile unit in a Monday airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.
Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket forces in the southern Rafah area, the IDF said in a statement. He was “an important source of knowledge of rocket fire within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza,” the IDF added.
Al-Hashash was killed while “operating inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis,” the IDF said, referring to one of the areas designated by the Israeli military as safer locations for civilians amid the devastating campaign in Gaza.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.
The IDF often launches strikes inside Gaza humanitarian zones in pursuit of militant leaders.
Gaza Health Ministry identifies more than 34,300 people killed
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry published a 649-page document identifying 34,344 people killed in the strip between Oct.7, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024.
The document includes the name, age, gender and identification number of each person killed.
The first 13 pages of the document include names of people all under 1 year old.
The document only includes the names of those the Health Ministry said it has been able to identify. Thousands more who are a part of the overall death toll are considered missing, the ministry said.
The current death toll in Gaza is 41,226 as of Sept. 16, according to the Hamas-run ministry.
Blinken to travel to Egypt
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, the State Department said.
Blinken will travel to Egypt Wednesday through Friday to co-chair the opening of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the department said.
He will also meet with Egyptian officials “to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the State Department said in a statement.
State Department doesn’t have timeline on new cease-fire proposal
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller declined to predict when a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal proposal might be ready.
“We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure — or trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” Miller told reporters Monday.
“I don’t have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes and to formally submit it,” Miller added.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said more than a week ago that a proposal would be presented to both Israel and Hamas “in the coming days.”
Miller said Monday that — just like in the negotiations overall — the main hurdles for creating the new proposal were the security situation in the Philadelphi corridor and the number of hostages and Palestinian prisoners that would be released.
‘Trajectory is clear’ at Israel-Lebanon border: Gallant
Time is running out for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an overnight phone call.
“Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas — the trajectory is clear,” Gallant told Austin per a readout from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
Gallant “reiterated Israel’s commitment to the removal of Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon, and to enabling the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” the defense ministry said.
Cross-border fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah — which is aligned with Iran and Hamas through the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — has been near-constant since Oct. 8.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in the north of the country amid the fighting, with Israeli leaders repeatedly threatening a significant military operation to pacify Hezbollah forces operating in southern Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday statement that the “current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israel now says Houthi missile was hit by interceptor
A missile described by the Houthis as a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” was hit by an Israeli interceptor, Israeli military officials said Sunday, after initially saying it got through its defenses and fell in an open area.
An Israeli interceptor hit the missile fired into central Israel from Yemen, causing it to fragment, according to Israeli officials. The missile was not destroyed, but caused no damage, the Israeli officials said.
“The conclusion into the review of the surface-to-surface missile that was fired this morning is that there was a hit on the target from an interceptor, as a result of which the target fragmented but was not destroyed,” an Israeli military official said in a statement.
The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the missile attack, claiming in a statement that it was aimed at an “important military target” in the Tel Aviv region. The Houthis claimed the missile flew some 1,267 miles in less than 12 minutes and that Israeli anti-missile defenses “failed to intercept” the weapon.
The Israel Defense Forces initially confirmed to ABC News that its defenses failed to intercept the missile but changed its conclusions upon further investigation.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
IDF: ‘High probability’ 3 hostages were killed by Israeli airstrike in November
On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces released the results of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three hostages, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza by IDF forces in December.
The three hostages — two soldiers, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer, and civilian Elia Toledano — were killed “as a byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike on the compound where they were being held, according to the investigation. The IDF said the strike was targeting a Hamas commander, and that they believed the hostages were being held elsewhere.
“The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF airstrike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023,” the IDF said Sunday in a statement.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Netanyahu vows to inflict ‘high price’ for Houthi missile attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthi movement after a missile fired from Yemen fell in central Israel on Sunday morning.
“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen at our territory,” Netanyahu said before a cabinet meeting. “They should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”
“Whoever needs a reminder of this, is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” the prime minister added, referring to Israel’s bombing of the strategic Yemeni port in July after a Houthi drone strike killed one person in Tel Aviv.
“Whoever attacks us will not evade our strike,” Netanyahu said.
(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.