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(FORT LAUDERDALE, FL) — Eleven passengers, including two children, were injured when a boat exploded in Florida on Memorial Day, according to officials.
The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. on Monday in Fort Lauderdale near the New River Triangle, the Coast Guard said. There were 13 people aboard the vessel at the time, it said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported 11 people to Broward Health Medical Center after the explosion, two of whom were children.
There was also a dog on the boat that was rescued, uninjured, according to officials.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesperson Frank Guzman told ABC News the boat was anchored at a sandbar in the Intracoastal Waterway, where boaters are known to congregate on holiday weekends, when the explosion occurred.
When the boat driver turned the engine back on to head to shore, the boat exploded, throwing people into the water and sparking a flash fire, Guzman said.
The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, Guzman said.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Eight inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail have been arrested after more than a week on the run, authorities announced.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced on Monday evening that inmate Lenton Vanburen was captured in Baton Rouge and is back in custody.
Vanburen was originally incarcerated on charges of parole violation, possession of a firearm by a felon and illegal carrying of a weapon, according to Murrill.
The inmate will now face additional charges related to the escape, Murrill added.
Additionally, inmates Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were apprehended in Walker County, Texas, by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Louisiana State Police announced on Monday.
“This is a clear example of how effective collaboration and open communication between agencies can lead to successful outcomes,” Louisiana State Police said in a statement, commending the teamwork of local, state and federal partners.
Tate and Donald were arrested after leading law enforcement officers from several agencies on a high-speed chase through the Huntsville, Texas area, Huntsville Police said in a statement.
Donald was charged with outstanding warrants for escape and resisting an officer. His original charges were for illegally carrying a weapon and second-degree murder, according to police.
Tate was charged with outstanding warrants for aggravated escape and escape from custody. He was in custody on the original charge of obstruction of justice, police said.
Two more fugitives remain at large.
A total of 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center after climbing through a hole behind a toilet in the early morning hours of May 16. Their disappearance was not noticed for several hours and touched off a massive, more than weeklong manhunt.
Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including a jail maintenance worker accused of shutting off water to the toilet, another inmate in the jail, and five other people.
Three of the 10 inmates who escaped were apprehended within the first 24 hours of the jailbreak. The other two were captured in the following days.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds, Jason Volack and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report.
(GREEN, OHIO) — A 13-year-old boy died after falling from a Memorial Day parade float in Ohio, authorities said.
The incident occurred late Monday morning during a Memorial Day parade in Green, located south of Akron in Summit County.
The teenager was riding in the parade on a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck, authorities said. He fell off the front of the trailer and was then run over by the trailer’s tires, sustaining severe injuries, authorities said.
Fire personnel who were already on site for the parade immediately responded. The teen was transported in critical condition to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Green Fire Department said.
The name of the child, who was from North Canton, was not released.
The incident remains under investigation, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said, referring to the death as a “tragic accident.”
The parade ended immediately, ABC News’ Cleveland affiliate WEWS reported.
“Our hearts go out to the family at this time of terrible loss,” Green Mayor Rocco Yeargin told reporters. “We look to support them as a Green community any way that we can.”
The Green school district has offered counseling support to the North Canton school district, the mayor said.
Facebook / Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement
(BELL COUNTY, KY) — A black bear was discovered sitting on the stove inside a Kentucky home after crashing through the ceiling, authorities said.
The incident occurred last Wednesday when Game Warden Derick Creech in Bell County, Kentucky, received a call at approximately 5 a.m. to reports of a black bear inside of somebody’s home, according to a statement from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement released on Sunday.
“Upon arrival, the bear was located sitting on the stove in the kitchen,” authorities said.
Game Warden Creech determined that the bear was able to climb up a ladder outside and squeezed through an opening into the attic of the residence before falling through the ceiling and directly into the residence below, authorities said.
Warden Creech was able to run the stunned bear out through an open door and back into the wilderness following its fall into the kitchen.
Authorities did not give an estimate on the amount of damage the home sustained during the incident.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Two people are dead, and nine others have been injured in a Memorial Day mass shooting in Philadelphia, authorities said.
The shooting took place at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Monday evening, the final day of the long Memorial Day weekend, when gunfire erupted at approximately 10:27 p.m. on Lemon Hill Drive at Poplar Drive, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Two people – an unnamed adult man and woman — were killed and at least nine others were injured in the shooting, including three teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
Multiple rounds were fired, Bethel said, and investigators are working to determine if several different weapons were involved.
No one is in custody, Bethel confirmed, and no weapons have been recovered.
Fairmount Park was busy during the day, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI, as families and members of the community gathered for Memorial Day cookouts and barbecues.
The names of the victims have not been released.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS) — Elon Musk has made no secret of his desire to send humans to Mars, and he wants SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft to be the vehicle that gets them there. But before SpaceX and NASA can send astronauts to the red planet, the company must prove Starship can fly and return safely and reliably.
After two recent Starship flight tests ended with the destruction of the spacecraft, SpaceX hopes the ninth time will be the charm.
SpaceX has scheduled the unmanned ninth test flight of Starship for Tuesday from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, with a launch window opening at 7:30 p.m. ET.
During Starship’s eighth flight test in early March, several engines shut down unexpectedly about 5 1/2 minutes into the launch, resulting in SpaceX losing control of the craft. Communication with the vehicle was lost several minutes later.
After an investigation, the company said a “hardware failure” with one of the engines caused fuel to mix and ignite where it shouldn’t have. And while the ship wasn’t instructed to self-destruct, SpaceX says it likely did so automatically.
As Starship broke up, debris fell across South Florida and parts of the Atlantic, leading to ground stops at nearby airports. Photos and videos shared on social media showed rocket debris streaking across the sky.
A similar failure occurred in January when stronger-than-expected vibrations caused a propellant leak and explosion. In both cases, the upper stage was lost, but the first-stage booster was successfully returned to the launch site and caught using giant robotic “chopsticks” attached to the launch tower.
SpaceX says it has made significant modifications to the upper stage based on what it learned from previous flight tests and noted that while both failures occurred around the same time during the missions, the causes were unrelated.
No astronauts were aboard the previous missions, and none will be on board this time.
To reach orbit, Starship is mounted atop a 400-foot Super Heavy rocket powered by 33 Raptor engines, making it the most powerful rocket system ever developed, according to the company. Unlike the partially reusable Falcon 9, SpaceX aims for Starship to be fully reusable and capable of launching, landing and flying again with minimal maintenance.
According to SpaceX, this test will mark “the first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster,” one that flew and returned during the seventh test flight. The company says 29 of the booster’s 33 engines will also be reused from the previous test. Engineers inspected and replaced known single-use components like the heat shield but left the booster mostly intact to study real-world wear and tear.
The booster won’t attempt a return to the launch site this time. Instead, it will follow a modified flight path and “land” with a hard splashdown in the Gulf after testing new flight and landing configurations. One of the booster’s engines will also be disabled during the final landing burn to determine whether a backup can compensate.
The Starship upper stage will aim to complete objectives that eluded SpaceX during the previous missions, such as deploying eight Starlink satellite simulators, which would be a first for Starship, and performing a relight of a Raptor engine in space.
The spacecraft will also undergo extreme heat testing. Engineers have removed some of the thermal tiles used to protect the vehicle during reentry, exposing vulnerable areas on purpose, the company said. Different tile options and materials will also be tested during the launch.
“Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle,” SpaceX said in its launch announcement.
(LONDON) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again appealed to the U.S. to apply more pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin in pursuit of peace talks to end Moscow’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor — and as massed long-range drone strikes continued.
“Russian strikes are becoming increasingly brazen and large-scale every night,” Zelenskyy wrote in an evening message to Telegram, after consecutive days of intense Russian strikes involving more than 900 attack drones and missiles.
“There is no military logic in this, but it is a clear political choice — the choice of Putin, the choice of Russia — the choice to keep waging war and destroying lives,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“New and strong sanctions against Russia — from the United States, from Europe, and from all those around the world who seek peace — will serve as a guaranteed means of forcing Russia not only to cease fire, but also to show respect,” Zelenskyy said.
“Putin must start respecting those he talks to,” the president wrote. “For now, he is simply playing games with diplomacy and diplomats. That must change.”
The Ukrainian president is seeking to frame Putin as the key impediment to a peace deal, as Kyiv navigates a fractious bilateral relationship with President Donald Trump’s administration.
Months of U.S.-brokered peace talks have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire or a clear framework for a peace deal.
Trump’s building frustration has been evident. This weekend, Trump said Putin had gone “absolutely crazy,” while also rebuking Zelenskyy for causing “problems” with his public statements.
Kyiv is pushing for a 30-day ceasefire during which time peace talks can take place. Russia has so far refused the proposal.
Putin told Trump in a phone call last week that Moscow was preparing a memorandum setting out its negotiating position. But Kyiv and its European partners have accused the Kremlin of intentionally stalling discussions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters at a Tuesday briefing that Moscow is still developing its memorandum, which she said will be sent to Kyiv as soon as it is completed.
“We expect that the Ukrainian side is doing the same work and will send us its developments simultaneously with the receipt of the Russian document,” Zakharova said.
Zelenskyy on Monday cast doubt on the Russian proposal. “They’ve already spent over a week on this,” he wrote. “They talk a lot about diplomacy. But when, in the midst of all that, there are constant Russian strikes, constant killings, relentless assaults, and even preparations for new offensives.”
Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly appealed to Trump to impose new, tougher sanctions on Moscow to push the Kremlin to downgrade its maximalist war goals. Those include the annexation of swaths of Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian demilitarization and a permanent block on the country’s accession to NATO.
Ukrainian requests have so far gone unanswered, despite Trump’s threats to introduce new sanctions to press Putin into negotiations.
Both Russia and Ukraine continued drone strikes on Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 43 of 60 Russian drones launched into the country, with confirmed impacts in nine locations and falling debris in three locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed 99 Ukrainian drones over seven regions.
Move over Barbenheimer, it’s time for Lilo & Stich-ible.
Lilo & Stitch teamed up with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning to produce the largest Memorial Day weekend at the box office of all time.
Disney’s live action remake of its 2002 animated film was the weekend’s #1 film, bringing in an estimated total of $183 million in its first week, according to Box Office Mojo. Meanwhile, the eighth entry in the Tom Cruise-starring spy series came in second with an estimated $77 million debut.
The top five also included Final Destination: Bloodlines at #3 with $24.5 million, Thunderbolts* at #4 with $11.6 million and Sinners at #5 with $11.23 million.
All that and more added up to a total box office haul of a history-making $322 million across the holiday weekend, Varietyreports. It beats the previous best Memorial Day weekend gross set in 2013, when a slate including Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III and Star Trek into Darkness brought in $314 million.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. Lilo & Stitch – $183 million 2. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – $77 million 3. Final Destination: Bloodlines – $24.5 million 4. Thunderbolts* – $11.6 million 5. Sinners – $11.23 million 6. The Last Rodeo – $6.267 million 7. Friendship – $5.736 million 8. A Minecraft Movie – $2.851 million 9. The Accountant 2 – $2.548 million 10. Hurry Up Tomorrow – $931,000
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday granted an unconditional pardon to a Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of federal bribery charges and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Scott Jenkins, who had been the sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, was set to report to jail on Tuesday.
“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social. “In fact, during his trial, when Sheriff Jenkins tried to offer exculpatory evidence to support himself, the Biden Judge, Robert Ballou, refused to allow it, shut him down, and then went on a tirade.”
“As we have seen, in Federal, City, and State Courts, Radical Left or Liberal Judges allow into evidence what they feel like, not what is mandated under the Constitution and Rules of Evidence,” he added. “This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail.”
Jenkins faced a jury trial in late 2024 but wasn’t sentenced until March 2025 under the Trump administration. Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee, who represented the U.S. government, and therefore the Trump administration, in the case, is still serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
Trump praised Jenkins as “a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’ This is why I, as President of the United States, see fit to end his unfair sentence, and grant Sheriff Jenkins a FULL and Unconditional Pardon. He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”
Jenkins was convicted by a jury in December 2024 on charges including one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud and seven counts of bribery concerning federally funded programs.
Lee wrote in a March sentencing memo that Jenkins repeated violated the public’s trust “by exploiting his official powers for personal gain.”
“After he was caught, he sought to manipulate the judicial process and to evade responsibility for his crimes by lying to the Court and the jury,” Lee added.
“In sum, Jenkins’ lies and abuses of power in the instant case are not an aberration,” he said. “Since his early days in law enforcement, Jenkins has displayed a shocking disregard for his ethical and legal responsibilities.”
The Department of Justice had said in a press release in March that he had received over $75,000 in cash payments for “appointing numerous Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department.”
“Scott Jenkins violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him when he engaged in a cash-for-badges scheme,” Lee said at the time.
“We hold our elected law enforcement officials to a higher standard of conduct and this case proves that when those officials use their authority for unjust personal enrichment, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable,” he added.
(LIVERPOOL) — A driver struck pedestrians in Liverpool on Monday, police said, as hundreds of thousands had gathered at a parade celebrating the Liverpool Football Club winning the English Premier League soccer title.
The vehicle collided with “a number of pedestrians on Water Street” just after 6 p.m. local time, Merseyside Police said.
The car stopped at the scene and a 53-year-old British man has been arrested, according to police.
“Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision,” Merseyside Police said in an update while asking the public “not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight’s incident.”
Police also asked people to send related footage to them and “not to share distressing content online.”
Emergency personnel are at the scene, authorities said. Police did not have details on any injuries in the collision.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “shocking.”
“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” Starmer said in a statement. “I’m being kept updated on developments and ask that we give the police the space they need to investigate.”
The Liverpool Football Club said it is in contact with police regarding the incident, which occurred toward the end of the parade.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this serious incident,” the club said in a statement. “We will continue to offer our full support to the emergency services and local authorities who are dealing with this incident.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
