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New details emerge in search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic

Sudiksha Konanki is seen in this undated photo shared to Meta. (Sudiksha Konanki via Meta)

(PUNTA CANA, DR) — Missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki’s clothes were found on the Dominican Republic beach where authorities believe she was last seen going for a swim, two police sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News on Monday.

The 20-year-old Konanki, a legal permanent U.S. resident and an Indian citizen, vanished early Thursday while she and a group of students were on a spring break trip to a resort in Punta Cana, according to the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff’s office.

Konanki and one of her traveling companions were Loudoun County residents, the sheriff’s office said.

Konanki’s clothes were discovered on a portable beach bed close to the beach where she went missing, the sources told ABC News. Police have found no evidence of violence, according to the sources.

After going to a nightclub on Wednesday night, Konanki and a group of people went to the beach about 4 a.m. local time on Thursday, the sources said. The other women traveling with Konanki went back to their hotel about 5:55 a.m. and were captured on security camera returning to their rooms, the sources noted.

A man stayed behind with Konanki on the beach, according to a Dominican Republic investigative police report. The man, whose name was not released, told police that he and Konanki went for a swim and got caught by a big wave, the police report said.

The man, according to sources, told police that when he got back to the beach he threw up and went to sleep on a beach bed. When he woke up, Konanki was nowhere to be seen, the sources said.

Security video showed the man coming back to his hotel room at 9:55 a.m., according to the sources.

The man is not considered a suspect in Konanki’s death, the chief of the Civil Defense in the Dominican Republic told ABC News on Monday.

Right now, the investigation is being treated as an accident, the chief said.

Law enforcement authorities are increasing the perimeter of the search area of beaches and water in the ongoing operation to find Konanki, according to the chief.

Three Dominican officials involved in the investigation told ABC News over the weekend that Konanki is believed to have drowned in the ocean.

The last time Konanki was seen on the beach on security camera footage was around 4:15 a.m. Thursday, the Dominican Republic Public Ministry told ABC News.

The Public Ministry was first contacted by the U.S. embassy in the Dominican Republic on Friday, the Ministry said.

Officials said Konanki’s friends who were with her around the time of her disappearance were questioned by police and have not been charged with crimes.

A joint investigation Konanki’s disappearance is being conducted by the FBI, the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican National Police and the Dominican Prosecutor’s office, sources close to the investigation told ABC News.

The investigators will question everyone involved in the incident again, including hotel employees and the man Konanki’s friends say she was with before she disappeared, the sources said.

All security camera footage since the day Konanki and her five friends arrived on the island is now being analyzed, sources said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

World news

Ukraine under pressure in Russia’s Kursk region

Scott Peterson/Getty Images

(LONDON) — Ukrainian forces are struggling to prevent what could be a significant military setback, as their hold on the area of Russian territory they seized last year is becoming increasingly precarious.

A Russian offensive supported by North Korean troops in the past few days has made a serious advance in Russia’s Kursk region northeast of Ukraine, breaking through Ukrainian positions and forcing them to withdraw to new defense lines, according to Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers. Russia is attempting to cut Ukraine’s crucial supply road into Kursk, which is already under fire, meaning several thousand Ukrainian troops inside Russia are now at growing risk of encirclement.

Ukraine seized a foothold in the Kursk region with a surprise offensive in August, capturing hundreds of square miles of Russian territory, which it hoped to use as a bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. Russia for months has sought to dislodge the Ukrainians from the region, including with North Korean troops, but until recently had made slow progress while suffering heavy casualties.

Over the past week, Russian progress has dramatically increased, according to bloggers and Ukrainian troops on the ground, with Ukrainian troops clearly under severe pressure and forced to withdraw largely back toward the main town they control in the region, Sudzha. The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed Sunday that Russian forces are “collapsing” the northern part of the Ukrainian lines in Kursk.

Russian forces have also succeeded in a flanking attack back across the border into Ukraine, aiming to reach the main supply road to the Ukrainian forces in Sudzha, according to open-source analysts. While Ukraine has, for now, reportedly blunted the Russian push, Russian troops are close to both sides of the route, which has already been under artillery and drone fire.

Over the weekend, Russian forces reached the outskirts of Sudzha itself, entering its industrial zone after launching an attack through a gas pipeline, according to military bloggers. Ukrainian units withdrew from much of their western flank in Kursk after Russian forces crossed the Psel River, allowing Russia to recapture several villages there, according to Clément Molin, a military analyst based in Lyon, France, and co-director of the Atum Mundi think tank.

The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on Monday denied that Ukraine’s forces were at risk of encirclement, saying the situation was under control and they were inflicting heavy casualties on Russia.

Yurii Butusov, a prominent Ukrainian military journalist, confirmed Monday on his Telegram channel that the situation is “very difficult” but said there is currently no threat of Ukrainian troops being encircled, and that reinforcements continue to arrive into Sudzha.

Russia has intensified its efforts to drive Ukraine out of Kursk, as efforts at possible negotiations to end the three-year-old war have intensified under the Trump administration. The Kremlin has repeatedly signaled it will not start meaningful negotiations with Ukraine as long as it occupies parts of Kursk.

The ISW and other analysts have suggested the Trump administration’s sudden cutoff of U.S. intelligence sharing earlier this month is likely impacting Ukraine’s ability to defend in Kursk. The ISW noted that the Russian offensive appears to have intensified around the same time as President Donald Trump announced aid cutoff to Ukraine last week, suggesting Russia is trying to take advantage of it.

Ukrainian officials who spoke to ABC News last week said the curtailing of intelligence was intended to limit Ukraine’s strikes into Russia and warned it would hamper Ukraine’s ability to hit forces massing in Kursk.

“This will help Russians to concentrate their forces,” the source told ABC News on Thursday. “For example, now we know that North Korean soldiers are concentrating there again. We could have hit them preemptively, but now we can’t.”

The situation in Kursk, however, was already deteriorating before Trump halted intelligence sharing.

Ukraine’s deteriorating position in Kursk comes as it is finally seeing more positive developments on the eastern front in Donbas, where Russian forces’ advance appears to be stalling out and Ukraine is now mounting a number of counterattacks, according to independent military analysts.

For six months, Russia has crept forward toward the city of Pokrovsk, an important defensive hub, but there are signs its advance may now be close to exhausted there after suffering extremely high losses, according to Ukrainian military accounts and independent researchers.

Ukrainian troops in the past two weeks have managed to launch successful counterattacks on Russian positions around Pokrovsk, recapturing some ground. Ukraine has also managed to counterattack in another city, Toretsk, which, despite nine months of intense urban fighting, Russian forces have failed to capture.

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National

Rep. Ro Khanna eyes anti-corruption agenda amid criticism of Democratic Party

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — As Democrats attempt to rebound from an underwhelming showing in the 2024 election, California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is not only taking stock of the stinging defeat last fall, but also taking shots at his own political party.

After watching Democrats swap nominees and struggle to deliver a cohesive message to voters in the last campaign cycle, Khanna told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he believes a political reform agenda focused on combating corruption “is what we should run on in 2026” and laments the political costs that came as Democrats campaigned on other priorities in 2024.

“It was a mistake,” Khanna said, adding he “didn’t hear any political reform agenda” from President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris during their respective presidential campaigns. “Trump became the outsider. It was a mistake we didn’t run on the theme of reform. Getting money and lobbyists out of politics — that should be our mantle.”

Now, Khanna is introducing the Drain The Swamp Act, which would permanently prohibit White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists — reinstating a Biden-era mandate that established ethics and lobbying rules for appointees in the administration.

“Anti-corruption has to be core to rebuilding the Democratic brand,” Khanna, serving in his fifth term, said. “Democrats need to be seen as owning the mantle of reform.”

Khanna said he finds it striking that one of President Donald Trump’s first acts of his second term was to sign an executive order to overturn Biden’s order — creating the impetus to craft an agenda that takes aim at Washington’s revolving door between lobbyists and lawmakers.

“It’s part of a broader sense that Democrats have to run on anti-corruption,” Khanna said, complaining that the Democratic Party enabled Trump to “co-opt” the “drain the swamp” theme of anti-corruption. Khanna said it has cost his party not only two presidential elections in 2016 and 2024, but also majority control of Congress.

“We need to be zealous,” Khanna said — explaining his vision for a five-point anti-corruption agenda.

Khanna wants to ban former members of Congress from ever lobbying Congress, and he wants to impose 12-year term limits for members and 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices. Khanna says he believes timed-out justices should return to serve on lower courts after they leave a post on the high court. Khanna also advocates for a “binding code of ethics” for Supreme Court justices amid ethics pressure on the court.

“If Democrats want to rebuild, start with anti-political corruption,” Khanna stressed, adding he has received a positive reception from a range of people such as billionaire Mark Cuban and even Republican voters who are supportive of his pledge to “drain the swamp.”

Khanna also calls for a ban on members of Congress and their families from holding and trading individual stocks during the member’s tenure in office, as well as a ban on members of Congress and candidates running for House or Senate seats from accepting contributions from political action committees.

As for his own future political interest — whether reelection, the California governor’s mansion or even the White House in 2028 — Khanna is keeping his cards close, but his options open.

“Ro believes that anti-corruption and economic patriotism need to be the driving themes of the Democratic Party for 2026 and 2028, regardless of who gets into the fray or leads the party,” Sarah Drory, a Khanna spokeswoman, told ABC when asked about the congressman’s political prospects.

Nevertheless, Khanna’s profile continues to grow as he faces voters and weighs his future options — sometimes even before Republican audiences on Fox News or in GOP-held districts.

After Trump delivered a joint address to Congress last week, Khanna went on “Fox News Sunday” and admitted that it “was not a good look” as Democrats protested not only the president, but also rejected the invited guests in the First Lady’s box.

“We should have stood for the boy with cancer. You stand for the president of the United States, out of respect for the American people,” Khanna said on the program. “I mean, you stand for the widow of the firefighter.”

“The story should have been on President Trump,” Khanna continued. “We should have been talking about the Medicaid cuts. Instead, we’re talking about our own behavior. And that’s a distraction from us getting out our economic message.”

Khanna will also hold three in-person town hall meetings during a “Benefits Over Billionaires” tour on March 23 in GOP-held districts, where his anti-corruption agenda will take stage alongside his progressive bona fides.

“It’s smart to have a clear message,” Khanna told ABC News. “We’re the party that’s going to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

World news

Biden’s intelligence access to President’s Daily Brief revoked, DNI Gabbard says

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has officially revoked access to the President’s Daily Brief, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on Monday.

Former President Joe Biden — who barred Trump from receiving classified briefings after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob — will no longer receive the top-secret intelligence information according to Trump’s directive, a process he first ordered begun in February.

The moves are the latest in Trump’s retribution campaign against what he claims was “weaponization” of the justice and intelligence segments of the federal government under Biden and Democrats.

Trump also ordered revoked the security clearances of former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former national security adviser Jake Sullivan, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and attorneys Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, and Andrew Weissman.

Gabbard confirmed the decision on X, writing: “Per @POTUS directive, I have revoked security clearances and barred access to classified information for Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and Andrew Weissman, along with the 51 signers of the Hunter Biden “disinformation” letter. The President’s Daily Brief is no longer being provided to former President Biden.”

Andrew Weissman, who has most recently been a commentator on MSNBC, served as the chief prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mark Zaid is a national security lawyer who represented the whistleblower at the heart of the Trump first impeachment inquiry involving Ukraine. Eisen is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an attorney and a CNN legal analyst and co-founder of the States United Democracy Center.

In February, Trump issued an executive order to start the process of revoking security clearances held by dozens of intelligence officials he says falsely claimed in a letter during the 2020 election season that Hunter Biden’s laptop contained Russian disinformation.

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Entertainment

Mickey faces off with Winnie-the-Pooh in ‘The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-Vs-Winnie’ trailer

Mario Tama/Getty Images

It’s the battle of the public domain characters.

Untouchables Entertainment, a banner that releases films based around intellectual properties who have entered the public domain, has released the first trailer for The Dark Domain: MVW Mickey-Vs-Winnie.

The upcoming film is a horror story that finds the Mickey from the Disney short Steamboat Willie and Winnie-the-Pooh coming face-to-face to haunt a group of childhood friends.

Billing itself as “the first public domain crossover film,” and also venturing to launch the Dark Domain Universe through its release, the movie takes place in what is called the Hell Forest, and introduces other monsters along for the ride with Dark Mickey and Dark Winnie.

Notably, the film does not refer to their Mickey as Mickey Mouse, as he was only referred to as Mickey in the 1928 short film, Steamboat Willie.

The movie is directed by Glenn Douglas Packard, who shared a statement about the film with Variety.

“I love that we can take these iconic childhood characters from A.A. Milne’s original Winnie-the-Pooh and the 1928 Steamboat Willie version of Mickey and create a whole new wicked universe,” Packard said. “Our film is like the Upside Down World, with these public domain icons getting into a horror smackdown akin to Freddy vs. Jason.”

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World news

Pope Francis’ prognosis has been ‘lifted’ on 25th consecutive day in hospital: Vatican

Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

(ROME) — Pope Francis’ prognosis was “lifted” on Monday, marking his 25th consecutive day in the hospital, according to the Vatican.

“The improvements recorded in previous days have further consolidated, as confirmed by both blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy. For these reasons, the doctors decided to lift the prognosis,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a statement Monday.

Vatican sources told ABC News that Francis’ prognosis being lifted means he’s no longer in imminent danger, but the clinical picture still remains complex.

Regardless of the improvements, the 88-year-old pontiff will continue “for additional days, the pharmacological medical therapy in a hospital environment” due to the “complexity of the clinical picture and the significant infectious picture presented at hospitalization,” the Vatican said.

Francis’ doctors said there are positive signs of the pontiff’s recovery, but caution remains, according to the Vatican sources.

The pope will move back to noninvasive mechanical ventilation and will continue an antibiotic treatment, the Vatican sources said.

On Monday morning, Francis was able to participate in spiritual exercises for Lent for the Roman curia, received the Eucharist and then “went to the Chapel of the private apartment for a moment of prayer,” the Vatican said.

He continued to participate in the spiritual exercises via a video link and spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between prayer and rest, the Vatican said.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.

On Sunday, Francis released a text of his Angelus address — his weekly address — thanking the doctors and nurses who have been caring for him in the hospital.

“During my prolonged hospitalization here, I too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and health care workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart,” the pope said.

Thursday will mark the 12th anniversary of when Francis was voted to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who previously resigned.

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National

Judge blocks removal of Palestinian activist who was detained at Columbia University

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has blocked the removal of a Palestinian activist from the United States while weighing a petition challenging his arrest, court documents show.

Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Columbia University over the weekend, despite having a green card, his attorney told ABC News, sparking an outcry from civil rights groups.

ICE agents arrested Khalil — a leader in the Manhattan university’s encampment movement — on Saturday night, claiming that his student visa had been revoked, his attorney, Amy Greer, said in a statement to ABC News.

However, Khalil is in the United States on a green card and not on a student visa, Greer said Sunday. Despite informing agents about his legal status, ICE detained him, she said.

President Donald Trump claimed Khalil was a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student” and said this is the “first arrest of many to come” in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

“We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again,” he added.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil is a former Columbia University graduate student and was arrested by ICE “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”

“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” McLaughlin said in a statement Sunday night. “ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also shared an article about Khalil on Sunday night and posted on X, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Baher Azmy, one of the lawyers representing Khalil, called his client’s alleged alignment with Hamas “false and preposterous.”

“So setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in,” Azmy told ABC News on Monday.

Greer said she is challenging Khalil’s arrest, which occurred at his university residence.

“Overnight we filed a habeas corpus petition on Mahmoud’s behalf challenging the validity of his arrest and detention,” she said Sunday.

At one point during a phone call with agents, they hung up on Greer, a representative of her law firm told ABC News.

Greer said they initially did not know Khalil’s whereabouts following his arrest. His wife, who is eight months pregnant and a U.S. citizen, was unable to find him at an ICE facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he was purportedly transferred, Greer said — adding that he might have been transferred to Louisiana.

An attorney for Khalil confirmed to ABC News on Monday that he’s currently being held at a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.

“ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza,” the lawyer said. “The U.S. government has made clear that they will use immigration enforcement as a tool to suppress that speech.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, called for Khalil’s release.

“The Department of Homeland Security’s lawless decision to arrest him solely because of his peaceful anti-genocide activism represents a blatant attack on the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, immigration laws, and the very humanity of Palestinians,” the group said in a statement on Monday. “We and other civil rights groups are in communication with Mahmoud’s legal counsel. This fight is just starting.”

Several hundred protesters massed Monday in lower Manhattan to demand his release, carrying signs that said “No political prisoners in the United States” and “Release Mahmoud Khalil.”

“He was arrested for speaking out against genocide,” said Marian Osman, one of the organizers. “We have a right to free speech. Political speech is protected speech in this country.”

After Trump posted that Khalil would not be the last pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested, Osman pledged protesters would not be intimidated.

“We are just getting started,” she said. “I don’t think protesters should be scared. I think protesters should be upset and angry.”

The arrest occurred just days after Trump took to social media threatening to defund universities that allowed “illegal protests” and claiming “agitators” will be sent back to their home countries.

“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on [sic] the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump posted on Truth Social on March 4.

Columbia released the following statement on Sunday: “There have been reports of ICE around campus. Columbia has and will continue to follow the law. Consistent with our longstanding practice and the practice of cities and institutions throughout the country, law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including University buildings.”

“Columbia is committed to complying with all legal obligations and supporting our student body and campus community,” the statement continued.

ABC News’ Jack Feeley contributed to this report.

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Entertainment

Wendy Williams taken to hospital from her assisted living facility in Manhattan: Sources

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Wendy Williams was taken by ambulance from an assisted living facility in Midtown Manhattan to Mount Sinai West hospital on Monday morning, according to sources.

Police responded to the assisted living facility in Hudson Yards after the fire department was called for a wellness check, sources said.

Two NYPD officers and a sergeant, as per protocol, responded to the assisted living facility in response to a 911 call about a woman in distress, according to a source briefed on the situation. When they arrived, Williams was calm. She was not restrained and was able to get into the ambulance on her own.

The episode is being treated as a standard call for service and there is no ongoing NYPD investigation.

Nearly a month ago, Williams opened up about her fight for freedom from her yearslong court-ordered guardianship in a phone interview with Nightline.

The media personality and former talk show host, who has been in a court-ordered guardianship since 2022, described where she has been living for the past few years.

“As I said, because it’s a fact, this is the memory unit. That’s what this floor is called, the memory unit. And it is true that these people who live here don’t remember anything,” she said. “Look, I don’t belong here at all. This is ridiculous.”

In February 2024, a press release from Williams and her medical team revealed that Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023.

“The decision to share this news was difficult and made after careful consideration, not only to advocate for understanding and compassion for Wendy, but to raise awareness about aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and support the thousands of others facing similar circumstances,” the press release noted.

Primary progressive aphasia is “a neurological syndrome in which language capabilities become slowly and progressively impaired,” according to the National Aphasia Association.

Dementia is an umbrella term that describes “the impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, Lifetime explored Williams’ life after her daytime show in Where is Wendy Williams?, a two-night documentary event.

The documentary opened the doors to her private life and detailed the health issues she faced.

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Politics

Musk calls Sen. Kelly a ‘traitor’ over trip to Ukraine, Kelly hits back

Allison Pecorin and Sarah Beth Hensley, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, called Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly a “traitor” in a post on X after Kelly posted that he had visited Ukraine over the weekend.

Kelly, in a thread on X Sunday night, posted photos of his visit to Ukraine and wrote that “Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin.”

In a reply to the thread, Musk responded, “You are a traitor.”

Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut, responded in a separate post on X.

“Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do,” wrote Kelly, whose recent trip marked his third visit to Ukraine since 2023.

The comments from Musk, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, comes weeks after an explosive meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office that devolved into a shouting match. During the stunning exchange, Trump and Vice President JD Vance rebuked Zelenskyy for his handling of the war, falsely blaming the Ukrainian leader for a conflict that began when Russia’s Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion.

After the meeting, Zelenskyy left without signing an agreement that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources, which the country had hoped would ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support as it battles Russia.

Trump’s administration has embarked on a dramatic pivot away from the “ironclad” backing of Ukraine practiced by former President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump has falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia, called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and frozen military aid and intelligence support in a bid to force Ukraine into making concessions to Russia.

Kelly, along with other Democrats, have been critical of Trump’s approach with Ukraine.

“If we abandon our ally Ukraine, we will be viewed by other countries including our other allies as untrustworthy and in the future we shouldn’t expect their help,” Kelly posted to X.

Kelly and Musk have feuded in the past. When Musk attacked Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen last month, calling him “an idiot,” Kelly and his brother Scott Kelly, also an astronaut, pushed back.

“Hey @ElonMusk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us,” Kelly wrote.

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National

Suspected cause of Long Island wildfires was a resident making s’mores: Police

Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A New York resident making s’mores in their backyard is suspected of accidentally igniting a series of wildfires over the weekend that swept through hundreds of acres of the Pine Barrens region of Long Island, authorities said Monday.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said the “operating theory” is that a fire was started at about 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday when a resident used cardboard to start a fire to make s’mores, a confection that includes toasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers.

“The individual making s’mores was unable to get the fire lit due to the winds, but they used cardboard to initially light that fire,” Catalina said during a news conference on Monday. “The person subsequently discovers that the fire does ignite in the backyard area and all goes up in fire.”

Catalina said the initial fire was extinguished by 10:30 a.m., but investigators believe embers blew about an eighth of a mile southeast of the s’mores fire and started a second blaze just before 1 p.m. in the Manorville community of Suffolk County.

Northwest winds of up to 45 mph quickly spread embers from Manorville, igniting a fire in Eastport and another fire in the publicly protected Pine Barrens region of West Hampton, according to Catalina.

“It was initially reported that there were four separate fires, or reported at one time,” Catalina said. “All of those fires are in a direct line with the strong northwest wind that was blowing that day. And it is believed that the embers from each fire traveled and continuously started more fires. So that is the operating theory right now.”

Catalina said the department has 25 arson investigators probing the blaze to determine the exact cause of the fire, but added, “So far, our investigation is pointing strongly toward an accidental origin for Saturday’s fires.”

The combined fires burned about 600 acres of wildland and prompted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency. At least two commercial structures were damaged, officials said.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said Monday that two volunteer firefighters were injured battling the blazes on Saturday, with one being airlifted to Stony Brook Hospital in Stony Brook with second-degree burns to the face. The other hospitalized firefighter suffered a non-life-threatening head injury, Romaine said.

The fires in Suffolk County are “100% contained,” Amanda Lefton, the acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said. Firefighters will remain on-scene over the next few days to prevent any spot fires from igniting, Lefton said.

Romaine said that at one point during Saturday’s blazes, firefighters feared the blaze would jump Sunrise Highway and spread into the more populated communities of Suffolk County.

He said the fire was fueled by hundreds of dead pine trees in the Pine Barrens region.

“Without the combined efforts of everyone involved, we would not have been able to stop this fire,” Romaine said. “This was a fire that could have been far more serious than it was.”

More than 600 firefighters from 80 volunteer Suffolk County fire departments responded to the blaze, battling flames and smoke visible from as far away as Connecticut, Romaine said.

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