(WASHINGTON) — Belarusian journalist Andrei Kuznechyk was released from prison on Wednesday after serving more than three years in prison, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The terms of the deal were not immediately clear.
“This is a joyous day for Andrey, his wife, Alesya, and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again thanks to President [Donald] Trump,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement.
“We are also grateful to Secretary Rubio and his team, and to the Lithuanian government for their support,” Capus added.
Kuznechyk’s release comes a day after American schoolteacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after being released from Russia.
Kuznechyk was initially sentenced in November 2021 to 10 days in jail on hooliganism charges, which he rejected at the time, according to RFE/RL.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Munich police said “around 20” people were injured after a “vehicle drove into a group of people” in the center of the city on Thursday morning.
“The driver was able to be secured on site and currently poses no further danger,” police said in a post in German on social media.
Police said in an update that they didn’t yet have info on the severity of the injuries.
Police said the incident occurred in the area of Dachauer Street and Seidle Street in the heart of Munich, close to the city’s central train station.
Police said a “major operation” was underway, urging residents to avoid the area in order to assist emergency responders.
Thursday’s vehicle crash came less than two months after a car plowed through a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing two people and injuring nearly 70 others, local officials said at the time.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands during a joint press conference following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Lee Jin-man / POOL / AFP)
(SEOUL, TOKYO and LONDON) — The South Korean military detected a projectile fired from North Korea that was suspected to be a medium-range ballistic missile, a test-launch that arrived as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea.
The missile was fired from the area surrounding Pyongyang, the capital, toward the East Sea at about noon on Monday, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The joint chiefs said the South Korean military has heightened surveillance for additional launches and is maintaining a readiness posture for sharing ballistic-missile-related data with the U.S. and Japan.
Blinken condemned the test, which he called “yet another violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.” He added that President Joe Biden’s administration has “sought to engage the DPRK and multiple efforts to sit down to talk without any preconditions.”
“We communicated that on many occasions. We’ve done it privately, we’ve done it publicly,” Blinken said during a press conference in Seoul. “And the only response, effectively we’ve gotten has been more and more provocative actions, including missile launches.”
The last time North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile was Nov. 5, just before the U.S. presidential election.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have during Biden’s term bolstered their real-time information sharing capabilities, a move that Blinken on Monday had “strengthened our common defense and common deterrence.”
He said the launch on Monday amounted to “just a reminder” of the importance of that trilateral collaboration, which has also included military drills.
“All of that and more is a strong and effective response to the provocations from North Korea,” Blinken said. “So I have confidence that, because it’s so in the interest of all of us, it will continue and future administrations, whether it’s here, whether it’s in the United States, whether it’s Japan, we’ll continue to build on the work.”
Tokyo reacted swiftly to the launch, saying it was reinforcing its regional alliances through coordinated action with the United States and South Korea. Officials condemned Pyongyang while emphasizing the importance of a unified approach.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, speaking from Indonesia, issued a strong condemnation, describing the repeated launches as a grave threat to Japan’s national security and regional peace.
“We strongly protest and denounce North Korea’s actions, which endanger not only our country but also the international community,” he said, reaffirming Japan’s commitment to work closely with the U.S. and South Korea to bolster deterrence and conduct thorough surveillance.
Many office workers in Tokyo were returning to their jobs after the New Year’s holidays when news of the launch broke. The projectile reached an altitude of about 62 miles and traveled about 684 miles before falling into the Sea of Japan, another name for the East Sea, and outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The Japan Coast Guard confirmed that no damage to vessels in the affected area had been reported.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed serious concern about North Korea’s advancements in missile technology.
“The frequency of these launches and the evident improvement in technology demand that we redouble our efforts to strengthen deterrence,” he said during a press conference. “Japan’s peace and independence must be safeguarded by our own resolve.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, has conducted a “large-scale hit against child sexual exploitation” whose members are part of a criminal group engaging in the distribution of images of minors fully generated by artificial intelligence, authorities said.
With support from 19 countries in Europe, a total of 25 arrests were made worldwide in the operation — named Operation Cumberland — that was led by Danish law enforcement and carried out simultaneously on Wednesday, according to Europol.
In total, 273 suspects were identified, 25 arrests were made and 33 house searches were conducted, Europol said.
“The main suspect, a Danish national who was arrested in November 2024, ran an online platform where he distributed the AI-generated material he produced,” officials said. “Following a symbolic online payment, users from around the world were able to obtain a password to access the platform and watch children being abused.”
Operation Cumberland has been “one of the first cases involving AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), making it exceptionally challenging for investigators, especially due to the lack of national legislation addressing these crimes,” Europol said. “In this regard, EU Member States are currently discussing a common regulation proposed by the European Commission to tackle this new situation and protect children from being sexually abused and exploited.”
More arrests are expected in the coming weeks in the ongoing operation.
“These artificially generated images are so easily created that they can be produced by individuals with criminal intent, even without substantial technical knowledge,” said Catherine De Bolle, Europol’s executive director. “This contributes to the growing prevalence of child sexual abuse material, and as the volume increases, it becomes progressively more challenging for investigators to identify offenders or victims. Law enforcement will need to develop new investigative methods and tools to address these emerging challenges.”
Online child sexual exploitation remains one of the most threatening manifestations of cybercrime in the European Union and continues to be one of the top priorities for law enforcement agencies, which are dealing with an ever-growing volume of illegal content, Europol said.
“Self-generated child sexual material constitutes a significant share of the CSAM that is detected. AI models able to generate or alter images are being abused by offenders to produce CSAM and for sexual extorsion. Such models are widely available and have developed quickly, with output that now increasingly resembles genuine material, making it harder to identify as artificially generated,” Europol said.
“This poses significant challenges to authorities in identifying the real victims. Even in cases when the content is fully artificial and there is no real victim depicted, such as Operation Cumberland, AI-generated CSAM still contributes to the objectification and sexualisation of children,” officials continued.
Europol said that it, along with its partners, will be launching an online campaign in the coming days highlighting the consequences of using AI for illegal purposes and targeting potential offenders where they are most active: online. The campaign will use online messages to reach buyers of illegal content, as well as other methods such as knock-and-talks, social media messages and warning letters.
“Operation Cumberland demonstrates an ongoing coordinated effort by law enforcement to tackle this threat comprehensively, from arresting criminals to preventing future crimes through education, deterrence and providing support to those who want to seek support or help,” Europol said.
