No charges for hockey player arrested in on-ice death of former NHL player Adam Johnson
Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images
(LONDON) — A professional hockey player who was arrested in connection with the 2023 on-ice death of former NHL player Adam Johnson will not face charges, British prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Johnson, 29, was killed during an October 2023 game between two British professional teams, the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers. Johnson, who was playing for the Panthers, suffered a fatal neck injury when he was slashed by a skate during the game.
A Steelers player was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter a month later in the incident. Following a “thorough” police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday it has decided not to bring criminal charges against the player.
“This was a shocking and deeply upsetting incident,” Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor, said in a statement.
“Following a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence by the CPS, we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Adam Johnson.”
Prosecutors did not identify the hockey player who was arrested in the case.
The Panthers, who play in England’s Elite Ice Hockey League, called Johnson’s death a “freak accident” at the time.
Prosecutors did not identify the hockey player who was arrested in the case.
The Panthers, who play in England’s Elite Ice Hockey League, called Johnson’s death a “freak accident” at the time.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
(GAZA) — Since the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on March 18, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has sharply deteriorated.
The continued closure of all border crossings since March 2 has blocked the entry of humanitarian aid, triggering a severe food crisis and endangering the lives of millions of civilians.
Aid organizations warn that without urgent action, Gaza faces the real possibility of widespread famine, escalating malnutrition and the collapse of essential services.
One of the gravest consequences of the blockade is the complete disruption of the food supply chain. According to residents, bakeries across Gaza have been forced to shut down due to a lack of flour, fuel and operational supplies.
“There is no bread, no bread at all. There is no flour. The crossings are closed. The children are starving,” said Ahmed Abu Mustafa, a resident of Khan Younis, in an interview with ABC News. “Even if we had flour … the bakeries don’t have fuel to bake or cook food.”
The impact on civilians is visible and tragic.
Moath Fayez Abu Ramadan, also from Khan Younis, waited daily at a closed bakery earlier this month hoping to find food for his children.
“I have been here since six in the morning, waiting for the bakery to open so I can feed my children,” he told ABC News. “My wife was killed in the war, and my children need someone to take care of them and provide food.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on March 31 that its aid supplies to Gaza have been fully depleted. The closure of the crossings has made resupply impossible, with catastrophic results.
“We are in a famine in every sense of the word,” said Umm Mohammed, a displaced resident from Rafah. “No matter how much we describe it, it is a famine. What is the fault of the children?” she asked during an interview with ABC News.
In a series of statements on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue to bar the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, calling it “one of the main pressure tools that prevents Hamas form using this measure vis a vis the population.”
Katz said Israel planned to create an infrastructure for distributing aid using civilian companies later.
Aid organizations raise alarm
International aid organizations are also raising alarm over the humanitarian toll of the blockade.
Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for UNICEF, told ABC News, “Since March 18, hundreds of children have been killed, hundreds more have been injured. … Burns, shrapnel lodged in the bodies of children, children who’ve had their limbs amputated.”
She emphasized the urgent need to reestablish a ceasefire and reopen the crossings.
“The most impactful action that governments need to take is to ensure that the ceasefire is reestablished. That is the most important measure to save children’s lives,” she said.
Beyond food shortages, Gaza’s children are suffering psychologically from the relentless violence and deprivation.
“Children are deeply traumatized by what they’ve witnessed,” Bollen explained. “They’ve been exposed to really unprecedented levels of violence on a daily basis for months in a row. … Today, every child in Gaza needs mental health support.”
Violence has returned
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) echoed this concern and highlighted the challenges of operating under such extreme conditions.
“After a period of relative calm, violence has returned to Gaza and the civilian population once again is bearing the brunt,” said Hisham Muhanna, an ICRC spokesperson, in an interview with ABC News. “The entry of humanitarian aid – Gaza’s main lifeline – has been suspended … the situation is even more dire.”
ICRC’s operations in Gaza are ongoing but severely constrained, Muhanna said.
“Programs like common kitchens continue feeding people with, sometimes, the only meal they will receive a day,” Muhanna said.
However, he warned of a looming catastrophe.
“Flour supplies are dwindling, and many bakeries have had to shut down,” he said. “In short order, the impacts will be acute on nutrition and basic health.”
With no fuel entering Gaza, water purification systems and hospitals are on the verge of collapse, Muhanna said.
“Hospitals cannot operate without health care staff, who don’t live nearby and who are struggling to come to work safely during this period of hostility,” Muhanna said.
“With no proper sanitation and limited access to safe drinking water, the danger of communicable disease outbreaks is closer by the day,” he added.
‘In need of literally everything’
Citizens are also voicing their frustration and calling for urgent international action.
“We want the war on Gaza to stop. May God make the Arab countries stand with us,” said Abu Ramadan.
Umm Mohammed added, “We fear hunger. We no longer fear death; we have reached the point where we wish for death. … When your child asks for bread — his most basic right — what do you say?”
As aid agencies work tirelessly under impossible conditions, time is running out for Gaza.
“The suffering in Gaza isn’t just physical but also psychological,” said Bollen. “Children in Gaza are in need of literally everything: food, safe water, health care and emotional support.”
The international community faces a critical moment. Without immediate and sustained action to reopen the crossings and restore aid flows, aid agencies are warning that Gaza is at risk of plunging into an irreversible humanitarian catastrophe.
Handout photo by Arda Kucukkaya/Turkish Foreign Ministry via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The meeting between the U.S. delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukraine and Russia are set to take place in Turkey on Friday following a day of confusion on Thursday.
Notably absent from the talks, however, are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is in Albania, and Russian President Putin, who is in Moscow, as delegates from the United States, Ukraine and Turkey meet.
President Trump said this Friday morning in Abu Dhabi that he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can set it up” to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine
“We’re going to do it,” Trump said. “I actually think it’s time for us to do it,” he said.
Trump suggested that “in two or three weeks” the world could be “a much, much safer place.”
“I will tell you that the world is a much safer place right now, and I think in two or three weeks we could have it be a much, much safer place,” Trump said. “We’re going to handle a couple of situations that you have here with some very serious situations. and we’re looking at Gaza, and we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There’s a lot of bad things going on.”
A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul has told ABC News that “we value President Trump’s genuine effort to end the war and stop the killing. Ukraine itself is the country that wants peace more than anyone else.”
“We’re going to get it done,” Trump said of Ukraine negotiations. “Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Russia launched more than 100 drones into Ukraine following the conclusion of a phone call between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s air force said, and as the world waited for what Trump said would be an immediate resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force wrote on Telegram that its forces shot down 35 of the 108 Russian drones launched into the country overnight, with a further 58 jammed or otherwise neutralized while in flight. The air force reported damage on the ground in four Ukrainian regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down eight Ukrainian drones overnight.
Cross-border drone exchanges occur near-nightly and have increased in size and sophistication throughout the 3-year-old war. Monday night’s barrage came despite Trump’s latest assurance that a peace deal between the two sides is possible, following a phone call with Putin that lasted two hours.
“I think something’s going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after the call. “It’s a very, very big egos involved, I tell you, big egos involved. But I think something’s going to happen. And if I thought that President Putin did not want to get this over with, I wouldn’t even be talking about it because I’d just pull out.”
Despite the failure of peace talks to date — including a chaotic meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey, last week — Trump still appeared confident of success.
In a post to his Truth Social website on Monday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” start negotiations toward a ceasefire. Kyiv has repeatedly requested a full 30-day pause to the fighting to facilitate peace talks. The Kremlin has so far dodged the proposal.
When questioned if he had asked Putin to meet with him during the call on Monday, Trump replied, “Of course.”
“I said, ‘When are we going to end this, Vladimir?'” Trump said. “I said, ‘When are we going to end this bloodshed, this, this bloodbath?’ It’s a bloodbath. And, I do believe he wants to end it.”
Putin’s own statement showed no sign of concessions. “Russia’s position is clear,” the president said in a statement to the media after the call. “Eliminating the root causes of this crisis is what matters most to us,” Putin said, per a Kremlin readout.
Trump’s threats of new sanctions on Russia do not appear to have pushed the Kremlin away from its maximalist war goals, which essentially equate to Ukrainian capitulation.
Those demands include the annexation of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions — plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — Kyiv’s demilitarization, a permanent block on Ukrainian accession to NATO and the “denazification” of the country — a nebulous demand based on Russia’s false representation of the Ukrainian government as a far-right dictatorship.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — with whom Trump also spoke on Monday — has sought to present Kyiv as ready and willing to make peace, instead framing Putin as the key obstacle to Trump’s desired deal.
“This is a defining time,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to Telegram on Monday. “Now the world can see whether its leaders have the capacity to ensure an end to the war and the establishment of a real, lasting peace.”
“I confirmed to President Trump that we in Ukraine are ready for a complete and unconditional ceasefire, as the United States, in particular, has been talking about,” he continued.
“It is important not to dilute this offer. If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions for that. Pressure on Russia will encourage it to make real peace — this is obvious to everyone in the world,” he said.
“We must ensure that Russia is prepared to hold such productive negotiations,” Zelensyy wrote.” It is very important for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the negotiations and achieving peace, because the only one interested in this is Putin.”
If Putin drags out or blocks real negotiations, Zelenskyy said, “America and the whole world behave accordingly, including responding with additional sanctions. Russia must end the war that it started, and it can do so any day. Ukraine is always ready for peace.”
