Syrian army withdraws from key city of Hama amid rebel surge, state news reports
Zana Halil/ dia images via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Syrian state media said Thursday that government forces were withdrawing from the city of Hama in the face of a rebel advance, marking another major setback for President Bashar al-Assad and his backers in Russia and Iran.
The Syrian Arab News Agency said government forces withdrew to positions outside the central Syrian city. The report came hours after opposition fighters — led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group — claimed to have entered the city and struck towards its center.
Hama is Syria’s fourth largest city. It sits between the capital Damascus to the south and Aleppo — Syria’s second city — to the north. Aleppo fell to the lightning rebel offensive on Nov. 29. Hama was one of the few major cities that did not fall to anti-government forces following the 2011 revolution against Assad’s rule.
The Syrian army said its troops withdrew after rebel fighters broke through government defenses in Hama. The army accused the opposition groups of using suicide attacks to breach government lines.
The army’s General Command said the withdrawal was ordered to “preserve civilian lives” by avoiding fighting inside the city, SANA reported.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Someyah Malekian contributed to this report.
(UNITED KINGDOM) — The teenage suspect accused of fatally stabbing three children at a Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom in July now faces a terror charge for allegedly possessing a jihadi training manual, police said Tuesday.
The suspect — Axel Rudakubana, aged 18, from Banks in Lancashire — is also newly charged with producing ricin, a deadly poison, police said.
Rudakubana was previously charged with three counts of murder, 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife in connection with the July stabbing spree in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool.
The two new charges announced Tuesday “relate to evidence obtained by Merseyside Police during searches” of his home, police said. A PDF file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual” was allegedly found, according to police. An unknown substance found in the home was also determined through testing to be ricin, police said.
“Following the announcement of the further charges today I wanted to reassure the public of Southport, and Merseyside, that we are committed to achieving justice for the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, the 10 victims who were injured at the Hart Space in Southport on that Monday, in July, and the other 16 people who were present,” Chief Constable Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday.
Rudakubana is scheduled to have a virtual court appearance on Wednesday, police said.
Kennedy said police have not declared the attack a “terrorist incident” and cautioned the public against speculating on a motive in the case.
“I recognize that the new charges may lead to speculation,” she said. “The matter for which Axel Rudakubana has been charged with under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established.”
Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school when the attack occurred.
Kennedy said no ricin was found at the site.
“We have worked extensively with partners to establish that there was a low to very low risk to the public — and I want to make that reassurance clear today,” Kennedy said.
The trial is scheduled to begin in January 2025.
Swift met with family members of the victims and those injured in the attack while she was performing at Wembley Stadium in August.
(TEL-AVIV, Israel) — Israel said it killed another top Hezbollah commander — Muhammad Hussein Srour, the commander of Hezbollah’s Aerial Command — in a “precise” strike on Beirut Thursday.
At least two people were killed, and 15 others were injured in a strike on Dahieh in Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Hezbollah has not yet commented on the death of its commander.
This comes hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “continue the fighting with full force.”
At least 23 people were killed — including 19 Syrian refugees — and four others were injured after Israel struck a building on the Syrian-Lebanese border in another strike Thursday, officials said.
Nearly 700 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Strikes this week follow the explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies throughout the country last week.
Netanyahu shot down the possibility of a cease-fire that could end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon after the U.S. and France said they have put a proposal on the table for a 21-day stop in fighting. He also said fighting in Gaza will continue until the goals of the war are achieved.
Despite the proposal on the table, all signs point to Israel preparing for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that there is global support for a 21-day cease-fire proposal that he and other leaders have called for.
“We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations. It’s important this war not widen,” Biden told reporters as he returned to the White House Thursday.
The president was returning from the U.N. General Assembly, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to discuss details of a joint statement announcing the proposal, according to senior administration officials.
The Israel Ministry of Defense secured a $8.7 billion U.S. aid package from Washington to support its ongoing military efforts. The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been transferred, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Israel has said it is attacking Hezbollah in order to allow residents to return to the north.
As tensions continue to rise in the region, Iran “will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon,” the Iranian Foreign Minister said in comments to reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
He also warned Israel’s “crimes will not go unpunished,” and said the Middle East region “risks full-scale conflict” if the U.N. Security Council does not “act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate cease-fire.”
“The Israeli leaders must understand that their crimes will not go unpunished. The path to de-escalation is clear. Israel must immediately stop its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Without a cease-fire in Gaza, there will be no guarantee of peace in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Wednesday.
“Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon. We stand with the people of Lebanon with all means,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
Soaking rain eases drought in parts of U.S. but dryness still a problem for much of the country
Widespread drought conditions are still a significant concern across the country, with parts of the Northeast, northern Plains and Southwest currently experiencing some of the worst impacts, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor update released Wednesday.
Overall, more than 40% of the contiguous United States remains in a drought. This is an improvement, however, from the beginning of the month when more than half of the lower 48 faced drought conditions. Recent heavy rain along the West Coast and parts of the Midwest brought significant drought relief to portions of Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and Illinois.
As a result, drought coverage decreased from 45.48% to 41.45% versus last week. While some regions experienced a notable improvement, the recent soaking in the Northeast was only enough to pause the fire danger and trend of intensifying drought conditions — for now.
The current drought situation in the Northeast took months to evolve, and it will take several more rounds of significant rainfall over the span of weeks or even months to completely eliminate the widespread drought in the region.
After a few rounds of beneficial rain, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center says a large part of the country will likely experience below-average precipitation in early December, particularly in the West, Plains and East Coast.
Much of the western Gulf Coast and northern Plains could see above-average rainfall during this period. Drought relief across the country will, at the very least, take a pause through the beginning of next month.
-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck
Colorado River at a tipping point over drought threat, new study finds
A major water supplier in the West is once again in the spotlight for its unpredictable future.
The Colorado River, the water source for 40 million people across the west, is in a worse state than previously believed, according to a recent study published in Earth’s Future.
Drought and dry conditions, compounded by climate change, put the Colorado River in greater jeopardy, the study’s authors said.
“It doesn’t take a lot of climate change to put the system into a very vulnerable future,” said Dr. Patrick Reed, a civil and environmental engineer at Cornell University and co-author of the study.
Colorado’s West Slope River Basins “are essential water sources for the Colorado River and play a vital role in supporting the state of Colorado’s local economy and natural environment,” according to the study. The West Slope River Basins contribute nearly 70% of the streamflow deliveries to Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir.
But drought has significantly depleted Lake Powell’s water supply, leading to the first-ever water shortage in the Upper Colorado River Basin in 2021 and more dependence on the West Slope Basin supply.
“The Colorado River is extremely stressed and overallocated,” Reed said.
The Colorado River supplies water to seven states and Northern Mexico. Agreements about how the water is divided are up for renegotiation in 2026.
-ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin
US fuel economy hits record high as CO2 emissions hit record low, EPA says
U.S. fuel economy reached a record high in 2023 at the same time that greenhouse emissions reached a record low, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Automotive Trends Report released Monday.
The report also states that model year 2023 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 11%.
“This report provides a critical data-driven affirmation that strong, technology-neutral standards can underpin environmental progress while saving drivers money at the pump,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
New vehicle CO2 emissions are now at a record low of 319 grams per mile, which reduces the impact on climate change. Battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles, combined with fuel cell vehicles, are expected to reach 14.8% of overall vehicle production in 2024, a trend that is expected to grow across the industry, according to the report.
Passenger cars and light trucks accounted for 17% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, underscoring the need for further reductions across the industry, experts said.
— ABC News Climate Unit’s Dan Manzo
In surprise turn, world leaders reach $300B climate cash deal at COP29
In a surprising turn of events, world leaders at the United Nations climate conference in Azerbaijan announced they have reached agreement on a new deal that calls for wealthy countries to contribute $300 billion annually to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change.
After fears no deal would be reached as talks broke down, the announcement came around 3 a.m. local time and was met with a standing ovation and a wave of relief.
The deal in question was the “climate cash” agreement, under which developed nations will contribute an annual target of $300 billion to help climate-vulnerable, developing countries deal with the consequences of climate change.
President Joe Biden on Saturday praised the agreement, while touting his administration’s work on climate change, saying “nobody” can undo America’s “clean energy revolution,” in an apparent swipe at President-elect Donald Trump.
“Today at COP29, thanks in part to the tireless efforts of a robust US delegation, the world reached agreement on another historic outcome,” Biden said in a statement, going on to say the “ambitious” deal “will help mobilize the level of finance – from all sources – that developing countries need to accelerate the transition to clean, sustainable economies, while opening up new markets for American-made electric vehicles, batteries, and other products.”
Biden, who is leaving office in less than two months, said states and cities will continue to tackle climate change — notably not mentioning the federal government, while adding that no one can overturn progress on the issue, repeating something he said last week while visiting the Amazon.
In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had “hoped for a more ambitious outcome” on both financing and climate change mitigation efforts from the conference.
“But this agreement provides a base on which to build,” he said in the statement. “It must be honoured in full and on time. Commitments must quickly become cash. All countries must come together to ensure the top-end of this new goal is met.”
Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources who served as the COP29 president, said in a statement the $300 billion goal “represents the best possible deal we could reach.”
The U.N. climate conference, known as COP29, was anticipated to be the “finance COP” — the site of negotiations to determine how much fighting the climate crisis would cost and who would pay for it.
In 2015, under the Paris Agreement, participating countries agreed to set climate financing goals in 2024 that would account for the needs of developing countries.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule, Fritz Farrow and Jack Moore
UN climate conference delegates struggle to reach agreement on financing the climate fight
The U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan was supposed to be the “finance COP.” World leaders would determine how much fighting the climate crisis would cost and who would pay for it.
However, as COP29 winds down, many developing countries and nongovernmental organizations are dissatisfied with the current language in the proposed climate finance agreement.
In 2015, under the Paris Agreement, participating countries agreed to set a New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, on climate finance in 2024 that would account for the needs of developing countries. Basically, how much money would each nation spend to support developing countries that are being disproportionately impacted by climate?
While several versions of the new NCQG have been proposed, a final agreement is still out of reach. The latest text calls for a $1.3 trillion climate finance investment annually until 2035 but only requires a $250 billion investment from developed countries.
“With a paltry climate finance offer of $250 billion annually, and a deadline to deliver as late as 2035, richer nations, including EU countries, and the United States are dangerously close to betraying the Paris Agreement,” Dr. Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists, said. “This is nowhere near the robust and desperately needed funding lower income nations deserve to combat climate change.”
The latest NCQG language lays out a variety of funding sources that can play a part in reaching global climate finance goals, including multilateral development banks, or MDBs, that can distribute funds through grants and concessional loans for developing countries and adaptation projects.
However, the text does not make clear whether funds from MDBs are part of reaching the $250 billion goal or supplement that goal. It also includes provisions allowing for voluntary contributions from developing countries.
“The central demand coming into COP29 was for a strong, science-aligned climate finance commitment, which this appalling text utterly fails to provide,” Cleetus said. “Wealthier nations seem content to shamefully renege on their responsibility and cave in to fossil fuel interests while unjustly foisting the costs of deadly climate extremes on countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis.”
World Resources Institute Global Climate, Economics and Finance Program Director Melanie Robinson agrees, releasing a statement Friday saying, “Developed countries should aim higher than the $250 billion they’ve put on the table.”
“We should leave Baku with a goal that at least gets to $300 billion a year by 2035,” Robinson said.
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International, called the latest draft text “an insult to the people in the Global south.”
“This latest draft text on the New Collective Quantified Goal is not just a joke — it’s an insult to the people in the Global South living on the front line of the climate crisis,” Essop said. “In the meantime, millions of people’s lives are at risk. We are angry, but we will keep fighting until the end.”
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston and ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin
October was 2nd warmest month on record, NOAA announces
If you thought October was unusually warm, it isn’t your imagination. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that last month was the second warmest October since the U.S. began keeping records in 1895. It was also the second driest, with less than an inch of rainfall. It should be more than double that.
October was also the second warmest on record globally when looking at land and ocean temperatures. And it was the warmest ever for land temperature alone.
According to the NOAA, there is now a 99% chance that 2024 will be the warmest year on record globally.
This new data continues 2024’s streak of having some of the driest and warmest months on record for states across the U.S.
The heat and high levels of dryness across the country have left 87% of the United States in dry or drought conditions. Widespread drought increases the risk of wildfires, as soil with no moisture burns more easily.
Mark Svoboda, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, calls the combination of heat and dryness a “double whammy.”
New Jersey and Delaware had their driest Octobers on record, and much of the Atlantic Seaboard experienced Octobers with precipitation levels much below average. The region has seen hundreds of wildfires due to these conditions, with New Jersey experiencing a 1,300% increase in fire calls.
In October, much of the United States experienced drought, with dryness expanding and increasing in the Northeast, Great Lakes, Northern Rockies and Plains, Southeast, Deep South, Southwest and the Hawaiian islands.
NOAA says that by February 2025, drought conditions should improve in the Pacific Northwest, Ohio Valley and Western Great Lakes, but are likely to expand and intensify in the Southwest and Atlantic Seaboard.
Despite the destruction they cause, tropical storms can “make or break” drought for the winter, said Svoboda. Without intense rains earlier in the year, there is little or no moisture in the ground come winter.
The dryness impacts wheat crops and livestock forage, potentially increasing food prices. Dryer soil makes wheat crops more vulnerable in colder temperatures because that soil can freeze and kill the plant, decreasing the harvest for the following year.
NOAA also reported that in 2024, 24 different billion-dollar weather and climate disasters impacted the United States through the end of October. This number is only second to last year, with a record 27 individual billion-dollar weather and climate disasters by October.
