On the ground in Odesa, Ukraine, ABC News’ Britt Clennett provides an update on the Americans who have gone missing in Ukraine after traveling there to fight against Russia.
Lev Parnas, the one-time associate of former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 months in prison for pumping foreign money into U.S. elections. Parnas, who became briefly known for helping Giuliani investigate Joe Biden's dealings in Ukraine in the lead-up to the 2020 election, was convicted last year of using funds from a wealthy Russian businessman, Andrey Muraviev, to make unlawful donations to American political candidates that Parnas thought could help with his nascent marijuana business. The defense sought leniency and a sentence of time served, while federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Parnas deserved eight years in prison.
Ten gun distributors sold tens of thousands of illegal, unfinished frames and receivers later fashioned into untraceable handguns and assault-style rifles in violation of a New York public nuisance law, a new lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges. The defendants include some of the nation's leading gun distributors, including Brownells, Indie Guns, Primary Arms and Rock Slide. The lawsuit, filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused the gun distributors of flooding the streets with ghost guns -- firearms that come packaged in parts, which can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace.
Kevin Bacon has officially joined in on the TikTok "Footloose" challenge. The actor, who played Ren McCormack in the 1984 classic, shared a video of himself trying out the viral dance challenge with his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, on Tuesday. The challenge is set to the film's theme song of the same name by Kenny Loggins.
Since last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe, MedPage Today has updated its interactive map to show where abortion bans have gone into effect. Below are additional details on abortion bans that have gone into effect since the ruling. As of June 24, a U.S. District Court judge granted an emergency motion to dissolve a preliminary injunction on the "Human Life Protection Act" -- which prohibits all abortions -- meaning that it is now enforceable.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a new alert this week, warning parents not to use baby neck floats on their children, particularly those with special needs, as part of a water therapy program because doing so could be fatal or lead to serious injury. "Neck floats are inflatable plastic rings that can be worn around a baby's neck and allow babies to float freely in water," the FDA explained in a safety communication released Tuesday, adding that they are sometimes marketed for premature babies and babies as young as 2 weeks old, and as water-therapy products. The FDA also said the "safety and effectiveness of neck floats to build strength, to promote motor development or as a physical therapy tool, have not been established."
As Americans head to crowded airports for a revival of European summer vacations, it looks like next year will be more expensive for those headed to the European Union. A 7 euro fee, translating to $7.42, is expected to go into effect in May 2023 for foreign visitors aged 18 to 70 years old as part of a new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), according to the European Commission. As part of the system, travelers will have to apply for authorization through the official website or app before their trip abroad.
LGBTQ+ social media content creators are increasingly complaining about their posts being taken down, a practice labeled as “the digital closet” by researcher Alexander Monea. Monea, who is a professor of English and cultural studies at George Mason University, spent two years digging through data sets and tracking down different anecdotes from users of major social media platforms who reported being censored, silenced or demonetized in different ways to write his book, “The Digital Closet,” which details the policing of online spaces focused on the LGBTQ+ community. “It has historically been the case that these companies never release damning information unless absolutely compelled to,” said Monea.
Scientists are hopeful that the endangered red wolf population, absent from the wild for decades, could be revived now that a significant portion of its DNA has been found in wild coyote populations. Red wolves have not existed in the wild along the Gulf Coast -- southwestern Louisiana and eastern Texas -- since the last known members of the species were captured in 1980 to establish a captive breeding population, according to a study published in Science Advances on Wednesday. Researchers who studied coyotes in Louisiana that historically mated with the red wolves found that pockets of the coyote populations carry diverse red wolf "ghost alleles," a genetic variant that has disappeared from a population, which could help bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
As many people prepare for a long summer weekend ahead, it's also the perfect time to take advantage of lots amazing Fourth of July sales. Adding to the list of retailers offering steep discounts this year is BaubleBar which has marked down more than 100 amazing styles. Accessories lovers can snag unbelievable deals on everything from stylish summer jewels to popular picks from BaubleBar's Disney collections.
The widow of a Chinese food delivery worker who was fatally shot is speaking out after her husband's alleged killer was released on bail. Glenn Hirsch, 51, was arrested in New York City on June 1 for the alleged murder of Zhiwen Yan, a Chinese food delivery worker, who was shot in the chest on April 30 while riding his scooter in the neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens. "I thank the District Attorney and the police for their efforts in obtaining and enforcing an order of protection for me, and I have faith that we will get justice for my husband, Zhiwen Yan."
Taco Bell is testing a new concoction with Cheez-It for its latest menu update, creating a giant tostada out of the iconic cheesy cracker. The two brands announced the collaboration, which tops an oversized Cheez-It -- 16 times the size of the original toasted snack, to be exact -- with layers of Taco Bell flavors and ingredients. For a limited time, the so-called Big Cheez-It Tostada will come with a serving of seasoned beef, reduced-fat sour cream, fresh diced tomatoes, crisp lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese, priced at $2.49.
The mysterious deaths of 21 teenagers at a popular nightclub in South Africa has swirled speculation and left many unanswered questions. The South African Police Service said its officers were called to the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, a suburb on the edge of East London in Eastern Cape province, on Sunday morning at around 4 a.m. local time. The local government, the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, has offered burial assistance to the victims' families.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court's liberal wing, said he will officially step down from the bench at noon on Thursday, relinquishing his duties as a justice and clearing the way for the swearing-in of the nation's first Black female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. "It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law," Breyer wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden dated Wednesday. Breyer's retirement fulfills the wish of Democrats who lobbied for his exit to make way for Biden's first nominee to the court.
Federal investigators are working to determine if an Amtrak train was traveling at a speed limit of 90 mph when it plowed into a dump truck at a Missouri railroad crossing, killing four people and injuring 150, officials said. Jennifer Homendy, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she expects investigators to know by the end of Wednesday the exact speed of the train after analyzing information from its event recorder. "In this area the speed limit is 90 miles per hour," Homendy said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The Supreme Court's landmark ruling overturning Roe v. Wade has sparked protests and fiery debates across the country -- even putting families at odds over the issue. Jessica Stamas, daughter of a Republican state senator from Michigan, posted a video on TikTok Friday after the ruling calling on women who have family members who are senators and representatives to "show them this affects their lives too," likely referring to a possible state decision on abortion. Stamas specifically called out Michigan's Democratic governor in her post.
Chris Pratt has addressed, for the first time, online backlash he received from a previous comment he made about his wife and eldest daughter. In November, Pratt had posted a photo of himself and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger on Instagram, gushing about their relationship in the caption and thanking Schwarzenegger for, among other things, giving him "a gorgeous healthy daughter," referring to their first child together, Lyla. In a new interview with Men's Health, Pratt discussed how he felt about those reactions.
Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee Tuesday added a new layer of political consequences for Donald Trump after she detailed a defiant president she said wanted to lead supporters from his rally on the Ellipse to the Capitol even after being warned they were armed. There are political ramifications as well for several vulnerable members of Congress, notably five of the 35 GOP members of the House of Representatives who voted in May 2021 in favor of a bipartisan commission to probe what surrounded the attack on U.S. Capitol and who faced a primary or runoff contest Tuesday night. Inconsistent results in these primaries show Republican voters' political fealty is unclear: Are they steadfastly loyal to Trump or are they satisfied with elements of Trumpism paired with more home-grown politics?
A spike in internet searches for abortion pills may indicate women in the United States will try to obtain the medication without a doctor's oversight, a new study finds. Researchers from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and the University of California, San Diego examined online searches following a leaked draft opinion on May 2 from the Supreme Court indicating Roe v. Wade would be overturned. The team analyzed Google search trends that mentioned "abortion pill" or "abortion medications" from Jan. 1, 2004 -- when the search engine first began collecting data -- through May 8, 2022.
A Virginia father died by an apparent suicide after finding his son dead inside his hot car, authorities said. It appears the father accidentally left the 18-month-old in the car for at least three hours on Tuesday, leading to the child's death, Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley of the Chesterfield Police Department said at a news conference.
After testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that he has joined a growing group of people experiencing a Paxlovid rebound, following treatment with Pfizer's antiviral. Fauci, 81, said that when he first tested positive two weeks ago, he had very minimal symptoms. Other than fatigue and a bit of congestion, Fauci reported that he felt "really quite well," and after his five-day course of Paxlovid, he tested negative with a rapid test.
