Selling drugs seemed like one way Jay Lingman might beat serious financial problems.Instead, Lingman told jurors his forays into cocaine dealing left him with a big debt, and an angry and armed cocaine supplier outside his front…

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The US currently has more than 14,000 migrant children in its custody, administration officials said on Thursday, even as they insist that what is happening on the southern border does not constitute a "crisis."

The latest update comes as President Joe Biden and his top advisers work urgently to devise solutions to the border situation, including scaling up capacity to house unaccompanied children and working with Mexico to help manage the flow of migrants from Central America.

READ MORE: Car in deadly crash came through hole cut in Mexico border fence

The officials said there were more than 9,500 children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services and roughly 4,500 with US Customs and Border Protection.

That represents an increase just from earlier this week. The average length of stay for a child in HHS custody is 34 days, an official added.

The situation has drawn scrutiny and accusations that Mr Biden's more welcoming stance on migrants led to a rush from Central America. Mr Biden himself sought to refute that notion in an interview this week.

But as the number of children in federal custody increases, the White House is under pressure to come up with a response that both alleviates the problem while maintaining the more humane approach that Mr Biden campaigned on.

Briefing reporters on Thursday, senior administration officials insisted it was former President Donald Trump's policies that left them in the current predicament and said flows of migrants should be expected.

"Children presenting themselves at the border is not a national crisis," said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"January 20 was not suddenly the moment the border looked differently. Numbers increase and decrease all the time," the official said.

"Adults are being turned back. Most families are being turned back. We can process and protect children coming to our borders seeking help as the law requires and our administration is doing that."

Despite the administration's efforts to downplay the current surge of migrants, CBP is on pace to encounter more individuals on the border than in the last 20 years, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Tuesday.

He said the agency is coming across children as young as six and seven years old.

Mr Mayorkas' television appearances this week, paired with briefings from officials, have been designed to show the administration is on top of the issue.

Mr Biden has drawn harsh recrimination from Republicans but also from some Democrats for his handling of it.

The administration officials said Thursday that most adult migrants and migrant families were being expelled.

But they acknowledged there were limitations on Mexico's ability to take in migrants, particularly those with young children. And they repeated that the Biden administration would not expel unaccompanied minors.

"We're dealing with the hand that we were dealt. The President inherited a mess," an official said.

"We have a whole of government approach to clean up the mess."

The administration's focus now is on expanding capacity at its facilities and speeding up the processing of unaccompanied children that would allow them to move out of the government's care more quickly, officials said on Thursday.

That includes altering COVID-19 protocols in ways that would increase the number of people allowed inside each facility, opening new facilities and paying for children's flights or transportation to be reunited with family members or guardians.

Officials also emphasised they were working through diplomatic channels to try and address root causes of migration from Central America, which include violence, poverty and – this year – two devastating hurricanes.

But those efforts are longer term. For now, the administration said it was trying to quickly scale up capacity at new CBP facilities in Texas and Arizona to house the incoming migrants while also providing a basic level of comfort.

An official said the temporary processing facility operated by CBP in Donna, Texas — which houses most of the unaccompanied children arriving at the border — "has been designed to be able to provide the best care that is possible under the circumstances."

The official said that included three meals a day, access to regular snacks, freedom of movement, telephone calls, showers and occasional outdoor recreational time.

"There is what I would say are folks doing the best they can to provide the care in a facility that is really not designed to be holding large numbers of children," an official said.

Media requests to tour the Donna facility have been repeatedly denied as DHS cites COVID restrictions.

And while the White House said on Wednesday it would discuss releasing publicly photos taken by an administration delegation of the Donna facility earlier this month, it sounded unlikely a day later.

"There was a private briefing, an internal briefing from several weeks ago. We typically don't provide those materials publicly, but we do want you to be able to, or a pool of media to be able to have your own visuals and get your own footage of these facilities," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

A severe asthma attack has left a Victorian boy debilitated in hospital after he collapsed suddenly on a school camp, with his family determined to expose the true threat of the condition.

The father of Brock Riddoch, 12, has warned other asthma sufferers to take every precaution after their son nearly died from an attack.

The Year 7 student, from Bendigo, was enjoying a school camp in Benloch, in the state's north-west, on March 2 when the camping trip turned into every parent's worst nightmare.

READ MORE: How many coronavirus breaches were recorded in your Victorian LGA

Craig Riddoch told 9news.com.au Brock first felt some tightness in his chest, so he went to take his Ventolin inside his tent.

When the Ventolin did not help, he began to panic and sought help from his teachers.

Concerned about his condition, Brock spoke to his father on the phone before he collapsed to the ground.

"He just said, 'I can't do it dad'," Mr Riddoch said.

"He passed out, he became unresponsive on the ground. From then, they worked on him for 32.5 minutes. He was gone for.

"In that time his mum and myself drove to the scene, and the ambulance and helicopters were there.

"Once we pulled in they just got a pulse back."

READ MORE: Accidental discovery could help asthma sufferers

Brock suffered brain damage due to being unresponsive for more than half an hour.

But by some miracle, paramedics were able to revive him, although the 12-year-old now has a long road to recovery ahead.

Brock was in an induced coma for a number of days in the intensive care unit of the Royal Children's Hospital.

Doctors have told the Riddoch family Brock will have to make the hospital home for at least the next six months.

READ MORE: Amazon billionaire's ex marries science teacher

Mr Riddoch said the whole experience had been like a "time warp" of agony, but he has not left his son's bedside.

"We are still quite numb about it," he said.

"It's just a nightmare. It really feels just like yesterday. The time goes very slow, but the days go very fast.

"I haven't been home since it happened. He gets anxious if you leave him."

In Australia, there were 38,792 hospitalisations where asthma was the main diagnosis in the year 2017-18.

Almost half of these were for children aged under 14 years.

Research shows children under 15 are more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than those aged 15 and over.

The staff at the hospital, along with Brock's school Catherine McAuley College, have been "amazing" in their support, Mr Riddoch said.

The family are holding onto hope Brock may one day be able to make a full recovery.

"He can't move his arms, can't move his legs, he can't do anything himself," he said.

"Every day it's small steps and we have to try and let the brain heal itself.

"It's a long road ahead. We just don't know what the future is going to hold.

"We want to give him the best possible chance he can get."

Brock has suffered minor asthma attacks before, but nowhere near this severity.

Mr Riddoch warned other asthma-sufferers to not treat their condition lightly, as the asthma attack, combined with his anxiety, had led to Brock's collapse.

Before the asthma attack, Brock was a bright and active 12-year-old, who loved footy and rugby.

"He's loved by everyone, every person that has met him just absolutely loves him," Mr Riddoch said.

An online fundraiser has raised more than $61,000 in donations to fund the rehabilitation of Brock.

"We are optimistic that he will improve each through extensive rehabilitation and therapy," his aunt Sharelle said.

"He is already responding well and each hour we are seeing improvements."

Climate protesters have been arrested after locking themselves to the roof of a truck in the middle of a busy Melbourne CBD intersection.

The two men, from the Extinction Rebellion movement, pulled the stunt at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets, to gain publicity for their upcoming climate protests in the city next week.

The pair were calling for climate intervention and action from the roof of the parked rental truck as traffic maneuvered around them.

READ MORE: Man found dead in Melbourne unit fire

https://twitter.com/LanaMurphy/status/1372676110656237573

The protesters were taken into custody after being brought down by search and rescue police about 9.20am.

Flinders Street was earlier clogged with major traffic delays and a number of tram services were impacted.

Police were directing the onslaught of traffic in the area.

"Two males were arrested at approximately 9.20am this morning following protest activity which occurred at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street," a Victoria Police statement read.

"Both men have been taken into custody and are assisting police with their enquiries.

https://twitter.com/LanaMurphy/status/1372675631306006530

"A truck which was blocking the intersection has been cleared, and tram and traffic flow has resumed."

The men in a live social media video said they had no other choice but to stage the protest.

"Doing nothing risks everything," they said.

Extinction Rebellion protesters are planning to disrupt the city every day next week.

"Nothing is off the table” in the investigation of the deadly shootings at two Atlanta massage parlours, including whether the slayings were a hate crime, US police have said.

Those attacks and a third one near the suburban town of Woodstock killed eight people and prompted President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to change their plans for a previously scheduled trip to Atlanta. The pair postponed a political event in favour of meeting today with Asian American community leaders.

A 21-year-old white man, Robert Aaron Long, is charged with murder in the killings, which took place on Tuesday. Six of those killed were women of Asian descent.

READ MORE: Suspect blames 'sex addiction' for massage parlour massacre

“Our investigation is looking at everything, so nothing is off the table,” Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr said at a news conference.

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said it was also investigating whether the killings were hate crimes.

Georgia lawmakers last year passed a hate crimes law that allows additional penalties to be imposed for certain offenses when motivated by a victim’s race, colour, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

A hate crime is not a standalone crime under the law, but it can be used to add time to a sentence once someone is convicted of another crime.

Investigators believe Mr Long had previously visited two of the Atlanta massage parlours where four of the women were killed, Mr Hampton said.

Mr Long told police that the attacks were not racially motivated.

He claimed to have a sex addiction, and authorities said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation.

Mr Long’s statements spurred outrage and widespread skepticism in the Asian American community, which has increasingly been targeted for violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Captain Jay Baker also drew criticism for saying Mr Long had “a really bad day” and “this is what he did”.

Sheriff Frank Reynolds released a statement overnight acknowledging that some of Captain Baker’s comments stirred “much debate and anger” and said the agency regrets any “heartache” caused by his words.

“In as much as his words were taken or construed as insensitive or inappropriate, they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect,” Sheriff Reynolds said, adding that Captain Baker “had a difficult task before him, and this was one of the hardest in his 28 years in law enforcement”.

Lawyer J. Daran Burns issued a statement saying he had been appointed to represent Mr Long.

He offered condolences to victims’ families and said he was working on Mr Long’s behalf “to investigate the facts and circumstances” surrounding the slayings.

Mr Long waived his right to an initial hearing in Cherokee County Magistrate Court on his lawyer’s advice, the statement said.

The president and vice president were already scheduled to travel to Atlanta to tout the US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, but the trip took on new meaning after the shootings.

The visit also comes amid an intense debate over voter rights in Georgia.

Ms Harris is the first vice president of Asian descent.

During the trip, Mr Biden and Ms Harris will instead meet with Asian American leaders to discuss the ongoing threats against the community, meet with other local leaders and visit the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for an update on the pandemic.

READ MORE: Alleged gunman said shooting wasn't race-related

Yesterday, Mr Biden directed that flags be flown at half-staff through sunset Monday in honour of the dead.

At a congressional hearing on violence against Asian Americans that was scheduled before the shootings, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler called for the government to “investigate and swiftly address” growing tensions but did not call for a specific course of action.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would assign a person at the Justice Department to expedite the review of hate crimes related to COVID-19 and provide additional support to state and local authorities to respond to those crimes.

But it is unclear if the bill by Democrats Grace Meng of New York and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii will get a vote.

Testifying at the hearing, Ms Meng urged Democratic leaders to move the legislation and said lawmakers “cannot turn a blind eye” to people who are living in fear.

“Our community is bleeding,” Ms Meng said.

“We are in pain. And for the last year, we’ve been screaming out for help.”

There was some tension as a Republican on the panel, Texas Rep. Chip Roy, charged that Democrats were trying to control speech.

“When we start policing free speech, we’re doing the very thing that we’re condemning when we condemn what the Chinese Communist Party does to their country,” Mr Roy said.

“And that’s exactly where this wants to go.”

Ms Meng responded angrily to Mr Roy’s comments, saying that Republicans “can talk about issues with any other country you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bull’s-eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids”.

President Vladimir Putin has responded to US President Joe Biden's description of the Russian leader as a killer by citing America's past and present troubles, from slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans to racial injustice.

Mr Biden was asked in an interview this week whether he thought Mr Putin was a killer, and he replied, "I do", a remark that prompted Russia to recall its ambassador in Washington for consultations and warn about further retaliation.

Mr Biden has taken a tough stance on Russia, saying that the days of the US "rolling over" to Mr Putin are done, contrasting his style with the approach of former President Donald Trump, who avoided direct confrontation and frequently spoke about Mr Putin with approval.

READ MORE: Russia, Iran launched campaigns to influence US election

Mr Putin was asked about Mr Biden's comment during a video call marking the anniversary of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, and he responded with an "it-takes-one-to-know-one"-style remark, saying his counterpart's words reflected the United States' own problems.

At the same time, he offered to have a phone call with Mr Biden to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Mr Putin pointed at the US atomic bombing of Japan during World War II, as well as its history of slavery and slaughtering Native Americans, noting the painful legacies weighing on the United States.

"Otherwise, where would the Black Lives Matter movement come from?" he said, citing racial injustice and the killing of African Americans.

The exchange of tough statements follows a declassified report from the US national intelligence director's office that found Mr Putin authorised influence operations to try to help Mr Trump in his failed bid to win reelection in November.

The Kremlin has dismissed the report as baseless.

"(Putin) will pay a price," Mr Biden said in the interview, asked about the declassified report.

READ MORE: Cold War-era submarine once in Harrison Ford film catches fire

Mr Biden's administration warned that Russia would face sanctions soon over its attempt to influence last year's US election and the massive Solar Wind hacks.

The spiralling tensions have brought US-Russian relations to the point where they were at the end of President Barack Obama's administration, a chilly strain that differed markedly from Mr Trump's efforts to court Mr Putin.

Asked what he would tell Mr Biden in response to his remarks, Mr Putin said: "I would tell him: 'Be well.' I wish him health, and I say that without any irony or joking."

Recalling his youth, Mr Putin said that he and his friends would respond to insults with the taunt: "The names you call are what you are yourself" — a Russian version of the childhood riposte, "I'm rubber, you're glue; what you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

"It's not just a rhymed childish joke; it has a deep psychological meaning: We see our own qualities in another person, we think he's like us and judge him accordingly," he added.

READ MORE: Russian's abandoned frozen ghost towns

Mr Putin said the US establishment likes to air accusations against other countries as part of its efforts to "solve domestic and foreign policy problems."

He noted that Russia would still cooperate with the United States where and when it supports Moscow's interests, adding that "a lot of honest and decent people in the US want to have peace and friendship with Russia."

"We are aware of it, we value it and will rely on them in the future," Mr Putin said.

"I know that the US and its leadership is generally inclined to have certain relations with us, but only on issues which are of interest to the US and on its conditions," Mr Putin said.

"But we know how to defend our own interests, and we will work with them only in the areas we are interested in and on conditions we see as beneficial to ourselves. And they will have to reckon with it."

Speaking in separate comments, Mr Putin said he would ask the Foreign Ministry to arrange a call with Mr Biden in the next few days to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, regional conflicts and other issues.

"I wouldn't delay it for long, I would like to go to the taiga for a quick break over the weekend, so we can do it tomorrow or Monday," Mr Putin said in televised remarks, without specifying where in Siberia he plans to visit.

READ MORE: US, EU sanction Russian official's over Navalny poisoning

"We must continue our relations," he noted.

"Last time, President Biden initiated a call and now I would like to offer President Biden to continue our discussions. It would be in the interest of both Russian and the US people and other countries, bearing in mind that we bear a special responsibility for global security as the largest nuclear powers."

Other Russian officials and lawmakers were less diplomatic.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council who served as president in 2008-2012 when Mr Putin had to shift into the premier's job because of term limits, said that "time hasn't spared" the 78-year-old Mr Biden and cited Sigmund Freud as saying, "Nothing costs so much in life as illness and stupidity."

And Andrei Turchak, the leader of the main pro-Kremlin United Russia party, described Biden's remarks as a reflection of "the US political marasmus and its leader's dementia."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov deplored what he called "very bad remarks by the US president" that made it clear that "he doesn't want to normalise relations."

"We will proceed accordingly," Mr Peskov said in a conference call with reporters, noting that "there was nothing like that in history."

He wouldn't answer if Russia could go as far as to break diplomatic ties with the United States.

Konstantin Kosachev, a deputy speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house, said Mr Biden's "boorish statement" marks a watershed in Washington's relations with Moscow, warning that Russia's response wouldn't be limited to recalling its ambassador "if the American side fails to offer explanation and excuse."

READ MORE: Strange striped patterns in Russia snow baffle NASA scientists

Commenting on the Russian move Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki emphasised that "we will be direct, we will speak out on areas where we have concerns, and it will certainly be, as the president said last night — certainly, the Russians will be held accountable for the actions that they have taken."

Russia's relations with the United States and the European Union already have plunged to post-Cold War lows after Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, election meddling, hacking attacks and most recently, the jailing of Russia's opposition leader Alexei Navalny that followed his poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian authorities rejected the accusations.

Asked about Mr Biden's remark on Mr Putin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin expects "a clear language in Washington toward Russia," but emphasised that "there needs to be dialogue and agreement" on issues such as climate change and disarmament, noting that Mr Biden quickly extended the New START arms control agreement with Russia.

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