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Monday May 12, 2025
When President Donald Trump arrives in the Persian Gulf Tuesday for his first overseas visit since regaining the White House, he'll touch down in a region that's rich in opportunity. On the diplomatic front, he's expected to focus on trade agreements and economic ties.
But for Trump and his family, there are also opportunities in the form of business ventures and real estate deals.
Some ethics experts say the way his family business has approached these opportunities brings up familiar concerns of potential conflicts of interest as Trump meets with the region's leaders, who could hold sway over the success of Trump's ventures there.
During Trump's first term, his family said they wouldn't pursue any new overseas business ventures. But now, in Trump's second term, the Trump Organization has several active projects in the Gulf region -- including some that have launched in the months since Trump returned to office -- suggesting that his self-imposed moratorium has dissipated.
Trump's visit to the United Arab Emirates, for example, comes just over a week after the Trump Organization announced the development of an 80-floor residential building and club called the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai.
At a launch party for the project last week, an executive of Dar Global, the development firm partnering with the Trump Organization, said in a highly produced social media clip that the project "is perfectly positioned to capture Dubai's growth, offering investors the rare chance to be part of a global success -- powered by the Trump name and Dar Global's expertise."
And last week, the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm would be making a major $2 billion investment in the firm.
USD1, World Liberty Financial's so-called "stablecoin" -- a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value -- is expected to be used to complete Emirati investment firm MGX's $2 billion investment transaction in crypto exchange Binance, ABC News reported.
In Qatar, Trump will arrive just two weeks after his son Eric Trump inked a deal to develop a $5.5 billion golf club just north of Doha, called the Trump International Golf Club, Simaisima, which will include "an 18-hole golf course, exclusive clubhouse, and Trump-branded villas," according to plans.
And in Saudi Arabia, three Trump Organization projects are currently underway, including two residential projects and a golf course. The development firm they've partnered with for many of these regional projects, Dar Global, reportedly has close ties to the Saudi government.
Trump also recently hosted a high-profile golf tournament for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour at his Trump National Doral resort near Miami.
Before Trump was sworn in for his second term, Eric Trump announced that the Trump Organization had hired an outside ethics adviser to help the firm enact a "series of comprehensive ethical measures" that would "proactively address potential conflicts."
"Although neither federal law nor the United States Constitution prohibits Presidents from continuing to own, operate, and manage their businesses and investments while in office, The Trump Organization has taken these additional steps as part of its ongoing commitment to ensuring transparency, upholding the highest legal standards and avoiding even the appearance of ethical concerns," said the announcement.
Many ethics experts have roundly criticized the arrangement as insufficient. Danielle Brian, executive director of the nonpartisan government watchdog Project on Government Oversight, told ABC News that the Trump Organization’s business endeavors, including those overseas, are entirely legal -- but that Trump is "taking the weakness in our current ethics laws ... to just a whole new level in this administration."
"We've never seen the kind of money at stake and the kind of brazen leveraging of political power for a personal financial gain that we've seen in this administration," Brian said.
Ahead of Trump's visit to the Gulf, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote that "Trump knows that the decisions he makes as president could affect his bottom line, and foreign officials in those countries could provide special treatment for the president of the United States -- or exact punishment for decisions they don't like."
Trump has yet to release his financial disclosures as president, so it's unclear what arrangements he has made to ensure a firewall between his personal businesses and his presidency. But Trump and the White House have repeatedly and forcefully denied that his private business interests amount to a conflict of interest.
Asked Friday whether Trump would conduct any personal business meetings during his visit to the Middle East, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was "frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit."Ahead of Trump's visit to the Gulf, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote that "Trump knows that the decisions he makes as president could affect his bottom line, and foreign officials in those countries could provide special treatment for the president of the United States -- or exact punishment for decisions they don't like."When President Donald Trump arrives in the Persian Gulf Tuesday for his first overseas visit since regaining the White House, he'll touch down in a region that's rich in opportunity. On the diplomatic front, he's expected to focus on trade agreements and economic ties.
But for Trump and his family, there are also opportunities in the form of business ventures and real estate deals.
Some ethics experts say the way his family business has approached these opportunities brings up familiar concerns of potential conflicts of interest as Trump meets with the region's leaders, who could hold sway over the success of Trump's ventures there.
During Trump's first term, his family said they wouldn't pursue any new overseas business ventures. But now, in Trump's second term, the Trump Organization has several active projects in the Gulf region -- including some that have launched in the months since Trump returned to office -- suggesting that his self-imposed moratorium has dissipated.
Trump's visit to the United Arab Emirates, for example, comes just over a week after the Trump Organization announced the development of an 80-floor residential building and club called the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai.
At a launch party for the project last week, an executive of Dar Global, the development firm partnering with the Trump Organization, said in a highly produced social media clip that the project "is perfectly positioned to capture Dubai's growth, offering investors the rare chance to be part of a global success -- powered by the Trump name and Dar Global's expertise."
And last week, the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm would be making a major $2 billion investment in the firm.
USD1, World Liberty Financial's so-called "stablecoin" -- a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value -- is expected to be used to complete Emirati investment firm MGX's $2 billion investment transaction in crypto exchange Binance, ABC News reported.
In Qatar, Trump will arrive just two weeks after his son Eric Trump inked a deal to develop a $5.5 billion golf club just north of Doha, called the Trump International Golf Club, Simaisima, which will include "an 18-hole golf course, exclusive clubhouse, and Trump-branded villas," according to plans.
And in Saudi Arabia, three Trump Organization projects are currently underway, including two residential projects and a golf course. The development firm they've partnered with for many of these regional projects, Dar Global, reportedly has close ties to the Saudi government.
Trump also recently hosted a high-profile golf tournament for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour at his Trump National Doral resort near Miami.
Before Trump was sworn in for his second term, Eric Trump announced that the Trump Organization had hired an outside ethics adviser to help the firm enact a "series of comprehensive ethical measures" that would "proactively address potential conflicts."
"Although neither federal law nor the United States Constitution prohibits Presidents from continuing to own, operate, and manage their businesses and investments while in office, The Trump Organization has taken these additional steps as part of its ongoing commitment to ensuring transparency, upholding the highest legal standards and avoiding even the appearance of ethical concerns," said the announcement.
Many ethics experts have roundly criticized the arrangement as insufficient. Danielle Brian, executive director of the nonpartisan government watchdog Project on Government Oversight, told ABC News that the Trump Organization’s business endeavors, including those overseas, are entirely legal -- but that Trump is "taking the weakness in our current ethics laws ... to just a whole new level in this administration."
"We've never seen the kind of money at stake and the kind of brazen leveraging of political power for a personal financial gain that we've seen in this administration," Brian said.
Ahead of Trump's visit to the Gulf, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote that "Trump knows that the decisions he makes as president could affect his bottom line, and foreign officials in those countries could provide special treatment for the president of the United States -- or exact punishment for decisions they don't like."
Trump has yet to release his financial disclosures as president, so it's unclear what arrangements he has made to ensure a firewall between his personal businesses and his presidency. But Trump and the White House have repeatedly and forcefully denied that his private business interests amount to a conflict of interest.
Asked Friday whether Trump would conduct any personal business meetings during his visit to the Middle East, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was "frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit."Ahead of Trump's visit to the Gulf, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote that "Trump knows that the decisions he makes as president could affect his bottom line, and foreign officials in those countries could provide special treatment for the president of the United States -- or exact punishment for decisions they don't like."
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LONDON -- American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander -- held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 -- was set to be released Monday after successful negotiations between the U.S. and the Palestinian group.
Israeli security officials told ABC News there would be a temporary pause in combat, airstrikes and aerial reconnaissance in the area of Gaza where Alexander is to be released.
The pause will last until Alexander crosses into Israeli territory, officials said, which is expected to take less than 30 minutes.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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The U.S. and China issued a joint statement on Monday announcing an agreement to cut reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, with both sides "recognizing the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship."
U.S. and Chinese representatives convened for talks in Geneva, Switzerland, this weekend in a bid to establish the basis for negotiations in a broader potential trade deal. President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff measures announced in April touched off a spiralling trade war between the two economic giants, roiling markets and prompting fears of a recession in the U.S.
"We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially move down the tariff levels," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a Monday press conference in Geneva. "Both sides, on the reciprocal tariffs, will move their tariffs down 115%," Bessent said.
U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer added that the U.S and China will maintain 10% reciprocal tariffs as part of the agreement.
"Today, with this agreement, we come to agreement that though that our reciprocal tariff rate will go down to 10% on the United States side," Greer said. "The Chinese on their side also go down 115% to 10% and they remove the countermeasures that they have in place."
Greer confirmed that during the pause, the effective tariff on Chinese goods entering the U.S. will be 30%. He also said that China's effective tariffs will be at 10% for the duration of the pause. The changes will come into force by Wednesday, the joint U.S.-China statement said.
"What matters for the agreement today is that we each agreed to come down on the reciprocal tariff and related retaliation to 10%," Greer said.
Monday's announcement followed two days of talks that both sides described as successful.
In a media briefing on Sunday, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said trade talks with the U.S. "achieved substantial progress and reached important consensus."
Earlier Sunday, the White House said that it reached an agreement without providing any details.
While Greer called it a "deal," Bessent said only that "substantial progress" had been made.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News' Lauren Minore, Hannah Demissie and Alex Ederson contributed to this report.
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(LOS ANGELES) -- At least one person was killed and 32 others were injured in a fiery collision Sunday morning between a packed tour bus and a disabled SUV stalled on a freeway in Los Angeles County, authorities said.
The collision occurred just after 5 a.m. Pacific Time on State Route 60 near the unincorporated Los Angeles County community of Hacienda Heights east of downtown Los Angeles, according to a statement from Officer Zachary Salazar, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
The tour bus was carrying 63 passengers when it collided with a Nissan Pathfinder that was disabled in the westbound lanes, the CHP said in a statement. The Nissan burst into flames as a result of the collision, the statement said.The driver of the Nissan, whose name was not immediately released, died at the scene after becoming trapped in the burning vehicle, the statement said.
The fire did not spread to the tour bus but 32 of the 63 people aboard the vehicle were taken to local hospitals for treatment of injuries, according to Salazar.
The tour bus driver, identified by the CHP as Sui Sheng Du, slammed into the rear of the disabled SUV, according to a preliminary investigation by the CHP.
"As a result of the impact, the Nissan Pathfinder became fully engulfed in flames, trapping the occupant," according to the CHP statement.
Following the collision, the bus veered to the right across multiple lanes of the freeway and crashed into a raised metal and wood guardrail along the right shoulder, the CHP said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said two bus passengers were in critical condition and the remaining victims suffered minor to moderate injuries.
Salazar said the tour bus was heading to Koreatown in downtown Los Angeles when the crash occurred. He said the bus was coming from Morongo Valley, about 110 miles east of Los Angeles.
Images of the bus taken by ABC Los Angeles station KABC showed substantial front-end damage to the vehicle.
It was not immediately clear what caused the SUV to become disabled, Salazar said.
The CHP said neither alcohol nor drugs appeared to be a factor in the crash.
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(LONDON) -- Israel's decision to halt all humanitarian aid from crossing into Gaza is entering its third month.
The Israeli government said the blockade is to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, including the remains of those who have died, and to accept a new proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal, which ended on March 18.
Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) wrote in a post on X in late April that humanitarian personnel have been allowed to enter and exit Gaza to support humanitarian efforts in the strip.
But multiple doctors and international aid workers told ABC News that water, food, medicine and medical supplies are running low, and in some cases running out completely.
Children are becoming malnourished, diseases are at risk of spreading and those who are injured cannot be treated properly, the workers said.
"If nothing is done, if food is not brought in, if water is not brought in, if vaccines are not brought in at scale -- we're already in a catastrophe, and we're going to have way more children dying [from] preventable causes," Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for UNICEF Palestine, told ABC News.
A Trump administration official told ABC News there is a no-yet-finalized plan to administer the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, starting with fewer than half a dozen distribution sites set up throughout the enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.
Children becoming malnourished
The lack of food entering Gaza is one of the most severe problems the strip is facing, according to aid workers.
Osama As, the lead for quality, evidence and learning with the Mercy Corps Gaza Emergency Response Program, said the situation "is getting worse day after day, especially in relation to food" because most people in Gaza depend on humanitarian aid and community kitchens for food.
He said most families survive on one meal a day, and that most food available is canned food and bread.
"I never imagined that we would reach this point. Most people cannot afford the remaining items, which are either like canned foods and few quantities of vegetables which are produced locally here in Gaza," As, who is based in Gaza, said. "The prices are very high, so I think most people cannot afford these kinds of items to buy from the local market."
Dr. Ahmed Alfar, head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, said he has seen many examples of malnourished children over the past two months.
One example he gave is a baby girl named Siwar, who was born four months ago. At birth, she weighed 2.5 kilograms, or 5.5 pounds.
Four months later, she should be weighing about 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds. Instead, she is only about 6 pounds, according to Alfar.
Alfar said the mother is unable to lactate and the family does not have much money, so they have been unable to feed Siwar milk, just sweetened water.
"That means in four months she gained just 200 grams, and this is unbelievable," he told ABC News in Arabic. "She was a full-term baby. She was delivered vaginally. Her health was completely normal. ... We called it one of the most severe [cases of] malnutrition. Now Siwar is facing a severe, critical situation."
Similarly, Crickx, from UNICEF Palestine, who is currently in Al Mawasi, in southern Gaza, said he visited Nasser Hospital this week and met a 4-year-old boy named Osama.
Crickx said Osama should weigh 15 to 16 kilograms, about 33 to 35 pounds. Instead, he weighs 8 kilograms, or 17.5 pounds, Crickx said.
He said UNICEF and its partners have a small number of ready-to-use therapeutic foods to treat malnutrition, but they are running out. UNICEF has already run out of food meant to address the first signs of malnutrition.
"[Osama] has, really, the skin on the bones, and he was healthy before the beginning of this terrible war," Crickx said. "So, we are now in a situation where children are hungry, they are little by little being affected more and more by acute malnutrition, acute severe malnutrition. And if nothing is done, we fear that the worst will happen to them."
Community kitchen workers told ABC News if the border crossings remain closed, markets will close, and ingredients will run out. Some food relief organizations have already closed.
In late April, the United Nations' World Food Programme said it had delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in Gaza, and it expected to fully run out of food in the coming days. Additionally, the nonprofit group World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced on Wednesday that it had run out of supplies and ingredients needed to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza.
WCK said it has trucks loaded with food and cooking fuel that have been ready to enter Gaza since early March as well as additional food and equipment ready to be shipped from Jordan and Egypt.
"In recent weeks, our teams stretched every remaining ingredient and fuel source using creativity and determination. We turned to alternative fuels like wood pallets and olive husk pellets and pivoted away from rice recipes that require more fuel in favor of stews with bread," WCK said. "But we have now reached the limits of what is possible."
Risk of spreading disease
The blockade has also had an impact on the spread of disease in Gaza, aid workers said.
Overcrowding in tent camps -- along with a lack of clean water, hygiene products and poor sanitation -- puts Gazans at risk of contracting infectious diseases, they said.
Limited supplies of soap and hygienic products "will continue to lead to escalation in skin manifestations of diseases like scabies," Dr. Aqsa Durrani, a pediatrician who was recently on assignment in Gaza with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, told ABC News.
It's unclear how many infections have been diagnosed over the past two months but a study from April 2024 estimated 55,400 cases of scabies and lice outbreaks among children under age five who were displaced.
Limited clean drinking water and overcrowded camps has also led to a rise in diarrheal diseases. A report from the Institute for Palestine Studies estimates at least half of cases recorded as of Jan. 2024 have been among children under 5 years old.
Crickx said a majority of children are affected by chronic watery diarrhea, which can lead to serious complications for babies and toddlers.
There has also been a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases in Gaza including hepatitis A, chickenpox, measles and polio.
Aid workers say the blockade imposed by Israel has halted the delivery of vaccines, such as the oral polio vaccine to Gaza, leaving residents vulnerable to diseases.
"Even in these terrible conditions, we have pregnant women and babies still being born in this community and population of 2 million people," Durrani said. "And so, we need more vaccinations as well vaccines."
Hospitals running out of supplies to treat injured
Since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded by declaring war, thousands have reportedly been killed or injured. Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas and that it attempts to minimize civilian casualties as often as possible.
More than 15 months into the conflict, Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire deal. The ceasefire saw the withdrawal of some Israeli forces to allow more aid to get in and the release of some of the hostages.
However, resumption of hostilities in mid-March led to an increase in injuries, Crickx said. UNICEF estimates that more than 500 children have been killed since March 18 and more than 1.250 children have been injured.
Durrani -- who worked as medical activity manager for MSF at a field hospital in Deir al Balah in central Gaza from the end of February until the end of April -- said she saw injuries caused by air strikes, fires after air strikes and from large cooking fires.
"Because there's no cooking gas, people are burning household items and trying to cook over large open flames,' she said. "So, we also saw children with burns due to those flames, as well as scald burns from children who had been waiting in food distribution lines, and the jostling of the food items would then lead to them being injured from hot food."
What's more, burn victims or those who are injured can take longer to heal due to malnourishment. They can also be at risk of infections or skin graft failure.
Durrani explained that poor wound healing can be associated with poor nutrition, which resulted in some pediatric burn patients developing infections.
"Not only was our staff hungry, but we also had no food for our patients, including our pediatric patients," Durrani said. "Other than just being harrowing from a human perspective, it's also, from a medical perspective, really impacts the way that people can heal from these injuries, and these types of burns."
"Not even being clear that we will have enough antibiotics to treat the infection if the patients develop infections," she continued. "In the face of also not having enough surgical materials or concern that we may run critically low on anesthesia supplies if they need to go back to the [operating room]."
In conversations with doctors this week, Crickx said hospitals are experiencing shortages of anesthetics and anticoagulants. There is also a lack of medical supplies to fix bones when they suffer fractures, he said.
Durrani said her team was forced to ration medications, including painkillers, antibiotics and critical surgery supplies. They often had to perform painful procedures and wound dressing changes without any pain control.
She said she didn't want to cause pain by removing dressings without proper pain control, but if the dressings aren't removed, then it could lead to infections for patients.
"We're being forced to make impossible decisions like that, which is unconscionable, given that just miles away there are trucks and trucks full of food and supplies and medications and nutritional sources," she said. "For me personally, this is the first time that I had to look patients in the eye and say I didn't have something that I know is just miles away."
ABC News' Shannon Kingston and Diaa Ostaz contributed to this report.
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(LONDON) -- Ukraine and its allies "are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire" with Russia "for at least 30 days" beginning on Monday, the Ukrainian foreign minister said Saturday.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting already on Monday. If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
The European Union supports "the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine, the head of the EU's main executive body said Saturday, adding that the "ball is now in Russia's court."
"It must be implemented without preconditions to pave the way for meaningful peace negotiations," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X. "We stand ready to maintain strong pressure on Russia and impose further biting sanctions in the event of a breach of a ceasefire."
The United Kingdom, France and Germany are saying they -- with U.S-backing -- are demanding Russia's Vladimir Putin accept a 30-day ceasefire or they will all together increase sanctions on Moscow and increase military support to Ukraine.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said "all of us here, together with US, are calling Putin out." If he is "serious" about peace then "he has a chance to show it now by extending the VE Day pause into a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire," Starmer said.
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(WASHINGTON) -- Earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced he will be nominating Dr. Casey Means for U.S. surgeon general, replacing his former pick, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, after questions emerged about her credentials.
Means has been prominent in the "Make America Healthy Again" movement championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In a post on social media, Trump said Means would work closely with Kennedy "to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans."
Means describes herself online as a "former surgeon turned metabolic health evangelist" who is "striving to create a happier and healthier world and planet."
Here is what we know about Means' background and what her views are on various health topics.
Medical background
Means graduated from Stanford University in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in human biology and a doctor of medicine degree from Stanford School of Medicine in 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was a resident physician at Oregon Health and Science University with the goal of becoming an otolaryngology surgeon, also known as a head and neck surgeon, but she dropped out in her fifth year.
"During my training as a surgeon, I saw how broken and exploitative the healthcare system is and left to focus on how to keep people out of the operating room," she wrote on her website.
Means went on to study functional medicine, which looks to prevent disease and illness. She is not board-certified in a medical specialty.
The Oregon Medical Board currently lists her medical license as inactive.
Following her exit from the residency, she was a guest lecturer at Stanford for less than a year and an associate editor at the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention for two and a half years, according to LinkedIn.
Over the course of her career, she co-founded Levels, an app that allows people to track their food. along with biometric data like sleep and glucose monitoring, to see how their diet is impacting their health.
Rise to prominence
Means wrote a book with her brother, Calley Means, titled "Good Energy," which was published in May 2024 and allegedly takes a look at why Americans are sick and how to fix it.
The Means siblings appeared on podcasts, including The Tucker Carlson Show in August 2024 and The Joe Rogan Experience in October 2024.
On Tucker Carlson's show, Casey Means said birth control is being "prescribed like candy" and that Ozempic has a "stranglehold on the U.S. population."
The siblings rose to prominence within the Trump campaign and among Trump allies, including Kennedy. They appeared at a September 2024 roundtable discussion on health with Kennedy hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc.
"The message I'm here to share and reiterate is that American health is getting destroyed," Casey Means said during her opening remarks. "It's being destroyed because of chronic illness."
Meanwhile, Calley Means currently serves as White House senior adviser and special government employee. He has worked closely with Kennedy and has touted many of his health proposals.
Controversial views
Casey Means' views mirror those of Kennedy's with a focus on tackling the chronic disease epidemic, creating a healthier food supply and expressing vaccine skepticism.
She has called for the removal of ultra-processed foods in school lunches and has advocated for organic, regenerative foods in school meals.
In 2021, she wrote in a post on X that glucose "as a molecule has caused more destruction of the human mind and body than any other substance in human history."
Glucose is a naturally occurring molecule that our body depends on for energy.
Casey Means has expressed skepticism about the safety of childhood vaccines and has called for more research on the "safety of the cumulative effects" of vaccines when following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine schedule, she wrote in her Good Energy newsletter.
"There is growing evidence that the total burden of the current extreme and growing vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children. This needs to be investigated," she continued.
She has also criticized the administration of hepatitis B vaccine among infants, which is recommended by the CDC.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that childhood vaccines or the current CDC vaccine schedule are unsafe.
ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
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(LONDON) -- India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire, ending tensions that had been rising since an April attack on Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Officials from India also confirmed that the country agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire.
President Donald Trump first announced the ceasefire in a post on social media.
"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a post on his platform Truth Social.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a statement that over the past two days, Vice President JD Vance and he conversed with Indian and Pakistani officials to broker an immediate ceasefire.
"We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace," Rubio said in a statement.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday thanked President Trump "for his leadership and proactive role" and said this "marks a new beginning in the resolution of issues that have plagued the region."
Earlier Saturday, Indian officials said during a press briefing that Pakistan had attacked 26 locations across India and the Pakistani military had begun moving its troops "into forward areas."
"I have said on numerous earlier occasions, it is Pakistani actions that have constituted provocations and escalations," Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said. "In response, India has defended and reacted in a responsible and measured fashion to these provocations and escalations by the Pakistani side. Earlier this morning, we saw a repeat of this escalatory and provocative pattern."
Indian Army Col. Sofiya Qureshi said the forward movements of Pakistani troops indicate "offensive intent to further escalate the situation.""Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness," Qureshi said. "All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded appropriately. Indian armed forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is reciprocated by the Pakistan military."
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh denied that Pakistani strikes have caused any damage to India's military infrastructure.
"Pakistan has also attempted to execute a continued malicious misinformation campaign, with claims of destruction of the Indian S-400 system at Adampur, destruction of airfields at Surat and Sirsa, Brahmos space at Nagrota, artillery gun positions in Derangyari and Chandigarh ammunitions depot, with heavy damage to other military stations being propagated on social media," Singh said. "India unequivocally rejects these false claims being spread by Pakistan."
India and Pakistan have exchanged cross-border fire and strikes for the past several days, with civilian casualties reported on both sides.
Tensions have been rising between the nuclear-armed neighbors since the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which India blamed on Pakistani-backed militants. In response, India on Wednesday launched strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir targeting what it called "terrorist infrastructure."
Pakistan has denied any involvement in last month's attack and said it is conducting retaliatory strikes on India and Indian-controlled Kashmir.
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(NEW YORK) -- Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student who was arrested last month during his citizenship interview, can remain free from custody while his case proceeds, a federal appeals court said on Friday.
The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit denied an effort by the Trump administration to stay a federal judge's ruling ordering Mahdawi's release.
Mahdawi, who co-founded a university organization called the Palestinian Student Union with detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank before moving in 2014 to the U.S. where he has been a legal resident for 10 years.
His lawyers believe that, like Khalil, he is being targeted by the Trump administration under Immigration and Nationality Act section 237(a)(4)(C)(i), which asserts that the secretary of state can deem a person deportable if they have reasonable ground to believe that the person's presence or activities in the U.S. could have adverse foreign policy consequences.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford last week ordered Mahdawi released from detention while his case proceeds, finding that Mahdawi presents no flight risk and saying that the Columbia University student should remain in Vermont, where he has a home, and attend school remotely.
On Friday, the appeals court agreed with Judge Crawford's order and concluded that the government has not shown any "irreparably injury from either his release on bail or continued presence in the District of Vermont pending his removal proceedings."
The three-judge panel also said the government is "unlikely to succeed" on its arguments that Judge Crawford did not have jurisdiction over Mahdawi's habeas petition and said the Justice Department was also "unlikely to succeed" on its claims that the district court lacked the authority to order Mahdawi's release.
"The practical effect of the relief the government seeks would be Mahdawi's re-detention," the judges said. "Individual liberty substantially outweighs the government's weak assertions of administrative and logistical costs."
Mahdawi, who is expected to graduate from Columbia next month, was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont, where he was taking his last step in the process to become a U.S. citizen.
In an interview with ABC News after his release, Mahdawi recounted his arrest and detainment, saying that he feared his citizenship interview was a "trap."
"It was a moment of like, should I be happy or should I be cautious when I received the notice?" Mahdawi told ABC News about receiving the notice for his citizenship interview. "And I sense that this might be a trap. And for sure, indeed, it was an alarm bell where I directly reached out to my legal team in order to navigate, you know, the pros and cons and this risk that I think that I may lose my freedom."
In response to the government's allegations against him, Mahdawi and his lawyers have disputed accusations that he ever threatened Israelis or those of the Jewish faith.
"So for them to accuse me of this is not going to work, because I am a person who actually has condemned antisemitism," Mahdawi told ABC News. "And I believe that the fight against antisemitism and the fight to free Palestine go hand in hand, because, as Martin Luther King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
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(NEW YORK) -- The U.S. has surpassed 1,000 measles cases for the first time in five years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Friday.
A total of 1,001 cases have been confirmed in 30 states including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The last time the U.S. recorded more than 1,000 cases occurred in 2019, when there were 1,274 confirmed infections over the course of a year, CDC data shows.
The CDC says 13% of measles patients in the U.S. this year have been hospitalized, the majority of whom are under age 19.
Among the nationally confirmed cases, CDC says about 96% are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Meanwhile, 2% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 2% of cases are among those who received the required two doses, according to the CDC.
In Texas, where an outbreak has been spreading in the western part of the state, at least 709 cases have been confirmed as of Friday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
A total of 92 patients have been hospitalized over the course of the outbreak and at least two school-aged children have died. Both were unvaccinated and had no known underlying conditions, DSHS said.
A third measles death was recorded in New Mexico among an unvaccinated adult who tested positive after dying, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. At least 71 cases have been recorded in New Mexico, mostly in Lea County, which borders western Texas, department data shows.
In both Texas and New Mexico, most cases have occurred among those who are unvaccinated or with unknown vaccination status, mirroring national trends.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, CDC data show vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2023 to 2024 school year, 92.7% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 93.1% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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(NEWARK, N.J.) -- Radar screens at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport went black again early Friday morning.
The outage happened at 3:55 a.m. and lasted about 90 seconds, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Air traffic controllers could be heard telling a FedEx plane that their screens went dark and then asking the aircraft to tell their company to put pressure on to get the problem fixed.
In another transmission, a controller told an arriving private jet that the airport just had a brief radar outage and to stay at or above 3,000 feet in case the controllers couldn't get in touch during the aircraft's descent.
The FAA called it a "telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C," which is the facility that covers the airspace around Newark.
Last week, an outage at Newark caused ATC computer screens to go dark for roughly 60 to 90 seconds and prevented controllers from talking to aircraft during that time, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the incident. As a result, the FAA briefly halted all departures to the airport.
Following the outage, several controllers went on medical leave, calling the experience a traumatic event. The controllers are entitled to at least 45 days away from the job and must be evaluated by a doctor before they can return to work.
The facility in Philadelphia which covers Newark was already short on air traffic controllers.
This increased shortage sparked massive delays and cancellations at Newark over the last two weeks.
On Thursday, the Department of Transportation announced plans for a new, "state-of-the-art" air traffic control system to replace the "antiquated" system, saying it will improve safety and cut back on delays.
Changes include swapping out old telecommunications for "new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies"; "installing new modern hardware and software"; replacing 618 old radars; and building six new air traffic control centers and replacing towers, the Transportation Department said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he hopes to have the system built in the next three to four years.
Duffy didn’t ballpark a price tag, simply saying it will cost "billions." Duffy said he will ask for the full amount up-front from Congress, which has previously signaled support over calls for the modernization of ATC systems.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(VATICAN CITY) -- Prior to being elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV had a presence on Twitter, and later X, where he sometimes shared messages that appeared to be critical of some of President Donald Trump's policies.
Cardinal Robert Prevost appears to have an X account with the handle @drprevost and posted, replied and reposted content since 2011, according to his page.
A picture of Prevost and Pope Francis holding each others arms in their robes inside a church is the profile image for the account.
While most of the new pope's 439 posts involved posting articles about the latest developments from the Vatican and dioceses from around the world, he did share other posts from time to time dealing with political matters.
He last posted on April 14, when he shared a post from prominent American Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo that criticized Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's controversial immigration policies.
"As Trump & Bukele use Oval to ? Feds' illicit deportation of a US resident …, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" Palmo's post read.
Palmo linked to a Catholic Standard editorial written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, an auxiliary bishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Pope Leo's brother John Prevost in Chicago said immigration is an important issue for his brother.
"I think because the way our country is going, I don't think he necessarily will always agree [with] what's happening. I think a big thing for him is immigration and is it right -- what's going on? I think that will be a challenge for him, because I think he'll say something about it, too."
Asked about his brother's X account, John Prevost said, "I know that's his feelings, but I didn't know he was putting it out on social media."
The pope's last original X post was on Feb. 13, when he posted a link to an America magazine editorial that criticized Vice President JD Vance about his interpretation of the Latin phrase "ordo amoris." Vance contended in a Fox News interview, that the idea meant that one must love their family first before the community.
Pope Francis sent a letter to bishops after Vance's comment rebuking that interpretation without naming the vice president.
Pope Leo, however, appeared to criticize Vance directly in a Feb. 3 post, where he linked to a National Catholic Reporter editorial that dismissed the vice president's stance on immigration.
He shared the headline of the article "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others" and linked to the full story in his post.
Leo had not posted on X between July 2023 and Feb. 3.
The Vatican has not immediately commented about the social media account or posts.
Vance and Trump both congratulated the pope on his election on social media posts.
"I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X Thursday.
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(WASHINGTON) -- Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a lifelong public servant, judicial moderate and advocate for humanities and civics education, has died. He was 85 years old.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said of Souter: "Justice David Souter served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service. After retiring to his beloved New Hampshire in 2009, he continued to render significant service to our branch by sitting regularly on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for more than a decade. He will be greatly missed."
Souter was nominated in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, who praised him as "a remarkable judge of keen intellect and the highest ability."
In more than 19 years on the bench, he authored notable opinions on abortion, religion and property rights.
His moderate positions surprised and disappointed many Republicans, who had hoped Souter would solidify as conservative the seat vacated by Justice William Brennan, a longtime leader of the court's liberal wing.
Just five years after his appointment, the conservative Weekly Standard branded Souter a "stealth justice," excoriating his position as "one of the staunchest liberals on the court."
For many conservatives, Souter became a symbol of what future Republican presidents should avoid in a nominee.
His most controversial opinion came in 1992, jointly authored by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, reaffirming the right to abortion under Roe v. Wade and creating an "undue burden" standard for judging state restrictions on the procedure.
"To overrule under fire, in the absence of the most compelling reason to re-examine a watershed decision, would subvert the Court's legitimacy beyond any serious question," the three justices wrote in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Souter's defenders have long denied he was a secret liberal, emphasizing his respect for precedent and the philosophy of "originalism," which emphasizes the historical meaning behind constitutional clauses and federal laws.
"The original meaning of conservatism was reluctance to embrace radical change," Ernest Young, a former clerk of Souter's and Duke law professor, told ABC News in 2009.
Souter, who was Episcopalian, was also known for advocating strict government neutrality in matters of religion and consistently opposing religious displays in public spaces.
During his confirmation hearing, he called it an "appalling fact" that Jewish children felt excluded when Christian prayers were recited in public schools.
In 2005, he authored a 5-4 decision blocking three Kentucky counties from displaying framed copies of the Ten Commandments in courthouses and public schools. He also voted against allowing organized prayers at high school graduation ceremonies and football games.
"He had no predisposed answer. He really relied on an analysis of [historical] materials to decide how he would come out in that case," Stuart Benjamin, former clerk to Souter and Duke law professor, said in 2009.
Souter was one of four justices who strongly dissented from the 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore, which ended the contested Florida ballot recount and effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush.
"To recount these manually would be a tall order, but before this Court stayed the effort to do that the courts of Florida were ready to do their best to get that job done," Souter wrote. "There is no justification for denying the State the opportunity to try to count all disputed ballots now. I respectfully dissent."
He was reportedly so distraught over the decision he contemplated resigning from the court, sources familiar with his thinking told Jeffrey Toobin, author of "The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court." Some of the justice's friends strongly rejected the notion.
In 2005, Souter joined the court's more liberal members to expand the ability of local governments to seize private land for public use. His vote drew fierce protests and even prompted a ballot measure to seize his 200-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse as payback. It failed.
In testimony during his confirmation hearings, Souter also surprised conservatives with a robust defense of affirmative action.
"There will be a need -- and I am afraid for a longer time than we would like to say -- a need for affirmative action which seeks out qualified people who have been discouraged by generations of societal discrimination from taking their place in the mainstream of America," he said at the time.
Souter's rejection of political ideology has been celebrated among his former clerks and friends.
"He was a classic frugal Yankee Republican," former Souter clerk and Harvard law professor Rebecca Tushnet told ABC News in 2009.
"The Republican Party now has moved considerably to the right," University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt, who clerked for Souter in 1999 and 2000, told ABC News. "He doesn't look like a modern Republican; he's not a modern person in a lot of ways."
Souter rarely spoke publicly about his jurisprudence, but when he did he pointedly rejected what he considered a simplistic approach to constitutional interpretation embraced by some of his Republican-appointed peers.
"Constitutional judging is not a mere combination of fair reading and simple facts," Souter said in a 2010 commencement address at Harvard University.
"Judges have to choose between the good things that the Constitution approves, and when they do, they have to choose, not on the basis of measurement, but of meaning," he added, rejecting the strict textualism endorsed by conservative icons Justice Clarence Thomas and the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Retiring at just 69 years old, the never-married Souter quickly escaped Washington to return to his native New Hampshire and beloved two-centuries-old farmhouse.
To admirers, Souter brought a sense of compassion to the high court.
"He urged all judges to recognize the human aspect of their decisions, and to use all the power of their hearts and minds and beings to get their decisions right," said Subra Suresh, former president of Carnegie Mellon University, where Souter spoke in October 2014.
Announcing Souter's retirement in 2009, President Barack Obama hailed the justice as a "fair-minded and independent" judge who combined a "feverish work ethic" with a good sense of humor and integrity.
"He consistently defied labels and rejected absolutes, focusing instead on just one task -- reaching a just result in the case that was before him," said Obama, who later appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor to fill his seat.
"He really was someone who saw himself as someone working in Washington but not being of Washington," Meir Feder, one of Souter's clerks from the 1990 term, told ABC News in 2009.
For years, he had shied from the Washington social scene when the court was not in session, retreating to the White Mountain woods where he loved to hike and read by the fire. Souter famously had no television or access to email.
"Far from being out of touch with the modern world, he has simply refused to surrender to it control over aspects of his own life that give him deep contentment," said David McKean, former CEO of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, at a joint appearance with the retired justice in 2010.
Born in Massachusetts an only child, Souter spent most of his life in the rural town of Weare, New Hampshire. He enrolled in Harvard University as an undergraduate, studying philosophy, and later attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
He returned to Boston to complete his law degree at Harvard, where he graduated in 1966. He quickly climbed the ranks of the legal world, rising to attorney general of New Hampshire and, later, associate judge in the state's Supreme Court.
When Souter was plucked out of New Hampshire by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, he was little known outside of the state. The U.S. Senate confirmed Souter to the Supreme Court by a vote of 90-9.
"I loved my colleagues. I liked the work that I was doing. There were days when I wished things had turned out differently, but I still loved the court and just about everybody in that building," Souter said in 2010, during a rare public appearance at the JFK Presidential Library. "But I feel liberated to do things that I couldn't do on that court."
For years after leaving the high court bench, Souter continued to be a judge, hearing more than 300 cases by designation for the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston and authoring dozens of opinions.
While he stayed largely out of the limelight, Souter spoke passionately about the need to bolster the humanities and civics education across America.
"I don't believe there is any problem in American politics or American public life which is more significant today that the pervasive civic ignorance of the Constitution of the United States and the structure of government," Souter said in a speech at the University of New Hampshire Law School in 2012.
"Some of the aspects of current American government that people on both sides find frustrating are in part a function of the inability of people to understand how government can and should function," he said.
Asked in 2010 to name the most important part of the U.S. Constitution, Souter singled out the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
"Ultimately, it is the golden rule," he said. "Treat others the way you want to be treated with the corollary that if you don't, you are not going to be treated that way either."
ABC News' Huma Khan contributed to this report.
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